"Well, this time the word hell is explicitly used...Actually, it says hell. At least in the KJV."
"I know the KJV says 'hell' and it's a mistranslation. The KJV translates sheol, hades, gehenna, and tartaros as hell, when only tartaros and gehenna should be. (And I'm not one who loves to accuse the KJV of mistranslation - there are only 2, this 'hell' problem and 'Easter' in the book of Acts.)"
And I'm sorry, I'm not trying to appear rude, but where do you get your authority or expertise to claim such a thing? The KJV of the Bible is the most scrutinized book ever written in the history of mankind. It was translated by the best able scholars who lived at the time, and it has been continuously reviewed by scholarly academia.
And it is more than the literal use of the word "hell" that indicates Christ went into hell after he died, but also his own reference to comparing himself to the happenings of Jonah:
"For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth." - Matthew 12:40
And it is very possible that "Hades," which you probably believe was the holding place of the saved until Christ had redeemed them, was actually a part of hell. For in the story of Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, those in an apparent lake of fire could see those on the other side of some apparent "gulf." (Luke 16:19-31)
And the Bible reveals that the dead came out of that place when Christ died, and were seen in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:52). Therefore Christ, who is God, would have had to be in such a place, in one way or another, in order to release these people through his power.
"...do you believe that the earthly body of Jesus is still with him?"
"I believe that His earthly body was glorified and is still with Him."
Well, you are entitled to your belief, but then where is his earthly
blood which was
poured out upon the ground? Do you think he retained enough of his blood to keep him alive after he was pierced through his side? Is not his
blood also a part of his earthly body?
"If our sins are forever paid for, which they are, and therefore they are forever separated from the judgment of God, which they are, then that which redeemed us is also eternally separated from God along with that sin."
"Only according to you, not Scripture. God redeemed us, so is he eternally separated from Himself? Come on! The gospel redeems us, so is it eternally separated from God, etc.?"
The
deed of dying for us is
eternal, and that is not "according to [me]," but according to the Bible. I am sorry if you are not able to
discern this.
If it was not eternal, than he would need to die again, and there would therefore be no hope for us.
"But this man, after he had offered ONE sacrifice for sins FOR EVER, sat down on the right hand of God;" - Hebrews 10:12
One sacrifice is good
FOR EVER, therefore this sacrifice is covering our sin, forever. Therefore this sacrifice is forever with our sin.
As I said before, I am sorry if you are not able to discern this.
"Christ only needed to die once for our sins to be forever forgiven and atoned for."
"Then why did you say He had to go to hell for us?"
Because
that is a part of death.
"No need to feel sorry for me, for I have eternal life, thanks to the shed blood of Jesus Christ, which eternally atones for my sin."
"Why did you put your confidence in Jesus going to hell for you if it is His blood that saves? You need to seriously evalute your theology."
My confidence was in the life of Christ being sacrificed for my sins. Life is in the blood. And a part of death is hell. Jesus shed his
life for me, and thus died for me. And his death was complete by going to where the
dead go, which is
hell.
I'm sorry, but it is
you who needs to seriously evaluate
your own theology.
And once again, I'm sorry, but I also have a feeling that you are somewhat of a legalist, as you appear to me as a person who is trying to reduce the importance of the death of Christ, and thus desperately searching for a way to dismiss grace. Please forgive me if my suspicions are wrong.
"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." - I Corinthians 6:20
"Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." - I Corinthians 7:23
"... even denying the Lord that bought them..." - II Peter 2:1
"... which he hath purchased with his own blood." - Acts 20:28"
"He says "we are bought with a price" but not that this price was paid for sin - this price was paid for our purchase. EVEN HERE, the verse you quote make it OBVIOUS that the payment is not of punishment, but of blood!!! "He purchased" not with punishment, but "with His own blood." And, the sins are not simply payed for, but removed, taken away. (Heb 10:4) That does not simply mean that they are covered, but that they are GONE COMPLETELY. This could not be accomplished by mere payment, but only by cleansing."
I don't know what faith you belong to, but I have never experienced a person strive so hard to deny something that cannot be truthfully taken away. Christ paid for our sins. If you wish to deny that and strive against that, then I can only question the foundation from which you try to do so, for your efforts are in vain. If you do not think that what Christ did was to pay for our sins, then how will our sins ever be paid for? For the Bible says that the
wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). However, it will not surprise me if you will also say that that is a mistranslation, too.
If his payment was not of punishment, but of only blood, then why was he nailed to a cross, and beaten beforehand? Why not just insert a bleeding device, let him bleed a little, and then let him go on his way? Sir, it
pleased God to bruise him, as Isaiah 53:10 states, and this means that God was satisfied in the punishment that was due us, by Christ taking it upon himself. Justice demands justice, and justice in the case of sin demands the punishment of
death unto all who have sinned. Therefore Christ bore this punishment for us, by dying for us.
The
soul of Christ is also mentioned as an "offering of sin," in Isaiah 53:10, and this means the
entire death of Christ, the entire
life of Christ being given for the sins of mankind.
"(2 Pet 1:9) "But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was PURGED from his old sins." -- Payment is LEGAL and can do nothing but declare one righteous, but cleansing can actually make one righteous because it is ACTUAL."
The payment was our punishment being taken by Christ. The cleansing of our passed sin was washed away by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. And the cleansing of our inward man, our spirits, is by the circumcision of our hearts by the power of God and the birth of the Holy Spirit.
However, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
God bless.