Our deepest problem is not a lack of religious knowledge, but a broken relationship with our Creator caused by sin. This article traces God's plan of salvation through four stages—Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation—showing how Jesus Christ saves sinners through his death and resurrection, and calling us to respond to the gospel with repentance and faith so that we may enter a new life of reconciliation with God.
This article is translated and adapted from the ESV Study Bible feature article "God's Plan of Salvation."
Two thousand years ago, a frightened jailer asked two Christian leaders: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30). This is, in fact, the most important question any person can ask in their lifetime. What troubles us is not only the evil we see in the world around us, but the wrongs we ourselves have committed. We often feel the weight of guilt over things we know in our conscience to be wrong—and we sense, however dimly, that before God we deserve not favor but judgment. Is there any way to be rescued from this helpless condition? And has anything already been done about it? Below we offer first a broad overview of God's plan of salvation, and then a closer look at each part.
God created this world and everything in it: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth… God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:1, 27). God made human beings to be like him and to enjoy an unhindered, intimate relationship with him. When the work of creation was complete, God looked at everything he had made, and it was "very good" (Genesis 1:31).
The first human beings God created—Adam and Eve—had been living in complete freedom, in friendship and trust with God. Yet they chose to rebel (Genesis 3:1–7). Because God had appointed Adam as the representative of all humanity, his sin brought catastrophic consequences not only for himself but for every one of us: "through one trespass, all men were condemned" (Romans 5:18). Our relationship with God was shattered. Instead of enjoying his holy delight, we now face his righteous wrath. Because of sin, we are all spiritually dead (see Romans 3:1–20; Ephesians 2:1–10), and the whole created order has been affected. God cursed the earth that humanity was meant to steward on his behalf (see Genesis 3:17–19). "The creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it" (Romans 8:20). And each of us has personally sinned against God: "for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
It would have been entirely just for God to leave all people under his holy judgment. But he did not. God purposed to save his people from sin and judgment, and to liberate the whole creation from the grip of sin and the curse. How? By sending his Son to become a true human being, to bear the penalty of sin in our place, and to give his life for us: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3).
The most widely known verse in the Bible captures how we are to respond to this good news: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). To "believe" in Jesus means both to trust him wholeheartedly for the forgiveness of our sins and to turn away from sin—that is, to "repent." All who truly "repent (turn from sin) and believe (trust in Jesus for forgiveness)" will be saved (Mark 1:15) and restored to a right relationship with God. To "believe" in Jesus also means that the one we trust is not merely a historical figure but a living Savior today—one who knows our hearts and hears our prayers.
God's purpose is not only to save lost sinners but to renew the entire created order. Romans 8:21 says that "the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." Heaven and earth will "pass away" and undergo a thorough renewal and transformation (2 Peter 3:7–13; Revelation 21:1). In the book of Revelation we read the glorious climax: God's people—those who have been redeemed—are brought into God's presence to dwell with him forever (Revelation 21:1–22:6). This is life as it was always meant to be—lived according to God's original design.
Let us now pause and examine each of these truths more carefully and concretely, working through the following questions: Who is God? What are human beings? What has Christ done? How should we respond? And what will the outcome be?
The God of the Bible is the one true God, the supreme being over all that exists. His existence does not depend on anything else. He exists eternally as one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is a mystery beyond our full comprehension, but it is not a contradiction. He acts according to his own good pleasure, "works all things after the counsel of his will" (Ephesians 1:11). God created the world and continues to act within it according to his perfect, holy, good, and loving plan.
This wholly good God, who created all things according to his will, also takes the initiative to save those who have rebelled against him. None of this is compelled by outside forces; it flows from his own heart—"according to his great mercy, he caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3).
Human beings are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27–28). What does this mean? At the very least, it means we are honored to serve as God's representatives—stewards of creation, governing the earth and reflecting God's own good rule over us. Our authority comes from God (Ephesians 3:14–15) and is meant to mirror his governance. But the "image of God" is not only about function; it also means we resemble God in many ways: we are spiritual and rational beings; we are capable of communication and relationship; and our souls endure forever.
