Lesson 4. The Need for Salvation. A school covering the foundations of the Christian faith that every Christian should know. The school consists of twelve lessons. The school was founded by the Christian Bible Institute.
Perishing Without an External Source of Salvation
Having rebelled against God, humanity became cut off from the source of life. For this reason, death reigns throughout the universe around us. Everything in the world tends toward decay. The world is afflicted by diseases and disasters. Plants perish. Animals perish. People perish. Everyone knows that sooner or later they will die. Sin inevitably brings death and destruction with it. Like an aggressive virus that affects every cell of the body, sin has affected every element of the universe entrusted by God to humanity.
Rom. 8:20 “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope, 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now”;
The destructive effect of sin is manifested not only in the physical realm. It is also aggressive in the realm of morality and social relations between people. Evil, violence, and unrestrained passions, inspired by human pride, bring pain and suffering that poison social life. All the calamities of modern society, from deception and betrayal in personal relationships to international terrorism and global wars, are realities reflecting the inevitable consequences of sin.
Moreover, because all people born of Adam and Eve were born in an atmosphere of rebellion against God, absolutely every person is afflicted from birth by this virus of sin, which inevitably leads to death. Scripture speaks very clearly about this:
Rom. 3:10 “Both Jews and Greeks are all under sin, as it is written: There is none righteous, not even one; 11 there is none who understands; no one seeks God; 12 they have all turned aside, they have together become worthless; there is none who does good, not even one. 13 Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 destruction and misery are in their ways; 17 and the way of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Thus, humanity, descended from Adam and Eve, who rebelled against God, has a nature that opposes God as its essence. This nature is built on self-assertion and elevating personal interests above the absolute interests of God and other people. This is the essence of the first humans’ desire to “become like gods.”
Gen. 3:4 “And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.’”
Every person descended from Adam and Eve has, by nature, a dominant desire to take the place of God—that is, to have the power and right to do what they consider necessary and independently determine what is good and evil, right and wrong. This condition is inseparable from human nature, and therefore the pain, suffering, corruption, and death it brings are an inevitable reality for all humanity and every individual.
The Need for Retribution for the Guilt of Sin
In addition to sin’s fundamental defeat of human nature, expressed in the dominant influence of pride, it brought humanity to another problem: guilt before God. The sin of Adam and Eve, as well as the sin of every person, is a direct violation of God’s law. Thus, every person descended from Adam and Eve is legally guilty before God.
Rom. 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
The nature of God’s justice is unchanging. Sin inevitably brings retribution. Therefore, every person will inevitably be held accountable for their sin.
Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Human Attempts to Be Saved
For many centuries, people have tried to solve the problems caused by sin. Diseases, disasters, social hostility, and injustice bring much suffering to humanity, forcing it to seek a way out of this situation. History testifies to the many attempts humanity has made to free itself from the consequences of sin.
- Religion
Perhaps the oldest attempt has been to seek deliverance from the problems of sin through religion. Realizing that they depend on higher powers, people invented gods for themselves and, along with them, created systems of worship. All existing religions are based on the principle that a person must earn a deity’s favor by performing certain ceremonies and fulfilling specific conditions. Thus, ancient shamans convinced people that, for the gods to bless their hunting, family, or health, they needed to sacrifice a particular animal. Buddhists claim that a person draws closer to deity by cleansing their body through a special diet and purifying their mind through specific meditations. Muslims say that to gain Allah’s favor and enter paradise, one must pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast, and visit holy places at least once in their lifetime.
The problem with all religions is that they are based on an attempt to “improve” a person who is corrupted by nature. Thus, while trying to make people better, all religions fail to achieve their goal because they cannot address the main issue: changing the human heart.
- Philosophy
is another means by which people have tried to solve the problems resulting from sin. The basic idea of philosophy is the assumption that all human troubles stem from poor education—that is, if a person possesses the right knowledge and is taught to think correctly, then all their problems will be solved. Unfortunately, despite the existence of many thousands of different philosophical systems, none of them has produced the desired result. Nor could it, because philosophy, like religion, attempts to deal with the consequences of sin while ignoring sin itself.
In addition to religion and philosophy, people have resorted to many other means that seemed capable of solving their problems. These included politics, psychology, sociology, and even bioengineering, which proposed removing the genes of evil from human DNA. All these attempts ended in complete failure for the following reasons:
- First of all, people try to eliminate the consequences of sin without changing their attitude toward sin and, consequently, toward God. The fact is that all human attempts to solve society’s problems are based on the assumption that people are inherently good and therefore only need to be slightly “improved” or “retrained.” People try to eliminate the consequences of their rebellion against God while leaving themselves on the throne in a position that defies the Creator.
- The second reason for the failure of human attempts to escape the consequences of sin is people’s corrupt, sinful nature. This nature is filled with sin. Performing complex religious rituals does not free a person from self-will and pride and, consequently, from conflict with God. In this case, religion is an attempt to speak with God “as equals.” A kind of bargaining: “you give me this, and I’ll give you that.”
- The third reason is that every person living on earth is completely infected with the virus of sin. In trying to build something new, people use the same contaminated material of human sinful nature. Sin, like a cancerous tumor, is so closely intertwined with every fiber of every person’s soul that its destruction is impossible without the death of the person themselves.
Thus, no human efforts are capable of bringing people freedom from the deadly consequences of sin. For this, God’s direct intervention is necessary.
The Need for a New Nature
The Bible says that the only way to solve the problem of human sin is to be born again.
John 3:5 “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’”
Already in the Old Testament, speaking to the people of Israel, God said that a time would come when He would make a New Covenant with His children. The essence of the New Covenant lies not in external requirements but in a change of heart.
Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law within them and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
To be saved from sin, a person has only one way out: to receive a new nature, that is, to be born again.
The Qualities Required of the Savior
For human salvation to be possible, the following conditions must be met:
- The Penalty for Human Sin.
First, human sin must be punished, which means that the person must die (Romans 6:23).
- Providing the Conditions for the New Birth.
Just as Adam became the forefather of fallen humanity, there had to be Someone from whom those with a new nature would come forth—a nature of submission rather than rebellion against God.
These conditions could be fulfilled in only one way: there had to be a person who was free from sin, and who was able and willing to take upon himself the sin of humanity, freeing them from guilt and giving them his own sinless, God-pleasing life.
God miraculously fulfilled these conditions in Jesus Christ.
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Homework: Memorize John 3:16–18
Source: Christian Bible Institute
