Our Need for the Atonement

Have you ever encountered an unbeliever who has said they personally don’t feel the need for Jesus? Today, R.C. Sproul considers why every soul ought to feel the dire need for reconciliation with God.

So many people say to me that they are not Christians, not so much because they have never been persuaded of the truth claims of Christianity, that’s not so much the issue with them, as it is that they have never been persuaded of the need for what the Bible is teaching. How many times have you run into people who’ve said: “That may be true, maybe it isn’t true, but I personally don’t feel the need for Jesus,” or “I don’t need the church,” or “I don’t need Christianity”?

I was in a shopping mall not too long ago, and Vesta was shopping in one store, and I went out in the hall and was waiting for her. And I came upon a bookstore, and I can’t walk past a bookstore without going in it, and there were just rack after rack after rack and shelf after shelf and counter after counter of books in the bookstore. And they had the various divisions of the bookstore marked prominently in “fiction” and “nonfiction” and “business” and “sports” and “self-improvement” and “sex and marriage” and “children’s stories.” And way back, all the way back in the back in the store, there was this section on religion. And it had about four shelves. And I saw that this was the smallest segment in the store, number one. And number two, that the material that was for sale on those racks was somewhat, how should I say it? It certainly wasn’t what you would call mainstream, orthodox, classical Christianity that was being sold there. And I said to myself, “Well, what’s wrong with this store that all they sell is fiction and self-improvement and they don’t seem to place any premium of value on the content of biblical truth as part of their program?”

And I said, “Well, wait a minute, sure owners are not here as a ministry. They’re here for business. They’re here for a profit. And I guess the reason why they don’t have many books for sale here is because there’s not a whole lot of folks coming in here saying, “Where can I find a book that will teach me about the depths and the riches of the atonement of Christ?” I thought, well, maybe if we go to the Christian bookstore, then we’ll find it. But then I go to the Christian bookstore and I don’t find there that people are seeking in-depth understanding of something as central as the atonement of Christ.

And so, as I thought about that, sitting in the mall and watching people walk up and down in front of me, I got this impression. It was a very scary impression, that these people, these masses of people, are walking up and down here, not concerned about an atonement. Not interested in an atonement. Because they are basically convinced they have no need for an atonement. This isn’t what you call a felt need for people today. People aren’t running around asking the question: “How can I be reconciled to God? How can I escape the judgment of God?”

If there’s anything that’s been lost from our culture, it is the idea that human beings are privately, personally, and individually, ultimately, inexorably, accountable to God for their lives. Think what would happen if suddenly the lights came on and everybody in the world said, “Hey, someday, I have to stand before my maker and I have to give an account for every word that I’ve ever spoken, for every deed that I have ever done, for every thought that I have ever thought, for every task I have failed to do. I am accountable.” If they understood that there is a holy God, and that sin is an offense against a holy God, if they understood those two things, they would be breaking the doors down of your churches saying, “What must I do to be saved?”