Saved by ... What?

Recently an article was written that affirmed that Calvinists do not believe that we are saved by faith alone. "Wait, wait," someone is sure to protest, "doesn't that mean that Calvinists are wrong? Doesn't that violate their own 'five solas'? You know, 'faith alone'. Isn't that what Calvinists believe?" Actually, no. We believe we are justified by faith alone, and even that is misleading. We mean faith ... apart from works. Salvation, we hold, is 1) by grace 2) through faith 3) in Christ. Each of these is distinct from other errors (and, therefore, "alone"), but none of them are separate from each other. We are not saved solely by faith (without grace or Christ), by grace (without faith or Christ), or even by Christ (apart from God's grace applied via faith).

"Okay, then," someone is sure to ask at some point, "if we're saved by grace through faith in Christ, then what's all this talk about blood? Why bring the whole 'blood of Christ' thing into it?" The question is about the vehicle of salvation. Are we saved purely by God's grace with some nod to faith in Christ, or is there actually a genuine basis for our salvation? On what basis are we saved?

I'd be happy to give my opinion, but we know what opinions are worth. (It's funny, but despite inflation, it's still 2 cents, isn't it?) We'd be better off looking at what the Bible says about it. And the Bible isn't silent. Isaiah is famous for his 53rd chapter. (No, I won't quote it all.)

¹ Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? ² For He [the Messiah] grew up before Him [God] like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. ³ He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. ⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed (Isa 53:1-5).

Look, here's the situation. Adam (and all Man) sinned. The situation is separation from God. Now, God is lots of things. He is kind and merciful, loving and gracious, lots of good things. But He also despises sin. The Bible is not unclear about His wrath toward sin and sinners. And God is just. That's key. So, while God would like to save everyone, He must also be righteous in His judgment. Simply turning a blind eye to sin would be unjust. So God came up with a brilliant plan. Send His Son to live a perfect human life, then die on behalf of humans, so that His death on our behalf becomes the basis on which we are allowed to be saved. Isaiah said, "Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed. The author of Hebrews says, "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Heb 9:22).

The shed blood of Christ is the premise on which we are saved. By this blood, God becomes both just and justifier (Rom 3:26). The Gospel, the "good news" for sinners, begins with "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3). The basis of our salvation is our redemption. Our "buy back" is Christ's propitiation by His blood (Rom 3:24-25). We are justified by grace as a gift, but that gift could not be applied without the payment being made. God could not nullify His own righteousness.

There is currently an intentionally offensive comment going around. Lots of Christian blogs have gotten it. It actually points to the offense of the cross. (I won't repeat it here. It is intentionally offensive.) Even some who call themselves "Christians" are offended by the cross. "We're saved by grace," they warn us, "not by some blood shed on the cross." They affirm what Paul assured us they would. "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor 1:23-24). I've always loved such hymns as Isaac Watts' When I Survey the Wondrous Cross or Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed.

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

It brings tears of gratitude to my eyes. Fanny Crosby's Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross begs us to stay near the cross. Indeed, the hymns are full of the cross. "But we're moving beyond that now. We're not going to focus there. We like God's kindness much more than God's wrath." Please let me urge you not to go there. Don't play God's character against God's character. Don't surrender God's justice for God's mercy. Don't minimize the shed blood of Christ which is so deeply a part of the Scriptures. Don't, in the final analysis, surrender the basis of our salvation. We are justified by grace, but the basis of that justification is the punishment Christ endured on the cross on our behalf. Never let it be any less than that.