The Role of Christ in Salvation

Scripture speaks to this dilemma by presenting a perfect Substitute who meets the qualifications of 1) being a member of the human race who were the offenders, and 2) being a perfect man who never violated or disobeyed God’s law in anyway. The only Person who could meet these two requirements was the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John 1:29 says, “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Hebrews 2:17 adds, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” At the center of the Gospel stands the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The work of Christ on the cross has accomplished four essential realities for believers –

Redemption –

redemption means liberation because of a payment made. Redemption has special significance for believers since the payment made was the death of the Lord Jesus Himself.

The words “redeem” and “redemption” agorazo were frequently used in the marketplace to describe the buying and acquiring of goods. Theologically, the words contain three ideas: In the work of redemption, Christ paid the purchase price for our salvation Ephesians 1:7. The price was clearly the blood of Christ Revelation 5:9-10. Because we have been bought with that price, we are to serve Him 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. A related word (exagorazo) means “to purchase out of the marketplace.” The emphasis here is that believers have been removed from the curse of the law Galatians 3:13.

Another word lutroo means “to loose.” The idea is that the ransom was paid to release sinners from the penalties of the law Revelation 1:5-6. Redemption may be summarized around three basic ideas:

Sinners are redeemed from something, namely, the power of sin.
Sinners are redeemed by something, namely, the payment of the price, the blood of Christ.
Sinners are redeemed to something, namely, to the state of freedom from sin.

Reconcilliation –

Reconciliation means a change of relationship from hostility to peace and harmony between two parties. Because of sin, man and God exist in a relationship of hostility and enmity. This state of enmity was caused by Adam’s sinful rebellion against God and has passed down to every human being. Romans 5:18.

Reconciliation is possible between God and man because of the death of Christ on the cross. Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:19-22.

Propitiation –

Propitiation means the turning away the wrath of God by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Propitiation means placating or satisfying the wrath of God by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God’s wrath is defined as “the holy revulsion of God’s being against that which is the contradiction of his holiness; it issues in a positive outgoing of the divine displeasure” (John Murray). Since God cannot overlook sin, God’s wrath had to be directed to some object as a demonstration and accomplishment of His perfect holiness. Romans 3:25 tells us that the one to whom God directed his anger was the Son of God, Jesus Christ. God’s wrath was placated through the death of His Son, and specifically, the shedding of His blood. Some modern theologians have described this act as “divine child abuse,” but, to the contrary, it was an act of undeserved, matchless love and grace.

Among pagan religions, propitiation is the attempt of man to do something to satisfy his gods so they will be good to him. In Christianity, it is God Who placates His own wrath by sending forth His Son to the propitiation for man’s sin. 1 John 4:9-10. “The doctrine of propitiation is precisely this: that God loved the objects of his wrath so much that he gave His own Son to the end that He by His blood should make provision for the removal of His wrath. It was Christ’s so to deal with the wrath that the loved would no longer be the objects of wrath, and love would achieve its aim of making the children of wrath the children God’s good pleasure” (J Murray).

Substitution –

Substitution or vicarious atonement simply means that Christ suffered as a substitute for sinners. The substitutionary death of Christ is seen throughout the Word of God. It finds its source in Leviticus 16:20-22 where “the iniquities of the people” were borne by a sacrificial animal (“goat”) under the direction of the high priest. The whole OT system of animal sacrifice instead of the death of individuals is a type of the future salvation plan exercised by the sacrificial death the Lord Jesus on the cross. Such substitution of Christ for sinners is the supreme demonstration of God’s love for sinners. John 3:16; 1 John 4:8-10; Romans 5:8; Galatians 2:20; John 15:13 and many others.

The doctrine of substitution is sometimes referred to as “penal substitution” which emphasizes the fact that it was Christ’s substitutionary death that served as the punishment for sins committed by the sinner. Romans 5:6-11; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Colossians 2:13-14; Mark 10:45.