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From: kamphau@oktext..sbc.com (Mark Kamphaus)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: a Christian motif that doesn't make sense to me
Message-ID: <May.29.03.12.26.1990.2268@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 29 May 90 07:12:28 GMT
Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu
Lines: 37
Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu

Quowong Peter Liu writes:
>i've heard it on television religion, i've heard it on radio religion,
>i've heard it from Christians trying to convert me, but it makes no
>sense to me, and as it seems that it is quite fundamental to
>Christianity and that there are a lot of smart Christians in
>explaining how Their religion works and convincing even more people to
>be Christians, here is what it is:
>``Jesus died for your sins,'' meaning that the Death (and the
>subsequent Miracle) of Jesus allows my sins to be forgiven.
>this idea is not self-evident to me, and what Christians seem
>concentrate on is the gruesome details of the Crucifixion and not why
>such an act causes the sins of a Christian who has Accepted Christ as
>Their Saviour (whatever that means).
>
Here is a perspective that may help. Man was "unkowing" of sin until the
LAW came, then because of Man's frailties, the LAW convicted Man of his
sins with his punishment being death.  When Jesus came, his perfection
allowed him to escape the punishment of the LAW, and hence the basis of
the Resurrection.  The LAW was not done away with or negated. It is still
in effect for the world today. Its pupose is to convict of sin.  When a
man becomes repentent and accepts Jesus as his Savior (differing doctrines
on exactly what this act entails) he is made a part of the body of Christ.
That is to say that the Man's former self has died (as punishment for
breaking the LAW) and has become a new creation in Christ where he is not
under the LAW but Grace. Jesus, as the propitiation of Man's sin, was
subject to die under the LAW, and he was put to death, but Jesus the man
was not convicted of death under the LAW and therefore overcame death.
His death is counted as your death punishment because of your sins, his
resurrection is shared with you for your promise of life eternal.  
The phrase "Jesus died for your sins" means that He died as fulfilment of
the LAW (the punishment for death) in your place because of your sins.
An analogy would be to say that all people of a certain country must pay
a tax per household. You can either be responsible for paying your
own tax or you can become a member of Jesus's household, His father will
adopt you, where Jesus will [has] paid the tax for you.

mark