|
If
you’d open up to I Corinthians Chapter 1, that is where we are going to
begin this morning. As usual with
the sermons, we are going to be looking at quite a few different passages, and
I’m going to try to fit quite a bit into the lesson this morning.
Of course, there are always outlines of the lessons available.
If you would like a copy of the outline, please just let me know — or
one of the other members here. If
you’d like a copy of the sermon on tape, we do tape the sermons, and so you
can have a copy of that in case you don’t get some of the passages that we
refer to today.
But
in I Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 10, Paul, amongst all the difficulties that the
church at Corinth was facing — we know there were some difficulties, some
certain situations, that Paul deals with in his first letter to the Corinthians
— I think it is important to note that, first and foremost, he dealt with the
topic of unity.
“(I
Corinthians 1:10) Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among
you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment.”
Notice
that. “I beseech you”; that
means “earnestly beg of you.” “By the name of the Lord Jesus”; that means “according
to His authority.” “That ye all
speak the same thing.” “That
there be no divisions.” “That
ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
That phrase “in the same mind and in the same judgment” carries with
it the idea of being together in understanding and of the same opinion.
But we can certainly see that that is not the case in today’s society.
Instead, there are a multitude of different teachings in the religious
world today. We simply, today, are
not speaking the same thing. We are
not perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
But instead, we find a multitude of different topics, with much variety
in the teachings upon those subjects. As
a matter of fact, with just about any subject that comes from the scriptures,
you can find a variety of teachings regarding it, and within those teachings, we
find some that contradict. Not only
do they differ a little bit, but contradict one another.
And
so is the case with the steps, or the plan, of salvation, the steps that we must
take, or the response that we must have, in terms of the plan of salvation in
order to receive God’s grace and His mercy and His forgiveness.
There are many in the religious world that each the ideas of salvation by
faith only. As a matter of fact,
when Amy was younger, she was taught salvation by faith only, and over in the
pew, I have the Bible laying there that she used when she was taught that. And if you open the back cover of that Bible, it will give
the information regarding the steps to salvation.
It will refer, first, to Romans Chapter 3 verse 23, which is accurate:
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
It will then refer to Romans Chapter 6 verse 23, that the wages of sin is
death, and that is the “wages of sin,” talking about our spiritual death,
everlasting separation from God. It
will then refer to the idea that we can be saved, and that is true.
“(John
3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
And
of course, in the way they teach that, a great amount of emphasis is placed on
that word “believeth.” It will
also refer to I John Chapter 1 verse 9, which actually isn’t
the correct use of that particular verse. In
I John Chapter 1, John is writing to Christians, and he writes in that
particular passage that, yes, there are times that we must confess our faults
and pray to God, repenting of those sins and asking for His forgiveness.
But actually, that is written to Christians.
But of course, in the steps of salvation, for those who have not become a
Christian, in order to become a Christian, yes, we must confess our faith in
Christ Jesus and we must repent of our sins.
And then that particular passage, what is written in the back of her
Bible refers to Ephesians Chapter 2 verses 8 and 9.
“(Ephesians
2:8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God:
“(9)
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
And
so, by grace, we are saved.
Usually,
those instructions are taught along these lines.
If you believe in Jesus as the Son of God, if you will confess that
belief, if you will repent of your sins — and normally, there is a step added
that says, And if you say the sinner’s prayer and accept Jesus into your heart as
Lord and Savior, then you will be saved.
Of course, I cannot refer to a passage to point out the “sinner’s
prayer,” because it just simply is not in the scriptures; it is manmade.
Now, it has good intentions, and even the wording of some of those
prayers I’ve heard is pretty well done, but again, it comes from mankind, not
from the scriptures.
There
are some who will then add baptism to the equation, by saying that you are
baptized — not in order to be saved, but separate and apart from salvation —
you are baptized as an outward showing of inner grace.
In other words, they say that you are saved upon the steps of confessing,
believing, repenting, and saying the sinner’s prayer.
At that point, they say your sins are removed, you are saved, and then
you are baptized to outwardly show that you have been saved.
Or some will teach baptism in order to be a member of a particular
church, particular denomination.
Now,
along in this type of teaching, we’ll find, usually, references to some other
passages as well. Of course, I
won’t be able to refer to all of them in today’s lesson, but I do want to
show you a few. First of all,
Romans Chapter 10 verse 9.
