Salvation
is rescue from something that is death – dealing in nature. That is, it is the
plucking from a deadly situation or circumstance and placing in
a
position of safety. This is what God offers to all of mankind. He offers
salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Salvation
from what?
Each
human being has been born under the penalty of sin, since Eve was seduced into
eating of the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good
and
evil, and Adam knowingly disobeyed by joining the woman in partaking of that
fruit.
God
forewarned the first two people that if they disobeyed by eating of this tree,
they would surely die. Lucifer, in the
form of the serpent, put the
question
of whether to believe the Creator in their minds by asking, “Yea? Hath God
said?”
“Now
the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had
made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat
of
every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of
the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which
is
in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall
not
surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen.
3:1-5).
With
that disobedience –just as God forewarned-- sin, and its consequence, death, entered
the world. The man and woman lost fellowship with God. They began
aging
and degenerating toward death. Human beings now needed salvation from sin and
death.
God
loves His creation called man, and desired to have his human creation become
part of His eternal family –to live with Him forever in heaven. The Creator,
in
His grace and mercy, said He would redeem his human creation, would bring One
who would save mankind from sin and death into the world.
He
cursed the serpent, Lucifer, who became known as Satan, and the devil, and said
to him:
“And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).
Sin
had begun its life-sapping work, and the man and woman had to be ejected from
the Garden of Eden. Many Bible scholars believe this was done to keep
them
from the Tree of Life that grew in the Garden. If they had access, they would
eat of its fruit, and rather than eventually dying, would grow increasingly
grotesque
in every way. Angels were placed at the Garden’s opening to keep them from
returning.
God
shed blood of His creation for the first time, to provide animal skin coverings
for the naked man and woman. This was the first of the blood system
of
sacrifice that would foreshadow the awful price that would be paid for the sin
of mankind upon the cross at Calvary, when God’s only begotten Son died
there.
John
the Baptist announced Jesus’ purpose when God’s son approached the Baptist while
he stood at the Jordan River, baptizing people.
“The
next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Jesus
lived 33 years upon Planet Earth, then was sacrificed by crucifixion upon the
most cruel of all executions of the day. Jesus became sin for all of
mankind
on the cross that day. God the Father could not look upon Jesus the Christ
while Jesus took all sin upon Himself, for all men, women and children.
Jesus’
true agony of that moment, when He became the horrendous thing His Father could
not look upon, was recorded by the Gospel writer.
“And
about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
(Mat.
27:46).
The
Gospel writer recorded the moment of Christ’s completing His mission to Planet
Earth.
“When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed
his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30).
Jesus
Christ had fulfilled the supreme sacrifice, the lamb that takes away the sins
of the world.
Jesus
spoke of that salvation mission while preaching, teaching, performing miracles,
and ministering during His time here as the Son of man –the only sinless
human
being ever to walk earth’s surface.
“And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man
be lifted up:
That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved.
He
that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son
of God.” (John 3:14-18).
The
question often arises: What about those who haven’t heard of Jesus? This was
asked of Dr. Tim LaHaye recently, and when he started to answer, he was
allowed
only a few seconds. He was put on the spot by the host, who asked a question
that called for a profound answer.
Dr.
LaHaye had only a moment to answer the TV host’s assertion that it isn't fair
of a God to send anyone to hell if they don't hear the message. Dr. LaHaye
used
Scripture in a split-second decision in answering, then was abruptly cut off
from continuing with his answer.
The
Scripture in question is Romans 2: 12. "For as many as have sinned without
law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law
shall
be judged by the law."
Tim was saying, I think, that the totality of
Scripture teaches that people are without excuse who have the understanding
that there is a creator who judges
sin.
This is true whether Gentile or Jew.
Implicit
within Dr. LaHaye's response were things he never got to explain. I know him
well, and he would have made his case something like the following,
had
he been given time.
God's
precepts are one upon another, remember, and often truth comes from an entire
body of scriptural proof, rather than from just one or two verses.
Paul
was addressing, particularly, the Jews, who labored under the Mosaic Law
(although by that time, the Law was not in effect because of the Cross),
juxtaposed
against the Gentiles, who didn't have the Mosaic Law.
Keep
in mind that God's Word says:
"Therefore
to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin"
(James 4:17).
Scripture
says also: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
and
how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?
as
it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed
the
gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:13-17).
All
of this adds up to the fact that Jesus Christ, alone, is the way to redemption.
But, He must be lifted up so that all will be drawn to Him. If there
is
no preacher to preach, then there can’t be faith, because faith comes by
hearing (the Gospel). Just as an infant is innocent in God’s eyes, because
the
child can’t “hear,” i.e., “understand,” so are those who haven’t understood (truly
heard) that Christ is the way to salvation.
However,
even among savages in the darkest places where the Gospel hasn’t reached, if
they “know to do good, and do the opposite," they are not guiltless.
God
will hold them accountable for the light they have, which the Law would have
provided for more civilized peoples.
The
key here is that Jesus fulfilled the Law when He said “It is finished!” and
gave up His spirit to death. Remember, Jesus once asked those around Him,
“Why
callest me good?” He then said, “There is but one good, and that is God” (Matt.
19:17).
Jesus
was, of course, saying that He was the only good, because He is God. He is the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world to cover the sin debt owed
by
fallen mankind. So, when the savage knows to do good, he is given that light by
the Holy Spirit. He still chooses, or rejects Christ, who is the only
good.
The
simple explanation is that people are accountable to the extent they have been
given light (understanding). But, that doesn’t unveil the whole Gospel
story,
regarding its application to those who haven’t had a preacher or teacher.
God’s
Word, the Bible, speaks to savages and the so-called civilized as well. Here
are some relevant salvation Scriptures that cover every person who has
or
will ever be born.
“I
am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
And
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and
they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Therefore
doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have
power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I
received of my Father” (John 10:14-18).
“For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed
from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth
in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest
in
them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that
are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:16-20).