What did the Passion and Sacrifice did Christ accomplish on the Cross?

As we enter the radiant joy of Pascha — the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, thoughts are drawn once again to the mystery of the Cross, not merely something to be remembered, but as the very heart of the Gospel.

The New Testament addresses division in several passages, notably in 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, where Paul urges believers to be united and avoid divisions among them. Additionally, Romans 9 notes division through opposition, and 16:17 warns against those who cause divisions contrary to the teachings of Christ.

What did the Passion and Sacrifice did Christ accomplish on the Cross? 

Beginning in Acts 15, and before, the Apostolic Church brought unity and understanding of God, salvation, and of the life we are called to live in Christ by leaning not on our own understandings rather. The Church teaches we should place our trust in our Faith and Belief and Trust in God to remain faithful to what was delivered in Mosaic Law, Christ’s Teachings, Love, and sacrifice. However, even in the beginning there were attempts at redefining of Church and Faith through Gnostic and Arian heresies, and others.

Did Apostle Paul gives warning against this: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8) This does not seem to speak to theological preference, but as an Apostolic boundary!? He advises they had been taught, and they should follow the teachings, but division continued, even into this hour.

The Cross is the guiding symbol we embrace to enter the mystery of Faith and Salvation through Christ. The Cross is a symbol of Liberty and Freedom from eternal separation from God. The Cross is a symbol of salvation from the tyranny and division of the worldly through the Church created in Acts 15 that thrives today in The Seven Ecumenical Councils, the Creed, the Holy Cannons, Holy Traditions, and Trinity protected the teachings of Christ and carried on by the Apostles. The accomplishment Passion and Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross was our salvation through the unification of Christ’s love for salvation and harmony with each other.

For two thousand years, Christianity was unified by Seven Ecumenical Councils, the Creed, the Holy Cannons, Holy Traditions, and Trinity in the Apostolic, Byzantine, and Orthodox Church of the Five SEES (Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople, Alexandria and Rome). Each was ecumenically equal, with Rome as the First Among Equals until the Schism. More division. Then Protestantism, more division, then community churches, social influenced and progressive churches, more division. Persecution of Christians, more division.

By the late medieval period, serious distortions had emerged in the Western Church, particularly in practice: Purgatory, selling of indulgences and others. These abuses deeply troubled many sincere Christians. Their concern was, in many ways, justified, “Grace is not for sale, Salvation cannot be purchased. But history teaches us something important; Reaction is not the same as restoration.

In rejecting these abuses, reformers extending to the present did not simply return to the Apostolic model. Instead, they constructed a new theological framework—one shaped heavily by reaction, changes in societal morals and dogmas, openly rejecting the teachings of Christ, the Apostles, Holy Traditions, Early Father’s letters and writings, Ecumenical Counsels, the Creed, Sacraments; The Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church know today as the Orthodox Church.  

Those who reject and abandoned the Christian Church that began with Acts 15 and continues to this day have, have become Christians in name only without the substance of the What Passion and Sacrifice did Christ accomplish on the Cross: Unity through Christ’s Love, Sacrifice, and Passion for our Salvation and the Church Christ created through the Apostles and the Apostolic Gospel, letters and teachings, complete with ample warnings by St’s. Peter and Paul.

Pascha, Easter should be a time of remembering we are called to service by the Mystery of the Cross, the Passion and Sacrifice for each of us who answer the call to Faith and Service to Christ and in unity, not division.