The Great Rescue: Understanding the Saving Work of Christ

by R.C. Sproul

Are you saved? This is the ultimate question, but it won’t make sense until you also ask what you need to be saved from. In a word, the answer is God.

In The Great Rescue, Dr. R.C. Sproul introduces the Bible’s message of salvation. Since God is holy and we are not, we stand condemned in His presence. We have no power to remove our sin or to escape His wrath. But by sheer grace, God has provided the rescue we need through the atoning sacrifice of His Son. Seeing that Jesus alone brings salvation, one question Will you trust in Him?

Genres: Theology

63 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2024

About the author

Dr. R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was founder of Ligonier Ministries, an international Christian discipleship organization located near Orlando, Fla. He was founding pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.

Ligonier Ministries began in 1971 as the Ligonier Valley Study Center in Ligonier, Pa. In an effort to respond more effectively to the growing demand for Dr. Sproul’s teachings and the ministry’s other educational resources, the general offices were moved to Orlando in 1984, and the ministry was renamed.

Dr. Sproul’s radio program, Renewing Your Mind, is still broadcast daily on hundreds of radio stations around the world and can also be heard online. Dr. Sproul produced hundreds of lecture series and recorded numerous video series on subjects such as the history of philosophy, theology, Bible study, apologetics, and Christian living.

He contributed dozens of articles to national evangelical publications, spoke at conferences, churches, and academic institutions around the world, and wrote more than one hundred books, including The Holiness of God, Chosen by God, and Everyone’s a Theologian. He signed the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy and wrote a commentary on that document. He also served as general editor of the Reformation Study Bible, previously known as the New Geneva Study Bible.

Dr. Sproul had a distinguished academic teaching career at various colleges and seminaries, including Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and Jackson, Miss. He was ordained as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America.

Reviews

[Cole Knecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate this- it doesn’t water down sin, wrath, or hell. Confronts the seriousness of our condition but doesn’t leave us there. Points me back to God’s grace and the saving work of Christ. Short, easy read.

Hebrews 2:3
“How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”

[Bill Pence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book is an abridgement of R.C. Sproul’s 2002 book Saved from What? It is a short book, but one filled with excellent theological content.
Sproul tells us that the question “Are you saved?” is the most important issue any person will ever face. He writes that though the Bible refers to various types of salvation, when it speaks about salvation in the ultimate sense, it’s speaking of the ultimate escape from the ultimate dire human condition. He tells us that the ultimate salvation that any human being can ever experience is rescue from the wrath that is to come.
Sproul believes that the greatest point of unbelief in our culture and in our church today is an unbelief in the wrath of God and in His certain promise of judgment for the human race. He tells us that what every human being needs to be saved from is God, and that the grand paradox or supreme irony of the Christian faith is that we are saved both by God and from God.
Sproul writes that when we use the word atonement, we’re speaking of the fact that God pays the price that He requires for us to be in a right relationship with Him, and He does that through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Sproul writes that in our justification, a double transfer takes place. First the weight of our guilt is transferred to Christ. Christ willingly takes upon Himself all of our sin. Not only is the sin of mankind imputed to Christ, but His righteousness is transferred to our account.
Sproul writes that the Bible tells us that the only way we can have the righteousness and the merit of Christ transferred to our account is by faith. We cannot earn it. We cannot deserve it. We cannot merit it. We can only trust in it and cling to it.
Sproul tells us that we are saved by God, from God, for God. That is the full irony of the drama of salvation. It is a salvation that is by God, from God, and for God, to whom belongs all glory.
This helpful book addresses subjects including salvation, atonement, sin, justification, sanctification, imputation, adoption and glorification.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
• We sin because we are sinners. We are not sinners because we sin.
• We are sinners who cannot overcome our sin by ourselves.
• It is because of sin and its severity that we need a Savior.
• From a biblical perspective, to do a good deed in the fullest sense of the word requires not only that the deed conform outwardly to the standards of God’s law but that it proceed from a heart that loves Him and wants to honor Him.
• Justification by faith alone means very simply this. Justification is by Christ alone.
• The Bible tells us that the end of our sanctification will be our glorification, when all vestigial remnants of sin will be removed from our character.

[Ledimir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first venture into ligonier studies. I first found the TableTalk series, which publishes a monthly magazine, at the church in Newport, RI.

I hadn’t engaged much with religious texts, and I’ve sporadically read the Bible, as every new beginner, in bits and pieces and select verses.

But I am pleased to explore how one author interprets the story we have of original sin, retribution, our father God, and the sacrifice and imputation of Jesus Christ. I look forward to more texts that explore how we are to navigate life as Christians, perhaps CS Lewis? In any case, I will continue to read the books that also go beyond Christianity and explore what it means to be a person made in God’s image and not simply fear-driven to avoid hell.

[Elliott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was an evangelistic booklet, but it reads more like a mini soteriology textbook. Sproul ties together an impressive amount of Scripture but also uses a bewildering amount technical terms. He explains Christ’s work on the cross well, but never mentions anything about the resurrection or repentance.

[Conner Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great storytelling by Sproul. This is a wonderful reminder of how God's love for us is more than we can ever fathom, for He saved us from His justified wrath so we may live because he loves us. What greater love can be imagined? I highly recommend it to any believer who needs reminding of the work done by God to revive us from our deadness of sin.

[Trey Mayfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little book reminding us what we are saved from, saved by, and saved for!

[DSB · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise yet comprehensive explanation of the gospel. Highly recommended.

[Chloe Shearer · Rating 5 out of 5]

🔥🔥🔥🔥 great read! Thanks pp and haley!