In my files I have a comment of an economics professor who explained his problem with Jesus. He said, “I really don’t see how Jesus can be the only way to heaven. I definitely believe in God, but there are just too many people in the world who don’t believe in Jesus for me to think that God doesn’t love them too.”
Now was this man right? Is Jesus NOT the only way to heaven? No, he is not right. But how do we know he’s not right? Well because that’s not what the Bible says. Now, just for the sake of argument, let’s say this man believed in heaven, in God, in Jesus as the Son of God, and that he believed that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose from the grave. But there was something about the idea that Jesus would be the only way to get to heaven that offended him.
Why would that offend him? Well, he was using his human reasoning and that led him to REJECT the idea that Jesus was the only way to be saved. Well then, how would we try to change his mind? What resource would say that he was wrong? (THE BIBLE)
For example: we might show him John 14:6 where Jesus said … “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.”
Or Acts 4:12 Peter echoes Jesus: “… there is SALVATION IN NO ONE ELSE, for there is NO OTHER NAME under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”
But my guess is, those verses wouldn’t matter to him because his human reasoning had already rejected this idea and it wouldn’t matter to him what the Bible said otherwise. Someone once noted that “If people believe what they LIKE in the Bible, and reject what they don’t like, it is not the Bible they believe. It’s just their opinions that matter!
But our opinion does NOT matter. It ONLY matters what the Bible says. In John 3:18 we read “Whoever believes in (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” And John 3:36 says “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” And Jesus said “Unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” John 8:24
You see - you CAN’T be saved WITHOUT Jesus. And to be saved you must believe that He is who said He was!
As John 3:16 declares: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
It’s a repeated theme throughout the New Testament – we’re saved by faith in Jesus. Without faith in Jesus, it’s impossible to please God. Without faith in Jesus it’s impossible to have our sins forgiven. And without faith in Jesus it’s impossible to make it into heaven. In fact, this concept that faith in Jesus as the only way to be saved shows up so often in Scripture that there are people who say we are saved by - FAITH ONLY!
ILLUS: I’ve had discussions with these “faith only” folks, and SOME of them will go so far as to say that you ONLY need faith to be saved. You don’t need to repent, because repentance is something you DO, and anything you DO would be a work… and as Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, we can’t be saved by good works. And you don’t need to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, because confession would be something you DO, and anything you do would be a work, and cannot save you. And you don’t need to be baptized, because baptism is something you DO, and anything you DO would be a work… and that would make a work. And you don’t need to be faithful to Jesus till death to be saved, because living faithfully would be something you DO… yadda, yadda.
THEY BRAND ALL THOSE THINGS AS “WORKS”.
ILLUS: One of the professors at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary asked his students how they did their “altar call” at their church. One of the students was the preacher of a large Baptist church, and he commented that they didn’t do altar calls. He was asked if he had the people to stand up to accept Jesus. He did not. And one of the other students asked if people were told to raise their hands if wanted to belong to Christ. He didn’t do that either! Someone finally asked, “Why not?” and he replied: “Well, anything they might DO would be a WORK” and because salvation was not by works, he refused to have his audience do anything! (Blair A. Yager professor of New Testament at Roanoke Bible college in Elizabeth City, NC in Christian Standard 4/22/01)
Now that’s an extreme example of what some of faith only folks do, but compare that kind of thinking to what Jesus said about salvation: Speaking of Faith/believing, in John 8:24, Jesus said “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you BELIEVE that I am he you will die in your sins.” And addressing the need for repentance in Luke 13:3 He declared – “I tell you; unless you REPENT, you will all likewise perish.” In Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus spoke of confession– “Whosoever therefore shall CONFESS me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” In Mark 16:16 Jesus spoke of the importance of baptism: “Whoever believes and is BAPTIZED will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” And in Revelation 2:10 Jesus promised to those who were faithful to death - “Be FAITHFUL UNTIL DEATH, and I will give you a crown of life.”
Now notice, Jesus Himself told us what He expects as our response to his offer of salvation. And NOT ONE OF THOSE ITEMS (faith/repentance/confession/ baptism/living faithful) … none of those are EVER referred to … as a WORK ANYWHERE IN THE BIBLE!
Anyone who says anything like that (that those things are works) is using a manmade definition of what a work is. The Biblical definition of a WORK is anything you would do to try to buy salvation. People who depend upon works will say things like: “I hope I’ve done enough good things to be saved”. It’s an attempt to accumulate enough brownie points to impress God. And that’s never going to work! You can never be good enough to be good enough to get into heaven.
Now other “faith only” folks don’t quite go as far as Baptist preacher in that college class that we talked about earlier. Most of them accept repentance as necessary to salvation because repentance is just an outgrowth of faith in Jesus. They rightly believe that you repent because you believe that Jesus died for your sins.
And they’ll accept confessing Jesus as Lord for salvation because, once again, confessing Jesus is an outgrowth faith. You confess that Jesus is now your Lord because you believe that He died for you and you want Him to own you and your entire life (that’s what it means to have Jesus as your LORD).
But water baptism - “faith only” folks don’t like that. Even the mention of it offends them. Water baptism is a WORK!!! It’s something you DO!!! Baptism (they say) is NOT an outgrowth of faith,
Well, that’s not what Colossians 2:12 says. We’ve “been buried with (Jesus) in BAPTISM and raised with him THROUGH YOUR FAITH in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.” In other words, baptism is not a work… it’s an outgrowth of faith (just like repentance and confession).
Or as I Peter 3:21 tells us “Baptism, which corresponds to (Noah’s Flood), now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Baptism is an outgrowth of faith, just like repentance/ confession. It’s an appeal to God for a good conscience because you BELIEVE Jesus died for you and rose again to be your Lord and Master.
