Category Archives: Salvation

Salvation, Saved by Grace, Sermons of Glen Jackman

Jesus tells a parable of Two Praying Men

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ (Luke 18:10-13 ESV)

In Luke chapter 18 Jesus told the parable of two men who prayed. He did this to create a contrast between those who thought they were right with God (the self-righteous leaders) and a tax collector who admitted that he was a sinner, and asked the Lord for mercy and forgiveness. It is a striking contrast between the prayer of a Pharisee with that of a tax collector. The Pharisee tells God, “God, I’m the best, I don’t do bad things, in fact, God I only do good things.”

Our attitude while praying is of vital importance. The people who had great self-confidence and scorned everyone else were the Pharisees and other religious leaders who saw themselves as the only ones good enough to be acceptable to God.

To these people – the leaders who were always giving Jesus a hard time, He told a story about two men who went into the Temple to pray. These two men were as different as could be: the one was a super-religious law-keeping Pharisee, the other a dishonest tax collector. These religious leaders viewed tax collectors as the worst of sinners.

I knew a man once whose daughter was a Christian and her husband was a pastor. He was a nice enough fellow. Yet he began to berate Christians in general, even though they were among his family. He would say: “I think I am just as good or better than most Christians”—many such phrases. So we can find the attitude of a Pharisee among the nicest people, who though they do good things as humanists, have erroneous views about why they do not need mercy from God, and they may go so far as to denigrate Christians as crazy holy rollers or those who believe in fables and the like. Unfortunately, this man died unrepentant about a year later.

This Pharisee’s actions and his prayer provide a picture of his life and occupation—he was a separatist, but his separatism and desire to remain perfect before God had hardened into a lifestyle of self-righteousness. He stood by himself and prayed. The words of this prayer, however true, were not prayed in the correct attitude of humility before God. He thanked God that he was not a sinner like everyone else. While the Pharisee was probably not like everyone else in a lot of ways, he erred in thinking that he was “not a sinner.” He may have had an extensive checklist marking off just how good he thought he was.

This Pharisee felt that he was far better than the tax collector whom he saw praying across the way. Tax collectors were not known for their honesty, so this Pharisee compared himself favorably, telling God that he had never cheated or sinned or committed adultery. And, by the way, he also fasted twice a week and tithed from his income. He was confident of himself in his holier than thou righteousness, while at the same time despising this other man, even though he too was in the Temple praying to the very same God. The Pharisee did not welcome the tax collector who was seeking God; instead, the legalistic Pharisee gloated that he was so much more righteous.

The focus shifts to the tax collector who had come to the Temple and seemed to have known full well the extent of his sin. He felt so downright low that he did not think he could even lift his eyes to heaven towards God; instead, he beat his chest (a sign of sorrow), praying for God to be merciful to him. He recognized himself as a sinner. He had been convicted of his sin and had come to the one place where he could find forgiveness. He had come to God, humbly recognizing that he did not deserve mercy.

As Jesus tells the story, we find out God’s viewpoint of how He views these two men’s attitudes expressed by these two very different prayers.

“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:13–14 ESV)

Surprisingly enough, only the tax collector returned home justified – which means forgiven with right standing before God – “justified” means God’s act of declaring people “not guilty” of sin. Only the tax collector recognized his sin; therefore, because he confessed his sin “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” he was the only one God justified. The self-righteous Pharisee had said that he had no sin; therefore, there was nothing for God to forgive – to justify this Pharisee as “not guilty.” He simply didn’t believe that he was in need of any mercy or forgiveness from God. He thought he was in A-OK standing with God. He returned home no different than when he had entered.

What do we learn from Jesus? The principle is that no one has anything of value to bring to God to deserve salvation, mercy, justification, or even a second glance from God. The proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored. Acceptance before God cannot be achieved by good deeds, piety, or any amount of self-proclaimed righteousness.

The Pharisee did not view himself as a sinner. The apostle Paul, noted that we all have sinned and are worthy of death: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 6:23) What the Pharisee did not realize is that he was every bit a sinner as the other man when he exalted himself before the Lord. Salvation is offered to the humble who come to God, through Jesus and confess their sin, and ask for mercy: “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21 ESV)

In this way, the tax collector got right with the Lord – he asked for mercy – he recognized his sin before God. Once a person asks God for fogiveness in Christ’s name, he is saved, he has no more fear of death, because he will receive eternal life in Christ, who paid the price for all of our sins by dying on the cross. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 ESV)

A final thought: God justified the repentant tax collector before his going down this house or home, and this justification – his forgiveness by God, was valid now and indefinitely. God acquits, as the judge. He delivers and pronounces the verdict that frees from guilt and punishment. Since justification by faith in Christ is the central doctrine of the Scriptures, the sinner’s one hope of salvation, the parable that Christ used to teach this must be properly understood.

