WWUTT 547 The Steadfastness of Christ?

The Steadfastness of Christ and the Work of Salvation

If you've been saved by Christ, then I am confident that you are doing and will do the things that have been commanded by God. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ when we understand the text.

You are listening to When We Understand The Text, an online Bible ministry so that we may know all the riches freely given to us by God. For questions and comments send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Correcting the Doctrine of Final Salvation

Thank you, Becky. Hey, I wanted to make a correction on something that I said yesterday. After opening with the scripture reading in 2 Thessalonians 2, I said that I wanted to address a recent controversy surrounding a doctrine called final sanctification.

Well that's not the name of the doctrine. It's actually final salvation. But you got that, right? I eventually started using the right term, but when I opened up, I don't know, maybe I was thinking of entire sanctification, and so that's the term I was using instead of final salvation.

We talked about sanctification, justification, glorification, all in our salvation in Jesus Christ. It is God who does this work in us, both to save us and to grow us in that salvation until the day of Christ.

Paul saying to the Philippians, I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it at the day of Christ Jesus. In summary of the things that we talked about yesterday is this.

You are not saved by a combination of faith and works. You are saved by faith in the finished work of Christ alone. It is deeply disappointing that desiring God has chosen to misrepresent the doctrine of sola fide, by faith alone.

On the flip side of the articles that have been posted by desiring God is an article that was posted yesterday at the gospel coalition written by Dr. Thomas Schreiner of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The title of his article was justification equals faith plus nothing. And here's how he begins his article. This is the opening sentence. One of the five rallying cries of the reformation was the statement that we are saved by faith alone, sola fide.

So unlike desiring God, Dr. Schreiner does not draw a distinction between justified by faith alone and saved by faith alone. To the woman who anointed Jesus in Luke chapter seven, he forgave her sins and then said to her Luke seven 50, your faith has saved you.

And who's going to look at Jesus and argue with him and say, well, my faith hasn't saved me. You've saved me. Well, of course, of course, the object of our faith is the one that saves us. But the the transmission of that salvation is through faith.

That's like the mechanism that God has chosen to give us his grace and the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ, because we believe in the one who has saved us. And so our faith has saved us. It is God himself who gives us our faith.

As Jesus said in John six, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent. And we also read in Ephesians two, eight and nine. It is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not of works so that no one may boast. So grace, salvation, even faith itself, all these things are gifts from God. It is all the work of God. And so if there is a problem in our sanctification, the problem might be that we've never been justified, not that we're not doing the right works to reach our final sanctification, which seems to be the argument that Desiring God has been making recently.

I wanted to make one other point about this, and that's related to the article that was posted by the Gospel Coalition. So on Twitter, they presented that article under the title justification equals faith plus nothing.

There was a comment right underneath the posting of that article in which a gentleman said, sounds good, but what about Jesus blood? Romans five, one Romans five, nine faith plus Jesus blood plus grace equals justified.

And what that man is doing right there with his comment is the is exactly the same thing that Desiring God is doing. It's like Desiring God is expecting to see a fuller theology in the statement by faith alone than they think is being presented by the name of that doctrine.

And so that same man is doing that. He's like justification equals faith plus nothing. Well, no. What about the blood of Christ? You know, all of those things are implied in the doctrine by faith alone.

You don't have to put all of that in the title. The title of a doctrine does not have to fully summarize every dot and tittle of the doctrine itself. You need to study the doctrine in order to know what it is that the doctrine means, not judge it based on on the title of the doctrine.

Although some titles of doctrines are not great, I wish they had different titles. But to represent the doctrine properly, you have to study the doctrine. And unfortunately, Desiring God has been misrepresenting the doctrine of Sola Fide.

As the Apostle Paul told Timothy and Second Timothy to 14, remind them of these things and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. And that this thing that Desiring God is doing, that's what's going to come about by this, because they're choosing to quarrel over the meaning of by faith alone.

It's not really edifying the body of Christ. Let's continue with our study of Second Thessalonians chapter. Well, chapter three now is where we're at. So I'm going to read verses one through five. The Apostle Paul says, Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men.

For not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command.

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. And this is really a continuation of what we were just reading yesterday. You almost can just ignore the fact that there's a chapter division there.

Same thing we were looking at in Second Thessalonians two verses 13 through 17. And now into chapter three, Paul is talking about this work of sanctification that God is doing on our hearts, that he is going to keep us steadfast, just as God is keeping them steadfast.

And Paul also encouraging the Thessalonians to be included in this work of the gospel that the apostles are doing. So it's not just you guys in Thessalonica, you're dealing with the stuff that you're dealing with.

Well, we're struggling out here too. You're struggling there. So we're going to pray for you. Why don't you pray for us? And this is how we together are sharing in this work of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, whether it's in Thessalonica or to the ends of the earth.

And so they are brothers in this respect, struggling together, laboring together, rejoicing together on those successes that they have when the gospel is able to turn a heart from sinfulness to righteousness.

