What Is the Gift of God?
December 19, 2022 at 3:40 pm | Posted in Ephesians | 8 CommentsTags: commentary on Ephesians, Ephesians 2, faith, gift of faith, gift of salvation, grace, Salvation, saved by grace, Sunday School lessons on Ephesians
God, in saving His people, has done the following:
1. He loved us.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Ephesians 2:4
His mercy and grace save us, but His mercy and grace flow from His intrinsic love.
2. He resurrected us.
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Ephesians 2:5
3. He shares His glory with us.
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 2:6
4. He secures us.
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:7-8
There are different views as to what is being described in Ephesians 2:8 as being “not of ourselves,” and the “it” which is the gift of God. Some people believe it refers to the grace, although this seems redundant. Obviously, grace is not of ourselves; by definition it is a gift (although, to be fair, redundancy is sometimes use by the Holy Spirit for emphasis in the Bible).
A second view is that the “it” which is not of ourselves refers to the faith through which we are saved. This would mean that faith is a gift from God, which fits well with Ephesians Chapter One, where we were told that we were chosen by God, and with the beginning of Chapter 2, which tells us that we were spiritually dead, intimating that we had no faith of our own to bring to the equation. One possible problem with these views is that both grace and faith in this verse are in the feminine noun form in their original Greek, and “it” is in the neuter, which would mean that, grammatically, it is less likely that this verse on its own supports the idea that faith is the gift of God, although many other verses in the Bible strongly indicate that it is.
The best view seems to be that the “it” refers neither specifically to grace nor faith in this verse, but to the whole act of salvation. The “are ye saved” – the fact that you are saved – is the gift of God. That fits just as well with the whole theme of the epistle up to this point, and the next verse has to be read in conjunction with Verse 8 because it is part of the same thought:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:9
If you believe that faith is the gift of God, then obviously you don’t believe that faith is a “work.” However, even if you believe that faith is not the intended focus of the gift language, then you can still believe that faith is not a work. Faith – being belief in Holy Spirit-revealed truth about Jesus – is in a different category from baptism, communion, joining a church, doing good deeds, etc., and the concept of refuting works as playing any part in salvation segues nicely into Verse 10:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
Remember, the “we” is all Christians, and we are HIS workmanship. Ephesians is relentlessly God-centered, and our connection to God is never severed from “in Christ Jesus.” The word translated as “workmanship” is poiema, from which we get the English word “poem.” God’s salvation of us is a manufactured product that is meant to “work” (and to be read). We are CREATED – made to exist by someone else – not by ourselves. Works do not save, but God-glorifying works are the result of salvation and are produced by the Word and the Spirit, and, at times, by chastening and even suffering as they are transformed by Resurrection power.
Guilty No More
September 9, 2022 at 1:53 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: commentary on Romans, feelings of guilt, forensic guilt, guilt, Jesus Christ, objective guilt, Romans 3, Salvation, salvation invitations, Sunday School lessons on Romans
One time my daughter sang a song in church which contained the line, “We are guilty no more.” We often speak to people about what it means to be “saved,” and, in doing so, we try to get them to admit the guilt caused by their sin. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” they say. “I don’t feel guilty at all about what I’ve done or what I’m doing.”
That may be true, but whether or not you “feel” guilty is not the issue. If you have sinned against God – and we all have – you ARE guilty, whether you feel it or not. Your guilt is a judicial or forensic guilt that exists in the court of God’s justice, and He will eventually punish you as a guilty sinner unless you repent and trust the Savior, Jesus Christ. If you will do that, believing the truth about His life, death, burial, and Resurrection, then your sins will be forgiven, and you will be “guilty no more.”
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Romans 3:19-24
Birth or Belief?
August 17, 2020 at 12:18 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 4 CommentsTags: faith, faith alone, free will, grace alone, order of salvation, regeneration, Salvation, sovereignty of God, will of God
Question: Which comes first, regeneration or faith?
