Salvation In Christ Alone

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation in Christ alone?

The Bible teaches that salvation is found exclusively in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and redeems us through His blood. The Scriptures declare that salvation is through Christ alone, emphasizing the significance of His sacrifice on the cross. In Romans 8:32, we learn that God did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us, which assures us of our redemption and of all that we need in Christ. As Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15, he preached the gospel of Christ's death for our sins, reinforcing that our hope rests solely on this truth. The essence of salvation is not based on human wisdom or deeds but on the work of Christ alone, manifesting the depth of God's love and grace towards His people.

Q: How do we know salvation is true?

Salvation is confirmed through the teachings of Scripture and the witness of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. The truth of salvation is grounded in the testimony of Scripture, which reveals the character and work of God in redeeming His people. The Apostle Paul emphasizes that it is through the simplicity of the gospel that we are saved, as noted in 1 Corinthians 2, where he determined to know nothing except Christ and Him crucified. Additionally, the Holy Spirit confirms this truth in the hearts of the elect, leading them to conviction of sin and assurance of forgiveness. Therefore, the certainty of salvation rests upon both the authoritative Word of God and the inward testimony of the Spirit.

Q: Why is the simplicity of the gospel important for Christians?

The simplicity of the gospel is vital as it focuses our faith solely on Christ and His finished work for our salvation. The simplicity of the gospel ensures that believers are not corrupted by distractions or complex philosophies that could lead them away from their faith in Christ. As Paul cautioned in 2 Corinthians 11:3, the subtlety of Satan aims to complicate the message of salvation, pulling us away from the clarity of Christ crucified. By adhering to the gospel's simplicity, Christians maintain a clear focus on the grace of God manifested in Jesus, which is the foundation of their hope and assurance. It is through the gospel that we recognize our total inability and Christ's sufficiency, further deepening our reliance on His redemptive work.

