The Great Work of God in Salvation

Introduction

I have some important things to say. I’ve learned some things this week, and I get to share them with you. It’d be helpful if you had your Bible. And if not, listen very carefully. Sorry for the packed auditorium. We apologize to our visitors for this temporary inconvenience where Scott is standing, there will be no wall very shortly. So there will be more room back to my left within a couple of months, maybe. Who knows? Let’s hope so. We’re going to begin this morning in a psalm. Psalm 104. I can’t digest all of this psalm with you, but we’re going to start in verse 24. As the mighty works of the Lord are what is in view in this Psalm. O Lord, how many are thy works?

In wisdom thou hast made them all. The earth is full of thy possessions, the New American Standard Version says, or creatures, other translations say.

Could that be a reference to the Loch Ness monster? Obviously, probably not the idea, while no one knows for sure what sea creature or sea monster specifically, the Bible writers had in mind when they mentioned Leviathan. I like the definition at dictionary.com, which said, any huge marine animal as the whale, anything of immense size and power as a huge ocean going ship. So it’s a very large sea creature that they simply called Leviathan because of its massive size. It’s interesting. Back in verses 6 through 8, I wanted to get this in. As it speaks of massive geological changes, as he covered the deep, as with the garment the waters were standing above the mountains, and at thy rebuke they fled. At the sound of thy thunder, they hurried away.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place which thou didst create for them. We look at what God is able to do in creation to cause the mountains to ascend and the valleys to sink down. That’s where all the water went as a result of the flood. And so we should reflect frequently on the works of the Lord. One of the great benefits of what we do on a regular basis in this place is that we are reflecting on the works of the Lord to have an appreciation for what God has done, and that’s what I want to do with you this morning.

He touches the mountains and they smoke. Thus I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have my being, and let my meditation be pleasing to him. And as for me, I shall be glad in the Lord. Now, what happened right here? I noticed when I got this graphic, this was pre-prepared, that for some reason they’re wanting to skip the first part of verse 35. Well, I understand that when it says, I understand why they did it. Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more. Supposed to skip right over that and not read it. God wants to save the sinner, right? But this is simply an impregatory statement, which are actually quite common in the Psalms.

I wish I had time this morning to talk more about.

I mean, Israel was opposed by people as they hated God. They hated everything about the God of Israel. And they would fight them in battle. And so we would have these very strong, vengeful statements made against Israel’s enemies. Our times are different. Our covenant is different, and so all of that changes, and we get to love your enemies in the New Testament. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t read this. We just need to understand the different circumstances and times in which these Psalms were written. And I could give you several others throughout the book of Psalms similar to this. One is interesting in Psalm 137, but I won’t go there. Alright. So the mighty works of the Lord is what I want to talk to you about this morning.

Mighty just doesn’t seem to get it. Or even the word great. And so I came up with some other synonyms, which even altogether don’t really summarize completely the works of the Lord. Words like prodigious, abundant, exceptional, amazing, phenomenal, or extraordinary. Actually, I was calling this the great work of the Lord in salvation, but it’s changed now. It’s the word astounding. The astounding, it’s better than great. The astounding work of the Lord. Prodigious is an interesting word you don’t hear all the time, but I know it because I follow baseball. Right, Robert? They talk about home runs that are really far, a 500-foot home run. And it’s always the same. Every article. The prodigious blast. Or Mickey Mantle’s 660 foot, the legendary 660 foot home run.

I read an article about that this week. The prodigious blast. I mean, prodigious, that’s that’s really awesome and big. And so I like that term. Prodigious, abundant, exceptional. What we’re talking about this morning is all of these and more as we talk about the great work or the astounding or the mighty work of the Lord in salvation. Sadly, when it comes to the subject of salvation, so many want to overstate the work of man or the role man plays in his or her salvation, and understate the work of God in salvation. And I’ll tell you that’s a big mistake for a couple of reasons. Number one, because God has done great and abundant things, as we’ll see in a moment, to even make this possible, to make our salvation possible.

1. The Absolute Bankruptcy of Human Effort

And number two, it is part of the impetus or motivation that we have to be the kind of people we should be to understand the great work that God has done in salvation. And the first thing that I need to draw your attention to as we talk about the astounding work of God in salvation and in smaller letters, the condition of faith that is necessary. Notice the size difference. It did that for a reason. We’ll do that again. Why is it that the work of God is so great? That’s what I want to explore with you. And the first reason I want to explain as to why we need to be so overwhelmed with God’s work in our salvation is this. The absolute, and that’s pretty extreme, the absolute bankruptcy of human effort.

