Salvation

“But according to the hope which Christ has given us, there will be final victory,

and the struggle of this world will be followed by the glories of heaven.”

- J. Gresham Machen

Salvation: Do we really need it? How to we gain it?

At the base of the Christian religion is humanity’s need of salvation. As we learned,

man is sinful. We are born into a broken world, separated from God, and unable

to be reconciled to the Father. This is why we need some means of salvation.

Humanity was created to be in relationship with God but after sin entered the

world we could no longer have this relationship. God is holy and we are not. To

be in relationship with God we must be perfect as God is perfect. However,

because we are born sinful there is nothing we can do to fix our relationship

with God. Our debt requires a sacrificial death in our place. The only acceptable

sacrifice would have to be blameless, much like the sacrificial lambs of the Old

Testament were blameless.

What are we supposed to do, then? Live eternity apart from God? Is there no

hope for mankind?

Of course there is hope! Last week we established who Jesus is; the only

begotten son of God, fully man and fully God, perfect and blameless. Jesus lived

among humanity, teaching about the kingdom of God. When the time came he

willingly died to pay the debt and bridge the gap between humanity and God.

Not only did he die, however, he rose again on the third day, defeating death

and giving us hope for the future.

Let us pause for a moment and look at salvation from the liberal point of view.

How do liberals view humanity and thus our need for salvation?

Liberalism suggests that man is not all bad. From this point of view we may be

tempted to minimize the importance of sin. Liberals “ignore the dreadful reality

of guilt, and make a mere persuasion of the human will all that is needed for

salvation” (Machen 101). They do not believe the death of Christ necessary in

salvation, but rather humanity only need to believe in how Jesus affects lives

now. However, this is not Christianity, it is mysticism.

Christianity depends on an actual historical event. The most important thing

about Jesus’ life,  crucifiction, and resurrection is that it happened. This

historical event is of the utmost importance for us today. “Salvation...was not

merely through Christ, but it was only through Christ” (Machen 104). This is

the only way we can be saved.

Belief in Christ is our only means of salvation. This salvation gives us hope

for the future. Christians are not promised a good life. In fact, Jesus says in

John 16:33, “...In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have

overcome the world.” Even though we face trials of various kinds we know

that God has already won the final victory. Jesus’ resurrection conquered

death and evil. Satan no longer has victory over the world. Jesus gave us a

way to have a relationship with the Father again.  Even in the darkness and

trials we face in the world we can have future hope of eternity with our Father.