How does Jesus' death save us?

Originally posted by oliveoil
The New Testament states that Jesus died for all people (2 Cor 5:13-15, Rom 5:18, 1 Thess5:10) Jesus himself also told his disciples, Mark 14:24 " This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many" Question is , how could the death of one man, affect the whole human race?How does his death save us? All and any answers are welcome.
Mods, please disregard if the post already exists. thanks-OO

Christ’s death and resurrection alone does not save from the weeping and gnashing of teeth that awaits those who disobey his commands.
2 Corinthians, Romans, and Thessalonians were written by Paul, formerly known as Saul. This is the same man who wrote that God gave the commandments through Moses just so he could show everyone how unworthy they are, and that no one can be made right with God by doing what the law commands. (See Romans 3:19-20)
Paul distinguished himself from the prophet Moses when he wrote, ‘For Moses writes that the law’s ways of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of it’s commands.’ (Romans 10:5)
But Jesus seems to be in agreement with the prophet Moses…
25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” -Luke 10:25-28

So, what does it mean to ‘love the Lord your God’ with your whole being?

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." -John 14:21

Point being, Jesus’ death and resurrection does not save anyone, it’s up to us to love God and prove it by obeying his commands.

Anyone remember the parable Jesus told about the Rich Man and Lazarus? Luke 16:27-31
"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

Interesting, isn't it..."If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." Well folks, Jesus rose from the dead didn't he?

Some people just don't understand the magnitude of what is at play here. Jesus came and died so that all have the opportunity to be baptized with the Father's Holy Spirit. Understanding how the power of God works is understanding Jesus' teachings. Everything he said and did was done in a deliberate organized manner under direct command from the Father, that way when a person experiences the things you were all intended to experience you can fall back on his words and understand exactly what is happening to you - that's what makes him the Messiah - the anointed one.

When he stood up and read in the synagogue from Isaiah 61 about the year of the Lord's favor, he did so because God's favor and the way he works doesn't change. What makes a prophet a prophet? Being anointed. What was the purpose of the prophet? Usually to get the people to repent and turn back to God.

My personal focus as of late is the "how" the word of God (who is Jesus) comes to live inside us.

My baptism of the Holy Spirit took place in the Spring of 2007, but it had actually started a whole year before that and I honestly had no idea what was happening to me. But this overpowering smell of oil just followed me around. I would even ask people 'Do you smell that?' I know I sounded odd asking my family members if they could smell it. It was very puzzling at the time but after my baptism, the Holy Spirit started bringing things into my remembrance and now I'm able to gage my past and present experiences with scripture and I have a whole new aprreciation and understanding of the stories that have been handed down. The story of Esther holds a very dear place in my heart, for one night that she was brought into the presence of the King, she was prepared with oils and perfumes for a whole year! Yet that aspect of the baptism is still only a fraction of the complete phenomenon.

Nailing Jesus to the cross and then lifting him up replicates the baptism of the Holy Spirit and when you lift up the Word of God, the Son of Man, the Son of God, Jesus the Messiah you will know that he is the one claimed to be and that everything he said is true and faithful. I have supernatural faith because I know him. I also know that those who just have faith that this can happen to them are called blessed and are loved just as much as myself All are loved and he wants everyone to come to the true knowledge of him.

If anyone has any questions regarding the baptism of spirit and fire, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer you and in a way that you can understand.

Satan did whatever he could to get power over Jesus and all he could do was to kill him.
Jesus prevailed over that power which Satan tries to make himself out as being the master of.
Satan does this in order to strike fear into the hearts of men. Being in a condition of fear puts us into a position of vulnerability to Satan's trickery.
Notice how Jehovah told Adam and Eve, when they were on their way out of the Garden, that the serpent would bruise their descendant's heal, but they would eventually crush the serpent's head. This should be taken as encouragement that even though we are in a condition of not being able to avoid death in this life, we need to keep in mind that it is not within Satan's power, one way or the other, because that is just the way things are, and that Satan himself will die in the end. His death will be permanent but ours will be reversed once Satan is put in his place.
Jesus' life and death and resurrection is the practical demonstration of where real power and justice is. The righteous will not be extinguished forever because there is a god who ultimately has the last word on everything.

reply to post by jmdewey60

Satan did whatever he could to get power over Jesus and all he could do was to kill him.

Absurd. No one, not even satan, "killed" Jesus. Jesus Himself says He laid down His life freely.

"Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."

John 10:17-18

reply to post by NOTurTypical

Absurd. No one, not even satan, "killed" Jesus.

Acts 3:15 You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead.

Huh, absurd you say? Ask Peter about that.

reply to post by jmdewey60


Peter trumps Christ?

Interesting.

jesus covered everyones sins because he himself never sinned but was still crucified and died, and with him all the sins of the world. hence the phrase washed in the blood of the lamb(jesus). he rose again making him the ultimate sacrifice

reply to post by stephenofacts
You do realize that phrase comes from Revelation, don't you?
I's not a theological treatise.
There is a salvation, that's for sure but it is a little difficult to explain.
The Bible talks about it but it's hard to figure out the direct mechanism for it, from that.
Jesus was taunted and was being provoked to do something to save himself, if he really was the Son of God.
I'm sure he could have done something, and I'm sure he could have used his authority to command action by angels to eliminate those who were involved in this horrible spectacle of inhumanity.
There may have been something wrong in that, if he did do something to save himself, I don't know for sure, but allowing Satan to work through evil people to kill him was part of the evidence to put into the list of grievances against Satan to help fill up the indignation of God against him.
Back to the saints in heaven, I think those are the ones who went through a similar experience themselves, to where instead of being justified in their own life which was snuffed out for their faith, they are justified in the presence of the Lamb himself and before all the angels.
So it's kind of a baptism of blood, but their own blood, which is the same baptism of blood our savior went through.

