Our Most Precious Faith
Salvation: Man’s Responsibility
Let’s pray. Lord, we come before You this morning as You alone are God and all that we have comes from Your hand. We thank You for the blessing of church life and the wonderful joy of the saints. Help us now as we tackle a most difficult topic—the salvation of Your people. So, that we might understand better this excellent gift to mankind. For we ask these things in the name of our Saviour, amen. Our next statement in “Our Most Precious Faith” series is on salvation:
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins through the shedding of His blood on the cross. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone and not on the basis of human merit. Only those who repent and trust Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord are born again and have eternal life (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9). We also believe that those who are truly born again have been elected by God and will persevere in their faith to the end (John 10:27-29; Acts 4:12; 13:48; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:1-2).
This statement itself is nicely divided, so, this is how I will tackle it. Week #1 this Sunday: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins through the shedding of His blood on the cross. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone and not on the basis of human merit. Only those who repent and trust Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord are born again and have eternal life. And then week #2 next Sunday: We also believe that those who are truly born again have been elected by God and will persevere in their faith to the end. At our men’s study last Thursday, we were studying Ephesians 2:1-10, where Paul was highlighting God’s sovereign purposes in His calling us to salvation, how we were dead and were made alive and given the gift of faith and life. And Tom Morrison made this wonderful observation, that the passage was not a manual of how to be saved, but that it was a truth statement of actually what happened to us at salvation. So, simply put, this week will be what the Bible teaches on how to be saved; and next week will be what the Bible teaches of what actually happened. And if that does not make any sense to you, I trust it will be after next Sunday.
If we want to put it into theological terms: this week will be on man’s responsibility; and next week will be God’s sovereign election in salvation. And really the one question I wish to consider over these two weeks is, “How can God elect for salvation, and at the same time man is responsible for his decision?” Now I know in a room this size there are various views. Some may be from a long study and many years of study to land where you are today. Some may be where you land because of what you were taught or because of what church you attended. And some of you were simply told that this is the way it is and have not done a whole lot with it since. I suppose we could ask the question, “why does it matter?”, especially considering that it can be a divisive issue. But there are two reasons why I believe it does matter. One, the Bible speaks about it, therefore, if God chose to interweave this doctrine throughout Scripture and He does, He certainly must have the intent that we needed to know about it, and we would have to be naïve to ignore the issue in the Bible. Two, I believe a better understanding of both these issues—man’s responsibility and God’s sovereign election—gives us a higher view of God and His wonderful plan that He has set in place.
And we must understand that this is not a doctrine that we will completely get our minds around, as most theologians over the years have been content to believe what the Bible teaches without having to completely grasp the full truth. In other words, if you believe that I am going to make it simple for you over these next two weeks, I am not. My goal is to help us know what the Bible says and therefore know the truth. This is not unusual in the Bible. We have studied the Trinity of God, that God is One but is three Persons. We have studied both the deity and humanity of Christ, that he is truly God and truly human. These are truths that we accept without being about to comprehend. I can never get straight in my head that God never had a beginning. It completely boggles my mind, yet I would never question its truth as this is what the Bible teaches. The difference, however, with the doctrine of man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty is that it has a greater effect on our emotions and our human view of fairness, that has a bearing on our thinking though theology. Charles Spurgeon said:
“That God predestines, and that man is responsible, are two things that few can see. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory; but they are not. It is just the fault of our weak judgment. Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other … These two truths, I do not believe, can ever be welded into one upon any human anvil, but one they shall be in eternity.”
Charles Spurgeon, hand in Hand, 181
John MacArthur gives a similar statement:
“You cannot understand these two things and how they harmonize in the mind of God. You never will understand them in this life. They are unsearchable … They can’t be harmonized in the human mind. But realize this, you are a puny mind and so am I, and collectively we are puny compared to the infinite, vast, limitless mind of God. All I can tell you is that in the Word of God, these truths run parallel. And the answer is to believe them both with all your heart. And the one, divine sovereignty, will inform your worship and the other, human responsibility, will motivate you.”
John MacArthur, “Twin Truths: God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Responsibility” Feb’17/13
These statements give us the proper perspective, as I believe the great danger in this argument is that some would take one side or the other of these two truths. Or others would take a blended view of these two truths, man’s responsibility and God’s sovereign election, yet this is a grave error. In other words, I do not want to take a soft view on man’s responsibility, because the Bible teaches it; nor do I want to take a soft view on God’s sovereignty, because the Bible teaches it. Or sort of believe that man is somewhat responsible and sort of believe that God is somewhat sovereign in His determined purposes. But I want to believe them both deeply within my heart. So, from the get-go I wish to make this statement:
“God chose those for salvation before the foundation of the world. His sovereign choice was not based upon a decision that you and I would make but was based upon God’s own determined purpose and glory. Yet at the same time, man is absolutely responsible for his actions and decisions and therefore man is accountable before God for his choices and for his rejection of God.”
