Salvation in Action
Tom Shrader continues his Christianity 101 series by examining the nature of salvation and how a sinful person becomes acceptable to a holy God. He emphasizes that salvation is different from religious activity, depends on human messengers sharing a specific message about Christ crucified, and requires a personal decision of faith. Using passages like Romans 10 and 1 Corinthians 2, he stresses that salvation comes through Christ's death on the cross alone, not through church attendance, good works, or religious activities.
“Jesus didn't die on the cross to make you happy - Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for your sin.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Christianity 101 (2004)
Recorded: 2004
Duration: 43 min
Themes: salvation, faith, grace, forgiveness, evangelism, witnessing, decision, cross, new believer, seeking salvation, questioning faith, evangelist, witnessing to others, doubting salvation, young adult, sharing gospel
Scripture: Romans 10, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Acts 17, Hebrews 9
Theological Themes: soteriology, justification, regeneration, conversion, gospel proclamation, biblical authority, substitutionary atonement, sola fide
Full Transcript
We have taken several weeks away from this study. I know we've never done anything like this, where we'd be in the heart of a study and then stop and spend not just the Christmas break that we had, but then the weeks coming back. But we go back into our study on Christianity 101. This has nothing to do with ego. I'm just telling you, in terms of tape series that are ordered, this is by far the most popular, most frequently ordered of the tape series. You use it quite a bit. So it was great to be able to have it available to you and to do it again, work through it again.
Because we've been away so long, let me spend four or five minutes setting the table. We started this series talking about doctrine. What we said is that doctrine is important. In fact, doctrine is crucial. Doctrine is basically what we believe. It's the tenets of what we believe.
The second week, we asked the question, well, where do we get this doctrine? We went with the Bible. We said the Bible is the infallible word of God.
The Authority of Scripture
Let me really emphasize that point. Almost always, but not always, when you see some aberration in the church, and by that I mean liberal church, you will see that they've begun to erode their view of the Bible. In other words, how can you make a practicing homosexual a bishop? Well, the only way you can possibly do that is to begin to say the word of God is in some way flawed.
How can you see this rise of women into positions of dominance and teaching over men in authority when the scripture is pretty clear on that? How can that be? Well, you have to dilute the scripture. You have to start to take the scripture and say, well, it doesn't really mean this. It doesn't really say that. That's in a context. It's exactly what we've seen.
I don't mean to pick at scabs here, but when somebody says to me, wife, submit to your husband, they go, that's all cultural and awful. They never finish the verse. Wife, submit to your husband. Husband, love your wife. I've never had somebody say to me that husbands love your wife is a cultural thing. The first half of the sentence is cultural. The last half is apparently universal. Well, that's silly, but we have to do these tricks with scripture.
The Bible's the infallible word of God. It is always correct. It is always right. Our interpretation will not be. I presume that there are things that I teach that are wrong. I haven't got the slightest idea what they are, or I'd correct them. Someone said to R.C. Sproul once, you always think you're right. He said, no, I know I'm not always right, but I don't know where I'm wrong. That's exactly the principle here. But we know this: The problem is in us. It's not in that word.
Who Is God?
Now, with that ground set, now we can discuss the first step: Who is God? Make sure you understand this. Everyone is a theologian. Everybody has a view of God. Everybody. You go over to Fashion Square today, and you stand out, you go to P.F. Chang's, you stand out there tonight, you interview people as they're waiting to go in and have dinner, you start talking to them about God, they'll all have a view. They'll all have a theology. It may not be right, and it may be based in the wildest, goofiest things. They'll have these roots that you can't understand, but they have a theology.
Who is God? Well, when we go to the scripture, we discover this triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We talked about how difficult that concept is. Are you saying that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are separate, equal, and one plus one plus one is one? That's exactly what we're saying. That's what Daniel Webster said. I don't presume to understand the mathematics of heaven here. I can't fully explain that, but that's what the scripture teaches.
