SALVATION

The Christian Gospel is essentially a Gospel of Salvation, and salvation is mainly an act of rescue - like a careless man being delivered from the unpleasant consequences of some indiscretion, or the drowning passengers and crew of a sinking ship being snatched from the jaws of death. Christianity claims that Jesus Christ came into the world to save human beings from their sins (and the consequences of sin) and to restore them to their proper condition.

But what precisely is salvation through Jesus Christ? The substance of any doctrine of salvation wil! be coloured by the conception of what we are to be saved from and what we are to be saved to. It would not be right to conceive of Christianity as though, unlike politics, it has nothing to do with the deliverance of people from social and economic problems. The truth is that social and economic problems, and international issues, do belong to the Christian doctrine of Salvation. Nevertheless, it must also be emphasized that the distinctive element in the Christian message is that it goes deeperi it goes to the human condition after the fall as the root cause of our woe - to our moral and spiritual alienation from God. In the language of Scripture we "were dead in....transgressions and sins" (Ephesians 2: 1). Thus ruined, and helpless to regain our former status of being by our own efforts, we were in desperate need, not merely of good advice, nor of impressive example, but of someone to save us from our sins, and from what the Bible calls "perishing". It became necessary, therefore, that God, in His great love and mercy, should act on our behalf by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be the saviour of the world.
"...you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1: 21).

The Christian Church emphazises today, as she has done throughout her history, that salvation is the work of God, wrought through Jesus Christ. This salvation, however, is only received by human beings through faith in Christ, and made effective in "fruit" by the Holy Spirit.
"I tell you the truth: he that believe's has everlasting life" (John 6: 47).
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God" (John 1: 1 2).
".....the f ruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace...." (Gal. 5: 22).

The three great objectives to be accomplished by Jesus Christ in His work of salvation were:

I . The removal of our sinfulness as a result of our disobedience and fall.

2. The restoration of the divine likeness in us and fellowship with God.

3. The restoration of the divine likeness in us.
The first two were accomplished once and for all by His death on the cross - "it is finished". The third, however, is an ongoing process through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The mystery of the work of Christ is so complex, however, that human philosophy and speculation can contribute practically nothing to it. We are, therefore, altogether dependent on Scripture for our knowledge concerning the doctrine. No theory can really be adequate or wholly satisfactory, while those that have been offered, have gained their influence because they contain some aspects of the mystery.

Let us look briefly at some of the interpretations of Christ's work given by the Scriptures:

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THE TEACHINGS OF ST. PAUL

Our salvation through the death of Christ reveals God's amazing love for sinners - "Grace". If we remind ourselves that the epistles of St. Paul, from where his teaching have become known, were part of his missionary work, we must conclude that he was the greatest exponent of the love tagapel of God. The incomprehensible love of God was manifested in Christ's life and teaching, culminating in its most intense expression - the cross.
"God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

God was not watching iis from a distance; He did not have to be coaxed into acting on our behalf. God 'made the first move' in approaching us in Christ for our restoration

Reconciliation with God through Christ constitutes the experience of salvation of which there are TWO aspects - a positive and a negative.

On the positive side, salvation means an adoption into the family of God and therefore into life with Christ.
"God sent his Son.....to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons" (Galatians 4: 5 - 6).

On the negative side, salvation means deliverance from -
A) Sin (hamortia) We are under the sway of sin, like human beings sold into slavery. Sin has so dominated our lives, that we find ourselves compelled to do evil deeds that we should gladly shun. Paul's experience had been that even when he longed to do the good, sin so overmastered him that he did evil instead:
"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not, but what I hate, I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer myself who do it, but it is sin living in me" (Romans 7: 14-17). Paul believed that sin had gained possession of his carnal self (flesh) and had made it its ally. The conflict in his soul was so violent, that he became weak and helpless, and sin dominated. It was, however, the wonderful grace of God that came to his rescue in the mission of Jesus Christ.
"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God- through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7: 24-25).

B) Salvation by good works According to St. Paul, the offer of salvation to humankind is a salvation provided entirely by God Himself. It is not in any way achieved by human works. Our guilt and punishment are transferred to Christ, in order that His righteousness and purity might be transferred to us. We are thus saved by an "imputed" righteousness - the righteousness of Christ.

To the Philippians, Paul wrote that he gladly suffered the loss of all things "that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but which is through faith in Christ" (Philippians 3: 8 -9).

