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Spiritual Death Did Christ endure our sin penalty on the cross? By Val M Scott
Many today question in their mind, “what is spiritual death?” The Bible describes “death” itself as a state of being that is separated from it’s source of life. If something or someone has been separated from it’s source of life, it is dead. Take a fish out of water and it dies. Pull a plant by it's roots out of the dirt and it eventually dies. However, in a spiritual world and spiritually speaking, separate a man from God, and the man dies... spiritually. The mans body begins to die as well over time, because at his core he is dead, where flows the source of all his life, and his spirit no longer gets what it needs to live (James 2:26). The spirit without God is dead (Eph 2:1; Luke 15:20-24). Yet the separated parts still exist; but if the source of a things life has parted, it has dead existence. The world (the carnal minded) can only see death as destruction or a "ceasing to exist". That is incorrect. According to the Bible, death is not annihilation, it is merely separation. The body returns to the dust,[1] but the spirit goes to Heaven or Hell fully conscious and aware. Likewise physically alive people who separate from the Lord are declared dead because of sin. The Bible does not call them tarnished or dirty people, but DEAD. Understanding what death is [separation], can be very helpful and important when studying the Bible. It is even more important when studying Christ’s work of substitution that He made for us on the cross, because spiritual death is at the heart of the cross, where His substitution for us takes hold.
The Wages Of Sin Bearing. The Bible teaches us that the wages of sin is “death” (Rom 6:23). But what is this “death?” It is speaking of Adams death, where death was born. The death delivered to Adam when he sinned and plunged the human race into darkness. In the book of Genesis, God forewarned Adam of death if he disobeyed. St. Augustine said of Adam’s death in Genesis, “If...it be asked what death God threatened Adam with..., whether spiritual or bodily or that second death, we answer: it was all.[2] "And so as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men" (Rom 5:12). And Jesus, in order to save Adam [all mankind], would have to suffer Adams death to provide a substitution redemption for Adam [all mankind]. However, here is the important point; the first death of Adam was spiritual death. The Bible teaches it is the root of death. Without spiritual death there could be no physical death to anyone. It was God’s Spirit that gave Adam life: “And Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).
The “breath” of God in this verse is not air, it is spirit. “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life” (Job 33:4).
"And when Jesus had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22)
"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." (Ecc 12:7) God is a Spirit (John 4:24). He does not commune on a physical level, but on the spirit level. The Word of God reveals that God is a Spirit and He lives within the hearts of His people. It also says something amazing, "he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit with Him" 1 Cor 6:17. When God created Adam, He made him His very own child, one in Spirit as 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, and perfect fellowship in Spirit. Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." How did Adam die spiritually? Or did he die spiritually? The reasoning begins in Genesis 2:17. God creates Adam and Eve and lets them know that in the ‘very day’ that they disobey God, they will die on that day. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)
But in the day they ate of the forbidden tree, they did not die; physically that is; but the Bible reveals that something happened spiritually, which put them at odds with God. The moment they sinned, Genesis 3:7-10 says...
“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons...And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Notice the self awareness, the hiding from God, the fear. All these are the products of sin and spiritual death. God told Adam that “in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,” but after that day he sinned Adam lived physically for nine hundred and thirty years. Genesis 5:5, “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.” Some have thought that God changed His mind, thinking Adam did not die “in the day” that he sinned; but Adam did die “in the day” he sinned. He died spiritually. In this brief example is the theology for the union of sin and spiritual death. Sin proceeds spiritual death, and spiritual death is the result of sin bearing. The Bible teaches that all of mankind since Adam were born with inherent sin, cut off from God, and spiritually dead[4].
Rom 5:12 "And so as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men"
Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Because man is a sinner by birth, Jesus said, “ye must be born again”. Jesus meant to be born again spiritually. Man’s spirit was given by God in the Garden of Eden. Through sin it received death, and that death passed upon all mankind. Jesus saying, "you must be born again" proves that man’s spirit in the Garden of Eden was not merely tarnished or just “damaged”, but in God's view actually died and needed to be born again or recreated. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God...”
Galations 6:15 "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation."
John 3:3, “...Verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God... That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” This spiritual New Birth is the occurrence of a man being separated from God [dead], then being reconciled again to the fellowship of his true spiritual Father [God], thus giving his dead spirit a NEW LIFE. Since God is a spirit-John 4:24, we know His fellowship to be only in the spirit. Scripture states that the New Birth is a new creation of the Holy Spirit in mans spirit. This means more than patching, or cleaning up an old “human nature.” We cannot let anyone steal the glory of the New Birth. Some well meaning but incorrect teachers have attempted to change what it means to be Born Again[5]. Teaching that Adam’s spirit did not die the day he sinned. Saying Adam's spirit was simply tarnished[3], a clear contradiction of God’s own Word to Adam, "You shall die". It is satan that changed the words of God and told Eve, “Ye shall not die” (Gen 3:1-4). So who are these teachers getting their information from? Definitely not the Bible.
Bearing, or Changing Natures? From the foundation that Adam’s death was spiritual at origin comes the proof of what happened to Christ on the cross, when He provided substitution for us. Further ahead we look at the scriptures that confess to Christ bearing our sins on the cross. The question is examined, “do the scriptures teach that Christ endured our sin and penalty as a man?” The main premise of substitution is that Christ endured the wrath of God in our place (Isa 53:10). The challenges that arise in understanding Christ’s spiritual death is with it's literal view of Jesus suffering- not just for our sin, but suffering our sin for us. Jesus is pure and never sinned, but He suffered a real transference of ours to Himself as if it were His own. The way the teaching is misunderstood is when one fails to discern the difference between the consequences of sin and the character of a sinner. Jesus according to true theology bore our sin and the spiritual consequence, but His character remained sinless and pure. He must be actually blameless in order to reverse what Adam did. To anybody who studies the origin and meanings of words, the word “sin” goes back to “the nature of Satan” (Eze 28:15). Satan is the father of sin (John 8:44). But since the Bible in many places applies sin to Christ, -then seeing the phenomena of the cross; spiritual death becomes the main point in Christ's substitution for man, the doctrine of redemption, or the identification of Christ with sinful humanity. Although some teachers, when explaining the substitution, say Jesus “bore our sin nature” which is separation from God; if they do not say that Jesus had a complete “change” of nature, they do well. A “complete change” of nature would mean that Christ became an evil person in His heart on the cross, which is blasphemy. Even in bearing our sin [separated from God] nature, He was never contaminated by it, nor did it change His person in any way.
