Love Is Not Motivated By Fear!

I have been told that Abraham loved his son Isaac even as he purposed to and actually offered Isaac on an alter up to God (Cf. Genesis 22). If Abraham decided to hate his son to appease his God, that would have been an empty sacrifice. If we don't love what we offer then that is not true worship; it is not a sacrifice, and it is not true love. When hate is involved it is not a living sacrifice for the one giving the offering. This applies to me and that is why I write it, but it also is true of God. God offered His only begotten Son to the world, and He did it all the way in love through Jesus' incarnation, life, passion, death, resurrection, and glory (that is in friendship with His Son, and care for humanity). God does not hate people, He is not like man or demon spirits. God is love, and eveything He does is done in healthy love. God never stops loving: His only begotten son, and those He made in His image.

I do not believe in the Penal Substitution Theory of the Atonement. Can anyone buy your love? If yes, is it still love? Can anyone buy God the Father’s love? If yes, then it isn’t love. Jesus did not buy out God, so that God could love us. I therefore reject the PST of the atonement. Our ugly sinful malice and hatred put Jesus on the cross. The god that breathes fire at one’s least infraction and needs to punish his son on a tree just to vent his wrath so he could accept us is the way a lot of people see God. I would call this cosmic child abuse if it were true. Reading much from those who studied the early Church Fathers and reading about the history of Penal Substitution Theory I am forced to reject it as the way I personally explain the cross and redemption. I know that the way we see god/God determines the kind of people we are going to be.

J.R.R. Tolkien says in his trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings” that the history of the Ruling Ring was long and not fully known by any. I think the same is true about Salvation History. As far as the beginning in the Garden of Eden, all the motives, loyalties, longings, thoughts, and desires that went through Adam and Eve’s minds and hearts, and where God stood at the time has not been clearly or fully revealed. With that said finding motivation for Jesus Passion can be tricky. I'm grateful to my current Bible Study for challenging me, correcting, and giving me focus in this really important topic: The Atonement. They accept the Penal Substitution Theory in this area, whereas I don't...but they made some very good and healthy points that I now accept and which have brought stability to my mind and peace to my heart.

I see Jesus’ Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection as a rescue mission orchestrated by the Trinity. With the Father in love (not anger) giving the Son to the world. The Son, Jesus who knew no sin entered “death” so He could absorb those people (who died in friendship with God) into Himself, so that when He rose from the dead (because death could not hold Him) those in Him would be made alive to newness of life. This solves the sin-problem for those who died in friendship with God. Jesus came to solve the sin problem. Also, for those who are still alive, when they are baptized into Jesus death through faith they are raised up into newness of life through Jesus’ Resurrection (Cf. First Peter 3:21). So are fulfilled the words directed to Jesus in some church liturgies: "dying you destroyed our death, and rising you restored our life."

The new life (the Holy Spirit and grace) that we receive from Jesus through faith in His Passion/ and Resurrection are meant to fortify us against sin. Jesus came to save us from our sins and the consequences of sin, not His Father (Matthew 1:21). No where in the Gospels does it say that God punished Jesus for our sins with infinite wrath. Many people wrongly read Penal Substitution into the many Bible Scriptures that talk about Jesus dying for us and our sins. I think these verses are talking about Jesus rescuing us from our sins and their consequences. I whole heartedly believe that Jesus came to save us from our sins. He came to save us from further losing the image of God we were created in. The worst thing that can happen to us is to lose the image of God that we were created with. There are many different theories on how the Atonement could possibly work. Penal substitution was not a view held by the early Church Fathers, and the way it is presented in Evangelical Churches started with the Reformation with people like Calvin.

Here are some of those verses that people who accept the Penal Substitution Theory of the Atonement use to support their view:

Isaiah 53:4-6, 10, 11—"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all ... It was the will of the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin ... By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities." (RSV)

Romans 3:23-26—"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus." (NRSV)

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." (RSV)
Galatians 3:10, 13—"All who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them.' ... Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree.'" (RSV)

1 Peter 2:24—"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness."(RSV)
1 Peter 3:18—"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God." (RSV)

I think all of these verses can be interpreted with the view that Jesus came to win our sanctification and was willing to pay for it with the pain we inflicted on Him.

The NT (Revelations 13:8) says that Jesus was crucified from the foundation of the world. If that is true, and one believes in the Penal Substitution View of the Atonement, does that mean God was punishing Jesus for our sins from the foundation of the world? I don’t think so. So I reject the PST of the Atonement.

