Featured 5 Biblical Corrections to Penal Substitution

"Not Israel; Abraham."

No, Abraham's offspring (seed). God promises to bless all nations through Abraham's offspring, which is Christ as the fulfillment of Israel's vocation. God refers to Israel as his firstborn son (Exodus 4:22). Romans is all about how Christ is the proof of God's faithfulness to his promises to and through Israel (see the beginning of Romans 3 and Romans 9).

"The offerer didn't do the butchering..."

Your comments here on the sacrificial rituals are suspect and don't really do anything to debunk the mechanism I am claiming is at work anyway, which is that the blood is a purifying agent. This is why almost everything is sprinkled with blood, as Hebrews notes.

"That the offerer kills the sacrifice in the higher varieties of each offering is clear..."

Thank you. But no, God is not the offerer in the same way the sinner is. God's action in ordaining the death of Christ was not the same as those who unjustly sinned in putting him to death. God ordains events in which sinners sin, but he himself is not the sinner. God is sovereign, but there is a separation between his acts and the sinful acts of man that you are not respecting.

"Except that it says right there in the text, that it will be "accepted for him," which means "on his behalf..."

You are just re-asserting the conclusion that itself is being challenged. Here is more commentary on the laying on of hands:

Penal substitution teaches that the act of laying the hand on the head of the animal signifies the transference or imputation of sin from the offerer to the animal, but there are convincing reasons why this is not the case. As N.T. Wright notes, “the old idea of sin being transferred to the sacrificial animal seems not to work either; sacrificial animals had to be pure, and the one time that sins are clearly placed on an animal’s head the animal in question (the second goat on the Day of Atonement) is not sacrificed, but driven off into the wilderness.”

As well as not squaring with the Biblical data, the transfer of sin idea has huge conceptual problems when considering Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Penalty substitution asks us to believe that on the cross, Jesus is of infinite value and worth because of his perfect holiness and righteousness and divinity, but simultaneously guilty of all the world’s sin that has been transferred to him. It’s a major contradiction. Jesus needs to be of infinite value and worth so that his punishment can compensate for an offense against a being of infinite worth (God), but Jesus also needs to be guilty of all the world’s sin so that he can be justly punished for all the world’s sin. It just doesn’t work.

To figure out what the laying on of hands means, let’s look at another instance in which the laying on of hands is used: the execution of a guilty party. Those who witness a grievous offense are to lay their hands on the head of the offending party before executing him. It makes no sense to say that the witness’ sin is being transferred to the offender; they are not the sinners, but witnesses to the sin. So here is what I think the action of laying hands on the head means: it designates the bearing of an offense, that is, that the one who has hands laid on his head will suffer sin or its consequences. It says, “sin is going to fall on your head.” It does not mean that the animal is going to become sinful. It does not mean transference of sin from one party to another. This is what it means to be a “sin-bearer”: The sin-bearer suffers sin, or the consequences of sin. Sin-bearing can refer to the guilty being punished, or to the innocent being sinned against. Sin-bearing never refers to imputed guilt, or substitutionary punishment.

Lastly, I think the purpose for laying the hand on the head and drawing near is what I mentioned earlier regarding the shedding of blood as a purifying agent. Laying the hand on the head and drawing near ensures that blood will get all over the offerer. It will ensure all of the corruption is washed away.

-I responded to 2 Corinthians 5:21 elsewhere in this thread.

-You should do more thinking about the role of the Holy Spirit in salvation. The Holy Spirit applies Christ to believers. Without the Holy Spirit, you have no connection to the saving work of Christ.