Why does the Apostle’s Creed say that Jesus descended into hell?
He did it in our place. The person who asked this question really put the question a little differently. Her actual question was, “Many preachers have said that Jesus went to hell and suffered for our sins there. I thought when Jesus said “It is finished” he meant all the payment for sin.” Occasionally when preachers preach they do not clarify every statement just to be sure that their hearers are getting everything correctly according to doctrine. This allows them to make a statement that helps to “drive the point home” without having to stop the sermon just to explain the correct doctrinal application of what they said. When a preacher teaches, on the other hand, he will take the time to explain everything doctrinally so that the hearers fully understand the lesson. When a preacher says that Jesus went to hell and suffered for our sins, what’s he saying? He’s saying that the Lord’s soul ended up suffering in hell as a consequence of our sins that he bore in his own body on the tree.
