Jesus takes on our guilt and punishment
Was it wrong? Was the systematic and cold blooded killing of innocent people by Charles Manson and company wrong? Was the Holocaust, with its millions of unspeakable atrocities, morally evil? Were these actions objectively and undeniably evil? Were they? No doubt the vast majority of people in our world would vehemently respond in the affirmative. These things are clearly evil, wrong, and morally reprehensible! If in fact we admit that acts like these are objectively and universally wrong, there are some paradigm-shifting implications that we must consider. To begin with, once we admit that certain acts are objectively evil we must conclude that there is an objective standard of good and evil in our universe. This alone is a major problem for a purely naturalistic, survival of the fittest, understanding of our world. Furthermore, if there is indeed an objective standard of right and wrong in the universe, it would seem difficult to escape the conclusion that some sort of transcendent Lawgiver exists. If such a Lawgiver upholds an objective standard of right and wrong in such realms as murder and rape, then we may safely assume that objectivity also extends to realms such as stealing, adultery, greed, gossip, and selfishness. This idea of an objective standard and transcendent Lawgiver is quite unsettling when brought to a personal level. If there is an objective standard of right and wrong and a Lawgiver who stands behind it, then suddenly we as human beings are accountable to this Lawgiver and almost certainly guilty before Him. In addition, it seems safe to assume that such a Lawgiver’s accountability and punishment will be as objective and exact as His moral standard. This is rather frightening! The rather general realities we have just arrived at through a somewhat complicated line of logic, the word of God states in plain language. It is the Bible that truly sheds light on and gives the final word on this subject. “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy.” (James 4:12a) “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13) “…as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God (Romans 3:10-11).” Thankfully, the Bible does more than simply affirm our accountability and guilt before God as the supreme Lawgiver. It also reveals God’s provision in Christ for deliverance from the judgment and punishment lawbreakers deserve. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18) This is the great exchange that we as lawbreakers so desperately need – on the cross Jesus Christ takes on the guilt and punishment of our sin and gives to us His perfect obedience and righteousness. This provision is freely offered to all who will see themselves as guilty rebellious lawbreakers and throw themselves on Christ and His work as their only hope. It is then that one can know personally and enjoy eternally the perfect and supreme lawgiver as father and friend.
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I respect your right to your thoughts and your faith. Nothing wrong with that.
However, there is something absolutely flawed with the logic that you must have "some sort of transcendent Lawgiver" in order to have a standard of right and wrong. Oh, and it must by YOUR Lawgiver too, by the way. You must admit that this is only an opinion, not based on any facts.
Its an opinion brought forth solely in an attempt to legitimize your belief in order to proselytize to others (and I might add to use fear and scare tactics about punishment if a person does not take blindly what your own personal lawgiver says is right or wrong).
You remove the accountability of mankind and say that they cannot themselves see an act, without divine intervention, and determine whether it is right or wrong. The burden of proof is on you for that statement, and there is no factual basis to your hypothesis.
Throughout history (actual true, unbiased history... the kind you will find in many books) there is plenty of evidence of man recognizing and determining what is right or wrong all on their own. People could determine right and wrong before the creation of Christianity, and today throughout the world the majority of people determine right or wrong without the help of the Christian concept of god.
So immoral people will go to heaven if they say they have accepted Christ as their personal savior while the most saintly will not if they haven’t? Ted Haggard is going to heaven and the Dalai Lama is going to hell?
My claim is that God as Creator is the universal Lawgiver and has given man a general sense of right and wrong (although at times this sense is badly distorted by man in their sinfulness). See Romans 2:14-16. Therefore the sense of right and wrong that you have is based on God's own unchanging and objective character and moral standard.
If man is the ultimate originator of morals and law then there cannot exist absolute or universal right and wrong. It would then be perfectly conceivable that in some culture and potentially even in ours that rape or any of the horrors of the holocaust would be right. Are you willing to live with that?
Of course if we actually reject the idea of a supreme Lawmaker then we are most likely left with naturalistic evolution- in which case right and wrong don't matter anyways. For each individual the only thing that matters is survival and in the end there is significance to anything in life, including morality.
While man has made many attempts to form some version of a supreme Lawmaker the God of the Bible is the one that best explains our universe. More importantly, He has revealed Himself in the Bible so that man is not left with self-concocted conflicting opinions. God is the authority and He has spoken. That is what matters.
This may seem like circular reasoning and it is in a way. However all discussions of authority and even your own reasoning is similarly so. You base your belief that certain things are true on seeing man and his interpretation of history as authoritative. Once you make man the authority it is easy to make raw claims citing man's opinions (mostly your own). We are all listening to an authority- either man or the one true God. For my part, I would much rather trust God than myself or any other man.
I would encourage you to examine the pages of Scripture and see for yourself God's self-revelation. You might also check out a recent book by Tim Keller, "The Reason for God."
Finally, I hope you understand that I do not write out of a hostile desire to show that everyone else is wrong and I am right or to claim some sort of victory to boost my own ego. I believe that there is nothing better now or in eternity than knowing my Creator as Father and I want all people to experience that supreme joy and satisfaction through the work of Christ. I understand this whole thing may seem offensive but please know that there is no intention to offend but only to help.