Understanding so Great a Salvation (Part 1)

Understanding so Great a Salvation (Part One)

A. The Biblical Gospel must include the character of God and the character of the sinner. The true Gospel contains the following essentials:

1. Who has the sinner offended?
2. How has the sinner offended God?
3. What are the consequences of offending God?
4. What are sinners to be saved from?
5. What has God done about the sinner’s dilemma?
6. How are sinners to be saved from ruin?

B. WHO has the sinner offended?

1. Our Gospel message must have at its core the glory and majesty and exaltation of God; He is the offended power. Without the knowledge of God whom he has offended; the sinner will not see himself in opposition to God (Joseph Lo Sardo, Errors in Modern Evangelism, www.sermonaudio.com, 5/7/06).
2. The Gospel is about God whom the sinner has offended; about His moral majesty and righteous justice. God cannot be made to fit the sinner’s instincts, radical miscalculations, and carnal ideas of deity. All conviction of sin and remorse for sin begins with the character of God as He is revealed in Scripture.

3. Start with God as Creator—who God is in relation to all else (His absolute claims upon His creatures). “Don’t assume the culture knows anything about God,” says Ken Ham. Don’t try to get someone saved who doesn’t understand God’s character. False evangelism tries to attract by focusing on divine love to the exclusion of God’s holiness, sovereignty, and righteous justice.

C. HOW has the sinner offended God?

1. Man must experience a degree of devastation about personal sin. The modern gospel circumvents this step. There must be an awakening in the individual as to the fact that all sin is against God; against His holy character. There is no repentance until the sinner says the same thing about his sin that God does. Sin makes you an enemy of God (Rom 3:23; 5:10).
2. Jesus took the rich young ruler back to the Law of God (Lu 18:18-23). The sinner must be shown how he has specifically offended God. You can’t make the cross personal without making the sinner’s depravity personal (that is, the transgressor must be shown that who he is and what he has done in his person has offended God). The preaching of the law is the tool for identifying sin (Ro 3:20; 5:20) (Ibid.).

3. In our culture, people hear the Gospel through a ‘self-help’ grid. Unregenerate people naturally assume that the Gospel is about them; about their self-therapy; not about God who is glorified in judging sin at the cross; and thereby redeeming and reconciling sinner and taking them to glory.

D. WHAT are the consequences of offending God?

1. The law stops every mouth that all may become guilty before God (Ro 3:19). Man’s uneducated conscience cannot be trusted to assess the seriousness of sin and its verdict of death and separation from God. Only by proclaiming the character of God and the immutability of His law will sinners conclude that they are lawbreakers in God’s sight who deserve eternal condemnation (1 Jn 3:4).
2. The law is the identifier of sin—without the law; how does a person know what to repent of? Modern evangelism ignores God’s law—as a consequence the modern gospel is emptied of the Gospel essentials of sin, hell, conviction, and repentance.

The First Commandment: Have no other gods before Me.

We haven’t loved God supremely—we haven’t treasured Him and valued Him; and pressed on to know Him. We have chosen things in place of God and disregarded Him—despising His ownership of us. We have regarded His loving rule over us to be an intrusion. We have made other gods out of our own will, our own way, and our own cravings.

The Second Commandment: You shall not make for yourself an idol.

We have set our affections on the world—we have worshipped and served the creature and creation instead of God. We have made idols of our lusts and desires. We have refused to love God by a life of continual thanksgiving to Him.

The Third Commandment: Do not take the Name of the Lord God in vain.

We have not sanctified and set apart the Name of the Lord—we have used God’s Name casually and irreverently. We have dragged His Name into our conversations without reverence and fear; with no thought of His holiness. We have had no passion for His honor and glory. We have been too cowardly to defend His character when others have dishonored His Name in our presence.

The Fourth Commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.

Though not a N.T. ordinance; the principle of setting aside time to draw near to God is timeless. We have failed in this by not leaving our pursuits and pastimes to actively seek God. We have not made it a priority to worship God; to serve Him; and make Him known to our fellow creatures. We have not come away from our schedules to give Him the best of our thoughts and conversation. We are by nature Sabbath-breakers.

The Fifth Commandment: Honor your father and mother.

We have disobeyed by dishonoring our parents countless times. We have deemed them unworthy of our obedience and respect. We have talked back to them and undermined their authority. We have promised obedience and withheld it. We have been ungrateful and have disregarded their God-appointed authority in our lives.

The Sixth Commandment: You shall not murder.

In 1 John 3:15 we are told that to hate your brother is murder because it is a spirit of murder. Have you despised and resented those who have mistreated you? Have you held a grudge and wished for their downfall, misfortune; failure; and destruction? Have you entertained violent thoughts against those who have offended you? Have you lashed out in angry words? (Matt 5:22). Do you harbor unforgiveness? Have you sought your own vengeance by gossip and slander?

The Seventh Commandment: You shall not commit adultery.

