ATONEMENT

Jesus did not deserve to die ... but He willingly took our place on Calvary's cross as the 'atonement' for sin. 

1. He was not made a 'sinner' on our behalf but was made to be 'sin' itself. Christ had no personal immorality to pay for, so His death became the perfect sacrifice. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) 

2. Jesus experienced the torturous physical death of a shameless lawbreaker. He released us from that ultimate penalty by being executed as a criminal in our stead. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) 

3. He took our place 'judicially'. The Judge brings the gavel down and declares that we are ... 'paid in full'. God made us alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. (Colossians 2:13-14)

An old gospel song says, “He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay.” Jesus took the punishment we deserved ... the Righteous for the unrighteous, the Innocent for the guilty, the Perfect for the corrupt.

If you are saved by grace through faith, God considers your sin debt expunged. Are you having trouble accepting forgiveness for your troubled past? 

Christ's Atonement ... receive it fully, be thankful, and move on, pilgrim.