Home > The Deity of Jesus and the Cross
As the death of God is what pays for sins but the man part of Jesus is what died. So either the death of God (not the human part) happened or Jesus didn't pay for our sins. (I actually was told this lol)
"The claim that Jesus (peace be upon him) has to be God for salvation to work falls apart under Allah's justice. They say only God's death can pay for sin, but the Qur'an says, ‘No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another' (Surah Al-An'am, 6:164)—why should Jesus carry what's ours? Allah forgives directly: ‘Say, "O My servants who have transgressed… do not despair of the mercy of Allah"' (Surah Az-Zumar, 39:53). No need for a divine middleman.
Jesus was a prophet—‘We gave him the Injeel, in which was guidance and light' (Surah Al-Ma'idah, 5:46)—not God. The Qur'an says, ‘The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger' (Surah Al-Ma'idah, 5:75). Salvation comes through faith and deeds (Surah An-Nisa, 4:124), not a god dying. Their idea limits Allah's power—He saves as He wills, not through a cross or Jesus being divine. That's the true way."
The challenge—that only Jesus' human nature died, making the payment insufficient—misses the nature of the Hypostatic Union (Jesus is one Person with two natures, God and man).
- The Infinite Debt: Sin is an offense against an infinite and holy God, requiring a payment of infinite worth. A mere prophet's death (a finite sacrifice) is wholly inadequate to pay the debt for all humanity's sins across all time.
- The Person Pays: Because the Person who suffered and died was the eternal Son of God, His human act carries infinite merit, satisfying God's justice. The divinity ensures the payment is sufficient; the humanity ensures it is relevant.
- Failure of Direct Forgiveness: The Islamic model of direct forgiveness upon repentance fails to uphold God's law because it requires God to waive the penalty for sin, compromising His absolute justice. The Cross is the only mechanism where God remains both perfectly Just (the penalty is paid) and perfectly Merciful (He paid it Himself).
- The Messiah is the central figure foretold by the Old Testament prophets (like Isaiah 53) whose primary, necessary mission was to be the substitutionary sacrifice to atone for humanity's sins. The Qur'an takes the title but rejects the role.
In short, Christ had to be God because only the Person of God Incarnate could render a sacrifice of infinite worth that justly secured forgiveness for all. The necessity of the Cross is therefore rooted in the true, prophetic meaning of the title "Messiah."