“(Romans
10:9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved.
“(10)
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.”
Another
passage that sometimes is referred to is Romans Chapter 3 verse 21.
“(Romans
3:21) But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets;
“(22)
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”
If
you go to Romans Chapter 5 verse 1,
“(Romans
5:1) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
If
you turn back to Romans Chapter 10 verse 13 — just a moment ago, we
looked at verses 9 and 10 — but in verse 13, we’re told,
“(Romans
10:13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Oftentimes,
there’s reference made to the Philippian jailer in the book of Acts, Acts
Chapter 16. Remember, Paul and
Silas are in prison. They’re in
the jail. They are singing and
praying. There is an earthquake.
The prison doors are open. The
jailer, who was outside asleep, awakes, assumes that the prisoners have escaped;
knowing that he is responsible for them, he is going to take his own life, fall
upon his sword. But Paul cries out
and stops him. Then he comes in
and, in verse 29, “then he fell before them.”
In verse 30,
“(Acts
16:30) And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
“(31)
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and
thy house.”
So
we see that these usually are the passages that are used — and we could bring
in some more — with the idea, saying that a person can be saved with belief or
faith only.
For
the purpose of the lesson this morning, I want to take a look at these
particular passages, and I want to ask the question,
“Is it true? Is it possible that,
yes, can a person be saved; or no, a person cannot be saved, by faith only,
belief only?” And then what
we’re going to do — and I believe this is a very important study — we’re
going to consider what the scriptures reveal about belief, and therefore, the
title of this lesson is “Biblical Belief.”
Because if you’ll remember right, just two weeks ago the last time I
was here prior to going to Granby for the gospel meeting, in the Sunday lesson,
I presented a lesson in which I said we cannot separate baptism and salvation;
we cannot separate the two. We can
obviously see, then, that there are two different teachings represented:
one says, you can be saved by faith only; and then in the lesson two
weeks ago, we cannot exclude baptism from salvation. A person must be baptized in water for the remission of sins,
into Christ Jesus, in order to be saved. These
two teachings contradict one another.
We
know the scriptures do not contradict, so we must turn into the scriptures and
see what it is that the scriptures truly teach.
In all things, let’s allow the scriptures to be our guide.
Because I am confident, with the lesson presented two weeks ago and with
the scriptures that were used to support the points made, that baptism is
necessary for salvation. But
someone may ask, then, “But how can you say that when you just read the verses
that you did to open up this particular lesson?
Because there are passages that say, ‘Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Paul
told the Philippian jailer to “believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be
saved.” So how can you say that
baptism is necessary?” Well, it all goes back to Biblical belief.
Whenever
we study a particular passage, or passages, it is vitally important that we
understand the context in which they appear so that we can know what it being
dealt with in the topic matter, or the subject matter.
First of all, let’s address a couple of passages found in the book of
Romans, Romans Chapter 3 verse 21.
It says,
“(Romans
3:21) But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested” — or
revealed — “being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
“(22)
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”
Well,
what is the context here? What is Paul dealing with?
Well, we find, in Romans Chapter 3, that Paul is dealing with topic
of the works or deeds of the law. That
is so important for us to understand: he is dealing with works or deeds of the
law of Moses, and he is pointing out the Jews that they are no longer, or they
are not, justified by the works, or the deeds, of the law.
That was never the intention of the system of the law.
Again, it was temporary, leading to the gospel of Christ.
There were those in the early stages of the church, the Jews, who were
hesitant to turn away from the law, to leave it behind, not understanding that
it was dead. And so they were
trying to continue to do some of the works or the deeds of the law, even under
the system of New Testament Christianity. We’re
going to look here in a moment in the book of Galatians Chapter 3.
We find that the context is similar there.
There were Jews who were trying to keep the law, or parts of the law, and
even trying to bind them upon New Testament Christians.
So Paul was pointing out here that we are not justified by the works or
the deeds of the law. Therefore,
the Jews were to leave that law behind and turn to the system of faith in Christ
Jesus. Notice in verse 20,
“(Romans
3:20) Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Then
we come to verses 21 and 22 that we read. In
verse 23, Paul shows that all are in the same position: all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Then
notice in verse 28,
“(Romans
3:28) Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds
of the law.”
