Atonement in the Early Church (Athanasius & Cyril of Alexandria)

Christus Victor is a new model of atonement that some argue dates back to the early church. The model emphasizes Christ’s victory over the devil and death by His death and resurrection. Some hold this model to be a complete view of the atonement and argue that the early Church never understood redemption in terms of satisfaction of God’s judgment for sin, but only of healing and demonstration of God’s love. The purpose of this article was to analyze whether or not penal and/or substitutionary language exists in the writings of the early Church in regards to Old Testament Sacrifices and the sacrifice of Christ. The article is divided into several sections. To show patristic consensus, references from both Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedenian fathers will be utilized; focus will be on the writings of the pre-Chalcedonian Church fathers.

Origin of Doctrinal Deviation/Controversy

Within the last one hundred years or less, there was a movement among some in the Orthodox Church to “purge” Orthodoxy of the “juridical” dimension of atonement. Many Orthodox today are led to believe that the juridical dimension of atonement is a “contamination” of Western influence. They argue that this dimension is not supported by scripture, and cannot be found in the writings of the early Church fathers, prior to Anselm of Canterbury. Spearheading this movement to “reformulate” the doctrine of atonement, was Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) Kiev who wrote in his work “Dogma of Redemption”, published in 1917:

For the last thirty years, this basic dogma of our faith, that is, its formulation, has been the subject of constant reformulation. More exactly, it has been subjected to attempts at restoration…this reformulation is directed not against Orthodoxy (or in deviation from it) but, on the contrary, toward true Orthodoxy. It has been undertaken with a desire to free the theological science which is taught in seminaries, and the school catechisms from heterodox contaminations.

Rejecting the idea of a vicarious substitution, Metropolitan Anthony argued: “What kind of love is it that crucifies? And who needs it?” He went on to argue that a juridical view, if true, only manifests God’s “mercilessness” and “injustice”:

Adam’s sufferings and the agonizing death which befell Adam’s descendants were not sufficient to expunge that dreadful affront. The shedding of a servant’s blood could not effect this; only the Blood of a Being equal in rank with the outraged Divinity, that is, the Son of God, Who of His own good will took the penalty upon Himself in man’s stead. By this means the Son of God obtained mankind’s forgiveness from the wrathful Creator Who received satisfaction in the shedding of the Blood and the death of His Son. Thus, the Lord has manifested both His mercy and His equity! With good reason do the skeptics affirm that if such an interpretation corresponds to Revelation, the conclusion would be the contrary: the Lord would have manifested here both mercilessness and injustice.  (The Dogma of Redemption, pp. 5-6)

Metropolitan Anthony’s motive was clearly to refute “mockeries” from non-Christians. Seeking to counter what might have been an over-emphasis by the West on the juridical dimension, Metropolitan Anthony rejected a fundamental dimension of atonement altogether (essentially throwing out the baby with the bath water). His zeal led him to reject the same view of atonement taught in Orthodox seminaries and catechisms of his time:

The teaching about redemption proffered in our school courses and catechisms (I shall never call this a Church teaching) gives occasion to the enemies of Christianity to raise coarse, but difficult to refute, mockeries…Japanese pagans object to our missionaries that: “You preach the most unreasonable faith, that God supposedly was angered at all people because of Eve’s one act of foolishness. But then he executed His totally innocent Son and only then became soothed.

Metropolitan Anthony’s views created much controversy and were rejected by most Orthodox theologians of his time. Nevertheless, since then, other influential Orthodox theologians such as Fr. John Meyendorff and Alexander Kalomiros and others, began to promote his views, to the extent that such views have asserted themselves strongly in the Byzantine Church today. As a result, many are led to reject the “juridical” dimension of atonement as “heteredox”, even though it was taught in Orthodox “seminaries, and the school catechisms”, as Metropolitan Anthony himself admitted. As will also be evidenced in this article, the Orthodox Church has always acknowledged two dimensions to the redemption: one of healing and another that is “juridical”. Christ renewed and “deified” the fallen nature, as well as paid the “debt” and “penalty” of death  on account of transgression “in place of” humanity.

At about the same time, a Lutheran theologian by the name of Gustaf Aulén published his book named “Christus Victor”, in 1930.  Aulén  argued that prior to Anselm of Canterbury and within the first 1000 years, the Church never understood redemption in terms of a satisfaction of God’s justice/judgment, but merely as a conquering of sin, death, and the devil. Aulén essentially invented a new atonement theory called “Christus Victor” which he argued was the predominant view of the early Church. He based his argument on the fact that the early Church fathers spoke with consenus about the victorious Christ. In his book, Aulén pitted his atonement theory against what he called the “Latin” view. While it is undeniable that the Church fathers spoke about Christ’s victory over death, was substitutionary atonement truly absent from the early Church as per Aulén? We will examine Aulén’s claims in great detail in this article. Unfortunately, many have accepted Aulén’s Book at face value without questioning the historical and patristic accuracy or objectivity of Aulén’s arguments.

Death as a “Debt” for Transgression

Some argue that death of Adam was merely a consequence of sin (as of an illness), devoid of any elements of punishment or chastising on God’s part. Hence they argue that humanity only needed healing from sin. How can a loving God also punish? This question will be answered at more length in the Divine Dilemma section of this article. It is best to try to understand God’s earthly punishment, including physical death, as chastening of a loving Father. It is also important to differentiate between “corruption of death” which is physical death vs. spiritual death, which is separation from God. Christ was incarnate to deliver humanity from both.

Scriptural references>>

Genesis 3:22-24
And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Ezekiel 18:20
The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 3:10
Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

Romans 3:5
But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us?

Romans 5: 18
So then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so
through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life.

Colossians 3:5-6
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

Hebrews 2:2
For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? 

While it is undeniable that Christ “healed” and renewed humanity by His incarnation, analysis of both Scripture and early patristic writing confirms that the early Church also understood death to be  a “debt”, “penalty”, “punishment”, “judgment”, “sentence”, “curse’, “chastisement”, and even “condemnation” for transgression. Let’s analyze for example, one sentence by St. Athanasius from “On the Incarnation of the Word”:

“And thus taking from our bodies one of like nature, because all were under penalty of the corruption of death He gave it over to death in the stead of all, and offered it to the Father

From the above sentence alone, we see:
1.       Corruption of death was a “penalty” (not just a consequence or illness).
2.       Christ gave his body over to death “in the stead of all” (substitute).
3.       Christ offered his body as a sacrifice “to the Father 

Speaking of death of the body in the grave as well as of the soul which went to Hades, St. Athanasius explains that death was divided into parts. Both were a “judgment” and “condemnation” by God:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Contra Apollinarium
He who held the enquiry into the transgression, and gave judgment, passed the general doom in a twofold form, saying to the earthly part, Earth thou art, and to earth shalt thou depart:—and so, the Lord having pronounced sentence, corruption receives the body: —but to the soul, Thou shalt die the death: and thus man is divided into two parts, and is condemned to go to two places.

St. Athanasius further explains that Christ died to free humanity from the “condemnation”, “sentence”, and “curse” of death since all died in Him:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Discourses Against the Arians
For since it is said in the Word, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,’ suitably through the Word Himself and in Him the freedom and the undoing of the condemnation has come to pass…He sends His own Son, and He becomes Son of Man, by taking created flesh; that, since all were under sentence of death, He, being other than them all, might Himself for all offer to death His own body; and that henceforth, as if all had died through Him, the word of that sentence might be accomplished (for ‘all died’ in Christ), and all through Him might thereupon become free from sin and from the curse which came upon it, and might truly abide forever, risen from the dead and clothed in immortality and incorruption.

Some argue that St. Athanasius never explained redemption in terms of fulfillment of God’s punishment, but only of God’s healing and renewal. Nothing could be further from the truth. St. Athanasius’s book “On the Incarnation of the Word” is filled with references to death as a “penalty” and “sentence” which Christ endured “in the stead” and as a “substitute” for humanity. He dedicates two full chapters discussing God’s mercy vs. truth (“The Divine Dilemma”). When he explained the cross to those inside the Church, St. Athanasius did not hesitate to expound this “penal” reality. He said Christ came to “bear the curse that lay on us”:

St. Athanasius – On the Incarnation of the Word
So much for the objections of those outside the Church. But if any honest Christian wants to know why He suffered death on the cross and not in some other way, we answer thus: in no other way was it expedient for us, indeed the Lord offered for our sakes the one death that was supremely good. He had come to bear the curse that lay on us; and how could He “become a curse” otherwise than by accepting the accursed death? And that death is the cross, for it is written “Cursed is every one that hangeth on tree.” Again, the death of the Lord is the ransom of all…
.

St. Cyril of Alexandria also refers to death as a “divine curse” for disobedience:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke
for it was that rebel serpent who led the first man to the transgression of the commandment, and to disobedience, by means of which he fell under the divine curse, and into the net of death: for it was said to him, “Earth you are, and to the earth you shall return.”

There is no disobedience without penalty from God:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. Luke, SERMON XLII
For that there is no obedience without reward, and on the other hand, no disobedience without penalty, is made plain by what God spake by His holy prophet to those who disregarded Him…For let us see, if you will, even from the writings of Moses, the grief to which disobedience has brought us. We have been driven from a paradise of delights, and have also fallen under the condemnation of death; and while intended for incorruption:—for so God created the universe:—we yet have become accursed, and subject to the yoke of sin. And how then have we escaped from that which betel us, or Who is He that aided us, when we had sunk into this great misery? It was the Only-begotten Word of God, by submitting Himself to our estate, and being found in fashion as a man, and becoming obedient unto the Father even unto death. Thus has the guilt of the disobedience that is by Adam been remitted: thus has the power of the curse ceased, and the dominion of death been brought to decay. 

The “sentence” of God and Adam’s curse extended over all, since all broke God’s decrees, yet Christ paid the penalty for our sins:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book XII
And the meaning of the figure is in no way affected by the fact, that the men who hung by His side were malefactors; for we were by nature children of wrath, before we believed in Christ, and were all doomed to death, as we said beforeAnd the title contained a handwriting against us—the curse that, by the Divine Law, impends over the transgressors, and the sentence that went forth against all who erred against those ancient ordinances of the Law, like unto Adam’s curse, which went forth against all mankind, in that all alike broke God’s decrees. For God’s anger did not cease with Adam’s fall, but He was also provoked by those who after him dishonoured the Creator’s decree; and the denunciation of the Law against transgressors was extended continuously over all. We were, then, accursed and condemned, by the sentence of God, through Adam’s transgression, and through breach of  the Law laid down after him; but the Savior wiped out the handwriting against us, by nailing the title to His Cross, which very clearly pointed to the death upon the Cross which He underwent for the salvation of men, who lay under condemnationFor our sake He paid the penalty for our sins.  

The Church’s liturgical texts also confirm that death was a “sentence” and “punishment”:

 Liturgy of Saint Gregory
I  laid  aside  Your  law  by  my  own opinion. I neglected your commandments. I brought upon myself the sentence of death. You O my Master have turned for me the punishment into salvation. As a good shepherd you have sought the stray.

More patristic quotes>>

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Letters of Athanasius with Two Ancient Chronicles of His Life
…He became man in the body for our salvation, in order that having somewhat to offer for us He might save us all, ‘as many as through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage.’ For it was not some man that gave Himself up for us; since every man is under sentence of death, according to what was said to all in Adam, ‘earth thou art and unto earth thou shalt return.

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Contra Arianos, Discourse II, Chapter 21, #67
And how, were the Word a creature, had He power to undo God’s sentence, and to remit sin, whereas it is written in the Prophets, that this is God’s doing? For ‘who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by transgression?’ For whereas God has said, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,’ men have become mortal; how then could things originate undo sin? but the Lord is He who has undone it, as He says Himself, ‘Unless the Son shall make you free;’ and the Son, who made free, has shewn in truth that He is no creature, nor one of things originate, but the proper Word and Image of the Father’s Essence, who at the beginning sentenced, and alone remitteth sins. For since it is said in the Word, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,’ suitably through the Word Himself and in Him the freedom and the undoing of the condemnation has come to pass.

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – ON THE SALUTARY APPEARING OF CHRIST,
AND AGAINST APOLLINARIS
And since Adam’s soul was detained under sentence of death, and was continually crying out to its Lord, and those who had been well-pleasing to God, and had been justified by the natural law, were detained with Adam, and were mourning and crying out with him, God, taking pity on man whom He had made, was pleased through the revelation of a mystery to work out a new salvation for the race of men, and to effect the overthrow of the enemy, who through envy had deceived them, and to exhibit an incalculable exaltation of man by his union and communion with the Most High in nature n and truth.

St. Athanasius – On the Incarnation of the Word
Forasmuch then as the children are ” the sharers in blood and flesh, he also himself in like ” manner partook of the same, that through death he ” might bring to nought him that had the power of ” death, that is, the devil; and might deliver them “who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” For by the sacrifice of his own body, he both put an end to the law which was against us, and made a new beginning of life for us, by the hope of resurrection which he has given us. For since from man it was that death prevailed over men, for this cause conversely, by the Word of God being made man has come about the destruction of death and the resurrection of life; as the man which bore Christ saith: ” For since by man came death, by man came also the “resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so “also in Christ shall all be made alive: ” and so forth. For no longer now do we die as subject to condemnation; but as men who rise from the dead we await the general resurrection of all, “which in its own times he shall” show,” even God, who has also wrought it, and bestowed it upon us…Why, now that the common Saviour of all has died on our behalf, we, the faithful in Christ, no longer die the death as before, agreeably to the warning of the law; for this condemnation has ceased; but, corruption ceasing and being put away by the grace of the Resurrection, henceforth we are only dissolved, agreeably to our bodies’ mortal nature, at the time God has fixed for each, that we may be able to gain a better resurrection.  

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – On the Unity of Christ
Therefore if it is true, as it is understood by them to mean rightly, that the Word has in such sort been MADE flesh, as He has been MADE both curse and sin; i. e. to the destruction of the flesh; how will He render it incorruptible and indestructible, as having achieved this in His own Flesh first? for He did not leave it to remain mortal and under decay, Adam transmitting to us the punishment for the transgression, but rather as the flesh of the uncorruptible God, Own and His, rendered it superior to death and to decay.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book XII
For death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s transgression; and we bore the image of the earthy in his likeness, and underwent the death that was inflicted by the Divine curse. But when the Second Adam appeared among us, the Divine Man from heaven, and, contending for the salvation of the world, purchased by His death the life of all men, and, destroying the power of corruption, rose again to life, we were transformed into His Image, and undergo, as it were, a different kind of death, that does not dissolve us in eternal corruption, but casts upon us a slumber which is laden with fair hope, after the Likeness of Him Who has made this new path for us, that is, Christ.

St Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. John – Book II
And in harmony with this do we see that which is said by one of the prophets, He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days will He revive us, in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His Sight. Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord; His going forth is prepared as the morning. For He smote us for the transgression of Adam, saying, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. That which was smitten by corruption and death He bound up on the third day: that is, not in the first, or in the middle, but in the last ages, when for us made Man, He rendered all our nature whole, raising it from the dead in Himself. Wherefore He is also called the Firstfruits of them that slept.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – That Christ is One
Therefore if it is true, as it is understood by them to mean rightly, that the Word has in such sort been MADE flesh, as He has been MADE both curse and sin; i. e. to the destruction of the
flesh; how will He render it incorruptible and indestructible, as having achieved this in His own Flesh first? for He did not leave it to remain mortal and under decay, Adam transmitting to us the punishment for the transgression, but rather as the flesh of the uncorruptible God, Own and His, rendered it superior to death and to decay.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – That Christ is One
Such then, as I think, is the meaning of the Saviour’s words; for He was inviting the good favour of the Father not on Himself but on us rather. For as the [fruits] of wrath passed through as from the first root, I mean Adam, unto the whole nature of man (for death hath reigned from Adam unto Moses over them too which sinned not after the likeness of Adam’s transgression): thus too will the [fruits] from our second first-fruits, Christ, pass through unto the whole human race. And the all-wise Paul will be our warrant, saying, For if by the transgression of one man the many died, much more by the righteousness of the One shall the many live, and again, For as in Adam all die so too in Christ shall all be quickened.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Five Tomes Against Netorius, Tome III
The God of all uttered the Law to them of old, Moses being mediator. But there was not in the Law the power of achieving good without any blame, to those who wished it (for it hath perfected nothing). But neither was the first covenant found faultless, but the all-wise Paul called it the ministry of condemnation. I hear him say, We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become under sentence before God, because by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight, (for the Law worketh unto wrath, and the Letter killeth), and as himself somewhere saith, He that despised Moses’ law dieth without mercy under two or three witnesses. Seeing therefore that the Law condemneth them that sin and decreeth sometimes the uttermost punishment to them that disregard it, and in no wise pitieth, how was not the manifestation to them on the earth of a Compassionate and truly Merciful High Priest necessary? of One Who should make the curse to cease, should stop the condemnation and free sinners with forgiving grace and with the bending of clemency? for I (He says) am He that blotteth out thy transgressions and will not remember. For we have been justified by faith and not out of the works of the Law, as it is written. On Whom then believing are we justified? is it not on Him who suffered death for us after the flesh? is it not on One Lord Jesus Christ? have we not on declaring His Death and confessing His Resurrection been redeemed? If therefore we have believed on a man like us and not rather on God, the thing is man-worship, and confessedly nothing else: but if we believe that He That suffered in the flesh is God, Who hath been made also our High Priest, we have no ways erred, but acknowledge the Word out of God made Man: and thus is required of us faith God-ward, Who putteth out of condemnation and freeth from sin those that are taken thereby.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. John Book XII
For He That was truly God, and had no sin in Him, was yet Man; and just as the sentence of condemnation for transgression went forth over all mankind, through one man, the first Adam, so likewise, also, the blessing of justification by Christ is extended to all through One Man, the Second Adam. Paul is our witness, who says: As through one the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through One the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. We therefore are diseased through the disobedience of the first Adam and its curse, but are enriched through the obedience of the Second and its blessing. For He that was Lord of the Law as God came among us, and kept the Law as Man. Yea, we find Him saying unto us: He that loveth Me will keep My commandments; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments,
and abide in His love.  

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book XII
For it was meet that the Lord should be our restorer in this way also. For by Adam’s transgression, as in the firstfruits of the race, the sentence went forth to the whole world: Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return; and to the woman in special: In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. To be rich in sorrow, then, as by way of a penalty, was the fate of woman. It was, therefore, necessary that by the mouth of Him That had passed sentence of 
condemnation, the burden of that ancient curse should be removed, our Saviour Christ now wiping away the tears from the eyes of the woman, or rather of all womankind, as in Mary the firstfruits. For she, first of women, being offended at the death of the Saviour, and grieving thereat, was thought worthy to hear the voice that cut short her weeping…Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turneth herself, and saith, unto Him in Hebrew, Rabboni; which is to say, Master, and ran forward to touch Him.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. Luke
For the first man was indeed in the beginning in the paradise of delight, being ennobled by the absence both of suffering and of corruption: but when he despised the commandment that had been given him, and fell under a curse and condemnation, and into the snare of death, by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, Christ, as I said, by the very same thing restores him again to his original condition. For He became the fruit of the tree by having endured the precious cross for our sakes, that He might destroy death, which by means of the tree had invaded the bodies of mankind.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. Luke
For it is thus written in the Exodus concerning the children of Israel; “And they came to Marah: and the people could not drink the waters of Marah; for they were bitter. And Moses cried unto the Lord, and the Lord shewed him a tree; and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet.” Now Marah, when translated, means bitterness; and is taken by us as a type of the law. For the law was bitter, in that it punished with death. And of this Paul is witness, saying, “He that hath despised Moses’ law is put to death without mercy at the mouth of two or three witnesses.” It was bitter therefore, and unendurable to those of old time, and was unacceptable on this account, just as were also those bitter waters. But it also was sweetened by the precious cross, of which that tree there shewn by God to the blessed Moses was a type.  

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. John, Chapter IX
But when he was being punished for his transgressions, then with justice hearing Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return, he was bared of the grace; the breath of life, that is the Spirit of Him Who says I am the Life, departed from the earthy body and the creature falls into death, through the flesh alone, the soul being kept in immortality, since to the flesh too alone was it said, Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return. It needed therefore that that in us which was specially imperilled, should with the greater zeal be restored, and by intertwining again with Life That is by Nature be recalled to immortality: it needed that at length the sentence, Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return should be relaxed, the fallen body being united ineffably to the Word That quickeneth all things.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. John
For by the effect of His precious cross the sovereignty of the devil was doomed to fall to eternal ruin; death was to be deprived of its sting, and the sway of corruption to be destroyed; the  human race was to be freed from that ancient curse, and to be enabled through the gracious love of our Saviour Christ to hope for the annulling of the sentence: Earth thou art, and to earth shalt thou return; all iniquity, in the words of the prophet, was to stop her mouth, and those in all the world that know not Him Who alone is in His nature God were to be utterly brought to nought, and no longer to condemn those that had been in her power but were justified by faith in Christ; and for the time to come the gate of paradise was to be expected to be opened. 

The below quote is among many quotes refuting the modern deviant view that asserts that death was merely a “natural consequence” to sin and not also a divine punishment. St. Cyril explains that death was a “Divine sentence” and that the Savior ended God’s anger when He overthrow death which prevailed from God’s curse:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. John, Book V, Chap IV
Hearest thou how to the Jews asking a sign as a proof that He is God by Nature, even though they said it tempting Him, He says that no other shall be shewn to them save the sign of the prophet Jonas, i. e. the three days death and the coming to life again from the dead? For what token of God-befitting authority so great and manifest, as to undo death and overthrow decay, albeit by Divine sentence having the mastery over human nature? For in Adam it heard, Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return; but it was in the power of Christ the Saviour both to end His Anger, and by blessings to overthrow the death which from His curse prevailed. But that the Jews exceedingly feared the sign of the resurrection as mighty to convince that Christ is by Nature God, their final deed will clearly tell us, for when they heard of the Resurrection of the Saviour, and that He was not found in the tomb, terrified and exceeding fearful thereat, they planned to buy off the informations of the soldiers by large money. 


Divine Dilemma (Truth vs. Mercy)

According to the Church fathers, death was a “penalty for transgression” which could not be “repealed” otherwise God would be “untrue”. The “sentence of death” had to be “fulfilled”, but God in His mercy, wished to save humanity. Although speaking only in human terms, St. Athanasius presented this dichotomy between God’s truth (judgment) vs. mercy as the “Divine Dilemma”:

Scriptural References>>

Exodus 34:6-7 (Septuagint)
The Lord God, pitiful and merciful, longsuffering and very compassionate, and true, and keeping justice and mercy for thousands, taking away iniquity, and unrighteousness, and sins; and he will not clear the guilty; bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and to the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation

Psalm 85:10
Mercy
and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Psalm 89:14
Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

Psalm 33: 5
The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.

Psalm 101:1
I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.

Psalm 103:6-10 (Septuagint)
The Lord executes mercy and judgment for all that are injured. He made known his ways to Moses, his will to the children of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and pitiful, long-suffering, and full of mercy. He will not be always angry; neither will he be wrathful for ever.  

Psalm 119:149-150 (Septuagint)
Hear my voice, O Lord, according to thy mercy; quicken me according to thy judgment. They
have drawn nigh who persecuted me unlawfully; and they are far removed from thy law

Sirach 18:20
Before judgment examine thyself, and in the day of visitation thou shalt find mercy. Humble thyself before thou be sick, and in the time of sins shew repentance.

Jeremiah 9:24 (Septuagint)
But let him that boasts boast in this, the understanding and knowing that I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgment, and righteousness, upon the earth; for in these things is my pleasure, saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:24
But let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.

Deuteronomy 32:39-41
See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. I lift my hand to heaven and solemnly swear: As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me.

Sirach 5:6
Do not say, “His mercy is great,  he will forgive the multitude of my sins,” for both mercy and wrath are with himand his anger rests on sinners.

Romans 2:5
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

Romans 11:22
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

Ephesians 2:3-4
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the  flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

James 2:13
For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Revelation 3:19
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

Per St. Athanasius, death had a legal hold over us, but God’s goodness would not allow humanity to remain in the corruption of death:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word
For death, as I said above, gained from that time forth a legal hold over us, and it was impossible to evade the law, since it had been laid down by God because of the transgression, and the result was in truth at once monstrous and unseemly. For it were monstrous, firstly, that God, having spoken, should prove false—that, when once He had ordained that man, if he transgressed the commandment, should die the death, after the transgression man should not die, but God’s word should be broken. For God would not be true, if, when He had said we should die, man died not…It was, then, out of the question to leave men to the current of corruption; because this would be unseemly, and unworthy of God’s goodness. But just as this consequence must needs hold, so, too, on the other side the just claims of God lie against it: that God should appear true to the law He had laid down concerning death. For it were monstrous for God, the Father of truth, to appear a liar for our profit and preservation. So here, once more, what possible course was God to take? To demand repentance of men for their transgression?…But repentance would, firstly, fail to guard the just claim of God. For He would still be none the more true, if men did not remain in the grasp of death; nor, secondly, does repentance call men back from what is their nature—it merely stays them from acts of sin. 

God’s judgment is tempered by His mercy:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Letter to Marcellinus
And when you have yourself experienced His power in judgement (for always His justice is tempered by His mercy) the next Psalm [101] will express your need.  

St. Cyril of Alexandria explained that Christ is mercy and justice:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. Luke
Christ is mercy and justice: for we have obtained mercy through Him, and been justified, having washed away the stains of wickedness through faith that is in Him.  

More quotes>>

 St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Contra Arianos
Not as being subject to laws, and biassed to one side, does He love the one and hate the other, lest, if from fear of falling away He chooses the one, we admit that He is alterable otherwise also; but, as being God and the Father’s Word, He is a just judge and lover of virtue, or rather its dispenser. Therefore being just and holy by nature, on this account He is said to love righteousness and to hate iniquity; as much as to say, that He loves and chooses the virtuous, and rejects and hates the unrighteous.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. John
But now attend carefully, for I am about to take up again the question proposed at first. God declares Himself to shew His kindness and His incomparable love of  men in a manner suitable to Deity…The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy and true, forgiving transgressions and iniquities and sins; and He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the sins of fathers upon children unto the third and fourth generation. Forgive this people their sin according to Thy great mercy, as Thou hast been favourable to them from Egypt even until now. It appears therefore that He Who is God over all attributes to Himself love of men and the greatest forbearance towards evil. 

Agpeya (Coptic Orthodox daily book of prayers) – A Prayer for Repentance  
Do not judge me according to Your justice, but according to Your mercy for no one will be justified before You. Dress me in a new attire that befits Your glory. Forgive my sins and I shall sing saying: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” I said I will confess my sins to the Lord, and You cleansed me. Amen.


Solution to the “Divine Dilemma”

Scriptural references>>

Romans 3:25-26
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

According to St. Athanasius, it was unworthy of God’s goodness to let man die, but He also wished to maintain God’s just claims regarding the “sentence of death”, otherwise God’s word would be untrue. God could simply require repentance, but doing so would not guard the “divine consistency”, and God would appear a liar if man did not die on account of transgression. Neither would mere repentance recall men from the subsequent corruption of their nature. Only the Word could be an ambassador with the Father and die as a “sufficient exchange for all”. Because He is immortal, the Word took a human body capable of dying, surrendered it to death, and offered it to the Father as a sufficient “exchange” and “substitute” for all. In doing so, He saved humanity by fulfilling through his death the “penalty” and “sentence” of death that was required for all, as well as put an end to the corruption of death for all by His resurrection. Thus, was the solution to the Divine Dilemma; by His incarnation and sacrifice, the Word demonstrated God’s great love, while at the same time He upheld the truth of God’s just sentence:

St. Athanasius – On the Incarnation of the Word
As we have already noted, it was unthinkable that God, the Father of Truth, should go back upon His word regarding death in order to ensure our continued existence…But repentance would not guard the Divine consistency, for, if death did not hold dominion over men, God would still remain untrue. For He alone, being Word of the Father and above all, was in consequence both able to recreate all, and worthy to suffer on behalf of all and to be an ambassador for all with the Father… He saw that corruption held us all the closer, because it was the penalty for the Transgression; He saw, too, how unthinkable it would be for the law to be repealed before it was fulfilled. He saw how unseemly it was that the very things of which He Himself was the Artificer should be disappearing…Thus, taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death instead of all, and offered it to the Father…The Word perceived that corruption could not be got rid of otherwise than through death; yet He Himself, as the Word, being immortal and the Father’s Son, was such as could not die. For this reason, therefore, He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word Who is above all, might become in dying a sufficient exchange for all, and, itself remaining incorruptible through His indwelling, might thereafter put an end to corruption for all others as well, by the grace of the resurrection…For naturally, since the Word of God was above all, when He offered His own temple and bodily instrument as a substitute for the life of all, He fulfilled in death all that was required.

St. Athanasius explained that in dying, Christ “bore in Himself the wrath that was the penalty of our transgression”:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Letter to Marcellinus     
And Psalms 88 and 69, again speaking in the Lord’s own person, tell us further that He suffered these things, not for His own sake but for ours. Thou has made Thy wrath to rest upon me, says the one; and the other adds, I paid them things I never took. For He did not die as being Himself liable to death: He suffered for us, and bore in Himself the wrath that was the penalty of our transgression, even as Isaiah says, Himself bore our weaknesses.

St. Athanasius explained that in Christ, the “undoing” of the “condemnation” of death came to pass. Christ “accomplished” God’s “sentence of death” on behalf of all, since “all died in Christ”:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Contra Arianos, Discourse II, Chapter 21
‘Unless the Son shall make you free;’ and the Son, who made free, has shewn in truth that He is no creature, nor one of things originate, but the proper Word and Image of the Father’s Essence, who at the beginning sentenced, and alone remitteth sins. For since it is said in the Word, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,’ suitably through the Word Himself and in Him the freedom and the undoing of the condemnation has come to pass…He sends His own Son, and He becomes Son of Man, by taking created flesh; that, since all were under sentence of death, He, being other than them all, might Himself for all offer to death His own body; and that henceforth, as if all had died through Him, the word of that sentence might be accomplished (for ‘all died’ in Christ), and all through Him might thereupon become free from sin and from the curse which came upon it, and might truly abide forever, risen from the dead and clothed in immortality and incorruption.

