II Corinthians 11:3 - "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."
I have made several statements in recent blog posts concerning the simplicity of the gospel, and I may repeat a few of them for emphasis. However, I want to "zero in" on how simple it really is to be saved.
I stated previously that some preachers, especially in the Holiness ranks, have gloried in how difficult they make salvation. It feeds the flesh to think first, that salvation is extremely difficult; and second, I GOT IT! It feeds one's pride to think that salvation is so hard that only a scant few will receive it; and you just happen to be in that small elite!
Let me say, first, that there is great difficulty regarding our salvation. God the Father required a great deal to save us. However, when the Father sent Jesus Christ to this world, He fulfilled every requirement of the Father. The Father required perfection; Jesus was perfect. The Father required keeping the moral law; Jesus kept it. The Father required a sacrifice to pay for our sins; Jesus carried the cross to Calvary, willing lay upon it, and paid our sin debt in full. Yes, there is a hard part to salvation, but Jesus fulfilled the hard part.
All that is left for us to do is the easy part - that is, to believe on Christ, trusting Him to save us. That's it! Salvation is easy for us to attain, because Christ took the hard part out of it! If you think that salvation is hard, you need a fresh look at Calvary. You missed something. Jesus did not come to be whipped, mocked, scorned, beaten, and nailed to rough, rugged, tree to make it hard on us! If the Father wanted a plan that was for US to carry out, don't you think He would have just left us under the law? The law was so hard that man couldn't keep it. No man has ever kept it in its entirety. If a man tells you he has kept the whole law, I wouldn't believe anything else he says.
To show you how easy it is to be saved, let's look at the plainest chapter in the Bible regarding salvation - Romans 10. Let's start with verse 5 -
"For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them."
This simply means that if you're going to be justified by the law, or by works, you must keep every single law, without exception, to perfection. You are not allowed to pick and choose which laws you want to keep and which laws you want to leave off. I am amazed at the number of preachers who will preach Deuteronomy 22:5 - "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a man..." but they refuse to preach Deuteronomy 22:11 - "Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together." They are both part of the law, and even in the same chapter! Yet people pick and choose which part of the law is going to bind us. But Paul makes it clear that if you're going to be righteous by the law, you must keep every law, without exception. Galatians 5:3 states this same truth.
Well, since I couldn't keep the entire law, the good news is this - there is another way to obtain righteousness. That brings us to verse 6 -
"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above)"
If we can't be justified by the law (and we cannot, according to Galatians 2), then we must be justified by FAITH. If you are going to saved through faith, Paul says here, "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?" Friend, some people have salvation so high that no one can reach it! Some preachers preach a salvation so complicated that someone would have to ascend into heaven and bring it down. Friend, the salvation that I preach is not so high that you can't reach it. I preached a few weeks ago that if a person is drowning, you may have a lifeline. But if you don't get the lifeline to them, they're still going to die. God not only provided a great plan of salvation at the cross of Calvary, but He also put it within our reach! He made it simple enough that "whosoever will" can be saved! It's not so high that we can't get to it. When preachers present a salvation that is so complicated they can barely attain it themselves - that is not the salvation of the Bible!
Now, let's look at verse 7 -
"Or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead)"
Friend, Paul first shows that salvation is not so high we can't reach it. But here, he tells us that it's not so low and so dead that it can't change a man's life. Yes, some men preach it so high that people can't reach it. Others, however, have got it so low that if you did get it, you'd have to resurrect Christ from the dead. That's how dead some people's salvation is. THAT'S NOT SALVATION EITHER. Some people preach a salvation so dead that it has no power. This dead salvation is introduced by "saying a sinner's prayer." But it produces no change. Friend, there is a Biblical salvation that is within reach, yet has power to change a wicked man's heart.
So, where is this salvation? It's not in heaven - so high we can't reach it. It's not in the grave - so low that it's dead and buried. Let's look at verse 8 -
"But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach."
Where is salvation? It's in your mouth and in your heart! If you have a mouth that can confess and a heart that can believe what God says, you can be saved right now! You don't have to climb into heaven and get it! It's not so powerless that you have to raise it from the dead! So, how do you get it? Look at verses 9-13 -
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Two things to do to be saved: Confess and believe. Confess Jesus to be Lord of your life, and believe Him to do it. If you ask Jesus to save you, believing that He will, you will be saved in that instant. Biblical salvation is THAT SIMPLE. If anyone makes it harder than that - RUN!
