Did Jesus die as a sacrifice for sin?

Question

If so, why do Christians claim people need to repent or do anything?

If Jesus died for sin, how is it that we still have sin?

I'm not asking for bible verses, I'm asking for a logical explanation of how a debt was paid, yet still remains.

Thanks.

Mosaic law required a sacrifice (death) for the payment of sin. Jesus allegedly paid that price with his life. His death was not a "get out of jail free card" it was the literal payment for sin.

I refuse to read bible verses because bible verses must be read in context and require interpretation. In other words, they are meaningless in regards to answering the question asked.

I agree that the answers seem to contradict Christian doctrine, which claims Jesus paid the price for all sin for all time.

But, I sincerely appreciate everyone's answers and this is an open forum, read by lots of people. Whether I agree or not isn't important. Everyone gets to offer his opinion on the subject and answer to the best of his ability. Which is good.

Answer 1

Okay, this is my understanding of it from all I've read here on Y!A and elsewhere... Please correct me if I've made any mistakes...

In the beginning, God made a bunch of rules. Those who followed them went to heaven and those who broke them went to hell.

But they were really difficult rules, so God decided to send Jesus to the world. Jesus was God's son, but he was God Himself, too. Plus the Holy Spirit. And the "Word made Flesh". And many other things too.

Jesus's mission was to spread the word of God, his Father (i.e. Himself), but he was also our Saviour. This he accomplished by dying. You see, everyone is a sinner, and no-one can live up to God's rules. God seems to have realised that in due course. He could have, say, changed the rules or just absolved us all by fiat, but this whole kill-My-son (i.e. Myself) thing seemed easier.

Jesus was predestined to die for our sins. It was his calling. This is why he hid from the Romans like a fugitive, and why Pilate, Judas and the Jews are all condemned for their complicity - because they wanted to kill a man who wanted to die and was preordained to die. Their crucial role in carrying out God's plan to redeem us all is why we should hate them today.

When Jesus, who willingly died and could have prevented it if he had wanted, was on the cross, he called out 'Father, why have you betrayed me?' This means, 'Father (i.e. myself), why have You (i.e. I) abandoned me (i.e. Yourself) when I'm carrying out the mission that you (i.e. I) decided to undertake in the first place?' This is because God, who is omnipotent, could not bear to look sin in the face, and Jesus (i.e. God) had become sin at that moment. Then Jesus died.

Except he didn't die. He spent a long weekend somewhere and then he was resurrected. So Jesus died for our sins, but he didn't die. He was raised again and now sits at the right hand of God. Except that he is God. But anyway, we can all go to heaven now, where we couldn't before Jesus died/didn't die for us.

Of course, we can still go to hell. Jesus died for our sins, but it doesn't count unless you accept him as your Saviour. Plus, if you're Catholic, you also have to confess and repent and atone. And if you're Protestant, it doesn't much matter anyway, because God decided where you were going before you were born. Plus there's something about wine and thin little wafers.

So then... what have we learnt? Well, God's law is eternal, but God's law is really harsh so He gave us a hand by sending His son/Himself to die. Except that he didn't die. Because he died/didn't die, people can go to heaven. But they still have to follow God's law, or else they'll go to hell. Just like it was before God sent His son/Himself to die/not die on the cross in order to absolve/not absolve us of our sins.

I hope this clears up any misunderstandings... It's all very clear and logical when you approach it the right way.

Answer 2

Jesus paid it all but yet people still continue to sin. He can only die once and for all. People need to repent and stay sinless but God is yet merciful when we fall short unknowingly. We just can't continue to sin. Sin brings forth destruction. The sinners who continue to sin or those who are straddling the fence are opening up a new credit card,running up the bill and sadly, there is no debt counselor to help them this time unless they sincerely repent and turn from their ways!

