Title: How secure are you in Christ?
In 1628 a child was born in Bedford England to a poor family. As time went by and he became a man the English Civil War started and he found himself fighting with the Parliamentary army against the forces of the king of England. Now for him this was really a providential act because the commander of the army of Parliament was a godly man by the name of Oliver Cromwell. And because Cromwell believed that Parliament could win in their battle against the crown only if the Lord supported them he insisted that the soldiers under his command learn of Jesus Christ and conduct themselves in a godly manner. And so the whole time he was under Cromwell’s authority this young man was taught the scripture and he worshipped weekly on the Lord’s Day. Now through all of these things he became keenly aware that he needed Christ but he couldn’t seem to find Him or to have the burden of his sins removed from his heart. And his burden was great because now, thanks to all the Christian training he had been getting, he knew the law of God and he knew that he had violated it on many occasions. And so for him his sins were like carrying a great load upon his back, a load he believed would one-day drag him deeper than hell itself. Later, as the weight of his sins became too great for him to bear and he thought he would loose his mind through fear of the God he would one day stand before, that God graciously met him in a small Baptist church and he found the peace that he had spent so much of his life looking for. It was at about this time that the English Civil War ended, the monarchy was suspended, and Parliament ruled the country. Since the war was over the army of Parliament disbanded and this young man went back to the trade his father had taught him, that of a tinker. But he didn’t just mend pots and pans anymore because Jesus had made a profound impact on his life. And so while he worked as a tinker to make a living he also worked as a lay minister, preaching the gospel of freedom to any who would listen.
But that time of peace didn’t last long because in 1660 Cromwell died and the monarchy was restored. And when the monarchy was restored so was the supremacy of the Anglican Church. But unfortunately our born-again tinker wasn’t an Anglican; he was a non-conformist, which is what all non-Anglicans were called. And because those in power didn’t view him as a “real” Christian he was ordered to stop preaching the gospel. But he had a real problem. He was a simple man who truly believed that the Word of God should take priority over the word of man. And even though he had much to lose, and even though it meant that his wife and small children could suffer hardship because of it, he continued to preach the gospel in spite of the king’s edict. And as a result of his determination to obey God John Bunyan went to prison at the age of 32 and stayed there for the next 12 years! It’s pretty amazing what some people will do or be willing to suffer just because they find salvation through Jesus, isn’t it? No doubt his family and friends considered this to be the worse thing that could have happened to him, just like the Philippians thought Paul’s imprisonment was pretty awful. But like Paul John Bunyan didn’t complain about the fact that he was thrown into prison unfairly. And like Paul God used his imprisonment to extract gold from the man because while he was in there he wrote a book that is second only to the Bible in popularity – Pilgrim’s Progress.
Now I know that while many of you have read this book there is a great many more who have not. And to those of you who have not let me tell you a little something about the book. The book Pilgrim’s Progress tells the story of a man who is awakened to the fact that he is a sinner, realizes his need for Jesus, believes upon Him, and all the exciting things that happen to him as he journeys toward heaven. The main character of the book is a man by the name of Christian. As Christian walks the road to heaven he is joined by another man who goes by the name of Hopeful. As these two believers travel towards the celestial city they battle demons, false believers and they travel through such places as the valley of the shadow of death. But the day finally comes when their journey ends, and it ends at a river that is symbolic of death. Now this river stands between them and the Lord that they have followed for a good portion of their lives and in order to enter the city of God they must go through the river. And so Christian and Hopeful stepped off the banks and into the water. And as they did they found that the river had a very strange characteristic. You see the water in the river either rose or fell depending upon the faith of the person entering it. Now during their travels together Hopeful always deferred to Christian in times of difficulty because not only had Christian been a follower of Jesus longer, but Hopeful believed Christian was the more spiritual of the two.
But when they stepped into the water a strange thing happened, Hopeful’s feet touched the bottom and he found that the river was shallow and easy to cross. But when Christian entered the river the water was so deep it went over his head and he was about to drown. Why was the river so deep for Christian? Because as he entered the water he began to remember all of the sins he had been guilty of, both before and after he was converted. And as he thought on these things he began to doubt his standing with God. And as his fears increased and his faith diminished, the water went higher and higher.
