Redemptive suffering Redemptive suffering Redemptive suffering is the Christian belief that human suffering, when accepted and offered up in union with the Passion of Jesus, can remit the just punishment for one's sins or for the sins of another, or for the other physical or spiritual needs of oneself or another. Like an indulgence, redemptive suffering does not gain the individual "forgiveness" for their sin; forgiveness results from God’s grace, freely given through Christ, which cannot be earned. After one's sins are forgiven, the individual's suffering can reduce the "penalty" due for sin. Christians believe that God loves mankind so much that
Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament (written over a century before the time of Jesus), the word "Christos" was used to translate into Greek the Hebrew "mashiach" (messiah), meaning "anointed." (Another Greek word, "Messias" appears in Daniel 9:26 and Psalm 2:2.) The New Testament states that the Messiah, long-awaited, had come and describes this savior as "The Christ." In Apostle Peter, in what has become a famous proclamation of faith among Christians since the first century, said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." In Martha tells Jesus "you are the Christ", just before the Raising of Lazarus. In the Pauline Epistles the