Was Jesus Made Sin, 2 Corinthians 5:21

I noticed a very interesting question on the Logos Forums today [http://community.logos.com/forums/t/82234.aspx].

A poster raised the question, “If Jesus became sin for the unbeliever did he have to be forgiven to enter heaven?” The poster indicates, “The person asking this was from the Islamic faith.”

The sub-question for the forum was “What is the best way to search Logos [software, resources] to answer this?”

Another poster in answer to the theological question gave a link to an excellent article by author Ron Rhodes. [http://www.equip.org/articles/how-was-jesus-made-sin/]

The short answer is…

Using the resources and processes suggested will never lead you to the correct answer.

The reason this is so…

None of the currently available resources I have encountered are able to address this question apart from a mistaken commitment to the wrong doctrine of the Atonement. You just cannot possibly arrive at the right answer from a wrong starting point.

Doing extensive Real Bible Study can bring the right answer…

The procedures described in Ron Rhodes’ article are exactly the right procedures to use to get to the right answer. I cannot blame Ron Rhodes for not having access to the resources I do. He is an excellent author, and I find no fault in him or his work. But even he failed at the critical point involving Greek grammar and syntax. He does make reference to contemporary grammatical resources, but those resources are biased by Calvinism and a mistaken adherence to the Penal Satisfaction Theory of the Atonement. The correct Biblical view of the Atonement is the Priestly-Sacrificial Atonement, and this is no theory. It is absolutely asserted and proven by 1 John 2:1, 2. The Penal Satisfaction Theory was developed by Anselm, among others, long ago. His theory has been adopted, far as I understand, by Roman Catholicism. The Protestant Reformers in turn adopted or retained that theory too. Because of that, the salvation terminology we are used to, as it shows up in all our English translations and Bible reference works, is a vocabulary borrowed wholesale from Roman Catholicism, not the New Testament.

2 Corinthians 5:21

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (KJV)

2Co 5:21 for him who did not know sin, in our behalf He did make sin, that we may become the righteousness of God in him. (YLT, Young’s Literal Translation)

2Co 5:21 He made Him who personally knew nothing of sin to be a sin-offering for us, so that through union with Him we might come into right standing with God. (Williams New Testament)

2Co 5:21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God. (NET Bible)

2Co 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (ESV)

2Co 5:21 Him, who knew no sin, he hath made sin for us: that we might be made the justice of God in him. Sin for us… That is, to be a sin offering, a victim for sin. (Douay-Rheims Bible, Roman Catholic)

2Co 5:21 For the One not having experienced sin, He took sin in our behalf, in order that we might be made righteous by God in Him. (LNT, Lavender New Testament)

Which translation is correct?

Only the last translation is correct.

Dr. Malcolm Lavender has made a most thorough study of the underlying Greek grammar, syntax, and word usage.

By carefully examining every word related to the doctrine of the Atonement in the New Testament he has discovered the Biblical doctrine of the Atonement, and I believe he has thoroughly proved the accuracy of his translation.

The underlying linguistic principle which other Greek grammarians have failed to follow is to (1) examine usage not only in context (2) but in relation to subject matter. This works out to demonstrate that Greek prepositions are used in a special way in Atonement contexts. Some Greek prepositions can have a meaning in non-Atonement passages that they do not have in Atonement passages. The proof that they do not have such meanings in Atonement passages is that, consulting parallel statements that state the same thing using different prepositions, it has been found that certain prepositions are used which cannot have, for example, a substitutionary sense. Therefore, when in a parallel passage which uses a preposition which can have such a meaning, its meaning is restricted by the parallel passage which uses a preposition which cannot have that meaning.

In terms of applying this result to our more accurate understanding of Bible doctrine, particularly the all-important doctrine of the Atonement, this means the New Testament does not teach that our Lord Jesus Christ is our substitute.

Further study demonstrates that neither the term nor the concept of propitiation has any proper place in the Bible. Such a term is a flagrant mistranslation. This can be readily verified by consulting the Louw/Nida Greek Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains.

The Correct Answer to the Opening Question is…

Christ was not made sin for us. That idea is based upon a demonstrably wrong translation from the Greek text, a mistaken translation which has unfortunately been with us from the very earliest Christian centuries until now. The correct translation supplies the correct answer to the question, and shows that Christ took our sins.

In terms of Old Testament typology Christ could not be made sin, for nothing unholy with spot or blemish was permitted in the typical Levitical offerings.

Nowhere does the Bible, properly translated so it can be rightly understood, teach Christ was punished or that He paid a penalty.

This subject at first seems very complex, and impinges upon many Bible issues. When Dr. Malcolm Lavender’s translation becomes available you will surely want to get one. His translation at last provides a resource which fully answers the issues involved. The Lavender Translation is faithful to the Greek text and the nuances of Greek grammar virtually suppressed in all other translations, though Young’s Literal Translation surpasses others currently available. The Lavender translation includes full explanatory notes and documentation to standard Greek grammars and lexicons, sometimes with corrections to them. Reading the Lavender Translation will enable you to see the Atonement in clear light.

