Jesus is the Way – Our Rock
March 28, 2021
What is it that you fully, 100% trust in? Do you trust yourself? Do you trust the economy? Do you trust your family and friends? Do you trust gravity will always work? Do you trust that when you flip the switch, the lights will come on. That when we pull the lever, the toilet will flush. That Google maps is always correct. And do we really that Chicago will win the world series?
For the past weeks we’ve been looking at our relationship with God. We’ve seen how we were created by God, in His image. But how sin broke that relationship and the only way to bring reconciliation was for God to send His Son, Jesus for us, because on our own we cannot do enough good to find salvation.
Jesus paid the price for us. He was the sacrifice for us so that we could have a relationship with God; and ultimately this enables us to experience the power of His love, grace and mercy.
So, today, I want to look at what do we do with this great news that we’re saved through Christ. How do we receive and apply the good news in our lives? The price that Jesus paid not only saves us, but can transform our lives when we trust in Jesus alone.
You might be wondering why these chairs are up here. Glad you asked! You see, I can sit in this chair and I trust that it will not collapse. I trust that I can even stand on the chair and I will not fall. Now, I trust that this stool will support me when I sit, and I trust that the stool will support me if I stand on it, BUT I don’t trust myself . . . so I won’t stand on it.
By sitting or standing on this chair, I’m putting the full weight of my trust in this chair. You’re doing the same right now, with the chairs and pews you are sitting in. You see, when you really trust in something like these chairs or pews, you don’t even think about it, do you? You simply trusted they would. You didn’t arrive here this morning wondering if they would hold you up. That was never a thought or consideration. You knew, you trusted you could put full weight on them and you wouldn’t risk falling.
Now - - I want you to think about your faith in Jesus. Is the full weight of your faith being placed in Jesus? Do you really . . . really trust Him with your life?
Remember from last week, God needed to find a solution to our sin issue. He couldn’t just let it go and He couldn’t directly punish us, because we would be forever separated from God.
So, God needed to do something. That was that word – propitiation. The appeasement, the payment, the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, when He went to the cross - - - that gets fully transferred to us when we put the full weight of our belief, trust and faith in Christ alone.
This then allows us, when we believe in Jesus - - to have a relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That’s the free gift of grace God offers us.
This is the truth that we have in Jesus. Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life. That’s EVERYONE! Not just the good ones, because, remember no one is good, we’re all sinners, yet, God offers us eternal victory in Christ.
In Romans 10, Paul tells us - - -
9 if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Not long ago, I was talking to someone who has struggled for many years with lots of different things, physically, emotionally and spiritually. They were telling me they really didn’t believe they had salvation in Jesus. They didn’t believe they were a good person. And they thought they were being punished for their sinfulness.
My response was to ask a simple question, and I’m not making light of this person’s situation. I asked, “Even with all that’s going on in your life, do you believe in Jesus? Is He your Lord and Savior? Even if in your opinion, you have not lived up to God’s expectations, do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe in your heart and in your head?
The answer was YES! That makes the conversation easier and difficult at the same time. Because if the answer is YES, then if you believe in the Bible as the Word of God, then look at what Paul’s telling you! YOU ARE SAVED!! No questions asked. You are a child of God’s and you will receive eternal life.
That’s what Paul’s getting at. He wants us to grasp if we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead – we are saved!! There’s no BUT in that statement from Paul. It’s an assurance of the love and the power of God’s grace. When God says you’re in - - you know what? You’re in!
I really believe we over complicate our faith. Jesus understood that. That’s why He said we should have the faith of a child. Because a child accepts, believes, trusts - - where we really struggle with that.
It’s not all about the how’s and who’s of salvation. You see, the Bible makes it clear that EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord – Jesus—can be saved.
With that in mind, we do struggle with people who have done terrible things in this world, yet, when they turn their lives over to Christ, they are forgiven. It’s the power of the gospel. Our problem is we rank sin, claiming one is worse than another.
Yet, through the power of the gospel, if they trust in Jesus alone to save them, they can and will be saved. Look at that last sentence in verse 13. Paul is pretty clear - “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” “Everyone who trusts in Jesus alone has eternal life.” EVERYONE!