To the original question the Bible has several explanations for the answer as to how Jesus' death saved many. First we must establish why God sent Christ to the world. In 1 John 4:9 the Bible (NIV) states:

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."

God sent Christ because he loved man, and he wants to give salvation to humankind which he would fulfill THROUGH his Son which is Christ. But what did "that we might live through him" mean? In Ephesians 2:5 it says:

"made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."

The Bible clearly states that man is dead in transgressions or sins. In other words, once a man commits sin he is already dead in the sight of God. But why? In Romans 6:23 the Bible teaches us:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The Bible clearly tells us that the payment for committing a sin against the Lord God is death, therefore, just as a convict who sits on death row is aptly called a dead man walking, so will a man who committed sin be regarded by God because to Him that man is already dead. But what kind of death does the bible say is the full payment of sin? In Revelation 20:14 the Bible clarifies:

"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death."

The full payment of sin is the second death which is in the lake of fire and not just death by the expiration of breath that all of us know. But who are destined to die in the lake of fire? Romans 5:12 gives us the answer:

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—"

All have sinned, therefore, everyone of us are destined to die the second death in the lake of fire. But why does God want to save men even though we are sinners? Should not a transgressor be rightfully punished? Is not God only exacting justice when he condemned man to suffer the second death because of sin? So why does he want to save us? In the book of Matthew 22:31-32 it is explained:

But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

Since the Bible has already explained to us that all who sin are considered already dead in the sight of God, we must understand that a man who has not committed sin is considered alive by God. Because God created man in his own image (Genesis 1:27) which means he created man to be holy and full of love just as God is. And God's original purpose when he created man still stands, hence, the salvation he offers through his Son. But how can man be saved through Christ? Ephesians 2:10 has the answer:

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

We must do good works through Jesus Christ for us to attain salvation, but how are we going to accomplish this if we are considered dead before God? Still in Ephesians 2:15 it says:

"by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,"

God's purpose in sending Christ to the world was to make one new man out of two; Christ being the head and the body will be comprised of all the people that God will put together under him. Colossians 1:18 reinforces this concept:

"And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy."

To whom does this church belong to? And who founded it? In Matthew 16:18 Christ himself speaks:

"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not
overcome it."

Christ himself tells us that the church belongs to him because he is its builder, but who is the rock or the foundation stone upon which Christ will build his church? Was it really Peter just because his name in Greek happens to be Cephas which means Rock? What does apostle Peter himself say about this? Acts 4:10 Peter speaks:

"then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is“

‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’

Even the apostle Peter teaches that Christ, and not him, who is the rock or the foundation stone upon which the church was built. In Romans 16:16 the Bible tells us the name of the church:

"Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings."

The name of the church which Christ built is simple and logical: church of Christ. Always has, always will be.

Now how exactly will the people who comprise the church of Christ be redeemed from their sins when in Deuteronomy 24:16 the Bible is clear when it tells us that:

"Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each of you will die for your own sin."

How then can man be saved when regardless of his being a part of Christ's church he would still have to pay for his own sins? Ephesians 5:25 tells us:

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,"

The Bible teaches us that the church is considered as the bride of Christ, and that is the reason why marriage is a most sacred concept before God that no one should treat lightly, as attested in Genesis 2:24:

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."

Notice that the Bible states clearly that a man will be united with his "wife" which is singular, meaning there is no other, and that they will become "one flesh." Now, in the case of Christ and his church, he is the head/husband and the church is his body/wife. One head and one body. One husband and only one wife. So we must understand that Christ did not die for the whole world, but rather for his church only. Because if he died to redeem the whole world or all of humankind including those who are not a part of his church, then it would mean that he violated God's law which clearly states that a man must die for his own sins. But since Christ was made the head and the church his body, instead of sinning, he fulfilled what the law required: that the head must pay for the sins of the body. The Bible supports this in Acts 20:28 (Lamsa Translation):

"Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed your overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood."

And how valuable is Christ's blood really? Let us consult the Bible once again, in Hebrews 9:13-14 it says:

"The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"

Christ's blood not only sanctified his church so that they are outwardly clean but also cleansed their consciences from dead works so that they may serve the living God or to put it simply, it restored them to life in the sight of God that he will no longer regard them as dead, hence, they may again have the right to worship the only true God.

It is God's justice that blood MUST be shed in order for sins to be forgiven:

"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Hebrews 9:22 NIV

And no other sacrifice or shedding of the blood will be recognized by God other than what Christ did:

"Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself." Hebrews 7:27 NIV

The Law of Moses commands that an animal to be used as a sacrificial offering must be without physical blemish, but Christ was without blemish not physically but spiritually, and for that reason he is called the Lamb of God.

Jesus's personal greatness is so great it conflicts with everyones imperfections if he lived it would have ment everyone else had to die in return because they are just not worthy.

reply to post by spokthunder
Is this a question you never thought about until 5 seconds before making this reply?
I think you are being flippant and why are you making ridiculous replies to things that others have spent a lot of time thinking and praying about and doing a lot of homework to research?
Anyway, to your answer to this weighty question about how Jesus' death saves us, we or rather the people who were around in the time of Christ could have lived quite well in their sinful state, as people had been doing for thousands of years previously.
Michael Rivero has a saying he uses on his internet radio show, What Really Happened, which is that good does not tolerate evil in its presence, and evil does not tolerate evil in its presence. God and Jesus were happy enough to tolerate people in general to become incrementally good, while the powerful rich and evil people of the land could not tolerate goodness to flourish because it would cut into their profits that thrived on misery. Jesus came to alleviate misery and he made a mission statement to that affect at the beginning of his ministry to put all that into affect.