THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY OF CHRIST’S CROSS WORK Was all this—Christ’s salvific work of sacrifice, propitiation, reconciliation, redemption, and destruction—really necessary if the elect were to be saved? This question, on the surface, might appear to be superfluous: “Of course, it was necessary,” someone might respond. “Doesn’t the Bible teach that Christ’s cross work is the only basis upon which men may be saved?” But such a response fails to address the real issue raised by the question, which is: