Rev. Merrill Davis 

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only

begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should

not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16 

It was Josh Billings who said “I’d rather know a few things for certain than be sure of a lot of things that ain’t so.” Let us be clear and certain about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The word “salvation” means deliverance, to be saved or rescued from something. Salvation, as offered by God to man, is deliverance from sins and sin. When a person is saved, he or she has been saved from the wrath to come

[I Thessalonians 1:10] The Philippian jailer in Acts 16 asked the question, “…Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” [Acts 16:30] Every person on earth ought to ask the same question. The question of being saved is the supreme question of the Word of God. Salvation is not joining the church or some organization. It is having faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work of redemption and receiving His righteousness. It is not trusting yourself to save. It is trusting Jesus Christ alone. God has but one way of saving men, and it is through Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ can unlock the gate to heaven for us. God’s love led Jesus Christ to the Cross, and His death, burial, and resurrection makes it possible for everyone to receive and experience His life. But what does that mean? 

1. Why does man need God’s righteousness? Man is a sinner.

Sin is transgression against the known will and character of God. Sin separates man from God. The sins of character, and the sins of speech and the sins of conduct demonstrate our sinfulness. The Scriptures tell us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. C. S. Lewis stated, “My heart—I need no other ‘showeth me the wickedness of the ungodly.’” All we like sheep have gone astray. There is none righteous, no, not one. All are born sinners and we proved we are sinners by practice. Yes, there is universal and individual guilt. Sir Isaac Watts wrote “Was it for crimes that I have done, He groaned upon the tree?” Of course it is true. Our sins, our crimes against God and man caused Jesus Christ to suffer on the tree. The innocent Christ suffered for guilty mankind. God’s justice requires payment for sin, and the wages of sin is death. The person that does not believe is condemned already. A person may ask, “What must I do to be lost?” The answer for the sinner is simple. Nothing. A person is already lost who does not know Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.

Far too many try to have joy and peace without God’s righteousness. But it is not possible. Men try but fail miserably. There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every human being, and only God can fill that void. The things of this earth were never intended to bring full and lasting satisfaction to the human soul.

God’s impending judgment upon the unbelieving human race ought to cause every unsaved person to seek God while He may be found, and call upon Him for deliverance, and rescue from the wrath to come.  

2. How did God provide this righteousness? The good news is that

while we were yet sinners Christ died for us [Romans 5:8] The death of Jesus on the Cross was not the invention of man. It was the offended God who took upon Himself the nature of the offender, and then bore the penalty for all that we might be set free. Jesus Christ shed His blood and died on a Roman Cross in order to provide this righteousness apart from the law. This means Jesus became our substitute. He died our death, and received the condemnation against our sins. He bore the liability of our sins. The Just died for the unjust. He who knew no sin became sin for us. Kenneth Wuest stated, “The redemption price, the precious blood of Jesus, makes it possible for a righteous God to justify a believing sinner on the basis of justice satisfied.”

Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Justification is free because of God’s grace but it was very costly because of the redemption provided through the death of Jesus Christ.

I Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:”

The Cross represents the “passio magnum,” the great suffering of Christ. God has a Son without sin, but He has no Son who never suffered. Salvation is not through life lived, but through a holy and innocent life poured out. The day of the Cross was the high day of human history.  

3. How does a person obtain God’s righteousness? Since God’s

righteousness is necessary for salvation, then man needs a way to secure His righteousness. Self-generated righteousness is never enough. In fact, our righteousness is as filthy rags. Combine all of your goodness and it will never be enough to save you from eternal judgment. Man can never earn his salvation. It comes by faith having been purchased by precious blood.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Faith is the means of appropriation of God’s righteousness (through justification). Faith is the empty hand that stretches forth to receive justification provided by God’s grace and the blood of Christ. R.K. Hughes wrote, “As radically corrupt sinners, we rise from helplessness to hope when we see that a righteousness exists apart from the law. And our hope skyrockets when we see that our righteousness comes through faith. Everyone who believes will have it.” Indeed, salvation comes through repentance and faith. When Christ died and shed His blood, it made it possible for the Lord to be merciful to all those who deserved His judgment for sin. He longs to be merciful to all, to whosoever will call upon His name and for His mercy.

Good works, adherence to rites and rituals or commandment keeping cannot give peace to the human soul. No one can boast about his or her goodness or good works that result in personal salvation. Salvation comes by grace, the unmerited, undeserved favor of God, and is obtained by faith, which is trust in the redemptive works of Jesus Christ. There is only one Savior. Jesus Christ alone saves. The new birth comes only through Jesus Christ for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. [Acts 4:12] Peace, true peace, therefore, comes only for the believing sinner by faith. 

