Similar to most situations of saving or rescuing, Salvation lies not on our efforts and good works. If it were up to us, then we really would not need a Saviour now would we? We need a Saviour because we cannot save ourselves, so our Salvation doesn’t rely on our performance and our works.
Let’s take a person named Adam, who owes a billion dollars to a creditor (our sins cost more than that!) called Moses. Adam has no job, no assets, no friends, and no spare organs to sell; except for a death sentence hanging on his head, he has nothing left. Finally, a Man, Emmanuel, showed grace to Adam by clearing up his entire debts by a hundred fold! My question to you is: what can Adam possibly do to help Emmanuel pay for his debts? How can a bankrupt man help The All Perfect, All Holy and All Powerful, God Almighty?
SALVATION DEPENDS ON WHO THE SAVIOUR IS AND NOT WHO WE ARE
We simply cannot do anything to save ourselves. Who then is qualified to be our Saviour? Below is the 7-fold conditions of man’s Salvation and in it you will also find the credentials of The Saviour of the world. If you study the Bible closely, you will see that our Salvation is not that simple and our Salvation is definitely NOT CHEAP. If any of these conditions weren’t accomplished, then the whole of all creation would burn in hell.
Condition #1: The Saviour has to be born of Heaven.
Right after creation, Adam was given all authority over the earth and there was no one above him but God. This makes what he did to the snake a rebellious act. Adam’s submission to the snake was an act proclaiming that he relinquished his God given authority to the creep. Now, this very act led to the fall of man from beings of God’s image to cursed creatures. Since then, everyone who had traces of Adam’s blood carried the curse of the earth – sin.
This is why the Saviour has to come from heaven and not from man. Sinners cannot save sinners just as the poor cannot save the poor. All of us carry sin us. We all possess Adam’s cursed blood (through transmission) and it can be traced back to our ancestors up to the fall in the Garden of Eden.
A great sign that Jesus came from heaven is the virgin birth. As explained above, He cannot be the Saviour if He carried man’s DNA. His human DNA should come from no one less but God The Father.
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. –Isaiah 7:14
The apostle John testified to Jesus Christ’s divine nature and His true origin:
Jesus Christ came down from heaven and was born sinless.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
-John 1:1-4
Condition #2: The Saviour must live a sinless life.
Jesus Christ lived His entire life without sinning once. Hebrews 4:15 is a description of Jesus as our perfect High Priest:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
Jesus grew up as an obedient boy (Luke 2:51) and He lived His life obedient to His Father in Heaven (Romans 5:19). Several instances in the Gospels we see God The Father proclaiming His approval of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ (Luke 3:21-22, Matthew 17:5).
Even criminals proclaim that Jesus Christ is without fault.
“But this man has done nothing wrong.”
-Luke 23:41
Condition #3: The Saviour must claim and carry all of man’s sin
The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
–Isaiah 53:6
Like man had free will, Jesus had the choice to reject God’s plan of Him dying for man’s sin. We saw Jesus Christ ‘drinking’ all of man’s sin in Luke 22:42. Jesus was never arrested before, although the authorities attempted several times without success because: NO ONE CAN CONDEMN THE ONE WITH NO SIN. As soon as our sins were claimed by Jesus, he was immediately arrested to be condemned (Luke 22:47-52, Mark 14:41).
Jesus Christ saw all our sins and He claimed it all on Himself.
“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
–Mark 14:36
Condition #4: The Saviour must be punished for our sins.
Sin has to be punished just like every crime has its penalty. If Salvation is to come upon us, we have to pay for our sins first. Either that or a sacrificial lamb should die for us. Jesus Christ is that sacrificial Lamb, The Lamb of God, and He took away the sins of the world by claiming all its punishments on Him. Jesus Christ was beaten, was bruised, was crushed, was scourged, was pierced, was wounded, and was burned by The Father’s fiery judgment until He had literally no form and no beauty left in His human body (Isaiah 53:2).
Jesus Christ went through hell as punishment for our sin
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
-Isaiah 53:4-5
Condition #5: The Saviour must die on the cross.
Did you ever wonder why Jesus Christ has to endure all of those tortures when He could have just given up His life while being scourged? Why did He have to endure the insults, the shame, the carrying of the cross, the beatings and the crucifixion? The answer: Because Jesus Christ wanted us to be free of ALL CURSES of sin. In Mosaic law, ‘hanging on a tree’ is symbolic of being cursed.
the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung is cursed in the sight of God.
-Deuteronomy 21:23
Jesus Christ endured hell in order for Him to be crucified. In order for the curse of sin not to befall on us, Jesus Christ has to take it on Himself. The only way to do this is to fulfill the punishment of being “hanged on a tree”.
Jesus Christ hung on the cross to free us from the curse of sin
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
-Galatians 3:13
Condition #6: The Saviour must shed His blood.
In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
-Hebrews 9:22
I believe this verse is clear enough in explaining why The Saviour has to shed His blood. According to the law of Moses, no blood, no forgiveness. This is why in the Old Testament, the people sacrificed animals such as bulls and goats. The tricky part here is that the blood that is to be shed SHOULD be clean and holy (sinless). In this case, thank God that Jesus was a perfect man!
Jesus’s blood cleanse us from our sins
For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
-Matthew 26:28
Condition #7: The Saviour must raise Himself to life.
The price of sin is death. This is because our pitiful souls are not holy enough to pay for the sins we committed. Let’s put it this way. Each of us are worth $10 (God forbid, Adam’s fall really depreciated our value) and each sin we commit to God amounts to $1,000,000. If we ‘pay’ for one of our sins, we shall die and still owe the law $999,990. However, if we are worth $1,000,001 we can still pay for one sin and walk out alive. Jesus Christ is The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. If He died for our sins and He stayed dead, it means that our sins are not fully paid for (it means we have to start forking out for our own payment which is death).
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
-1 Corinthians 15:17-18
But thank God that Jesus Christ rose on the third day! (John 20) This means that the Holiness of Jesus Christ far exceeds all the sin of every man and woman in all times! Can you imagine the worth of a single drop of the blood of Jesus Christ?!
Jesus Christ IS alive
“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
–John 20:27
Yes, there are conditions for our Salvation, but all of them have been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. So, Good news to you brothers and sisters, all of these have been accomplished, and because of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, we are now ‘fully saved’ and righteous to God, our Father.
What can we do to help Him? Nothing. But what we can do is to stop pretending that we had anything to do with Salvation and give Jesus Christ all the glory; because He literally deserves it all.
Salvation may be free for us. But it cost Him His One and only Son. The Champion of Heaven. The Son whom He loves above all.
All glory and honor to The Lord Jesus Christ.
* Image taken from Google Images