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Jesus Came to Pay Mankind’s Penalty. Romans 3:23-25–“for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25
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. 26 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 4:22-25– ““That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the
words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted
to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our
trespasses and raised for our justification.”

Jesus Death Was Sufficient to Pay the Penalty. There Is No More Payment Needed. Hebrews 7:27 –
“He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those
of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.” Hebrews 9:25-27 – “Nor was it to
offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26
for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has
appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is
appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to
bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly
waiting for him.”

So, Jesus in the past planned to redeem mankind by paying the penalty for our sins. How exactly do we
explain how He did that? Multiple theories have tried to explain that over the years. Here is the
summary of John Walvoord of a few of them. Five theories have dominated this discussion. Those
theories will now be presented:
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1. Substitutionary Atonement (Walvoord, 157). “This point of view, variously described as
vicarious or penal, holds that the atonement is objectively directed toward God and the satisfaction
of His holy character and demands upon the sinner. It is vicarious in the sense that Christ is the
Substitute who bears the punishment rightly due sinners, their guilt being imputed to Him in such a
way that He representatively bore their punishment. This is in keeping with the general idea of
sacrifices in the Old Testament and is explicitly taught in the New Testament (see John 1:29; 2 Cor.
5:21; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 2:24). It is further sustained by the use of such prepositions as peri
(for), huper (in behalf of), and anti (in place of), which in numerous contexts support the idea of a
divine Substitute for the sinner in the person of Christ on the cross.”

2. Payment-to-Satan Theory (Walvoord, 157-158). “One of the theories which was advanced in
the early church by Origen and taught by Augustine and other early Fathers was that the death of
Christ was paid to Satan in the form of a ransom to deliver man from any claims which Satan might
have upon him. Though others besides Origen followed this teaching in the early church, in the
course of the history of the church it faded from view and ceased to have any substantial adherents.
In modern times it has been held only by certain sects.”

3. Recapitulation Theory (Walvoord, 158). “This point of view championed by Irenaeus is based on
the idea that Christ in His life and death recapitulates all phases of human life, including being made
sin in His death on the cross. In so doing, He does properly what Adam failed to do. Irenaeus also
regarded the suffering of Christ on the cross as satisfying the divine justice of God but considered
this only one phase of the total picture.”

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