Jesus Became Sin

Jesus Became Sin

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (NASB 2020)

"Jesus became sin" is just about the only way to express how He took away our sin.

In the old covenant we see a scapegoat. This animal bore a person's sins and carried them out into the wilderness—where the goat surely died. Sins were symbolically placed on the scapegoat by the person who sinned placing his hands on the goat's head.

Jesus bore our sins in much the same way, except what He did was reality, not symbolism. What He did was sufficient to take care of everyone’s sins. It was accomplished in in eternity, so it could be effective for those who put their trust in God before and after the cross.

Adam was what the theologians call "our federal head." That means that what happened to Adam was passed down to us by inheritance through our physical birth. Similarly, what happened to Jesus was passed down by inheritance through spiritual re-birth to all who believe on Him. Jesus is the “federal head" of all who put their faith in Him.

Jesus was, in effect, every person. All the sins of every person were taken by Him. When He died, we who believe on Him died. When He rose, each believer rose. This is what Romans 6 means when it says we were baptized into His death and raised with Him to new life. It's what Galatians 2:20 means when it says we have been crucified with Christ.

The errors of Universalism and Inclusionism, teach that everyone is, or ultimately will be saved or that everyone is in Christ, but they just don’t know it yet. Those who teach these errors sound exactly like those who teach the unadulterated Gospel of grace, so it is important that we be on our guard.

Just as the Hebrews being killed by snakes in the wilderness (see Numbers chapter 21) had to believe God and look at the snake on the pole to be healed and live, so each person being killed by sin must believe God and look at Jesus on the tree to be healed and Live. We know this from many places in the New Testament, but perhaps the clearest is John 3:14–15 which tells us that “just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.” (NASB 2020)

He took our sins upon Himself.

In His body, He bore our sins.

He became sin for us, so that we could be justified.

Being justified, we became righteous.

Being righteous, we became dead to sin and alive to God.

Being alive to God, we inherited eternal Life.