Besides, baptism could never be a work anyway. A WORK is something you DO!!!
ILLUS: If someone were to hire on at a local factory, they'd show up on the first day and be paid on the 5 day or so for what they have done. If they show up and and don't DO anything - they spend all their time on their phones or visiting with the workers throughout the day - they won't work there very long because they're not DOING anything. Work is what you DO!
But water baptism isn’t something that you DO - baptism is something that is DONE TO YOU. I've never yet seen someone go up and dunk themselves into the baptistry. What happens is: someone asks them if they believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and when they reply "yes", that other person puts them down under the water and then lifts them out like bringing them out of the grave. The person being doesn't DO anything. Their baptism was not a work.
But – what does the Bible say BAPTISM DOES FOR US? Galatians 3:27 "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have PUT ON CHRIST." Acts 22:16 Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the FORGIVENESS of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT.” And 1 Peter 3:21 "Baptism, which corresponds to (the waters of Noah’s flood), now SAVES you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a GOOD CONSCIENCE, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
So, in baptism we put on Christ; our sins are washed away; we are forgiven of our sins; we receive the gift the Holy Spirit; and we’re saved and receive a clear conscience. THAT’S WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS HAPPENS AT OUR BAPTISM
If someone believes ONLY what they like in the Bible, and rejects what they don’t like, it is not the Bible that they believe, it’s their OWN OPINIONS.
Now, where did we get this idea of “faith only” from? Well… we got it from Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a Catholic priest who was plagued by doubts about his salvation because of sins he had done. This led him to NOT believe that God loved him… and so he was constantly trying to pay off the guilt of his own sins. Luther’s sins were so deeply troubling to him that he repeatedly did acts of contrition and penance trying to purchase God’s forgiveness. He’d fast repeatedly; he slept in the snow without blankets; he endured repeated beatings; and he even kissed the steps that led to the Pope’s throne. But nothing seemed to help. No matter what he did, he still felt unworthy and unloved by God. Then one day he was studying through book of Romans, he came across Romans 3:28 where it says “For we maintain that a man is JUSTIFIED BY FAITH apart from observing the law.” Those words shook him. He suddenly realized it wasn’t works of contrition that bought God’s love. God’s people were justified by faith…not works. You didn’t have to work off your bad deeds, you simply had to have faith that God would honor His promise that He would forgive you.
And in the margin of his Bible (where he read that he was justified by faith) he wrote the word “SOLA”… which means ALONE. Thus he was declaring he was justified by faith ALONE. Faith ONLY!
So, obviously Luther would agree with our modern day “Faith Only” preachers? Well… no!
Luther believed repentance was necessary for salvation. And he believed confession of Jesus as Lord was part of our response to God to be saved. And Luther believed that baptism was necessary.
In his Small Catechism (IV:6), in answer to the question “What gifts of benefits does baptism bestow?” he wrote, “It effects forgiveness of sins.” This is part of the work of baptism; in it “the forgiveness takes place through God’s covenant” (The Holy and Blessed Sacrament of Baptism, 15). He also said “Through Baptism he is bathed in the blood of Christ and is cleansed from sins” (E. Plass, editor, What Luther Says 1:46). According to Luther, baptism brings not only forgiveness of sins but also a new birth, a change in the inner man that actually eradicates sin. For “it is one thing to forgive sins, and another thing to put them away or drive them out… But both the forgiveness and the driving out of sins are the work of baptism (The Holy and Blessed Sacrament of Baptism 15). Thus it is appropriate to speak of baptism as the time when “a person is born again and made new” (ibid, 3). In short, Luther clearly proclaimed that baptism is for … salvation: “Through baptism man is saved (ibid, 6). In answer to the question of the purpose of baptism, i.e. “what benefits, gifts and effects it brings,” he gave this answer: “To put it most simply, the power, effect, benefit, fruit and purpose of Baptism is to save” (The Large Catechism IV:23,24). One is baptized so that he “may receive in the water the promised salvation” (ibid, IV:36). (From the article by Jack Cottrell, "The History of Baptism" in Christian Standard magazine, June 2004)
WHAT? Luther believed baptism was where we were forgiven of our sins? How could he say that? Well, he could say that because he had studied the very same Bible verses we’ve just looked at. He was tired of men’s teachings… and decided to go back to Scripture, and he saw baptism (not as a WORK) but as an outgrowth of our faith.
Now… it is the BLOOD OF JESUS that saves us. Without the blood of Jesus, faith would be worthless, and repentance would do nothing, and confession would be useless, and baptism would just be getting wet. Without the blood of Jesus and the Grace of God nothing would be able save us! But Jesus made it clear that He wants us to accept His gift of forgiveness - BY FAITH/ REPENTANCE/ CONFESSION/ BAPTISM/ LIVING FOR HIM!
CLOSE: A preacher named Rick Stacy tells the story of a man named Ken who was a laborer on the Alaska Pipeline back in the mid 70’s. Ken worked in icy cold for a year and came back with $30,000. That was a lot of money back then! He blew it all in a month. He went back and in six months made another $18,000. He came home again and this time he decided to visit church. Rick Stacy said that the 1st Sunday he walked through the doors and sat in the back seat I had two thoughts – 1) He looked just like Grizzly Adams - beard and all and 2) Here was a man that would never become a Christian.
Rick said “I preached the message and gave an invitation and the instant the music began Ken came rushing down the aisle. I thought he was going to crush me! Tears came down his face as was baptized into Jesus.
The next Sunday he came back to services and I didn’t recognize him – he was dressed in a 3 piece suit and no beard! When I asked what caused him to shave and dress up he said, ‘Jesus changed me on the inside and I want people to know it – so I changed the outside.’”
INVITATION
