Most Christians, particularly within conservative or Evangelical traditions, think about the significance and effectiveness of Jesus’ death through a penal substitutionary view of atonement. Penal substitutionary atonement states that Jesus, by his own sacrificial choice, was punished (i.e., penalized through death) in place of sinners (i.e., substitution), thus satisfying the demands of God’s justice (which forces God to punish sinners) so that God can justly forgive the sins of those who place their faith in Jesus.

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However, there are several problems with such a view of Jesus’ death. First, it leaves us with the portrait of an angry God, looking for reasons to kill sinners. Though God’s love leads God to not want to kill us, so he settles for killing his Son, Jesus. Viewing God in such a way leads many Christians to follow God, not out of reciprocal love, but out of fear of God’s punishment. Many Christians also live in constant fear of being sent to Hell, rather than with an assured hope of new creation (Heb 6:10–11; 11:1; 1 John 5:13). Others are unable to devote their lives to a God who would murder his own Son. 

Second, this view of atonement is not the best option, nor the view attested by the early Church Fathers. I would argue that Christus Victor, which states that Jesus’ death and resurrection were not to appease God’s justice but rather were God’s victory over the powers of sin, death, and evil, is the best atonement theory (see our episode What Really Happened at the Cross?). Furthermore, the early Church Fathers preferred versions of the ransom theory, that Jesus was a ransom payment to the powers of sin, evil, or Satan, who desire the death of sinners, not a payment to God. Penal substitutionary atonement did not become popular until the Protestant Reformation.

Third, penal substitutionary atonement neglects the significance of the resurrection, which seems to be the emphasis of the New Testament. New Testament authors do not focus as much on Jesus’ death as on his resurrection, which gives meaning to his death (e.g., 1 Cor 15; also, see my subsequent article Resurrecting the Resurrection).  

Therefore, I would argue for a reworking of penal substitutionary atonement. While we do not need to completely throw out the theory, for parts of it are found in Scripture and highlight key points about Jesus’ life and death, it needs to be reworked to prevent the pitfalls listed above. 

First, penal substitutionary atonement states that Jesus was punished, or penalized, through death. But by who? God? If Jesus is fully God (i.e., the Trinity), can God kill himself? Does this not make Jesus’ death a suicide? Instead, Scripture teaches that sin kills (Rom 5:12–21), not God. 

Therefore, second, Jesus’ death is not to satisfy God’s justice. God does not kill. Sin kills. Jesus’ death is his taking on of sin and the harshest punishment sin has to offer (i.e., death). However, Jesus defeats sin through his resurrection by overcoming its harshest punishment. Such an understanding changes our view of God. God no longer is a God looking for reasons to kill us, but a God looking for every reason to save us from sin, not his own wrath, including becoming human and giving up his own life to save ours (see our episode Does God Send People to Hell?). 

In conclusion, while penal substitutionary atonement might have some scriptural merit, the overall theory is lacking logically, theologically, and scripturally. Rather than ridding ourselves of the theory entirely and throwing out the baby with the bathwater, I argue for reworking the theory in support of the overarching atonement theory, Christus Victor. Rather than Jesus dying at the hands of a wrathful God, Jesus dies at the hands of the powers of sin and defeats those powers through his resurrection, thus providing freedom and salvation from sin for those who place their faith in him. 

by: Spencer Shaw