Thank you
CloseTrue Freedom
by Marvin R. Knight
Introduction
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… “ — 1 Cor 15:1-4
The people that Paul addressed in this letter fell into three groups. The first group that Paul addressed was those who had never heard the gospel. Perhaps they are like many of you: They believed in God, they had gone to church, but they had never really had someone to clearly explain to them the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was Paul’s desire in this chapter to make it known to them.
The second group was those who had heard the gospel and had sincerely believed that they had trusted in Christ. However, their belief was in vain. Paul addresses this group when he says, “…if you hold fast the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:2). There were some to whom Paul was speaking who heard the right message, and perhaps acknowledged the right things, but still had a non-saving faith. Paul said their belief was vain. In other words, it was without effect; it led to nothing. Their belief lacked evidence and the steadfastness of genuine salvation. They believed certain things, and perhaps they had even experienced certain things, but they did not do one critical thing: They did not hold fast the word that Paul had preached to them.
Now by making the statement of “holding fast,” Paul is not suggesting that true salvation is dependent upon you holding onto something. Listen, we understand from Scripture that it’s a fundamental fact that salvation is totally by grace and the power of God alone. This grace not only saves us, but it also keeps us. Philippians 1:6 says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Jude 24 says this: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.” Then in one of the most remarkable passages in the Bible, Romans 5:10, Paul said, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Paul tells us here that if the death of Christ can save us, then the life of Christ can keep us.
Now by making the statement, “unless you hold fast,” Paul is pointing out something that many who heard the truth had not done. They had not taken possession of it in a very personal sense. This phrase, “unless you hold fast,” is the same phrase that was used in the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8:15. It describes what takes place when a person is truly converted. Jesus said this: “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.” You see, there were those people who had come up to a certain point in salvation but had not gone far enough to take possession of it. They were like the student who was always taking classes but never graduating. This happened to some in that day and this is true of some reading this material now. You have come up to a certain point but you’ve not gone far enough to embrace it.
The Danger of a Partial Response
We are warned all through the Word of God about a partial response to the gospel. We are also warned about the danger of persuading ourselves on insufficient evidence that we are truly converted. What Paul does here is remind us of the test that we are to apply: the test of a complete and entire response. The Bible makes it very clear that to believe certain things is not sufficient in and of itself to prove that one has been converted. James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe and shudder.” Listen, demons have a correct intellectual belief in God and in Christ. They believe that He is Lord, they believe that He is coming again, and they believe that He’s the Savior. Yet, I don’t think you’ll see any demons in heaven.
There are many of you reading this material who have a perfectly orthodox belief. You believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but it is merely intellectual. Yet on the other hand, there are others of you who not only believe the right things but can take it a step further. You have felt something; you have experienced a move in your emotions. You have been touched in your affections as you sat in church one Sunday. Or as you were at a conference or a meeting, you have felt something and you’ve been moved in that way. The question is this: Is this sufficient evidence according to the Scripture to say that you have been truly converted? Oh no, friend! We have been given many pictures in the Bible of people who have felt things in a very profound way. But those feelings led to nothing. It was actually vain belief.
Again, in the Parable of the Sower, Jesus pointed out that there are some who hear the word and immediately receive it with joy. There’s the emotional response. They may have gotten excited. They had enthusiasm; maybe they cried or maybe they had a sense of brokenness. Jesus goes on to say that they have “no firm root in themselves.” It’s only temporary. Then when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, they fall away. You see, the gospel that Paul originally preached to them was not preached to produce simply an intellectual response alone. Neither was this gospel preached to produce an emotional response alone.
We must add something else. When this gospel is received and understood, it does not produce a response of the will alone. This was the problem of the Pharisees. You know, the Pharisees displayed great determination. In Matthew chapter 23 Jesus said that they were willing to travel on sea and on land to make one convert. They were willing to go across the country to lead one person to their own faith. But Jesus said that when they would do this they would make that person twice as much a son of hell as themselves. Why? Because it was all of the will. It was all external. It was all self-determination.
There are many who possess great self-determination. You are willing to sacrifice for the Lord, you are willing to sacrifice for the church, you serve faithfully, and perhaps you’re the first to arrive and the last to leave, but it’s all external. That’s all it is. It’s all of the will; it’s all of your own determination. But when it comes to genuine salvation, Romans 9:16 says, “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or on the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”
The Pharisees not only had a great determination, but they also had great discipline. Luke chapter 18 points out that a Pharisee went to the temple and he fasted twice a week, gave tithes of all that he had. He was generous and he was moral. But Jesus said this man had not gone far enough to humble himself and embrace true salvation.
