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Our Great Salvation, 2

John 20:29

In the late 1800’s, Jemima Luke wrote these sentimental words that are still sung today in churches all over.

I think when I read that sweet story of old,

When Jesus was here among men,

How he called little children like lambs to his fold;

I should like to have been with him then.

I wish that his hands had been placed on my head,

That his arms had been thrown around me,

That I might have seen his kind look when he said,

“Let the little ones come unto me.”

Those are sentimental words, but like so many hymns and Gospel songs, they have absolutely no basis in Scripture. They make you feel good and touch your heart, but they are subjective and they give credence to feelings or emotions you have have that stop your brain from remembering the more important teachings of Scripture.

In opposition to the words of Jemima’s song are the words of our Lord:

“You believe because you have seen me. But blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway.” (John 20:29 TLB)

We who believe in Jesus Christ 2,000 years after the fact are infinitely MORE blessed than those who lived with and talked to Him. How is this possible? What did Jesus really mean? Let’s look at the context of verse 29.

Thomas started it all

After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, He appeared to His disciples a number of times, but only John records this appearance that has to do with the faith—or some might say lack of it—of Thomas.

Over the centuries, good old Thomas has gotten a bad name—nickname, really—because of what he said in verse 25:

“I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands—and put my fingers into them—and place my hand into his side.”

“Doubting Thomas” is what we have come to call this man, but if you look at his words carefully, this disciple was only asking for the same evidence his fellow disciples had already received. They had seen the scars. They had heard the Voice. They had been visited by the risen Lord previously. So, it’s wrong to come down hard on Thomas because he asked for proof of something that had never happened before. No, in fact, we should come down hard on Thomas for another reason—as a Christian, at this point in his life he was really pathetic. Consider these two observations. First, we see how unreasonable this man really was. For Thomas, the unanimous testimony of his FRIENDS, whose character and honesty he knew so well, amounted to nothing. Did he really think they were all lying to him?

But second, and most important, for some reason not given, Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them.

One of the disciples, Thomas, “The Twin,” was not there at the time with the others. (John 20:24 TLB)

He was absent from the gathering on the first day of the week. We know that Thomas was a loyal, if not pessimistic, follower of Jesus, and this may be why he stayed away. What was the point of gathering together when the Leader of the group, Jesus, was dead and buried? William Barclay observed:

Thomas made a big mistake. He withdrew from the Christian fellowship. He sought loneliness rather than togetherness.

The fact is, if a Christian is to grow in grace, he must have regular fellowship with the Body of Christ. Christians grow TOGETHER. Remember the words of Hebrews 10:25—

Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. (TLB)

If you are a Christian and you aren’t in your church when you should be there, you are being disobedient to the plain teaching of Scripture and you are short-changing yourself and your fellow church members. You need them and they need you to be in church. Staying home and cooking a big breakfast for your family is not a substitute for fellowship with the saints of God. It’s not a question of “the church not being a building,” which is true. It’s a question of obedience to the Word and commitment to its admonitions.

Thomas, because he skipped out of meeting with other believers, missed out on experiencing the risen Lord. He missed out on the tangible presence of Christ.

God’s grace

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them and greeting them. (John 20:26 TLB)

A lot of Bible teachers think that Jesus really acquiesced and did what Thomas asked, but if you read verse 26 carefully, you’ll see He really didn’t. He did NOT appear to Thomas personally, but He appeared the very next time the disciples met together as a group. This time, however, Doubting Thomas was there; he was there where and when he should have been, and the Lord honored him.

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger into my hands. Put your hand into my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” (John 20:27 TLB)

This statement of Jesus’ must have blown Thomas’ mind. Jesus approached Thomas and spoke to him as though He had heard what Thomas had said a week ago. Blown his mind? Maybe “pricked his conscience” would be a better way to describe how this stubborn, pessimistic disciple felt. Look at what Jesus did: He met the ridiculous demands of this man to the letter. How foolish Thomas must have felt. He should have just had faith.

The inspired record does not say that Thomas reached out to touch our Lord. But he didn’t have to. Jesus proved His point and Thomas believed. How many people today say things like Thomas said? How many times have you heard something like this: “If I could just see Him.” “If God would just heal me, I’d believe.” The reason people don’t believe is not because of a lack of evidence of God’s existence or of the death and resurrection of Jesus, it’s a problem of the human heart. People don’t want to follow Christ and live in obedience to the Word of God, and it’s not an intellectual problem they have with God, Christ, and the Bible, it’s a moral problem they have. They don’t want to change their way of living. They don’t want to surrender their will to God’s. They prefer their sin to the new life they could have in Christ.

