We live in a day very much like
the days described in 1 Kings chapter 22, where young Josiah
reigned. He began reigning when he was
just eight years old, and he did that which was right in the
eyes of the Lord. And when he was 26 years old,
this young godly king sent the prophets and the priests and
the workmen into the house of God to repair the house of the
Lord because of the breaches God had made against Israel because
of Israel's disobedience. The house of God was in ruins.
The word of God had long been neglected. And the men, women
of Israel were under the curse of God's wrath because they burned
incense to many gods. And yet they claim to worship
the one true and living God. How like our day that is. How
like our day that is. The house of God that which is
professed to be God's house is in ruins. The word of God in
most places among most people who claim to be Christian is
despised and utterly neglected, seldom ever considered at all. It's dust covered and its leaves
are unopened from week to week. Would to God we might like chafing
the scribe Hilkiah the priest, find the book of God, open it,
and read what it has to say. And like Josiah, when he heard
the word, Hilkiah brought in the book of God. He said, this
is God's book. The king said, open it and read
it to me. And he said, now you go inquire of the Lord what all
this means for me. Let us inquire of God. what this
book means, what it teaches. Ask God to teach us its message. I wonder if it'd be possible
for anyone to open the book of God and seek from God an understanding
and us be willing to submit our minds Our thoughts, our traditions,
our prejudices, our religious backgrounds, submit everything
to what God says in his word. I think it'd be wise sometimes
if we could forget everything we heard as children about God
and Jesus and the Spirit and religion and the Bible. Forget
all the silly little ditties that we learned to sing as children,
and forget all the silly stuff we see on television screens
and movie screens, that stuff that comes out of Hollywood.
You can just mark this down. You can mark this down. If you
see it on your television about religion, it ain't so. That's
not the way it is. If it came out of Hollywood,
they got it wrong. Whatever sentiments they have
are nothing but idolatrous religious superstitions, and best thing
you can do is forget it. And regrettably, for most of
us, if you learned it from your mama or your daddy, if you learned
it from your grandparents, if you learned it from your neighbors,
what you learned about religion, about God, about Christ, and
about Christianity, what you've learned about the Bible is dead
wrong. It's just dead wrong. What you've
learned about salvation is dead wrong. Let us then put aside
our religious prejudices, our preconceived ideas, our notions
about religion, and come to the book of God and ask God the Holy
Spirit to teach us what his word declares, particularly with regard
to God's salvation. I want us to begin this evening
in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8, a very familiar text of scripture. Want to talk to you tonight about
salvation as God describes it or God's description of his salvation
Here in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8 the Apostle Paul writing
by divine inspiration tells us by grace Are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God not of
works Lest any man should boast now these four things are are
clearly stated in this text of scripture where the Apostle Paul
is instructing us about salvation. If you read Ephesians 1 and Ephesians
2, you will see clearly that Paul's subject matter here is
God's salvation. In chapter 1, he's talking about
what God does for us. In chapter 2, he's talking about
what God does in us. Chapter 1 he talks about God's
purpose of grace in chapter 2. He talks about the power of his
grace So the context is God's salvation and whenever you interpret
the scriptures if you want to understand the Word of God and
be honest with it Always build your doctrine from the contextual
interpretation of Scripture. That is to say, if you want to
understand what the doctrine of God is with regard to anything,
go to that place in Scripture where that subject is dealt with.
And all relevant passages must be interpreted in the light of
those clear statements of Holy Scripture. Now, I'm stressing
this for this reason. Wherever you read of God's salvation
in the Word of God, That which Paul declares in this text of
Scripture must prevail. And this is what Paul tells us
about God's salvation. Number one, salvation is by grace
alone. I'm not pausing because I'm wondering
what to say next. I'm pausing because I want it
to sink in. Campbellite fool uptown here wrote an article
in the paper that said salvation is by grace, but it's not by
grace alone. Oh, yes, it is. It's by grace alone. It's by
grace alone. You might say, well, the Bible
doesn't say it's by grace alone. I wonder what the next word is.
