Introduction
The greatest stumbling block to men and
women entering eternal life is the legalism
which adds to the Message of grace and
obscures the simplicity of salvation. Man,
by his very nature— in order to feed
his ego, in order to feel good about
himself, to feel ‘worthy’— wants to ‘do’
something to earn his salvation. But God
says it is a gift, a precious gift of grace,
because Jesus Christ paid its price on the
Cross. He bought eternal life for
every man, woman and child. How does one
acquire it? Simple: the gift must be
received by faith. “Trembling with
fear,” the Philippian jailer asked Paul
and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?” To which they replied, “Believe
[aorist tense, at this
moment in time] in the Lord Jesus
{Christ}, and you will be saved…,” Acts
16:30-31.
Body
In contrast to the legalistic distortions of
the Gospel {Grand and Glorious News} so
prevalent in our society, let me give you
nine things salvation is which not
only simplify, but clarify the issue.
Salvation is:
1. As simple as coming when called.
“Come to Me all who are weary
and heavy-laden,” said our Lord and
Savior, “and I will give you rest,”
Matthew 11:28. This is the eternal “rest” of salvation.
2. As simple as drinking water. “But whoever drinks of the water
that I will give him shall never thirst, but
the water that I will give him will become
in him a well of water springing up to
eternal life,” John 4:14. “If any
man is thirsty, let him come to Me and
drink. He who believes in Me,” Jesus
told His fellow Jews on the great day of the
Feast, “as the Scripture said, ‘from his
innermost being shall flow rivers of living
water…,’” John 7:37b-38.
3. As simple as eating bread. In John 6:35 Jesus said,
“I am the
Bread of Life, he who comes to Me will not
hunger, and he who believes in Me will never
thirst…;” and again, in v. 51, “I am
the Living Bread that came down out of
Heaven; if anyone eats this bread, he
will live forever; and the bread also which
I shall give for the life of the world is My
flesh.”
4. As simple as entering a door. Using the figure of the Good
Shepherd and His sheep Christ said, “I am
the Door, if anyone enters through Me, he
will be saved...,” John 10:9.
5. As simple as receiving a gift. Romans 6:23 tells us, that
“the
wages [the ‘payment;’ this word was used
in the ancient world for the rations of a
Greek foot soldier] of sin is death [spiritual ‘death’ means separation from God
and all that He is {Light, Life, Love}
forevermore], but the free gift
of God [that’s grace] is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
6. As simple as calling for help. The apostle Paul in Romans 10:13
said, “whoever will call upon the name of
the Lord will be saved.” This consists
of one little sentence, one little silent
prayer, which can be expressed in the
privacy of your own soul: “God, I am
believing in Your Son for eternal life.”
7. As simple as looking toward the light. Upon His entry into
Jerusalem Jesus told the nation of Israel,
“I have come {as} Light into the world,
that everyone who believes in Me may not
remain in darkness,” John 12:46.
Earlier in this same passage, in v. 36, He
had said to them, “While you have the
Light, believe in the Light, in order
that you may become sons of light....”
8. As simple as the trust of a child. Matthew 18:2 says, that Jesus
“called a child to Himself and set him
before them [the disciples], and
said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are
converted and become like children, you will
not enter the Kingdom of Heaven,’” v.
3. What does He mean “become like
children”? He meant, not like children
of today but those in the ancient world: humble, willing and eager to trust in
the power of the Word.
9. As simple as believing in Jesus Christ.
“Truly, truly, I say to
you, he who believes [in Me] has
eternal life,” John 6:47. In John
11:25-26 Jesus said to Martha, “I am the
Resurrection and the Life; he who believes
in Me will live even if he dies, and
everyone who lives and believes in Me will
never die. [then He makes the issue
personal and individual; He asks her] Do
you believe this?”
In Conclusion
Each of the examples and illustrations I
just gave you is designed to show the
simplicity of faith. The Scripture says in
Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from
hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Faith is trusting what the Word of
God says. In the final analysis it all
comes down to the question in John 11:26, “Do you believe this?” The unbeliever’s
response to that single, solitary question
determines his destiny: either eternal glory
in Heaven or eternal misery in the Lake of
Fire. Legalism in Jesus’ day kept many of
those in His generation from recognizing and
receiving the Son of God; legalism in Paul’s
day tried to take those who had been saved
by grace and bind them to a system of
rituals and observances that passed away
with the death of Christ; and legalism in
our day, right here and right now, is still
the greatest stumbling block to the
simplicity of the Gospel for the unbeliever,
and to the spiritual freedom which is the birthright of every child of God in the
Age of Grace!
