Everyone, through Faith! but what about works?
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Read John 3:13-21
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Everyone, through Faith
The main point of this passage is that Jesus sums up the entire gospel and answers some critical questions about the gospel and how to attain eternal life.
Jesus is God!
Jesus is God!
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
The main point I want to show here is that Jesus proves his deity in this statement.
He descended from Heaven, and refers to himself as the “Son of Man”
Mention Daniel 7:13
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Son of man is used a few times in the old testament, but the Son of Man is only seen in Daniel used in the context referring to Jesus.
This points to his Deity, ultimately proving Jesus’ authority over what he was teaching.
Jesus Must Be Lifted Up!
Jesus Must Be Lifted Up!
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Why did Jesus think this was important to mention?
The context for his statement can be seen in Numbers 21:5-9
And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Jesus compares himself to the brass serpent being raised up and set on a pole.
This points to his crucifixion, and begins his explanation of the salvation of God, and that it is through His death and being raised up on the cross, that He provide salvation to the world if they accept it.
Everyone, Through Faith!
Everyone, Through Faith!
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Jesus makes His bold and beautiful statement that whoever believes in him will have eternal life, being delivered from Hell
Verse 16 expands more on the why, and restates verse 15.
It is because of God’s love that we are offered this grace, and God gives us a very simple way to receive it.
True faith, in that Jesus is God (verse 13), that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin (verse 14), and anyone who has Faith in this, and that Jesus is risen from the dead, will be saved.
The word whosoever translates to “all” in the greek text. This is so important because it proves, straight from Jesus, that everyone has the opportunity to accept Him and believe on Him.
The rest of this passage expands on the fact that unbelief means condemnation, however, this was not Jesus’ goal while on earth. He didn’t come to condemn, He came to save!
So, what about works?
So, what about works?
Jesus actually answers the hotly debated topic of where do works come into the picture in Christianity.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
I feel like this is the part that is the most skipped over, and the one where people tend to get most confused
Verse by verse, we can understand it, but the apostles also make very good clear teachings about it as well, so lets start with verse by verse, then see what the apostles say.
Jesus explains the condemnation first, stating that He is the light of the world, see John 1, and that men in general loved the darkness, because the light reveals their sin.
By not coming to the light, they don’t believe in Jesus, revealing their works, even to God, and His response will be “Depart from Me, I never knew you”
The last verse is the verse I really want to focus on, first, “He that doeth truth”, do truth means accepting Jesus and believing on Him, because that is the truth!
The second thing, is that the deeds of the ones who are in truth, are made manifest (revealed, or made clear), that they are wrought in God.
The ESV puts it: “...so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 3:21.
In God! That is the most important part, not that our works get us to God, but that after salvation, because we are actively pursuing belief (doing truth, faith) in Jesus, and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, our works are revealed to be in God.
We should want to do the works and calling that God has asked us to do because we believe in the Only begotten Son, not to get us to Him.
However, this is probably one of the most argued about topics that I have heard regarding salvation, and most people trying to say that works earn you grace, point to James 2: 17-26, so lets look at it and understand what James is really trying to say.
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
and the crowd says -SEE! Right there, James says we need works to get to Heaven and to receive Jesus’ grace
This is entirely false. We already saw that Jesus himself refutes this idea, so lets understand what James is trying to say.
Saying you have Faith and showing that you have Faith are two entirely different things
James’ point is not that this earns your justification, but that you are vindicated, your faith is proven to men, not to God.
Right there in the passage, it said that Abraham’s faith counted as righteousness, and his true faith was proven by not even keeping his son from God
The final analogy James points out is that a body, with no apparent life, is a dead body. Faith is the same way, if Faith has no signs of apparent life, how will we know if it is dead or alive?
How can we fulfill the great commission with out doing the revealed good works in God that Jesus mentions?
God knows our hearts and knows if we truly believe in Jesus, but if Jesus is really who we believe, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us, then we will truly start working towards acting like it.
Paul also has a lot of statements on this topic, so lets look at Ephesians 2:5-10
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Paul and James perfectly align on this topic, grace through faith, and then we are reborn, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
God ordained this behavior, and as followers of Jesus, we should walk in Biblical good works and the commandments of Jesus, because we are remade in Jesus.
Application:
Application:
Learn and study this gospel truth that way you understand it, and that way you can teach it to someone else
The only way you will be able to show yourself faithful to other men, especially the unbelievers, is to do good works, through the faith in Jesus Christ. This doesn’t earn us salvation, but it may be the very reason someone else comes to believe in Jesus and receive salvation.
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Don’t be this guy!
If Jesus is truly your Lord, then you should follow His direction and live and do as He would do.
