The Efficacy of the Passion of Christ

Christ as man suffered voluntarily to redeem mankind.He suffered for justice, and therefore grace came to him asmerited, and this merited grace overflows into the members of Christ, the children of his Church, and indeed all men. Thus Christ by his Passion merited salvation for his members.

Because he suffered willingly, out of love and obedience towards God, our Lord gave back to God more than enough to compensate for the offenses of the whole human race. Hence, the Passion is a superabundant atonement for the sins of mankind. Scripture says (I John 2:2): “He is the propitiationfor our sins; and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world.”

A sacrifice is something acceptable to God, offered to appease him and to manifest his supreme dominion over all things. The sacrifice offered by our Lord in the Passion was the most perfect sacrifice possible.

And the Passion was our redemption. To redeem a man isto secure his release from captivity. Man was a captive of sin,which is the bondage of the devil; man lay also under the bondage of God’s offended justice. Now, the Passion of Christ dissolved both bonds, releasing man from the thrall of sin and Satan, and atoning to God for man’s rebellion against him. Therefore, the Passion is truly a work of redemption.

God in Trinity is the first cause of our redemption. But the immediate cause is Christ. The life of Christ (or his blood, which makes life possible), is the price paid to redeem us. Our Lord voluntarily paid this price. Hence, in the sense of immediate action and payment, our redemption was accomplished by our Lord alone. Thus Christ alone is our Redeemer.

The principal effecting cause of man’s salvation is God. And the humanity of Christ is the instrument of the Godhead in working out man’s salvation. All that Christ as man does and suffers for us, is truly done by him instrumentally; that is, as carrying out the effectiveness rooted in, and proceeding from, the Godhead. Now, what Christ does and suffers for us is called his Passion. Therefore, the Passion of Christ is the effecting cause ofman’s salvation.