6 Alister McGrath - Christ is our Saviour, but what does that mean?

“For to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2.11). At Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, our Saviour. So what does that mean? And what difference does it make to us? As I promised in the previous article, we are now going to begin to explore the Christian idea that Jesus Christ is our saviour. It’s a really interesting question, and I hope that you will find my brief reflections in this article helpful.

The basic idea that we find in the New Testament is that Christ does something which is the basis of the transformation of the human situation that we call “salvation”. There are really two questions that we need to think about here. First, there is the question of what we understand by “salvation;” and second, there is the question of how salvation is made possible, and in particular how it is grounded in the history of Jesus Christ.

The New Testament sees Christ’s death as transforming the human situation

Although the New Testament recognises the importance of Christ’s life and teaching, it focuses on the significance of his crucifixion as being of particular importance. That helps us understand why Good Friday (marking the day of Christ’s death on a cross) and Easter Day (marking his resurrection) are so important for Christians. Yet Christians do more than remember Christ’s death. They follow the New Testament writers in understanding his death as the grounds of their salvation.

One of the hymns that is often sung in churches on Good Friday is “There is a green hill far away.” This hymn tries to explain why Christians see Christ’s death as having such a central role in their lives. Here’s one of its verses:

We may not know, we cannot tell,

what pains he had to bear;

but we believe it was for us

he hung and suffered there.

Many early Christian writers thought of Christ as a physician who heals humanity. He binds our wounds, heals our illness, and gives us hope.

The New Testament sees Christ’s death as transforming the human situation, and uses a rich range of images to try and express what has happened. Each of these offers its own perspective on the meaning of Christ’s death, and the difference that it makes. For example, Christ’s death is seen as a sacrifice which in some way is able to break the power of sin, and liberate us from its grasp. It can also be seen in more relational terms as “reconciliation.” In one of his letters, for example, the apostle Paul talks about God reconciling us through Christ, repairing or restoring a broken relationship.

The idea of “salvation” is particularly interesting, as it has a rich depth of meaning. The Greek word translated in this way can designate someone being rescued from a dangerous situation. Yet the root meaning of this word has more to do with “healing” or “making whole.” Many early Christian writers thought of Christ as a physician who heals humanity. He binds our wounds, heals our illness, and gives us hope. This is a powerful idea, which speaks to many people who are wounded or personally damaged. We find it beautifully expressed in a traditional African American spiritual, thought to date from the middle of the nineteenth century:

There is a balm in Gilead

To make the wounded whole;

There is a balm in Gilead

To heal the sin-sick soul.

Let me develop this medical analogy a little further. When I was young, I developed a bad infection which had to be treated with antibiotics. I took my penicillin, as directed by my doctor, and the infection quickly cleared up. I hadn’t the slightest idea what the drug was, or how it worked. I just trusted the doctor’s diagnosis, and the cure he prescribed. Many years later, as an Oxford undergraduate studying biochemistry, I learned how penicillin actually worked. As part of a course of lectures on the effects of drugs on living organisms, we were told about the way in which this antibiotic destroyed bacteria. Yet, I remember thinking at the time, it had worked perfectly well for me, even though I didn’t understand exactly what was happening!

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There’s a parallel here with Christian thinking about the meaning of the death of Christ. The New Testament rejoices that Christ has transformed our situation – but it doesn’t give us a highly detailed analysis of how this was made possible through the death of Christ. The key point, for New Testament writers, is that salvation is real and transformative. Theologians, of course, have developed sometimes quite complex explanations of how salvation is linked with Christ’s death, expanding on the New Testament’s reflections on this issue. The important thing for Christians is that Christ is able to heal us. We don’t know exactly how Christ does this – but it works.

Faith is... about trusting the diagnosis of our situation that Christ brings, and accepting the cure that he provides.

Yet we can take this analogy of penicillin a little further. Some readers may wonder how we connect up with the salvation that Christ is understood to bring. What do we have to do to benefit from this? The New Testament sees faith as the means by which we benefit from this. Martin Luther is one of many theologians to suggest that we think of faith as a hand that reaches out and “puts on” Christ. Faith is not just a matter of believing certain things about God or Christ; to use a medical analogy, it is about trusting the diagnosis of our situation that Christ brings, and accepting the cure that he provides. We are told that we are trapped, lost, and sinful; but we are also assured that something can be done about this.

Let me go back to my childhood illness, as this allows us to explore this point further. I didn’t know anything about penicillin back then. I just knew that my doctor told me that I was ill, and that this special medicine would cure my illness. I would have to take it if it was to be able to heal me. There’s a helpful analogy here. The New Testament presents Christ as a healer, and invites people to accept this healing. It’s like realising that Christ is a cure for our ills, which means we have to do something in order to begin the healing process. Or, picking up on that wonderful African American spiritual, he is a “balm” which needs to be applied to our wounds if it is to heal us.

Augustine explored the idea of Christ as a physician, and the church as a hospital, full of wounded and ill people who were on the road to recovery.

And that healing process can take some time! One of my favourite theologians is Augustine of Hippo, a North African who was born in modern-day Algeria. Augustine explored the idea of Christ as a physician, and the church as a hospital, full of wounded and ill people who were on the road to recovery. It’s a helpful way of thinking about the church, as it recognizes that many are drawn to join Christian congregations because they know they need help, healing, and support, and have a deep sense that Christianity offers them something that will help them on the road to recovery. It is not an instant fix; it is the beginning of a process of personal healing, restoration and renewal.

Now there is much more that needs to be said about this important idea of salvation. In the next article, I will look at some other ways of understanding this rich theme that we find in the New Testament, and explore them in a little more detail.

Alister McGrath recently retired as Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. His latest book is What’s the Point of Theology? Wisdom, Wellbeing and Wonder, published recently by SPCK.