Penal Substitutionary Atonement

Definition and Meaning

Penal substitutionary atonement (Korean hyeongbeol daesokseol, 刑罰代贖說) is one of several theories that seek to explain the atonement. The Korean term daesok (代贖) means to set someone free by paying the price in that person's stead. According to this theory, sin is a violation of God's law, and a righteous God must therefore punish it. Jesus Christ bore that punishment on behalf of sinners, and in this way both God's justice and God's love are realized. The key concepts of the theory are "in place of" (its substitutionary character) and "punishment" (its legal or penal character).

Biblical and Historical Background

Proponents locate the background of this theory in Old Testament sacrifice and the Day of Atonement, in which an offering stands in the place of the sinner. They cite the following passages as biblical support:

• Isaiah 53:4–6, which speaks of the Suffering Servant
• Romans 3:21–26, which states that God set forth Christ as a propitiation
• 2 Corinthians 5:21
• Galatians 3:10–14, which states that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, "being made a curse for us"
• 1 Peter 2:24

In the late eleventh century, Anselm of Canterbury, in Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man), explained the atonement in terms of "satisfaction" that restores the honor due to God. During the Reformation, John Calvin and others reformulated this idea within a framework of law and punishment, and this is commonly regarded as the classic form of penal substitutionary atonement. Church history, however, also offers other explanations, such as the moral influence theory, which holds that Christ's love morally moves and transforms people, and the Christus Victor theory, which holds that Christ triumphed over sin, death, and the powers of evil.

In the Korean Church

Penal substitutionary atonement is widely used in the preaching, hymnody, and evangelistic materials of Korean Protestantism as the most familiar framework for explaining the cross and the "precious blood" of Christ.

• Presbyterian: Reformed Presbyterian denominations adhere to Chapter 8 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, which confesses that Christ, by His perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself, fully satisfied the justice of the Father. These denominations teach penal substitution in direct connection with the doctrine of justification.
• Methodist and Holiness: The Wesleyan tradition also accepts substitutionary atonement, but it tends to emphasize both that its benefits are open to all people (universal atonement) and that it issues in a life of sanctification.
• Progressive theological circles: Some critics argue that the theory can portray God as violent and can obscure other dimensions of the atonement, and they therefore call for several understandings of the atonement to be considered together. Proponents respond that penal substitution is a central teaching of Scripture that reveals God's justice and love at the same time.