Spiritual Annihilation? Substitution doctrine does not teach that spiritual death is spiritual annihilation. Spiritual death, from the Bible standpoint, does not mean non-existence. Spiritual death doesn't mean that your dead so that you don't exist. Spiritual death means separation from God. To be spiritually dead is to be alive spiritually, but having no contact or fellowship with God. Everything Jesus did in His death, burial, and resurrection was done as our substitute. Jesus did become separated from God for a time as He bore the penalty of our sins, but in doing so he did not cease to be divine. Spiritual death is the penalty prescribed for our sins (Rom 6:23). Physical death alone could not pay that price. As our substitute, Jesus died the spiritual death that would otherwise have been ours. Question: How could Christ separate from God, and not cease to be God? How can God separate from God? This has been confusing for some who do not understand the basics of the Trinity. God is not One person, but Three Persons, One God. Orthodox Christianity holds that the Three Persons share the same essence or substance, which is God. If three humans separated from each other for a moment they would still be human. The divine substance or essence is called God, and is One; but God is in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Even Jesus body of flesh and His pure human spirit at the time of the cross were divine in a peculiar way, because it was the flesh and human spirit of Jesus. Even though He was human, even His humanity was Jesus. This could not change even if separated from the Father and third Person. In other words, Jesus did not cease to be God in separation. How could He? His divinity is in His person, and He did not cease to be Jesus [He did not cease to exist], even while forsaken of the Father and Holy Spirit. Christ is the only member of the Trinity that bore our sins on the cross. The Trinity did not cease to exist[6] just because one of the Persons [Jesus] bore sins. If we admit that the Trinity is a mystery [accepted] and cannot be understood with a finite mind, we are wrong then to refuse the possibility that Jesus within the same mystery was separated of the Father and Third Person. Church history holds this scriptural tenant sacred, that Jesus took our sins from us to Himself (1Pet 2:24) and killed them at Calvary (Col 2:14). Jesus did bear our sin on the tree. Yet to bear sin nature does not mean that one must yield to it, not in heart or mind. Jesus taught this (Matt 5:27-28; 2 Cor 10:4-5). Jesus never committed a sin in heart or deed. But that does not mean that He did not bear the spiritual consequences as our substitute. When theology teaches that Jesus forsakenness caused Him to endure the cross as a mortal man, it simply and properly means that any Spiritual aid or fellowship that He had with other members of the God-head was cut off for our sakes. He came from heaven to earth to endure the cross as a man [not as God]- or there is no substitution. He came to stand in our place, and we are not God. He assumed every consequence of fallen humanity. Jesus sufferings are looked upon with thankfulness and adoration. When we are in our deepest state of sin, there really is nothing that can reach deeper into our conscience, than to realize that He became sin for us and endured the wrath of God that we deserved.
Jesus Carried Our Sins. 2 Peter 2:24,"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness..."
Isaiah 53,"...the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all...Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief...He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities...and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Romans 6:10 “For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.
Hebrews 9:28,"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
These passages are not metaphoric. The last verse-Hebrews 9:28 is irrefutable proof of literal sin bearing. It says Christ was not only offered [spotless] to bear [for the purpose of bearing] the sins of many, but also that He shall appear the second time without sin! The second statement compounds the first that He really bore our sins. Some have argued that Jesus did not bear our sins on the cross. They use Hebrews 9:14 “Jesus...offered Himself without spot to God” as a proof text. However, only fourteen verses latter the Bible reads, “Christ was once offered [spotless] to bear the sins of many.” In today's language it would read, “yes Jesus bore sins, that's why He was offered spotless, to bear our sins! But He will come again without sin and take us to heaven!” Scripture states that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established. Above we have five witnesses that testify Jesus bore our sins for us, need we more? But there is more, even more graphic than these. Only an arrogant Pharisee would stand forth to change the clearly spoken Word of God. "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree" 2 Peter 2:24. Those who believe the Bible will reason further. It does not take a graduate to understand that if I came up to you and said, “I'm bearing sin in my body, I'm carrying sin,” that it would have to be spiritually that I was doing so. That brings us to Jesus cry upon the cross.
"My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?"Matthew27:46. The fact that Jesus is paying the price for sin in this cry is undeniable. It is the connection between the sin bearing scriptures. Do we remember that the wages of Adams sin was spiritual death? In 1 Corinthians 15:45 Jesus is called the “Last Adam.” This means that Jesus bore all the worlds sin at once, Because all of us were made sin through Adam. "Why hast thou forsaken Me?” The only defense any skeptic has- is to lead us to doubt these words of Christ. Leading us to believe that Jesus did not mean what He said in His cry. But I think anyone who doubts these words of God in His most serious and heart wrenching hour may as well doubt all His Words. Martin Luther says those who deny that Jesus bore sin and was forsaken of God are “wicked.” John Calvin says they are “miserable creatures, unlearned, esteeming themselves wiser than the Spirit of God[8].” I've heard many inadequate explanations of His cry from contestors. One is that he was just quoting a Psalm just like you or I would in a time of trouble. Well, while it is true He quoted His own word from Psalm 22, He did not quote the whole Psalm up there. If He did, He also quoted the whole Psalm 31 too, because in that Psalm is found Jesus other statement from the cross- “Into thine hand I commit my spirit.” The problem is,-after this statement in the Psalm, it says “Have mercy on me o Lord,...my strength faileth because of mine iniquity.” After “My God, why hast thou forsaken me” in Psalm 22, it further says “Deliver my life from the sword”-Jesus would never ask mercy of God for His own sin, and He surely would not ask God to deliver His life from the sword when He’s already crucified hanging on nails only moments from death. He was free from this temptation in the Garden of Gethsesemane when He said “Not My will, but thine be done,” and He left in full confidence to be arrested (Matt 26:36-46). Jesus did not quote whole Psalm chapters. The writers of the gospels indicated that these were specific “cries” of Jesus. It is easy to see this from the narration around His statements (Matt 27:45-47, Luke23:46). Another factor is that at the time of the cry- the sun that lit up the day went out! There was darkness OVER ALL THE EARTH. It didn't just become night time, the sun went out in the middle of the afternoon (Luke 23:44-45). There is something mysterious here, and it deserves more than just some ridiculous physical explanation. The wrath of God comes upon a sin bearing sacrifice. God’s Wrath is the reason for sacrifice. In Jesus own words said to His accusers before His crucifixion- “This is your hour and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). Jesus gave himself up willfully. When Jesus gave Himself up to be killed, He knew that He was giving Himself up to a group of demon possessed, demon controlled murderers. Jesus said it was Gods plan that they would have power over Him to kill Him (John 19:11, 1Cor 2:7-8, Luke 22:3-5). Further, scripture says satan was the bringer of death (Heb 2:14 -15, Rom 6:9). It was truly the hour and power of darkness. When discussing Jesus cry, “My God, why hast thou forsaken me,” we need to rightly divide all scripture pertaining into consideration. If we believe that Jesus bore our sins, we should consider the wrath of God. Also, how would Jesus be killed if He did not come under the power of satan’s people? The Bible says that Jesus was accursed of God (Gal 3:13); where else could this fit accept within His fearful cry, “why hast thou forsaken me?”
