Welcome to the Understanding God’s Great Salvation Podcast. This is episode #66.
I am your host, Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International. This podcast is designed to explain what it means to be saved from sin and from the punishment of sin through Jesus Christ. This podcast is primarily for non-believers and some new believers and it will help you understand what it means to be saved from hell and have a home in Heaven as well as the blessings of the abundant Christian life.
God made salvation simple. However, down through the years many people, including some preachers and other Christians, have made the matter of salvation complicated and confusing. I know from my own experience that many people would get saved if someone would sit down and share with them straightforwardly from the Bible what it really means to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. That is what I intend to do with this podcast.
Let’s start out with the Word of God. The Bible says in Romans 5:6-8: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Allow me to share with you some thoughts on this passage from the Bible Knowledge Commentary by Dr. John F. Walvoord and Dr. Roy B. Zuck:
Having mentioned the pouring out of God’s love, Paul now described the character of God’s love, which explains why its pouring out assures believers of hope. God demonstrated His love by the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. This demonstration was first, at just the right time (cf. Gal. 4:4). Second, it was when we were still powerless (asthenon, “without strength, feeble”; cf. John 5:5). Third, it was for (hyper) the ungodly (asebon, “impious”; cf. Rom. 4:5). Clearly Christ’s death was a substitutionary death, a death in place of others. The Greek preposition hyper often means “on behalf of,” but occasionally it means “in place of,” its meaning here. This is clear from the statement in 5:7, which also has hyper. A person willing to die for a righteous man or for a good man
obviously is offering himself as a substitute so that the righteous or good man can continue to live. This is the highest expression of human love and devotion. However, God’s love contrasts with human love in both nature and degree, because God demonstrates (“keeps on showing”) His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (hyper, “in our place”). Though a few people might possibly be willing to die to save the lives of good people, though that is rare, Christ went well beyond that. He died in the place of the powerless (“feeble,” v. 6), the ungodly (v. 6; 4:5), sinners (5:8), and even His enemies! (v. 10).
Today’s God’s Great Salvation quote is from Charles Spurgeon. He said: “It is not thy hold on Christ that saves thee—it is Christ. It is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee—it is Christ. It is not even thy faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits.”
Our topic today is Salvation Plain and Simple (Part 6) from the book, “Salvation Crystal Clear” (Part 1) by Curtis Hutson.
How Can an Infinitely Holy God Forgive Sin?
The answer is, God does not forgive sin but He forgives the sinner. Sin must be paid for. Somebody must bear the burden. I have been told that “forgive” literally means “to bear the burden”. If I owed someone a thousand dollars and was not able to pay, and I asked, “Would you please forgive the debt?” and the man consented, that means he bore the burden.
In order for an infinitely holy God to forgive the sinner, someone had to pay the debt, someone had to bear the burden. Praise the Lord, that is where Jesus comes in! God took every sin we have ever committed and will ever commit, and laid those sins on Christ two thousand years ago at Calvary. Isaiah 53:6 says, “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And the Bible says in I Peter 2:24, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree…” Read also I Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God…”
The greatest truth is the truth of the substitutionary death of Jesus. Jesus Christ actually took all my sins—past, present, and future—and bore them in His own body.
Friend, God Almighty looked down through the telescope of time and saw every sin you would ever commit, put those sins in one big package and laid them on Christ. “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
While Jesus was bearing our sins in His own body, God punished Him in our place to pay a debt that we owe, so that when we die we won’t have to pay it.
Somebody says, “The Jews killed Christ.” Another says, “It was the Roman soldiers.” But the Bible 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.” God let Jesus die in our place. He actually punished Jesus in our place so we could escape the punishment. Romans 8:32 declares, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all…”
Jesus uttered seven things while hanging on the cross. The sixth utterance was, “It is finished.” Among other things the statement meant that our sins were completely paid for.
On our next broadcast, we will continue this topic, “Salvation Crystal Clear.”
Let’s Pray —
As we close today, let me leave you with these words from Hebrews 2:3: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation…” I encourage you to not neglect the salvation and grace offered by God. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins and take the punishment that we deserve upon Himself. Romans 5:8 says that “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you want to get to know Him today, here is how.
Please believe “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” and you will be saved. The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Pray and ask Him to come into your heart and He will. It’s just that simple.
Until next time, my friend, thank God for His simple, great salvation. God bless you!
BCNN1 WP 