Calvary Lutheran Church

The Cross Teaches Us about Salvation

O Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world have mercy upon us and grant us your peace. Amen.

John 3:14-16

Dear Christian friends:

            Are you saved? That is a question you hear a lot from preachers in churches and on religious television programs, and maybe even from people you talk to at work or school. It is kind of an abrupt question, a confusing question especially for the unchurched and unbelievers, who may ask, “Saved from what?” But that is the whole reason for the question. They want to start a religious conversation. They want the opportunity to witness. And by asking “Are you saved?” they hope to open the door for their testimony.

            There are only four answers you can give to that question. Most believers would answer, “Yes, I’m saved.” A few very guilt-ridden people might answer, “No, I’m not saved.” Some believers or unbelievers would answer “I don’t know if I’m saved.” But perhaps the most common answer you would get today is, “I really don’t care.” Salvation is not what is on most people’s minds. Unless they are very old or fighting for their lives because of some disease or injury, most people today do not concern themselves with salvation. They are far too busy with far too many worldly concerns, and not entirely convinced they even need a Savior.

            But that is where the cross can help. The cross of Christ Jesus vividly demonstrates both the need and the provision for a Savior. This morning, we want to investigate how

THE CROSS TEACHES US ABOUT SALVATION

            Every follower of Christ will care about salvation. It is a major teaching throughout the Bible. Satan, and ultimately Adam and Eve, were taught about salvation already in the garden when God told him, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). That was the first gospel proclamation of the promise of a Savior. Abraham was taught about salvation when God said to him, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3)). God was speaking about a Savior who would come from Abraham’s offspring. The Psalms are full of the teaching of salvation. Psalm 27 reads, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1). David wrote in Psalm 23, “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). All the prophets taught about salvation. Isaiah wrote, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2). You cannot open any book in this Bible and not find some direct or indirect reference to the promise of a Savior and the doctrine of salvation.

            And when you get to the New Testament the doctrine of salvation is greatly expanded, because it describes in detail how that salvation was accomplished—and that is, through the suffering and death of the Savior Christ Jesus on the cross. Yes, the cross directly teaches us the doctrine of salvation.

            But there was an incident in the Old Testament which was a prelude or a picture of the cross in the New Testament. Remember when God’s people were in the wilderness? They had left their Egyptian slavery, a picture of our captivity to sin. They had wondered for 40 years in the desert, a picture of our journey here on earth. We think of the line from the hymnist, “Earth is a desert drear, heaven is my home.” And now they were on their way to the promised land of Canaan, a picture of our promised land in heaven.

            But it wasn’t happening fast enough and God’s people were grumbling and complaining to Moses and to God, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” (Numbers 21:5). Sort of like what we say when we think that God has not blessed us enough. “This is wrong, and that is wrong. The car broke down. The kids are getting on my nerves. The bills are piling up. My health is spiraling down.” We complain to our spouse, to our neighbors, to our boss, and ultimately to God.

            What are we saying? “God, you are not good to me. You have not provided me with all I need. I am not content with just food and raiment. I want more.” It is so easy to complain and so hard to be content. Adam and Eve were not even content with paradise, they wanted to be like God and know good from evil.

            Job said, “I loathe my very life; therefore, I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul” (Job 10:1). In other words, “My life is miserable, and I’m going to let God know it.” Solomon wrote in Proverbs, “A man’ own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord” (Proverbs 19:3). A man’s sin makes his life miserable, and then God gets blamed for it. Is this how God wants us to live our lives?

            He certainly was not pleased with his people in the wilderness. In their case, they found out what misery life can really have. God’s wrath was poured out upon them. So God sent poisonous snakes that bit them, and they were dying right and left. Dying by the venom from a snake bite is very painful resulting ultimately in heart failure.

            The people repented, just as we did a few moments ago, but perhaps with a bit more urgency. They came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us” (Numbers 21:7). Moses prayed, and God in his grace responded. God said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live” (Numbers 21:8). So he did, and they were healed.

