The Finished Work of Christ

Abstract

"The idea that Christ's atoning work is 'finished' is Scriptural in origin; it is indeed based on a word uttered by our Lord Himself before His death on the cross. We read that Jesus said, 'tetšlestai - It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.'1 Clearly, therefore, when Jesus at last reached the point of departure from this present earthly life, the work to which this word tetšlestai referred was already fully accomplished. Similarly the doctrine to which such plain Scriptural witness gave rise, that Christ by His death has done all that was necessary to reconcile sinful men to God, was equally clearly a precious conviction of many of our Christian forebears. They gloried in 'the finished work of Christ.'"