A Unique Substitution

The Morality of the Cross

Man, with his human, finite judgment, cannot safely question the wisdom of God. Hence it
is unbecoming for him to criticize the plan of salvation. Before the theme of redemption, let
man lay his wisdom in the dust, and accept the plans of Him whose wisdom is infinite. –
Ellen White, 1889

Those who understand this matter in its true bearing will more fully comprehend the
glorious, wondrous plan of salvation. They will not desire to argue just what is meant by
Christ being our righteousness, nor will they desire to try to explain questions that do not
in any way make more plain the terms of salvation.—Ellen White, 1902

In recent years a growing segment of Christians have argued against the substitutionary death of our sweet
Jesus on grounds quite unlike those of the moral-influence theorists. While the latter theorists envision a
judicial scheme that requires a cross only as an example of selfless love, and not as a means of satisfying
the wrath of an offended God, the former segment hold firmly to executive judgement on the sinner as the
only means of satisfying justice.

These see a necessity for our organic and individual experience of the second death and can not believe that
Jesus suffering in my place would fill that need unless I was “in Him” when He suffered. As they
understand, by being corporately and actually “in Him” during the final scenes of Christ’s life, we
ourselves have suffered and died. There was no vicarious substitution, for that would have been illegal.
Rather, there was direct retribution to each of us in the Second Adam. We were there.

In more simple terms, some people say that Jesus did not need to die to “pay” for my sins, but only to show
me how to be loving. Others say that I must die for my own sins, and neither Jesus nor any other man could
ever take my suffering and death on Himself without undermining God’s justice. It is not fair if I die for
you or vice versa. This class say that we were all “in Christ” on the cross and that there was no true
substitution, but an actual death of us all “in Him.”

It is the purpose of this paper to evaluate, in the light of Inspiration, the morality of substitution.

God designed to teach the people that they must approach Him with reverence and awe, and in His own
appointed manner. He cannot accept partial obedience. It was not enough that in [Nadab and Abihu’s]
solemn season of worship nearly everything was done as He had directed. . . . Let no one deceive himself
with the belief that a part of God's commandments are nonessential, or that He will accept a substitute for
that which He has required. {CC 100.4} emphasis in the original.

Through Christ, restoration as well as reconciliation is provided for man. The gulf that was made by sin has
been spanned by the cross of Calvary. A full, complete ransom has been paid by Jesus, by virtue of which
the sinner is pardoned, and the justice of the law is maintained. All who believe that Christ is the atoning
sacrifice may come and receive pardon for their sins; for through the merit of Christ, communication has
been opened between God and man. God can accept me as His child, and I can claim Him and rejoice in
Him as my loving Father. We must center our hopes of heaven upon Christ alone, because He is our
substitute and surety. . . . {AG 177.2}

Every link which bound earth to heaven and man to the infinite God seemed broken. Man might look to
heaven, but how could he attain it? But joy to the world! The Son of God, the Sinless One, the One perfect
in obedience, becomes the channel through which the lost communion may be renewed, the way through
which the lost paradise may be regained. Through Christ, man's substitute and surety, man may keep the
commandments of God. He may return to his allegiance and God will accept him. Christ is the ladder. "By
me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." John 10:9. . . . {OHC
66.3}
When Cain saw that his offering was rejected, he was angry with the Lord and with Abel; he was angry that
God did not accept man's substitute in place of the sacrifice divinely ordained, and angry with his brother
for choosing to obey God instead of joining in rebellion against Him. Notwithstanding Cain's disregard of
the divine command, God did not leave him to himself; but He condescended to reason with the man who
had shown himself so unreasonable. And the Lord said unto Cain, "Why art thou wroth? and why is thy
countenance fallen?" Through an angel messenger the divine warning was conveyed: "If thou doest well,
shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." The choice lay with Cain
himself. If he would trust to the merits of the promised Saviour, and would obey God's requirements, he
would enjoy His favor. But should he persist in unbelief and transgression, he would have no ground for
complaint because he was rejected by the Lord. {PP 72.3}
Jesus is our atoning sacrifice. We can make no atonement for ourselves; but by faith we can accept the
atonement that has been made. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, . . . but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18, 19). It was through
infinite sacrifice and inexpressible suffering that our Redeemer placed redemption within our reach. He
was in this world unhonored and unknown, that, through His wonderful condescension and humiliation, He
might exalt man to receive eternal honors and immortal joys in the heavenly courts. During His thirty years
of life on earth His heart was wrung with inconceivable anguish. The path from the manger to Calvary was
shadowed by grief and sorrow. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, enduring such
heartache as no human language can portray. He could have said in truth, "Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow" (Lam. 1:12). Hating sin with a perfect hatred, He yet gathered to His soul the
sins of the whole world. Guiltless, He bore the punishment of the guilty. Innocent, yet offering Himself as a
substitute for the transgressor. The guilt of every sin pressed its weight upon the divine soul of the world's
Redeemer. The evil thoughts, the evil words, the evil deeds of every son and daughter of Adam, called for
retribution upon Himself; for He had become man's substitute. Though the guilt of sin was not His, His
spirit was torn and bruised by the transgressions of men, and He who knew no sin became sin for us, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. {1SM 321.4}

