God will not judge anyone for transgressing the law of gravity or the law of aerodynamics, yet everyone will be judged as to their observance of the moral law.

Can you keep the moral law perfectly? Not without Christ! So how does Christ's legal death enable YOU to keep the law? IF His death paid a legal penalty, please explain how that make any different in you.

APL,

First, a court and a judgment imply the existence of a legal system.
Second, Christ's death was the death of the Creator of man and of the Creator of the law in man's place, to fulfill the death penalty to which the transgressed law subjects man. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law [the death penalty], being made a curse for us."


Christ not only died in my place to grant me forgiveness, but obeyed in my place to give me power to obey.

In Christ we are as if we had suffered the penalty we have incurred. In Christ I am as if I had obeyed, and rendered perfect obedience to the law, which we can not perfectly obey without Christ imparts to us His merits and His righteousness. {PUR, September 4, 1913 par. 3}


Pardon and justification are one and the same thing. Through faith, the believer passes from the position of a rebel, a child of sin and Satan, to the position of a loyal subject of Christ Jesus, not because of an inherent goodness, but because Christ receives him as His child by adoption. The sinner receives the forgiveness of his sins, because these sins are borne by his Substitute and Surety. The Lord speaks to His heavenly Father, saying: "This is My child, I reprieve him from the condemnation of death, giving him My life insurance policy--eternal life--because I have taken his place and have suffered for his sins. He is even My beloved son." Thus man, pardoned, and clothed with the beautiful garments of Christ's righteousness, stands faultless before God. {FW 103.2}
The sinner may err, but he is not cast off without mercy. His only hope, however, is repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Father's prerogative to forgive our transgressions and sins, because Christ has taken upon Himself our guilt and reprieved us, imputing to us His own righteousness. His sacrifice satisfies fully the demands of justice. {FW 103.3}

Daniel 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

first
Question Rosangela? Who is the main figure on trail? Have you ever attended a medical "Grand Rounds"? Individual cases of patients are presented, often in great detail. An investigative judgment of sorts. But who is the the real focus of such presentations? The ones who were taking care of the patients. Was their care appropriate? Timely? Sufficient? Was there anything else that could be done? The SDABC on this verse says this: In the investigative judgment the records of all who have at one time or another professed allegiance to Christ will be examined. The investigation is not conducted for the information of God or of Christ, but for the information of the universe at large-that God may be vindicated in accepting some and rejecting others. Romans 3:4 God forbid: yes, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That you might be justified in your sayings, and might overcome when you are judged. Another translation says it this way: Romans 3:4 By no means! God must prove true, though every man be false; as the Scripture says, "That you may be shown to be upright in what you say, And win your case when you go into court."

second
You say that Christ death was to fulfill the penalty of the law. To be sure, Christ suffered the the penalty that a transgresser would suffer. No question. Question is, was this a legal death or one caused by and inflicted by sin? If it was a legal death, who killed him? Was Jesus executed by God?

Hebrews 2:16-18 For truly he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Why in all things it behooved him to be made like to his brothers, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.

Hm, he took our our nature, so he could legelly pardon us? Or as this quote says, that he took our nature so as to be able to succor them that are tempted, to redeem us, to save us, to restore us in His image? EGW: "The working out of the great plan of salvation, as manifest in the history of this world, is not only to men but to angels a revelation of the Father. Here is seen the work of Satan in the degradation and ruin of the race by sin, and, on the other hand, the work of God in man's recovery and uplifting through the grace of Christ. Every soul that develops a righteous character and withstands the power of the wicked one is a testimony to the falsehood of Satan's charges against the Divine government. Through the eternal ages the exaltation of the redeemed will be a testimony to God's love and mercy. {17MR 338.2}" Legal? No Healing? Yes.

That is what I have been saying. A legal forgivenss does not give you the power to obey. You need to total transformation. This is what Jesus came to give. He kept the law in our fallen condition (Matthew 8:17) so was able to be our faithful high priest, and know how to life us up, Hebrews 2:18. This is not legal, this is real and tangible.
Absolutely true! A legal death serves for nothing. We need Christ's righteousness imparted into us, we need a total transformation, a renew of the WHOLE NATURE (see Steps to Christ 43.2) A legal death does not do this. In fact, we are not saved by His death, we are saved by His LIFE. Romans 5:10 We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life!

Key phrase, clothed with the garment so fo Christ's righteousness. God can not lie. If we stand faultless before God, it is because we are faultless. We having been totally transformed by Christ which we receive by faith.

APL,

God is not just a Father, but the Sovereign and Ruler of the universe. The universe could not be in confusion, so He established a law, the constitution of the universe, to govern all His creatures. The violation of that law by a single creature affects the whole universe, therefore every violation must be judged, because the whole universe must be in agreement with God that the law is perfect, just and holy, and that any given violation of its precepts is wrong and deserves condemnation. However, when sin is judged by God, it must obviously be condemned by Him. The problem is that the condemnation of sin causes in the sinner such a weight of guilt that it crushes him (that's why the penalty of the law is death). In order to avoid any charge of lessening the guilt of sin, God received in Himself the consequences inherent to the judgment of sin, so that He could at the same time judge sin and prevent the repentant sinner from facing that judgment (and that’s what the IJ is all about – a judgment we don’t have to face). At the cross God acquired the legal right to pardon sinners, because the penalty was paid.

By dying in our behalf, He gave an equivalent for our debt. Thus He removed from God all charge of lessening the guilt of sin. {TMK 69.3}

Why do you read just half of the quote?

