Salvation to the End
Core Christianity • Sermon • Submitted
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· 30 viewsUnderstanding salvation and how God starts and finishes His work
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Introduction
Introduction
Last week, we started a series of messages examining the core truths along with the core commitments of the Christian faith. I’ll spend more time dealing with the core commitments after we get through these initial messages. But I do believe that one leads naturally to the other. Understanding the truth of our salvation and our relationship to God ultimately informs our commitments. This is why I opened up the series with one of the most difficult doctrines within the Christian faith because if you can accept the truth of unconditional election, I feel like you can generally accept most everything else about Christianity. And I don’t know if you are a good news first and bad news second type of person, or if you prefer to have the bad news first and finish with the good news but it appears that God prefers to share the bad news first and then give us the good news. At least that seems to be the order that I see in the Bible. At any rate, the doctrine of unconditional election, which is very difficult for people to receive, is closely connected to another doctrine that most everybody loves which is the glorious truth that once you are saved, you’re always saved. Historically, this has been referred to as the perseverance of the saints but that term can be misleading so I’ll clarify that later. According to the words of Christ, once you are genuinely and authentically saved, there is no way you can lose that salvation. I know that many believer’s here in the city will try to test the very limits of this truth but this morning as we unpack this key doctrine, my prayer is that the kindness of God would absolutely break your heart.
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:3
Body
Body
There are 3 points that I would like to look at in connection to this passage:
There is tension between the will of God and the will of man.
The will of God always prevails.
God’s will guarantees our salvation to the end.
Generally, when we find out that God sovereignly chooses some people for salvation, it tends to shock us. But no matter how much you try to navigate around this hard truth, the biblical evidence is irrefutable. What do you do with a passage like:
15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Romans 9:
Now where you go from here is very, very important because it is easy to assume that God doesn’t want everyone to be saved and this is probably the reason why we have such a visceral reaction to these truths. But the only problem with what seems to be a logical conclusions is the fact that it is patently untrue because the Bible is also clear that God desires all people to come to repentance.
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
This is a classic example of an antimony which the Britannica dictionary defines as a contradiction, real or apparent, between two principles or conclusions, both of which seem equally justified. The fact that God chooses some to be saved does not negate the fact that God at the same does not want any to perish. He is not gleefully throwing people into hell or dismissive about their eternal fate. After a message like the last one, people will try to stereotype me into a corner and call me nasty things like Calvinist or Puritan. I like Calvin for the most part except that he killed a man in cold blood but we all have sin. The Puritans were great but they were a bit stuffy for me. If you were to ask me, I would like to consider myself first to be a Biblical purist and I glean from others that share that same commitment like Calvin and the Puritans but I don’t hesitate to deviate from these schools of doctrine if I believe that the entire counsel of Scripture does not support their conclusions. Having said that, there are certain verses and conclusions from the Bible that seem to conflict or even to contradict. And I’m not sure if this is my personality or a gift from God but I am perfectly comfortable within the tension of what appears to be two irreconcilable truths. The great American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, along these lines wrote that, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” I know this quote seems self-serving and bit self-congratulatory but he wrote it not me. The only rebuttal is that this is not from the Scriptures and I would have to say, “Touche, you got be there!”
In this passage, we are confronted with one of the major points of apparent contradiction, which is the tension between the will of God and the will of man. To be completely honest, I don’t understand why this tension even exists in our minds. A large part of it is that human beings insist that our will has to be equal to the will of God or that God has to respect your free will and let you exercise it. Granted, you can have your free will but that does not obligate God to give you the freedom to do whatever you want. That is a bad strategy for parenting and it is a bad strategy for being God of the universe. I want to show you a video that is going to hit close to home for many of our new parents but I think you’ll see plainly how the tension between God’s will and our will plays out in our own lives. I know that you don’t want to admit that many times we are like that little girl, throwing up your fist at God, telling him that “I’m the boss” even though all He wants to do is give you some rest and a measure of peace and to ensure your well-being. The will of God is for us to live the fullest and most abundant life possible but left to our own devices, if we could follow our own will without restraint, we would willingly sabotage the good purposes of God. That I am certain of!
To be completely honest, I don’t understand why this tension even exists. A large part of it is that human beings insist that our will has to be equal to the will of God or that God has to respect your free will and let you exercise it. Granted, you can have your free will but that does not obligate God to give you the freedom to do whatever you want. That is a bad strategy for parenting and it is a bad strategy for being God of the universe. I want to show you a video that is going to hit close to home for many of our new parents but I think you’ll see plainly how the tension between God’s will and our will plays out in our own lives. I know that you don’t want to admit that many times we are like that little girl, throwing up your fist at God, telling him that “I’m the boss” even though all He wants to do is give you some rest and a measure of peace and to ensure your well-being.
