In a previous post, I discussed the intercessory work
of Christ, and it being inconsistent with the Reformed doctrine of penal
substitution. I came across the following quote from Ulrich Zwingli, where he
advocated the propitiatory nature, not just of Christ’s death on the cross, but
his intercessory work in heaven before the Father:
For as He [Christ]
offered Himself once on the cross and again to the Father in heaven, so He
won and obtained remission of sins and the joy of everlasting happiness.
Source: The Latin Works of Huldreich Zwingli,
trans. Macauley Jackson (2 vols.), 2:276.
A modern Protestant apologist also shows how easy it
is for advocates of penal substitution to be inconsistent on this point (in the following case, a Calvinistic critique of the Catholic Mass):
He enters into the
presence of the Father, having obtained eternal redemption. Christ presents
Himself before the Father as the perfect oblation in behalf of His people. His
work of intercession, then, is based on His work of atonement. Intercession is
not another or different kind of work, but is the presentation of the work of
the cross before the Father . . . the Son intercedes for men before the Father
on the basis of the fact that in His death He has taken away the sins of God’s
people, and therefore, by presenting His finished work on Calvary before the
Father, He assures the application of the benefits of His death to those for
whom He intercedes. (James R. White, The Fatal Flaw, pp. 133-134).
