How would you answer the question, “How does Jesus’ death save me from my sins?” Here’s the answer we’ll explore:
“Jesus became like us so that we can become like him. Though perfect, he became human, died in our place, and was raised from death to life. When we place our faith in Jesus, our old self dies and we are raised to a new life, in which we are saved from sin’s penalty, power, and, one day, even its presence.”
Now, let’s walk through this answer.
“Jesus became like us so that we can become like him . . .”
Have you read any of the “bad plot summaries” that are going around the internet? For example, here’s a bad plot summary of the Lord of the Rings movies: “Group spends nine hours returning jewelry.” Here’s one for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: “Talking frog convinces son to kill his dad.” And here’s one for Shrek: “A guy learns to love a girl without her Instagram filters.”
Sometimes people do the same thing with Christianity. They try to sum it up in a way that sounds like a bad plot summary. They might say something like, “The point of Christianity is that God hates sin and punishes people because of it.” But that summary totally misses God’s grace! Or how about this: “The point of Christianity is to get along and be nice to people.” But that summary totally leaves God out of the picture!
And yet here’s a one-sentence summary that’s actually pretty helpful: “The Christian story is that Jesus became like us so that we can become like him.” Now, sure, there’s a lot more to the story. But this summary gets at the heart of what God did throughout the Bible and why he did it.
First, Jesus is God, but he became a man. Although divine, he added a human nature and became like us. The Gospel of John calls Jesus the “Word,” and says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14a). Philippians 2 says that Jesus “being in very nature God . . . humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6a, 8b).
“Although divine, he added a human nature and became like us.”
And why did Jesus become like us? It was so that we could become like him. In later parts of this conversation, we’ll describe more about how Jesus makes us like him. But for now, consider these scriptures that talk about God transforming us to be like Jesus. Second Corinthians 3:18a says that “we all . . . are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.” Romans 8:29 says that God has planned for us to be “conformed to the image of his Son.” First John 3:2b promises those who have placed their faith in Jesus that, “when Christ appears, we shall be like him.”
So again, Jesus became like us so that we can become like him.
“. . . Though perfect, he became human, died in our place. . .”
Why couldn’t God just forgive us for sins? Why would Jesus need to die in our place? Isn’t that harsh and unnecessary?
If you’ve ever started reading the Bible from the beginning, you might notice a pattern: when somebody chooses to do something wrong, everything feels tense and messed up until things are made right. For example, when Adam and Eve, the first two humans, deliberately eat from the one tree God told them not to, things get tense. They become anxious and embarrassed and start blaming each other—until God comes and gives them their punishment. That punishment was that they would have to leave the paradise he created for them and live in a harsher world where they will eventually die.
Then, in the very next generation, there’s a murder in the family. One brother kills the other, and God comes and tells the murderer, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). Something has again gone wrong with the world, and it won’t be made right until the sin is paid for.
This pattern keeps repeating. Just a few chapters later, all the people have become so violent toward each other that God grieves that he made them. So God plans to flood the earth and start over. Again, the message is clear: when somebody chooses to do something wrong, there’s a problem; there’s a tension hanging in the air until things are made right. The need for justice never goes away until the penalty is paid.
“The need for justice never goes away until the penalty is paid.”
That’s why, when God establishes a nation built on his laws, called Israel, he puts in place a system of punishments for dealing with sin: animal sacrifices. If someone sinned, they had to offer an animal—one without flaws—as a substitute. So, if you had committed a significant sin and needed to offer an animal from your flock to God, you were learning some important lessons. For example,
- God takes sin seriously.
- Sin always costs something.
- Sin takes something good and innocent and destroys it.
- God wants to provide something that takes your place so that you aren’t the one paying the ultimate penalty for your sin.
But did animal sacrifices actually remove peoples’ sins? No, the animal sacrifices were more like cleaning your room by shoving everything under the bed—maybe it looks clean for a bit, but the mess is still there, and it keeps spilling back out. Humanity needed something better—something more permanent to pay our sin penalty.
