As it says in the Sabbath Afternoon section, "All the benefits of the cross are at our disposal through faith in His atoning sacrifice."

The cross was a revelation of the truth: the truth about God, about us, and about sin. That truth draws us to repentance:



Salvation and forgiveness come when we respond to the light shining from the cross.

To answer your question, no, the cross is not sufficient of itself for our salvation/forgiveness because that depends upon our response. The cross is means by which we are drawn to God, but although God has given His all to us in Christ, we can still refuse to respond to His drawing.

Another reason why Jesus could not remain in the grave is due to the fact Satan must die with the sins of the saved in the lake of fire. Jesus earned the right on the cross to own the sins and second death of mankind by consuming and conquering them. To eliminate them Jesus must place them upon the head of Satan and upon the heads of the unsaved. To do this He must be alive.

Jesus must also be alive to mediate on behalf of the saved in the heavenly sanctuary. Without it mankind cannot approach the throne of God. We would have to die the second death with our sins in order to eliminate sin and death from the Universe. Of course, if Jesus did not rise from the grave God would be forced to destroy all FMAs because He would be unable to retain their respect and obedience.

The theory of MM's post is all true, but positively & pragmatically speaking Jesus' entire experience - including his resurrection is essential to the Gospel for us & in us!

Rom 4:25 may accurately also be translated:"He was lifted up because of our offences, and he was raised up because of our justification." We can die to sin and self because of his death, as that text says, and we can be born again solely because of his resurrection: thus the Gospel of salvation commenses with the resurrection, by which event the Pioneer and Perfector of our faith had completed "the faith of Jesus" for us - not before. To put it another way, if Christ be not raised from the dead, then there is no way for us to be reborn, born from above or however else you wish to express justification by faith.

Yes, there would be no Gospel at all!

This isn't true. First of all, sins are wrong actions and thoughts. These are not things which can be transferred from one being to another. The placing of the hands upon the scape goat by the strong man represents the scape goat bearing the responsibility for the sins he has caused. This applies not only to the sins of the saved, but the lost as well.





Sin abides in only one place, and that is in the mind of those who cherish it. We will only have to die the second death to eliminate sin and death from the Universe if we insist on clinging to it.

If so, in what sense did Jesus bear our sins? And in what sense did our guilt crush Him?

Was it merely a matter of extreme empathy? If so, the Father, who would be at least as empathetic as Jesus, would also have borne our sins and guilt. Moreover, assuming they are as empathetic today as they were then, they are still bearing our sins and guilt.

I also agree with the following from Monday's study:

The Plan of Salvation didn't end at the Cross, but continued through His resurrection and ascension into Heaven where He is our Mediator before the Father. This is part of His work as our High Priest.