The Condition of Man
The last time we were together, we discussed what I believe, for many of you, could be the most important lesson in terms of understanding the most important lesson, which is the one we'll teach today. That is the condition of man. What condition is man when he enters this world? I'm not talking about physically, I'm talking about spiritually.
You will have, and this is an election year, so we have to bear and endure just all sorts of awful stuff until November, and perhaps after that, even worse stuff. We've got to endure all this thing. One of these things that are going to happen is you hear the Democrats talking about it, and you'll hear the Republicans say it too, they just aren't on the stump yet. I want to appeal to the good things in man, the good things in mankind. What are the other goodness? There's no good there. That's the whole point. That's what the Bible says. No one is good, no not one, no one does good, no one's seeking after God.
We come back and say that's not true. I see people doing good things all the time. Here's a very important distinction: God is looking not at the action, but the heart of the actor. God's not deceived by the action, He's looking into the heart of the actor.
God Looks at the Heart
So I can be doing this thing, whatever this activity is, on Friday. I can be converted on Saturday. I can be doing the same thing on Sunday, and God would find that action on Friday of no value, and on Sunday of great value. Does that make sense remotely, or is that just too confusing? Do you see what I'm saying there?
What's the condition of man? I know for some of you, this is just beyond where you are right now, and that's okay. But for those of you that understand this, this is an absolutely critical question to answer all the other questions about salvation, and how does a man...
If the condition of man is that he's dead, and spiritually dead, and can't do any good, then all of a sudden, pretty quickly, we're going to see God has to do something to that person, or they're never going to respond. See that? Not asking you to agree, not asking you to disagree, just saying, do you see it?
Today, the most important lesson that you could ever experience or hear in this location. If somebody brought you here today for the very first time, you need to know they didn't know what the topic was going to be today. This is God who's divinely ordained you being here. If you were to pick one week out of the thousands that we've done, thousands of lessons, the one week to be here, this is the week. This is the most important topic you will ever deal with in your entire life.
The Central Question: How Does a Sinful Person Become Acceptable to a Holy God?
Here's what we're talking about, and you have your outline in front of you. We're talking about salvation. Salvation means deliverance. Deliverance from what? Here's what we're talking about: How does a sinful man become acceptable to a holy God? How does a sinful woman become acceptable to a holy God? How does that take place? How am I saved?
Now, the first thing that I need to understand is that I need salvation. The first thing I need to understand is that I'm lost. That's exactly what happened with Adam and Eve in the garden. All of a sudden, Adam sins, and they hide themselves from God. And God cries out to Adam, "Where are you, Adam? Where are you, Adam?" He, at that moment, is not trying to understand where is Adam physically. God knows that. He's trying to get Adam to understand where he is.
Understanding Where We Are
It happens all the time. Somebody called the other day, and they said, "Listen, we're thinking about coming to the church on Sunday. Where's the church? How do we get there?" And I'll always say the same thing: "Where's your home? Will you be coming from your home? Tell me where you are." Because once I understand where you are, and you know where you are, I can tell you how to get to us. Adam, where are you? Because Adam, once you understand where you are, now I can tell you, you need a Savior.
Most people don't come into the world instinctively realizing, understanding that they need a Savior. That's why it's so crucially important to talk about sin. I've been invited to speak down in Tucson on Good Friday, Good Friday Breakfast, which is kind of a big deal down there. They have almost between 800 and 1,000 people. Last year, Alan Keyes spoke, the year before Ollie North spoke. It was kind of cute because they called, and they were guys I don't know. And they said, "Well, this is a little awkward for us, but what do you charge for this?" And I said, "Well, what did you pay Alan Keyes?" And they said, "Well..." And I said, "Well, what did you pay Ollie North?" And they said, "Well..." And I said, "It seems to me you've already established the value of the job. Just take those two and add them up, divide it by two, and whatever that is, is going to work well for me. I can pretty much guarantee you that."
