Posted by giveawayboy on June 09, 2002 at 09:32:25:
In Reply to: I have a few question posted by Xavier on June 09, 2002 at 01:51:21:
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: Faith is a strong word with an even stronger meaning, to believe in the unseen and the unknown.
: There alot of things about my faith I leave at will, though as always I have questions. Are there any passages in the bible that explain why Jesus died for our sins ? I mean did he know that, that act would cleanse us ? If I am showing some huge lack of knowledge now I am sorry, I have just wondered how and why that act has meant so much, why it is our foundation. I have asked this question before and recieved a quizzical " Why would you ask such a thing " response, here on the board I feel in the company of family so if I am to niaeve by asking this again if anyone could point to some scripture I will gladly affix it to my soul.
Well, I know that Jesus willfully laid down his life. Also, God could have saved us any way that he wished. It did not take the cross, but somehow his wisdom led to it. Xavier, no question about your faith is bad? If you are seeking to grow and learn more, ask away. I have questions about it all the time. Infact, sometimes I wonder if God even exists, and I'm a real believer too. So, go figure! I don't know the exact scriptures, or if there is some almost scientific explanation for the crucifixion, just as much as I couldn't explain many other things in the Bible, like where Jesus says those who follow him would do even 'greater works'....there are ways of studying these topics though and I'm sure Steve could shed some insight here. He also might know some resources. From my background in Catholicism, which I have only studied about ten years, the only thing I can say is that God could have saved us any way he chose, but the cross has significance since that was his choice. It is not that Jesus sacrifice means something because of the cross, but the cross has significance in its union w Christ. Christ is the whole point, the source and summit of our faith. The cross is an instrument. He could have saved us in any way he chose. He could have also sacrificed himself in another way, like being drawn & quartered or stoned. Actually, perhaps the reason he was crucified was to give us a tangible picture of the reality of sin. Sin required a sacrifice, but the old testament sacrifices were not enough. And God was showing us that we could not live up to that. To give us a real picture of that he showed his forgiveness of sin to the point of coming down and graphically becoming a sacrifice for sin once and for all. I guess that's how I would think about it, but I'm still not as studied on this as Steve or Jeff Yale might be.
Later, Bill