Blake Jennings 2 Timothy 2:8-13 Sermon September 18, 2016

Transcription

1 Blake Jennings 2 Timothy 2:813 Sermon September 18, 2016 Turn to 2 Timothy Losing our salvation is a common fear in children and in adults as well - We know God desires & expects us to do good deeds so what happens if we don t? - What is the relationship between obedience and salvation? - Do you have to do good deeds to get to heaven? I want to answer that question using a short poem Paul quotes in 2 Timothy 2:1113 Paul begins in v810 by telling us 4 things about the gospel - Read v810 4 things Paul tells us about the gospel: - It s all about Jesus v8 o 1) His Resurrection what proved that Jesus defeated sin for us If He did not rise, then sin would have won, and we d still be in our sins Jesus rose that s what gives us victory over sin and death o 2) His relationship to King David Seems like an insignificant detail until you study OT Only a descendent of David could be our Savior and King That s what enabled Jesus to fulfill 2000 years worth of God s OT promises - It s our source of salvation v10 o The gospel is what saves us from hell and delivers us into heaven - It s unstoppable v9 o is not imprisoned even if all of God s people are imprisoned like Paul o The gospel is still free to convict and save men and women around the world o All of the elect will hear and believe no matter what the gospel will win because it is an unstoppable force 1

2 - It s worth suffering for v9 o Built on previous point: because the gospel will win it s worth suffering anything for Imprisonment, ridicule worth it to get to share good news about Jesus The gospel is worth suffering for east to say, but hard to do - I m assuming we all know we should obey Jesus and share the gospel - But when the opportunity actually comes many of us chicken out o Worried about what they ll say what will happen to relationship what will happen to your job, your reputation There is always a cost to follow Jesus and when you face that cost it is tempting to say NO So Paul ends this passage with MOTIVATION - Why should we say YES to obedience when it costs us? - Why should we share the gospel when it leads to suffering? Read v1113 This is poetry 4 parallel ifthen statements trustworthy statement = common saying in the early church that Paul is quoting o Whenever Paul quotes a saying from early church means it s really important o This was used throughout ancient church to summarize Christian life memorized by all So it s worth our time to make sure we understand it core of the Christian life Begin by defining key words and phrases: we died with Jesus o Odd because none of us are dead no caskets here I don t see any of you slumped over o Not about physical death about change of identity You were born a slave of sin who belonged to Satan Moment you trust in Jesus your old identity dies goes up in smoke As if your old DL, SS, credit cards everything that identified you as you burned Old you is dead that s why sin and Satan have no legal hold on you anymore o You re now a new person with a new identity that s wrapped up Jesus Read Col 3:3 o True of all believers we have all died with Jesus and therefore we all 2

3 will live with Jesus o About our future resurrection just like Jesus rose to glory, so will all who believe endure = stand one s ground, remain unmoved o What is that ground? Defined by context = the gospel o When the world tries to silence you from sharing the gospel, you keep sharing it o You stand for the gospel no matter what insults or abuses are hurled at you o You are willing to suffer for the gospel to share it even when it costs you deny o Based on the poetic structure it must be opposite of endure unwilling to share When the going gets tough you run You give in to the pressures of this world and seek the pleasures of this world You don t share the gospel you don t take up your cross and follow Jesus o Paul gave an example of that behavior Read 1:15 They were close to Paul when things were easy but ran when things got hard unfaithful o Same as deny = unwilling to stand for Jesus when it s costly So what is the poem saying? 2 basic options: the heaven/hell view and the reward/loss view Heaven/Hell View: died and endure = same group: believers who obey despite suffering deny Him and faithless = same group: unbelievers who won t obey The first group gets heaven; second gets hell Back to the question we started with: Do you have to do good deeds to be saved? According to the Heaven/Hell View: YES obedience REQUIRED to get to heaven If you are unfaithful to Jesus then Jesus will be faithful to His promise to deny heaven to you Now wait: the Bible clearly states that salvation is by faith Read Ephesians 2:89 3

4 So how does the Heaven/Hell View reconcile 2 Tim 2 with Ephesians 2? 3 ways you ll commonly find in churches throughout America: 1) The Roman Catholic Solution - Wide range of different beliefs held by Catholics in America - But here is the official teaching of Roman Catholic as declared by the 16 th Cent Council of Trent - Justification is future an open question not decided till we stand before God for judgment - And God will be looking for BOTH faith and good deeds o If a person believes in Jesus AND does good deeds = heaven o If a person believes in Jesus, does some good, and nothing really bad = purgatory o If a person believes in Jesus but commits a horrible sin murder mortal sin = hell - So in Roman Catholic Church faith is part of salvation you must also have good deeds to GAIN salvation 2) The Arminian Solution - A branch of Protestant Christianity represented by the Methodist church among others - Justification is by faith alone in Jesus happens the moment you believe - But good deeds must follow faith or justification will be lost - As John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, put it: You must do good deeds to KEEP your salvation o God gives you His Spirit to help you obey but you re free to disobey o Do it long enough and you forfeit eternal life - So for Arminians, good deeds are required to KEEP salvation 3) The Calvinist Solution - Calvinism part of the Protestant church Presbyterians and many Baptists - Like Arminian solution: salvation by faith alone and happens the moment you believe - But unlike Arminianism, Calvinists don t believe you can lose your salvation o Once saved always saved - But still hold to the heaven/hell view of 2 Tim 2 you must do good deeds to get into heaven - So if a believer never does good deeds Calvinism assumes he was never actually a believer o He was fooling himself - The Westminster Confession of Faith puts it this way: holiness in this life is required for heaven - So for Calvinists, good deeds are required to PROVE salvation 4

5 Much difference between those 3 views but 1 thing that s the same: how they interpret 2 Tim 2 If you don t do the good deed of suffering for the gospel you will go to hell (or purgatory) - because good deeds are required to earn, keep, or prove salvation We disagree Reward/Loss View - A chiasm common way of arranging similar ideas in ancient literature o 1 st and 4 th lines parallel and 2 nd and 3 rd lines parallel - The 1 st and 4 th talk about the security of your salvation o Line 1) If we died = all believers, we will live = will be resurrected to be with Jesus o Line 4) even if we are faithless Even if we fail, disobey, chicken out God is faithful to His promise to save us Why? Because He staked His reputation on it! God promised whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life If we don t get to heaven then God broke His promise = denied Himself He will never do that so He must save us even if we are unfaithful o That s why Paul can say in Romans Read Romans 8:3839 no created thing = you! There s no sin you could commit, no cowardice, no selfish or evil deed o Your salvation is absolutely secure - BUT we still have lines 2 and 3 they are about the requirements for ruling with Jesus o If we believers endure suffering for the gospel we will reign with Jesus o God wants more for your life than just getting to heaven. You were made for much more than just going to heaven you were made to RULE! o Goes all the way back to Genesis 1 read Gen 1:2728 God created you to rule earth = your purpose your reason for existing o You were made to be a king or queen and God still wants that for you o So when Jesus comes back to establish His kingdom on earth He will be looking for faithful believers to appoint as corulers over the earth o Read Revelation 2:2627 Believers who obey will be rewarded with authority in His coming kingdom o If we endure in obedience in this life we will qualify to rule in the next life o But if we re not faithful if we deny Jesus He will deny us the opportunity to rule We will still be saved still going to heaven but will lose the reward 5

6 - Lines 1 & 4 your salvation is absolutely secure - Lines 2 & 3 you must obey if you want to rule with Jesus Let me help you wrap your minds around our view of works and salvation the Grace Solution Like Calvinists and Arminians: salvation comes by faith alone the moment you believe in Jesus And like Calvinists: we believe in eternal security once saved, always saved But unlike 3 other views: we do not believe that good deeds are required for salvation o Lack of good deeds doesn t forfeit salvation nor prove you were never saved However, good deeds ARE REQUIRED to earn the reward of ruling with Jesus So we want to be very clear: we SHOULD DO GOOD DEEDS o God expects us to obey Jesus even when we suffer for it that s the normal Christian life But if we fail to do good deeds or do really bad deeds will not cost us eternal life We prove that by looking at men like o David adulterer and murderer but still saved o Solomon an unrepentant idolater but still saved o Peter committed apostasy when he was threatened exact sin of 2 Tim 2! Yet Jesus forgave and restored Peter Even Paul who we know was saved on the Damascus road feared falling short o Read 1 Corinthians 9:27 o Disqualified from the reward of ruling with Jesus o If you surrender to temptation, don t stand for Jesus you ll be disqualified from ruling We see the same idea in 1 Corinthians 3... o All believers spend their lives building something: their kingdom or God s o When we stand before Jesus for judgment our work will be tested: Read 3:1415 o Believer who did no good deeds for God s glory loses reward but still saved A lot of heavy theology. What s the point? Because of the Grace Solution we can have both PEACE and PURPOSE in life PEACE - Read Rom 5:1 - Not sure how this is possible with any of other 3 views o Left wondering, Have I done enough good deeds to earn, keep, prove salvation? o Left looking at your deeds to try to find peace, Are there enough good ones here? o But that anxiety is not what God wants for us - God wants us to KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT: if we ve trusted Jesus we have permanent peace with Him 6

7 - Read 1 John 5:13 o You can know you have eternal life because it s not at all dependent on your deeds o Your deeds don t enter the equation don t gain, keep, or prove your salvation - So how do you know if you have eternal life? Do you believe the gospel? - If you ve trusted in Jesus then your salvation is absolutely secure and you can have peace o You never need to look at your deeds only look to Jesus to know you re secure PURPOSE - 2 most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why - You were created to RULE and this life is a test to see if you re ready! o This life is just an extended job interview! o Jesus is testing us to see who will be faithful whoever is faithful will rule - So are you willing to sacrifice your comfort, popularity, wealth, pleasure for 40, 60, 80 years? - Are you willing to delay your gratification to suffer now so you can rule then? - God wants so much more than just heaven for you but you must follow Jesus - Think about your life for a moment o Is there something God wants you to sacrifice out of obedience to Him? o Is there a behavior God wants to change in your life? o Is there a risk God wants you to take for the gospel? - Begin to pray that God will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to make you faithful to make you endure o Pray that He will help you believe that the reward will be worth the sacrifice 7