The Plan of Salvation

In Unit 2, we discussed eternal judgment and hell. We know that we’re all guilty of sin and on our way there. It’s a terrifying thought! But thankfully, God has made a way for us to escape this judgment.

There is no escape from hell once you are there. The Bible is clear that it is the eternal home of the wicked. Therefore, the only way to be saved from this place is to never go there in the first place.

Jesus tells us that it is impossible for men to be saved unless God is the one who saves them. This is because the righteousness of man cannot compare to the righteousness of God. All the good we do is like filthy rags—it isn’t enough, because the wages (or the penalty) for even one sin is death.

Ointment is like medicine. The word apothecary basically refers to “someone who prepares and sells medicine.” If one fly were to get into that medicine and die, it would contaminate the whole batch. This is how our sin works.

Though the medicine itself is good—just as we may consider ourselves “good”—it must be thrown out if it is contaminated. Similarly, one sin corrupts us, making us unworthy to escape death and hell.

This is why it is impossible for us to save ourselves. Even the best among us have sinned. No amount of good works can cancel out the bad.

But God has a plan!

The Plan of Salvation in the Old Testament

In a previous unit, we explored the differences between the Old and New Testaments. They are more similar than many people realize. To recap, the Old Testament is the law written on stone, while the New Testament is the law written on our hearts.

In the Old Testament, the law stated that when you sin, you owe a debt of death. This debt could be symbolically paid by the death of an animal in place of the person. I say symbolically because these sacrifices were demonstrations of the faith people had in the coming sacrifice of Jesus.

It has always been faith that pleased God. It was never the sacrifices themselves that He desired, but a heart turned toward Him in faith.

The problem was that animal sacrifices were never enough. They could be performed religiously and ritually, but often without the right heart. Such sacrifices were ultimately rejected by God.

The major issue with these sacrifices was that they could not change the heart of the person offering them. Without faith and obedience to God, they were worthless. These sacrifices could not purge people of their desire for sin. The law was written in stone, but it was not written in the hearts of men.

People mistakenly believed they could sin and then make everything right by offering a sacrifice. God was not pleased with these sacrifices—or with the people who used them as a license to continue sinning. This mindset is captured in the attitude of those who say, “I’m going to sin now and repent later.” Such an attitude is unacceptable to God and is not part of His plan of salvation.

Sacrifices offered in faith, however, were accepted. These individuals did not view the sacrifice as an excuse to sin but as payment for sins they deeply regretted committing. They offered sacrifices trusting in God.

The key difference between those accepted by God and those rejected is faith. One group desires and strives to obey God, while the other seeks to disobey Him yet still hopes to avoid judgment through ritualistic works. They say, “I’m okay because I performed the ritual,” but God does not accept empty rituals. Even in the Old Testament, ritualistic sacrifices were insufficient for forgiveness.

There was also a problem with the priests:

Priests would offer blood sacrifices, but once they left the tabernacle, no one was offering that blood anymore. Consequently, each sacrifice only covered past sins. No priest could continually offer the same blood, as priests would eventually die. This meant new sacrifices were required for new sins, year after year.

These were the limitations of Old Testament sacrifices. We needed a sacrifice that could change our hearts, cover all sin, and last for all time. Animal sacrifices could never accomplish this.

The Plan of Salvation in the New Testament

God found fault with the people because they continued sinning after making sacrifices. This is why He created the New Testament—because humanity was incapable of fully obeying the first covenant.

In the New Testament, the law and the sacrifice remain, but the law is now written in our hearts. We no longer view it as a set of external rules but as part of our identity. This change addresses the problem of needing a transformed heart.

The other issue—the need for a sacrifice sufficient for all sins and all time—is also resolved in the New Testament through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament, priests offered sacrifices once a year. But after the sacrifice, they would leave, and people would sin again, requiring more sacrifices to cover new sins.

Jesus changed everything. He is both the sacrifice and the priest. He offered Himself as the sacrificial lamb, and because He was without sin, He did not need to die for His own sins. This unique righteousness allowed His death to pay for the sins of others instead.

This is why the blood of Jesus was a worthy substitute for us. His sacrifice made Him able to die in our place, with His blood serving as the payment for our sins. This has always been and continues to be the plan of salvation.

But wait—if, in the Old Testament, sacrifices had to be offered repeatedly, wouldn’t Jesus’ sacrifice also need to be offered again and again? If we sin after His blood has already paid for our past sins, wouldn’t He need to die again to cover our new ones?

Jesus is the High Priest

The reason Old Testament sacrifices had to be repeated was that the priest would eventually stop offering the blood. There was no one continually standing before God, saying, “Look, here is the blood sacrificed for the people. Forgive them.” Once the priest left, there was no longer an intercessor asking for forgiveness on behalf of the people.

What is different now is that Jesus, as our High Priest, never leaves. He no longer stops advocating for us. He remains before God, always making intercession. Because of this, there is no need for another sacrifice. Jesus died once, and that one sacrifice is perpetually presented before God.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we now have a High Priest who will never die. He went to God with one sacrifice, but unlike the priests of old, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God. His blood remains as an eternal offering. Though He died once, that one sacrifice is still active, covering our past sins, present sins, and future sins. He continually intercedes for us forever.

People in the Old Testament could never be saved by sacrifices alone. Sacrifices were acts of obedience that demonstrated repentance. However, they also required a heart turned toward God in faith. Each time they sinned, a new sacrifice was necessary.

How, then, could they be saved? It was by grace, through faith—just as it is today. Consider Abraham: he believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Although payment by death was still required, God promised salvation. People in the Old Testament looked ahead in faith to the coming sacrifice of Jesus.

They looked forward in faith to Jesus, believing that His future sacrifice would cover their sins. Therefore, even those who believed in Jesus before His coming were saved because they trusted in God. Their sins, too, are covered by the same blood of Christ.

This study just gives an overview of how God made the way for us to be saved. He did His part by offering Jesus as the perfect and sinless sacrifice. Then, through His resurrection, He became our eternal High Priest.

But what part do we play in our salvation? That important question will be addressed in the next units.

Continue To Unit 3:2 – How to Be Saved: Our Part OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 3 – Repentance and Salvation