How Salvation Works

Introduction

You will not consider what I am about to say shocking. Daisy Ridley is on her way to megastardom. But that’s not it. If you didn’t watch Star Wars, you don’t know what I’m talking about. Star Wars is the fastest grossing movie to reach one billion dollars worldwide. Only beating Jurassic World by one day, twelve days. But that’s not it either. What I want to say that is not particularly shocking is that there is great confusion about how salvation works. Something that is so fundamental in a right response to God, yet is so often misunderstood. Some don’t even start with the right book. The Bible versus the Quran. Two religious books that are not even in the same league. The Bible claiming inspiration by forty authors over a long period of time, attested to by miracles, a massive multitude of eyewitnesses, and undeniable historical accuracy.

Not only do some not start with the right book. Some don’t really care. Because they fail to comprehend what is their greatest possession. And that is the soul. Then there are those who don’t understand what the book is saying. And we don’t want to be one of those people, and that’s the aim of this lesson and others to follow at least one more. The others haven’t been written yet, so all I can guarantee is what I’ve got planned for tonight. But as we talk about this subject, people don’t understand how salvation works in large degree by a lot of false notions that are perpetuated in the religious world. That is misguided theology. Those who claim to teach God’s book but do so in error. The devil loves it when we get it wrong.

He really doesn’t even mind if people hold to a form of godliness if they deny its power.

Who has bewitched you, oh foolish Galatians? Galatians 3 and verse 1. In chapter 5 and verse 4, he would go so far as to say, you are fallen from grace. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. You were running well, he says, but who hindered you? He shall bear his judgment, whomever he is. But he says this persuasion did not come from him who calls you. Galatians 5 and verse 8. And I wonder of how many people that is true. These persuasions that they have, these understandings that they have, these persuasions do not come from him who calls them. Misguided theology, misguided trust. People are not only led away by a wrong theology, but they put their trust in men. Rather than knowing what they believe is right, that they read for themselves in the scripture.

A lot of people just go along with someone that they highly respect and admire. Obviously, this teacher is not going to send me down the wrong path, even though Jesus warned about those who would look outwardly like the real deal, but they would be wolves in sheep’s clothing. Matthew chapter 7 and verse 15. And alongside the fact that people don’t understand because of misguided theology and misguided trust, there is a lack of effort that is put forth to truly discover what is right. People don’t spend enough time or give sufficient effort to a thorough investigation of God’s will. They give it the proverbial lick and a promise, as we say. A lack of diligence is a spiritual killer. And so I want to spend a few lessons here at the beginning of the new year talking about exactly what the Bible says about how salvation works.

1. Not a Result of Works, Lest Any Man Should Boast

And if we’re going to talk about how it works, then we have to start, I think, at Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9, that talks about salvation in very simple terms, but terms that are often misunderstood and misconstrued. And people say things about them that are not so.

As they were preparing for the conquest of Canaan, we notice that God said to them in Deuteronomy 26 last week, I’m going to give you the land. He says that to them over and over again. It is a marvelous illustration of his grace. He is responding to a promise that he has made to Abraham. And he says something interesting in Deuteronomy 9, verse 6, and we noted this. As he was telling them before he ever got into the detailed stipulations of the covenant, he said, Now I want you to understand something about yourself. He says in verse 5, actually, it is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you’re going in to possess the land. It’s not because there’s something particularly wonderful about you.

In fact, he says in verse 6, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people. Not only are you not a righteous people generally, but through your history you have been pretty stubborn. It is not on the basis of who you are. And all that’s saying is you haven’t merited this. You haven’t earned this. Not a result of works, lest any man should boast. And so when they come into the land and they conquer it, what do they say at the end of that? Wow, look what we did. No. God makes it very clear before it ever happens, I’m causing this to happen. I am giving it to you.

2. By Faith the Walls of Jericho Fell Down

It is the result of what I have done. And so, when they cross the Jordan and arrive at the very first city, it is evident that God is giving them the land. I want you to turn to Joshua chapter 6, this familiar story of the conquest of Jericho. And the Lord said to Joshua, and I want you to notice this, I have this underlined in my Bible. See, and that’s so often our problem. I want you to see, I have given, I have given Jericho into your hand with its king and the valiant warriors. And you shall march around the city. All the men of war, I’ve loved this story since I was a kid. All the men of war circling the city once, you shall do so for six days.