Penal Substitution motivates itself by saying that God is both Love and Holy. The holiness part is defined by some kind of vague unknowable “separated-ness”. And it is this separated-ness that supposedly demands payment of punishment for our sins. This payment was supposedly received from Jesus and inflicted by God the Father. I ask, aren’t we all commanded to live holy lives ourselves (Cf. 1 Peter 1:16)? Isn’t our holiness supposed to reflect God’s holiness? If so, we are supposed to punish people when they sin against us because our holiness means we must reflect God’s holiness in the Penal Substitution Theory of the Atonement if it were true. I rather like to think holiness means to be spiritual healthy, staying away from sin, and devoted to healthy love. God has this kind of holiness, and we are commanded to pursue it in the Bible. This kind of holiness does not demand punishment immediately when sin happens (Cf. Matthew 5:5,7). It longs for reconciliation, willingly forgives, heals, and is into restorative Justice from the out go (Jesus came to undo the works of the devil not finish the devil’s work (Cf. First John 3:8)).

There are usually two forms of justice that are spoken about: restorative and retributive. I think there is a third: putting an end to injustices. We all deserve the consequences of our sins, but that doesn't mean we should relish it when people reap the horrible consequences that they sow. Sin is bad, and it along with its consequences are the punishments for it. Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit don't delight in the death of the wicked. God is not mean, and does not meanly punish anyone.

The places where Jesus gets angry in the Gospels are not where He is hateful of the people He is angry with. When Jesus tells parables where the bad guy gets his due He is not saying He hates the bad guy, He is saying He hates what the bad guy did. Jesus is slow to anger...but when the sin has run its course in rebellion hurting people and rejecting God’s pleas all the way, God wants to put an end to it for justice sake. Often people think there are only two kinds of justice: restorative and retributive. God however, is gentle. Justice also means putting an end to an injustice. Those who dislike the “end” see it as retributive because the party has come to an end for them. Whatever happens after the injustice is stopped, will depend on the attitudes of those involved in the situation. God can give people over to their sins, or He can restore them. No amount of punishment is going to undo the injustice. Only God is able to save.

The main reason Jesus died a cruel slow death was to show His love for us (not to appease the anger of a supposedly blood thirsty wrathful God). He died for you and me, for your sins and mine (Thank you Bible Study Group). He showed that He was willing to suffer excruciating pain (that led to death) for us while at the same time resisting any way out even though He could have ended it at any moment before or during His suffering took place. He wanted to show that He is willing to die for each of us so He could show just how great His love for us was and is. If we aren’t willing to die for another person we can’t possibly love them that much. Jesus did die for us and therefore showed His love for us to the fullest possible extent.

For a long time, I had a poorly informed understanding of why Jesus died through His Passion. In those days I believed that Jesus became totally separated from and experienced the wrath of God the Father so that He could pay the penalty for our sins. But I’d later come to see that this was downright misguided in many ways even contradicting sacred Scripture.

Now it is true that Christ died for our sins, so that we would not have to be separated from God forever in the Lake of Fire. But it is not true that God the Father vented His wrath on Jesus for our sake. The Son was, is, and will forever be precious to God the Father, and that means that He was also precious to Him during the Passion. God the Father has always loved the Son, and the Son has always loved the Father. Christ’s Sacrifice on the cross was a sweet aroma to the Father, and pleased the Father because the act was done in utter and complete selflessness, that is, was done in absolute love. Jesus did what Adam failed to do. But that does not mean that Jesus was obligated to correct Adam’s mistake. Isaiah 53 says Jesus’ Passion was a travesty of justice meaning He owed us nothing. Yet it is true that Jesus suffered so we would not have to, but not by what some call penal substitution or retributive justice.

A benefit that comes from Jesus dying comes from the old proverb: “You can’t judge a person until you have walked in her or his shoes.” The only fitting judge is Jesus because He died a cruel death without sinning that gives Him insight into our conditions, compassion for our situations, and solidarity with us in all our sufferings and trials.

Jesus became savior and judge through his sinless passion and death.

Jesus died for us as all us fallen humanity vented our poison on Him through His Passion, and He absorbed the poison of hatred, evil, pride, judging, contempt, hostility, cynicism, and anger in us as we directed it at Him, and He in the process can and does heal us. We are truly healed by Jesus’ stripes.

God wanted to show how strong His love is for us: He was willing to hang on a cross and die to express that love. An added benefit from this is that we have a perfect example to imitate when it comes to sacrificial love.

Jesus' cross (along with all of our own crosses) represents our call to love. Jesus calls us to pick up our own crosses (accept our circumstances) and to follow Him each day. Love is sacrificial in nature... it can be a hard thing to do some of the time (making it so sought after and celebrated), so Jesus leads the way in showing us what love looks like by being our example even though He has no inclination towards sin. Jesus helps us to focus on love; not self. We are called to be love-centered; not self-centered.

When we believe in Jesus as Savior and Leader we become a part of the Bride of Christ through Baptism. And if we persevere in loyalty and holiness until death, we will inherit the fruits of Jesus’ Passion – the beatific vision.

