PART 2: IS IT NECESSARY?

Introduction

When Christians try to explain why the cross was necessary they will often say that it was because of God's holiness, justice or wrath. Because God is a holy God He cannot tolerate sin; because He is a God of justice He cannot simply overlook sin; because He is a God of wrath, He cannot remain indifferent to sin.

But do God's holiness, justice and wrath demand that sin must be punished? And does someone else being punished in the place of an offender satisfy the demands of God's holiness, justice or wrath?

In this section we will examine what the Bible says about each of these attributes of God and how they relate to what happened on the cross. To begin with, we will examine what it says about God's holiness.