Let's use as our text for this
message, Salvation in Christ Alone, 2 Corinthians 11, verse
3, 2 Corinthians 11, 3. I fear, but I fear, lest by any means, and Satan
will use any means, he's subtle, deceitful, crafty, as the serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that's in Christ. He'll do it by any means. He'll do it in a subtle, deceitful
manner. And if a man is aware of it,
he's not deceived. So that's how crafty Satan is.
He will deceive men. And he will corrupt the mind
from the simplicity of what I'm going to preach this morning.
Now, the city of Corinth was a city of people who admired
eloquence and wisdom. That's so, the city of Corinth.
I don't know a whole lot about it, but I do know that. I know
that they admired eloquence, they admired wisdom. It was an
age, that was a particular age of intellectualism. They had
great orators, they had great philosophers, the city of Corinth. And Paul was about to enter that
city to preach. Now the temptation, and this
is so, no way to deny this, the temptation would be, would exist
in any man's mind to say this, and you see if you've been here
before, now these people have have great orators, they're used
to hearing great orators, they're used to hearing capable speakers. If I would be a match for them,
I must speak with great effect. If I'm going to compete with
the orators of Corinth, then I'm going to have to adopt their
methods, and I'm going to have to speak with great effect. I'm going to have to impress
people with my ability to speak. And then this would be a temptation.
These people are educated. These people are wise. Have you ever thought about this
when you're going to preach or teach a Sunday school class or
witness or talk to people about the Lord? Now, this person has
a degree. He may not have learned anything, but he's got a degree.
He's an educated person. He's very wise. If I'm going
to be a match for them, I must demonstrate some of my wisdom
and some of my great knowledge. This would be a temptation. These
people are philosophers. These people understand the theories,
or at least the principles, of religion. I must appeal to their
philosophical minds. I must appeal to their religious,
superstitious minds. After all, now here's Satan's
reasoning, after all, now listen to this, we must meet men on
their own ground. Whoever invented that statement,
I don't know, but it's not so. We must meet men on their own
ground. We must win their approval. We
must win their confidence before we can win them to Christ. That
is satanic. God never sent us to win the
approval of this world. Paul said, If I please men, I'm
not the servant of Christ. Our Lord said, Woe unto you if
all men speak well of you. Whoever invented such a thing
that the church, that the minister of the gospel, that those who
preach and witness for Christ are to win the confidence and
approval of this world. Our weapons are not carnal. Our weapons are spiritual. And
this is but the deceit and subtlety of Satan, and he has overpowered
us when we succumb to it. And it's the influence of Satan
to take the mind of the preacher and the minds of the people away
from the gospel of the cross, the gospel of the blood of Christ,
the gospel of redemption. No, sir, you turn to 1 Corinthians
2, and here's the way you'll find that Paul entered that great
city. Yes, they were. It was a city
of intellectualism and wisdom and education and orators and
philosophy and all of these things, but Paul had no intention of
meeting them on their ground or winning their approval or
winning their confidence. He said, brethren, verse 1 of
1 Corinthians 2, When I came to you, I did not come to you
with excellency of speech I wasn't trying to be an artist or wisdom. I wasn't trying to demonstrate
my wisdom, my education. Declaring unto you the testimony
of God, I determined before I ever entered your city, the gates
of your city, this was my firm determination, to know nothing among you except
Jesus Christ, Him crucified, and Him crucified. Jesus Christ,
not as Jesus the healer, but Christ of the cross. Not Jesus
Christ the superstar, not Jesus Christ the reformer, not Jesus
Christ the good man, but I determined to know nothing among you except
Jesus Christ the crucified Redeemer, the suffering Lamb, the substitute. And I was with you in weakness.
not in self-confidence, in weakness, a dying man preaching to dying
men. Let us own our inability. Let
us not be afraid to own our weakness. Let us not be afraid to own our
total dependence on the Spirit of God. If God doesn't speak
this morning, I'm wasting my time and you're wasting yours.
Let's face it. Let's not be ashamed to be done
with the arm of the flesh and lean heavily upon the arm of
the Spirit. All the wisdom of this whole
congregation put together would do nothing but damn our souls.
It's the wisdom of men which is foolishness with God. All
of the talent and ability and gifts and knowledge and so-called
religious righteousness put together in here wouldn't do anything
but condemn every one of us to be separated from a holy God
forever. We need the Holy Spirit. We need
God's presence. Without Him, we can do nothing.
Anything that we might do is unprofitable without Him. Better
to speak five words in the power of the Holy Spirit than five
million words in the strength of the flesh. Paul says, if anybody
is brought to Christ, it won't be by excellency of speech. It
will not be by man's wisdom. It will not be by enticing words
of man's wisdom. If anybody's brought to Christ,
it'll be by the power of God. And it'll be God the Holy Spirit
using that fateful, hated, despised message. Christ and Him crucified. Old Albert Barnes said this one
time, this ought to be the resolution of every minister of the gospel.
to preach Christ and Him crucified. This ought to be the business
of every believer, not to be a politician, not to try to be
a philosopher, not to try to be a scholar, not to try to be
a community leader or promoter of worthwhile projects, just
to preach the grand and glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Let us not be ashamed of that
humbling doctrine ruined by the fall, regeneration by the Spirit,
and redemption by the blood. This is our glory. This is our
glory. I believe an honest minister
will be guided by three things. I don't believe any man can pastor
a whole city. Therefore, I don't believe that
I'm the only preacher in town preaching the gospel. I don't
believe any church is the only church. But I believe you can weigh any