You need to get this. We read about all those sacrifices in the Old Testament, right? Sacrifices for their sins. Year after year, the priest, it was a sea of blood. The priests were waiting in blood. And it’s hard for us to appreciate that because we’ve never offered an animal sacrifice. But imagine doing that on a quite regular basis, and the blood all around the priest, as those sacrifices were being made, and we come to the book of Hebrews and explains how the old covenant was, and what does it say? The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin. All for sin could not atone. There’s not any human effort, any greatness on the part of man, any excellence that might be achieved in religious things.

There’s not anything that man could do to provide for his own salvation, and we need to be impressed with that. The absolute bankruptcy of human effort. We are absolutely dependent upon the work of God in salvation. I want to take you to a verse in Titus chapter 3. Begin turning over there, as we’re going to talk about God’s role. But when the kindness of God, our Savior, and His love for mankind appeared, and I have the word appeared underlined, the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared in Jesus, he saved us. He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, because again, no amount of deeds could accomplish this. It doesn’t mean there’s not a condition.

It just says you could not secure this by yourself on your own. Not on the basis of deeds which you have done in righteousness, but because God is merciful. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we have any hope at all. Because of his mercy, and through this means, by the washing of regeneration, a reference to baptism, where we come to life again, that’s what a regeneration is all about, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. Again, that’s something God is doing. God, the Holy Spirit causes us to be renewed. This is the means by which this salvation is brought about. According to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration, which he poured out by the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

2. Nine Mighty Things God Did in Salvation

Now that’s the short of it. I want to give you the long of it right now. Nine mighty things. I could have come up with ten, maybe fifteen, but I’m going with nine. I had ten, that’s the perfect number, but I ended up parrying it down to nine. Nine mighty things God did in salvation. And I want just, we’re going to go through these quickly. I talk about these all the time. Because I want us to be impressed with what God has done. So I’m going to go through this quickly, but this is astounding. This is prodigious. This is awesome. This is extraordinary. It’s splendid. Beginning with an incredible promise. Now, I am referring to Genesis 12, the promise made to Abraham that affects the rest of the Bible story.

Through your descendants, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. But I want to look at this from Acts chapter 2. I want to look backwards. Where on the day of Pentecost, that great day when the first gospel sermon is preached, and they’re instructed to repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins. There’s salvation coming to that massive crowd. 3,000 are going to embrace the salvation of God. And he says, wash away your sins. For the remission of your sins, he says, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I’ve explained that to you in another sermon. He goes on to say in verse 39, for the promise, and that’s important to understand what he’s just said about the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is for you and for your children. And for all who are afar off, including the Gentiles, as many as the Lord our God shall call to himself. So all that the Holy Spirit had been promising, going all the way back to Genesis, including the promise of Abraham, all of that is coming to fruition. God is giving it. It’s the gift of the Holy Spirit. God is giving it right here, right now, on the day of Pentecost for you to embrace, and it’s for others who follow after you. For all who respond to God’s call. An incredible promise. And he brought all of that about. Point number two in the fullness of times. Now we see sin in Genesis chapter 3. We see the promise of Genesis chapter 12.

How long did it take? It wasn’t fixed in a day. It wasn’t fixed in a week. It wasn’t fixed in a month. It wasn’t fixed by centuries. Galatians 4 talks about the fullness of times when Jesus came born of a woman. Remember that Galatians chapter 4, verses 4 through 6. God arranged the perfect circumstances, the perfect conditions, the perfect climate for the perfect Son and the perfect sacrifice. That’s what God did. All of that history in the Old Testament, the preparation of the fullness of times, and then Jesus came, Galatians chapter 4, Hebrews chapter 9. So many, he appeared once for all, to take away sin. He’s going to appear a second time. That passage talks about in Hebrews chapter 9. And so God incarnate something that I will never get over the wonder of.