The Test We Are to Apply
This is why Paul introduces the gospel again to some in this church. Paul wanted them to know that the gospel affects the entire person: the mind, the emotions, and the will. This is the test we are to apply. Unless we can say that, “…though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and that having been freed from sin you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18), we have no right to regard ourselves as truly converted. A person who has been truly converted responds to the gospel in a way that is entire and complete. Every single part of him has been moved; every single thing has been affected. Nothing remains as it was before the whole of his being was changed. Same personality; different disposition. This is what Paul meant when he said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 , “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature…” He is a new creation; he is a changed individual.
Things that Resemble True Salvation
Do you know, ladies and gentlemen, that one of the saddest and most terrible pictures in the Bible is the picture of those who supposed and assumed that they were truly saved? But on that great Day of Judgment, they found out that they were not. Some will turn to Jesus on that day and say, “Lord, Lord” and they will be told, “I never knew you, depart from Me you who practice lawlessness.” In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus said that there are tares that often look like wheat, but they are not. Do you know that it is possible to look at your life and to notice many things that resemble true salvation?
- A knowledge of the Bible
- An interest in theology
- A sincere desire to live a moral life
- A sentimental affection of divine things
You can have all of those things and still not be truly converted.
The challenge that confronts those of you who fall into this category is the obstinate of pride. You see, it’s a difficult thing to acknowledge that you’ve been all wrong. You begin to think, “What would the people at church think if I recognize my need to really give my heart to Jesus Christ?” “What would my Pastor think?” “What would my Sunday school class think?” But listen, friends, it doesn’t matter what people think. We are talking about eternal things here. The options before us are these: You can either experience the temporary humility that comes from acknowledging that you’ve been wrong and walk away from this study gloriously transformed, or you can run the risk of eternal disappointment and irrevocable doom because of pride. I want to remove any possibility of this for those of you who read this material now.
The Deadly Implications of False Doctrine
The third group that Paul addressed was those who were truly saved yet they were struggling. Now one of the reasons they were struggling was because right within the church there were false teachers who were teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead. Paul identified them in 1 Corinthians 15:12 when he said, “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” Now the struggle that these true believers faced was not their personal understanding or belief in the resurrection of Christ. They struggled with the belief in their own bodies being raised from the dead. We must understand that they were struggling because they didn’t understand that their bodies would be raised on that wonderful day and that confusion had some serious implications.
I’d like you to keep in mind that Corinth was a Greek city. The Greeks didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. You recall that they laughed at Paul when he originally preached the resurrection on Mars Hill. The Greek philosophers taught that the body was nothing more than a prison in which the spirit was kept. They believed that the body was like a tomb and death was the way to set the spirit free.
This deadly doctrine crept its way into the church. Paul confronted this doctrine because it had some practical implications for life that were too important to ignore. This doctrine implied that since there was no resurrection of the body then there was really no need for evangelism. Why? Because if the Christian life is simply a dead end street that ends at the grave then why do we need to be soul winners? There’s no need to be soul-winners.
Certainly, I am speaking to some now who struggle with being a soul-winner. You’re saved but you’re struggling with doing evangelism. There are others of you who have gotten away from soul-winning. There was a time when sharing Christ was your very passion, but the passion is gone; you have rationalized it away. You have forgotten a basic and fundamental truth of the Bible, that some day every person will be raised to give an account to God. What Paul was doing was showing that the reality of resurrection is a key motivator for evangelism.
This deadly doctrine also implied that since there was no resurrection of the body then there was really no need to endure suffering. I mean, why suffer for Christ’s sake if death just ends it all? Why not just eat, drink, and be merry? Why? For tomorrow we die.
Some of you reading this material now are in a state of compromise. It came your way when you started standing firm on the truth, and all of a sudden you were trying to live for Jesus. Then the ridicule and tension came and the sharp remarks arose. The tension emerged in the home and all of a sudden you backed up. Well, Paul is reminding us here through the gospel that what we do in this body comes up for review at the Judgment Seat of Christ. He is telling us that the amount of suffering that we endure in the body will result in glory at the resurrection.