4. What does it mean to have God’s righteousness by faith? When a person is saved, God treats that person as righteous. Fellowship with God is possible because the blood of Jesus has made a new and living way. To be declared righteous is the gift of God through Jesus Christ. We refer to this as “justification”. To be justified is to be declared righteous, and to be treated as if you had never sinned. Your sins were carried by the Lord Jesus to the Cross, and nailed to His Cross. When you ask Christ for forgiveness of sins, He gives you His righteousness.  

5. What are the benefits of having God’s righteousness? The benefits and blessings are many. The Apostle Paul provides a list of those blessings in Romans Chapter Five. Consider that a king may pardon a rebel, but not have a relationship with that king or even have access to the king. But through Jesus Christ, we are pardoned, given peace, and have immediate and continual access to the presence of God. These are just a few of the blessings that come from being declared righteous before God.  

Blessings of Justification

1. Peace with God     Romans 5:1

2. Access by faith     5:2

3. Standing in grace    5:2

4. Rejoice in hope     5:2

5. Rejoice in tribulation    5:3

6. Tribulation worketh patience   5:3

7. Patience issues in experience   5:4

8. Experience issues in hope    5:4

9. Hope maketh not ashamed   5:5

10. Love of God is in the heart   5:5

11. Holy Spirit given to us    5:5

12. Proof of God’s love for us   5:6-8

13. Immunity from wrath    5:9

14. Assurance of salvation    5:10

15. Rejoice in God Himself    5:11 

6. What happens to the person who rejects the Gospel of God and the way of salvation? While this is not an easy subject to discuss or to think about, nevertheless, to be true to Scripture, we must face the facts as they are presented in the Word of God. The wages of sin is death. Either Christ suffers for sin or the sinner suffers for his or her sins. Although the gospel is not a message about hell and the Lake of Fire, it is not a true gospel that leaves divine retribution out. God is love and merciful, but to be faithful to God and Scripture is to teach and preach about hell, and the Lake of Fire, which is the Second Death. Hell is a real place and is vividly described in the pages of the Bible. It is an inescapable fact.

Hell is a place of separation. The Lake of Fire is a place of separation. Hell is the place of divine judgment for departed wicked spirits. When a sinner or unbeliever dies, the soul is separated from the body, and to die a Christless death, is to go to hell. In hell, sinners experience deprivation, pain and punishment, and black darkness. There is no suffering on earth that can compare to the suffering in hell. But this is not the final destination. Jesus Christ declared, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” [John 5:28-29] There will be a coming forth from hell and all the wicked will stand before Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment, and the books will be opened, and all of the recorded sins, will validate the act of final and full judgment of Jesus Christ against sinners. All sinners will experience the Lake of Fire, which is the Second Death, or the final and complete separation from the presence of God. Hell having power over the soul, and death having power over the body will join the Devil, the Antichrist and the False Prophet in the Lake of Fire. It’s not the kind of company anyone would ever want to be around for any length of time. The dread of the Lake of Fire will not be simply in terms of pain, weeping and gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, undying worms, and unquenchable thirst, but there is no escape and no relief from such incontrovertible torment. It is unending separation from God and anything good. Do not suppose that the duration of God’s wrath is a limited time or experience. Indeed, all who enter must abandon any and all hope. The finality of the Lake of Fire must rank at the top of the great torments of all human experience.

The records of Holy Scriptures, the holy Apostles and the Lord Jesus Christ have validated the doctrine of eternal divine retribution. No one has a right to explain away the very teaching that Jesus Christ gave for all to hear. He spoke more of hell than He did of heaven. He gave warning after warning in solemn utterances that ought to be heard and heeded by every person alive today. Hell is the outcome of sin. Hell is worse than anything Hollywood can portray. God cannot alter His Word. He will not change the fact or reality of hell. If you think He will or could, then you fail to understand the weight of sin. Hell was so real to Jesus, that He exhorted people to take very painful measures in this life, such as plucking an eye or cutting off a hand, to avoid the punishment of hell, which would be far worse than any kind of physical pain on earth. He saw hell as an awful, dreadful reality, and warned sinners to make the right choice now before it was too late.

Jesus declared, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Jesus warned that God has the power and authority to destroy both soul and body in hell. This awful place ought to be avoided at all costs. God has given His Gospel to help any and all to find salvation in Jesus Christ, and flee the wrath to come. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  

 A Sinner’s Prayer 

Dear Lord Jesus, I admit that I need you because I am a sinner. Thank you for dying on the Cross and shedding your blood for the payment of my sins. My sins require the payment of death for the wages of sin is death. You died for me because of my sins. In my heart I believe you were buried, and on the third day arose from the dead. I believe the Scriptures and confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus. I open the door of my life and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Amen.  

 
John 20:31 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name.” 

I John 3:1 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:…”  

Jesus thirsted on the Cross to bring to reality His saying, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”