Episode 3: Salvation As Your Foundation
Table of Contents
Podcast
Scripture
- Ephesians 2:8-9, 10
- Mark 16:9-19
- Galatians 3:23-30
- Isaiah 1:11-16
- Romans 1:16-17
- Luke 22:39-46
Notes/Highlights
Welcome to He Brews Faith, a podcast focusing on Biblical views for being a Christian. My name is Eric Hansen, founder of He Brews Ministries and youth pastor at Olive Branch Church in Rockford, OH.
I have been looking forward to recording this for a little while now. We will be discussing salvation and what the Bible says about it.
If you have not subscribed yet to He Brews Faith feel free as new episodes are released every Monday.
Lets start this week’s episode with a healthy prayer:
Dear Father, thank you for this blessing, this opportunity for us to seek your guidance in being saved. To see what you ask of us so we can spend our eternal life with you. Let what we be do be pleasing to you and further your Kingdom here on Earth. In Jesus name, Amen.
To me salvation is one of those beliefs that a Christian needs to know. It is what blesses us with being able to enter into Heaven, which I said before is what our result as a Christian should be. I often look at Christian life as a house.
Salvation is the foundation, it gives us the sturdiest house we can build. From there we can start placing other layers like our views on abortion, gay marriage or drinking. But without a strong foundation, without knowing what Christ expects out of us each and every single day. Our house will be rocky and easy to be destroyed by the storms we’ll face or people we invite over that don’t respect our property.
If you belong to a church, I’m sure they have their stance on salvation or justification and how it’s gained. If you don’t belong to a church, finding this answer could be quite difficult if you don’t pay careful attention. This is something I struggled with most of this year if not longer even though I thought I knew what I believed. If you are ever unsure of how strong your foundation is seek God and read the Bible.
Looking at this from a Biblical standpoint is interesting as well, because while most topics can be discussed using references from both testaments, salvation as it stands now is guided in the New Testament. Before Christ came into this world sacrifices would have to be made in seeking forgiveness. If you’re curious about the rules on this, the books of Exodus and Leviticus are great reads. This is effectively what salvation by works can look like, as there’s no faith here just “hey God, I screwed up, take this burning animal as my sinful repentance.”
Over the decades, however, God got sick of this. Even though I’m not saying all who did this was without faith, he grew tired of so many performing faithless acts. You have to imagine how much of these were done out of fear of Hell and less out of fear of the Lord.
Lets look at Isaiah 1:11-16 (NLT) to see this playing out.
With this said, we look in today’s world to the New Testament and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Biblically Christ was crucified to satisfy God’s own sacrifice of mankind’s sins. Seeing as how Jesus was both fully man and divine, there was no greater sacrifice than divinity itself that could be made for sin. As God was for all people, so was the sacrifice of our sins through Jesus Christ on Golgotha Hill.
The more we think less of ourselves and more of others the more this should impact you spiritually, emotionally and mentally. This may not be happen immediately for you and that’s fine. Gradually though it should start sinking in about the depths of love this proves God has for us all. Today we don’t sacrifice animals, we truly don’t have to confess any of our sins to anyone but God.
There’s a very famous passage when it comes to this topic people like to reference, and that’s Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT). While this is also great for a deep Bible study on this topic, here’s the part we’ll focus on…
Grace is by faith and faith alone
What does grace mean? The textbook definition is “undeserved acceptance and love received from another.” The more we have faith in God, the more we see His grace enter our lives. I want to also focus on the end of verse 9, “not by works so no man shall boast.”
So then if it’s black and white the case should be closed right?
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) confused me while I was going through my struggles. At first reading it sounded like works still play a part in salvation here. This was further enforced because I was watching a video on salvation by faith and works, trying to understand the theology behind it, and this verse was mentioned. Something inside of me just didn’t feel like it was the answer.
If salvation is by both faith and works then how can you fully give yourself to either cause?
We only have a certain amount of time in a day, and doing good deeds takes us away from spending personal time with God while the inverse is not true
You can spend every day at a soup kitchen, but if you are doing this then when do you have time to pray or read the Bible? However, if you are reading the Bible then the Spirit will help guide you to where God is using you to fulfill what needs He has through you.
Here’s why works is important but is not in control of our salvation: nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus say “do good and you’ll get into Heaven.” We are called to do good, yes, to reflect Christ in a holy and righteous way. The good deeds God called on us to do is given to us by our faith in Him, not because he sees us doing good things.
John 14:6 (NLT) and Romans 10:9 (NLT) highlight this a little more. Both Paul AND Jesus both demonstrate choice in being our salvation, not by being good. We can do all the positive or good deeds we want but if we don’t confess Jesus is our Lord and Savior openly then we will not be saved, we will not have salvation.
Lets dive into some more scripture here so you can see even more so what I’m getting at, like Galatians 3:23-30 (NLT). So then what does salvation look like if we are no longer required to follow what we know as the Old Testament? The Son, Jesus, was and is our faith, he is our way to God and Heaven.
One of his disciples, Luke, wrote about the prayer Jesus made on the Mount of Olives. This was just before Judas betrayed Jesus and turned him over to the Romans. Luke 22:39-46 (NLT) shows even deeper that if salvation was by works, then Jesus out of all people would not have had to worry about seeking comfort from God. However, he did ask God for comfort and knew it was through faith in the Father that His will would be done before what Jesus wanted done.
Ultimately I cannot tell you what to believe, that is for you to decide. What I can do though, and aim for in every episode, is to give you scriptural, Biblical ways of viewing matters that either are going on in the world or within ourselves.. But before we close in prayer today, I will offer you one more part of scripture:
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Romans 1:16-17 (NLT)
If you are able and would like please pray with me as we close out this week’s episode
Dear Heavenly Father, this message is difficult for us to handle at times. We may believe that just because we do good works in your honor that you are satisfied. Please let those with the hearts that need to hear that we need to confess our love to you know this. Let those who are able to share this to save people around them hear this. Truly let each day be a blessing for us to spread your Kingdom here on Earth. In Jesus name, Amen.
I want to thank you for listening to He Brews Faith and if you haven’t yet feel free to subscribe. With that said, until next week have a blessed season of growth!