I would also say the greatest argument for man’s responsibility within God’s sovereign election is that man is judged by God for his rejection of God. Therefore, man must be responsible, for how could God judge him. So, before we jump into this topic of God’s offer of salvation and what should be the response of man, which is where we are going this morning. I wish to give you a couple of quotes from Wayne Grudem that have been helpful to me over the years in trying to comprehend what the Bible is teaching here. Though Grudem acknowledges that our choices are not absolutely free, he said it does not mean our decision to receive Christ is robotic or forced upon us or a matter of fate, but that it was something that we desired to do. As I read this, think deeply about what he says here, Gruden writes:
“God can work sovereignly through our desires so that He guarantees that our choices come about as He has ordained, but this can still be understood as a real choice because God has created us and He ordains that such a choice is real. In short, we may say that God causes us to choose Christ voluntarily. The mistaken assumption underlying this objection is that a choice must be absolutely free (that is, not in any way caused by God) in order for it to be a genuine human choice.”
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology 680
And then Grudem goes on to explain that if God chooses to make us in a certain way and says that our choices are voluntary and genuine, then we must agree that they are. He says that God is the One who determines what is real and genuine in the universe. Grudem states:
“By contrast, we might ask where Scripture ever says that our choices have to be free from God’s influence or control in order to be real or genuine choices. It does not seem that Scripture ever speaks this way.”
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology 681
Therefore, it is clear in the Bible that God presents the gospel, His offer of salvation, where the sinner must respond to it in order to be saved, that whosoever will believe that free offer will be saved. So, what is the offer of salvation? What does our statement say? We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins through the shedding of His blood on the cross. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone and not on the basis of human merit. Only those who repent and trust Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord are born again and have eternal life. Our statement is clear that we must respond to the message of salvation by believing in the shed blood of Christ; understanding that our salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from works; and knowing that repentance and trust in Christ as Saviour and Lord is the only means of salvation. Now when we look at such words as believing and understanding and knowing, they are “action” words, in other words, they are not merely intellectual words without actions or heart or passion. The Apostle James makes this very clear:
“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
James 2:19 (LSB)
And what James is saying here is that belief in the way it is used in the Bible includes our whole being. So, as we look at each of these statements, we need to understand that these are truths that have a connection with how we act and how we live, what we think, and what we are passionate about, as they cannot be fact only statements. So, #1 statement:
BELIEVING IN THE SHED BLOOD AND DEATH OF CHRIST
The unity of the Bible is tremendous, as this truth becomes apparent from the opening chapters way back in Genesis. For when Adam and Eve sinned, the requirement for their forgiveness was the blood of an animal, as when Adam and Eve sinned, they were condemned to die. And realize that before sin, nothing died, there was no such thing as death. For death came into the world through one man, Adam. So, because they sinned, the first death that should have occurred in the history of the world should have been Adam and Eve, but God killed an animal, as an animal became the substitute which would foretell of the ultimate Substitute for sin which was in Christ.
The writer of Hebrews said that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness,” yet he also taught that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” In other words, the offerings and sacrifices that the people of Israel would bring before God, were only ritual acts that looked ahead to what Christ would ultimately do for the sinner. And whether the Israelite knew it or not, his faith as he brought his sacrifice covered his sin temporarily. But it was ultimately the death of Christ that provided for him forgiveness. The writer of Hebrews said that a better sacrifice was needed, and the better sacrifice was Christ, the perfect Lamb. And the key focus of the sacrifice was the blood, and therefore, it is the blood of Christ that provides the forgiveness. Paul taught in the book of Acts that Jesus purchased the church with His own blood. Paul taught the Colossians that Christ made peace through the blood of His cross. Paul to the Ephesians:
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions, according to the riches of His grace.”
Ephesians 1:7 (LSB)
There is a hymn which says:
“I stand redeemed By the blood of Jesus.
The price is paid My debt is gone.
The chains that bound me No longer hold me.
Because of Calv’ry I stand redeemed.”
