The following content are excerpts from Foundations of Pentecostal theology (pp. 186–191) Duffield, G. P., & Van Cleave, N. M. (1983); and Nelson’s new illustrated Bible dictionary. Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., & Harrison, R. K.
In order to grasp the full extent of what was accomplished through the Death of Jesus Christ, a number of different words must be used and their meaning fully understood. Man’s sin was so great, God’s Holiness so pure, that the gulf between them which must be spanned required an amazing accomplishment on the part of our Lord. Through His Death, He fully met every need of the sinner relative to sin, enabling him to enjoy eternal fellowship with God. At the same time, Christ fully met every requirement necessary for a Righteous and Just God to freely forgive sin and receive man back into His fellowship. At no time throughout eternity will anyone, man, devil or angel, be able to challenge the perfect and full provision of God’s great Salvation. We shall consider the Death of Christ as it is revealed in five different words.
- a) It is vicarious—a substitution.
The word vicarious comes from “vicar” which means “a substitute, one who takes the place of another and acts in his stead.”
Isaiah 53:6 NLT, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”
Matthew 20:28 NIV, “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
1 Peter 2:24 NLT, “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.”
1 Peter 3:18 NLT, Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God.
From these and many other scriptures (See 1 Cor. 15:3; Rom. 5:8; Jn. 10:11; Gal. 2:20), it is clear that Christ was our Substitute in bearing our sins on the Cross. It is obvious that He did not bear His own sins. 1 Peter 2:22 NLT, “He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.” When He died, He died for the sins of others.
It has been objected that it is immoral for God to punish an innocent person for one who is guilty, and therefore the idea of substitution is unbearable. Let it be said, first, that God knows nothing of punishing the innocent for the guilty. Jesus so took upon Himself our sin that He assumed our guilt. Secondly, it is not unlawful for a judge to himself pay the penalty he has imposed. Christ is very God, and thus had the right to pay the penalty for our sin. Thirdly, it could only be considered immoral if Jesus were compelled to be our sacrifice, but if He voluntarily took that position no injustice was done. This He did. John 10:17-18, “17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” Let it be fully realized that we are not saved by the murder of a man, but by One Who willingly offered Himself for us.
- b) It is an atonement or reconciliation
ATONE, ATONES – to supply satisfaction for; to make amends; to reconcile. ATONEMENT – reconciliation; reparation for an offense or injury; cleansing.
Romans 5:11 NLT “So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Romans 5:11 NIV Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
ATONEMENT — the act by which God restores a relationship of harmony and unity between Himself and human beings. The word can be broken into three parts that express this great truth in simple but profound terms: “at-one-ment.” Through God’s atoning grace and forgiveness, we are reinstated to a relationship of at-one-ment with God, in spite of our sin.
Our part in the atonement. The Lord Jesus came according to God’s will (Acts 2:23; 1 Pet. 1:20) “to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), or “for all” (1 Tim. 2:6). Though God “laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Is. 53:6; also 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13), yet Christ “has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:2), so that those who believe in Him (Rom. 3:22) might receive atonement and “be saved from [God’s] wrath” (Rom. 5:9) through “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:19).
No believer who truly understands the awesome holiness of God’s wrath and the terrible hopelessness that comes from personal sin can fail to be overwhelmed by the deep love of Jesus for each of us, and the wonder of God’s gracious gift of eternal atonement through Christ. Through Jesus, God will present us “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24).
- c) It is a propitiation.
PROPITIATION — the atoning death of Jesus on the cross, through which He paid the penalty demanded by God because of people’s sin, thus setting them free from sin and death. The word means “appeasement.” Thus, propitiation expresses the idea that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for sin that a holy God demanded.
Although Jesus was free of sin, He took all our sins upon Himself and redeemed us from the penalty of death that our sins demanded. As the writer of 1 John declared, “For he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world”, 1 John 2:2; atoning sacrifice.
