What Did Jesus Christ Accomplish With His Death?

Here is how one Catholic explains the death of Jesus Christ:

Make no mistake about it. Protestants will try to tell you that Christ underwent our punishment--He did not! If that were so, then Christ would have had to be sent to hell for all eternity, for this is what we truly deserve (cf. Revelation 20:13-14). Christ suffered for us, it is no question, but He did so in order to earn for us God's forgiveness, not so that we would not have to suffer or be punished temporarily. In other words, Jesus helped us avoid hell not by undergoing the punishment Himself, but by offering Himself to God in order to appease His wrath and prevent His justice from being executed (cf. Isaiah 53:10-12, Hebrews 2:17). Just like lambs and goats were slain in the Old Testament in order to appease the wrath of God, so Christ was slain and slaughtered to appease God's wrath, but with Christ it was once and for all. Goats and lambs, being finite creatures, had to be offered again and again as people sinned again. However, Christ's Sacrifice, being infinite and perfect and without any possible blemish, was most pleasing and hence is sufficient for the Father to forgive any sin committed and no more Sacrifice is needed.

Extract from Mario Derksen's article on the Catholic Mass.

Note that Mario clearly denies that Christ took upon Himself our sins, taking them to the cross, suffering the punishment of death that we sinners deserved. This stems from the Catholic teaching of eternal punishing and torment in a place called Hell, which they teach is the inevitable fate of the unrepentant sinner. (See The Biblical Truth About Hell)

And here is how another Catholic writer addresses the same issue:

"The guilt of actual sin cannot be transferred from one soul to another. To assert that the guilt of men's sins was transferred to our Lord dying on the Cross is absurd and blasphemous."

Source: The Question Box, New Edition, by Rev. Bertrand L. Conway of the Paulist Fathers, copyright 1929 by the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle in the State of New York, published by the Paulist Press, 401 West 59th Street, New York, page 58.

What is the biblical penalty for sin?

The Wages of Sin


Adam was warned. As long as he was obedient, and did not eat from the forbidden tree, he would live. He would live forever in harmony with his creator God. But rebel against the law of God and the penalty would be a forfeiture of his life. Eat from the forbidden tree and a death sentence would be immediately imposed on Adam.
How was that death sentence carried out after Adam sinned?


The day that Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, they were expelled from the garden of Eden and not permitted to return. This expulsion effectively prevented Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of life. Without access to the tree of life Adam and Eve would inevitably perish.


Because Adam had sinned, the penalty of death entered the world:


So what, according to the Bible is the wages of sin? What is the penalty for sin?


Death Is the Penalty for Sin


Ezek 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die.










There are two fates for all of humanity. Life through faith in the atoning death of Christ on the cross, or death for the sinner who lacks faith. The unsaved will not see life, they will perish. Eternal punishing and torment in Hell for sinners is a perversion of scripture and a Catholic fiction. Hell is the grave, a complete cessation of life.

Regaining Access to the Tree of Life




Adam and Eve, after they sinned, were prevented from eating from the tree of life. This prevented them from living forever as sinners. Sin and sinners were not permitted to be eternal. God has not changed His mind. Those without faith will not be given access to the the Tree of Life, just like Adam and Eve were denied it and were denied eternal life. Consequently, sin and sinners must surely come to an end, cease to exist. When the last sinner has perished in the lake of fire, sin and sinners will be no longer. Those with faith will again be given access to the tree of life, and so will not be subject to the second death:



1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.


It is this second death that Christ died for us. For those with faith, the second death will have no power over them. However, in the second death, all sinners will perish in the lake of fire: sinners and sin cease to be. With no sin in the universe there will never again be death. We are promised victory over this second death if we have faith in Christ's atoning death on the cross:


Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell (death / the grave) shall not prevail against it.


If The Wages Of Sin Is Death,
Did Christ Really Die In Our Place On The Cross?



Christ laid down His life for our sins. Death is the penalty for sin, and that is precisely the price Christ paid in our place.



2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.




1 Pet 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:



The Good News!



Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins. Christ died for us, in our place. He paid the penalty of death that we should have paid, so that by faith in His atoning death and resurrection we might live forever with Him in victory over the law of sin and death. That is the good news, the Gospel message that the Bible teaches in verity. This Gospel Mario Derksen denies.


May Mario even yet accept the gospel message, that Christ died in his place, that He who knew no sin became sin, and paid the price for Mario's sins, death, and that by this faith, he, Mario Derksen, might not die the second death, but be permitted to one day eat from the tree of life, and live forever, as the Bible teaches. And so may we all.