How Did Jesus' Death Pay the Penalty for Sin?
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The most anticipated and celebrated Christian holiday is Christmas, and it’s right to rejoice in the First Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the holiday which should hold first place on every Christian’s calendar is Resurrection Sunday, because that’s when Jesus died for our sins. How did Jesus' death pay the penalty for our sins, and how does His resurrection justify us?
Many people have a passing knowledge of the word Gospel, but when pressed to define or even explain it, people often hem and haw as they attempt to form an answer. Sadly, even all Christians aren’t equipped with a proper and succinct Gospel explanation. People quote John 3:16 and think it’s sufficient, but that verse, while momentous in its truth, is not as all-sufficient as people believe. Yes, God has used John 3:16 to bring myriad people into the kingdom, but many need further explanation (Acts 8:27-39).
Christians call the Gospel the Good News, but what does that mean? Pastor Mark Dever tells us, “The Gospel is the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile sinners to God.”
The Gospel has everything to do with the sins of mankind and how Jesus’ death on the cross atoned for every man’s sins. His resurrection is an essential part of the Gospel, too, for, “…if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up — if in fact the dead do not rise” (1 Corinthians 15:13-15).
The entire Gospel message hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not merely His death.
What Is Sin, and Why Is It So Serious?
The simplest definition of sin is to “miss the mark,” as likened to an archer shooting his arrow at a target and missing. But that analogy pales in comparison to the biblical explanation of sin.
God is our sovereign Creator and He sets the criteria for all behavior in His law. His righteousness is the standard for our lives, and when we fail to reach His righteous and perfect conditions, we sin. Sin can also be described as idolatry because it places someone or something over and against God (Exodus 20:3).
Dr. R. C. Sproul tells us Scripture characterizes sin in three stand-out ways, (and all are against God). “First, sin is a debt (Luke 11:4); second, it is an expression of enmity (Romans 8:7; Colossians 1:21-22), third, it is depicted as a crime (Psalm 32:1; Proverbs 29:22; Isaiah 58:1; Hebrews 2:2). (Scripture references added by author).
Sin is the most serious problem every person has because it is rebellion against Almighty God and His rightful and holy sovereign reign over us. Scripture tells us our holy God cannot look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). The Word also reveals God gave the law to reveal sin (Romans 3:20; 4:15). The law, as Paul explains in Romans 3:23 shows all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, incurring His just wrath and judgment upon themselves.
If He cannot look upon sin, why did He reveal it? A short answer is so we know of it (Romans 1:18-32), can acknowledge our depravity (Isaiah 6:5; Luke 5:8), and look to a Savior (Job 19:25; Isaiah 59:20; Luke 2:11).
What Is the Penalty for Sin?
All men sin. Humanity as a whole has sinned since the Fall (Genesis 3). We just read Romans 3:23, which explains “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin deserves death, as the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 6:23a, “For the wages of sin is death.”
The Bible has much to say about sin’s penalty, including:
- Conceived desire births sin, and when fully grown brings death (James 1:15).
- Sin produces death in us (Romans 7:13).
- Direct disobedience to God’s command is sin and causes death (Genesis 2:17; 3:3).
- Wickedness (sinfulness) leads to death (Psalm 34:21).
- Death came into the world through sin (Romans 5:12, 14, 17; 1 Corinthians 15:21).
- Man’s ways are sinful without God and lead to death (Proverbs 14:12).
- Becoming a slave to sin leads to death (Romans 6:16).
- Sin can cause death by looking good (Romans 7:11, 24).
Death is the penalty for sin because God Himself is averse to anything at enmity with Him. He is an enemy of sin; He must punish the sinner, and we are all sinners. We are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:16), and as His image-bearers, Christians have a standard to follow. Yet, we Christians are sinners saved by grace (Ephesians 2:5). Christ has redeemed us by His atoning work on the cross; He has nullified all our sins so we may stand in righteousness before God. Keep in mind it’s Christ’s righteousness in which we abide, because nothing good indwells our natural state.
To take God seriously is to take sin seriously. Sin — every single sin — is never to be taken lightly and is instead to be eradicated. A single sin, such as what transpired in the Garden of Eden, involves complete rebellion. It was not just an action; a sin involves the very heart, will, mind and all the resources God has given the one who commits the transgression.
We forge past sin and death and into life by repentance from our sins and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why Was Jesus' Life Sufficient?
Leviticus 4:3 indicated only a blemish-free bull would be acceptable as a sacrificial offering to the Lord.
Only God can grant salvation, yet it is man alone who is guilty and must pay. No animal could truly be a sufficient sacrifice because it is people who are guilty (Hebrews 10:1-4). Man must die for his sin, yet man cannot save himself, only God can.
Jesus came to earth as fully God and fully man (John 1:14; 1 John 4:2). He did not lose nor give up His deity. As such, Jesus is the only sinless man (Hebrews 4:15) — perfectly blemish-free and wholly acceptable to God and able to sit down in the sovereign position at the right hand of God.
How Did Jesus' Death Pay the Penalty for our Sin?
Sacrifices were made to God by men (Genesis 4:2-5; 8:20-21; 22) up to the formal instructions given in Exodus 20 and following. In Leviticus, God gave Moses detailed directions for instituting and performing the sacrificial system for Israel’s Old Covenant worship terms. A majority of the sacrifices involved blood. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 9:22, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
But the sacrifices given by men were not effective; they were temporary and only served as a picture of a better sacrifice to come. Hebrews 10:1-4 states, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
Further in Hebrews we read about the complete and acceptable sacrifice made by Jesus Christ.
“He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:9b-14).
