Jesus Christ Alone for Salvation
by Bryan Carlson
In Genesis 1:26-27, God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness." He created us to have relationship with him. In Psalm 139:13-14, it says that God formed us in our mother's womb and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. These verses show that we are not just a product of chance or evolution, but that we have a purpose and were intentionally created by God.
However, sin entered the world through Adam and Eve's disobedience, and it has separated us from the relationship with God we were created for. Romans 5:12 reminds us that we are all guilty because we have all sinned. Romans 3:23 says that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and Romans 6:23 says that "the wages of sin is death." We are all born with a sin nature and are in need of a Savior.
Fortunately, despite our sin, through faith and trust in Jesus Christ, man can have the relationship with God we were originally created to have. Jesus Christ came to this earth in order that He might redeem sinful man by delivering man from the guilt and power of sin that leads to eternal death and separation from God for all of eternity (John 3:16-17). In order to satisfy God’s righteous wrath toward mankind, He humbled Himself by taking the sin of mankind upon himself and voluntarily dying a terrible, painful death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). Through the crucifixion, Christ shed His blood and gave His body for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20). Jesus died on the cross in our place, after living the perfect life that we couldn’t live. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." He did not stay in the grave, however, but was resurrected by God from the dead, defeating the power and the stronghold that death had held upon man (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 55-57). He now sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on behalf of all those who put their faith and trust in Him (Acts 1:9-11; Hebrews 7:25). Through Jesus, we can be reconciled to God and have eternal life with him.
To receive this gift of salvation, we must confess our sins and believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9 says, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation means placing complete faith and reliance on Him as the only means of being saved from sin and its consequences (John 14:6). Salvation is not earned by good works or attainable through human effort (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). Rather, it is a free gift offered to us through Jesus Christ. John tells us in 1 John 3:5 that “He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.” To trust in Him alone for salvation means to turn away from our own attempts to save ourselves and to rely solely on Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection for our salvation. “Conversion is our willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation” (Grudem 709). In Acts 2:38, Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation means acknowledging our need for a Savior, recognizing that Jesus is the only way to be saved, and surrendering our lives to Him, relying on His power and grace to transform us and give us eternal life. This trust has profound implications for how we live our lives, as those of us who have been saved by grace seek to live in obedience to God's will, empowered by the Holy Spirit. This victory guarantees, for all who put their faith and trust in Christ, eternal life with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ His Son. “But God, being rich in mercy, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-7).
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 709.
