Saved by Faith/Why Did My Savior Come to Earth?
Posted by: ba <ba@...>
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Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Hands-on Faith
Saved by Faith: Everyone Tells You to Do Something
by Barry Newton
For me, sometimes the irony gets real thick. I
remember watching a television evangelist spend
fifteen minutes emphasizing "you are saved by
faith not by works." He correctly pointed out that
we are not capable of being good enough to save
ourselves; this would be salvation by works. And
the scriptures do teach that we are not saved by
our own merit; we must rely upon Jesus.
However, he also went beyond these biblical
affirmations when he claimed that works meant
doing something. Because of how he defined works,
he concluded that there was nothing we could do in
order to be saved. But then as the program came
to an end, he began to encourage people to respond
to Jesus. Guess what! He told them to do something
in order to be saved! He told his listeners to say
a prayer confessing that they were sinners and to
ask Jesus to come into their hearts!
He obviously failed to realize that by defining
works as "doing something", he had also condemned
saying a prayer and inviting Jesus into one's
heart! He could have avoided this whole awkward
dance if he had just focused on preserving Paul's
definition of works and faith in Christ which boil
down to self-reliance and trusting in Jesus.
Each branch of Christendom teaches that you must
do something in order to be saved. Does it not
make sense to ask, "what does the Bible teach us
to do?"
Examining Luke-Acts
This question is raised several times in the
biblical books of Luke and Acts. We first
encounter it being directed to John the Baptizer
who was proclaiming a baptism of repentance unto
the remission of sins as he preached the good news
about the One to come (Lk. 3:3, 16-18; Acts 19:4).
To him the crowds queried, "what should we do?"
(Lk. 3:10,12,14). In each case, John's response
called for them to repent, that is, to cease
ungodly behavior and exemplify lives of love. And
of course, they were being baptized by him in the
Jordan River.
After Jesus died on the cross establishing the new
covenant, Peter preached for the first time on the
next Pentecost the good news that Jesus was the
Messiah and Lord. They had killed Jesus, but God
had raised him to life. In response to his
lesson, his Jewish listeners asked their Jewish
brethren, "Brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts
2:37). Peter's answer was, "repent and be
baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins" (Acts
2:38 NASB).
Later when Saul of Tarsus encountered Jesus on the
road to Damascus, Saul came to realize that Jesus
was Lord. And yet, Jesus told Saul, "Rise, and
enter the city, and it shall be told you what you
must do" (Acts 9:6).
What was Saul to do? When Saul retold this story
in his own words he recounted Ananias' words, "For
you will be a witness for Him to all men of what
you have seen and heard. And now why do you delay?
Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins,
calling on His name" (Acts 22:15,16).
Perhaps the Philippian jailer had in mind saving
his skin when he asked, "Sirs, what must I do to
be saved?" (Acts 16:30). But Paul and Silas jumped
at the opportunity to teach him the gospel. What
did he need to do? He needed to understand who
Jesus was and to believe in him. But this jailer
had no idea who Jesus was nor how he should trust
in him. So Paul and Silas taught him. And
immediately he and his household were baptized.
Upon being baptized, they rejoiced because they
had come to believe in the Lord (Acts 16:31-34).
Conclusion
Whether in the Gospels, the historical literature
of Acts, or the Epistles, consistently the New
Testament message announces what we need to do in
order to be saved/1. We must rely upon Jesus, not
ourselves, for salvation. We start down the path
of relying upon Jesus and his blood by being
baptized.
Every group in Christendom teaches that you must
do something in order to be saved. Why not teach
what scripture announces?
1/ Mark 16:15,16; Matthew 28:19,20; John 1:12,13;
3:3-5; Acts 2:37,38; Galatians 3:26,27; Romans
6:1-4; 17,18
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COLUMN: The X-Files
Why Did My Savior Come to Earth?
by Mitchell Skelton
Bill Keane's comic strip, Family Circus, has
communicated a beautiful truth about Christmas. As
the children were setting up their nativity set,
little Dolly held up the baby Jesus and declared,
"Here's the star of Bethlehem!" /1
As we approach Christmas, and while the majority
of the "Christian" world will be thinking about
Christ during this season, I want us to consider
"The star of Bethlehem." It would be careless if
we ignored the reason placed upon this season and
failed to teach Christ to a lost and dying world.
Paul proclaimed to the Corinthians, "When I came
to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or
superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the
testimony about God. For I resolved to know
nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:1,2). The very fact
that Jesus did come to earth and became human is
the very cornerstone of our faith. For Jesus to
die, he had to become human. For Jesus to endure
the cross he had to be born of woman. While we
certainly must admit that we do not know the exact
day of Jesus' birth we certainly must admit that
he was indeed born. Instead of ignoring Christmas,
let us embrace the season as an opportunity for
evangelism.
J. G. Dailey, wrote a timeless hymn asking a very
poignant question, "Why did my Savior come to
earth, and to the humble go? Why did he choose a
lowly birth? Because he loved me so! Why did He
drink the bitter cup of sorrow, pain and woe? Why
on the cross be lifted up? Because he loved me so!
He loved me so, He loved me so; He gave his
precious life for me, for me, because he loved me
so."
We must never forget that for all the trial and
persecution that Christ endured since his birth,
he had no sin. Christ lived a sinless life to be a
perfect sacrifice (1 Pet. 2:22). Christ's sinless
perfection paved the way for our future
perfection. "I have been crucified with Christ and
I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life
I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal.
2:20). The fact that Christ did live a perfect
life means that we can attach ourselves to
Christ's sinless perfection, and this is the
Christian's hope.
Christ did not stop at living a sinless life as a
man. Christ went further and became sin for us.
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of
God (2 Cor. 5:21). God, being just, could not
overlook sin. The penalty for sin had to be paid.
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too
shared in their humanity so that by his death he
might destroy him who holds the power of death.
For this reason he had to be made like his
brothers in every way, in order that he might
become a merciful and faithful high priest in
service to God, and that he might make atonement
for the sins of the people (Heb. 2:14, 17).
It is in Christ that we become the righteousness
of God. In Christ, we become new creatures. "What
shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that
grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin;
how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you
know that all of us who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death? We were
therefore buried with him through baptism into
death in order that, just as Christ was raised
from the dead through the glory of the Father, we
too may live a new life. If we have been united
with him like this in his death, we will certainly
also be united with him in his resurrection. For
we know that our old self was crucified with him
so that the body of sin might be done away with,
that we should no longer be slaves to sin because
anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now
if we died with Christ, we believe that we will
also live with him (Rom. 6:1–8).
Why did my Savior come to Earth? "For God so loved
the world that He gave His one and only Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
eternal life. For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him" (Jn. 3:16,17). God's love is
wide enough for the whole world! If you are
included in the world then you are included in
God's love. Jesus came to earth to die on the
cross. The cross is where God forgave His children
without lowering His standards. "God made him who
had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor.
5:21).
1 Houston Chronicle, Family Circus, Dec. 23 1988
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