In other words, it was necessary for God to “annul His own sentence” via the condemnation of the sinless Christ:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Later Treatises of St. Athanasius, Contra Apollinarium
For this reason the action of Him who had pronounced sentence became necessary, that He might by His own act annul His own sentence, after He had been seen in the form of him that was condemned, but in that form as uncondemned and sinless; that the reconciliation of God to man might come to pass, and the freedom of the whole of man might be effected by means of man, in the newness of the image of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

St. Athanasius further explained that the curse for sin was removed because it was transferred to the Word, Who became a “curse for us”:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Discourses Against the Arians
For no longer according to that former generation in Adam do we die; but henceforward, our generation and all infirmity of flesh being transferred to the Word, we rise from the earth, the curse by reason of sin being removed, because of Him who is in us and who has become a curse for us. And with reason; for as we are all from earth and die in Adam, so being regenerated from above of water and Spirit, in the Christ we are all quickened…

Once again, the law [of God] regarding the penalty of death was fulfilled in Christ and undone. Because all died in Him, death no longer has holding-ground against them:

St. Athanasius – On the Incarnation of the Word
But He comes in condescension to shew loving-kindness upon us, and to visit us. And seeing the race of rational creatures in the way to perish, and death reigning over them by corruption; seeing, too, that the threat against transgression gave a firm hold to the corruption which was upon us, and that it was monstrous that before the law was fulfilled it should fall through…and seeing, lastly, how all men were under penalty of death: He took pity on our race, and had mercy on our infirmity, and condescended to our corruption, and, unable to bear that death should have the mastery—lest the creature should perish, and His Father’s handiwork in men be spent for nought…And thus taking from our bodies one of like nature, because all were under penalty of the corruption of death He gave it over to death in the stead of all, and offered it to the Father—doing this, moreover, of His loving-kindness, to the end that, firstly, all being held to have died in Him, the law involving the ruin of men might be undone (inasmuch as its power was fully spent in the Lord’s body, and had no longer holding-ground against men, his peers), and that, secondly, whereas men had turned toward corruption, He might turn them again toward incorruption and quicken them from death by the appropriation of His body and by the grace of the Resurrection, banishing death from them like straw from the fire

And again, because Christ died on behalf of all “in fulfillment of the threat of the law”, we no longer die. The condemnation of death has come to an end:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation
Have no fears then. Now that the common Savior of all has died on our behalf, we who believe in Christ no longer die, as men died aforetime, in fulfillment of the threat of the law. That condemnation has come to an end; and now that, by the grace of the resurrection, corruption has been banished and done away, we are loosed from our mortal bodies in God’s good time for each, so that we may obtain thereby a better resurrection.

Indeed, the Word instructed, healed, sanctified, and elevated fallen humanity via His incarnation and personal manifestation in the flesh. However, the Creator didn’t “need” to experience physical death to abolish the corruption of death for all. As evidence, Christ raised the daughter of Jairus and the Widow of Nain’s son, by His command. The Life-Giver raised Lazarus from the corruption of death after four days, by His mere command. According to the Church fathers, God could have simply repealed His sentence, but this would not have guarded the “Divine consistency”, nor would it have renewed humanity’s fallen image. He choose instead, to annul His own sentence by fulfilling it in Himself, and thus He ransomed all from the debt of death by His own righteous blood. He choose to renew (“deify”) humanity by His incarnation, as well as to abolish the corruption of death for all by the power of His own resurrection. Thus, He choose a solution that fulfilled the truth of God’s just judgment, while at the same time manifested the fullness of His compassion and loving-kindness: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” (Psalm 85:10).

More quotes>>

Fr. Tadros Malaty – Lecures in Patrology, Book One
“Being the Son of God, one and equal with the Father in the same essence (ousia), He offered Himself as a self-sacrifice that can pay our debt of sins and achieve divine justice and mercy at the same time.”

Fr. Tadros Malaty – Commentary on Isaiah
There was a great need for the Son of God, the One with the Father and the equal in essence, to offer Himself a Sacrifice that is capable of repaying the debt of our sins, and, at the same time, of realizing divine justice and mercy…St.  John  Chrysostom  says, “…[God did not condemn us for our several transgressions that we committed against Him despite His goodness to us, but, instead, gave us His Son; whom He turned, for our sake, into sin… He forsook Him to be convicted and to die as someone cursed…He, who did not know sin, He made Him as a sinner and a sin…He is like a king, watching a thief about to be executed, He sends His only Son, to put on Him the criminal’s guilt, and even death itself! All that for the sake of salvation of the guilty, to lift him up to a great dignity.]  [The Lord Christ paid more than we deserve, as an ocean is compared to a drop of water.]”


Christ Paid the Debt (“Ransom”)

Scriptural references>>

Matthew 18: 23-27
Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

Mark 8:36-37
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 

Hosea 13:14
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction?

Psalm 49:7
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough

Psalm 118: 17-18
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. The LORD has chastened me severely: but he has not given me over unto death.

Isaiah 43: 1-4  (Septuagint)
And now thus saith the Lord God that made thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. And if thou pass through water, I am with thee; and the rivers shall not overflow thee: and if thou go through fire, thou shalt not be burned; the flame shall not burn thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, that saves thee: I have made Egypt and Ethiopia thy ransom, and given Soene for thee. Since thou becamest precious in my sight, thou hast become glorious, and I have loved thee: and I will give men for thee, and princes for thy life

Jeremiah 38:10-11 (Septuagint)
Hear the words of the Lord, ye nations, and proclaim them to the islands afar off; say, He that scattered Israel will also gather him, and keep him as one that feeds his flock. For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them that were stronger than he.

Zephaniah 3:14-15 (Septuagint)
Rejoice, O daughter of Sion; cry aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem; rejoice and delight thyself with all thine heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away thine iniquities, he has ransomed thee from the hand of thine enemies: the Lord, the King of Israel, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more

Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

John 11:51-52
Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. 
And this spoke he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation

Acts 20:28
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.

1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8-9
But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Romans 8: 3-4
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us

Hebrews 9:15
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

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.

Hebrews 2:9
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

1 Corinthians 6:20
“you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
…and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead–Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Colossians 2:13-14
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 

1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”

According to the early church fathers, Christ bore our sins in His body on the cross, as well as the consequent “penalty”, “chastisement”, and “curse” for sin. By His suffering and death, Christ “paid” our “debt” for sin, which we could not pay. He “ransomed” and “redeemed” us from the condemnation of the Law. He exchanged our sinfulness with His righteousness and turned our “punishment into salvation”. Since none of this we could do on our own, Christ did so (as expressed in the language of the fathers) “in our stead”, “on our behalf”, and also as our “substitute” and “exchange”.

St. Athanasius explains that Christ paid our debt and “ransomed” us when He “yielded His body to death as a substitute”:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word
And He, to pay our debt of death, must also die for us, and rise again as our first-fruits from the grave…Thus, taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death instead of all, and offered it to the Father. This He did out of sheer love for us…He it is that was crucified before the sun and all creation as witnesses, and before those who put Him to death: and by His death has salvation come to all, and all creation been ransomed. He is the Life of all, and He it is that as a sheep yielded His body to death as a substitute, for the salvation of all, even though the Jews believe it not.

Per the Law of God, the soul that sins shall die. Christ laid down His own soul for our souls, paying a ransom on our behalf:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD)  – Later Treatises, Treatise VIII
Vain, then, is your sophism : for how could His death have taken place, if the Word had not constituted for Himself both our outward and inward man, that is, body and soul? and how then did He pay a ransom for all, or how was the loosening of the grasp of death completely effected, if Christ had not constituted for Himself, in a sinless state, that which had sinned intellectually, the soul? In that case, death still “reigns” over the inward’ man: for over what did it ever reign, if not over the soul, which had sinned intellectually, as it is written, The soul ‘that sinneth, it shall die? on behalf of which Christ laid down His own soul, (thus) paying a ransom. 

St. Athanasius speaks of death as an “exchange”, His body for our bodies and His soul for our souls:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Contra Apollinarium, 1.17
But it was not possible to pay one thing as a ransom in exchange for a different thing on the contrary. He gave body for body, and soul for soul, and a perfect existence for the whole of man : this is Christ’s exchange, which the Jews, the foes of life, insulted at the crucifixion, as they passed by and shook their heads. For neither did Hades endure the approach of a Godhead unveiled; this is attested both by prophets and apostles.

Christ put away death from His peers by offering of an “equivalent”. He satisfied the debt of death by His death:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word
For the Word, perceiving that no otherwise could the corruption of men be undone save by death as a necessary condition, while it was impossible for the Word to suffer death, being immortal, and Son of the Father; to this end He takes to Himself a body capable of death, that it, by partaking of the Word Who is above all, might be worthy to die in the stead of all, and might, because of the Word which was come to dwell in it, remain incorruptible, and that thenceforth corruption might be stayed from all by the Grace of the Resurrection. Whence, by offering unto death the body He Himself had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from any stain, straightway He put away death from all His peers by the offering of an equivalent. For being over all, the Word of God naturally by offering His own temple and corporeal instrument for the life of all satisfied the debt by His death.

St. Cyril explained that in order to abolish sin, Christ “bore our sins” and paid in Himself the “penalties for the charges of sin against us”:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Exposition of Old Testament Law
The Only-begotten was made man, bore a body by nature at enmity with death, and became flesh, so that, enduring the death which was hanging over us as the result of our sin, he might abolish sin; and further, that he might put an end to the accusations of Satan, inasmuch as we have paid in Christ himself the penalties for the charges of sin against us: ‘For he bore our sins, and was wounded because of us’, according to the voice of the prophet.

Christ ransomed us from the accusations of sin  by paying the penalties of sin on our behalf:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book VIII
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Myself. Howbeit, after that Christ had given Himself unto the Father for our salvation as a Spotless Victim, and was now on the point of paying the penalties that He suffered on our behalf, we were ransomed from the accusations of sin. And so, when the beast has been removed from our midst, and the tyrant is deposed, then Christ brings unto Himself the race that had strayed away, calling not only Jews but all mankind as well unto salvation through the faith that is in Him.  

Again, we are justified and healed because Christ paid the penalty of our sins. We are restored to our original state via the cross:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, BOOK XII
For our sake He paid the penalty for our sins. For though He was One that suffered, yet was He far above any creature, as God, and more precious than the life of all. Therefore, as the Psalmist says, the mouth of all lawlessness was stopped, and the tongue of sin was silenced, unable any more to speak against sinners. For we are justified, now that Christ has paid the penalty for us; for by His stripes we are healed, according to the Scripture. And just as by the Cross the sin of our revolt was perfected, so also by the Cross was achieved our return to our original state, and the acceptable recovery of heavenly blessings; Christ, as it were, gathering up into Himself, for us, the very fount and origin of our infirmity. 

St. Cyril also speaks of death in light of  a “Divine curse” and of suffering as a just “punishment” that we deserved for sin. He then goes on to say that Christ’s sufferings “procured a ransom owing to His love for the Father”:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book X
Adam, the author of our race, underwent death by a Divine curse, through his breaking the commandment given to him, accused by himself and the devil. He indeed seems to have suffered for good reason, since the doom of punishment justly pursues those who have sinned from indolence; but the second Adam, that is our Lord Jesus Christ, Who can have no such charge brought against Him at all, for He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, underwent His sufferings for us, having of Himself no responsibility whatever for them, but by His sufferings procured a ransom for the world, owing to His love for the Father, Who yearned for the salvation of the world.  

St. John Chrysostom explains that by suffering the punishment we deserved on the cross, Christ did away with both the sin and punishment:

St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407 AD) – Homilies on Colossians
Seest thou how great His earnestness that the bond should be done away? To wit, we all were under sin and punishment. He Himself, through suffering punishment, did away with both the sin and the punishment, and He was punished on the Cross. To the Cross then He affixed it; as having power, He tore it asunder.

Christ bore our punishment and paid our debt. This is also expressed in the Church’s liturgical texts:

Fraction to the Son – Divine Liturgy
He ascended upon the Cross that He may bear the punishment of our sins. We are the ones who sinned, and He is the One who suffered. We are the ones who were indebtedtodivinejustice because of our sins, and He was the One who paid the debts on our behalf.

Those who uphold the Christus Victor model try to deny Christ’s substitutionary death by arguing: “Christ did not die instead of us since we still die.” But by this argument they deny their own faith in the resurrection. For how do they claim to believe that “Christ conquered death by death” if they deny that Christ died instead of us on the grounds that we still die? And if “we still die” how did Christ “conquer death by death”, according to their atonement Model? Thus, if these truly believe their own argument, they contradict their own faith in the resurrection, as well as reveal their lack of comprehension that it was not only from physical death that Christ came to resurrect us, but every more importantly, from spiritual death–the death of sin:

He in our stead paid our debts: He bore our sins; and as it is written, “in our stead He was stricken.” “He took them up in His own body on the tree:” for it is true that “by His bruises we are healed.” He too was sick because of our sins, and we are delivered from the sicknesses of the soul. – St. Cyril of Alexandria (Gospel According to St. Luke)

Yet even if we do still die physically (until the resurrection of our bodies at the Second Coming), the physical death we die is no longer called “death”, but is called “sleep” or departure, on account of the Lord’s death instead of us.  As St. Cyril also explained:

For henceforth, by the death of Christ, death for us has been transformed, in a manner, into sleep, with like power and functions. For we are alive unto God, and shall live for evermore, to the Scriptures. Therefore, also, the blessed Paul, in a variety of places, calls those asleep who have died in Christ. For in the times of old the dread presence of death held human nature in awe. For death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s transgression; and we bore the image of the earthy in his likeness, and underwent the death that was inflicted by the Divine curse. But when the Second Adam appeared among us, the Divine Man from heaven, and, contending for the salvation of the world, purchased by His death the life of all men, and, destroying the power of corruption, rose again to life, we were transformed into His Image, and undergo, as it were, a different kind of death, that does not dissolve us in eternal corruption, but casts upon us a slumber which is laden with fair hope, after the Likeness of Him Who has made this new path for us, that is, Christ. – St. Cyril of Alexandria (Gospel According to St. John, Book XII)

More patristic quotes>>

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word
But beyond all this, there was a debt owing which must needs be paid; for, as I said before, all men were due to die. Here, then, is the second reason why the Word dwelt among us, namely that having proved His Godhead by His works, He might offer the sacrifice on behalf of all, surrendering His own temple to death in place of all, to settle man’s account with death and free him from the primal transgression. In the same act also He showed Himself mightier than death, displaying His own body incorruptible as the first-fruits of the resurrection…
For there was need of death, and death must needs be suffered on behalf of all, that the debt owing from all might be paid. Whence, as I said before, the Word, since it was not possible for Him to die, as He was immortal, took to Himself a body such as could die, that He might offer it as His own in the stead of all, and as suffering, through His union with it, on behalf of all, “Bring to nought Him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and might deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word
But since it was necessary also that the debt owing from all should be paid again: for, as I have already said, it was owing that all should die, for which especial cause, indeed, He came among us: to this intent, after the proofs of His Godhead from His works, He next offered up His sacrifice also on behalf of all, yielding His Temple to death in the stead of all, in order firstly to make men quit and free of their old trespass, and further to shew Himself more powerful even than death, displaying His own body incorruptible, as first-fruits of the resurrection of all. And do not be surprised if we frequently repeat the same words on the same subject…The body, then, as sharing the same nature with all, for it was a human body, though by an unparalleled miracle it was formed of a virgin only, yet being mortal, was to die also, conformably to its peers. But by virtue of the union of the Word with it, it was no longer subject to corruption according to its own nature, but by reason of the Word that was come to dwell in it it was placed out of the reach of corruption. And so it was that two marvels came to pass at once, that the death of all was accomplished in the Lord’s body, and that death and corruption were wholly done away by reason of the Word that was united with it. For there was need of death, and death must needs be suffered on behalf of all, that the debt owing from all might be paid.

