| by Paul Settle, Associate
Minister of Park Cities Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX |
|
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting
life.”— John 3:16
John 3:16 is probably the best known Bible verse in the whole
world. It contains the Christian Gospel in a nutshell, God’s
saving work for sinners. Its message is clear: some people are
perishing, but God saves from death the people of the world who
trust His Son for life. Here, indeed, is the way to heaven made
plain for sinners. Let us take a closer look.
SOME PEOPLE ARE PERISHING
The Bible views us in terms of our relationship with God. Human
beings have “life” only through God and they enjoy
it only when they live in the presence of God. Therefore, they
perish when they are separated from God. This is because:
We are creatures, totally dependent on God, our Creator.
God alone sustains us and keeps body and soul together. In Adam,
we were created true persons, self-conscious, free, responsible
before God, and answerable to Him.
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of
God He created him; male and female He created them.”
[God is not] “worshipped with men’s hands, as though
He needed anything, seeing He gives to all life, and breath,
and all things...For in Him we live, and move, and have our being...” (Gen.
1:27; Acts 17:25,28)
We refuse to acknowledge our dependency on God.
Adam and Eve thought they could get along without God. As the “parents” of
human kind they rejected the Creator and plunged themselves
and all the rest of us into a sinful condition of prideful
rebellion against God. True to His Word, God punished sin by
separating Adam and us from Himself. Thus, our lives are spoiled.
We sons and daughters of Adam no longer really live. We merely
exist in what could be called a kind of living death. We have
forfeited and lost life with God, that is, the “eternal
life” referred to in John 3:16.
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of
every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the
day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'
“Therefore... through one man sin entered the world, and
death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because
all sinned..." (Genesis 2:16-17; Romans 5:12)
We are fallen.
We are totally unable to help ourselves—that is, to get
ourselves back into fellowship with God—because sin and
death pervade every aspect of our beings. We are not even true
men, whole and free, as God intended us to be. We are alienated
from ourselves, from other men, and, most importantly, from God.
Every relationship is perverted. All our faculties are deadened,
rendered useless as instruments by which we might please God
and be restored to His favor and fellowship. We are lawbreakers,
condemned to perish in our sins, incapable in our own strength
of fulfilling the law. We are slaves, helplessly mired in the
muck of our sinful natures.
“
Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as
God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts,
and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise,
they became fools...” (Rom. 1:21-22)
SALVATION FROM PERISHING IS BY WAY OF FAITH
John 3:16 clearly teaches that those who are saved from perishing
are those who “believe on” the Son of God. The Bible
is very, very clear on this point: we are saved by God’s
grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. We cannot
be saved by keeping the Law, for the Law demands perfection and
we cannot be perfect. The Law, therefore, condemns us—it
reveals all our deadly imperfections and pronounces God’s
curse upon them. As a mirror reveals our blemishes but cannot
heal them, so the Law exposes our sins but does not atone for
them.
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith
apart from the deeds of the law.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest
anyone should boast."
(Romans 3:28; Ephesians 2:8,9)
FAITH LAYS HOLD ON THE SON OF GOD
Who Jesus Is
Jesus, the Son of God, is God. But, in order to save His people, He became
a man. He was a real man, everything that Adam was (and lost) and more. This
astounding fact is at the heart of Christianity, and is one of the keys to
understanding the Good News of salvation —“God so loved...that
He gave His only begotten Son.” The person we must look to for our salvation
is the God-Man, fully God and fully man at the same time. As God, His life
was of such great value that He could pay the penalty for the sins of a great
multitude of sinners. As a man, He could receive in Himself God’s wrath
due to men. He humbly identified Himself with us sinners and experienced our
weaknesses and infirmities, but, and this is important, without any sin of
His own.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God...and the Word became fleshand dwelt
among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
“But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
His Son, born of a woman, made under the law...
“For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher
than the heavens” (John 1:1,14; Galatians 4:4;
Hebrews 7:26).
“For I delivered to
you...that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, and that He
was buried, and that He rose again the third
day according to the Scriptures...
“ This same Jesus...who
was taken up from you into heaven, will so
come in like manner as you saw Him
go into heaven...
“ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again and receive you unto Myself; that where
I am you may be also” (I Corinthians 15:3,4;
Acts 1:11; John 14:3).
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JESUS CHRIST OFFERS
SALVATION AS A GIFT
TO BE RECEIVED BY FAITH
- Faith Now, how may one receive this wonderful eternal
life of which John 3:16 speaks? The answer really is
quite simple: by faith. Not by works. By faith. But, what
is
faith? Maybe we first should consider what faith is
by thinking about what it is not:
- Not facts alone Faith
is not mere intellectual assent to a group of facts.
It does indeed accept as true
what the Bible says about God, and sin, and Christ,
but it is more than this. After all, the Bible says that even “the
devils believe and tremble...!” Intellectual assent alone is not
all that is meant by “saving faith.”
- Not favors alone Faith
is not merely trusting God for favors. Some people think that because
they look to God
for health, or safety, or financial solvency, or guidance,
and because they do indeed enjoy some of these things
in measure, they therefore possess saving faith and God
must
truly love them as His children. Again, this is not so.
God is so good that He does love all men with a common
love. But this common love is not saving love. Just because
one receives temporal favors from a good God does not
mean he has been given eternal life.
- Not feelings alone Saving faith is not to be identified with religious feelings.
There are
people who get all mushy
and teary when they hear “Silent Night,” or “The
Old Rugged Cross.” Others really “get into” religious
services and almost explode with enthusiasm for “the
cause.” But such emotional experiences are not necessarily
evidences of a true conversion. Don’t forget that
Esau wept buckets of tears, but he was not saved. Faith
certainly touches our emotions, but feelings alone do
not prove it genuine.
- Trusting Christ alone So
what is saving faith? It is trusting, receiving and resting
on
Jesus Christ alone for
salvation as He is offered in the Gospel. It is transferring
your trust for eternal life from yourself—your
own goodness or goodnesses—to Christ. It is believing
that you are truly guilty and justly condemned for your
sin, and calling upon Jesus Christ for salvation, knowing
all the while that it is in His righteousness alone that
you are made acceptable to God.
- Repentance Saving faith
is always accompanied with repentance. When you turn
to Jesus, you turn away from
yourself. You grieve over your guilt and the pollution
in your soul. You hate what you are without Christ. You discover a new,
holy desire to love and serve your Creator and Redeemer
with your whole heart
and
life.
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THE GIFT
And, when you do this—when you turn to Christ by faith—the
Savior accepts you and gives you eternal life!.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
you will be saved, you and your household...
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the
one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." (Acts
16:31; John 6:37).
BE A BELIEVER
Now, how might YOU receive this wonderful gift? Ask for it.
Pray. Right this minute —tell God that you recognize how
sinful you are, and how totally unable you are to please Him
in yourself or your works. Ask Him to enable you by His Spirit
to believe: to embrace Jesus Christ and trust Him alone for your
eternal salvation. Then, thank Him for keeping His promise. Now,
go. Live for Him. Study and obey His Word. Pray often. Worship
with His people in a Bible-believing church. Share your new faith
and life with other Christians. Serve Him in the church and in
the world. Talk about Him to unbelievers. It won’t be easy;
the cost of following Christ is great. But it is the only life.
It is eternal life.
For further information please contact us at webmaster@pcpc.org. TOP
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