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"Unto You is Born a Savior"

No greater words were ever spoken in this world than what the angel announced to the shepherds
who were keeping watch over their flock by night.

"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10,11).

The angel instructed Joseph, "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins" (Matthew 1:21). The apostle John testified that "the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior
of the world" (I John 4:14). This is why the message of biblical Christianity is that "there is
salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we
must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The advent of Jesus Christ signalled the arrival of God's answer to
man's problem. The incarnation of the Son of God would make no sense at all except for the fact
that man is a sinner who needs a Savior. The apostle Paul said that "Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners" (I Timothy 1:15). This is what the coming of Jesus Christ was all about.
Nevertheless, many who love to celebrate the advent of Christ have never really understood who
he is or what he came to do. They are unwilling to honestly face the issue of sin, least of all their
own sin. They sing the praise of Jesus while they refuse to have him do for them the only thing
he came to do. He came to save us from our sins. Jesus is the only one authorized by God to be a
Savior for sinners. Jesus is the only one who has the power to save sinners. This is why he said
so plainly, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"
(John 14:6). It is why one of the best loved verses in the entire Bible says what it says:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16, KJV).

Sinners are saved by Christ alone because

he died as a real substitute for sinners.

The doctrine of the substitutionary atonement of Christ is the very heart and soul of Christianity.
It defines the nature and purpose of the death Christ died. When the gospel proclaims that "Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3), it means that he died in the
place of the sinner. He died as the sin bearer. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans 5:8). What the gospel announces is good news because it is describing a real
substitution. It is the substitution of "the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (I
Peter 3:18).

The gospel proclaims Christ as a real substitute, not a potential, possible, or theoretical one. A
better word to explain it is the word "vicarious." Many people think of Christ's atonement as
available, but not actual. They believe he died potentially for everyone, but actually for no one.
He is like a substitute teacher, who is available, but only substitutes when called upon. But a
vicarious death is one that really accomplished something for those for whom it was intended.
Jesus actually took the place of certain sinners, made himself a sacrifice for their sins, and
rendered perfect satisfaction to God's law on their behalf. "He himself bore our sins in his body
on the tree" (I Peter 2:24). "Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people"
(Hebrews 9:28). "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" and "he bore the sin of many"
(Isaiah 53:6,12).

If in his death on the cross Christ was a real substitute, who offered to God a real sacrifice, and
accomplished a real satisfaction of God's charges against the sinner, then it is in every sense a
full and complete atonement. This completely contradicts the notion that Christ can be repeatedly
offered up as a sacrifice in the mass, as if a priest has the power to transform wafers and wine
into the literal body and blood of Christ. The very idea that Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, can
be brought under the power of any man, least of all to make him a sacrifice again and again, is
not according to the word of God. The biblical doctrine is that Christ does not have to suffer
many times, because "he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by
the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26). He offered a real, final, and complete sacrifice for sin.

Sinners are saved by Christ alone because

God set him forth as the propitiation for our sins.

"Propitiation" is another of the great doctrinal terms that has fallen out of favor with God's
people, many of whom have no memory of what it means. A propitiation is a sacrifice that turns
away the wrath of God, and Christ is that propitiation. "God presented him as a propitiation
through faith in his blood" (Romans 3:25). The doctrine of propitiation is an indispensable aspect
of the atoning death of Jesus Christ, and without it we cannot understand what happened on the
cross of Calvary. In Christ's death God was not announcing to the world that all is forgiven and
forgotten. Nor was God saying that he loves us anyway despite the fact that we put his Son to
death. The gospel is not preached simply by repeating the untruth that "God loves you." What
happened on the cross was something that God did about man's sin. He set forth Christ as the
propitiation to turn his wrath away from the sinner.

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews used this same word to refer to the "mercy seat," or the
cover on top of the ark of the covenant. This was an amazing Old Testament picture of the
"propitiatory" work of Christ (Hebrews 9:5). The ark of the covenant contained the manna,
Aaron's rod, and the tables of the covenant, all reminders of Israel's sin. But the mercy seat, or
atonement cover, covered it all from the holy presence of God. The blood of the sacrifice was
sprinkled there as a token of propitiation and the wrath of God was turned away. It reminds us
that the great issues with which the gospel is concerned have to do with an offended God. "The
wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men"
(Romans 1:18). God's wrath hovers over the disobedient (Ephesians 5:6). Christ, and Christ
alone, saves sinners from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9). When God publicly set forth Christ as
the propitiation for our sins, he was declaring his one and only method for dealing with sin. In
other words, it was God's action, not man's, and a full and final atonement for sin was the result.
Jesus is the propitiation for our sins (I John 2:2; 4:10).
 Sinners are saved by Christ alone because
he is the only redeemer of God's elect.

We "are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans
3:24). Redemption means that what came freely to the sinner cost Jesus everything. In
redemption, God regards sinners as slaves to sin (Romans 6:6,16,17). It is the business of
redemption to set the captive free. Christ Jesus finds us in the slave market of sin. When he
redeems us, we belong to him. He is the redeemer who actually redeems.

"Christ our Redeemer died on the cross,

died for the sinner, paid all his due"
(John Foote).

Christ's redemptive work is not announced in the gospel as a potential or theoretical redemption,
much less a partial one. When God preached the gospel through Isaiah he promised that he
would be a Redeemer for his people (Isaiah 41:14; 43:1,14; 44:6,22-24; 47:4; 48:17,20; 49:7,26;
52:9,10; 54:5,8; 59:20). The Book of Ruth tells us the story of a redeemer in action and thus
provides a dramatic preview of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. In the famous story of Ruth
and Boaz it was said of Boaz that he would not rest until he had settled the matter of Ruth's
redemption (Ruth 3:18). So it was with Jesus, who did not rest until he had finished the work of
our redemption.

