“The Real Cost Of Sin”

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

You wrote in “Which Way Did He Go?” that when Jesus died, He went to Paradise.  If that's the case, how does the act of atonement for our sins work?  And why would Jesus Himself claim that the Father forsook Him?

Sincerely,
Checking His Itinerary

Dear Checking His Itinerary,

Jesus atoned for our sins by paying for them with the blood of Deity.  It is a common misconception that Jesus paid for our sins by spending three days in hell on our behalf, but that isn’t what the Scriptures say on the topic.  There are two ways to pay for our sins.  We can pay for our own sins by spending eternity in hell (Rom 6:23), or God can pay for our sins through His blood (Matt 26:28).  In the Old Testament, God taught Israel that all sin had to be paid for with blood.  He taught them this through the animal sacrifice system, but the blood of animals only taught them about how sin is paid for… animal blood was never sufficient to actually pay the price for human sin (Heb 10:4).  Ultimately, it was God’s blood that had the power to remove sins (Rev 1:5).

As for Jesus’ statement that the Father forsook Him (Matt 27:46), those words were uttered by Jesus as He hung upon the cross.  Jesus wasn’t making an all-encompassing statement about the Father forsaking Him forever.  Jesus was simply crying over the agony of being left alone to suffer for the sins of mankind.  It is a statement of suffering, not of literal abandonment by the Father.  Jesus even said that the Father wouldn’t leave Him (Jhn 16:32).

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