“Jesus Became Sin,” Brushing through dozens of Bible commentaries on Matthew 27:46, most say Jesus was forsaken of God because-“Jesus became sin” 2 Corinthians 5:21. Especially the more reputable commentators. Study yourself to see. There is a history of commentary on this doctrine of spiritual death at the end of this chapter. “Jesus became sin" has become a sort of slogan phrase when the subject of redemption pops up. You may have heard the phrase in a hymn or in a sermon used as a quick way of explaining redemption. Anywhere redemption is studied thoroughly the term is there. Spiritual death [separation from God] is the real issue; because “made sin” and “spiritual death” are synonymous. Sin is the only Biblical reason for separation from God. Sin is the very essence of spiritual death. Some ignorant, have said that for Jesus or anybody to literally become sin would be “impossible.” Wow, if they are going to use the word “impossible” toward God like that, why not also use it to describe the Trinity or the Virgin birth, or to any number of “impossibles” concerning God. The scriptures are speaking of the way God looked at Jesus on the cross; and God says "He was numbered with the transgressors” -(Isa 53:12). However God sees you, mark it down friend, that's how you are! And if 2 Corinthians 5:21 is inspired of God, then He is saying “I God, have made Him to be sin for you.” What if God said that Jesus was made “a curse?” (Gal 3:13) That is a spiritual term that is just as horrid as “made sin.” Some, trying to change the meaning say 2 Corinthians 5:21 does not mean Jesus was made sin [as it says] but that it means “sin offering.” This again would mean that Jesus did not bear our sins because all He was-was a sin offering. But we know from the scriptures Christ did bear our sins. And I think that the Apostle Paul would be in disagreement that Jesus was only a sin offering; because God’s wrath comes over the substitutionary sacrifice (Isaiah 53:10). See the similarity of Pauls statements:
Galatians 3:13-14,"Christ was made a curse for us...that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith."
2 Corinthians 5:21,"He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
Paul is making the same pronouncement in these two verses. The terms being used by Paul describe the condition of a persons soul.
(...made a curse...made to be sin.) (...made the righteousness of God...receive the promise of the Spirit.)
He is teaching a literal exchange of spiritual conditions. Namely ours for Christ's’ and Christ's’ for ours. The point is that we did not have sin- we were sin! Christ did not have righteousness, He was and is righteousness itself! Notice Paul did not say “Christ was cursed for us,” no, he said that Christ was “made a curse [anathema];” the same as his wording when he said Christ was “made sin.” If someone wants to change the word “sin” in 2 Cor 5:21 to “sin offering,” I think they should wait and ask Paul before they try to change “curse” in Gal 3:13 to “curse offering.” A favorite preacher Charles H. Spurgeon would have an argument at this point; he preached a sermon once entitled-"Christ made sin.” In part of the message he says:
“He hath made Him to be sin for us.” Do not fritter that away by putting in the word “offering,” and saying “sin-offering.” The word stands in apposition --what if I say opposition?--to the word “righteousness” in the other part of the text. He made Him to be as much sin as He makes us to be righteous- ness. None but God could have put sin upon Christ. It is well said that there is no lifting of sin from one person to another. There is no such thing as far as we are concerned; but things which are impossible with man are possible with God. Do you know what it means for Christ to be made sin? You do not, but you can form some guess of what it involves; for when He was made sin, God treated him as if he had been a sinner...God left him as He would have left a sinner, till he cried out “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” You scarcely need that I should explain these words when the sense is so plain. God lays upon the spotless Savior the sin of the guilty, so that He becomes in the expressive language of the text, sin. Then He takes off from the innocent Savior His righteousness, so that the sinners become righteousness--the righteousness of the highest and divinest source--the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Of this transaction I would have you think now. Think of it lovingly, think of it joyfully.[9]"
Spurgeon is not the only Church legend who taught that Jesus really became sin. Reformer John Calvin would also like to comment:
“Wherefore in order to accomplish a full expiation, He made his soul a propitiatory victim for sin. The Apostle declares this plainly when he says, that “He made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin... “Christ feared for the safety of his soul.[10]”
Harsh Language? Martin Luther, the father of Protestantism delivers a strong position in his Galatians commentary:
“Ye see then with what an Apostolic spirit Paul handleth this argument of the blessing and the curse, he not only maketh Christ subject to the curse, but saith also that He is made a curse. So in 2 Cor 5:21 he calleth Him sin, when he saith: "He hath made Him to be sin for us..." Just as Christ is wrapped up in our flesh and blood, so we must wrap Him and know Him to be wrapped up in our sins, our curse, and everything evil. "But it is highly absurd and insulting to call the Son of God a sinner and a curse!" If you want to deny that He is a sinner and a curse [on the cross], then deny also that He suffered, was crucified, and died. For it no less absurd to say that He was crucified and underwent the torments of sin and death than it is to say that He is a sinner or a curse. If it is not absurd to confess and believe that Christ was crucified among thieves, then it is not absurd to say as well that He was a curse, and the greatest of all sinners.[11]”
Perhaps like Calvin, teachers are guilty of declaring Christ's soul a victim for sin, but none them have come near to calling Jesus a sinner; let alone the greatest of all sinners! Luther is not teaching that Christ fell into disobedience, as calling Him a “sinner” would seem to indicate. His becoming a “sinner” is seen by Luther as an act of obedience to His Fathers will,-in being a perfect substitute for the wrath that should fall on every man. The three authorities I have quoted, Spurgeon, Calvin, and now Luther have openly displayed their hostility against the teachers of their time who would attempt to take away our sins from Christ in any way [Aquinas is also quoted in this book[12]]. They ascribed 2 Cor 5:21 to be literal- “Jesus became sin.” They also ascribe to the separation from God that befell Jesus as a result. These men, along with the majority of Church history, have chosen to use harsh language in describing the spiritual side of the cross, which is concluded to be not separate, but a more weighty portion of the same price Jesus paid. I do not think their emphasis would be as heavy if they did not always have some ignorant teacher attempting to strip away the meanings of “sin” and “curse” as applied to Christ.
The Serpent And The Pole, Jesus And The Cross . In the Old Testament book of Numbers 21:6-9, there is an example of typology used to describe sin and what happened to Jesus on the cross. Because the children of Israel were in continual sin and would not repent, the Lord sent among the people “fiery serpents” (a symbol of sin that Israel would understand) to bite and kill the unrepentant. When Moses went to prayer for the people, God told him to make of brass a “fiery serpent” (like the ones among the people), “and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” The point of the story is that God wanted His people to repent. God’s purpose for the serpent on the pole was that He wanted them to see that He had power over the serpents. The people would say “Look, there’s a dead one on Moses pole.” When they looked in faith at the serpent on the pole they turned their heart to God for deliverance. Our Lord Jesus Christ speaking of His death on the cross, unpleasantly typed Himself with that old serpent on the pole: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” John 3:14 Jesus became sin for us is what this verse implies. Jesus did not infer that He was to become as vile as a serpent on a pole. One would be unregenerate to think so. However the Bible speaks of Jesus bearing our sins; so we cannot accept the critics view-that Jesus only ment to say He would be lifted off the ground at His death. Since critics disengage the true meaning of Christ's sin bearing, they have need to tear away at other scriptures that explain it's meaning. Martin Luther again, speaking of John 3:14 declares that the serpent is a sign of sin; and he ties 2 Cor 5:21 directly to John 3:14 claiming this is proof from Jesus own lips that He was to become sin for us[13]. Although the cross is more appropriately a sign of God's mercy to us; but to God the cross was sin, and maybe it was a “sign” to God of the serpent in regard that it was SIN. As far as the sins of man go, there is no greater abomination than God hanging on a cross. Jesus is God, and Jesus’ flesh is just as much Jesus as His spirit. Question: What is worse than the massacre of God? What sin could be more satanic than to beat Christ to a bloody pulp and nail Him to a tree? It is the greatest SIN,-the worst of the worst. Satan had no greater desire. And to this worst of all sins Christ replies in agony “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” If Christ forgives us for killing Him, every sin below it is automatically covered. And that Jesus became sin, or a sign of it, I can accept outwardly disturbing language as long as it is in this context of what He's done for us. In the Old Testament account (Num 21:6-9), it's impossible not to see the typology. The serpent on the pole was a type and cure for the peoples problem of serpents. Jesus on the cross was a type and cure for our problem of sin and death. H.A. Ironside explains: “In the wilderness it was the serpents that afflicted the people. The poison of these dreadful creatures was in the blood of the dying Israelites. The remedy was a serpent of brass uplifted, and all who looked to it were healed. It was sin that caused the trouble for humanity. The serpent was a type of satan and sin. But what took place on the cross? The sinless one was made sin for us. He is the antitype of that brazen serpent.[14]” It needs to be reemphasized that Jesus did no sin, but even bore our sin as an act of obedience. He was obedient to all the Fathers will. His personal identity remained in Him free of evil. The key is to realize that it was our sin; and the measure of our sin that Jesus took on the cross, can be measured by the same measure of His righteousness and daily grace that we can realize through His substitution. Experience in this case is a perfect reality check. If He did not experience sin in His substitution, then we do not experience true righteousness in our receiving.
