Why was Jesus dying on the cross significant to forgiving our sins?

Question

I know people say that with such passion and understanding, but I never could understand why that is...I ask, cuz I read someone ask if I've asked God for forgiveness for sinning. So I don't know...

Answer 1

Theres many ideas aboutt he Cross. I think Saint John in his Gospel says it the best saying "behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world". He does so by accepting a terrible death in spite of his innocence. He commits a perfect act of love which opens the gates of Heaven.

Answer 2

In the Old Testament, they way that sins were forgiven by God was by bringing a sacrifice to an altar and the high priest would shed the blood of the lamb or ram or dove and the blood would provide a temporary cleansing for sin. 'They had to come back again and again, andevry year they would offer lots of animals for the nation as well. But God had a better plan. Jesus became a better sacrifrice, one that was not temprary, but one that was permanent. He was the perfect sacrifice. He had no sin. The book of Hebrews explains it all. Try reading it in an understandable bersion like New Living Translation, or even the Message Bible... You can do it on line at www.biblegateway.com

Answer 3

Jesse Lee,
My own death wouldn't save a squirrel. So how is it that Jesus made such a significant sacrifice?

Because He was that one that God had sent to be that sacrifice. The Jews had sacrifices at their temple. Jesus was the fulfillment of those sacrifices. He was also the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb. Have you even heard the term; The Lamb of God? That was Jesus. He came from heaven, and washed away the sins of the world. And God called it!

Answer 4

A sinless man dying for a sinful person - thats just WRONG! Or is it?.... Jesus was perfect, yet still man. He had the same temptations, yet did not ever sin, so it only made complete sense that He would choose to die for US - sinful and full of blame since birth. He gave us a chance, even though if it were a matter of going to court, we'd be convicted on all counts. Its the act of sinless having to go through what we SHOULD have been sent to go through.

Answer 5

Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God."

Hebrews 9:22 says "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Christ even said that he willingly gave his life on the cross to bring us back into a right relationship with God.

Answer 6

The first thing that someone should be considering is whether the idea of sin is actually real.

If God is supposed to be perfect how could She have made anything or anyone that wasn't perfect.
Think about it. The idea of sin assumes certain things about God that seem highly unlikely.

First it assumes a God who is too incompetent to organize a simple educational field excursion and figure out a way to get all of the students home safely.

How likely is this that God would not be smart enough to come up with a plan for our salvation that is going to work?

It also assumes that God must have created us imperfect if we are sinners.

One might assume that God would be able to create someone perfect each and every time if he chose to. Assuming God is capable of this, then it follows logically that we must be perfect creations if we are actually creations of this perfect God.

Unless of course you are saying that God chose to create us imperfect.

If God created us imperfect then anything that may go wrong is Gods fault, not ours. This seems a bit illogical at best so I think that we need to assume that What God creates would have to be perfect.

If this is the case and Gods creations are perfect, then nothing that we can do could change what God created perfect and make it imperfect unless we think that we are more powerful than God is.

How likely is it that we the creation could be more powerful than the creator. I personally find this idea somewhat amusing, and a bit absurd.

Religion tells us that God is perfect. If this is true then it could hardly be logically for Gods creations to be considered to be anything less than perfect.

If this is the case and we are perfect creations of a perfect God then Nothing that we can ever do could possibly change this perfection that God willed, unless we were so powerful that our choices could override and change the will of God.

How likely is that????

Think about it.

The idea of sin is simple nonsense; a lie made up about God by religion.

Love and blessings
don

Answer 7

The first human pair were created perfect and designed to live forever.However when they sinned and disobeyed God they lost all of that.And as offspring of Adam and Eve,we are all born imperfect,we age and eventually die.(Rom.5:12)
So mankind was doomed to live in sin and pay its penalty,death.To free man from enslavement to sin and death a ransom was needed.A perfect man lost life for all mankind therefore another perfect man was needed to buy back what Adam had lost.Hence,Jehovah provided the opportunity for recovery from this slavery by a release by ransom,through Jesus Christ.(Matt.20:28;1Tim.2:5,6)
Those that exercise faith in that ransom sacrifice have the opportunity for everlasting life in the future and have the basis for restoring vital right relations with God,the life-giver with forgiveness of sin.(John3:16,17:3)

Answer 8

Depends on who you ask

there was a Jewish literary figure-in rabbinic literature-not found in the OT ....called the "suffering servant"....a person that would suffer for the sins of the people...the precursor to the christian image of the pascal lamb -sacrificial lamb motif

there was the atonement for Adam's "fall", the original sin motif...a fairly complex one to explain theologically ; but , basically, god is giving humanity a second chance at a sort of paradise...by atoning for Adam's fall

then, there is the extension of the Judaic covenant theology that was established by moses ...with the blood of a lamb...
passover, egypt, death of the first born..etc etc etc...linking the blood sacrifice, the lamb imagery and covenant theology...
note several, repeated references to the "new covenant" in the NT

then there is Roman law...nothing theological about it at all
In Jerusalem at that time, under Roman law...any one convicted of sedition, of treason was executed ...often by crucifixion so as to set an example for the rest of the population NOT to revolt

and then again,...
a lessor known theological reference
the "merits of the fathers"
sometimes called "merits of the ancestors"
Under Judaic tradition...Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not Jewish...Judaism starts with Moses...however, they were considered the fathers/ancestors of Judaism...and accorded a special place in heaven..
if a person interceded with/prayed to the "merits of the fathers"...this is a technical terminology....he could ask the fathers to intercede with god for him....
somewhat akin to a death bed plea for mercy
or a near death act of contrition....
however....if the "fathers" looked down and saw that the person was being crucified...all bets were off., they would not intercede...crucifixion negated the "merits of the fathers"
so....to tie it in with christian theological writers aware of this....
Jesus' death on the cross and subsequent resurrection showed that he had perfected/continued the Jewsih covenant and had even overcome the "fathers" of Judaism ...overcome death in this world and in the next....

Answer 9

Have you heard that in a marriage the two shall become one? I mean the husband has what the wife has and the wife has what the husband has (at least that is how it is supposed to work) Well, the result of sin is that we die-- it is only justice. God is justice so that has to stand but, he is also merciful so he sent his son to become our husband through the Church being his wife. He dies because we die---we live because he rose from the dead. He accepts our sin and puts it to death on the cross with him then we go free with him to Heaven. This is why we still have to die because it is the death of sin only. Thanks be to God.

Answer 10

The wages of sin is death. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Therefore, we all deserve the sentence of death. However, God does not want that to be our sentence. He wants us back with him. In order for an imperfect humanity to regain its relationship with a perfect God, a perfect sacrfice had to be made. That sacrifice was Jesus, who was God incarnate.