The Substitutionary Atonement by Jesus Our Surety

One of the things that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions is the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement. This is the doctrine that says that the elect sinner, through faith alone, is justified in the eyes of God, not because of anything he has done, but because the justice due to his sins has been applied instead to his surety, Jesus Christ. A surety is like the co-signer on a loan. When the insured person fails in his responsibilities, then the surety steps in and settles the debt on his behalf. The elect sinner is the failed borrower, and Jesus is his surety. No other religion has such a concept of salvation. Every non-Biblical religion contains some system of actions or rituals for the believer to do, to make himself worthy of forgiveness of his sins. Therefore, Christianity is not merely a separate religion, but is, instead, a different kind of religion.

I am not going to discuss here the judgment due to our sins. I have dealt with that elsewhere, such as here.

Rather, I want to deal with some Scriptures that address the substitution of Jesus for the elect sinner.

The best passage, in my opinion, is that of the Suffering Servant: "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:4-6). These verses have been turned into a beautiful hymn.

"Jesus, in the name of His people, and as their federal head and representative, has endured the curse, and the justice of God is now solemnly pledged to Him to exempt them from personal subjection to its woes. He has died the death of the law, and, upon an obvious principle of justice from the relations in which they stand to him, His death is their death. If one died for all, then all died" (James Henley Thornwell, "The Necessity and Nature of Christianity").