Is salvation by grace alone or by grace plus works? I'm Dr. Fred and you're listening to StudyGroKnow. Welcome to Study, Grow, Know, where we discuss theology, prophecy, and current political issues from a conservative biblical perspective. Here's your host, Dr. Fred DeRubo. Hi, this is Dr. Fred. Last time we were together we were talking about salvation and whether or not it was by grace alone or by grace plus works. Obviously there are a number of different camps and they both base their opinions on the Bible, often on the same text. Now we introduced a man the other day, the rich young ruler from Luke 18, and salvation for the rich young ruler would only be found in coming to grips with the fact that his particular brand of idolatry was keeping him from receiving salvation. Jesus was not telling the man to go out and get involved in good works for salvation. If you recall, he said, Oh, you've done everything? Okay, well, one thing you lack, go and sell everything, give to the poor, then follow me. Jesus was not telling him to go out and start doing good works. Jesus was telling him without equivocation, that he would never be able to receive salvation as long as he continued to cling to his idols and his idol in this case happened to be his wealth. Quote, no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. And that's in Luke 16.13, just a few chapters prior to the rich young ruler. Everyone needs to make a decision between their own personal God or gods and the one true God. Now proof of the above is the fact that Jesus did not tell every rich person he saw that this was in fact what he needed to do to receive salvation. I mean, he didn't tell Nicodemus, who was probably likely wealthy. When Jesus met Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector, and you can read about him in Luke 19 verses 1 through 10, He tells him to come down from the tree because today he, Jesus, was going to dine with him. Of course, the people who heard this invitation by Jesus were absolutely shocked. That's unheard of. How can a man like Jesus be willing to dine with a sinful man like Zacchaeus? Well, obviously, Jesus was not aware of who this man really was, right? And how he possibly cheated his own brothers, fellow Jews. What a scandal, according to them. But Jesus didn't care about that. He was much more concerned about the salvation of one more son of Abraham. Please note, the text says that after he called to Zacchaeus and the crowd murmured, Jesus said nothing, but he simply stood there waiting. It was Zacchaeus who said something in response to the crowd's accusations. And he says this, Behold, Lord, The half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken away anything from any man by false accusation, I restore to him fourfold. Wow. Well, that Jesus is that caught Jesus's attention right away. And his response cuts right to it when Jesus says this day is salvation come to this house for so much as he also is a son of Abraham for the son of man has come to seek and save that which was lost. Now, the question is, did salvation come to Zacchaeus because of what he intended to do? No, no, not at all. Salvation results in people wanting to correct wrongs whenever and wherever they can do so. Zacchaeus was at that point able to let go of his gods and reach for the salvation that Christ was offering. It is natural then that he wanted to prove that his newfound faith was real, authentic. This is the amazing thing about salvation. When it comes to us, we often look back on our life and we see things that we desperately want to fix or make right. That's natural. It's normal because we're sinful creatures. Making them right is not the thing that gives us salvation. It is the result of receiving salvation and beginning to see things from God's perspective that causes us to want to correct wrongs. Now, many people quote various passages of scripture, from the Beatitudes to the Book of Acts, attempting to show that true salvation, even for the Christian, comes by following the law. This is simply wrong, and the faulty logic of those who believe this can be shown rather quickly. Now, if we just consider the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5, we see a number of statements made by Jesus about the type of person who inherits God's kingdom. Whether the individual is a peacemaker, one who mourns, one who is pure in heart, one who is merciful, etc., all speak to the same thing, which is life after having received salvation. Whether people like it or not, or are willing to admit it or not, an unsaved individual cannot truly be a peacemaker, for instance. There's no real ability to mourn either, because they're sinful. And since the unsaved person does not see that sinfulness, they really can't appreciate right, wrong, and the true loss of something as we can. There's no purity of heart because there's no capacity to create purity within. Nor can real mercy truly be shown to others because people who try to do these things as unsaved people do them from a self-centered motivation, never a pure one. It's hard enough as a Christian to do them from a pure motivation. It is ultimately not for the other person that these things are done, but for themselves. Now that's the Beatitudes. Jesus is saying that people who are truly renewed, born again, saved, or born from love, whichever you prefer, will exhibit these particular traits as a natural outflow of the Holy Spirit's presence within. Of course, those who continue sinning are out of fellowship with God and act and think very much like non-believers do. Those, however, who take their walk with Jesus seriously grow and mature over time to understand that it is by his presence that good works are done in and through them. A peacemaker, by the way, is not someone who simply tries to bring peace between two warring factions. A peacemaker is someone who succeeds in actually bringing peace about. Jesus is not referring to unsaved individuals who attempt to do things listed in the Beatitudes. He's referring to believers who succeed in doing them because they have the mind of Christ and they live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is not promoting a works-based lifestyle in order to earn salvation. It's not what he's doing. He is referring to the new life of a believer and what that new life will look like as a result of the new life within them. So the question must be asked, How could anyone think that Jesus is referring to people prior to becoming saved? He's clearly listing individual traits found within people, but even a cursory understanding of the text should bring one to a logical conclusion that these traits simply do not exist