Hello!
So, ever since I was little I can remember hearing the phrase "Jesus died for your sin." I know the story of Jesus, and have heard it my entire life, but when I really started to think about the idea of him dying for my sin, I couldn't wrap my head around it. I find the idea to be very complex and the logic surrounding it to be warped in many descriptions, but maybe I'm just missing something.
I guess I want to hear the way you would explain this phenomenon to someone who struggles with it. Yes, Jesus died so my sins could be forgiven, but how did that transaction work?
I feel like if I am missing out on this portion of the biblical story, I can't claim to have a very good relationship with God, or a very thorough one at least.
When talking about the "mechanics" of the Atonement in Christian theology we usually refer to what are known as Atonement Theories or Theories of the Atonement. Throughout the history of Christianity there have been several of these put forward, and they aren't necessarily mutually exclusive to one another.
Historically we can identify several of these:
Recapitulation Theory - This is usually ascribed to the second century theologian St. Irenaeus of Lyons, especially in his work "Against Heresies" in which he argues using some of the language St. Paul used in his letters concerning Jesus being a kind of new Adam. That is, where Adam fell, and through his fall and disobedience brought sin and death to the world, Christ undoes this. Christ undoes Adam's disobedient work by His obedient work. And so this: Christ was born, like all men; Christ lived, like all men, and Christ died, like all men; and so God the Son became fully human and shared in all the weakness and pain of all humanity. Christ's death was His sharing in our death, however Christ destroys the power of death by rising again. Where Adam was disobedient and died, and all men therefore suffer under sin and death; Christ was obedient and suffered death, but rose from the dead in victory over it, and in Him there is victory over death. Having shared in Adam, we now share in Christ; having once been dead in Adam, we have new life in Christ. Where we were held in bondage to both sin and death in Adam, we now have freedom and the hope of eternal life and the hope of resurrection in Christ. We were human like Adam, but now we are human like Christ. There is forgiveness, life, and resurrection because Christ has defeated sin, death, and hell in Himself, and now shares Himself with us. His victory is our victory, His life is our life.
Ransom Theory - Another view which was common in the early Church looks to the language of ransom, as used in Scripture. It looks to where we read in Scripture that human beings have been sold under to the slavery of death, and that it is the devil who wields the power of death over and against us. That is, because we have been held captive to death, we are held captive by the devil. Thus here Christ is the ransom payment, for the devil beholds in Christ a great prize, the very Son of God Himself, and so Christ's death delivers to the devil Christ Himself, and so Christ is a ransom payment on our behalf. Christ the ransom is the payment by which we are released from the grasp of the devil. Like the king handing over the prince as a payment to release hostages. However, the devil is unexpecting that this is, in fact, his very downfall. For Christ is Christ, and so when the devil gets his prize, the Captive becomes the Captor, and the devil is overthrown, and by His resurrection has set to ruin the devil, defeated death, and destroyed the power of hell. And now it is Satan who is bound, captive, crushed and defeated beneath Christ's heel. And all who were once held in captivity to sin, death, hell, and the devil have been released, freed, brought into the freedom and light of Jesus Christ.
Satisfaction Theory (Anselm) - In the 11th century the Western philsopher and theologian St. Anselm of Canterbury put forward a writing known as "Cur Deus Homo", that is, "Why God Became Human". In it Anselm argues that God is the Lord against whom man's sin has betrayed and offended God's honor. Here it is helpful to understand that this was written during the Feudal Era of Western Europe, and so appropriates the notion that a lord is owed honor by his subjects. Here, man having betrayed God's honor has found himself unable to make reparations, for God who is infinite is infinitely owed honor, and no sinful man is thereby able to satisfy the honor-debt owed to God. However, out of kindness God the Son becomes man in order that He, by becoming a human being, may satisfy the honor-debt on our behalf. As God He is able to satisfy, as man He is able to do this as a man on our behalf. And therefore, says Anselm, that it is only One who is at once both God and man who can satisfy the debt incurred by human sin. And so Christ, on our behalf, satisfies the honor-debt by being perfectly obedient, even to the point of death on the cross. And we, now in Him, can enjoy the benefit of His Satisfaction which He did for us.