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1335 for 2 Corinthians 5:21.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1357 or in Logos 5 Bible software for 2 Corinthians 5:21.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

2 Corinthians 5:21. The usual translations of this verse create insuperable difficulties doctrinally, for surely Jesus Christ can never be made sin, for He is God, and is perfectly holy. The order of the Greek, made clear in Bagster’s The Englishman’s Greek Testament by its interlinear translation, reads: “For him who knew not sin for us sin he made, that we might become righteousness of God in him.” But this translation is incorrect. Dr. Malcolm Lavender properly translates: “Now the One not having experienced sin, He took sin in our behalf, in order that we might be made righteous by God, in Him.” Dr. Lavender notes that the emphatic idea comes first: “Now the One not having experienced sin….” This phrase emphatically proclaims the impeccability of Christ: He not only did not sin, but he could not sin (He +*4:15n). Dr. Lavender rightly asserts, “Emphatically then, we do not have here a Christ made sin in any sense whatsoever—real, imputed, or mystical!” The rendering “made sin” translates εποιησεν, a form of poieō (S#4160g, Jn 5:29n). Dr. Lavender notes, “The verb poieō should be translated ‘took’ in this context, i.e., ‘He (Christ) took sin….’ This translation preserves the Oneness of God, the Deity of Christ, His Immutability and innate Holiness, together with the utter necessity of a perfect and blameless Sacrifice in order to access Deity! Note further on poieō: Mark uses lambanō in the sense of to take a wife (Mk 12:19). In the NT, the Majority Text, poieō is used in [other] parallel passages in the Synoptic Gospels, in which it has the same meaning as lambanō, the regular word for ‘take.’ In Mk 3:6, they ‘were…taking (poieō) counsel…against’ Jesus. In Mt 12:14, they ‘took (lambanō) counsel against Him,’ [thus lambanō is] a basic word for take. In Lk 6:11, they sought ‘what they might do (poieō) to Jesus.'” Note further that Peter expressly states that Jesus “bare our sins in his own body on the tree,” 1 P 2:24. Thus Jesus took our sins, and bore our sins (He 9:28), but He was never made sin for us. Compare Is 53:4, 6. he hath made him. *Is 53:4-6, 9-12. +*Da 9:26. *Zc 13:7. Mt 26:38. Lk 22:37. +Ro 4:25. *Ro 8:3. +*Ga 3:13. *Ep 5:2. *1 P 3:18. **1 J 2:1, 2. sin. **FS121L5, +Ge 4:7. 2 Cor 11:7g. Ex 29:14. 30:10. Le 1:4. 3:12, 13. 4:3, 21, 34. 5:11. 6:25. 8:14, 22. 9:2, 3, 15. 12:6. 14:19. *Le 15:14. 22:19. +Le 23:19. Nu 7:45. 8:8. 19:9. 28:15. Dt 21:23. 2 Ch 29:21. Jb 21:19. Ps 40:6. Ezk 40:39. 43:19. 45:22. for us. Ge 3:21. Ex 12:13. 28:38. 29:10. Le 3:2, 8. 4:35. 10:17. **Le 16:10, 21. +=Le 23:19. *Nu 21:9. 28:30. 1 S 18:4. Pr 17:15. *Is 53:10. 57:19. +*Mt 1:21. Mk 10:45. 15:24. Jn 6:51. 11:51, 52. Ro 4:25. 5:10. 6:10. 8:32. **1 Cor 15:3. *1 Th 5:10. +*1 Tim 2:6. +*He 2:9. **1 P 2:24. *1 P 3:18. who knew no sin. FS145, +Jg 11:40. Ex 39:30. 40:10. Ps 69:4. *Is 53:9. Mt 27:24. +*Lk 1:35. **Jn 8:46. %Jn 9:24. **Jn 14:30. 16:10. 19:4. Ac 22:14. +*He 4:15n. *He 7:26. 9:14. 1 P 1:19. *+1 P 2:22-24. 1 J 2:29. *1 J 3:5. that we. ver. *2 Cor 5:17. 2 Cor 3:9. Ps 4:1. 22:31. 24:5. 85:11. 89:16. *Ps 98:2. Is 1:27. *Is 45:24, 25. **Is 53:5, 11. 54:17. +*Je 23:6. *Je 33:16. +*Da 9:24. Zc 3:4. Mt 6:33. Jn 1:29. 13:10. +*Ro 1:17. *Ro 3:21-26. 4:6. **Ro 5:19. *Ro 8:1-4, 10. **Ro 10:3, 4. 14:17. *+1 Cor 1:30. *Phil 3:9. 2 P 1:1. in him. 2 Cor 12:2. Jn 17:23. Ro 16:7. Ep 1:3, 6. 2:13. 1 J 2:5.