December 1999

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Christian Chronicles, December 1999 - Volume 2, Issue 49

The Editor's Pen

I don’t suppose any doctrine is more pertinent to the unsaved than the doctrine of salvation. It is certainly the only one that will do them the least bit of good. All the talk of prophecy might be interesting to them, or a discussion of moral issues might pique their consciences, but until they are saved they can apply no spiritual principles to their own lives at all, and generally do not believe or understand any spiritual concepts. We can talk about the Bible until we are blue in the face, but no unsaved person can read it with any understanding at all. It will simply put them to sleep. The natural mind cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God.

We feel good about ourselves when we speak of godly issues to the unsaved, but unless we are speaking of the inestimable grace of God, we are not giving our listeners what they most desperately need to hear.

That does not make it wrong to speak of other doctrines, but anything other than a salvation message should be geared toward an understanding of God’s grace first and foremost.

Perspectives: Remembering God's Grace

‘Tis the season to be jolly, etc. Why are we not devoting this issue to Christmas? In a sense, we are. The greatest gift that man ever received was the gift of grace, a free salvation. Ask yourself this question: Why have we come to make the birth of Christ our biggest celebration? It was, of course, necessary if He were to die on the cross and be raised again, but His birth is almost incidental to His work. Without Christ’s death and resurrection, His birth would be completely meaningless. Without a free salvation, we would curse His birth. Yet, in churches around the world, the birth of Christ will be little related to His death.

If we celebrate the birth of the Christ Child and do not celebrate His death, we have not celebrated His birth either. Christmas is important, but only because of the bloody gift that makes it meaningful to man. What do we celebrate? We memorialize the gifts of the wise men in our own giving far more than we remember the purpose of that birth in any sense of reality.

The same is also true of Easter. A time of renewal. That’s how Easter is portrayed. A promise of spring and budding trees and blossoming flowers. Those traditional elements of fertility, the rabbit and the egg, are celebrated. But Christ was raised because His death was sufficient to pay for our sins, and His resurrection is the proof of our justification. It is a very important theological concept, but not one that is widely proclaimed.

In a very real sense, this issue of Christian Chronicles is about Christmas, for it is about the greatest gift that anyone ever gave anyone else. It is about the gift of life borne in the body of that Child. It is about the salvation that was assured in His resurrection from the dead. It is impossible to teach the doctrine of salvation without acknowledging the birth, death and resurrection of the Christ.

All of the history of the world centers around those thirty-three years. All of the Bible centers around them as well. However, the birth and childhood of Christ are hardly mentioned at all. It is the final three years of His life that the Bible focuses upon. It is not His birth or childhood, but His ministry and His death, that God saw fit to emphasize. And there is a reason for this.

It was not His keeping of the Law of Moses that the Bible focuses on, but His fulfilling of it. The many miracles that He performed were not so much for the sakes of the individuals who were the direct beneficiaries of those miracles, but so that every generation that followed would know that His words were true, and that His message came from God. When Jesus walked on water, or when He calmed the tempestuous sea, He did not do so in order to impress His friends. Oh, no. He did those things so that when the message of His grace went out to a lost and unbelieving world, they might have some basis for turning their unbelief into faith.

While the most elementary purpose of the Bible is reveal the glory of God to a sinful race, its first function is to effect the salvation of the lost. This Christmas, let us remember to share the wonderful good news of God’s grace with a lost soul. There is the greatest gift anyone can give another. It lasts forever.

Fruit of the Vine

What greater gift can one receive than fruitfulness? What unspeakable treasure accrues to the one who is God’s instrument in the salvation of another! Every morning as we begin our day with prayer we ought to implore our great God to make us useful to Him in spreading the gospel; not that we would be glorified, but that He would; not that we would be admired by our fellow Christians, but that His grace and his goodness would become known in the darkened hearts of the lost. Every work we do for God is important, but nothing is as important as the spreading of the Word of God’s grace. How can we remember the moment when our blind eyes were illuminated by the love and mercy and goodness of God and not want to share that wonderful salvation with others whom we know who have no inkling of the goodness of God?