God takes on human flesh. The limitations, the finiteness of human flesh for us. I’ve got to share this quickly. You got an awesome birthday card a couple weeks ago. Once upon a time, a very special person was born who was destined to change the world. And I like this. Calm down. It’s not you, it’s Jesus. And then, you know, always building me up. I’m a special person. No, not you. It’s not you. It’s Jesus. And that’s absolutely right. And so much more we could say about the incarnation of God’s Son. But then this. Not only that he accepted the limitations of man, found in the form of servant, according to Philippians chapter 2, but humbled himself even unto death and death on a cross. We just say, I had Aaron lead that, though the other songs were all his choosing, which worked with the lesson quite well, actually.

The way of the cross leads home. What a wonderful hymn that is. But it’s amazing. We’re singing about an instrument of capital punishment. When we sing the way of the cross leads home. We’ve heard so much about the cross, we really don’t, I don’t think grasp what we’re singing about. We’re singing about an instrument of capital punishment being the way or means to salvation. Jesus’ cross was just the beginning. He went first, we said in that song. That’s right. And now we have to pick up our crosses and follow after him. Something so ghastly. The excruciating agony and shame of dying on a cross. No man could have ever imagined what God was doing. And that’s the whole point of 1 Corinthians 1 and 1 Corinthians 2.

And I’ve got to come back to that because there’s a statement made at the end of chapter 1 we’ve got to talk about. But the whole point of 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, the foolishness of the message preached, the foolishness of the message of the cross, and he comes. If the rulers of this age had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. He says, I has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man. Nobody could have manufactured this in their mind. No man knew what God was planning and could know. Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has entered in the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love it.

I love 1 Corinthians 2, 8 and 9. And not only that, this way of the cross, Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, but look at the evil that was a. Look at what Scott read. How horrible. Release this hardened criminal, put to death, the innocent Son of God. Man at his worst, God at his absolute best. Triumphing over great evil. Oh, the power of our God and the conquering of man’s mortal enemies. I haven’t read 2 Timothy chapter 1 yet. I wanted to get there. 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 7 through 10. You’ve got to see this with me. God has not given us a spirit of timidity, he says, but of power and of love and discipline. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, which has saved us and called us with a holy calling.

Not according to our works, again, bankruptcy of man, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted us, and please underline that word, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death. Sin and death are mortal enemies, abolished by God Himself. And flowing from that, the message of reconciliation. As we’ve read about in Titus chapter 3, the life-giving, powerful message of salvation, sharper than any two-edged sword, that changes us. Not only did he give us this message that enlightens us and shows us the way, but it is able to change foundationally who we are. It created incredible changes in Saul of Tarsus, as we saw in our Bible class this morning.

How powerful is that? Only made possible by God. Only because God has shown us the way to do that. The transformation of the sinner is because of the work of God. And then what we see in 2 Timothy chapter 1, are you still there? Who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Through the gospel. He’s showing us the way to live forever and to live abundantly in the presence of God in tremendous bliss forever. Now, okay, this is probably like seven or eight sermons, maybe nine. In and of itself. But I talk about these things a lot, so I want to do this very quickly with you this morning. But I wanted you to be impressed. This is prodigious. Truly prodigious.

Home run ain’t nothing compared to this. Not even a 660-footer. This is prodigious. And you’re completely dependent upon it. All of it. You didn’t do any of this.

3. Not for Your Sake, but for My Holy Name

The mighty work of God. And salvation. Why? Why did He do it? That’s the part I want you to pay attention to in Ezekiel 36. Feel with me there quickly. Ezekiel 36. Says something interesting to people who have lost their homeland. Jerusalem has been destroyed. They’re off in Babylonian captivity. And to them, you know, this is devastating. All is lost. These evil Babylonians have desecrated our temple. You’ve got to understand the way they’re thinking. What now? Ezekiel says, Let me tell you what’s going on here. Therefore, Ezekiel, say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, it is not for your sake. Nothing particularly redeeming about these people. It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I’m about to act. Okay, I’m about to act.

But for my holy name. Which you have profaned among the nations where you went. And then I have this underline. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name. I’ll tell you what they’ve done to the name of God is they’ve traced it through the mud. And they have lived unholy lives and given occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. Heard that phrase before, haven’t we? And they are not respecting the God of Israel because of the way Israel has lived, and God has had to punish them. He goes, but I’m telling you what I’m going to do. I’m going to vindicate my holiness which has been profaned among the nations. And then these nations will know that I am the Lord. I will prove myself holy.

