THE whole question of our salvation depends upon whether, first, God is satisfied with the price paid; and secondly, whether we also are satisfied of our own need of a Saviour, and of Christ’s fitness and completeness for the work and office.
That God is satisfied is proved by the resurrection of Christ. God raised Him from the dead: When Christ “had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:3.) Christ, as our substitute, undertook the ransom of our souls, the purging of our sins. He went into death and the prison of the grave for us. How do we know that our debt is paid? Because our substitute who undertook to pay it is free. Having purged our sins, death had no more claim upon Him. “Knowing this, that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him; for in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.” (Romans 6:9, 10.) God can now be just, and the justifier of the sinner that believes in Jesus. (Romans 3:26.) Christ’s death and resurrection took place eighteen hundred years ago. The value of Christ’s work is as fresh today as it was then, and it will be of no avail in the day of judgment to the sinner who has not trusted in it, and found his rest in it now. A Christian indeed is one who, being justified by faith, has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and who has joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom he has now received the reconciliation. (Romans 5:1, 11.)