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Against the Arians, Discourse IV
And again, since God’s work, that is, man, though created perfect, has become wanting through the transgression, and dead by sin, and it was unbecoming that the work of God should remain imperfect (wherefore all the saints were praying concerning this, for instance in the hundred and thirty-seventh Psalm, saying, ‘Lord, Thou shalt requite for me; despise not then the works of Thine hands’); therefore the Word of God puts around Him an imperfect body, and is said to be created ‘for the works;’ that, paying the debt in our stead, He might, by Himself, perfect what was wanting to man. Now immortality was wanting to him, and the way to paradise…He sends His own Son, and He becomes Son  of Man, by taking created flesh; that, since all were under sentence of death, He, being other than them all, might Himself for all offer to death His own body; and that henceforth, as if all had died through Him, the word of that sentence might be accomplished (for ‘all died in Christ), and all through Him might thereupon become free from sin and from the curse which came upon it, and might truly abide for ever, risen from the dead and clothed in immortality and incorruption.


Christ Fulfilled the Law

Scriptural references>>

Matthew 5:17
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Luke 24:44,46
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”…He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

John 1:17
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:31
Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

Romans 4:15
because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

Romans 5:16
Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

Romans 5:18
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 

Romans 6:14
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 7:1, 2, 4
Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him…So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 

Romans 8:3-4
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Romans 11:32
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Galatians 3:10, 13
For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law…Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

2 Corinthians 5:14 
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

Ephesians 2:15
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace

Colossians 2:13-14
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 

Galatians 4:4-5
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

Those who subscribe to a modern soteriology that denies a juridical dimension to the redemption argue that God deals with us as children, not as criminals in a court room. While this is true and pleasing to the ear, this modern view denies how we got to this state of grace in the first place. Prior to the cross, sinners were bound by legal ordinances of the Law, subject to curse and condemnation for sin. Prior to the grace of the New Testament, those who blasphemed, committed adultery, cursed parents, etc. were put to death as criminals without mercy under the Law of Moses. This Law was put in place by God. Thus, to argue that God does not punish and only deals with us as children is to argue that God changes and/or that the God of the Old Testament is not the God of the New Testament. Indeed we are under grace and not under the Law through Christ, but this only the case for those who enjoy the rebirth by adoption through faith in Christ and baptism as children of God. But this grace was only given after Christ redeemed sinners from the curse of the Law, having suffered the accursed death of the cross (Galatians 3:13) on their behalf. This was only possible after Christ cancelled “the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14). Prior to this, God “bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” (Romans 11:32). Apart from this grace of adoption, whoever denies Christ, “the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). Thus, those who deny the juridical element to our redemption, not only imply that the God of the New Testament is a different God than the God of the Old Testament, but also deny how we were transitioned from the condemnation of Law to grace, as children of God. As previously discussed, St. Athanasius explained that death gained a “legal” hold over us, and it was impossible to evade the law because it was laid down by God for transgression, and God’s word could not be broken:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word
For death, as I said above, gained from that time forth a legal hold over us, and it was impossible to evade the law, since it had been laid down by God because of the transgression, and the result was in truth at once monstrous and unseemly. For it were monstrous, firstly, that God, having spoken, should prove false—that, when once He had ordained that man, if he transgressed the commandment, should die the death, after the transgression man should not die, but God’s word should be broken.

It is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law (Gal 3:10).” But Christ did not come to abolish the Law, but fulfill it (Matt 5:17). Thus, Christ came in the “likeness of sinful flesh” and by His obedience, He fulfilled the Law on our behalf in order that the “just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us (Rom 8:3-4)”. St. Athanasius explains that Christ gave His body over to death in the stead of all so that the law of death would be fulfilled in Him (undone). Since all also died in Him, death no longer has holding-ground against men:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word
And thus taking from our bodies one of like nature, because all were under penalty of the corruption of death He gave it over to death in the stead of all, and offered it to the Father—doing this, moreover, of His loving-kindness, to the end that, firstly, all being held to have died in Him, the law involving the ruin of men might be undone (inasmuch as its power was fully spent in the Lord’s body, and had no longer holding-ground against men, his peers)

The judgement that hung over us was delivered to the Son that He might abolish it in Himself:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Ser. II, Vol. IV, On Luke x. 22. (Illud Omnia, &c.)
For man, being in Him, was quickened: for this was why the Word was united to man, namely, that against man the curse might no longer prevail. This is the reason why they record the request made on behalf of mankind in the seventy-first Psalm: ‘Give the King Thy judgment, O God’ (Ps. lxxii. 1): asking that both the judgment of death which hung over us may be delivered to the Son, and that He may then, by dying for us, abolish it for us in Himself. This was what He signified, saying Himself, in the eighty-seventh Psalm: ‘Thine indignation lieth hard upon me’ (Ps. lxxxviii. 7). For He bore the indignation which lay upon us, as also He says in the hundred and thirty-seventh: ‘Lord, Thou shalt do vengeance for me’ (Ps. cxxxviii. 8, LXX.).

In essence, Christ took upon Himself the judgement of the Law on behalf of all, bestowing grace and salvation to all:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Orationes contra Arianos
‘For the Son of God came into the world, not to judge the world, but to redeem all men, and that the world might be saved through Him.’ Formerly the world, as guilty, was under judgment from the Law; but now the Word has taken on Himself the judgment, and having suffered in the body for all, has bestowed salvation to all. With a view to this has John exclaimed, ‘The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.’ Better is grace than the Law, and truth than the shadow. 

Because Christ died on our behalf, the condemnation of the law has ceased. We no longer die, but are only “dissolved” to our bodies’ mortal nature until the resurrection:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word, XXI
Why, now that the common Saviour of all has died on our behalf, we, the faithful in Christ, no longer die the death as before, agreeably to the warning of the lawfor this condemnation has ceased; but, corruption ceasing and being put away by the grace of the Resurrection, henceforth we are only dissolved, agreeably to our bodies’ mortal nature, at the time God has fixed for each, that we may be able to gain a better resurrection.

Christ took upon Himself the Cross that was our due, passing on Himself the condemnation of the Law:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book XII
Bearing the Cross upon His shoulders, on which He was about to be crucified, He went forth; His doom was already fixed, and He had undergone, for our sakes, though innocent, the sentence of  death. For, in His own Person, He bore the sentence righteously pronounced against sinners by the Law. For He became a curse for us, according to the Scripture: For cursed is everyone, it is said, that hangeth on a tree. And accursed are we all, for we are not able to fulfil the Law of God: For in many things we all stumble; and very prone to sin is the nature of man. And since, too, the Law of God says: Cursed is he which continueth not in all things that are written in the book of this Law, to do them, the curse, then, belongeth unto us, and not to others. For those against whom the transgression of the Law may be charged, and who are very prone to err from its commandments, surely deserve chastisement. Therefore, He That knew no sin was accursed for our sakes, that He might deliver us from the old curse. For all-sufficient was the God Who is above all, so dying for all; and by the death of His own Body, purchasing the redemption of all mankind. The Cross, then, that Christ bore, was not for His own deserts, but was the cross that awaited us, and was our due, through our condemnation by the Law. For as He was numbered among the dead, not for Himself, but for our sakes, that we might find in Him, the Author of everlasting life, subduing of Himself the power of death; so also, He took upon Himself the Cross that was our due, passing on Himself the condemnation of the Law, that the mouth of all lawlessness might henceforth be stopped, according to the saying of the Psalmist; the Sinless having suffered condemnation for the sin of all…But our Lord Jesus Christ is not ashamed to bear the Cross that is our due, and to suffer this indignity for love towards us…

Christ ransomed us from the curse of the Law by fulfilling it in our stead:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Luke
Christ therefore ransomed from the curse of the law those who being subject to it, had been unable to keep its enactments. And in what way did He ransom them? By fulfilling it. And to put it in another way: in order that He might expiate the guilt of Adam’s transgression, He showed Himself obedient and submissive in every respect to God the Father in our stead

St. John Chrysostom explains that Chris’ts death was like an innocent man undertaking death for a man sentenced to death, rescuing him from punishment:

St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407 AD) – Commentary on Galatians
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.” In reality, the people were subject to another curse, which says, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in the things that are written in the book of the Law.” (Deut. xxvii. 26.) To this curse, I say, people were subject, for no man had continued in, or was a keeper of, the whole Law; but Christ exchanged this curse for the other, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” As then both he who hanged on a tree, and he who transgresses the Law, is cursed, and as it was necessary for him who is about to relieve from a curse himself to be free from it, but to receive another instead of it, therefore Christ took upon Him such another, and thereby relieved us from the curse. It was like an innocent man’s undertaking to die for another sentenced to death, and so rescuing him from punishment. For Christ took upon Him not the curse of transgression, but the other curse, in order to remove that of others. For, “He had done no violence neither was any deceit in His mouth.” (Isa. liii. 9; 1 Peter ii.22.) And as by dying He rescued from death those who were dying, so by taking upon Himself the curse, He delivered them from it…Thus the Cross removed the curse, Faith brought in righteousness, righteousness drew on the grace of the Spirit.

Christ offered His life as an “equivalent” for the life of all. Thus, He provide perfect satisfaction for all when He fulfilled in Himself the curse of the Law:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John
For if we examine as well as we may the real character of the mystery of His work, we shall see that He died, not merely for Himself, nor even especially for His own sake; but that it was on behalf of humanity that He suffered and carried out both the suffering in itself and the resurrection that followed. For in that He died according to the flesh, He offered up His own life as an equivalent for the life of all; and by rendering perfect satisfaction for all, He fulfilled in Himself to the uttermost the force of that ancient curse. And in that He has risen again from the dead to a life imperishable and unceasing, in Himself He raises the whole of nature.

Thus Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Gal 3:13). He satisfied the debt of death we deserved, by fulfilling it (Rom 6:23). He satisfied the “penalty” and reproach “outside the gate” that was due to us, by fulfilling it (Heb 13:12). Christ fulfilled the Law on our behalf by His obedience and by dying on our behalf. In doing so, He cancelled “the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.” (Col 2:14). He fulfilled the righteousness of the Law, as well as its sentence on our behalf, imparting mercy and salvation to all. As participants in Christ’s death (through baptism), we also died to the Law and were freed from it, as a woman is freed from a marriage covenant after the death of her husband (Romans 7:2). Thus we are no longer under the Law, but are under grace (Romans 6:14). For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all. (Rom 5:18). In the next few sections, we will discuss how Christ also redeemed us from condemnation of the Law and propitiated God, by fulfilling the Law of Old Testament sacrifices as both Sacrifice and High Priest:

More Quotes>>

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Discourses Against the Arians
But if not for Himself is He created, but for us, then He is not Himself a creature, but, as having put on our flesh, He uses such language. And that this is the sense of the Scriptures, we may learn from the Apostle, who says in Ephesians, ‘Having broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, to create in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace.’ But if in Him the twain are created, and these are in His body, reasonably then, bearing the twain in Himself, He is as if Himself created; for those who were created in Himself He made one, and He was in them, as they. And thus, the two being created in Him, He may say suitably, ‘The Lord created me.’ 

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Personal Letters, to Epictetus
For what John said, ‘The Word was made flesh,’ has this meaning, as we may see by a similar passage; for it is written in Paul: ‘Christ has become a curse for us.’ And just as He has not Himself become a curse, but is said to have done so because He took upon Him the curse on our behalf, so also He has become flesh not by being changed into flesh, but because He assumed on our behalf living flesh, and has become Man…

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Against the Arians, Discourse II
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in. heavenly places in Christ Jesus, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation, of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. How then has He chosen us, before we came into existence, but that, as He says Himself, in Him we were represented beforehand ? and how at all, before men were created, did He predestinate us unto adoption, but that the Son Himself was founded before the world, taking on Him that economy which was for our sake ? or how, as the Apostle goes on to say, have we an inheritance, being predestinated to it, save that the Lord Himself was founded before the world, inasmuch as He had a purpose, for our sakes, to take on Him through the flesh all that inheritance of adverse judgment which lay against us, and henceforth to make us sons in Him? And how did we receive it before eternal times, when we were not yet in being’ but afterwards in time, save that in Christ was stored the grace which has reached us ? Wherefore also in the Judgment, when every one shall receive according to his conduct, He says, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you front the foundation of the world. How then, or in whom, was it prepared before we came to be, save in the Lord who before the world was founded for this purpose ; that we, as built upon Him, might partake, as well-compacted stones, the life and grace which is from Him ?

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Chapter I
The first man, being earthy, and of the earth, and having, placed in his own power, the choice between good and evil, being master of the inclination to each, was caught of bitter guile, and having inclined to disobedience, falls to the earth, the mother from whence he sprang, and over-mastered now at length by corruption and death, transmits the penalty to his whole race…Since then the first Adam preserved not the grace given him of God, God the Father was minded to send us from Heaven the second Adam. For He sendeth in our likeness His own Son Who is by Nature without variableness or change, and wholly unknowing of sin, that as by the disobedience of the first, we became subject to Divine wrath, so through the obedience of the Second, we might both escape the curse, and its evils might come to nought…For this reason, I deem, it was that the holy Baptist profitably added, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven, and It abode upon Him. For It had fled from us by reason of sin, but He Who knew no sin, became as one of us, that the Spirit might be accustomed to abide in us, having no occasion of departure or withdrawal in Him.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke
But recently we saw the Emmanuel lying as a babe in the manger, and wrapped in human fashion in swaddling bands, but extolled as God in hymns by the host of the holy angels. For they proclaimed to the shepherds His birth, God the Father having granted to the inhabitants of heaven as a special privilege to be the first to preach Him. And to-day too we have seen Him obedient to the laws of Moses, or rather we have seen Him Who as God is the Legislator, subject to His own decrees. And the reason of this the most wise Paul teaches us, saying, “When we were babes we were enslaved under the elements of the world; but when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.” Christ therefore ransomed from the curse of the law those who being subject to it, had been unable to keep its enactments. And in what way did He ransom them? By fulfilling it. 

