Salvation

The salvation equation

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Have you ever tried to “add” to our salvation? What I mean by that is you think you need to accomplish something in order to seal your salvation. There’s a stark contrast between adding to our faith and adding to our salvation. Passages like 2 Peter chapter one and James chapter two can make people think that somehow there’s an equation associated with salvation. Something like Jesus plus…(you fill in the blank) equals me being saved.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

For me, I struggle with a perfectionist mentality. I can’t stand doing something less than extremely well. When I don’t, which is often, I feel a sense of failure. When it comes to my relationship with Jesus, I’ve based my sense of well-being on how well I’m doing as a follower. Some of the factors that affect my perception are things like how often I’m serving those in need, how much prayer time I’m devoting, if I’m keeping up on my Bible plans, if I’ve devoted a lot of time to worship or not, and how well I’ve treated others. No one would argue that those aren’t all great things, right? But nowhere in the Bible does it say that my salvation is based on my relationship with Jesus PLUS how many times I pray or sing worship songs or serve the homeless.

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12 NIV

All of us have been guilty of pursuing holiness as a means of being in the presence of Jesus. All that amounts to is self-righteousness which is no righteousness at all. The only true righteousness is that which is imparted by faith in Christ. Everything else is but filthy rags according to scripture. It’s being touched by God that makes us holy and it’s because we’ve been made holy that we start acting accordingly. Isaiah, a devout man of God, (probably far more than any of us here tonight) knew that nothing he had done could possibly warrant Him being in the presence of God’s holiness in the temple. That privilege had to be granted by God alone. The same goes for Moses before the burning bush as he stood on holy ground.

“Holiness is not the way to Christ, Christ is the way to holiness.”

Charles Spurgeon

We need a humble heart that knows our need, not a puffed-up spirit built on the backs of all we’ve accomplished. We have to stop thinking that we add to or earn our salvation in any way. And we also can’t be people who seek to push a similar agenda on innocent believers and non-believers alike. The Apostle Paul was appalled by such people. There were those in the first century, and every century since, who were pushing a message of “now that you have Jesus you still need all of these other things in order to be saved.” Paul rebuked these people. Just check out Colossians 2, Galatians 1, and 2 Corinthians 11 if you want to see exactly what I’m referring to.

Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

John 14:6 NASB

It all boils down to this: if we say, in any way, that Jesus plus ___ equals salvation, we are devaluing Jesus. His sacrifice is all-sufficient. His blood cleanses us from sin. His life gives us life. He makes us children, and heirs. It was Him who ransomed you and me from the grave and In the end, it will be Jesus who ransoms this world. That is the message we carry and we need to share with the world, and with ourselves.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB

Jesus plus NOTHING equals salvation. Walk in that freedom brothers and sisters.

The Messiah in Psalm 69

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psa-69-30-ww-stock-9x

So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”

John 18:11 NASB

For those who love Jesus, Psalm 69 is a grim reminder of what the Messiah had to endure. This psalm reflects the anguish of the Messiah, from several angles. He would be hated without cause (verse 4), was a stranger among His own siblings, endured tremendous pain leading up to and during his crucifixion (verses 14-20), obviously sorrowful (verse 20), and thirsted while hanging on the cross (verse 21). Just look at how this psalm opens up:

I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.

Psalm 69:2 NASB

It’s pretty apparent the distress that the Messiah would have to endure. When we parallel it with several New Testament passages we see how Jesus experienced precisely what Psalm 69 is talking about. In John chapters one and seven we’re told how Jesus was not received by his own. This refers to both the nation of Israel and His own siblings. Eventually many would come to recognize Him for who He was. But not initially. To be constantly mocked, criticized, and followed by mostly two-faced “friends” would be emotionally draining, to say the least. Matthew 26 describes Jesus’ experience in the Garden of Gethsemane in the early morning hours before His crucifixion. He is literally sweating blood and prays that His soul is exceedingly sorrowful.  He’s about to face the most excruciating death sentence. He lived a perfect and sinless life, was constantly misunderstood, and then put through a sham trial and tortured to death even though he was guiltless.

Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick.
And I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
And for comforters, but I found none.
They also gave me gall for my food
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Psalm 69:20-21 NASB

Matthew 27 tells us that one of the soldiers gave him some vinegar wine to ease His thirst. But it could not ease His suffering. While hanging on the cross, Jesus faced jeers from the crowds. No one stepped in to provide Him comfort. How could they? His hands and feet had nails driven through them. His lungs were filling with blood. His shoulders were dislocated. His body was riddled with gashes from the whip. His forehead was pierced with a crown of thorns. If the pain weren’t enough, the crowds offered Him insult after insult.

But I am afflicted and in pain;
May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.
I will praise the name of God with song
And magnify Him with thanksgiving.
And it will please the Lord better than an ox
Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.
The humble have seen it and are glad;
You who seek God, let your heart revive.
For the Lord hears the needy
And does not despise His who are prisoners.

