IT'S MORE THAN WHAT YOU THINK

There is this line of thought in certain theological circles that has pushed us to view Jesus’ dying on the Cross from a fresh perspective. The question is how does Jesus’ death on the cross atone for our sins? How does he wash away our sins and make us new. I would very much like to add that you read this post to the end to get my take on things. If you stop at the middle you'll get the wrong idea.

The most popular view in modern times is the Penal substitution theory; Jesus died on the cross as a substitute for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve upon him. It is the idea that God was angry with us and he HAD to punish and destroy us for our sins. So he sent his son and destroyed him instead. Jesus did no wrong; therefore his death is more than enough to satisfy Gods bloodlust. This might be a big exaggeration of the theory, but it reflects the general idea behind it. Penal substitution is the prevalent theory in modern western Christianity. It is certainly the theory that triggered the reformation. It is so enshrined that many believe that it is the legitimate and oldest view of the atonement. Once anyone says anything to the contrary, he is accused of heresy and unorthodoxy.

But there are several other views on the atonement, much older and much more popular among the early church fathers. These views also find credence in the New Testament and can be more easily gleaned from it. There is the Ransom theory, the Christos Victor theory, The Moral Influence theory and many others.

The flaw in extreme application of the Penal Substitution theory is that it makes God out to be some sort of monster. Most times, its proponents put God’s sense of Justice or Honour over and above his Love. But God is Love, everything he does flows from his love. He is not some sort of morality judge whose only concern is that we live perfect lives. I find it absurd that Love would have some sort of animosity towards us that he would need to appease by brutally murdering his own son. The very idea also presupposes that the Father loves humans more than he loves the Son. Think about it, if he can sacrifice his son to satisfy his own bloodlust, the unity and love that is the essence of the trinity is eroded.

Thankfully, many around the world are beginning to see the gospel for what it really is. There is a revolution of the “Grace Message” all over the world. This has led people to reexamine some of our longheld beliefs and thereby unearthing various older and more orthodox doctrines. The doctrine of the Trinity is returning to the forefront. It is beginning to shape the way we view the Bible and our various concepts; including the atonement. As a result, we are seeing a resurgence of the other theories of the atonement.

But this is also leading to some reactionary thoughts by many people. Some want to reduce the work of Christ to a psychological level. They say that he took our beating in order to identify with us and that He let us kill him to shock us into seeing his love for us. This line of thought presumes that we were the ones with the bloodlust (which we were) and God only came to satisfy it. While I can identify with the premise behind this theory-I certainly think it has some valid points- I think it is unwise to ignore the other aspects of scripture. These show us that sin was a real spiritual problem; it didn't just exist in our minds. It wasn't just an illusion or a lie we came up with in our fallen state. Something caused us to fall. It is called sin, which put us in Satan’s control and death was the end result. These aren't just psychological problems, they are strong spiritual problems too and the scripture bears witness with this. Jesus came to do much more than balance our psychology. He came to reconcile everything back to himself, he came to destroy the power of Satan and his demons, he came to destroy all rule and authority and establish his own kingdom, and yes he also came to take our place and pay the price of our sin-he died our death. And he achieved all these things and many more on the Cross. Let us not accept one aspect of his sacrifice in place of the other. Instead, let us take it all in and put each one in its proper place and balance. We shouldn't make God out to be a monster, neither should we make him out to be a sissy either. He is love but he is also a judge, therefore his judgement is true and fair. But it is not scary; his judgement was to cleanse us from our sins and bring us back to his side, psychologically and otherwise.

Below is a short video by someone who is many times more knowledgeable than I am in these matters. Dr N.T Wright discusses briefly a balanced view of the atonement. I’m sure he speaks more clearly in the few minutes than I could possibly have done in my write up. Enjoy