Lutheran soteriology teaches that Jesus Christ made full atonement for human sin by his death on the cross. Lutheranism affirms a form of satisfaction/substitutionary atonement: Christ bore the punishment due to sinners, thereby satisfying divine justice. This is articulated throughout the Augsburg Confession, the Apology, and Luther's Catechisms. Luther's explanation of the Second Article states that Christ 'has redeemed me... from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.'

While penal substitution is the primary Lutheran model, Lutheran theologians have also employed Christus Victor imagery (Christ defeating sin, death, and the devil) without tension — indeed, Luther's theologia crucis holds both simultaneously. The objective efficacy of Christ's atonement is universal in scope (Christ died for all), though its benefits are received through faith alone. This universal scope of atonement distinguishes Lutheran soteriology from Calvinist limited atonement.