I have that underlined. I will sprinkle clean water on you, verse 25. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and will be careful, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. We’ll come to verse 27, and we’ll focus on that. And rightfully so. We need to walk in God’s statues and be careful to observe his ordinances. But that’s not the thrust of this. The thrust of this is what God’s going to do. Over half a dozen times in these verses that we’ve read, he says, I will. I will. I will vindicate my holiness.

And when that happens, you’ll be a better people. As a result. And might I add, that’s the thrust of what’s going on with Jesus and Nicodemus in John chapter 3, when he says, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. I believe Ezekiel 36 is part of what’s in view there. And he says, You as a teacher of Israel should understand. God’s going to do something great, and it’s going to provide salvation. You must be born of the Spirit. Receive the promises of the Spirit. Acts chapter 2, but that’s the short of all of that. He says, let me tell you something about circumcision. In Nicodemus’ mind, you were of Israel because you were circumcised. But that didn’t produce the kind of people God wanted.

4. To the Praise of His Glory

He says, there’s going to be a new kind of circumcision take place. Jot that passage down, take a look at it in Jeremiah chapter 9. But I want to say all of that to get to Ephesians, because this is what I failed to see. In the book of Ephesians, when salvation is being described, I want you to see something. That what’s being said back here in Ezekiel about God vindicating his holiness, what is this salvation all about? Look in Ephesians chapter 1, where he says, He chose us in him before the foundation of the world in verse 4. What? That we should be holy and blameless before him. That’s what God has always wanted, a people who are holy and blameless. Because he is holy, as we have sung, holy.

And as Ross prayed, we have come to give reverence to his holiness today. And may our lives reflect that holiness. That’s how he’s describing salvation. But look at verse 6. And I have this highlighted in my Bible. Why did all of this happen through Jesus Christ, the adoption of sons? Look at verse 6. To the praise of the glory of his grace. Verse 12, and you really need to read the whole context. To the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. The end of verse 14. With a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory. I want to tell you when something is repeated three times, we need to pay attention to that.

What is salvation all about? That we might be a people to the praise of his glory. This is about what God has done. So that his glory could be vindicated. That his holiness could be vindicated to the praise of his glory. And when you come to chapter 3, that pastor talks about he’s able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. According to the power that works within us. Okay, that’s God’s transforming power. According to the power that works within us, what? I love this. Verse 21. To him be the glory in the church to all generations. Both now and forever. You talk about a mission statement for the church. Ephesians 3 21 is it. We exist. We are, we are the result of his work so that we might bring glory to him.

That his honor, that his holiness might be vindicated. May we not trace his name through the mud like Israel did, but to reflect his holiness in our lives. That’s why there’s so much written about holiness in the New Testament. This is about God vindicating his holiness. That’s why he went through all of that. That’s why he waited all of that time in the fullness of time to provide this salvation. Now, let’s go to John 1. John 1. Notice what Jesus says about salvation, how it’s going to happen. But as many as received him, John 1 12, to them he gave the right. Notice, he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

Those he gave the right to become children of God are born of him. It says.

5. A Single Condition: Faith Properly Defined

Ephesians chapter 2. What he expects us to do to respond to all the great things he has done is really a single condition. Now, I understand that there’s a lot of misconceptions about that. But that’s only if you fail to properly define the term. Okay? In 2 Peter chapter 1, I want you to see this. This is again amazing. 2 Peter chapter 1, and we are coming to a conclusion here. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3. This demonstrates everything I’ve said already. 2 Peter 1 3, seeing that his divine power has granted, and I’ve got that word underlined, his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence.

For by these he has granted us, granted to us his precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. And so for this very reason, he says in verse 5, applying all diligence in your faith supply. Notice God has granted all of this by his glory and excellence. He says, so as a result of all that God has done and has granted to us faith. Faith. And so, yes, faith is a single condition if it is properly defined. If it includes the things that faith must do to cause us to change dominion from Satan to God, as we’ve already studied in our Bible class this morning, if it includes repentance, confession, and baptism, as a proper definition of faith involves being totally convinced.

Totally convinced of the Christ and the efficacy of his word or the effectiveness of his word. This is the work of God, Jesus says in John 6, to believe in him whom he has sent. Now, again, there’s another whole sermon right there. So that’s why. What prevents me from being baptized? The noble one said. What does he say? One condition. If you believe with all your heart. You may. Obviously, the baptism is necessary. He’s asking, well, I need to be baptized. What prevents me from being baptized? But you’ve got to believe. You’ve got to become you’ve got to be totally convinced of the Christ. And he said, What? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Well, if you’re talking about all the great things God has done in salvation, why does he have a condition?