In this Christmas season, give the true gift of life. It is not in becoming an organ donor, as some suppose, but in being a witness to the power of the death and resurrection of Christ to save those who stand condemned. Give not temporal life but eternal. And in your giving, receive treasure beyond estimation.

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Sirs, What must I do to be saved?
So they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you will be saved.

(Acts 16:30-31)

It is the only place in the Bible where the question is asked and answered. The question was simple. The answer was equally simple. In so many churches today, and in virtually every religion except Christianity, entrance into one’s final estate hinges upon what one does. In some, the issue is morality. If you are "good," you go to heaven. If your "karma" is good, or if you happen to be a martyr in a holy war, or if you’ve done enough for your fellow man — in every religion except true Christianity, one’s eternal destiny is dependent upon what the person does to earn a higher place, or a higher plane of existence, or nirvana, or whatever. But the Bible is pretty clear. If you want to be saved, you must believe. There is no keeping of any ten commandments, no baptism, no speaking in tongues, or any other works at all. Simple faith is the answer.

Jesus Himself said, "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already..." (John 3:18). The context shows clearly that what one must believe is the sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross to pay for his sins. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up..." (Jn 3:14).

Salvation is not achieved through any works of man, but is provided freely to all those who simply believe the gospel record that God gave us of His Son Jesus.

So, Who Is Good?

Often, when we witness, a person will ask if we think a departed loved one is in heaven. "Oh, my grandmother was so good. She never did anything wrong in her life." Or, "Do you mean to tell me that my mama was a sinner?" someone will ask indignantly. "She was a saint!"

Of course, the answer is always, "I don’t know." We cannot know the eternal estate of one whose testimony we have not heard. But questions like that open a door for testimony to the grace of God. Once a person has died, it is too late to do anything to effect their salvation. Their eternal destiny is already determined. But for the person who has such questions, the answer we give is one of the most important that we ever have an opportunity to provide.

Usually, the person who is inquiring about the state of a departed loved one does not know of God’s grace himself, else he would also know whether the one who has died knew of it. A saved person would hardly allow a loved one to die without knowing the state of that person’s soul. Therefore, if the question is asked, it may be assumed that the one who asks needs to hear the truth of the matter of salvation.

And the truth of the matter is that no one is good enough to get to heaven on his own merits. That sweet grandmother is still a sinner, for "there is none good; no, not one" (see Rom 3:10-12). No unsaved person wants to hear those words. They want to be comforted in the knowledge that their loved ones are in heaven. They are remembering all the good that the person did. If Grandma (or Mama, or Daddy, or Aunt Susie, or whoever) wasn’t good enough, then it necessarily follows that they are not good enough either, and that is a very discomforting notion.

The answer is always the grace of God, who saves sinners freely. It provides some hope regarding the departed, for they may have known of God’s grace. More important, God’s grace is the answer to the dilemma of the living. If Grandma believed the gospel and you want to see her again, believe the gospel yourself. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom 3:23-24).

What Exactly Is This Salvation?

The person who knows that he is lost is three-quarters of the way to knowing he can be saved. One who thinks he isn’t a sinner hasn’t a chance, for he does not believe that he has anything of which to repent. If you ask a hundred people if they are going to heaven when they die, the majority will say something like, "Well, I’m trying to be good," or, "I hope so," or, "I guess so."

Some will say that they don’t discuss religion or politics. Others will claim that they don’t believe in heaven or hell. Still others will say, "I doubt it; I’ve done some really bad things in my day." Some will say, "I haven’t done anything all that wrong..." A few will declare, "Well, sure. I’m a member of this church or that," or, "I’m a deacon at my church." Now and then one will say, "Son, I’m a pastor. What do you think?"

