3. SALVATION

A. The first promise of salvation is found in Genesis 3:15: ‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’
p 141 1. This word was addressed to the serpent.
2. It was the promise that Jesus would die on a cross.
(a) God could have chosen to let man perish or utterly destroy the devil then and there.
(b) Instead he chose to send a redeemer and to deal with evil in stages.
3. The first hint of God’s love and the way he would save us was when he ‘made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them’ (Genesis 3:21).
(a) The garments of skin meant:
(1) The sacrifice of a substitute.
(2) The shedding of blood.
(b) The clothing pointed to the covering of righteousness that would be needed.

B. The history of redemption in the Old Testament.
1. Abel (Hebrews 11:4).
2. Abraham.
(a) The gospel was preached to Abraham (Galatians 3:8).
(b) Abraham saw Jesus’ day and was glad (John 8:56).
3. The Law (Romans 5:20).
(a) The sacrificial system was explicitly introduced (Hebrews 10:1).
(b) This pointed to its fulfillment in Christ (Galatians 3:24).

C. The coming of the redeemer (Galatians 4:4ff.).
1. Jesus was born of a virgin.
(a) He was man as though he were not God (Hebrews 5:8).
(b) He was God as though he were not man (John 1:1).
2. Jesus promised to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17).
(a) This meant he would be the first person who never sinned.
(1) For no-one had kept the Law (Acts 15:10; Romans 3:23).
(2) Jesus never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15).
(b) He said on the cross, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30).
(1) This meant he succeeded in what he come to do.
(2) It meant our debt was paid by him.
3. Three things were needed to save mankind.
(a) Sacrifice: the shedding of blood.
(1) This meant that salvation lay outside of man’s hands.
(2) This meant the ‘types’ of sacrifice under the Law must have their ultimate fulfillment.
(3) The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished all the above.
(b) Substitution: to take man’s place.
(1) This required a perfect, sinless life.
p 142 (2) This required a perfect sacrifice in death.
(3) The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all the above.
(c) Satisfaction: to appease God.
(1) This required that a holy God be satisfied in terms of his justice.
(2) This required that a holy God be no longer angry.
(3) The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all the above.

D. The need for faith (Romans 3:22).
1. We might well wish that Romans 1:17 had said that the righteousness of God is revealed by faith—full stop.
(a) Had this been the case, then the very person and work of Jesus Christ would have guaranteed salvation for all.
(1) Jesus died for all (2 Corinthians 5:15; Hebrews 2:9).
(2) But we know that not all are saved.
(b) This is because the righteousness (justice) is revealed ‘from faith to faith’ (Romans 1:17 AV—which is what the Greek says).
(1) This means that what Jesus Christ did was not sufficient to save in and by itself—by God’s own decree.
(2) Our faith must be joined to what he did—or we will not be saved.
2. But the righteousness of God comes only ‘to all who believe’ (John 3:16; Romans 3:22)..
(a) If we believe, we are saved (John 5:24).
(b) If we do not believe, we are condemned (John 3:36).

E. The need for preaching (1 Corinthians 1:21).
1. No-one believes without being witnessed to (Romans 10:14).
2. We are commanded to witness to all (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 5:20).
(a) If our view of salvation does not lead us to witness to the lost, we are disobedient to Christ.
(b) If we are balanced theologians it will be impossible to tell which we emphasize more:
(1) Being sound in our theology.
(2) Being obedient in our witnessing.

F. The need for faith to be imparted (Ephesians 2:8).
1. Man cannot, in and of himself, believe.
(a) He is born ‘dead’ (Ephesians 2:1–5).
(b) Jesus said, ‘No-one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him’ (John 6:44).
p 143 2. What is required: regeneration (being born again).
(a) We were powerless and passive in our natural birth.
(b) We are likewise powerless and passive in our spiritual birth (John 1:13).
(c) Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit.
(1) It is what God must ‘begin’ (Philippians 1:6).
(2) It is effectual by the Spirit alone (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:13).
(d) In a word: faith is the gift of God.
3. Who believes?
(a) Those given to Jesus by the Father (John 6:37).
(b) Those who were appointed to eternal life (Acts 13:48).
(c) Those who were predestined and called (Romans 8:30).
4. What happens to believers?
(a) They are given an ‘imputed’ righteousness (Romans 4:1–12).
(b) They are kept (John 6:37, 44; 10:28).
(c) They are given power not to sin (Romans 6:1–22). ‘Able not to sin’.

G. The need for glorification (Romans 8:30).
1. God might have decreed that all who are saved are not only sanctified but also simultaneously glorified.
2. But he designed that redemption be completed in two stages.
(a) Satan’s defeat is in two stages:
(1) At the cross (Genesis 3:15).
(2) Final doom (Revelation 20:10).
(b) Our redemption is in two stages:
(1) By faith (Romans 5:1).
(2) By glorification—when Jesus comes (1 John 3:2). ‘Not able to sin’.

CONCLUSION
All born after Adam inherit Adam’s fallen condition. God could have chosen to let man perish or to destroy the devil totally there and then. Instead, however, he had a plan for our salvation, to save humanity from God’s wrath, from the power and penalty of sin. He sent a Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice.
Kendall, R. T. (1996). Understanding Theology, Volume One (pp. 140–143). Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus.