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The Necessity and the Existence of a Savior

SUMMARY: God reveals himself to me as the One who searches for me and wants to deliver me from my sin and all its consequences. Only Jesus Christ, who is true man and perfectly righteous and who is also true God, can discharge my debt, bear my punishment, shatter the chains of my sin, and give me a new righteousness and life.

God is not only my Master and my Lord, He is also—through Jesus Christ—my Father and my Savior, in whom I can place my whole trust.

It is the testimony of his Word revealed in the Holy Scriptures to which I must remain unflinchingly attached. The Scriptures unlock the door to his heavenly Kingdom.

Bible readings for the week: Monday, Question 16: 1, 2, 3. Tuesday, Question 16: 4, 5. Wednesday, Question 23: 1, 2. Thursday, Question 23: 3, 4. Friday, Question 23: 5, 6. Saturday, Question 24: 1, 2.

16. But does God want to leave us in this state of being lost?

Certainly not! God shows me now that He is the Savior to whom I belong in taking great pity on me in his Son. He reveals Himself to me as the One who searches for me.

God searches for me and calls me with all his heart. The pleasure of God is that I live and that I be saved.

I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, “Here am I, here am I,” to a nation which did not call on My name. Isaiah 65:1

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10

Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I come in to him, and dine will with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20

Bible Readings:

1. The lost sheep: Luke 15:3–7.

2. The lost coin: Luke 15:8–10.

3. The Lord invites me to his feast: Luke 14:15–23.

4. Return! I will heal your sins!: Jeremiah 3:12–14; 4:1–10.

5. I will take care of My sheep: Ezekiel 34:11–16, 22–26, 30–31.

17. But, since we have merited punishment, how can we avoid it and be received again into favor?

God will have his justice satisfied. Therefore we must make a complete satisfaction either by ourselves or by another.

18. Can we make this satisfaction by ourselves?

Certainly not! On the contrary, by our evil deeds we increase our debt each day.

How can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him once in a thousand times. Job 9:2–3

19. Can there be found anywhere, one who is a mere creature, and is able to pay for us?

None. God will not punish any other creature for the sin for which man is liable. Further, no mere creature can either sustain the weight of the eternal wrath of God against sin, nor deliver others from it.

If Thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Psalm 130:3; cf. Hebrews 2:14–18

No man can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him—for the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever. Psalm 49:7–8

Ask yourself this question, “Why will God not punish another creature for the sins I am liable for to Him? Why is no creature able to present itself before God to repay my sins?”

20. What kind of a mediator and liberator then must we seek for?

Someone who is true man and perfectly righteous, but who is also stronger than all creatures: one who is at the same time true God.

Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Thyself; who is there that would be my guarantor? Job 17:3

For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:21

21. Why must this “someone” be true man and perfectly righteous?

He must true man, because the justice of God requires that the human nature, which has sinned, be that which pays for sin. He must be perfectly righteous, because a man who is himself a sinner cannot satisfy for others.

22. And why must this “someone” be at the same time true God?

Because by the power of his divinity, he would be able to bear in his humanity the weight of the wrath of God, and by this obtain and give us a new righteousness and life.

23. But who is this Mediator who is at the same time true God and true man?

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been given to us to accomplish our salvation and our justification. He is called Immanuel, which means “God with us” in Scripture (Matthew 1:23).

Behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst, says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 2:10

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.” John 14:6

Jesus Christ was made for us, by the will of God, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30

First, Jesus Christ is true man:

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5–6

Second, Jesus Christ is perfectly righteous

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. 1 Peter 3:18

For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One, the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

Third, Jesus Christ is true God:

For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

The life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us (in Jesus Christ). 1 John 1:2

In his great love, God takes pity on us: “He turns his face to us.” He grants us his grace in Jesus Christ, and relieves us of the burden of our fears, of sin and death. He gives us a new heart and a new spirit.

And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” Exodus 33:19

But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). Ephesians 2:4–5

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other Name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

Hence, God reveals Himself to us not only as Master and Lord, but also as Father and Savior.

Bible Readings:

1. Your Savior comes! Isaiah 62:10–12.

2. Christ has born the punishment of my sin: Isaiah 53:3–6.

3. I have relieved you of your burden: Psalm 81.

4. The Lord gives grace: Psalm 103.

5. The Lord clothes me with a robe of righteousness: Isaiah 61:1–3, 10, 11.

6. He gives me a new heart and a new spirit: Ezekiel 11:19–21, 36:24–28.

Do you realize how extraordinary and bewildering this simple affirmation is? All the wrongs are mine and, in order to find me, in order to save me, God comes alongside me! In Jesus Christ He gives wisdom for the foolish, righteousness for the unrighteous, holiness for sinners, redemption for the lost! God Himself, the God of heaven and earth, the Creator, the Holy One! He gives his only Son for me! “Thou hast given commandment to save me” (Psalm 71:3). It is unimaginable and amazing!

The Word of God And the Testimony of Holy Scripture

24. How do you know all this? How can you be sure that God loves us and will be our Father and our Savior, so you can put all your trust in Him?

We know it by the Holy Word God has left us. In the Word, especially the gospel, He gives us access to his heavenly Kingdom.

According to Scripture, God Himself from the beginning, in the earthly paradise, revealed the promise of the Gospel. He continued to announce it by the holy patriarchs and the prophets, and to represent it by the sacrifices and the other ceremonies of the Old Testament. He fulfilled it at last in his only and well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was born a descendent of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 1:1–4

cf; Genesis 3:15; 22:18; 49:10; Isaiah 8:17–22; John 5:46; Acts 3:22–24; 10:43; Romans 10:4; Galatians 4:3; Hebrews 1:10.

Bible Readings:

1. Eyewitnesses: 1 John 1:1–4, 2 Peter 1:16–21.

2. The Scripture was fulfilled: Luke 4:16–21; Romans 15:4; Galatians 4:4–7; Hebrews 1:4.

25. How may we profit ourselves by the Holy Scriptures?

We must receive what the Word teaches us with a complete certainty of conscience, as a true deliverance from the mouth of God Himself. We must submit ourselves with docility, to love it with a deep and sincere affection, and write it in our hearts so that we follow it and conform ourselves to it.

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:14–17

26. According to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures of which you speak, are all men therefore saved by Christ, just as previously they were lost?

Alas, no!

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. Matthew 7:13–14

Only those who have been made one flesh with Christ by a true faith, who appropriate his benefits to themselves, keep his commandments, and remain in his love.

With the aid of the Holy Spirit, we must be born anew. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:3–6. See Questions 82–110).

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12–13

By his knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11

The image of God we were created with (Question 10) is progressively restored in our present earthly life by the new Spiritual birth, while we await the crowning renewal which will come at the resurrection of the dead.

But we all, with unveiled face beholding in as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created Him. Colossians 3:9–10

In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:22–24

You are not saved simply because Christ is the Savior of the world, of all men indiscriminately. The only one who is saved is the one who lays hold of the promises of God with a full confidence and who receives the benefits promised and given to those who believe that God has spoken the truth:

Do you understand what it looks like for a person to be “born anew?” What changes do you look for as necessary in yourself so that you can see yourself to be “born anew”?