So Paul says again, finally, brothers, you know, this is the it's like the Baptist preacher's final point. He says, finally, but we still have the whole chapter to go here. It's not a very long chapter, though.

Look, we're looking at what, 18 verses. So finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you. So the word of the gospel goes ahead of the apostles before they get there, kind of makes their work a little bit easier, right?

They're not coming in and preaching a message that no one has heard yet. Rather, seeds have already been planted by the time the apostles get there. And there's already hearts that are ready to hear what it is the apostles come in to proclaim.

You know, this this was the case with Rome. The apostle Paul had not been to Rome yet. In fact, the church in Rome had not yet received an apostle at all to come and to teach to them. So how did the church get planted there in Rome?

Well, likely it was because of Jews who were present at Pentecost in Jerusalem in Acts chapter two. And they heard the gospel proclaimed by the apostles there. And then among those thousands that were baptized, 3000 that were added that day, some of them were from Rome.

And so when they finished up the Jewish Jewish festival of Pentecost at Jerusalem, they left and went back to their home in Rome and started a church. Many Gentiles were converted and the numbers in the church grew.

But then under the emperor Claudius, he expelled the Jews from Rome, thinking that the Jews were converting people. So they were they they had violated the arrangement that the Jews had with the Roman state.

They would just practice their Jewish religion, but they wouldn't try to convert anybody to Judaism. Well, Claudius found out there were some people being converted, so he expelled the Jews. Well, he expelled the wrong group of people.

The Jews weren't the ones who were converting others. It was the Christians and they worship this Jewish messiah. So that was why Claudius got mixed up and he expelled the Jews rather than the Christians.

So then the Christians continued to do that work in Rome and converting Gentiles to Christianity. And so the church grew with Gentile numbers. And then once Nero became emperor, that expulsion of the Jews ended and they were allowed to come back into Rome.

And then you had the church that was made up of both Jews and Gentiles. So when Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, he was writing that letter ahead of his visit to them. He was so anxious to get to Rome, the capital city of the world, and be able to share the gospel with this church.

But they had not yet had an apostle come to them and teach them about these deep things concerning the testimony of Jesus Christ. And so Paul wrote that letter ahead of his visit, but eventually got to them to teach.

So that's an example of how the gospel got to an area before Paul got there. And so he's asking the Thessalonians to pray for that very thing. Pray that the word of the Lord may speed ahead. So he gets to the cities that we're going to before we get there.

And hearts are already tilled like the soil has been opened up to receive the seed of the word. And more are ready to convert and come to know Christ. The moment the apostles get there to share the gospel, the word of the spirit of God with the people in that city.

And, you know, I don't I don't think it is beyond us to ask the Lord that our opportunities to share the gospel would be easy. It's OK for you to ask the Lord that God, I don't want to fight with people and we shouldn't.

You know, if somebody reviles us, we can't revile in return, as Peter says in first Peter two. But but we we want these opportunities to share the gospel, to be received. We want them to have soft hearts and to listen to what we have to say and be convicted of their sin.

So you can ask God and say, hey, I have to I have to tell this person that they're a sinner. And if they don't repent, they're going to go to hell. They might get really mad at me for saying that. And so, Lord, I'm asking that the message would speed ahead, that that your spirit would be on their mind and on their heart already.

They're thinking about these things. And so when I come to them with the gospel, it's they're ready to hear it. They're like, you know what? I've just been thinking about that. And we can pray and ask that the Lord would do that work in in the hearts of those that we have to minister to.

Just as Paul is telling the Thessalonians to pray that for for Paul and his missionary brethren. And then he asked them that further in their prayers that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men for not all have faith.

So here we are back on the subject of faith again. Notice that faith is being used here in the sense that real and true faith is in Christ and in Christ alone. Faith is not in the the false Roman or Greek gods, in which case Paul would have said for not all have faith in Jesus, but some have faith in these these false gods.

Let's not even really faith, because when you think about it, they worship gods that they can see. We worship a God we do not see when they fashion their idols and their statues, their their big marble statues, like at the Areopagus in Athens, which we read about in Acts chapter 17, Paul preaching there.

And he's standing in the midst of the gods, all these big idols of all these false gods. Well, the polytheists worship gods that they can see. They worship gods that are made with their own hands. So it's not really faith, because, as Paul says in Romans, who hopes for what he sees?

But we hope for what we do not see. And the definition of faith is given to us in Hebrews 11. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The writer of Hebrews doesn't say faith in Jesus is the assurance of things hoped for.

No, he's talking about real and genuine faith, assurance of the things that we hope for, that we don't see and the conviction of the things not seen. So certain are we of the promises of God, what he has done in the past and what he is going to do for us in the future, that we are convicted to obey his words, even though we do not see him.

And so that's what true faith is. Those who do not have faith in Jesus don't have faith at all. Now, in the generic sense of the word, we will equate faith with religion. So you might say, what faith does a person have?