Not of works. That means by grace alone. Salvation
is through faith alone, not faith and the sacraments. not faith
in baptism, not faith in the Lord's Supper, not faith in church
membership, not faith in good works. Salvation is by grace
alone through faith alone. That is, we obtain it, we receive
it only by believing on the Son of God. You do not get God's
salvation by believing on Christ and doing good. You do not get
salvation by believing on Christ and being baptized. You do not
get salvation by believing on Christ and repenting of all your
sins. You do not get salvation by believing
on Christ and persevering to the end. You get God's salvation
by believing on God's Son. That's all. Now all those other
things follow God's salvation, but you don't get God's salvation
by faith and something else. Thirdly, Salvation is by grace
alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Oh Get Christ and you get everything
You get everything miss Christ and you miss everything Brother Winfrey Cavanaugh He's
with the Lord now Maurice preached to his Wife for years and years
and years. Preached to his whole family
for years and years and years. Went but had no interest. He'd come
sometimes just to be nice, but he had no interest. When he was
an old man, God saved him. And his brother was real upset
because he was in the wrong church. And it wasn't going on those
big B Baptist churches, you know, where we're the only ones. And
he said to him, now, you need to be in the Lord's church or
you're going to lose all the rewards when you get to heaven.
And Winfred was kind of a simple fella. I love simplicity. He said to his brother, he said,
do you reckon I'll have Christ? He said, oh yeah, you'll have
Christ. He said, that's all I want. Will you understand me? Get Christ,
you get everything. Miss Christ, you miss everything.
Salvation's in Christ alone. And this fourth thing must be
understood. Salvation is by grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone. And this salvation is
accomplished entirely without works of any kind on the part
of the person who's saved by God's grace. But where do our
works enter in? They don't. They don't. Your works enter in? It doesn't
matter where you put them. It doesn't matter where you put
them. If you be circumcised, Christ your prophet, you're nothing.
If you attempt somehow, in the beginning, in the middle, or
in the end, to mix your works with God's grace, you've missed
Christ. Salvation is by grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone, and look at it, and not
of works, lest any man should boast. Not of works. All right,
now with that said, I want you to understand that the doctrine
of Holy Scripture is just this. Salvation is the work of God
alone, a gracious work of God, wrought for and in chosen sinners,
without their aid, without their assistance, without even their
cooperation, through the mediatorial work of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the irresistible power and grace of God the Holy Spirit.
I want us then to look in the Word of God tonight. I want you
to follow me through the scriptures for the next few minutes, and
I want you to see how God himself Describes his salvation. These
are not these are not words that have come from theology books
These are not these are not the words that teach Calvinism or
Arminianism I wish we could just forget Calvinism and Arminianism
These are the words of God Almighty and that's the only thing that
matters. Listen to what God says Let's begin in the beginning
in Genesis chapter 1 If you go through the whole scripture and
find what God says about salvation, everything that I have said thus
far will hold true and you will see that it holds true. Salvation
is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, without
works of any kind on our part. Number one, Genesis chapter 49
and verse 18. The very first time the word
salvation is mentioned in Holy Scripture is right here in Genesis
49 verse 18. In the context, Jacob is prophesying
concerning the blessings of God upon the twelve tribes of Israel,
his sons, upon Israel in time yet to come, and particularly
going beyond those physical twelve tribes to the whole Israel of
God. Jacob speaks of God's salvation.
Now look what he says in verse 18, I have waited for thy salvation,
O Lord." Now, if you didn't have anything else to go on except
the law of first mention, this text of Scripture by itself is
sufficient to convince us that whatever the Bible teaches about
salvation, it is talking about something that belongs exclusively
to God. Salvation, Larry, is God's property. God's possession God's prerogative. It's his possession. He he holds
it's not your salvation It's his salvation in the first place
Salvation is that which God Almighty possesses and gives to whom he
will in Exodus chapter 12 the Lord God says when I see the
blood I will pass over you and Moses told the children of Israel
when they came to the Red Sea, stand ye still and see the salvation
of the Lord. When Manoah and his wife saw
the angel doing wondrously, who was Christ Jesus the Lord, at
the sacrifice that ascended up into heaven, they just looked
on. They just looked on. Well, what
do you do with God's salvation? You look at it. You observe it. You believe it. But you have
nothing to do with it. Listen to the scripture. In 2
Chronicles 20 verse 17, listen. You shall not need to fight in
this battle. When we come to this business
of our battle, the battle for our souls and the glory of God,
you don't need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand
ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah
and Jerusalem, fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out
against them, for the Lord will be with you. If you read the
43rd chapter of Isaiah, The Lord God speaks to his children, his
sons and daughters, you and I, who have experienced his saving
grace and regeneration. We who have been called by his