Well, the guy that's orchestrating this doesn't know me. And what he wants to do—and you understand that, you've been through this drill—what he wants to do is to get non-Christians to be invited by Christians to come and to hear a message. But there needs to be the hook. So he's trying to find something in my life that is a hook. Success at some level, so they have to go all the way back to whatever it was, a coal banker 20 years ago, to dredge up something that sounds reasonably enticing to a non-believer to come.
The Problem with Making Salvation About Happiness
Then, because you've been in these situations, this person speaking typically will say something like, "You know, I had this vast success, this wealth—obviously this is not going to be my speech—but I had this vast success. I had all of these things, but there was an emptiness in me. There was something that was missing in me. There was no peace. I couldn't find relaxation. I had all the things I thought would make me happy, but I'm not happy. And then I found Jesus."
Stop right there. You don't need Jesus, and He didn't come—Jesus didn't die on the cross to make you happy. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for your sin. Now, when that price is paid, you're happy. But do you see that distinction? This salvation is not about you being happy.
We are so egocentric that we can't even allow Jesus' death on the cross to be what it is, but somehow it has to be about me, and my happiness, and my peace, and my joy. And that's exacerbated by the fact that you live in a church culture that seems more concerned about health and wealth and happiness than sickness and trials and learning. We say this in here frequently: God may want you sick, and God may want you poor, because you know what? You're going to learn better there. And the object is for you to learn, not for you to be rich and happy.
Seven Characteristics of Salvation
Salvation. Here you go. Seven characteristics about this thing called salvation. Here's the first one: Salvation is different than religious activity. Salvation is different than church.
I remember I had not been in Larry's studies very long when I heard Larry say, "One of the great places to hide from God is church." One of the great places to hide from God is church. And then I would hear him say, "God hates religion." Man, those will rattle your cage, don't they? Especially if you're coming from some sort of a denominational background where church attendance is held up as a thing. In fact, if you don't go to this, this is a deadly sin, that if you die with that, you could go to hell, because church is important.
There's no church on this planet that can save you. There's not a church that you can attend, join, support financially, spiritually. No church can save you. I'm saved by Christ and His death on the cross. Not church.
Paul's Cultural Awareness in Athens
When we hear the word spiritual, we tend to think church. You have several illustrations there on your page. I'm going to go to the second one. In Acts chapter 17, Paul is coming into Athens. Paul is in the midst of some very difficult times. They've been beating him up, kicking him around. He's had a lot of suffering, a lot of pain.
He comes to Athens. Athens is the center of learning. That's where all the smart people hang out. That's where all the wise people are hanging out. It's kind of like Tempe, where all the smart people go. All the real bright people go.
He comes into Athens, and here's what he says. He's meeting now. He has this opportunity, because what they love to do in Athens is just talk about interesting ideas. They weren't into doing a lot of stuff, just talking about interesting ideas. And they love something new and fresh. Give us the latest. Give us the freshest. Because there was no absolute truth, and truth to them was ever-changing, so what's the latest?
The Unknown God
Paul walks in, and as he walks in, he says, "Men of Athens, I see that in every way you're very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, to an unknown God. Now, what you worship is something unknown, I'm going to proclaim to you."
There's a whole bunch of stuff that's going on here. They said at the time in Athens that there were over 30,000 gods who were worshipped. Someone has said it was easier to find a god in Athens than a man.
Understanding Culture for Ministry
So here's Paul, and by the way, I want to make huge practical application here. I want you to see what's going on, but I want you to understand how it applies to you, those of you that are Christians. Paul's walking around, and he's looking at the culture. You've got to understand the culture. You've got to understand the culture you live in. If you don't, you'll never have a platform to speak into these people's lives.
I'm not saying change the message, I'm saying understand the culture. If you don't understand, now maybe you didn't watch it, but if you don't understand that something happened in the halftime show Sunday, if that's just escaped you, in fact, if you don't even know there was a game Sunday, you've got real issues, my friend. You've got real problems. And I'm not saying you've got to embrace them. I'm saying you better understand them, better understand the culture.
