Substitutionary Atonement Doesn't Match Scripture

The New Testament would have to be drastically rewritten to make Jesus our "substitute"

The concept of “substitution” is that one person experiences something in another’s place so they would not experience that thing. According to penal substitution, Jesus dies in our place for our sins as our substitute so that we would not have to. Jesus is crucified instead of us. But there are many, many texts in the New Testament that simply do not work with the concept of “substitution.” The New Testament would have to be drastically rewritten to make Jesus our "substitute." Rather, the New Testament uses the category of union with Christ. The New Testament uses the phrase “in Christ” over 200 times, and also frequently describes us suffering, dying, and even being crucified “with Christ”. See the following verses:

Mark 8:34-35

[Jesus] said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

A substitute would never say this. A substitute would say “lay down your cross and stay put, for I go to be crucified in your place. Whoever wishes to save his life will accept that I lose it instead of him.” But Jesus does not say that. Some penal substitution advocates have told me that when Jesus says “take up your cross and follow me” he is not talking about salvation, but Jesus explicitly says “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.”

Mark 10:39

And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.

A substitute would never say this. A substitute would say “the cup that I drink you shall not have to drink; and you shall not be baptized with the baptism I undergo in your place.” But Jesus does not say that.

John 12:23-26

Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also”

A substitute would never say this. A substitute would say “the one who loves his own life will accept that I lose mine in his place. If anyone serves Me, he must not follow Me, but let me go instead of him so he won’t have to.” But Jesus does not say that.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified (co-crucified) with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Substitution would never say this. Substitution would say “I have avoided crucifixion because Jesus was crucified instead of me.” But Paul does not say that.

Philippians 1:28-30

For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

Substitution would never say this. Substitution would say “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, to believe in Him, and therefore not to suffer what he suffered in your place.” But Paul does not say that.

2 Corinthians 1:5

For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

Substitution would never say this. Substitution would say “For just as the sufferings of Christ are his in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant because of Christ. He suffered instead of us so we could have comfort.” But Paul does not say that.

2 Corinthians 4:10

We are always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

Substitution would never say this. Substitution would say “Jesus carried death in his body so we wouldn’t have to carry it.” But Paul does not say that.

Romans 6:3-7

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

Substitution would never say this. There is no substitution in this passage. Substitution would say “do you not know that all of us have avoided baptism into death, because Jesus was baptized into death in our place? Knowing this, that He was crucified in our place, in order that his body of sin might be done away with, for he who has avoided death is freed from sin.”

Romans 12:1

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Substitution would never say this. Substitution would say “Jesus presented his body a living and holy sacrifice so you wouldn’t have to.” But Paul does not say that.

Hebrews 13:13

So, let us go out to Jesus outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

Substitution would never say this. Substitution would say “let us remain in the camp, for Jesus has borne our reproach in our place so we won’t have to.” But Hebrews does not say that.

1 Peter 2:20

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps…

Substitution would never say this. Substitution would say “since Christ also suffered for you, you won’t have to.” But Peter does not say that.

1 Peter 2:24

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

A substitute would never say this. Substitution would say “He Himself bore the punishment for our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might not ever face death.” But Peter does not say that.

1 Peter 4:1-2

Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

A substitute would never say this. Substitution would say, “Since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with a different purpose.” But Peter does not say that.

Finally,

John 15:1-5

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

A substitute would not use this image or say “remain in me.” A substitute would use the image of his own vine being destroyed so that your vine would be spared destruction.

I just do not see how people who believe that the heart of the gospel is “substitution” can apply these verses. Substitution strikes me as completely contrary to all those verses we just read, and I could have mentioned more. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said in his great work The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” We are to live cruciform lives. We are called to be crucified with Christ (The term Paul uses in Galatians is actually better translated as “co-crucified”. The phrase “Crucified With Christ” does not even go far enough in communicating the togetherness, the union, the with-ness that Paul is trying to communicate).

We will never be rid of the prosperity gospel until we are rid of the language of substitution. When we have some of our most prominent Christian voices saying that the heart of the gospel is “Jesus suffered in my place so I won’t have to” how are we not preparing people to expect that God’s will for them is comfort? Just as there were 5 lords of the Philistines, so there are 5 lords of worldliness: Health, Wealth, Security, Comfort, and Self-Expression. Substitution gives these lords power.

Furthermore, if Jesus died in our place, then why do human beings still physically die? If physical death is a punishment for sin, and Jesus suffered our punishment for us in our place as our substitute so that we would not have to suffer it, then shouldn’t we no longer physically die? It seems as though God is exercising punishment for the same sins twice, punishing Jesus with physical death for our sins, and then us again with physical death for the same sins.

If we want to speak like Jesus, Paul, and the rest of the New Testament, we need to jettison “substitution” language from our vocabulary, and instead use the language of union with Christ. We take up our crosses and follow Jesus, so that we might be crucified with him and in him, that we might rise in him and with him in glory.