The law has no power to pardon the transgressor, but it points him to Christ Jesus, who says to him, I will
take your sin and bear it Myself, if you will accept Me as your substitute and surety. Return to your
allegiance, and I will impute to you My righteousness (RH May 7, 1901). {6BC 1109.8}

By giving His life for the life of the world, Christ bridged the gulf that sin had made, joining this sin-cursed
earth to the universe of heaven as a province. God chose this world to be the theater of His mighty works of
grace. While the sentence of condemnation was suspended over it because of the rebellion of its
inhabitants, while the clouds of wrath were accumulating because of the transgression of the law of God, a
mysterious voice was heard in heaven, "Lo, I come. . . to do thy will, O God" (Ps. 40:7, 8). Our substitute
and surety came from heaven declaring that He had brought with Him the vast and inestimable donation of
eternal life. Pardon is offered to all who will return their allegiance to the law of God. But there are those
who refuse to accept a "thus saith the Lord." They will not reverence and respect His law. They make
rigorous human enactments in opposition to a "thus saith the Lord," and by precept and example lead men,
women, and children into sin. They exalt human enactments above the divine law. But the condemnation
and wrath of God are suspended over the disobedient. The clouds of God's justice are gathering. The
material of destruction has been piled up for ages; and still apostasy, rebellion, and disloyalty against God
is continually increasing. The remnant people of God, who keep His commandments, will understand the
word spoken by Daniel, "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do
wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand" (Dan. 12:10). {TDG
84.1}

Oh, what soul hunger and longing had Christ to save that which was lost! The body crucified upon the
cross did not detract from His divinity, His power of God to save through the human sacrifice, all who
would accept His righteousness. In dying upon the cross, He transferred the guilt from the person of the
transgressor to that of the divine Substitute through faith in Him as his personal Redeemer. The sins of a
guilty world, which in figure are represented as "red as crimson," were imputed to the divine Surety. . . .
{TDG 236.2}
 Divinity was doing its work while humanity was suffering from the hatred and revenge of a God-hating
people, because Christ had acknowledged Himself the Son of God. He alone could respond to the poor
suffering thief. He alone was free to undertake the suretyship of the guilty criminal. The dying Redeemer
saw him to be far less guilty than the ones who had condemned Him to death, far less guilty than the
priests, the scribes, and rulers who had taken an active part in demanding the death of the Son of God.
{TDG 236.3}

Sinners are committed for trial. They must answer to the charge of transgressing God's law. Their only hope
is to accept Christ, their Substitute. He has redeemed the fallen race from the curse of the law, having been
made sin--a curse--for mankind. Nothing but his grace is sufficient to free the transgressor from bondage.
And by the grace of Christ all who are obedient to God's commandments are made free. {AU Gleaner,
August 19, 1903 par. 7}

Jesus is our atoning sacrifice. We can make no atonement for ourselves; but by faith we can accept the
atonement that has been made. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He
might bring us to God." "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, . . . but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." No man of earth, no angel of heaven, could have
paid the penalty for sin. Jesus was the only one who could save rebellious man. In Him divinity and
humanity are combined, and this was what gave efficacy to the offering on Calvary's cross. At the cross,
mercy and truth met together; righteousness and peace kissed each other. As the sinner looks upon the
Saviour dying on Calvary, and realizes that the Sufferer is divine, he asks why, this great sacrifice was
made; and the cross points to the holy law of God, which has been transgressed. The death of Christ is an
unanswerable argument to the immutability and righteousness of the law. In prophesying of Christ, Isaiah
says, "He will magnify the law, and make it honourable." The law has no power to pardon the evil-doer. Its
office is to point out his defects, that he may realize his need of One who is mighty to save, realize his need
of One who will become his substitute, his surety, his righteousness. Jesus meets the need of the sinner; for
He has taken upon Him the sins of the transgressor. "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was
bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with his stripes we are healed."
The Lord could have cut off the sinner, and utterly destroyed him; but the more costly plan was chosen. In
his great love He provides hope for the hopeless, giving his only begotten Son to bear the sins of the world.
And since He has poured out all heaven in that one rich gift, He will withhold from man no needed aid that
he may take the cup of salvation, and become an heir of God, and joint-heir with Christ. {BEcho, March
15, 1893 par. 3}

