I preached it @:
o Providence REC 08/25/02
Article XVIII : Of Obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ
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God is Just not Fair
Gal 3:16-22: Promise to Seed. Purpose of Law. Faith alone.
Luke 10:23-37: Good Samaritan.
Does your faith make a damn difference?
Acts 4:10-12: let it be known to you all, and to all people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
The two NT readings today both contain the word or the concept of "only". Gal says that we are justified only by faith, and Acts says we are saved only by the name of Jesus. Depending upon how you look at it, "onlies" are a comfort or a burden. The are a glory to us or an embarrassment. They give us hope, or we rail against them as the highest form of evil. They refine us, or they make us into a clique. The Reformation gave us 5 such "onlies", or "alones", or if you prefer the Latin, "solis".
Who can name them?
They stand together like a great stone arch. Remove even one of them and the whole bridge collapses.
** SLOW. From the heart. **
We are embarked upon a study of Biblical doctrines thru the direction provided by the 39 Articles. Each Article, as it was written, was a statement of a truth that was held by the framers to be important. Each stood in contradiction against various errors. Some articles, such as those concerning the Trinitarian nature of God, referred to past controversies that had largely been settled, but needs restatement in each generation. Other articles refer to issues, which can still get us in trouble today, esp in the context of the whole world. I would like to refer us today to one that could in some circles be called the most controversial of all articles.
XVIII. Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ.
They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.
Paraphrase: If any teaches that it doesn’t matter what you believe so long as your are sincere and diligent in your faith, let him be damned, because Scripture says we can only be saved by Christ.
We might be tempted to not give this much thought. Indeed, my first reaction after being asked to present a sermon on this article was simply to read it, say that about sums it up, and sit down. However, knowing how disappointed my kids would be at such a short talk, I decided to ponder it some more and see if there was more to say. Fortunately, there is.
Only by the name of JC may we be saved... Not counting the eons that came before, do you realize it was 1500 years after the birth of Christ that His name was even breathed upon this continent? And a hundred years more until the gospel of grace alone by faith alone was taught? And yet hundreds of years later until there was significant penetration of native tribes with this message? And that even today there are people who have never had the chance to know Christ? Who can possibly believe this article when it says Christ alone? What would you say to a government that passed laws w/o telling anyone and then punished all those who disobeyed that law? How could God possibly condemn those who have never had a chance to hear Him? God is just not fair!
** PAUSE **
Contrasted to that is the great unwritten, but yet all-pervasive, American creed. It can be summed up in one word: Tolerance. This is both good and bad. It is good for us to live together in peace with those in our society who do not agree with us. Yet we must not be party with those who stand idly by and say that God sees us with this same benevolent "tolerance". He does not.
R.C. Sproul was once asked a very similar question. He relates this in his book, "Now, That’s a Good Question!". The question was "Are those who have never heard of Christ going to hell?". His answer is found starting on page 301. He says,
"...".
Let me point out several things. Number one, altho ignorance of the law is no excuse, I’m not necessarily saying God punishes us for those things which we could not have known. He doesn’t have to punish us for not knowing Jesus if we never heard of Him. According to Ro 1, God has revealed enough of Himself in creation for each of us to realize certain aspects of the law and what we are required to do. Our conscience, even in an unbeliever, is more than enuf to indict us. Ro 1:16-23: For the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
We learn several things from this passage. 1. That God is under no obligation to save anyone. 2. That all of us deserve hell for the sins which we have committed. Let me give you another passage which makes this even more clear: Ro 3:9-18: ’For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God, They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes."’
Pretty dismal. This is very hard to hear, but we need to know that if God were to damn every person on earth to eternal hell, we could impugn neither His justice nor His love. We have all sinned, both those who have heard of Jesus and those who have not. We all deserve punishment; but God in His mercy decided to save some. The world asks "Why doesn’t He save all?" The Christian asks "Why did He save any?" God is just not fair! God is just: i.e., He does not punish anyone one whit more than is due. But, God is not fair in the sense that He’s under obligation to save anyone, much less all. He maintains His mercy in that He saves His elect; He maintains His justice in that all sins are properly punished. As RC once said on the radio when discussing this same topic: "God is always just. He gives mercy to some and justice to other, but He never gives injustice to any."
As pastor Paul said a couple of weeks ago, "What preparation did Lazarus do for Jesus to resurrect him?" By extension what can we do to prepare ourselves for God to save us? Nothing! If we can do nothing because we are dead, then neither can anyone else, including the one who never heard the gospel. He is spiritually dead. If God does not send the word to him to revive Him, he has no hope.
This article should do several things to us:
1. Cause us to thank God that He had mercy on us.
2. Plant a zeal in our hearts to pray for those around us who are lost
3. Motivate us to tell others the good news.
Let me put it another way. Most of us have this picture of God in which He is like really good toothpaste. The company that makes it has a fairly inept marketing department. If we could just somehow get the word out, people would flock to the stores to buy this product. It’s not fair of God to be mad at those who never had a chance to hear of Jesus; if they could just hear how good He is and how much he wants to help them, they would probably embrace Him. Unfortunately, our whole potential toothpaste market is dead, their skin has rotted off, and their skeletons are lying bleached on the ground. Have you ever tried to sell toothpaste to a dead man? They almost never buy! But this is exactly our situation, and is where God DOES step in and breathe life into "dem bones". Nobody chooses God. That’s the message of the passage I just read. Whether you never heard of Jesus in your life, or you were born in a church building, no one chooses God. If you are saved, then God chose you. And whoever He chooses, whether a person who grew up in the church or someone in a tribe in "darkest Africa", will be saved. None chosen by God will be lost. None, whether chosen by God or not, deserve to be saved. Why are these people saved? By grace alone. And what does God use to save them? Faith alone. Faith in who? Christ alone. How does this faith come to these people? By hearing. How can they hear? By a preacher. How can a preacher preach? By being sent. Listen to Ro 10:14-15: "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?" This is the urgency that we should get out of this article.
Coming back to my opening question: Do you understand that what you believe makes a difference? That it’s not how sincere you are, but who you believe in? That what you believe makes a damn difference because it means the difference between being damned and being saved? That if it matters what YOU believe, then it matters what those around you believe? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Be open to opportunities to speak the word. Not to buttonhole people, but to speak the word that brings faith. For there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
This is the word of the Lord: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Soli Deo Gloria.
