Sermon Series: ¡§Questioning the Faith¡¨
Sermon #9 ¡§Salvation by Works?¡¨
Text: Philippians 2:12
OPENING JOKE: A preacher takes the day off from church to go play golf. God allows him to shoot a perfect game. When asked why by St. Peter, God says, "Think about it, who can he tell?"
REMINDER: Please remember that this series on questions will go on until I run out. As I looked this week I noticed that I am running short. If you have questions, please write them and place them under my door.
INTRODUCTION: Tonight we are going to answer a question concerning salvation and works.
The Bible talks a lot about the relationship between faith and works
James¡¦ epistle speaks of the certain relationship of faith and works, remarking that true faith will be accompanied by good works
While almost all thirteen of Paul¡¦s epistles reaffirm that it is by Grace through faith and not works that one is justified and counted righteous.
So the question of today is not one that is really new. Christians have been asking about the relationship of faith and works since the dawn of the faith.
Question: ¡§Is not our salvation through God¡¦s grace? If so, I am confused by Philippians 2:12. If God set us apart, how is it we have to work for or earn it?¡¨
To understand the answer we must first look at the doctrines of salvation as found in the Scripture
ľ The Doctrine of Justification
a. Definition: Justification is the act where God declares righteous those who, through faith in Christ, repent of their sins
i. Acts 2:38 ¡§Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit¡¨
ii. Luke 13:3 ¡§I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish¡¨
iii. Acts 3:19 ¡§Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,¡¨
b. Justification comes by God¡¦s grace through faith in Christ
i. Ephesians 2:8 ¡§For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,¡¨
ii. Romans 4:3 ¡§For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.¡¨
c. Justification comes to those who trust in Christ¡¦s complete work on the cross, and not their own goodness, to inherit the Kingdom of God
i. Isaiah 64:6 ¡§But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.¡¨
ii. Romans 4:5 ¡§But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,¡¨
d. Through Justification sinful man receives the righteousness of sinless Christ
i. II Corinthians 5:21 ¡§For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.¡¨
ii. A person is justified of sin when he/she comes into a saving relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ
iii. Their account is then wiped clean, and when they stand before the judgment bar of God they will stand with Christ¡¦s righteousness instead of their own, which is the only righteousness worthy of Heaven
ľ The Doctrine of Sanctification
a. Sanctification has a two-fold meaning in Scripture
b. (1) Positional Sanctification
i. This is where the believer is ¡¥separated from profane things and dedicate to God¡¦
ii. This happens at conversion
iii. Positional sanctification has to do with the believer¡¦s standing in Christ (he is ¡¥set apart¡¦) not with his Christian walk
1. Acts 20:32 ¡§So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified¡¨
2. I Corinthians 1:2 ¡§To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:¡¨
c. (2) Progressive Sanctification
i. This is the ¡¥process of cleansing the believer goes through¡¦
ii. This is a lifetime struggle against worldly and fleshly desire
iii. Progressive sanctification has to do with the believer¡¦s walk in Christ and should never be mistaken for justification or positional sanctification
iv. Quote: Progressive sanctification is our preparation for Heaven, not our pathway to Heaven
1. John 17:17 ¡§Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.¡¨
2. II Corinthians 3:18 ¡§But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.¡¨
***So tonight as we study we need to realize that verses that talking about ¡¥working out¡¦ salvation is not referring to our justification (which we receive by faith), or to our positional sanctification (which happens at conversion), but to out PROGRESSIVE SANCTIFICATION.
The best example of progressive sanctification is found in I Corinthians
READ TOGETHER: I Corinthians 3:1-3
Here we have the Apostle Paul rebuking the Corinthians church for its lack of spirituality.
I. He said he could not speak as spiritual, but carnal (v.1)
a. Were these people Christians?
i. Paul said they were like ¡¥babes in Christ¡¦
ii. Earlier in Corinthians we see that they were an exceptionally gifted church by the Spirit (I Corinthians 1:7)
iii. Spiritual gifts are given to all believers without regards to their maturity as God sees fit
iv. I Corinthians 12:11 ¡§But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.¡¨
b. So their gifts and Paul¡¦s speech indicate that they were Christians ¡V just not mature ones
II. He said that as we grow in faith we can become more spiritual (v.2)
a. Why do we feed babies milk and not steak?
