Why does Christ's death atone for my sin?

[Melody]

So If Jesus's death cleanses all sin, why are we still being judged by God for our sins in the book of Revelations? If cleansing means to take away, why are we still held accountable for our sins at the end of time?

I'm still wrestling and studying on this one but I think it is because while our original sin was cleansed when we accepted Christ as Saviour, we are now held accountable to how we walked in that faith. I base this on a number of Bible verses, but here are two to illustrate my point:

"Faith without works is useless." -- James 2:20

"You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder." -- James 2:19

If you truly believe, then your behavior will reflect this belief. If you say you believe and your behavior does not change then, while you may mentally believe Jesus is the Son of God and died on the cross for our sins, you probably have not trusted that you have been redeemed by this belief. The demons believed, but their behavior did not change. It was a false belief.

At the end of time we will still have to stand before His Throne and be judged. If our actions did not show true faith, then our name will not be written in the Book of Life.

Melody

 

[chuck010342]

So why does Christ's death substitute the punishment of all our sins? And please do not say because God said so.

Jesus Died on the Cross so we can be forgiven. Take this analogy and maybe you can get it. When a Son breaks a lamp in his fathers house. The father loves his son so he forgives him. However there is still a price to be paid right? Somebody has to pay for that broken lamp and the father does. So when we sin something had to pay the price for that sin and it is Jesus on the cross.

 

[chuck010342]

Please tell me where and when he said this..

Hebrews 9:22

So like bad karma you mean?

HHH owns..

what is interesting is that Karma is a biblical concept of sorts. There is however only one "reincarnation'

 

[robtex]

For everysingle poster that qouted the Bible and believes in Jesus. May I ask, is there any reason you are looking to a 2000 year old book instead of asking an indivdual you believe is still alive today? If I wanted to know my bro's opinion on something I sure wouldn't go digging in his email before asking him. Ya got me baffled.

 

[michel]

I wish I could understand it; As it happens, I have been dwelling on that particular point over the last week or so. I often think that I would do anything God would ask of me to prove my Love for him; as a parent, I would hate to think that he'd ask me to kill one of my own sons! I honestly hope that he would never ask that of me.

As an aside, I do ask him regularly for 'direction' and help; it seems strange that the thought of looking online for a forum such as this one 'came into my mind' shortly after. Of course, the cynic in me laughs at that.

Def Cynic:- one down whom you throw away the tea leaves!:162:

 

[anders]

The principle behind the atonement thing is very old. The first traces in the Bible are the scapegoat stories: the sins of Israel are loaded on a ram, which is sent out to die in the desert. Convenient. The next part is the magical power of blood. Blood is dangerous. Blood falling on the ground makes it barren; the spilled blood of victims is crying for revenge etc. Blood can be polluting, but it can also be a cleaning and saving power, like the blood on the doors in Egypt. I had a lovely article on blood superstitions the other day, but I can't retrieve it now.

There is also one very ugly side of the vicarious atonement, and now I am borrowing from www.infidels.org:

"See, there are many an occasion in which god killed other people for a person's sin.

1) God whacks a 7-day old baby to punish David for David’s two (2) capital offences [adultery, and sending a man to a certain death]. 2 Sam. 12:13-18

2) God offs an Egyptian in every single house in Egypt due to Pharaoh’s refusal to allow the Jews to offer more death to God. Exodus 10:21-28; 12:29-30.

3) God takes away the kingdom from Saul (resulting in the death of Jonathan) due to Saul’s failure to “eliminate with extreme prejudice” all of the Amalekites. 1 Sam. 15:1-3, 20-34; 31:2

4) God executes 70,000 people for David’s sin of [taking] census. 2 Sam 24:1-15"

And the "sacrifice" of Yeshua Josephson is no big deal. Knowing everything, God Daddy in Heaven as well as his Boy Avatar knew that the latter would be resurrected.

Any way you interpret it, I still find the thought that the death of a Jew some 2000 years ago would have any influence on me today utterly absurd.

 

[Melody]

For everysingle poster that qouted the Bible and believes in Jesus. May I ask, is there any reason you are looking to a 2000 year old book instead of asking an indivdual you believe is still alive today? If I wanted to know my bro's opinion on something I sure wouldn't go digging in his email before asking him. Ya got me baffled.

If you ask in an individual who is alive today, they will merely be quoting or using the Bible as their source. Why not just go directly to the source?

Melody

 

[Faust]

Jesus's death on the cross was a sacrifice.
Jesus was God.
The price of admission into the realm of God is the sacrifice of God.
Faust.

 

[croak]

Because of Adam and Eve's sin, every human since is born with a sinful nature.

Is it inherited or something? In my blood? In my DNA? No, seriously. If a baby died, it would die a sinner because it didn't believe in Jesus (as) and went to Hell? That sounds harsh. I believe that every human is born sin-free, but during the course of their lifetime, they commit sins.

Jesus's death on the cross was a sacrifice.
Jesus was God.
The price of admission into the realm of God is the sacrifice of God.