Conclusion: The history of the church has taken 2 Cor 5:21 and Gal 3:13 to be literal. Admittedly there has been overstatements in explaining the mysteries of the atonement. I may have made some in this chapter. But what constitutes an overstatement? Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon both have referred to Jesus being a “worm.” Jamison, Fawsett, and Brown refer to “darkness” on and within Jesus when they speak of the substitution- “Great darkness invested His own spirit,”-J.F.B.[15] Are the terms sin, curse, serpent, and spiritual death to harsh of language to apply to crucified Christ? Or is it again just a need to realize that [seemingly] harsh statements in oratory are sometimes needed to explain deep mysteries? Whatever position chosen, we all should remain mature in judgment. For though some statements may seem unfortunate, they do not always represent the total view of a persons theology. Especially when it comes to the great mysteries. Jesus was made sin for you......you were made right for Him.[16].
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footnotes [1].Physical human bodies that die do not cease to exist. The bodies dead existence in the dust is real. All human bodies are to be resurrected from earth in due time to exist forever in eternal pleasure or everlasting torment. See Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:11-15. [2]. Quoted in Genesis, by derek Kidner, Tyndale OT Commentaries, IVP, p.69. [3]. Some mistaken teachers today have argued that mankind does not have a holy or sinful nature; - that he has a human nature, tarnished, damaged and distorted human nature. The word human is not even in the Bible. They try to stay away from saying that mans’ nature (spirit) is either holy or demonic. By saying this they declare that there is a spiritual nature that exists somewhere between sin and righteousness. Jesus taught that there are only two spiritual fathers for man-God or satan (John 8:40-44; 1 John 3:9-10). The nature of man is either of sin (demonic), or of righteousness (divine). There is no third type of spiritual nature described in the Bible. Man is not an entity to himself. He has a spiritual lord weather he wants one or not. The nature of a spirit is either of God or satan. There is no middle “human nature” that is not divine or demonic. The word “human” is not even in the Bible, let alone “human nature.” We do not equate death with annihilation-destruction. According to the Bible; death is separation-from the body, or from God, or from fellowship with Him, etc. [4].The Bible says “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord”2 Cor 5:8. Little children are innocent until an age of accountability according the Law of Moses. This does not delete their sin nature. They are born with the nature of a liar in them (it is the first sin that manifests in children). At death God judges all things according to His sovereign mercy. [5].Some mistaken teachers today say we are not children of God by nature but by adoption. Using the term "adoption" out of context to teach we are not true children of God. The term adoption in the bible does not refer to spiritual nature, but to our new parents, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It also speaks to the redemption of our bodies in the last days, Rom 8:15, 23. The Bible says we are Born of God- 1 John 3:8,3:9. Born Again- John 3:3-8. New Creations-2 Cor 5:17-18. Regenerated-Titus 3:5. Begotten of God-1 Pet 1:3. Children of God-1 John 3:2,9-10. One Spirit with God-1 Cor 6:17. Spirit Filled-Acts 4:31. partakers of divine nature-1 Pet 1:4. The bible says we were dead in trespasses and sin and Jesus Christ made us alive again through New Birth. [6].The Trinitarian essential proclaims that God is Three Persons of the same unique substance-which is GOD. Some, arguing against Jesus bearing sin say that “God cannot be separated from Himself”. They do not see that God is three Persons, not one. He is not one Person who plays three different roles-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Godhead dividing may be an impossibility (which is Gods’ specialty, for with God, nothing shall be impossible, Luke 1:37), but if God is three Persons, and not just one person, then there is a mysterious separation already within the Biblical formula of the Trinity, that will forever be. [7].Some erring, teach Jesus did not bear our sins, they were imputed to Him. The theological idea that our sins were “imputed” to Christ, or “laid to His account” are true. However, These statements are used to imply things the words themselves do not mean. If sin is imputed to you or laid to your account, then you have sin, (Romans 4:8, 5:13). It is an unbiblical speculation that one does not truly receive sin by imputation. We all have sin by imputation! Some have used these words to teach that Jesus did not really bear our sins. Scripture says repeatedly that He bore our sins in His own body, they were laid upon Him.” (This also means that we bear His righteousness, that it was laid upon us!) Scripture interprets scripture just fine. If He did not experience sin in His substitution, we cannot experience true righteousness in our receiving. [8]. Martin Luther, “Luther on Galatians,” American edition, vol 26,p.278. “Our sins must be Christ’s own sin, or we shall perish eternally. The wicked sophists have obscured this true knowledge of Christ which Paul and the prophets have handed down to us.” Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. Book two, Chap. 16, sec.12. “Here some miserable creatures, who, though unlearned, are however impelled more by malice than ignorance, cry out that I am offering an atrocious insult to Christ, because it were most incongruous to hold that He feared for the safety of His soul...It becomes us, therefore, boldly to profess the agony of Christ, if we are not ashamed of the cross. And certainly had not His soul shared in the punishment, He would have been only a Redeemer of bodies only...These men pretend that a thing in its nature vitious is improperly ascribed to Christ; as if they were wiser than the Spirit of God.” [9]. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Spurgeons Sermons on the Cross of Christ,” chap. 3, Christ made sin, p.36-40. [10]. John Calvins “Institutes of the Christian Religion,” book two, chap 16, sec 6. [11].Martin Luther, “Commentary on Galatians.” Gal 3:13. [12].See the “History of the doctrine of Christ's’ spiritual death”. chap__. Date 1273. [13].Martin Luther, “Luthers works,” Sermons on the Gospel of John, vol.22. ref- John 3:14. [14].H.A. Ironside, “The Gospel of John,” commentary, p.100-101. [15].See the “History of the doctrine of Christ's’ spiritual death” .chap__.
[16]. A history of the doctrine of the spiritual death of Christ by some of the greatest known Christian minds in church history. Christ's spiritual death (forsakenness) of God, and descent into hell are the area’s of concentration in this display. This exposes the lies that modern teachers started these doctrines, that they are cultic or not “traditionally” Christian. I submit to you that if our Church fathers, Reformers, and present church Generals have taught these things, then obviously our present teachers have been falsely accused by some modern day Pharisee’s.
