What Battle Was Won At Easter?

Theologians use terms such as "Substitutionary Atonement" for the work of Christ on the cross. That it was.

However, it was and is more than a substitution for what we deserve. It is sometimes told in a rhyme.

He paid a debt he did not owe,

because I owed a debt I could not pay.

This emphasis is based on the notion that the primary battle Jesus won on Christmas was a battle over True Moral Guilt. I was found Guilty of violating the laws of God and a fine had to be paid. It was impossible for me to pay that huge fine and God sent His Son to die in my place as a substitute for me.

This is essentially a Roman Catholic view of sin but it is eagerly and energetically defended by most Christian groups. The followers of the "Guilty as Charged" groups are obsessed by confession and getting rid of Guilt. They divide sins up by their seriousness and how mad God is because of my many sins.

I was reared in a Conservative Evangelical church tradition that focused on Rebellion. The answer for me was Repentance and choose to follow Jesus. The battle won by Jesus was over my Rebellion so I could be Converted.  I do not ever remember a talk about my Guilt and the need to confess it and be forgiven. I needed to make a choice to change. Because I was taught to make my behavior central to the reason Jesus died, I was obsessed by my own sins large and small. I needed to find the "Perfect Will of God".

The Classic Theology was different. It said a battle was raging between God and Evil for the souls and bodies of all people. The humans were Dead in Sin and the work of Christ at Easter was to give me life; it was a Resurrection of Jesus to offer me Resurrection from eternal death.

Calvin and Luther grabbed this view and taught that we cannot really choose because we are DEAD and dead people do not make choices. The focus in daily life is on God's Sovereignty not my behavior. My choices are not very important because God is in charge.

These are the three traditional views of Easter. Which were you taught? Which do you emphasize in your Christian life?

My book The Healing Release of the Holy Spirit lays out these three views plus one more I added. It makes a difference because our view on these things impact how we live every day.