What Happened on that Cross?
by Perry Hall
What happened on the cross? Did Jesus become a sinful creature?
Classical Calvinism and its modern version of Reformed Theology teach that Jesus's righteousness is imputed to us. They picture this as an umbrella covering us, which leads to the idea of once saved, always saved because Jesus's righteousness covers us.
"He was numbered with the transgressors, He was condemned as a sinner, He was crucified as a sinner, and, more than that, He was made sin for us... The Lord looked on Him as if He had been sin itself personified" [Spurgeon's Sermon “Christ Made Sin”].
"Our most merciful Father... sent his only Son into the world and laid upon him the sins of all men, saying, 'Be thou Peter that denier; Paul that persecutor, blasphemer, and cruel oppressor; David that adulterer; that sinner which did eat the apple in Paradise; that thief which hanged upon the cross; and briefly, be thou the person which hath committed the sins of all men” [Martin Luther].
That "sounds" good and correct, but it is not. It is one half of a terrible false theology: On the cross, Jesus's sinlessness is transferred onto us, and our sinfulness onto Jesus. While Jesus bore the guilt of our sins as punishment, did Jesus become guilty of our sins? No!
While the Bible does teach Jesus suffered for our sins and became "sin" as in a sin offering (II Corinthians 5:21), besides a lack of biblical evidence, there are several problems with teaching Jesus became sinful due to our sins being transferred onto Him.
If our sins became Jesus's sins so that our sins covered him, then:
- Doesn't Jesus become an unrighteous sacrifice?
- How does Jesus become righteous again if He became unrighteous?
- Wouldn't Jesus need to become a sacrifice for Himself to become righteous again? How could that be if Jesus is now covered in our sins?
- If we are once saved, always saved because Jesus's righteousness is transferred to us, then doesn't Jesus become once damned, always damned because our sins were transferred to Him?
What happened on the cross is that Jesus remained sinless because He is the perfect Lamb of God (John 1). We are covered by Jesus's blood and become righteous because we are truly forgiven. God doesn't see Jesus as worthy of His wrath on that cross. God sees Jesus as the true mercy seat.
"Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
