How Substitutionary Atonement Helps in an Abuse Crisis

Christians have faced a deluge of abuse crises in the last decade. Whether it’s a well-known pastor exposed as an abuser in the press or an unknown local pastor bullying his staff and congregation, the effects are widespread and tragic.

Sadly, conservative evangelicals haven’t been immune to this crisis. Some people have said that evangelical theology, complementarian views of women in pastoral leadership, and even the penal substitutionary view of the atonement are causes of the abuse crisis.

When my husband and I suffered abuse in the church, and when we shepherded people going through similar hurt, we found the opposite to be true. We kept returning to solid, biblical theology. We even returned to the theology of penal substitutionary atonement (PSA). This doctrine is a valuable help, not a hindrance, if you’re suffering in or shepherding others through an abuse crisis. Here’s why.

1. God cares about sin, so don’t downplay it.

The doctrine of PSA tells us that God cares deeply about sin. He hates it, and it deserves his holy wrath. Psalm 5:4–6 (NIV throughout) says,

For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
    with you, evil people are not welcome.
The arrogant cannot stand
    in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
    you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
    you, LORD, detest.

God cannot have fellowship with darkness. He must punish sin. We know he cares about dealing with sin justly, because he sent his only Son to take the punishment our sins deserve in our place. Every sin—every act of abuse—will face the fullness of God’s wrath, whether laid on Jesus at the cross or when the unbelieving sinner is judged.

So don’t downplay abuse or the suffering it causes. I’ve found it helpful to remember that God cares about this sin even more than I do. And given sin’s gravity, we also shouldn’t push for forgiveness as our first pastoral response. This could suggest the abuse doesn’t matter much or that it’s not an offense to God. The first response instead should be grief and an acknowledgment of the sin’s seriousness.

2. God exposes sin, so don’t hide it.

In Jesus’s death on the cross, God makes our sin public. He exposes it for the serious offense it is. Colossians 2:13–15 says,

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Every sin—every act of abuse—will face the fullness of God’s wrath, whether laid on Jesus at the cross or when the unbelieving sinner is judged.

God doesn’t hide sin or brush it under the carpet. His plan was the cross, where Jesus was publicly humiliated. Jesus cancels the charge of our indebtedness, not by quietly throwing it aside but by publicly nailing it to his cross and paying for it there. First John 1:7 reminds us that it’s when we walk openly, in the light, that Jesus’s propitiatory blood “purifies us from all sin.”

So we do the gospel no justice if we hide abuse in the church. The work of exposing lies and the power of darkness that’s at work in church abuse is in line with Christ’s triumph on the cross. We don’t need to share unhelpful, salacious details. But we want abuse to be acknowledged and abusers removed. Truth is upheld when we walk in the light.

3. God will work justice, so don’t take vengeance.

Often, victims of abuse don’t see their abusers come to justice. Abuse tends to be hidden and without many witnesses, so sufferers may not get the legal satisfaction they hope for. In such situations, it’s tempting for the victim to look for earthly vengeance instead. PSA can help us reorient our longing for justice.

In Romans 3:25, Paul reminds us, “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.”

At the cross, we see that God is righteous in his judgment. The logic of Romans 1–3 shows us what PSA presupposes: God will rightly judge the whole world. That’s why we need penal substitution in the first place, to turn aside God’s wrath against us and our sin. Now, when we look back at the cross, we’re reminded that God will finally judge all: “This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares” (2:16).

Jesus cancels the charge of our indebtedness, not by quietly throwing it aside but by publicly nailing it to his cross.

We should encourage victims of abuse that God will bring justice that will completely satisfy both our needs and God’s demands. Either an abuser will truly repent, and in that case, Jesus will have taken the just judgment for him, or the abuser will remain unrepentant, and he will surely face God’s wrath.

Don’t let the sufferer cling to the false hope of human vengeance but to the certain hope of God’s righteousness. As Paul goes on to say, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (12:19).

As you shepherd your own heart and the hearts of others through abuse, don’t be tempted to step away from solid evangelical theology. The best answers for abuse are in the Bible, and a healthy theology of PSA will give you a firm foundation from which to comfort God’s children who have been abused.

This doctrine has helped me return to the cross in my suffering. There, I see that God cares, and I have courage to wait on the God of all righteousness, who will bring every hidden deed to light, and to justice.