Now, Abdullah, to answer yout second last question, I need to show you why the cross was necessary and what it accomplished.
Did you know that there are more references in the Old Testament to the death of Christ than the New Testament? 333 references in the OT, compared to 175 in the NT.
The OT sacrificial system pointed to the need for the perfect sacrifice to take away the sins of the people. The symbolic gesture in the killing and sprinkling of blood by the high priest, was the background for the New Testament references to Christs death being the fulfilment of the Mosaic sacrificial system.
What was it then that was accomplished on the cross? The Bible doesn't say it all in one book, but it describes it in a number of words...
1. A ransom.. the price paid to secure a slave's release. (Isaiah 45:13). The Bible likens the death of Jesus to that of securing the release of a slave, in this case it's to the slavery of sin and death (Matthew 20:28, 1 Timothy 2:6)
2. A Redemption the slaves release from bondage is again presented here. (Exodus 21;8). On the cross, Christ's blood effectively secured our release from the domain of Satan (Ephesians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18-19)
3. A Propitiation In pagan literature, the word was used of an offering to placate angry gods. In Romans 3:25, 1 John 2:2 and 1 John 4:10 it is discussed and in Hebrews 9:5, it is described as a mercy seat. In the Holy of Holies, the place where the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled, was the mercy seat. Through the death of Jesus on the christ, all the demands of a just and holy God were satisfied, the divine anger was turned into favour.
4. reconciliation describes the fact that through the death of Christ, we are now reconciled to God.
You see, the thing that most people forget is that they are born alienated from God, they don't become alienated from him by their sin. God and man are separated forever because of man's sin. When Jesus died, and paid the ransom which brought us back into God's kingdom, he also appeased the just and holy requirements of God for all sin and evil to be punished and then brought reconciliation between man and God, enabling man to be in a restored relationship with God, something that had not been seen since before the Fall in the Garden.
The Bible calls Jesus death
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5. Substitutionary
Christ who is God, took upon Himself, the sins of the world and took each sinners punishment for that sin. Isaiah saw it in Isaiah 53:6 "the Lord laid on Him, the iniquity of us all". Peter saw the same thing in 1 Peter 2:24 when he said "He Himself, bore our sins in His body on the cross."[/b]
One Christian described it this way at the time of his death
I commit my soul into the hands of my Saviour, full of confidence that having received me and washed me with His precious blood He will present me spotless before the throne of my heavenly Father."
Now, Muslims have 99 beautiful names for God. I'd like to think the 100th name is Saviour.. for this is how Jesus' death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins
from legal terms
we are
Justified.... God reckons the believer perfectly guiltless in Christ. (Romans 5:16)
This justificiation comes by faith alone
"It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast."
Ephesians 2:8.9
Can you see the big problem with the Muslim understanding of salvation? If your good works get you to heaven, you can boast that it was you yourself that got you there. The Christian on the other hand will oneday look at God his Saviour, and fall on his knee and say "by grace alone.. it's the gift of God". Works can never bring you salvation.