JonC said:My point is penal substitution, while not denying that man is reconciled to God, does not present Christ as accomplishing this reconciliation on the Cross. His death, to these theorists, is just that first step.
Your point is wrong. We were reconciled to God by the death of Christ (Romans 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18). I don't know of any theologian who denies that.
It isn't what you said. You said that your penal substitution theory does not present Christ as accomplishing reconciliation at the cross. Well your theory may not do so, but the Bible, and the Doctrine of Penal Substitution both do.That is what I said.
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So according to your theory, God was not troubled about justice, He just wanted Christ to die for no particular reason, and then He was happy.The death of Christ was not God punishing our sins but the actual reconciliation of man to God, and we urge men to be reconciled to God.
On the contrary, it is by God's righteous anger against our sins, and His curse upon sinners being satisfied willingly by Christ that we are reconciled. We are reconciled to God by the death of His Son. 'He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.' He bore our sins and the punishment of them, that we might have peace with God. You can't have peace without reconciliation. Therefore, '...we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation.'My point is you always speak of the cross as God punishing sins as but never about man actually being reconciled to God.
Christianity does not hold it is our sins that separate us from God but instead that it is that we fall short of God's glory. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8) and sins are the "fruit" of the flesh (Galatians 5).
Come on @JonC; surely you know your Bible better than that? Isaiah 59:1-2. 'Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened that it cannot save; nor is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.' That is why those who are in the flesh cannot please God. It is precisely because our sins have separated us from God that we need a Saviour; One who will take our sins upon Himself and pay the penalty for them in full.Well the Bible says it does. 'The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.'If Jesus suffered God's punishment for our sins it would not reconcile man to God because we would still fall short of His glory, we would still be of the flesh.
Your theory may be too superficial. The actual Doctrine of Penal Substitution is profound. Too profound, it seems, for you to comprehend.Your theory is too superficial. The cross, the blood of Christ, is too benign in your understanding.
I have made a copy of this post just in case it should miraculously disappear as one or two posts on this subject have done.