We are saved by Christ's merits

We are saved by Christ’s merits

While Jesus was walking about the land of Israel he was asked by a young man, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

That question has been dogging people ever since. They want to know what they must do. In Luke 18:19-22, Jesus responds to the young man’s question, “…You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false witness, honor your father and mother.’

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,’ (the man answered Jesus)

“When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’”

Just as we have been talking about the past couple of weeks, we are to abandon everything for Christ.

Like all of us, the man wanted to be able to do something. Needless to say, he followed the commandments Jesus prescribed and most would say the man was living an honorable life. We don’t get the whole story, but we can probably bet the man had an unhealthy obsession with his own finances, and Jesus knew this and he cut to the core, just like He can do with us. In essence, Jesus told the man to get rid of that, which comes between God and us.

 Jesus tells those around him how hard it is to be saved, and they ask, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

What did Jesus just say? Well, he said we couldn’t do it. There is nothing any of us can do to warrant our salvation. So, what saves us then?

Well, Jesus does. Yes, Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sin, but his life on this planet up until that time, made him a worthy sacrifice.

As Paul noted in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

So, as Charles Spurgeon noted, we are not saved because of our own actions, we are saved purely on Christ’s merits.

There is nothing else we need. There is no other prescription to our malady than Christ. Many times we focus solely on the cross as our means of salvation, and forget the perfect life Jesus led leading up to that defining moment. One, though, cannot be divorced from the other. The entirety of Jesus, and his deity was placed upon the cross.

The perfect lamb was brought to the sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world. To suggest there is anything else a soul needs but Christ, is to deny the fullness of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.

In Sunday School classes all across the country children are taught the Roman Road: For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved; For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord; that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation; for Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

That is our path. For those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, those who believe Jesus is who He claimed to be, then our sins are forgiven and we can look forward to an eternity spent in the presence of our Savior.

In other words, when the man asked Jesus how he could inherit eternal life, his answer, and our answer is Christ alone.

So simple, yet so hard for some to understand, but in the end, it is the only knowledge in this world we truly need — spread the word.