The Glory of Penal Substitution

There is a big push away from the Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA) of Christ in many Emergent and even Evangelical circles. This doctrine simply states that Jesus Christ, in his death on the cross, was not only our substitute on the cross but also paid the penalty of sin for us, taking upon himself the wrath of God that we deserved.

Many have called this an unloving doctrine and some have even gone so far as to say PSA is a form of ‘cosmic child abuse’.

Growing up in a PCA church and in a conservative, biblically-minded family, I have always thought this was just a doctrine that was understood as a universal truth in Christianity. There is just too much Scripture to dispute PSA. However, as I have said, there are many who are in dispute - from Brian McLaren to Steve Chalke to William P. Young (author of The Shack).

So, I have borrowed Jeffery, Ovey, and Sach’s Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution from my boss to better educate myself on PSA. From the outset, I can tell this is going to be a great read. These authors have apparently covered every base. Not only are they prepared to back up the doctrine of PSA with Scripture, but they are prepared to present each dispute against PSA and offer a Scriptural rebuttal. So far I am only in chapter two, as it is a lengthy chapter, but I have already learned so much. I have been taken through an Old Testament tour of PSA, found in the Exodus, Leviticus, and Isaiah.

I wish I had time to give a full review of this title, but I will be posting some of my favorite quotes from the book along the way.

At the first Passover, the Jewish people were delivered not only from the tyranny of Pharaoh, but also from the judgment of God on their idolatry. It was through the substitutionary death of a lamb, whose blood marked out the Israelite households, that their firstborn sons were spared. These events occurred at a key turning point in salvation history, and were integral in God’s faithfulness to his covenant with Abraham. Moreover, the ongoing celebration of the Passover served to implant the notion of salvation through penal sacrifice in every faithful Israelite mind. The New Testament writers see Jesus’ death as the fulfillment of the Passover: he suffered in the place of his people in order that they might be marked out by his blood and thus spared from God’s wrath.

(pp. 41, 42)