The Consequences of Moral Erosion
And it's very interesting. This is a very interesting time, because you've got Katie Couric saying, "I just don't know what's going on. I'm just very confused. I don't even know what's shocking anymore." Well, you moron, here's the problem. What you've done is you've allowed everything to slide away. You won't say anything is wrong.
You want gay guys married in Massachusetts, and then you're shocked when you see Janet Jackson's breast. This is a natural consequence of years and years and years and years and years of eroding away at the basic core of morality in the country. We don't need to commission a sociological study from Stanford to figure this out. This is real simple.
This is the logical consequence of saying to little kids, when they're in the school, you're paid for. Little kids, they're taught, there really is no God. If there's a God, we don't know what He is, and we all evolved from nothing anyway. So there isn't any meaning. You're an accident. You're here by accident. Well, just start to play those things out. We ought to know that.
Paul's Strategic Approach
Paul understands their culture, and everything he sees is an illustration. He says, "Look, I'm walking around," and I've got to believe, and I'd like to think it goes this way, because it's the way it goes in my mind. I've got to believe that when Paul got there and saw these statues, he said, "Man, this is incredible. I need to make a note of this, because this is going to be helpful," because he's there for what? Why is Paul in Athens? Well, to preach Christ.
So he gets in. What's he say? "I saw this scripture to the unknown God." So here's what they've done. 30,000 gods, but they're still covering their bets. They're still, "We may have missed a God, so here's a statue to the unknown God."
So what's Paul do? I mean, how good is this? We have all these discussions about, "Should you be relevant?" There's nothing more relevant than what Paul's doing right here. He understands the culture, and he said, "Listen, you worship this unknown God. I'm here to tell you who that unknown God is." Man, that's pretty good. That's pretty sharp right there.
Upcoming Ministry Opportunity
We're coming to a very important moment here, February 25th, when Mel Gibson releases this movie. I haven't seen the movie. Everything I read says it's really good, but we're a little leery about it. We're going to go and watch it. We're going to go and see it. A little leery about it, because I haven't seen it, but everybody says it's great. Rated R, because it's going to be absolutely brutal, bloody violent.
But here's the point, and understand this. Before you get all excited about it, the whole point of the movie is that Jesus died. That's not exactly stop the presses stuff. Encyclopedia Britannica will tell you that. What's the question? Why did He die?
I ordered 600 copies of this book, and I'm going to bring them in here, and I'm probably going to have to limit it to maybe one person, but I'm going to give them to you for free, if you promise that you'll use them in a discussion about this. And it's John Piper's book that he wrote, "50 Reasons Why Christ Died." This is going to be a very target, if you're one of these Christians.
I apologize too, I got a little bit of a cold. It's the kind of thing that most guys would be in intensive care at this moment, but I just continue, I just continue to battle through this, and I'll get a little cougher, and as the time goes on. If you're one of those people that are always saying, "You know, I really want to share my faith," you're going to be in a target-rich environment.
on the 25th. And it'll be a great opportunity for you. Here's something that you never thought your church leaders would say: be a great opportunity for you to take your lost friends to an R-rated movie and to go with them.
I've heard two very interesting dynamics about those people who are watching this movie. When screening this movie with a group of Christians, when this thing is over, there's not a word spoken as people are walking to the car. But I've also heard that when they screen it with non-Christians, at the end there's almost a cheer like Jesus is a hero. There's kind of a back to life moment at the end. My point is, they're not going to get that Jesus died, and there's no why He died in here. That's your job.
But the point is this: nobody is saved by religion. Somebody handed me this note a long time ago, and I've saved it. When discussing that many people in church are not saved, I use Judas Iscariot as an example. Here's a man who saw Jesus in His public ministry, who saw Jesus raise people from the dead, heard powerful sermons, yet he never got it. Amazing, but a reality. Even the same in the church today.
The hardest group to speak to about this stuff are church people. There's just no question in my experience. I've been doing this now for 15 years or so. Yet I guarantee you that not everybody in this room is a Christian. I'll guarantee you on Sunday when you go to Scottsdale Bible, not everybody walking around that campus is a Christian. I promise. Same would be at our church.
