1062. Salvation in the Bible: The Simplicity and the Mystery

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. His intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything so he established daily chapel services. Today, that tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from the University Chapel platform. Today's speaker is Dr. Steve Pettit, who served as an evangelist for over 29 years before becoming president of Bob Jones University. Please take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to the Gospel of John, John chapter 1, this morning.

So this week we are having a few more chapels just simply because we really want to focus our attention on some very important things spiritually. And one of those I'd like us to look at this morning from John's Gospel, chapter 1, beginning in verse 11, and I'll read down to verse 13. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. These are scripture verses that reveal the coming of Jesus into the world to be our Savior.

Salvation in the Bible is considered actually to be something that is quite simple. But at the same time, it is profoundly mysterious. It's like looking into the skies at night. And you look up and you see the dark sky, you see the twinkling stars, perhaps you see a full moon. And when you look at the sky at night, really it's simple, but we all understand it's a great mystery.

The mystery of the heavens, the breadth and the depth of the universe, the size of the stars and the planets and the galaxies, the distance between them and light years, it is beyond our finite minds to grasp. Simple, yet it's a mystery. It's like looking in the face of a newborn baby. And you look at this child and it's simple and you're enthralled with this new life and this beautiful baby, but it's also a mystery because each person is unique. They have their own personality, their own abilities, their own traits, what their future is going to be like.

It's like the birth of a child. It's simple and yet it's profoundly mysterious. So it is true with the matter of eternal life. Salvation in the Bible is a very simple experience.

You don't have to have any formal training. You don't have to have a religious background to be able to comprehend and understand how a person is safe. It's very simple, but at the same time, it is a great mystery. For it is an experience that is of such a nature that even a doctor of divinity can never really grasp the full depths of the gospel and the unsearchable riches that are in Jesus Christ. So this morning my message is this, the simplicity and yet the mystery of salvation.

Simple that it can be grasped by everyone in this building, but mysterious in that it will be a study for the rest of our life to fully comprehend. So let's begin with what John says here in his introduction here in John chapter 1 about the simplicity of salvation. We read in John chapter 20 and verse 31 why John wrote his gospel. Listen to what he said, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name.

What was the reason for the writing of the gospel of John? It's really simple. He wants all of us to become believers and the result in believing is that you have eternal life in the name of Jesus Christ. It's that simple. He wants you to believe and he wants you to receive eternal life.

So let me be transparent. One of our great goals and one of our great desires is that every one of you here become if you are not already a believer in Jesus Christ. That's our passion. A number of years ago I went to church with my mother who was living in Columbia, South Carolina. She sat under the ministry of Dr. Sinclair Ferguson who pastored the first Presbyterian Church in downtown Columbia and he was a wonderful gospel preacher. And one day we sat there and we listened to a very compelling sermon on believing in Christ. And my mother turned to me and said in only the way she could say it, she said, why that man will make you want to believe.

And I said, Amen. If a preacher does not preach for you to become a believer, then what kind of preacher is he? So what is John wanting? John is wanting us to believe.

Maybe you're here this morning. You say, I don't think I can really believe. I just don't think I can do that. And actually that's not true because believing is not just a matter of intellect. I can believe in the existence of the universe and still not understand everything because in the Bible, believing is actually a matter of the will. Believing in an airplane simply means that I choose to get on the plane.

I trust in the plane. And that is exactly what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. It's not a matter of you cannot. It is a matter of you will not. And that's important for you to understand.

Faith in the Bible is a choice. What does it say in John chapter one in verse 12, but as many as received him to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, receiving Jesus and believing in Jesus are not two separate things. They're one in the same. It's like when you get married, you stand at the wedding altar and what are you doing? You are receiving one another.

You're taking one another. And at the same time you're trusting or believing your lives to one another. So to receive Jesus and to believe in Jesus is essentially the same thing. And it is a choice that you make just like you make to get married. So he says, when you receive Jesus, that is a choice. But likewise, rejecting Jesus is a choice. Look at what he says in verse 11. He came unto his own and his own received him not. John tells us that the very people that you thought would have eagerly welcomed Christ were the very ones that did not his own Jewish brothers and sisters. And why did they not receive Jesus? They did not receive Jesus in his day. The same reason we don't receive Jesus in our day. It's not that we can't understand Jesus, but Jesus said they love darkness more than that.

They love the light. They made a choice. They chose to reject Jesus. You either choose Jesus or reject him. If you reject him, you choose sin. That's the reason why you do it. That's why you don't believe.

It's not that you can't understand it. It is that you love your sin more than you love your God. And that's why when we're called to be saved, we're called to repentance and faith. Repentance is really leaving your old life to receive a new life. It is choosing the savior over your sin and those who did make the decision, especially in John's gospel, are people who are clearly identified.

They were identified for the choice that they made. So what do we find in John chapter three? We find a Jewish rabbi coming to Jesus at night as an individual. In John chapter four, we find a woman at the well who accepted Jesus. And John chapter five, we find an invalid at the pool of Bethesda. In John chapter nine, we find a man who was born blind. And in John chapter 11, it's very interesting what it says.