Answer: Regeneration means being born again (John 3:3-7; I Peter 1:23), so you are talking about saving faith, not just faith in general. A person is saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), so faith is necessary for salvation, but the precise chronological order is a topic that has been greatly debated throughout Christian history. The predominant and classical “Reformed,” “Protestant,” and “Puritan” views, for the most part, hold that regeneration must precede saving faith, under the following reasoning: Human beings come into the world as sinners, alienated and separated from God, and they lack the ability (Romans 8:7) to trust Christ on their own. Therefore, God must regenerate a person by supernatural grace in order to make that person a new creature who is willing and able to exercise saving faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ and His Gospel.
One opposing view says that there is a tiny island of goodness within a lost person that enables him to cooperate with God’s grace, and, freely of his own will, exercise enough faith to be saved, and at that point he is regenerated.
I don’t know that we will ever know the true “timing” of how it works, since God’s thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9; Deuteronomy 29:29). Maybe in Heaven we will be able to comprehend more about it. I know that we experience salvation personally as something we choose, but our feelings are not the decisive factor. Certainly God is powerful enough to regenerate us prior to us realizing it or consciously experiencing it, but I don’t see any reason why He couldn’t create the gift of saving faith in every believer, and transfer it to each one strictly by His own unassisted power at the very moment of regeneration.
I would say that I do not (Romans 3:10-11) hold the view that says there is a little bit of goodness in people that causes them to seek God apart from His grace prior to salvation. I also think the Bible makes clear that we do not contribute anything to salvation, including our independent decision (John 1:12-13). All the glory for salvation, from beginning to end, and everything having to do with it is to God’s glory and because of His love and grace. It is nothing we deserve (Jonah 2:9; Ephesians 2:9) and nothing for which we get any credit at all.
The Only Cure for Evil Hearts
May 26, 2020 at 2:28 pm | Posted in Jeremiah | 4 CommentsTags: backsliding, commentary on Jeremiah, evil hearts, Jeremiah 3, Salvation, Sunday School lessons on Jeremiah
Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jeremiah 3:14
As a grammatical matter, the remedy for backsliding sounds like it would be “front-sliding.” If you’ve slid back, the opposite would be to slide forward, but, no, the Lord had Jeremiah tell the people that the antithesis to backsliding is “turning.” This referred to a turning of the heart. The Lord wants our hearts to be in tune with His heart, and He even is willing to give us – because we are wayward, helpless, even dumb, sheep – shepherds (pastors).
And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Jeremiah 3:15
If they would turn their hearts, He would feed their hearts with what dumb sheep’s hearts need: not strength, not enthusiasm, not prizes, not just a temporary deliverance, but knowledge (Bible truth) and understanding (how to apply that truth). We don’t just need Christian friends. We don’t need a cleaner environment. We don’t need a better culture. We don’t need someone who seems to have his act together to imitate. Human beings need new HEARTS. Why? Because our hearts are sick? Broken? Mixed up? Not functioning properly? No, it’s even worse than that. Jeremiah was initiating a heart ATTACK:
At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
Jeremiah 3:17
The root cause of their problems was their EVIL hearts. Our evil hearts don’t just get lead astray by evil influences. No, they IMAGINE evil. They produce their own, fresh evil. Come to grips with this: Apart from Christ your heart is like an evil factory, producing evil 24/7.
Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
Jeremiah 3:22
This is a call and response. The call comes first, but how can an evil heart even respond the right way? Because the Caller – and the Caller ONLY – produces that response.
Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
Jeremiah 3:23
Salvation is IN Him. It’s in Him from start to finish. We don’t find it on the hills of vanity (family, friends, job) or on the mountains of vanity (government, church, influence). We find it in God. He doesn’t just show us salvation, or tell us the way to salvation. He IS salvation.
The Difference between Saved and Lost
August 22, 2018 at 12:10 pm | Posted in Salvation | 8 CommentsTags: Biblical salvation, Book of Life, eternal salvation, evangelism, Jesus Christ, lost, Salvation, saved
The distinction between saved and lost, spiritually speaking, is the sharpest, most significant distinction in the world. The difference between “saved” people (those who have been truly born again by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, John 3; Ephesians 2:8-9) and those who have not been saved is more important than the differences between people of different political beliefs, different nationalities, different skin colors, different genders, and different ages. A person who is saved is truly a child of God. His or her name has been written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 21:27), and he or she will one day go to Heaven to be with Jesus forever, because his or her sins have been forgiven. A person who is lost is an enemy of God, whose sins are unforgiven. This person, unless his or her condition changes before death or before Jesus comes back, must be punished by the just and living God, and he or she will go to a place of separation from God that the Bible calls hell, and ultimately to a place called the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15), which is a horrible place of eternal conscious torment. There is nothing of greater consequence for human beings than believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and trusting Him unto salvation.
