51 耶稣作祭物——耶稣基督成为挽回祭Sacrifice - Jesus Christ madeatonement for sin
《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。
51 耶稣作祭物——耶稣基督成为挽回祭
Sacrifice - Jesus Christ made atonement for sin
神设立耶稣作挽回祭，是凭着耶稣的血。（罗3:25）
赎罪一词的意思是修正、消弭所犯的罪过，并赔偿所有的伤害；藉此，才使自己和所疏离的对方和好，而且恢复破裂的关系。
根据圣经的描述，全人类都需要赎他们的罪，可是又缺乏能力与资源如此做。我们触怒了那位圣洁的创造主；而祂的本性原是恨恶罪恶（耶44:4；哈1:13）并要惩罚罪恶（诗5:4-6；罗1:18；2:5-9）。除非赎罪之工完成了，我们不要期望能被这样的一位神接纳，并与祂交通。因为连我们最好的行为中都有罪染，我们盼望为修正自己而做的任何事，反倒恰会增加我们的罪衍，或更恶化了我们的处境。因此之故，人想要寻求在神面前建立自己的义，更显出无可救药的愚昧（伯15:14-16；罗10:2-3）；因那是不可能成就的事。
就在人类这没有指望的背景下，圣经告诉我们神的慈爱、恩典、怜悯、仁慈和怜恤。我们的罪使救赎成为必须，而神这位被人得罪的创造主却自己成为我们提供了救赎。这惊人的恩典正是新约圣经信仰、盼望、敬拜、伦理和灵命的焦点，从马太福音到启示录，它照射出令人惊心动魄的光芒。
当神带领以色人出埃及时，祂将祭祀制度设立为恩约关系的一部分；而祭祀的重点乃是流出没有瑕疵之祭牲的血，并将它们献给神，[可以......为你们的生命赎罪]（利17:11）。这些祭牲都是预表性的，为要指向将来另外的人事物。当祭牲按要求地献上时，神[宽容先时所犯的罪]（罗3:25），但事实上，真正能把罪恶涂抹掉的，并不是动物的血（来10:11），乃是献上之祭物所预表的本体——那无罪的神子耶稣基督——的血，祂在十字架上的死，赎尽了所有在祂订十架之前和之后人类所犯的一切罪恶（罗3:25-26；4:3-8；来9:11-15）。
新约圣经提到基督的血之时，多半是与献祭有关的（如罗3:25；5:9；弗1:7；启1:5）。基督成为完美的赎罪祭（罗8:3；弗5:2；彼前1:18-19），祂的死乃是我们的救赎（即以赎价拯救我们，付上代价，将我们从罪衍的苦境、做罪的奴隶、等待神的愤怒临到的情况下，释放出来；罗3:24；加4:4-5；西1：4）。基督的死是神叫我们与祂和好的一种行动表现，因为祂越过了自己对我们的敌意，而这敌意是因我们的罪所惹动的（罗5：10；林后5:18-19；西1:20-21）。十字架挽回了神的怒气（即籍着赎我们的罪，而降罪从祂眼前挪去，消弭了祂对我们的愤怒）。与此有关的关键经文包括罗马书3:25，希伯来来2:17，约翰一书2:2和4:10，其中每一处经文的希腊文都明显地含有挽回之意。十字架之所以有挽回的功效，是因为基督在祂的受苦里，像以往的献祭一样，与我们认同，所以就替代我们、站在我们的地位上，忍受了我们该受罚的审判（[律法的诅咒]，加3:13）；又让神将我们所犯该死的记录钉在十字架上，成为基督为之而死的犯罪字据（西2:14；另参太27:37；赛53:4-6；路22:37）。
基督赎罪之死认可了新的开始；在任何情况下，根据此约，人靠着基督一次涵盖了一切罪恶所献的祭，得到保证必能到神面前来（太26:27-28；林前11:25；来9:15；10:12-18）。那些籍着信靠基督[得与神和好]（罗5:11）的人，就[在祂里面成为神的义]（林后5:21）。换句话说，他们称义了，并在神的家中得着儿子的名分（加4:5）。从此以后，他们将活在基督爱他们大爱的激动和管治之下，这爱是由十字架所显明和量度给我们的（林后5:14）。
SACRIFICE
JESUS CHRIST MADE ATONEMENT
FOR SIN
God
presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood....
