Atonement for sin?

[hamletcat]

Can someone please explain why "Jesus died on the cross for our sins to save us, and set us straight with god." As though I am completely new to Christian beliefs. Because I am really not understanding, it doesn't make sense at all. I have heard all these words before and read the scripture, but I still don't understand it.

None of us completely understand it.  You're right:  It doesn't "make sense."   What makes sense is that God should destroy humanity for our sin.  That's what we deserve.  It makes sense that sinners should go to hell.

 

But God loved us enough to find a way to redeem us without compromising His holiness.  That is at the heart of why Jesus died. Jesus took our death penalty.  He paid the price we owed.   He took on the weight our sin when He died.  He sacrificed Himself so that we could be forgiven.

So is it like Jesus offered his own life in trade for God destroying humanity instead?

[OneLight]

IT means that we have a way to be completely right with God and enjoy eternity with Him.  Only through Christ can we have salvation. Without Christ, there would be no forgiveness form sin, no salvation.

[Guest shiloh357]

 

 

Can someone please explain why "Jesus died on the cross for our sins to save us, and set us straight with god." As though I am completely new to Christian beliefs. Because I am really not understanding, it doesn't make sense at all. I have heard all these words before and read the scripture, but I still don't understand it.

None of us completely understand it.  You're right:  It doesn't "make sense."   What makes sense is that God should destroy humanity for our sin.  That's what we deserve.  It makes sense that sinners should go to hell.

 

But God loved us enough to find a way to redeem us without compromising His holiness.  That is at the heart of why Jesus died. Jesus took our death penalty.  He paid the price we owed.   He took on the weight our sin when He died.  He sacrificed Himself so that we could be forgiven.

So is it like Jesus offered his own life in trade for God destroying humanity instead?

 

Yes,  Jesus was our substitute.  Instead of destroying us, Jesus took our place and died the death we deserved.   All of God's hatred of sin and all of His wrath and judgement were hurled at Jesus instead of us.  Jesus bore it all.   And as a result we are able to be in right relationship with God because Jesus satisfied God's justice.

[hamletcat]

Now I finally understand. Thank you so much. So now we owe Jesus, in a way for dying the death we deserved. That makes sense.

[Openly Curious]

Now I finally understand. Thank you so much. So now we owe Jesus, in a way for dying the death we deserved. That makes sense.

 

..

[Ozzy]

There is a price that must be paid for breaking the laws of God. Since God is just, justice demands the price be paid. But since God is merciful as well, He wants to give mercy to those who ask. The only way to appease justice and to also be merciful was to have a mediator. Someone who could pay the price to fulfill the demands of justice, but also to extend mercy to those who are penitent. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, was the one chosen for this role. That is why He is called the Christ, or the Messiah. He is the chosen one, the anointed one, chosen from before the foundation of the world to atone for our sins. He lived a perfect, sinless life on Earth, thus becoming the only one that justice had no grasp on. Being spotless and blameless before God, He could offer his blood and life to pay the price for us.

 

In the garden of Gethsemane He prayed and pleaded for us. He suffered beyond imagination anguish of both body and soul, so much so that His sweat turned to great drops of blood. Asking the Father if there was any other way, He knew that there was not. He had to drink the dregs of the cup of the wrath of God, He had to descend below all things, He had to feel the pains of hell and damnation, and feel the complete withdrawal from the Father and His spirit. He had to suffer what we would suffer if no intercession had been made for us. He had to know our pains and our infirmities. He had to pay the price for all of the children of the Father. After that anguish, He was taken and beaten, stripped of His clothes and pummeled, spit on, accused falsely, and hung on a cross. He fulfilled His mission by suffering death and being resurrected.

 

After all this, all He asks of us is that we repent and keep His commandments. We learn of the gospel and what was done for us, we decide we want to be better, so we repent by asking God for forgiveness, we try to correct what we have done wrong, we move forward in faith in trying to keep His commandments to the best of our ability, becoming better and better every day. The animal sacrifices that you speak of in the Old Testament was to point their minds forward to the time when the Lamb of God would atone for their sins and pay the price. Today we look backwards and remember what He has done for us. This is why we take the bread and the wine often, so that we REMEMBER Him and keep our minds fastened on the atonement and that we should have a repentant heart and keep His commandments always.

 

It should be kept in mind that we are preparing ourselves to enter the presence of God. Our life has become a probationary life where we can learn from experience, by trial and error, why we want to be good and keep God's commands. As we taste the pain that breaking the laws most assuredly brings; as we have sorrow and regret for our actions and misdeeds, we have the great promises of our Lord and Savior that we can and will be forgiven if we repent and try our best. If we do this, we will stand before God to be judged and the Savior will be on our side and mercy will be extended. That is how the atonement works.

[bcbsr]

God is just and as such obligates Himself as a matter of justice to compensate victims of unjustified suffering. Jesus, as a victim of unjustified suffering, was entitled to compensation, and with such compensation paid for the sins of the world. In this way justice was satisfied in the atonement.