Ah - so we will not die? Don't stop there. Does Christ's death save us? No. Rom_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! Mar_8:34-35 Then Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him. "If any of you want to come with me," he told them, "you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. 35 For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. Christ died for us, but not instead of us. We are saved by His life. Gal_2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart, the will is merged in His will, the mind becomes one with His mind, the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life, and His life becomes our life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness. Then as the Lord looks upon us He sees, not the fig-leaf garment, not the nakedness and deformity of sin, but His own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah. {COL 311.4}

OR ...

Is it that he paid the price for having loved us in the first place?

Allow me to explain. Jesus said, "FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON ...." The implication is one of sharing of fate. The world was in prison, Jesus shared our imprisonment. The world was in the furnace, Jesus walked among us in our fiery trial. The world was in thick darkness, Jesus came into the tunnel with us. He bore our sorrows, our griefs, our fleeting moments of happiness, our hopes, our dreams, our loneliness, our fears, our triumphs, our temptations, our weaknesses, our death.

WE brought him down, just as much as a girl will cause a man to leave his own father and mother and cling to HER and HER home and HER people. When we reciprocate that love then we become (as a Church), HIS Bride and all of us sons of the Living God; as it is written, "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come!'" (Rev. 22:17)

Jesus' death was not vicarious. We die too. Rather, we are saved by believing that Jesus of Nazareth is THE Christ, Son of the Living God, and demonstrating our belief by keeping his commandments, always cherishing in our hearts the hope of glory to come.

Everything that you read in the Bible revolves around this core principle, that "by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." (Eph. 2:8)

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APL,
I'm not asking about Christ's life. I'm asking about His death. The passage says:

He stood as the substitute for man, who was under sentence as a traitor, a rebel. Hence Christ died as a malefactor, in the place of the traitors.{17MR 340.1}

What does EGW mean when she says that Christ died as a substitute for man? She's very clear here - He died in the place of the traitors.

James,
Did the OT sacrificial victims die with the sinner or in the place of the sinner?

You asked, "WHAT saves us?" And I say to you as it is written that "by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." (Eph. 2:8)

What then does Calvary mean? It is representative of, the highlight of, THE life of sacrifice Jesus Christ spent with us. It is like the months, even years of courtship a man spends with the girl he loves and then comes the day when he marries her in front of everyone. THAT DAY becomes representative of all she ever hoped for, her happiness and an indelible memory. It is to her, the ultimate expression of his love.

Calvary looms large to us in that way. As it is written, "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; YET WE ESTEEMED HIM stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:4)

He spent his life in service among us. But how do we esteem him? ON A CROSS. That ultimate sacrifice was typified by the innocent animal falling at the altar because of sin. The animal knew no sin. It's only "offence" was making itself at home among us and remaining "spotless, without blemish". And for that, it dies.

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Hi APL. Sorry if I'm being over-simplistic, but in response to something you sai above I would like to offer this. You said, as a reason for your opinion that Christ did not die as a substitute, was because we still have to die. This is true, hoever, the death we die is far removed from the death Jesus dies. We die, whether as a living sacrifice or of old age or whatever, with the presence of God as comfort, assurance, and as our confidence an hope of resurrection.
Jesus died alone. No comfort, no friends, no assurance , and no hope whatsoever that He would live beyond the grave.
We die without condemnation, without guilt, without shame.
Jesus died with our guilt, our shame, our sin and condemnation.
Jesus died the death that we deserve. Surely that is substitutionary? Or am I missing something?
I am not suggesting however that we are saved by Christ's death, because in order to be saved we need the whole package...His resurrection life and power (sanctification) as well as justification.

I ask this question, WHY did Jesus have to die? The usual answer here is to fulfill some legal requirement.

That is the GREATEST CASE OF BLASPHEMY ever man did speak!

Even on the cross, just before he died, Jesus said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit;" and having said so, he died. (Luke 23:46)

His words were drawn from Psalm 31. Here are the first five verses:

1 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust;
let me never be ashamed:
deliver me in thy righteousness.
2 Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily:
be thou my strong rock,
for an house of defence to save me.
3 For thou art my rock and my fortress;
therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me:
for thou art my strength.
5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit:

Jesus KNEW and believed God implicitly, that he was going to die and rise again on the third day. Those who say otherwise do NOT speak according to the law or the testimony of the prophets of old. There is NO light in them.

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Faith in what?