Definite Atonement

I love the lyrics of the song, “Now Why This Fear,” because it captures so much of the practical benefit of the atonement. The song was originally written by Augustus Toplady, the same guy who wrote “Rock of Ages.” The original language of “Now Why This Fear” was a bit archaic, so it was revised by Doug Plank, with Sovereign Grace Worship. Here are the new lyrics:

Now why this fear and unbelief?
Has not the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for us
And will the righteous Judge of men
Condemn me for the debt of sin
Now cancelled at the cross?

Jesus, all my trust is in Your blood
Jesus, You’ve rescued us through Your great love
How sweet the sound of saving grace
How sweet the sound of saving grace
Christ died for me

Complete atonement You have made
And by Your death have fully paid
The debt Your people owed
No wrath remains for us to face
We’re sheltered by Your saving grace
And sprinkled with Your blood

Be still my soul and know this peace
The merits of your Great High Priest
Have bought me liberty
Rely then on His precious blood
Don’t fear your banishment from God
Since Jesus sets you free.

I think they did a fine job capturing the rich theology of the original hymn in a way the modern worshipper can understand it. For the sake of comparison, here are the original lyrics:

From whence this fear and unbelief?
Hath not the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous Judge of men
Condemn me for that debt of sin
Which, Lord, was charged on Thee?

Complete atonement Thou hast made,
And to the utmost Thou hast paid
Whate’er Thy people owed;
How then can wrath on me take place,
If sheltered in Thy righteousness,
And sprinkled with Thy blood?

If thou hast my discharge procured,
And freely in my room endured
The whole of wrath divine;
Payment God cannot twice demand,
First at my bleeding Surety’s hand,
And then again at mine.

Turn then, my soul, unto thy rest!
The merits of thy great High Priest
Have bought thy liberty;
Trust in His efficacious blood,
Nor fear thy banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for thee.

As you can see, the original hymn contained one extra verse. And since we are going through a series on the doctrines of grace, and today was a message on “definite atonement,” I thought that the extra verse from the original was pretty interesting. It says, “Payment God cannot twice demand, First at my bleeding Surety’s hand, and then again at mine.” If the death of Christ actually paid for the sins of every person who would reject Christ, and every person that rejects Christ pays the penalty for their rejection, which is eternity in hell, then God would have demanded double payment – first from Christ, then from the soul that rejects him. There’s a wonderful practical benefit to this truth of the gospel. How often do we feel like we need to “make up” for our sins, failures, and our past? When we realize that Christ fully paid for all sins, leaving nothing left for us to pay, we can rest in his sacrifice as sufficient. We can stop trying to prove ourselves to God, ourselves, and other people. Since Christ’s sacrifice was acceptable, God will never demand “double payment.” He will never require us to do penance or to “make up for” our sins. So, “Complete atonement you have made, and by your death have fully paid, the debt your people owed.” That’s a matchless grace that compels us to reflect that grace in all we do.