To the Corinthians he wrote: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that, in him, we might become the righteousness of God" (11 Corinthians 5: 2 1 ).
To the Ephesians he declared:"...by grace you have been saved through faith-anci this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works" (Ephesians 2: 8 - IO).

It is therefore, very clear that good works are not the ground of salvation but are the products and proof of salvation. We are, therefore, not saved by good works, but into good works. These are the expressions of love and gratitude for the salvation which has already been conferred on us. This is the essence of the great Reformed doctrine of Justification by Faith alone (see Romans 5:1).

C) The Consequence of Sin - Death This experience, which tyranized human life, was at last destroyed by the Son of God. All who live their lives in Christ are now free from the iron grip of death. Its sting is gone, for Christ was victorious over the grave. Spiritual death has been overcome by God's forgiveness of our sins, and physical death will be finally overcome by our resurrection to eternal life.
"Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, 0 Death, is your victory? Where, 0 death, is your sting? ... thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Chrisi' @ Corinthians I 5: 54- 57).

Henceforth, we have "an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" (11 Corinthians 5: 1 ).

Thus, in Paul's teaching, the negative aspects of Christ's work as Saviour has its positive results in the experience of the life of the "Age to Come", that is, eternal life, which Christians begin to experience from now.

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THE OLD TESTAMENT

PRIESTHOOD & SACRIFICE The Old Testament is the shadow and symbol of the New. By means of the contrast between the visible and the invisible, the writer demonstrates that Christianity is the true substance and reality of which the Old Testament is both a shadow and a symbol.

A) Christ is the true High Priest As the Son of God, Christ shares in the nature of the Father, but by His sufferings, He shares in the common lot of human beings. He is thus perfectly qualified to be the intermediary between God and humankind, and human- kind and God. He is the merciful High Priest.
"We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin" (Hebrews A: 1 5).

B) Christ is the Perfect Sacrifice Accepting the teaching of the Old Testament that "without the shedding of blood there is no remission (forgiveness) of sin", the book of Hebrews presents Christ as the One who offered Himself as the spotless Lamb; the one whose blood achieves what the blood of bulls and goats could not achieve.
"He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls.... sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How
much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God" (Hebrews 9: 1 2 - 1 4).

There is, therefore, no more necessity for the repetition of Old Testament Sacrifices:
"Day after day, every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time, one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews I 0: I 0 - 1 2).

The Priesthood and the Sacrifice of the Old Testament are thus used as 'types', or symbols of the perfect priesthood and Sacrifice of Christ.

INTERPRETATIONS OF SALVATION

During the intervening centuries, there have been many other interpretations or emphases surrounding the work of salvation. Some persons have seen in the Cross the price paid for our sins. Since the wages of sin is death, someone had to pay that price. Jesus Himself described His coming death as a "ransom":
"...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark I 0: 45). So St. Paul reminded the Corinthians: "You were bought at a price" (I Cor. 6: 20).

Others have seen in the cross Christ taking our place as a It substitute". Isaiah had prophesied that the One who would save the world would be "pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities..." but that "...by His wounds we are heated" (Isaiah 53: 5). His vicarious suffering would result in our salvation. So in the New Testament we read that "Christ died for (the Greek word 'huper', means 'on behalf of') us"; many have seen in this what is known as to substitutionary atonement".

Still others, especially in the so-called 'Third World', have seen in Christ's work liberation from the powers and systems which have oppressed the poor and weak. They emphasise the point that sin is not only personal, but also corporate and institutional. Sin has been enshrined in certain social and economic systems and institutions and so manifests itself through many of the dominant world systems (colonialsim, capitalism, economic imperialism, racism, globalisation). Using the truth that Christ came to of preach goodness to the poor ... proclaim freedom for the prisoners ... release the oppressed" (Luke 4: 1 8-1 9), many have declared that the freedom which Christians should strive for should include freedom from all forces which oppress the poor and the r-narginalised. To be true to Christ, we should enable human beings to be fully 'liberated'. There is, therefore, a strong social and even political emphasis in this interpretation of salvation.
"Jesus said: 'if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed"' (John 8. 36).

In the face of all the various interpretations of the work of Christ, the Church must continue to emphasize that we cannot save ourselves from servitude to those things that are preventing us from following our true destiny. No sense of social security, no universal education, no economic prosperity, no particular political creed or ideology can offer us the salvation we need. We all need Jesus Christ who alone can deliver us from our bondage to sin. He alone can bring us into true communication with God and with our fellow human beings.
"There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4: 1 2).