This encompasses all sexual sin. We have allowed lusts to rule us. We have looked upon others as sexual objects of desire in our minds. Jesus said that to do that can be adultery in the heart (Matt 5:28). We have entertained discontent with our marriage partner and allowed imaginary lovers to enter the mind. We have loved our lusts above God’s honor. We have not cared to reflect God’s purity in our thinking; desiring; and looking.

The Eighth Commandment: You shall not steal.

We have many times taken what is not ours. We have robbed employers of a full day’s work. We have cheated on tests and homework. We have robbed God by using our resources for our pleasures without a thought of giving to His Kingdom and the spread of the Gospel. We have stolen the reputation of others by gossiping. We have borrowed from others and not returned; and we have cheated others out of fairness by our greed.

The Ninth Commandment: Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

We have lied and covered our sin. We have altered the truth to protect ourselves. We have exaggerated, embellished, and distorted the truth to make ourselves look more favorable. We have misrepresented the character of others. We have not sought the truth in the inward man; but have lied to ourselves about God’s faithfulness. We have allowed dishonesty to enter our speech.

The Tenth Commandment: You shall not covet.

We have desired what is not ours but another’s. We have believed it should be ours and not our neighbor’s. We have envied; been jealous of what others have. We have been secretly happy at the misfortune of those around us. We have been secretly saddened by the promotions and prosperity of those around us. We have complained and grumbled—indulging in self-pity and discontentment. We have felt elevated by the moral downfall of others. We have compared ourselves to others instead of living in gratitude to God for grace.

3. God has born witness to man’s moral and spiritual condition. God is just and fair to shut impenitent sinners out of the enjoyment of His glory forever (Mt 10:28).

Sinners who reject God’s authority; who do not fear God or believe God are liable to death and judgment (Mt 12:36). They will experience God’s verdict; the separation of their souls from God forever in eternal punishment (Rom 6:23). Sinners make a ‘wager’ or ‘bet’ that God will not judge them eternally for their sins (Ps 10:13).

E. WHAT are sinners to be saved from?

1. Sinners must be told that they need to be saved not only from the consequences of sin (death and separation from God in hell), but also from sin itself. Salvation is inseparable from being saved from sin as a master. This is absolutely vital; it is a truth inherent in true repentance (Lu 13:5; 24:47).

2. The fact that God will lay bare every heart is stated in a Gospel context (Ro 2:16). Jesus felt a love for the rich young ruler; then told him what he must be saved from—covetousness (Lu 18:22ff.).
3. Sinners must be told that they must be saved from the wrath of God which will justly come upon all who do not believe the Gospel and repent of sin (Rom 2:1-10).

F. WHAT has God done about the sinner’s dilemma?

1. Without the knowledge of God whom the sinner has offended; and without the knowledge of God’s law which the sinner has trampled—there will be no grasp of what God has done to save. Grace only makes sense to those who see themselves as condemned lawbreakers.
2. The good news of the Gospel is that there is an almighty living God who is Creator. He has taken on flesh and dwelled with mankind. Christ the God-man died for our sins according to the Scriptures. By His substitutionary death, He fulfilled the long-awaited promise of a perfect redemption. He established the new covenant in His blood (Matt 26:28; 1 Cor 11:25).

3. The atonement Christ has made exalts divine justice. Because of the cross, God is glorified in extending forgiveness full and free to believing sinners. By His resurrection from the dead Jesus conquered sin, Satan, and death. His resurrection is proof that the Father has accepted the Son’s sacrifice on behalf of all who will believe. God is ready to receive even the worst sinner who believes and repents—because Christ has provided the all-sufficient sacrifice for sin.

G. HOW are sinners to be saved from ruin?

1. The promise of eternal life is offered to all who believe and repent. “Turn from your sins and follow Christ—take hold of eternal life—you can be a part of it!” God is focusing His mighty power in the Gospel—in saving sinners (Rom 1:16-17).
2. The good news of the Gospel is that man may have certainty about forgiveness of personal sin; and man may have eternal life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (Jn 3:36; 5:24, 25; Jn 10:27-29).
3. God desires you to be saved. He even commands you to come to Him and be forgiven; to be reconciled to Him on the basis of what He has done in Christ Jesus. You need not remain an enemy estranged from Him—He has promised to receive all those who come to Him by faith in His only begotten Son (Jn 1:12-13; Acts 17:30-31).

4. Christ is calling sinners to repentance and faith. These are twin graces that will be present in the regenerate person; they enable the sinner to flee to Christ and take hold of Him as Savior (Phil 1:29; Eph 2:8-10). God commands all men and women everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

To repent is to agree with God that we have wronged Him and deserve judgment. Repentance is not only a change of mind about our sin, it is a turning toward God in humble obedience (Ez 18:30-32; Luke 13:5). To repent is to determine to turn from our rebellion in order to serve our Redeemer and Creator with our whole selves—it is turning from the deceitful promises of sin (and its self-directed life) so as to despise the sin and our sin natures (Matt 10:38, 39; 16:25, 26). A Ministry of Gospel for Life, www.gospelforlife.org