Thrust Statement: Jesus is the how and why of Salvation.

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:9-14

The “How” of Salvation

Since the primary spotlight of this message is on redemption as found in Ephesians 1:9-14, it is necessary to return to the central focus of this message—the “how” and “why” of salvation. Whenever one really and truly understands the how and the why of salvation, this perception should go a long way in helping to eliminate so much dissension and confusion among the disciples of Jesus. As one contemplates upon the “how” of salvation, the words of Paul to the Ephesians captures the very center of salvation: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ^9 not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9a). One observes the Father electing (1:4-6), the Son redeeming (1:7-12), and the Holy Spirit sealing (1:13-14). God is the source, or originator, of our salvation. Paul, in his second Corinthian correspondence writes:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ^18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ^19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-19).

God, in His infinite love and justice, provided a way of salvation for everyone who wishes eternal life. God makes this salvation available through faith in His Son, not works. In the long sentence of Ephesians (1:3-14), Paul spells out God’s part in redemption. In verse 3, Paul says that it is God who “has blessed us.” But Paul does not stop with that verb; he goes on to say that He “chose us” (1:4). Again, Paul drives home God’s initiative “he predestined us” (1:5). Once more, as Paul reflects upon this salvation, he soars, as it were, into the heavens as he seeks to grasp the wonder of it all by saying: “to the praise of his glorious grace” (1:6), and, then, Paul, so it seems, is on a roll as he calls forth another verb as he grapples with the richness of God’s grace. He “lavished on us” His grace (1:8). Yes, God did all this through Jesus (1:9-11). No wonder Paul says, “it is all from God” (2 Corinthians 5:18). God provides the how of salvation “in and through Christ.” Paul employs the phrase “in Christ” nine times in this Second Epistle to Corinth.^[1]

Paul, too, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, calls attention to the origin or source of one’s salvation, namely, God. He writes with clarity and forcefulness in revealing this source:

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ^31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

Once more, Paul zeros in on the origin and place of salvation. It is because of God that individuals experience salvation. Paul again calls awareness to the place of this salvation—“in Christ.” In this First Epistle of Corinthians, Paul employs the phrase “in Christ,” thirteen times.^[2] Since every believer is “in Christ,” then he or she has every spiritual blessing that one needs to inherit eternal life.  Paul calls notice to the “wisdom from God” in accomplishing redemption for the down-and-out. How did God accomplish such a feat for sinful humanity? How could God be just and, at the same time, justify sinners? God’s answer is Jesus. In other words, Paul declares that God made Jesus “our righteousness, holiness, and redemption” (1:30). Since Jesus is our righteousness, our holiness, and our redemption, then individuals can stand before a holy God because the Law of God is fulfilled in us through Jesus (Romans 8:3-4).

This righteousness that Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 1:30 is a righteousness from God, not man. It is Jesus Christ Himself. God provides this righteousness; this righteousness is outside of men and women; this righteousness is more than personal holiness or even correct teaching. It is a righteousness that is imputed (logivzomai, logizomai, “credited”) to humanity through faith in Christ. Paul writes to the Romans:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ^17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, ^a just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17).

This “righteousness from God” stands out like a neon light flashing upon a billboard. This unique expression is descriptive; it tells where the righteousness comes from. Faith, in essence, is the channel through which God imputes to the believer His righteousness. The only way one can receive this righteousness from God is through faith in His Son Jesus. In fact, Paul stresses that this righteousness that belongs to Him is imputed to individuals through faith. According to Paul, it begins with faith and ends with faith (Romans 1:17). When one puts his or her faith in Christ, then Jesus becomes his or her righteousness, holiness, and redemption. The righteousness that Paul tells about in 1 Corinthians 1:30 and Romans 1:17 is a righteousness done for us, not in us. It is a righteousness that is vicarious. This righteousness is the doing and dying of Jesus upon the Tree. Again, Paul uses the phrase “righteousness from God” two other times in the Book of Romans:

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ^22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, ^23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ^24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (3:21-24).