Yet Scripture also teaches that the sin of Adam and Eve recorded in Genesis 3 has had a deep and lasting effect on all of humanity. Because of that sin, we are born morally fallen. Our nature is bent away from God and toward sin, and every dimension of our lives is affected. We are not as bad as we could possibly be, but in every area we fall short of what we ought to be. We are all sinners, failing God in every sphere of life (Romans 3:23). We are corrupted and make wrong choices. We are not holy but inclined toward evil; we do not love God as we should, and therefore we rightly deserve eternal condemnation—with no defense and no excuse. We have offended God, forfeited his favor, and fallen under the curse of Genesis 3. His promise to judge us justly is certain: "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). This is the condition from which we need to be saved.
It is precisely when all of humanity was without hope and without a way out that God "sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. This is love" (1 John 4:10).
The Son of God, who has existed eternally with the Father and the Holy Spirit and has always possessed all the attributes of God, became a human being. He was born of the virgin Mary and was named Jesus. The Son came into the world with a clear mission: "the Son of Man came… to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45)—that is, to redeem us from sin and guilt. He was not an unwitting or unwilling sacrifice; he embraced the Father's will and chose to love the world in this way. Though he became fully human, he was also fully God throughout his earthly life—and remains so today. Jesus himself clearly taught his own divinity: he fulfilled prophecies about God coming in person (Mark 14:61–62); he forgave sins (Mark 2:5); he received worship (John 20:28; Revelation 5); and he declared, "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).
Jesus Christ is also fully human. He was not a divine spirit merely appearing to be a man. Jesus was and is completely human in every way. After his birth, he submitted to his earthly parents. He had a fully human body. He "grew and became strong, filled with wisdom" (Luke 2:40). He learned the trade of a carpenter (Mark 6:3). He experienced hunger, thirst, and weariness; he faced temptation; and he ultimately underwent death. Jesus Christ was and remains fully God and fully human. The eternal Son of God became human in order to save sinners.
Jesus Christ lived a perfectly sinless life. Everything he did was right and fitting; every word he spoke was completely true. He spoke only what the Father commanded: "The things which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak" (John 12:50). He did only what the Father willed (John 5:19; see Luke 22:42). The author of Hebrews therefore concludes: "We don't have a high priest who can't be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus lived the life that Adam, Eve, Israel—and all of us—were meant to live: a life of wholehearted, unwavering love for the Father. He never rebelled, and therefore he deserved no punishment at all.
Jesus came to teach the truth of God, and especially the truth about himself (Mark 1:38; 10:45; Luke 20:42; 24:44). He taught about God, about his relationship with the Father (John 14), about our sin, about what he had come to accomplish, and about how we should respond. He showed that the Old Testament Scriptures were written about him (Luke 24:44).
Yet the deepest reason God sent his Son was to die for us (Mark 10:45; John 3:16–18). This is how God demonstrated his love for us (Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:9–10). Christ gave his life as a ransom for us (Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6). Through his death, he paid the penalty our sins deserved. From a human perspective, the crucifixion of Jesus was an act of violence carried out by those who rejected him, condemned him, mocked him, tortured him, and put him to death. But from God's perspective, it was also the supreme expression of his self-giving love—the Son of God bearing in our place the wrath of God that our sins deserved (Deuteronomy 21:23; Isaiah 53:5; Romans 3:25–26; 4:25; 5:19; 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 9:28).
On the third day after his crucifixion, God raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection declared that God had accepted Christ's life of service, and especially his atoning sacrifice on behalf of all who would repent and believe (Romans 1:4; 4:25). He ascended into heaven, and "this Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky" (Acts 1:11). Christ's return will bring God's plan of salvation to its final and complete fulfillment.
