Can you please explain the logic in Jesus dying for our sins?

Question

I don't understand how allowing your own son to be viciously murdered can do any good... This is a serious question, I want to understand why he died for our sins.

Answer 1

This is a good question and one that I've had myself. Such a serious question requires a seriously thought out answer, so please read to the end. I promise you will have a clearer understanding.

First, you have to understand who Jesus is. A lot of people mistakenly think of Jesus as just an unfortunate man who got a raw deal from God - that God somehow twisted His arm into suffering for us against His will. Or they think of God as a mean Father who unfairly punished His son. But, Jesus was God incarnate - that means He was God in bodily form. He was both fully God and fully man. (A mere, ordinary man could not have atoned for the sins of all who believe in Him).

God is triune in nature (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) - not three Gods, but One with three distinctive roles. Admittedly, the trinity is a difficult concept for our finite minds to grasp. It would probably be like trying to explain ourselves to an ant. The best analogy I've seen someone use is water (not that God can be summed up with this analogy, mind you). One substance, but with three different properties - liquid (water), solid (ice), gas (steam).

Now that you have a better understanding of who Jesus is, let's talk about sin. Going back to the Old Testament, God instituted a blood covenant relationship between Him and us (Leviticus 17:11). Atonement for our sins required a blood sacrifice (many times a spotless lamb without blemish), offered by a High Priest. Why was the shedding of innocent blood required to pay for the sins of the guilty? I'm honestly not certain, but my guess is that it is to show us just how serious sin is in God's eyes ("For the wages of sin is death" - Romans 6:23).

Sin is so serious that it required the spilling of blood and the sacrifice of life. Think of it this way - if whenever you broke any law, no matter how small it seemed in your eyes, instead of getting a citation or a slap on the wrist, you had to make a blood sacrifice... Which would be more likely to convince you of the gravity of your transgression against the law? For me, the blood sacrifice would stay in my mind and make me look at the consequences of my transgressions more seriously.

Now that you have an understanding of why a blood sacrifice was required, let's fast forward to Jesus. Jesus (God incarnate, remember) was born for a specific purpose, to be the Lamb of God (John 1:29) - to offer Himself willingly as the final sacrifice for our sins.

Instead of having to go to a priest, who was sinful himself, to make blood sacrifices day after day, year after year, to atone for our sins, Jesus, our High Priest forever (Hebrews 6:20), who was holy and blameless (was without sin) sacrificed His innocent blood once and for all for the forgiveness of sins of all who accept His sacrifice. That's why animal sacrifices are no longer required - Jesus was our final blood sacrifice. During the Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus alluded to this:

"Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'" -Matthew 26:27-28

So, to sum it up, the blood of Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God. This sacrifice was not an act of viciousness on God's part (remember, Jesus and the Father are one - John 10:30), but an act of love and mercy - for us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

To have our sins pardoned and not have to pay the penalty for them, all we have to do is, by faith, accept Jesus's sacrifice on our behalf. Salvation is a free gift to us from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). He offers it, but it is up to us to accept or refuse.

Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." -John 14:6

I hope this was helpful!

------------------------------------------------------
For about the blood of Christ and why it was necessary, read Hebrews 9:11-28 at http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%209:11-28;&version=31;

Answer 2

Really, the Jesus thing is a parable. Meaning, He knew he would be rejected. He knew that from the beginning. No surprise there. His being here showed that even though God was among us, He was still rejected because He didn't preform parlor tricks and wasn't the King of men some people expected. He worked for His money and didn't believe any man was above salvation. He could've gotten out of anything (like working or even his own execution) but He didn't because He was here to show that He is just like us. He could live with and like us.

That being said, before Jesus was here, man had to atone for his sins (ie animal sacrifices, etc). After Jesus was here, He saw how hard it actually is to be a human. Temptation to do wrong is everywhere. Being of the flesh isn't all that easy. That was the point of Jesus' life. That God can relate and yes, we all are bound to sin. Saying Jesus died for our sins basically means that now if or when we sin, we can ask God for forgiveness without having to sacrifice animals. As long as we mean it and our hearts are true and we don't keep sinning with the idea that we have a get out of jail free card, He will forgive.


And no, I'm not a practicing Christian. I'm no religion. Religion is man made and when man is involved, there's way too much corruption. You asked about Jesus and sinning and that's how I rationalize it. Doesn't make it true or right or anything. That's just my interpretation. You should really read about these things and make your own choices based on what fits you best.

Answer 3

The Bible tells us God can see the commencing from the precise. So He knew of each and every sin you will ever dedicate even until eventually now than you have been born. And Jesus paid the cost as quickly as, for all your sins. Repentance (fairly replacing your innovations approximately the will for a savior) gets you into heaven. persevered sin after repentance places you out of fellowship with the Lord. He can't bless you while you're secure in sin, even in the adventure that your salvation is certain. this is why a million John a million:9 says to admit your sins to God and he will cleanse you of all unrighteousness.

Answer 4

Satan gained dominion over mankind and the earth, as a result of Adam's sin.

Man was not capable of redeeming himself.

Jesus came as a man to be our sacrifice for sin.

No one, not even the devil, had the right to take the life of a sinless and innocent man, let alone the only son of God.

But the devil couldn't help himself, so he got his minions, the Jews and the Romans, to put Jesus to death.

Jesus permitted it, knowing that his death would become Satan's destruction.

When Jesus died, Satan's fate was sealed. Satan was judged for his crime, stripped of all that he had earlier gained from Adam's sin, and left desolate.

Jesus was resurrected from the dead, and installed as the new head of all mankind.

With Jesus as our leader, God was more than willing to forgive our sins, and our redemption was at hand.

The church continues God's work of redemption in the world today.

Answer 5

Jesus was not just anybody's son, He was God's Son.
God is merciful to humankind & sacrificed his only begotten Son to save us. God has feelings too. As
Abraham had proven to Him that he would sacrifice
his son for God, so God did likewise for us. However, it is
not as simple as some Christians believe that they are saved just by believing in Christ. There are 2 reasons why
Jesus had to die for us :-

1. To redeem us for our past sins
2. To set an example to mankind that we may follow his
ways. If all of mankind is able to do what Jesus did
i.e. to love your enemies, then there will be no sin in
this world.

If only Christians would wake up & understand that in believing the Lord, you must also follow His Ways.

Answer 6

God gave His people commandments and they refused to obey. Even though they knew what was expected of they just continued to sin and were unrepentant. God loves all anyway and He does not want us to go to hell.He had already told His people how to get into heaven, but they were not good enough to make it.God could not go back on His word. In order for us to get to heaven someone had to pay for all our sins. He sent Jesus to do this. Do you know of anyone on this earth that would have done what Jesus did for a bunch of hard headed,non believing sinners?No one here could or would have done it. Jesus knew why He was sent to earth. He prepared all His life for it. He prepared His deciples to take over where He left off. For this reason did He come and all you have to do is believe in Him, ask His forgiveness, and accept Him as your Savior. Your life will change if you are sincere. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

Apparently, the logic is that you could only atone for your sins with blood sacrifice.

The funny thing is, that's not true. To be forgiven of sins you didn't NEED an animal to sacrifice. You only needed to do this thing called teshuvah, which is basically "repentance" and it involves four steps of recognizing your wrong, apologizing, resolving to not do it again, and then making a conscious and worthwhile effort to not do it again. The man who didn't have a bull to sacrifice was as much forgiven as the man with the red heifer.

The OTHER funny thing is, that even when sacrifices were being done, there were rules as to what COULD be sacrificed. Only a "higher kosher" sect of animals were good enough for sacrificing. Lambs, bulls, etc were both of this higher standard just by species. After that, they had to be without blemish in order to be fit. Great thing about this, though--humans are not even kosher on the first level, let alone the second sacrificial level. So there is no logic--people just really want to believe what they believe.

and carnaby--it's 6 days and 6000 years *wink*

Answer 8

Since I truly believe that sacrafice of any kind goes against one of the ten commandments, it kinda seems like a do as I say not as I do philosophy. Here you have God saying these are my rules that you absolutely must follow except on the rare occasion that I decide that you must do something against these rules and you cannot question me on this because I am doing this for your own good. And then on top of it say, I am doing this for your sins. Is kind of like saying; you made me do it. I mean really.

Answer 9

All throughtout the Old Testament God told His people, the Jews, to sacrifice animals in payment of their sins...to show God that they were truly sorry! But the Bible says that none of those sacrifices ever truly paid off the debt. So, having known this from the beginning, God came to earth in the form of one of us to be the only atoning sacrifice for our failures. He had to be pure, and that He was! He paid for sins because He Himself had never committed any and thus made the sacrifice! His rising from the dead gave us the chance to put our faith in His AWEsome power. He defeated death and defeated Hell! It was the only thing that could have taken our sin away. Could God have just waved His hand and forgiven all of us? Yes! But by doing it this way, He paid the debt Himself, and now asks us to believe in Him and what He did for us. He presents the gift; we have to accept the gift!

Thanks for the question. I hope I have been of some help!

Answer 10

Because God is a God of justice, he could not let the sins of humanity go unpunished. He had to take his wrath out on someone, so that we could be set free. Jesus was the scape goat. He paid the penalty for us.

Answer 11

His mission of salvation for us starts at the beginning with our first parents, Adam and Eve. They were created perfect by God, living in His presence and glory. Evil entered the world when they fell victim to Satan's deception. This sin was a death blow that immediately cut them off from God and sentenced them to die. The reason for this is that nothing imperfect can survive in the presence of God. Therefore, Satan's trick insured that we would be destroyed. To remedy this, God made a promise to Adam and Eve, and to their succeeding generations, that He would deliver them from this evil and restore us to His graces. This was done by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His perfect blood took the place of our blood, saving us. It is the most perfect, glorious gift to mankind for all time.

I hope this helps. God bless.