Why the single condition properly defined? Why the single condition. Well, I think we’re given an answer to that in Matthew 7 in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, don’t give what is holy to the dogs. There’s your answer right there. He doesn’t just dole out salvation to everybody. It’s for those who will respond to his holiness by reflecting that holiness in their lives. That’s the why of the condition. You’re not going to give it to people who don’t appreciate it, who won’t respond to what God has done for them in such an amazing way. That’s why there’s this single condition. But you know when you’ve done that, when you’ve done that, you can’t say at the end of it, oh, well, look what I did to receive salvation.

6. Let Him Who Boasts Boast in the Lord

And that’s what 1 Corinthians 1 says. Remember, I thought I was going to come back to that? It is by his doing that you’re in Christ. Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. If I have something to boast about because I’m in Christ, it is only because of what God has done. I am completely dependent upon him. It is not about, hey, look what Tony did. Salvation is about, hey. Look what God did. No reason will ever exist for God’s people to get carried away with what they’ve done to arrive spiritually. We’ve only done that which we ought to have done, Luke 17 to verse 10. And back in that passage that says salvation is by grace through faith, he says, not of yourselves, not of works, lest any man should boast.

Again, that’s so misunderstood. He’s not saying there’s not a condition. He’s saying, but when you’ve met the condition, you don’t get to say, well, look at me. Everybody look at me at what I did. No, it’s those nine things we mentioned earlier. It’s the mighty, astounding, amazing work of God. That’s the prodigious part of all of this. Get what’s in that box. And then let me add this as we conclude. We should never forget that we are the products of God’s amazing love and profound deeds. We’ve seen that in Titus 3 already this morning. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, I’ve already quoted. I am what I am by the grace of God. Never, ever any reason to be self-righteous or condescending toward others who are outside and yet don’t understand.

Okay, I’m forgiven. I’m in Christ. I have the hope of immortality when I die. But it is only because of God. And so it’s no reason to say, wow, I’m something really special. I’m going to look down on you because you don’t have what I have. We should never act like that. Ever. Never be condescending to those who have not yet signed on to this, but help them to see what we see. And let me, I just have to offer this one thing. And I may have lost this battle. Not that it’s much of a battle, but people don’t see this anymore like I see it. But I think this is a perfect place to talk about it, at least get you to think it.

This is why I personally do not like to see us clapping at baptisms. I know that we are rejoicing with the one. I mean, it begs for something. I mean, something astounding is happening when someone is baptized into Christ. And then we’re happy for the person who has made that decision, and I get that. But if we’re clapping, we need to be clapping for God. It’s not about me. I’m losing my filthy rags. My sins that I could not fix on my own. This is God working. It’s really not that hard for me. I know there are obstacles. I know the devil’s trying to prevent it. I know there’s things that have to be overcome, but you look about, it’s not like God is asking us to climb a mountain here.

Kill a manjaro. It’s submit to his will, be immersed in water. In the likeness of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, which makes it efficacy to begin with. So if we’re going to respond in that way, if that’s an appropriate way to respond, may it be that we’re clapping for God. We can encourage the new brother and sister in Christ. We can put our arms around and say, I’m proud of you. I get that. But maybe it would be better to say praise the Lord. Amen. Or burst forth in song. Whatever. It is mostly about Him. Something to think about. Okay. I made this as big as I could make it. God’s part in salvation. My part. Oh, it’s significant. There’s a condition. I don’t respond to that condition.

Conclusion

I don’t get the salvation. But this is about the amazing things that God has done. And that is what promotes in him the love of God has truly been perfected, it says, in regard to man’s part. And we ought to walk just as he walked. If we say we’re the children of God, again, God is vindicating his holiness. Then we need to walk as Jesus walked. And that should be the outgrowth of that. That’s what God is wanting. And this is the motivation for it. And so let us conclude where the psalmist concluded as he reflected on the mighty works of God. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.

As for me, I shall be glad in the Lord. Times of refreshing come from his presence. And may we bask in those. As his people, he has done wondrous things for us. Has he done wondrous things to you? Do you realize that and see that so that you’ll respond? Believing fully, totally convinced in the Lord. And submitting to his will so that you can be granted the magnificent and precious promises of the gospel. We urge you to respond, if not today, very soon, while we stand and sing.