Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon Ephesian 2:8-9 “Salvation by Grace through Faith”
November 1, 2020
Today is Reformation Sunday. This is the day we remember the great Protestant reformers from five hundred years ago. These men were protesting the errors that had come into the church over its 1500 years of history. They advocated reforms that reflected biblical principles. This was dangerous work. And some of these men lost their lives. But we still have some of their writings. And today’s worship features prayers of the Protestant reformers.
The Protestant Reformation was a reformation of the indulgence system. With indulgences, the church sold tickets to heaven. In order to raise money for St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome the church sold pieces of paper that guaranteed that you or a loved one would go to heaven. The church said that the great saints of the past had lived such good lives that they left behind a treasury of merit. This treasury was managed by the church and it would pay for your way to heaven if you bought an indulgence. All Saints Day was a celebration of all this.
The Protestant Reformers said that this was unbiblical. The Bible clearly teaches that salvation comes not from anything you do, and certainly not by buying indulgences. Salvation comes from your faith in Jesus Christ. The rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation was “Salvation by Grace through Faith”. We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
A few years ago I was visiting a member of my church in a hospice facility in Salisbury MD. Cliff had been a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and he, his daughter, and son-in-law all attended Beaver Dam church. But Cliff had been in declining health for a couple of years and the end of his life was near.
As I entered the hospice facility a nurse stopped me to talk about Cliff. Cliff had been unresponsive for a day and a half. He had nothing to eat or drink during that time. She told me to not expect any response from Cliff. He probably wouldn’t wake up again. And she had removed his hearing aids so he probably couldn’t hear anything I was saying. So with this in mind I entered Cliff’s room and began to pray.
I took my cell phone out of my pocket and clicked on the Bible app. Then I went to the 23rd Psalm and read out loud:
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.”
Then I looked up and Cliff’s eyes were wide open. He turned his head to look at me. And he said, “Pastor, where am I going?”
I responded, “O Cliff, your next stop is heaven!”
Cliff smiled and closed his eyes never to open them again.
Why was I so sure, absolutely certain, that Cliff was going to heaven? Well, let’s look at what the Bible says about salvation.
Most people think that the way to go to heaven is by being a good person. They think that if you are good then God will love you and bring you to heaven. In fact, there is a show NBC and Netflix called The Good Place based on this very idea. Good people go to the Good Place and bad people go to the Bad Place. Jesus once had a discussion with someone who believed this way.
Mark 11:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
According to Jesus, “no one is good”. Only God is good. So all of us are not good enough. It is impossible for us to do enough good work to earn our way to heaven. As Americans, we believe that we can do anything with hard work. But restoring our relationship with God is not something we can do alone. We cannot do enough good to save ourselves.
So, what do we do? Let’s turn to our scripture for today.
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works so that no one can boast.
Our only hope of salvation comes not through good works but by the grace of God. God’s unmerited favor blesses us with forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life. Salvation is a gift, not something to be earned.
This brings us to a question. Does everyone receive this gift or only some of us? The answer is that only some of us receive the gift of salvation because our salvation by grace comes through faith. So we must have faith to be saved.
This brings us to another question. Do we have enough faith to receive God's gracious gift of salvation? And how can we know if we have sufficient faith for salvation or not? Let me suggest that there are three tests that you can give yourself to determine if God has graciously given you saving faith or not. Let us look at the first test.
John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
So Jesus came to earth from heaven and, after his resurrection, he returned to heaven. No one could possibly believe that Jesus came from and returned to heaven unless they are blessed with faith from the Holy Spirit. If you believe that Jesus came from and returned to heaven, then this is strong evidence that God has graciously blessed you with faith, the forgiveness of sin, and the promise of eternal life.
So we have seen the first test. If we believe that Jesus came from and returned to heaven then we have a good chance of having received the saving faith that leads to eternal life. Let’s go to the second test.
Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.
21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
38 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
So, according to Peter, the second test we have to know whether or not we have received the gift of salvation is if we find ourselves repenting from sin and desiring baptism. Repentance simply means to turn around. One day you are pursuing your own sinful desires. Then you turn around and desire to follow God and what God wants for your life. You begin to read the Bible and pray every day to see where God is leading you. You also attend worship every Sunday. If you find these things happening in your life then this is a sure sign that you have received the gift of salvation from God.
Peter also says that with repentance goes baptism. In baptism, we pass under the baptismal water symbolically dying to our old sinful desire and then we emerge from the water to new life as children of God. So if you desire baptism for yourself or your children, or if you have been baptized already, this too is a good sign that you have received the gift of salvation from God.
So far we have two tests. Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came from heaven and returned to heaven? And do we experience a strong desire to repent and be baptized? If this answer to both of these questions is “yes” then you can feel confident that God has blessed you with saving faith.
Now let’s turn to the third test from Paul.
Romans 10:1 Brothers and sisters, 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 of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
So here we have the third test. Do we have the desire to publicly declare that Jesus is our Lord? Will you stand before the congregation of the faithful and declare that you will follow Jesus? If you do this then you can also declare that you have received the gracious gift from God of the promise of eternal life.
There is a second part of this test. You need to answer this question. Do you believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead? Jesus’ resurrection is a historical fact. There were many witnesses of the resurrected Jesus. And many of these wrote down what they experienced. Do you believe all this? If so, then you have a very high degree of assurance of your salvation.
So we now have three tests. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came from and returned to heaven? Have you experienced the desire for repentance of sin and baptism? Have you professed with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that Jesus was resurrected from the dead? If the answer to all three of these is yes then you can be absolutely assured of your salvation and the promise of eternal life. If you are unsure of a positive answer to any of these questions then come to see me because we need to talk and pray with each other.
So, our salvation depends not on what we do or what some saint did or on buying an indulgence. Salvation is by Grace through Faith. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, we know that forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life is not something we can earn. Our only hope is that you will give us the gift of salvation. So give us faith that your Son came to earth and returned to heaven. Help us to turn from sin and turn to you and be baptized. Help us to profess publically that Jesus is Lord and believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. For this great gift of salvation, we thank you and pledge to follow your Son and to receive your Spirit. Amen.
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