Let’s say your mother was driving you to school. She is in a hurry and without realizing it, exceeds the speed limit. For those of you who aren’t following me, you are running late and she is speeding. Of course, this scenario is only hypothetical :). Oh well, I digress, so back to our story. Mom then gets pulled over by one of our friendly Trumbull Police officers who informs her that she was speeding. There is no question at this point that Mom is guilty of breaking the law and has been caught. The policeman, who has caught her, is legally correct, based upon the law, to give her a ticket. The policeman has three options at this point. He could give her a ticket, he could give her a warning, or he could let her go without a ticket or warning “as if she hadn’t been caught speeding”. Do you see where I’m going here? The concept of justification in our example is in option number 3. In option 3, Mom, who was guilty and caught, is not only forgiven of her lawbreaking, but also, and here is the key, treated as if she had never broken the law.I don’t want to complicate the issue at this point, but let me make one more point before closing. In our story about speed demon Mom, I told you that the police officer had three options. He actually had a fourth option. At the point she was caught, he could also have given Mom a ticket, which she deserves for breaking the law, and then paid the ticket himself. Of course, this assumes that the officer had not broken the speed limit, been found guilty of speeding, or owed a fine himself. If he was guilty and owed a fine, he couldn’t pay Mom’s ticket until he first paid his. This concept of paying someone else’s debt that you don’t owe is commonly referred to as “Substitutionary Atonement”. "Substitutionary" meaning in place of someone else, like a substitute teacher is in place of the regular teacher, and "atonement" meaning to make payment of a debt to avert punishment. This is precisely what Christ did for us on the cross. He was willing to die spiritually and be separate from the Father in our place forever. He paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. We deserve separation, but while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Hope this helps. See you all on Wednesday at 7:00.
Coach
