"Cleansing from sin Proves Salvation is by Grace" (Acts 15:9b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/27/2018 9:53 AM

My Worship Time                              Focus:  Cleansing from sin Proves Salvation is by Grace

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 15:9b

            Message of the verse:  “cleansing their hearts by faith.”

            We have been talking about the genuineness of salvation for the Gentiles and have been comparing it with how the Jews were saved as seen in the first part of the book of Acts at various places including on the Day of Pentecost as seen in the second chapter of Acts.  One of the ways that a person is saved, Jewish or Gentile is seen in this last half of verse nine as both had their hearts cleansed by faith, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph. 2:8-9).”  MacArthur writes “Those purified of their sins are obviously saved, and God does not cleanse people who are not truly saved.  Such cleansing comes only by God’s grace.”  Let us look at a couple of more verses to help illustrate this truth:  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7).  “"Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins’ (Acts 10:43).”  Now since the Gentile believers have already been cleansed of their sins by grace alone, what good would it be to add a ritual.  Jesus Christ has paid it all and so there is never a need to add any kind of ritual in order to be saved.  God sent His Son to the earth to take care of the sin problem for all who will accept what He did on the cross and so it would be a slap in the face of God to say that what His Son did was not enough for a person to become a believer.

The Inability of the Law to Save Proves Salvation is by Grace:  Acts 15:10-11

            “10 “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.’”

            One of the early problems in the church in both the salvation of the Jewish people and then with the Gentiles was the Jews.  I have to say that this problem is still going on in Israel today as I learned from our Pastor who along with 51 other people toured Israel a couple of weeks ago.  They had as their guide a woman who was a born-again Jew and she reported that the Jews were still giving problems to both Jews and Gentiles who were born-again, and hearing this left me heart-broken.  Satan is still using the Jews today as he used the Judaizers during the early days of the Gentile’s coming to Christ.  Peter, in this section warns them saying that they were putting God to the test, and surely that is what they were doing.  They had no business in challenging or questioning God’s gracious gospel.  Their folly was that they were “placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither” their “fathers nor” they had “been able to bear.”  God’s Law showed the holiness of who God is and no one can keep it, and that is why our Lord Jesus came to earth to perfectly keep all the Law and because He is our Kinsman-Redeemer, so God sees us as keeping the Law too.  Peter describes the Law as a heavy burden, something that the Scribes and the Pharisees thought they were keeping in order to get into heaven, but they were not.  During the last week of our Lord’s life on earth He said this about the Pharisees:  “1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4  "They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger (Matthew 23:1-5).” 

            John MacArthur closes this sub-section:  “Peter closed his speech with a ringing affirmation of the glorious truth that salvation is solely by grace.  ‘We believe,’ he declared, ‘that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.’  Whether for Jews or Gentiles, there has always been and always will be only one way of salvation.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I focus in on salvation by what the Lord Jesus Christ did for me on the cross, I shamefully have to admit at times that I forget that He did this because of His great love for me, and this is something that I never want to forget, nor thank the Lord for.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To remember today and everyday how much my Lord loves me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Daniel.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What was the fewest number of righteous people for whom the Lord would have spared Sodom?”

Answer in our next SD.

3/27/2018 10:34 AM