Penal just means punishment for offenders, The sins of the elect are called offences
Thats covered in Isa 53:5,8
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Thats why it said He was taken to the Judgment hall Vs 8
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Gill writes:
The cross was not a courtroom of God it was His Mercy Seat. The courtroom was mans doing that condemned Him, not God.
If the Cross was not a place of "Divine Punishment" where the Trinity was divided, we must ask:
What actually happened to our sin? To understand this, we must move our hearts and minds away from the modern "Courtroom" and back into the biblical "Sanctuary."
The Apostles did not use the language of a criminal execution; they used the language of
Purification (Katharismos)and the
Mercy Seat (Hilastērion). In the Old Covenant, the blood was never intended to "calm an angry God"; it was intended to
cleanse a defiled people so that a Holy God could dwell among them. In this section, we will see how Jesus, our Great High Priest, did not die to satisfy a need for violence, but to provide the ultimate
Expiation—the washing away of sin that allows us to stand in the presence of the Father, holy and blameless.
Purification for sin- καθαρισμός- katharismos: a cleansing, purifying, purification, expiation. Strongs 2512.
Thayers: a cleansing from the guilt of sins (see καθαρίζω, 1 b. β.): wrought now by baptism,
2 Peter 1:9, now by the expiatory sacrifice of Christ,
Hebrews 1:3 on which cf. Kurtz, Commentary, p. 70; (
Exodus 30:10; τῆς ἁμαρτίας μου,
Job 7:21; of an atonement, Lucian, asin. 22)
Hebrews 1:3-And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Purification for sin is in the blood of Christ in the Atonement
Matthew 26:26-29
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Hebrews 9:22
Because all things are purged by blood in The Written Law, and
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Leviticus 4:20,26,35
And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for
a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an
atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them
Leviticus 6:7
And the priest shall make an
atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.
Leviticus 17:11
For the life of the flesh is in
the blood, and I have given it to you to make
atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is
the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
Hebrews 9
Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2 A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now. 6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year,
and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. 9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
The forgiveness of sins is found only in
the blood of Christ- His life which He gave as a sacrifice for sin. That is the heart of
the Atonement. It is what the New Covenant is found upon His blood, His life which was given for our sins. Forgiveness is only found in His blood that He gave His life on our behalf. That is how are sins are removed and taken away. That is what the Law required for sin was the blood of the animal sacrifice.
There is
no "punishment" above anywhere. There is a sacrifice provided which covers and provides forgiveness of sins. The entire book of Hebrews is built upon the OT Law and how it is fulfilled in Christ.
Jesus said He gave His life as a Ransom . Strongs 3038- Lutron λύτρον. the purchasing money for manumitting slaves, a ransom, the price of ransoming; especially the sacrifice by which
expiation is effected, an offering of expiation. Thayers: λύτρον, λύτρου, τό (λύω), the Sept. passim for כֹּפֶר, גְּאֻלָּה, פִּדְיון, etc.; the price for redeeming, ransom (paid for slaves,
Leviticus 19:20; for captives,
Isaiah 45:13; for the ransom of a life,
Exodus 21:30;
Numbers 35:31f): ἀντί πολλῶν, to liberate many from the misery and penalty of their sins,
Matthew 20:28;
Mark 10:45. (Pindar, Aeschylus, Xenophon, Plato, others.)
Matthew 20:28- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many
hilastērion – the atonement is received by Faith.
Romans 3:25
God presented Christ as a
sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—
to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. NIV
Romans 3:25
whom God put forward as
a propitiation by his blood
, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ESV
The Mercy Seat (Hilastērion): In the Old Testament Tabernacle, the High Priest never entered the Holy of Holies to be struck by God; he entered to sprinkle blood upon the
Mercy Seat. This was the specific place where God
met with man in grace. Therefore, when Paul uses this word in
Romans 3:25, he is identifying the Cross as the new "Meeting Place." The Atonement is not a record of God striking the Priest, but of the Priest providing the
Purification necessary for God and man to be reconciled. If the Mercy Seat was the place where the glory of God dwelt between the Cherubim, then the Cross is where the glory of God’s love is most clearly seen—not in the venting of wrath, but in the provision of presence.
Some may argue that
Romans 3:25 and other texts require the Father to pour wrath on the Son. However, careful exegesis and attention to the relational language of the Trinity suggest these passages describe reconciliation and covenant faithfulness rather than punitive wrath directed at Christ. the "Atonement Cover" (
Hilastērion) is the
Mercy Seat. In the OT, that was the place where God
met with man in mercy, not the place where He struck the High Priest. This reinforces the fact that the Atonement is about
reconciliation and
meeting, not "punitive wrath
The Necessity of Faith: While the Atonement is a finished work of Christ, it is not a "mechanical" or "automatic" transaction. Just as the Israelite had to look at the Bronze Serpent to be healed, the sinner must look to Christ in
Faith. The Atonement provides the
remedy for the whole world, but that remedy only produces
pardon, remission, and lifewhen it is personally received.
hope this helps !!
