Further to my previous post, “Whose Slaves Are We?”, let me present a framework for us to reconsider the doctrine of penal substitution, for this has eternal consequences for many Christians.
In its simplest form, sin is simply a deed or act of disobedience against God’s laws and instructions that accrue as certificates of debt consisting of decrees against the one who sins before the King, Law-giver, and Judge (Isaiah 33:22; Colossians 2:14). Thus, the debt of sin is a moral and judicial obligation against the one who transgresses the statutes and commands of the Kingdom’s King; and this debt can be redeemed by paying a ransom, or consideration, in blood.
Therefore, if there is no deed of disobedience, a person will have no debt of sin to be redeemed, and he will have an upright or righteous standing before the King, Law-giver, and Judge. If a person sins, and his debt of sin is redeemed, he will be free from the debt (or forgiven of the debt), and will obtain an upright or righteous standing before the King, Law-giver, and Judge again.
Whether as a person or an animal (of the guilt offering), the one who becomes, or pays, the ransom for the redemption of our debt of sin has efficaciously become our righteousness; for we would still stand guilty of the sin committed if not for the one who became or paid the ransom to redeem our sin on our behalf.
Yet, the fact that sin is redeemed on our behalf does not mean that the personal righteousness (or sinlessness) of the one who has redeemed our sins has been transferred to us; for we still have to stand on our own personal accountability as an individual person before God daily, and on the day of the Lord. In other words, the righteousness of the redeemer, whether a person or an animal, and the righteousness of the redeemed are not one and the same in the sight of God.
For example, if I am debt-free and I own the cattle of a thousand hills, and you request me to redeem the huge mountain of debt which you have no power to repay your bank on your own. If I do as you petition, and wipe your slate clean on your behalf, you will become free from debt on account of my payment, and your bank records will reflect “debt-free” as your personal status. Now, you have right standing with the bank because of what I did on your behalf (c.f. 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 1:30).
However, even though you may be debt-free because of my redemption, and you may be as debt-free as I am on the bank records as a result of my payment, but your account standing in your bank is still your own personal standing, not mine, as we are separate persons. With the financial sustenance tools and knowledge that I have given you on top of the debt-redemption, you will be able to stop borrowing from the bank; you will not need me to redeem your debt again; and you will remain as debt-free as I am on your own discipline to stay debt-free.
However, if you borrow money from the bank again, it will be under your own credit standing with the bank, not mine, since the bank will not lend you the money on account of my credit standing and then expect me to redeem your debt (again). In other words, you do not have my credit standing, and you cannot borrow on my account. The bank will still require you to take personal responsibility and pay for what you owe, even though I have redeemed your insurmountable debt, once and for all, the first time. Whether I will redeem your debt again is immaterial to the bank, as it is a personal matter between you and me. I may graciously redeem your debt on your earnest request if you have borrowed from the bank again, but whether I will continuously redeem on your behalf or not will depend on whether you are a recalcitrant or habitual debtor (c.f. Hebrews 10:26-29).
If the bank brings you to Court for failing to repay, the Court will not acquit you simply because I have borne your debt upon my shoulders the first time, and expect me to bear your debt again, because the Court is just. The Court will also not take my debt-free status and declare you debt-free like me as though I am your substitute. The Court will just cast you out into the darkness of prison where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So, you cannot use my name or my credit standing, and I will not be your substitute, to stand before the bank or the Court.
In short, the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
Ezekiel 18:20
“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”
The righteousness of a righteous man is not transferable to another man; that is, the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and it is not transferable, even if it is the righteousness of the Righteous One.
Thus, if the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself, then this means that everyone lives or dies by his own standing before God. In other words, no one can plead upon himself the righteousness of another person when he stands before the judgment seat of God, not even the righteousness of the Righteous One, the Lamb of God who redeems sin, especially if he had sinned wilfully despite having come to the knowledge of the truth.
Matthew 16:27
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”
Romans 2:5-8
“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.”
Both Jesus and Paul spoke of rendering and recompensing EACH man according to his deeds – to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, the recompense is eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, the recompense is wrath and indignation. No man can plead upon himself the righteousness (or the righteous deeds) of another man when he stands before the judgment seat of Christ, not even those of Jesus Christ Himself.
What, then, are the implications concerning the prevailing understanding of salvation today? You may consider the following starter questions if you wish to study deeper. I have provided a simplified conclusion at the end.
What does it mean to become the righteousness of God in Christ if the righteousness of the righteous, even the Righteous One, is not transferable?
Does the doctrine of penal substitution harmonise with the above-mentioned truth concerning the non-transferability of righteousness?
How does the slaying of Jesus purchase (or redeem) for God with His blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation?
Is there a difference between bearing the sin of the one who sinned and taking the place of the one who sinned as a body-substitute?
If the second death, the lake of fire, is reserved for sinners as penal judgment against sin, where in the Bible does it indicate that Jesus became our penal substitute to suffer the second death on our behalf?
What can we learn about redemption from its foreshadow from Genesis to Malachi?
For those of us who want a simple answer without going into details, a short summary of the implications is that entering through the “narrow gate” of Jesus Christ, even if it was by true faith during sinner’s prayer, will not necessarily lead to eternal life if we do not walk by the “narrow way” of explicit obedience and complete sanctification in Christ, because Jesus – who is the truth, the way, and the life – is both the narrow gate AND the narrow way of sanctification that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14; John 14:6; John 17:17-19).
Sanctification can be described as staying free from the debt of sin by making an effort to sin less and less, until we stop accruing debt of sin completely, just like Jesus who did not accrue a single debt of sin throughout His lifetime in the days of His flesh (Hebrews 5:7-9).
For this reason, when we stand before the King, Law-giver, and Judge on the day of judgment, we cannot simply plead based on the grace of Jesus Christ and His first debt-redemption at the gate when, thereafter, we deviate from His debt-free pathway to live like the sons of disobedience and accrue more debt according to the course of this world (Ephesians 2:1-2).
In addition, when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we cannot simply take Jesus’ robe of righteousness attained at the Cross as our robe of righteousness, for Jesus’ personal robe (or wedding clothes) before God belongs to Jesus Himself, while our personal robes (or wedding clothes) before God, whether washed or unwashed, belong to ourselves (c.f. Matthew 22:11-14; Revelation 3:2-5). On the opposite side of the coin, we also cannot tell God to transfer our dirty robes to Jesus so that He can suffer the penalty of the lake of fire as our substitute. Thus, it is a fallacy to say that “when God looks at us, He sees Jesus and not us, as Jesus is our penal substitute”.
In short, ‘once-saved’ at the narrow gate as “slaves of righteousness” does not mean ‘always-saved’ unto everlasting life if we do not walk by the narrow path as “slaves to righteousness” (as discussed in my earlier post, “Whose Slaves Are We?“).
Many are called, few are chosen, and even fewer are faithful (Matthew 22:14; Revelation 17:14). Now is time to make certain our calling and salvation as the called, chosen, and faithful. Amen!
Please share it with your friends and chat groups, as this is a critical consideration for their eternal destiny. Let them consider and decide how they should live their lives through the narrow gate along the narrow pathway that leads to life.
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