Tetelestai - John 19:30

  
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. - John 19:30

    Christians get their soteriology wrong the minute they say, “We are saved by Jesus, and (fill in the blank)” What I mean when I say this is simply that upon the cross, near the end of His life, Jesus made that statement that ‘it is finished.’ What was he talking about? What is ‘finished?’ And why on earth did He make that statement the moment before His death?
    The Greek word, ‘Tetelestai’ is variously interpreted as ‘it is finished’, ‘it is consummated’, and ‘the debt is paid in full.’ In a word, Jesus is telling us that because He perished upon the cross He had paid our debt for sinning against God... in full! That means there’s nothing else to add to Christ’s onetime atonement for our sins. The very word ‘atonement’ is often rendered as “at-one-ment,’ defining itself as the act of bringing two or more disparate parties together as one. This is, in fact, what had to be done if humans were ever going to be at peace with God.
    Sin stood between our gracious God and us. Thanks to Adam, all humanity has ever since been under the curse of the sin. The Old Testament sacrifices were mere precursors to the one and only sacrifice that could ever repair our relationship with our heavenly Father. We need to remember that no matter what we do, we could never repair the damage of sin in our lives. Even our greatest good deeds are nothing in the sight of God. “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” - Isaiah 64:6. So what was the one good and perfect sacrifice that could restore our relationship with God? The atoning act of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! When Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice to the Father, we were forgiven our sins and imputed the righteousness of Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus took our sins upon Himself and we are declared righteous in the eyes of God by His perfectly passive and active obedience to His Father. Without that atonement, we would all be facing eternity in hell.
    So we’re all saved from eternal destruction by Christ’s selfless sacrifice on our behalf? No, read what the Scriptures say - “... for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” - Matthew 26:28. “... so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” - Hebrews 9:28. Jesus died and redeemed ‘many,’ not all. The many are those who believe in Him, not everyone who ever lived or everyone on the entire planet. Many, not all!
    To suggest that the Scriptures guarantee the salvation of all people - everyone - is heretical. When I have people over for dinner and invite ‘everyone’ to sit down and eat, I don’t mean literally everyone on the planet. I mean everyone who is present in my home. The Scriptures assure us: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” - John 3:14-15. And again: “... because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” - Romans 10:9.
    This is the remnant of people who will be saved from hell - those who believe in and have faith in Jesus. These are the people for whom Christ declared from the cross - “Tetelestai” - it is finished.