So
see, he’s showing the Jews that they need to respond in faith to Christ Jesus,
not try to maintain the deeds or the works of the law.
This theme continues. Now in
Romans Chapter 4, we find that Paul uses Abraham as an example, and he says
in Romans Chapter 4 verse 3,
“(Romans
4:3) For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto
him for righteousness.”
Abraham
was considered righteous. But he makes the point to the Jews that Abraham wasn’t
considered righteous because of the deeds of the law, because Abraham didn’t
live under the law; Abraham lived before the law.
So he is making the point to the Jews that you can be considered
righteous in the sight of God without the works and the deeds of the law.
Just like Abraham was. That’s
when we come to Romans Chapter 5 verse 1.
“(Romans
5:1) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
Paul
is telling these Jews, You’re not justified by the law, but you’re justified through faith
in Christ Jesus.
Well,
let’s consider this example of Abraham a little further.
Again, Romans Chapter 4 verse 3.
“(Romans
4:3) For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto
him for righteousness.”
Well,
if you turn over to Galatians Chapter 3 — again, Paul dealing with
similar circumstances — as a matter of fact, if you go over to Galatians
Chapter 5 first, talking about those who refuse to turn away from the law,
those who are still trying to bind parts of the law on New Testament Christians,
notice what Paul said regarding them in verse 4.
“(Galatians
5:4) Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by
the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
Now,
then, in Galatians Chapter 3, notice in verse 6,
“(Galatians
3:6) Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.”
The
same reference, we see, as Paul had made back in Romans Chapter 4.
It says, in verse 7,
“(Galatians
3:7) Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children
of Abraham.
“(8)
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through
faith” — again, not through the deeds or the works of the law, but through
faith — “preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all
nations be blessed.”
And
we know, back in Genesis Chapter 12 and repeated in other passages, that
God made promises to Abraham. Included in those promises was that through his seed, all
nations would be blessed. That
would be accomplished through the gospel, through Christ. And so beforehand, the gospel was preached to Abraham when
that promise was made. Now, then,
in verse 9,
“(Galatians
3:9) So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”
So
we see that Abraham believed God. It
was counted unto him for righteousness. And
because of his faith, the promises were made to Abraham, including that through
his seed, all nations would be blessed.
Let’s
keep that in mind as we turn to Genesis Chapter 26.
Here we find that instructions are being given to Isaac.
Of course, Isaac was the son of Abraham, through which those promises
continued. But in Genesis Chapter 26
verse 1,
“(Genesis
26:1) And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in
the days of Abraham....”
So
see, we’re no longer talking about in the days of Abraham, but we’re now
talking regarding Isaac.
“(Genesis
26:1) ...And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
“(2)
And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the
land which I shall tell thee of:
“(3)
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto
thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the
oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father.”
So
reference being made to those promises to Abraham.
Notice the promise given here, verse 4.
“(Genesis
26:4) And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give
unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed.”
So
here’s the repeating of that promise. Again,
the promise that Paul made reference to in Galatians Chapter 3.
Now let’s notice verse 5 of Genesis 26.
Extremely important. “Because....”
Here there is an explanation of why God made those promises to Abraham.
“(Genesis
26:5) Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments,
my statutes, and my laws.”
Paul
wrote to the Romans, Abraham was considered righteous:
Abraham believed, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.
He said the same thing to the Galatians, and he said that it was through
Abraham that these promises were made. Well,
we find God’s instructions to Isaac, saying that those promises were made to
Abraham because Abraham obeyed. You
see, Abraham didn’t have belief only. He didn’t have faith only.
But he had a belief and a faith that led to action, and that action was
obedience to God.
As a
matter of fact, if you go to Hebrews Chapter 11, here we have what is
oftentimes referred to as the “great roll call of faith.”
We have many examples of wonderful and strong faith here in this
particular chapter. And of course,
in Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 6,
“(Hebrews
11:6) But without faith it is impossible to please him” — to please God —
“for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.”
And
of course, in this chapter, we have a couple of examples given regarding
Abraham. First of all, in verse 8.
“(Hebrews
11:8) By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance” — did what? — “obeyed....”