Romans 3:22-26 NASU
“22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Hebrews 2:17-18 NASU
17 Therefore, He (Christ Jesus) had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
The word “propitiation” properly signifies the turning away of wrath by a sacrifice. Thus it signifies appeasement. “The idea of the wrath of God is stubbornly rooted in the Old Testament, where it is referred to 585 times.” It is also mentioned a number of times in the New Testament: “He that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him” (Jn. 3:36). “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18). “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6). (See also Rom. 2:5, 5:9; 1 Thes. 1:10; Heb. 3:11; Rv. 19:15.)
In the passages quoted above it will be seen that Paul views Christ’s Death as the means of removing God’s wrath (Rom. 5:9). The amazing paradox is that God Himself provided the means of removing His own wrath. We also observe: that it is the Father’s love that “sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10); that the reason Christ became “a merciful and faithful high priest” was “to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17); and that His propitiation is adequate for all (1 Jn. 2:2). According to Leon Morris: “The consistent Bible view is that the sin of man has incurred the wrath of God. That wrath is averted only by Christ’s atoning offering. From this standpoint his saving work is properly called propitiation.”
- d) It is a reconciliation.
RECONCILIATION — the process by which God and people are brought together again. The Bible teaches that they are alienated from one another because of God’s holiness and human sinfulness. Although God loves the sinner (Rom. 5:8), it is impossible for Him not to judge sin (Heb. 10:27). Therefore, in biblical reconciliation, both parties are affected. Through the sacrifice of Christ, people’s sins are atoned for and God’s wrath is appeased. Thus, a relationship of hostility and alienation is changed into one of peace and fellowship.
The initiative in reconciliation was taken by God—while we were still sinners and “enemies,” Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8, 10; Col. 1:21). Reconciliation is thus God’s own completed act, something that takes place before human actions such as confession, repentance, and restitution. God Himself “has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 5:18).
The need of reconciliation is apparent because of the enmity between God and Man brought about by man’s sin. Through the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, this condition of enmity can be changed into one of peace and fellowship. This is one of the greatest blessings of personal salvation. Again, this new relationship magnifies the Grace of God, for no man can reconcile himself to God. God Himself wrought this reconciliation for us through Christ. We were reconciled to God through the Death of His Son. “For if, when we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Rom. 5:10). “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” (Col. 1:21). Colossians 1:20 tells us that this was accomplished through the blood of his Cross: “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself.”
The Scripture applies this word of reconciliation to both God and Man: “All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:18, 20).
- e) It is a ransom or redemption.
REDEMPTION — deliverance by payment of a price. In the New Testament, redemption refers to salvation from sin, death, and the wrath of God by Christ’s sacrifice.
The New Testament emphasizes the tremendous cost of redemption: “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:19; Eph. 1:7), which is also called an atoning sacrifice, “a propitiation by His blood” (Rom. 3:25). Believers are exhorted to remember the “price” of their redemption as a motivation to personal holiness (1 Cor. 6:19–20; 1 Pet. 1:13–19). The Bible also emphasizes the result of redemption: freedom from sin and freedom to serve God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The word “redemption” signifies a releasing or liberation from captivity, slavery or death by the payment of a price, called a ransom. Thus the word has a double significance: it means the payment of a price, as well as the deliverance of the captive. The Death of Christ on the Cross is seen in Scripture as the price which Jesus paid for the deliverance of the sinner. “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28). The deliverance which Jesus obtained is called Redemption. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12).
According to the New Testament we have redemption (or freedom) from the following:
(1) From the penalty of the Law—Paul calls this the “curse of the law.” Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
(2) From the Law itself — Romans 7:6, “But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.” We are now under grace. Romans 6:14, “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”
(3) From sin as a power in one’s life—Romans 6:6, “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. Romans 6:2, “Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”
(4) From Satan—2 Timothy 2:26, “Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.” Hebrews 2:14-15, “14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”
(5) From all evil, including our present mortal body —Galatians 1:4, “Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.” Ephesians 1:14, “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. Romans 8:23a, “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.”
To summarize the benefits of Christ’s Death: When we speak of it as vicarious we think of substitution; when we speak of it as an atonement we think of covering; as a propitiation we think of appeasement; as a reconciliation we think of enmity; and as a ransom we think of redemption.
