I was glad to have come across this quote from John Stott’s book, The Cross of Christ, on the concept of substitution and the role it plays in sin and in salvation. I have always thought of substitution in reference to salvation, i.e., the substitutionary atonement of Christ, but not necessarily in terms of sin. In reading Stott’s quote, I see that it applies both ways. See for yourself.
The concept of substitution may be said, then, to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.