The Death of Death in the Death of Christ pt. 1
The first of several reflections on Owen's treatment of the atonement of Christ
If you haven’t yet read my introduction to John Owen and the Puritans, you may do so at the button below.
The first of Owen’s works that I have been working through is The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, published in 1647. This work is a rather lengthy treatise on the atonement of Christ. In it Owen addresses the extent of the effects of Christ’s death almost as a response to those who would claim that Christ’s death saves all. Since this work spans almost three hundred pages, I will consider this work over several different entries.
Before digging into this work, let us consider briefly the atonement. The atonement is a theological term that describes what Christ purchased in his life and death: namely, our salvation. Perhaps you have heard something like, “Jesus atones for our sins.” The definition of atone is to repair something that was broken or to make ammends.
When Jesus came, lived, and died, he accomplished a great work. This is the main subject of The Death of Death, so we will consider that momentarily. However, while it may seem pretty cut and dry, there are several different views of the atonement. For example, most protestant Christians who read their Bibles will tell you that Christ paid for our sins by bearing the weight of our sin and dying in our place. Thus, his righteousness is given to us and our sin was placed on him at the cross. Our righteouness is an “alien righteousness” according to Martin Luther.
Some reject this and claim that Christ only died to show his love for humanity. Some, like Origen (185-254 AD), believed that Christ’s death was to pay a ransom to Satan in order to free humans. Others claim that Christ only died as an example to humanity about how to obey God. [1]
Owen dealt with controversies surrounding the atonement even in his day. His work considered at present is a response to incorrect views of the atonement and an attempt to provide a biblical explanation of what Christ accomplished in his life and death.
Owen and the Death of Death
Owen begins by considering the idea of what was intended by God in the death of Christ, and what it effectually brought about.[2] Consider this with any action we take up in a single day. If I were to sit down and say something to my wife, I have an intended purpose behind my statement. Yet, anyone who has been married for any period of time can tell you that your intention may not always be the end result. Intention and actuality are two separate realities. The end of anything encompasses both the intended result and the actual result.
Owen explains, “That was the will and intention of God, that he should give himself for us, that we might be saved, being separated from the world.”[2] Christ came into the world to live and die so that we, the elect of God, might be saved.
With Christmas right around the corner, Christ’s first coming is a timely topic to consider. Christ came into the world for a purpose: to save sinners in both his life and his death. Owen explains that through Christ’s life and death we have reconciliation, justification, sanctification, adoption, and these remain with us until we are with Christ in eternity.[3] Finally, this culminates in the truth that “The death and blood shedding of Jesus Christ hath wrought, and doth effectually procure, for all those that are concerned in it, eternal redemption, consisting in grace here, and glory hereafter.”[4] In other words, Christ death brings about actual redemption and, as Christians, we experience the effects of this in the grace we have in this life, and the glory we will experience in the life to come.
[1] For more information, see Wayne Greudem’s chapter on the Atonement.
[2] John Owen, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, ed. William H Goold, vol. 10 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1967), 157.
[3] Owen, 10:157.
[4] Owen, 10:158–59.
[5] Owen, 10:159.