The last implication, and perhaps the most challenging for these Corinthians, involves immorality. This deadly doctrine that crept into the church implied that if there was no resurrection of the body, then what we do with our bodies has no effect on the future. So we can simply live in sin. Now there was no doubt that their past had affected them and many struggled with sexual sin. Understand that Corinth was sin city of the New Testament day. Certainly, there are some of you reading this material who are struggling with sexual sin. You’ve been trying to overcome it in your own strength but it’s not working. You think that the answer is isolation, busyness, or some type of support group. But Paul reminds you that the answer is found right back in the old gospel that saved you in the first place. Paul in essence says this: You have forgotten a vital truth that is found in the gospel of your salvation, that the gospel of Jesus Christ deals with your past, your present, and your future. He wants you to remember that, but you’ve forgotten. You have forgotten Whom you have been united to. You have forgotten that you have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, so certainly you shall be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. You have forgotten that Jesus Christ can deliver, and if He can deliver your soul from Hell, He can definitely deliver your passions from sin. But you’ve forgotten that. Paul says that what you need to do is go back to the gospel of your salvation; you need to look at it fresh. You need to look at it new because there you will find salvation.
Who is the Gospel For?
Let me say this: the gospel, dear friends, is not just a message for the lost. Listen, this message is for the saved as well. The gospel brings edification and strength to the saved individual. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it [that very word of the Cross] is the very power of God.” I want to suggest to you that this is one of the vital causes of the weakness in the church today. We suffer from a low view of God because we have neglected the towering greatness that is seen of Him in the gospel of our salvation. You say, “Well, I am saved; I really don’t need to hear the gospel. I need to hear about deeper things; I need to hear about greater things.” I want to ask you something: What is deeper and what’s greater that the radical deliverance of the sinner, spirit, soul, and body? What’s greater than that? If you can hear this glorious gospel and not feel a tear well up in your eye; if you can hear this gospel and not feel a tingle go up and down your spine; I want to tell you something, friend, you need to examine your foundation. There is something missing; there is something wrong. You’re cold! You need to examine where you’re at. If this gospel has become old news to you, Paul says, “Now I make known to you the gospel.” Regardless of what category you fall into at this moment, Paul’s assertion is this: The gospel contains the answer to every fundamental problem that we face.
What is the Gospel?
Now what is this gospel that Paul preached? It’s not a message of the philosophy of life, it’s not a hobby to take up; it’s not a new brand of religion or a new set of moral ethics or standards. It’s not some course that you take where upon completing it you become a Christian. This gospel means “Good News.” This Good News is about a Person. Paul called it in the opening of his letter to the Romans “the Gospel of God.” It is the Good News about God.
A Revelation of His Holiness
Therefore, if this gospel is to be understood and appreciated, it must start with Him. The first thing that we must understand is that the gospel starts with God. What we must understand, first and foremost, if we’re going to clearly understand the gospel, is that it begins with the revelation of His holiness. A. W. Tozer once said, “All of the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together at once, would be nothing compared to the overwhelming problem of God.” I agree with that. Who is He? What is He like? What must we, as moral beings, do regarding Him? If I were to ask you what comes to your mind when you think about God, many of you would say, “He is the God of love,” and I say “Amen.” Some of you would say, “He is a gracious and kind God,” and I say, “Amen.” Some would say, “He is mighty and a strong God,” and I say, “Amen,” to that.
But come up close and listen: The gospel of God will never grip you as it should without a revelation of God’s holiness. You see, out of all the attributes that we discover about God in the pages of Scripture, His holiness can be said to be the chief attribute. If there was one attribute out of which everything else about God functions and flows, it is this attribute of holiness. But our tendency is to make God in our own image. We like a God with whom we are comfortable, with whom we are familiar, one who is a little bit like us so that we don’t feel so bad about ourselves. However, ladies and gentlemen, this is where idolatry begins. Idolatry assumes that God is something other than what He is. The Bible emphatically and unapologetically declares that God is holy. Therefore, if we are to understand this gospel we must understand that the gospel starts with God’s holiness.
What is God’s Holiness?