Maybe I should put that in big, bold letters. God sacrifices Himself so that He will forgive mankind. I don't think Ibrahim (Abraham) (as) would be told to sacrifice himself to show he was a believer. It'd be kind of pointless, since a Prophet isn't that useful when he's dead. You have to alive to preach, you see.

 

[Aqualung]

Is it inherited or something? In my blood? In my DNA? No, seriously. If a baby died, it would die a sinner because it didn't believe in Jesus (as) and went to Hell? That sounds harsh. I believe that every human is born sin-free, but during the course of their lifetime, they commit sins.

I beleive every human is born free of sin, too. A baby can't sin. They won't go to hell if they die.

Maybe I should put that in big, bold letters. God sacrifices Himself so that He will forgive mankind. I don't think Ibrahim (Abraham) (as) would be told to sacrifice himself to show he was a believer. It'd be kind of pointless, since a Prophet isn't that useful when he's dead. You have to alive to preach, you see.

That's a good point.

 

[Darkdale]

I think Lutherans are the only ones that believe aborted babies and babies that die after birth go to hell. I went to a Lutheran high school and it was issues like that the really set in motion my fear of Christianity.

 

[Kowalski]

I just want to see if anyone, and who if anyone, can come up with a logical answer. Why does Jesus's death on the cross atone for my sin, and the sin of every human being? It's not to debate anything, i just want to see people's knowledge of the subject.

This perhaps is one of the most ridiculous theories I've so far accounted, makes no sense whatsoever...ludricrous proposition, laughable in fact,

K

 

[Melody]

Is it inherited or something? In my blood? In my DNA? No, seriously. If a baby died, it would die a sinner because it didn't believe in Jesus (as) and went to Hell? That sounds harsh. I believe that every human is born sin-free, but during the course of their lifetime, they commit sins.

Maybe I should put that in big, bold letters. God sacrifices Himself so that He will forgive mankind. I don't think Ibrahim (Abraham) (as) would be told to sacrifice himself to show he was a believer. It'd be kind of pointless, since a Prophet isn't that useful when he's dead. You have to alive to preach, you see.

In the Christian belief, Abraham was not told to sacrifice himself. Jesus (as God in human form) *chose* to be the ultimate and final sacrifice.

I also agree we are not born with sin...but we are born with a sinful nature meaning it is inevitable that we will sin...because we are human and not perfect. However, show me one fully human person who has never sinned in their lifetime and I might be willing to concede the point that sin is not part of human nature.

No, a baby who never knows about Jesus will not go to hell. We are held accountable for what we know.

 

[Valjean]

Isn't the atonement myth an anthropomorphic extension of the Hebrew scape-goat tradition; a human sacrifice removing the sins of mankind vs an animal sacrifice removing the sins of a tribe?

 

[Radar]

I wish I could understand it; As it happens, I have been dwelling on that particular point over the last week or so. I often think that I would do anything God would ask of me to prove my Love for him; as a parent, I would hate to think that he'd ask me to kill one of my own sons! I honestly hope that he would never ask that of me.

As an aside, I do ask him regularly for 'direction' and help; it seems strange that the thought of looking online for a forum such as this one 'came into my mind' shortly after. Of course, the cynic in me laughs at that.

Def Cynic:- one down whom you throw away the tea leaves!:162:

I am sure you know that you would not be the first he has asked/told to kill ones child. But so many still follow??????????

 

[Fascist Christ]

So why does Christ's death substitute the punishment of all our sins? And please do not say because God said so.

God was having trouble at work (maintaining his creation) and so he goes home and beats his son to death.

At least, that is how the story sounds to me. I cannot see any reason to glorify the murder of someone so peaceful, as if there could be some redeeming value in the execution of an innocent man. I find this element of Christianity blasphemous and sickening.

 

[Cordoba]

God saved Jesus His beloved prophet from that horrible death on the cross.

According to The Qur'an, God made another person resemble Jesus, and they crucified this other person by mistake.

God lifted Jesus to heaven and saved him from torture and death on the cross:

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam/AskAboutIslamE/AskAboutIslamE&cid=1123996016618

All the best.

 

[john313]

I just want to see if anyone, and who if anyone, can come up with a logical answer. Why does Jesus's death on the cross atone for my sin, and the sin of every human being? It's not to debate anything, i just want to see people's knowledge of the subject.

because they sprinkled his blood on the altar

 

[Fascist Christ]

God saved Jesus His beloved prophet from that horrible death on the cross.

According to The Qur'an, God made another person resemble Jesus, and they crucified this other person by mistake.

God lifted Jesus to heaven and saved him from torture and death on the cross:

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam/AskAboutIslamE/AskAboutIslamE&cid=1123996016618

All the best.

So, not only did they intend to crucify an innocent man, but, thanks to god, they executed the wrong person?

 

[Fascist Christ]

because they sprinkled his blood on the altar

And then passed it around for everyone to drink. Now that's gruesome. I mean, imagine trying to teach this stuff to a child.