Salvation
in the Lord
Jesus
Christ Alone
Christianity is not a religion about good works that individuals, families, churches,
congregations and nations should perform. The emphasis of Biblical preaching is not love, social issues, miracles, holiness,
soul-winning, decisions, revivals, prophecy, gifts, baptism, speaking with tongues or commandments, but a Living Person -
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Other Biblical topics must take their place complementary to Him. The centrality of the Lord
Jesus Christ's person and work is the unifying theme of the entire Scriptures.
He is the subject of the prophets' testimony: "And beginning at
Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself" (Luke
24:27). "Written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me" (Luke
24:44). "... We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote ... Jesus of
Nazareth
..." (John 1:45). "You search the scriptures, for in them you think you
have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39). "For if you believed
Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me" (John 5:46). "To him all the
prophets witness ..." (Acts 10:43).
Jesus Christ is the subject of the Holy Spirit's testimony. "But
when the helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will
testify of me" (John 15:26). "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is
Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:14).
He is the subject of the apostles' testimony. "But you shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witness to Me" (Acts 1:8).
"And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ" (Acts
5:42). "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him (Acts
8:35). "Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God" (Acts
9:20). "We preach Christ crucified" (I Cor. 1:23).
"the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us" (2 Cor. 1:19).
"For we did not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord" (2 Cor. 4:5).
"I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ .." (Eph. 3:8).
There are several false doctrines of salvation that are taught by men. One of the most common is you can believe in any religion and still be saved. Another is you can be saved as long as you try to be a good person and treat others in the same way that
you would like to be treated. This “Golden Rule” is taught in Christianity
as well as in many religions. All these doctrines appear to be reasonable to
most people, but they are not the way of salvation that is provided and acceptable to the One True God.
In order to understand the salvation of God we must, first of all, know man’s relationship
with God. The Holy Bible informs us: “For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) This means all human beings have failed to reach
the mark or standard that God had set. How did mankind miss this mark?
“As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no not one; There is none
who understands; There is none who seeks God. They have all gone out of the way;
The have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
(Rom. 3:10-12)
How
do we fall short of the glory of God?
1.
We fail to give God the glory due Him, in our words, thoughts and actions.
2. We fail to qualify for, and thereby reject, the glory and reward that God gives faithful servants.
3.
We fail to properly reflect God's glory, by refusing to be conformed into His image.
4.
We fail to obtain the final glory God will bestow on His people at the end of all history.
What is the glory of God? Our Lord Jesus Christ
prayed: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had
with You before the world was.” (Jn. 17:5) “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn. 1:14) “God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, received up in glory.” (1 Tim. 3:16) After His death, burial and resurrection the
Lord Jesus Christ entered into His glory. (Lk. 24:26)
To attain the glory of God man’s sin must first be removed. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) There
is only one way to take away man’s sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “For this is My blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
(Mt. 26:28)
“. . . . and without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”(Heb.
9:22) “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered
Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God? And for this reason He is the
Mediator of the New Covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those
who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:14-15)
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29) In the Old Testament time every morning and evening, a lamb was sacrificed in the temple for
the sins of the people (Ex. 29:38-42). Isaiah 53:7 prophesied that the Messiah,
God’s Servant, would be led to the slaughter like a lamb. To pay the penalty
for sin, a life had to be given – and God chose to provide the sacrifice Himself by manifesting in the flesh so that
He could die in man’s place and shed blood for the remission of sins. The
sins of the world were removed when the Lord Jesus Christ died as the perfect sacrifice.
This is the only way mankind’s sins are forgiven (Heb. 9:26) “The sin of the world” means everyone’s sin, the sin of each individual. Jesus Christ already paid the price of your sin by His death and shedding of blood. You can receive remission of sin by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance,
confession of your sins and be baptized into Him (Acts 2:38; 22:16)
Today, we hear preachers preach the “free-will” of man to choose salvation or reject
it. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, not in a human decision of human
works! Jesus Christ alone is able to deliver one from the power of darkness into
His marvelous light.
We also hear churches promote: “Come and join our church and you will be saved.” What a big lie! Even our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself did not preach: “Come and join my church and you will be saved.”
And we know that Jesus Christ has His own church that He built. (Mt. 16:18) The
church did not and cannot save any person. Only the Lord Jesus Christ is the
Savior of the church. (Eph. 5:23) Does that mean you may attend any church and
receive the salvation of Jesus Christ? No, only the church that preaches “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” (Eph.
1:13-14) If you want the good opportunity to have the assurance of salvation,
then go to a Christ-centered, Bible-believing, Spirit-filled, truth-preaching, commandment-keeping and loving church.
In the Old Testament God said: “I, even I, am the LORD (YAHWEH),
and besides Me there is no savior.” (Isa. 43:11) When God manifested
Himself in the flesh He became the only Savior in the world (Lk. 2:11). “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by
which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) There
is an important question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The only correct answer is: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:30-31)
We must emphasize over and over again – salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ alone,
no one else and nothing else. Jesus said: “I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
Me.” (Jn. 14:6) This
is one of the most basic and important verses in Scripture. How can we know the
way to God? Only in Jesus alone. Jesus
is the only way because He is the only Person in the whole wide universe who is both God and man. By uniting our lives with His, we are united with God. Trust
Jesus to take you to the heavenly Father, and all the benefits of being God’s child will be yours. As the way, Jesus is the path to the Father. As the truth,
He is the reality of all God’s promises. As the life, He joins His divine
life to ours, both now and eternally.
1. In Jesus Christ Alone, the Door of Life may be found.
“Then Jesus said to them again, Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the Door
of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep
did not hear them. I am the door. If
anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (Jn. 10:7-9)
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Door to God’s salvation for us. He offers access to safety and security. The Messiah is our
Protector.
2. In Jesus Christ Alone, the Way to Fruitfulness may be found
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes,
that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which
I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He
who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (Jn. 15:1-5)
The Lord Jesus
Christ alone is the True Vine, and God is the vinedresser who cares for the branches and make them fruitful. The branches are all those who claim to be the followers of Christ.
The branches can also refer to the various churches. Notice that not every
branch will remain in the True Vine. Jesus wants only those branches that bear
fruit – that is spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22-26). The fruitful branches are
true believers who by their living union with the Lord Jesus Christ produce much fruit.
But those who become unproductive – those who turn back from following Christ after making a superficial commitment
– will be separated from the vine.
3. In Jesus Christ Alone, Eternal Life can be found
“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name
of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son
of God.” (1 Jn. 5:11-13)
4. In Jesus Christ Alone, Heavenly Rewards can be found
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give every
one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the
End, the First and the Last.” Blessed are those that do His commandments,
that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.” (Rev.
22:12-14)
May God bless you
Sermon preached by Paul
Wong at a Congregation in Houston, Texas
on June 2, 2001 ~ For comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
This article is preached on this Website
on July 18, 2009
