The question is: Are you saved or merely savable? Jesus Christ died for the sins of the entire world, meaning all of humanity who ever lived or whoever would live. But, how could He do that as a solitary figure? His ability to redeem the billions constituting humanity is found in His identity. Jesus Christ was and is the God-man, the theanthropic combination of deity and humanity, representing both entities in His own person. This unique God-man willingly became the sacrificial payment for sinful humanity, the truly innocent dying in the place of the guilty. This principle of substitution is the very essence of Christianity. It makes no difference whether anyone believes us or not, or even if they deny it, no matter. Their unbelief does not alter its reality and truth. Now, we will admit this is a stretch because it flies contrary to our very way of thinking. Yet, it coincides fully with God’s way of thinking. God is telling us how He affected this great redemption, and He was pleased to reveal it in the Bible. To refuse to believe that, makes God a liar…unthinkable for the very One who is the personification of truth.
While the universality of Christ’s redemption is found throughout the Bible, it centers upon the New Testament because this is where the great act of redemption is carried out. In the Old Testament, the world’s redemption is merely promised, but, in the New, the promise of God is fulfilled.
In addition to the monumental John 3:16, don’t overlook 3:17 that says, God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. The world indeed. But, if the whole world was purchased by Christ’s redemptive act, why, then, are men called upon to believe in Christ or perish eternally? It is because Christ’s cooperate, or worldwide, redemption removed Adam’s transgression that plunged all of creation into ruin. As the last Adam, Christ dealt with the corporate consequences of condemnation by paying the penalty of death. That made God approachable with open arms to all who act upon Christ’s payment with their personal faith and trust. This is the act and response of the individual to what Christ accomplished. Corporate redemption does not mean corporate salvation. It merely rendered all men savable, and, being savable, is not the same as being saved. To be saved, man must, as an act of his will, appropriate the truth of Christ’s sacrificial death by personalizing it. This is trusting in Christ as one’s personal Savior because salvation is not institutional, nor is it sacramental. It is personal, an individual act of human volition that believes on Christ unto salvation. His death on man’s behalf and reconciliation of the world made all men savable.
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