Fr. Tadros Malaty – Commentary on the book of Joshua
The law condemned the sin in us; thus all of us came under the curse of the law. Instead of enjoying salvation, the curse was confirmed, and we came under the verdict of death. That is why, the Lord Jesus Christ came to remove the ‘head cover of execution’, and to abolish the authority of death, not by words or commands, but through practical love; He carried our body, to receive death in it; and to bear our judgment in His body; He, on whom death is unable to shut in, nor judgment be proven; rose, in order to raise us, righteous, in His body; so that the curse cannot, any more, reign on us. That is why the apostle says: “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Galatians 3: 13); and, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). It is as though the Lord Christ has realized the ultimate aim of the law, namely our salvation, by carrying the judgment in His body, setting us free from judgment; He came under the law, to liberate us from its killing literality.


Old Testament Sacrifices

Sciptural references>>

Exodus 12:3-11
…each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household… Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast…

Leviticus 4: 33-35 (Septuagint)
And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin-offerings, and they shall kill it in the place where they kill the victims for whole-burnt-offerings. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger…the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.

Leviticus 5:6 (Septuagint)
And he shall bring for his transgressions against the Lord, for his sin which he has sinned, a ewe lamb of the flock, or a kid of the goats, for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he has sinned, and his sin shall be forgiven him.

Numbers 16: 44-50 (Septuagint)
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying Depart out of the midst of this congregation, and I will consume them at once: and they fell upon their faces. And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer, and put on it fire from the altar, and put incense on it, and carry it away quickly into the camp, and make atonement for them; for wrath is gone forth from the presence of the Lord, it has begun to destroy the people. And Aaron took as Moses spoke to him, and ran among the congregation, for already the plague had begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead
and the living, and the plague ceased. 

2 Samuel (24:17,25)
“When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family…David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

Hebrews 9:22
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Exodus 12:12-13
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt… Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

It is undeniable that the blood of Old Testament sacrifices was used for “purification”. However, some argue that these sacrifices were only used for “purification” (expiation), and were not necessary for the sinner to receive forgiveness. They argue that sin/guilt offerings were merely a love offering to God and that the life of the animal did not also serve to atone for the life of the sinner. A god who required such propitiation would be “evil”, they argue. Likewise, they argue that Christ’s sufferings were only to teach humility and heal, but His death did not in any way serve to fulfill a penalty/sentence, since a loving God (according to the same argument) would simply forgive sin. They argue that the word “atonement” never meant placating God’s wrath, but only meant reconciliation with God (at-one-ment). Thus, proponents of these views maintain that God only loves, and that any scriptural language of chastening or judgment should not be understood literally. When asked to provide specific scriptural and patristic evidence to to the extent that “God does not punish”, those who uphold such views fail miserably. They maintain that their interpretation is “Orthodox” and that their understanding is in line with “big picture” and the “mind of the fathers”. Yet ironically, they are unable to substantiate with any evidence that either is the case. In fact, their views are mere reincarnations of heresies already condemned by the early Church fathers such as the heresy of Marcion and universal salvation. As previously discussed, Scripture and early church fathers expounded that God is loving, but does not automatically acquit the guilty. He is a loving Father but also chastens and disciplines. He loves and heals, while at the same time upholds His indignation of sin (Exodus 34:7):

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Exodus 34:6)

Old Testament sacrifices were offered to receive forgiveness, not just “purification”:

“And he shall bring for his transgressions against the Lord, for his sin which he has sinned, a ewe lamb of the flock, or a kid of the goats, for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he has sinned, and his sin shall be forgiven him.”(Leviticus 5:6)

The word “atonement” also meant to propitiate God’s wrath, not only reconciliation with God :

And Moses said to Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly to the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun…and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. (Num 16: 46-48)

Per Church hymnology, the incense of the Old Testament which made “atonement” for the people and stayed the wrath of God, symbolized the sacrifice of Christ which takes away the iniquities:

You are the Censer; made of pure gold, carrying the blessed and live coal; which is taken from the Altar; to purge the sins and take away the iniquities; which is God the Logos, Who was incarnate of you and offered Himself to God, His Father, as incense. (Sunday Theotokia)

Again, the word “atonement” was used in the context of placating God’s wrath when Phinees made atonement for the Israelites by slaying the sinners (sin). In this way, Phinees also represented Christ:

And, behold, a man of the children of Israel came and brought his brother to a Madianitish woman before Moses, and before all the congregation of the children of Israel; and they were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of witness. And Phinees the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, and rose out of the midst of the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand, and went in after the Israelitish man into the chamber, and pierced them both through, both the Israelitish man, and the woman through her womb; and the plague was stayed from the children of Israel… And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest has caused my wrath to cease from the children of Israel…because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.  (Numbers 25:6-13)

God commanded Moses that the blood (life) of the animal should also be offered to atone for the very soul (life) of the sinner:

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)

God had no need for Old Testament sin/guilt offerings and took no pleasure in them (Psalm 51:16). They were merely for the benefit of humanity. They were a type of Christ, and shadow of His true sacrifice of atonement/propitiation for sin:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, Book IV, Chap II
For since the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sufficed not unto the purging away of sin, nor yet would the slaughter of brute beasts ever have destroyed the power of death, Christ Himself came in some way to undergo punishment for all. 

St. Cyril expounds the same concept: One bird “was slain, and that the other was baptized indeed in its blood, while itself exempt from slaughter”. He explains that this typified the substitutionary nature of the atonement of  Christ:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Luke
For He has made a new pathway for us unto that which is above, and we in due time shall follow Him. That the one bird then was slain, and that the other was baptized indeed in its blood, while itself exempt from slaughter, typified what was really to happen. For Christ died in our stead, and we, who have been baptized into His death, He has saved by His own blood.

Expounding the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement, St. Cyril explains that because of sin, we fell under the “divine curse”, but Christ transferred to Himself what was our due:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Luke, Sermon LIII
For according to the Mosaic law two goats were offered, differing in nothing from one another, but alike in size and appearance. Of these, one was called “the lord :” and the other, the “sent-away.” And when the lot had been cast for that which was called “lord,” it was sacrificed: while the other was sent away from the sacrifice: and therefore had the name of the “sent-away. ” And Who was signified by this? The Word, though He was God, was in our likeness, and took the form of us sinners, as for as the nature of the flesh was concerned. The goat, then, male or female, was sacrificed for sins. But the death was our desert, inasmuch as by sin we had fallen under the divine curse. But when the Savior of all Himself, so to speak, undertook the charge, He transferred to Himself what was our due, and laid down His life, that we might be sent away from death and destruction. 

Anyone who deliberately violated the Law of Moses was stoned outside the camp. This was a type of reproach and condemnation of sin. Similarly, bodies of animal sacrifices offered as sin and guilt offerings were burned outside the camp. As the archetype of Old Testament sacrifices, Christ died as an “offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10) outside the gate, in order to bear the reproach we deserved (Heb 13:12). According to St. Severus, Christ’s sacrifice “outside the gate” “balances the great sin of the world” and sanctifies humanity:

St. Severus of Antioch (465 – 538 AD) – Letter of St. Severus,  of Mar Severus to John
Various animals were formerly sacrificed for sin, and the blood of these was brought into the sanctuary by the high-priest, while, their bodies were delivered to be burnt outside the camp. This kind of sacrifices therefore symbolized beforehand the great sacrifice which balances the great sin of the world, as Paul also says: “For, as for the animals whose blood was brought into the sanctuary because of sins by the high-priest, the bodies of these were burnt outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, in order to sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered outside the gate”
 

More patristic quotes>>

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Festal Epistles
Now He willed it to be in every place, so that in every place incense and a sacrifice might be offered to Him…Our Savior also, since He was changing the typical for the spiritual, promised them that they should no longer eat the flesh of a lamb, but His own, saying. Take, eat and drink; this is My body, and My blood. When we are then nourished by these things, we shall also, my beloved, properly keep the feast of the Passover.

St. Athanasius – Festal Letters, Letter 6
And, in offering his son, he worshipped the Son of God. And, being restrained from sacrificing Isaac, he saw the Messiah in the ram, which was offered up instead as a sacrifice to God. The patriarch was tried, through Isaac, not however that he was sacrificed, but He who was pointed out in Isaiah; ‘He shall be led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers he shall be speechless;’ but He took away the sin of the world…Thus God accepted the will of the offerer, but prevented that which was offered from being sacrificed. For the death of Isaac did not procure freedom to the world, but that of our Saviour alone, by whose stripes we all are healed.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John
And, marvel of marvels, the most absurd and irrational idea of all, they think themselves purified by the slaughter of a lamb, which typified for us nothing but the shadow of the mystery that is in Christ; and, while honouring the type of what is coming to pass, they scorn the reality itself. For while they were performing that which was but the semblance of His Atonement, they were defiled by the shedding of the Blood of Christ.  

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Five Tomes Against Nestorious
But let us see from the legal and more ancient scripture too in what manner and for whom, Emmanuel hath offered Himself for an odour of a sweet smell unto God the Father…And having fully gone through how the details of the sacrifice should be done, He adds and says, And the priest shall make an atonement for them and the sin shall be forgiven them. Observe then that the bullock was offered as a type of Christ the All-Pure and That hath no spot, and they who offer and not surely the bullock were set free from their guilt…we say that the Word out of God the Father was made the High Priest and Apostle of our confession when He was made Man, abasing Himself unto emptiness and in our condition: in order that having offered Himself to the Father for an odour of sweet smell in behalf of all, He might win all under Heaven, might remove the ancient guilt, might justify by grace through faith, might render superior to death and decay, holy and hallowed and full well versed in every kind of virtue…


Isaiah Chapter 53

Scriptural references>>

Isaiah Chapter 53 (Septuagint)
O Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed We brought a report as of a child before him; he is as a root in a thirsty land: he has no form nor comeliness; and we saw him, but he had no form nor beauty. But his form was ignoble, and inferior to that of the children of men; he was a man in suffering, and acquainted with the bearing of sickness, for his face is turned from us: he was dishonored, and not esteemed. He bears our sins, and is pained for us: yet we accounted him to be in trouble, and in suffering, and in affliction. But he was wounded on account of our sins, and was bruised because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his bruises we were healed. All we as sheep have gone astray; every one has gone astray in his way; and the Lord gave him up for our sins. And he, because of his affliction, opens not his mouth: he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken away from the earth: because of the iniquities of my people he was led to death. And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death; for he practised no iniquity, nor craft with his mouth. The Lord also is pleased to purge him from his stroke. If ye can give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed: the Lord also is pleased to take away from the travail of his soul, to shew him light, and to form him with understanding; to justify the just one who serves many well; and he shall bear their sins. Therefore he shall inherit many, and he shall divide the spoils of the mighty; because his soul was delivered to death: and he was numbered among the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and was delivered because of their iniquities. 

Isaiah 53:4, 8-12 (Hebrew)
Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; whereas we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted….By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and with his generation who did reason? for he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich his tomb; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.’ Yet it pleased the LORD to crush him by disease; to see if his soul would offer itself in restitution, that he might see his seed, prolong his days, and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper by his hand: Of the travail of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant, who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquities he did bear. Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the mighty; because he bared his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:10 – KJV
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.

Isaiah 63:1-3
Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save.” Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me.


Psalm 69:26

For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

Psalm 88:6-9
You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them.

Zechariah 13:7
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

Mark 14:27
“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

Luke 24:7
The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners
, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.

John 19:11
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.

Matthew 27:46
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:36
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Romans 4:25
He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Romans 8:32-34
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Galatians 1:4
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


Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. 


Revelation 19:13-16

He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

In their efforts to deny any penal aspects to the cross, some argue that Christ’s death was coincidentally inflicted on Christ by evil men; that His suffering had nothing to do with fulfillment of a divine judgment for sin. They interpret the word “esteemed” in “we esteemed Him stricken” (Isa 53:4) to mean that “we (incorrectly) believed He was stricken by God, but in reality, He was only stricken by evil men.” Some even pervert the interpretation of the whole Chapter, to be about the Nation of Israel, rather than a suffering Messiah. However, St. Athanasius explained that Christ “bore in Himself the wrath that was the penalty of our transgression” (Letter to Marcellinus). He also explained that Christ had to “bear the curse that lay on us” (On the Incarnation of the Word). Per the Prophet Isaiah, “the chastisement of our peace was upon him” and the “Lord gave him up for our sins” (Isaiah 53:5-6). 

Christ “bore our sins” in His body on the cross (1 Pet 2:24) and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). He was made to be sin (and curse) for us to free us from both the sin and curse (2 Cor 5:21). But what does it mean to “bear” sin? Let’s look at an OT example:

Whoever curses his God shall bear his sinHe who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him…(Lev 24:15)

Thus, to “bear sin” is to assume the guilt and punishment of sin (Romans 6:23). Likewise, since Christ bore our sins, He assumed the guilt, penalty, and consequence of those sins. Christ bore our sins. This is also expressed in the rites of the Eucharist:

Christ carried our sins within His Body on the cross as He offered Himself as a Sacrifice for sin, so the bread offered in the Holy Liturgy should be made with yeast to symbolize these sins that Christ bore.” (Liturgy, Agpeya and Praises – Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Southern U.S.)

“We return to the rite of choosing the Lamb. The presbyter lays his hand on the oblations and crosses them in the shape of the cross; this action reminds us of the priest in the Old Testament, who laid his hands upon both the sacrifice and the sinner announcing that the sin had been transferred from the sinner to the sacrifice.” (Fr. Tadros Malaty – Christ in the Eucharist)

The Church fathers explained that because Christ bore our sins, by His own will, He accepted the condemnation and curse that was due humanity for sin, in order to impart grace and healing to all. As a result, He was “smitten” and “delivered up by God” into the hands of sinners, as per the Psalms and Old Testament prophecies. St. Athanasius confirms that because Christ bore our sins, the “Lord delivered Him for our sins” and the chastisement of our peace was upon Him:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Letter to Marcellinus     
And Psalms 88 and 69, again speaking in the Lord’s own person, tell us further that He suffered these things, not for His own sake but for ours. Thou has made Thy wrath to rest upon me, says the one; and the other adds, I paid them things I never took. For He did not die as being Himself liable to death: He suffered for us, and bore in Himself the wrath that was the penalty of our transgression, even as Isaiah says, Himself bore our weaknesses.

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word
He beareth our sins, and is in pain on our account; and we reckoned him to be in labour, and in stripes, and in ill-usage; but he was wounded for our sins, and made weak for our wickedness. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we were healed.” O marvel at the loving-kindness of the Word, that for our sakes He is dishonoured, that we may be brought to honour. “For all we,” it says, “like sheep were gone astray; man had erred in his way; and the Lord delivered him for our sins; and he openeth not his mouth, because he hath been evilly entreated.

Because Christ “bore our sins” in His body, He was stricken in our stead and paid our debts:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, SERMON CLIII
He in our stead paid our debts: He bore our sins; and as it is written, “in our stead He was stricken.” “He took them up in His own body on the tree:” for it is true that “by His bruises we are healed.”