ROMANS 3:25
Atonement
means making amends, blotting out the offense, and giving satisfaction for
wrong done; thus reconciling to oneself the alienated other and restoring the
disrupted relationship.
Scripture
depicts all human beings as needing to atone for their sins but lacking all
power and resources for doing so. We have offended our holy Creator, whose
nature it is to hate sin (Jer. 44:4; Hab. 1:13) and to punish it (Ps. 5:4-6;
Rom. 1:18; 2:5-9). No acceptance by, or fellowship with, such a God can be
expected unless atonement is made, and since there is sin in even our best
actions, anything we do in hopes of making amends can only increase our guilt
or worsen our situation. This makes it ruinous folly to seek to establish one’s
own righteousness before God (Job 15:14-16; Rom. 10:2-3); it simply cannot be
done.
But
against this background of human hopelessness, Scripture sets forth the love,
grace, mercy, pity, kindness, and compassion of God, the offended Creator, in
himself providing the atonement that our sin has made necessary. This amazing
grace is the focal center of New Testament faith, hope, worship, ethics, and
spiritual life; from Matthew to Revelation it shines out with breathtaking
glory.
When
God brought Israel out of Egypt, he set up as part of the covenant relationship
a system of sacrifices that had at its heart the shedding and offering of the
blood of unflawed animals “to make atonement for yourselves” (Lev. 17:11).
These sacrifices were typical (that is, as types, they pointed forward to
something else). Though sins were in fact “left... unpunished” (Rom. 3:25) when
sacrifices were faithfully offered, what actually blotted them out was not the
animals’ blood (Heb. 10:11) but the blood of the antitype, the sinless Son of God,
Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross atoned for all sins that were remitted
before the event as well as sins committed after it (Rom. 3:25-26; 4:3-8; Heb.
9:11-15).
New
Testament references to the blood of Christ are regularly sacrificial (e.g.,
Rom. 3:25; 5:9; Eph. 1:7; Rev. 1:5). As a perfect sacrifice for sin (Rom. 8:3;
Eph. 5:2; 1 Pet. 1:18-19), Christ’s death was our redemption (i.e., our rescue
by ransom: the paying of a price that freed us from the jeopardy of guilt,
enslavement to sin, and expectation of wrath; Rom. 3:24; Gal. 4:4-5; Col.
1:14). Christ’s death was God’s act of reconciling us to himself, overcoming
his own hostility to us that our sins provoked (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Col.
1:20-22). The Cross propitiated God (i.e., quenched his wrath against us by
expiating our sins and so removing them from his sight). Key texts here are
Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2 and 4:10, in each of which the Greek
expresses propitiation explicitly. The cross had this propitiatory effect
because in his suffering Christ assumed our identity, as it were, and endured
the retributive judgment due to us (“the curse of the law,” Gal. 3:13) as our
substitute, in our place, with the damning record of our transgressions nailed
by God to his cross as the tally of crimes for which he was now dying (Col.
2:14; cf. Matt. 27:37; Isa. 53:4-6; Luke 22:37).
Christ’s
atoning death ratified the inauguration of the new covenant, in which access to
God under all circumstances is guaranteed by Christ’s one sacrifice that covers
all transgressions (Matt. 26:27-28; 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 9:15; 10:12-18). Those
who through faith in Christ have “received reconciliation” (Rom. 5:11) “in
him... become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). In other words, they are
justified and receive the status of adopted children in God’s family (Gal.
4:5). Thereafter they live under the mo