Even though this exact expression only crops up three times in the Book of Romans, nevertheless, one still finds the same concept presented in similar language. For instance, in Romans 10:1-4, Paul writes:

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. ^2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ^3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ^4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

This righteousness of God comes through faith, not works. In the fourth chapter of Romans, Paul states that God’s righteousness is “imputed” (“credited”) to one through faith. Many do not like the word impute, but Paul utilizes this word thirty-four out of the forty-one times it is employed in the New Testament. In Romans 4, Paul utilizes this word (logivzomai logizomai) eleven times. If one has a problem with this word impute, it is not with Dallas Burdette that one has a problem but with Paul. He is the one who wrote Romans under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

            Prior to Romans 4, Paul sets forth the how of salvation. In Romans 3:25-26, Paul discloses that God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement for sins committed. The words “sacrifice of atonement” are rendered in the KJV as “propitiation.” This “sacrifice of atonement” is the “wisdom from God” in 1 Corinthians 1:30. The word propitiation is from the Greek word iJlasthvrion (Jilasthrion), which also means “mercy seat.” The “mercy seat” refers to the place on the Ark of the Covenant where the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the Day of Pentecost. The cover on the Ark of the Covenant was called in Hebrew tr\P)K^ (k^pp)r#Th), which is also translated in the LXX as iJlasthvrion (Jilasthrion). The author of Hebrews, in writing about the Ark of the Covenant, says: “Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover (iJlasthvrion Jilasthrion, “mercy-seat”). ^a But we cannot discuss these things in detail now” (Hebrews 9:5).

Paul put in writing, as stated above, that God gave Christ as an “atonement cover,” that is to say, the iJlasthvrion (Jilasthrion). It is in the same vein that John jots down: “He is the atoning sacrifice (iJlasmov", Jilasmos, “propitiation”) for our sins, and not only for ours but also for ^b the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1).  Jesus is the how of salvation for a lost and dying world. Christ is the site at which atonement takes place through faith. Unlike the Old Testament the “atoning sacrifice” in the Most Holy was looked upon by God only, but in the New Testament, God declares His “atoning sacrifice” openly for the world to see. One can only escape God’s wrath in and through Jesus (Romans 5); one can only experience freedom from the dominion of sin in and through Jesus (Romans 6); one can only receive deliverance from the curse of the Law in and through Jesus (Romans 7); and, finally, one can only receive redemption from condemnation in and through Jesus (Romans 8).

            Salvation can only come about in Christ, because God made Him our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption, and our mercy seat. As one reads the Book of Romans, one should observe that Paul makes use of the phrase “in Christ” eleven times in sixteen chapters.^[3] Paul, in the Book of Romans, also uses the saying “through Christ” once (8:2) and the expression “through Jesus Christ” five times.^[4]  This slogan “in Christ” focuses on where salvation occurs. In the Book of Ephesians, the motto “in Christ” occurs fourteen times.^[5] As stated earlier, this unique terminology occurs eighty-six times in the Pauline epistles, excluding Hebrews. Again, the how of salvation is Jesus. Even though Jesus is the how of salvation, Paul develops the means whereby one accepts God’s salvation—faith in Jesus, the Servant of the Lord. This Servant suffered vicariously for the sins of others.

Isaiah records numerous “Servant of the Lord” passages in describing the activities of the coming Messiah. In one such prophecy, Isaiah cites God’s comments about this Servant of the Lord: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). The NKJV renders the latter part of this verse: “That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah presents God as sending the Messiah in order to bring about redemption for all men and women—both Jews and Gentiles. This truth is set forth in the words of John the Baptist: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)! One can hardly read Isaiah 49:6 and John 1:29 without reflection upon the words of Jesus to Thomas: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus tells Nicodemus, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (3:36). This righteousness that comes from God comes through faith in His Son (Romans 4:13).

Jesus is the One spoken of as the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) , one born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), the Son given (9:6), and the Branch (4: 2; 11:1).^[6] Jeremiah, too, focuses in on the “righteous Branch” that Isaiah spoke of. Listen to Jeremiah as he calls attention to Jesus as a “righteous Branch” and Jesus as “The Lord Our Righteousness”:

 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David ^a a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. ^6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

As one reflects upon the Messianic prophecies, one quickly recognizes that Christianity had a life before its birth. In other words, Christianity had a history before its tangible history. As one reads the New Testament, one immediately recognizes that the Christ of history is merely the fruit of prophecy—prophecy given to the prophets through the Holy Spirit hundreds of years before it came into actuality.  Christianity is totally unique in the world because of its reflex history—a history before its actual history. The One that Jeremiah speaks of—The Lord Our Righteousness—is the One that Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 1:30.^[7]

The Branch

The Word Branch (jm^x#, x#m^j#) is a title that applies to the Messiah. Isaiah (739 BC) spoke of the Branch as the Messiah. Isaiah writes: “In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel” (Isaiah 4:2). Once more, Isaiah writes:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ^2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— ^3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord (11:1-3).

