Salvation Is By the Cross Of Christ

   According to Scripture it can conclusively be stated, beyond any shadow of doubt that salvation is by the blood of the Lamb of God alone.  It is through the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross that God forgives sin and welcomes those who place their faith in Christ as sons and daughters of God.  “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name (the name of Jesus Christ) under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

    The crucifixion of Christ does not make God a “cosmic child abuser” or an “angry executioner” as some say.  Paul the apostle affirms, “God demonstrates his LOVE for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:8 – 9).  It is not unjust for God in His infinite love to “spare not his own Son, but deliver him up for us all” (Romans 8:32).  No human being is “without sin” (Romans 3:23).  In Ephesians 1:7 Paul says: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”  It is not in a posture of abuse that God gave Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world; it was “according to the riches of his grace.”  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

   In Revelation chapter five the worship in heaven before God’s throne can be observed.  All the adoration and worship is fully centered on the redemptive work of God through the “Lamb who was slain.”  The living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall down before the Lamb and they sing a new song, “saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth’” (Revelation 5:8 – 10).

   In Revelation chapter seven John the apostle sees a great multitude that could not be numbered from “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the Lamb, clothed in white robes.”  One of the elders asked John who these people in white robes are and where they had come from.  He said, “Sir, you know.”  The elder responded, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  Therefore they are before the throne of God…” Now, how are these people from all over the world able to stand before the throne of God?  They “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” – that is, by faith in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work in their behalf.

   Jesus Christ is not simply a good teacher who sets the ultimate example of love.  He was not murdered – He freely laid down His life.  He was not a social activist.

   Jesus did not come into the world for the purpose of merely making the world a better place to live where love and social justice for all reigns supreme.  He came into the world to raise those who are dead in sin (which is everybody – no one is sinless).  This miracle is accomplished through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This is and has been the central message of the church throughout its history.

   Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”  Jesus said to Martha, “‘do you believe this?’”  She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world’” (John 11:25 – 27).  Revelation 1:5b says: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.”