Abraham,
by faith, obeyed God. We must do the same. We
cannot try to stand upon a teaching of “faith only,” but a faith that is
active, a faith that is put into action, a faith that obeys the instructions of
God.
Now,
then, let’s go back to the book of Romans.
Of course, we saw those verses in Romans Chapter 10 a moment ago.
But it is very, very important with the book of Romans that we understand
how Paul describes faith. He starts
the letter to the Romans in the same way that he ends the letter to the Romans.
And notice, in Romans Chapter 1 verse 5 — in the previous
verses, Paul is talking about Christ, the message of the scriptures through the
prophets, how Jesus, in verse 4, is declared to be the Son of God with
power.
“(Romans
1:5) By whom” — by Christ — “we have received grace and apostleship,
for” — for what, Paul? Well, he
tells us — “for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name.”
That’s
how he starts the letter; that’s how he ends his letter.
In Romans Chapter 16 verse 26 — now, in verse 25, we see
again he makes mention of Christ, the gospel, the revealing of the mystery —
he says in verse 26,
“(Romans
16:26) But now is made manifest” — or revealed — “and by the scriptures
of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known
to all nations for the obedience of faith.”
When
Paul writes concerning faith, he writes about an obedient faith.
He started the letter that way; he ended the letter that way.
He book-ended his writing to the Romans with the fact that faith must be
obedient. Why, then, would we ever
try to take something out of the middle of the book of Romans and say that it
supports, teaches, or represents anything else but that?
To take Romans Chapter 10 and try to say that belief can stand upon
its own, faith upon its own, with no action or obedience taken, and that that
can lead us to salvation is to contradict what Paul wrote to the Romans
themselves and to contradict the message for us.
But
there is another passage that I feel is extremely important on this particular
topic, and that can be found in Ephesians Chapter 1 if you’ll turn there,
please. Of course, in this chapter,
Paul focuses on the plan of God, that He had predetermined, that eventually led
to Jesus’ dying upon the cross, by which we can be saved, having our sins
forgiven. He says, in verse 13,
talking to those Christians at Ephesus,
“(Ephesians
1:13) In whom” — in Christ — “ye also trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”
Another
translation — I believe it’s the NIV
— says you are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
But we see here that Paul makes reference to “after that ye
believed.” Now, what is it that
Paul’s talking about here? What
does he mean, that these Ephesians were sealed with the Holy Spirit?
I think we’ll see, if we study out this chapter, that in verse 12
Paul says that “we,” in reference to the Jews, and then when he says
“ye” in verse 13, he is referencing the Gentiles.
What about these Gentiles? After
they believed, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
What’s Paul talking about? Well,
let’s remember some of the events — again, the context of what took place
— back in Acts Chapter 19. The
reason we refer to Acts Chapter 19 is this is in the record of Paul’s
missionary journeys, his third missionary journey when he comes to Ephesus to
abide there. Now, remember, he stayed quite some time in Ephesus and was
able to accomplish some great things in Ephesus and from Ephesus, so that all
those in the area of Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and
Greeks. (Acts 19:10) So that in
verse 20 it says,
“(Acts
19:20) So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”
Those
things were accomplished while Paul was at Ephesus.
But in Acts 19 when he came to Ephesus,
“(Acts
19:1) And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having
passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,
“(2)
He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they
said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost”
— or Holy Spirit—
“(3)
And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto
John's baptism.”
Now,
to understand what is taking place here, we back up to Acts Chapter 18
verses 24 through the end of the chapter, we learn of Apollos.
He was a man who was eloquent and mighty in the scriptures, but he only
knew the baptism of John. Remember,
John the Baptist went out preaching and teaching baptism.
But it was temporary. Until
Jesus would come. And now we know
that when Jesus, in his sacrifice upon the cross, shed his blood for our sins,
now we are to be baptized into Jesus Christ for the remissions of sins, as Peter
said on that day of Pentecost, in Acts Chapter 2 verse 38.
But Apollos didn’t understand that, and so when he was teaching, he was
teaching baptism according to the instructions of John the Baptist.
