Does Penal Substitutionary Atonement Negate God's Forgiveness?
Or is PSA the means for forgiveness...
The issue of atonement is one of profound importance to a Christian’s theological understanding of the Gospel.
When we examine the doctrine of the atonement, we seek to understand what exactly Christ does for us. The ultimate question the discussion hopes to answer is: “How does God maintain his justice while forgiving sinners?” While almost every theory of atonement is grounded in some biblical aspect of Christ’s incarnational work, only one answers the aforementioned question. That theory is Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA).
What is Penal Substitutionary Atonement?
Penal Substitutionary Atonement is the doctrine that Christ, in his death on the cross, bore the full legal penalty that God’s justice required for human sin. The word “penal” refers to the punishment of sin, “substitutionary” refers to Christ’s taking man’s place, and “atonement” refers to the restoration of man’s covenantal fellowship with God. The book of Isaiah reveals this understanding clearly, stating, “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5, ESV). Together, the doctrine encapsulates Scripture’s portrayal of the total work of Christ on humanity’s behalf — Christ’s substituting man with himself by taking on the full penalty due to sinners for the purpose of restoring our fellowship with God.
If sin must be punished, does God really forgive it?
Some have argued that the Bible’s presentation of God’s forgiveness runs contrary to the doctrine of Penal Substitution, stating that if sin has to be paid for, it cannot be forgiveness. Those who argue this will claim that God putting the legal debt on the shoulders of another simply transfers the payment, rather than actually forgiving the sin. While there is a certain logic that flows through this line of thought, it seems to extend from a faulty definition of forgiveness, followed by the neglect of several key passages.
What is Forgiveness of Sin?
Throughout the totality of Scripture, its consistent witness is clear. Forgiveness of sin is the removal of one’s covenantal obligation to pay the legal penalty required of sin by a transfer of debt. Paul gives a clear and well-known understanding of sin’s debt, stating, “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23). Thus, sinners are charged with paying the penalty of death. These were the terms given to Adam at the beginning. As our representative head, the same penalty is extended to all of mankind.
The phrase “forgiveness of sins” is translated from the Greek word ἄφεσις (afesis). The word occurs 17 times in the New Testament and “indicates the state of having a particular obligation removed…in a given relationship.”1 The rightful understanding of this word does not overlook the covenantal obligation due to one who has sinned. The penalty for sin is not a legal metaphor; it is a divine decree. Sin is a transgression of God’s relationship with mankind. Therefore, the just penalty for man’s sin against the one who gave him life is inevitably death.
This covenantal understanding of forgiveness is not unique to the New Testament. In Exodus 34:6–7, God reveals himself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (Hebrew: chesed).” Simultaneously, he declares himself to be one who “will by no means clear the guilty.” This passage fully displays God's abundant covenant faithfulness, yet also insists that the guilty cannot simply go unpunished. These two realities are not in conflict; they are held together by the same covenantal logic. God's covenantal faithfulness does not suspend his justice. Rather, it drives him to satisfy it on behalf of those he loves.
So, to forgive sin is not to overlook its penalty, but to remove it from the one who rightly bears it. If man were to pay the debt that he owes for sin, he would be left dead. Instead, by God’s forgiveness, he is freed from his obligation to pay his just penalty and is instead granted life.
The Penalty Must Still be Met
So then, if this covenental obligation does not terminate on the one to whom it is due, what happens to the penalty? In a discourse on Christ as the mediator of a new covenant, the Hebrew writer addresses with clarity the need for a penal substitutionary atonement. Here, the contextual logic is covenantal and legal, and the writer gives a straightforward answer to the question, stating,
“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22, ESV).
The writer does not ascribe a mere exemplary nature to Christ’s death. Rather, he provides a covenantal declaration that sin carries the penalty of death, and that penalty must be absorbed before forgiveness is possible. Christ, as both the high priest and the offering, fulfills what every Old Testament sacrifice pointed toward — the once-for-all payment of man’s sinful debt. Without Christ’s penal substitutionary atonement, there is no forgiveness of sins.
A Perfectly Just God
Now, before running wild with this conclusion, a final question must be asked: Why must sin’s penalty be suffered to enact God’s forgiveness? The answer can only be discerned by a proper understanding of God’s justice. Divine justice is not an optional role for God to take on, but rather, an essential aspect of his nature. Romans 3 reveals this and exactly how it is that his justice is upheld in the forgiveness of humanity.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 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” (Romans 3:23-26).
In this passage, many aspects of the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement are affirmed. First, Christ’s own blood is shown to be a propitiation (atoning sacrifice, cover). Additionally, the reason Christ was given is given in the statement, “This was to show God’s righteousness…” (vs. 25-26). The word “righteousness” is translated from the Greek word, δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosunē), and refers to the act of doing what is in agreement with God’s standards by fair and equitable dealing. The principle is not that Christ was given merely as an example of God’s love to mankind, but that his penal substitution was the necessary act to preserve God’s justice while securing forgiveness for humanity. This is affirmed by the conclusion of this pericope, which states, “so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (vs. 26).
Without the preservation of God’s justice by his rightful punishment of sin, there is no hope that the believer can be found as just. If God’s wrath toward sin has not been satisfied through Christ’s death, then no human has the right to stand before a just God.
Conclusion
So the method goes like this: Humans have broken the covenantal relationship with the almighty that they were made for by their sin. It is man’s own sin that has caused this, and he alone bears the responsibility for its due penalty. Thus, there stands an immutable debt that must be resolved to be reconciled to God. Until that debt is paid, a just God cannot maintain communion with man. So, in perfect obedience, Jesus suffers the legal punishment of death due to man for his sin. God then forgives the sinner, pardoning his iniquity by placing the debt of sin on the shoulders of Christ. By his death, the due penalty is met, and Christ enables man’s atonement to God.
In summary, Penal Substitutionary Atonement does not negate God’s forgiveness. Rather, it is the method by which a perfectly just God forgives the one who is deserving of death. Without Christ’s penal substitution, there is no hope for mankind before a perfect God.
J. David Stark, “Forgiveness,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
Well said!