As noted above, Jeremiah refers to Jesus as the Branch of David (Jeremiah 23:5). This terminology is also descriptive of Matthew’s genealogy in which he traces the lineage of Jesus the Messiah to Abraham: “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). Zechariah, too, speaks of the Messiah as the Branch:

Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. ^9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes ^c on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day (Zechariah 3:8-9).

In the sixth chapter of Zechariah, the Holy Spirit reveals more about the coming of the Messiah and His name: “Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord’” (6:12). In Zechariah 3, one observes the LORD as Servant, a term that is frequently employed by Isaiah as a reference to the Messiah. In this pericope about Joshua (Clean Garments for the High Priest—3:1-10), one views Joshua the high priest, who represents Jerusalem (3:2), ministering before the altar in filthy garments, which is typical of defilement. Satan is mindful of his sins and issues an accusation against him:

Then he showed me Joshua ^a the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan ^b standing at his right side to accuse him. ^2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire” (3:1-2)?

The Scriptures do not reveal what the accusations were, but one can get a clue from verse 3: “Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.”  One cannot help but reflect upon what Satan must have said in his accusations against Joshua. Did he say as Habakkuk (609 BC) had said earlier: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong” (1:13). How can one approach a Holy God? How can one who is defiled draw near to God? As one reflects upon his or her own life, everyone is chaff for the flames. Can anyone dare to take it upon himself or herself to approach God without a mediator? How did God respond to these accusations from Satan about Joshua? Listen to the words of the Holy Spirit: “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire” (3:2)?

The Jehovah-Angel said to those standing by to “Take off his filthy clothes” (3:3). Again, the Jehovah-Angel says, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you” (3:4). When God removes sin, then no one can bring accusation against the one whom God has cleansed. It is in this same vein that Paul reflects upon those “Whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (Romans 4:7). If God forgives, He will not count one’s sin against him or her (4:8). When one is “in Christ the “Branch,” God has snatched, as it were, a burning stick from the fire. This forgiveness “in” and “through” Christ, prompted Paul to write:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, ^a who ^b have been called according to his purpose. ^29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ^30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. ^31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ^32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ^33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ^34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ^35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ^36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ^{c 37} No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ^38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, ^d neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ^39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:28-39).

            Satan is silenced on the sole ground of God’s choice—the Branch, which is Jesus. One is reminded of the words of Isaiah: “He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me” (Isaiah 50:8)? The only way God could justify the guilty is through the Branch: “I am going to bring my servant, the Branch” (Zechariah 3:8). Paul addresses the dilemma of Satan’s accusations against the sinner this way:

God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, ^a through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— ^26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26).

            His Servant the Branch solves the mystery of how God justifies the ungodly—Jesus as the “atonement cover.” God presented Jesus (the Branch) as an atonement cover (mercy seat) on Calvary. The description of Calvary is set forth in Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and Daniel 9:26. God poured out His righteous indignation upon His righteous Servant the Branch. Isaiah expresses it this way: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).  Again Isaiah says, “by his knowledge ^i my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (53:11b).  This redemption is the mystery that Paul unfolds in the Book of Ephesians and the Book of Colossians.

            How can one answer Satan’s accusations? One can cite Scripture as Jesus did to Satan in the wilderness: “It is written.” One can say “yes” to his or her sinfulness, but one can, at the same time, cite Paul’s response to the human dilemma: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). John writes: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for ^b our sins” (1 John 4:10).  One cannot stand before God in his own righteousness. Why? Paul goes right to the heart of the matter when he pens these famous words: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). One must be clothed with the righteousness from God, which can be received only through faith in His Son who is the Servant of Righteousness, also known as the Branch.  This is the very reason that Paul rejects human righteousness and desires a righteousness that is from God:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ^8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ ^9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ^10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ^11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:7-11).

            One recalls, as discussed earlier, the words of Paul to the Corinthians in which he spoke of Jesus as our Righteousness, our Holiness, and our Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and raised for our justification (Romans 3:25). This One that is called Jesus is also named “the Branch.” Zechariah speaks of Joshua’s justification through the Branch in 3:1-10, but now, in the sixth chapter, he makes a startling statement about the Messiah:

Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord. ^13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two’ (Zechariah 6:12-13).

