Perhaps the most important question ever asked was posed by Job when he said, '... how should man be just with God?' (Job 9.2). This question, 'How can a man be right with God?', is one for which every man must seek an answer. The Scriptures provide the response to this question, stated in a variety of ways but with the same answer. The Philippian jailer asked, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' and the response was, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house' (Acts 16.30-31 ). The Apostle Paul, in Romans 10.9-10, says, 'if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' Perhaps the clearest statement of the means of salvation is given by Jonah: 'Salvation is of the LORD' (Jonah 2.9).

This salvation is necessary because of man's condition. All men are sinners. Every human being is born dead in trespasses and sin (Psalm 51.5; Ephesians 2.1), and wilfully sins every day. There is not a soul who does not sin (1 John 1.8). 'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God' (Romans 3.23). The Scriptures say that 'the soul that sinneth, it shall die' (Ezekiel 18.4); 'for the wages of sin is death' (Romans 6.23).

Is there no hope of eternal life? Many seek the answer to this in the wrong places. Among the most common responses from the world are that eternal life comes from living a good life ('If l live a good life, surely God will take me to heaven'), from good works outweighing bad deeds ('If I do more good than harm, God will let me into heaven'), from doing religious things ('lf l go to church every Sunday and give to the poor, I will go to heaven'), from meriting the virtues of the saints and Jesus ('If I am baptized and take communion, I will inherit eternal life').

But the Bible does not give any of these as the means to obtain eternal life. Unaided by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in providing all that we need in redemption, there is nothing which man can do to bring about his own salvation. But no one is too sinful or beyond hope. Instead the Bible says, 'But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us' (Romans 5.8). The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, states it in this way: 'For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them' (Ephesians 2.8-10). 'The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Romans 6.23). The Bible teaches that it is by Jesus Christ alone that salvation comes to man.

In Romans 10.9-10, the Apostle Paul uses a literary device which uses parallel thoughts to show emphasis in order to give a clear indication of the means of being declared right before God. He applies this device to the phrase, 'that if thou .. . shalt believe in thine heart . .. for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness'. This idea of faith in Jesus Christ, the fact that He died on the Cross for guilty sinners, that He was buried and raised the third day: belief in this Lord Jesus is the basis through which salvation comes to man in his experience.

In response to Job's question, 'How should man be just with God?', Jesus answers, 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life' (John 3.16). Belief includes repentance, which is a turning from sin unto Christ. The mind is convinced of the truth of God, the heart is convicted that this truth is true concerning itself and the will is committed to respond to God by grace. Biblical faith, given by God, results in eternal salvation to the guilty sinner. The sinner who comes to Christ on Biblical terms will always find salvation from sin. Thus repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin.

God in His sovereign grace and love has provided a salvation to man which brings eternal life and deliverance from the guilt and power of sin, and which also provides an abundant life lived in fellowship with God. Salvation is of the Lord, and of Him alone. May we constantly rejoice in this great salvation.

First published in Quarterly Record 523. Lightly edited in May 2023 for online publication.