The parable of Jesus makes it clear that only the tax collector as the confessing sinner was forgiven and made right – justified by God, whereas the Pharisee was not, namely by comparing the two with each other. It would be an incorrect view that the one was justified more than the other because no degrees of right standing with God are possible in justification – the judge pronounces the acquittal – the pronouncement of forgiven and hence not guilty or refuses to declare it and leaves the sinner in his sin, guilt, and condemnation. It is not to be confused with the matter of the sinner’s feeling of having been justified by God. The divine act takes place in heaven, outside of, apart from, and only regarding the sinner who is on earth. His knowledge, conviction, and feeling (all of which are personal) are to be derived directly from the Word of God. The scriptures make it plain that the acquittal of every repentant sinner is assured.

It is not by degree of purification or adjudgments of self, but upon trusting only the scriptural faith assured in the Bible such as defined by Jesus in the parable of the two men praying in the Temple.

God loves to forgive. He is glorified when you accept His gift of salvation in His Son. He that exalts himself shall be humbled, every last one; but he that humbles himself shall be exalted and enter into the family of God. By faith, you needn’t “fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15 ESV) You get the sense of our new childlike trust in God, as the scripture uses the word “Abba” which means, “Daddy.” You can trust our heavenly Father’s love.

Atonement of Christ, Love & Grace, New Covenant, Salvation

Grace: The Motivation for Accepting Jesus

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.” (Rom. 3:25 NIV)

In God’s great exchange, God charged our sin to Christ and credited Christ’s righteousness to us. This swap is referred to as Justification – meaning that in our standing before God by faith in Christ, we are righteous in His sight – the opposite state of being condemned for our sin.

To begin to understand the love that God has for sinners, Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son. The boy went from home and lived a wasted life full of sin. The father, when he saw his son heading towards home ran and fell on his neck and kissed him, and further demanded a feast be prepared for his lost son now returned. This represented the love that the father in heaven has for each person who has gone their own way of the world.

We are no more righteous in our daily experience than Christ was sinful in His daily experience. When we trust in Jesus by faith, God regards us as entirely righteous. How can this be? God the Father credits the righteousness of Christ to us as we put our trust by faith in Jesus.

Looking at this personally: He died on the cross for you just as if you’d never sinned. Justification by faith in Christ offers us this exchange.  Here’s how it works. When God charges our sins to Christ, they are no longer ours. He has removed them from us “as far as the east is from the west” (see Psalm 103: 12) and remembers them no more (see Hebrews 8: 12).

The penalty for our sin was paid at the cross, and this is actualized by our acceptance of this gift – by our faith when we say “Father in Heaven, I believe, and I accept your gift of forgiveness of sin for me – I am grateful for what my Lord Jesus did for me on the cross”.

There is a sense of guilt for sin once we see the aim of the gospel – that it  is the good news of God’s plan our reconciliation and salvation from the curse of sin. By faith, I see that my sin is indeed covered by accepting Christ’s gift offered to me. Theologically Christ is our substitutionary ransom. Others may term his death as “propitiatory”. Propitious means bringing a favourable result by Christ’s atonement for our sin. In a nutshell, we are saved from the wrath of God towards the ungodly which will occur at the last Judgment. We are now saved by faith when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. We are now actually accounted as righteous and reconciled through Christ as a son or daughter of God.

Individually, a divine transaction occurs – I exchange my sin, for the gift of Christ’s righteousness offered to all men at the cross – men and women who accept this gift of grace. Two points are important to understand.

  1. God is infinitely holy. Grace and forgiveness are inaccessible without Christ.  Without Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross, we can never approach God as our Father in heaven. God is holy and hates the sin that has become a part of mankind. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (see Rom. 3:23) Our Lord’s Prayer alludes to His holiness: “Our Father in Heaven…Hallowed be thy name.”
  2. God alone is the source of righteousness. By our accepting the gift of Christ’s lived-out righteousness by faith, God’s justice is satisfied. His penalty for sin – death – was exhausted on His Son at the cross. Christ’s death achieved reconciliation for all who call upon Him. The faith of Jesus attributes to you. This viewpoint that God takes of you, though a sinner, as righteous in Christ, is now accessible to you once you confess your sin and accept His gift of salvation.

We stand before Him just as if we’d never sinned, and just as if we’d always obeyed. What Jesus was in His life, we are in our standing before God because Jesus was our representative in both His life and death. His righteousness is imputed to us – viewed by the Father as own our own righteousness. This justification was offered by the death of Jesus Christ.

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39 NIV)

Apostle Paul’s view was that by faith “I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3: 8b-9 ESV) It’s very clear: “through faith in Christ” we are gifted “the righteousness from God that depends on faith”.

The idea of Christ as our representative man when incarnated, which Paul makes clear is indeed an offer to be viewed by God, no longer as a sinner, but as a righteous person in good standing with Him. Thus we can approach a holy God daily by faith. For years, the church has found the study of Righteousness by Faith an encouraging topic. Note how Paul denoted Christ as a man, a representative man. This is very important to see. Adam, our forefather was our first representative man, representing sin and unrighteousness for the human race when he disobeyed God. Adams death passed unto all men.

