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My take on penal substitution

tonychanyt

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Oct 2, 2011
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The term penal substitution is not found in the Bible. When it comes to doctrine, I rather stick to terms in the Bible.

Isa 53:

2 Corinthians 5:

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Rom 3:

More simply, John 3:

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Christ physically died for us so that we don't have to die eternally.

There is no need to overgeneralize the above concepts to create a doctrine of penal substitution. Just stick to the words in the Bible.

Some would say that Christ was God, therefore his limited punishment was of infinite value to the Father. But if that is so, why was not a much lesser punishment enough? An insignificant amount of suffering would suffice if multiplied infinitely.
Right, let's take this logic to the extreme: a tiny scratch on Jesus' skin should suffice to save everyone universally. Well, that's human logic, not God's.

The reality was different. Jesus sweated blood at Gethsemane out of anguish. The most painful moment of Jesus' life was in Matthew 27:

46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
That was God's logic, God's wisdom.
 
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Grip Docility

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I’m enjoying the fact that you stick to understanding scripture with scripture! And… facilitate much valuable discussion!
 
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