I have made several statements in recent blog posts concerning the simplicity of the gospel, and I may repeat a few of them for emphasis. However, I want to "zero in" on how simple it really is to be saved.
I stated previously that some preachers, especially in the Holiness ranks, have gloried in how difficult they make salvation. It feeds the flesh to think first, that salvation is extremely difficult; and second, I GOT IT! It feeds one's pride to think that salvation is so hard that only a scant few will receive it; and you just happen to be in that small elite!
Let me say, first, that there is great difficulty regarding our salvation. God the Father required a great deal to save us. However, when the Father sent Jesus Christ to this world, He fulfilled every requirement of the Father. The Father required perfection; Jesus was perfect. The Father required keeping the moral law; Jesus kept it. The Father required a sacrifice to pay for our sins; Jesus carried the cross to Calvary, willing lay upon it, and paid our sin debt in full. Yes, there is a hard part to salvation, but Jesus fulfilled the hard part.
All that is left for us to do is the easy part - that is, to believe on Christ, trusting Him to save us. That's it! Salvation is easy for us to attain, because Christ took the hard part out of it! If you think that salvation is hard, you need a fresh look at Calvary. You missed something. Jesus did not come to be whipped, mocked, scorned, beaten, and nailed to rough, rugged, tree to make it hard on us! If the Father wanted a plan that was for US to carry out, don't you think He would have just left us under the law? The law was so hard that man couldn't keep it. No man has ever kept it in its entirety. If a man tells you he has kept the whole law, I wouldn't believe anything else he says.
To show you how easy it is to be saved, let's look at the plainest chapter in the Bible regarding salvation - Romans 10. Let's start with verse 5 -
"For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things shall live by them."
This simply means that if you're going to be justified by the law, or by works, you must keep every single law, without exception, to perfection. You are not allowed to pick and choose which laws you want to keep and which laws you want to leave off. I am amazed at the number of preachers who will preach Deuteronomy 22:5 - "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a man..." but they refuse to preach Deuteronomy 22:11 - "Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together." They are both part of the law, and even in the same chapter! Yet people pick and choose which part of the law is going to bind us. But Paul makes it clear that if you're going to be righteous by the law, you must keep every law, without exception. Galatians 5:3 states this same truth.
Well, since I couldn't keep the entire law, the good news is this - there is another way to obtain righteousness. That brings us to verse 6 -
"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above)"
If we can't be justified by the law (and we cannot, according to Galatians 2), then we must be justified by FAITH. If you are going to saved through faith, Paul says here, "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?" Friend, some people have salvation so high that no one can reach it! Some preachers preach a salvation so complicated that someone would have to ascend into heaven and bring it down. Friend, the salvation that I preach is not so high that you can't reach it. I preached a few weeks ago that if a person is drowning, you may have a lifeline. But if you don't get the lifeline to them, they're still going to die. God not only provided a great plan of salvation at the cross of Calvary, but He also put it within our reach! He made it simple enough that "whosoever will" can be saved! It's not so high that we can't get to it. When preachers present a salvation that is so complicated they can barely attain it themselves - that is not the salvation of the Bible!
Now, let's look at verse 7 -
"Or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead)"
Friend, Paul first shows that salvation is not so high we can't reach it. But here, he tells us that it's not so low and so dead that it can't change a man's life. Yes, some men preach it so high that people can't reach it. Others, however, have got it so low that if you did get it, you'd have to resurrect Christ from the dead. That's how dead some people's salvation is. THAT'S NOT SALVATION EITHER. Some people preach a salvation so dead that it has no power. This dead salvation is introduced by "saying a sinner's prayer." But it produces no change. Friend, there is a Biblical salvation that is within reach, yet has power to change a wicked man's heart.
So, where is this salvation? It's not in heaven - so high we can't reach it. It's not in the grave - so low that it's dead and buried. Let's look at verse 8 -
"But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach."
Where is salvation? It's in your mouth and in your heart! If you have a mouth that can confess and a heart that can believe what God says, you can be saved right now! You don't have to climb into heaven and get it! It's not so powerless that you have to raise it from the dead! So, how do you get it? Look at verses 9-13 -
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Two things to do to be saved: Confess and believe. Confess Jesus to be Lord of your life, and believe Him to do it. If you ask Jesus to save you, believing that He will, you will be saved in that instant. Biblical salvation is THAT SIMPLE. If anyone makes it harder than that - RUN!