Since God has accomplished all of this in Christ, what must we do to be saved? We must turn to God in Christ—which also means turning away from sin. If we repent (resolving to leave behind and turn from the sins we recognize) and trust in Christ as the living Lord, we will be saved from God's righteous wrath against our sin. This response of repentance and faith can be described more fully as follows:
In the Old Testament, God called people to turn to him and return to him in order to be saved (see Isaiah 6:10; Jeremiah 18:8). In the New Testament, Christ proclaimed that people should turn to God, and Paul summarized his own message in the same terms: "that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance" (Acts 26:20; see Acts 26:18). As Paul had said earlier, he testified "both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21). Repentance means turning. What we are called to do in order to be saved is, at its heart, to turn to God. James speaks of Gentiles "turning to God" (Acts 15:19). In Scripture, to "turn toward" someone is to orient your whole life around that person. As God's people—those being saved—we are called to be like the prodigal son: knowing full well our sin, our debt, and our foolishness, yet running toward the Father (Luke 15:20). Paul called the people of Lystra to turn to the living God (Acts 14:15), and he described the Galatian Christians as those who had "come to know God" (Galatians 4:9). Repentance is exactly this: we turn to God and come to know him as the one who, for Christ's sake, forgives our sins and welcomes us.
Turning to God necessarily means turning away from sin. Both the Old and New Testaments consistently teach that repentance involves "acknowledging your name and turning from their sin" (1 Kings 8:35; see 2 Chronicles 7:14; Jeremiah 36:3; Ezekiel 14:6; 18:30; Acts 3:19; 8:22; 26:18; Revelation 2:21–22; 9:20–21; 16:11). We cannot pursue God and pursue sin at the same time. First John makes clear that our life's direction is either toward God and his light, or toward the darkness of sin. Christians will still sin in this life, but when they do, it goes against their deepest desires and better judgment; their lives are no longer guided and governed by sin as before. We are no longer slaves to sin. Even though we continue to struggle against it (Galatians 5:17), God has granted us the grace of repentance (Acts 11:18), freeing us from sin's dominion.
Put another way, our response is to believe and trust in God's promises in Christ—to commit ourselves to Christ as the living Lord and follow him as his disciples. In Mark's Gospel, the very first words Jesus speaks publicly include "Repent, and believe in the Good News" (Mark 1:15). The obedience that characterizes God's people—beginning with repentance—should flow from faith and trust in God and his word (see Joshua 22:16; Acts 27:25). This is why Scripture sometimes describes sin as "acting unfaithfully toward God" (see Ezra 10:2, 10). Faith in Christ—through which the Holy Spirit unites us to him—is the means by which God counts Christ's righteousness as our own (Romans 3:21–26; 5:17–21; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8–9; Philippians 3:9). Paul speaks of "salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). This initial repentance and faith can often be expressed simply in a prayer to God.
This saving faith is something we exercise, yet it is ultimately also a gift from God. Paul writes: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9). At the same time, Paul acknowledges the inner struggle every Christian experiences: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire" (Galatians 5:17). God's salvation has been given to the Christian, but the evidence of that salvation is worked out through the Spirit's ongoing work in our lives. Because self-deception is possible, Paul urges his readers: "Test your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Examine your own selves" (2 Corinthians 13:5). Peter encourages Christians to grow in godliness so that their assurance of their calling and election may deepen (2 Peter 1). We do not create our salvation through our conduct, but we reflect and express it in our lives—and in doing so, our assurance of salvation grows. Because Christians can deceive themselves, we should diligently study God's word so that we may be taught and encouraged in salvation, and also recognize what is inconsistent with it. Jesus' description of his followers (see Matthew 5–7) and Paul's list of the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22–23) serve as a kind of spiritual map, helping us confirm that we are walking in the way of salvation.
God's plan is to save his people from sin and ultimately to bring them fully and completely into his own presence (Matthew 1:21; 2 Timothy 2:10). The salvation Christians experience in this life has a past dimension, a present dimension, and a future dimension for which we eagerly hope. Christians have already been saved from the penalty of sin; we are being saved from the power of sin; and one day, when God's plan of salvation is fully complete and we are with Christ, we will be like him—saved even from the very presence of sin. This is God's plan of salvation.
💬 After reading this article, if you have any thoughts or questions, you are warmly welcome to ask Pastor Bond:
- "Why is our greatest problem a broken relationship with God?"
- "How exactly does Jesus' death and resurrection save me?"
- "What does 'repenting and believing' actually look like in my life?"