The Need For Salvation

Why Is Salvation Necessary?

The question is often asked, “If God is good and loving and compassionate, why doesn’t He simply provide salvation and deliverance for everyone?The fact is that man has earned for himself by his rebellion against God’s law the just penalty of eternal condemnation.He can do nothing to alter this consequence which he has brought upon himself.His only remedy is the work of Jesus Christ whom the Father sent to the earth to be the Savior of the world.Hence, God, through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, provided a way of escape for man that was necessitated by at least three biblical realities:

Man’s Colossal Sinfulness

RC Sproul coined the phrase, “sin is cosmic treason.” Every sin committed is an assault on the holiness and glory of God. Sin is man’s attempt to usurp the prerogatives of the Creator in order to assert himself as the rightful ruler of his own life. Man’s sinfulness is described in Scripture in three descriptive ways:

We are debtors to God
We are enemies of God
We are criminals

In all three ways, we have sinned against a holy God. We are in debt to God, we are His enemies and we have committed crimes against his law. As the righteous Judge, He demands that these violations must be satisfied. But there is nothing humanly possible that the sinner can do satisfy the righteous demands of God.

How then is God to be satisfied for violations of His law and character?

Christ becomes our Surety (“guarantor”). He pays what is owed for our sinfulness. (Hebrews 7:22)
Christ is our Mediator who stands between a holy God and sinful humans to bring the two parties together. (1 Timothy 2:5)
Christ became a curse for sinners in order to provide them the full redemption required to free them from the death penalty. (Galatians 3:13)

With each transaction, the demands of a holy God are satisfied by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.

The Justice of God

The atonement was an absolute necessity because of the nature of God’s justice. God’s justice can be defined as “his eternal, immutable commitment to always do what is right” (RC Sproul). God never negotiates or violates His justice. Genesis 18:25b affirms, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” God’s justice is a manifestation of His holy character, and His holiness demands that all sin must be punished. As humans, we think of justice in terms of fairness, second chances, pleas bargains, or reduced sentences for crimes committed. But because God is perfect and holy, sin must be dealt with according His standards. God cannot excuse sin. He must pass judgment on all sin. Therefore, sin must be paid for by the guilty party, or God must find another way to atone for man’s sin.

The Love of God

Ephesians 1 teaches us that “God chose us (sinners) in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will…” (vss 4-5).

God’s eternal love was the primary motivating force that led God the Father to devise the plan of salvation for sinners that included the sacrificial death of His Son. His love was not dependent upon any recognition of goodness or badness in humanity. God chose Israel to be His people “not because they were more in number than any other people…for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers…” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). God loved the world so that He gave His only Son as the propitiation for man’s sin and as a demonstration of the incredible, underserved love of a righteous and holy God (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2).