What does it mean that Christ was smitten for our offenses?
Christ was smitten for our offenses means He suffered and died once on the cross on our behalf. His smiting was a single, completed work, not repeated again and again. Having risen victorious over sin and death, believers now appropriate that work by faith through fellowship, speaking, and prayer, not by another crucifixion.
Les teaches that before anyone could appropriate these things by faith, Christ first had to suffer and die. Using the Old Testament term, He was smitten for our offenses. That word "smitten" is important because later, in the book of Numbers, Israel murmurs and complains about water, and Moses, at the end of his patience, strikes the rock contrary to God's instruction instead of speaking to it. The lesson is that you do not smite Christ twice. He has been smitten, and the Hebrew word over and over is "once." This He did once; He went to the cross once, not again and again. So the basic truth is that He was smitten for our offenses, but only once. After His having been smitten, and after He arose from the dead victorious over sin and death, we do not appropriate anything more by another crucifixion. Now we appropriate it through fellowship, speaking, communication. That is why God has given us the whole power of prayer, so we can speak with Him, praise Him, and petition Him—not through another smiting, but by speaking to Him.