How Mark’s Account of the Crucifixion Helps Us Understand Penal Substitution

Penal substitution means our sin is imputed to Jesus as he bears the just God’s wrath, while Jesus’s righteousness is imputed to us so that God declares us justified. We have a real guilt before God that requires a legal pardon to be justified. Jesus is crucified as our substitute and suffers our punishment and now; clothed in his righteousness, God declares us righteous. Penal substitution is not an exhaustive view of the atonement, but it is essential to understanding our salvation, and Mark’s account of the crucifixion helps us understand why. Jesus Our Substitute  Substitution is central to atonement in the...