Relativity and the Reason That is Right (Christmas) The Sanctuary Downtown / Relentless Love
-
- Christianity
“God is so pure and holy that He will punish every single sin ever committed by every single person, either in that person or in the substitute for that person. That is the heart of Christianity,” says John MacArthur, explaining Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory.
Atonement theories try to answer the question, “Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?”
Penal Substitution is the prevalent view among American Evangelicals today.
There’s definitely something there that’s right and yet, it can also seem so very wrong… even satanic.
Instead of Preaching “God so loved the world that he gave his only son;” we preach “God so hated the world that he murdered his only son.” Instead of preaching that it is God’s judgment to save, we preach that Jesus came to save us from God’s judgment... with some knowledge of Good and evil... to be dispensed by the pastor in an authorized church.” We give the impression that our God is a blood-thirsty god. And yet, it was us that drew his blood on the tree, and it was him that offered it the night before at dinner.
You can’t find the phrase “penal substitutionary atonement” in your Bible. However, you can find the words, “substitution” (in some Bibles), “punishment,” and most definitely “atonement.” Actually, it’s almost as if the entire Old Testament is a definition of that word.
Atonement basically means “at-one-ment.” In ancient Israel, on the day of atonement, the high priest would make atonement for the unintentional sins of Israel by sprinkling sacrificial blood on the top of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies between the two Cherubim on top of the Holy Mountain. That place was called the “kapporeth” in Hebrew, meaning “Place of Atonement.” It was also known as The Mercy Seat, The Judgment Seat, and The Throne of God. The Lord asked for blood, for he gave all the blood in the first place. The blood would return to the Throne in the Temple, like blood returns to your heart, receives oxygen, breath, or Spirit, and then is sent back to all the members of your body. The Life is in the Blood.
MacArthur asks, “How can God forgive me and still be holy?” That’s such a strange question, considering that the holiest thing, on the holiest day, in the holiest place on the holy mountain was the forgiveness of sins.
You can’t find the word “penal” in your bible, but you will find the word “punishment.”
And yet every word translated as “punishment” can also be translated as “discipline.”
The punishments of God can kill you, but also, raise you from the dead.
They’re not bad; they’re the very presence of the Good.
The punishment for darkness is Light. For desecration, it’s Creation. For bad judgment, it’s Good Judgment. For sin, it’s Grace. For the Liar, it’s the presence of the Truth. For the lost, it’s being found by the Way. For death, it’s the death of death in the Lake of Fire and Divinity—it is the Life, Eternal Life.
There is atonement, and there is punishment, and there is substitution, but maybe not for punishment—a penal substitution.
In Genesis chapter two we learn that the punishment for sin is death.
Through Ezekiel God tells us, “the soul that sins will die.” No substitutes.
It’s strange to imply that Jesus died so you won’t have to die.
Jesus taught that you can’t live unless you die; you must “lose your life,” to “find it.”
He even said, “pick up your cross and follow.”
He didn’t choose to die so you wouldn’t have to die.
He died in order to help you choose to die, so you might live—that’s called Faith.
Jesus is not a substitute for the Judgment of God your Father.
Jesus is the Judgment of God your Father and yet, he is a substitute.
He is the substitute for your own bad judgment.
Jesus is your righteousness.
Faith is “reckoned as righteousness” because it is.
So why did Jesus have to die on the cross?
When you ask the questi
“God is so pure and holy that He will punish every single sin ever committed by every single person, either in that person or in the substitute for that person. That is the heart of Christianity,” says John MacArthur, explaining Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory.
Atonement theories try to answer the question, “Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?”
Penal Substitution is the prevalent view among American Evangelicals today.
There’s definitely something there that’s right and yet, it can also seem so very wrong… even satanic.
Instead of Preaching “God so loved the world that he gave his only son;” we preach “God so hated the world that he murdered his only son.” Instead of preaching that it is God’s judgment to save, we preach that Jesus came to save us from God’s judgment... with some knowledge of Good and evil... to be dispensed by the pastor in an authorized church.” We give the impression that our God is a blood-thirsty god. And yet, it was us that drew his blood on the tree, and it was him that offered it the night before at dinner.
You can’t find the phrase “penal substitutionary atonement” in your Bible. However, you can find the words, “substitution” (in some Bibles), “punishment,” and most definitely “atonement.” Actually, it’s almost as if the entire Old Testament is a definition of that word.
Atonement basically means “at-one-ment.” In ancient Israel, on the day of atonement, the high priest would make atonement for the unintentional sins of Israel by sprinkling sacrificial blood on the top of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies between the two Cherubim on top of the Holy Mountain. That place was called the “kapporeth” in Hebrew, meaning “Place of Atonement.” It was also known as The Mercy Seat, The Judgment Seat, and The Throne of God. The Lord asked for blood, for he gave all the blood in the first place. The blood would return to the Throne in the Temple, like blood returns to your heart, receives oxygen, breath, or Spirit, and then is sent back to all the members of your body. The Life is in the Blood.
MacArthur asks, “How can God forgive me and still be holy?” That’s such a strange question, considering that the holiest thing, on the holiest day, in the holiest place on the holy mountain was the forgiveness of sins.
You can’t find the word “penal” in your bible, but you will find the word “punishment.”
And yet every word translated as “punishment” can also be translated as “discipline.”
The punishments of God can kill you, but also, raise you from the dead.
They’re not bad; they’re the very presence of the Good.
The punishment for darkness is Light. For desecration, it’s Creation. For bad judgment, it’s Good Judgment. For sin, it’s Grace. For the Liar, it’s the presence of the Truth. For the lost, it’s being found by the Way. For death, it’s the death of death in the Lake of Fire and Divinity—it is the Life, Eternal Life.
There is atonement, and there is punishment, and there is substitution, but maybe not for punishment—a penal substitution.
In Genesis chapter two we learn that the punishment for sin is death.
Through Ezekiel God tells us, “the soul that sins will die.” No substitutes.
It’s strange to imply that Jesus died so you won’t have to die.
Jesus taught that you can’t live unless you die; you must “lose your life,” to “find it.”
He even said, “pick up your cross and follow.”
He didn’t choose to die so you wouldn’t have to die.
He died in order to help you choose to die, so you might live—that’s called Faith.
Jesus is not a substitute for the Judgment of God your Father.
Jesus is the Judgment of God your Father and yet, he is a substitute.
He is the substitute for your own bad judgment.
Jesus is your righteousness.
Faith is “reckoned as righteousness” because it is.
So why did Jesus have to die on the cross?
When you ask the questi