St. Cyril also explains that Christ was condemned to deliver humanity from deserved condemnation for sin:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel According to St. John, Book XII
He laid down His life for us. He endured the cross for our sake that by death He might destroy death, and was condemned for our sakes that He might deliver all men from condemnation for sin, abolishing the tyranny of sin by means of faith, and nailing to His cross the bond that was against us, as it is written…He was scourged unjustly, that He might deliver us from merited chastisement…For if we think aright, we shall believe that all Christ’s sufferings were for us and on our behalf, and have power to release and deliver us from all those calamities we have deserved for our revolt from God…For as Christ, Who knew not death, when He gave up His own Body for our salvation, was able to loose the bonds of death for all mankind, for He, being One, died for all; so we must understand that Christ’s suffering all these things for us sufficed also to release us all from scourging and dishonour. Then in what way by His stripes are we healed, according to the Scripture? Because we have all gone astray, every man after his own way, as says the blessed Prophet Isaiah; and the Lord hath given Himself up for our transgressions, and for us is afflicted.   

St. John Chrysostom explains that out of His goodness, God forbore his punishment for humanity and delivered up His own Son in their stead:

St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407 AD) – Homily on Timothy
He gave himself a ransom,” he saith, how then was He delivered up by the Father? Because it was of His goodness. And what means “ransom”? God was about to punish them, but He forbore to do it. They were about to perish, but in their stead He gave His own Son, and sent us as heralds to proclaim the Cross.

He further explains that the Father transferred to His Beloved Son the death and guilt due to humanity, to clear humanity from condemnation:

St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407 AD) – Homilies on Second Corinthians
If one that was himself a king, beholding a robber and malefactor under punishment, gave his well-beloved son, his only-begotten and true, to be slain; and transferred the death and the guilt as well, from him to his son, (who was himself of no such character,) that he might both save the condemned man and clear him from his evil reputation and then if, having subsequently promoted him to great dignity…

St. Gregory explains that Christ made our disobedience His own. Thus representing us, He was  in that sense “forsaken” by the Father on our account:

St. Gregory Nazianzen (329 – 390 AD) – Oration 30.5
But look at it in this manner: that as for my sake He was called a curse, Who destroyed my curse; and sin, who taketh away the sin of the world; and became a new Adam to take the place of the old, just so He makes my disobedience His own as Head of the whole body. As long then as I am disobedient and rebellious, both by denial of God and by my passions, so long Christ also is called disobedient on my account.Of the same kind, it appears to me, is the expression, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” It was not He who was forsaken either by the Father, or by His own Godhead, as some have thought, as if It were afraid of the Passion, and therefore withdrew Itself from Him in His Sufferings (for who compelled Him either to be born on earth at all, or to be lifted up on the Cross?) But as I said, He was in His own Person representing us. For we were the forsaken and despised before, but now by the Sufferings of Him Who could not suffer, we were taken up and saved. Similarly, He makes His own our folly and our transgressions; and says what follows in the Psalm, for it is very evident that the Twenty-first Psalm refers to Christ. 
 

More Quotes>>

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Orationes contra Arianos 
For as by receiving our infirmities, He is said to be infirm Himself, though not Himself infirm, for He is the Power of God, and He became sin for us and a curse, though not having sinned Himself, but because He Himself bare our sins and our curse, so, by creating us in Him, let Him say, ‘He created me for the works,’ though not Himself a creature.

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Discourses Against the Arians 
Christ hath become a curse for us,’ and ‘He hath made Him sin for us who knew no sin,’ we do not simply conceive this, that whole Christ has become curse and sin, but that He has taken on Him the curse which lay against us (as the Apostle has said, ‘Has redeemed us from the curse,’ and ‘has carried,’ as Isaiah has said, ‘our sins,’ and as Peter has written, ‘has borne them in the body on the wood’); so, if it is said in the Proverbs ‘He created,’ we must not conceive that the whole Word is in nature a creature, but that He put on the created body and that God created Him for our sakes, preparing for Him the created body, as it is written, for us, that in Him we might be capable of being renewed and deified. 

St. John Chrysostom (349 – 407 AD) – Homilies on Gospel According to St. Matthew
After this He mentions also a prophecy, “For it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad:” at once persuading them ever to give heed to the things that are written, and at same time making it plain that He was crucified, according to God’s purpose; and by everything showing He was no alien from the old covenant, nor from the God preached therein, but that what is done is a dispensation, and that the prophets all proclaimed all things beforehand from the beginning that are comprised in the matter, so that they be quite confident about the better things also.

St. Cyril of Alexandria – Letter 41 (To Acacius, the Bishop Conerning the Scapegoat)
Thus Christ became a victim “for our sins according to the Scriptures.” For this reason, we say that he was named sin; wherefore, the all-wise Paul writes, “For our sakes he made him to be sin who knew nothing of sin,” that is to say, God the Father. For we do not say that Christ became a sinner, far from it, but being just, or rather in actuality justice, for he did not know sin, the Father made him a victim for the sins of the world. “He was counted among the wicked,”l having endured a condemnation most suitable for the wicked. And the divinely inspired prophet Isaiah will also vouch for this, saying, “We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way, but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all,” “yet it was on our behalf he suffers,” “and by his stripes we were healed. The all-wise Peter writes, “he bore our sins in his body upon the tree.’“‘Therefore, the lot of the necessary endurance of death hung over those on the earth through the transgression in Adam and through sin reigning from him until us.“ But the Word of God the Father, being generous in clemency and love of men, became flesh, that is, man, in the form of us who are under sin, and he endured our lot. For as the very excellent Paul writes, “By the grace of God he tasted death for all,” and he made his life be an exchange for the life of all. One died for all, in order that we all might live to God sanctified and brought to life through his blood, “justified as a gift by his grace.” For as the blessed evangelist John says, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.”

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on St. Luke
He bore suffering that He might deliver us from sufferings: “He was despised and not esteemed,” as it is written, that He might make us honourable: He did no sin, that He might crown our nature with similar glory: He Who for our sakes was man submitted also to our lot; and He Who gives life to the world submitted to death in the flesh…for it is written, that “He was also numbered with the transgressors.” For our sake He became a curse, that is, accursed: for it is written again, that “Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.” But this act of His did away with the curse that was upon us: for we with Him and because of Him are blessed. And knowing this, the blessed David says:“Blessed are we of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth:” for by His sufferings blessings descend to us.  

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – On the Gospel According to John, Book XI
It had been foretold, by the mouth of the prophet, that with Christ this would come to pass: I gave My back to the scourge, and My cheeks to them that smite. He was being led on in truth to the end long ago foretold, to the verdict of Jewish presumption, which was also the abolition and determination of our deserved dishonour, for that we sinned in Adam first, and trampled under foot the Divine commandment. For He was dishonoured for our sake, in that He took our sins upon Him, as the prophet says, and was afflicted on our account. For as He wrought out our deliverance from death, giving up His own Body to death, so likewise, I think, the blow with which Christ was smitten, in fulfilling the dishonour that He bore, carried with it our deliverance from the dishonour by which we were burthened through the transgression and original sin of our forefather. For He, being One, was yet a perfect Ransom for all men, and bore our dishonour. But I think the whole creation would have shuddered, had it been suffered to be conscious of such presumption.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – On Easter
For the divine Abraham was commanded to slay his one and only beloved son, a man who had lived unto old age, and had no hope of being able to become a sire of other children ; but he was old having passed beyond affectionateness and  from sparing his son because of God’s will. And for as much as the child was near to suffering death, for the father had taken in his hand the sword, he was in marvelous manner saved by the ram running in between and undergoing his slaying. So also were we also rescued from our own death befitting and due by Christ taking it on himself. And he was slain for our sake ; and he suffered because of our sins, as saith the prophet Isaiah. And because of our iniquities he was given over and by his stripes were we healed.  

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, BOOK I
For you imitate Christ the Lord; and as He “bare the sins of us all upon the tree” at His crucifixion, the innocent for those who deserved punishment, so also you ought to make the sins of the people your own. For concerning our Savior it is said in Isaiah, “He bears our sins, and is afflicted for us.” And again: “He bare the sins of many, and was delivered for our offences.”


Christ as Sacrifice and High Priest

Scriptural references>>

Isaiah 53:10 (Septuagint)
The Lord also is pleased to purge him from his stroke. If ye can give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed

Isaiah 53: 12
He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors

John 12: 23-24
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Romans 3:25
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood–to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished

Romans 5:8-10
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 

Romans 6:3-7
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

1 Cor 5:7
Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Hebrews 2:17
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 7:27
Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Hebrews 9:11-14
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to comeHe entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:22
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Hebrews 9:26-28
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Hebrews 10:4-10
It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’ ” First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 13:11-13
The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.

1 Peter 2:24
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

1 John 1: 1-2
But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Revelation 7:14
And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

When John the Baptist introduced Christ, he said “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the ‘sin of the world! (John 1:29)” The Forerunner’s emphasis was on removal of sin, not death. This is not because Christ didn’t also conquer death, but because the means by which Christ did so, was by taking away the sting of death, which is sin (1 Cor 15:56). But this is one of the weaknesses of the “Christus Victor” model; it fails to explain how Christ fundamentally conquered death by dealing with sin. In this section, we will discuss in more detail how Christ “ransomed” humanity as the eternal High Priest and Sacrifice, who takes away the sin of the world.

Old Testament sacrifices typified Christ’s Sacrifice of healing, mercy, and love (1 Pet 3:18). However, being the type and not the reality, they were severely lacking. They merely served as a reminder of sin and a temporary shadow of the true Sacrifice to come (Heb 10:3-4). They provided no remission, especially for sins committed deliberately against God (Num 15:30-31). For sins such as adultery, murder, breaking the Sabbath, etc, the Law of Moses required the sinner to be stoned without mercy. While the Law of Moses was righteous and provided guidance, it exposed sin, making sin even more “sinful” (Rom 7:12-13), but provided no means to attain the righteousness it demanded (Gal 3:21). The Law of Moses offered no means to renew man’s sinful nature, and offered no real solution for the remission of sin (Heb 10:4-5). Thus, there was need for a better Mediator and Sacrifice; a better Covenant built on better promises (Heb 9:15):

“the new covenant is established on better promises…I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people….(Heb 8:6,10)

Under the New Covenant, Christ would restore and sanctify the fallen humanity by His incarnation. Being in the “likeness” of sinful flesh, He would condemn sin in the flesh (Rom 8:3) and undo Adam’s disobedience by His own obedience (Rom 5:19), justifying through faith those who are born again from above (John 1:12,17). Moreover, the Holy Spirit would become the continued source of renewal and sanctification for those who are in Christ (Titus 3:5). No longer would they be children of Adam’s sinful nature, but children of God, and partakers of the Divine Nature in Christ (2 Pet 1:4).

Moreover, Christ Himself would become the better Sacrifice and Mediator of the new Covenant. This is why God promised to “forgive their wickedness” and “remember their sins no more” (Heb 8:12).

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26: 26-28) 

Bearing our sins as Sacrifice and High Priest, Christ did not enter repeatedly into a Holy of Holies made with hands. He also did not do so with blood of animals that could not forgive sins. He entered into Heaven itself to do away with sin, once and for all sins, by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb 9:24, 26). Thus, He liberated us from the sting of death, and the power of the Law (1 Cor 15:56). He ransomed us by His blood (Rev 7:14). Because Christ is our eternal atoning Sacrifice (propitiation) with the Father (1 John 2: 1-2), He appeases the anger of the Father (Rom 5:10, Luke 23:45):

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – The Gospel According to John, Book XI, Chap VII
He once more mediates as Man, the Reconciler and Mediator of God and men; and being our truly great and all-holy High Priest, by His own prayers He appeases the anger of His Father, sacrificing Himself for us. For He is the Sacrifice, and is Himself our Priest, Himself  our Mediator, Himself a blameless Victim, the true Lamb Which takes away the sin of the world.

Thus, Christ justified us and reconciled us to God by offering us by and in Himself to God the Father, doing away with the enmity between man and God (2 Cor 5:19):

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Gospel of St. Luke
Turtles, therefore, and doves were offered, when He presented Himself unto the Lord, and there might one see simultaneously meeting together the truth and the types. And Christ offered Himself for a savor of a sweet smell, that He might offer us by and in Himself unto God the Father, and so do away with His enmity towards us by reason of Adams transgression, and bring to nought sin that had tyrannized over us all.

Through baptism, we are buried and resurrected with Christ to a new birth and heavenly citizenship (Phil 3:20). Through repentance, we die with Christ to sin daily, as our sins are remitted by the blood of the Lamb. Thus, we are justified and freed from the accusations and condemnation of sin and the Law (Rom 8:1-2).We are no longer slaves of sin and enemies to God, but beloved children by adoption and co-heirs with Christ (Gal 4:6-7). Reconciled to God through Christ, the Father gives us of His Holy Spirit Who renews our fallen image to the holiness and glory of the image of Christ (Titus 3:5). He writes the laws of God on our hearts, and makes us partakers of the Divine Nature (2 Pet 1:4). Thus, we are under the Law of the Spirit and life, and have died in Christ to the Law of sin and death (Romans 6:4). Thus, spiritual death is abolished; this is the first resurrection (John 5:25). This is also why the second (eternal) death is destroyed (Rev 20:6). As St. Cyril explains, “The root [sin] dying, how could the shoot [death] yet survive?” This then, was how Christ saved us from death:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. John
“the very Lamb, the spotless  Sacrifice, is led to the slaughter for all, that He might drive away the sin of the world…But sin being destroyed, how could it be that death which was of it and because of it should not altogether come to nothing? The root dying, how could the shoot yet survive? Wherefore should we yet die, now that sin hath been destroyed? Therefore jubilant in the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God we say: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is they victory? For all iniquity as the Psalmist sings somewhere, shall stop her mouth, no longer able to accuse those who have sinned from infirmity. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, that we might escape the curse from transgression.”

As a result, we chant in the Midnight Praises, the Father then“lifted up the sins, of the people” and “opened the gate, of Paradise, and restored Adam, to his authority”:

There was a high priest, in the tabernacle, offering sacrifices, on account of the people’s sins. When the Pantocrator, smelled the aroma, He lifted up the sins, of the people…They likened the high priest, to our Savior, the true sacrifice, for the forgiveness of sins. He who offered Himself as an acceptable sacrifice upon the Cross, for the salvation of our race. His Good Father, smelled Him, in the evening, on Golgotha. He opened the gate, of Paradise, and restored Adam, to his authority. (Midnight Praises – Sunday)

Through His death, Christ also disarmed the powers and authorities, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15). He preached to those who were imprisoned in hades, releasing them from the captivity of the One who held the power of death, that is the devil (Hebrews 2:14). Thus Christ shone with His glory on all, not only on the living but on those in the graves. The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned (Isaiah 9:2). By His resurrection, He overcame the corruption of death and raised us with him. United with our humanity, He ascended to Heaven and continues to make intercession for us in Heaven as our eternal propitiation for sin before God (Rom 8:34, Isa 53:12)At His second coming, those who are in Christ, will be raised from physical death to incorruption and eternal life (Phil 3:21), to share with Christ in His eternal glory (2 Thes 2:14). Physical death will be the last enemy to be destroyed (1 Cor 15:26). This will be the second resurrection (1 Cor 15:42-43).

