Hodge's Systematic Theology: Penal Substitution

• Romans 6:23- For the wages of sin are death but the gift of God is enteral life in Christ Jesus our Savior

Lets look at the first verse, Romans 8:1. The verse tells us how we are no longer condemned by death but saved through Christ. This is true in the New Testament after Jesus dies on the cross, but in the Old Testament, people were saved from their sins by sacrificing an animal on an altar. But because of Jesus, we do not have to sacrifice animals on an altar. A specific reason why they did this was because the blood would cover them from sin, this came from the animal. But because of Jesus, instead of animal’s blood, his blood on the cross is a symbol of an animal’s blood that covers us from our sin. To simplify, this verse is telling us that we are condemned through sin and death, but Jesus saves us from our sins and is our scapegoat.

Jesus is God and therefore is able to pay the price for all the sins of humanity. His ability comes in His sinlessness and infinity, “he took on himself all the debt that sinners ought to pay, and this when he himself owed no nothing, so that he could pay the debt for the others who owed it and could not pay.” Jesus owed nothing to God, for He is God and He is sinless. Yet, God’s loving nature gives Him His ability. His infinity pays back humanity’s

Jesus’s death turned him into a martyr, catapulting him into prominence as the saviour of Man in the eyes of God. Jesus’s widely known trial, death, and alleged rising set off a chain that caused him to be thought of as the son of God, and eventually caused his death to be one of the most celebrated events in the western world. The speculations surrounding the night before his death also shed an interesting light upon the way in which he died, emphasizing that, unlike what it may seem, Jesus was actually rather reluctant to embrace his death as a victory. In Mark chapters 14:32-42, Jesus tells his disciples “My soul is

Atwood is alluding to Jesus’ crucifixion as it is believed by many christians that Jesus died to pay for their sins and allow them an eternal life.

The latter part of the 4th chapter, Paul goes on to write about the resurrection of those who have chosen Christ as their personal savior. Jesus paid the penalty

Reparation or recompense, identified as atonement, is a concept interspersed throughout the Old and New Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation. Atonement, which means “to set as one” or “to reconcile,” has two different emphases according to Jewish and Christian theology. Reginald H. Fuller in his summary of V. Taylor’s book Jesus and His Sacrifice said that the Jewish perception of atonement as found in the Old Testament focuses more on external or personal factors, while Christian theologians believe that throughout the New Testament atonement is shown to be the expiation of sin through the payment through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. According to Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, the most frequent method of

That is how satisfaction theory had been developed. Because God has to save us in a just way, He either punishes us or can demand satisfaction. Since human beings are impossible to satisfy God what so ever, only Christ can make that proper satisfaction because of his perfect human nature without sin. However, Anselm’s satisfaction model is lacking of biblical support and it is connected closely to the feudal system of justice in Anselm’s time. Thus, this model has its weak points. Instead of Anselm’s idea of Christ’s work playing on the honor system of feudalism, penal substitution theory places the focus of the framework into a more proper biblical and legal system. Paul in Romans wrote that “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Ro. 8:1-3) He wrote in Galatians that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” (Gal. 3:10-13) Christ is our redeemer. He redeems us from the curse of the

What we know about Christ comes from what scripture reveals to us and the understand that He was a tool for salvaging man (473). As Aquinas taught earlier, God stays true to his nature and because God is good, “God’s very nature is goodness, and goodness is self-giving” (475). His sacrifice was essential for mankind’s salvation in order for the inherited sin be taken away (475-6). Aquinas uses a moment to teach the importance of time in correlation to God’s work. A things have a final cause but that final cause cannot happen right away rather there are appropriate steps that need to be taken. Similarly, because man had such “pride” after the fall, one could not recognize his failures right away so over the generations man needed to be humbled to yearn for the salvation of the creator (477). Though Jesus is not the Father who created, His role as the Son is to bring life and salvation through His word. He is able to do this because, though of one Godhead, they are three persons who are truly distinct from one another (478-9). Important to note is that Thomas does say, “One can no more say God took on a man than one can say

In Mark 10:45 Jesus spoke how the Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus words at the last supper meal showed His intention of the cross when He spoke, “This is my body given for you” and “this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:19-20). Jesus saw his death as an outpouring of His blood to make redemption and forgiveness possible. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that He was willing to follow through with His death on the cross, if it was still God’s will for Him to do so (Mark 14:35). Jesus knew God’s redemption time was at hand when His enemies came to arrest Him in the garden. Jesus went with them willingly saying in Luke 22:53, “…this is your hour-when

Sacrifice – Substitution Theory or The Ransom Theory- This theory illustrates that Christ died as a ransom for many (Thomas, 2007). It was a ransom to the devil for the release of mankind. In this case Jesus was the sacrifice.

The message of atonement is the core foundation of the Gospel; and furthermore, our belief about and understanding of atonement “shapes our understanding of the Christian faith, of following Jesus” (Peterson 6). In essence, what we believe about atonement determines how we follow Jesus in our day-to-day lives. And as Scot McKnight points out in A Community Called Atonement, the fullness of atonement is meant to transform our “relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the world” (McKnight 9). If any portion of this transformation is missing, then perhaps we are missing the fullness of atonement. This is why a one-size, fit all metaphor of atonement falls short in describing all the Christ has done for us. McKnight’s suggestion

Because Jesus was deity He not only had the choice as to whether He would take our sins away, but He also had the authority in Himself to do so. However, he could not do so without still being the just God that He is. So since sin still had to be paid for, He chose to take it upon Himself so that we would not have to suffer the fate that He did: death and separation from God.

Over the years four theories or models have risen to prominent discussion with various levels of agreement and contention. Atonement is the method whereby humanity’s sins are forgiven and amends made (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:19,20). As such, “[one] could atone for his sin only by suffering eternally the penalty affixed to transgression” (Berkhof, n.d. p. 2). The atonement models for consideration are: Satisfaction, Christus Victor, Exemplar and Penal Substitution. The value of each will be considered and weighed by scriptural and theological mass.

According to Romans 6:23, Adam’s transgression would have caused man to forever be separated from God. There needed to be a way to overcome death; a way that could only come about through the “vicarious sacrifice of one who was sinless and who could therefore take upon Himself the sins of all mankind” (Ballard). Blessedly, Jesus Christ courageously sacrificed and created this way for all people. Not only is Jesus Christ a solution to Adam’s transgression, but He is the only solution to Adam’s transgression. No one else could have successfully performed the Atonement. I am forever grateful for the anguish that Jesus Christ willingly suffered in order to give me and everyone else the ability to live with Him again. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is so