Towards the end of his life, J.I. Packer wrote in the book In My Place Condemned He Stood, “Throughout my sixty-three years as an evangelical believer, the penal substitutionary understanding of the cross of Christ has been a flashpoint of controversy and division among Protestants. It was so before my time. . . It remains so, as liberalism keeps reinventing itself and luring evangelicals away from their heritage” (21). He has since passed, but his words remain as relevant as when he first wrote them. Christianity in the West goes through waves and fads. Certain topics rose to importance, while others that demanded urgency in the church faded away quickly within a few years. The doctrine of Penal Substitution is one doctrine that always seems to be under attack. Even among those not in favor who acknowledge its presence in Scripture, they are quick to downplay its significance. For me, if this doctrine is in Scripture–clearly in Scripture–then I not only want to accept it, but heartily embrace it. I am not a fan of the modern trend of reinventing ways to keep the Bible from saying what it does. 

When I consider this week and our celebration of Good Friday, I cannot but think of how precious and powerful the thought is that Jesus died on that cross instead of me! He took my sins and bore God’s wrath . . . for me.

This is the heart of the cross: Jesus, the only innocent and perfectly holy person to have ever lived, died on the cross in my place. He was the substitute for me, and not only that, when he did this, he bore God’s righteous and holy wrath in my place. The cross was not a generic death, but a personal one. Jesus died in my place. Such and understanding of the cross is all over the Scriptures:

Galatians 3:13 - “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’”

Mark 10:45 - “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Luke 22:19 - “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’”

1 Corinthians 15:3 - “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.”

1 Peter 3:18 - “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 - “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

We have to acknowledge that understanding how the substitutionary work of Christ works is difficult and full of mystery. How can a perfect God bear the sins of fallen humanity? How can a man who is also God, die? How can an eternity’s worth of sin’s penalty be paid for in only a few hours? I read an article just a few weeks ago and the author denied Christ’s substitutionary work due to questions like these. He said he believed the Scriptures, but could not trust what it said about Christ’s death. He reminds me of what I read in Daniel 12 this morning. As the book closes, Daniel still has questions. What has been revealed to him is still filled with mystery, but the angel refuses to answer all his questions and tells him to put his hope in the future he has when he stands before the Lord. 

I think a similar situation applies to all that took place on the cross. We cannot understand it all. In one sense, this is the heart of why the cross is the center of the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 1:18 - “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The message of the cross is folly according to the wisdom of this world, but for the people of God, it is true wisdom–not because we can fully grasp it, but the very opposite. Because it is folly, it takes the work of God to understand it so that no one may boast before him (1 Cor 1:31).

There are many reasons why the substitution of Jesus on the cross matters–beyond the clear biblical data. As we get ready to celebrate Good Friday, I thought we should consider three points to boost our appreciation for Jesus’ death in our place.

It Upholds God’s Justice
I just preached concerning this point in my message on Sunday. Only at the cross can we make sense of how God can remain just and still forgive sin. No one wants to live in a world where injustice reigns! We all get slightly angered when we see a clearly guilty criminal walk free due to a lawyer’s mistake or some shady bribery that took place. Our sense of justice reacts powerfully to injustice. It’s not fair! Justice needs to be upheld. So think about it: for us to walk away from our sins without penalty is unfair as well. Justice must be met if God is to remain just. He cannot simply forgive sins. This is why Jesus bears our sins. In doing so, God’s justice is met. Romans 3:26 - “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” When Jesus died in our place, he met the demands of God’s justice.

It Reflects the Seriousness of Sin
Sin is a big deal. We have a tendency to downplay our own sin–even though we don’t let others off the hook so easily when they sin against us. At the cross, we are reminded of how serious our sin is. It took God to send himself to die in our place so that we could be forgiven. God didn’t just brush over our sins and forgive us willy nilly. He had to fix the problem himself by sending Christ to pay for our sins. Every.single.one. Sin is a big deal. It needs to be taken seriously.

It Destroys Pride
One of the reasons God chose the foolishness of the cross to save humanity is proclaimed in 1 Corinthians 1:29: “So that no human being might boast in the presence of the Lord.” Jesus dying in our place, humbles us. It forces us to realize that we can’t fix our sin problem on our own. We are dependent upon his great work on our behalf. If Christ had never come to die in our place, we would still be in our sins, destined for hell. That is our just punishment for our sins.


Celebrate this truth this Friday. He came. He died. In our place. Praise the Lord!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood; 
Sealed my pardon with His blood: 
Hallelujah! What a Savior!" 

Your Servant in the Lord,