Romans 3: 21-31 say, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”

Dear brothers and sisters, peace to everyone. Today, we will touch on the fourth part of Ancient Teachings for Modern Man — the Gospel of salvation. If people transgress the laws in the world, they will be judged and have retributions. Light offenders are fined while the criminals are imprisoned or even sentenced to death because justice must be upheld through our laws. Thus, an eye for an eye, a hand for a hand and a life for a life. Since there are laws instituted in the country, there are also rules established in the family. Similarly, if people break God’s laws, they will be judged. Isn’t it more serious if we break God’s laws? It is written in the Bible: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 from the ESV Bible). In other words, all sinners have to die and people are without hope. From here, we discover the importance of soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) in Christianity. Such a theme is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible.

The religions normally restrict their discussions to ethics and morality so they are ethical religions. Only Judaism and Islam mention about the concept of revelation so they are religions with revelation. In Christianity, we talk about morality, ethics and revelation but we also take a step further to emphasize on the truth that ‘People need salvation’. This is the uniqueness of Christianity so we need to think further about this topic for you and I cannot do without the Gospel of salvation. It is not what other religions teach people about - meditation, eating vegetarian food, ethics or morality. In Christianity, we need to repent, confess our sins, be forgiven, receive salvation and be born again. Therefore, soteriology is central to Christianity.

Why do people need salvation?

We need to ask a simple question: Why do people need salvation? The Bible clearly tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). It is stated in Romans 6:23 that “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In other words, the people in the world have sinned. They failed to reach the standards of God and do not reveal his glory. They have gone their own ways to indulge in their fleshly desires so their final destiny is death. Just as we are paid for our work, the wages for sin is death.

Dear brothers and sisters, why do people need salvation? The Bible says that it is because people have sinned. However, a lot of people do not realise that they have sinned. This is a big issue. If I know that I am sick, I will see a doctor for the Bible tells us in Mark 2:17, “Those who are sick need a physician.” Today, many people do not go for medical check-ups when they reach a certain age but medical examinations are crucial. For instance, colon cancer is a common illness currently. Those who are 40 or 50 years and above should go for such check-ups every five years. Some people even say, “Pastor! I don’t wish to see the doctor. It will be troublesome if I know that I am sick.” My reply to the elderly is, “If you don’t see the doctor now, it will be even more troublesome when you are diagnosed with sickness. Even if you don’t wish to bother your children now, you will be a real burden to them in future.” Thus, we need to see a doctor. If we are sick, we must be treated. Similarly, we cannot attain God’s standards through morality and ethics. We have gone our own ways to indulge in our fleshly desires so we have sins. Sinners basically need salvation as they cannot use their own hands to lift themselves up. To illustrate, although you can swim very well, you cannot save yourself if you fall into the rough ocean unless someone throws the lifebuoy for you. If not, you will drown. In other words, sinners cannot save themselves unless someone saves them. Thus, people need salvation.

Forgiveness of sins comes with the shedding of the Blood

Again, the Bible says, “According to the laws, people have sinned; however, people need salvation.” All living creatures are cleansed by the blood as forgiveness of sins comes with the shedding of blood. Why? Blood has life and is required for salvation! In other words, people need a life to substitute for another life rather than depend on their own talents, abilities, morality and ethics for forgiveness of sins. Jesus Christ has come to the world and shed His blood for us; blood has life and can save people. Such concepts are not foreign to the Chinese. When I was young, people would call on their gods to drive out evil spirits from demon possessed people. However, they just couldn’t do it. Finally, they had to use blood. What kind of blood? Chicken blood? No! They used the black dog’s blood. Why? They believed that only blood could be used in exorcism as it had the ability to cleanse.

If you have the opportunity to visit China, you may visit the Temple of Heaven. In the past, the Emperor was called the Son of Heaven. He spoke on behalf of the heaven. He also represented the people for he had such functions. Under his rule, he would offer sacrifices to get rid of the numerous disasters at the Temple of Heaven! Only he had such a role to offer the sacrifices on behalf of the people. How was it done? The cow was slaughtered. In ancient China, they did this for a better change of fortunes so that such gloomy situations would be ‘cleansed’ completely, the country would prosper and the natural calamities would cease. In the early days, the Chinese had a concept that ‘blood has the amazing function of cleansing and salvation.’