Thus, Scripture, Apostolic Tradition, patristic consensus, and Church hymnology all confirm that Christ is the Archetype of Old Testament sacrifices, and our eternal High Priest and Sacrifice. He is our eternal “propitiation” and Mediator with the Father. He is the Lamb of God who bore our sins (Rev 5:12), and was slain “in our stead”. What else does “He took what is ours and gave us what is His” mean? He bore in Himself our weaknesses, ailments, sins (and the chastisement for sin), curse, condemnation, and death that we deserved. In exchange, He gave us His healing, remission of sin, justification, reconciliation, freedom, victory, resurrection, life, and immortality. Thus, He renewed and “deified” humanity in Himself, in order for us to share in His perfect Holiness and glory. Was this not all a result of God’s inexpressible grace and love through Christ?

More quotes>>

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Discourses Against the Arians
Since then the Word, being the Image of the Father and immortal, took the form of the servant, and as man underwent for us death in His flesh, that thereby He might offer Himself for us through death to the Father; therefore also, as man, He is said because of us and for us to be highly exalted, that as by His death we all died in Christ, so again in the Christ Himself we might be highly exalted, being raised from the dead, and ascending into heaven…

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – On the Incarnation of the Word
But on this one point, above all, they shall be all the more refuted, not at our hands, but at those of the most wise Daniel, who marks both the actual date, and the divine sojourn of the Savior, saying: “Seventy weeks are cut short upon thy people, and upon the holy city, for a full end to be made of sin, and for sins to be sealed up, and to blot out iniquities, and to make atonement for iniquities, and to bring everlasting righteousness, and to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint a Holy of Holies…

Christ did not die “with us”. He died “for us”:
St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Five Tomes Against Nestorius, TOME III
I hear Him saying of us, For their sakes do I sanctify Myself, and as the Divine-speaking Paul saith, By the grace of God for every man tasted He death, and again, He was delivered up because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification, and as the Prophet Esaias saith, The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, with His stripes were WE healed, not Himself has been healed by the suffering of His own Flesh. He was delivered up because of our transgressions (not because of His own, far from it, for confessedly has the nature of man been borne down by the transgression in Adam unto curse and death, it is moreover sick of proneness to sin in the flesh), in order that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in its who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For therefore was He also named the last Adam, not enduring to be sick of the things of the first one, but rather ridding in Himself first the nature of man from the blame of that ancient transgression. For it was condemned in Adam, but in Christ was seen most approved and worthy of wonder…Every one who has become guilty of sin needs therefore sacrifice for his own transgressions: and Christ hath offered Himself for His kin according to the flesh, i. e., for us; but for Himself not a whit, being superior to sin, as God. For if He have been sacrificed for Himself, not WE alone have been bought by His Blood according to the Scriptures but Himself too will have been co-bought with us, no longer according to Isaiah’s voice did the Lord give Him up for our sins, but He has been given rather for His own. For where is at all sacrifice and offering, there surely is also remission of sins…But let us see from the legal and more ancient scripture too in what manner and for whom, Emmanuel hath offered Himself for an odour of a sweet smell unto God the Father. For a shadow confessedly was the Law, yet hath it the outline of the mystery Christ-ward and travails with the form of the Truth. And indeed Christ said somewhere when conversing with the Jews, Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed Me, for of Me he wrote...For God the Father was representing the sacrifices that were to be made for sins, in the Law as on a tablet, outlining yet the mystery of Christ, and thus He said to the hierophant Moses, If the whole congregation of the children of Israel sin unwillingly and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly and they have done one of all the commandments of the Lord which should not be done, and have transgressed and the sin be known to them which they have sinned therein, the congregation shall offer a young bullock without blemish from among the herd for the sin. And having fully gone through how the details of the sacrifice should be done, He adds and says, And the priest shall make an atonement for them and the sin shall be forgiven them. Observe then that the bullock was offered as a type of Christ the All-Pure and That hath no spot, and they who offer and not surely the bullock were set free from their guilt. For He has been sacrificed not rather for Himself, as THOU sayest, but for the infirm, for whom the high priest according to the Law used to make supplication, that you may again understand Him That was made an Advocate for us, a High Priest undefiled and holy, separated from sinners. 

St. Cyril of Alexandria – Five Tomes Against Nestorius, Tome III
The God of all uttered the Law to them of old, Moses being mediator. But there was not in the Law the power of achieving good without any blame, to those who wished it (for it hath perfected nothing). But neither was the first covenant found faultless, but the all-wise Paul called it the ministry of condemnation. I hear him say, We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become under sentence before God, because by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight, (for the Law worketh unto wrath, and the Letter killeth), and as himself somewhere saith, He that despised Moses’ law dieth without mercy under two or three witnesses. Seeing therefore that the Law condemneth them that sin and decreeth sometimes the uttermost punishment to them that disregard it, and in no wise pitieth, how was not the manifestation to them on the earth of a Compassionate and truly Merciful High Priest necessary? of One Who should make the curse to cease, should stop the condemnation and free sinners with forgiving grace and with the bending of clemency? for I (He says) am He that blotteth out thy transgressions and will not remember. For we have been justified by faith and not out of the works of the Law, as it is written…but if we believe that He That suffered in the flesh is God, Who hath been made also our High Priest, we have no ways erred, but acknowledge the Word out of God made Man: and thus is required of us faith God-ward, Who putteth out of condemnation and freeth from sin those that are taken thereby. For the Son of man hath authority on the earth also to forgive sins, as Himself too saith. Contrasting therefore with the salvation and grace that is through Christ the harshness (so to speak) of the law’s severity, we say that Christ was made a Merciful High Priest. For He was and is God Good by Nature and Compassionate and Merciful always, and hath not become this in time but was so manifested to us.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke
For the law, which the all-wise Moses ordained, was for the reproof of sin, and the condemnation of offences: but it justified absolutely no one. For the very wise Paul writes, “Whosoever rejected the law of Moses, was put to death without mercy at the mouth of two or three witnesses.” But our Lord Jesus Christ, having removed the curse of the law, and proved the commandment which condemns to be powerless and inoperative, became our merciful High Priest, according to the words of the blessed Paul. For He justifies the wicked by faith, and sets free those held captive by their sins.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Five Tomes Against Nestorious
For He has been sacrificed not rather for Himself, as THOU sayest, but for the infirm, for whom the high priest according to the Law used to make supplication, that you may again understand Him That was made an Advocate for us, a High Priest undefiled and holy, separated from sinners. Since therefore our opponent is on all sides sick of uncomeliness of speech, we say that the Word out of God the Father was made the High Priest and Apostle of our confession when He was made Man, abasing Himself unto emptiness and in our condition: in order that having offered Himself to the Father for an odour of sweet smell in be half of all, He might win all under Heaven, might remove the ancient guilt, might justify by grace through faith, might render superior to death and decay, holy and hallowed and full well versed in every kind of virtue, confessing Him their Saviour…

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – The Gospel According to John
Then desiring to put before us in a clear light the methods of the gathering in detail, at one time he said: For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the ordinance of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; and at another again: Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death He might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – That Christ is One
Yes, for we say that His are the human by an Economic appropriation, and along with the flesh that which is its: seeing that no other son beside Him is conceived of by us, but the Lord Himself hath saved us, giving His own Blood a ransom for the life of all; for we were bought with a price, not with things corruptible silver or gold but with the Precious Blood as of a Lamb Immaculate and without blemish, Christ, Who offered Himself in our behalf for an odour of a sweet smell to God the Father. And hereto will be our warrant Paul most learned in the law, who hath written, Be therefore imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ too loved us and delivered Himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell…For it beseemed God the Father because of Whom all things and through Whom all things, to perfect the Son Who had descended to emptying and become man, having taken bondman’s form, through sufferings in that He consecrates His own flesh a Ransom for the life of all. For Christ hath been sacrificed for us, the spotless Victim, and by One offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified, re-forming man’s nature into what it was in the beginning: for all things in Him are new. 

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – On the Gospel According to John,  Book XI
For since He is the High Priest of our souls, insomuch as He appeared as Man, though being by Nature God together with the Father, He most fittingly makes His prayer on our behalf; trying to persuade us to believe that He is, even now, the propitiation for our sins, and a righteous Advocate; as John saith. Therefore also Paul, wishing us to be of this mind, thus exhorts us: For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but One that hath been in all points tempted like as we are; yet without sin. Then, since He is an High Priest, insomuch as He is Man, and, at the same time, brought Himself a blameless sacrifice to God the Father, as a ransom for the life of all men, being as it were the firstfruits of mortality, that in all things He might have the pre-eminence, as Paul says; and He reconciles to Him the reprobate race of man upon the earth, purifying them by His own Blood, and shaping them to newness of life through the Holy Spirit; and since, as we have often said, all things are accomplished by the Father through the Son in the Spirit; He moulds the prayer for blessings towards us, as Mediator and High Priest, though He unites with His Father in giving and providing Divine and spiritual graces. For Christ divideth the Spirit, according to His own Will and pleasure, to every man severally, as He will.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – On the Gospel According to John, Book IV
I die (He says) for all, that I may quicken all by Myself, and I made My Flesh a Ransom for the flesh of all. For death shall die in My Death, and with Me shall rise again (He says) the fallen nature of man. For for this became I like to you, Man (that is) and of the seed of Abraham, that I might be made like in all things unto My brethren. The blessed Paul himself also, well nderstanding what Christ just now said to us says, Forasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. For no otherwise was it possible that he that hath the power of death should be destroyed, and death itself also, had not Christ given Himself for us, a Ransom, One for all, for He was in behalf of all. Wherefore He says in the Psalms too, offering Himself as a spotless Sacrifice to God the Father, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a Body preparedst Thou Me. In whole burnt-offerings and offerings for sin Thou tookedst no pleasure: then said I, Lo I come (in the chapter of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God, was My choice. For since the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sufficed not unto the purging away of sin, nor yet would the slaughter of brute beasts ever have destroyed the power of death, Christ Himself came in in some way to undergo punishment for all. For with His stripes WE were healed, as saith the Prophet, and His Own Self bare our sins in His Own Body on the tree; and He was crucified for all and on account of all, that if One died for all, all we might live in Him. For it was not possible that He should be holden by death, neither could corruption over-master that Which is by Nature Life. But that Christ gave His Own Flesh for the Life of the world, we shall know by His words also, for He saith, Holy Father keep them; and again, For their sakes I sanctify Myself. He here says that He sanctifies Himself, not aiding Himself unto sanctification for the purification of the soul or spirit (as it is understood of us), nor yet for the participation of the Holy Ghost, for the Spirit was in Him by Nature, and He was and is Holy always, and will be so ever. He here says, I sanctify Myself,for, I offer Myself and present Myself as a spotless Sacrifice for an odour of a sweet smell. For that which is brought to the Divine Altar was sanctified, or called holy according to the law. 

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
Look not therefore upon Him Who was laid in the manger as a babe merely, but in our poverty see Him Who as God is rich, and in the measure of our humanity Him Who excels the inhabitants of heaven, and Who therefore is glorified even by the holy angels. And how noble was the hymn, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and among men good will!” For the angels and archangels, thrones and lordships, and high above them the Seraphim, preserving their settled order, are at peace with God: for never in any way do they transgress His good pleasure, but are firmly established in righteousness and holiness. But we, wretched beings, by having set up our own lusts in opposition to the will of our Lord, had put ourselves into the position of enemies unto Him. But by Christ this has been done away: for He is our peace; for He has united us by Himself unto God the Father, having taken away from the middle the cause of the enmity, even sin, and so justifies us by faith, and makes us holy and without blame, and calls near unto Him those who were afar off: and besides this, He has created the two people into one new man, so making peace, and reconciling both in one body to the Father. For it pleased God the Father to form into one new whole all things in Him, and to bind together things below and things above, and to make those in heaven and those on earth into one flock. Christ therefore has been made for us both Peace and Goodwill…  

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – On the Gospel According to John, Book XI, Chap X
For He brought Himself as a Victim and holy Sacrifice to God the Father, reconciling the world unto Himself, and bringing into kinship with Him that which had fallen away therefrom, that is, the race of man. For He is our Peace, according to the Scripture. And, indeed, our reconciliation to God could no otherwise have been accomplished through Christ that saveth us than by communion in the Spirit and sanctification. For that which knits us together, and, as it were, unites us with God, is the Holy Spirit; Which if we receive, we are proved sharers and partakers in the Divine Nature, and we admit the Father Himself into our hearts, through the Son and in the Son...For the Only-begotten sanctified Himself for our sins; that is, offered Himself up, and brought Himself as a holy Sacrifice for a sweet-smelling savour to God the Father; that, while He as God came between and hedged off and built a wall of partition between human nature and sin, nothing might hinder our being able to have access to God, and have close fellowship with Him, through communion, that is, with the Holy Spirit, moulding us anew to righteousness and sanctification and the original likeness of man.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Five Tomes Against Nestorious, Tome V
For we say that He which was crucified is Lord of glory, and He is so of a truth: yet acknowledging that the Word of God is inseverable and one with the flesh united, to Him having a reasonable soul, we say that He it is Who offered Himself, as it were the Immaculate Offering and most sweet-smelling Sacrifice of His Own Body, to God the Father, and nailed to the wood the handwriting that was against us. And one may hear Him say by the mouth of David, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not but a Body preparedst Thou Me, whole burnt sacrifices and for sin Thou tookest no pleasure in: then said I, Lo I come (in the volume of the book it has been written of Me) to do Thy Will, o God. The commandment according to the Law now availing nought, and perfecting nothing, and God the Father holding the sacrifices through blood unacceptable;—-He says that a Body has been prepared for Himself, in order that giving it a Ransom for the salvation and life of all, He might redeem all, from both death and decay and yet more from sins.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – The Gospel According to John
For He, being a holy High Priest, blameless  and undefiled, offered Himself  not for His own weakness, as was the custom of those to whom was allotted the duty of sacrificing according to the Law, but rather for the salvation of our souls, and that once for all, because of our sin, and is an Advocate for us: And He is the propitiation for our sins… For the Only-begotten  sanctified Himself for our sins; that is, offered Himself up, and brought Himself as a holy Sacrifice for a sweet-smelling savor to God the Father

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Fr. Tadros Malaty –Commentary on Isaiah
He washed our filth in the water of Baptism, in the worthiness of His blood; and is still washing all our weaknesses by His blood that flowed from his stabbed side, mingled with water. If our hands got spoiled with blood  through our sins, He offers His blood as atonement  for  our  sake,  to  set  us  a  glorious Church, with no defilement or wrinkles, but in every respect sanctified. That  washing  or  purification  is  realized  “by  the  spirit  of  judgment and by the spirit of burning.” As to the spirit of Judgment, it has been realized by His being nailed on the Cross, to bear the price of our sins in His body, consummating divine justice what we due on Him. As to the spirit of burning, it refers to what has been proclaimed by the law in the Book of Leviticus, concerning the ‘burnt offering,’ where the sacrifice is wholly burnt, as a reference to complete love.


