Those who have read through the myriad threads on this board concerning the Atonement and the doctrine of Penal Substitution will be aware that there is a view called Christus Victor, which states, in a nutshell that the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us by His death, and more particularly by His resurrection and ascension by which He defeated Satan, who had the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). The idea of Christ as victor over Satan is far from controversial. After all, who believes in Christus Loser? But the early Church fathers (ECFs) who believed in this also understood that Christ had also provided satisfaction to God for our sins.
However, between the wars, A Swedish theologian called Gustav Aulen revitalized the Christus Victor view and denied that Penal Substitution played a part in the redemption of Mankind. He called his view the Classic View, and Penal Substitution the Latin View, quite a clever marketing strategy that appears to have continued to this day.
But why does Satan need to be defeated, how does he come to have the power of death, and how exactly did Christ defeat him? These questions were addressed in an article called Agnus Victor by a French theologian called Henri Blocher, sometime Professor of Systematic Theology at Wheaton College Graduate School. The article appears to be hidden behind a paywall, so I will try to give just a flavour of it.
In Job 1 and 2, we see Satan come right into the presence of God to accuse Job, and in Zechariah 3:1, we see him in the presence of the Angel of the Lord, to accuse Joshua the High Priest. In the book of Ezra and in Haggai and Zechariah, Joshua appears to be 'one of the good guys,' but in verse 4, we see that, despite being the high priest, he is clothed in 'filthy garments' reminding us that 'we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags' (Isaiah 64:6).
So what is it that Satan has on God? For if it were a question of power, Satan would not last a moment against the Almighty One. But the devil has an ace up his sleeve. Having lured Mankind into sin, he can appeal to God's justice. Job is a sinner; Joshua is unclean. So are we all and Satan can demand, with justice on his side, that God must punish sin. Hence he is called 'The accuser of our brethren, who accused [note the Past Tense] who accused them before our God day and night' (Revelation 12:10). We read in Psalms 7:11 that 'God is a just judge, and God is angry with sinners every day.' How can God not punish sin and yet remain a righteous judge?
Therefore the defeat of Satan must involve the removal of our guilt, and that removal must not taint God's wrath against sin. But this is exactly how the NT portrays the cross. God is able to be 'just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus' (Romans 3:26).
This, says Blocher, is best seen in Colossians 2:14-15. Here, very clearly, we may see Christ's triumph at the cross connected to the cancellation of our debt (as defined by the ordinances of the law)
Galatians 2:13-15 (NKJV margin). ‘And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the certificate of debt with its regulations that were against us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.’
Here, Christ’s triumph is firmly connected to the cross and to the wiping out, or cancellation of the certificate of our debt, the debt of righteousness that we owe to God and are quite unable to pay; the penalty for our sins which we owe to His justice. The ‘principalities and powers,’ of whom the chief is Satan, are disarmed, defeated and are, in a figure, dragged along behind Christ’s triumphal chariot, to be made a public spectacle.
All this has already happened. ‘Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out….’ And it happened at the cross: ‘….and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself’ (John 13:31-32).
Revelation 12:10-12 says the same thing. “Now salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren … is cast down.” And how was this done? “By the blood of the Lamb.”
Hebrews 2:14 and Hebrews 9:15, 22, 27-28 also say the same thing. It is through His death that we are redeemed, and through His death that Satan is cast down with a sure and certain doom.
Romans 8:33-34. ‘Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? Not Satan, for he has no longer anything to charge them with. It is God who justifies; who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us.’ So how does Christ intercede for us? Does He say, “Oh, he’s not such a bad chap! He loves his mother and gives a few dollars to his church each month”? No! He shows the Father his pierced hands and declares, “I died for that one! His sins are already paid for.”
However, between the wars, A Swedish theologian called Gustav Aulen revitalized the Christus Victor view and denied that Penal Substitution played a part in the redemption of Mankind. He called his view the Classic View, and Penal Substitution the Latin View, quite a clever marketing strategy that appears to have continued to this day.
But why does Satan need to be defeated, how does he come to have the power of death, and how exactly did Christ defeat him? These questions were addressed in an article called Agnus Victor by a French theologian called Henri Blocher, sometime Professor of Systematic Theology at Wheaton College Graduate School. The article appears to be hidden behind a paywall, so I will try to give just a flavour of it.
In Job 1 and 2, we see Satan come right into the presence of God to accuse Job, and in Zechariah 3:1, we see him in the presence of the Angel of the Lord, to accuse Joshua the High Priest. In the book of Ezra and in Haggai and Zechariah, Joshua appears to be 'one of the good guys,' but in verse 4, we see that, despite being the high priest, he is clothed in 'filthy garments' reminding us that 'we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags' (Isaiah 64:6).
So what is it that Satan has on God? For if it were a question of power, Satan would not last a moment against the Almighty One. But the devil has an ace up his sleeve. Having lured Mankind into sin, he can appeal to God's justice. Job is a sinner; Joshua is unclean. So are we all and Satan can demand, with justice on his side, that God must punish sin. Hence he is called 'The accuser of our brethren, who accused [note the Past Tense] who accused them before our God day and night' (Revelation 12:10). We read in Psalms 7:11 that 'God is a just judge, and God is angry with sinners every day.' How can God not punish sin and yet remain a righteous judge?
Therefore the defeat of Satan must involve the removal of our guilt, and that removal must not taint God's wrath against sin. But this is exactly how the NT portrays the cross. God is able to be 'just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus' (Romans 3:26).
This, says Blocher, is best seen in Colossians 2:14-15. Here, very clearly, we may see Christ's triumph at the cross connected to the cancellation of our debt (as defined by the ordinances of the law)
Galatians 2:13-15 (NKJV margin). ‘And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the certificate of debt with its regulations that were against us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.’
Here, Christ’s triumph is firmly connected to the cross and to the wiping out, or cancellation of the certificate of our debt, the debt of righteousness that we owe to God and are quite unable to pay; the penalty for our sins which we owe to His justice. The ‘principalities and powers,’ of whom the chief is Satan, are disarmed, defeated and are, in a figure, dragged along behind Christ’s triumphal chariot, to be made a public spectacle.
All this has already happened. ‘Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out….’ And it happened at the cross: ‘….and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself’ (John 13:31-32).
Revelation 12:10-12 says the same thing. “Now salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren … is cast down.” And how was this done? “By the blood of the Lamb.”
Hebrews 2:14 and Hebrews 9:15, 22, 27-28 also say the same thing. It is through His death that we are redeemed, and through His death that Satan is cast down with a sure and certain doom.
Romans 8:33-34. ‘Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? Not Satan, for he has no longer anything to charge them with. It is God who justifies; who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us.’ So how does Christ intercede for us? Does He say, “Oh, he’s not such a bad chap! He loves his mother and gives a few dollars to his church each month”? No! He shows the Father his pierced hands and declares, “I died for that one! His sins are already paid for.”
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Put it down to old age! [QUOTE[