But on occasion, one will say, "The blood that Jesus shed on Calvary paid for my sins, and they are forgiven. If God is for me, who can be against me?"

Most people declare their hope for salvation or fear of hell based upon their own merit or lack thereof. Either they believe they are going to heaven because they have been somehow good enough, or they believe they are not, because of the sins they have committed. Many are the ministers who serve in their offices merely as a means of being more pleasing to God, working their way to heaven through their closer association with God. Some of these even believe that they are doing God a favor by serving. The bottom line is that all of these souls believe that our God is a stern and forbidding Judge, a God to be feared and obeyed, lest one be cast into the flame of condemnation forever.

But that last man, the one among them all who does not speak of his own virtues or his sins; ah, he points to the finished work of Christ on the cross. He does not boast in himself. Nor does he shrink from his own sinfulness. This one understands that his salvation does not rest upon what he does, or what he fails to do. This one does not speak of self at all, but of Christ. He does not deny his sinfulness, but neither does he depend upon his goodness to get him to heaven. Of them all, this man is the only man who can be certain that he is going to heaven. After all, everyone who trusts in his own goodness or works must still live out the remainder of his days. And who knows what evil temptation might seduce him tomorrow? And who among men does not have some secret sin that he admits only to himself, and that, with great reluctance?

The issue is not sinfulness or righteousness. Paul declared very plainly, "There is none righteous, no, not one... There is none who does good, no, not one" (Rom 3: 10, 12). So, how many people are good enough to go to heaven? None. Paul goes on to say in that same passage, "Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (v. 20). He had previously stated that the law was given so that "every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (v. 19). Those who depend upon their good works to get them to heaven do not understand the grace of God at all.

The law was not given to Moses as a means by which the Jews might work their way to heaven. God did not say to them, "If you do all these things, and refrain from doing all these things, you will go to heaven." He never said that at all. There is no Scripture reference for such a statement. He did promise to bless the nation of Israel and her people if they adhered to the law. God promised to make them fruitful and blessed in the land. In this life. He did not promise that they would go to heaven. God outlined many of the curses that would befall the nation of Israel if they failed to keep His law. All of those curses were earthly curses, not eternal. Enslavement, dispersion, persecution in the world. These are the things that befell the nation of Israel for her sins. But she is not told that she will be cast into hell for those sins; she will be punished, but her punishment is not eternal condemnation, but earthly trials. (see Deut 28: 1-14; cp. Deut 28:15-46; see Deut 28: 47-57).

Why not? Is it not sin that makes us sinners? Does not the breaking of the law make us guilty, and therefore, condemned? Absolutely. If the Bible ended right there, we would all be in the most serious and desperate peril. None of us could be saved. We would have no hope of ever getting to heaven, for we all know in our hearts that we have sinned. The gospel would not be good news, but the pronouncement of eternal coals upon everyone. It would become the very worst news imaginable. To many, that is what it is. How very sad indeed.

God knew that Israel would sin. He even declared Himself that they would sin. But God also made provision in that very law for the forgiveness of those sins that condemned them all. He instituted a system of blood sacrifices, designed to point ahead in time to the Day when the blood of the Lamb of God would be sacrificed on Calvary. When God gave the Jews the law of Moses, He knew that they would break it. While He would indeed pour out upon them those temporal trials that He swore to impose upon them, He also provided a means of justification, their faith in the efficacy of those sacrifices to gain their forgiveness. God knew that Christ would die on the cross, that He would be merciful to man, and He used those many Jewish sacrifices to teach us the significance of that One effective sacrifice (See Gal 3: 22-26; cp. Heb (9: 1-15, 23-28; 10: 1-2). God knew that Israel would sin. He also knew that we would sin, for, as we saw, the whole world was made guilty by the law.

