“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” —Matthew 1:20-21
The angel clearly tells us the reason for the birth of Jesus Christ: “He will save His people from their sins.” The Greek text has the pronoun at the beginning of the clause for emphasis — “He, and no other, will save His people from their sins.” In other words, Christ alone is the Savior. As Peter declared in Acts 4:12: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” And the Apostle Paul wrote: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…” (1 Timothy 2:5).
So, what is the implication declared by the angel? There is salvation from the penalty of our sins through Jesus Christ. “He will save His people from their sins.” Christ’s death on the cross has paid the penalty for the sins of all who trust in Him. John reminds us, “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins…” (1 John 3:5). And we read in Hebrews 9:26 that “He (Christ) has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Matthew says: “He will save His people from their sins.” This tells us of the definite, securely accomplished work of Christ. It tells us that the death of Jesus Christ did not have mere potential to save, but declares the assurance that His death actually saves from sin all those who trust in Him.
This means we do not look to the Church to save us. We do not look to our water baptism to save us. We do not look to the Lord’s Supper to save us. We do not look to what we can do to save us. To trust in any of these things would make us an idolater. The Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 95 reads: “What is idolatry? Idolatry is to conceive or have something else in which to place our trust instead of, or besides, the one true God who has revealed Himself in His Word.”
The only One who can save us from our sins is Jesus Christ. Glorious is the birth of Jesus Christ for He was born to save His people from their sins. Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior of your soul or do you look to another? Jesus is absolutely clear when He said in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” “Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man [Jesus] is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31).