What Does it Mean to be “Saved?”
July 19, 2018 at 11:24 am | Posted in Salvation | 19 CommentsTags: Biblical evangelism, eternal salvation, evangelism, Jesus Christ, Salvation, saved, the Gospel
I have noticed that many people have incorrect ideas and general confusion about the term “saved.” To be “saved” in the Biblical sense means to be saved from God’s wrath. God’s wrath is what we deserve because of our sins against Him. To be “saved” is to be “rescued,” or “delivered” from a punishment against which we are helpless. We are saved by God’s grace, meaning that it is a free gift that we do not deserve. We are saved through faith, meaning that it happens when we believe the Truth about Jesus Christ and His Gospel and place all our trust in Him alone. We can add nothing whatsoever to this salvation. It comes to us through Christ, according to His Word, and for God’s glory. For several years I have been asking people if they are “saved” and these are the most common responses:
1. “Yes, I go to church.” But going to church does not mean that you are saved.
2. “Yes, I have been baptized.” But being baptized does not mean that you are saved. Being baptized is something we are commanded to do AFTER we are saved. Baptism is an illustration of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. It does not wash away anyone’s sins.
3. “Yes, I have been saved many times.” But this is impossible. Salvation is a one-time-only event for each person who experiences it. Upon salvation you receive eternal life, and “eternal” life, by definition, cannot be lost or taken away.
4. “Yes, I pray to God every day.” Being saved may occur during a prayer, but the act of praying itself is not the same as being saved.
The Greatest Miracle
July 9, 2018 at 11:45 am | Posted in Biblical Greats, Luke | 2 CommentsTags: commentary on Luke, Jesus's miracles, John the Baptist, Luke 7, miracles, Salvation, Sunday School lessons on Luke
John the Baptist received from his disciples some news about Jesus’s ministry.
And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things.
Luke 7:18
John’s disciples considered themselves REformers (as opposed to the Pharisees who thought of themselves as CONformers, and Jesus’s disciples who were TRANSformers). John was doubting Jesus because he wasn’t seeing any reformation.
And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
Luke 7:19
Doubting can be a sign of unbelief, but not always. You can still have faith in God but be perplexed over what He is doing. As Oswald Chambers once said, “Doubting is not always a sign of unbelief; sometimes it’s a sign that a man is thinking.”
Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Luke 7:22-23
The Greek word translated as “offended” in Luke 7:23 is skandalizo, from which we get the English word “scandalized.” It was originally the word for the bait in a trap – the enticement to fall into peril. The Person and ministry of Jesus should cause us to stop and think – but not to stumble and turn away. Jesus stressed the miracles He was doing so that John’s disciples could see the “transformation” which happens to individuals rather than the “reformation” which happens to governments.
I think sometimes we do a disservice in making converts believe that they are joining a club rather than entering into a personal relationship with the Savior. Healing the centurion’s servant was a great miracle. Raising the widow’s son from the dead was a great miracle. But Jesus was about to do an even greater miracle. He was about to save a sinner. That’s the greatest miracle because it meets the greatest need: forgiveness. It accomplishes the greatest result: eternal life. It cost the greatest price: the sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross.
What about Those Who Haven’t Heard?
July 14, 2017 at 9:36 am | Posted in Q&A | 3 CommentsTags: Gospel, Jesus Christ, missionaries, Romans 1, Romans 3, Salvation, the Gospel call, world missions
Question: If there’s an isolated community/tribe that has little to no contact with the outside world, and have never heard of the Lord, how are they judged on Judgment Day?