In the Bible, God singled out one family of men, the descendants of Abraham through Isaac, and set them apart from all other men. Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, wrestled with an angel, and his name was changed to Israel. This Israel (Jacob) had twelve sons, who became the twelve tribes of Israel. These are the people who went down into Egypt and were made slaves for more than four hundred years. And these are the people whom Moses led through the Red Sea, and who wandered in the wilderness for forty years. These are the people to whom God provided the manna that they ate, and these are the people to whom He gave the law of Moses. And in that law the provision was made for their sins through the shedding of innocent blood, for without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sins (see Heb 9:22). It was not their faith in the shedding of the blood that saved them, but their faith in the Word of God which declared its effectiveness. It was their faith in the grace of God to provide salvation while they deserved condemnation.

For many hundreds of years thereafter, the Jews offered those blood sacrifices. The blood literally flowed down off the Mount of Olives every Passover, as countless Jews offered the sacrifices that would push their sins ahead one year, to the next Passover, when they would go through the whole process again. Year after year, lambs and bulls and goats and doves would be slain, their innocent blood sacrificed that the Jews might be forgiven. Millions of sins were temporarily atoned for, until the day when John the Baptist was standing in the River Jordan and saw Jesus approaching. He said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (Jn 1:29). John knew in that moment that Christ would be sacrificed for the sins, not only of Israel, but for the sins of the entire race of men, all who had ever lived. We do not go to hell today because we are sinners, but because we do not believe the record God gave of His Son Jesus (see John 3:18). From the coats of skins that God made for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, to the last creature slain in the Temple, all of the blood that was shed through all the millennia did no more than push the sins of the people forward in time to the cross, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins (Heb 10: 4).

Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled" (Mt 5: 17-18). Jesus, a Jew, under the Law, was required to keep that Law. This He did, all His life. Every sacrifice that He offered, He offered without having sinned Himself. He offered those sacrifices for us. He kept the Law completely. It could not condemn Him, for He was innocent. And because he was innocent, He was able to offer His own body and blood on the cross in payment for our sins. First He kept the Law, and then He paid its price. He did not say that He was coming so that we might be able to keep the Law. He said that He was going to fulfill it. He kept it, and then He paid its penalty on our behalf, fulfilling the Law, which demanded judgment upon sin. Every sin was judged on the cross. Through faith, we accept the sufficiency of that sacrifice to save us, and our sins are not imputed to us (Rom 4: 7-8), having been judged in Christ.

Every person who is saved understands that he is not saved by anything he does, but by the work done at Calvary. A saved person will never declare, "I’m trying to be good enough," or any of those other responses. Every born-again believer understands the grace of God, having seen it applied to himself when he deserved condemnation. Every Christian has at least some inkling of the inestimable goodness of God, the magnitude of His mercy. He does not look to his works before he heard the gospel to save him. Neither does he depend upon the works he does after he hears the gospel to keep him saved. He continues to acknowledge his sin (see Rom 7:15-25), for his sin continues to plague him, but he rests in the certainty of the love of God and the promise of eternal life. The real Christian looks to God for his righteousness (Phil 3: 7-9).

My friend, when you are out and about, talking about the Bible to folks, if they seem unsure of their salvation, it is the easiest and most wonderful thing in the world to shed the light of the gospel of God’s grace upon their dark and fearful souls. Not every one will hear the gospel and believe it. Many will scoff. Others will not even listen. Some will get angry. Others, defensive. But those who hear you will pass from death to life, from hell to heaven, from darkness to light, from evil to good, from despair to hope, from confusion to understanding, from condemnation to salvation. They will pass from eternal death to eternal life. This Christmas, give the gift that really keeps on giving. There is only one. It is the gift of God in Christ Jesus. What is this salvation? It is everything. It is no less than the gift of God to one who does not have Him or know Him. It is every hope and every blessing, every promise and every true glory. "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent" (Jn 17: 3).

