Protestants...?

Question

...if the sacrifice--or propitiation--of Christ consisted of him taking the full legal penalty of sin, why is Christ not damned to hell for all eternity?

Nobody seems to understand the implications of what I am saying. If Christ took the full legal penalty of sin on our behalf, he would have been damned forever--since this is the legal penalty of sin. He was not damned forever, and so it seems we must understand the debt his sacrifice paid as something different than the legal punishment of sin.

Neon Camo...so everyone is going to hell? All men are sinners, after all.

"Forgiveness is the big thing in Christ's sacrifice. Christ was forgiven by God for taking on our sins and he went back home, where as his sacrifice bought our ability to be forgiven." Forgive me, but this seems unreal to me. Christ was "forgiven"? What sin did he commit? He was not in need of forgiveness.

Answer 1

Well... because A. He was the son of God and was not slated to go to hell by any stretch of the means. He didn't defy God's will, which was that he would die, like Lucifer or Satan.

B. It was because his sacrifice was meant to free people from the "Sins of the father" idea. It's not a "sin eater" scenario, it's mostly metaphor in the telling. God wanted to show us he loved us by giving us his only son and letting him die for our sins. Our "sins of our fathers" were washed away and any new sins became out our responsibility. You do not punish the sacrificial lamb, as Christ is often called I guess, and the sacrifice also taught forgiveness.

Forgiveness is the big thing in Christ's sacrifice. Christ was forgiven by God for taking on our sins and he went back home, where as his sacrifice bought our ability to be forgiven.

(Response) I don't particularly believe that he became the receiver of all the sins like you seem to be saying. I think he took on the "metaphorical weight" of the sins. So, to answer for you, if he did become this center of sin for his sacrifice, then I think he would have been forgiven for it, if he needed to be. I personally don't believe he needed to be forgiven because he did what he was supposed to do.

I hate to explain it like this, but those Narnia books seem to say it better than me. If someone dies in place of the real person or sinner, than that sacrifice is so great that it frees them and the sinner of all past wrongs. Now, in the future if the redeemed person sins again, they can be forgiven again unless they continue along a path of sinning without repentence.

Answer 2

Excellent point, Del. In my thinking, the notion that God decreed a death penalty for everyone that was irrationally transferred to Christ, a man who committed no sin, is bad theology. Atheists use this error to disparage Christianity.

As you point out, Christ did not receive the punishment for all this sin, which would be damnation.

The clear reason Christ went to the cross was because he would not renounce his teaching that he was the Son of God (Matt 26):

The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God."

"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?"

"He is worthy of death," they answered.

We are saved BECAUSE Jesus retained his integrity, and because he was vindicated by the Resurrection. Had he reneged, his saving message would have been lost.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 3

This is a very, very, good question.

Because he was without sin. And God can not legally hold Him in Hell. God is a just God. If he forced Jesus to stay in Hell, then he wouldn't be just. Going to hell is a matter of cause and effect. You can only go there if you are a sinner that refuses to repent. In the after life, you become a magnet to light or to darkness. God is the light and darkness is that farthest from Him. If you are a sinner who refuses to accept God, then you are kept in the darkness. If you Accept God and repent, then you are drawn to the light, God. We can not change this magnetism in the afterlife. It is a law. Therefor it is legally, physically, and universally impossible for Jesus to be in Hell.

Besides, Jesus was only dying so that we do not have to get the death penalty for our sins. In the first 5 books of the bible, it is written that if you intentionally sin, the penalty was death. Jesus died so that we don't have to stone each other anymore. However Jesus didn't die and go to hell so that we don't have to go to hell. Unbelievers still have to go to hell. Anyone who sins intentionally against God and refuses to repent, will be sent to hell. He just died so we don't have to pay the death penalty. Not, not going to hell. If Jesus didn't want unbelievers to go to hell, then yes, He would have stayed in hell for us. But he didn't because he wants the wicked to be punished. Sounds just to me.

(Note: This whole question is hard to answer if you don't understand the concept of Sheol and the difference between it and hell. Jesus did go to Sheol when he died, but not the fiery "hell".)

(RESPONSE: Well actually, I'm a Messianic Jew and don't really believe in hell. I believe in Sheol. Yes, we all sin, but all non-repentant sinners will go to "Hell." The key part is repentance. Its all about where your heart is and what your intentions are. If you intend to love God and follow Him, You will be with Him in the New Jerusalem. If you intend to disobey Him, and hate Him, you will go to the darkest pits of Sheol. Jesus died to save man from death, not Hell. So yes, all intentionally sinning people will still go there)

Answer 4

Because He, Himself was without sin. He in a way we cannot understand, in the garden of Gethsemane took the sins of the world upon himself so that we could be saved if we but believe in Him. He died on the cross and raised Himself in three days that we may have Eternal Life.

Answer 5

he took the penalty, but himself was innescent of any and all sin, which means he never commited any. His dying, re-opened the gates of heaven, at last, which had been closed since adam and eve. Remember, he went to the "prision" to preach to the spirits there, ie. abraham, noah, moses, etc.and then when he assended into heaven he took them all with him.

Answer 6

Christ did go to Hell, he just came back out.