From my book Deconstructing Progressive Christianity.
- I believe Christ died for our sins.
- I believe all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
- I believe sin makes a separation between us and God, and us and others. (The wages of sin is death.)
- I believe God hates sin. Sin is rejection of God’s lordship. I believe God’s holiness cannot be grasped without comprehending the nature of sin. The wrath of God flows from his holiness. God’s anger flows from his goodness. (See Kevin Kinghorn, But What About God's Wrath: The Compelling Love Story of Divine Anger.)
- I believe, “since all human beings have sinned, and God as the holy One judges retributively and does not merely overlook sin, sin must be atoned for by sacrifice.
- I believe the fundamental reason for the sacrifices is atonement, so that sinners could be forgiven by the holy One.
- I believe the suffering of the Messiah was clearly prophesied. (See Isaiah 53. See The Gospel According to Isaiah 53.)
- I believe it was the will of God to die in the place of sinners.
- I believe that the Cross was God’s idea.
- I believe it was God who died in our place. (Behind this belief is Trinitarian theology. Thomas Schreiner writes, “the doctrine of the Trinity forbids us from separating the persons of the Trinity too rigidly from one another.” [Atonement: Four Views, 95] At least we should agree that this man Jesus, hanging on the cross, was no ordinary human. He was the God-Man.)
Piippo, John. Deconstructing Progressive Christianity . Kindle Edition.
One of my PhD comprehensive exams (Northwestern University) was on ancient Christology.