Take, if you will, the kindest person that you know. Think about the most moral, generous, loving, and pure person that you know. If we were to put all of those people together, their purity and their holiness would be like a blotch of black heap when compared to the holy whiteness that is God. The word holy in the Hebrew literally means to cut; it literally means to be separate to be set apart. The holiness of God speaks of Him being a cut above us. He is totally distinct; He is set apart from His creation. The truth of matter is that we cannot even grasp the divine holiness of God with our finite minds. By thinking of something or someone very pure and then raising that concept to its highest degree still falls short. There is nothing that compares to the holiness of God. The prophet said these words, “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?” (Isaiah 40:18). You see, His holiness stands apart: It is unique; it is unapproachable; it is incomprehensible; it is unattainable. The holiness that describes God’s essential nature is absolutely perfect and infinitely pure. This means that God is free from any stain of sin. He is without error. He is without fault in all of His ways. He never does anything wrong and never will. His love is perfect, His judgment is perfect, and His standards are perfect. He never makes a mistake. He is all altogether holy, it is the way He is, and it is synonymous with His name. Habakkuk 1:13 says that His eyes are too pure to even approve of evil. He can’t even look upon wickedness with favor. As human beings, we are totally blind to this type of holiness. We might see the power of God in creation, we might see the wisdom of God in nature, but His holiness we cannot even imagine. It must be revealed to us.
Rudolph Otto, that esteemed theologian from yester-year, said these words to us: “The holiness of God is an incomprehensible something, the mysterium tremendum, the awesome mystery. It’s an awkward thing. It can never be intellectually conceived, only sensed and felt in the depths of the human spirit…Sometimes it runs like quick silver like threw creations veins and sometimes it stuns the mind by confronting it with the supernatural.”
My question to you is this: Have you even been confronted with the holiness of God? If you have never been confronted by the holiness of God then the gospel has never and will never truly mean anything to you. If your ideal of God errs at this point then the Good News has never lifted any burden from you. Without this revelation you have never been disturbed about your spiritual condition. Why? Because you have never seen yourself the way God sees you.
Isaiah’s Encounter with God’s Holiness
Is this not the testimony of Scripture? Isaiah walked into that temple and he was confronted with the holiness of God and, perhaps, the most vivid vision of God is given in the Holy Scripture. Isaiah saw the Lord. It was monumental; it was absolutely unveiling. It was a self-disclosure of God, if you will. God was literally pulling back the curtains of heaven and giving this man a revelation of Himself that he could not get on his own. What did he see? The first thing he saw was a throne. God was in charge. God was sitting on the throne. He was placing no confidence in princes and asking no counsel of kings. He was seated upon the throne. The next thing he saw was burning, fiery, six-winged creatures called cherubim. They were engaged in fervent prayers. We discover from this account that they had to be created this way to even function in the presence of God’s holiness. With two wings they covered their faces, shielding their eyes so the holy whiteness of God. With two wings they covered their feet, showing humility. With two wings they flew.
But what Isaiah heard them chanting was more amazing than their very appearance. They were singing, “Quadash, quadash, quadash.” That’s Hebrew for “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.” The whole earth is full of His glory. Friends, this three-fold chant by the angels was not some stutter. It was intentional. It is repeated here to show the superlative degree, which could be translated, “Holy, Holier, Holiest is the Lord God Almighty.” What they were proclaiming is that God is the holiest being in the entire universe. All of a sudden, Isaiah came to the realization of his personal depravity. The revelation of God’s holiness caused him to confess that something was deeply wrong with him in his own environment. He felt himself coming apart at the seams. He felt himself unraveling like a cheap sweater. He suffered moral shock, emotional violence, and spiritual trauma. Why? He recognized that the problem was not his family; the problem was not his career; the problem was his own sinful heart.
A Proper Response to God’s Holiness
Have you discovered that your real problem is your own sinful heart? Has this been revealed to you? Your heart, and my heart, is desperately wicked and desperately sick. I want to tell you something, dear friend. This is the first thing that happens when the Holy Spirit brings conviction. The Bible says, “…when He comes, [the Holy Spirit]will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me” (John 16:8-9).
Hebrews 9:27 says, “…it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” This tells us that every person will stand before this Holy God. 1 Samuel 6:20 says, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God?” This is what you need to understand: this is a problem for us. This is a problem because a Holy God hates sin and He can’t excuse it, He can’t look over it, and He can’t pass by it. The Bible teaches that because of sin, we are under the wrath of God. His nature demands that He punishes sin. Yet, ladies, and gentlemen this very Holiness that I am speaking of here is what He requires of each one of us. The Bible says in Hebrew 12:14 that we are to pursue peace with all men and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 1 Peter 1:16 says, “God said be ye holy as I am holy.” Listen, until you have a revelation of God’s holiness, unless this has ever happened to you, you’re not ready for forgiveness. You’re not ready to be saved until you see this because once you see it then you know that there is a need for forgiveness.
