# “Salvation finds and keeps us” by R. Scott Clark

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/01/12/salvation-finds-and-keeps-us-by-r-scott-clark/
- Published: 2026-01-12T06:00:00-06:00
- Author: tollelege

**QUESTION 19: From where do you know this?**
_“From the holy gospel, which God 
Himself revealed first in paradise, afterwards proclaimed by the holy patriarchs
and prophets, and foreshadowed by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law;
and finally fulfilled by His well-beloved Son.”_

“One of the many wonders about the good news is that someone has told us where to
find it. We do not need to go rooting about in all the wrong places, looking for
the wrong thing.

What we need is salvation from the wrath of God, acceptance with God, true righteousness,
and renewal in the image of Christ. The gospel announces that Jesus Christ has accomplished
all these things for all of His people…

The gospel has always been present after the fall. It was first revealed to Adam
and Eve in the garden and progressively unfolded through the history of salvation(
_historia salutis_) in the patriarchs and in the prophets, symbolically represented
in the entire sacrificial system. Finally our Lord himself fulfilled it in His incarnation,
obedience, death, and resurrection…

When the gospel came in fulfillment of the types and shadows, it was not new. It
had been revealed in types and shadows since the moment our Lord promised a suffering,
head-crushing Savior (**Gen 3:15**). What is new in the new covenant is the reality,
the end of types and shadows, but the substance of the gospel has been present since
the garden…

When we look for salvation, it is essential that we look in the right place, in 
the gospel about Jesus the Savior. The gospel is that salvation finds and keeps 
us.”

–R. Scott Clark, [_The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological & Pastoral Commentary_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683598202?tag=toletaupanre-20)(
Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2025), 127, 130, 131.

[⌊Heidelberg Catechism Commentary⌉⌊Heidelberg Catechism Commentary⌉[

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