Jesus says it says many of the Jews who had seen the miracles which Jesus did from that they believed on him. And in John's gospel, everyone who believes make a personal decision, a personal choice to as many as received him to them gave he the power to become the sons of God. I cannot believe for you any more than you can believe for me.

That is impossible. Your mother and father may be the greatest believers, but their faith is not transferable to you. You must make your own choice. Fact is John is so emphatic about the need of faith that he tells us that there are three ways you cannot be saved. Look at what he says in verse 13. Who were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man. He says you first of all cannot be saved through your family.

Your parents can be saved, but you can be lost. It's not your heritage. It's not your pedigree. It is your own personal faith.

It is not of blood. Then he said it's not of the will of your own will. He says it's not a do it yourself salvation.

It's not by you trying to earn it. It is by you receiving Jesus. And then notice he says it is not through the will of man. In other words, he's saying you can't be saved by your religious association. I grew up in church. I grew up in Sunday school.

The church I attended as a child had what they called confirmation classes and I went through the classes and it's almost like at the end of the class I signed on the dotted line and I had the knowledge, but there was no real acceptance of it in my life. Just like a person who's sick and they go to the doctor and the doctor says you're sick and he says you need to take this medicine and you go to the pharmacy and you get the medicine and you receive and take the medicine. That's the idea of salvation.

They there that are whole. They don't need a doctor, but they that are sick and we go to the doctor to be delivered and we come to Christ like medicine and he is the great physician and what does he do? He heals the sickness of our own soul that is caused by sin.

It is a choice that you make as many as receive him. So salvation is simply receiving Christ and then he says believing on his name. What does it mean to believe on his name? Well, in the Bible, a name is more than a label. A name has a meaning. It refers to that person's character.

The kind of person that they are is reflected in their name. So to believe on the name of Jesus means that you're believing on what his name is intended to mean, what it reflects. It's very interesting that in John's Gospel, Jesus is given different unique titles. One of the titles that Jesus is given is a phrase that says I am. So we read in John 8 58. Jesus said before Abraham was I am.

What does that mean? I am was a phrase that was used to refer to the name of God in the Old Testament. The name Yahweh, the name Jehovah, or the name L-O-R-D, Lord in capitals all means the same thing.

It means I am. It is God's title. I am the God who exists and Jesus to many people audaciously and even blasphemously claimed and said I am the I am. Jesus in the New Testament is Jehovah of the Old Testament. So to believe in his name biblically is to believe that Jesus is God. So we worship Jesus like we worship God the Father. We pray to Jesus like we pray to God the Father. We obey Jesus as we obey God the Father. Jesus is the I am. And what does that mean? Well, seven different ways in the book of John, Jesus said I am this.

I am this. So Jesus said, for example, I'm the bread of life. What does that mean? He's the one who provides for me. I'm trusting Jesus to be my provider and I pray to him. He says I am the light of the world. That means he's the one who guides us through the midst of our darkness. I'm trusting Jesus to be my guide.

Let me ask you this morning. Are you trusting Jesus to provide and guide for you? Are you looking to him?

Is he is he the one you're trusting in? Jesus said I'm the door, the one through whom we enter into heaven by him. What are you trusting to get you into heaven? Jesus said I'm the good shepherd, the one who protects me. Who are you looking to to protect you throughout life?

Life is simple. We need a provider. We need a protector. We need someone to give us peace. Jesus said I am. I am the resurrection in the life, the one who gives victory over death. I am the way, the truth, the life, the one who leads you in the way of all truth. I am the true vine, Jesus said. I'm the one from which you get your power source to live your life. So to believe in his name is to actually trust him for all of these things. This is not complicated.

This is not something that you can't do. It is not the greatness of your faith that counts. It is the greatness of the one that you're trusting in. And so John writes that you would become a believer and so our prayer for you is that you would believe. I'm rejoicing this morning as Jeremy shared with me last night that after the service he was able to lead one of our students to Christ.

He became a believer and in heaven they rejoice over one sinner that repents. So to believe is simple. But let me hasten to say this morning that though believing is simple, the effects or the results of your faith are profoundly mysterious. And so let me say a few words about the mystery of salvation. And we see that here in our text this morning because first of all he says everyone who believes in Jesus is given a new status. Look at what he says in verse 12, but as many as received him, to them gave he the power or literally the authority to become the sons of God. One of the great mysteries of faith is that through faith I become a son of God. First John 3 one, behold what manner of love the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. The father gave us Christ in order to make us his son. And so what happens is our status changes.

When you came to Bob Jones University as a student, you were given a student ID card. That is a different status than before you came. And so when we received Christ, we're given a new status.

Before we were called slaves. Now we're called sons. Galatians 4 seven, wherefore thou art no more a slave to sin, but you are a son of God. He says in Galatians four in verse six, he gives us the Holy Spirit to make us feel like we are his sons and daughters. And because you are sons, God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts crying Abba father. What does that mean?