Why would we say, or in what sense do we mean, that our redemption cost Jesus everything?
The release from sin, death, and the condemnation of the law that Christ's redemption
accomplished required the payment of a ransom. Jesus is that ransom price that was paid. He
came "to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). "Our great God and Savior, Jesus
Christ, gave himself for us to redeem us" (Titus 2:14). "Christ is the mediator of a new
covenant.now that he has died as a ransom to set them free" (Hebrews 9:15). The apostle Peter
wrote,

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were
redeemed.but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect" (I Peter
1:18,19).

The Bible insists that sinners can only be "justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus." The gospel dispels the popular fiction that God has already forgiven
everybody just by saying so, and we must say so, too. In this view, people must learn to forgive
themselves and realize that if God has gotten over the sin problem, we should get over it. But if
sinners can be justified only through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, it is accomplished at a
staggering price.

Sinners are saved by Christ alone because

he is the only mediator between God and men.

Jesus Christ is the mediator of the new covenant (Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24). God has never
authorized or qualified anyone else for this position. "For there is one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5). In another place the apostle said
that a mediator "does not represent just one party" (Galatians 3:20). Christ as the mediator
intervenes between the offending sinner and the offended God in order to accomplish
reconciliation.

He stands in our place, as our representative before God (Romans 5:15-21). By his death and
sinless life he merits a perfect righteousness, so that all who trust in him have that righteousness
and are forever reconciled to God. This work of reconciliation is the work of Christ alone.
Through him sinners are as reconciled to God as they can ever be and nothing remains to be done
about it except to proclaim it to sinners far and wide. We who have trusted in the finished work
of Christ have been entrusted with the ministry and message of reconciliation. In Christ's name
we preach, "Be reconciled to God" (II Corinthians 5:18-21).

"For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son,
how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life" (Romans 5:10).

As the only mediator, Jesus "bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors"
(Isaiah 53:12). Not only that, "he forever lives to make intercession" for us (Hebrews 7:25).

"Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at
the right hand of God and is also interceding for us" (Romans 8:34).

But Jesus is the only Mediator between God and man. Not only does he establish the sinner in a
right relationship with God, he also establishes God's interests and requirements in the sinner. As
the Mediator, Christ alone is our only prophet, priest, and king. As our prophet, he reveals to us
the truth about God and our relationship to him (Hebrews 1:1,2). As our priest, he continually
applies to us the benefits of his sacrifice and maintains and advances our sanctification (Hebrews
7:25). As our king, he executes the saving purpose of God in us, establishes God's kingdom in us,
and defeats the world, the flesh, and the devil in us (I Corinthians 15:25).

Christ as the sole mediator between God and man stands in direct opposition to the view that
there are other mediators. Some think that Mary and the saints also possess mediatorial powers.
Others think that all the world's religions offer mediators of one kind or another, and that all
religions ultimately lead to God. Still others look to famous and popular preachers as their
mediators. Or they gladly place their trust in some merely human and fallible priest or prophet.
God alone knows how many foolishly look to their membership in an organization or their good
works to mediate between themselves and their Maker. How tragic it is that countless multitudes
are willing to entrust their eternal destiny to a certain denomination or church, believing that if
they were born in it, stay in it, and die in it, all will be well. But the Bible insists there is one
Mediator between God and man, and that one Mediator is Jesus Christ.

Sinners are saved by Christ alone because

it is only his righteousness that saves.
As we noted above, the great controversy that God has with sinners is over the matter of
righteousness. God is perfect in righteousness and holiness. Man has neither and is incapable of
producing either. No supposed righteousness of the sinner contributes anything to salvation
(Titus 3:5-7). In fact, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts
are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). But the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, because in
it a righteousness from God is revealed. "This righteousness from God comes through faith in
Jesus Christ to all who believe" (Romans 3:22). In other words, without a righteousness that
God approves, there is no salvation. The gospel is about a righteousness that God not only
approves, but that he even provides. The apostle Paul preached the righteousness of Christ as the
sinner's only hope, and he did so as one who knew the experience of finding no hope in any
righteousness of his own (Philippians 3:9). He wanted to "be found in him (Christ)." He knew
that Christ is our righteousness (I Corinthians 1:30) and that "in him we become the
righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21). In fact, all who are joined to Christ by faith "are
made righteous" by his obedience (Romans 5:19). This means that, just as the disobedience of
Adam placed all men who are in him into the category of sinners, so the obedience of Christ
places all who are in him into the category of "righteous." It is Christ's righteousness, not ours,
that saves. This is why every Christian believer will tell you the same thing: "Believe in the Lord
Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).

It is said that after a famous religious leader died, his personal physician wrote an article for a
city newspaper in which he recounted the great man's final hours. He described an agonizing
scene in which the man was overcome with fear and dread. He had no certainty about his future.
This man who had devoted his life to telling others how to be religious could not die with any
assurance that he was a saved man, because he had not lived with any such assurance. He had
claimed to speak with great authority, but that authority failed him in the hour of death. What he
taught others could not secure his own salvation. He spoke with the greatest assurance in his life,
but he could not be sure he was saved. He knew that great pomp and ceremony would attend his
burial, but he could not die in peace. In fact he believed to his dying day that it was a mortal sin
to say, "I am saved." But the Bible tells a different story. It tells the story of a Savior for sinners.
Jesus is a Savior who actually saves his people from their sins. The Bible tells of a Savior who
completely saves all who are willing to be saved by him, and by him alone. And the Bible tells
us that when Christ the Lord is our Savior, we can know it. "I write these things to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (I John
5:13).

"This is the Christ, our God and Lord,

Who in all need shall aid afford;
He will himself your Savior be
From all your sins to set you free."

(Martin Luther, 1535)