The Mission Field is Right Here
So when you say, "I want to be a missionary," a great place to be a missionary is in the church, because it's filled with unbelievers. It would explain why so much bickering and screwed up stuff is going on in there anyway.
Here's the second point: salvation depends on a human messenger. Look at Romans chapter 10. We understand this, that I am saved by grace through faith. God could have saved me in any number of ways. He could have sent an angel to each one of us, but He didn't. He sent a saint. He sent a fellow believer. This is really important.
Using Questions to Share the Gospel
This is in Romans chapter 10, and this is classic Paul. If you're a teacher or a speaker, you have opportunities to share this gospel. One of the great ways to share it is through questions. Ask these people these questions: "What do you believe?" Once they get some issue out there, all you got to do is say, "Well, why do you believe that? Why do you believe that?" It'll take you four of them. By the fourth one, they're done. They don't know. They're stumped.
That's not to make them feel like an idiot, so you can go, "Well, I'm pretty sharp, and let me share a Bible verse with you." This is to uncover the real condition.
Paul's Logic in Romans 10
Paul does this here. He said, "There's no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all, richly blesses all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Every person who calls upon the name of the Lord, puts their faith and trust. We use words like believe, confess. Everyone who believes that Jesus is who He said He was.
But Paul asks this question: "How can they call on those they haven't believed in? And how can they believe in one that they haven't heard? And how can they hear without somebody preaching? And how can they preach unless they're sent?" Pretty hard to argue with that, isn't it?
How are they going to call on something they haven't believed in? How are they going to believe something they haven't heard? How are they going to hear something if no one preaches to them? How's somebody going to preach to them if they haven't had contact with them?
You Are Missionaries
Most of the time, this would be the banner theme in a missions conference. I'm okay if you want to do that, but understand that you are missionaries. In terms of numerical value, the country on this planet with the third highest number of unbelievers is the United States of America: China, India, U.S. You've got unbelievers all around you. You don't need to go to Bangladesh to find a pagan. You can probably just sit in here and wait for this place to open tonight, and you'll find one. They're all around you.
Here's what He says: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news."
A Personal Mission Story
I decided in 1983 that I wanted to go to Calcutta. I really can't explain why, except I just wanted to go to Calcutta. I think I was so struck by the poverty. This trip was put together, and we went. We flew to San Francisco, then to Hong Kong for a while, then to Bangkok, then to Madras, and then to Calcutta. From Calcutta to Singapore, from Singapore to Manila, and then from Manila into New Guinea. That last part just got added on.
We're flying into New Guinea, and you got to understand something. I'm not a jungle guy. I'm not a camping guy. To me, roughing it is the old section of the Biltmore. I'm just not interested. So we're flying along, and this pilot says,
Well, there's the airstrip. I'm saying, I don't see any airstrip. All I see are trees. I've never seen anything like this, and this is how naive I was. I said, all I see is jungle. He said, well, that's a jungle. I said, well, all I see is jungle. He said, right there's the airstrip. I mean, there's this little ribbon of grass.
So we land there. We're in this pastor's conference, we're in a room about half this size. I have no idea what I'm doing there. Here are all these guys who've canoed, they've walked literally some for months to get to this pastor's conference. They're natives, my friend. Just before we had gotten there, they had eaten four guys over on the other side of the hill. I'm sitting there thinking, oh wow, that's not me.
There's a guy up in the front droning on, and I'm just looking around saying, when is this over? Get me out of here. Then he starts this verse: "How beautiful are the feet..." I looked around, and virtually none of these guys were wearing shoes. The pads of their feet had to be this thick. It had to just be callous upon callous upon callous upon callous.
All I could do is say, okay, Lord, I got my lesson. I'm sorry. I need to suck it up, and I need to do what You brought me here for. But I looked at those feet, and I thought, those have to be beautiful feet pounding through the jungle to bring that good news to people who would never otherwise hear. They don't have any radio. They don't have any tapes. They don't have any satellite dish. But somebody in your office needs your beautiful feet to take that message to them. They have to understand that truth.