All legalism, all the sorrow and woe by which you may encompass yourself, will not give you one moment
of relief. You cannot rightly estimate sin. You must accept God's estimate, and it is heavy indeed. If you
bore the guilt of your sin, it would crush you; but the sinless One has taken your place, and though
undeserving, He has borne your guilt. By accepting the provision God has made, you may stand free before
Him in the merit and virtue of your Substitute. {BEcho, July 2, 1894 par. 3}

Today let the question come home to the heart of every one who professes the name of Christ, "Dost thou
believe in the Son of God?" Not, "Do you admit that Jesus is the Redeemer of the world?" Not to soothe
your conscience and the consciences of others by saying, "I believe," and think that is all there is to be
done. But do you believe with all your heart that Jesus is your Saviour? Do you bring him into your life,
and weave him into your character, until you are one with Christ? Many accept Jesus as an article of belief,
but they have no saving faith in him as their sacrifice and Saviour. They have no realization that Christ has
died to save them from the penalty of the law which they have transgressed, in order that they may be
brought back to loyalty to God. Do you believe that Christ, as your substitute, pays the debt of your
transgression? Not, however, that you may continue in sin, but that you may be saved from your sins; that
you, through the merits of his righteousness, may be re-instated to the favor of God. Do you know that a
holy and just God will accept your efforts to keep his law, through the merits of his own beloved Son who
died for your rebellion and sin? {RH, July 24, 1888 par. 4}

The only definition the Bible gives of sin is that it is "the transgression of the law." While we are to repent
toward God for the transgression of the law, we are not to look to the law for remission of sins, or for
justification. Neither are we to imagine that repentance for past sin will be all-sufficient; for in order to be
saved, we must have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. When we accept Christ as our sacrifice, our substitute,
our righteousness, then we behold the Father in a different light from that in which too many have regarded
him in the past. We have blamed the Father for our sufferings. In ignorance and blindness to his infinite
love, our hearts have been full of murmuring toward him; for the enemy had cast his shadow athwart our
pathway, and clothed God with his own satanic character. But Christ came to reveal the Father, to roll back
the shadow that Satan had cast over humanity, that men might behold God clothed in the divine attributes
of his nature. {RH, July 5, 1892 par. 8}

Christ bore the penalty that would have fallen upon the transgressor; and through faith the helpless,
hopeless sinner becomes a partaker of the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world through
lust. Christ imputes his perfection and righteousness to the believing sinner when he does not continue in
sin, but turns from transgression to obedience of the commandments. Christ rendered perfect obedience to
the law, and man could not possibly obey the holy precepts had it not been for the provision that was made
for the salvation of the fallen sons and daughters of Adam. Clothed with the habiliments of humanity,
Christ passed over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell. He became subject to the same temptations
to disregard the word that God had spoken, and to accept the voice of the tempter, who had disguised
himself as an angel of light. He met the wily foe's temptations, saying: "It is written, Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." He was assailed by the tempter
on every point upon which we are tempted; but as man's substitute and surety, Christ redeemed Adam's
disgraceful fall, and kept the way of the Lord. {RH, May 23, 1899 par. 8}

The fiat has gone forth, "The wages of sin is death." The sinner must feel his guiltiness, else he will never
repent. He has broken the law, and in so doing has placed himself under its condemnation. The law has no
power to pardon the transgressor, but it points him to Christ Jesus, who says to him, I will take your sin and
bear it myself, if you will accept me as your substitute and surety. Return to your allegiance, and I will
impute to you my righteousness. You will be made complete in me. {RH, May 7, 1901 par. 3}

The law of God is a transcript of his character; it portrays the nature of God. As in Christ we behold the
brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, so also in the law the attributes of the Father are
unfolded. Although the law is unchangeable, his having provided a means of salvation for the law-breaker
does not in the least detract from the dignity of the character of God, since the penalty of man's
transgression was borne by a divine Substitute. The Father himself suffered with the Son; for "God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." Man, with his human, finite judgment, cannot safely question
the wisdom of God. Hence it is unbecoming for him to criticise the plan of salvation. Before the theme of
redemption, let man lay his wisdom in the dust, and accept the plans of Him whose wisdom is infinite.
{ST, December 30, 1889 par. 2}
God grants men a probation in this world, that their principles may become firmly established in the
right, thus precluding the possibility of sin in the future life, and so assuring the happiness and security of
all. Through the atonement of the Son of God alone could power be given to man to establish him in
righteousness, and make him a fit subject for heaven. The blood of Christ is the eternal antidote for sin. The
offensive character of sin is seen in what it cost the Son of God in humiliation, in suffering and death. All
the worlds behold in him a living testimony to the malignity of sin, for in his divine form he bears the
marks of the curse. He is in the midst of the throne as a Lamb that hath been slain. The redeemed will ever
be vividly impressed with the hateful character of sin, as they behold Him who died for their transgressions.
The preciousness of the Offering will be more fully realized as the blood-washed throng more fully
comprehend how God has made a new and living way for the salvation of men, through the union of the
human and the divine in Christ. {ST, December 30, 1889 par. 3}