Paul pretty much copied what Peter earlier proclaimed when he was preaching on Pentecost, in Acts 2:21, he proclaimed –
21 And it shall come to pass that EVERYONE who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Acts 2:21
Again, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!! That’s it!! That’s the radical nature and power of the gospel. It’s a gift from God, looking back from last week - - it’s that statement from Paul, again, from Ephesians 2 --
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God —
9 not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9
We’re saved by grace, through faith in Jesus. It’s not good works, it’s faith . . . it’s placing full trust in God.
We are saved BY grace. God’s amazing grace. Grace means “unmerited favor.” In other words, we don’t deserve it, we can’t earn it, and we could never repay it.
Grace means we receive what we don’t deserve. We receive the gift of forgiveness, eternity, salvation, redemption, communion with God.
That’s what makes it grace, and that’s what makes it amazing. We are saved BY grace, THROUGH faith. In God’s wonderful plan of salvation, we receive His grace, through faith. It’s what makes the gospel, the work of Christ so radical. Jesus did what nobody thought could be done. He died so that we might live.
Paul tells us that grace is a gift from God. We can’t earn it, we can’t buy it, we can’t do enough good to get it. We will boast in Christ and Christ alone. Think about the thief on the cross. In Luke 23, we read - - -
42 And the thief said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” – Luke 23:42-43
Have you ever thought about how the thief had a 0% chance for spiritual growth? He wasn’t baptized, didn’t join a church, didn’t even tithe, in fact he took what wasn’t his, he didn’t attend Sunday school or Bible study. YET . . . . he received salvation. There’s no way he could boast of any good that he had done for God so that he could earn salvation, yet he’s in heaven, with Jesus, today.
As far as salvation is concerned, I am no different than that thief on the cross. If You’ve trusted Jesus and received His gift of salvation, then neither are you. Our good works have NOTHING to do with our salvation. Just like the thief, one day we will be in heaven, boasting only of God’s amazing grace.
It’s like this - - - this Christmas or maybe even this Easter give your kids or a loved one a gift they’ve really been wanting. Make it something amazingly special. When they receive it, they’ll be so excited and come up to you and thank you and hug you and have so much appreciation for what you gave them.
Of course, you will hug them back and say “you’re welcome.” Then look at them with all seriousness and give them the receipt and tell them how much they owe you for that great gift.
Of course you’re not going to say that. WHY? Because it was a GIFT!! You don’t earn a gift, and you don’t repay someone for a gift. Why? Because...it’s a GIFT!
God’s gift of grace is so amazing. How are we saved? We are saved by grace, through faith, and not by good works. As Paul told us in Romans 6:23 - -
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23
I think it’s pretty clear what Paul’s telling us. Our sin should lead to death, BUT we are saved by God’s grace which gives us eternal life and it’s a FREE GIFT!!
Last week I spoke about forensic justification . . . It’s a legal term, which means we are declared righteous. It’s as if we went to court. We knew we were guilty. There was no evidence for us. The prosecuting attorney tells the judge all that we did. It’s embarrassing. There’s no way out.
When it’s time for the defense attorney to speak. They tell the judge – “We have no witnesses to speak for the accused. We rest our case.” That’s your defense.
The judge pounds the gavel and proclaims you guilty. The sentence is death. Then the judge gets off the bench and they take off their robe . . . and it’s Jesus. The judge comes down and tells you “you are forgiven, you have received the free gift of God’s grace because of your faith in Jesus.”
You went from certain death to everlasting life! That’s it! That’s faith in Jesus.
Paul told us in 2 Corinthians 5 - -
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
21 For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
You see, verse 17, that we are a new creation, the old is gone, and the new has come - - has a two fold meaning. Yes, we are new creations in Christ Jesus when we say yes to Him, but the deeper part of that is the fact that when I say yes to Jesus I move from eternal death to eternal life. So, I have a new life, the old prospects of eternal separation from God are gone . . . I now have the promise of life everlasting with God.
So, we have the ministry of reconciliation from Christ. God was reconciling the world to Himself, as Paul said, not counting our trespasses / our sins against us. We have now been reconciled to Christ Jesus and have the gift of eternal life.
So, we place our full trust and faith in Jesus. Jesus, He’s our solid rock. He’s the One, the only One who can hold us up. You know how the song goes - - My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
We must place our faith in Jesus, He’s the only foundation we can trust. All we need to do is one thing – say YES to JESUS!!
