Category — Salvation

Mark Driscoll says in his book “Religion Saves and Nine Other Misconceptions” that “all people are religious, which means they think they can justify themselves in one of three ways:

1) Loosely religious people assume they are living a good enough life so that no spiritual devotion or extra effort is required on their behalf for God to be pleased with them when they stand before him at the end of this life.

2)   Secular religious people work very hard at some social cause because they think that they are good people and need to overcome the evil of bad people who are ruining the world.

3) Devoutly religious people work very hard at keeping the rules of a particular religion in an effort to justify themselves as good and obedient people in the sight of God.”

Religion, in any of these forms, is utterly bankrupt and totally dependent upon our behavior.

Jesus explained this to the rich young ruler in His day.

“As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

“You know the commandments, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’”

And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.” (Mark 10:17-22)

The rich young ruler was a good man. He knew the law, and he strived to obey it, just as any devoutly religious person would. When Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him because he knew this man lacked what all people lack: one thing.

The rich young ruler was wealthy and he was willing to do whatever was required of him to secure eternal life, except one thing, and it was that one thing that separated him from God.

The Apostle Paul said in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

Just like the young ruler, we may be willing to do anything for God, but for all of us there is one thing we won’t do. There is always something that is too much, too far out of our comfort zone, too sacrificial for us.

We all lack one thing, and it is that one thing that condemns us.

The thing we lack is the thing that seperates us from God. It is the thing that will always separate us from God.

Being religious never, ever restores our broken relationship with God. Only Jesus who was fully God and fully man was able to restore our relationship with God.

Jesus never lacked anything. He was willing to do whatever God the Father asked of Him…even laying down His life for people like us.

After the encounter with the ruler, Jesus’ disciples said to him “Then who can be saved?!” Jesus replied, “with people, it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God”. (Mark 10: 26-27)

Religion, in any form, doesn’t save.

Only Jesus does.

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

“That if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Lord God, show us the one thing we lack, and help us to understand that nothing else we do will ever compensate. Help us to understand that we are powerless to save ourselves and without hope, that we stand condemned. You, in Your mercy have taken our punishment upon Yourself. Humble us and draw us to Yourself. Amen.

I realize that many reading this blog are struggling with their belief in God. They are waiting for God to give them some sign of proof as to His existence. While I understand the desire to know God, those searching for God must first understand themselves. The bible says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—” For those of you desiring to taste and see that the Lord is good, you must first understand your condition, you were born separated from God by sin. This has resulted in you being a genuine sinner, if you cannot see that, ask God to show you, so that your heart may be right before Him. Only in that state of right conviction can your heart be ready to see what God may have to show you, and only then will you be justified before God. Jesus tells a story about this in the book of Luke chapter 18,

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

Remember that the God you desire to know humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross for the creatures He created. He is the Almighty God who created heaven and earth, and yet He took on human flesh and became one of us, and suffered on behalf of those who love Him. You must follow in His footsteps of humility if you ever expect to see Him and know Him. I pray for you today that the kind of conviction that came upon the tax collector mentioned above would also come upon you, and by God’s grace you would call upon the name Jesus and be saved.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2: 4-9).

It is the doctrine of the Protestant faith that is utterly unique and altogether different from any of the other world religions. In no other religion can you pass from life into death with certainty about what awaits you. In every other religion your eternal destiny is dependent upon your works. The Bible tells us that our justification, our right standing before God, is never on the merit of our own works, but only made possible through the blood of Christ. I believe this doctrine is one of, if not the most, misunderstood teachings of all time. The reason is simple; our fallen nature limits our ability to comprehend grace. Throughout history, this misunderstanding has always caused people to revert to works either to earn their salvation or in order to keep it.

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