1990; The Revell Bible Dictionary, p. 339
“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me?” (Matt 27:46) The cry in theologically significant. It
captures the timeless moment when the So of God “became sin” for the
lost humanity. (2Cor 5:21) The perfect fellowship of the persons
in the Godhead was severed as the Holy Father turned away from His Son.
The transaction that took place that moment is perhaps the central
mystery of Christian faith. 1989; Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, Walter A. Elwell, - editor, 38 theologians and pastors “Following the death of Jesus (27:45-50_ darkness covers all the land (v. 45), signaling God’s judgment on Israel for her rejection of Messiah (see Amos 8:9-10), the cosmic phenomena associated with the end (Matt 24:29; Acts 2:20), and Gods’ judgment on the sin bearer. Out of this darkness Jesus utters the cry of Dereliction. This is the moment Jesus dreaded (26:37-39) - abandonment by the One with whom He had enjoyed the deepest communion (11:25-27), even in Gethsemane (“Abba” Mark 14:36). This dereliction is the inevitable consequence of His “becoming sin” (1:21; cf. Isa 53:4-10; 2 Cor 5:21). And once He is deserted by the Father, there is no hope of rescue by Elijah (v.49) or any one else.
1988;Life Application Bible, p.1671. ref. Matt 27:46. “We do not know how this darkness occurred, but it is clear that God caused it. Nature testified to the gravity of Jesus death, while Jesus friends and enemies alike fell silent in the encircling gloom. The darkness on that Friday afternoon was both physical and spiritual. “My God, Why hast thou forsaken Me?” Jesus was not questioning God; He was quoting the first line of psalm 22- a deep expression of anguish He felt when He took on the sins of the world, causing Him to be separated from His Father. This was what Jesus dreaded as He prayed to God in the garden to take the cup from Him (26:39). The physical agony was horrible, but even worse was the period of spiritual separation from God. Jesus suffered this double death so that we would never have to experience eternal separation from God.
1987; John McArthur, pastor, theologian. Gal - Commentary, p. 78 “Jesus did not become a curse because He was crucified, but was crucified because He was cursed in taking the full sin of the whole world upon Himself”
1983; the Bible Knowledge Commentary, p.89. 19 - theologians Jesus became the sin offering for the world (John 1:29; 2 Cor 5:21; 1Pet 2:24, 3:18), and as such was forsaken by the Father. Near the end of this period of time, Jesus could bear the separation no longer cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama Sabachthani? These Aramaic words mean My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me. Jesus sensed a separation from the Father He had never known, for in becoming sin, the Father had to turn judicially from His Son (Rom 3:25-26).
1983; Christian Theology, Millard J. Ericson, theologian, p. 813 “The common idea in these several passages is that Jesus bore our sins - they were laid upon Him or transferred from us to Him. Because He has come to be sin, we have ceased to be sin or sinners. The idea of substitution is unmistakable.”
1975; Paul E. Billheimer, theologian. “Destined for the Throne”, p.84; Forward and endorsement by Billy Graham “While Christ was identified with sin, satan and the host of hell ruled over Him as over any lost sinner.”
1967; A. W. Pink, “Gleanings In Genisis”, Mody Press, Ibid., p. 133 God made Christ to be sin for His people when He laid upon Him the iniquities of them all. Consequently He was “made a curse” and was requited to receive the awful wages of sin, which involved much more than the dissolution of soul and body. Christ not only died, but was committed to the grave. “Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him” (Rom 6:9) This clearly implies that during those three days He was under death’s power. He was death’s prisoner, He was death’s “lawful captive” (Is 49:24), held fast by its terrible grip. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it: (Acts 2:24). Here is New Testament proof that Christ was held by death and that God loosed Him from something in order for His resurrection...The “pains of death” referred to what Christ endured upon the cross: not only, and not primarily, the bodily pains of natural death (acute and many though they were) by the soul anguish of spiritual death. John Calvin stated, “If Christ had merely died a corporal death, no end would have been accomplished by it: it was requisite also that He should feel the smart of the devine vengeance in order to appease the wrath of God and satisfy His justice. Hence is was necessary for Him to contend with the power of Hell and the horror of eternal death.”
1965; Leon Morris, “The cross in the New Testament”, Wm. B. Eerdman’s Pub. Co., p. 221 “ If He said that God had forsaken Him, then the hitherto unbroken communion between the Father and the Son must have been clouded over. We must not water down an unpalatable saying. Vincent Taylor examines the passage and says (in my judgment rightly), ‘it appears to be a inescapable inference that Jesus so closely identified Himself with sinners, and experienced the horror of sin to such a degree, that for a time the closeness of His communion with the Father was broken, so that His face was obscured.’ But then He adds, ‘and He seemed to be forsaken by Him. Why seemed’? Jesus said He was forsaken. Can we really believe that a modern student of the Gospels knows more of the realities of such a situation than did Jesus Himself? In saying this I am not unmindful of the very difficulty of the saying. The words raise difficult problems not only with regard to the atonement but also concerning our Lords’ Person and the doctrine of the Trinity. ‘Suppose He had paid all the rest of the price for sin, the suffering, the submission and breaking of pride, and the hatred of sin, and left this unpaid, would it have been as if He had paid the farthings, penance, and shillings of some vast debt but left pounds for us to pay?’ The cry of dereliction shows that the price of sin has been paid in full. As they stand the words can scarcely be taken as anything other than a declaration that in a manner of His death Jesus was cut off from the Father...In our view the desolation expressed in this cry was one which faced Jesus because He was dying as a man. To have died our physical death and not tasted its spiritual awfulness is the final separation from God that spiritual death mean, would have been to have missed the characteristic ‘sting’ of death for man. It would have been to cease to be a man at this point of man’s death, (2 Cor 5:21). Though sinless, He died the sinners’ death and tasted the bitterness of its desolation.”
1962; Wycliff Bible Commentary, 56 - theologians and pastors (Matt 27:48) “The only utterance from the cross recorded by Matthew and Mark. The full importance of this cry cannot be fathomed but certainly it’s basis lay not in the physical suffering primarily, but in the same fact that for a time Jesus was made sin for us (2 Cor 5:21) in paying the penalty as the sinners substitute, He was accursed of God (Gal 3:13). God as Father did not forsake Him, but God as Judge had to be separated from Him is He was to experience spiritual death in the place of sinful men.”
1953; Billy Graham, evangelist, theologian. “peace with God”, p. 98-99 “The physical suffering of Jesus Christ was not the real suffering. Many men before Him had died. Others had hung on a cross longer than He did. Many men had become martyrs. The awful suffering of Jesus Christ was His spiritual death. He reached the final issue of sin, fathomed the deepest sorrow, when He cried, “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”...On the cross He was made sin. He was God-Forsaken. Because He knew no sin there is value beyond comprehension in the penalty He bore, a penalty that He did not need for Himself. How it was accomplished in the depth of the darkness, man will never know. I know only one thing - He bore my sins in His body upon the tree. The pains of hell that were my portion were heaped on Him.”
