Salvation is the grandest enterprise ever undertaken. Its goal is to reclaim the lost freedom and innocence of human beings, and reconnect us with the creator God, our Father, from whom we became alienated by the intrusion of sin. It needed to turn a sinner into a saint. What God the Father and Jesus His Son – have done together – is to reclaim the fallen humanity from the inevitable consequences of our separation from God who is the source of life and light and immortality. Through Jesus, God has found a way to forgive our sins, and to reconcile the world to Himself.
Providing judicial and moral authority to forgive sinners was very hard. But God has found a way. That, in fact, was the only way. That torturous way was by sacrificing His Son Jesus whom He loved without measure. Jesus of His own free will volunteered to be that sacrifice.
But just as hard is to turn sinner into a saint – without violating our free will, our free choice. —Righteousness. Yes. Righteousness is needed. Doing the right thing is needed. Trusting God’s ways is needed. It is because God’s ways are always right. His ways are the ways of righteousness. They will lead to life those who choose them.
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?…”
I Corinthians 6:9 NKJV
Clearly, a clean, pure, holy life, a righteous life needs to be achieved by the gospel, or else – it will fall short.
Righteousness is living a life in harmony with the perfect will of God. It is given freely to those who believe in Jesus. It is living the right way. Living God’s way. Righteous character is the fruit of our Salvation through the loving, trusting, abiding relationship with Jesus.
The many Scriptures we have already seen referring to the need for righteousness, and God’s provisions to provide it – is an amazing turnaround in our favour. Our history has clearly shown, that we, human beings, with our own efforts, with our own resources – are utterly incapable to achieve that righteousness. The Scripture record shows that:
“… No one is righteous— not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.””
Romans 3:10-12 NLT
This is a very sad report. But that is how things are. God knew this even before the world was created, so He made generous provisions to help us. Firstly – Inclusions. Secondly – substitution.
Both of them are divine mysteries, and both of them are powerful provisions. It is the self sacrifice of Jesus which makes them effectual.
It is by the holy will of God that every human being who ever lived, or will ever live – was included in what the Father and Son have done for us. That is why the Bible says that:
“… Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.”
Hebrews 2:9 NLT
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT
“God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.”
1 Corinthians 1:30 NLT
Jesus died for everyone. Being included in what they have done is counted as if we have done what Jesus did. The meaning of this is that everyone may claim by faith the merits of Jesus. And that is the essence of Salvation. It is the divine gift of faith given us by God, which reaches out toward the accomplishments of Jesus, and welcomes them, receiving them as a personal Salvation gift from God. According to the unchangeable will of God – that is the solid beginning of a beautiful Christian journey. Saved by the grace of God. Counted as if we have paid the price for our sins. Counted as if we have lived that beautiful clean sinless life. And that, by the way, is the truth – because we were included, we were in Christ during the whole process of planing and executing the Salvation through Jesus. Father and Son did that for us.
This also demonstrates the substitution. Jesus’ sacrifice is accepted by the Father as the substitute for the guilty sinner so that he can be set free. When a sinner learns what the Father and the Son have done for him, and is moved to accept it by faith as a personal gift of Salvation from God, the substitution has accomplished what nothing else could.
All this is perfect and complete in the eyes of God. Jesus has paid the price. Father has forgiven the sinner.
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”
Ephesians 1:4 NLT
Yes. That is how God sees us now. Holy and without fault. But God is just and fair. He knows that the angelic universe and the men and demons alike – all need to be persuaded that a repentant sinner has been reclaimed, has been changed into a saint. That the consequences of sin and rebellion have been successfully removed from him. And because God deals openly and fairly in all things – He patiently works to demonstrate that the sinner’s new character of being “holy and without fault” is seen in beautiful righteous lives of those who have been reclaimed from sin.
“So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.””
1 Peter 1:13-16 NLT
“may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.”
Hebrews 13:21 NLT
“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”
2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT