Muslim Challenge:
Christians: Every sin must be punished
Christians: Jesus is sinless
Christians: Jesus is punished
My Response:
There is not a word in the Bible that I know of that specifically states that Jesus was punished for our sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the priestly-sacrificial atonement for our sins. Jesus bore our sins. Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that God punished Jesus for our sins.
TK (Author) Responded to me:
Christians say he took the punishment of your sins. Same meaning.
scroll down and read the comments by Christians. They do say it’s a punishment
My Response:
That is what most Christians have been taught and so it is what they believe. This is NOT what the Bible itself teaches. The teaching reflects an over-emphasis upon man-made theology and theological systems (such as Calvinism). This mistaken theology has crept into every aspect of Christendom–the sermons pastors preach, the hymns which are sung, the works on theology which are written, and even the English Bible translations we read.
Most though not all Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. I am absolutely certain that the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New, teaches the doctrine of the Trinity by necessary inference. It is clear, for example, that the New Testament teaches the deity of Christ. It is clear that the Holy Spirit is called God (as in Acts 5:3, 4). These facts alone settle the matter, and there is far more evidence than this in the Bible.
If our Lord Jesus Christ was punished for our sin on the cross of Calvary, who punished Him? Those who (very mistakenly) believe in what is sometimes called the doctrine of penal satisfaction or penal atonement affirm that Christ bore the penalty, bore the punishment, for our sin on the cross and that He experienced the full wrath of God that would have been due us.
But such a view involves the notion that God the Father punished God the Son, a view that cannot properly be supported from Scripture itself.
When English Bible translations seem to support the penal satisfaction theory of the Atonement, more careful study reveals that this doctrine is not supported by the Greek text of the New Testament. Any English translation that employs the English word “propitiation” is mistaken translation anywhere this term is used, for example. Some modern English translations have corrected this flaw.
TK Asks:
so what is the true teaching for Jesus’ death?
I Answered (Part 1, Galatians 3:13):
I have placed many thorough notes on this subject in my cross reference Bible study resource titled The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury (UCRT), available as a premium module for the free e-Sword Bible study software program.
I will attempt to share the answer to your question by focusing on just a few verses from the New Testament that directly relate to this subject.
(1) Galatians 3:13
- Christ delivered us out of the curse of the Law, having become a curse in our behalf–for it stands written: “Cursed is everyone hanging upon a tree”
(LNT, Lavender New Testament)
Note on Galatians 3:13 from my UCRT:
This is one of the verses used in an effort to prove that Christ was under a curse, under penalty of sin upon the tree. Christ became a curse in the sense that He hung upon a tree, and only in that sense! Paul did not finish the quotation in his reference to Deut 21:23 for obvious reasons; he left off accursed of God because Christ was not under the penalty of sin whatsoever!
Sin was not judged in the Person of Christ at Calvary. Atonement is not what was done to Christ, it is what He did (cf. Joh 10:17, 18).
As the Priest, He offered Himself, the Sacrifice (cf. Eph 5:2; Heb 7:27; Heb 9:14; Heb 10:12).
Atonement does not consist in an outside extrinsic force of God’s wrath penally poured out upon Christ, satisfying justice. Atonement is internalized in the Person of Christ—”And He, Himself, is Atonement….” (1Jn 2:2)—and not externalized by punishing Him.
By the innate merit of His Person, Atonement is He—by Him, through Him, of Him in Triune Oneness with the Godhead. And so, Atonement stands wrought in the merit of His Person.
The validating efficacy is Divinity, the bloodshed is in His humanity. He offered himself through Himself.
Had there not been a Divine Self through Whom to offer himself (hypostatical union), sin could not have been removed and we would be where the Levitical animal and the Calvinists left us—in sin.
The Reformation, Calvinists, and Jews have in common that they esteem Him stricken, smitten by God (cf. Isa 53:12).
But God is one God; thus the Punisher and the punished cannot be one!
Atonement by punishment is false to the Scriptures, blasphemes Christ (cf. 2Co 5:21), destroys the Trinity (cf. Mat 27:46), contaminates the purity of the Sacrifice (cf. Lev 22:19, 21, 22; Deut 17:1; Mal 1:8; Mal 1:13, 14; Heb 9:14; 1Pe 1:18, 19), limits the Atonement (cf. 2Co 5:14; 1Jn 2:2), and results in salvation concepts on the level of the Law (cf. Rom 2:13; Eph 1:7), thus stripping the Gospel of its saving essence and transforming power! (Cf. Rom 3:20-31; Rom 5:1; Eph 4:24; Col 3:9, 10).
Atonement by punishment is a satanic perversion of Christ’s work on the cross! The greatest urgency of our time is that the people of God rise up and take Calvary back! (Cf. 1Co 1:18 and note) [LNT, fn l].
Part 2, 1 Peter 2:24
Here is another New Testament text that is very important to consider in answering your excellent question:
(2) 1 Peter 2:24
- Who Himself bore up our sins in His body upon the tree, that we, having died to the sins, may live in the sphere of righteousness–by the wound of Whom you were restored. (LNT, Lavender New Testament)
Note (very long but worthy of careful study!) on 1 Peter 2:24 from my UCRT:
1 Peter 2:24
his own self. Christ is shown emphatically in the double nominative construction, hos autos, Who Himself, and as having acted, i.e., He bore up. That Christ bore up our sins has nothing to do with the punishment of His Person, and cannot. The direct object of anēnegken (bore up, aorist active indicative) is the sins (tas hamartias); and if anēnegken means punished, then it will read: “Who, Himself, punished (anēnegken) the sins of us in the body of Him upon the tree….”
Neither Christ nor sins are said to have been punished (cf. Rom 8:3; Gal 3:13 and notes). This Scripture deals with what Christ did for us; He bore up our sins. The main idea of anēnegken is associated with movement. The preposition ana shows movement of an upward direction; pherō speaks of movement of a load, to bear, carry. So, to move by carrying or bearing upward to something, the cross is in mind here (LNT, fn w). *Exo 28:38; %=Exo 32:30; Exo 32:32, *Lev 16:17; Lev 16:22; Lev 22:9, *Num 18:22, *Psa 38:4, **Isa 53:4, 5, 6; **Isa 53:11, *Mat 8:17; Mat 26:38, *Joh 1:29, 1Ti 2:6, *Tit 2:14, +*Heb 9:14; Heb 9:26; Heb 9:28 note. 1Jn 3:16.
bare. or, bore up. Gr. anapherō (S# G399, Heb 7:27), to take up (literally or figuratively) [Strong]. FS121C1E, +Gen 19:15.
Christ is not shown here as a penal substitute.
Rather, He is our sin-bearer, who bore our sins to or up on the cross, resulting in their removal (Heb 9:25, 26).
The action described here is not punishment.
If it were, who was punished, and by whom?
Surely God the Father did not punish God the Son on the cross, which would disrupt the Trinity!
There is no thought in Scripture of this being a punishment of Christ, or a penalty, any more than there is in the type in Leviticus 16 of any punishment or penalty of the two sacrificial animals in the Levitical sacrifice of the great Day of Atonement.
There is thus no “payment for our sins” involved: this is language which comes from the writings of Anselm long after the New Testament, and is added to the Bible, not something found in the Bible, and is a mistaken point of view involving teaching based upon the Penal Satisfaction Theory of the Atonement.
Here we have our Lord Jesus Christ Himself the High Priest and the Sacrifice, thus the Priestly-Sacrificial Atonement. 1Pe 2:5, Gen 8:20; Gen 22:2; Gen 22:6; Gen 22:9, Exo 24:5; Exo 28:43; Exo 29:18, Lev 3:8; Lev 3:13; Lev 5:1; Lev 7:18; Lev 10:17; Lev 14:20; Lev 16:8 note, Lev 16:21, 22; Lev 17:16; %+Lev 20:17; Lev 22:16; Lev 24:15, Num 14:33; *Num 18:1, Psa 69:4; %*Psa 88:7, *Isa 53:4, 5, 6; *Isa 53:10, 11, 12, Eze 4:4; Eze 18:20, 1Co 11:24; 1Co 13:7, **+2Co 5:21 note. Gal 6:2, Heb 7:27; *Heb 9:28 note. Heb 10:4 note. Heb 13:15, Jas 2:21, *1Jn 3:5.
