The Doctrine of Salvation (Bad News vs Good News Part 2)

The Gift of Salvation by Grace Through Faith

Okay, the doctrine of salvation this is article 3 section F of the amorous corner church Statement of faith it reads we believe that salvation is the gift of God. Brought to man by grace and received by a person By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our Sin and that's Ephesians 2 8 through 10 John 1 verse 12 Ephesians 1 7 and 1st Peter 1 5.

So go ahead and turn to Ephesians 2. We're gonna look at that again, but this is this is the good news in Ephesians 2 not the bad news. The Greek word Soteria is translated Salvation and it simply means what's the synonym for salvation a synonym for salvation?

If someone is saved you can say it a different way that they are rescued or What redeemed the word I'm thinking of begins with a D you are Delivered right. So salvation simply means to be delivered and you Delivered that presupposes.

There's something you need to be delivered from right? So We're in a state of danger and you're rescued you are brought to a place of safety. We are saved now. Here's the interesting thing that some people struggle with about salvation in one sense.

We are saved by God from God. You say well, we're saved from sin and we're saved from its penalty. Right that that's true but the thing we want to avoid is The place that was prepared for the devil and his angels at the great again the great white throne.

That's what you want to be delivered from so It's God on the throne at the judgment. So we are saved by God from God. So we have God's salvation that he offers. The other option is God's God's wrath and again if you remove that which more and more churches are doing The good news, it doesn't make sense without that.

What do you save from if there's nothing bad here to be so the two go hand in hand. All right. So let's look at Ephesians 2 8 and 9. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast. I Think the most simple definition of the gospel is found in the first few verses of 1st Corinthians 15. That Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

According to the scriptures he was buried and on the third day he rose again according to the scriptures. That's the the place that it's most simply defined that that is the gospel but to have that apply for us to Receive the benefits of that we must believe right?

We must have faith. So the shorthand is Sola Fide. If you want to boil the gospel down to one phrase Sola Fide that came out of the Protestant Reformation. What does Sola Fide mean? Right you think of so low right what does so low mean.

Right singular one so Sola one. Basically Fide is faith. So it's faith alone. Sola Fide is faith alone. That's the gospel salvation by faith alone in the first century. The Apostle Paul had to deal with the false teachers the Judaizers.

We've been talking about that going through the book of Galatians. What were the Judaizers teaching? They were teaching the law that salvation comes through the law that yeah, you need to have faith. They would affirm that but you're saved by faith and works.

You're saved by faith and Keeping the law of Moses and This was the issue of the Protestant Reformation, although one could argue that the Reformation also was about Political power and who was going to be in charge.

I mean that that element was there as well. But the the doctrinal Element that really Drove the Protestant Reformation was this issue of the gospel salvation by faith alone. Who are the Protestants contending against?

Right the Roman Catholic Church, which kind of ruled the the Holy Roman Empire as it was called. And the Catholic Church basically taught what the Judaizers taught that salvation is by Faith salvation is by faith plus works the Protestants said no, it's it's grace alone.

It's faith alone. It's in Christ alone. Not the church not the sacraments not your good works. But where do good works? Fit in. Like we all know good works. I mean, they're called good work. They're good, right?

Faith Alone and the Place of Good Works

It's Because of faith and James does address it. Yes, and even this passage we just read Ephesians 2 8 and 9. What about verse 10? I'm surprised nobody raised their hand. Hey, what about verse 10? Well, let's keep reading verse 10 of Ephesians 2 says for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for Good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

So according to Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 We were saved on two good works. We're not saved by good works. We are saved on two good works. All right, so we were not saved by works. We are saved on two good works and our good works number one glorify God.

Number two, they're profitable to men and number three they serve as the evidence of our Salvation. Now, let's turn to James chapter 2 because if somebody says I Have faith in Jesus. But there's no good works at all.

They've never been baptized. They're not part of a local church there. They don't know the Bible from you know, any other book. They don't like, you know, on what basis are you making this claim, right?

At the same time we say but going to church doesn't save you being baptized doesn't save you doing good things doesn't save you. That's all true. But those are things saved people do right. Okay. Does anyone want to challenge that?