Comparatively, Jesus represents us as forgiven for our sins, and righteous by faith in Him, as our last representative man. The new life we find in Jesus Christ passes unto all men who are saved by faith.

“As by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5: 19 ESV)

The first many who were made sinners refers to the entire human race (except, of course, Jesus). The second many refers to all who are united to Christ by faith. Paul is not teaching a universal salvation of all humankind.

Let me illustrate. I know men who work hard at their physical jobs – they can get sweaty with grimy hands and clothes. They shower before dining with their family or play with their children or hug their wife. They don’t just put on clean clothes first! God does this to you. He washes you clean in the blood of His Son and then He clothes you in His perfect righteousness. The old hymn expresses the trust we have in Jesus. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” His love activates our love. 

Essentially love for Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sin offered to us, is the primary motivation for accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are called to a righteous life in Christ, and His love and the power of the Holy Spirit lead us in our quest for holiness.

Other related reading: The Manifesto of God’s Love

Authority of the Bible, Compared Religions, Jesus Christ, Salvation, Uncategorized

Does anyone own the Truth?

glen001-sm By Glen R. Jackman

You may have pondered the thought, asking, “Does anyone own the truth”, and concluded, “no one owns the truth”. Let’s look at this together.

Pilate before Jesus was crucified asked Him, “What is truth”?Jesus had claimed that He not only had the truth, He owned the truth and was actually the embodiment of Truth. During His ministry on earth, embedded in His teaching was the fact that He was the Son of God, the creator of the universe, of man, and thus the master creator of the languages of mathematics, physics, DNA, speech, of every intertwined law we’ve heard of and researched as scientists.

Hence, His ownership of all truths and laws of creation makes Him, both creator and sustainer of every law, including the law of Love – the sustainer of relationships. He combined and centered the statement proclaiming that He was the Truth, with the “Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6 NIV). He is the way to Life, and the truth of why we have our being and can function standing free on the earth, with a thinking mind and conscience. The way is via the map of His intertwining physical laws and the ways of the mind and the heart of love which lead to Life – a fuller joy filled Life, more abundantly lived with confidence. (see John 10:10).

Jesus knows you personally from birth. Moreover, Jesus as the Son of God with the Father know us intimately. Have a look at a few points Jesus articulated on how He knows every one of His people on earth. He came to reveal the love of His heavenly Father to us. Speaking of little children that He was blessing He said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10 NASB) Children have angles watching over them as military guards on behalf of the Father and the Son.

GP (10)

Jesus knew every disciple before He selected them. When He saw Nathanael coming towards Him, He said, “there is an Israelite without any deceit in Him”. “Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” (John 1:48 ESV)

Jesus like His Father in heaven knows us even prior to our birth. Jesus created this earth as noted by the apostle Paul, whom Jesus chose to articulate His mission on earth. He said: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col. 1: 15-17 ESV)

The entire bible speaks of God’s intimacy with mankind. King David noted God’s creative powers attributed to His birth: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” (Ps. 139: 13 ESV) He also admitted that God personally knew him, that God is not some abstract unknown being or force or many gods who play handball with our minds [Montaigne], but one who is intimate with His people: “O LORD, you have searched me and known me!” and further that He knows every action and thought of our being: “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways”. (Ps. 139: 1-3 ESV)

Jesus knows the time of a man’s death. When Jesus was summoned by Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, he knew that Lazarus would ultimately live: “Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill”. But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:2-4 ESV) In a short while, Lazarus died though Jesus brought him back to life which glorified God.

Jesus knows who have the faith to follow His truth and way. Jesus is actually aware of who will accept the teaching of His death and resurrection as an act which He achieved on behalf of sinful man to redeem him legally from eternal death – in other words, Jesus died in your place as a substitutionary ransom for your life. He died so that you would go to heaven ultimately to be with Him. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23 NIV) because “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned”. (Rom. 5:12 NLT)

Jesus does not forget his own children. My mother loved this text and held on to it until the day that she died: “I go and prepare a place for you, I will come and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3 NIV)

The Gospel simply means the Good News to mankind. The Gospel only asks that by faith you accept this and in so doing you accept that Jesus is your creator and sustainer in Life and after your death He will give you eternal life. Knowing the mind of man, and what is in man’s motives and thoughts towards Him, he calls those whose heart will hear the calling via the Spirit: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the ways of his Son” and, “those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30)

By accepting Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the sustainer of your life – of all Life, we are forgiven and the legal term is justified, made right with God by your faith in Jesus. Not a bad deal, I would say if you trust Him by faith as I do and as my mother did. If you have a struggle with faith, pray to Jesus to show you the way to believe. Say “Lord, help my unbelief”.

He is still calling men and women to Himself. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28)