Often repeated but—

It is not found in the Bible. Because death is not the penalty for sin. As Paul clearly states in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” And he says in 2 Thessalonians 1:9, “For these will be recompensed . . .”(Murdock). A recompense is the reward or payment for something done. Our paycheck at the end of the week is our just recompense for the work we have done, and death is the just recompense for the work that one does in the flesh—sin. As the Young’s Literal Translation of 2 Thessalonians 1:9 puts it, “who shall suffer justice . . .” (2 Pet 2:12,13) Death is what one reaps as a result of what has been sown (Gal 6:8); it is a stored up treasure (James 5:3). The false notion that YHWH needs some sort of payment for our sin shows a lack of understanding of the true nature of YHWH and His plan for mankind.

There is nothing one owns that one can give to YHWH in payment for anything, not even one’s life, because our life is not our own. YHWH owns our life. It is He who gives mankind everything. Everything already belongs to YHWH (Exod 19:5; Job 34:13-15; Ecc 12:7; Ps 50:10-13; Hag 2:7,8). We can rightly say the wages of sin is death, and Jesus paid the redemption price to free us from our bondage to sin, and Jesus’ blood provides forgiveness for sins (Rom 6:16 & 6:23; Heb 2:15 & 9:12; Eph 1:7; 2 Pet 2:15 (Murdock). But we cannot rightly say Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.