We Believe Christ Died for Our Sins

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 1 Corinthians 15:3–5 (NLT)

We believe Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day, and personally appeared to His disciples.

The gospel centers on four connected events: Christ died for human sin, was buried, rose on the third day, and appeared to witnesses in fulfillment of Scripture (1 Cor. 15:1–35). This creed is among the earliest Christian confessions, formulated within a few years of the events.

The early church regarded these truths—atonement through the cross, death confirmed by burial, bodily resurrection, and appearances of the risen Lord—as the foundation of faith and salvation. For Paul, the gospel is God’s decisive act: a revelation of divine power that brings new life into the world and continues to unfold as that life-giving power is revealed.

Christ’s death for sin, burial, resurrection, and appearances form the earliest Christian confession, revealing God’s saving power. The early church saw these events as the foundation of faith and new life. More than a creed, this summary of 1 Corinthians 15:3–5 proclaims God’s redemptive plan—the best news humanity has ever heard.

Christ Died-It Should Have Been Me

But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. Isaiah 53:5 (CSB)

When we hear that someone has died, our reaction likely depends upon the circumstances. It is not the same when someone who has lived a long life passes quietly in their sleep, as opposed to a younger person who dies a violent death. In our doctrinal statement, as with Paul’s, the meaning is expanded because Christ was crucified, an agonizing and painful death.

Crucifixion is a shameful, painful, horrifying method of execution. It was reserved for slaves and the lowest criminals. For Christ, the presence of the deeper agony of spirit goes well beyond the physical suffering.

The horrific physical suffering of crucifixion should not be understated. Historical sources describe it as a prolonged, intensely painful, and deeply humiliating form of execution.

Yet the New Testament presents the cross as more than an exceptionally painful execution. Its deepest meaning is that the sinless Christ gave himself for sinners. Isaiah had portrayed the Servant as bearing the sins of others, and the New Testament summarizes this truth as Christ suffering “the righteous for the unrighteous” to bring people to God.

Contemplating the suffering that Christ endured on the cross is difficult. He died for our sins. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3:18 (NIV). In the words of the old quartet song:

I should have been crucified
I should have suffered and died
I should have hung on that cross in disgrace
But Jesus, God’s son, took my place

Jesus Christ paid a high price for our redemption. We owe him our lives and our allegiance.

He Was Buried and Rose on the Third Day

“When they had done all that the prophecies said about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead!” Acts 13:29–30 (NLT)

Jesus repeatedly predicted his own suffering, death, and resurrection. Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. Mark 8:31 (NLT)

Christ’s burial confirms that he truly died. He did not merely seem to die, nor did the disciples claim that only his spirit survived while his body remained in the tomb. The sequence of death, burial, and resurrection shows that the resurrection reversed a real death, supporting its objective, bodily nature.

“Rose” refers to bodily resurrection, not merely survival after death or the continuation of Jesus’ influence. Paul’s argument later in the chapter presents Christ’s resurrection as the first instance and guarantee of believers’ future resurrection. This confession establishes Jesus’ resurrection as the apostolic foundation for Paul’s teaching on the resurrection of the body.

The “third day” identifies when the resurrection occurred while also carrying theological significance. Scripture often presents the third day as a time of divine intervention, deliverance, revelation, or vindication.

Paul explains why the resurrection is unquestionably essential to our faith. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 1 Corinthians 15:13–14 (CSB). He goes on to say that Christ has been raised and is the “first fruits” of those who will be raised (v.20).

The Witnesses

After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3 (CSB)

Christ’s post-resurrection appearances showed that his resurrection was neither a private spiritual experience nor an idea the disciples gradually developed. They confirmed that the crucified Jesus was truly alive, commissioned witnesses, fulfilled Scripture, and laid the foundation for Christian faith and mission.

Jesus appeared in identifiable settings to Peter, the Twelve, James, the apostles, more than five hundred believers, and Paul. Paul records this public chain of testimony, noting that many of the five hundred were still alive when he wrote.

Finally, all of this took place “according to the Scriptures.” Paul was saying that all these events are in alignment with, fulfill, and disclose the meaning of Israel’s Scriptures. They were not unexpected innovations or events in God’s redemptive plan.

We believe Jesus Christ willingly died on the cross for our sins as the sacrifice for our redemption. His burial confirmed His death. On the third day, He rose bodily, conquering sin and death. He then personally appeared to His disciples, confirming He was alive and strengthening their faith in the gospel.

Steve Ekeroth

Photo by Steve Ekeroth: Lone Cypress, Monterey CA