our. 1Pe 2:21, *Isa 53:4, Rom 4:8, **1Co 15:3, Gal 1:4, 1Jn 2:2; 1Jn 4:10.
sins. Gr. hamartia (S# G266, Rom 6:1). Our sins translates tas harmartias hēmōn, literally the sins of us. The sins are the direct object of the verb and the terminus or end of the action of anēnegken. It was the sins that He bore up. And certainly he did not bring the sins as an offering. Further, He is disassociated with the sins that He bore up. He had no sin, nor was He under the punishment or consequences due sin. Anēnegken has to do with movement in bearing our sins upward, not punishment (cf. 2Co 5:21 note). Of us refers to believers here, but the world is not shut out. 1Jn 2:2 is stated in a universal sense: “…not concerning our [sins] only, but also concerning the world as a whole.” Peter speaks of benefits received from universal provision; John speaks of provision available for all men of the whole world (LNT, fn x). 1Pe 3:18, +=Lev 5:6, Num 15:31; Num 28:30, 2Sa 24:17, Eze 45:17, +*Joh 1:29, +*Rom 3:25; +Rom 4:25, **2Co 5:21, **Col 2:14.
his own body. Lev 4:32; Lev 4:34, 35, Zec 13:7, Mat 20:28, Luk 22:19, Joh 10:11; Joh 10:15; Joh 11:51, Rom 7:4; Rom 8:3, Eph 1:7; *Eph 2:15, Heb 9:12.
- on. or, to.
the tree. FS121D8, +Gen 40:19, *Deut 21:22; *Deut 21:23, Mar 15:24, Luk 23:33, Joh 12:32, *Act 5:30; *Act 10:39; Act 13:29, *Gal 3:13, *Php 2:8, Col 2:14, 1Th 5:10, Heb 12:2.
that we. Gal 2:16.
being dead. or, having died. Gr. ἀπογενόμενοι, S# G581, ’apoginomai,’ only here. [Negative] “The effect of the atonement is described as an actual abandonment of sin rather than release from guilt, and a redirection of life towards righteousness” (Edward Gordon Selwyn, The First Epistle of St. Peter, The Greek Text with Introduction, Notes and Essays, London, Macmillan & Co ltd NY, St Martin’s Press, 1964, p. 181). The word is defined by the Friberg Lexicon, “in relation to doing wrong cease from, have nothing to do with, be finished with (1Pe 2:24).” UBS Lexicon: “die, i.e. have no part in.” Louw and Nida Lexicon: “to cease, with a complete and abrupt change—‘to cease, to stop.’ ’having stopped sinning’ or ’ceased sinning’ 1Pe 2:24,” Thayer: “to be removed from, depart.” Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon, s.v. ’apoginomai’: It denotes, not a legal, but a moral relation to sin, which is here represented according to its individual manifestations (plural), cf. Rom 6:2; Rom 7:6, Col 2:20, and indeed a relation of such a kind that the moulding of the character of the person by sin ceases any longer to be.” So a total separation from sin in this life, an experience that legal, penal, or commercial atonement cannot produce (see note at Jas 5:20). See LNT, fn y. 1Pe 4:1, 2, Rom 6:2; Rom 6:18, Gal 2:19.
to sins. Gr. hamartia (S# G266, Rom 6:1). 1Pe 4:1, 2, *Rom 6:2; *Rom 6:7; *Rom 6:11; *Rom 7:4; *Rom 7:6 mg. *2Co 6:17, *Col 2:20; Col 3:3 g. *Heb 7:26.
should live. “[Positive] Real life changing righteousness; not deliverance from guilt, but [still] left in sin; not legal, but moral; not fictitious imputation, but regenerative change” (Dr. Malcolm Lavender, Greek Grammar and Syntax Versus Calvinism, page 98). Cf. Rom 1:17 and note (LNT, fn z). *Mat 5:20, *Luk 1:74; *Luk 1:75, Act 10:35, **Rom 6:11; **Rom 6:13; **Rom 6:16; **Rom 6:22, *Eph 5:9, Php 1:11, Col 3:1, *1Jn 2:29; *1Jn 3:7.
