Jesus was never separated from the Father. God is Trinity, and if Jesus can be separated from the Trinity, we have Tri-Theism. It sparks the image of an angry man standing in front of a mirror, slapping himself silly and claiming he can now be forgiving. God is not self-punishing Himself.
That is opinion only.
God didn't punish Himself, nor did the Father punish the Son. The father bruised the soul of His Son by not looking upon Him, while the sins of the world were seen upon His soul:
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.
The Son paid the price for sinning, which is spiritual death and separation from the Spirit, so as to buy souls from sinning and be forgiven for past sins.
" God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." 2 Cor. 5:19.
Which doesn't occur for any soul, until the soul repents and believes the gospel to obey the Son in righteousness, rather than the devil by sinning.
And would not be possible, except for Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
It is the concept that God made the rules, and His rules are not negotiable. With sin, His judgement is absolutely unbending, and the penalties are equally irrevocable.
True. The soul that is sinning is dead, no matter what faith is claimed.
With this assumption in mind, many people declare that in order for God to save someone, someone must die and be punished with the exact punishment due.
Yes, with the death of our old man and life of sinning, when we take up our own cross for His sake.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
"Retribution" in Retributive Justice claims that God must get His pound of flesh, or Atonement and forgiveness is not possible. Exact satisfaction/retribution is demanded.
God doesn't get flesh, but souls reconciled once again to Himself.
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
And the soul that repents of sinning and believes Jesus shall once again have life and live forever, unless the soul forsakes Him to be sinning again.
The problem with this concerning Jesus, is not only with what it does to destroy the Trinity and question the Deity of Christ, but also an extra-biblical concept that one cannot find in Scripture.
It is only because of there being three Persons of the Godhead, that one was willing to be separated from the other, in order to pay the price of sinning, which is death of the soul.
This comes down to how people use and apply "pay and payment." Many do not believe retributive justice yet apply "paid" in a Commercial sense elsewhere. This is inconsistent since if "paid" is only figurative of "cost" it cannot be applied commercially as a "payment."
The price for sinning is real, which is death, and the payment of that price to forgiving sins is real, which was the death of Jesus.
Nothing figurative about it.
Did Jesus "pay the price" of retributive justice?? No!
Is Atonement retributive, or a substitute for retribution, an acceptable non-equivalent that satisfies God so He can be Just and the Justifier in reconciliation with the believer?
Ye. He paid the price to forgive sins.
I wouldn't call it 'retributive' justice, but God's divine justice of receiving one righteous man's unjust death, for the sake of another guilty man's mercy.
Is Atonement retributive, or a substitute for retribution, an acceptable non-equivalent that satisfies God so He can be Just and the Justifier in reconciliation with the believer?
Righteous substitute for the guiltiness of another, The Lamb of God.
Salvation with forgiveness of past sins, is when the soul repents of sinning for Jesus' sake, and justification of the believer with works of obedience to Him rather than the devil.
