{"id":17480,"date":"2009-01-16T20:27:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-17T02:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=17480"},"modified":"2019-12-30T20:31:02","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T02:31:02","slug":"if-jesus-was-crucified-to-pay-for-our-sins-who-was-the-payment-made-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-jesus-was-crucified-to-pay-for-our-sins-who-was-the-payment-made-to\/","title":{"rendered":"If Jesus was crucified to pay for our sins, who was the payment made to?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I am a Christian visiting my Muslim family in Pakistan.\u00a0 My sister, who is a Muslim has asked me a question that I’m not sure of the best way to answer and I was wondering what you would say.<\/p>\n

The question is:\u00a0 If Jesus was crucified to pay for our sins, who was the payment made to?\u00a0 In other words, if Jesus is God, did He pay Himself with the sacrifice of His death for us?\u00a0 She says it’s not logical that He would pay Himself, and if the payment went to the Father, then she says that we believe in three gods.<\/p>\n

I think I know the answer, but I’m not sure how to best explain it to her.<\/p>\n

What would you tell her?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Christians believe in only one God, who is made up of three beings.<\/p>\n

Jesus died on the cross because of justice. Sin carries a penalty of death (Romans 6:23). It would not be just to arbitrarily remove that penalty. Instead, the Son of God offered himself as payment for sin’s penalty. “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him<\/em>” (Romans 5:6-9). Notice the phrase: “justified by his blood.” The concept of justice was maintained, God remained true to His nature, and yet Jesus pure sacrifice allowed God to offer salvation to people from sin without violating the concept of justice. See “The Judge of All the Earth<\/a>” for more about the concept of justice.<\/p>\n

The idea of redemption comes from the days of warfare when soldiers were held captive by the enemy, or when a family went into debt and had to sell itself to cover the debt. Relatives were expected to buy or redeem a person back. This concept is extended to Jesus, who through his death redeemed us from sin. We were slaves to sin, but we have been bought back by Jesus, “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works<\/em>” (Titus 2:14). See “The Living Redeemer<\/a>” for more details. The redemption or salvation was from sin, not from God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I am a Christian visiting my Muslim family in Pakistan.\u00a0 My sister, who is a Muslim has asked me a question that I’m not sure of the best way to answer and I was wondering what you would say. The question is:\u00a0 If Jesus was crucified to pay for our sins, who was the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[228,361,47,87],"class_list":["post-17480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-crucifixion","tag-islam","tag-salvation","tag-trinity"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":30191,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-jesus-paid-the-debt-for-sin-isnt-hell-an-additional-payment\/","url_meta":{"origin":17480,"position":0},"title":"Since Jesus paid the debt for sin, isn’t Hell an additional payment?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been posed a question by a conditionalist. He says:\u00a0The wages of sin is death.\u00a0Did Jesus pay the price at the cross?\u00a0Can we pay more than He paid at the cross? He then goes on to say that eternal hell would be paying more than Jesus paid and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18752,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-christian-must-file-for-bankruptcy-is-he-still-obligated-to-pay-off-his-debts\/","url_meta":{"origin":17480,"position":1},"title":"If a Christian must file for bankruptcy, is he still obligated to pay off his debts?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If one borrows money and they get behind the eight-ball, if you will, so they file bankruptcy, are they morally responsible to pay the borrowed amount back? I said if they did it with the intent of trying to rip someone off that was a sin, but I didn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23588,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-didnt-you-say-that-the-girl-who-was-living-with-her-boyfriend-could-be-forgiven-of-her-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":17480,"position":2},"title":"Why didn’t you say that the girl who was living with her boyfriend could be forgiven of her sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read over\u00a0your response to a girl who lives with her boyfriend and she asked why you called it a sin. You gave her reasons, but then you listed reasons for her to consider. The second heading was \"It Can Keep You Out of Heaven.\"\u00a0 If you are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10993,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-god-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":17480,"position":3},"title":"How could God die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question was about Jesus, who is God and human. The Bible tells us that Jesus died, but Jesus who is God cannot die. That only leaves Jesus who is human. This means Jesus the Human died on the cross, which means a human paid for all human sins.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51572,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-people-get-saved-before-jesus-was-crucified\/","url_meta":{"origin":17480,"position":4},"title":"How did people get saved before Jesus was crucified?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How did people get saved before Jesus was crucified? Answer: Prior to Jesus, people were expected to live in obedience to God. \"For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52608,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-we-conclude-that-a-person-is-glorified\/","url_meta":{"origin":17480,"position":5},"title":"How can we conclude that a person is glorified?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'd like to know how to define \"glorify.\"\u00a0 How can we conclude that a person is glorified?\u00a0 By what sign? 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