Why God Allows Sin

Unbelievers use the existence of evil to "prove" the non-existence of God. The argument goes like this: "If evil exists, God doesn’t exist. Evil does exist. Therefore, God does not exist." The theist answers, "If God doesn’t exist, evil doesn’t exist. Evil does exist. Therefore, God exists.

The notion that God cannot exist in the presence of evil has no authority in either logic or theology. The argument is extended to say that a "good" God could not allow evil. It is also said that a "just" God cannot allow evil to exist. These arguments all fall far short of the truth.

In the first place, we cannot rightly judge what is or is not evil. For a tragedy today, brought on by the wicked intent of some malcontent, might prove in the long run to be the very best thing that could possibly have befallen those "afflicted" by the tragedy. Indeed, Romans 8:28 promises us that not only some things will turn out for the good of the believer, but that all things are orchestrated by God for our good. Is the wicked man who caused the tragedy then doing evil or good, if good comes from the incident? It was certainly evil in the heart of the perpetrator of the deed, but it turned out for the benefit of those affected. We can see that genuine evil does then exist, but also that God uses it according to His purposes for the good of His children.

The problem is not whether God can exist in the presence of evil, but whether he judges that evil. While a good God would turn the evil deed to our good, a just God would also judge that evil. God can exist in the presence of evil, but if He is to be a just God, it is essential that He judges every evil thing.

We often presume that because God has not yet judged a thing, that the thing shall not be judged. If God were truly God, my friends, He would not be subject to our silly reasonings. As long as the judgment of every evil thing is certain to occur, then it matters not what the sequence or timing of the judgment. God is outside time. He is eternal, so that all of time is present before Him at all times, and there is no future or past. Ah, we try to bring God down to our poor level and make Him reason from our weak perspective.

If there were no evil in the world, we could not know the good that God provides, for with what would we compare it? Not only can God exist while there is evil, He must allow at least the possibility of evil to exist. God, who is worthy of worship, must allow for the possibility of non-worship to exist if the worship accorded Him is to have any value. If we who worship God had no choice in the matter, then our worship of God would become only His own self-worship, imposed upon us. But worship that is voluntary is of great value. C.S. Lewis states the case this way: "A man doesn’t call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line." The issue of evil in the world boils down to the issue of sin. Why would God allow sin?

Sin was in the world before man. Lucifer sinned against God long before Adam was created. Adam and Eve did not have to sin. Neither did they have to avoid sin. They could do as they chose, and they did. The same is true of Lucifer himself. He was tempted by his own pride. Before he fell, however, the possibility of evil existed, although it had not yet "infected" any created being. Until he chose to sin, Lucifer was as pure as God had created him. For anything to have any meaning or value, sin had to be possible. The wonder is not that God allowed the possibility of evil. The wonder is that He was able to find such a marvelous solution to the problem of evil as the solution He has given man.

Our God is able to judge every evil that has ever occurred, and yet is able to save the sinner and remain just. He turns the evil in our lives to our good, and judges every evil thing, proving Himself both good and just. So good is our God that He executed the judgment for our sins upon Himself, and now turns every tragedy into blessing if we but trust Him. Or even if we don’t. Far back into the ageless reaches of eternity past, God knew and foreknew not only every evil that would corrupt His grand creation, but He also knew every judgment and every blessing that would befall that creation. Our God is eternal and wise, providing as the fruit of His boundless love a free salvation that is available to everyone. God can exist in the presence of evil because He has His hand on the helm, and the end is already written.

The atheistic argument against the existence of God that is based upon the existence of evil is a sham, perpetrated by those who are predisposed by their sin to reject the God whom their own hearts recognize as God by the things He has made. The argument can never be made to stand, except among those who have exercised their free will in rebellion against God. From the standpoint of pure logic, it fails. From the standpoint of theology, it is hardly worth addressing. Nevertheless, many theologians over the centuries have addressed this issue, and convincingly. Indeed, every objection to the existence of God has been answered fully and completely, so that no one must doubt what his senses tell him; namely, that there is a God. Every blade of grass shouts the existence of God to an unbelieving race. The universe, taken together, even with its temporary evil, fairly screams God’s name to rebellious men.

