Part Two of Three: Salvation

He fell prostrate on the ground, His arms laid at His sides.

Only a stone’s throw from His disciples, Jesus lay flat on the ground, agonizing in prayer to the extent that He was sweating great drops of blood [1]. For the first of two times, He questioned His Father, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. [2]”

Christ often came to Gethsemane with His disciples to pray to His Father [3], but today was different. . .tomorrow. . .He would die. Christ was born to walk the road to Calvary. Since the Garden of Eden, it was His purpose, His destination, and it led Him to the clutches of death. He came to purchase His Bride and He would do so on the Cross with His blood and life. Because of Christ’s road to death, each road that we take can lead us to life, if we are obedient and belong to Him.

Christ’s ordeal began at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane. His journey down the Via Dolorosa is why He came to Earth. Yes, tomorrow He would die, but Christ wasn’t thinking of Himself. What was Christ’s main focus as he lay prostrate on the ground? He is about to die an excruciating death on the Cross, and what do we find Christ doing? He was praying for you and me [4].

v9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. [John 17:9 KJV]
v20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. . .[John 17:20 KJV]

Christ died a terrible death on the Cross to buy His Bride and for all of mankind’s redemption. Our redemption is not by anything that we have done but by everything that Christ done on the Cross. Redemption is once for all, but Salvation comes through the grace of God, which He offers to each and every person through repentance and acceptance of Christ’s redemption on the tree.

The Christian doctrine of salvation is that God rescued us through Christ [5] and salvation is our reward for receiving Christ’s redemption on the Cross [6]. Salvation is the gracious, undeserved, unmerited favor and gift of God [7] but only available through faith in Christ [8].

Just some of the benefits of salvation through Christ’s redemption for us are: eternal life [9], forgiveness of sin [10], righteousness [11], freedom from the curse of the Law [12], adoption into God’s family [13], deliverance from sins and bondage [14], peace with God [15], The indwelling Holy Spirit [16], and of course, our salvation [17].

It is my question: why would not everybody jump at this? It doesn’t make any sense to this Christian author. Maybe many do not know how to become a Christian, or a better way of saying this is, maybe many do not know how to become a disciple of Christ. Maybe they have many questions like where do they start? Am I good enough for His salvation? Well, this is where we come in. It is all up to us brothers and sisters. It was one of the last things Christ said before the Father came for His Spirit.

v19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. [Matthew 28:19 KJV]

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[1] Hematidrosis. It is extremely rare where capillary blood vessels that feed the sweat glands rupture, causing them to exude blood. This occurs under conditions of extreme emotional stress. Dying an agonizing death on the Cross probably qualifies for extreme emotional stress.
[2] Matthew 26:39, 42
[3] John 18:1, 2
[4] John 17
[5] John 3:17
[6] Romans 5:10; Ephesians 1:7
[7] Ephesians 2:5, 8
[8] Acts 4:12
[9] Revelation 5:9, 10
[10] Ephesians 1:7
[11] Romans 5:17
[12] Galatians 3:13
[13] Galatians 4:5
[14] Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:14-18
[15] Colossians 1:18-20
[16] 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20
[17] Romans 10:9, 10; Matthew 19:25, 26; Matthew 8:18-22; Romans 3:23; Hebrews 7:25; Revelation 22:17; Romans 3:8 and many more