Is anyone else confused by the whole notion of 'you can only be saved because Jesus died for you'?

Question

saved from what? what was before jesus's death? eveything before him was how it is now, people 'sin' (which is relative in speaking) as they did then the same they do now. Being born again is brain-induced, it's a chemical reaction for letting go of reason and rationale. Divine? hardly.

Answer 1

You noticed that the idea of sin is nonsense.

Hard to be saved from something that isn't even real isn't it?

I'm not even sure its a chemical reaction. Seems more like a mass delusion to me.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 2

In Christianity the period of study we have for before Jesus was born on earth is the Old Testament where God was telling mostly about the salvation of His Chosen people the Jews. In that area, during the time when they were practicing faithfully they confessed and repented of sin and tried to live a good life. In addition they prayed for forgivness and daily sacrifices were made to God. But, they knew a Messiah was coming who would allow them to be forgiven. There are prophesy and praise for the Messiah all through the Old Testament.

The New Testament is the Life of Jesus and the church He created. We understand that the Messiah has come and that through him there is forgiveness. Jews (non-messianic) and many devout worshipers of other faiths believe Jesus was a great man and prophet but not divine. Jews are still waiting for the Messiah to come.

When someone says "You can only be saved because Jesus died for you" here is what they are saying.

From the first sin in the garden of Eden there has been sin in the world. If you can look at your life and see that you have sinned, then there is a next step to consider. God cannot be in the presence of sin. Sin cannot enter Heaven. That is what we believe. Most religions do. So how do you absolve yourself of the sin? In our faith the bible teaches that grace and forgivenss cannot be earned through works alone. Sin is a debt that can only be paid with death. So if all was fair, we would die for our sin. And that is all. But we believe that God loves us, all of us, and does not want us to be seperated from Him. So through His grace and mercy He sent His Son. Because Jesus is part man and part God he had the ability to live without sin. The knowledge needed to always choose the right path. He was tempted and tried, but never faltered. He was killed though. Because He died without sin it allowed His singular death to absolve the sins of many (past, present, and future). If we confess (admit) we are a sinner, believe that God is God, Jesus is His Son and lived a sinless life and died for our sins and we confess that belief out loud, then we will be washed of our sin. That is all it takes.

The problem arises that people cannot fathom anyone being perfect. They cannot understand true and total forgiveness because we as humans are so bad at it. We look at our lives and say "Well I'm not that bad. I don't kill, or steal. I live a good life" or "Who could ever forgive everything I have done?" So they turn away. To me there comes a point for those who become believers where there is just something biblical that strikes them as so true, so right, that they cannot turn away from it. They need to hear more. And when they do they recognize the truth in it. From there they take the leap of faith, if this is true, and that is true, and it is more right than anything else I have ever seen, then it must all be true. Does that mean Christians don't have moments of doubt, no but we work to overcome them, and they come less and less often as we mature.

Thanks for the good question. Hope you will continue to ask and think about all the answers, not just those who agree.

Answer 3

Saved from what? The punishment from sin which is seperation from God, which may not seem like a big deal now, but it will be in eternity. Before Jesus, when people sinned they had to atone for sin via animal sacrifice... shedding innocent blood for atonement. However, Jesus was the final sacrifice, He shed His innocent blood to cover the sins of anyone who repents and trusts His sacrifice. Claiming that being forgiven or born again is "a chemical reaction for letting go of reason" doesnt make it so. You can believe all you want that Christians are off in their own little world but we know our own lives and the great changes we have seen in it since we have come to Christ. It's open to you too... so dont act as though its exclusive.

Answer 4

The wage of sin is death. God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son to die. By living a perfect life, his sacrifice was enough to forgive everyone their sins, past, present, and future.
Before Jesus the Jews lived under The Law. Now, nothing was wrong with the law, the fualt was with man. The Law was holy and demanded that you obey it completely. But, as man is a sinful creature, everyone falls short. Thus, everyone dies. And while everyone still dies, as the wages of sin are death, they don't have to die again at the ressurection.
Also, to the question above about passing on sin from Adam, it isn't the sin itself that is passed on, but the fallen nature, and impending death. Becuase of Adam and Eve, everyone dies, and through are own actions we sin and fall short of The Law. But, through Christ sacrifice, our sins are forgiven, and we are made into new creatures.
Under the New Convenant, you are not required to be perfect, though desirable. The only requirements are 1)Belief that Jesus died for your sins 2) Good Works (For w/o works faith is dead).
Oh, and as for being born-again, you don't understand the meaning of it. What it means is that you change your life and focus on God's kingdom. It means carrying your cross daily, and leaving your old evil ways behind. It means giving your life to God as a living sacrifice.
As for letting go of reason and rationale, your just trying to insult people now. I am always reasonable and ratioale, i love debates, and i hate unsound arguments. But, i don't expect you to believe that of me from a single post, ask some more questions.
Well, i hope this helps.

Ryan

Answer 5

Well, Christian theology is long, confused, contradictory, and often not known by general Christians. Christians need to be saved because they believe in Original Sin, which God set-up. Now, there has been debate about whether God decided on who he was electing for Salvation before or after the Fall of Man. No one knew if s/he was elected by God to go to Heaven or not. It wasn't until about 200 years ago Christian began to believe that they could have anything to do on a personal level to attain Salvation. Now, the popular theology is that all one has to do is love Jesus a whole bunch to get into Heaven, which is absurd when compared to the original theology.

Answer 6

Wages of the sin was death, but now we are under a new covenant. Sin needed to be punished, God offered Himself to be punished for our sins. He came to the earth to show how to have a personal relationship with God. We were too hang up on our self made rules and all He really wanted to us to love Him and love one another. And when you love one another you want to make right choices. You want to give up your rights to retaliate. You want to give yourself to serve others, like Jesus did.

So, Jesus carried our sins and died, only think for us it to recognize Him for what He is and what He has done for us, ask forgiveness because we would not make it by law. He was willing to die because the wages of the sin was death.

To be born again is necessary. Holy Spirit will guide us. We are still prone to do wrong, but He died for all of our sins. Every single one of them, in the past, present and in the future. So we do not feel that we cannot measure up. Give Him your heart, and everything else follows.

Answer 7

Before Jesus' death the Jews had laws they were to abide by. They burnt sacrifices ,certain animals for certain sins as an atonement for sin. This didn't work so God sent Jesus here to live among us to be our example and to show how we are to Love one another...he died on the cross for our sacrifice for sin. You believe this you confess it to God. You will be saved from sin and have eternal life.

Answer 8

I find it very confusing (with all due respect to Christians).

First, how is it that I have sin inherited from Adam and Eve? How is it that sin is passed on? Makes no sense to me.

Second, how could someone else dying correct anything in my life? I wasn't even born then and even if I was it doesn't effect me.

I'm sure it makes some sense, some how but I don't get it.

Answer 9

in order for the Jesus as savior concept to work you must believe in human blood sacrifice as an appeasement for a wrathful god (toss that virgin into the volcano). Christianity complicates this repugnant concept further by saying Jesus and the god to which he is sacrificed is the same deity.

Jesus sacrificed himself to himself in order to forgive humanity it's sins?

PS. notice how the Christians answer this question by rote?

Answer 10

I'm still trying to put together why the Romans reluctantly crucified Jesus if it was god's divine plan. Just think, if the Romans said no, the Jewish priests would have been stuck with a living Jesus!