Is that not true? Does everyone agree with that? Yes. Okay. I Had a funeral here Several years ago and that every funeral I always present the gospel. Always so there is a funeral where there is a man in attendance who was a Roman Catholic and he wasn't.

Maybe what we might think of as a typical and I don't mean this. You know in a derogatory way, but it's because this can happen to evangelicals too but You know a lot of Roman Catholics, they'll say they're Roman Catholic, but they're not practicing.

Like they don't really know a whole lot about the faith. They don't really go to mass or anything. But this guy seemed to be devout in his Catholicism so I preached the gospel in the in the message and he came up to me afterwards.

He was polite and I wish I could have talked to him a little longer. But he said he said, you know what you what you said talking to me. He said that that wasn't true. You're not saved by faith he said you're saved by works.

James says you're saved by works. Now I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that what he meant was you're saved by faith plus works. That's not even what he said. He said you're saved by works. Well, is that what James said?

Well, we're gonna. We're gonna look at that. But I think this is what most people in the world believe most people who call themselves Christians. I Think agree with him far more than they would agree with me or agree with us most people believe that.

You know people that believe that there is a place called heaven and hell. Most people believe that you're going to heaven based on well, he's a good guy. There is a good person, you know, okay. Yes, I know she's not a Christian, but she's so nice, you know I just can't imagine someone going to hell because they don't believe in in Jesus, you know, this is prevalent, right?

Now I I get why they think that. Question is what does the Bible teach? All right. So what does the Bible teach? Let's look at James chapter 2 starting in verse 18. James chapter 2. Verse 18. This chapter has confused some.

James writes, but someone will say You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith. Without your works and I will show you my faith by my works. Notice. This person does have faith too, right? You believe that there is one God.

You do well even the demons believe and tremble. Now we would agree with this that if somebody claims that they have faith and they say they're a Christian. But you know, there's no there's no works or real evidence of their of their Christianity.

That that cast doubt on their profession. What's that expression. I just heard this in the past year or two if somebody tried to convict you in a court of law of Being a Christian that's the charge against you and hopefully we never get there.

But if somebody was trying to charge you with the crime of being a Christian. Could they convict you in a court of law would there be evidence? Could they come up with evidence to convict you that you are indeed a Christian.

So an empty profession of faith. Doesn't save anybody. I Think this is what James is getting at, you know, you say you believe. But if there's nothing there, it's just empty words that kind of faith doesn't save Anyone.

This is the error of what I would call cheap grace. And grace isn't cheap. It's actually free. But even that term free grace. If you hear it's kind of a buzz term for something even that we wouldn't believe or easy Believism you've heard of that.

This is somebody who says they believe but there's nothing really to back it up. What does James say you believe there is one God? Well That's good. Even the demons believe that that just qualifies you that qualifies you for being a demon.

Because even the demons believe that there's one God. The demons believe that Jesus died on the cross, right? The demons know it believe that Jesus rose from the dead that he's the Son of God. Satan knows the Bible far better than any of us.

Now he'll twist the Bible, but they believe it now, but even when we use that term believe. We're not saying well, I believe it up here. It means We love the Lord. We're trusting in the Lord Satan. The demons don't do that.

So we have to even define what we mean by believe. Is this all making sense, right? Okay, any any questions or anything? So far. No, okay. Let's continue. Look at James 2 verse 20. But do you want to know Oh foolish man that faith without works is what Is dead or it's useless.

And we would say amen to that. Look at verse 21 was not Abraham our father justified by works When he offered Isaac his son on the altar. Now in Romans 4 Paul says that Abraham was justified by faith.

But James 2 James is saying Abraham was justified by works. That's the supposed contradiction. It's not a contradiction. It's We're gonna explain that in a moment continuing on. Do you see that faith was working together with his works?

That's a little hint and by works faith was made perfect and the scripture was fulfilled which says Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God.

You see them that a man is justified by what? Works and not by faith only. So during the Reformation the Roman Catholic Church took this verse and Just look at what this says and they just hammered away at this verse so much so that the the great Protestant reformer Martin Luther for a time he even doubted Whether or not the book of James was part of the Bible.

There was a point in Luther's Ministry that he did not even consider James part of the canon now. That's unfortunate and he later got right on that he called it an epistle of straw because that's just what any time he preached or taught or Probably went from city to city that this is what people would throw at him again and again and again, I think he Got pretty sick of that and it led him to that error.

