“A good test of any doctrine is to ask what is lost if the doctrine were abandoned. So what is lost if the atonement is removed from theological view?
The New Testament answer would be stark: no union with Christ, no forgiveness of sins, no cleansing, no justification before God, no redemption from sin, no adoption, and no reconciliation with God. In short, no peace with God, no gospel.”
–Graham A. Cole, God the Peacemaker: How Atonement Brings Shalom NSBT, Vol. 25 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009), 157.
