Tota Scriptura

Atonement notes

Every Scripture in Institutes II.XVI

This list contains every Scripture passage referenced or alluded to in Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, book II, chapter XVI.

1. The Redeemer
Mt 1:21 (cf. Lk 1:31); Ac 4:12
2. The awareness of God’s wrath makes us thankful for his loving act in Christ
Ro 5:10; Gal 3:10; Col 1:21–22
3. God’s wrath against unrighteousness; his love precedes our reconciliation in Christ
1Jn 4:19
4. The work of atonement derives from God’s love; therefore it has not established the latter
Jn 3:16; Ro 5:8, 10; Eph 1:4–5
5. Christ has redeemed us through his obedience, which he practiced throughout his life
Ps 39:9; Isa 53:7 (cf. Ac 8:32); Mt 3:15; 20:28; 27:12, 14; Jn 1:29; 10:15, 18; 18:4; Ro 3:24–25; 4:25; 5:9–10, 19; 2Co 5:21; Gal 4:4–5; Php 2:7–8; Heb 10:7, 9
(The condemnation through Pilate)
Ps 69:4; Isa 53:5, 12; Mt 27:23; Mk 15:28 (cf. Isa 53:12); Jn 18:38
6. “Crucified”
Isa 53:5–6, 10; Dt 21:23; Ro 8:3; 2Co 5:21; Gal 3:13–14 (cites Dt 21:23); Eph 5:26; Col 2:14–15; Tit 3:5; Heb 9:14; 1Pe 2:24; Rev 1:5
7. “Dead and buried”
Ro 6:4–5; Gal 2:19; 6:14; Col 3:3; Heb 2:9, 14–15; 1Pe 3:22
8. “Descended into hell”
No Scriptures given.
9. Christ in the nether world?
Ps 107:16; Zec 9:11; 1Pe 3:19
10. The “descent into hell” as an expression of the spiritual torment that Christ underwent for us
Isa 53:5; Ac 2:24
11. Defense of this explanation from Scripture passages
Ps 22:1; Isa 53:5; Mt 3:17; 27:46; Ac 2:24; Heb 2:15; 5:7; 1Pe 3:22
12. Defense of the doctrine against misunderstandings and errors
Mt 26:37, 39; 27:46; Lk 22:43–44; Jn 12:27–28; 13:21; Ac 2:24; Heb 2:17; 4:15
13. “On the third day he rose again from the dead”
Ro 1:4; 4:25; 6:4; 8:34; 1Co 15:12–26; 2Co 13:4; Php 3:10; Col 3:1–3, 5; 1Pe 1:3, 21
14. “Ascended into heaven”
Mt 26:11; 28:20; Mk 16:19; Jn 7:37, 39; 14:18–19; 16:7, 14; Ac 1:3, 9; Eph 4:10; Heb 1:3
15. “Seated at the right hand of the Father”
Ac 2:30–36; 3:21; 4:1–37; 7:55; 1Co 15:27; Eph 1:20–22; Php 2:9; Heb 1:8
16. Benefits imparted to our faith by Christ’s ascension
Ps 68:18; 110:1; Jn 14:3; Ro 8:34; 1Co 15:25; Eph 2:6; 4:8; Heb 7:25; 9:11–12
17. “From whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead”
Mt 24:30; 25:31–33; Ac 1:11; 10:42; 1Co 15:51–52; 2Ti 4:1; 1Th 4:16–17; Heb 9:27
18. The Judge is the—Redeemer!
Mt 19:28; Jn 5:22; Ro 8:33–34
19. Christ alone in all the clauses of the Creed
Ac 4:12; 1Co 1:30; Gal 3:13; Heb 5:2; 2:17

Important keywords

Some of these lists are not exhaustive, since some instances of these words are not directly related (at least in their immediate context) to the atoning work of Christ.

Propitiation (ἱλασμός)
Ro 3:25; Heb 2:17; 1Jn 2:2; 4:10
Reconcile or reconciliation (καταλλάσσω)
Ro 5:10–11; 11:15; 2Co 5:18–20; Eph 2:16; Col 1:20, 22
Sacrifice or offering
1Co 5:7; Eph 5:2; Heb 9:14, 23, 26, 28; 10:10, 12, 14
Blood of the covenant
Mt 26:28 (cf. Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20); 1Co 11:25; Heb 9:20; 10:29; 12:24; 13:20
Justify or justification
Ro 3:24; 4:18, 25; 5:9
Redeem or redemption
Lk 1:68; 24:21; Ac 7:35; Ro 3:24; Gal 3:13; 4:5; Tit 2:14; Heb 9:15; Rev 14:3–4

My favorite atonement passages when I was LDS

Toward the end of my mission (in my second-to-last area, Clarksville, Indiana), I wrote the following list of passages in the small notebook I kept in my shirt pocket: