Thank you for the column. My name is Tichapera Dondo a young man from Zimbabwe belonging to the churches of Christ in Zimbabwe…My question is that since we believe that Jesus Christ has died on the cross to take away our sins, does this not nullify the relevance of Judgement Day because the sacrifice for my sins has been made in advance. Or if Judgement Day holds valid then what exactly is the significance or benefit from Christ’s death. Please help me. I believe but I just need to understand.
The purpose of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and the application of the benefit of His death on the cross are not exactly the same thing. In other words, though Jesus Christ died to make it possible for the sins of each person to be forgiven, not every person takes advantage of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross to have his or her sins removed. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ provides universal opportunity (1 John 4:9-10) for the forgiveness of sins, but divine instruction requiring obedience results in conditional application of the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 5:9).
John 3:16 shows both that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ provides opportunity for the salvation of all souls, and that salvation is conditional on faith: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Mark 16:16 shows that faith and baptism (immersion) are required to receive salvation: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved…” Acts 2:38 shows that repentance and baptism are required for salvation; Romans 10:10 teaches that professing one’s belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is required to have one’s sins removed. Summarized, for one’s past sins to be removed (thus taking advantage of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross), a person must believe, repent, profess Jesus Christ and be baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Anyone who fails to obey divine instruction in this regard fails to apply the sacrifice of Jesus Christ so that his or her sins may be forgiven, despite the fact that Jesus Christ’s death could take away the sins of everyone in the world.
After one becomes a Christian, he or she can commit sins, for which one must repent and pray (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9). The blood of Christ is applied afresh to Christians when they repent and otherwise continue in Christianity (1 John 1:7). Ongoing forgiveness of sins for the child of God, then, is conditional, too.
One’s eternal destination is essentially determined once he dies, entering the realm of Hades (place of departed spirits), either in the chamber Jesus called “paradise” (Luke 23:43) and Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:22) or in the chamber tataros (the lowest part of Hades), translated “hell” (2 Peter 2:4). “Paradise” is a foretaste of eternal heaven, and “tartaros” is a foretaste of eternal hell. At the Final Judgment, each soul will be sentenced to eternity either in heaven or in hell (John 5:28-29; Hebrews 9:27). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