But what about this because yeah Paul in Romans 4 seems to be saying one thing That a person is justified by faith and then James Says well, no not faith only man is justified by works all right, so this is a Little bit of a problem not really because there's there's a pretty simple solution to it.

You have the solution or Okay Okay.

Abraham, James, and Paul on Justification

The whole of scripture. Isaiah 646 Says all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. So if you're gonna use your good works, yeah, you might do good works. Oh, yeah, I went Christmas caroling. There's some evidence that I'm a Christian if you're going to bring all those kind of things to the Lord.

You're wearing filthy rags where you need to be wearing the wedding. Provides yeah, so our works there all they are is just their evidence, it's like. What's evidence a photograph of a dead body? There's some evidence.

There's lots of lots of evidence. It's not.

Yeah. Yeah, the diet and diagnostic question to find out. You know where a person's coming from. You asked them if you were to die today stand before God and God were to ask you. Why should I allow you into my heaven?

What does the person say if they say well, but look at all the good things the Lord Lord heaven. I prophesied in your name and done all these things in your name depart from me. I never knew you. That's the wrong answer.

Look at me and all the things I've done. The right answer is I Placed my faith in your son. I believed in in Jesus is atoning work on the cross. I had faith in your son. You said that's how I'm saved.

That's that's the right answer. That's how a person is saved by faith not by what you do. Okay, so what's the what's the solution to this supposed problem? Between James and Paul. Well in Romans chapter 4 the Apostle Paul He appeals to Abraham that Abraham was justified by faith.

Paul here's the key. Paul references Genesis 15. God made the promise. Look up at the skies. Look up at the sky and count the stars if you're able to number them. So shall your descendants be. And it says Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

So Abraham was justified by faith. He was saved right there in Genesis 15. What James is referencing is Genesis 22 a couple decades later when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son on the altar. That was the evidence that His faith was real.

The two were working together and You know Paul wrote Romans for one reason. James was writing for a completely different reason. Paul wrote Romans to present the gospel and how to be saved. James was writing to teach on how saved people are to live.

So they were addressing two different points in time two different issues. You might even say that Paul was talking about your justification before God. James was talking about your justification before men.

But what you're displaying in your in your walk with the Lord, so any. I think it's pretty simple. Okay. All right. We have a couple minutes left. Does that make sense to everybody. Any Questions or comments?

Genesis 15. And then and then when he goes on and talks about it at length I mean he gives his gives a whole chapter on Abraham and the difference between What we are and what Abraham and the Judaizers were doing.

Yeah, and you take Paul and Romans Paul and Galatians the Gospel of John just all these verses. Probably a hundred and something verses that you're saved by faith. You're saved by believing and then you have this one verse in James.

This seems to say it's by works. Even though that's not really what it's saying. Well, if you ever come across that you go with the hundred and twenty-five clear verses and you figure I'm just not understanding this one verse Larry.

That Section where Abraham took Isaac to offer him on the altar and I mean his faith. You mean he believed God because he told the servants that went with him. You know, you guys stay here the lad and I we're gonna go yonder.

We're gonna worship and we'll come back. Yeah, so he knew that. He was coming back with Isaac Alive. Before they before he even got to the.

Altar and there were people there that were witnessing all of this right in Genesis 15. You get the idea. He was alone. It was just him his justification before God. And yeah, well you're talking about he has his servants there.

This is being seen by other people. You got your hand up. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, you know I I can understand. I don't know if this is what you're trying to say, but works because you're always preaching against Salvation by works it can almost sound like works are a bad thing.

It's not true. But I so I think I get what you're saying. You had your hand up.

As a result of your faith. Right. Rather than going out and saying well, yeah, I believe see what I did. It's what kind of faith that you have.

What is a living faith as opposed to a dead faith? Second one they're profitable to men. They're glorifying to God. They Serve as the evidence of our salvation. Yes. All right, so we don't have time. You heard the bell rings.

So the following verses you could just look up on your own if you need a copy of the doctrinal statement. I can certainly get you one, but I'll just close with this. A wise man once said that faith alone saves.

But the faith that saves is not alone. There will be Works or there will be fruit.