To Whom Was the Ransom Paid?

Scriptural References>>

Exodus 30: 11-15 (Septuagint)
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for his soul to the Lord, so there may be no plague among them when you number them. This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a drachma according to the drachma of the sanctuary (a drachma is twenty obols). The half-drachma shall be an offering to the Lord. Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord. The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a drachma when you give an offering to the Lord to make atonement for your souls. You shall take the money of the offering of the children of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tabernacle of testimony, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord to make atonement for your souls.

Leviticus 25: 47-52 (Septuagint)
‘Now if a resident alien or sojourner with you prospers, and your brother becomes poor and sells himself to the resident alien or sojourner with you, or to a member of the resident alien’s family, after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; or his 
uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself. Thus he shall compute the years with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Remission; it shall be according to the time he was a hired servant for him. If there are still more years remaining to someone, he shall pay his ransom from the money of his sale. Now if there remain but a few years until the Year of Remission, then he shall compute with him, and according to his years, he shall repay his ransom.

Psalm 49:7-9 (NKJV)
None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for himFor the redemption of their souls is costly, And it shall cease forever—That he should continue to live eternally, And not see the Pit.

Matthew 6:12
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Matthew 18: 23-27
Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Colossians 2:13-14
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 

1 Timothy 2:5-6
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.

Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

To answer the question to whom was the “ransom” paid, we should first answer the question to whom was the “ransom” owed? For this, St. Irenaeus helps us:

St. Irenaeus (130 – 202 AD) – Against Heresies (Book V, Chapter 16, 17)
For we were debtors to none other but to Him whose commandment we had transgressed at the beginning…”He has destroyed the handwriting” of our debt, and “fastened it to the cross;” so that as by means of a tree we were made debtors to God, [so also] by means of a tree we may obtain the remission of our debt…For this reason also He has taught us to say in prayer, “And forgive us our debts;” since indeed He is our Father, whose debtors we were, having transgressed His commandments.

St. Athanasius explains that when the “Father willed that ransoms should be paid”, Christ offered Himself “to the Father” to cleanse us from sin:

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Against the Arians
Thus then the Lord also, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;’ but when the Father willed that ransoms should be paid for all and to all, grace should be given, then truly the Word, as Aaron his robe, so did He take earthly flesh, having Mary for the Mother of His Body as if virgin earth, that, as a High Priest, having He as others an offering, He might offer Himself to the Father, and cleanse us all from sins in His own blood, and might rise from the dead.

Since Christ presented Himself as an offering for sin (Is 53:10), and sin offerings are offered only to God, the Book of Hebrews makes it clear that as High Priest, Christ offered His Sacrifice to God (Heb 9:14). St. Cyril affirms this understanding by anathematizing anyone who says otherwise:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Anathemas in Opposition to Nestorius
Holy Scripture states that Christ is High Priest and Apostle of our confession, and offered Himself on our behalf for a sweet-smelling savor to God and our Father. If, then, any one says that He, the Word of God, was not made our High Priest and Apostle when He was made flesh and man after our manner; but as being another, other than Himself, properly man made of a woman; or if any one says that He offered the offering on His own behalf, and not rather on our behalf alone; for He that knew no sin would not have needed an offering, let him be anathema.

St. Cyril explains even more clearly that Christ offered his Sacrifice “to God the Father, as a ransom for the life of all”:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – On the Gospel According to John,  Book XI
Therefore also Paul, wishing us to be of this mind, thus exhorts us: For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but One that hath been in all points tempted like as we are; yet without sin. Then, since He is an High Priest, insomuch as He is Man, and, at the same time, brought Himself a blameless sacrifice to God the Father,as a ransom for the life of all men…

St. Basil confirms that Christ gave “ransom to God, for all of us because ‘God has set him forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith'”:

‘He shall not give to God his ransom, nor the price of the redemption of his soul: Do not, then, seek your brother for your ransoming, but Him who surpasses your nature, not a mere man, but the Man God Jesus Christ, who alone is able to give ransom to God for all of us, because ‘God has set him forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith.’In fact, what can man find great enough that he may give it for the ransom of his soul? But, one thing was found worth as much as all men together. This was given for the price of ransom for our souls, the holy and highly honored blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He poured out for all of us; therefore, we were bought at a great price, If, then, a brother does not redeem, will man redeem? But, if man cannot redeem us, He who redeems us is not a man, Now, do not assume, because He sojourned with us ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh,’ that our Lord is only man, failing to discern the power of the divinity, who had no need to give God a ransom for Himself nor to redeem His own soul because ‘He did no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.’ No one is sufficient to redeem himself, unless He comes who turns away the captivity of the people, not with ransoms nor with gifts, as it is written in Isaiah, but in His own blood. 

There are some who attempt to use the following quote by St. Gregory Nazianzen to deny the necessity of Christ’s sacrifice as a sin offering to God, as well as to deny the substitutionary/exchange nature of the sacrifice:

“To Whom was that Blood offered that was shed for us, and why was It shed?…If to the Evil One, fie upon the outrage!…But if to the Father, I ask first, how?…On what principle did the Blood of His Only begotten Son delight the Father…Is it not evident that the Father accepts Him, but neither asked for Him nor demanded Him…”

However, St. Gregory’s quote cannot be used to support the above mentioned argument(s) for the following reasons:

    • St. Gregory was merely explaining that a ransom consisting of God was offered to the Father, not the devil.
    • God substituted Isaac for an animal sacrifice. Thus, God still commanded that animal sacrifices to be offered to God. These sacrifices were a type of Christ.
  • St. Athanasius clarifies that God did not accept Isaac as sacrifice, not because a sacrifice was not necessary, but because Isaac was only the type of Christ and the type could not save the world:

St. Athanasius – Festal Letters, Letter 6
And, being restrained from sacrificing Isaac, he saw the Messiah in the ram, which was offered up instead as a sacrifice to God…Thus God accepted the will of the offerer, but prevented that which was offered from being sacrificed. For the death of Isaac did not procure freedom to the world, but that of our Saviour alone, by whose stripes we all are healed.

    • The ram symbolized Christ. Isaac represented humanity. Thus, Isaac (humanity) was spared because of the substitutionary sacrifice of the ram (Christ).
    • Whether the Father “demanded” the ransom or merely “accepted” it, has no bearing on to Whom the sacrifice was offered or the necessity of the sacrifice.
    • The Father did not “demand” but “willed” the sacrifice of Christ. (Hebrews 10:7, John 3:16). 
  • The quote merely confirms that Christ offered Himself willingly to the Father (John 10:18) as an offering for sin.

Thus, scripture and patristic consensus undeniably confirm that Christ offered Himself as a Sacrifice for sin on behalf of humanity, to God. (1 Peter 3:18).

More patristic quotes>>

St. Athanasius (296 – 373 AD) – Festal Epistles, Letter X
This is the Lord, Who is manifested in the Father, and in Him also the Father is manifested; Who, being truly the Son of the Father, at last became incarnate for our sake, that He might offer Himself to the Father in our stead, and redeem us through His offering and sacrifice. This is He Who once, in old time, brought the people out of Egypt; but Who afterwards redeemed all of us, or rather the whole race of men, from death, and brought them up from the grave. This is He Who, in old time, was sacrificed as a lamb, having been typified in the lamb; but Who afterwards was slain for us, for Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed.
 

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – Commentary on Gospel of St. John
For not by the violence of the Jews, but of His own Will did He come to the Cross for our sakes and on account of us. Wherefore also He saith, averting the reproach of seeming powerlessness, No man taketh My life from Me, I lay it down of  Myself: I have power to lay it down, and again I have power to take it. For as we have already before said, He bare no unwilling Cross for us. For He hath offered Himself as a Holy Sacrifice to God the Father, purchasing the salvation of all men by His Own Blood. Wherefore He also said in the Gospel preachings, For their sakes do I sanctify Myself. But sanctify He here says for “offer,” and “consecrate;” for that which is offered in sacrifice to God is holy. But that He accepted being the Sacrifice for all free from all violence from any, we shall know when we hear Him saying in the Psalms to God the Father, Sacrifice and, offering Thou wouldest not, but a Body preparedst

Thou Me: in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou tookest no pleasure: then I said, Lo I come, in the chapter of the book it is written of Me, to do Thy will, O God.  

St. Cyril explains that the Son offered Himself through love of His Father:

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – The Gospel According to St. John
He willed that His own Son, though of like fashion with Himself and distinguished by His perfect equality with Him should descend to such humiliation as to take the form of man for our sake, and not shrink from death to save the world. This the Son did through love of His Father, Who is said to have ordered Him by His own powerto suffer death in His fleshly nature, and to destroy the power of corruption, and to quicken the dead, and to restore them to their ancient state. 

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – On the Gospel According to John, Book V
The most wise Evangelist profitably makes plea in behalf of the saving Passion and shews that the Death on the Cross was not of human necessity, nor did Jesus suffer death against His will from the tyranny of another, but rather did offer Himself for us a spotless Sacrifice to God the Father by reason of His inherent love for us. For since He must needs suffer (since thus would the imported corruption and sin and death be overturned), He hath given Himself a Ransom for the life of all.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (378 – 444 AD) – On the Gospel According to John, Book III
The Law then appointed to the children of Israel to give to every man a ransom for his poll, half a didrachm. But one stater contains a didrachm. Yea and herein again was shadowed out to us Christ Himself, Who offered Himself for all, as by all, a Ransom to God the Father, and is understood in the one drachma, but not separately from the other, because that in the one coin, as we said before, two drachmae are contained. Thus may both the Son be conceived of in respect of the Father, and again the Father in respect of the Son, Both in One Nature, but Each Separate in part, as existing in His own Person, yet not wholly severed, nor One apart from the Other. And as in the one coin were two drachmae, having equal bulk with one another, and in no ways one less than the other; so shalt thou conceive of the in nought differing Essence of the Son in respect of God the Father, and again of the Father in respect of the Son, and thou shalt at length receive wholesome doctrine upon all points spoken of concerning Him.

Church Midnight Praises – Sunday Theotokia
You are the Censer; made of pure gold, carrying the blessed and live coal; which is taken from the Altar; to purge the sins and take away the iniquities; which is God the Logos, Who was incarnate of you and offered Himself to God, His Father, as incense.  
 


Conclusion:

This article merely analyzed the language and understanding of the early Church fathers in regards to the atonement. It did not attempt to present a complete patristic view on salvation as a whole. There is no shortage of evidence to show that the early church understood and expounded Christ’s redemption in terms of a ransom/debt paid, penalty/sentence satisfied, and a substitution/exchange. Early church fathers spoke clearly of both God’s mercy and truth; of both his love and judgment. They explained that Christ “bore our sins”, that He became sin and a curse for us, and died to fulfill the just requirement of the Law, and so free us from condemnation. They spoke unequivocally and with consensus of an atoning sacrifice for sin offered by Christ to the Father “in the stead of” and as a “substitute” for humanity. Through His Sacrifice as both “Victim” and “High Priest”, sins were remitted and humanity was reconciled to God. Humanity was renewed and justified By Christ’s redeeming blood, Satan’s accusations were silenced, the gates of Paradise were opened, and the power of death was annulled.

In His redemption of humanity, Christ took what is ours and gave us what is His. He became man so that in Him, humanity could be exalted to the right hand of God. He hungered to nourish us with the Manna from Heaven. He thirsted to quench us with the Spirit of life, Who renews our fallen nature to the holiness of the image of the King of Glory. He took our infirmities upon Him to heal us; our insult and humiliation to give us his dignity and glory. He was despised and dishonored as a servant, so that we may be esteemed and honored as kings and priests to God. He became weak so that He can be our unfailing refuge from the power of the enemy. He was bound with chains so that He can liberate us from the captivity of sin and the fear of death. He accepted the shame of spitting so that we can behold his unfathomable humility and fountain of compassion. He was reviled and mocked, but did not open His mouth so that in His denial of justice, the mercies of God would abundantly be bestowed upon sinners. He was acquainted with grief so that we can be acquainted with His ineffable joy; He became familiar with suffering so that He can wipe away every tear from our eyes. He was sentenced as a criminal so that in Him, our acquittal can be eternal; He was condemned as one who is guilty so that our innocence would be beyond reproach. He carried our cross as the Good Shepherd carries His staff so that He can shepherded us to His heavenly pasture, and so that the chastisement he endured on our behalf would bring us eternal peace. He bore our sins and was lifted up to the cross naked to cover the shame of our nakedness. He was pierced for our transgression so that his righteous Blood would cleanse us from the venom of the sting of death. He became a curse for us so that He can bestow upon us everlasting blessings, and ransom us from the curse of the Law. He was pierced with our nails to that He can nail the handwriting of our rebellion to the cross on which He was condemned. He drank our bitter vinegar so that we can taste the sweet wine of knowing Him. He was counted among the transgressors so that we may be counted among the righteous. He was forsaken by all so that we may be eternally united to Him.

He opened His arms wide on the cross to call prodigal sons to His paternal forgiveness and loving embrace. Blood and water poured from His wounded side; blood to cleanse us from the stain of sin, and water to quench our thirst for Him. He poured out His life like a Lamb to the slaughter, to restore life to our dead souls and consciences. He gave us His own Body and Blood as healing medicine for our souls, and to unite us eternally with Him. He breathed His last on the cross to breathe in us the life-giving Spirit of the Father. He died and was buried so that he may redeem us from the power of the grave and to bind the One who held the keys of Hades. He was resurrected to raise us from corruption and mortality, and to restore us to the Paradise of joy. The pain and agony He endured was for the joy set before Him to reclaim us eternally as His Own, never again to be separated from His Pasture. With our sinful nature renewed, our sins remitted, our death conquered, our enemies crushed, He ascended to His Heavenly glory, seated at the right hand of the Father, united inseparably with our humanity as the Bridegroom is forever united to His bride, until He appears again to Shepherd her to everlasting glory.

He turned our disobedience to obedience; our wickedness to righteousness, our shame into honor; our curse to countless blessings; our punishment into salvation; our mourning to joy; our despair to confident hope; our fear to consolation; our lowliness into exaltation; our poverty into wealth; our defeat to victory; and the fear of death to everlasting joy and life. This is the story of our redemption. What “atonement theory” can possibly do justice to all the dimensions of His infinite and inexpressible love?

It is possible that the “Victorious” model of Christ was most effective in evangelizing Jews who awaited a glorious Messiah. This model would have also been more appealing to heathens who would have been stumbled by the idea of a God who died, let alone died a “cursed” death. Moreover, a persecuted Church may have found consolation in the victory of Christ. Regardless, if “Christus Victor” was popular in the early Church, it was clearly not a complete or exclusive model. Having said that, there is no single model or explanation that can possibly do justice to all the dimensions of the infinite and inexpressible love of God.


Verses on Atonement

2 thoughts on “Atonement in the Early Church (Athanasius & Cyril of Alexandria)”

  1. This is amazing. Thank you for all your writings and God bless you. I am learning so much from your blogs.
    Let the love of God and grace of jesus christ be with you along with the fellowship of the holy spirit.

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