Salvation Conditioned on Jesus Christ Alone

A popular message that many believe to be the Gospel today is that God loves everybody, Christ died to save everybody and that the Spirit of God is working to try to get as many saved as possible but ultimately, we are told, “The choice is yours.” Now, as appealing as that may sound to the natural mind if you give it a little thought, you will see how this makes the sinner his own savior. If God has willed sinners to be saved and Christ died to save them but the Almighty Spirit is unable to persuade them against their will, then, ‘What does God have to do with salvation?’ You have put the power in the hand of the sinner, whom the Bible says is dead in sin and unable to save himself, John 6:44; 66.

No! The Gospel of God is that the Father chose a people in His sovereign will and gave them to the Son in electing grace, before time. The Son of God then came and paid their complete sin debt, thereby justifying them before God, charging the merits of Christ’s death to them for righteousness, in a ONE-TIME, ONCE FOR ALL IMPUTATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (justice). “He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” (Hebrews 9:12) The Spirit then effectually draws to Christ in time, by the Gospel, each one for whom Christ died. Note what the LORD Jesus declared in John 6:37: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” It is the Spirit that gives elect sinners life and light to repent, being born from above, of the Father of Lights, in hom is no shadow of turning, James 1:17-18.

Let’s be careful, then, not to think that it is the new birth or our faith that brings about the imputation of God’s righteousness. No! It is the imputed righteousness of God at the cross that brings about the new birth and faith in everyone to whom God has already charged the merits of His Son’s finished work. Our LORD Jesus established this order of righteousness imputed first then the coming of the Spirit in John 16:7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” John 16:13 teaches that it is the work of the Spirit to take the things of Christ and reveal them unto us [Who He is and the redemption, reconciliation, forgiveness of sins and justification already accomplished in His obedience unto death]. That is truly salvation in, by and through the LORD Jesus Christ alone.

The bottom line is, “Do you have a salvation conditioned on what you do or something done in you, or on what Christ alone has done?” It makes a difference!