minister to whom you listen or whom you might follow. I believe
you can measure his ministry by three things. He'll be guided
by three things in his message. Number one, he'll preach what
God has written. If they speak not according to
the law and the prophets, it's because there's no light I want
no new revelation, I just want his revelation. I want no new
truth, I just want his truth. I want no new message, I just
want his message, don't you? That message which declares,
for as much as you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible
things such as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ. Our Lord said, I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. That's what God declared. This
is the record. God has given to us eternal life,
this life in His Son. You can't improve on that. He
was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. You can't improve on that. in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sin through his blood. You can't improve on that. Every true preacher will preach
what God has written, what God has said. And secondly, every true preacher will preach
what he believes. I've heard men say, well, I believe
such and such, but I don't dare preach it because it causes trouble. A man avoids something because
he really is not convinced of it himself. That's so. A man will preach what he believes.
Out of the heart, the mouth speaketh. The Apostle says we can't help
but preach those things we've seen and heard. Men who believe
Christ will not only die for Christ and live for Christ, but
they'll preach Christ. Let it be declared once and for
all. If a person believes something,
he'll preach it. And if he does not preach it,
no matter how much he claims to believe it, there's no way
that he can believe it. And then thirdly, true preachers
will be guided by three things. Number one, he'll preach what
this book says. Whatever conflict it might bring upon him, he's
going to preach what God says, because God sent him. And then
he's going to preach what he believes. And then thirdly, listen
to this now, a true minister of the gospel will preach what
men need to hear at that given time. God doesn't send a messenger
to men on the brink of hell with roses of red, violets of God sends a messenger to men
on the brink of hell with an urgent cry, ìFlee from the wrath
to come.î Our Lord deals with things as
they are, not as they used to be, not as theyíre going to be,
as they are. And God does not send messengers
to men on the brink of hell with poetic phrases. He sends them
with an urgent cry, ìFlee! Repent! Believe! God does not send a messenger
to pharisaical professors of religion to commend them for
their good works. God sends his messenger to meet
them where they are, with a heart-convicting cry. You whited sepulchers, you
make clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within you're
full of dead men's bones. You might be astounded at this
and then again you might not. But I've actually had people
come to me after the service angry. Not only here but in other
places. And say this, now think about
it a moment. Were you preaching to me? I think about that a lot. I had
a young man, I was holding a meeting one time. I knew him quite well.
And the message that God gave me applied to him. It was amazing
how much it applied to him. And as I preached the message,
yes, I thought about him. He was sitting there. And he
was angry. He asked me if he could see me
after the service. I said, well, yes. We went back in the office.
And he said, if you've got anything to say to me, you say it to me
personally, not from the pulpit. Well now, my friend, why did
you come here if you didn't want me to preach to you? If you don't
want me to deal with your need, don't you want your need to be
dealt with? Of course I'm preaching to you.
I'm preaching to myself. I'm preaching to you. We're needy
creatures. God Almighty does not send a
messenger to a people not to meet their need. They come with,
he preaches their need, that given problem right then. He's
not afraid to deal with it either. God does not send a messenger
to a generation of free willers to pacify them in their idolatry,
but God sends his messenger to the free willers with a God-exalting
theme, I'll be merciful to whom I will be merciful. Our Lord Jesus Christ met men
where they were. When Nicodemus came to him, the Pharisee, the theologian,
the ruler of Israel, Christ didn't talk to him about Restoring his Goods to the poor. Oh Nicodemus didn't have any
goods He was a he was a religious leader. He was he hung out in
the temple. That's where he that's where he was Christ talked to
him about what his need was. He said you got to be born again
You'll never see the kingdom of God if you're not born again
When Zacchaeus came down from the tree Christ didn't talk to
him about being born again He knew he was a rotten apple. He
knew he was a publican, a tax collector. Christ talked to him
about salvation. The woman at the well, the Lord
Jesus Christ didn't talk to her about restoring her goods to
the poor like he talked to the rich young ruler keeping the
law. She'd already smashed it into a million pieces and she
knew it. He didn't say anything to her about those things. He
talked to her about her sins, about her need, about living
water. That's how you can determine
a man who is a saint of God. He'll come to you with the Word.
He'll make much of the Word. His message will be saturated
in the Word of God. It'll be steeped in the Word
of God. It'll be like an old-fashioned piece of steak covered with gravy. It'll be covered with the Word
of God, it'll be permeated with the Word of God, it'll be saturated
with the Word of God, because he's depending not on his reasoning
or his wisdom or his logic, he's depending on this Word to take
effect, to convince men of sin, to reveal Christ, to bring faith. And then I'll tell you that he'll
preach what he believes. He won't be harsh with it, he won't be
cruel with it, but he'll be plain with it. And he won't skirt the
issue either. He's preaching election, he'll
preach election. He's preaching particular redemption, he'll
preach particular redemption. He's preaching the responsibility
of men, he'll charge them with responsibility. Whatever he's
preaching, that's what he'll preach because he believes it.
And then he'll meet your needs. He'll shoot right in the hole
where you're hiding. And you'll think I've had people
