Penal Substitutionary Atonement, the Heart of the Gospel

Isaiah 53:5
"But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by His wounds we are healed."
This verse shows that Christ suffered not for His own sins, but as a substitute for ours. The punishment He bore is what brings peace with God.

Isaiah 53:6
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
God Himself placed the guilt of sinners upon His Servant. Christ endured our penalty in our place.

Isaiah 53:10
"Yet it was the LORD's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life a guilt offering . . ."
Jesus was not only crushed by the hands of men, but by the will of God. His life was offered as a sin-bearing sacrifice to accomplish redemption.

Isaiah 53:11
"After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by His knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities."
Christ's substitutionary suffering brings justification to many. He bore their sins to secure their righteousness.

John 1:29
"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"
Jesus is identified as the sacrificial Lamb who removes sin. His death is substitutionary, just as the lambs in the Old Covenant bore guilt symbolically.

Romans 3:25
"God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood."
The cross was a display of God's justice because Christ bore the penalty that was due sinners. His blood is the satisfaction of God's wrath against sin.

Romans 4:25
"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."
Christ died not for His own sin, but because of ours. His resurrection proves the penalty was paid in full and justification secured.

Romans 5:8
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
His death was on behalf of others--undeserving, guilty sinners. This is the heart of substitutionary atonement.

Romans 8:3
"For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man."
Christ was sent as a sin offering to bear the condemnation we deserved. The penalty of the law was carried out in Him.

1 Corinthians 5:7
"For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."
Just as the Passover lamb died in place of the firstborn, so Christ died in the place of His people. His sacrificial death shields us from judgment.

2 Corinthians 5:21
"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
Christ was treated as sin itself, bearing its curse. His substitution provides us with His righteousness in exchange.

Galatians 1:4
"Who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father."
Jesus voluntarily gave Himself up to bear the penalty of our sins. This was the Father's will to deliver His people from judgment.

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 hung on a tree.'"
Christ bore the curse that the law pronounces on lawbreakers. He endured the judgment in our place.

Ephesians 1:7
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace."
Redemption and forgiveness come through Christ's blood. His substitutionary death satisfied the debt of our sin.

Ephesians 5:2
"Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Christ gave Himself up for us as a sacrificial substitute. His death satisfied God's justice and pleased Him as an acceptable offering.

1 Peter 2:24
"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed."
Christ personally carried our sins in His crucifixion. His punishment secures our forgiveness and transformation.

1 Peter 3:18
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."
The innocent One died in place of the guilty. His substitutionary death reconciles us to God.

Hebrews 9:26
"But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself."
Christ's once-for-all sacrifice removed sin by bearing its penalty. He replaced repeated offerings with His perfect substitutionary death.

Hebrews 9:28
"So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him."
Christ was sacrificed to bear away the sins of His people. His first coming dealt with sin's penalty, His second will bring final salvation.

1 John 4:10
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
God's love is shown in sending His Son to bear our penalty. The cross is both substitutionary and propitiatory.