Quote Originally Posted by vicmal96 View Post
God in the old testament demanded sacrafice as a way to atone for the sins of people. This goes back to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. When Adam sinned(not by eating the fruit, but by disobeying a direct order from the Creator) the only way this could be atoned, was by a blood sacrifice. The reason for blood? - Exodus tells us the life of a creature is in his blood. Thus the need for blood - one life in the place of another.
I guess this is the hardest thing about sacrife for me to understand: how another's sacrifice can atone someone's sins? I would have thought you'd have to sacrifice something of yourself, to atone for your own sins?

Q: if Jesus died for our sins, does this mean that we can go on sinning?
In theory yes, we could. But.... If you really grasp the concept of the offer, the sacrifice and the effect on the soul...then sinning would be something that would not be done without thought and then, after realising the sin.. You would not be at peace before you have asked, begged frogiveness from God.
I saw a film about this, where the devil materialized in Getsemane garden before the arrest, and showed Jesus how little people would heed his words after his death, and asked him if he really wanted to go through with it. And after a long thought, he said: yes, so people will always know that they have a choice.

I think there is generally too little thinking before action in our lives, not in a Christian way neccesarily, but rather in the sense of how your actions effect other poeple - and the planet.

Thank you for taking the time to explain. Maybe you can take a shot at another question: you mention the old testament, and as I see it, it is so radically different from the new, that I cannot understand how you can have both in the same religion?