Steed of Truth

Updated At: Mar 17, 2024

How does the death of Jesus save me?

In the Christian belief, Jesus died for the world's sins to save them from hell but what exactly does that mean? How exactly can I get to heaven through his death?

To clearly understand the meaning of His death, there is an excellent analogy to help us comprehend what happened on the cross at Calvary. Imagine you are in a courtroom, on trial for your sins, with God as the judge. Your sins against God are a huge crime, no matter how small they seem. God Himself is our judge, and according to His divine law as stated in Romans 6:23, our crimes deserve the death penalty. Death, in a spiritual sense, means eternal separation from God in unending torment. That's a very serious judgment.

By shedding His blood on the cross, Jesus took the punishment we deserve and offered us His righteousness. He paid a price no human could ever pay. When we trust Christ for our salvation, we are essentially making a trade. By faith, we exchange our sin and its accompanying death penalty for His righteousness and everlasting life. Do not forget, this is the "gift of God," meaning to receive the gift, you have to first accept His gift, which is through faith in the Lord Jesus.

Without Him, we would suffer the death penalty for our own sins. 1 Peter 2:23-24 explains clearly of how much Jesus loves us as he "bore our sins" and by His stripes we were healed. I will provide a few more verses to help you understand the depth of his everlasting love. There is a prophecy in the Old testament that Jesus perfectly fulfilled in the book of Isaiah.

I do recommend reading the entire chapter to better understand the prophecy and how Jesus fulfilled it to the dot. This prophecy was written around 700 years before Jesus. The author of the book of Hebrews says:

For God to forgive our sins, His judgment had to be satisfied, and that required the shedding of blood. If God forgave our sins without judging us for the sins we committed, then He would not be a JUST God.

Some critics respond to this by stating, "Shedding blood seems so barbaric. Is it really necessary? Why doesn't God simply forgive us?" Because God is Holy, He must judge sin. Would a Just and Righteous judge let evil go unpunished? At the cross, God poured out His judgment on His Son, satisfying His wrath and making it possible for Him to forgive us. That's why Jesus shed His blood for your sins, my sins, and the sins of the whole world. There are multiple verses that show how Jesus' death saves us, such as Romans 5:8-9, Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Peter 3:18, and Galatians 3:13-14.

Moreover, this shedding of blood to forgive sins has been depcited all over the Old Testament. When Adam and Eve sinned, God clothed them with "garments of skin". An animal skin was used to clothe their mortal and sinful bodies as stated in Genesis 3:21. According to Leviticus 4:35, 5:10, an animal sacrifice (shedding of blood) was required for the forgiveness of sins. This is also a foreshadow of the perfect and complete sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of calvary.

Animal sacrifices were commanded by God so that the individual could experience forgiveness of sin, if the sacrifice was done in faith. The animal died in place of the sinner, but only temporarily, which is why the sacrifices needed to be offered over and over. Animal sacrifices have stopped with Jesus Christ, who made the perfect sacrifice for our redemption.

By taking upon Himself the sins of the world, Jesus removed Himself from God's holy presence. It was a temporary but excruciating separation, for at that moment, the Son of God became forsaken by the Father. God unleashed His wrath on His Son so that we might be spared that awful fate. As a result of of the crucifixion, God assures us that he will never forsake us as stated in Hebrews 13:5. Ask yourself, do you have assurance of going to heaven if you were to pass away tomorrow? Have you placed your trust in Jesus Christ?