Why Did Christ Die?

Easter is approaching, and it is time to ask, “Why?”

“Preacher, what do you mean, ‘why?’ Easter is the season when Christians celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Everyone has opinions, and with those opinions come reasons for those opinions. Even people with opposing opinions have reasons for their own beliefs.

Example: My dad was a Chevy guy, and my father-in-law was a Ford guy. Both of them could articulate why they would only buy a particular brand of car and wouldn’t be caught dead in the other. Right or wrong, they had their opinions and logical (at least rational to them) reasons for those opinions.

So, back to my original question: Why celebrate Easter? Or, more specifically, why did Christ die?

The answer to that question is that Christ died for the sins of the world. If that is the case, why do so many people add things to the blood of Christ as a necessity for salvation?

Many people celebrating Easter add things to salvation, such as abstaining from particular sins, participating in certain church rituals, and performing other good works. If baptism is necessary for salvation, then why did Christ die? If we can get to heaven by not being a rapist or murderer, then what is the purpose of the cross? If God will open the pearly gates for us if the good outweighs the bad in our lives, then why was Christ crucified?

Paul makes a statement at the beginning of the book of Galatians that all Christians should consider. Galatians 1:6-7, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.”

Another gospel, which was not another but a perverted gospel of Christ, had entered the church. A reading of the rest of the book of Galatians reveals what had happened. False teachers came into the church preaching that salvation is by faith (the true gospel), but in addition, you could not obtain salvation unless you were circumcised.

The perverted gospel was a gospel that added works to the gospel of salvation by faith.

We are either saved by works or by grace; it cannot be a mixture of the two. Romans 11:6, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

Again, why did Christ die on the cross, or even come to earth at all, if salvation comes through a list of dos and don’ts that God hands down to us?

The angel told Joseph that the purpose of the child born to the virgin Mary was to save us from our sins. Matthew 1:21 says, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

This mission of saving us is stated elsewhere in Scripture.

Matthew 18:11, “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.”

Matthew 20:28, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

John 3:17, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

Again, if sinners are saved by being good people or by performing certain church rituals, then why did Christ die?

Should Christians be good people and participate in church rituals such as baptism? Yes, definitely, but we do these things because we are saved, not to obtain or keep our salvation.

Saving faith will change a person; salvation makes a person a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Many of the sins a Christian did before salvation are now things they will no longer do. Their heart won’t let them. A hatred for sin enters the heart because the Holy Spirit has entered. That is why a drunkard can place their faith in Jesus Christ, then go home and pour the booze down the drain, never to drink again.

However, as every Christian knows, there are sins that we cannot shed easily. Some sins we will conquer over time and others we will fight until the day we die. This struggle is the sanctification process. Think of it as the Holy Spirit cleaning up His new home.

With salvation, change always comes.

If the death and resurrection of Christ have not changed (saved) you, then why did Christ die?