A Revelation of Our Sinfulness
This brings me to the second point that we must understand about this gospel: We must realize our own sinfulness. Most people don’t have a problem acknowledging that they’ve sinned, but just to keep the record straight, the Bible says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
What is sin? Sin is a wrong view and wrong attitude toward God. We need to clearly define it in order that we understand what it is. The Bible says in 1 John 3:4 that sin is lawlessness. “Everyone that practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” This verse tells us that sin and lawlessness is the very same thing. Do you know that every time we sin we are living as if there were no God and no law? This is arrogantly living by our own terms, not being bound by God’s standards. Do you ever do anything by your own terms in your own way? This is what the Bible calls sin.
There is another definition of sin. 1 John 5:17 says, “All unrighteousness is sin.” Righteousness is the standard of God and the Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of that very standard.
Another definition of sin in the Bible is in James 4:17, “…to the one who knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.” Sin is a failure to do good. Sin is lawlessness. Sin is unrighteousness.
There is one last definition of sin in the Bible. Romans 14:23 says, “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” This is how the Bible describes sin. Ralph Venings said that it’s the plagues of plagues. It causes us to openly and fragrantly rebel against the Holy God. This sin makes us ungrateful to God. He has granted us life and breath in all things.
The Helplessness of Our Condition
There is nothing we can do to get rid of it. Nothing! The Bible says, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?” (Jer. 13:23).The answer is no. There is nothing we can do to get rid of sin. There is no human remedy for the problem. There is no educational process, no moral reformation, and no religious ceremony that can get rid of its effects. It controls how we think, what we do, and what we love, and the Bible says because of it we are going to die. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).
Because of sin, we are helpless to find God. Because of sin, we can never experience true peace, for the Bible says, “’There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked’” (Isaiah 57:21). The ultimate end, again, is death. Can you answer this question honestly? Have your ever seen yourself so hopelessly involved in sin, so helpless to face the power of evil within you, that nothing but Christ could save you? Have you ever seen yourself that way?
Unless you have known this, you have never been converted. You’ve never been saved; you’ve never been born again. You cannot feel the need of Christ unless you have sensed this. Listen, you may have felt the need for advice; you may have felt the need for comfort; you may have even felt the need for some direction; but you’ve not felt the need of deliverance. When you understand that you heart is sick and plagued and that you’re in trouble, then you want to call out to God for true deliverance. When you are awakened to the fact that your nature is evil, you will recognize that the trouble is not the sin that you do; the trouble is you. The trouble, according to Scripture, is that your whole nature is wrong and it needs to be transformed. It needs to be converted. It needs to be changed from the inside, out. Now listen to me, it doesn’t matter who you are and what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter how good you may appear or how many good works you have done. You may attend church regularly, you may be involved in ministry, but if you’ve never been griped by the realization that the whole of you is wrong, you’ve never been converted.
Jesus said these words in Luke 5:31: “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.” You say, “Pastor I’ve always been a Christian as long as I can remember.” The Bible says, “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). Nobody is born a Christian. We are born sinners. You say, “Pastor, I can’t think of a time when I was converted.” My friend, think about what you said. What you are saying is that you have had an encounter with the God of the universe and you were totally unaware of it. What you are saying is that the total transformation of your soul took place and you were unconscious of it. Impossible! Jesus said to Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where it comes from or know where it is going…”(John 3:8). You may not know where it came from but you see the effects on the trees. You may not know when the exact moment it happened, but if you have been born again, you see when the change began.
When a person is born again they may not understand all of the legal things about it, but they know something has taken place that a change has happened. Here’s the question: Has that change really happened to you? The gospel that Paul preached starts with the revelation of the holiness of God. It continues with the revelation of our own sinfulness. The next thing that must be understood is that there must be a comprehension of who Christ is and what He has done.
Who Christ is and What He Has Done
For two thousand years, and now still, the most important question in the entire universe is this: What do you say about Jesus? I admit to you up front that I cannot prove to you who Jesus is. I can give you biblical arguments and biblical evidence, but the truth of matter is that unless the Holy Spirit of God opens your eyes where you see the glory of Christ, who’s the image of God, you’ll remain in the dark. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “…no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” My task is not to persuade you. My task is to proclaim to you who the Bible proclaims Him to be.