The message today isn’t about Pilgrim’s Progress or even about the man who wrote it, but I have mentioned a little of each because I believe they will help you think through an issue we are going to look at today. Because we have a problem, you see in the church of the redeemed there are an awful lot of people who fear death, not because they are afraid to die, but because they fear the One they will stand before when they do die. They are afraid that they will not measure up and that they will be rejected. They begin to wonder if they really trusted in Jesus for salvation, or if they only deceived themselves into thinking they had. And then they begin to imagine that God will be waiting with His book when they appear before him to remind them of exactly where they failed and to show them where their name had been crossed out in the Lamb’s book of life. Have you ever thought those thoughts? John Bunyan did, for you see he was Christian in the book Pilgrim’s progress. His main character was based upon his own personal struggles, trials, and fears. But as he came to know the Savior he found relief from those fears and when he left this earth he stood without fear before the Rock of his salvation. If you are a Christian who came here today afraid of God and afraid that he will ultimately reject you, then I have good news for you. But before I tell you this good news I want you to ponder a question. Why do you think some Christians are afraid of God? I’ve asked myself that question and I have come to the conclusion that it’s because most Christians are law and performance oriented. In our society we are accepted based upon the way in which we perform. If we do what others want us to do then they accept us, if not, then they reject us. And generally when we come to the Father through Jesus we bring those ideas with us and simply incorporate them into our Christian belief system. For instance, most of us were taught the Ten Commandments as children or adults. We were also taught that whoever violates those commandments would be condemned by God. Why, because the scripture says that the soul, or person who sins will die, and that sin is the transgression of the law. And while that is all true, it is not the complete teaching of the scripture, only part of it. And yet based upon what we learned from society, Sunday school, and bits and pieces of scripture we conclude that if we do what God wants us to do then He will accept us, but if we don’t, He will reject us. And as a result of this theology many Christians aren’t sure if all is well between them and God. Why, because Jesus really hasn’t made much of a difference in their lives. You see as far as they are concerned their salvation depends upon them and what they do, and they forget what Paul said to the Galatians, when he said: “are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” And so the question today is this: is our standing with God based upon our performance or is it based upon something else? Please turn with me to a passage that most of you know quite well, Ephesians 2:8,9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
According to this scripture salvation is a gift from God and it cannot be earned by keeping the law of God or by doing what we think are good works. And not only can we not earn salvation but we can’t even maintain it by doing any of those things. Why, because we are saved by the undeserved favor of God – grace, not our own works. Why, because God doesn’t want us bragging on ourselves, He wants us to brag on what He has done. And how is this grace of God appropriated, through faith. But notice another interesting fact, Ephesians 2:8 says that even the faith that you possess does not originate with you for it says you are saved by grace through faith, and that (faith) not of yourselves. Now, if faith doesn’t originate in your own heart where does it come from? It comes from Jesus for in Hebrews 12:2 we are told that Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith. And so whatever faith we have it begins with Jesus and it ends with Jesus because without Him you could have no faith at all. And so faith is not a good work that you do because it doesn’t come from you – it’s given to you like everything else you have. Now let me ask you a question. If God was willing to save you by His grace when you didn’t deserve it and when you couldn’t earn it, and if He gave you the faith to believe in His Son Jesus Christ when you couldn’t generate the faith to believe on your own, why do some think that they have to perform in a certain way to keep what they could never obtain through their performance in the first place?
Perhaps it’s because they don’t know what scripture has to say on the subject. Now we don’t have time today to investigate all of the things that the scriptures says in regards to those who believe but there are two very important statements that we should look at. The first statement is made by Jesus Himself and it is found in John 6:37: “All that the Father gives to Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
Now when Jesus made that statement just what was He saying? First of all He was saying that only those whom the Father has given to Him can come to Him. What does that mean? It means that if you have believed on the Son of God it’s because God the Father has given you to His Son and it is proved out by the fact that you could never have the faith to believe in Jesus otherwise. And what does Jesus say of those who come to Him? He says that He will never reject them, He will never turn His back on them and how do we know? We know because when He says: “I will by no means cast them out” He is speaking in what the Greek calls the subjunctive mood. Now the subjunctive mood is used to make an assertion or a declaration about something that might be in doubt, or something about which there might be some confusion. So what does that mean, it means that Jesus is making a very clear statement as to what sort of standing His followers will have with Him. And what is that statement? Simply this. Jesus accepts without reservation those who have placed their faith in Him and he will never reject them no matter what they do, and He wants them to know this.
