But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities… and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray…and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:5-6).
…[Christ] who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed (1 Pet 2:24).
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross (Col 2:13-14).
In part 1, we saw that the Bible clearly shows that our sins result in penalties that God imposes on our lives. Death itself is a penalty for the fact that we are sinners. We saw that John 1:29 does not teach that Jesus’ blood removes the penalty for our sins. It teaches that Jesus’ blood removed the sin barrier. His blood makes us savable. But in order to be born again, we must believe in Him for the gift of God, everlasting life (John 3:16; 4:10, 14; 5:24).
In part 2, we will consider three other texts frequently cited in an effort to show that Jesus has already paid the penalty for our sins.
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 is the famous Suffering Servant passage. It tells of the death of the Messiah for the sins of Israel and the whole world. There is nothing in this passage about the Messiah’s paying the penalty for our sins. It does not hint that because He died for us, we can sin without consequences.
Peter explains what “by His stripes we are healed” means in Isa 53:5. The healing Isaiah wrote about is not physical healing from illness, as some wrongly interpret it, but rather dying to sins (being set free from sin’s bondage) so that we might live for righteousness. That refers to sanctification. The shed blood of Christ makes it possible for us to have everlasting life by believing in Him for that life. Those who have that life have died to sins so that “we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Rom 6:6).
Raymer comments: “Christ suffered so it would be possible for Christians to follow His example, both in suffering and in righteous living” (“1 Peter” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, p. 848).
Davids agrees, writing, “The salvation in Christ is not just a freedom from future judgment or from guilt, but a freedom from the life of sin and a freedom to live as God intends” (First Peter, p. 113).i
Paul is also talking about believers, not all people, in Col 2:13-14. As in Ephesians 2, he speaks of the readers as having formerly been spiritually dead; however God made them alive with Christ. When they gained everlasting life, He forgave all their sins (cf. Acts 10:43). That forgiveness is why newborn believers do not need to confess all the sins they committed before they were born again. They begin the Christian life with a clean slate, in fellowship with God. One of the benefits of the cross and the blood of Christ is that when we believe in Christ, we receive the forgiveness of all our sins.
Forgiveness, of course, is not the same as an absence of penalties. David was forgiven by God for his sins of adultery and murder. But he experienced many consequences because of those sins.
Jesus’ blood has different benefits for believers and unbelievers. He removed the sin barrier for all (John 1:29; 1 John 2:2). But one must be a believer to have died to sins and to be able to live righteously in his experience. In Col 2:13-14 and 1 Pet 2:24, Peter and Paul are talking specifically about believers, not all people.
See my 2009 article, “Benefits of Christ’s Blood: Restricted and Unrestricted.” See here for more details on how Christ’s blood offers different benefits for all people, for all believers, and specifically for believers who are walking in the light of God’s Word.
I surveyed many articles suggesting that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. One article by GotQuestions.org jumped out at me. While I normally agree with and like their articles (other than those reflecting their Lordship Salvation theology), I found the article titled “If Jesus paid the price for our sin, why do we still suffer the consequences of our sin?” to be confused. See for yourself here.
While believers have many wonderful benefits from the blood of Christ, none of those benefits include a license to sin. We cannot sin with impunity. We reap what we sow. There are penalties that God enforces because of our sins.
Keep grace in focus so that you might live righteously and gain His approval at the Bema!
i It is possible that Davids takes the view that all believers live righteously and are guaranteed to persevere in righteous living until death. However, even if that is his view, he sees the healing of 1 Pet 2:24 as being set free from sin’s bondage so that we might live righteously.