The Need for Words
No person has ever been won to Christ through a wordless sermon alone. I hear it all the time: "I'm just going to let my little light shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine." They think everyone's just going to see this. That doesn't work. Nobody's ever been convinced by that. They're going to just think you're a good guy, you're a good gal, you're a good person. At some point, you're going to have to stand up and say, it's Jesus Christ. No one has been won to Christ through a wordless sermon alone.
A Specific Message
Here's the third thing: when we look at salvation, it depends upon a specific message. Here's Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. If you have Bibles, you might turn there. It's the kind of passage you ought to be pretty familiar with.
Paul's writing to a church that's all messed up. It's got all sorts of issues, yet he calls them brothers and sisters. They're believers. We see some things about Paul here. We see Him speak autobiographically. He said, "When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come with eloquent or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God, for I resolved to know nothing while with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and in fear and trembling, and my preaching and my message were not wise and persuasive words, but with the power of the Holy Spirit."
Paul's Reality
I think in our minds, we have this caricature of Paul, that he's like this six foot four, perfectly groomed, handsome guy with a booming voice, never at a loss for words, always having everything together. Here's what Scripture tells us. The rap on Paul was this, speaking about Paul: "He sounds big, but he's all noise. When he gets here, you'll see that there's nothing great about Him, and you've never heard a worse preacher."
What do we know about Paul? Not much, except that he was probably a short little guy with a hooked nose. He's bald, he's bow-legged, he has a thorn in the flesh, which some believe is a drooling eye. Certainly not going to work in our telecommunications age, is he? That's Paul.
Paul said, "Listen, when I came to you, here I am, this hooked nose, bald, bow-legged Jewish guy with a drooling eye, and I wasn't very eloquent, and I wasn't superior in my wisdom, and I was weak, and I was trembling." What do you do like that? Because, by the way, that should describe you. Maybe not physically, but that should describe you. That is you, whether you realize it or not. That's what's sad—that is you.
The Core Message
What do you do? What's the message? I'm all for relevance. I'm all for that. I want to be like Paul, and I want to communicate this message, and I want to be able to speak into the generations all around us, and I certainly want to have a voice. That's all I've ever wanted. Never wanted money—I like to know people who have it. I've never wanted any power. I always just wanted influence, just wanted a shot.
When you get the shot, what do you say? When you get the opportunity, what do you communicate? Paul says, "Here's what I do. I preach Christ, and Christ crucified."
Now, he wrote 13 books that we have in the New Testament. He talked about issues besides the crucifixion, right? But everything had its basis in that. That's what makes it work. I get a good number of invitations to go and speak in these secular environments—the National Dental Association, things like this. I don't know what to say there.
I went through this when we did the MasterCard gig. I thought I had a great talk. Well, I had to send all my stuff ahead of time to the legal department, and the legal department brought everything back. Everything that had a scripture reference to it said, "No scripture, no scripture, get it out." I was even fairly clever, because I would just put in, "Here's what it said," and just put "St. Paul." I'm thinking, you know, that'll work. Out.
You know what? I know the principles work, but I just personally am not creative enough to figure out how to get it in there without saying it comes from the Scripture. What we're saying is, you can speak to other issues, but it all flows from the crucifixion.
We can come in here, and I'm trying to figure out what series to do next, and we can give you some great advice, absolutely terrific advice. But if your heart's not converted, what good is it? Even if it works, and by the way, this stuff will work. You'll know parents who are pagan as can be, but they've got a good family and great kids. Why? Because they're following biblical principles, even though they can't tell you what they are. You'll see people who will operate their financial life, and it'll be in great order. When you break it down, you'll see that there's biblical principles there, even though they don't know what they are. But I'm never going to achieve salvation if I don't understand Christ and Christ crucified.