The issue of faith

Now, Thomas believed, as he should have all along. And Jesus, being the kind of Person He is, didn’t rake Thomas over the coals. But He did say this:

Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. But blessed are those who haven’t seen me and believe anyway.” (John 20:29 TLB)

It was a blessing for Thomas to have seen the risen Lord. But his and the disciples’ blessing was not the highest blessing. That is reserved for people like US. We who have never seen Jesus; heard Him teach; walked where He walked; are most blessed because:

(a) Our faith is genuine and true. It takes a leap of faith to believe in Someone you can’t see. It takes real faith to believe He said the things He said and that the Bible is an accurate record of His life. You may think your faith is pathetically weak, but if you are born again and if you have faith in God and Christ and the Word, you are blessed beyond the disciples and anybody who lived when Jesus lived. Many Christians don’t think like this; they have the Jemima Luke syndrome—believing how much better and easier it would have been for them to have been with Jesus when He walked the earth. They don’t stop and think about what Jesus said in this verse! He’s not lying when He says believers who have never seen Him are more blessed than those who did. We need to understand and appreciate how blessed we are and how powerful our faith is, even while we struggle with doubts and questions.

(b) Our faith honors Christ, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. Our faith is satisfied with the proof of Christ’s resurrection and the testimony of His Word and of the Holy Spirit. What’s more, as we honor Christ, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, the Lord honors us in return.

(c) Our faith leads to sight. Thomas needed to see before he believed. Sight aided his faith. But his was wrong-headed thinking. Faith leads to sight; faith is, in truth, an aid to sight. Lots of people talk about “blind faith,” but faith sees what cannot be seen.

I had fainted, unless I had believed… (Psalm 27:13 KJV)

A Christian may not have all the answers; he may not see solutions; hope may not be on his horizon at the moment, but one thing is absolutely certain: a believer sees more on his knees than a non-believer with the sharpest intellect can discern using all the resources available to him. Faith leads to sight.

(d) Our faith leads to our justification and salvation. Nothing is plainer:

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, and your entire household.” (Acts 16:30, 31 TLB)

This is the Gospel in a nutshell! This is what salvation is, expressed in simplest form: faith, Jesus, salvation. To “believe” always means to put one’s full trust and confidence in Jesus Christ. This was the one thing the jailor was to “do.” He, like all human beings, must do the believing, but we do not produce the faith. Faith and confidence is awakened in us by the One in whom we believe: the Lord Jesus Christ. When we are brought into contact with Him, we are moved to trust Him. This is why unbelief is so serious and such a crime against God. It is the stubborn refusal trust Him who alone is worthy of trust.

The Lord Jesus Christ has salvation. He offers it to sinners. And He gives it to them. To trust Him is to receive that gift of salvation. To refuse is mistrust and distrust Him. Remember, His very name means “Savior.” To believe in and to trust Jesus is to accept His gift of salvation immediately. Faith leads straight to salvation.

Thomas had his doubts. He didn’t trust his friends or his Lord. But Jesus was gracious and met Thomas where he was. He is still doing that, today. The greatest blessing of all, though, belongs to those who have believed in Jesus without seeing Him.

Our Great Salvation, 1

Published January 8, 2014 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: compromise, Our great salvation, suffering

Barely Saved!

Text: 1 Peter 4:18

If the righteous are barely saved, what chance will the godless have? (1 Peter 4:18 TLB)

This verse is way simpler to understand than you may think. But then Bible scholars tend to think too much, meaning sometimes they get it all wrong. Many Bible scholars look at this verse and believe it to be a prophecy. Peter wrote this letter roughly a decade before the great fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and these very smart scholars believe Peter is referencing that devastating event. When Cestus Gallus began his siege against Jerusalem, many believers were stuck in town—they were prevented from escaping. For some reason, the siege was halted for a brief time and many, though not all, Christians slipped out of town and headed for a place called Pella, in King Agrippa’s sphere of influence. These expats were “barely saved,” because the Roman army soon returned under the command of Titus, who decimated the Temple and its grounds and basically razed Jerusalem to the ground. In all, some one million citizens of Jerusalem were slain.

This is why some scholars see Peter making a short prophecy: during the siege of Jerusalem, some Christians were “barely saved” by leaving Jerusalem, but unbelievers remained and many were killed; they had “no chance.” But is this what Peter was getting at? Think about this: the word translated “barely” in The Living Bible and “hard” in the NIV does not mean there is any degree of uncertainty surrounding our salvation. Our salvation is absolutely assured in Christ; we are currently enjoying our great salvation and because we are saved, there is a 100% chance we will end up in Heaven when we die. There is NO chance we won’t make it. It does not mean that Christians will just barely squeak in through the pearly gates, either. Now, there may be some believers that will enter Heaven that way, but it’s not God’s ideal for any us.

And God will open wide the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:11 TLB)

God wants to see all of us rushing the gates of Heaven, which will be open wide in joyous expectation of our arrival. He wants us to sweep through the gates, not crawl through.

No, the word “barely” really means “with difficulty.” So, according to Peter, believers are saved “with difficulty.” That’s still a bit cloudy, isn’t it? So a look at context is needed.

Suffering: Common

We need to go back to 1 Peter 4:12 to understand why Peter wrote verse 18—

Dear friends, don’t be bewildered or surprised when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for this is no strange, unusual thing that is going to happen to you. (1 Peter 4:12 TLB)

Of course, Peter is not writing us US, he is writing to his “dear friends,” which is from the Greek agapetoi, meaning “beloved.” His beloved friends were going through a rough patch with no end in sight, so he’s trying to encourage them by telling them that they are not alone in their suffering. Fiery trials, according to Peter, are the norm in life for all believers, including YOU. Suffering should never, ever, be regarded unusual, but rather as a “refining test.” This idea was already floated by Peter a few chapters back:

So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here. These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return. (1 Peter 1:6, 7 TLB)

But the “trials” are not the results of dumb things you may have done. That speeding ticket you deserved is not a trial and it’s not persecution. The headache you are enduring is probably not a test of your faith, it’s the result of, say, not getting enough sleep.

Don’t let me hear of your suffering for murdering or stealing or making trouble or being a busybody and prying into other people’s affairs. (1 Peter 4:15 TLB)

No, what Peter means is what John meant:

So don’t be surprised, dear friends, if the world hates you. (1 John 3:13 TLB)

It should not surprise any Christian anywhere in the world when they are “persecuted” in any way. It ought to be expected, though not necessarily sought after.

Suffering: Response

Instead, be really glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterwards you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory in that coming day when it will be displayed. (1 Peter 4:13 TLB)

Whenever we face a trial not of our making, we are usually bewildered and surprised and shocked; we may rail against this person or that organization or even God. Here, Peter tells us how we ought to react to unprovoked suffering: “be really glad,” he says!

Be happy if you are cursed and insulted for being a Christian, for when that happens the Spirit of God will come upon you with great glory. (1 Peter 4:14 TLB)

This is one of those verses that is difficult to translate from Greek to English. Essentially Peter wants us to understand suffering (“cursed and insulted for being a Christian”) is a token—an evidence—that you really are a Christian. But he tacks an important phrase that needs to noted: “for when that happens the Spirit of God will come upon you with great glory.” In other words, it’s not really the suffering that does it, it’s standing up and enduring that suffering; it’s your response to the suffering that demonstrates to God and everybody else that your faith is real. Stephen is a dramatic real-life example of what Peter is writing about here:

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily upward into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. (Acts 6:55 TLB)

In the midst of his own martyrdom, Stephen stood up, stood firm in his faith, and was given this incredible vision of God’s glory. Now, it’s an extreme example to be sure, but we may be sure that when we maintain our faith when it is tested, God will similarly bless us by allowing us to experience a side of Himself we may never experience otherwise.

Suffering: No shame

But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being in Christ’s family and being called by his wonderful name! (1 Peter 4:16 TLB)

You have to admire Peter for writing verse 16 because you know he wrote it out of his own experience. It’s common to beat yourself up when you encounter trials. It’s common to question yourself or God and to feel embarrassed; like you did something wrong. A Christian should never feel this way if they are enduring any kind of “persecution” on account of their faith. It’s nothing they’ve done. They aren’t being punished. On the contrary! If you are encountering difficult times because of your faith, realize it’s a privilege! It’s proof that you are part of His great family.

