Last week we looked at “The Terrible Problem of Sin.” It is very important that we do this — that we spend time thinking about sin and what sin has caused to happen in our world. The Bible is very clear — before sin there was no death; death was foretold as being the result of sin, and it is stated that because of sin we all die.

Any adequate understanding of the atonement has to explain why it was that Jesus had to die. It is surely something every Christian will agree on — that Jesus was not Himself a sinner. If we accept that death is not the natural end of life, that it was not part of God’s design, and that it is, instead, a just penalty for sin, it seems to me we have almost proved the case for Penal Substitutionary Atonement before we’ve barely begun. Jesus died, although He didn’t deserve to die, so we who did deserve to die could be saved from death.

It is vital that we have a firm biblical basis for even the most basic of our doctrinal beliefs. Here are some scriptures that show us that Jesus was not a sinner like us. Because He was not a sinner, I hope we can all agree that He didn’t deserve to die!

• “Which one of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46)
  
  
• “I have kept my Father's commandments.” (John 15:10)
  
  
• “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” (1 Peter 2:22)
  
  
• “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

Continues with "The Atonement - Penal Substitutionary Atonement Defined"