Substitution

As I gleefully rub my hands together and grin… “ah, atonement theories!”

Just as Christmas is actually all about sin and death, Lent, like Easter, leaves us with some of those big mystery questions. Holy mysteries, but mysteries none the less. And yes, I appreciate that unlike the Sherlock Holmes thought process of “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) that there could be more than one right answer to these questions. Really. Truly. God is not easily limited to one single answer.

However, these foundational understandings of sin, grace, need for redemption, how salvation works, etc. are pretty core to what we believe as Christians. If you think that we owe a debt every time we sin and that Christ pays that debt by dying on the cross, if leaves us with questions of who is the debt owed to? Is it Satan? Is the devil that mighty that God could owe Satan? Each atonement theory comes with its own faults, questions, ideas, and explanations. And there are many atonement theories!

This week I want to focus on Substitution. This is all about how you should be punished for your sin, but Christ takes your place. It posits that someone must be punished for the sin. But because Christ loves you, you will not get what you deserve. You will be given abundant grace rather than torment, anguish, eternal damnation.

This past week I asked the children about what happens when you break a rule. They correctly identified that you both break your mother’s heart and often there is a consequence to your actions. We know this to be true with human rules. When you break a law, there are often consequences. Sometimes you get away with things, but then your own guilt might be the consequence. But what about God’s rules? Presumably those are the rules being broken that require an extreme and long-lasting punishment.

For some, God is a punishing God. Every little infraction comes with swift and merited justice. When a rule gets broken, somebody must be punished. If all was right with the world, any who break a rule or law would receive the appropriate punishment. And when we are the one who has been wronged, the one against whom the sin has been committed, do we not cry out for vengeance and justice that punishes the wrong doer? Children often tattle on naughty siblings because they want to see the one who broke a rule get their comeuppance.

Magrey R. DeVega in his work Savior: What the Bible Says about the Cross provides us with two clear definitions:

Definition of Sin: Sin is a violation of God’s intended order for creation, and violates the very nature of God. We owe an infinite debt for the violation and, therefore, deserve punishment for our sin.

Definition of Salvation: Jesus died in our place, repaying our debt, so that we don’t have to. [i]

If you understand sin to be transactional in this way, how do you leave space for God’s abundant grace? If sin doesn’t work this way, why would Jesus need to die on the cross? The substitution theory will make the most sense for many people, especially those who understand sin and salvation in this way. As a by the book kind of person, I can tell you that I have fallen into this way of thinking about salvation more than once. Don’t do the crime if you can’t serve the time becomes don’t sin if you want let in (to heaven). It can easily lead to a thinking that you must be holy if your debt is smaller than others. Or even worse, holier than thou.

Substitution theory is one of the atonement theories understood to be within the confines of United Methodist theology. (Sorry, no heresy this week.) But is it the one that resonates most with you? Does it fit with your understanding of sin? Read more about it here and stay tuned next week to hear about another theory.

[i] Magrey R. DeVega, Savior Leader Guide: What the Bible Says about the Cross (Abingdon Press, 2020), 20.