We
find, in Acts Chapter 18, that Aquila and Priscilla heard Apollos’
teachings, encountered his teachings, and took him unto them and taught him the
word of the Lord more perfectly. We find then that Apollos had been at Ephesus, and so he had
taught there. And these particular
men that Paul is speaking to here had been baptized according to John’s
baptism. So in Acts Chapter 19
verse 4,
“(Acts
19:4) Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance,
saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after
him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
So
Paul said, “Even John said there was going to be another greater than him to
come,” and so then they understood that they were to be baptized into Christ.
And that’s what they did in verse 5.
“(Acts
19:5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Now,
let’s notice a couple of things about this passage.
First of all, when Paul encountered them, he asked them, in verse 2,
“Have you received the Holy Ghost,” or the Holy Spirit, “since ye
believed?” And so here’s our word again, the word “believed.”
They said, “We haven’t even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.”
Notice what Paul then immediately asks.
“Unto what, then, were ye baptized?”
See, Paul linked baptism and the belief.
He said, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since ye believed?” They said, “No.” He
said, “Then, unto what were you baptized?”
See, baptism was included in Paul’s definition of Biblical belief.
Notice then, in verse 4, he told the people that even John himself
said that there was one to come, saying to the people that they should believe
on Him which would come after him. Then
what did they do? In verse 5,
“(Acts
19:5) When they heard this, they were baptized....”
Again,
a direct link between Biblical belief and baptism.
But notice in verse 6, something very important here for our purpose
this morning.
“(Acts
19:6) And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them;
and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”
Not
too long ago we had a series of lessons on the topic of the Holy Spirit and the
miraculous abilities. And of
course, they existed in the early church. They
were either given through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which we see involved
with the apostles in Acts 2 and the household of Cornelius in Acts Chapter 10,
or through the laying on of the apostles hands.
And we see that’s exactly what Paul did here.
The apostles — and the apostles only — had the ability to pass on
those miraculous abilities. So here
in verse 6, when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on
them; they received the gift of the Spirit.
Now,
then, let’s go back to Ephesians Chapter 1 and read again what Paul wrote
to the Ephesians later. Now, Paul is in prison when he’s writing to the Ephesians,
and so this is later, in terms of chronological order. In Ephesians 1 verse 13 again, he says,
“(Ephesians
1:13) In whom” — or in Christ —
“ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise.”
They
received the Holy Spirit. According to Paul here, it was after they believed.
But what was it they did in Acts Chapter 19?
They were baptized. So again
we see a direct link with believing, Biblical belief, and baptism.
Paul said, “Have you received the Holy Spirit?”
They said, “No.” He said, “Then unto what were you baptized?” linking the
two together. Then he taught them
to be baptized into Christ. They
were baptized, and he laid his hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.
Then he later wrote to them that after they believed, they received the
Holy Spirit. Again, after they
believed and were baptized. Paul tied the two together.
We see that he did that to the Romans, ‘cause he later wrote, in Romans
Chapter 6, what baptism represents, that it is the death, the burial, and
the resurrection of Christ (Romans 6:3-4): that as Christ died upon the cross, we are to become dead to
sin; as Christ was buried in the tomb, we are to be buried in the waters of
baptism; as Christ rose to walk again, we are to rise to walk in newness of
life. Paul taught baptism to the
Romans. He did not teach faith
only. We see that Paul tied baptism
and Biblical belief together to the Ephesians, when he first arrived and when he
later wrote to them. Why would we
ever try to separate the two? Paul
put them together; we need to do the same.
Now,
then, if you turn to James Chapter 2, we’re going to go back to the
passage from which our scripture reading came this morning.
Notice in verse 17,
“(James
2:17) Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
Now,
there’s not a contradiction between James and Paul.
Paul said, “We’re justified by faith and not by works of the law.”
Paul was talking about, in the passages we looked at earlier,
specifically the works or the deeds of the law. James here is writing about works in general, those things
that we are to do, the actions that we are to take as a result of our faith.
So he said here, in verse 17,
“(James
2:17) Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
Notice
in verse 20,
“(James
2:20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”
Notice
in verse 24,
“(James
2:24) Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only.”
And
notice the example that James used: Abraham.
Just as Paul had used the example of Abraham in the book of Romans, just
as Paul had used the example of Abraham when he wrote to the Galatians, James
used Abraham as the example to show that you are not justified by faith only,
but also by works. In other words,
Abraham obeyed God. He wasn’t
justified simply because he believed God or that he had faith in the existence
of God, but that he put it into action, into obedience. That’s the point that James makes here in verse 24.
