IS SALVATION BY A SUBSTITUTE RIGHT?
“He that
justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.” Proverbs 17:15
Many,
who are ignorant of the gospel, object to the gospel doctrine of substitution,
deriding it as a “commercial” or “penal theory” of the atonement. We are told,
“It is not right to condemn a righteous person for another person’s crimes.”
Without question, that is true. It is just as wrong for anyone to justify the
wicked.
Yet, the Scriptures tell us
plainly that our Lord Jesus Christ died “the
just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). The
gospel of God also declares that sinners are made righteous, “being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ” (Rom. 3:24).
Christ
was made to be sin, and we are made the righteousness of God in him by an act
of divine imputation. When our sins were imputed to him, when he was made to be
sin for us, it was altogether right and just for him to be punished for our
sins. Since his righteousness has been imputed to us, since we have been made
righteous in him, in exactly the same way, it is right and just for us to be
rewarded for righteousness.
God’s Work
We
know that this is right, because God did it. It is the work of him who is “a just God and a Savior” (Isa. 45:20).
He who is the judge of all the earth must do right (Gen. 18:25). He is faithful
and just in forgiving sin (1 John 1:9). Justice demands the forgiveness of
those sinners for whom atonement has been made.
Union With Christ
Our
intimate, inseparable union with Christ makes it both natural and just for him
to assume all our debts and liabilities. Under his own law, a near kinsman was
responsible to redeem the lost inheritance of his brother. A loving husband
gladly assumes and pays the debts of his wife. The surety is responsible for
the ones he represents. Indeed, the law and justice of God ceased to look for
satisfaction from God’s elect as soon as Christ became our Surety and Substitute
in the covenant of grace.
A Voluntary Substitute
The
Lord Jesus freely assumed all responsibility for his people. His was not a
forced suretyship, but a voluntary one. The good Shepherd willingly laid down
his life for his sheep (John 10:11, 15-18). It cannot be wrong for him to pay
the debt he voluntarily assumed as our Mediator.
The Last Adam
It
was from eternity the purpose of God, for the glory of his own great name, that
the redemption of his people be accomplished by the obedience of the last Adam,
just as our race was ruined by the disobedience of the first Adam (Rom 5:12-19;
1 Cor. 15:22). As we became sinners and died by the disobedience of one
representative man (Adam), we are made righteous and live by the obedience of
the second and last representative man, the God-man, our Savior.
Grace Baptist Church of Danville - Grace For
Today Radio Message #737
2734 Old Stanford Road -
Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438
Donald S.
Fortner, Pastor -Telephone 606-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net