John chapter 3. And I've entitled this message, Faith, Cause or Consequence? If you remember, we saw in this
third chapter, in verse 17, that Christ is the only Savior of
the world. And we saw also in this context
that whether one be Jew or Gentile, All who believe on Him have everlasting
life. But I want you to look now at
the 18th verse for a few minutes, where he continues, He that believeth
on Him is not condemned But he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God." He that believeth on Him is not condemned. How is faith related to salvation? That word condemned there means
something like not judged. He that believeth on him is not
judged. believe that salvation is contingent
upon one's believing. And so many make statements like
this. They say there is only one condition
to salvation, and that one condition is faith. And preachers especially, they
try to take verses such as this 18th verse and to use what is
said here as a proof of that thought and idea. But what I want us to consider
is this, and that in light of my title, is faith the cause
of salvation or the consequence of having been saved? Think about that. Is it the cause
of salvation, or is it the consequence or manifestation of having been
saved? I think maybe the best way to
illustrate what I'm trying to say is something like this. What is the situation when measles
break out in a child or a person. Does the breaking out or the
manifestation of the measles, is that the cause of the measles? Or is having the measles the
consequence of breaking out, or the cause of breaking out? Or you could say something like
this, when a baby moves and cries, is that the cause of them having
life or is that the evidence or consequence of them having
life? Somebody was talking to me about
someone they knew that broke out with shingles that you hear
a lot about in our day. And they had these sores that
rose up on one side of their head and burned and were irritating
and such as that. When those sores broke out on
that individual's head, did that cause the shingles? Or was that
the consequence of them having shingles? The word that we find so often
in these verses and everywhere in the New Testament especially,
the word believeth here, is a word that In a lot of translations,
we lose what is actually being said there. Because in our day,
people have a notion that when somebody believes, it's like
a one-time deal. They believe and therefore, they're
saved. But the word believeth here is,
as I understand it, in what is called in the Greek language,
The linear tense. And it is indicated, as we have
it in the King James, by that E-T-H on the end of it. As a matter of fact, that's one,
just one of the reasons that I tend to want to stand by and
with the King James Version. But whenever you read a word
that ends with the letters E-T-H, those letters, as we have it
in our translation, they indicate a present continuing action. They indicate that an action
is in the progress of occurring. Whosoever believeth, he that
believeth, or he that is believing, is not condemned. So, it is not in this verse or
any other verse, whosoever will believe, but whosoever is believing,
they are not condemned. Whosoever continues to believe,
they are not Condemned. They are not judged. And the reason that they are
not judged is because their sins have already been judged in the
dying, the cross death of the Lord Jesus Christ. So in order to assure, as we
always must, and as the Scriptures do, that God gives all the glory
in salvation, and that nothing we do is the cause of salvation,
We have need to understand what he's saying in such verses of
Scripture as these. Believing is not the cause of
everlasting life. Believing is not the cause of
one's not being judged. Believing is the manifestation
of that, the evidence of that, the consequence of our having
been saved altogether by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the same with repenting. just as it is with believing. Repenting is not the cause of
our salvation, it's the consequence of our having been saved and
given the gift of repentance by God. It's the same with the
word, confesseth. Whoever is confessing, they are
not confessing their sinfulness to be saved. They would never
confess their sinfulness had God not already saved them. They are the symptoms of salvation. They are the manifestations of
life, spiritual life. They are the evidence of a work
of God breaking out. And when you stop and think about
it, if you look at the words and know some about the words
and have understanding about what is meant by condemnation,
the opposite of condemnation is what? It's justification. If we are not condemned, It is
because God has justified us. He has declared us righteous
through the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so all these
things that are spoken of, such as believing and repenting and
confessing, they're all the evidences of spiritual life. The living, the spiritually alive
sinner does these things. We believe, we repent, we confess,
and we continue to do so all the days of our life. We believeth,
confesseth, repenteth. And that is the course and tenure
of our life, all the days of our life after God has come to
us and revealed to us His salvation. Turn over to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. which the thought begins actually
in chapter 4, but closes out that 4th chapter with these words
concerning Christ. He says, "...who was delivered
for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification."