And if there is a God who exists in the presence of evil, and if He is truly God, then we may also accept His Word in the explanation that He has given concerning the judgment of all evil, and the Word of our salvation from that inevitable judgment by His grace and mercy. Praise God.

What Is This Eternal Life?

"Father, the hour has come.
Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,
as You have given Him authority over all flesh,
That He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.

(Jn 17: 1-2)

We tend to think of eternal life as something that we will receive later, at some future time, after we have died and been resurrected. What a crucial misunderstanding this is, and how subtly has the devil interwoven the concept into our daily reasoning.

The moment you believed the gospel, in the very instant of your salvation, you became an eternal creature. You were born again, with a nature born of the very Seed of God Himself (see 1 Jn 3:9), never to die or to be separated from God again. The Christian, trapped behind the eyes of the sinner, eternally pure, but bound in the cords of sinful flesh, has a communion with God that cannot be fully appreciated or understood as long as our flesh remains mortal. But we ourselves are not mortal. When this flesh dies, we simply depart it, to arrive immediately in the presence of God (Phil 1: 22-23), as fully conscious as we are in the flesh. Indeed far more so, having shed the shackles of sin that darken our hearts today. We are today citizens of heaven. That is not a future hope; it shall be a future realization, but it is as real today as it will be then. The life that inhabits your flesh today, if you are saved, is as eternal as it will ever be.

We need to view our lives from this heavenly perspective, this eternal perspective. How quickly our earthly troubles diminish in the light of our eternal character. Paul describes his own great trials as but "...this light affliction, which is but for a moment...". When you begin to realize your own eternal life, your ministry becomes fruitful and effective, you lay up great treasures in heaven, your confidence in the Lord is magnified and manifold. It is also manifest in the world and you become that great light that all saved people are intended to be. You are already eternal.

Why Must I Be Saved?

Why can’t God just wave His magic wand and make everybody saved? Why does He have to send sinners to hell? Doesn’t it seem that He could just overlook our sins and forgive us anyway? That way, we could all be saved, and everyone could just live happily ever after.

It seems reasonable. But it is a theological impossibility. A holy God cannot allow that which is sinful to stand in His presence. Furthermore, a just God cannot fail to judge every sin. If God were to overlook our sins, He would become a Sinner Himself. God cannot be God if He is not absolutely, one hundred percent, just. And we would not really want a God who was not just, for then we could not trust Him. Not only is an unjust God theologically impossible, but it is also impossible from the standpoint of plain logic.

Since every person born since the creation of Adam and Eve is born a sinner, God is left with the dilemma of how to go about judging our sins without also judging us. If God desires to have an eternal relationship with mankind, and if He must judge our sins, then He must find some way of judging those sins without condemning the sinners.

It is testimony to the wisdom of God that He was able to judge every sin, yet save those who trust Him to save them. We must be saved because we are sinners, but our sins must be judged. And so they have been judged already, at Calvary. When Christ died on the cross, He paid for every sin that ever had been or ever would be committed. Today, all that is required in order to be forgiven is to believe that Christ’s death was sufficient to "pay" for all our sins.

If, however, we do not accept that sacrifice, but seek to gain heaven on our own merit, then that payment is not applied to our particular sins, and we are left in the impossible position of having to pay for them ourselves. God made our salvation completely free, and wholly effective, but it is contingent upon our faith. If we believe God’s Word, we are saved. If we do not, then we are left without that all-encompassing judgment being applied to our sins, and we are lost.

The answer to the question, "Why must I be saved?" is simple: We must be saved because we are responsible for our sins. The answer to the question, "How may I be saved?" is equally simple: We are saved by God’s grace, through faith. God could have given us what we deserved, condemnation. Instead, He gave us a free salvation, by grace.

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