The Nature Of The Punishment Of Sin
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc.,
B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority
Ministries, May 12, 2025, (Donate)
When it comes to Christ, understanding the nature of who
Jesus is becomes an essential matter. A false Christ cannot save anyone—any
more than a squirrel could save someone from the wrath of God, which we deserve
due to our sin against a holy God.
Biblical Nature Of Christ
When one deviates from the Scriptural revelation of who
Christ is, they fall into error. This error could include, for example, a
denial of the divine nature of Christ. There are many ways to err regarding who
Christ is (e.g., modalism, partialism, polytheism, unitarianism, etc.). In any
case, deviating from the Christ revealed in the Bible can have eternal
consequences.
The key has always been to follow what God says about Christ
in the 66 books of the Bible. Christ is God who stepped into history and
took on flesh. He became a man, remaining fully God, while emptying Himself to
be in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3), growing in wisdom and stature
(Luke 2:52) during His human development. Thus, He was tempted in every way
that we are, from youth to adulthood—yet He was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus, the Son of God, is called God (e.g., John 1:1–5,1:14, 1:18, 20:28; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:8; Titus 2:13); the Father is called God (John 1:18, 6:27; Philippians 1:2, 2:11; Ephesians 4:6; 2Thessalonians 1:2); and the Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3–4; 2Corinthians 3:15–17). So how does that work, since the Bible is adamant that
there is only one God (Isaiah 44:8; Isaiah 45:18; Deuteronomy 6:4; Malachi
2:10; James 2:19; Mark 12:29)?
This reveals the nature of God's personhood. There are three
persons but one God. God is one—as Christ affirmed when He said that He and the
Father are one (John 10:30, 14:7–9).
When one deviates from a biblically derived understanding of
Christ, there are both theological and soteriological consequences—that is,
salvation issues. A false Christ cannot save you from sin. For example, if you
define Christ as a rock, a statue, or an animal and believe this false Christ
can save you from God’s wrath—can it? No!
If Billy Joe Jim-Bob down the street claims to be the
Christ, can he really save you? No! He is a sinful, created being just like you
and me. If someone says Christ is a created angel, can that angel save you?
Again, no! No created entity—whether physical or spiritual—is powerful enough
to bear the punishment we deserve.
When someone denies, for instance, that Jesus is God, then
Christ must, in their view, be a created entity. Christ would then be
demoted from His Scriptural identity as God in the flesh to the level of other
created beings or entities—such as humans, angels, comets, animals, plants,
rocks, and trees.
So why can’t Christ be a created being? It has to do with
sin—more specifically, the nature of the punishment for sin. This
is extremely important.
The Nature Of The Punishment For Sin
When one sins—whether Adam’s original sin or the sins of all
people since (including yours and mine!)—that sin must be punished. God is
perfectly just (called Omniiustitia) and perfectly holy (called Omnisanctitas).
By His holy and just nature, He must punish sin to the full extent it deserves.
According to God, this punishment is death (Genesis 2:17;
3:17; Hebrews 9:27), and for unrepentant sinners who die without Christ (John
3:16–18), this culminates in eternal death after judgment (Daniel 12:2; Matthew
25:46), as our souls—being made in the image of an eternal God—will continue
forever.
Take a closer look at the nature of the punishment for sin.
What punishment does sin deserve when committed against an infinite and eternal
God? The answer is an infinite and eternal punishment—called Hell—where
the infinite wrath of God abides upon the sinner for eternity. This is why it
is referred to as everlasting contempt or everlasting punishment.
This is why a squirrel or any animal sacrifice is not good
enough (e.g., Hebrews 10:4). Animal sacrifices, being neither infinite nor
eternal, could only offer a temporary covering for sin. Animal
sacrifices were done in the Old Testament looking forward to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.
Humans, though made with an eternal aspect, are not
infinite. As sinful and finite beings, we are in no position to bear the
infinite and eternal punishment required by an infinite and eternal God.
So, who could bear it? Only God Himself is powerful enough
to take the punishment we deserve for our sin. Christ—the second person of the one triune God—was able to take that punishment. The infinite and eternal Son
of God took the infinite and eternal punishment we deserved from our infinite
and eternal God, the Father.
Jesus, being fully man—our kinsman redeemer (a
relative in human nature who, having dominion, is thus in a position to bear
our punishment as our substitute)—and being fully God, was able to take this
eternal and infinite punishment in an instant by His very nature. Only Christ
could satisfy the demands of this everlasting wrath poured out by the Father—in
a single moment, no less.
But in the power of God, who is the source of life itself,
Christ had the authority to lay down His life and take it up again (John
10:17–18). The resurrection of Christ demonstrates the power of God in eternity
and reveals the true nature of life (Romans 1:4).
Conclusion
Therefore, by necessity, Christ must be God in order for
salvation to be possible. Only a Christ who is the infinite and eternal God
could bear the infinite and eternal punishment as a substitutionary atonement
on our behalf, from an infinite and eternal God who righteously imposes this
just and holy penalty.
And it is through the blood of Christ and His death, burial,
and resurrection that we can believe unto salvation (e.g., Romans 10:9). A free
gift—for which Christ Himself already paid the full debt (Romans 5:15-18). When
we believe on Him and what He did for us, we can be saved (John 3:16-18; Acts
16:30-31). Christ’s righteousness is transferred or imputed to us so we are
seen as spotless and without sin in the sight of the God the Father (Romans
4:22-24)—as our punishment has already been met by Christ.
