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Pretty strange for a Christian to be asking that question, but there seem to be a number of different schools of thought on the matter. Some Christian sects believe that humans amassed (and still do amass) a "debt" of sorts in which each sin must be atoned for by the shedding of innocent blood so as to "make up" for the offense they (our sins) have caused God. If we sacrificed something that was precious to us, God would accept that sacrifice as a sign of our repentance and desire to love Him, and the debt for sins incurred up to that time would be wiped out. That sect proclaims that we were separated from God and Jesus' shed blood "paid back" the debt which was owed to God once and for all, and that no other shedding of blood would ever need to be done again...effectively ending the continuous cycle of sacrificing a spotless lamb on the altar.
Other sects believe that Jesus didn't have to pay God for our debt because God already loved us and our sins weren't "offending Him", but rather because of our sins the devil held us captive away from God and the only way we could be freed from his grip was for a ransom to be paid to him...one that we weren't able to pay on our own. So this sect claims Jesus paid the ransom to the devil, effectively "buying us back". The thought is that in so doing that, He took on the punishment for our sins...ie. He allowed Himself to suffer the afflictions of the "fallen nature" of humans, showing the devil that God Himself loved us so much that He was willing to suffer to get us back.
Still others say Jesus' death didn't have anything to do with atoning for our sins, but rather He died for the sake of showing us how to live...ie. loving God and others to the ultimate extent that it meant we sacrificed our lives in so doing. These others say our own separation from God was only a misconception on our part, and that all we really had to do to be reconciled to Him was live our lives a particular way, seeking to put God first in our lives and loving all others in the way Jesus did.
(Rom 5:8) but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Rom 5:9) Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
(Rom 5:10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
That sums it up. He died to pay the penalty for our sin. It's up to us to apply the price he paid to our accounts so we don't have to pay for it.
As the song says "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a WRETCH like me. We are vile sinners in need of a savior.
More than just a once-and-for-all, it was also a blueprint for the "latter born" to walk in. We have been shown the path of dying and being raised into a new and living way.
To clarify my question...when asking what Jesus did on the cross, I'm actually asking what exactly was it He did when He died on the cross? Meaning, which of the 3 theories I mentioned in my OP is the correct one? I may be misstating the second theory mentioned above, so if anyone is familiar with this, please advise.
All humanity was put to death in the death of Christ:
2Cor. 5:14 For the love of Christ is constraining us, judging this, that, if One died for the sake of all, consequently all died."
Rom 6:7 for one who dies has been justified from Sin.
From that death of all mankind is coming a new humanity:
Eph 4:24 and to put on the new humanity which, in accord with God, is being created in righteousness and benignity of the truth."
And a new creation or new creature (both words use the same Greek word):
(2Co 5:17) So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: the primitive passed by. Lo! there has come new!"
(Gal 6:15) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything, but a new creation."
Believers take part in the new creation in Christ first. The rest come later (1 Cor.15:22-28).
I like the title of a book "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ" By John Owen
When Christ died God accepted that sacrifice for all the sins of all mankind. It covered not only our sins but the sins of the whole world also (1 John 2:2).
When Christ died God accepted that sacrifice for all the sins of all mankind. It covered not only our sins but the sins of the whole world also (1 John 2:2).
I agree! and I might add because we are so wretched. God had to kill His own Son because we are so vile.
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and I might add because we are so wretched. God had to kill His own Son because we are so vile.
