We hear a lot about we are justified through or by faith. And we hear we are saved by Grace through faith. But what we don't hear a lot these days is we are Justified by the Blood of Christ and by His Blood we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (Romans 5:9)
We also don't hear about God's wrath a whole lot either these days.
So was the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ truly propitiation for our sins thus He was a substitute saving us from the wrath of God?
Or is there another way Jesus reconciles us to the Father?
Atonement is a huge topic which books have been written on, so just briefly:
Is God blood thirsty requiring innocent blood in order to have the power to forgive?
From Christ’s pray in the Garden it would appear Christ personally desired His blood remain flowing through His veins, so would God out of empathy for Christ also personally desire Christ’s blood to remain in His veins?
Who is needing and desiring Christ’s blood to leave His body?
“John 6: 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them”
I really want life in Christ, eternal life, and having Christ live in and through me, so
I am blood thirsty.
I need to believe, realize and even physically feel Christ’s blood, out of His body available for me, to have it (in the form of wine) flow down my throat and over my heart, cleansing my heart and making it holy.
The blood of animals could only outwardly cleanse temple objects and people, but they could not drink animal blood, since it would do nothing for them.
God made and emphasized nasty blood to be the source of cleansing, so when I physically drink Christ’s blood symbolically in the form of wine, I can experience a cleansing.
Justification and justified is not an Old Testament word used to ever describe a righteous person, but the New Testament (especially Paul and especially in Romans) use it a lot to describe the way Christians are to be before God, so how does that “happen”?
What does it take for a previous repeatedly rebellious disobedient child to comfortably stand next to their parents (feeling justified)?
What does it take for a former criminal, who has repented of his former behavior, to comfortably stand before a Judge feeling now justified before the judge?
Could you really
feel “justified” before your parents, if your older brother took the punishment/discipline you fully deserved in your stead?
Jesus did physically go to the cross, so you do not have to physically go to the cross so in that respect there is “substitution”, but is it penal substitution?
If you are not truly fairly/justly discipline by your Loving Parents, how can you truly know they are your Loving Parents?
Crucifixion is not the payment punishment for your sins, since your sins are way beyond any payment method, but God’s Love is great enough to forgive those sins. Crucifixion is just/fair discipline for your sins and you can be crucified, by being crucified
with Christ (similar to the experience God had while Christ was on the cross and to be remembered every time you take the Lord’s Supper).
Yes, Christ crucifixion is described by Christ, Peter, Paul, John and the Hebrew writer as a literal ransom payment, but God is not the unworthy kidnapper and satan is not holding the child out of the Kingdom, so who is hold the child back?
When you talk to the nonbeliever: you do not pray to satan to take the ransom payment and let this child enter the kingdom, but you do try to get the
nonbeliever to accept Jesus Christ and Him crucified, which is the literal ransom payment and if he accepts a child goes to the Father.
Much more can be said.