            Jesus used that incident to teach Nicodemus the direct connection between the cross and salvation. He said, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-16).

            What was Jesus saying? The whole world has fallen victim to the snake bite of sin. It is a terrible way to live and a painful way to die, because the death we are talking about is the pains of hell. But God loved the world, that includes you and me, and then God gave his Son—his incarnate Son. His Son lived as a man. He became one of us, and then Jesus gave his life on the cross so that he would pay the punishment for our sins. And those who look to the cross with the eyes of faith—faith to know that Jesus is their Savior from sin—will not perish but will be saved and have eternal life.

            It sounds so simple. But then looking at that bronze snake setting up there on that pole was simple too. All they had to do was turn their eyes upward, and they were healed. Can you imagine anyone so foolish as refusing to do that?

            We can. In fact, we can imagine some, maybe here today, being so foolish as to know the doctrine of salvation but question its certainty. We can imagine some, maybe here today, having some vague hope that God might be gracious to them and might save them for eternal life, but they are not certain of it. How many face death with the thought, “Will I reach heaven or not?”

            In Luther’s day, the Jesuits proclaimed that doubts about heaven were a virtue, and that confidence and certainty were presumptuous. A man by the name Bellarmine once wrote, “It is intolerable that men ordinarily become certain of grace, because certainty produces pride . . . uncertainty generates humility.”

            So how does God want us to view our salvation? John wrote at the end of his first letter, “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” (1 John 5:13). Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:23). Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

            God’s word teaches the certainty of salvation. And why wouldn’t it? If our salvation does not depend on what we do, but entirely upon what Christ did for us on the cross, then there is no room, no need, no opening whatsoever for the devil to create an ounce of doubt; or as Paul would say, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31,32). Yes, we have the certainty of salvation in this Word.

            But how do we know this word applies to us, and not just to John’s readers, or Paul’s readers, or the thief on the cross? Here is the answer. God in his grace has given us, in addition to the Word, the Sacraments as well. Peter wrote, “Baptism . . . now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21). Paul wrote to Titus, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5,6). Baptism is a practical, visible means of grace whereby God assures us of salvation.

            In addition to baptism God has given a second way to be certain, and that is the Lord’s Supper. In Luther’s explanation to the blessings of Holy Communion, he writes, “What blessing do we receive through this eating and drinking? That is shown us by these words: ‘Given and poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ Through these words we receive forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation in this sacrament. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.” The Lord’s Supper is God’s second, practical, visible guarantee to us personally of our salvation.

            But I have a question for you. Why doesn’t God just save everyone? We know that God loves everyone. We know that Jesus paid the punishment for everyone. We know that God’s declares everyone “not guilty” for Jesus’ sake. What is preventing him from saving everyone. Some think that way. They call it “universal salvation.” But it is not taught in the Bible. The question: Why doesn’t God save everyone is not answered in the Bible, only the question why doesn’t God damn everyone? The answer for the believer is Christ Jesus and the cross. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

            Jesus’ answer for the unbeliever why God doesn’t save everyone is his parable of the great banquet. A king prepared a great banquet and invited many guests. But one by one they came up with excuses. “I just bought some land and I have to go see it.” And, “I just bought five oxen and I have to try them out.” And, “I just got married, so obviously I can’t come.” Sort of like those who say, “I don’t care,” when asked if they are saved. The king was outraged. He told his servants to go out to the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame, until his house will be full. And then he said, “But not one of these who were invited will get a taste of my banquet” (Luke 14:16-24). Invitations are sometimes rejected.

            If someone were to ask, “Are you saved?” you might answer with the question, “’Do you mean was I saved?’ Yes, I was saved 2,000 years ago when Jesus died for my sins on the cross at Calvary. Or, do you mean, ‘Am I saved?’ Yes, I live in a state of constant grace and forgiveness by faith in Christ Jesus.’ Or, do you mean, ‘Will I be saved?’ Yes, I will some day depart this life and dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’ The Bible speaks of all three, and so anyway you look at it—past, present, or future—I am saved in the cross of Christ.” Amen.