Lies We Believe About Salvation
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· 54 viewsThere are a number of lies that people believe about how to obtain salvation but the Bible teaches that it is by grace through faith given by God as a gift.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Introduction: “There is a sucker born every minute.” That is a quote attributed to the late P.T. Barnum. He never actually said those words but he did embrace the philosophy.
He made his fortune through promoting hoaxes for entertainment purposes. You may have even seen the recent embellished movie, “The Greatest Showman.” Hugh Jackman played P.T. Barnum.
In 1853, Barnum launched his entertainment career by purchasing Joice Heth, a blind slave who he claimed to be the 161 year-old former nurse of George Washington. he billed her act as “the most astonishing and interesting curiosity in the world.” Barnum put her on display in New York and visitors lined up to gawk at her as she told tales of “dear Little George.” He even tried to claim that Heth was a automaton controlled by a ventriloquist.
When she died in 1836, Barnum had a public autopsy performed on her body where he charged 50 cents for admission. It was revealed at the autopsy that she was most likely no older than 80. Later he would go on to found a traveling circus with his partner, James Bailey and they went on to earn a fortune running the “Greatest Show on Earth.”
Barnum never said that his patrons were suckers but willing participants in his lighthearted pranks and hoaxes. He did say, “The people like to be humbugged.”
Sometimes lies are easier to believe than the truth. Someone once said that most people don’t really want the truth. They just want the constant reassurance that what they believe is the truth.
When it comes to spiritual matters, the same is most definitely true. And believe me, there are plenty of lies out there that people believe about salvation and eternity. We are going to debunk 4 of those lies together today by exposing them to Biblical truth about salvation.
Lie #1 - There Are Many Paths to God.
Lie #1 - There Are Many Paths to God.
Paul wrote “for by grace you have been saved through faith...”
The idea that there are many paths one can take to get to God is the noble, but mistaken, idea that all truth claims about God are equal.
You might have heard it expressed like this…all religions teach the same basic things about God and that there are only minor differences. Well, is that true?
You may have even heard a story about 6 blind men trying to describe an elephant. Since there were born blind, they had never seen an elephant but they all went to touch the elephant to get a better understanding. One man touched the side of the elephant and declared that the Elephant was like a wall. Another grabbed it’s tail and declared that the elephant was like a rope, another touched it’s trunk…and so forth and so on. They began to argue about the nature of the elephant and treat each other badly. None of them had a complete picture of an elephant yet they claimed exclusive knowledge about the elephant.
The point of the story is to rebuke those who make exclusive truth claims about God believing that we all have a partial understanding about God and therefore, we ought to be tolerant and humble toward other religions.
One major flaw in the argument is that the narrator telling the story claims to know something exclusive about God that the others do not know. Mainly, that God is bigger than our understanding.
At the end of the story, the narrator actually revealed what the elephant was like which points to the fact that men can’t discover the truth of God without an external revelation of who God is and what he is like.
Paul tells us that God saves us completely by his grace alone through faith. Think of it this way. Picture water flowing through a pipe. The water is the important part but it is delivered through the pipe. Yet, the pipe doesn’t quench your thirst, the water does.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Salvation by grace through faith is also presented here as an accomplished fact. When Jesus was on the cross, he cried, “It is finished.” What is finished? The work that made it possible to be saved by grace - His sacrifice!
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Lie #2 - I’m Good Enough to Go to Heaven.
Lie #2 - I’m Good Enough to Go to Heaven.
Paul writes that this work of salvation through grace is, “Not your own doing.”
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Not of blood… meaning they didn’t inherit salvation because they were God’s chosen people. Most Jews of Jesus day believed that.
Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.
Nor of the will of man… Salvation is not something you can set your mind to and become. “I’m just going to stop sinning.” I wish you well on that. Come back to me when you have failed and we will talk!
Nor of the will of man… Similar to the last point, but approaching it from the opposite perspective… “I’m going to do all the good I can do in the world to please God.” No, that doesn’t work either.
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
But they are born of God! Without God’s intervention, no one would be saved.
Truthfully, the Bible says that there is none good, not even one.
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
The standard that we use to judge our goodness is not the same as God’s standard. We compare ourselves to other people, but God compares us to His perfectly righteous son. I don’t know about you but I don’t even come close to that measure. And that is why we need the grace of God because we are sinful by nature, separated from God because of our sin, and headed for a sinner’s hell.
Lie #3 - I Can Earn My Way to Heaven
Lie #3 - I Can Earn My Way to Heaven
Paul says “it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast.
Some have this picture of God standing in heaven with a set of scales. He will put the good we do on one side and the bad we do on the other. If the good outweighs the bad, then congratulations you get into heaven. (This is a philosophy held by many religions including Islam.)
With this thinking, there is never any assurance. You just never know if you have done enough. Imagine the anxiety.
But Paul is saying it is a gift.
I have never had to earn a gift, have you?
Illus. If I came to you this morning with a $100 bill in my hand and I said, “This is my gift to you.” You have a couple of choices. You can say, “No thanks, I’m good. I don’t need that.” Even though I am not making you earn it, you still have the right to refuse. I’m offering it to you out of the goodness of my heart. (By they way, don’t think it is going to happen for real be cause I can’t remember when the last time was I had $100 that I could just give away.)
Or, you can receive it with joy - Just as the giver intended.
Here is the truth you must know if you would ever be righteous in God's eyes: salvation is a gift you receive, not a paycheck you earn.
Illus. Or think of this. What is the difference of receiving a lavishly expensive gift from someone versus purchasing that same gift for a penny? You would be able to say to people, “look at this great deal I found. It was a huge bargain. You would be boasting to all your friends. Whereas the gift is something that you could never brag about because someone, out of love and generosity, gave it to you free of charge.
Lie #4 - Salvation is an End in Itself (v. 10)
Lie #4 - Salvation is an End in Itself (v. 10)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
First, Paul points out that the saved are God’s masterpiece. In the original language, the word used mean’s “work of art.”
It only occurs here and one other place in the NT. It calls us back to God’s work at creation. This points us to the believer as a new creation!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
So in salvation, the old you, the spiritually dead you, gets remade into a new creation by God. Your old life passes away and you begin a new life in Christ.
God can take your mess and make a masterpiece!
As with all of God’s creation, he has a purpose for you.
You are created in Christ Jesus for good works. You are not saved by your works, but you are saved for His work!
So God doesn’t save a person and say to them, “OK, you hang out right here and wait until I call you home.” He has work for us!
Illus. True faith will no more fail to produce [good works] than the sun can cease to give light. - Martin Luther
Someone compared doing good works before knowing Christ to a man who takes a huge deposit of money to a bank and leaves it on the counter without having a bank account.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
The works that God has called the believer to walk in are meant to glorify God in heaven and point others to Jesus. The idea of walking in them is to continually practice them.
Illus. “Salvation, from beginning to end—even the good works believers perform—is a result of God’s grace.”
Benjamin L. Merkle, “Ephesians,” in Ephesians–Philemon, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. XI, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 46.
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone!