PENAL SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT (Part 2)

 

In an article by Stephen J. Wellum, Professor of Christian Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he states:

“In his classic book, The Cross of Christ (IVP, 2006), John Stott famously wrote: ‘At the root of every caricature of the cross there lies a distorted Christology’ (159). I couldn’t agree more, yet it’s crucial to remember that a true Christology is also dependent on a correct theology proper. Thus, it’s more precise to say: ‘At the root of every caricature of the cross is a distorted doctrine of God.’ If we get God wrong, we will never grasp the problem of sin, and its glorious solution in Christ and his cross. In fact, all common objections to penal substitutionary atonement (PSA) are ultimately rooted in sub-biblical ideas regarding the triune God of Scripture.”

See here:

https://www.9marks.org/article/answering-4-common-objections-to-psa/

I think that sums it up pretty well.  In Part 1 of this series, I shared some thoughts on the Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA) view and said that it was the most graphic demonstration of God’s love shown to mankind.  And I do believe that a wrong view of the atonement will give one a distorted view of the nature and character of God.

I also mentioned that Catholics don’t agree with PSA as it seems to be a problem for them.  They, as well as some Protestants, feel that the idea of Jesus being punished for man’s sin is barbaric.  God’s wrath could not possibly fall on His Son.  Jesus is, and always was, innocent and (according to them) punishing Him would be wrong.  But I think that a close look at the typology of the Old Testament animal sacrifices would clearly reveal the concept of PSA to be valid.

Origin of Animal Sacrifice

Just to clear the air, some compare Old Testament animal sacrifices with heathen rituals, and claim that the Old Testament based its sacrifices on these heathen ceremonies.  But the heathen were not the first to use them.  The truth is that God was the first One to use animal sacrifices – and it started with Adam and Eve.  Once they sinned, they realized that they were naked, so they used fig leaves to cover themselves.  But God took innocent animals, killed them, and used their skins to cover Adam and Eve, making them greatly aware of the seriousness of their disobedience (Genesis 3:21).  The Lord made the same point when dealing with Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:3-5) and with the Jews in the wilderness (Leviticus chapters 3-5) when they wanted forgiveness and offered up sacrifices.  Every Jew in the Old Testament understood what was going on in those sacrifices.  They saw that an innocent animal loses its life in order to pay for the sins of the one who brings the sacrifice.  It was the animal who suffered the wrath and punishment intended for the sinner.

You see, in God’s scheme of things, blood MUST be shed for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22), and He used innocent animals to portray this fact.  But this practice of animal sacrifice was temporary, since it was fulfilled, once for all, by Jesus on the cross (Hebrews 9:12; 10:11-14).

John the baptist made an incredible statement about Jesus: 

“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 - NASV)

This monumental statement by John the baptist told everyone what was going to happen.  John understood the fact that all Old Testament animal sacrifices pointed to Jesus.  And remember, it was mandatory that those sacrifices should be without blemish (Leviticus 1:3; Deuteronomy 15:21), just as Jesus was (Hebrews 9:14).  The typology of the Old Testament foreshadows the perfect sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament.  There’s no escaping the Old Testament typology of atonement through animal sacrifices, where the innocent was punished for the guilty.

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21- NASV)  

This is very strong language, but it satisfies the symbolism of the Old Testament sacrifices. 

I have said all this to demonstrate to Catholics and others the fact that Jesus’ atonement was indeed God’s wrath poured upon Him, showing PSA to be true.

The Suffering Servant

What did Jesus do for us at the cross?  According to Psalm 53:

·      He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows (Psalm 53:4)    

    He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities (v. 5)

·     The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (v. 5)

·      We were healed [spiritually] by His stripes (v. 5)

·      The iniquity of mankind was laid upon Him (v. 6)

·      He was stricken [punished] for the transgression [wrongdoing] of God’s people (v. 8)

·      He bore our iniquities/wrongdoings (v. 11)

·      He bore the sin of many (v. 12)

·      He made intercession for us [the transgressors] (v. 12)

Notice the language here in Psalm 53: The Psalmist is saying over and over that He (Jesus Christ) carried a weight, a burden. He bore griefs; He carried sorrows; man’s punishment was upon Him; iniquity was laid upon Him; and He was bearing our burden of sin.  Wrath is attached to sin.  In the Old Testament, God expressed His wrath by placing the man’s sins upon the innocent animal.  In the same way, in the New Testament, God has expressed His wrath by placing mankind’s sins upon His innocent Son.  Again, there is no escaping the fact that Jesus endured God’s wrath/punishment.

Imputation

As I stated in Part 1, His taking our sin and us receiving His righteousness is all possible because of the doctrine of imputation.  J.V. Fesko, Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, defines imputation in this way:

“The doctrine of imputation teaches that while Adam’s sin is imputed to us because he is our natural federal head, God imputes or accredits the righteousness and suffering of Jesus to those who are in him and, conversely, imputes the sins of those redeemed to Christ.”

See here:

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-doctrine-of-imputation/

The apostle Paul speaks of imputation in Romans 4:6, 8, 11, and 22-24.