So, if you keep reading through the Old Testament, you’ll come to the writings of Isaiah, a prophet God used to give important messages to the people. In one of these prophetic messages, God showed Isaiah how, sometime in the future, a person (not an animal) would die for the sins of the people. He would be the substitute who would pay the penalty for all the people. Isaiah 53:5–6 says,
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
“The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Whom was Isaiah writing about? Jesus—the Messiah. Jesus, though fully God, became human. He lived a perfect life but willingly died in our place. He took the penalty for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to pay it. Instead of ignoring our sins (which no just judge would do), God dealt with them himself. Since God is both just and loving, the way to rescue us was for Jesus, the God-man, to take our penalty. Because he was sinless and deserved no punishment, Jesus could choose to take the penalty that we deserve.
“. . . and was raised from death to life. When we place our faith in Jesus, our old self dies . . .”
Crucifixion was the Roman Empire’s way of saying “game over.” You lost. And when Jesus was crucified, it looked like the end of the movement he had started. But then Jesus didn’t stay dead. He rose again and appeared to his followers, proving that he was alive. That changed everything. It made us look back on his death and realize it wasn’t just a tragic end to his life–it was his plan all along. He chose to die as the final, once-and-for-all sacrifice to take the penalty for our sins upon himself. Just like animal sacrifices were meant to deal with sin, Jesus’ death did that permanently. Hebrews 10:10 puts it this way, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
And did you know that Jesus’ death and resurrection are meant to be a picture of what happens to us, too? When we place our faith in Jesus, we go through a death-and-resurrection of our own. That’s what baptism is all about. Romans 6:3–6 says:
“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
Jesus became like us so that we can become like him. His death and resurrection are facts in history, but they’re also more than that. They are also an invitation for you to start a brand-new life right now!
“Jesus became like us so that we can become like him.”
“. . . and we are raised to a new life, in which we are saved . . .”
Let’s say you’ve made it a habit of speeding and driving your car recklessly, and eventually you are pulled over and the authorities take away your driver’s license. So you visit your local DMV to figure out how to get it back. You find out it’s a huge process involving fees, a suspension period, driving classes, and a ton of paperwork. But, finally, your driver’s license is reinstated. What should you do next? 
Well, obviously, you’ll want to take the shiny new plastic card and frame it on the wall, right? Maybe take some selfies with the driver’s license in the background and post it on social media? Maybe invite some friends to come celebrate? But after all that, let’s say you never actually take it off the wall and slide the license into your wallet. You never drive around with it. In fact, you never get around to driving again. But at least you’ve got the license, right?
Now, that would be rather pointless. What is the actual point of having your license reinstated? It’s so that you can drive again! In the same way, what is the actual point of having your sins paid for and forgiven? What are you supposed to do now that Jesus has taken your sins away? For what purpose has your old self died?
“For what purpose has your old self died?”
The whole point is that you are raised to live a new life. In this new life, you are no longer a slave to sin; instead, you are empowered to live a life of love, joy, and peace–a life empowered by your faith in Jesus. As Galatians 2:20 describes it, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
In other words, you were set free so you could really live. Don’t just hang grace on the wall. Live out your new life.
“. . . from sin’s penalty, power, and, one day, even its presence.”
A helpful way to describe how Jesus saves us is a 3-step process, with each step starting with P. First, God saves us from the penalty of sin. This is what the Bible often calls “justification.” It happens when you place your faith in Jesus and become a Christian. Your sins are forgiven and you’re made right with God. This is what Peter was talking about when the Church began:
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
Second, God saves us from the power of sin. This isn’t just a one-time event; it’s a process which the Bible sometimes calls “sanctification.” From the moment you first become a Christian until the moment you die, the Holy Spirit lives and works within you to make you more like Jesus. The result? Sin has less and less of a grip on you; it doesn’t control you like it used to. After listing many important sins that once defined his audience (sexual immorality, greed, theft, etc.), Paul explains this good news:
“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)
“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Third, God will one day save us from the very presence of sin. This is something we’ll experience in the future, in heaven. In eternity, sin won’t even be appealing. It will feel as tempting as eating used gauze out of a dumpster. Why? Because sin only thrives when we don’t have joy, and we will have complete joy in God’s presence: “You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11). The Bible describes this condition of finally being free from the very presence of sin as “glorifying” us or “glorification” (see Romans 8:30).
So here’s the big picture: Christians have been saved (from sin’s penalty), are being saved (from its power), and will be saved (from its presence). And at every step, it’s all through faith in Jesus Christ.