One translation of that verse, which I like a lot, says this,
"...who was delivered because of our offenses, and was raised
again because of our justification." Then look at what the next verse
says, which begins chapter 5, "...therefore, Being justified,
and I believe that is the thought here, maybe more accurately if
there was a comma after that word justified. Therefore, being
justified, and as it is, therefore having been justified by faith. we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ." Having been justified, the fruit of
that, the gift of God along with that, he says, by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, look over
in the 8th chapter of Romans. The 8th chapter of Romans and
that first verse. He says, "...there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Now I believe
in the original, that's where that statement ends right there. And the next statement is actually
added as a part of a verse to come, but it begins right here
with this statement. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. Now, how long
have God's elect been in Christ Jesus? I'm talking about totally
apart from the fact that we, like all Adam's race, fell in
Adam. But what happened to the Lord's
people in Adam did not in any way change what they already
were in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were loved in Him. They
were chosen in Him. They were blessed with all spiritual
blessings in Him. The Scripture says, "...before
the foundation of the world." And you can take whatever of
these spiritual blessings, one of which has to be justification,
and there is definitely some aspect of that justification
which was a part of these spiritual blessings which were given us
in Christ before the world began, and therefore in Him. There is now no condemnation. And just as believing is the
manifestation of justification, not being condemned, unbelief
is the manifestation, not the cause of being condemned. Now I know what somebody always
says. They say God will forgive every
sin except unbelief. Well, every one of us would perish
in hell if that were the case. And I'm not talking about simply
before the Lord revealed Himself to us, but every day of our lives
is characterized to some degree or another, in some way or another,
with unbelief. But you remember the apostle
says in Romans also, he says that in themselves, the whole
world by nature and in Adam is already condemned and guilty. Christ came not into the world
to do what? To condemn the world. Because all of Adam's race, as
they are in Adam by nature, they're already condemned. When
Adam fell, all his race, as we stand in him, fell. And in that sense, we're already
judged. But for? that people, that before
the world began, God put in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. Look back also in Romans chapter
3. In verse 19, he says, Now we know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be guilty before
God." That's all you can be in Adam. That's all you can be in Adam. But turn over to Romans 5 and
look down at verse 16. He says, "...and not as it was
by one that sinned, so is the gift." There is a similarity
between the gift of God And that which is not the gift of God,
in this way, this is the similarity Paul is talking about here. They
both come to those men that are representative men, and those
they represent. All that Adam represented, these
things come to them. All that Christ represents, these
things come to them. It's a principle of representation. And so he says in verse 16, "...and
not as it was by one that sin, so is the gift. For the judgment
was by one to condemnation." We know which one that was. That
was that first man, Adam. But the free gift is of many
offenses unto justification. Justification that denies the
reality of what we are in ourselves and in Adam. No. Those offenses
are dealt with in justification. And that justification comes
to the justified in the second or last Adam. Verse 18, "...therefore,
as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life." One through Adam. the other through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the unbeliever is described
as condemned already, or as it is, judged from the beginning,
and he remains under the sentence of condemnation passed in Adam
upon him, and his continued unbelief manifests that. But if he has
heard the gospel, he adds to his condemnation, because he
hath not believed on the Son of God. 1 John chapter 5 and verse 1 says,
"...whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God. And everyone that loveth Him
that begot, loveth Him also that is begotten of Him." Now, there
are two things that characterize the Lord's people. Number one,
faith in Christ, and because of that, love for their brethren. But are those two things the
cause of this life? Are they the cause of being born
again? No, they're the consequence of
it. Those who have been born of God,
they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and they love the brethren. Turn back to John's Gospel again
and look in John chapter 5. John chapter 5 and verse 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath..." Doesn't say he will get it, does he? It says he has
it. "...hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation, but is passed." from death unto
life. He is past. And you know, as
plainly as that verse tells us that, I was reading a commentary
today, and that writer, so I don't know how to even express how
lightly he just brisked over that and said, that this believing
is what causes us to pass from life unto death. That is exactly
the opposite of what this verse says. Everyone who lives, believes. Everyone who believes is passed
from death unto life. Look in John chapter 5. John 6 and verse 47, the same thing. Christ says, "...verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that believeth on Me has everlasting life." Now what is the importance of
this distinction? Well, I mentioned earlier the
fact that it assures that God gets all the glory and salvation. But another distinction is this,
if this be misunderstood as it is almost everywhere, Men and
women are left thinking that the whole matter of salvation
is in their hands. They're left thinking that being
dead, which is how the Scriptures describe us, they can by some
act make themselves alive. I remember reading a story about
a man who had heard the fable about one of the Roman Catholic
saints, one of the myths and legends of this saint, like Saint
Demas or Saint Demas or something. But supposedly his claim to fame
was that he had his head cut off, but he took his head in
his hands and he walked all the way around the world. Walked
all the way around the world. Somebody said, well, that's utter
foolishness. Yes, but if he could take that
first step, he could go the rest of the way. You see, that first
step is where the problem is. Since we are dead sinners, we
do not by nature have faith, rather we have enmity against
God. He has to come where we are and
give us life. And when He gives us life, we
believe. Look at the 36th verse of our
chapter, verse 36 of John 3. Here it is again. He that believeth on the Son
has everlasting life. And he that believes not the
Son shall not see life." That means he's already dead and shall
remain so. But the wrath of God abideth
on him. What a man believes describes
the condition of his heart. It does not change his heart.
If a dead man can give himself life, he doesn't need God, and
therefore God wouldn't get all the glory. And on the great occasion
of that resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, Lazarus came forth
from that grave. Why did he come forth? How did
he come forth from that grave? Because God made him alive. And on that occasion, our Lord spoke these words to
His sister. He said, "...and whosoever liveth
is living and believing in me shall never die." Then he looked
her in the eye and he said, do you believe this? Do you believe
this? Faith is the consequence, not the cause. of God in free
and sovereign grace coming to us, those He loves, those Christ
died for, and giving them life. He does that when we are brought
to hear the truth. Because in the gospel, the object
of faith is set forth. And here we are one minute dead,
not interested, No understanding, no desire for the things of God,
and the next minute He makes us alive. And we begin, just
like that baby, to cry out. And that cry, which is the cry
of faith, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. That's
the consequence of life, not the cause of it. Our Father, tonight we give You
glory and honor and praise. We pray that we might know these
distinctions, these particulars concerning just how Your grace
and mercy and salvation in Christ really is. that we might not
be deceived and that we might rightly praise and give to you
all honor and glory. We thank you for your word. Your
word is true. Your word is forever settled
in heaven. And your word is our comfort
in all our afflictions. We thank you for it. And we pray
in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.