Who Is Jesus Christ?
The Lord asked His disciples that same question in Matthew 16:15. He said, “Who do you say that I am?” Your answer to that question determines your eternal destiny. The Bible gives us a very emphatic answer to that question. In no uncertain terms, the Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ is God. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Speaking of Christ here as “the Word,” the Bible tells us that Christ was and is, God. In John 10:30 Jesus claimed fully equality with God the Father when He said, “I and the Father are one.”
As God, it was Christ Who created us. We are not the products of random chance as some would have us to believe. Colossians 1:16 says, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and for him.” Because He created us, Christ has sovereign right over all things. He is God and He is Lord over all. He is also perfectly holy. Isaiah 6:3 says, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” God is perfectly holy. Because He is perfectly holy, the standard to enter His Heaven is perfection.
Man Has A Problem.
The Bible also has something to say about us. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” None of us is perfect. We all fall short of God’s perfect holy standard. God doesn’t measure us in comparison to other people. He doesn’t say “This person is better than that person, so I will let them into Heaven.” In fact, what Scripture says we deserve for our sin is terrifying. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death…” What we have earned for our sin and rebellion against God’s perfect standard is death. The death spoken of here is both spiritual and physical. Spiritual death is simply another way to speak of separation from God forever in Hell. Frankly, Hell is what we all deserve for our rebellion, and if something doesn’t happen before we die, that’s what we will receive.
God Has The Answer.
In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ provided the only way of salvation possible. You can’t be saved simply by picking any religion or belief system of your choice and believing it sincerely; there is only one way. Salvation is exclusive and that’s what Jesus meant when He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” How did He do this? Christ took the penalty upon Himself that we deserved. He died in our place upon the cross. Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” The Lord Jesus Christ stood in our place and bore the Father’s wrath for us.
Right now you might be asking, “If this is true, how can we be saved?” Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” To confess that Jesus is Lord means you are choosing to obey Him. It means you willfully surrender command of your life to Christ and will be obedient to His commands. This involves repentance (turning from your sin) and recognizing that you are not good enough to save yourself because all that we do is sinful (Acts 17:30; Isaiah 64:6). Rather than trying to save yourself or seek your own way, you will submit to Christ as your Lord now.
Romans 10:9 also says that we are to, “believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead.” This is a reference to the resurrection of Christ. After Christ died on the cross for our sin, he was buried and after three days He rose from the dead. The resurrection was the completion of His saving work and it proved the Father’s acceptance of His sacrifice for our sin. So to believe in the resurrection of Christ is to say that you trust fully in all that Christ has done to save you.
In short, the Bible teaches that you are saved when you submit to Christ as Lord, repent of your sin, and trusting completely in His work alone to save you. It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit of God would direct your heart to obedience to what the Scripture says regarding salvation.