Christ's death on the cross was one of willing obedience, else in it there would have been no merit; for
justice would not punish in the place of the sinner an innocent being who was unwilling to bear the penalty.
It was the Saviour's full and free acceptance of the penalty that made His sacrifice wholly acceptable in
every point. So the sinner must freely surrender his own will to God, and accept Christ as his substitute and
surety. He must rely upon Him as the only one who can change a sinner to a saint. God calls upon us to
acknowledge our guilt and accept pardon from Christ, revealing our sincerity by copying His way and
doing His will. Of the one who does this the words are spoken, Ye are complete in Him, not having your
own righteousness, but the righteousness which is of Christ by faith. {ST, August 22, 1900 par. 8}
I am sorry that so many are doubtful in regard to justification by faith, and that some are standing in
opposition to the light that God has given on this subject. Sinners are committed for trial. They must answer
the charge of transgressing God's law. Their only hope is to accept Jesus Christ, their Substitute. He has
redeemed the fallen race from the curse of the law, having been made sin,--a curse,--for them. Nothing but
the grace of Christ is sufficient to free the transgressor from bondage. Through His grace those who are
obedient to God's commandments are made free. If sinners repent their pardon is procured through the
merits of Christ. Those who understand this matter in its true bearing will more fully comprehend the
glorious, wondrous plan of salvation. They will not desire to argue just what is meant by Christ being our
righteousness, nor will they desire to try to explain questions that do not in any way make more plain the
terms of salvation. It is not essential to understand the precise particulars in regard to the relation of the two
laws. It is of far greater consequence that we know whether we are justified or condemned by the holy
precepts of God's law. {WB, September 9, 1902 par. 6}
Carelessness in regard to the principles that must be brought into the life-practice is a fatal mistake, and
needs special attention. He who is safe must set things right in his own heart. In the days of Christ the
religious leaders neglected the weightier matters of the law for matters of minor importance. The Saviour
reproved them, saying: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise
and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye
to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a
camel." {WB, September 9, 1902 par. 7}

There must be in those who see, a walking in that light, living in reverence to the commandments of God,
which are the expression of the character of God, which character they must accept if they would become
members of the royal family, children of the Heavenly King. The truth, the light, the righteousness of Christ
must shine forth from them in distinct lines. There is nothing that God will accept as a substitute here. To
walk away from conviction to avoid the cross is not only to impair but to extinguish the inward striving of
the Spirit of God in its power on the mind and will. --Ms 166, 1897, pp. 2, 3. ("Hopeful Words for
Stanmore," Dec. 1897.) {2MR 39.1}

Those whom God accepts and sanctifies to Himself are called to be diligent and faithful in His service,
being set apart and devoted to Him. It is not a form of godliness, nor a name upon the church records, that
constitutes "a living stone" in the spiritual building. It is being renewed in knowledge and true holiness,
being crucified to the world and made alive in Christ, that unites the soul to God. The followers of Christ
have one leading object in view, one great work: the salvation of their fellow men. – 2T 168:1 [notice the
non-forensic use of “crucified to the world.”]

We must have a vital connection with Christ; we must be one with him, imbued with his Spirit, partakers of
the divine nature, crucified to the world with its affections and lusts, renewed in knowledge and true
holiness. Paul wrote to the Colossians, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." This is true of
all real followers of Christ. They walk in humble obedience to the requirements of God. While in the world,
they are the light of the world. {RH, January 8, 1884 par. 6}

The foolish self-esteem and self-confidence which many possess will prove their eternal ruin. To them the
narrow path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in seems altogether too restricted. But he who
abides in Christ will understand what it means to be crucified to the world. The Lord has provided only one
refuge for His people. The great apostle says, "Your life is hid with Christ in God." "When Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." All who are overcomers will be highly
exalted. {4MR 152.3}

"Well," says one, "if it were convenient, I would keep the Sabbath; but as it is, there is too great a cross
connected with it." Paul says, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Here is a double crucifixion. As the
conscientious Christian takes his stand upon Bible truth, there are always those who refuse to accept it, and
choose the world. {HS 232.2}