I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to have been on the wall watching this day after day. You’ve heard the stories of the deliverance from Egypt. They were afraid of these people. And the first day, here they go all the way around for six days. Also, seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. The number seven is going to be significant, I think. Then on the seventh day, then on the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times. Okay. So the seventh day is different. And when they started going, they’re going, wow, something’s about to happen. This is longer than any day previously. Seven times. And the priest shall blow the trumpets. And it shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and then you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people will shout with a great shout.

And you know how powerful that is when people shout at the top of their lungs. And the wall of the city will fall down flat. Evidence of this has been found in the ruins of Jericho. And the people will go up, every man straight ahead. As Joshua is telling this to the people, Joshua commanded the people in verse 10, saying, You shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you shout. Then you shall shout. So not only do they march around the city every day, one time for six days, without a word. But on the seventh day, after the seventh trip around, they shout with a shout. The trumpet, the horns are blown, and the walls fall down flat.

Remarkable story. And you come to the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 11, and there’s reference made to this event. Hebrews 11 and verse 30. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. Now, that’s a perfect illustration of how salvation by grace through faith works. God says, I’m going to give you. Here’s God’s grace. I’m going to give you this city. Just like I’m this the first. I’m going to give you the land. Here’s God’s gift, His generous gift. I’m giving it to you. Let there be no mistake. I’m giving it to you. But you have to respond in faith. You have to trust me and believe me and do what I say. And so they marched around. They did exactly what Joshua was instructed that they were to do.

They marched around that city one time for six days without saying a word, and on the seventh day they marched around seven times, the trumpets were blown, the shout was made, and the walls fell flat. And you know what they said when they got done? Man, we’re good at encircling a city. We’re good at it. We circled that city. And we shouted. Wow, look what we did in our salvation. You know they didn’t do that. Not a result of works. Lest any man should boast. You don’t get the gift that God has given, and then say, wow, look what I did to get it. Was what they had to do essential. Yes. We find out as they go to the next city. You don’t listen to God’s instruction, you’re not successful.

3. It Is Finished: God Has Finished His Part

You don’t win. The city of Ai. But if we will do our part, if we will respond in trust to the word of God and do what it says, then God is going to lavish his gifts upon us. That’s all Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 is saying. Salvation is by grace through faith. And understanding the interplay between grace and faith is still perhaps the most misunderstood biblical concept. The more of the New Testament we digest, the more clear it becomes. The problem is that in man’s theology that I talked about earlier, there is a penchant toward extremes. Not getting this interplay right between grace and faith, somewhat to go too heavy on the grace side of things and suggest that God does everything in salvation. He does it all.

Now, God’s part is massive. It’s huge. We can’t be saved without what God has done. But we don’t, he doesn’t do everything for us. If that’s the case, then it doesn’t matter how we respond at all. Everybody’s automatically saved because God has done it all. And yet, when you read through the scripture, even the New Testament, it is obvious you read Galatians, the passage we looked at. Apparently, there’s some kind of response that God is looking for because he said, You are fallen from grace. So apparently there’s something that he is requiring of man. And so you hear this, as people have a penchant toward this extreme. People talk about the finished work of Christ on the cross. And that sounds innocent and harmless, but let me tell you what is often meant when they say that.

It means this God has done everything. It’s signed, sealed, and delivered. It’s all done. Well, what exactly is being said in John 19? As Jesus is dying on the cross, it says in verse 28, this is really remarkable. After this, Jesus, knowing, this is John 19, 28, knowing that all things had already been accomplished. Now, the salvation of men individually has not yet been accomplished, because on the day of Pentecost, they’re told to respond for salvation. Save yourselves from this wicked and perverse generation, Acts 2 and verse 40, and those that gladly received his word were baptized. So, what does he mean all things had already been accomplished? Everything that God intended in his part to provide redemption from the beginning of the world was happening right here, right now, and it’s done.

