1 Peter 2:24-25

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

These two verses tell us what Christ gave us by dying on the cross. With his sacrifice we can die to our old sin natures and live in righteousness; he has healed us. He died, “that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” By accepting this sacrifice we turn from our old lives, lost, and are found in Him. Through this sacrifice we can become perfect in God’s eyes; 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This raises the question in Romans 6:2 of, “By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” We should strive to live our lives for God; Romans 6:23 says,

“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”

The power of this truth is magnified by the facts given in the previous verses. Jesus never sinned, even when brutally assaulted and executed, yet he died for us, for our sins. He took our punishment, though He was the only man to ever live that did not deserve that punishment (also see Isaiah 53:5, 7-9, 1 John 3:5).