The Path that Jesus calls us to walk is difficult. But He has promised to help us persevere through all our trials and also promises that these trials are actually full of opportunities to grow in personal holiness (healthy), knowledge of God’s goodness, and in the skill of love. Jesus by His Passion has shown us the way to reality, to meaningful giving, and to love.

Jesus died to save us from our sins (Thank you Bible Study Group). He showed that He was willing to suffer excruciating pain (that led to death) for us while at the same time resisting any way out even though He could have ended it at any moment before or during His suffering took place. He wanted to show that He is willing to die for each of us so He could show just how great His love for us was and is. If we aren’t willing to die for another person we can’t possibly love them that much. Jesus did die for us and therefore showed His love for us to the fullest possible extent.

For a long time, I had a poorly informed understanding of why Jesus died through His Passion. In those days I believed that Jesus became totally separated from and experienced the wrath of God the Father so that He could pay the penalty for our sins. But I’d later come to see that this was downright misguided in many ways even contradicting sacred Scripture.

Now it is true that Christ died for our sins, so that we would not have to be separated from God forever in the Lake of Fire. But it is not true that God the Father vented His wrath on Jesus for our sake. The Son was, is, and will forever be precious to God the Father, and that means that He was also precious to Him during the Passion. God the Father has always loved the Son, and the Son has always loved the Father. Christ’s Sacrifice on the cross was a sweet aroma to the Father, and pleased the Father because the act was done in utter and complete selflessness, that is, was done in absolute love. Jesus did what Adam failed to do. But that does not mean that Jesus was obligated to correct Adam’s mistake. Isaiah 53 says Jesus’ Passion was a travesty of justice meaning He owed us nothing. Yet it is true that Jesus suffered so we would not have to, but not by what some call penal substitution or retributive justice.

In a very mysterious way Jesus paid that price for us through His passion. But it must be emphasized that God is not like demon spirits that in the past demanded child-sacrifices through fires in order to appease the demon’s anger and grant safety or prosperity or acceptance to those sacrificing the children.

God can and does forgive freely, lovingly, compassionately, and mercifully; and has tied forgiveness to the cross for many reasons many of which are still hidden to us. The cross is a mystery that draws us in wonder to behold God’s love for us. God is not the “accountant type of god” who somehow needs to balance the books when it comes to the weight of our sins and Jesus’ suffering. With the thinking that He can’t give us freedom unless somebody proportionally loses it.

Jesus' cross (along with all of our own crosses) represents our call to love. Jesus calls us to pick up our own crosses (accept our circumstances) and to follow Him each day. Love is sacrificial in nature... it can be a hard thing to do some of the time (making it so sought after and celebrated), so Jesus leads the way in showing us what love looks like by being our example even though He has no inclination towards sin. Jesus helps us to focus on love; not self. We are called to be love-centered; not self-centered.

When we believe in Jesus as Savior and Leader we become a part of the Bride of Christ through Baptism. And if we persevere in loyalty and holiness until death, we will inherit the fruits of Jesus’ Passion – the beatific vision.

However, that does not mean that as we sojourn here on earth and anticipate Heaven that God has left us on our own without cure or remedy to prevent us from committing grave sins endlessly. Indeed, by “Jesus’ stripes we are healed” not so much from physical ailments (although that is a reality), but from the spiritual maladies in our hearts, souls and minds, and relationships. These spiritual maladies (such as deception, fear, pride, insensitivity, or addictions) can be removed. They can be removed when (1) we as members of Christ’s body share in His suffering and are purified slowly over time through faith and humility by confession. And, (2) by believing and experiencing first hand the truth as taught by the New Testament writers, and renewing minds, attitudes, and hearts (i.e. repenting) with the aid of God’s grace with visibly transformed behavior as the good fruit. Jesus came to set us free from bondage to darkness. Those who persevere eventually win freedom to do much good and love. For a practical way to become free from addictions and character flaws see the essays called: “Working The Twelve (Plus Four) Steps”, and “Killing Pride” from this Website.

The Path that Jesus calls us to walk is difficult. But He has promised to help us persevere through all our trials and also promises that these trials are actually full of opportunities to grow in personal holiness (spiritual healthiness), knowledge of God’s goodness, and in the skill of love. Jesus by His Passion has shown us the way to reality, to meaningful giving, and to love.

Fact: I have sinned again and again, and so in some senses am still separated in some ways (not completely) from God because of the sin-malady-spiritual-illnesses within me that still needs His healing. But God is in me, with me, loving me. Fact: Jesus came and was mutilated in the flesh so I could be healed in the spirit/ soul/ and mind and not have to be separated from God forever. Fact: God the Father did not punish His Son Jesus Christ through His Passion... indeed God was in Christ on the Cross reconciling the world to Himself. Fact: God loves unconditionally... but He does not owe us love. God loves us because He is love.