Jesus is called the Lamb of God (John 1:29) and the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). These two titles help us understand how Jesus’ death paid the penalty for our sin. As the Lamb of God, He fulfilled the Law as the perfect sacrifice (Romans 8:3). As the last Adam, Jesus brought life to all who believe in Him through repentance and faith (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:21; Hebrews 6:1).
We still must give an account for our lives to God — the one to whom everyone is exposed. We can hold to our confession of Him as Lord because Jesus Christ is our great High Priest. He sympathizes with all our weaknesses because He was tempted in every way, yet he did not sin. Because of Jesus, we are able to go before the throne of God (throne of grace) for His mercy and help (Hebrews 4:13-16).
Why Does Jesus’ Resurrection Justify Us?
One pastor defines justification as “just if I’d” never sinned. Bible Study Tools defines justification as, “the declaring of a person to be just or righteous.” We cannot be justified without the atoning work of Jesus Christ, because as we remember, God cannot look upon sin. When we stand at the judgment, God will see Jesus in us and not our sinful state.
Paul tells us this about Jesus and His resurrection in Romans 4:25: “Who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Our free gift of Christ’s one sacrifice brought justification to many trespasses.”
Galatians 2:16-21 states a person is not justified by the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:22-29 tells us we were previously held captive by the law, but the law acted as a “guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
Titus 3:4-5 adds, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”
Not only does Jesus’ resurrection justify those who love Him as Savior and Lord, but the resurrection, as Pastor Don Stewart explains, also further proves God’s existence.
How Can One Act Cover All of Humanity for All Time?
Romans 5:16 expounds on Jesus’ one act when the Apostle Paul tells us, “And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. Adam’s one sin brought condemnation for the human race; Jesus’ atonement brought salvation to all who believe in Him through repentance and faith.
Jesus is God, and God does anything He wants according to His perfect will (Mark 10:27; Ephesians 3:20). How can we doubt that the One who spoke the heavens and the earth into existence (from nothing (ex nihilo) can save everyone with one momentous and miraculous act? There should be no doubting of what God can do, for one who doubts is like a wave tossing about in the ocean (James 1:6). One act can cover all of humanity because God is of eternal worth (Revelation 5:9-10).
Does Jesus' Sacrifice Cover the Sins of All People?
No works done by sinful man can pave a path to heaven; we can do nothing to earn our salvation (Luke 18:27; Romans 6:23b; Ephesians 2:8-9).
Jesus paid it all. He willingly stood in our place as our substitute to pay the inescapable penalty of our sin, which is death. But there is a proviso. Dr. Steven Lawson shares, “Jesus did not die for the whole world. Jesus only died for those whom the Father chose in eternity past and gave to Him to be really an expression of the Father's love for the Son. Jesus came into this world on a very specific, definite mission. He came to lay down His life for the sheep. He came to save His people from their sins. He came to purchase the church with His own blood. All for whom Jesus died will be in heaven. And so, we can very clearly say from Scripture that Jesus died a definite atonement; some people call it "particular redemption."
Look again at Romans 5:16. That verse is a definitive truth about Jesus’ sacrifice covering the sins of the elect who accept Him as Savior and Lord (Ephesian 1:3-10). See two sterling articles about this from The Gospel Coalition and Christianity.com.
What Does This Mean For Us Today?
Though we are now free in Christ, we still sin. But we do not subject ourselves or our witness for Jesus by ongoing, willful disobedience (sin). God does discipline us, and He disciplines us as a Father who loves His children (Hebrews 12:6, 10). As He disciplines us, God is conforming us to the image of His Son for our good and so we may share His holiness (no sin abides within holiness). One day we will reach glory and will sin no more (John 7:18; 17:22; Romans 8:18; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:17). Until then we rest in God’s promise to forgive and restore us when we confess and repent.
If we do not put to death the sin that so easily entangles us and accept His kind invitation (Hebrews 12;1; Romans 2:4), God will put us to death at the judgment. That’s why he sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die so we can live.
Since the Gospel saturates the Bible, it is as living and active as the Word in which it is found (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus’ death bought us our freedom from sin and death We are to live out our freedom in Christ, because He is the only way to heaven. Jesus holds the keys to death and Hades (Revelation 1:18).
All humans were created with eternity in our hearts, therefore everyone has a longing for God. Non-believers try to fill the “God-shaped hole” in their hearts with everything they can to satiate the vacuum. But nothing and no one but God can complete us, for reconciliation to God, which he made possible, allows us to live the life for which he created us — one of worship and enjoying Him (1 Corinthians 10:31; Philippians 1:6).
Christians are alienated from this world (1 Peter 2:11). Even so, we are to be in the world to share the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16; 2 Corinthians 5:20), because faith comes by hearing the Word. We are to be careful, however, to not be of the world (John 15:19; 17:14-16). Christ inaugurated the kingdom by His death and resurrection. And even though we are in the kingdom, it will not be fully realized until Christ comes to consummate the end of this age and usher in His glorious kingdom (Revelation 7:9-10).
Jesus Christ permeates Scripture from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21. The whole of the Bible is set up as a revelation of Jesus Christ culminating in the consummation of His kingdom.
“In the beginning, GOD…” (Genesis 1:1).
“In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1).
“I am the Alpha and the Omega” (Revelation 1:8).
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:13). And Jesus extends His grace in the final words of Scripture, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Revelation 22:21).
There is no getting around the fact Jesus is, was, and will forever be our Savior and Lord.
Andraé Crouch’s song, My Tribute is a fitting conclusion to this whole topic because in it he proclaims the truth — God gets all the glory.
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