The Basics -- The Cross of Jesus Christ - the Riddleblog

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Inexplicably, Mr. Riddlebarger explains his doctrine with Bible verses that do not tell us what he says they tell us. It's a rather astonishing display of doctrinal color-blindness.

The Bible does not teach that Jesus died in our place. Nor does it say that the Father punished Jesus for our sins. And finally, Jesus did not atone for our sins, He propitiated them (turned away the Father's wrath.) 

Jesus carried our sin to the cross as a burden-bearer. Just like the sacrificial animals of the OT, He was never regarded as guilty, nor was He punished or forsaken by the Father. Jesus died to spill His blood and cleanse us from sin.

(...)

Why did Jesus need to die? Thankfully, throughout the New Testament, the biblical writers tell us why Jesus died and what his death means for us. When we briefly survey at the terms which the biblical writers use to explain the death of Jesus, the meaning and purpose of his death becomes clear.

First and foremost, Jesus’s death is said to be “for our sins.” (We will supply the reference: 

1Jn. 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.)

His is a “substitutionary atonement,” dying for us, and in our place. (The verse does not say "substitutionary atonement," even though the author puts it in quotes. In fact, He did not die in our place. There is no verse that says such a thing. There is no possible way that He died in our place, because we were already dead: 

Col. 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.

He died to wash away our sins and give us new life. He did not die in our place.)

In John 10:14-18, Jesus speaks of his coming death in the following terms: “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep . . . . the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” Jesus describes his coming death as “for his sheep” (i.e., for them and in their place). (No, this is incorrect. Yes, He died for us, but not in our place. "For" is hyper, which means 

for one's safety, for one's advantage or benefit (one who does a thing for another, is conceived of as standing or bending 'over' the one whom he would shield or defend...) 

Jesus' death was for our advantage and benefit. He did not die in our place.)

Reinforcing the centrality of the idea of substitution, the New Testament describes Jesus’ death as a “propitiation” for our sins, that is, a sacrifice which effectually turns aside the wrath of God toward those for whom he is dying. (Indeed, propitiation is the turning aside of wrath, and the proper term for what Jesus' death accomplished. Which of course means that Jesus turned aside God's wrath, but He did not experience it. If Jesus experienced the Father's wrath, then that wrath was not turned away.

Propitiation is not the same as atonement. Atonement is the Hebrew word kaphar, which means to cover over. The OT sacrifices only covered over sin, while propitiation completely turns away God's wrath. Jesus' death on the cross is a greater work.)

Paul speaks of the death of Christ as “a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:25). The apostle John tells us that Jesus’s death is a propitiation, and that his death shows us the love of God toward sinners. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Jesus’s death as the true Passover lamb on Good Friday, effectually and actually turns God’s wrath away from his people, because Jesus takes God’s wrath upon himself. (No, no, no! The author was doing so well. He gets it correct up to the point where he inserts the Calvinistic/Reformed doctrine that the Father punished Jesus instead of us. But no such idea is found in the quoted verses.)

Because he is God incarnate, his death alone can satisfy the holy justice of God by making a full and complete payment for the guilt of our sins. (Jesus did not make payment for our sins, He made payment for us: 

Re. 5:9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."

There is no verse that tells us Jesus paid for our sins. He died for our sins but did not pay for them.)

 As Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (We discuss this verse in detail here.

Let's concede for a moment that Jesus became our literal sin. Even then the verse does not say that the Father punished Jesus. There is no Bible verse that says such a thing.)

The language of “sacrifice” is also significant. In his Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul tells us that “Jesus Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). This tells us that the Old Testament sacrificial system pointed ahead to Jesus and his once for all sacrifice for sin on Calvary. In yet another set of verses, Jesus’s death is set forth as the means through which sinners are reconciled to a holy God from whom they are estranged. Paul tells the Christians in Rome, “for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10). In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul adds, “all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Elsewhere, Paul describes Christ’s death in terms of redemption–the price paid in the Roman world to purchase slaves, granting them their freedom. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). In Mark 10:45, Jesus informs the twelve that “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” And Peter describes the death of Jesus in much the same way, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). The emphasis in these verses is upon the unlimited value of Christ’s redemptive work on our behalf. 

The cross of Jesus Christ is therefore the only means of removing the guilt of our sin, as well as the fulfillment of the first messianic promise in Genesis 3:15, where we are told the coming Messiah (Jesus) will be bruised, even as he crushes the serpent’s head (Satan). (Once again the author's explanation is correct and biblical, until...)

In Colossians 2:13-15, Paul tells us, when “you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with [Christ], 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. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” When Jesus was nailed to cross, so too was the list of our many sins, the guilt of which Jesus has removed from us, once and for all. (...until this. The author does us a disservice by not even bothering to read the text. It clearly tells us what was nailed to the cross: The condemnation of the demands of the law.

The ESV rendering is curious here, telling us that the condemnation of the legal demands were set aside, but the NIV is more accurate: he took it away, nailing it to the cross. "Took" is airó, which means to take out of the way, destroy... Thus this condemnation was not "set aside," it was carried away, nailed to the cross. Jesus carried this condemnation under the to the cross as a burden bearer. He did this on our behalf and for our benefit.) 

Although the death of Jesus is unexpected when we first begin to trace out the story of our redemption, when we look carefully at God’s promise to save his sinful people, we soon discover that Jesus’s death is the “scarlet thread” of our redemption. There is no other way for a Holy God to save his people without sacrificing his justice. That he did so at all, shows us his great love for sinners. As Paul recounts his ministry to the Christians in Galatia, he tells them, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Our Lord’s death for our sins was foretold throughout the Old Testament, and that death fully described and carefully explained in the New. The meaning of the cross is clear. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).