Sermon Tone Analysis

Salvation

Jack Cottrell, in his book “What the Bible Says about Grace: Set Free!"(2009) explains salvation in as clear of terms as I have ever heard.

I’m using his structure here.

His structure is based on “8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them” (HCSB).

A summary of salvation can be thought of as: saved by grace, through faith (manifest in belief, repentance, confession, and received at baptism), for works.

1. Saved by Grace: 24 They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

25 God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.

26 God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

27 Where then is boasting?

It is excluded.

By what kind of law?

By one of works?

No, on the contrary, by a law of faith.

28 For we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

2. Through Faith: 1 We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, on behalf of His name, 6 including yourselves who also belong to Jesus Christ by calling.

Clearly it is not just any faith.

The prophets of Baal and Asherah had faith, but clearly not a saving faith ().

The object of faith, Christ, is a requirement.

There is more, however.

The demons have the right object of faith, and they shudder ().

So, the question becomes, what is this saving faith that Paul writes about in Ephesians?

When we look up salvation in the New Testament, we find it appearing with belief, repentance, confession, and baptism.

Saved by Grace:

a. Believe: , Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

But we must not forget about .

We see that belief is necessary, but insufficient on its own.

We see how baptism is tied with belief and salvation.

Through Faith: (Obedience of faith...)

b.

Confess: , Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven.

33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.

And also, 9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Here we see how confession is tied with belief and salvation.

c.

Repent: , “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Here we see repentance and baptism, with belief implied, tied with salvation.

Believe: ,

d. Baptism: , Having been buried with Him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

This verse clearly shows baptism as the expression of faith.

makes it very clear.

4 Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life.

5 For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection.

Here we see baptism tied with salvation, and a new way of life.

A saving faith is manifest in belief, confession, and repentance.

A true baptism, one from belief, confession, and repentance, is the event where it we are promised.

Belief, confession, repentance, and baptism are not good works.

They do not in any way earn, or compensate God, for our salvation.

They are the obedience of faith discussed in .

3. For Works: , For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

We are not saved by works, but for works as Paul clearly states here and elsewhere.

Jesus tells us in , If you love Me, you will keep My commands.

A saving faith will produce the fruit of good works.

Not to save us, not to make us more saved, but the fruit of obedience from the root of love in Christ Jesus.

Confess: ,

We see then that we are: saved by grace, through faith (manifest in belief, repentance, confession, and received at baptism), for works.

, “8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them” (HCSB).

We can rejoice with , Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Repent:

I believe that good woks have a reward, based on , If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.

14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.

15 If anyone’s work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire.

16 Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him; for God’s sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are.

These works have value and are pleasing to God.

They are our proper duty to God.

We must walk in the new life, but good works do not save us.

Disagreements that Lead to Confusion

Baptism: ,

I have been asked closed questions on occasion that some have used to place my beliefs in boxes and categories of their creation.

Above is a summary of my views on salvation.

Here are some concerns that sometimes arise.

· I have been asked, “Do you believe that you are saved by baptism?”

I must respond that, no, I do not believe we are saved by baptism.

Baptism is where we are promised to receive forgiveness of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

It is, however, Christ Jesus who saves, not baptism.

The power is not in the water or in the words or in the ceremony, but in God.

We are saved at baptism, not by the ritual of baptism.

(See and the outline above.)

, The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live.

We see that it is not just the act, but the heart.

In Africa there are many ritual washings, some called baptisms, but they are often for luck, or for guilt relief, (as we have seen in the US) but if they are not motivated by faith demonstrated in - belief, repentance, and confession – the act of baptism is without power.

For Works: , , , ,

· Some people say that we are saved by works.

Clearly, tells us, and many other verses tell use, we are not saved by works.

To teach salvation by faith and works, rather than faith (as discussed above with belief, repentance, confession, and baptism) alone is heresy.

puts it clearly: 5 He saved us — not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

,

· I have been told that it is dangerous to tell people that they are not saved by works.

I’m told it is safer for them and me to say that we are saved by faith and works, that it is a more conservative approach.

I reject the idea that I can or should change the clear teaching of the Word to be ‘safer’, so that people won’t go wild and live in ‘cheap grace’.

I think of , “Woe to you experts in the law!

You have taken away the key of knowledge!

You didn’t go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were going in.”

I can’t create laws, like the Pharisees, even with good intentions.

I must preach what I find in the Word.

· I’ve been asked if I believe we have eternal security.

This is usually a follow up question to the salvation by faith and works.

I think provides a good summary: 11 This saying is trustworthy: For if we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; 13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

Here we see both that we have security, and that we can renounce that security.