Discovering the Biblical Jesus Author: Daniel L. Akin Price: $5.95

God’s Holiness and Justice

The Bible teaches us that our God is holy. First Peter 1:15-16 states, “As the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct, for it is written, ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ ” Jesus taught, “ ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect’ ” (Matt. 5:48). God loves sinners, but He hates sin. Because our God is holy, pure, righteous, and just, both in His character and His ways, He has an abiding wrath directed toward sin. Paul wrote, “God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Rom. 1:18). God does not laugh or wink at sin, any sin. He despises it and finds it worthy of the judgment of eternal, spiritual death.

Humanity’s great offense requires a great recompense. God’s perfect justice demands that every sin be punished. God would have been just to destroy the entire human race for its sin. Yet in His goodness, mercy, love, and compassion He sent a Savior. The violent, vicarious death of the sinless, spotless Son of God on the cross turned the wrath of Holy God away from wicked sinners. Rather than pour out His wrath and judgment on us, God instead, in the fullest measure, poured it out on His Son. Christ’s death satisfied the offended holiness and glory of God for sinners.

Jesus frequently emphasized that His death was necessary for the salvation of humanity.

• When Peter tried to save Jesus after His arrest, Jesus asked, “ ‘Do you think that I cannot call on My Father, and He will provide Me at once with more than 12 legions of angels? How, then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?’ ” (Matt. 26:53-54).
  
• At Caesarea Philippi Jesus “began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, be killed, and rise after three days” (Mark 8:31).
  
• At the empty tomb the angel reminded the women, “ ‘He is not here, but He has been resurrected! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, “The Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day”?’ ” (Luke 24:6-7).
  
• In John 12:24 Jesus provided a rationale for the nature of the atonement: “ ‘Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop.’ ” Only by dying can the grain produce fruit.
  To Jesus’ words we can also add the observation of the author of Hebrews: “Almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). All of these verses show that the atonement was necessary to fulfill the Scriptures.

Calvin wrote, “It was also imperative that he who was to become our Redeemer be true God and true man. It was his task to swallow up death. Who but the Life could do this? It was his task to conquer sin. Who but very Righteousness could do this?”1 The Son of God had to come. The Son of God had to die. God’s holiness demanded satisfaction. God’s love sent a Savior.

1 John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, vol. 1, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Philadelphia: Westminister, 1960), 466.

For more information, see Why Did Jesus Have to Die? Part One: The Sinfulness of Humanity.