THE
DOCTRINE OF
THE
SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT
Faith
in Christ is more than just believing that He lived, it is
believing that He died for our sins, and that through His death we have
forgiveness and eternal life. Because God will not simply ignore sin, if it were
not for the forgiveness that Christ won for us every one of us would wind up in
hell (Joshua 24:19). In other words, God did not just decide to overlook our
sin or "let us off the hook," Christ paid for our sin. He took those
sins upon Himself and died the death that we deserved to die. For that reason,
His death is referred to in theology as the Vicarious (Substitutionary)
Atonement.
AN
OVERVIEW
Passages
that either refer to, or allude to, Christ's death in our stead are scattered
throughout the Bible. The blood sacrifices that were required of those under
the law were designed help us to think of Christ as "the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world" (John
THE
GOSPEL
In
the fifth chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans, we read:
Romans 5:6-11. For when we were yet without strength,
in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will scarcely die for a righteous man: although perhaps some might even
dare to die for a good man. But God demonstrates his love for us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
[Comment: When
these verses tell us that Christ died "for us" or "for the
ungodly," they are saying that Christ died in our place (verses 6&8).
They then explain what that means by telling us that we are "justified by
His blood… saved by wrath through Him… reconciled to God by the death of His
Son" and "have now received the atonement" (verse 9). I might
add, that to be "justified by His blood" is to be justified by what
He did, and He did it for us "when we were enemies" and therefore
totally unworthy.]
OTHER
STATEMENTS BY PAUL
Hebrews 9:28, Christ was once offered to bear the sins
of many.
Hebrews 10:10,14. We are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…
For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.
[Comment: These
verses tell us that Christ’s death was a sacrifice (He was offered), that He
bore our sins, and that through His death we are cleansed and made perfect in
the sight of God.]
1Corinthians 15:3, For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures.
Galatians 1:4, Who gave
himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,
according to the will of God and our Father.
[Comment: The
first verse tells us that Christ "died for our sins," while the other
tells us that He freely "gave Himself" so that by His death He
might" deliver us from this present evil world."]
Colossians 2:13-14, And you, being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, has he made
alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.
[Comment: These
verses tell us that even though we were spiritually dead because of sin, He
made us alive through forgiveness, blotting out all of the ordinances that
condemned us, through His death on the cross.]
THE
TESTIMONY OF PETER
1Peter 3:18 and 2:24, For Christ also has once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit // Who himself
bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should
live unto righteousness.
[Comment: When
these verses tell us that Christ "suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust" or "bore our sins in His body on the tree" they are
telling us that He died in our place as our substitute.]
THE
TESTIMONY OF JOHN
1John 1:7, The blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1John 2:2, He is the propitiation for our sins: and not
for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
CHRIST’S
OWN TESTIMONY
Matthew 20:28, The Son of man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. [See Mark 10:45]
Matthew 26:28, 1Corinthians
John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.
John 11:25-26, I am the resurrection, and the life: he
who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he
live: And whosoever lives and believes in me will never die.
[Comment: In these
verses Christ tells us that His blood was shed so that our sins might be
forgiven, and that we receive that forgiveness (and thus eternal life) through
faith in Him.]
CONCLUSION
Christ's
sacrificial death on our behalf, and the corresponding victory over death that
resulted in His resurrection, is the basis of our faith. "For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved" (John
Gary Ray Branscome