Jesus Christ was a Penal Substitutionary Fidejussor, from Eternity Past.

Christ in such sense a Surety, as civilians call a “fidejussor”, or such a surety that is jointly engaged with a debtor, for the payment of a debt; or is so bound for another, as that other remains under obligation, and the obligation of the surety is only an accession to the principal obligation, which is made stronger thereby, and the creditor has the greater security; yet still the principal debtor is left under his debt, that is not removed from him, and he is under obligation to pay it, if able; and it is first to be demanded of him, or should his surety desert his suretyship, and not make satisfaction. But now none of these things are to be supposed in Christ’s suretyship.

1b1. He is not a mere accessory to the obligation of his people for payment of their debts; he and they are not engaged in one joint bond for payment; he has taken their whole debt upon himself, as the apostle Paul did in the case of Onesimus; and he has paid it off, and entirely discharged it alone.

1b2. Nor was any such condition made in his suretyship engagements for his people, that they should pay if they were able; for God the Father, to whom Christ became a Surety, knew, and he himself, the Surety, knew full well, when this suretyship was entered into, that they were not able to pay, and never would be; yea, that it was impossible for them, in their circumstances, ever to pay; for having failed in their obedience to God, all after acts of obedience, though ever so perfect, could not make amends, or satisfy for that disobedience, since to those God has a prior right; and their failure in obedience, brings upon them a debt of punishment, which is everlasting, and “ad infinitum”; and, if left on them, would be ever paying, and never paid (see Luke 7:41, 42; 41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

Matthew 18:24, 25, . 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

5:26, Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

John Gill: Doctrinal Divinity - Christian Classics Ethereal Library

 

Colossians 2:14

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances

"...the whole law of Moses is intended, which was the handwriting of God, and obliged to obedience to it, and to punishment in case of disobedience; and this the Jews F26 call (bwx) (rjv) , "the writing of the debt", and is the very phrase the Syriac version uses here: now this was as a debt book, which showed and testified the debts of men; that is, their sins, how many they are guilty of, and what punishment is due unto them: and may well be said to be that

that was against us, which was contrary to us;

"The nature of the whole law of Moses being holy, just, good, and spiritual, is contrary to the unholy and carnal heart of man, and its commands disagreeable to his mind and will; nor can he perform what it requires; nor can he be subject to it without the grace of God, any more than he can like its precepts; and besides, it is contrary to him, and against him, as it charges him with debts, and proves them upon him, so that he has nothing to say in his defence; yea, it proceeds against him, and curses and condemns, and kills him: but God has "blotted" it out, Christ having engaged as a surety for his people, to pay off all their debts; and this being done by him, God has crossed the debt book of the law, has blotted it out, so that this book is of no force; it does not stand against these persons, it cannot show or prove any standing debt, it cannot demand any, or inflict any penalty: nay, he has

took it out of the way;

"...it is not to be seen or looked into as a debt book; it is abolished and done away; it is no more as administered by Moses, as a covenant of works, or as to its rigorous exaction, curse, and condemnation; this is true of the whole law of Moses, as well as of the ceremonial, which is utterly abolished and disannulled in every sense, because of the weakness and unprofitableness of it:"

nailing it to his cross:

"to the cross of Christ, showing that the abolition of it is owing to the cross of Christ; where and when he bore the curse and penalty of the law for his people, as well as answered all the types and shadows of it..."

 

1 Pet 3:18
"For "Christ also hath once suffered for sins..."

2 Cor 5:21,
"For he hath made him to be sin..."


Propitiation or expiation (Greek: “hilasterion”) denotes the act of appeasing a deity by sacrifice to incur divine favor (it is only an analogy, metaphor, or figure of speech!). Thus, Jesus’ sacrifice is described as propitiation in

Rom 3:25
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

and 1 John 2:2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world...i.e., "not only for the Jews, but for some of those in the world of the Gentiles".

These are direct references to the same word used in
the Septuagint in Ex 25:17-22

17 And thou shalt make a propitiatory, a lid of pure gold; the length of two cubits and a half, and the breadth of a cubit and a half.

18 And thou shalt make two cherubs graven in gold, and thou shalt put them on both sides of the propitiatory.

19 They shall be made, one cherub on this side, and another cherub on the other side of the propitiatory; and thou shalt make the two cherubs on the two sides.

20 The cherubs shall stretch forth their wings above, overshadowing the propitiatory with their wings; and their faces shall be toward each other, the faces of the cherubs shall be toward the propitiatory.

21 And thou shalt set the propitiatory on the ark above, and thou shalt put into the ark the testimonies which I shall give thee.

22 And I will make myself known to thee from thence, and I will speak to thee above the propitiatory between the two cherubs, which are upon the ark of testimony, even in all things which I shall charge thee concerning the children of Israel.

(and repeated in Heb 9:5)
And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

where the “atonement cover” or “mercy seat” of the Ark of the Covenant is described.

That is, the covering of the Ark provided both atonement and mercy at the same time! See also

1 Cor 5:7
Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

1 Pet 3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.

Thus, Jesus is correctly described as “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

John 1:29, 36
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world...i.e., "not only for the sins of Jews, but for some of those in the world of the Gentiles".

And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

Justify and Justification (Greek cognate root: “dike”) means to pronounce righteous or acquit and is obviously a legal term.

Paul, in Romans, tells us that God has freely justified all sinners (Rom 3:23-27* see below) and that this occurred while we were still sinners (Rom 5:5, 8, 9) by His death on the cross.

This “declaring right” is clearly what God does and is His initiative and something that cannot be earned (Rom 3:20; Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin).

In Gal 2:16 we are emphatically told that we are justified by trusting God and not by works of the law. Justified is often used interchangeably with “Credit”, see below.

In Gal 2:16
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

The Bible uses the idea of Jesus’ death being
a kind of penal substitutionary execution
to satisfy the requirements of “the law”;

thus, His death was an essential part of our salvation.

Isa 53:5, 6, 11, 12,
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.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Matt 20:28,
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Rom 5:19,
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

2 Cor 5:21,
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Gal 1:4, 3:13,
Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:

Heb 9:15
And for this cause, he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.


God gave His Son and God did not give something in order to change His own mind! Jesus' death was to demonstrate His justice. Rom 3:22-28;

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

*23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.