Where Theology and Life Intersect: A Theological Case for Christus Exemplar and Why It is Necessary - Part 1

I am first and foremost a pastor theologian. Not a pastor and theologian, but as a pastor I shepherd as a theologian. In other words, all doctrine is practical especially in the ministry. Today has been on of those days. Pastors frequently receive calls from frantic members, burdened Christians, hardened sinners, unforgiving spouses, and broken brothers and sisters. All of these are tragic. I have received calls in the middle of the day and the middle of the night. Many are reasons to rejoice, but more than often they are reasons to weep, mourn, pray, and comfort.

This is one of those moments.

What does a pastor say when he is called to minister to those with terminal illnesses, uncertain diagnosis', on their death beds, suffering from on going sickness, divorce, heartache, let down, brokenness, depression, or a whole host of issues that keep us up at night? I find myself asking that very question right now. I've been in the hospitals, the funeral homes, the grave sites, the school gyms, the bedsides, and the living rooms always without an answer.

This does not mean that I have not been trained and told what to say. Oftentimes pastors are called to read Scripture and I have found nothing more comforting than allowing God to speak. It is true that it is not what we say oftentimes that will be remembered or bring the greatest comfort, but in the fact that we are there and remind them that God is on His throne and He can heal what is scarred and broken.

But there is something missing in all of this and it is missing from many Reformed pastors, theologians, and pastor theologians. How does the gospel affect the moments in which we suffer the most? By the gospel I mean the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross and His bodily resurrection from the dead by which, upon belief and repentance, the righteousness of Christ is imputed on us. How does that fundamental doctrine help both those who suffer and those who minister to the suffering?

Unfortunately, many have not answer that question completely. The reason is because we are afraid to sound unorthodox. In a series of posts, I want to lay out how the gospel affects how we minister and suffer well. I want to provide a biblical and orthodox defense of Christus Exemplar, also know as the moral theory of the atonement or the example theory of the atonement.

Before we dig deep into this issue, there are a few words of introduction that need to be said. First, any doctrine clearly rooted in Scripture is not a theory. Scripture clearly teaches that the cross was both propitiatory (and for that matter expiatory) and serves as an example as how we ought to suffer. 1 Peter 2:21-25 clearly teaches this.

In 1 Peter 2:21-25, Peter links both substitionary atonement and Christus Exemplar:

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 'who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;' and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

In later parts I will expound on this text further, but suffice it to say at this point that clearly Peter comforts his readers, as their pastor theologian, by pointing them to the example of Christ on the cross and its propitiatory work.

Secondly, just because a doctrine is solely identified with theological liberalism, does not mean its core teaching is unbiblical. Liberalism has hijacked Christus Exemplar and have turned it into works righteousness and the social gospel. Shame on them for corrupting the gospel and shame on us for not fully proclaiming the full council of God and the glorious work of the cross!

Finally, a conservative, reformed treatment on this subject needs to be given. Currently, apart from Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears book, "Death by Love," no reformed Christian has given this subject hardly any subject. A quick Google search will reveal that Emergents and liberals have written the most on the subject (by which they use it to fuel their unorthodoxy) whereas Reformed Christians almost always label it as heretical. Unfortunately, these series of posts will be among the most full account of Christus Exemplar you will find among Reformed pastor theologians.

It is time for us to realize that unless our doctrine is practice, it is not orthodox. The three Epistles of John make this very clear. Without Love, we do not posses the Truth (doctrine). Therefore, unless we can show how the cross both redeems us and shapes our lives, we do not have a complete understanding of the gospel. How do we know that God is love and good? The gospel. No matter how bad things get, there is always the gospel.