[i]The doctrine of salvation: Why did Jesus have to die and is it evidence of God's weakness?

• The doctrine of salvation, central to the Christian faith, revolves around the Incarnation of the Son of God and His atoning death on the cross, representing one of the greatest mysteries of divine love.
• God, in His immense love, sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for humanity’s sins, reconciling mankind with God and granting eternal life.
• Some question: Why was Christ’s death necessary? Couldn’t an all-powerful, merciful God forgive sins with a word? Does sending His Son to die indicate divine weakness?
• From the Orthodox Christian perspective, grounded in the Bible, this doctrine does not reflect God’s weakness but showcases His profound love, justice, and holiness, revealing His power through redemption and reconciliation.
• This text explains why Christ’s death was necessary and how it demonstrates God’s strength, not weakness.

The nature of God: Holiness, Justice, and Love

• God is perfect in His attributes: holy, just, loving, and almighty, with these qualities working in perfect harmony, not contradiction.
• His holiness cannot tolerate sin, His justice demands sin’s punishment, and His love seeks humanity’s salvation.

Biblical affirmations:

• Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV): “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” This affirms God’s singular, unified nature.
• Isaiah 45:5 (NIV): “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.” This underscores God’s exclusive divinity.
• John 3:16 (NIV): “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This highlights God’s sacrificial love for humanity.
• Forgiving sins without atonement would contradict God’s justice and holiness, undermining His consistent nature.
• Instead, God demonstrates His power through the plan of salvation, harmonizing justice and mercy in a divine economy.

 The nature and consequences of sin

• Sin, per the Bible, is not merely mistakes but rebellion against God’s will, defying His absolute holiness.
• Sin caused a separation between God and humanity, resulting in spiritual and physical death as its just consequence.

Biblical evidence:

• Romans 6:23 (NIV): “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This contrasts sin’s penalty with God’s gracious gift.
• Hebrews 7:26 (NIV): “Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.” This emphasizes the need for a sinless mediator.
• Since sin was committed by a human (Adam), the Redeemer had to be human to represent humanity and divine to bear the infinite weight of sin’s penalty.

[ii] Why did Jesus have to die?

• God could not arbitrarily forgive sins without atonement, as this would violate His justice, which requires that sin’s penalty death be paid.
• In His love, God chose to pay this price Himself through His incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man.

Reasons why Christ’s death was necessary:

• To be truly human: The Redeemer needed to be human to represent and die for humanity, as sin originated with a human.
• Hebrews 2:14 (NIV): “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.”
• Romans 5:12 (NIV): “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin.”
• To be sinless: The Redeemer had to be without sin to offer a pure, acceptable sacrifice before God.
• Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, was free from original and actual sin.
• Hebrews 4:15 (NIV): “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
• To be God to give redemption unlimited value: A mere human’s death could not atone for all humanity’s sins across history, but Christ’s divine nature gave His sacrifice infinite redemptive value.
• John 1:14 (NIV): “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
• John 1:1 (NIV): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
• To defeat death and the devil: Christ’s death was not a defeat but a triumph, destroying death and Satan’s power, with His resurrection granting eternal life to believers.
• Romans 5:17 (NIV): “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace… reign in life.”

Atonement: The balance between justice and mercy

• God could not forgive sins without atonement, as this would compromise His justice; instead, Christ offered Himself as the atoning sacrifice, satisfying divine justice while extending mercy.

Biblical support:

• Romans 3:25 (NIV): “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.”
• John 1:29 (NIV): “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
• 1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV): “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”
• Christ’s death was voluntary, not coerced, reflecting His love and divine will.
• John 10:18 (NIV): “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”
• This act of atonement perfectly balances God’s justice and mercy, removing sin’s barrier through a freely offered sacrifice.

  Is the doctrine of salvation a sign of God’s weakness?

• Some might perceive sending His Son to die as a sign of divine weakness, but Christian theology asserts that the Incarnation and cross are the ultimate expressions of God’s power and love.
• Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, chose to incarnate and die willingly, not under compulsion, demonstrating divine strength in vulnerability.
• The Incarnation and redemption transform death into life, sin into righteousness, and separation into reconciliation, revealing God’s power.

Biblical evidence:

• Hebrews 2:14 (NIV): “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death that is, the devil.”
• Romans 5:10 (NIV): “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.”
• The cross, perceived as weakness by human standards, is God’s victorious act, defeating death and granting eternal life, showcasing divine power in what appears as weakness.

[iii] Sayings of the Fathers on Salvation and Redemption

• Athanasius the Apostle: “It was only by the death of the Incarnate Word that man could be freed from corruption, for He alone was without sin, and so was able to die on behalf of all.” (On the Incarnation, Chapter 9). This emphasizes the necessity of Christ’s sinless nature for redemption.
• “The death of the Incarnate Word was not weakness, but divine power, for He defeated death by His death, and gave life to all.” (On the Incarnation, Chapter 24) This reframes the cross as a triumph of divine strength.
• Cyril the Great: “Christ did not die only as our representative, but as us, taking on our nature, in order to put sin to death in us.” This highlights Christ’s identification with humanity in redemption.
• “The Incarnation was not a renunciation of divinity, but a declaration of God’s immeasurable love and invincible power.” This underscores the Incarnation’s role in revealing divine attributes.
• Gregory of Nazianzus: “One died for all, because all are in Him, to give life to all.” This affirms the universal scope of Christ’s sacrifice.
• “In the cross the power of God is revealed, because the apparent weakness of Christ is the true victory over sin and death.” This reinterprets human perceptions of weakness as divine victory.

The results of salvation in the life of the believer

• Christ’s death and resurrection are not signs of divine weakness but sources of transformative power for believers, yielding:
• Forgiveness of sins: Jeremiah 31:34 (NIV): “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
• Justification: Romans 5:1 (NIV): “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God.”
• Eternal life: John 3:16 (NIV): “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
• Reconciliation with God: Romans 5:10 (NIV): “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.”
• Sonship with God: John 1:12 (NIV): “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
• These outcomes demonstrate that salvation transforms believers from death to life, slavery to sonship, reflecting God’s powerful grace, not weakness.

Relationship with the Holy Trinity

• Salvation is a cooperative work of the Holy Trinity, showcasing divine unity and power:
• The Father planned salvation and sent His Son.
• The Son became incarnate, died, and rose to accomplish redemption.
• The Holy Spirit applies redemption, sanctifying believers’ hearts.

Biblical support:

• 1 Corinthians 3:9 (NIV): “For we are co-workers in God’s service.”
• Ephesians 2:18 (NIV): “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
• This Trinitarian collaboration underscores that redemption is not a response to weakness but an expression of God’s eternal love and omnipotence.

 Conclusion

• The doctrine of salvation does not indicate God’s weakness but reveals His wondrous power manifested through His love.
• God was not compelled to send His Son but chose to do so to fulfil both justice and mercy simultaneously.
• Sin, committed by humanity, required a human-divine Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to reconcile mankind with God through His atoning death and resurrection.
• The cross, seemingly a moment of weakness, is God’s ultimate victory, defeating death and granting eternal life to believers.
• This divine act demonstrates God’s power to transform human weakness into divine triumph.
• 1 Timothy 3:16 (NIV): “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh.”

[i] https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2802.htm On the Incarnation by Athansious

[ii] https://st-takla.org/FAQ-Questions-VS-Answers/03-Questions-Related-to-Theology-and-Dogma__Al-Lahoot-Wal-3akeeda/017-How-come-God-dies.html  in Arabic

[iii] https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2802.htm On the Incarnation by Athansious