It isn’t justice for God to punish Christ who was innocent, instead of punishing us who are guilty. If we say that God is not just, we also say that God is a liar for claiming to be just. Vicarious atonement claims that responsibility for our sin was transferred to Christ. Christ is punished while we are released from responsibility. It would be fair to punish Christ once He becomes responsible for our sins. It isn’t justice to transfer our sins to Christ in the first place.
Vicarious atonement comes in different forms, but it always claims that Christ took responsibility for our sins upon Himself. Vicarious atonement is a dominant view in Christianity, and it is accepted without question or examination. Christians will read that Christ died for us, and they will see a transfer of responsibility where none is stated because they have been conditioned to see it.
According to the book of Isaiah, Christ died “for” our sins. Christ died “because” of our sins, and by His stripes we are healed. None of this says that the “way” in which Christ redeems us is by taking upon Himself the responsibility for our thoughts and actions. “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”, but this is another way of saying that Christ died because of our sins. It is still true that God is a just God. None of this passage states that Christ became responsible or took upon Himself the actual responsibility for our sins.
Responsibility is not Transferred
If one person lives an unhealthy lifestyle and they develop heart disease. A second person donates their heart so that the unhealthy person might live. It could be said that the healthy person gave their life so that the unhealthy person might live. It could be said that the healthy person died because of the lifestyle of the unhealthy person. Even saying that the healthy person took upon themselves the choices of the unhealthy person does not actually say that the healthy person became responsible for the decisions of the unhealthy person. The healthy person paid the price, but it will always be true that the unhealthy person made those decisions. It is clear in the Bible that everyone will be accountable for their own sins.
The apostle Paul went as far as to say that Christ became a curse, and Christ became “sin”. This is as if Christ transformed Himself into a sinful thought or action which doesn’t even make sense. This suggests that Paul was using a metaphor which is something that Paul would sometimes do. Peter, much like Isaiah and Paul talked about Christ dying for us. But bearing our sins can mean dying because of our sins without becoming responsible for our sins.
No Support for Vicarious Atonement
If vicarious atonement is the true way in which God redeems His children, there should be significant Biblical support. Among all the stories of the Old Testament there should be stories where someone takes responsibility for the sins of someone else. There are no such stories. There were occasions when the nation was punished because of the wickedness of the king. A righteous king was not punished for the wickedness of the people. In the stories of the Bible, the son might suffer because of the wickedness of the father. The father is not punished for the wickedness of the son.
There are no parables of Christ about one person becoming responsible for the sins of someone else. There are only a few verses in the Bible which allegedly support vicarious atonement. Even those verses don’t clearly support it. A transfer of responsibility is not mentioned in the Bible. Not only is there no real support in the Bible for the idea that redemption is achieved by a transfer of responsibility to Christ. The idea also that God transfers responsibility for sin conflicts with idea of a just God which is abundantly supported by the Bible.
It is miraculous that God was able to keep secret the real way in which Christ redeems His children considering that there is great Biblical support for the idea that redemption is achieved by separation.
