========================================================================
  AT-ONE-MENT
  by Selwyn Hughes
========================================================================

Summary: The sermon emphasizes that the problem of evil can only be
solved by God's power and love, and that the cross is the only way to
salvation.

Topics: "Atonement", "Salvation"
Scripture References: John 14:6, Romans 3:25, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:8, 1 Peter 1:18

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Selwyn Hughes emphasizes the significance of atonement through faith in
Jesus' blood, highlighting that the core of religion is achieving at-
one-ment with God. He stresses that Christianity uniquely addresses the
problem of being out of sync with God by offering Jesus Christ as the
solution, bridging the gap between sinners and a forgiving God. Hughes
underscores that salvation is a divine task that only God could
accomplish, as the presence of evil in the world necessitated a solution
of God's caliber, culminating in the sacrifice of the cross.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

"God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his
blood." (v. 25)

For reading & meditation:

Romans 3:21-31

Herbert Spencer, whom we quoted earlier, wrote: "The task of religion is
at-one-ment: atonement. If it fails to do this it fails at the vital
point." Its ritual may be beautiful, its sanctions may be ancient, its
precepts may be good, but if it fails to bring men and women into
correspondence with God it fails vitally and irretrievably. All else is
useless, for if the problem of evil is ignored or passed over, we are
like the person who dreams about and plans next year's happiness while
an incurable disease is eating at his vitals. The wonderful distinctive
of Christianity is this - Jesus Christ has done something about the
problem of being out of correspondence with God. He puts the hand of a
penitent sinner into the hand of a pardoning God. Because of the nature
of the problem - the problem of evil - no other solution is possible.
Salvation is a task which only God could engineer. As one theologian
puts it: "It is a task worthy of God." The ancient Greek playwrights
used to warn their students that when writing a tragedy they should not
bring a god onto the stage unless there was an entanglement worthy of a
god. The presence of evil in this world, I suggest, presents an
entanglement worthy of God. But it is no mere stage affair. It is a
tragic fact. To deliver men and women from evil was a problem that
challenged God's power and made the deepest claim upon His love. The
cross is the answer. If we don't take God's way of salvation, then
nothing else will do.

Father, I rejoice that You have brought me to Your way -t he only way.
Help the millions who strive to earn their salvation see that the
penalty for sin has been fully paid. And all they have to do is humbly
receive. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

========================================================================
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/selwyn-hughes/at-one-ment/
========================================================================