But here is the thing that you have to understand, the very fact that you have this tension and conflict with the will of God means that you are being drawn into a real relationship with your Father in heaven and that you are in the process of learning how to submit your will to His will. Jesus came from heaven to give us the example of how to be fully human and without God we assume being absolutely free is a condition of full humanity. The example of Christ tells us that true humanity comes through perfect submission to the will of God. In verse 38, Jesus tells us that He has come down from heaven not to do his own will, the but will of the One who sent Him. As followers of Christ, we are all learning how to submit ourselves to God’s will
If this is currently happening in your life, it’s a great thing because it means that you are working out what it means to be a child of God. But on the other hand, I would be worried if there was no tension between your will and the will of God because it may very well mean that you have no relationship with Him and if you have no relationship, it certainly puts questions marks around your faith. I find it troubling that people can so easily walk away from God without so much as a struggle and it leads me to wonder if they ever had a real relationship with God or not. Perhaps they are putting a false hope on this idea that once you’ve raised your hand or walked down an aisle that you are somehow magically saved. You’re saved through faith in a living relationship with Jesus. It may have its ups and downs but His love for you will always draw you back. Truth be told, I’ve contemplated what it would look like to stop being a Christian but something just will not allow me to walk away.
One of my favorite Psalms is and in this chapter, the author is deeply conflicted about why the wicked live with such apparent ease, nothing troubles them, they prosper without a care in the world. On the other hand, as he contemplates his relationship with God, the Psalmist complains:
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Psalm 73:
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
Psalm 73:
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
Psalm 73:21-
This is the classic example of someone who is working through his own conflict with God’s will and when he finally comes to his senses, he realizes that God has been holding him by the hand all this time. God will only allow you to stumble so far, before He intervenes because that is what a good Father does. I believe much of the internal turmoil and conflict that we have as believers is the simple fact that we are not submitted to the will of God. Why go through all this needless pain when there is a much easier way. Submit yourself to the will of God. I know that it is easier said than done. What may help you in this difficult process of learning submission is knowing that the will of God always prevails without fail.
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned,
so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
so shall it stand,
Isaiah
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned,
so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
so shall it stand,
You cannot thwart the purposes of God. You cannot circumvent them and the best advice that I can give you from the Scriptures is hold onto your own plans very loosely.
Isaiah
21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
This is just good wisdom to live your life by. It keeps you humble, flexible, you don’t get too distraught when your own plans don’t work out because you know that there is something greater that God is doing. And out of all of God’s purposes, the single greatest purpose that God has for you is His plan of salvation. I know you think God’s plan for your career or your future spouse or where your kid’s are going to college is of utmost importance but they pale in comparison to his plan of salvation for you. (I had a refreshing conversations with one of our new parents and they said, their greatest worry is the future salvation of their baby.) There is nothing more important than that and so He sent his Son to secure that salvation so that nothing would be left to chance. And there are two essential promises that Jesus gives to us and to the Father.
He will never reject anyone who comes to Him no matter how broken, how sinful, how lost they are.
Jesus will lose nothing of all that the Father has given Him.
It is inconceivable that Jesus would reject anyone or lose anyone that has been destined for salvation by the Father. One commentator, it would be to his everlasting shame if He did not accomplish the will of the Father because that is the only reason why He came to this earth. If you haven’t noticed by now, Jesus is deeply invested in your salvation and if you think He is just going to let you go because of some spiritual tantrum, you have another thing coming. I love what Leon Morris says about this.
The Gospel according to John 4. The Bread of Life (6:30–40)
The salvation Jesus brings is no ephemeral thing. It is ultimate and final. This thought is of the greatest comfort to believers. Their assurance is based not on their feeble hold on Christ, but on his sure grip on them
At the same, the more that you come to know Jesus, his character, his heart, his love for you, the greater is your assurance that He will save you to the end. This is why I said the historic name for this doctrine is horribly misguided. Salvation is not mainly about the perseverance of the saints, it is more about the protection and the preservation of the believer by God. Again, it is largely a work of His grace that allows any person to finish this journey of faith.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Conclusion
If Jesus gives us the assurance of salvation: why do believers struggle with doubt?
First of all, assurance is not a necessary part of saving faith. There are varying levels of faith in the human heart and you only need a little bit to be saved. The perfect example of this is when Peter began to walk on water towards Jesus but when he saw the waves, he began to sink. And so Jesus had to reach out to rescue him and upon grabbing his hand, Jesus said, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt.” Clearly Peter was saved, but because His faith was small, it allowed doubt to come in.
People often don’t realize that faith is like a muscle, it is has to be exercised and applied in order to grow. You cannot allow it to be purely passive because chances are in that state, your doubt will overshadow your faith.
Another reason why believers wrestle with doubt is on-going sin in their lives. It is natural for sin to lead to feelings of self-condemnation which quickly turns into doubt. You many not even know this is happening. This doesn’t mean you have lost your faith, it simply means that your faith is little but with faith as small as a mustard seed, you can still confess, repent, and return to the Savior.
The final thought on this question is little faith with some doubt is infinitely better than having a false assurance of salvation. The Bible is clear that Jesus will turn some people away at the gates of eternal life. Generally it is false teaching and a wrong measure of your salvation that leads to false assurance.
So if assurance of salvation is not essential to saving faith, why do I need it?
It is for your peace, joy, and confidence in the Lord. It is so that you can lead the most effective life as a Christian and be the best possible witness for the Lord.
How can I grow in the assurance of my salvation?
Know what you believe.
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
2. Grow in your love for other believers.
14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.
3. Learn to obey God. Practice the discipline of submission to Him.
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
4. Seek the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
yhgu
Ephesians 3
Ephesians 3:
...contradiction, real or apparent, between two principles or conclusions, both of which seem equally justified;