Now, if you are suffering on account of your own sinful actions, that’s not glorifying to God and it’s not a privilege. It’s merely reaping what you’ve sowed. But, if you are, for example, tossed into prison because of your faith, then you can glorify God and be a tremendous witness for Him in how you handle that situation.

Suffering: Ultimate Purpose

The crux of Peter’s argument comes here in verse 17—

For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin first among God’s own children. And if even we who are Christians must be judged, what terrible fate awaits those who have never believed in the Lord? (1 Peter 4:17 TLB)

This is a chilling verse, so let’s discuss what it really means. In Acts 14, Paul wrote this:

We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God… (Acts 14:22b NIV)

Both men, Peter and Paul, seemed to understand that their present trials and tests were just the beginning of a long period of judgment. Now, in the Old Testament, the prophets often spoke about the judgment those who sinned against God would face, both in this life and the next. What Peter wrote sounds like what these OT prophets wrote but it’s not the same thing at all! The people of Israel continually sinned against God in spite of the prophet’s warnings and in spite of their difficult times. They were hard-hearted and stubborn and eventually faced grievous judgment when the Lord punished the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

But Peter is not talking about judgment in the sense of “punishment.” The community of believers is not the same thing as Israel. Israel was punished on account of their sin; we, however, are being “judged” at this present time. We can look back at the way God dealt with Israel and we can see a pattern even though the Church is not Israel. God always disciplines and judges His own people before He passes judgment on others for the purpose of revealing who will stand the test. In Peter and Paul’s day, the terrible suffering the Church was going through was a true “ordeal by fire,” revealing who the true believers where and which ones were just “hangers on.” The trials the early Church endured were for the purpose of purging it from troublemakers and religious rascals thus enabling them to glorify God. In our day, that purging is still occurring. Trials and tests come along personally to test our faith; to reveal to us and to others what our faith is made of. God is not punishing we true believers by allowing difficult times to descend upon us; He is giving us a chance to grow in our faith; to engage in a time of self-examination. Rarely do we ever see ourselves the way we really are; a rough patch can serve as mirror, showing us how weak or how strong our faith may be.

And that beings us to our text:

If the righteous are barely saved, what chance will the godless have? (1 Peter 4:18 TLB)

Now, here we see the two groups of people God sees when He looks at planet Earth: the righteous and the ungodly. Both groups face and will face God’s judgments. As Peter noted, God’s judgment comes first to His people, later it will come to those who don’t know Him. Verse 18 did not originate with Peter; he’s really quoting a verse from Proverbs:

Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: Much more the wicked and the sinner. (Proverbs 11:31 KJV)

Peter actually quotes from the Greek version of the Old Testament which reads a little different and looks more like this:

If the righteous receive what they deserve on earth, how much more the ungodly and sinner!

In other words, both groups, the saved and the unsaved, get what they deserve. Now, looking at 1 Peter 4:18, we see that Peter is simply stating a fact: getting saved is difficult and sometimes staying saved is difficult. But then Jesus said pretty much the same thing, didn’t He?

But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it. (Mathew 7:14 TLB)

It takes effort to get saved—to stay on a very narrow road, and it’s hard to even find the way to it–some barely find it at all! Peter’s intent here is to show in a simple way that the life of the believer is not supposed to be easy, it was never easy, and it never will be because it wasn’t designed to be. So, suffering Christian, don’t get discouraged. Don’t lose heart. Don’t doubt God. If you, as imperfect a specimen of Christianity you may be are “just” saved, realize that everybody else—all those unbelievers you envy and wonder about because they don’t have the problems you have—come up far shorter than you ever did, or ever will, and they have no chance whatever.

Suffering: The Final Word

So if you are suffering according to God’s will, keep on doing what is right and trust yourself to the God who made you, for he will never fail you. (1 Peter 4:19 TLB)

You need to read this verse correctly. It is not saying that God plans specific suffering for every individual Christian, for that would make Him no better than a great cosmic joker. Rather Peter is simply restating what he’s been saying all along: you will suffer on account of your faith in God. God knows it, He didn’t hide this fact from you, and He warned us many times ahead of time what we may expect. That suffering may take many forms and is always relative to the culture and society believers find themselves in. That being the case, what do we do? We keep on living and doing right. We don’t change and we don’t compromise. We don’t give up on God; we trust Him even more. He will never fail us.

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