Since the law requires perfect obedience, that’s why we need a Substitute. The law considers both the death and the obedience of the Substitute as being our own death and obedience.

When Christ forgives us, it’s as if He had done what we did, and as if we had done what He did. This makes God’s forgiveness different from human forgiveness, and only makes sense from a legal perspective.


What was the purpose of Christ's death?

Rosangela, is God, the Sovereign of the universe, your friend?

By reading your statement above, you see "the law" as an enacted law that governs behavior, rather that a design template of how life operates. "The law" is external to us, rather internal that governs our being. You see the penalty of sin as external and separate from sin. The reason anyone dies is because God judges and then condemns. Christ came to pay the debt of sin. To whom did He pay the debt? Did God demand a death, any death, by a death because He needed that death in order to be appeased? You are right, your view of the law is legal. I no longer believe that this is the case. I see that Law as the intrinsic design of how we are made. Under your view, how do you explain the death of leaves, flowers and animals after Adam and Eve died? Did God "condemn" all life? Is God an executioner? Is God the Destroyer? NO.

• As they witnessed in drooping flower and falling leaf the first signs of decay, Adam and his companion mourned more deeply than men now mourn over their dead. The death of the frail, delicate flowers was indeed a cause of sorrow; but when the goodly trees cast off their leaves, the scene brought vividly to mind the stern fact that death is the portion of every living thing. {PP 62.1}

Was all life now legally condemned for Adam and Eve's sin? Or was there something else going on? Is sin something other that just breaking a set of rules, but a breaking of the design template of life, which affects ALL life? And where is the design template of all life written? It is written in the genome. One sin condemned ALL men. See Romans 5, and all creation travails together, Romans 8:22-23.

Yes, Christ paid an infinite price, which we can not fathom. Yes, Christ dies the death of a sinner. Yes, Christ carried our sin in His body on the tree, 1 Peter 2:24. I read this just as it reads. Christ literally carried our sin. He was MADE TO BE SIN for us, 2 Corinthians 5:21. A literal statement. Nothing legal about this. It is factual and real.

You said, at the cross, God acquired the legal right to pardon sinners, because the penalty had been paid. GREAT - then all should be saved! The penalty has been paid. We are home free. No? No. Christ paid a great price. At the cross what did God acquire? Hebrews 2:17 KJV Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. At the Cross, then knowledge was gained in how to solve the problem of sin, and how to make reconciliation for sin, to "propitiation" sin. Romans 3:25-26 For God showed him publicly dying as a sacrifice of reconciliation to be taken advantage of through faith. This was to vindicate his own justice (for in his forbearance, God passed over men's former sins)— 26 to vindicate his justice at the present time, and show that he is upright himself, and that he makes those who have faith in Jesus upright also. His Death makes us His friend, Romans 5:10 We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life! How are we made friends? Christ died the death of a sinner. What killed Christ? Was he executed by God? NO. We see that it is not God that is out to destroy us. God is not the executioner. If God is for us, who can be against us? Christ's death was caused by sin. We learned that truly, the wages of sin is death. It is not execution by God. And by Christ's death, He because our High Priest, Hebrews 2:18 For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. And since He prefectly purged "our sin", Hebrews 1:3, He was raised from death, and by His life is now able to save us, for if Christ be not raised, our Gospel is worthless and our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:17). It is not a legal solution. It is a real solution, taken advantage of by Faith. We are not saved in our sin, as a legal solution would afford. We are save FROM our sin, which a Healing solution produces. We are saved only as we are set right and kept right by Christ.

Rosangela, I did not read just half the quote - I read it differently than you. The law required perfect obedience, true! You will not be saved in your sins. A legal pardon will not work, or everyone could and would be saved. We must be transformed back into perfect harmony. Christ will do this work if we submit to Him. Unless we have the righteousness of Christ, we will not be saved. We must appropriate the righteousness of Christ.

• The spotless, sinless Son of God has borne our sins in his own body on the cross, that we might live unto God. When we truly receive Christ, we live his life, not our own. Our highest aim is to do his will, and represent his character. {YI, March 20, 1902 par. 1}
  
  Christ bore our sins that we might live unto righteousness. We were as sheep going astray, but he came from the heavenly courts to bring us back to the fold. {YI, March 20, 1902 par. 2}
  
  He died to make it possible for us to keep the law. But all are left to make their choice for themselves. God forces no one to accept the advantages secured for him at an infinite cost. {YI, March 20, 1902 par. 3}

So legal pardon does not work! We must keep the law. He literally bore our sin in His body. "he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high", Hebrews 1:3. He carried our sin, He purged our sin by His death. He was the creator or our bodies, who else but the engineer that designed the system to come and formulate a solution to the problem. The solution is beyond our wildest dreams if you understand what is was the went wrong. Every individual requires their own solution to the problem. And the solution changes second by second. Salvation is healing.

Look up the words that are translated "forgive" in the KJV. There are 2 words, which very different meanings. You consistently use the meaning for "Charizomai". Understand the work "Aphiemi". This "forgive" is what is done in the offended, not the offender. God is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. See Charizomai.

What killed Christ?

It was the weight of sin that cut Him off from the Father.

When a Roman soldier's spear was thrust into Jesus' side both water and blood came out of the wound. Jesus died of "cardiac rupture", more popularly, it means Jesus died of a broken heart.

"My God, my God why have you forsaken me?

Christ died the death of a sinner. How was God involved? Did God execute Jesus? NO. So why is it claimed that God will execute sinners?