Lesson 6
Christ Has Paid Our Penalty
We have all sinned, and the penalty had to be paid in order for God to be just. Christ has paid that penalty.
Romans 5:6-10 says, "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare
to die. But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life". It is such wonderful love for God and Christ to have paid our penalty.
Also, we read in I Peter 3:18, "For Christ also suffered once for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." Yes,
Christ is the just, who had to die for us the unjust, so that it would be possible for us to be brought back to God.
He was the righteous dying for us the wicked. "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). He was the
innocent taking the punishment for us the guilty. He accomplished for us what we could never accomplish for ourselves.
He paid the debt for us that we could not pay. If man had not been guilty of sin, there would have been no need for
Christ to have died on the cross. All accountable people are guilty of sin. But with Christ dying on the cross,
God has a way to forgive man and still preserve His own justice and righteousness. Because of the death and suffering
of Christ for us, God can now be just in saving us. If our goodness could save us then it would not have been necessary
for Christ to come into this world and die for our sins.
The only way that man can be saved is through Christ. There is no other way. John 14:6 says, "Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: No one comes
to the Father except through Me." The only way we can get to God is through Christ. We also read
in Acts 4:12, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." We cannot be saved by relying
on Mohammed, Buddha, Judaism, Hindu gods, denominationalism, or any other false religion. Neither can we devise our
own system of "Christianity" as is being done today and expect it to save us. Only Jesus Christ can specify the conditions
for our salvation, because He paid our price and is our only Savior.
Christ went through much suffering for our sins. It is beyond our imagination what He endured. Christ came
to this earth for the purpose of dying for our sins. There are many Old Testament prophesies that foretell the inevitable
death of Christ. For example 700 years before it happened we read in Isaiah 53:5-6,
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised
for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed....and the Lord laid on
Him the iniquity of us all." Christ’s death was no accident, because this was in God’s eternal
plan to redeem man.
Christ in his omniscience fully knew what was soon going to happen. In Matthew 20:17-19 we read, "Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, Behold we go up
to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death,
and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again".
Christ went there willingly to die for us.
Christ was both divine and human. The human part of Christ dreaded his death on the cross as much as we would
if we were on death row. He fully knew what was going to happen. When Christ was in the garden of Gethsemane with
His apostles the night before His crucifixion, we read in Luke 22:41-44, "And He
was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down, and prayed, saying, Father, if it is your will, take
this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening
Him. And being in agony He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became
like great drops of blood falling down to the ground". Yes, Christ was dreading the horrible death that
He was about to endure for you and for me.
Also, we read in I Peter 2:24, "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body
on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed."
Jesus has personally paid the price for our sins, so that we can be made righteous before God. When a person is made
righteous, by obeying God’s plan to save man, God will then save him.
The human side of Christ knows how we feel. He had the same feelings, the same sorrows, the same fears, and He
experienced pain just like we do. He fully knows what it is to live a human life. On the Day of Judgment, no one
will be able to point a finger at Christ and say, "You just don't know what it is to live as a human." Yes He does.
The dread, the fear, the sorrow, the mocking, the humiliation, the spitting, the pain of scourging, and the crucifixion were
all dreaded by our Lord. It hurt Him as much as it would us. Jesus did not deserve such treatment, but He endured
it for our sakes, taking our punishment, in order that God could be just in saving us. He was the innocent dying for
us, the guilty.
Crucifixion on a cross is the cruelest form of torture that has ever been devised by man. There is nothing worse.
Our Lord hung there in pain and agony for six long hours in a slow death, enduring punishment, so that God could be just in
saving us. What wonderful love beyond description that God and Christ have for us. Do we have the same love for
Them which is shown by our obedience to Their word?
Questions for
Lesson # 6
Christ
Has Paid Our Penalty
1. If we are justified it will be
by: (Romans 5:6-10)
A. Our own goodness.
B. Our church.
C. The blood of Christ
2. Christ died for sinners like you
and me.
A. True
B. False
3. Christ suffered once for our sins,
He is the just: (1 Peter 3:18)
A. We are the unjust.
B. We are also the just.
C. But we did not need Him to suffer for
us.
4. Christ’s death was to bring
us back to God.
A. True
B. False
5. How many ways are there to come
to God?
A. We can come to God our own way.
B. Christ is the only way.
C. Many ways such as Mohammed, Buddha, Hindu,
etc.
6. We can serve God by our own way
and still go to Heaven.
A. True
B. False
7. Isaiah prophesied 700 years before
it happened that Christ: (Isaiah 53:5-6)
A. Would not die.
B. Would come to this earth and rule in
Jerusalem
as King.
C. Would be wounded for our transgressions
and bruised for our iniquities.
8. Christ’s death was in God’s
eternal plan to redeem man.
A. True
B. False
9. The death of Christ was: (Matthew
20:17-19)
A. An accident.
B. A surprise to Christ.
C. Know to Christ before He came to earth
to die for all mankind.
10. Christ went to Jerusalem
knowing He was going to be crucified.
A. True
B. False
11. The death of Christ: (Luke 22:41-44)
A. Was dreaded by Christ.
B. Was not dreaded by Christ.
C. Was the punishment Christ deserved.
12. Christ prayed to God for another way so He would not have
to die.
A. True
B. False
13. Whose sins did Christ bare when He died? (1 Peter 2:24)
A. His own sins.
B. Our sins.
C. Only the sins of criminals.
14. Since Christ paid the price for everyone’s sins then
all people will be saved.
A. True
B. False
