Salvation Is ALWAYS Through JESUS

We often forget this fact. We think of Jesus as... Jesus. However, Jesus is God. The creator God of the Old Testament. He is THE ONE who spoke everything into existence. We need to never forget that Jesus is God.

Yet He... God... took on human flesh...

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. - John 1:14

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brothers so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. - Hebrews 2:17

Not only that, He also laid aside the privileges He had in heaven (aka kenosis).

Emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. - Philipians 2:7

Why Would God Do This?

To answer this question we need to know why Jesus (God) had to come to earth.

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. - 1 Timothy 1:15

You shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”. - Matthew 1":21

Jesus came to save us from sin, or another way to say it is, to save us from the consequences of our sin.

What is sin? 1 John 3:4 tells us that sin is lawlessness, meaning breaking God's laws such as the Ten Commandments. Why is that such a big deal? We need to go back to Genesis chapter one.

Genesis 1:26 and 27 tells us we are made in the image of God. That does not mean we physically look like God, it means we resemble and represent God on the earth. We rule over creation and have a direct relationship with God. We have intelligence; we are rational and reasoning; we have a moral consciousness; we are creative; have mercy, and have a close fellowship with God. He made us to be like Himself, although we are not gods ourselves.

Because we are the image of God, we have a responsibility to accurately reflect the character of God. God's character is described throughout scripture and is summarized by the Ten Commandments. When we violate one of the Ten Commandments, we violate God's character, and that is an offense against God. This is why it is called breaking God's law.

The penalty for breaking God's law (misrepresenting God) is death.

For the wages of sin is death... - Romans 6:23

Why did Jesus (God) take on human flesh? To save us from the death penalty. Why couldn't God just forgive everyone and open the gates to heaven? Because God is just. Lawbreaking must be punished. How does Jesus save us? He died in our place. Only a human can take on the legal penalty for sin for another human. Jesus took the penalty we deserve, shedding His blood instead of our blood. The penalty for sin was satisfied by Jesus, freeing us from sin.

This is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. - Matthew 26:28

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” - Hebrews 9:22

Only a man (a human) can pay the penalty for human sin. Jesus came to earth as a man to save us from the death penalty. To do that He had to be perfect, having no sin of His own. No human can die to pay the sin penalty of another person. We all are guilty of disobeying God, and must pay the penalty we have earned. That was not true of Jesus. He was innocent... perfectly innocent. He never disobeyed God. He never sinned. That makes Jesus the only possible answer. He was your substitute, dying in your place.

There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved. - Acts 4:12

The answer to sin is ALWAYS JESUS.