In the book of Matthew He is presented as the perfect King. In the book of Mark He’s the perfect Son. In the book of Luke He’s the perfect Man, but in the book of John He’s the perfect God. In Acts He’s the giver of the Holy Spirit. In Romans He’s the Justifier. In Corinthians He’s the Sanctifier. In Galatians He’s the Righteousness. In Ephesians He’s my Redemption. In Philippians, the Bible says, “He has a name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). In the book of Colossians He’s the image of the invisible God, the first born of creation; He’s the hope of glory and in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. In Thessalonians He’s the soon coming King. In Timothy He’s the Faithful Pastor. In Titus He’s our great God and Savior. In Philemon He’s a friend that sticks closer than a brother. In Hebrews He’s the Creator of the world the radiance of God’s glory. He upholds all things by the power of His word; His name is better than angels, better than Moses, and better than Melchizedek. He has a priesthood that is better than the old. He has a better covenant. His blood speaks louder and better than the blood of Abel. In James He’s our Sustainer. In Peter He’s our Deliverer. In 1John He’s an Advocate and our Assurance. In Jude He is the Lord who is coming with ten thousand of His holy ones. In Revelation He is the Lamb of God, the Alpha and the Omega, the One who was dead and who is alive; the One who is a faithful and true witness. He’s the one who has the key of David and the keys of death and hell. He’s the Son of God and He is the King of every single king and the Lord of every single lord. That’s who the Bible proclaims Him to be. Praise God this is who He is. The Bible presents Jesus as the God-Man. He is 100% God as if He were never man. He is 100% man as if He were never God, united in one person forever. He is undiminished deity and true humanity, united in one person forever. This is who the Bible proclaims Him to be.
What Has Jesus Done?
The Bible says in Hebrews 2:9, “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” The word taste here is a very graphic word. This is what our Lord did on our behalf. He tasted all of the bitterness that death contains: all of its vileness all of its blackness all of its ugliness, He tasted. He took it into Himself with all of its horrors and all of its terrors; all of its poison, He drank. He absorbed death into His very being. Yes, my friend, He drank from the bitter cup! And that bitter cup was the cup of God’s own wrath. You see, dear friends, death is the judgment of God on sin, for the Bible says that the wages of sin is death, and Jesus took it upon Himself. Jesus took upon Himself the wrath of God, God’s holy punishment against sin. The Bible teaches that when God’s dear Son stepped in the Garden called Gethsemane, He prayed with such fervency that the tears where like drops of blood. If you recall, He asked His own Father, if it were possible for the cup to pass from Him. But it was not possible. Why? Because this was the only way that we can be reconciled and forgiven of sin. There upon that hillside, God poured out His wrath on His only Son. There on Calvary’s Hill, the perfect Lamb died in blood, sweat, and tears. This is what a Holy God had to do to judge sin, even in His own Son. Friend, do you think that if He had to do this to His own Son to judge sin that He is going to let you escape if you are not in Christ? I can almost hear the angels ask, “Why?” The hymn writer asked the same question: “Why would He devote that sacred head for a soul such as I?” I don’t know if words could ever express why He gave His perfect life. But God demonstrated His own love in this: While we were sinners, Christ died (Romans 5:8).
Imagine if you will, you and your family taking a cruise on the ocean. You’re traveling along and the ocean is infested with sharks. You’re really not concerned why, because the ship protects you from the danger below. So as you enjoy the view, you notice that your child is playing to close too the edge of the ship. You call out to him, “Son, get away from that edge!” but he doesn’t hear you. Then he slips right over and he falls into the shark-infested waters. What would you do? Would you run to the end of the rail and cry out, “Hey, son?” What would you do? Would you run to the edge of the rail, and think about it for a moment; think about the cost? Jesus didn’t think about the cost! He saw us down here, infested in sin, about to be taken alive and damned for all eternity, and His love sent Him here. He came and the Bible says that He came to die in order to rescue us.
I love the song,
Oh love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee,
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow,
May richer fuller be.
Oh cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to hide from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground that life blossoms red.
Life that shall endless be.
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died.
My riches gain, I count but lost
And pour contempt on all my pride.