Satisfaction Theory (Aquinas) - In the 13th century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas took the ideas of Anselm, but modified them. Rather than it being an honor-debt that man owed, it was rather God's Justice that has been infringed upon. And so man, having betrayed and infringed upon God's justice has incurred a debt against God's Justice. And like in Anselm's theory it is impossible for a sinful man to satisfy Justice, it is necessary for one who is perfectly Just to satisfy Justice; thus only Christ can satisfy God's Justice by being the perfectly Just One. And so by Christ's just and righteous obedience, even in death, satisfies all Justice on behalf of fallen ans sinful man, in order to reconcile sinful man to God.
Moral Influence Theory - Against Anselm's views, the 11th century philosopher Peter Abelard put forward an alternative hypothesis: Namely, that Christ's death was the ultimate expression of God's love, the demonstration of God's love which could influence the hearts of men to change them. And thus establishing a principle and example to follow, men could turn toward God following the example, and being changed by the influence and example of Christ's sacrificial offering of Himself in love.
Penal Substitution Theory - In the 16th century the Protestant Reformer John Calvin built upon the ideas of Anselm and Aquinas, which had become the dominant, official view of the Western (Catholic) Church. However Calvin argued further, that Christ did not simply satisfy God's Justice, but argued that since Justice demands punishment, a penal and punitive consequence to sin, that Christ bore upon Himself the just punishment, the penal consequences of sin upon Himself. Thus Christ offers Himself up to be punished by God on our behalf, becoming our Vicarious Substitute even in bearing upon Himself the punishments we justly deserve upon Himself.
Governmental Theory - Hugo Grotius, a Dutch Arminian theologian in the 17th century, put forward the notion that God is incapable of merely overlooking sin, as a Just King and Judge sin cannot be ignored, and must be dealt with. And so God, as the Universal Sovereign, deals with sin by dealing with sin in Christ. Christ does not receive the precise and exact punishment of sin, rather Christ's punishment is the demonstration of God's displeasure and the seriousness of sin. And so God is able as Judge and King to demonstrate the seriousness of sin--and therefore that it cannot simply be overlooked or ignored--in Christ's sufferings and death, and here does bear upon Himself the significance of God's punishment. That is, we see what we deserve, but that Christ receives it instead of us; so that God may remain the Moral and Just Sovereign, both dealing with sin as well as showing mercy.
Christus Victor Theory - In the 20th century the Swedish Lutheran theologian Gustaf Aulen wrote his seminal work titled Christus Victory, in which he argued for a return to the older views of the Church, namely Recapitulation and Ransom as mentioned earlier in this post. Aulen argues that the Atonement should be understood chiefly as Christ's victory over sin, death, hell, and the devil; that Christ in participating and sharing in our humanity thereby gives us participation in His humanity. And by His suffering, death, and resurrection destroys the power of sin, death, and the devil. And thus in Christ's victory there is victory for us, for He shared in our weakness, our mortality, our death that we might share in His glory, His life, His resurrection. So that in Christ there is victory, the victory which He accomplished by defeating all hostile powers, and thereby freeing us and liberating us to share in the life of God which is in Himself.
Just as a disclaimer, what I've presented here are largely very watered down, bite-sized explanations for these views. Think of this as a very incomplete, and very basic introduction to the various Theories of the Atonement.
Also, remember that these are not mutually exclusive, at least not necessarily. Some favor one view to the exclusion of others, but many also see here different, mutually complimentary views. In a very real way the Atonement describes a profound mystery that is difficult to properly capture by trying to explain it in a systematic way. What we have received in Christ by the gift and grace of God is a profound thing that is more sublime than any single attempt at providing a theory could possibly offer.
-CryptoLutheran