The Problem with Good Person Theology
Now, I got 10 minutes. I want to pound this home, and this gets really painful right in here, because I'm about to say something and use as an illustration somebody that we've almost canonized, but I want to make this point. I'm watching Larry King a few years ago, and there's Billy Graham. Larry King, as you know, is just a lost, insecure, hopeless little guy. He's an agnostic, he doesn't know what to believe, his life's a mess, everything's a mess.
The question has to do with what King wants to know: what about when people die? Do you ever get used to people dying? You've been to hundreds of funerals, haven't you? Yes, I have. Do you ever get used to this? And here's what Graham says - this is not a direct quote, but it's pretty close. In this process, he says, "You know what, you never get used to it. If somebody's been a good person, if somebody's been a good person and they've been close to God, then I can deal with that. If somebody hasn't been a good person and they haven't been close to God, I shed a little tear."
Now I got Billy Graham - I know God's used him - but that is a pathetic answer. That is an embarrassing answer. Because Larry, in other words, if you've been a good person - you do understand that the numbers, like 85% of the people in America think they're above average? Everybody thinks they're good. Larry King's seventh wife just told him that morning he's a good person. Do you see how damaging this is? You can't crack that door open and let that go. What did Jesus say? "I am the way, the truth, the life. No one, no one, no one comes to the Father except through Me."
A Lesson from History
We may not get through all those notes - that's okay. I want to make this great point. Years ago, Haley had to be four or five. It's a Saturday, and I'm sitting in the family room watching TV. I'm watching a biography. So in Haley comes, and she says, "What are you doing, Dad?" And I said, "Well, I'm watching this biography," and she said, "Can I watch something else? Can I change the channel?" I said, "Not if you want to see your fifth birthday, you can't. Get your hands off of that, get out of here." So she said, "Well, can I watch it?" I said, "Sure." She lays down on the couch.
It's like a two-hour biography that had just begun on John Kennedy, and I thought, there's no way she's going to last through this. It was very detailed. Starts in Brookline, goes through the whole thing, going over to England with his dad when he's the ambassador, coming back, going to Harvard, PT 109, come back, run for Congress, run for the Senate, all sorts of issues. Have the mafia come in and buy you the election, which is exactly what happened, even though this guy's so highly thought of. The mob just buys the election, buys the primary in West Virginia. He's sleeping with a mob boss gal, he's got fiddle and faddle, but he's got the Cuban Missile Crisis. What I'm saying is, it's warts and all, it's everything. And I'm thinking, here's this little girl, she hangs through this whole thing. She hangs in there through the whole thing.
Finally, there's this scene. They're getting off the plane. It's November 22nd, 1963, Dallas, Texas. Most of us who are my age, you can replay it. I can hit play right now in your mind and you can see it. You can see the Air Force One, which is just a magnificent plane - that's when it was a 737. Here out comes Jackie, you can see the pink outfit, the pink pillbox hat, you can see the flowers. You know the scene, you know it. You can see the president looking like the stud that he was, and in the car they go. And then it goes dark, and up comes the caisson. There's a casket with a flag-draped casket over it, the riderless horse.
So you've got it all figured out, you know what's going on, right? You got it all figured out. Haley says, "Who's in there, Dad?" I said, "John Kennedy." "What happened to him, Dad?" I said, "Well, someone shot him." "Who shot him?" I said, "Well, I think Oliver Stone did, but I'm not sure that he was there." I said, "Lee Harvey Oswald shot him, and someday they'll figure this all out, because there's no conspiracy, and obviously ABC just did a great job proving that, but that's a different issue." Don't want to get sidetracked.
Now, here's the president of the United States she just watched. I think, I mean, I keep watching these polls - he's like third or fourth. When Americans say, "Who are the greatest presidents?" you got like Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt, and Kennedy. I don't get it, but there he is. So highly esteemed, highly everything, there he is. She's watched it. She summarizes John Kennedy's life...