in a person who is not saved. We know this by moving to other portions of God's Word, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture, remember? Which would then fill in the blanks or shed more light on what Jesus means. The first few chapters of Paul's letter to the Romans clearly identifies people who fall into a number of categories. One thing that is common to all is not one of them is free from sin. No one can do anything to help themselves or extricate themselves from this morass that we've fallen into. We just can't do it. No one can do anything to please God at all, as has been mentioned. Romans 3.23 is a capstone verse from the first two chapters of Romans. There, Paul indicates that no one is off the hook. No one is free from guilt and no one can stand back and say that he is clean, pure, or without sin. When he says, quote, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, he means just that. All have sinned and all fall short of the mark. The mark that has been set by God is Jesus himself, which is perfection. No one compares adequately with him. No one reaches that standard under his own power. Paul is including every person in this use of all and breaking it down into people groups helps us understand that this is exactly what Paul means. You know, people tend to compare themselves with other people in determining how good or bad they are, but God doesn't do anything like that. He doesn't compare us with other human beings. God compares each person to only one other person, the God-man Jesus, and it is His righteousness that we are all measured against. And in such a case, no one stands without guilt. No one is free from guilt, which is why Paul states that all have sinned and all have fallen short. Well, based on this, how can anyone assume that in the Beatitudes, Jesus is talking about a person who can supposedly purify himself or truly be a peacemaker or honestly think that he can be a real blessing to others? In fact, without really knowing that we're sinners, who have fallen well short of God's mark. How can anyone honestly mourn over the fact that sin reigns within them? Only a person who has received God's salvation can possibly come to the realization that true sin is so bad, so horrendous, so disgusting, to God that he's willing to take drastic action on our behalf and that's what he did. Without that, none would be saved at all. Only the true Christian can even begin to comprehend the terrible situation that has us bound for an eternity without God. Now some people move on to the Old Testament and they'll attempt to disprove that Jesus is the Messiah. One such verse used in Isaiah 43 11 states, I, even I am the Lord and beside me there is no Savior. Well what they don't realize is this is actually a proof text for Christ's deity and implies the Trinity by the way. God is stating that there is no Savior besides Him. Yet we see Jesus, who in many ways claimed deity. He claimed to be the Savior of the world. How can these two seemingly opposing ideas gel? Well, it's impossible if Jesus is as many describe Him, you know, simply a good man filled with integrity or a good teacher, but definitely not God. In John 14.6, Jesus clearly states, quote, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me, the Son, unquote. Please note that in one fell swoop, He is knocking all other Savior wannabes off the table by claiming that he and he alone is the only means of getting to the Father for salvation. In other words, he is stating salvation comes only through him. In order for this not to be a contradiction with the Isaiah passage, he must also be stating that he is God. If not, then he's a liar or worse. But it has to be one or the other. In any case, how could he be viewed as a prophet or a good teacher under those circumstances? Well, it's obvious that some people, many unsaved people, they have no real ability to understand scripture for what it actually means. This is due to their preconceived ideas, faulty logic concerning the Bible, and the lack of Holy Spirit's internal witness to the truth. The most basic literal meanings found within scripture are constantly misunderstood and undermined. Is this the fault of the Bible or something else? Well, clearly scripture does not contradict itself. So when a seeming contradiction is found, there's always a truthful answer. In the case of the works versus faith for salvation, it seems plain enough that folks who insist on seeing salvation by works in scripture do so because of their own failure to fully understand just exactly what Jesus came to do and who he claimed to be. They are starting off on the wrong foot already, and it goes downhill from there. So salvation, salvation is something that God gives us. So if we continue on a little bit more with our theme of salvation by works, from the unsaved perspective, it's important to consider two individuals from the Bible. These two men will highlight and their perspective situations. We're going to highlight them and how they live referred to in scripture. And I hope to negate the assertion that Jesus teaches salvation by works. It's clear from the text that it's not the case. We're going to do that next time. And that's our show for today. I really do thank you for joining me. I hope it's benefiting you. I hope you're gaining something from it. And I hope ultimately that these the information I'm giving you and that these shows glorify God. So until next time, may our God graciously open your eyes to show you exactly how wealthy you are spiritually in Him. Hi, I'm Dr. Fred DeRubo of StudyGrowKnow.com We're living in strange times, very likely what the Bible calls the End Times, just prior to the last period of human history known as the Tribulation. Well, at StudyGrowNo.com, I present broadcasts each week designed to help you grow through knowledge of God's Word. Besides my broadcasts, I've written numerous books about the modern state of Israel as it relates to God's Word, commentaries for the layperson on Revelation and the Olivet Discourse, and many other books on a variety of topics, including prophetic issues. Whether it's the rapture, or political issues like Islam, prophecy in general, or the end times specifically, I offer a conservative biblical perspective on these and other subjects. I hope you'll join me at studygrowknow.com each week as I discuss issues that are important to you. For all our broadcasts and resources, go to studygrowknow.com. That's studygrowknow.com. You've been listening to Study Grow Know with Dr. Fred DeRuvo. Please join us each week for new broadcasts that deal with theology, prophecy, and political issues from a biblical, conservative perspective.