1942; Kenneth S. Wuest, “First Peter in the Greek New Testament for the English Reader”, Eardmans Publishing Co., p. 96-97 “That human spirit during Our Lord’s earthly existence was energized by the Holy Spirit, with the result that every prayer our Lord uttered, every word He spoke, every miracle He performed, the sinless wonderful life He lived, was in dependence upon and in the energy of the Holy Spirit, so that He was able to offer Himself at the cross without spot to become the sacrifice that God would accept as atonement for sin...But now, in the hour of His direst need, the Holy Spirit left Him in the lurch...He ceased keeping alive in devine life the human spirit of the Lord. That human spirit, sinless though it was and continued to be, was dead in that the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit ceased to energize it, Psalm 22 is thought with good reason to have been uttered on the Cross by our Lord.
1935; Oswald Chambers, teacher, evangelist. M.U.F.H.H. - devotional book. Reference by date
“Sin is what Christ
faced on Calvary.” Dec. 26’ “Sin is a fundamental relationship; it is not wrong doing, it is wrong ‘being’, deliberate and emphatic independence of God...The revelation of the Bible is not that Jesus Christ took upon Himself our fleshly sins, but that He took upon Himself the heredity sin which no man can touch. God made His own Son to be sin that He might make the sinner a saint. All through the Bible it is revealed that our Lord bore the sin of the world by ‘identification’, not by ‘sympathy’. He deliberately took upon His shoulders, and bore in His own person, the whole massed sin of the human race - “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin”.” Oct. 7’
1922; A. W. Pink, “Gleanings In Genisis”, Mody Press, Ibid., p. 54 “...the counter part of Gods’ original threat to Adam, namely, spiritual death..., which is the separation of the soul from God, is witnessed in that most solemn of all cries, “My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken Me?” (Mt 27:46). How absolutely did our blessed Savior identify Himself with those which were lost, took their place and suffered the Just for the unjust!”
1918; Thomas H. Nelson, evangelist, theologian. “The contents of Calvarys cup” P. 108 “If Christ in spirit did not thus ‘descend into hell’, then we have no legal ground of assurance that we may escape the horrid prison. But if He did, then our penalty has been paid for by our substitute. God’s just and Holy law is vindicated. Death and satan are defeated, and Christ is given the “keys of death and hell”. that were formally held by mans satanic seducer and jailer.”
1908; Alexander MacLaren, “How Does The Death Of Christ Save Us?”, Philadelphia, The Griffith & Rowland Pres, American Baptist Society, p. 38, 40, 41 “The death of Christ had in it the elements of something far deeper than physical dying...It had in it something’s which implies such a sense of moral separateness from God, as we may believe characterizes the state of lost souls. How this could be, it may not me possible for us to clearly see; but its fact is surely implied in the scriptures.” “In some manner, in Christ’s self-limitation, He chose to come into close quarters with the sin-problem of mankind. He drank even to the dregs, and alone, the wine cup the divine displeasure against sin...” “...there is made on the cross the expression of incongruities, as between Deity in His intrinsic Holiness, and Deity in vicarious union with the guilty human race. The Trinity is not divided against itself. But God in His essential Holiness, and Deity is man’s sinful place, suffer the awful sense of moral distance from each other...God-in-Christ is undergoing the painful sense of abandonment to an experience which, but for the fact of His standing in the place of the sinner, would be utterly foreign to Deity...This is the infinite divine tragedy...” “That the cry of Jesus, [“My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?”], expressed the sense of Godhood in saving union with man, being forsaken of Godhood in essential purity which “cannot look upon sin”. It expressed the passion of the divine heart engaged at such measureless cost of saving man. To greater depths of condescending love even Deity could not go...”
1906; Henry C. Maybie, “The Meaning and Message of the Cross”, Fleming H. Revell Co., p. 33 “Doubtless a fruitful occasion of the confusion respecting the cross is the ambiguity which has attended the theological use of the term “death”, as applied to Christ. A common assumption is that the term in the New Testament is narrowly use in the sense of mere mortal dissolution ensuing upon the separation of the soul from the body...a death thus physically inflicted and limited is conceived to be the death Jesus died for the sins of the world... but taken as it stands, the conception is inadequate and misleading.” “It would seam not to have entered the mind of the author of those forced alternatives, that there was a third sort of death to Christ; namely, the experience of spiritual death, including of course physical dying also, that He “pouring over His soul unto death”, that the Father was making “His soul an offering for sin.” “There is little suggestion of that which is really the mediating work itself, that is, of the work which God intended and which Christ was enacting behind the crucifixion. This work was deeply invisible and in the spiritual realm, impossible of portrayal upon a canvass; it has to be seen by the conscience and the insight of faith...Romanism commonly makes its appeal to the senses.” “That mediating death which Christ underwent was something vastly deeper down then a form of human execution. It was primarily an immaterial and spiritual experience, the result of His voluntary assumption of the world’s sin and guilt...”
1903; G. Cambell Morgan, “The Crisis of Christ”, Fleming H. Revell Co., p. 298-299, 45 “On that cross He was made sin, and therein He passed the uttermost limit of sin’s outworking. He was God-forsaken. He knew no sin. He was made sin. He was forsaken of God...Whose sin is this that He made, and for which He was forsaken of God? My Sin.” “In this hour when Jesus was made sin, and was therefore God-forsaken, He knew as none had ever known before, the profundities of pain. The vision that had been His light through all the dark days in three and thirty years, was lost. The strength of that fellowship with the Father which had been His on every rough and rougged pathway, was withdrawn. In perfect harmony with the purpose of God He passed into the place of separation from God, in the awful cry which expresses His loneliness, there is revealed the most stupendous sorrow that has ever been witnessed through the ages.” “Why did this Holy One pass into Hades? The answer is already in our possession from the study in the former crisis in the life and mission of Christ. As the Lamb of God He had made Himself responsible for the sin of the world, and the issue of that responsibility was death, essential death, the separation of the spirit from God, and death expressed in the separation of the spirit from the body...In the deep and unfathomable mystery of the Cross, His Spirit was separated form God, and that Spirit separated also from the body passed down into Hades...in solemn hours between the passing of the Spirit of Christ on the Cross, and the resurrection morning, the holy body of the man lies in the tomb. His spirit has passed into hell, the place of lost spirits.”