Now at this point I know that with some I am walking on dangerous ground because there will always be those Christians who are doing everything in their power to maintain their salvation through the keeping of God’s law, or their own modified version of it, and they don’t appreciate it when someone says that works do not guarantee salvation, or even help it any. So they end up saying, ‘this guy is saying that it doesn’t matter what you do because you’re going to be saved anyway’. That type of teaching is called antinomianism, it’s a heresy and I’m not teaching it. Nor am I teaching universalism, which is the belief that everyone is going to be saved. But understand this, if your salvation depends upon what you do it is no longer about God – it’s about you. And if it depends upon you it’s no longer about grace – it’s about works. And if it’s about works then it’s no longer a free gift because you have earned it. And if it is no longer a gift from God then it is something that can be lost or never obtained in the first place because you’ll never know when you have done enough to pay for it! Is there a place for works in the Christian’s life? You bet there is and I wish I had the time today to show you the biblical tension that exists between faith and godly works, but I don’t. And yet if I did I could prove to you that regardless of works the man, woman, or child who comes by faith to Jesus, believing He is who He claimed to be, is saved and accepted no matter what happens. Let me give you an example. In 2 Timothy 2:19 we read: “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: the Lord knows those who are His, and, let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
According to this scripture the Christian should keep himself free of sin or unrighteousness. But what if they give in to the power of sin, what if they succumb to temptation, are they lost? Has their sin made the grace of God of no effect? Turn with me to 1 Cor. 5:1-5 for in this passage of scripture Paul addresses that very question. Speaking to the Corinthians he says:
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles – that a man has his father’s wife! And you are arrogant, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I indeed as absent in the body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
Do you understand what this scripture is saying to us? It’s telling us that a Christian, a believer who has given in to sin, and is willing to live in it, is going to die physically, and yet his spirit will be saved. Now is Paul telling the Corinthians this because sin doesn’t matter anymore? No, he’s telling them this because he wants them to understand that ultimately salvation is a work of God, not a work of man. Is he telling them this so the man who is sinning can take comfort in the fact that he is still going to be saved in spite of his sin? No, he’s telling them this so that they can take comfort as they watch the suffering that this brother will endure as Satan is allowed to destroy his flesh. And let me make something very clear, the destruction of the flesh will not be very pleasant for this man because if you read the book of Job you’ll find that Satan is not very gentle when he’s given the opportunity to attack the flesh of a human being. Now earlier I said that the Bible made two very important statements about those who have placed their faith in Jesus for salvation. We just finished discussing the first one: Jesus will never reject anyone who comes to Him in faith, and that includes the Corinthian whom we have just been discussing. But the second reason explains why the first reason is true. Please turn with me to Ephesians 1:13,14 for in this passage Paul is speaking to the Ephesians about their faith in Jesus and He says to them: “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
What does this passage teach? It teaches that when you were saved by accepting Jesus for whom He claimed to be, God sealed you with His Holy Spirit. But what does it mean to be sealed with the Holy Spirit? In the ancient world a seal basically had two purposes. The first purpose was to show ownership. For example in Matthew 27:66 we are told that after the dead body of the Lord Jesus was placed in the tomb that tomb was sealed by Pilate with the seal of Rome. Now once the tomb was sealed the seal told anyone passing by that stone that it, as well as everything behind it, belonged to Rome. And anyone who dared to question Rome’s ownership by breaking the seal would find himself at war with Rome. Why, because the seal represented Rome and all that Rome stood for and any affront to the seal was considered to be an affront to Rome. The second purpose was to indicate permanency. For instance in Esther 8:8 the king of Persia gave his signet ring to one of his servants to seal a document. Why, because once the document was sealed with his signet ring it could not be changed, altered, or amended, not even by the king himself. Now, when Paul told the Ephesians that they were sealed by the Holy Spirit he had both of these meanings in mind. You see, once you were sealed with the Holy Spirit you become God’s property, body, soul, and spirit. That seal tells everyone, especially the powers of darkness, that you are the property of God and that you are protected by His power. That’s why the immoral Christian in the city of Corinth had to be turned over to the evil one because Satan could do nothing at all against God’s property unless he were allowed to. And yet even though the Lord was going to allow the physical body of this man to be destroyed He was still going to save his spirit. Why, because Eph. 1:14 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. And so once the seal of God was applied to the Christian in Corinth God would not revoke it. As God He could, but as God He wouldn’t. And it is for these very reasons that the scripture says:
“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Not “might be” but will be.
And so salvation from start to finish depends upon the God who said:
“…I, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it.” (Ez. 22:14)
And because God is the One who justifies us the apostle Paul was able to say in Rom. 8:1:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.” (Rom. 8:1)
Why is there no condemnation for believers: because the Lord has given you a new heart. And He has removed all of your sins, past, present, and future away from you as far as the East is from the West, and the God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) has promised to remember them no more. Are you afraid to meet God face to face? Are you afraid that you will stand before Him in judgment and be condemned? If you are then what I have just told you is the best news you could ever hear because through Jesus Christ God freely forgives you, freely justifies you, and freely bestows upon you a righteousness you could never earn. And what do you have to do to receive all of that: simply believe that He will do all that He has said. It’s time for you and I as the followers of Jesus to put the amazing back into grace, because that’s what your salvation depends upon – the grace of God.
