We can receive pardon from a living Jesus. On the third day after his death, he physically rose from the dead and proved thereby that he was the Son of God. It is the greatest miracle in history. For forty days, he appeared to his disciples, ate and conversed with them – before he ascended to heaven. Later, the disciples were willing to die for the truth that Jesus had bodily risen from the dead. No one would sacrifice their life for a lie! The resurrection is God's 'receipt' that all our sins were atoned and paid for on the cross.

"And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." 

1 Corinthians 15:17 (NKJV)

But it is not enough to have an intellectual belief that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.