Why Did Jesus Have To Die?

Romans 3:26 NIV he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? The textbook answer is that Jesus died to save us from our sins. This is certainly true and biblical (1 Cor. 15:4). Yet, why is it that God could not just choose to save us all without Jesus death?

In order to answer to this question, we must understand not only God’s love, but also his holiness and righteousness. Certainly, God is love, and he wants to have a relationship with us. Yet, God is also holy, and our sinfulness separates us from God. Because God is righteous, he cannot just ignore sin; he must punish sin.

According to the Bible, we deserve everlasting death as our rightful penalty for our sins (Rom. 5:12; 6:23). If we want to be saved from this everlasting death penalty, then we must cleanse ourselves from our sins. Religious people try to do good works and righteous things in order to make up for their sins. However, the truth is that we cannot cleanse ourselves from our sins no matter what we do or how much we try.

If we want to be saved from our everlasting death penalty, then God must forgive us of our sins. However, he has to forgive us on a righteous basis. When Jesus died on the cross, he suffered in our place the everlasting death penalty that we deserve for our sins. Since Jesus has already been punished for our sins, God will not punish us for our sins if we trust in Jesus.