Without the Holy Spirit, There Is No Penal Substitutionary Atonement

When Christians think about the atonement, their focus is often firmly fixed on Jesus Christ, the crucified Savior. And this is entirely appropriate. However, while this focus is correct, it’s important to note that the Son was not the only member of the Trinity involved in the act of sacrificing for human sin.

We can consider the Father’s role in the death of his Son. Jesus’ anguished cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:35, echoing Ps. 22:1) and his final words, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46), clearly highlight the Father’s part in the atonement.

The role of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is less obvious. This is a common oversight in theology, as there has often been insufficient consideration of the Spirit’s work in creation, salvation, and the end – times. Among these neglected aspects, the Holy Spirit’s role in the atonement may be the most overlooked. This brings us to our topic, which has two main focuses: (1) the role of the Holy Spirit, and (2) in penal substitutionary atonement.

This second emphasis is important because some people have been increasingly critical of penal substitution (as seen in the works of Green and Baker; Weaver; Boersma; Heim; Baker). Others, like Packer, argue that penal substitution lies at the core of the concept of atonement. Before we proceed further, it’s necessary to define what penal substitutionary atonement means.

Defining Penal Substitutionary Atonement

Penal substitutionary atonement is an interpretation or model of what Christ’s death on the cross achieved. As I’ve written elsewhere, its main principles include:

The atonement is based on God’s holiness. Because God is perfectly holy, he hates sin and punishes it.
Sin has a penalty that must be paid.
Humans cannot pay the penalty for their sins and still live; the penalty for sin is death.
Only God can pay the penalty for sin, but he must take on human nature to pay for humanity.
Through his death, Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, atoned for human sin.
The atonement had to happen in this way (the “penal substitution theory”).

This definition correctly emphasizes the central role of the Son. However, there’s more to the story since the Son never acts in isolation.

Inseparable Operations and the Holy Trinity

Since God is a Trinity, the work of the second person (the Son) is always connected to the work of the first (the Father) and third (the Holy Spirit) persons. This is known as the doctrine of inseparable operations. It means that in every act of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit act together with one will and one power. For instance, in creation, God the Father spoke the world into being through the Word (John 1:3), which is God the Son, while God the Holy Spirit hovered over the primeval chaos (Gen 1:2).

The same is true for the atonement. All three persons of the Trinity acted together in this divine work. Specifically, God the Father sent God the Son to become incarnate and sacrifice himself as a penal substitute for human sin (John 3:16–17; Gal. 4:4–5; 1 John. 4:10). God the Son willingly submitted to the Father’s will, becoming incarnate and obediently fulfilling the Father’s plan for penal substitutionary atonement (John 4:34; 5:36).

So, what about the Holy Spirit?

The Spirit’s Involvement at Every Stage

God the Holy Spirit was actively involved from start to finish in the divine work of atonement.
First, in the incarnation, the Holy Spirit was the one who caused the Son to be conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary. As the angel told Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). The Spirit’s role in this “new” creation is somewhat similar to his role in the original creation (Gen. 1:2). Just as in the original creation, the Spirit’s work was crucial here because without the incarnation, there could be no atonement (Heb. 2:9, 17).
Second, from the moment of his conception until the end of his earthly life, Jesus Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit “without measure” (John 3:34). This means that while Jesus was fully God and had an eternal relationship with the Spirit, the incarnate Son was also deeply indwelt and powerfully empowered by the Spirit. This presence of the Spirit meant that in everything the incarnate Son did—obeying the Father, resisting temptations, speaking God’s words, loving his disciples, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, casting out demons, and challenging religious leaders—he was anointed with the fullness of the Spirit (e.g., Luke 4:18; Matt. 12:28; Acts 10:38).
Third, just as the Holy Spirit had been with Jesus throughout his life, he did not leave Jesus during his painful sacrifice. Instead, the incarnate Son endured his penal substitutionary atonement, sustained to the end by the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 9:14 is a key passage here. In a section highlighting the cleansing power of Christ’s blood, the author notes that Jesus “through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God.”
Once again, the Spirit’s role in Jesus’ death shows the Trinity’s inseparable operations. Who offered himself? God the Son. To whom did he offer himself? God the Father. And how did he do it? Through God the Holy Spirit. In other words, it was because of the Spirit’s enabling presence that the dying Son “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2) and completed his penal substitutionary atonement.
Fourth and finally, death was not the end. The crucifixion was followed by the resurrection (Acts 2:24), and without the resurrection, the atonement would have been ineffective (1 Cor. 15:17). The Holy Spirit also played a vital role in the resurrection. For example, Paul emphasizes that the Father’s work of raising the Son was accomplished through the Holy Spirit: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11).
This life – giving work of the Spirit shouldn’t be a surprise. Jesus himself said, “It is the Spirit who gives life” (John 6:63). The mystery of godliness affirms that Jesus was “justified” or “vindicated by the Spirit,” which refers to the Son’s resurrection (1 Tim. 3:16). Paul also emphasized that Christ “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead” (Rom 1:4). With his resurrection through the Spirit crowning his saving work, Christ is said to be raised for our justification (Rom 4:25).

In conclusion, from the very beginning to the end and at every step in between, the Holy Spirit was actively involved in Christ’s penal substitutionary atonement.