Luke wrote his account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in order to strengthen Theophilus’s- and by extension all believers’- faith in Jesus Christ. Within the framework of Luke’s overarching purpose for his inspired writings, Zacharias’ prophecy of his son John the Baptist shows us what it means to have the knowledge of salvation.
…to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins…”
Salvation is the most important thing to know. The knowledge of God and salvation keeps believers steadfast through persecution and suffering, and it causes them to proclaim the gospel to the world. The book of Hosea is God’s warning to His people of the consequences of rejecting the knowledge of God. Due to their lack of knowledge, Israel was destroyed as they incurred God’s curse after abandoning God and pursuing idol. (Hos 4:6,12)
The knowledge of salvation is to know Christ. John the Baptist had one purpose from God- to tell the world that the Messiah is coming. Between Malachi and the coming of Jesus, there was 400 years of no prophecy. God broke His silence through John the Baptist, as he came to be a herald for the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Jesus commended John to be the greatest of men because John fully understood what Jesus came to do, and his ministry was to prepare the way for Jesus to be received. John knew Jesus was God, and that He came as the Lamb of God. John’s mission was to prepare men with repentance in order to receive the coming Savior and Lord.
Whoever knows Christ with a saving knowledge sees His surpassing worth beyond all things. In their repentance, they know Jesus is supreme in their lives, and the knowledge of their salvation becomes their anchor and source of joy through all circumstances. (Phil 3:7-8) They see Jesus as Yahweh, the Creator of all things, the One who hold eternal salvation in His hands. Salvation is through faith in Christ alone. No amount of improvement and changing your ways can remove your guilt before God- you must become a new creature in Christ. (2Cor 5:17) The knowledge of salvation is about the New Covenant. In the Old Testament, God’s people were required to continually provide sacrifices. In the New Covenant, Jesus died for sin once for all. It doesn’t take expansive knowledge, because at conversion, every believer knows that Jesus is Lord by God’s work in his regeneration.
The knowledge of salvation has three dimensions- personal, experiential, and possessive.
Personal
Man is controlled by what he loves most. Salvation is having a personal relationship with Christ. Christian life is not dully, but it is full of passion and excitement for Jesus. When saving knowledge is personal, there is satisfaction and love for Christ. The believer’s walk with Christ makes him welcome suffering, because if the Lord suffered, he will also. Those who have a personal relationship with Jesus are not ignorant, because they are no longer in darkness, but in truth and light. They consider themselves as foreigners in the world, and has their sights set on their heavenly home where Christ is.
Experiential
The knowledge of salvation is experiential through the forgiveness of sin. Sin is not an idea or perception- it is real, and it brings death and every problem in our lives. Therefore, forgiveness must be experienced. To be forgiven is to have your eternal debt cancelled out because of Jesus’s crucifixion on our behalf. There is no more guilt for those who are in Christ.
BIBLE COMMUNITY CHURCH 
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