1892; Charles Haddon Spurgeon, pastor, theologian. “Spurgeons sermons on the cross”, p. 30-33, 40, 138-139 “God never can forsake the perfectly innocent, yet He who was perfectly innocent said, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Sinking and anguish of spirit, even to soul-death...the darkness which comes over human son gathered in sevenfold night about His sacred brow. In the day of the Lords’ anger, “He numbered with the transgressors.”...Jesus Christ says, “Father, that I might save these transgressors, put my name down among them.” It was necessary that it should be so, that He, standing in their sted, might lift them into His place, transferring His righteousness to them, as He took their sin upon Himself. I could weep as I tell you that, “He was numbered with the transgressors.” I cannot preach. This theme baffles me altogether. I wish that you look into it yourselves. Never mind my words. Think of my Lord, and of these two things: “He hath poured His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors.” “Now, do not think that these words are mine, and therefore cavil at them. deliberately observe that these are the words of the Holy Spirit. “He bare the sin”: “He bare the sin of many.” They complain at us for saying that He bore the chastisement of sin. We shall say in none the less plainly; but we shall go much further, and insist upon it that, literally, Jesus bare the sin of man. Else, why did He die? Why did He die at all?...If death be the consequence of sin, there being no sin in Christ, the consequence could not follow without the cause...”He bore the sin of many.” If our Lords bearing our sin for us is not the gospel, I have no gospel to preach.” “The soul of Christ endured a torment equivalent to hell itself.’ The curse came on Christ, and in consequence, our Lord felt an unutterable horror of soul. Surely it was that horror which made when He sweat great drops of blood when He saw and felt that God was beginning to treat Him as if He were a sinner. The Holy soul of Christ shrank with deepest agony from the slightest contact with sin. Then He began to be made a curse for us, nor did He cease til He had suffered all the penalty which was due on our account.” “Christ in His person suffered what we ought to have suffered in our persons. Our sins were made His.” “He was made to cry “I am a worm, and no man, a reproach of men and despised among the people.”
1892; Alexander MacLaren, “The Expositor’s Bible: The Psalms”, Vol. 1, p. 213, 67, 76; “We are not to set the physical sufferings of Christ in separation from, or contrast with, the spiritual agonies, but let us not suppose that the physical death was atonement, apart from the spiritual death of separation from the Father...” “Doubtless the spiritual death which Christ was experienced, was itself the cause of the cessation of His mortal life on the cross. That death brought on His mortal death long before His executioners expected Him to expire.”
1875 R. W. Dale, Lectures, Hughes, p. 74 “I cannot believe that His terror [in the garden] was caused by His anticipation of the physical tortures of crucifixion. Crucifixion was a very painful form of death, but...the evangelists...say nothing of the throbbing pain which He must have endured upon the cross...But they speak of a mysterious spiritual sorrow which forced Him to utter the most bitter cry that can ever break form a human heart...The agony of the garden is, indeed, inexplicable until we see Him on the cross. It was an awful death - a death of great physical suffering, but the physical suffering was the least complicated element of its complicated woe...there came another and still more appalling sorrow. His fellowship with the Father had been intimate and unbroken...but...The light of God’s presence is lost, He is left in awful isolation, and He cries, “My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?”, In the “hour of darkness” which has fallen upon Him, He still clings to the Father which is an invincible trust and an immeasurable love, and the agony of being deserted by God is more then He can bear. His heart is broken. Death comes upon Him from within as well as from without and He dies as much from the loss of the sense of God’s presence as from the exhaustion of crucifixion.” “I decline to accept any explanation of these words which implies that they do not represent the actual truth of our Lords’ position... I take the words in their clear and unqualified meaning...When I try to discover the meaning of the sorrow of Christ on the cross, I cannot escape the conclusion that He is somehow involved in this deep and dreadful darkness by the sins of the race whose nature He has assumed.”
1860; J. C. Ryle, theologian. “Matthew Commentary”, 1993 -ed. J. I. Packer, Aliser McGrath, editors. p. 282 (“My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”) These words were meant to express the real pressure of His soul of the enormous burden of the worlds’ sin; they were meant to show how truly and literally He was made our substitute. Was made sin, and a curse for us, and endured Gods’ righteous anger against a worlds’ sin in His own person.”
1859; J. N. Darby, “The Suffering Of Christ”, G. Morrish, originally published 1858-1859 p. 5-7, 9, 12, 19-21, 24 “In the first place, we have to distinguish His sufferings from man and His sufferings from God...He suffered also from the hand of God upon the cross. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief; when He shall make His soul an offering for sin...” “In Psalm xxii. we have...His suffering from the hand of God. When under the pressure of others, God, His only resource, forsakes Him.” “Christ suffered for sins that we never might. We are healed by, not partaker of, His stripes. What Christ haws suffered from the forsaking of God as the consequence of sin, He has suffered alone and exactly...” “And for Him death was death...God’s just vengeance, and alone, without one sympathy, forsaken of those whom He had cherished...” “That Christ suffered every possible sorrow which can come upon man through sin...and that all His sorrows were, in one way or another the consequences and fruit of sin...is preciously true.” “We cannot have too deep a sense of the depth of the Lord’s suffering in His atoning work, of that which no human word is competent to express -- what the Lord’s drinking of the cup of sin had filled under judgment of God was to Him. With this nothing can be mingled or mixed up. Divine judgment against sin, and being made a curse, really felt and truly felt in the soul of One who, by His perfect holiness and love to God and sense of God’s love in its infinite value, what it was to be made sin before God, of One too who was by virtue of His person, able to sustain it, stand wholly apart and alone...No simple fact of death, dreadful as it was the Prince of Life, still less any human suffering, real and absolute as His was could be put on a level with being made a curse before God.” “No divinely taught mind will...fail to distinguish from all else the reality of Christ’s own soul as made sin for us, exposed to and enduring God’s righteous dealing with sin and being forsaken of Him, which in grace He underwent...when the real bearing of our sins, being made sin before God, His being forsaken by reason of sin, is before our soul and conscience, we shall bow our soul before that solemn work, we shall know that Christ stood alone in it...”
1840; Jamieson, Fawsset, Brown, theologians. Respected Commentary. p. 246 (Matt 27:48) “At that moment, the least token of approval from the unseen Judge, innocence who’s only recognition at that moment lay in the thick surrounding gloom which but reflected the horror of great darkness that invested His own spirit. ...There was indeed a cause for it, and He knew it too. He musty taste the bitterest of the wages of sin, who did no sin... In Him there was no cause at all, and He takes refuge in the glorious fact. When no light from above shines upon Him, He strikes a light out of His own breast. If God will not own Him, He shall own Himself. On the rock of His unsullied allegiance to Heaven will He stand, til the light of Heaven returns to His spirit.”
1840; Charles Hodge, preacher, theologian. “Systematic theology”, p. 413 “The wrath of God is a distinct particular of the burden of sorrow which Christ, for our sakes, humbled Himself to bear...He was “made sin” (2 Cor 5:21), i.e. treated as a sinner. He was “numbered with the transgressors” (Isa 53”12) not only in the judgment of men, but in the dealing of God with His soul when He stood in the place of sinners.”
1765; Johnathon Edwards, evangelist, reformer. Commentary, p. 423 “...Our Lords’ greatest agony probably continued these three whole hours, at the conclusion of which He thus cried out, while He suffered from God Himself what was unutterable. My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me; our Lord hereby at once expresses His trust in God and the most distressing sense of letting loose the powers of darkness upon Him, withdrawing the comfortable discoveries of His presence, and filling His soul with a terrible sense of the wrath due to the sins which He was bearing.”
1714; Matthew Henry, Presbyterian reformer, theologian, Commentary p. 156 Matthew 27:46. “Note #1 That our Lord Jesus was, for all time, forsaken by His Father. So He says Himself, Who we are sure was not mistaken concerning His own case. Not as if there were any abatement of His Fathers love, for Him, or His for His father. God hid His face from Him. Christ was made sin for us, a curse for us; and therefore, though God loved Him as a Son, He frowned on Him as a surety...Christ being forsaken by His Father was the most grievous of His sufferings.” “Acts 2:24 [1] He describes the resurrection: God loosed the pains of death, because it was impossible that He should be holden of it...Most refer this to the resurrection of Christ’s body. Christ was imprisoned for our debt, was thrown into the bands of death; but it was not possible that he should be detained there, for he had life in Himself and had conquered the prince of death.”