In this text, one can say that the One “whose name is the Branch” is the One that Paul wrote about to Timothy: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ^6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).  One can respond to the accusations of Satan by remembering the words of Paul—“But now”—after he painted a rather dismal picture of the plight of humanity without the Branch:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ^20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.^[8] But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ^22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, ^23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ^24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ^25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, ^a through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— ^26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus (Romans 3:19-26).

Not only can one cry, “But now,” but one can say in his or her defense that Jesus is my Righteousness, my Holiness, and my Redemption. In the words of Jeremiah: “This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6). As a result of God’s grace in making Jesus our Righteousness, one can only stand in awe with jubilant praise for the One Who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. This “righteousness from God” is made available through faith (Romans 1:16-17; 10:1-1-16). “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe,” writes Paul (3:22). Paul hammers away this truth over and over in the Book of Romans and the Book of Galatians. What is our defense against Satan’s accusations? It is Jesus—the One who shed His blood for our forgiveness. Yes, Jesus is the “how” of salvation. Pay attention once more to Paul as he sums up what he states in Ephesians 1:9-14 as the how and why of salvation:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ^2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ^3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature ^a and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. ^4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ^5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ^6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ^7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ^8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ^9 not by works, so that no one can boast. ^10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (2:1-10).

The “Why” of Salvation

            After developing the “how” of salvation, Paul then stresses the “why” of salvation (Ephesians 1:12). In summary Paul writes: “In order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory” (1:12). Again Paul says, as cited above, that since salvation is the “gift of God,” one should never forget that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (2:10). God’s people are to be “completely humble and gentle” and “patient, bearing with one another in love” and making “every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (4:2-3). Peter expresses the “why” of salvation this way:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ^10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10).

            Every Christian is a priest of God. Under the Old Covenant, individuals brought animals for sacrifices as their offerings (worship) to God. But under the New Covenant, Christians make their work an offering to God. In other words, everything the believer does is done for God’s glory. Even the most menial task is done to glorify God. Every Christian makes his worship an offering to God. The Christian makes himself or herself an offering to God through presenting his or her own body to glorify God. Paul says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual ^a act of worship” (Romans 12:1). What God desires of every follower of Christ is a heart of love and a life of service in God’s kingdom. If one wishes to communicate the love of God, one of the best ways is through one’s life, not just through words. It is in this vein that Jesus says:

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ^15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ^16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

            Every person is called to be an obedient child of God. One and all are chosen to do what God likes, not what he or she likes. Each one is selected for service of consecration to kingdom work. Since every Christian is a priest, he or she must present his or her work to God as his or her spiritual act of worship. Are you conscious that you are a part of God’s chosen people? Are you mindful that you are a priest of God? Are you aware that you are to be holy? The Christian community, according to the words of Peter, constitutes a “holy people.” What does this mean to you? Someone who is holy (a{gio", Jagios, “sacred”) is separated from sin and consecrated to God. One who is holy is different. Are you unlike the world? God has chosen his people to be distinct in their behavior from the behavior of the world of darkness. God has elected His children to be poles apart from other men and women in their daily walk with Him. What is the difference? Well, one can say that the difference lies in one’s outlook on life. For the believer, his or her life is dedicated to God’s will and to God’s service.

The Gospel of Christ compels everyone who responds to the Good News of salvation by grace to be different from other people. No Christian can be just ordinary, for every believer is of God. Paul, in dealing with sin among the Corinthians, had to remind the saints that their bodies did not belong to themselves, but to God:

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. ^19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ^20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

            Since Christians are a part of the living Body of Christ, they are to proclaim God’s way of salvation to a lost and dying world. Peter calls attention to the “spiritual house” that everyone born of God is a part of. Listen to Peter as he seeks to call attention to the activities of God’s chosen people:

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— ^5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5).

Every Christian is a living stone, and the church (community) is a living edifice into which everyone is built, or added (Acts 2:41). Many believers today think that they can live in isolation from other believers, but this is not the biblical way.  Christianity is community. It is involvement; it is belonging.  Every man and woman only find their true place in life when they become a part of this living edifice of God, which is the Body of Christ. Solitary religion, as advanced by some, is ruled out by God. William Barclay is correct when he writes: “Individualistic Christianity is an absurdity; Christianity is community within the fellowship of the Church.”^[9] Why did the author of Hebrews warn believers not to abandon the assembling of themselves together if it is not important (Hebrews 10:25).

Again, the “how” of salvation is an act of God “in” and “through” Jesus. The “why” of salvation is to glorify God through service within the spiritual house of God. Today, the theme of “Onward Christians Soldiers” is alien to the experience of many Christian churches. In the community that Jesus founded, there are no mere observers or auditors; but rather, all believers are involved in ministry. Christians need to see themselves as a task force to win the world to the Messiah. To rephrase the words of Peter, one can say that God called us into His service in order that we might become a fellowship of penetration. The meeting place of Christians should be a launching pad where Christians are propelled, as it were, to go out into the world to tell people, not who we are, but rather to whom we belong. Unfortunately today, many Christian churches place their loyalty to Christ upon their own unique, or odd, teaching of theology rather than loyalty to fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Today, the traditional gathering of the saints is a throwback to the Temple. The assembly nowadays is overemphasized as a worship service rather than as an assembly to push forward the strategy of winning souls to Christ and strengthening the saints. The church is the “company of the redeemed.” The early church did not seek God’s will in individual isolation. One cannot understand the idea of “company” without the concept of involvement. Elton Trueblood drives home this point when he writes: “The only purpose of a company is campaign.”^[10] Christians need to be actively engaged in finding out ways to get fellow believers on the production line of working for the kingdom of God. As one works out his or her salvation with fear and trembling, one must never forget that what one is doing day by day is in partnership with God. Sunday school teachers who are teaching small children and teenagers should employ this time to instill into their hearts a love for God and a desire to witness about Jesus as the Savior of the world.

God has called every believer to evangelize. Evangelism is not the profession of the so-called clergy, which is a throwback to Catholicism with its selected priests. The Christian Church, as a whole, does not use the word priest for its ordained, but the word clergy. Jesus told the disciples in Luke 24 to bear testimony to the truth of His resurrection from the dead. Evangelism is simply the method of testimony—testimony about who Jesus is. When one is converted to Christ, one is called to be a witness about Jesus and His redemption made available through faith. The church is to be a fellowship of witnesses. In other words, the church was formed by Christ to accomplish His mission of evangelizing the world. It is in the regard that Paul writes:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ^18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ^19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ^20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ^21 God made him who had no sin to be sin ^a for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

            In order to reach out to people, there is a sense in which every Christian will have to travel light.  Christians must be willing to sacrifice a certain amount of their freedom in order to witness for Jesus. It is not uncommon for many Christians to take Christianity too lightly. Do you see yourself as a taskforce for the advancement of God’s kingdom? Do we think that Christianity is just sitting comfortably in pews and listening to the preacher and the special singers? Are you a soldier of the Cross?  When Paul was incarcerated in Rome, he wrote a letter to the Philippians in which he spoke of Epaphroditus as a fellow soldier: “But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs” (Philippians 2:25). In Paul’s last letter he wrote to Timothy, he encouraged Timothy to: “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3). Once more, Paul, in his letter to Philemon, writes: “To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, ^2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home” (Philemon 2).

            Are we soldiers of the Cross of Jesus? Can we sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” with meaning? If we as a fellowship are not advancing, we are already retreating in our spiritual journey. Are you committed to the cause of Christ? One must bear in mind that commitment is never real unless it leads to evangelism; Christianity must move forward. If one wishes true commitment to Jesus, one must always be conscious that commitment to the cause of Christ will never be effective apart from a fellowship of committed Christians. Do you believe in Christianity? If so, then you will place yourself at the disposal of Jesus Christ for the work He has called you to do. Mere belief, said James, is never enough (James 2:19). As you reflect upon your conversion, you should pray that God will help you know that conversion is not only an initial act, but that it is also a growing experience. God does not want His people to drift into spiritual idleness. He detests lukewarmness in His people (Revelation 3:14-21). Do you have a spiritual history in your pilgrimage of faith? Or are you where you were twenty years ago? Many Christians are the same today at the age of seventy as they were at the age of twenty. As one reflects upon the how and why of salvation, one discovers that the words of Peter reinforces the how and why of salvation:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ^10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ^11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. ^12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us (1 Peter 2:9-12).