Well, a person is a Mormon. That's their faith. Or a person is a Jehovah's Witness or a person is a Hindu or a Muslim. They have the Islamic faith. OK, so we'll use the word faith in the generic sense.

But the true biblical sense of the word is faith in Christ, because faith is given to us by God. If you worship a false god, he can't give you anything. So he or she or it whatever cannot give you anything.

So you're not receiving faith from that false god. It's not faith at all. It isn't anything because an idol is just an empty thing. But we worship the true and living God who gives to all who earnestly seek him, Jesus said.

And James repeats this also, that you do not have because you do not ask. So what should we be asking for? Ask for faith, ask for the ability to be able to believe. Just as the man who asked Jesus to heal his son and said, Lord, I believe now help my unbelief.

Ask Christ for more faith and he will give you more faith. James puts it in James chapter one, that if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously to all without reproach. And that wisdom that you're asking for is the ability to see something you can't see the faith to believe in in God, what he is doing for you, what he has done for you and what he is going to deliver you into in the future, the glorious kingdom that awaits us if we endure in Christ Jesus.

So Paul, again, praying that they would be delivered from those wicked men who don't have faith, the wicked men who come against those who do have faith for not all, not all have faith. Those who do not have faith, they are violent, wicked and evil men.

And so pray that we would be delivered from them, that they would not be able to hinder our advancement of the gospel in the places that we are going to. And let's say also that Paul and his missionary brethren go into a city in which the gospel had not speeded ahead of them.

And while they're there in that city preaching, nobody receives their word. So then what they're going to be met with is nothing but hostility and drive them out. So in those cases, especially Paul saying, pray that we would be delivered from them for not all have faith.

But verse three, the Lord is faithful. These wicked and evil men do not have faith, but the Lord is faithful. Not that God has faith. God doesn't hope for what he cannot see. God knows everything, as the Apostle John said.

So so God is faithful, though we see that same word being used, just slightly different. God is faithful. The Lord is faithful to us. These men do not have faith. The Lord is faithful. He will establish you.

He will guard you against the evil one. Satan is an enemy that is out there trying to tempt you, trying to woo you away from the things of God, trying to entice you with the things of this world. And the Lord is the one who will establish you and guard you against his evil schemes.

And so once again, going back to James, submit yourselves, therefore, to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Peter says something similar. First Peter 5, 6. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Same kinds of suffering, like suffering in temptation, that the world would entice you, that the devil's schemes trying to pull you away from the things of God and make you fall in love with the stuff of this world, which is going to perish.

So if you cling to this world, you're going to perish with the world. But the Lord is faithful to keep you, to establish you in his truth and guard you against the schemes of the evil one. Paul says in verse four, we have confidence in the Lord about you.

Paul's saying to the Thessalonians, we know that you will not fall away. Those of you who are in Christ Jesus, not because you're great people and you've shown yourself to be mighty in and strong in your belief ability.

That's not what Paul is saying. It's because the Lord is faithful. That's how Paul has confidence in them. We have this confidence in the Lord about you because the Lord is the one who has saved them.

And so he is going to keep them in his perfect peace. We have confidence in the Lord about you that you are doing and will do the things that we command. And so likewise, my brothers and sisters, I have a confidence about you, those of you who are in Christ.

If you are truly in the Lord, you are going to show a confirmation of your faith in that you do the things that Jesus commanded. Jesus said in John 14, 15, if you love me, you will obey my commandments.

And I also read to you from 1st John 2 yesterday, where it says that if we love the Lord, we should walk as Jesus walked. This confirms that the faith that we have comes from God, that it is real and it is genuine.

And all of this is the work of God in our hearts. Again, it's not salvation by a combination of faith and works. That's what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. And that is exactly what the Protestant reformers were rebelling against was a teaching of salvation by faith and works.

It is God who has saved us. And it is the Lord who keeps us to do the things that have been commanded by God for us to do. And then Paul concludes in verse five by saying, may the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

It is the Lord that keeps us steadfast. He has saved us. He is the one who keeps us saved. I think it was Jared C. Wilson made a comment on Twitter just yesterday where he said that any any second, any moment of the day, we would fall away from grace if it was left up to us.

But it is the work of God who has saved us by his grace and keeps us close to him by the active working of his grace upon us every second of every day. Praise the Lord for that. Let us pray. God, I thank you for the salvation we've been given in Christ.

And I pray that as this salvation is real in our hearts and continues to grow in our holiness and our sanctification, keep us steadfast and motivate us to do the things that you have commanded us to do.

We love God and we proclaim it with our lips. I love Jesus. And so if we love God, we will do the things that you have commanded us to do. So convinced by this faith that we have that we are convicted to obey the commands of God who rescued us from our sin and has delivered us into his righteousness.

So let us live lives of righteousness for your name's sake. And we pray this in Jesus name.

Amen. This is when we understand the text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the Web and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

Find a good gospel teaching Christ centered church to worship with this weekend and join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study when we understand the text.