The biblical word “imputed” is a legal term and indicates an undeserved status - Jesus’ righteousness was imputed to us (though we are undeserving) and our sins were imputed to Him (though He is undeserving of it, i.e., sinless).  His righteousness was legally “accounted” or “credited” to us.  Again, this is only possible due to imputation.  Logically speaking, if Jesus’ righteousness was imputed to us, then our sins (and the punishment and suffering attached to them) had to be imputed to Him.  Just as righteousness is imputed to man, sin and separation were imputed to Jesus.

What the Atonement Was Not

Some will complain that the PSA view depicts a “human sacrifice,” and that the Bible forbids that (2 Kings 16:2-3).  But the atonement of Jesus Christ was not such a “human sacrifice” for at least two reasons. 

First, Jesus is not just human, but He is also divine. 

Second, His punishment on the cross was voluntarily accepted by Him. 

Human sacrifices were repeated over and over and dedicated to demonic idols (e.g., Baal, Molech, etc.) with the intention to honor and appease false gods.  Jesus’ atonement was a one-time offer to the one true God to redeem mankind.  Big difference.

Something else – Jesus did not suffer in Hell.  He went to Hell to preach to the “spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:18-20).  But His suffering – and His victory – was on the cross.  That’s where atonement happened and that’s where forgiveness occurs, not in Hell.

How Bad Was It?

What was the extent of His suffering?  Can any human know for sure?  Remember, Jesus wasn’t the only one who died on a cross.  Over the centuries, there were many who had been crucified, some suffering several days on a cross before dying.  Jesus spent only six hours on His cross, but I refuse to believe that any of the others suffered more than He did.  Something more than just physical pain was going on at Jesus’ crucifixion.  There was something supernatural happening there, something in the spiritual realm.   

Maybe He suffered something equivalent to eternity in Hell.  I don’t know.  Perhaps, since He is an eternal being, an eternity was somehow “compressed” into those few hours of suffering in that deep darkness (Luke 23:44-45).  We don’t know, but at least some of what happened on the cross is certainly a mystery, yet, we dare not minimize His suffering there.  Whatever happened, He is God and He was able to endure such suffering.

The Ugliness of Sin

Dr. Michael Brown (a famous Jewish biblical scholar, radio host and author who understands well the Old Testament sacrificial system) said this about the atonement:

“Each human being owed a debt that none of us could pay back. But the Son of God, with His infinite ‘credit,’ said, ‘I will pay for all of it.’ So, at one and the same time, God can be perfectly just and perfectly merciful.

And He shows us how deeply He loves us by showing us how ugly sin is. If He simply said, ‘I look the other way; I forgive you,’ it doesn’t show us the ugliness of sin. It doesn’t show us God’s justice. It doesn’t give us a picture of the exchange that took place through the cross. We now receive what Jesus deserves, and He took what we deserve. This produces a gratefulness far beyond what simply saying ‘I forgive you’ could ever produce, and it produces a hatred of sin in our lives because we’ve seen the ugly consequences of it. So, without that aspect of the cross, we do not understand the love of God.”

See here:

https://decisionmagazine.com/gods-wrath-atonement/

Conclusion

Jesus’ atonement on the cross is the focal point of all human history and the determining factor of every human’s eternal destiny.  You must accept it or deny it, but no one can afford to ignore it – nor should anyone downplay it.  Let’s be careful how we present His atonement.  The magnitude of that event cannot be fully grasped by mere humans. 

The extent to which God went to purchase vile and ungrateful mankind is nothing less than shocking, yet truly priceless.  Again, we need to be careful never to diminish the amount of suffering He endured on that cross.  In that event, God expressed both the ultimate punishment for sin, and His unfathomable love for man. 

Human fathers and mothers no doubt love their offspring, and many, if not most, would venture to die for their precious children.  But no human could ever love someone as much as Jesus has loved us.  The cross proves this fact.

One might ask, “Who was it that put Jesus on that bloody cross?  Was it the Roman soldiers?  Was it the Jewish leaders?”  The truth is that it was all of us, including you and me.  You might say, “But my sins are little compared to someone like Adolf Hitler’s!  Jesus may have had to suffer a lot for him, but He didn’t have to suffer that much for me!” 

No, I’m sorry, my friend.  James 2:10 says:

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

If you think your sin is no big deal, then why did God go to such extremes?  Why the bloody cross and the horrendous suffering? 

You see, even our “tiniest” sins are excessively ugly.  God is an infinitely holy God and that means that breaking the tiniest part of His Law makes you deserving of the same Hell that Adolf Hitler deserves!  The only difference between you and him is the degree of punishment, once there.  But it will be no comfort to look across the vast, smoke-filled landscape of burning sulfur and see Adolf Hitler suffering more than you are.  That won’t remove you from there.

According to 2 Peter 3:9:

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 

No one on earth has to go to Hell.  We all have a choice.  Simply put your trust in that shocking display of love at Calvary.  Trust Him and His suffering on the cross (and that alone) to be forgiven, to get into Heaven, and to escape the wrath of God.