i. Because they cannot chew or properly digest that type of food yet
ii. But as long as we properly nourish them with the correct foods as infants, the babies will one day be able to eat a steak
iii. Paul said here that he had to feed the Corinthians milk, because they lacked the spirituality to receive the heavy food of the Word
b. There is an indication though, that they could grow to be able to eat the solid food
i. ¡¥Still not able¡¦ doesn¡¦t indicate that they would never be able, just that they were not able yet
ii. As they grew and became nourished on the principles of their faith (the milk) they would begin to grow spiritually
iii. Through this they would learn discernment and become adults and not babes in their faith
c. This is where the principle of ¡¥working out our salvation¡¦ comes in
i. Think of a body builder
ii. He begins as a normal person, maybe a little chubby
iii. Then he begins working out his body and he grows to have a larger, more defined physic
1. We begin our spiritual life having been ¡¥born again¡¦ into God¡¦s family
2. We are spiritual babies, a little chubby and immature, who need exercise to grow stronger
3. As we grow through the nourishment of God¡¦s Word, we are ¡¥exercising our spirituality¡¦ and becoming more like Christ
4. Quote: We should all have an ¡¥Exercisable Faith¡¦
iv. That is why this passage says ¡¥work out¡¦ not ¡¥work for¡¦ your salvation
d. We see this principle in Peter¡¦s writing
i. Last week we talked about ¡¥growing in grace¡¦
ii. How do we ¡¥grow in grace¡¦? Through growing in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and following His example
iii. We said that ¡¥grace¡¦ is God¡¦s favor and growing in His favor means living a life that He ¡§gazes intently upon¡¨
e. Through this we become more spiritual, not more saved
i. You can never be more saved than you are right now if you¡¦re saved
ii. Quote: Sanctification does not save you, it prepares you for Heaven, the blessed outcome of salvation
III. He said as long as there were (silly) disagreements between them they would remain unspiritual (v.3-4)
a. They were arguing over who they were following
i. Some said Apollos, others said Paul
ii. We have that same problem in Church today
iii. ¡¥I¡¦m a Methodist¡¦ and ¡¥I¡¦m a Baptist¡¦ and ¡¥I¡¦m a Lutheran¡¦
1. If you believe the Bible is true and Christ is your Savior, then you¡¦re a Christian first!
2. And if you let silly disagreements about affiliations stunt your growth, you will remain spiritual babies
3. Factions are a sign of a lack of spirituality
4. This is not to say that all denominationalists lack spirituality, but many let it get in the way of their growth
b. We ¡¥grow up¡¦ spiritually through a vibrant and active relationship with Jesus Christ
i. Not with the church
ii. Not with the pastor
iii. Not with a denomination
iv. But with Jesus Christ
CONCLUSION: When Paul spoke of ¡¥working out¡¦ our faith he was speaking of ¡¥Progressive Sanctification¡¦ or the process where we become more like Christ by growing spiritually
We play no role in the sovereign act of salvation (with the exception of surrendering our faith)
We did not die on a cross for our own sins and we do not wipe our own slate clean
We do not set ourselves apart for cleansing
These are all acts of God
Quote: We are left then, under the power of the Spirit, to work out our faith, strengthen it and grow in grace ¡V not under our own power, but the power of the Holy Spirit
That is why those who do ¡¥work out their faith¡¦ are called ¡¥spiritual¡¦ by Paul
Why with ¡¥fear and trembling¡¦?
Not fear over the loss of salvation, but to not grieve nor quench the Spirit (as we learned about this morning)
We should fear ever grieving the Spirit or quenching His work because the believer is disciplined for such actions by God (Hebrews 12)
So we reaffirm the point made in the initial question: Salvation is by God¡¦s sovereign grace and not by our works
- He then sets us apart for cleansing
- He empowers us through the Spirit to begin the process of living a life pleasing to Him
- And He expects us to follow through with it
Illustration: ¡§Foster Child¡¨ A man adopted a boy who had been abused. He already had another son who had been taken care of all his life. Day after day the adopted son would get into trouble. Finally the real son asked ¡§why do you put up with him?¡¨ The father replied, ¡§He is getting better. Each day he learns to trust me more and do what I say.¡¨
We are all foster children, adopted into God¡¦s family through Christ ¡V now that we are here God¡¦s discipline and encouragement through His Spirit allows us ¡¥to get better¡¦
(Let us pray)
