基督的死乃是救赎的死，并释放生命、分赐生命的死。救赎的死是在消极一面，释放生命并分赐生命的死是在积极一面。
基督救赎的死是在消极的一面。基督的死对付了罪。祂对付罪有三方面。
除掉我们性情里的罪—基督在祂的死里对付我们的罪，除掉了我们性情里的罪（来九26，罗八3下）。人是罪人，因为罪是在人的性情里。果树没有学怎样生产果子，就自然而然从它的性质里生产出果子。照样，人总是说谎的，因为罪就在他们的性情里。没有一所职业学校教导人怎样说谎，父母可能警告他们的孩子不要说谎，但是孩子自然而然的用许多方法说谎。孩子们没有学说谎，他们生来就会说谎，因为罪在他们里面。
希伯来九章二十六节说，基督‘显明了一次，好藉着献上自己为祭，把罪除掉’。这是指除掉我们性情中的罪。然后罗马八章三节说，基督在十字架上死的时候，‘就在肉体中定罪了罪。’照罗马八章三节所说，当基督成为肉体时，祂乃是在罪之肉体的样式里，但祂没有肉体的罪（林后五21，来四15）。但我们的肉体乃是罪的肉体。我们的肉体是由罪所构成的，是犯罪的肉体。藉着基督在肉体里钉十字架，神就定罪了罪，这罪是由撒但带进人的肉体里，带进人的性情里的。
担当我们的罪—基督死在十字架上，担当了我们的罪（来九28，林前十五3，太二六28）。这些乃是在我们行为上的罪，不是在我们性情里的罪。希伯来九章二十六节说到，基督的死对付了在我们性情里的罪，而二十八节是说到祂的死对付了我们行为上的罪。林前十五章三节说，基督为我们的罪死了，马太二十六章二十八节说，祂流血是为着使罪得赦。
除去罪的总和—约翰一章二十九节说，‘看哪，神的羔羊，除去世人之罪的！’这是指罪的总和。基督死了，除去了罪的总和。
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On the Negative Side – Dealing with Sin – 2 Cor. 5:21
Christ’s death is a redeeming death, a life-releasing and life-imparting death. The redeeming aspect of His death is on the negative side; the life-releasing and life-imparting aspect is on the positive side.
Christ’s redeeming death is on the negative side. His death dealt with sin. There are three aspects in how He dealt with sin:
Removing the Sin in Our Nature — In His death, Christ dealt with our sin and removed the sin in our nature (Heb. 9:26; Rom. 8:3b). Man is a sinner because sin is in man’s nature. A fruit tree does not need to learn how to bear fruit — it brings forth fruit naturally from its nature. In the same way, people lie by nature because sin is in their nature. There is no vocational school that teaches men how to lie. Parents may warn their children not to lie, yet the children naturally use many ways to lie. Children do not learn how to lie; they are born with that ability because sin is in them.
Hebrews 9:26 says that Christ “has been manifested once to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” This refers to removing the sin in our nature. Then Romans 8:3 says that when Christ died on the cross, He “condemned sin in the flesh.” According to Romans 8:3, when Christ became flesh, He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin, but He Himself had no sin in the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). Our flesh, however, is the flesh of sin. Our flesh is constituted with sin — it is sinful flesh. By Christ being crucified in the flesh, God condemned sin — the sin that Satan brought into man’s flesh and into man’s nature.
Bearing Our Sins — Christ died on the cross bearing our sins (Heb. 9:28; 1 Cor. 15:3; Matt. 26:28). These are the sins in our conduct, not the sin in our nature. Hebrews 9:26 refers to Christ’s death dealing with the sin in our nature, while verse 28 refers to His death dealing with the sins in our conduct. 1 Corinthians 15:3 says Christ died for our sins, and Matthew 26:28 says He shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins.
Taking away the Totality of Sin — John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This refers to the totality of sin. Christ died to take away the entire sum of sin.