Spurgeon once wrote:
“I believe the sacrifice of Christ was so infinite that, if there had been ten thousand worlds full of sinners to have been redeemed, it was amply sufficient to have redeemed them all.”
Jesus Christ is God incarnate. God entered the physical world in the person of Jesus Christ and willingly gave Himself for our salvation. God is of infinite worth. Therefore, when God the Son took on human flesh, His person remained infinitely worthy. His sacrifice therefore possesses infinite worth.
Imagine a weighing balance. On one side, place every human being who has ever lived, every sin ever committed and everything else in the entire universe. On the other side, place Jesus Christ. The balance would remain overwhelmingly on Christ's side, because He is not merely a man. He is God in human flesh.
We will examine further evidence for the deity of Christ when we study the doctrine of Christ, or Christology. For now, this truth is foundational to understanding the sufficiency of His sacrifice.
Therefore, the death of Jesus is sufficient because:
- His sacrifice is sufficient for every human being who has ever lived, is living now, or will ever live.
- His sacrifice is sufficient to deal with every sin - past, present and future.
- Nothing we can do can add to the infinite value of Christ's sacrifice.
- Isaiah 53:4–6:
Surely HE took up OUR pain and bore OUR suffering, yet we considered HIM punished by God, stricken by HIM, and afflicted.
But HE was pierced for OUR transgressions, HE was crushed for OUR iniquities; the punishment that brought US peace was on HIM, and by HIS wounds WE are healed.
WE all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of US has turned to OUR own way; and the LORD has laid on HIM the iniquity of US all.
Notice the contrast: OUR / US / WE versus HIM / HIS / HE.
Our sins are placed upon Him. He bears what belonged to us. He suffers in our place. These verses beautifully illustrates the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. Humanity is on one side of the balance; Christ is on the other. Yet Christ is infinitely greater in worth than the entire creation because He is God.
- Matthew 27:46 records Jesus crying out:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
These words reveal the unimaginable suffering Christ experienced on the Cross.
Jesus was not merely experiencing physical pain. He was bearing the judgment associated with sin and entering into the depths of human suffering and abandonment. At the same time, we should be careful not to understand this as meaning that the Father and Son ceased to be one God or that the Trinity was literally broken apart. The eternal relationship between the Father and the Son did not cease. Jesus' cry expresses the real agony He experienced in His humanity and it echoes Psalm 22.
The Cross was therefore not merely a physical death. It was the climactic moment of Christ's self-offering for sinners.
- John 19:30
“It is finished.”
The meaning is profound. Christ completed the work He came to accomplish. The sacrifice required for the redemption of sinners was offered once and for all.
Jesus did not say: “It has begun.” He said: “It is finished.”
The work of atonement does not need to be supplemented by human merit. We cannot improve upon the Cross. We cannot add anything to the infinite worth of Christ's sacrifice. Christ's death is sufficient.
Our response is therefore not to attempt to complete Christ's sacrifice through religious works, but to repent, believe the Gospel and receive God's grace through faith. This does not mean that Christians should live carelessly or continue deliberately in sin. Quite the opposite. Those who have received the grace of Christ are called to live holy lives, obey Christ, love others and bear the fruit of the Spirit.
But there is a crucial distinction:
Good works are the fruit of salvation, not the foundation upon which we purchase salvation. We do not obey Christ so that we can make His sacrifice sufficient. We obey Christ because His sacrifice is sufficient. We do not become justified because we have accumulated enough religious works. We are justified because of what Christ has accomplished for us. And the good works that follow are evidence of a transformed life.
What, then, about religious works? This raises an important question.
If Christ has completely accomplished redemption, why do people sometimes act as though they must accumulate religious merits in order to make themselves acceptable to God? Why do people sometimes believe that pilgrimages, repeated prayers, religious rituals, fasting, feast days, or other prescribed practices somehow add to Christ's finished work?
There is nothing wrong with prayer, fasting, discipline or gathering together with other believers. These things can be spiritually beneficial and can help Christians grow in holiness. The problem arises when we begin treating them as though they are payments that contribute to our justification before God.
Christ's sacrifice does not need our assistance. The Cross does not need supplementation. Jesus does not need our merits to make His sacrifice effective.
If Christ's death was insufficient by itself, then the Cross would not truly be the finished work Scripture presents it to be.
- Romans 10:1–4
“My friends, how I wish with all my heart that my own people might be saved! How I pray to God for them! I can assure you that they are deeply devoted to God; but their devotion is not based on true knowledge. They have not known the way in which God puts people right with himself, and instead, they have tried to set up their own way; and so they did not submit themselves to God's way of putting people right. For Christ has brought the Law to an end, so that everyone who believes is put right with God.”
Paul warns against attempting to establish our own righteousness rather than submitting to God's righteousness. The problem he identifies is not a lack of religious activity. His concern is that people can be deeply religious while trusting in the wrong basis for righteousness.
Religious devotion cannot replace faith in Christ. Human effort cannot replace God's grace. Our works cannot replace the Cross. Faith does not mean permission to sin. None of this means that good works are irrelevant. Scripture repeatedly commands Christians to live holy lives. A person who claims to have faith while deliberately living in rebellion against Christ has misunderstood the Gospel.
True faith produces transformation. We are saved by God's grace, through faith, and that faith produces a new life characterized by love and obedience. Good works therefore matter enormously - but they do not function as a second payment alongside Christ's sacrifice.
In conclusion
- Jesus Christ is God incarnate and therefore possesses infinite worth.
- His sacrifice is sufficient for the sins of the entire human race.
- Christ offered Himself once for all.
- Nothing we do can increase the infinite value of His sacrifice.
- “It is finished” declares the completion of Christ's redemptive work.
- Salvation is received by grace through faith, not earned by accumulating religious merit.
- Repentance and holy living are necessary fruits of genuine faith, but they do not supplement the Cross.
- Prayer, fasting, Christian fellowship and spiritual disciplines can be valuable, but they must never become substitutes for trusting Christ.
- We do not work in order to make Christ's sacrifice sufficient.
- We work because Christ has already saved us and is transforming us.
The Gospel is therefore not:
“Christ has done His part; now you must do yours to complete salvation.”
The Gospel is:
"Christ has accomplished what we could never accomplish."
He lived the righteous life we could not live. He bore the punishment we deserved. He died for our sins. He rose again. And now sinners are called to repent and believe in Him. Our confidence is therefore not in the perfection of our religious performance. Our confidence is in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Christ is sufficient. Christ is enough. And the Cross needs no addition.
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