FAQs Mondays: How Can Man Be Rescued? Part 1

Last week, we looked at man's fallen condition. You can read that post here.

This week, we will begin looking at the solution to mankind's problem. These questions and answers are from Henry Clay Fisher's Baptist Scriptural Catechism, Lesson 6, part 3. You can find it here.

We have seen that in Christ the divine nature was united with the human nature; why was this union necessary?
 

That he might make an atonement for sinner, by being "obedient to the point of death," and become the Savior of sinners (Phil. 2:8).

Could not some other being have made an atonement of sufficient value, for the salvation of sinners?
 

The necessary value of his atonement consisted, mainly, in his exalted dignity; and hence God alone could make an adequate atonement.

Could not God have saved sinners, without an atonement?
 

He could not. For it is written, "Without  the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22).

Would God have been true to his word, if He had saved sinners without an atonement?
 

No, for He had said, "The person who sins is the one who will die" (Ezek. 18:4).

Did not the justice of God also stand in the way of His pardoning sinners?
 

It did. Justice demanded the infliction of the penalty of His law, which pronounced a curse upon all transgressors. See Gal. 3:10.

Did the atonement of Christ remove this necessity for the punishment of the guilty?
 

It did. God set him forth "so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26).

Did Christ endure the same kind and degree of sufferings contemplated in the penalty pronounced against sinners?
 

He did not. His were not eternal sufferings, for he has "also suffered for sins once for all" (1 Pet. 3:18). Nor did he suffer remorse of conscience, as do souls in perdition, for he had known no sin. (See Heb. 4:15).

Did he suffer absolute despair, which, no doubt, lost souls suffer?
 

He did not; for we are taught to "consider him" who, "for the joy that lay before Him, endured a cross . . . so that you won't grow weary and lose heart" (Heb. 12:2-3).

Since, then he did not suffer the identical penalty due to transgressors, how could God, consistently, allow them to go unpunished?
 

Because his death secured the same great moral ends which justice and the law had in view; satisfying the demands of justice, and magnifying the law and making it honorable. See Rom. 10:4; John 12:24; and Isa. 42:21.

The only solution for mankind's sin problem is a Savior. These questions and answers focus on the how and why of Christ's saving work. There is no salvation in any other.

Note: All quotations are the HCSB. I took the liberty to update the quotations for easier reading.