Psalm 69:29-33 NASB

The Psalm closes in praise. The purpose of God was to work salvation through the Messiah. Three days after Jesus died on that cross, He rose from the dead. Salvation for all who believe was achieved. And when Jesus rose to heaven, He was placed at the right hand of God to be the name above all other names. The story of the Messiah is that which shows the heart of God in pursuit of His creation. Those in captivity can be freed. Those in sinful bondage can be loosed. Those in depression can have their hearts revived. All because our Messiah endured the heartbreaking hardship on our behalf. Praise Jesus! The next time you read Psalm 69, take the time to appreciate what our Messiah has done and what He had to walk through.

The Flood of Salvation #2

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Narrow-GateThe flood is a significant event in human history. In fact, ancient cultures have been telling this story of thousands of years. It’s not simply a Christian and Jewish folklore. It’s embedded in cultures around the world. That’s because all of humanity comes from the survivors of the flood. And that event, as tragic as it was, is nothing compared to the coming judgments that this world will see. However, just as God provided a way of safety from that judgement, so to did He provide that for the one to come. The flood story, as with all Old Testament salvation stories, were meant to point to something far greater. They point to the One who would save us, not from temporary tragedies, but from a spiritual impairment…from an eternal death.

In part one of this series I drew the connections between the flood story and salvation in Jesus by looking at the construction of the ark itself. Today’s correlation is somewhat different. While the first post was very positive and encouraging, I’m afraid this one is more dire. But even in the bleak reality of what we’re going to look at, there is always hope. Like with any warnings, it only benefits those who choose to take them seriously. And for those who do, there is always hope.

The flood affected the entire world. Every living creature would be impacted. We don’t know exactly how many people lived on the earth in Noah’s day, but common sense estimates would have to conclude that there were millions, if not billions. If read some scientists calculations that have placed it from 1 to 40 billion people based on lifespans and numbers of children from each of those listed in the chapters leading up to Genesis 6. Either way, there were a lot. The sad reality is, only a tiny fraction of those were saved.

…because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

1 Peter 3:20 (NIV)

Eight…out of millions or billions. Even if it were only thousands on the earth, eight would be such a small number. It’s not like God had a “Noah only club”. Noah preached for 120 years and, as 1 Peter says, God waited patiently for mankind to turn. Because of who God is, we know that He didn’t want to just save eight. God wants everyone on the boat. But only a small percentage will walk through the door.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

When Jesus spoke these words, He was expressing the heart of a savior. God in the flesh was laying out the path to life and bidding us to come and follow. It’s not like Noah’s ark or it’s door were hidden. They are in plain sight. It’s not like the door to eternal life is hidden either. Jesus made it as plain and obvious as anyone could. It’s Him. That’s it. Jesus is the person who is also the path. And instead of one man preaching righteousness and repentance and salvation through faith, we have an entire church with that same mission today. But just like in Noah’s day, the message is falling on so many deaf ears. Please don’t let that be true of you. And if you’ve already punched your boat pass by believing in Jesus, lets spend our lives getting more people on the boat.

The Flood of Salvation #1

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ark-doorThere are so many connection throughout the bible. Interwoven themes that lace old and new testaments and thousands of years of human history together. It is one thing that makes the Bible so believable and so reliable.

One of those common themes is salvation. The word salvation is used in different ways in the Bible when applied to different scenarios. For example, God can save someone from a present danger. David prayed many times for God to save him from his enemies who pursued him throughout various points in his life. Then there is the idea that we are in the process of being saved. This is commonly expressed as sanctification. The concept that God is transforming our nature to be more like His. In this particular notion, we are being saved from ourselves. Then there is the use of the word salvation applied to a spiritual sense. Salvation in this way means that we are being saved from God’s wrath. This is an eternal salvation, unlike the other two.

God has used many instruments to bring salvation to mankind, but every single one of them, whichever form of salvation we’re talking about, points to the ultimate means of salvation: Jesus Christ. In the next few posts, I am going to break down one of the most monumental occasions in human history, the great flood, and show how God worked salvation during this tragic experience, and how that points directly to the coming Messiah.

The flood story of the Bible takes place in Genesis 6 through 9. It’s an incredibly sad story and yet, at the same time, one that gives us a lot of hope. It’s set during an age much like the one we live in now. Rampant sexual immorality, people calling good things bad and bad things good, and outright disregard for God. The Bible describes mankind as wicked in the days of the flood.

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

Genesis 6:5 (NIV)

With a world that evil, God needed to cleanse the earth. Fortunately, there was a man and his family who lived apart from the practices of those around them. Noah is referred to as a righteous man and a preacher. He is a man of great faith. Because of His faith, God is going to bring salvation to Noah and his family. As you’re probably familiar with, God instructs Noah to build an ark that will carry his entire family and animals from all over the world. It’s absolutely fascinating. This brings me to the first connection between the flood story and our salvation in Jesus. It is the theme of ONE.

