Gospels Part 041
There are two important aspects of salvation through Jesus Christ.
First, we must realize that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23). We have all earned for ourselves the death penalty (Romans 6:23). Death is the total loss of consciousness and awareness forever (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, Ecclesiastes 9:10). By our sins, we have earned eternal death-the right to be blotted out of consciousness, no longer to exist, not even to be remembered, for all time. We have actually earned the right to be erased from reality forever as a result of our thoughts and actions that are contrary to God’s law, which defines sin.
That's the hopeless situation we would be in without Jesus Christ. The death penalty we have earned would be carried out, and there would be nothing left for us. No hope for anything beyond the grave (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
It was necessary for something to happen in order to prevent that death penalty from being carried out. In Romans 5 Paul describes how we were stumbling along in our ignorance and blindness, and then Paul says,
"When we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6-8).
God didn't need us. What use were we to Him? Paul makes the point that rarely someone might give his life for a good man, but that doesn't fit us. We were as good as dead, waiting for the death penalty to be carried out, but something happened. Jesus Christ intervened and paid the death penalty for us.
"For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" said Paul (verse 10).
The penalty of eternal death has been paid for us by Jesus Christ. We can claim that sacrifice and stand innocent, pure and clean once again before God. We are reconciled and no longer cut off from God. We have access to God again. We have access to life again. Through Jesus Christ—"God is salvation"—He has saved us from being erased from existence by paying the death penalty for us.
Saved by His life
Paul also says that we are "saved by His life." This is a second important aspect of salvation made possible through Jesus Christ. We know that Christ was resurrected from the grave and lives again forever. But how are we saved by His life?
Paul elaborates in Galatians 2:20, describing how Jesus Christ has transformed him.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
If we were crucified with Christ, as Paul says, we died. That is what is pictured by baptism. Our old self went down into the watery grave and was buried there. Figuratively, we put the old person to death, and that person no longer lives. After that has happened, Paul says, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." If we properly understand the symbolism of baptism, we realize that our old self is dead. We no longer live, but Jesus Christ lives again within us, as Paul described. The man Paul was no longer important to Paul. Jesus Christ living within him was what was important to Paul.
"And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." That sums up Christ's mission and sacrifice for us. He "loved me and gave Himself for me." Jesus Christ gave Himself for us out of deep love for each one of us.
Personal sacrifice for us
Paul related to Christ's sacrifice on an intensely personal level, "He loved me and gave himself for me." Jesus' sacrifice wasn't an abstract concept to Paul. It was deeply personal. Paul felt it with all his being. Paul was a man who had persecuted the Church and imprisoned and executed followers of Jesus Christ. He had no doubt about his sins and that he deserved to be erased from existence for all eternity. But he knew that Jesus Christ intervened directly and personally for him to save him from that fate.
Do we take Jesus Christ's sacrifice personally? Do we recognize, like Paul, what it means that Christ died for each of us personally and individually? Because of our sins, we deserved to die. Jesus Christ didn't. But He did it for us, dying instead of us. That's what Paul meant when he said, "He loved me and gave himself for me."
No other person could fulfill the role of Jesus in God's plan for salvation. He is the only one who has ever lived a perfect and sinless life. As God in the flesh, His one life is worth more than the total lives of all mankind before and after Him (John 1:14). He died for every single one of us. Without His sacrifice we would have no hope for anything beyond this life.
As Paul stated, without that hope we would be "of all men the most pitiable" (1 Corinthians 15:19).
In recognition of and gratitude for that truth, we allow Jesus Christ to live within us. But how does that happen? The apostle John said, "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked" (1 John 2:6). We must follow Christ's example. We walk as He walked. We think as He thought. We live as He lived. And we submit ourselves to God's divine will and purpose in our lives, just as Jesus did.
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me," (John 6:38).
It is through Jesus, whose name means, "God is salvation," that we are saved. We are given salvation through Jesus’ death that took our place to pay the penalty for our sins and then allowing Him to live in us.
© Scott Ashley, 2025. All rights reserved.
Course Content
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