Jesus is dying on the cross. That’s what it means. And so, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, I mean he is very near death at this point. He says, I am thirsty, so that Psalm 69 21 might be fulfilled. A jar full of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to his mouth, just like the prophecy had said. He is fulfilling what the old testament has said about his death. And then this.

A single word in the Greek. Tedalesti. It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Interesting word. Tetalesti. An artist might use this of his completed work of painting. At the moment, the last stroke is done. Tetalestei. A debtor. A lender of money when the last payment has been made. Could announce. Tetalestii. I want to hear that more. I don’t know about you. Tedalesti, the debt is paid. A soldier. After the foe has been vanquished, might say, Tedalesti. A fitting illustration of what’s happening on the cross. Jesus is defeating the enemies of man. He’s defeating the devil and his adversaries. He’s accomplishing the work of redemption. It is finished. But the Bible doesn’t teach universal salvation. Tetalesti is not saying that everybody is automatically saved.

4. Another Extreme: We're All on Our Own

God has finished his part in the plan of salvation. But there must be some response from us, or 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10 makes no sense at all. Does it not? As Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, two believers, he says, for we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in our body. Whether those things be good or bad. So again, there’s some interplay between Tetalesti, Jesus finishing the plan of redemption on the cross, and us appropriating the blessings that God wants to give. Well, there’s another extreme. And that is that we’re all on our own in salvation. I’ve already suggested that there’s some responsibility on our part. But in this regard, I would take you to Mark chapter 10, verses 24 through 27, where after the rich young ruler walks away, Jesus turns to his disciples and says, Children, how hard it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

And he repeats that, and he says, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And they were astonished by all of this, what they had just seen and what Jesus has just said to them. And they asked this question, the disciples did, then who can be saved? And do you remember Jesus’ response in Mark chapter 10 to that question when they raised it? Who can be saved? He said, with men, it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. So here’s the point. The example, the illustration, the passages we’ve already looked at. There is an interplay between grace and faith, God’s part and man’s part, understanding all the while that God’s part is so much greater than our own.

And when we’ve done what we’ve been instructed to do, Jesus says we’re still unprofitable servants, Luke 17 and verse 10. We’re still in need of God’s mercy. Part of the problem that happens in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 is we stop reading at verse 9. Ephesians 2 and verse 9 says, not a result of works, lest any man should boast. Again, the nation of Israel at the conquest of Jericho, but really the entire conquest of the promised land, they don’t get to say at the end of that, wow, look what we did. And God makes that very clear to them in Deuteronomy. You are only getting this because I’m giving it to you. Did they have to do some things? Did they have to do the prescribed things in the prescribed ways to receive the blessings?

Absolutely, yes. But at the end of it, they realize, bigger circle, what God has done versus what I have done. And so when we are saved by grace through faith, you know, those things go together by grace through faith. At the end of it, we don’t say, look what I did. When people are baptized into Christ, you don’t come up out of the water baptism and say, hey, everybody, look what I did in my salvation. It’s not about what I’ve done, it is about what God has done.

Not that we merit anything, but by embracing the marvelous provisions of the gospel by faith, we become his workmanship. Go on reading in verse 10. As he says, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand what? That we should walk in them. That’s the faith part. That’s the through faith. That we should walk in them. We were created in Christ Jesus. How did that happen? He caused us to be born again. He raised us up with Christ. Romans chapter 6. Again, we can talk about so many passages in the New Testament. We become his workmanship. His, underscore the word his salvation by grace through faith. One more passage I want to share with you in 1 John chapter 5.

5. Believing in the Name of the Son of God

Really, the entire epistle of 1 John is about unfailing belief in the Son. This is our part in response to God’s greater part in our salvation. And John, somewhat in summary of the entire epistle, as we’ve talked many times about the three arguments that he keeps making in 1 John that pertain to our response of faith. There’s the moral part, we have to walk as Jesus walked. There’s the social part, we need to love our brothers as ourselves. There’s the convictions part, we need to believe the right things about the Son of God. That’s our faith part in God’s plan of salvation. It’s all throughout 1 John. But when you come to verse 9, it says, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.

For the witness of God is this, that he has borne witness concerning his son. The one who believes in the Son of God, here’s through faith. The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar. Because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning his son. And the witness is this that God has given us eternal life. And this life is in his son. He who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you, who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.

Let’s summarize what we have just read. God bore witness concerning the Son. He is the one who has provided redemption for our sins by the grace of God. But he says, that witness is also borne out in our lives. You talk about your responsibility and my responsibility as we live our lives and make choices and live among people who do not have this salvation and do not know the Lord. He says, your life is a witness. That’s the faith part. That’s my response. Others ought to see in us that we have come under the control and guidance of the Son. Because your life is a testimony to this truth. He who has the Son, who has this relationship with the Lord, He has life without the Son.

There is no life. Salvation is only by grace through faith. Believing in the name of the Son equals knowing that you have eternal life. Believing in the name of the Son. That’s not just a title. I know you believe Jesus is the Christ. That He’s the Son of God, that He’s the light of the world. But more than that, it is embracing all that He is, recognizing that He is King and ruler and Lord of our lives. Like Jesus Himself said, Why do you call me Lord, and do not do the things that I say? Luke chapter 6 and verse 46. Believing in the name of the Son of God is embracing everything that pertains to him, submitting ourselves to him as reigning King and Lord.

Conclusion

And we can have confidence that by God’s grace, eternal life has been provided to us. Nobody gets to heaven on the day of judgment and say, Wow, look what I did to get here. Well, I was pretty good, wasn’t I? No, God is good. God has given. And it is God who supplies eternal life to his people. But there is an interplay. Salvation is by grace through faith. Let me illustrate this in conclusion with a familiar story Jesus told. In Luke 18. Jesus tells us this story according to Luke. Because he is teaching his disciples that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. People who are saved by grace through faith continue in prayer, even though their circumstances may be troubling and difficult. They continue in faith.

We ought always to pray and not lose heart. And he talks about this woman, by way of parable, who wears out this unrighteous judge because she pesters him to death. And finally, because she is pestering him and making a plea to him continually, even though he is an unrighteous judge, he finally gives in to her request. He compares that unrighteous judge with the God of all the earth. The caring judge who delays long over his people who pray to him. He hears our prayers, he grants our requests. But what has always struck me about that story in Luke 18 is the concluding question that Jesus asks. When he simply raises this question.

What he’s looking for when he returns, he is going to be looking for people who have been responding in faith to him in their life. He is looking for one and only one thing.

But they are all the result of faith. Real faith, salvation by grace through faith. And if you have this confidence and you trust in him, you believe in the name of the Son of God, and you trust in Him and His Word, all of these other things the Bible talks about will flow from that faith. You will pursue humility, you will repent of sins, you will pursue purity and service and prayer and worship, because that’s what the faithful person does, the one who believes in the name of the Son of God. Well, you left one thing out, preacher. We have to be baptized for the remission of our sins. Says that in Acts 2 38, that same passage where you said those people responded to the saving of their souls.

That’s right. But it’s all the response of faith. And what did Jesus say in Mark 16 and verse 16? He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. He who does not believe shall be condemned. Oh, a big deal is made in that misguided theological circle I was talking about, that it doesn’t say he who does not believe and is not baptized shall be condemned. It doesn’t mention baptism again. So therefore, somehow baptism is not essential in the process. Okay. If you don’t believe, you’re obviously not going to do the things that he requires that are the response of belief. It doesn’t nullify what has just been said above it. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Belief is the fuel for the whole thing.

Belief is the fuel for Acts 2 and verse 38, where they were instructed to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, on the basis of all that he is, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t mention belief there. But in verse 36 and 37, it has already made it very clear that the audience believed because it says they were pierced to their hearts. What does belief do? Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins. And you know what you’ll get? Everything that God has promised. All the way from the beginning. All that the Holy Spirit had been talking about, the promise of salvation to everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord.

That’s what you’ll get. When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith in you? For by grace have you been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It didn’t originate with me. I didn’t come up with any of this. That not of yourselves, not of works. It’s not because I have done so much to merit what God has done. Lest any man should boast. If any man boasts, let him boast in the Lord. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 31 it is by his doing that you are in Christ. So how do you respond to God’s greater part? Become his workmature. Submit to the King in every respect. Give him your heart and your all. And can we help you do that this morning?

Let’s stand and sing together.