grace and now having experienced his grace and knowing something
of his redeeming love, mercy and grace. He tells us also with
regard to all our conflicts in the future. with regard to our
present trials, our present difficulties, with regard to everything that
comes our way, by which Satan would destroy us, with regard
to every enemy that would stand before us and against us. Listen
to what he says in verse 10 of Isaiah 41. Fear thou not, for
I am with thee. That's enough. That's enough. I'm with you. Read on. Be not
dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Behold, all they that are incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. What's that mean? That means, Bobbi Estes, there's
no such thing as a demon in hell or a man on this earth who's
angry with you, who will not soon bow before you. That's exactly
what it means. All that are incensed against
thee shall be ashamed. They shall be confounded. They
shall be as nothing. They that strive with thee shall
perish. Well, just how far can you carry
that? Just as far as it'll go. Just as far as it'll go. Look
at verse 13. For I, the Lord thy God, will
hold thy right hand. saying unto thee, fear not, I
will help thee, fear not, thou worm, Jacob. I'm so glad he used
that term. Don't be afraid, thou worm, Jacob. As if somehow, Jacob, this thing
depends on you. You're just a worm. Don't be
afraid, thou worm, Jacob. And you men of Israel, I will
help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel. Salvation then is God's work
and God's work alone. It is not something that depends
on us in the initiative. It is not something that depends
on us in the process. It is not something that depends
on us in the preservation. It is not something that depends
on us in its end. Salvation is God's work alone. Listen to what Jonah said and
learn it well. Salvation, blessed be his name, is of the Lord. Thank God it's that way. Because
if any of it depended on you, Bob, we wouldn't make it to the
next breath. No, not at all. You mean, pastor, are you suggesting
that we're all together, unreliable, undependable, sinful, corrupt,
fickle, frail? Those words don't even begin
to describe it. Don't even begin to, salvation is of the Lord.
Either he picks us up from the pit of destruction and carries
us all the way into the gates of glory and sets on our heads
the crown of glory itself or we will perish forever in hell.
All right now then look at Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 9. First,
salvation is thy salvation. Second, the apostle writes here and says
being made perfect The Lord Jesus Christ became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him. Eternal salvation. Now, you listen carefully to
me. I'm going to take a stab at this now, and we'll come back
to it another time, the Lord willing. But though our salvation
was purchased at Calvary, with the precious blood of the Son
of God. Though it was accomplished in
time by the regenerating power and effectual call of God the
Holy Spirit, the salvation of God's elect is something that
was planned, purposed, devised, secured, predestined, and accomplished
in the mind of God from eternity. Now, these things are not matters
of speculation. I recall years ago, I was preaching
in a Bible conference on this very subject, and an older man
came up to me after the service was over, and he said, well,
that's just a good point of logic. I said, logic my foot, right
here it is. But it's written as plainly as this. In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. I mean, it's just that
plain. Listen to the Word of God. In Revelation chapter 13
and verse 8, the Lord Jesus Christ is described as the Lamb of God,
Slain from the foundation of the world Well, I can't understand
that I can't either but I can believe it The only thing I can
understand about it is that in the mind and purpose of God,
for Him to will it is for Him to do it. And when God said that
His Son became responsible as our surety from the foundation
of the world, the Father laid on Him the iniquity of us all
and slew Him in His mind and purpose, and thus the work was
done. There's no other way to understand
it. Listen to the Scriptures. Romans chapter 8, verse 28. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. Now, what's God's purpose? Read the next verse, just right
down below it, read it. For whom he did foreknow, them
he also did predestinate. Whom he did predestinate, them
he also called. Whom He called, then He also
justified. Whom He justified, then He also
glorified. Now, I'll tell you what I'll
do. I'm not a betting man, so this
is not a gamble. Somebody listens to me, they say, oh, he's betting
with folks. No, this is not a gamble. I'll just bet you my next week's
pay. I'll just bet you my next week's pay. You can't find a
concordance or a dictionary anywhere in the world, Greek or English,
that will translate those words in the future tense. They're
in the past. They're in the past. It's not
told about what God's going to do, our child, in the future.
This is not a prophecy. It's a declaration of an accomplished
fact. Those who are God's elect, have been from eternity since
Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in
the mind and purpose of God, redeemed, justified, called,
and glorified. It's done. How secure is salvation? As secure as God's throne, as
secure as God's purpose, as secure as the covenant between God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We who are born
of God have been from eternity. Accepted into belonging. How do you like that? Accepted. Accepted. There was a time when I wasn't
accepted anywhere. And standing before you right
now, knowing what I know of myself, I wouldn't accept me myself right
now. But having believed and believing
on the son of God, God declares to me by his word and by his
spirit, Rex, that there never has been, is not now, and shall
never be a time when I'm not accepted with him. And nothing else much matters.