“(James
2:24) Ye see then” — based upon the example of Abraham given previously —
“how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”
The
only time in the scriptures, in the King James translation, in which you find the phrase “faith
only” is that verse. And it is
used in the negative sense: NOT by
faith only. Notice in verse 26,
“(James
2:26) For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
also.”
We
simply cannot be saved through belief only, or through faith only.
Now,
please don’t misunderstand me. There
are good people that each and believe that you can be saved by belief only.
They are good, honest people; good moral, strong people.
There are those that have very good intentions and are very sincere at
heart in teaching so. They’re not
purposefully trying to go against the scriptures, but they don’t understand
Biblical belief, that it must be put into action.
And I feel for those individuals, because they want to do what is right,
but they’re not following what the scriptures say.
Notice in verse 19 of James 2,
“(James
2:19) Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils” —
or demons — “also believe, and tremble.”
But
yet, are they saved? Well, of
course not, because they violated God’s will, they went against God, they
rebelled. But yet they still
believe. Belief on its own is not
enough. We must put it into action,
live according to God’s instructions.
But
what about that Philippian jailer in Acts Chapter 16?
I haven’t forgotten him. In
Acts Chapter 16 verse 30,
“(Acts
16:30) ...Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
“(31)
And they said” — that being Paul and Silas — “Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
When
we understand Biblical belief, we understand that that Philippian jailer, yes,
he had to belief, yes, he had to have faith, but he had to put it into action.
Isn’t that what they taught him? Notice
in verse 32,
“(Acts
16:32) And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his
house.
“(33)
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was
baptized, he and all his, straightway.”
Again
we see a passage that links belief and baptism.
But some will say he was saved — based upon this passage — at the
point of belief and that baptism was then separate from that and he did that
later — even though it was the same hour of the night — in order to
outwardly show that he was saved, to outwardly show the inward grace.
But I think we see that that violates the passages that we’ve already
spoken about, once we come to an understanding of Biblical belief, that it is
belief put into action. The Philippian jailer had to have belief established and put
it into action, yes.
But
remember back in Acts Chapter 2 in verse 37, on that day of Pentecost,
a similar question was asked, “What must we do to be saved?”
But Peter didn’t respond in the exact same way that Paul did to the
Philippian jailer. Peter said,
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins.” Why did they respond differently?
Because those to whom they were speaking were in different circumstances
and at a different point. Peter, in
Acts Chapter 2, had just preached the sermon regarding Jesus, that indeed
he was the Son of God, and he says, “You crucified him.”
Obviously, they believed, because they were “pricked in their hearts”
(Acts 2:37). If they hadn’t
believed what Peter was saying, it wouldn’t have bothered them one bit.
So they believed. So they already understood that they had to have that belief
of who Jesus was, and therefore, they were told to repent and be baptized.
The Philippian jailer needed, first and foremost, to believe in Jesus as
the Son of God, to realize that’s who he was, and then to understand that he
had to be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins.
That’s why the answers differ just a little.
We
find that we must put the passages of the scriptures together as a whole, not to
segment them or dissect them, to leave one passage trying to stand it upon its
own, but to put them together, because in Acts Chapter 16, I have a
question regarding the Philippian jailer. Did
he have to confess and repent? Those
who teach “faith only” usually will say that a person has to believe,
confess, repent, and say the sinner’s prayer.
Did the Philippian jailer have to confess and repent?
Well, sure he did. But how
do we know that? He wasn’t told
that. That’s not revealed in Acts
Chapter 16. But it is in other
passages, as in Romans 10 verses 9 and 10.
So we know that he had to confess and he had to repent.
See, we have to take the scriptures as a whole.
And Jesus established that in Matthew Chapter 4.
In
Matthew Chapter 4, when Satan comes to Jesus and tempts him, he tempts
Jesus on three different occasions or in three different ways, and every time,
Jesus responded with scripture. Jesus responded with scripture each time: a valuable lesson
for us. He said, “It is
written....” But the second time
that Satan had tempted Jesus, Satan himself quoted scripture; he quoted from
Psalms 91 verses 11 and 12, and he quoted it accurately — but he used it
improperly. That’s a valuable
lesson for us too. A person can
accurately quote a particular passage, but then misuse it.
