What does it mean to trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ?

Answer  
  

[Salvation](Christian-doctrine-salvation.html) is only available through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6\), and there is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12\). To trust in Jesus means to believe in Him for salvation (John 3:16\). Our faith is focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ—we trust who He is and what He’s done. We trust that He is God made flesh (John 1:14\) and that He died for our sins and rose from the dead. Salvation cannot be separated from the person and work of Jesus Christ.  
  

Salvation could come from no one else but Jesus Christ. Jesus is not simply a great man or a moral teacher, but He is [fully God and fully man](hypostatic-union.html). The Bible tells us that Jesus is God (John 20:28; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8\), and it is equally clear that He is fully human (Luke 19:41; John 19:28; Romans 1:2–4; 1 John 4:2–3\). Believing that Jesus is both God and man is of fundamental importance, for that’s what defines the *person* of Christ.  
  

Jesus’ humanity is significant because there is no remission of sins without the shedding of blood (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22\). If Jesus Christ were not truly human, He could not have sacrificed His body and shed His blood for our sins (1 Peter 2:24\). If Jesus were not truly God, then He would have sin of His own that needed atoned for. As the God\-man, Jesus Christ is the perfect [Lamb of God](Jesus-Lamb-of-God.html) who takes away the sins of all who will believe (John 1:29\). Accepting Jesus’ perfect humanity is crucial to understanding the person and work of Jesus Christ.  
  

Also essential to trusting in the person and work of Jesus Christ is a belief in His divinity and supremacy. If Jesus were not God, He could not provide salvation, for salvation is of the Lord (Psalm 3:8; Jonah 2:9\). If Jesus were not fully God and fully man, His sacrifice would have been insufficient to atone for our sins (Hebrews 2:14–17\). It is in believing who Jesus actually is—fully God and fully man—that we can understand what He has done.  
  

To trust in the work of Jesus Christ means we trust in what He has done to save us. Jesus Christ “gave himself as a ransom for all people” (1 Timothy 2:6\), and all who believe in Him will be made righteous (Romans 10:4\). Christ’s [death](Jesus-took-our-place.html) paid the penalty for our sins, and His [resurrection](resurrection-Christ-important.html) conquered death. In all of this, God showed His love for us: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8\). His death was the perfect and final sacrifice by which “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10\), and He “was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25\).  
  

The Bible tells us that trusting in the person and work of Jesus Christ is required for salvation: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘*Jesus is Lord*,’ and believe in your heart that *God raised him from the dead*, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9, emphasis added). Apart from the person and work of Jesus Christ, salvation could not be available to us. Without the person of Jesus, His work would have accomplished nothing toward redemption. Without His work, He would still be in heaven, and we would be dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1\), never knowing His person.  
  

No other *person* could have done what Jesus Christ did.  

No other *work* could have secured our salvation like the work Jesus Christ performed.  

That’s why we trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  
  