But there are many older hymns, aren’t there? Redeemed, Redeemed, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Are you washed in the blood, in the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb. Alas and did my Saviour bleed. There to my heart was the blood applied. Sin had left a crimson stain. In that old, rugged cross, stained with blood so divine. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins. There is power in the blood. I praise Him for the cleansing blood … what a wonderful Saviour. All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them through his blood. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
And the focus on the blood is not only because of the blood itself, but it is also a belief that not only did Jesus shed His blood, but that he died for sinners. Many men and women have died. Many have died as martyrs for their faith and witness for Christ. But no one else died for sinners and no one died in their place and took upon themselves the eternal punishment that was due because of their sin. And becoming a Christian and being saved from eternal hell means that I must believe that Jesus gave His life and shed His blood on my behalf, not just in the actual fact, but that it becomes a personal belief—a certain truth. Believing in the shed blood and the death of Christ is probably the cornerstone of our Christianity. The apostle Paul made this statement (1 Cor 15) “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins.” Believing in the shed blood and death of Christ. Secondly:
UNDERSTANDING THAT OUR SALVATION IS BY GRACE ALONE, BY FAITH ALONE, IN CHRIST ALONE, APART FROM WORKS
This statement asserts three things as paramount to our salvation, grace, faith, and Christ. Here we see the emphasis on the grace alone and faith alone. And that phrase—and this is not of yourselves—reemphasizes that it is by grace we get the part of the grace alone, faith alone, in Christ alone. That is all over the Scriptures. Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Titus 3:5, says that God saved us “according to His mercy.” Romans 3:24, “being justified as a gift by His grace.” Philippians 3:9, salvation “which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith.” Second Timothy 1:9, God “has saved us and called us with a holy calling, according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” So, we understand this: that our salvation was something that was brought about and provided by God … therefore it is completely by the grace of God; it is a salvation that must be believed by faith; and it must be focused completely on Christ, as it was provided by His death.
This is why in the Bible salvation is often referred to as a gift of God. It is like someone giving us an undeserved gift. Something that they purchased on their own, they earned it and they freely gave to us. And when we receive such an earthly gift—something undeserved—we could say that it was by grace given to us, and we would know who gave it to us, as the giver is the person alone who provided it for us. And the terms grace alone, faith alone, and Christ alone, also eliminate other things that we might want to add to this. As the term grace alone eliminates us adding to this gift, by the fact that I did not wrap the present, I did nothing to provide for it. In fact, I had absolutely no means of acquiring this gift. And the term by faith alone means that one, it must be believed; but also, two, there is no other requirement to receive it. In other words, this grace offered to me is accepted by me by faith, therefore it cannot be earned. And the term in Christ alone means that it is provided by no one else. In fact, there is no other name given under heaven whereby we can be saved. Peter said there is salvation in no one else.
This eliminates every other religion, every other person who claims to offer salvation. For salvation from sin for eternity must be believed, by faith; it must be received as a gift; and it must come through Christ. So, if the question was asked about the Christian, “Is he or she tolerant or accepting of anything else in the areas of grace, faith, and Christ?” The answer is “no, absolutely not, for we must die for such truth.” Understanding that our salvation is by grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from works.
And then our statement says that all of this is “apart from works.” Where does this come from? Well, it is all over the Scriptures as well. In the Ephesians passage when it is speaking of our salvation it adds, “not of works so that no one may boast.” In the Titus passage, “He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness.” Romans 11:6, “But if it is by grace, it is no longer of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” In other words, if it is earned by works, it is no longer underserved. Philippians 3:9, “that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own which is from the Law,” Second Timothy 1:9, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works.” The Bible makes it very clear that salvation is apart from works, and we cannot steal anything from Christ. Therefore, this is a truth that we cannot overemphasize enough. This is why in Galatians, the Apostle Paul in the opening chapter warns about a different gospel, as he goes on to speak against the Judaizers who wanted to add requirements, and standards, and ceremonies, of the Old Covenant as requirements for salvation. This is why Paul wrote:
“[K]nowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
Galatians 2:16 (LSB)
And later he wrote:
“For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to do them.’ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:10-11 (LSB)
Those who try to keep the law are under a curse, as the law has been fulfilled by Christ and we have received the righteousness of Christ. Therefore, we cannot duplicate that, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. And we who now serve Christ, we follow Him, and we strive to be obedient to Him. And we might ask, what then is the purpose of the law for us today? Well Paul wrote that, “Do we then abolish the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” We do not abolish the law, for it does have a great purpose. Paul wrote:
“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:19-20 (LSB)
The law has a condemning function. First, the law reveals our sin and therefore is the vehicle which can bring us to Christ. Secondly, the law was fulfilled by Christ and His righteousness now becomes our righteousness. And thirdly, even the Old Testament saint was declared righteous not by obedience to the law but through faith. Important to know that our salvation is not conditional upon our obedience to the law. Our salvation is based upon faith alone, apart from works. Yet our obedience to Christ is a fruit of our faith in Christ, and therefore, our obedience to Christ is an assurance of a true faith. The importance of our understanding that our salvation is by grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from works. Finally:
KNOWING THAT SALVATION MEANS REPENTANCE AND TRUST IN CHRIST AS BOTH SAVIOUR AND LORD
That is likely the area that is least taught and least understood when it comes to salvation. The word “repentance” is not just another word for believe. As repentance is not just turning over a new leaf or trying harder. It is not making changes in my life before I now believe. John MacArthur said, “Repentance is a command to understand one’s sinfulness and hate it, and so to turn one’s back on sin and flee to Christ, embracing Him with wholehearted devotion.” Gerhardus Vos wrote that repentance is a sorrow over past sin, it is a reversal of past actions, and it is a forsaking of one’s goals in life and giving them over in submission to the goals of Christ. And this is no longer governed by a law or outward command but is now governed by the entire man under Christ, his intellect, his will, and his affections by the work of the Spirit. And this is tremendously important when understanding about repentance, these 3 areas, intellect, will, and affections.
In other words, the true repentant person is saying in regard to his intellect, I want to know all I can about God, all about His nature, His Word, His desire for me. The repentant person is saying in regard to his will, I want to redirect my life. That the desires of Christ now become my desires. That I realize the foolishness of living without Christ. Therefore, I want to invest my resources, gifts, talents, money, energies into the mission of Christ. And the repentant person is saying in regard to affections, I love Jesus Christ more than life, He is most precious to me. Jesus was speaking to a group of people who were following Him, and He wished to communicate to them of the cost of discipleship. And so, Jesus shared with them that our love for Christ must be greater than even our love for our own Mom and Dad. In other words, in comparison to our love for Christ He said we would hate our father and mother and even our own lives. Or He said, you cannot be one of the super Christians. No, He actually said, you cannot be one of my disciples. He also said, you must carry your own cross and you must come after Me. D. A. Carson notes here that the Christian must deny himself, in other words, abandon his own ambitions and goals.
And so, Jesus, instead of trying to twist their arm into coming to Him and declaring themselves to be Christians, He actually warned them of coming without a true heart of repentance and without a true desire to follow Christ as Lord. He said things like, if someone is going to build a house, what person does not sit down first and count the cost of such a decision. And so, He said that the true follower must be willing to give up all his possessions, in other words, he must be willing to give it all to Jesus, and therefore, he must count the cost of coming to Christ first. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said that in repentance the Christian must renounce the world whatever the cost, renounce the world’s thinking, and the world’s pleasures. And he said that repentance is not just a one-time act, but it becomes a lifestyle over the course of a lifetime. Yet so many invitations are given to come to Christ, without the need to surrender their lives to Him, without the need to repent of sin, and without the need to submit to His Lordship and follow Him. This too is a different gospel. And this is why James taught that “faith without works is dead.” Not works that save but works that become the fruit of true salvation. For this is not faith, to just consent to a list of facts about Jesus with little desire to serve Him as Lord. James said this is a word-only faith and is no better than what the demons believe.
So, let me try to conclude this morning. Faith is not a human work; it is a gift from God. As we will learn next week that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him. But man’s responsibility to believe the message of the gospel. That Christ shed His blood on our behalf and that He died for our sin. That this is a gift from God by grace. And this gift is given to those who believe by faith. And that this provision for us is made only by Christ. And part of that faith means that we would repent of our sin, and trust in Christ as both our Saviour from sin, and that He becomes our Lord, that we would desire to obey Him.
If you do not know Christ as your Saviour and Lord this morning, I would invite you to count the cost and respond in faith to serve Christ. Or if your understanding of salvation is something other than what the Bible teaches—the error of a different gospel—I would invite you to sit down with an elder or someone that knows the Word of God and make, as Peter said, make your calling and election sure. Let’s pray. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.” Lord, we praise you for Your gift to mankind, giving Your Son to redeem sinners. A truth statement that must be believed by faith with every fibre of our being. And that faith becomes evident through the work of Your Spirit, as we are being conformed into the image of Christ. As Paul taught the Philippians to always obey, and to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And all God’s people said, amen.