No Other Name (2)

Are you satisfied with your life? How do you see the future? Is it dark and uncertain, is it fearful? What do you have to look forward to? For the Christian there is no need for fear or uncertainty. We know what our future holds because God has revealed it to us in the Bible and guaranteed it to us through Jesus Christ.

Acts 4:12 NIV84

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Peter says this to the Sanhedrin, the leading religious body for the Jews. He and John have performed a miracle which caused a disturbance in the Temple, and the leaders want to know by what authority they did this. They saw Peter and John as challengers to their authority and they were disturbed.

This month we are looking at the foundational beliefs of the Reformation, known as the five solas: we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, according to Scripture alone, because of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. The good news is that our salvation does not depend on anything we do other than put our faith in Christ.

When Martin Luther started questioning various practices of the church in his day, one of the things he criticized was putting anyone or anything alongside of Jesus Christ. The church was teaching that we also needed to do good works, the intercession of saints and the mediation of grace by the priests through the sacraments in order to be saved. The Reformation proclaimed that it is only because of Jesus Christ that we are saved.

This is not a popular position today. Many people think that there are other ways which can lead to salvation. Are all religions basically the same? Does it matter what a person believes as long as they are sincere? Will every person be saved? If we accept the Bible as the true word of God that is where we will find the answer to these questions.

Suppose I want to make Shepherd’s Pie. I have a recipe that tells me how to make it, but I decide I don’t like that recipe. First, I don’t believe in eating meat so I’ll use zucchini instead of ground beef. I don’t like corn, green vegetables are healthier so I’ll use broccoli instead of the corn. Finally, potatoes have too much starch so I’ll substitute brown rice. I’ll layer it just like the recipe calls for, bake it at the right temperature for the required length of time. When I take it out will I have Shepherd’s Pie? The same is true with our faith. We can’t substitute what the Bible calls for just because we don’t like it.

What do we mean by salvation?

Deliverance/rescue

From danger

From enemies

From physical illness

From spiritual death – from sin and God’s wrath

The word stands for everything Jesus Christ came to be and do for us.

Salvation is God’s work and is offered by his grace

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Why do we need salvation?

We may not feel in danger or be facing enemies. We might not have an illness. Apart from faith in Jesus Christ, however, the Bible describes the human condition as being separated from God, enemies of God and under His wrath. This is what we mean by spiritually death.

All have sinned – separates us from God

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

John 3:36 NIV84

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

Why is salvation only through Jesus

The Christian gospel is not just that Jesus saves, but that only Jesus saves. Many people today ask, “Why is there only one way to God?” but what they should be asking is, “Why is there any way at all? How is it that God would be so merciful as to grant us forgiveness after we have repeatedly rebelled against his authority and his majesty?” That is the real question. Jesus is the answer.

His own claims:

John 14:6 NIV84

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Unless we’re willing to believe that Jesus was lying or mistaken we must take Him at His word.

Testimony of scripture:

1 John 5:12 NIV84

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

The people of Athens were very religious, but they were not saved. They did not know the true God. Paul proclaimed the gospel of Jesus to them.

Acts 17:22–23 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

Even the Jewish people of Paul’s day needed to believe in Jesus in order to be saved. Paul says about them:

Romans 10:2–4 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Only Jesus:

Lived a sinless life

Offered that life as a sacrifice for our sin

Was raised from the dead

Is fully human and fully divine

Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Martin Ogilvie, pastor and Bible commentator, describes an encounter he once had. Recently a young man came to me saying that all religions are but alternative paths to the same God. In response, I asked him to do an extensive study of the historic and contemporary religions of the world, along with some of the cults growing in popularity today. His assignment was to write out what each believed about the essential nature of God, the plan of salvation, the result in the personal experience of the believer, the meaning of death and eternal life, and the accountable lifestyle manifested in the world. When the man completed his work a month later, he exclaimed, “I am astounded! There is an immense difference. I’ll never make that simplistic statement again. When I really grappled with what salvation means and compared what other religions offer, I decided that I want to be a Christian. Christ is not an answer; He is the answer!”

Trusting in Him

We receive this salvation simply by trusting in Jesus, by believing in Him.

Acts 16:31 NIV84

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Three top contenders in the Bangalore Half Marathon were following their pace car when the car missed a turn and led the runners 2.5 miles in the wrong direction. The mistake occurred about nine miles into the 13.1-mile course, and the runners didn’t realize right away that the crowd had disappeared. They had to borrow money from morning joggers in a Bangalore neighborhood so they could buy train tickets to the finish line. Needless to say, they didn’t win.

Even though they were running with complete sincerity, they were running the wrong way. There is only one route in a race and they missed it. And even though people may believe something else with all sincerity, the Bible is clear that there is only one route to salvation: Jesus Christ. Following anyone or anything else will see us lost.

1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

He is the one we must follow if we want to experience the joy of knowing God and His mercy in this life, and being in His presence throughout eternity. If you have put your trust in what Jesus has done, sacrificing His life to atone for your sin, then you know the peace which this faith brings and the joy which is in Christ. He gives meaning to our lives.

If you have not done so then I encourage you to open your hearts to the Holy Spirit’s work. Give up self-reliance, let go of the things that hold you back, and make the commitment to believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him.

Hebrews 7:25 NIV84

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.