Personal… But Not Private
Ephesians 2:8-10
So often when one seeks to discuss a person’s faith they hear in response “I believe that is a personal matter between me and God.” Our society has gotten to the place where it generally regards religion as a completely private matter. You can believe what you want to believe as long as you do not impose your beliefs or talk about them to others. We say that one’s religious beliefs and affairs are private, and no one else has the right to meddle in them. As we consider the state of man and his relationship to God in light of the Word of God we shall see that it is true that salvation is a personal matter but it is not nor was ever meant to be private.
I. Salvation is a Personal Matter
A. Salvation is a matter of personal belief
1. Jonathan Whitfield was preaching to coal miners in England. He asked one man, "What do you believe?" "Well, I believe the same as the church." "And what does the church believe?" "Well, they believe the same as me." Seeing he was getting nowhere, Whitfield said, "And what is it that you both believe?" "Well, I suppose the same thing."
2. Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are you saved through faith...” – The Amplified Bible renders this, “For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God.”
3. S Lewis Johnson writes that to... “Believe is our responsibility. There is human responsibility. We are responsible to believe. And even though that is the gift of God we are responsible to believe. And so I call upon you, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved if you are not.” (Ephesians 2:1-10 His Power and Our Salvation)
4. “Saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God. This definition emphasizes that saving faith is not just a belief in facts but personal trust in Jesus to save me... Because saving faith in Scripture involves this personal trust, the word “trust” is a better word to use in contemporary culture than the word “faith” or “belief.” The reason is that we can “believe” something to be true with no personal commitment or dependence involved in it...” – Wayne Grudem
5. Romans 10:9 “That if THOU shalt confess with THY mouth the Lord Jesus, and SHALT BELIEVE IN THINE HEART that God hath raised him from the dead, THOU shalt be saved.”
6. Only YOU can believe for YOU. You cannot believe for someone else and someone else cannot believe for you. That is why the question is so personal. Your status is not based on the belief of your church, your family, friends, spouse, or anyone else - it is based on your personal belief in Jesus.
B. Salvation is a matter of personal repentance
1. In his book I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church’s integrity problem is in the misconception “that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior.” He goes on to say, “It is revival without reformation, without repentance.” Chuck Swindoll, John The Baptizer, Bible Study Guide
2. Mark 1:14-15 “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
3. Repentance is included in believing. Faith and repentance are like two sides of a coin. Genuine faith includes repentance, and genuine repentance includes faith. The Greek word for repentance (metanoia) means to change one’s mind. But to change one’s mind about what? About sin, about one’s adequacy to save himself, about Christ as the only way of salvation, the only One who can make a person righteous. – Kindred Spirit, a quarterly publication of Dallas Seminary, Summer 1989, p. 5
4. There is no salvation apart from personal repentance and personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
5. 1 John 1:8-10 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us”
6. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”.
C. Salvation is a matter of personal acceptance
1. As previously mentioned, one can “believe” something to be true without any personal commitment.
2. Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
3. Action is required on your part.
4. Salvation is dependent upon his personal acceptance of divine grace, in obedience to the requirements of the gospel of Christ.
5. Someone has said that salvation does not come to us by an involuntary act, as light falls on our eyes, sounds on our ears, or air enters our lungs. When we are so far enlightened as to understand about it, there must be a personal reception of salvation by us.
6. The life of Christianity consists of possessive pronouns" says Martin Luther. It is one thing to say, "Christ is a Saviour"; it is quite another thing to say, "He is my Saviour and my Lord." The devil can say the first; the true Christian alone can say the second. - Resource, July/August, 1990.
7. Faith that does not change, that does not transform, that does not demonstrate its reality is not true faith.
8. James 2:19-20 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”
9. To illustrate dead faith, “It is that kind of faith which would lead a man to take a bottle of medicine from his medicine cabinet. Looking at the instructions on it, he says, ‘I’m sure they’re correct. I have all confidence in the source of the medicine. I know who wrote these directions. I believe everything about it. I know this will relieve my headache, if I just take it.’ But he takes the medicine bottle and puts it back on the shelf. He doesn’t lose his headache. It continues on. Yet he can say I believe that medicine. I believe all about that medicine. But still he won’t take it. That’s dead faith.” James 2:20 - Dr. Harlan Roper
II. Salvation was never meant to be a Private Matter
A. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
B. Salvation is meant to be a publicly shared
1. God makes you a member of the household of faith when He exercises His grace and provides you with eternal life.
2. As Paul states in Ephesians 2:10, we are created “for good works”. Our good works include sharing our life of faith with others members of God’s family.
3. Acts 2:41-42 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
4. Being a part of the family of God is the greatest blessing bestowed upon believers.
5. We have been saved to be a part of the family of God – His church.
6. Paul in Ephesians taught that after receiving God’s gift of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ we would no longer have a ‘lone ranger’ mentality. When we receive God’s free gift of salvation we are saved from sin and its consequences, but we are also saved to be a part of the church.
7. Ephesians 4:4-6 “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
8. Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
9. We are not just saved from sin and death and existence apart from God, we are saved to be a part of the church and join with Christ in ministering to others, the good works of Ephesians 2:10.
C. Salvation is meant to be publicly declared
1. The gospel, the most precious treasure and the key to eternal salvation, is meant to be shared and not kept top secret.
2. Romans 10:10 “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
3. The Scriptures assume that when a person receives the gift of salvation that he will not hesitate to make a public confession of that salvation. The two go hand in hand together.
4. Matthew 10:32-33 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
5. As we share our testimony and the Good News of how God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins and gave us new life - we are speaking the most important words we will ever share. God’s gift of salvation is meant to be shared verbally with others.
6. Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you. And you shall be witnesses to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
7. A witness is someone who by explanation and demonstration gives audible and visible evidence of what he has seen and heard without being deterred by the consequences of his action. - S. Briscoe, Getting Into God
8. As D. L. Moody walked down a Chicago street one day, he saw a man leaning against a lamppost. The evangelist gently put his hand on the man’s shoulder and asked him if he was a Christian. The fellow raised his fists and angrily exclaimed, “Mind your own business!” “I’m sorry if I’ve offended you,” said Moody, “but to be very frank, that IS my business!” - copied