Answer: Let’s start by thinking about the reason for God’s judgment in general. For what is He judging anyone and everyone? As noted in the Children’s Bible Catechism, specifically questions 6,7, and 8, and the Bible verses that answer them, people are judged for sinning against God.
So how can people be guilty of sinning against a God about Whom they’ve never heard, and by breaking laws they did not know existed? The answer is found in Romans Chapter 1, starting in Verse 18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”
Everyone in the world knows that there is a God. They may not know His name, but His external creation and their own inner consciences reveal that He exists and that some things are “right” and some things are “wrong.” Sinful people have access to this truth, but “hold it in unrighteousness,” which means they try to suppress it or hold it down by pretending it isn’t really there.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Romans 1:19
This attempt to suppress whatever revelation of truth that a person has received is, in itself, also a sin, which means that no one has a valid “excuse” for rejecting God and His revelation of Himself and His “wrath” against sin:
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Romans 1:20
Those of us who live in America often think of rejecting Christ as the sin which would condemn us on Judgment Day, and it would definitely be one of the sins (probably the worst) for which we would be judged. But rejecting Christ is not the only sin which will merit judgment on Judgment Day. Those who die apart from Christ will also be judged for lying and stealing and immoral thoughts and immoral actions and covetousness and idolatry and many, many more sins. Romans 3:23 tells us that everyone does these things, but Romans 1 tells us that the people who do them KNOW that they are wrong even if they don’t have immediate access to a Bible or the name of Jesus.
One reason why it is so important to try to get missionaries and the Gospel to remote people groups – from the Inuit people in the Arctic, to villages in Togo, West Africa, and everywhere else – is so that they can hear the Truth that Christ is their only hope for forgiveness. A heart that has been “darkened” (Romans 1:21) needs special “illumination” from the Word of God.
The Deep End 
The Most Important Invitation You Will Ever Receive
February 15, 2023 at 1:17 pm | Posted in Isaiah | 2 CommentsTags: commentary on Isaiah, Isaiah 53, Isaiah 55, Jesus Christ, Salvation, salvation invitations, Sunday School lessons on Isaiah
Isaiah 53 shows us what God’s Suffering Servant (Jesus, the Messiah) accomplished for God, for Himself, and for us, in His life, His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection.
In Chapter 55 there is an invitation, based on these accomplishments.
Isaiah 55:1
This is an invitation for EVERYONE to receive salvation: not just Jewish people, but gentiles, too. You can see that salvation cost God dearly, but He offers it free to us. We do not have to “earn” it, or “buy” it.
God speaks through Isaiah, and He pleads with us not to let the direction of our lives be about gaining ground in this world: Do not focus on getting wealth, fame, popularity, leisure. Those things won’t “satisfy.” They are not what is truly “good.”
Isaiah 55:2
God had made a covenant with David. We can have the same promise that he received. God promised David that his throne would be established by God forever. Believers will one day reign and rule with Jesus Christ. If we incline our ear to God and heed and obey Him today, we can reign in life now (Isaiah 55:3).
God chose the Jewish people to bring blessings to the rest of the world. Our Bible came through them. The Messiah came through them. God’s Holy Spirit was first poured out on them. They rejected Jesus when He first came to them, but they are still God’s covenant people, just as the Church is today.
Isaiah 55:5
Isaiah also gives us a reminder that today is the day of salvation. God’s people have future promises from God, but they do not have to wait until some future “right time” to draw near to Him by faith.
Isaiah 55:6
The wicked are on the “way” of destruction, and the unrighteous cannot even control their own thoughts. But God has mercy on the broken and repentant. He will not only “pardon” them – He will ABUNDANTLY pardon them: make them His Own CHILDREN.
Isaiah 55:7
Isaiah, in Chapter 55, prophesies to people who will experience joy in returning from “exile” – a time of chastening when the Lord seems to withdraw His presence from us to let us have our own way. We suffer when this happens, but He allows it because it teaches us to value Him, to be like Jesus, and to stay close to Him. It purifies us and sanctifies us, and makes us ready for our home in Heaven.
That’s how the Jewish people felt coming back to Jerusalem from their captivity in Babylon, and there will be even greater joy when Jesus’s Kingdom is established in the Millennium.