The Bible teaches that Jesus saves sinners by substituting for them in judgment and facing the wrath of God in their place. Throughout Jesus' entire life - and especially on the cross - he suffered the wrath of God for sins. On the cross, Jesus propitiated the wrath of God. If we are in Christ, the wrath of God does not remain on us. Rather, we enter into the blessing of God. This entails several Biblical truths:
- All the suffering that we are liable to in this life, including death itself, is due to God's wrath and curse upon sin (Genesis 3:16-19).
- Those who disobey God merit covenant curse, which includes the anger and displeasure of God bringing about misery for a person and ultimately bringing about the person's death (Deuteronomy 28:15-68, Romans 6:23).
- Many sacrifices in the Old Testament were of a propitiatory and substitutionary nature (Genesis 22, Exodus 12, Leviticus 16, 2 Samuel 24:25). The animals symbolically bore the sin of the people and were killed to satisfy God's wrath.
- Jesus bore our sins in his body - especially on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). In the body of Jesus, God condemned sin (Romans 8:3). Jesus bore the curse from God due to sin (Galatians 3:13).