Nothing else much matters except the word means highly favored.
When the angel came to Mary and said, blessed art thou among
women, highly favored among women, that's the word used there. We
are accepted, not for our sakes, not for something we do, not
for our decision, not for our works, accepted in the beloved. When the father accepted the
son as our mediator and substitute, he accepted us in the beloved. And the scripture tells us, Look
at Ephesians 1. No, turn to 2 Timothy. You're
real familiar with Ephesians 1, but turn to 2 Timothy. The
Scripture tells us that we who are redeemed, justified, called,
and glorified in Christ the Beloved and accepted in Him from eternity,
we have been blessed in Christ with all the blessings of God's
salvation and grace from eternity. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now look here at 2
Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. How important is this? Well,
Paul is about to die. And he's writing to Timothy,
encouraging Timothy to be steadfast in the faith. And he's writing
to Timothy, describing to him that gospel for which he was
now imprisoned and about to suffer death. And he says, Timothy,
this is the essence of it. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9, God hath
saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our words. Look at it now. But according
to his own purpose and grace, oh, I love this, which was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Given to us in Christ before
the world began. How can that be? How on earth
can you understand that? There's only one possible way
to understand it. There's only one way it makes
any sense. If it was given to us in Christ before the world
began, it was given to us in Christ as a surety, a representative,
a mediator, a substitute, before ever time was. When the Father
and the Son made an agreement for the salvation of our souls
by His shed blood and His righteousness, the Father and the Son struck
hands in the covenant, and the Father gave us all God's salvation
when He gave it to His Son. He gave it to us. He said, all
right, here it is. Here it is. The Father trusted
Him as our surety from eternity. That's what Ephesians 1.13 tells
us. God the Father, for whose glory we now trust Him, first
trusted Christ. Now look at verse 10 of 2 Timothy
1. But is now made manifest. Well, I wonder what that means.
Just exactly what you think it does. It was done from eternity. And when we come to believe on
Christ, when the gospel is preached to us and applied to our hearts
effectually by the Holy Spirit so that He gives us faith, we
get in on it. That's exactly what it says.
It's now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus
Christ, who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. He brought it to light now for
you and me who now believe through the gospel. Our salvation then
in time is neither more nor less than the outworking of our eternal
salvation given us in Christ before the world began. Let me
show you one third thing with regard to God's description of
salvation. He calls it the common salvation. Look in Jude, the book of Jude,
verse 1. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father and preserved in Christ and called, mercy unto you and
peace and love be multiplied Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for
me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints."
Now look what it says, the common salvation. Now that does not
mean that God's salvation is something ordinary, something
irrelevant, something that's cheap. What it does mean is that
God's salvation is that which is the common possession of every
believer in its entirety. The common salvation. We don't
all experience grace the same way. Don't ever make the mistake
of thinking so. Sometimes you will hear me preach
or one of these other men preach or someone teach or read scripture
and talk about their experience of grace and you, well, I must
not be saying because I hadn't felt or seen or done what they
did. Paul and Lydia did not experience grace the same way God knocked
Paul on his back laid him out in the desert blinded him for
three days Lydia the Lord just opened her heart Paul reason
without scriptures God opened her heart they didn't experience
grace the same way, but Bobby they experienced the same grace
and You and I haven't experienced grace the same way, but if we
are born of God's Spirit, we've experienced the same grace Those
who are saved possess and enjoy the common salvation. That means that we, all of us
who believe, have a common Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. A common
hope, for our only hope is Christ. Our only hope, not our feelings,
not our doings, not our righteousness, not our Works
not our Experiences our hope is Christ our hope is yonder
at the right hand of God He's an anchor for our soul both sure
and steadfast. Now, you know what an anchor
is Anchor is not something that you hold in the boat when the
storm comes you throw the anchor out and the anchor for our souls
is not in here It's yonder Christ Jesus the Lord and we have a
common blessing Every child of God possesses all the blessings
of God's grace and God's glory in Jesus Christ. You mean there's
not something special for missionaries, something special for preachers,
something special for men and women who make great sacrifices? Yeah, something special for us
all. And that special thing is Jesus
Christ. and all the glory of God that
Jesus Christ, the God-man, our mediator, has earned and purchased
by his obedience and blood and has given to us by his free grace. This is God's salvation. It's
all together by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone, without any works of any kind on our part. May God make
it your salvation, for Christ's sake. Amen.