Jesus paid our debt and bought our freedom.

This is the very heart of the Christian gospel—the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. Here is a poem and explanation of this profound truth.

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He Took Our Place

We stood condemned, a guilty race, Beneath the wrath of holy grace. The sentence passed,the judgment clear, The rightful end of sin and fear. The penalty was death and night, An endless,everlasting night.

But in the darkness, hope appeared, A promise whispered,long been feared. A Lamb was chosen,not from pen, But God’s own Son,for sinful men. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”(Isaiah 53:5)

He did not come to simply teach, Or just a higher way to preach. He came to stand in our dread place, To bear the wrath we could not face. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”(2 Corinthians 5:21)

The penalty was not His own, He paid a debt He did not owe. The nails,the thorns, the spear, the scorn, Were for the rebels He would born. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—”(Galatians 3:13)

Upon the cross, the transaction done, The victory over sin was won. The Father’s justice was fulfilled, When Love Himself was killed. “It is finished!”was the cry, The shout of triumph from on high.

The penalty was fully paid, The foundation of our peace was laid. No work of ours could e’er atone, The work was His,and His alone.

So now, for all who will believe, And in this Savior’s work receive, The verdict changes,“Guilty!” ceases, And God’s own righteousness He pieces Upon our souls,so dark and stained, Because the penalty was sustained.

Not by us, but by the One, God’s beloved,only Son.

What This Means:

· We Had a Debt: Our sin created an infinite debt against an infinitely holy God. The just penalty for that sin is spiritual death and separation from God (Romans 6:23).

· We Could Not Pay: No amount of good works or religious effort can cancel this debt. We were utterly helpless (Romans 5:6).

· Jesus Paid It: Jesus, the sinless Son of God, willingly offered Himself as a substitute. He took the full force of God’s wrath and judgment that we deserved.

· We Receive the Benefit: When we place our faith in Christ, God credits Jesus’s perfect payment to our account. Our penalty is marked “PAID IN FULL,” and we are declared “NOT GUILTY”—justified and reconciled to God.

This is the great exchange: Our sin for His righteousness. Our penalty for His peace. Our death for His life.