Rock Solid Apologia

Publisher's Note: This article was published by admin, but written by a guest writer here at Rock Solid Apologia.

            Although at the surface this question appears baffling, it is not one that Christians should shy away from. Skeptics often pose this question, and it is purposely convoluted to make the notion of Christianity appear preposterous. To answer this question, we must first consider its phrasing to better understand how to respond. The phrases “to himself” and “to save mankind from himself” both refer to the same underlying idea and are thus repetitive. The question can be more accurately stated as “how do we explain the fact that God had to sacrifice himself to save mankind from himself?” Now that we have the question clearly stated, we can address the two areas of confusion that led to it: God’s character and the nature of the Trinity.

God’s Character

Justice and mercy are two vital attributes of God’s character. God is perfectly just, which means that sin—defined as moral crimes or acts of treason against God—must be punished. It would violate God’s nature to let evildoers go unpunished. Because God created us in His image, we feel moral outrage at evil deeds and long for justice. Because God is just, he cannot simply forgive us without a price being paid for our sin.

            God is also perfectly merciful and loves us, despite our sinfulness. How can God forgive us while maintaining justice? In his Thru the Bible Commentary, Pastor J. Vernon McGee addresses this question. He explains that “[God] couldn’t just open the back door of heaven and slip us in. He couldn’t be righteous [that is, just] and do that. A sacrifice for sins had to be made.”

The penalty for moral crimes against God (sin) is death. So God sent His Son to Earth, and because Jesus lived a sinless life, His death was an acceptable substitute for our own. Thus, God’s perfect justice was satisfied, and his perfect mercy saved us. Romans 6:23 summarizes this well: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The wages of sin have been dealt with through Christ’s death, and now the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life are freely offered to us through Christ’s sacrifice.

The Trinity

            This question does not account for the fact that while God is one, there are three Persons within the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Son to Earth to die for our sins; and the Son willingly sacrificed himself because of His love for us. Jesus spoke on this topic in John 10:18 when he said, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” All three Persons of the Trinity did not die to save us. The Son, Jesus, sacrificed himself to the Father for our sins, so the phrasing “[God] sacrificed himself to himself” is vague and inaccurate, which led to a confusing question.

In summary, God the Son mercifully chose to sacrifice himself in our place, satisfying the demands of perfect justice by paying the penalty for our sin.