Question about Christianity?

Question

I just want to know how Jesus, the son of God, being put to death by humans allows us to be forgiven? I understand the whole ultimate sacrifice thing, but first, how does sin absolve sin? Second, why would He just give us His Son for such a thing? That pretty much means we're not sacrificing anything, He is. I mean, He decides if we're forgiven, right? So, it sounds like we're forgiven because we killed His son. Am I way off here? Someone please explain this to me.

And so I don't get pounced on again, no I'm not an Atheist; I can't really be classed under any particular religion. I'm looking into Christianity but there are some things that just don't make sense to me right now. So that's why I'm asking for help. Thanks.

Answer 1

We don't have to sacrifice anything.  He did it all.  That's why salvation is a FREE GIFT  :)

Jesus loves us so much, that He died and rose again for us.  There was NO OTHER WAY for our sins to be paid for.  It is either Jesus paying for them by us believing, or us in eternal torment in h**l.  That is the choice before you.  

Answer 2

Jesus was born divinely by God, through Mary. This means that because He did not share a biological connection to man, He did not have the sinful nature. The lack of a sinful nature allowed Jesus to go through life sinless.

The wages of sin is death. This means that if you are guilty of sin, it is impossible for you to take the penalty of another's sin, as you have that penalty yourself.

But Jesus did not have this penalty. When Jesus died, He took the penalty of all of our sins with Him. However, because He was still sinless Himself, He defeated death and rose again 3 days later.

This is the reason Jesus HAD to come to earth, and why He is the ONLY way to salvation.

Answer 3

If you look in the Old Testament, the people had to make a sacrifice in order to be right with God. They sacrificed animals, and that served well enough, but it was a lot of death to pay for sin.

God sent Jesus as a sacrifice because only if someone who never sinned was the sacrifice, God could punish him for all sin of all time.

We're forgiven because Jesus paid the penalty. "for the wages of sin is death..." but we don't have to die (eternally) because Jesus chose to die for us so we could be right before God.

email me if none of these answers are satisfying and I'll try to answer better. [e-mail]

Answer 4

Some Christians will tell you that forgiveness requires sacrifice, based on Jewish customs, but that whole thing of a God killing his son for people who believe in him, and sending the rest to h**l, is just plain silly.

Answer 5

Human sacrifices make God happy, especially if they kill his son

Answer 6

God tells us that the wages of sin is death...Jesus paid that price so we don't have to.....if we accept the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ..we will have eternal life with Him forever in heaven.

Answer 7

Jesus was not murdered.  He voluntarily laid down His life.

Anytime He wanted to quit He could have called for more than 12 legions of angels to defeat the whole Roman Army.

Answer 8

You're on the right track bro. Christianity and all other religions are nothing more than whimsical attempts to alleviate a fear of death...AND(!) a feeble attempt to understand the wondrous unanswerable  mysteries of life.

Answer 9

Romans 5 explains that one man's sin hurt all and that one man's sacrifice saves all.  If we are all suffering because of Adam and not ourselves then it sounds fair to me that the responsibility for ending our suffering would lay on one man ("the second Adam" (Jesus)) and not ourselves.

Answer 10

This is an interesting question. I think it's believed that Jesus "died for our sins," in the sense that his death was enough to "pay humanity's debt." At least for the time being.

Answer 11

well first of all there is no god and jesus is another false prophet  

Answer 12

Jesus was sinless..so sin did not absolve sin.

no, we are not sacrificing anything because we sin. Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice.

Only God decides if we are forgiven. that's why we must go before God through Jesus when we sin. that's all we have to do. is repent. doesn't take much.

Answer 13

God is very smart and without sin.  The bible tells us that God takes what the enemy means for harm and uses it for good.  He's very smart, way beyond our capacity to understand of present.  

Why?  Because he loved us that much and didn't want to spend eternity without us.  Jesus made it clear that it was his choice to go to the cross.  He said He was the good Sheperd and He laid down his life for the sheep and He didn't have to but He did.  He said no greater love hath a man but to lie down his life for another.  

Yes, your not sacrificing anything.  Exactly.  He did it all.  We just enter into it by believing on the one He sent and accepting Him.  

No, He doesn't decide if we are forgiven, we do.  Well, let me backtrack, to a degree he does.  Not only is He a loving Father but a righteous judge.  If we break the laws in society justice requires that a debt be paid.  We owe a debt to society and now it requires payment that coincides with the crime.  

God would not be who He is if he did not punish crime.  And we should be happy about that, who wants to live in a society were crime if prevalent and never punished.  Yet we of ourselves could not meet the requirements of that crime so God came in the flesh by way of Jesus and paid for our crime.  

He took what the enemy meant for evil and turned it into good for all of humanity.  He's very clever and cute.  That's my Pa Pa.  

It can be difficult to understand because His idea of love way surpasses ours.  To think, someone taking on a punishment for no fault of their own but to pay our debt.  

And that is the beauty of the gospel.  God met his own righteous requirement by way of Jesus.  

Many people see God as cruel yet they don't see him with the eyes of love.  And many of us have painted the wrong picture of God so I can see why.  Even God is not happy about that.  Yet we are all learning and growing and we shouldn't judge God by what others tell us or our own limited understanding but get to know Him ourselves.  

Even if you are an Atheist, shouldn't be a reason for anyone to pounce on you.  God loves and accepts us all as we are.  Acceptance may not be a stamp of approval on our behavior.  Yet we are fully loved and accepted as we are.  

The way of old required that a law was established to keep man from killing and harming themselves until Jesus came and to take us to that higher plane of a heart flowing from His love.  We enter into it by Him.  And we are a work in progress.  We need to understand that God is not the bad guy here.  He just, like our own society, established a way by which to keep order until the way of a changed heart through Jesus came.  

We don't change at heart by the law but it can make us think of the consequences for breaking it and in fear we can stay within its boundaries.  Fear used by God is not bad for it has his heart attached to it who is always looking out for our good.  Yet fear was just the beginning, it was never meant to be the end of the story.  His love is where we are heading.  Some get stuck in the smaller story and never continue on to the big story of His love by way of Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross.  

The scriptures say that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  It is the beginning, not the end.  It also says that perfect love casts out fear.  

And that is where God wants us.  He doesn't want us to fear him but we will use it if that will keep us all from destroying each other.  Yet we are not to stop there.  He wants to be united to us at heart and give us the wonderful treasures He has for us in Christ.  He loves us and wants a relationship with us and that is also the best thing for us for He is the Source of love, goodness, etc.  He knows fear does not win a man's heart.  His Word tells us that it is his goodness that leads a man to repentance.  We don't repent because we fear and want to save our own skin even though that may be good motivation for not harming ourselves and others.  We repent when we realize how wonderfully awesome someone is and our actions hurt.  

God bless you and continue to seek for yourself.  It really is only God who can illuminate the heart of man and He has promised that if we draw close to Him, He will draw close to us.  The door right now is wide open for man to enter into a wonderful intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father by way of Jesus and his sacrifice.  

And whatever you choose, know you are loved and accepted as you are.  

Thanks for asking.