We all need to be saved from various things in our lives. In some cases, we need somebody with knowledge and skill to save us. Other times, we need someone with wisdom and prudence. Or sometimes, we need somebody with connections and influence to save us.
But sometimes, we need a savior with the power and strength to save us!
What is the nature of our salvation from sin and death and hell by Christ's Gospel?
Paul reminds us that the Gospel of our salvation is, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; that He was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures; and that He was seen alive again by numerous witnesses.
But that raises the vital question: where is the power of Christ in His dying? Dying seems to be weak and powerless to us. How can a dead savior rescue anybody?
Paul underlines this strange counter-intuitive juxtaposition of our weakness, and Christ's dying to save us, in Romans 5:6 -- when we were without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly!
We were dying in our weakness, without strength, because we couldn't keep the law for our own righteousness, and therefore we could never escape the subsequent wrath of God against us.
We needed strength, we needed power, so Christ died for us in our place. The love of God for us was thereby displayed, that Christ died for poor, helpless, lost sinners.
Notice that Christ's salvation for us was His assumption of our weakness, and our sin, and our powerlessness to save ourselves. Christ swallowed it all up by dying in our place!
Thus we are justified by His blood, shed for our crimes, and we are saved from wrath through Christ's dying for us. |