The Ultimate Question
In four words: Did he know Jesus? Because if he didn't know Jesus, "Ich bin ein Berliner" doesn't mean a lick. You see that? He's in hell, bigger than Dallas, if he doesn't know Christ. No pun intended there, by the way. He's just, if he doesn't know Christ, that's where he is.
I mean, here's John Kennedy, and you may look at him, you may have a statue, you may have a picture on your wall, and you may admire him a great deal. I'm telling you, if he doesn't know Christ, and just to add, we can't look into his heart, we don't know, but there's no indication that he did. John Kennedy, who you admire, would trade places right now with you in a heartbeat, if he could.
I gave this same talk in Boston, by the way, the only time I was there. I know, that was before I understood this "know your audience" thing, and I thought it'd be shock value, and it wasn't. It was shocking how fast they got me to the airport, is what it was. But do you see that? And that can never change. That's the message. That's the point. Christ in Christ crucified.
The Global Nature of Salvation
Let me just go through a couple of things. This is global, and by that we mean everybody needs this in every race, every country, every person. The message is global, because sin is universal, and the solution is entire, and it's complete.
And by that we mean that Christ died. This is Hebrews 9, that now He appeared once and for all in the end of the ages, and to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself, just as man is destined to die, and after that face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once for all to take away the sin of many people.
When Jesus dies on the cross, He pays the price for the sin of every man, woman, boy, girl, human being that would ever come to Him in repentance and faith. That's what took place on the cross.
The True Agony of the Cross
So when you watch this thing, and you watch Mel Gibson's Jesus and the Passion, and you watch this, and you're swept away, I guarantee you, you're swept away in the violence of this. I want you to understand the agony of the cross is not what you see on that screen. The agony of the cross is that He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf.
Jesus didn't sin, but He was... Think about this for a second, then I'll let you go. Think about this one thought for one second. All the guilt that you deserved because of your sin, all that guilt was put on Him. That's what's going on.
You sinned, you're guilty, you've sinned against the Holy God, and the wage of sin is death. You deserve death, physical death for sure, and you're going to get that by the way, and spiritual death, separation from God. But Jesus Christ on the cross was treated by the Father, punished by the Father. As though He had committed those sins that you committed. That's an extraordinary thought, and consequently, you can have eternal life.
A Personal Decision
Our last point is, this is a personal decision. I understand that salvation is entirely of God, but there is that moment in time when you come to the realization of who God is, and you make that commitment of faith. You articulate that. You say, and I like this, I just think it's this simple, that I believe Jesus is who He said He was, and He'll do what He said He would do.
And however that expression comes out in your mind, it doesn't really matter to me. It's that you understand that you're a sinner, that there's nothing you can do to appease the Holy God, that Christ died in your place, and you accept that and that alone.
I know of no simpler, yet I understand it's not theologically accurate, no simpler way to illustrate this. If you were to die today and stand before God, and He should say, "Why should I let you into heaven?" Your answer is, not based on anything I did, not based on church, not based on this. See, if that's your answer, if that's what you're coming up with, if that's what you're banking on, then my friend, you've got major problems, because you're trying to save yourself, and you can't do that.
Are those things important? You bet they are. Not as a cause for salvation, but as a result of salvation.
What's Next?
So here we go. Doctrine, Bible, God who He is, condition of man, salvation. Now what do you do? Now, here you go. Now you're converted, and you come to a PL study, you go to a lunch, you go to a breakfast, you go to some church service, you go wherever it is, and all of a sudden you say, "You know, God opened my eyes, now I understand, now I see who God is, it's very clear to me, I believe Jesus who He said He was, my life is now safe." Now what do you do?
Well, here you go. You go to church. Well, what church? Ooh, that's a little tougher. We're going to look at all that next week. In other words, here's what I've called next week: "What have I gotten myself into?" That's what we're going to look at next week.
Father, help us see this truth, and apply it, especially to the lives of the men and women here who may not know this truth. God, we just say, we're not going to ask anybody to walk an aisle. God, we just ask You to touch their hearts, to change their life. Father, we pray that to You in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great week. We'll see you next week.