Christianity Is Christ: Salvation Accomplished, Not Earned

I am often asked by curious unbelievers to explain Christianity. More often than not, they expect a familiar answer, one shaped by humanity’s long history of works-based religion. They assume Christianity, like every other system, must ultimately boil down to a list of actions, things a person must do to secure eternal life.

In short, they expect rules.

Many religious teachers are happy to meet that expectation. But when I answer according to the hope that is within me, the reaction is often the opposite. The message I give is met with the same discomfort oil has with water.

Christianity Is Not a Rulebook

Christianity is not, as so many suppose, a litany of rules and regulations.

The Good News, the Gospel, is not about what we must do. It is about what Christ has done. To speak of Christianity is to speak of Christ alone.

It is to proclaim:

• His promised coming foretold by the prophets
• His virgin birth in Bethlehem
• His perfectly sinless life
• His authority over creation, disease, and death
• His words spoken as God in the flesh
• His willing death as a ransom for many
• His resurrection from the grave in power and glory

In every way imaginable, the story of Christianity is the story of Christ. He is not merely central to the faith. He is the faith. Christ is all.

The Gospel Is Spiritually Discerned

These truths are not merely facts to be assessed. They are realities revealed. The Holy Spirit calls those who have ears to hear to the preaching of the Gospel. Christianity is not grasped through human reasoning alone. It is spiritually discerned.

The Good News is this. Christ came as the long-awaited Savior to save His people from their sins. Those who believe this Gospel do so because the Father has drawn them and the Spirit has given them life. And those who believe are promised something astonishing, to be presented faultless before the presence of God’s glory.

Salvation is not cooperative. It is divine.
It is God who works in His people to will and to do His good pleasure.
Salvation is of the Lord.

What About Rules and Regulations?

At this point, the inevitable question arises:

“But what must we do?”

Surely there must be something the believer contributes, some requirement, some merit, some obligation that secures this new state of being.

Here is the truth that scandalizes the self-righteous and infuriates the religious legalist.

The rulebook itself was nailed to the cross of Christ.

All that was required to bridge the vast gulf between fallen humanity and a holy God was fully accomplished by Jesus Christ. He fulfilled all righteousness for His people. He did what we, tainted and helpless in sin, could never do.

By His death, Christ reconciled His Church to God. By His obedience, He secured their righteousness. By His blood, He satisfied divine justice once and for all.

No Condemnation in Christ

Because of this finished work, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Believers no longer walk according to the flesh, that is, under the old covenant with its laws and demands, but according to the Spirit. They walk in the perfect law of liberty, freely given through Christ’s completed redemption.

Christ’s righteousness does not assist salvation.
It accomplishes it.

Peace with God is not achieved. It is received.

Grace, Faith, and the Work of God

So how do we respond?

We respond through faith, but even this faith is God’s gift. Belief itself is wrought by the Spirit through regeneration. Salvation does not begin with human decision. It begins with divine mercy.

God justifies His people fully and freely by the blood of Christ. His righteousness is imputed to them entirely. His mercy is new every morning. And the same power that raised Jesus from the dead now dwells in them through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit was promised by Christ, sent by Christ, and remains forever, leading God’s people into all truth.

Hallelujah.

Christianity Is a Testimony, Not a Transaction

Christianity is the testimony of Christ’s fulfillment of all righteousness. It is not a transaction between God and man, but a declaration of what God has done for His people.

And just as in the days of the apostles, the Lord continues to add to His Church daily those who are being saved.

So, What Must I Do?

Nothing.

I must do nothing but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

God’s people are saved by grace through faith, and this is not of themselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast. And where is boasting?

It is excluded.

The cry of the redeemed, once a wretch, now made alive, is always the same:

“Salvation is of the Lord.”

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Jason K. Boothe is a Pastor at Redeemer Church of Piketon, Ohio.