do this. I've had people come and say,
well, the pastor's talked to you about our troubles, hadn't
he? I said, no, he hadn't either. No, sir. Pastor hadn't told me
a thing about this church. I don't know a thing about it.
Not a thing in the world. Now, God knows all about it,
and I think God sent me. God doesn't send a messenger
to those who rest in their dignity and righteousness to brag on
it. He sends them with his message for that hour. And Paul knew
the gospel, and Paul believed the gospel, and Paul believed
men needed to hear the gospel. And therefore 1 Corinthians 15,
listen to it, he came preaching that message. That's the cure
for all ills. That's the answer to every question.
That's that blessed remedy that cures every disease. Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached to
you. I preached the gospel. Not about
it, preached the gospel. which also you have received,
and wherein you stand, and by which you are saved, if ye keep
in memory what I have preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scripture." That's our message. Now you take
the philosophy and you take the intellectualism and you take
the wisdom of men, you're welcome to it. Give me the cross. The cross of Christ. He died
for my sins. Christ died for our sins. There's
no greater news. There's no better tidings. No
happier report. He died for my sins. Blessed
is the man to whom God will not charge sin. Happy is the man
to whom God imputed not iniquity. There is therefore now no condemnation
in Christ Jesus. Isn't that good news? You know
any better news? Somebody sent you a letter this
afternoon or in the morning that you'd inherited $100,000, jump
up and click your heels, shout. I know some better news than
that. I have an inheritance reserved in heaven. Really, do we believe that? The preacher, the $100,000 is
real, yeah. You mean that's not? That's not? Suppose I owed a heavy debt somewhere
and a fella came to me tomorrow and said, I've counseled your
debt. You know that note you owed at the bank? Forget it.
You know that house note? Forget it. Boy, I tell you, we'd
run home and tell our wives, we'd tell everybody, you know
what? This fella forgave me of my whole indebtedness. I don't
owe a thing. I don't owe a thing. I know some
better news than that. God Almighty has canceled my
whole sin debt. I don't owe a thing. I don't
owe a thing. Yeah, I would preach you that.
That thing, I had that little booklet, you know, that you tear
out those little pages every month. That's real! Yeah, but
if you're ever convicted by the Holy Spirit, your sins will be
real, too. And you'll worry over them a whole lot more than you
do that little booklet with 36 pages in it, or 24, or 20, or
however many months it takes. And those sins will be just as
real to you as that little book is. And you'll be able to rejoice
in your heart if this becomes a reality to you, that Christ
died for our sins. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Three things I want you to see
in closing. If Christ died for my sins, if
Christ died for my sins, would you remember these three things? If God emptied heaven of its
greatest treasure, if the Son of God came down to this earth
and went through what He went through for my sin, oh, how great,
how great must be my sin. Now, I've seen my sin in many
different lights. I've seen them in the light of
Sinai's law. When I look at that law of perfect
love and purity and obedience, I'm made to cry like Isaiah,
I'm a man of unclean lips, or like Job, I hate myself. I've
seen my sins in the light of conscience. The things I would
do, I do them not. I regret to say the things I
would not do, I do. I see a law in my members warring
against the law of God and against the holiness of God. And I cry
with Paul, O wretched man that I am. I see my sins in the light
of Sinai's law, in the light of my conscience. I see my sins
in the light of God's love, how good he's been to me. I was talking
to a man yesterday whose father is dead, died two or three years
ago. And he said, you know, he said,
only been out to his grave two times since he died. He was a
good dad, he said. He was a good dad. He worked hard. He worked hard
all his life. He worked hard to raise us kids
and give us something to eat and something to wear. I said,
yeah, we're not thankful to people until after they're gone, are
we? We don't put our arms around their necks and say, I appreciate
you, I'm thankful for you, I'm grateful for your love and your
hard work. After they're gone, we begin
to think about those things. We begin to add them up. We begin
to consider, God's been good to me. You've been good to me. We ought to tell each other those
things. I don't know why we're so I do know, too, we're full
of hell, that's what's wrong with us, full of sin, to be honest
about it. But why don't we, why don't we
have enough compassion, enough affection to tell somebody, thank
you, and appreciate you, and I love you. God's been good to
me, and I see my sins in the light of his love. Born in America,
that's enough right there. good food. Every one of us is
going to leave this church and sit down at a table loaded with
good food, and some of you are going to bow to God and say a
little old silly form of prayer and not mean a word of it. We've got good clothes. Most
of you get out there and get in a nice-looking automobile
and drive home to a nice home. We've got friends. How many?
My soul, look at the friends. Our children, most of them in
good health. Oh, we see our sins, the sin of ingratitude, murmuring
and complaining in the light of His love. And that's bad enough, but nowhere
can I see the depths of my sin like I see it at Calvary. Christ
died for my sin. How God must hate sin. How God
must hate sin. Barnard used to preach the sermon
on God hates sin worse than He hates hell, because He built
hell to punish sin. I saw one hanging on a tree.
I see my sin in the light of Sinai's law, and it looked bad.
And I see my sin in the light of conscience, what I would do
or don't do, and what I would not do or do. And I see my sins
in the light of ingratitude. God's been so good to me. God's
been so good to me. But oh, to see my sins in the
light of that cross! I saw one hanging on a tree in
agony and blood, and he fixed his languid eyes on me as near
his cross I stood. Sure, never till my latest breath
will I forget that look that seemed to charge me with his
death, though not a word he spoke. My conscience felt and owned
my guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins, his blood had
spilt, and helped nail him there. Oh, can it be! Upon that tree,
the Savior died for me. My soul is thrilled, my heart
is filled to think He died for me. Oh, the sight of my sin in
the light of His cross. Secondly, quickly, if Christ
died for my sin, how great are my sins. Don't act so pious,
you're not pious, you're a sinner. If Christ died for my sins, how
great must be his love for me. I never knew the love of Christ
until I began to understand a little bit of the meaning of the cross. Oh, I've meditated on God's love
in creation, as the psalmist said, how wonderfully I am made
in God Love great, stained and scarred by sin, but still a marvelous
creation of God. I was thinking the other day,
I was reading some kind of book, and all the arguments about evolution
and anti-evolution and all this foolishness, and you know one
of the strongest arguments that the author presented for the
creation of man? over the fowls and the beasts
and the animals and the fish. Make a guess. Man has a hand. No other creature has a hand.
Man can take these fingers and play a beautiful violin. Oh, you can teach an ape to saw
on a violin but not play it. Take these fingers and play that
for you. Man can take these fingers and
paint a picture, beautiful. Man can take this hand and operate
on another man's brain and move just a spot or a speck, or change
a valve on a heart. God's love, it's not a Paul,
it's a Haman. You can just go over the whole
body and marvel at this, at these ears, this sound system, these
eyes, this camera that takes pictures of the whole world.
And it'll never wear out. My predestination, that covenant
of mercy, God loved me, God loved me, He made me. He miraculously
and marvelously made me, how wonderfully I'm made. But he
loved me back yonder and he put my name in a book and he gave
me to his son. That's love. And then the good
providence of God that's protected me all down through my life,
preserved me and kept me, put his hand on me, gave his angels
charge over me. and didn't let me perish in my
unbelief and in my iniquity and in my sin. Tis grace that brought
me safe thus far. He brought me to this place to
hear his word this morning. And then on my Damascus road
to hell, steeped in unbelief and rebellion, wrapped in religious
traditions, hand lifted high to tear God down from his glory,
determined to have my way, doing all I could to taste his wrath,
he stopped me. And he said, my son, that's far
enough. That's far enough. And he broke
me and drew me with his tender, patient grace till I kissed his
feet. That's love. But if you want to see God's
love, you go to Calvary. And there he gave his most precious
possession. He gave his son. Oh, the love
that drew salvation's plan. Oh, the love that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf of wrath
and judgment and righteousness that God did span at Calvary. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene, and I wonder how He could love me, a sinner
condemned unclean. Last of all, turn to Romans chapter
8, and I'll let you go home. Romans chapter 8, verse 32. If
Christ died for my sins, how great must be my sin. If Christ
died for my sins, how great must be his love. If Christ died for
my sins, how certain must be my redemption. Look at Romans
8, 32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? One of the things that gnaw at the hearts of parents and
wives who gave their sons and their husbands to die in Korea
and Vietnam is that they didn't accomplish anything by their
death. Now those boys that died in World War II or World War
I can look back, the people who loved them can look back and
say it was worth it because they gave their lives for a purpose,
to accomplish something. But those who died in the tragedies
of Korea didn't accomplish anything, and Vietnam even less. It was
worthless, right? Well, I'll tell you this, God
gave his Son to accomplish a purpose. And he shall see the travail
of his soul and be satisfied. He shall not fail. God Almighty didn't send his
Son down here to turn you back over to Satan. as we sent our sons to die to
turn countries back over to communism. God Almighty sent his son to
redeem his people. That's right. If Christ died
for my sins, I shall never die. If Christ bore my sins, I don't
bear them. The banner of Christ Jesus has
been raised over every fort that he's ever conquered. over every
battlefield on which he fought. If Christ Jesus paid my debt,
I don't owe it. If Christ Jesus was condemned
in my place, this is my security, this is my certainty, this is
my assurance. He shall not pay. Now, in conclusion, can you find
a different way to glory? Can you find a better
way? Can you find a more certain way? The Scripture says, Other foundations
can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ the Lord. None
other name unto heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. Paul came to that wealthy, intelligent, so-called wise city,
and he said, I come with a message. fear and trembling, but I got
a message. Not in wisdom of words, ticing
words of man's wisdom, but I got a message. Christ died for our
sins. And everybody that knew it and
loved it, the wisdom of God rejoiced in it. Praise God. Our Father,
we give thanks for Thy blessed, precious Word. Never get tired
of this wonderful message, good news to the guilty. Christ died
for my sins, paid my debt. There's no condemnation in Christ.
Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making
me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me thy great salvation, so rich and so free. Make us more thankful. Make us to praise thee more.
Break these proud hearts. Turn our eyes on Christ and away
from ourselves. For we pray in his name. Amen. Number 118. Stand, please. When
I survey the wonders On which the Prince of Glory
died, By riches gained by Calcutta's laws, And for contempt

Salvation In Christ Alone

What does the Bible say about salvation in Christ alone?

How do we know salvation is true?

Why is the simplicity of the gospel important for Christians?

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About Henry Mahan

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Salvation In Christ Alone

What does the Bible say about salvation in Christ alone?

How do we know salvation is true?

Why is the simplicity of the gospel important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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