So notice, in Matthew Chapter 4 verse 7, how Jesus then
responded. He did say, “It is
written...,” but he said something a little different.
He said, “It is written again....”
That “again” means “furthermore, in addition.”
I like to think of it as, “It is written elsewhere.”
“(Matthew
4:7) Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God.”
So
yes, the Philippian jailer had to believe, he had to confess, he had to repent,
he had to be baptized for the remission of sins.
We know he had to do all of those steps, even though each one of them is
not addressed individually in Acts 16, but we know he had to because of what the
scriptures teach as a whole. When
we understand that concept, that we have to look at the other passages,
“(Matthew
4:7) Jesus said..., It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God.”
He
realized that Satan quoted scripture, and he realized that Satan misused the
scripture, so Jesus showed him a passage that indicated that.
Satan, you’re misusing that scripture, because you’re not to tempt
the Lord your God. That’s
exactly what Satan was doing. So we
must take the scriptures as a whole.
Now,
when we understand that, let’s consider Acts Chapter 2 verse 38.
As we already quoted,
“(Acts
2:38) ...Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
In
Mark Chapter 16 verse 16, Jesus himself said,
“(Mark
16:16) He that believeth and is baptized....”
Again
we see belief and baptism tied together.
“(Mark
16:16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned.”
Of
course, he who does not believe will be damned, because he won’t take any
action because he doesn’t believe in the first place.
In
Galatians Chapter 3, we saw how Paul referred to Abraham and how we can be
blessed in Abraham. He goes on to
say, at the end of that Chapter, in Galatians Chapter 3 verses 26 and 27, that
we are,
“(Galatians
3:26) ...[C]hildren of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
“(27)
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ....”
Faith
and baptism time together yet again. We’re
baptized into Christ. That’s how
we become the children of God. Verse
29 tells us that in Christ, we are Abraham’s
seed and heirs according to the promise.
We’re blessed with Abraham; we’re blessed in Christ.
We become Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise when we are
baptized into Christ. Faith and
belief and baptism tied together. We
cannot separate them. Peter came
right out and said, in I Peter Chapter 3 verse 21, “...Baptism
doth also now save us....”
Please,
there are so many people who teach salvation by faith only, please understand
what Biblical belief truly is: belief
that is put into action. Do you
believe in God? Do you believe that
He sent Jesus to this earth to die upon the cross of Calvary as a sacrifice for
our sins? I hope you do, because
that is the truth. That is exactly
what happened. And since we have
sinned, as Paul said in Romans 3:23, we must receive forgiveness.
I’m not teaching that we earn our salvation or that we merit our
salvation. I’m not saying
salvation by works or because of works, because we cannot earn that salvation.
God doesn’t owe it to us. But
He’s made it available to us. Because
of His love. And so in Ephesians 2
verses 8 and 9, yes, we are saved by grace.
But it says in verse 10 that we are created in Christ Jesus, his
workmanship, created unto good works, so there has to be a balance.
We don’t earn our salvation by good works, but we must put our faith
into action, faith with works. That
is, simply put, being obedient to God, doing what God has said.
Are
you willing to do that? Have you
done that? Have you responded to
the gospel of Christ, believing in Jesus as the Son of God, confessing that
belief, repenting of your sins, and being baptized for the remission of sins?
Those are the steps that God has given in His word for us to respond to,
to receive His grace and His mercy and have a home in heaven.
Not by faith alone. Perhaps
you’ve already obeyed the gospel, but you haven’t remained faithful.
For one reason or another, perhaps you’ve strayed away, you’ve
allowed sin back into your life. As we mentioned in our Bible class this morning, I John
Chapter 1 verses 7 through 9 — actually, I guess, referenced it earlier
in this lesson — we, as Christians, still have an avenue to God’s
forgiveness, because of the blood of Christ.
It is still available to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we’ll
pray to God, confessing our faults and asking for His forgiveness. Of course, repenting of our sins. If you are subject to the invitation in any way, please —
please, don’t hesitate, don’t delay, but just simply respond to what God has
said. That’s all you have to do.
And you can do that this very moment as we stand and sing.
|