PMW 2026:017 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
We are called “Christians” (Acts 11:26) and are committed to the “Christian” faith (Acts 26:28; 1 Pet 4:16). Consequently, Christ is central to our doctrine and practice. Indeed, he is not only central to Christianity, he is absolutely essential to it. And as such he is fundamental to explaining The Truth about Salvation.
As we begin a two-chapter study of Christ as Savior we must first recognize that:
MAN NEEDS A PERFECT SAVIOR
As we saw in earlier chapters, man is wholly corrupted by sin. As Isaiah poetically pictures Israel’s condition, so may we characterize mankind’s condition before God: “the whole head is sick / And the whole heart is faint / From the sole of the foot even to the head / There is nothing sound in it, / Only bruises, welts and raw wounds” (Isa 1:5–6).
Indeed, David observes that “in Your sight no man living is righteous” (Psa 143:2). He states this because “there is no man who does not sin” (1 Kgs 8:46; cp. Eccl 7:20; Rom 3:10, 20). Yet as an immortal creature made in God’s image (Gen 1:26), he desperately needs salvation. He must have his positive relationship with his Creator restored, for as we read in Ecclesiastes: “God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices” (Eccl 7:29).
On his own merit and by his own strength it is impossible for man to secure his salvation. This is because God is an absolutely perfect God and cannot accept imperfection. As Habakkuk confesses to God: “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, / And you cannot look on wickedness with favor” (Hab 1:13). The Psalmist asks: “if You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psa 130:3). Consequently, Eliphaz asks: “Can mankind be just before God? / Can a man be pure before his Maker?” (Job 4:17; cp. Job 9:2; 25:4).
The Climax of the Book of Revelation (Rev 19-22)
Six lectures on six DVDs that introduce Revelation as a whole, then focuses on its glorious conclusion. Provides an important, lengthy Introduction to Revelation also.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
God is holy and perfect and therefore morally separate from sinful men. Moses praises God by rhetorically asking: “Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? / Who is like You, majestic in holiness?” (Exo 15:11). Indeed, God himself declares: My “name is Holy, / I dwell on a high and holy place” (Isa 57:15), meaning he is absolutely holy in his being and majestically exalted in righteousness high above man.
Not only has man’s sin broken his relationship with his Creator, but he is in a state of enmity (Rom 5:10) against God and alienation from him (Col 1:21; cp. Eph 2:12). He has not only failed to please God and meet God’s requirements, but his nature is so corrupt that he “cannot please God” (Rom 8:8).
Because of God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness, man needs a perfect Savior. And because of his marvelous grace we may rejoice that:
GOD EFFECTS A SALVATION PLAN
In the preceding chapter we saw how God sovereignly saves sinners by means of his eternal grace in election and predestination (Eph 1:4, 11). We saw also that he establishes his gracious covenant with his elect people (Gen 12:2–3; Jer 31:31–34). At this point in our study we need to consider what theologians call “the covenant of redemption,” which is the eternal source of the historical covenant of grace.
The covenant of redemption is not a covenant between God and man, rather it is an intra-Trinitarian covenant between the members of the Godhead. That is, it is a pre-temporal agreement between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit wherein each Person of the Trinity commits to particular actions necessary for securing the salvation of the elect. Though the Scriptures do not expressly speak of a “covenant of redemption,” we can find traces of it therein. Let us see how this is so.
The Bible specifically mentions that the Father agrees to send the Son to redeem the people whom he elects for salvation. And that the Son agrees to accomplish that task by suffering and dying for their sins. Jesus frequently speaks of his Father’s sending him to accomplish the eternal plan of redemption. We see this most clearly in his high priestly prayer not long before he is crucified:
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17:3–5)
Keys to the Book of Revelation (DVDs by Ken Gentry)
Provides the necessary keys for opening Revelation to a deeper and clearer understanding.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
In fact, Jesus informs the Jews who are resisting him: “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me” (John 8:42). Indeed, “the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 Jn 4:14). God’s sending of his Son is a recurring theme in John’s writings, as we may see in John 3:34; 5:36, 38; 6:29, 38, 57; 7:29; 8:42; 10:36; 11:42; 17:3, 8, 21, 23, 25; 20:21; and 1 John 4:9, 10, 14.
God’s sending his own Son is not a unique thought in John’s writings, however, for we also read of it in Paul: “What the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin” (Rom 8:3). Interestingly, Paul even uses the word apostell (“send with a commission”) of God’s sending the Son to be our Redeemer: “when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
The writer of Hebrews puts Old Testament words in the mouth of Jesus in showing that he comes to effect redemption: “I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.’ after saying above, ‘sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have not desired, nor have you taken pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the law), then he said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He takes away the first in order to establish the second” (Heb 10:7–9).
THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN
by Milton S. Terry
This book is Terry’s preterist commentary on the Book of Revelation. It was originally the last half of his much larger work, Biblical Apocalyptics. It is deeply-exegetical, tightly-argued, and clearly-presented.
For more study materials: https://www.kennethgentry.com/
As a Trinitarian plan, the covenant of redemption involves the work of the Spirit as well. He empowers Christ to successfully complete his redemptive labor. “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil” (Luke 4:1–2). “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit [to Christ] without measure” (John 3:34).
The Holy Spirit also sovereignly promotes the Son’s saving work in the world. He inspires the Apostles to receive and proclaim the truth: “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 14:26–27; Acts 1:8).
In addition, the Spirit applies salvation to the elect: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:5–8). As Paul puts it: “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Tit 3:5–6).
by Ken Gentry
A popularly written antidote to dispensational sensationalism and newspaper exegesis. Convincing biblical and historical evidence showing that the Beast was the Roman Emperor Nero Caesar, the first civil persecutor of the Church. The second half of the book shows Revelation’s date of writing, proving its composition as prior to the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. A thought-provoking treatment of a fascinating and confusing topic.
For more study materials, go to: KennethGentry.com
Postmillennial Worldview 
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