1686; John Pearson, Reformer, theologian. “Expo - on the creed”, p. 378-379 “We have already shewn the substance of the article to consist to this, that the soul of Christ really separated from His body by death, did truly pass into the places below, where the souls of departed men were. And I conceive the end for which He did so, was, that He might undergo the condition of a dead man as well as of a living. He appeared here in the similitude of sinful flesh, and went into the other world in the similitude of a sinner. His body was laid in a grave, as ordinarily the bodies of dead men are; His soul was conveyed into such receptacles as the soul of other persons use to be. By the descent of Christ into hell; all those which believe in Him, are secured from descending thither; He went into those regions of darkness, that our souls might never come into those torments which are there. By His descent He freed us from our fears, and by His ascension He secured us of our hopes.”
1559; John Calvin, Reformer, theologian. “Calvin’s Institutes”, chap. 16 “If Christs’ soul experienced no punishment, He would have been only a redeemer for the body...Christ suffered in His soul the dreadful torments of a person condemned and irretrievably lost.” “How should we understand Christs’ descent into hell, which is mentioned in the creed? Nothing would have achieved if Christ had only suffered physical death. In order to come between us and Gods’ anger, to satisfy His righteous judgment, it was necessary for Him to feel the full force of Divine vengeance. It was also necessary for Him to engage at close quarters with the powers of hell and the horrors of eternal death...He undertook and paid all the penalties which we owed. After explaining what Christ endured in the sight of man, the Creed rightly adds the invisible and incomprehensible judgment which He endured before God, to teach us that not only was the body given up as the price of redemption, but there was a greater and more amazing price--that He bore in His soul the tortures of condemned and ruined man. Thus by engaging with the power of the devil, the fear of death, and the pains of hell, He gained the victory, and achieved a triumph, so that we now in death fear not those things which our Prince has destroyed.”
1483; Martin Luther, Reformer, theologian, “Luthers Works”, vol. 30 p. 116; “Sermons of Luther”. vol. 7 p. 179; “Luthers Works”, vol. 26 P. 278 “Faith is based on Christ’s death, His descent into hell, and His resurrection form the dead. If He had remained dead there would be no help for us.” “He humbled Himself, or debased Himself. In addition to manifesting his servant form in becoming a man and faring as an ordinary human being, He went farther and made Himself lower than any man... He not only made Himself subject to men, but also to sin, death, and the devil, and bore it all for us. He accepted the most ignominious death, the death on the cross dying not as a man but as a worm (Ps 22, 6); yes, as an arch-knave, a knave above all knaves, and perished altogether. As Christ was cast into the lowest depths and subjected to all devils, so has God exalted Him Lord over all angels and creatures, and over death and hell.” “But just as Christ is wrapped up in our flesh and blood, so we must wrap Him and know Him to be wrapped up in our sins, our curse, our death, and everything evil. But it is highly absurd and insulting to call the Son of God a sinner and a curse! “If you want to deny that He is a sinner and a curse, then deny also that He suffered, and was crucified and died. For it is no less absurd to say, as our Creed confesses and prays, that the Son of God was crucified and underwent the torment of sin and death then it is to say that He is a sinner or a curse. But if it is not absurd to confess and believe that Christ was crucified among thieves, then it not absurd to say as well that He was a curse and a sinner of sinners. Whatever sins I, you, and all of us have committed in the future, they are as much Christ’s own as if He Himself had committed them. In short, our sin must be Christ’s own sin, or we shall perish eternally. The wicked sophests have obscured true knowledge of Christ which Paul and the prophets have handed down to us.”
1273; St. Thomas Aquinas, Theologian. “Sermon Conferences on the Apostles Creed”, p. 79 ‘The Son of God was both in the tomb with the body and descended into hell with the soul. And thus the holy Apostles said: “He descended into hell”. There are several reasons why Christ as a soul descended into hell. (1) To shoulder the full punishment of sin, and so expiate all of its guilt. The punishment of sin for humanity, however, was not only the death of the body, but also involved the soul, because sin also belonged to the soul. And thus before the coming of Christ, the soul after death descended into hell. In order that Christ completely shoulder the entire punishment due to sinners, He wished not only to die, but also to descend into hell as a soul. Thus we read: “I am with those going down into the depths” (Ps 88:5)...Christ descended as a soul into hell for our salvation, and hence we ought frequently to descend there by considering eternal punishment.”
387; St. Augustine, Theologian, “The Creed”, - Bernard, Enchiridion, chap. XL1, p. 169 “He was called sin, that He might be sacrificed to wash away sin. For under the Old Covenant, sacrifices for sin were called sins. And He, of whom all these sacrifices were types and shadows, was Himself truly made sin. Hence the apostle, after saying. “We pray you in Christ’s sted, be ye reconciled to God”, forthwith adds: “for He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” “It is established beyond question that the Lord, after He had been put to death in the flesh, ‘descended to hell.’ Who except an infidel, will deny that Christ was in hell?”
201; Irenaeus, “The Ante-Nicene Fathers”, p. 499; “Documents of the Christian Church”, p. 31 “By His own blood He redeemed us, and gave His life for our life, His flesh for our flesh; and He poured out the Spirit of the Father to bring about the union and communion of God and man.” “The Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth, preaching His advent there also, and [declaring] the remission of sins received by those who believe in Him.”
156; Tertullian, Church Father, “The Anti-Nicene Fathers”. p. 231; “A Treatise on the Soul”, chap. LVI.; “The Creed”, B. L. Marthaler, p. 168 “Christ in His death spent three days in the heart of the earth, that is, in the secret inner recess which is hidden in the earth, and enclosed by the earth, and superimposed on the abysmal depths which lie still lower down. Christ our God, Who because He was man died according to the scriptures, and was buried according to the same scriptures. satisfied this law also by undergoing the form of human death in the underworld, and did not ascend aloft to heaven until He had gone to the regions beneath the earth...Christ descended into hell, that we night not ourselves have to descend thither.”
92; St. Clement, Church Father, “The Anti-Nicene Fathers; - The First Epistle of Clement”, p. 9 - or chap. XVI “For Christ is of those who are humble-minded, and not of those who exalt themselves over His flock...We have declared [our message] in His presence:...He is a man exposed to stripes and suffering, and acquainted with the endurance of grief: for His countenance was turned away; He was despised, and not esteemed. He bears our iniquities...For the transgression of My people was He brought down to death...and He Himself shall carry their sins. On this account He shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoil of the strong; because His soul was delivered to death, and He was reckoned among the transgressors, and He bare the sins of many, and for their sins He was delivered. “And again He saith, I am a worm and no man: a reproach of men, and despised of the people”...Ye see, beloved, what example which has been given to us; for if the Lord thus humbled Himself, what shall we do who have through Him come under yoke of His grace?”
Jamison Fawsett Brown Genisis 2:7 7. Here the sacred writer supplies a few
more particulars about the first pair.
Matthew Henry
Genisis 2:7 |