Jesus Plus Nothing Equals Salvation

Well, the reason we don’t understand the Bible at first is because the Bible says that the natural man can’t understand the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually understood. Here’s another important thing to remember, the Spirit of God always works together with the word of God. In every single conversion that takes place. And He begins working sometimes even before He brings the one who’s going to do the sharing. Philip goes up to this Ethiopian eunuch and asks the question, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” Folks, the Holy Spirit of God showed Philip what to say at the right time to the right person. This guy was ready for the truth! He says, “How can I understand it unless someone guides me?” Man, what an opening! And he invites Philip to climb on board. Now it just so happens that the place where the guy’s been reading is Isaiah chapter 53, probably one of the best descriptions of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament. But this fellow doesn’t know it. Look at verses 32-33 (Read).

Now, it’s as clear as a bell this passage of scripture is about the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews have always understood Isaiah 53 as a reference to the Messiah. But they didn’t put 2 and 2 together and see that it was talking about Jesus. This Ethiopian eunuch wants to know who Isaiah is talking about. Is he talking about himself or is he talking about somebody else? And using these verses from Isaiah chapter 53, Philip takes him step by step through the scriptures to show him that they are talking about The Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, remember earlier when I used the scripture in Romans 10, verse 17? (“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”) Where it uses the phrase, “by the word of God”, the Greek means, “That which preaches Christ.” The Scriptures point to Jesus and that what Philip was showing this guy. Jesus is who Isaiah is talking about. Then he takes him to some other scriptures that back that up. As a matter of fact, the whole Old Testament backs it up! Philip knew the word of God. Let me ask you something, “How well do you know it?”

God sends someone who is sensitive to the Spirit. He sends someone who can share the scriptures. But 3rdly God sends someone to share that,

III. Salvation is Only in the Savior – Verses 36-38.

Did you notice what and who Philip shared? Philip preached Jesus to this foreigner. Now I don’t know if used the Roman Road, Evangelism Explosion, Faith, or the 4 Spiritual Laws, but I’m confident he covered everything pretty good! Now, all this time as Philip has been sharing from God’s word, the Holy Spirit of God has been at work. John 16:13 says that one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to guide people into the truth. Remember how I told you how the Spirit and the word always work together? They’re a powerful team! Here’s how it works, (Share how they work – natural birth, spiritual birth).

Folks, salvation is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can’t go anywhere else to find it. You can’t be good enough to get it, you can’t do enough things to gain God’s favor and you can shave your head, go climb and sit on a mountain in Tibet and get as enlightened as you want, but you’ll only find salvation in Jesus Christ. Philip showed this fellow who the Savior was and what he had to do to be saved and it’s evident from this passage that Philip talked about baptism. Now, let me say this, baptism is important. It’s one of the ordinances of the church and it’s an important step of obedience for the believer. But baptism doesn’t save anybody. Trusting in Jesus by faith in what He did on the cross saves a person.