You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

Genesis 6:16 (NASB)

There is one ark and on that ark, there is one window and one door. The theme of ONE is so prevalent throughout the Bible narrative and yet it is so hotly contested by people today. There was one ark on which people and animals could be delivered from the coming peril. There was one door and one way into that ark. And there was one window through which to view the world. Humanity has always been plagued with this desire to build their own ark, to their own specifications, on their own terms. The ark that is Jesus, does not “fit their mold” of religion or lack there of. Many people are afraid of the idea of one way to be saved. But those is Noah’s day didn’t get to argue with God or pick their own means of being saved. God provided that way. It was huge and obvious and everyone knew the way in. There was one door, wide open, with a giant invitation.

The Bible tells us that Noah spent his life preaching salvation to the world, in the years leading up to the flood. Even though Noah and his family were the target of the ark’s construction, they were not the only one’s offered salvation. Noah spent 120 years building and preaching, building and preaching, and yet, no one came. But the offer still remained. for 120 years it remained. The one ark, a giant beacon of hope and salvation, stood out for the world to gaze upon. And they shunned it and scoffed at it. Jesus is that one ark.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6 (ESV)

Jesus is the epitome of the concept of ONE. God provided us yet again, with a giant beautiful beacon of hope and life. He did so by putting on human flesh and dying for the evil that is in all of us. In Jesus, God built the ark Himself. While Noah’s ark could be used to save humanity and animal life from a cataclysmic event, it could never redeem their souls. That kind of ark would have to be built by God. And not only is Jesus that ark, faith in Him is the door by which we enter the ark, and His life and teachings are the window to how we see the world and others.

The theme of ONE is the most inclusive offer that a good God could make. It removes confusion. The ark, and the ark that is Jesus, is a message to mankind to stop trying to build your own leaky boat and come to the one God has built for you. Lay down your burdens and attempts to appease God and get on the boat. The door is wide open. The only ID you have to show at the door is that of your faith in the savior of the world.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 (HCSB)

Arguing with God

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Two Angels Guiding Lot and His Daughters from Sodom 19th-Century Print

It fascinates me that no matter how good God is to us, humanity will inevitably find something to argue with Him about. It plagues us from birth. I have lost count of how many times my children complain about even good things. For example, I buy them a gift or give them a treat, but it’s not good enough for them. Maybe I take them out to dinner or we have a movie night at home but it’s not the exact place they wanted to go to or the movie they were just ‘dying’ to see. I’m sure I was the same way when I was little. You’d have to ask my mom. All little kids are that way to varying degrees. Sadly, many people don’t ever grow out of it either.

I was listening to a podcast on Genesis 19 a few weeks ago and it dawned on me that I was seeing the same thing play out in the bible that I see at home with my kiddos, only on a much grander scale. Lot and his family were essentially arguing with God’s goodness. In this chapter. Angels are there to rescue a man named Lot, and his family before God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah. These cities were beyond wicked. And Lot and his family, while not blameless by any means, must have been set apart from the wicked people around them. So God wants to save them, and they actually argue with how He wants to do it.

First, they all lingered and didn’t take God’s message seriously (Genesis 19:14-16). The angels literally had to drag them out of the city to be saved. Once out of the city, they even argued about where God was sending them (Genesis 19:18-20). It was the equivalent of saying, “I don’t really care that you want to save me and I really don’t like how you want to save me.”

That story line has been repeated in every generation. Think about it. Anyone who rejects the message of the gospel are arguing with the fact that they need saved and also the method by which God wants to save us. Non Christians see the gospel message as foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18). Why would someone need to die so I could be saved? Why do I even need to be saved? Lot may have battled with similar questions. We know at least that Lot’s wife longed for some part of her city. Why else would she look back as she was fleeing. For Lot, God came to rescue him from disaster and death. For us, God did the same in Jesus Christ. But so many people aren’t taking the message of the gospel seriously. How many people do you know are lingering and not acting? How many times have you heard someone say that the gospel is close minded? How could God only make one way to be saved? How about the fact that God made a way to be saved? Why isn’t that good enough for the majority of people in this world? Why isn’t that seen as absolutely incredible by more people? I would venture to say that it’s because we like to make our own options.

We like to create our own reality and have things on our own terms. This applies to far more than eternal salvation, it applies to our day in and day out living. We want to be blessed in certain ways. We want to be rescued in certain ways. When our own perceptions and expectations aren’t met, we grumble. A key struggle to life is finding that place of contentment, where we can trust in the goodness of God, especially when our expectations are not being met. The place where we can rely on His greater wisdom. The place where we can truly believe that He cares for more for us than we do for ourselves. We are better off in His hands rather than our own. Left to their own doing, Lot and his family would have burned with the rest of the city. We would all make an equal mess of our own lives in the absence of our Makers hands.

The Bible is riddled with examples of God bringing redemption through unfamiliar and unusual means. Joseph saving Israel through his own slavery, Gideon’s army being reduced to minuscule numbers, God raining down manna from heaven during the wilderness journey, a young man defeating the fiercest warrior with a sling and stones, parting a sea in order to walk through on dry ground, and marching around a massive wall to bring it tumbling down, just to name a few. God specializes in the unexpected. But so many of us cling so hard to our expectations rather than relying on God’s faithfulness.

But God is good. No matter your present circumstances. God is faithful. Even though you may not see Him working. God’s heart is for you. Always, no matter what.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Psalm 34:8 (ESV)