What Happened at the Cross? Understanding Christ's Work of Salvation

 

What Happened at the Cross? Understanding Christ's Work of Salvation

Welcome back to my blog, dear friends. Last week, we began our journey through the marvelous, chronological timeline of our salvation—an eternal story that began before time itself and will only conclude at Christ’s glorious return.

 

To help us see the bigger picture, we recounted the events that led up to our personal decision to trust in His saving work (in rough order):

• Christ chose us for salvation before the foundation of the world.
• The Holy Spirit worked in our hearts, convicting us of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
• God powerfully drew—and lovingly compelled—us to Himself.

 

If you missed those foundational truths, I highly encourage you to catch up on last week's post Our Wonderful Salvation: How Did It All Began?

 

Today, we take the next step on our timeline. We are looking directly at the cross to examine the profound work Jesus accomplished there to provide our salvation—a perfect sacrifice that was made fully active in our lives the moment we believed.

 

 

Christ’s Sacrificial Work on the Cross

 

Scripture describes four key components of Christ’s gracious actions on the cross, bringing us eternal life through His death:

• Propitiation – Christ’s sacrifice was a full and sufficient payment for our sins to God (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2).
• Reconciliation – Christ’s sacrifice ended the hatred between man and God because of our sins. Our holy God cannot be in the presence of sin. Our sins, being forgiven through Christ, changed our status before God as we are now innocent and without sin. This allowed peace between parties and healed (reconciled) the relationship between God and man. (Romans 5:10-11; Colossians 1:20-21: Ephesians 2:16-19).
•  Redemption – Christ’s death purchased us from sin for which we owed a payment of death (Romans 3:23-26; Ephesians 1:7).
• Substitution – Christ died in our place, taking the punishment we deserved, that we could obtain eternal life (Mark 10:45; 1 Peter 3:18).

These four vital biblical concepts describe Christ gracious work on the cross to forgive our sins, and correct our relationship with God, that we might be saved.

 

 

What then must we do to be saved?

 

How then does someone make Christ’s actions on the cross efficacious for themselves?

 

Here is an easy-to-learn gospel message (how to become a Christian based on Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:23-26, Romans 10:9):

• Each person has sinned (done actions contrary to God’s righteous character).
• We each deserve judgment and punishment from a perfect and just God.
• However, God, being loving, sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins to take the punishment that we deserved.
• Consequently, by acknowledging through faith the forgiveness that Christ provided by His death, and new life through His resurrection, we gain eternal life!

 

God did all the work to provide salvation, and no credit is given to us. It is a gift with all glory and praise to God. Wow, what a great promise! 

 

To summarize, to this point in our salvation journey, we have seen that God chooses us, the Holy Spirit convicts us, and God drags us to himself to the point of being saved. Then on our belief, salvation became efficacious to us based on Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross and His mighty resurrection.

In gratitude and praise, we owe Him our service and praise until we go home to be with Him. Thanks be to God for such a great salvation and for eternal life.

 

Please join us next time as we discuss what happened to us as a result of the cross. It's exciting stuff so don't miss it!

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

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Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.