See, from His head and His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small,
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
This is what the holy Son of God has done on our behalf. If the gospel ended at this point, it wouldn’t be much good to us. It would still be incomplete. If He came to die—and die for us—He’s still lying somewhere in some Palatine tomb, rotting. What good would that be to you and me? But that’s not the end of the story. The Bible says that He arose from the grave. Paul said, “Remember Christ Jesus, risen from the dead” (2 Tim. 2:8). That’s what He has done; He has gotten up from the grave and because of that, the Bible says, “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent” (Acts 7:30). Why? Because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a man who He has appointed and furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. You must understand that He is not only the Savior but He is Lord.
What God Demands of You
The fourth thing you must know is this you must understand what God demands of you. The first thing that God demands of us in order to be saved is to repent. Jesus said, “…unless you repent you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). We need to be clear about this matter, ladies and gentlemen. Martyn Lloyd Jones said, “Without repentance there would be no love from God and no forgiveness…Do not bank on God’s love. It is only given to the repented.” There is no entry into the Kingdom of God without repentance.
Let’s be really clear on this issue of repentance. It’s not some superficial type of response of sorrow and regret. It’s not feeling sorry after we’ve sinned, only to turn around and do it again. Repentance means to think again. It means to change your mind. It means you must stop, you must think about yourself, and you must think honestly about your sin. You must ask yourself: Am I right with God? Do I love God with all of my heart and with all of my soul? Has His love truly transformed my life? But it goes beyond this. It goes to changing your mind about the thing that is wrong. It involves confessing to yourself right where you are. You don’t have to confess it to anybody right now, but confess it to yourself. Confess to yourself that you’ve been wrong about God. Face it honestly and refuse to argue about it. Stop justifying where you’re at and come to grips with your own behavior. Stop defending it.
The second step is to acknowledge your sinfulness before God and feel regret that you have offended God. You have offended Him. Repentance means that you realize that you are guilty, you’re a vile sinner in the presence of God, you deserve punishment, and that you’re hell-bound. I know that this is strong stuff, but I want to tell you, this is what makes the Good News great. There are some of you offended right now, but you need to ask yourself: Why? Why am I so offended that Scripture tells me that I am a vile sinner? You need to examine your own heart. Repentance means that you must begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you and you long to be rid of its power. You desire to turn your back on it in whatever shape, form, or fashion. You desire to turn your back and you're willing to deny yourself and take up your cross to follow Christ. It doesn’t matter what your friends say. It doesn’t matter what your family says. They may call you a fool, a religious nut, but it makes no difference to you. Why? Because you want to be clean, you want to be whole, you want to be transformed, and you want God to rid you of this. That’s how you can know true repentance has taken place.
There is one other thing. You must be willing to prove your sincerity by doing exactly what God commands you to do. You see this is where the rich young ruler failed. But you must be willing to do His will. What is God’s will? John 6:40says, “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him might have eternal life...” The will of the Father is for you to believe in Christ with your whole heart, all your mind with all your soul. The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, the one and only God, and you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, that He is a living Savior who can change your life today, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). That’s what Scripture says. God demands that you repent and that you believe.
There is No Need For Delay
One last thing about the gospel: there is no need for delay. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “Now is the acceptable time…today is the day of salvation.” You say, “Pastor, I just don’t think that I can live up to it.” No, you can’t. You can’t live up to it, but He can. He can do it in your life. You say, “Pastor, I think I’m being gripped emotionally.” Listen, friend, if you have been convicted of sin, you need respond today. There may come a time when the voice of the Holy Spirit is never heard in your conscience again. The Bible says that Today is the day of salvation. You ask, “What must I do?” You must cast yourself on the mercy of God. It isn’t where you accept Christ; it’s where you ask Christ to accept you. You say, “God, accept me into Your kingdom! Forgive me of my sins! Change my life!” I want to tell you this: when you call out recognizing that you am sick at heart that you need deliverance, the Bible says that He will make you a new creature from the inside out. He will take that heart out of you, so to speak. He will take out that anger, bitterness, resentment, and that very thing that makes you want to sin so much. He’ll take it out and He’ll put love in there; He’ll put joy and peace in there. Bless God, He’ll kiss it and put it back, and the Bible says you will be a new creature. New creature: same personality, new heart; same personality, different disposition, now wanting to live for Christ. Here’s the question: What hinders you from giving your heart to Jesus? There is no need for delay.