Today, we discuss about ‘blood’. It is stated in Hebrews 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.” It is because blood has life. In order to forgive a person’s sins, there must be blood. However, I cannot shed blood to sacrifice for your sins. Why? I am a sinner! I can only forgive you but cannot pardon your sins. It is an eternal issue.

Once, four people carried a paralytic to Jesus. When Jesus saw him, He said: “Your sins are forgiven because of your faith.” (Matthew 9:1-8). When the Jews heard it, their eyes were wide opened and argued, “Who is this person? How can He say such words? On what basis can He forgive sins? How can He forgive sins since He isn’t God?” You see, the Jews had such a concept – other than God, no one can forgive sins; you can forgive someone but you cannot forgive him of his sins. Therefore, Jesus said, “Which is easier – to forgive sins? Or to tell this paralytic to get up and walk?” What do you think? The Jews were speechless because they knew clearly that only God has the authority to forgive sins. They also knew that they didn’t have the abilities to tell the paralytic to get up and walk. Finally, Jesus said, “In order for you to know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins, I tell him to rise and walk.” Finally, the paralytic did so. Everyone was surprised – who is Jesus? Why did He have the authority to forgive sins!

Jesus is willing to be our salvation and the propitiation for our sins

Dear brothers and sisters, when we talk about the forgiveness of sins, we must look at the Bible again – Jesus has become our salvation and the propitiation of our sins. Why? It isn’t because we are very good or the result of our relationship with Him such as our reverence, sincerity and earnest prayer that He is willing to sacrifice for us. No! The Bible tells us that God had attained the great work of salvation for us, entirely because of His grace, initiative and giving of Himself. He has given us blessings and the grace for forgiveness of sins. All these are not because of anything we have done.

The Bible says: “He has redeemed us.” This word ‘redeem’ describes people who pay a price to redeem what they pledge. This word also appears in the trading of slaves, just as slaves are redeemed with a price. It is the redemption price that a person or a living creature has to pay. This is stated in Exodus 13:13 and 34:20. In theology, ‘redemption’ refers to the redemption price that Jesus Christ has paid through his death.

“…and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24)

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

“…who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14)

Another word is ‘propitiation’ for our sins. This word in the Old Testament refers to the Day of Atonement when the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the animal sacrifice on the mercy seat so that the sins of the Israelites were covered (Kapar)! ‘Propitiation for our sins’ points to Jesus offering Himself to be God’s sacrifice for sins so that God’s wrath for our sins was appeased, thus salvaging the broken relationship between God and man. We thank God for it!

“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

By God’s grace, Jesus had accomplished ‘salvation’ for us and was ‘the propitiation for our sins’ as He is sinless. His blood cleanses us and He is holy. More importantly, He is willing to sacrifice for us. Dear brothers, sisters, that is love. Our parents had put in effort and exhausted their money and strength for us because of love. In the same way, God had sacrificed His only son Jesus Christ for He loved us. Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, shed His blood, cleansed us of our sins and became our redemption because of love. Such amazing grace! Today, when we hear this message – that you and I are sinners, are you willing to open your hearts and let Him redeem and forgive you? Or would you rather let sins be a burden in your life, continuously oppressing you so that you cannot find release? Come, let us pray together!

Dear heavenly father, we are very thankful. While we were still sinners, you sent your son to this world. He died on the cross for our sins, was resurrected on the third day to redeem us and became the propitiation for our sins. We are truly grateful for receiving such amazing grace today! There are those who have yet to receive you among us. We ask that your love will continue to spur them so that they are willing to open their hearts to you. May you enter their lives, forgive them and deliver them. By doing so, they can walk out of the burden of their sins to live happy and carefree lives. We pray this in the holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.