Why Couldn't God Have Just Forgiven Our Sins Without The Cross?

 

Also published on my Network Norfolk page this week

Regarding Christ's sacrifice on the cross as an act of grace in atonement for our sins, the question is frequently asked: Why couldn't God have just forgiven our sins anyway, without the need for the torture and death of the crucifixion? God must have known about alternative options when considering all possible creation stories, but instead chose the cross, which suggests He knows things we don't about why the cross is a better method of atonement than simply forgiving us all.

I have a speculative answer as to why that might be. I think the above explores two similar scenarios, but with a key distinction: the first (the cross) is God acting to pay off the debt on our behalf, and the second (just forgive us anyway) is God writing off the debt without action. If it's better to pay off a debt than simply write it off, we may be able to discern this by looking at actions between humans. If we think of all the people each of us has wronged in our lives, some cases will involve acts of forgiveness and reconciliation, but some won't. In other words, in the human story, there is a lot of unforgiveness that resembles unpaid debt, and the only way it can be put right between human agents is through volitional forgiveness and reconciliation. It can't be put right by writing off the debt without action—or even if it can, it is definitely an inferior resolution to the aforementioned alternative.

Now, consider it another way. Suppose Frank owes Jack £1000 after a loan, and Frank is forever struggling to pay it back. Tom could offer to pay Jack on behalf of Frank, so the debt is settled, but he couldn't reasonably suggest that the three of them just forget about the £1000 and that that settles things in the same way.

I think these illustrations might show why God can't just forgive sins without paying the debt Himself. God could perhaps use writing off the debt without action as a means to forgive our sins against Him, but perhaps He cannot use writing off the debt without action as a sacrificial Divine gesture to cover the human sins committed against each other. However, by having suffered and died for us on the cross, God acted to pay off all the debt on our behalf. This became the instrument through which we are enjoined to forgive each other, because we are enjoined to share in Christ's suffering in order to live a life that emulates Divine love, grace, and forgiveness.