Christ Covenant Church

Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians fifteen make it clear that how we understand Christ’s death directly affects whether the “gospel” we believe is “in accordance with the Scriptures” (and saving) – or false (and damning). It is therefore (as Paul states) of “first importance”; a doctrine the Church cannot afford to get wrong. This unfortunately has been the plight of many within Evangelical or Reformed Christianity who espouse the false doctrine of Penal Substitution.Penal Substitution = A theory which states that Jesus in His death was punished for our sins (penal) in our place (substitute) so that God could extend forgiveness (or justification) to us.Why the theory of Penal Substitution must be rejected as false:1.1. It is was invention of the Protestant Reformers to support their false gospel of Sola Fide.Though several of the Early Church Fathers did preach Christ’s cross-work as substitutionary (e.g. Justin Martyr, Athanasius, Ambrose, Gregory the Great), they did not view it as penal (i.e. Christ taking our