It means that we can legitimately and sincerely pray our father which art in heaven. I only have two sons. I'm dad to them and there are no other sons that I have. Steven and Michael. Those are my boys. So when my boys call me on the phone, they say, Hey dad. And when I call them back and forth, I talk to them completely different.

Then I talked to other people. Why? Because they are my sons. I love them. I'm proud of them.

I want to see them succeed. I have an earnest passion for their lives and their future and their care. And I think if I am evil and I know how to give good gifts to my children, how much more shall the heavenly father give good things to them that ask him. You see, it'll take all of your life to even grasp the fact that you are a son of God, but the moment you believe you are as much a son of God at that time than the day you enter into heaven. It's a profound mystery, but revel in it. Rejoice in it.

Be happy in it. I'm a child of the king, but then there's a second profound mystery and that is that everyone who believes is given not only a new status, but you're given a new nature. Look at what he says in verse 13, which were born not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God. Here's the incredible mystery by simply receiving and believing in Jesus. You are given a heavenly birth, a new heart. This is not the physical birth that comes through a natural process. This is a spiritual birth that comes through a divine process. Jesus talked about this new birth in John chapter 3.

He talked to the religious spiritual leader named Nicodemus. He said, Nicodemus, in order for you to get into heaven, you have to be born again and immediately he was confused because he didn't understand. May I say to you this morning that when somebody is born, nobody understands that. Did you understand your birth when you were born?

Of course not. The fact is you didn't even probably understand on how birth actually takes place until years later. If that's true of physical birth, what about the new birth, the second birth? And yet the Bible says the moment that you believe in Jesus, a birth has taken place. Why do you need to be born again? Because of what happened to you when you were a firstborn, when you were born into the world, you were born into the world as a sinner. You have an original father.

His name is Adam. All of us are cousins because we're part of the human race. But Jesus Christ came into the world to start another race. What is that race? It's the race of believers.

And how do you get into that race? You have to be born, but it's not physical. It's spiritual. It's not natural. It's super natural.

It is a radical birth. It's not a clean up. It's not a touch up. It's not a do over. It's not a repair.

It is a complete renovation. You are actually new born on the day that you believe. And this is a radical change. You may not feel it and surely you don't comprehend it or understand it, but God has birthed in you a brand new nature, a nature that loves God and a nature that hates sin. That's why you and I as Christians are uncomfortable when we sin. Before I was saved, I hated church. After I got saved, I began to love church. Before I was saved, I ran to sin. After I got saved, I wanted to run from sin.

Why is it that I can't do what other people do? It is because I've been radically born again. And do you know all of your Christian life, you will be living this out. You will begin to learn about the new nature and the old nature and the flesh and the spirit. And it's mysterious because we understand it's a reality, but we're living with this and we're trying to see it take place and grow in and throughout our life.

We are those super natural. Last semester, I met with all of the freshmen class at various intervals in groups of 50 to 80 students, and they could ask me questions about Bob Jones University. It was just a kind of a Q and A to get to know them. And one question that was asked me was very interesting. They asked me, if you were a superhero, what super power would you want? Now, before that time, I had essentially not watched any of the Marvel movies. Now, I was on vacation with my family for two weeks in Florida a couple of weeks ago, and my kids asked me, Dad, have you seen the Marvel movies?

I said, no, they're kind of boring. They said, you need to watch it. And so my children sat me down and made me watch the Avengers. And then I understood the superpower. But when I was asked the question, my answer was, I'm already a superhero.

Why do I need to become one? And I already have a superpower because God, the Holy Spirit, who was a part of the creator of the world came to live inside of my heart the moment I was born again. Their response was, huh? Think with me of the profound mystery that the one who created the world lives in your heart. You see, you're not only a son and daughter of God, but you literally are a miracle of God.

Do you know what makes Bob Jones University so different than other schools? It's called the mystery of salvation. What we want to have here is an atmosphere that is conducive for your growth in those mysteries. So those things that God does in the new birth can grow out of your life here is a student. So you can flourish and grow as a believer.

And this is a mystery that is profound and that we will grow in the rest of our life. So as believers, let's revel in that. The fact that we are his children and we have his nature in his heart and then feed that nature and grow in that grace as you grow in the Lord this semester. May you bow your head with me as we pray this morning. Father, we thank you so much for the great simplicity and yet the great mystery of salvation. Thank you Jesus that we can simply believe and receive you and you transform your our lives by your power. We praise you for that. Help us to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus. We pray.

Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached by Dr. Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University. If you appreciate this program and benefit from the faithful preaching and teaching of God's word, would you consider sending us a special financial gift? You can easily do that through the website, thedailyplatform.com. I'm Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Thank you for listening to The Daily Platform. If you're looking for a regionally accredited Christian liberal arts university, I invite you to visit our campus and see how God is working in the lives of our students. For more information about Bob Jones University, visit www.bju.edu or call 800-252-6363. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow at this same time as we study God's word together on The Daily Platform.