unto righteousness. 1Pe 3:14.
by whose stripes. Gr. mōlōps (S# G3468, only here), a mole (“black eye”) or blow mark (Strong). Psa 129:3, *Isa 53:5; *Isa 53:6; *Isa 53:10, *Mat 27:26, *Mar 15:15, *+Joh 19:1.
healed. or, restored. Gr. iaomai (S# G2390, Mat 8:8). You were restored translates iathēte, an aorist passive from iaomai. This term may refer to either physical healing or restoration from the Fall, i.e., sin. Here restoration from the Fall is in mind (cf. Gen 1:26, 27; Gen 2:17; Gen 5:3; Psa 51:5; Luk 4:18; Eph 4:24; Col 3:9, 10 and notes) [LNT, fn a]. *Psa 47:3, Isa 53:5, Jer 30:13; Jer 30:17, *Mal 4:2, **Mat 8:17; Mat 13:15, +*Luk 4:18, Jas 5:16, Rev 22:2. or, restored. Gen 1:26, 27; Gen 2:17; Gen 5:3, +Psa 51:5, Eph 4:24, **Col 3:9; Col 3:10.
Part 3, 1 John 2:2
Here is a third most important New Testament text with my notes from my UCRT:
(3) 1 John 2:2
1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (KJV)
1 Jn 2:2 And He, Himself, is Atonement concerning our sins; but not concerning ours only, but also concerning the world as a whole. (LNT, Lavender New Testament)
Notes on 1 John 2:2 from my UCRT:
he is. He himself in his own person, both priest and sacrifice (A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures).
the propitiation. or, atonement. Gr. hilasmos (S# G2434, only here and 1Jn_4:10). Atonement translates hilasmos, normally translated propitiation, but “…this involves a wrong interpretation of the term…in the NT God is never the object of propitiation since he is already on the side of the people” (Louw and Nida, § 40.12).
Propitiation or appeasement is neither Old Testament or Christian; it is paganism coming to Protestantism through Roman Catholicism and the Reformation (cf. Rom 3:25; Rom 8:3; 2Co 5:21; Gal 3:13; Heb 2:17; Heb 7:27; Heb 9:5 and notes).
Note that hilasmos, Atonement, is in the predicate nominative position; the linking verb estin, is, expresses a state of being, not action. The significance of this powerful construction is that it emphatically links the Person and His work, i.e., He and Atonement are the same—Person and Atonement. Thus Christ is the Atonement and the Atonement is He.
The double nominative He and Himself emphasize the Person of Christ in Atonement. The predicate nominative construction is the Divine declarative that Christ is the All-Sufficient One. It means that Atonement is Who Christ is, and what He is—the Priest and the Offering.
Atonement is not what was done to Christ, it is what He did as Priest and Sacrifice when He offered Himself (cf. Joh 10:17, 18; Eph 5:2; Heb 7:27; Heb 9:14; Heb 10:12).
This is intrinsic Atonement— Atonement in Christ. Atonement then is Priestly-Sacrificial in nature, and is uniquely wrought by Christ in the transcendent sufficiency of Himself. This sufficiency is so centrally of God that all external means of extrinsic atonement theories can but contaminate the Divine plan; thus, penal satisfaction, punishment, wrath, vengeance, etc. are excluded. The Remedy is so Self-sufficient and Personal that no further contribution can be made whatsoever. Here the Person of the Priest-Sacrifice consists in a sufficiency in which all other atonement theories are laid aside (LNT, fn p).
the whole. The construction holou tou kosmou means the world as a whole, whole, entire, complete; “(1) used with a noun to indicate its totality” (Friberg). John also uses this construction in 1Jn_5:19 where the word order is ho kosmos holos, “the whole world lies in the sphere of the wicked one.” John’s usage of whole, holos, cannot be evaded. Christ died for the world as a whole, the entire world! Accordingly, the Atonement is co-extensive with the Fall. Note that but also, alla kai, is an emphatic construction which adds emphasis or contrast, and so not only ours…but also the world, thus emphatically Atonement is for Adam’s fallen race! (Cf. Joh 3:16; Joh 12:32; 2Co 5:14; Eph 2:14; 1Ti 2:4) [LNT, fn q].