Answer 3

4 The lifeblood of the perfect man Jesus, poured out in sacrificial death, is thus seen to have a saving merit in behalf of those who exercise faith in it. Hence it is the blood given in sacrifice that is needed to effect the salvation of the world, not merely the “profound, substantial, everlasting truths of the Christian gospel.” There would be no release without the shed blood. The Scriptures emphasize this truth outstandingly. It is sheer folly, then, to view the self-sacrificing course of Jesus as essentially unnecessary to his saviorhood of the world. If the merit of the shed blood is not applied in behalf of any person, that man has no hope of gaining everlasting life. The perfect lifeblood of Jesus Christ corresponded to that life value that Adam lost. When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, he had in his possession the right to perfect human life with all its prospects, exactly what Adam by the sin of disobedience had lost for the human race. This ransom price Jesus handed over in the presence of God and in exchange therefore received the human race for the purpose of giving deserving members of it the opportunity to gain everlasting life.—Rom. 5:15-19, NW.

Answer 4

Jesus died because he loved. In the totality of his life he demonstrated love and total forgiveness. But there are times that we seem to want to experiment with danger,fire, the opposite of what we think we should do. It is the path of science. And the result can be an awful mistake. I feel Jesus died because the powers that were ( perhaps still are) find that sticking to laws is safer than listening really to the truth or sincerity of an individual. Perhaps Jesus died to tell the world :"Your truth, your love is your guiding light with the risk of being (sometimes) totally misinterpreted".

Answer 5

Ok, God is pure and cannot tolerate sin and man is sinful. Jesus died to bridge the gap between man and God. So in saying he died for our sins, I'm saying that somebody had to pay the price for sins because God is just and did not just let it slide but he still wanted to be able to have a relationship with man, so by placing His entire wrath for man's sins onto Jesus Christ, we are able to have a relationship with God thru Jesus. Think if you stole something and was caught, in court about to be sentenced and your father is there but cannot be with you because you are a confessed criminal and someone steps into the courtroom and says that they will go to jail in your place and serve your time so that your relationship with your father can continue and grow. Thats what its like.

Answer 6

Since he never existed it cannot be! There is not one single mention of Jesus in the entire Roman record - that is right - not one! At the same time as he was supposed to have been around there were a number of Jews claiming to be the messiah - all of whom are well recorded! There is not a single contemporary record from any source and even the bible mentions of him like all other references were not written until many years after his supposed death! He was supposed to have been a huge problem to the Romans and produced wonderful miracles but still not one contemporary record? Even the bible mentions of him like all other references were not written until many years after his supposed death! Pilate is recorded in the Roman record as a somewhat lack luster man but no mention of a Jesus, a trial or crucifixion that would surely have been used to make him look brighter! At best he was an amalgam of those others but almost certainly never existed!

Answer 7

I'd give up this tack if I were you. You will succede in demonstrating that some christians don't know what they're on about but they're easily bamboozled back as long as you try to play in their stadium. The Church has an army trained to argue the Bible. They've been at it for centuries. Don't even try. As soon as it starts going that way, back off. They are miserable and exhausting arguments and all they do is divert attention.

Answer 8

Well Jesus died to pay the ransom yes but if you recall people still continued being evil,so the people that walk in the path of righteousness have a chance for everlasting life,Jesus scarified he self for us to have a chance to repent and like i said have everlasting life i would give you scriptures but like you said your not asking for them so I'll leave it at that.I guess we will find out soon he will be the one to ask all the questions that are in doubts.

Answer 9

He didn't redeem us because sin is insignificant. He didn't sacrifice Himself so that we could live in sin.

We deserve to die for our sins. "The wages of sin is death." Any sin. It doesn't have to be what we would consider bad enough to deserve death. Any sin separates us from God.

When we accept His gift of salvation, we are covered by His life. We strive to live His life to the best of our abilities.

At judgment, when Satan - the accuser - details our faults to God and we have no excuse, Jesus - our Advocate - says, "yes, but I have paid for those sins, and he/she is Mine."

What you're asking is for the debt to be paid, delivered to you and you want to continue to run up a tab and not pay.

Answer 10

This is a cheasy example:

Think of it as a "get out of jail free" card. Christ died as a sacrifice to attone for sins. So, when we sin we can ask God for forgiveness and accept the sacrifice of Jesus instead of offering a sacrifice of our own. In effect, we cash in a get-out-of-jail-free card when we ask God for forgiveness. Fortunately, He's happy to supply us with lots and lots of these cards. :)

Answer 11

God can't look at sin or at us with sin in our hearts. That's why Jesus died......to save us. We have to repent and give our sins to Christ so that we can be closer to God. That's the best way I can put it. That's how it was explained to me. Hope it helps.