You Will Be Saved

When people speak kind words to us we enjoy that.  “Thank you for making my morning better!” “You make our home feel like a happy place!” “You’re really easy to be around!”  These are wonderful words to hear from people.  But, the words God speaks to us today are over-the-top beautiful! “You Will Be Saved!” These words may not have caused emotions to rise in your heart and mind right now, however if you were frantically swimming down a raging river and someone shouted to you, “Don’t worry!  You will be saved!” would bring great relief to you.

Our gracious God says these words to you only on account of Jesus Christ.  Because of sin people brought death and hell to themselves. Helpless and hopelessly floating down the river and heading for Damnation people had nothing to look forward to except eternal suffering.  But our gracious God has spoken some kind words that revealed the salvation of all people.  These are the words God says to you this morning! “You will be Saved!” But, I’m sure you couldn’t help but notice there were two “ifs” connected to this amazing announcement.  Today the Holy Spirit wants you to be confirmed in God’s promise that   

You Will Be Saved

If You Should So Believe

I hope and pray you will never forget how helpless you are without Christ.  This is why we confess our sins at the beginning of almost every service with these words, “I am a lost and condemned sinner.” How lost?  Well, what do you believe?  I believe that I was so lost that I could not save myself or anyone else.  Trying to save myself is like being in a bag of quicksand….the harder I try to get out, the faster I sink into sin.  We confess and believe that apart from Jesus Christ we are by nature spiritually blind, dead and an enemy of God.  Every thought, every action, and every word is stained with sin before God.  This is how Isaiah explains it,

“Can we still be saved? ⁶ All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy cloth. All of us have withered like a leaf, and our guilt carries us away like the wind”

Isaiah 65:5b, 6

Yes, we were born with the curse of sin.  Believe it.  We inherited this sinful nature from our parents.  Believe it.  The sinful nature began with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Believe it.  For this is the starting point of faith created by God’s Word in our hearts.  God’s law points out our helplessness and If…. you…. believe in your heart….you will be saved.“  But, is that all?  No!  Of course not!

Realizing our sinful condition may lead to regret or sorrow, but it doesn’t not lead to true repentance.  For true repentance acknowledges the responsibility for sin, and then is turned to the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.   St. Paul points us to Jesus Christ and says, “Jesus is Lord.” God’s Word reveals our sinfulness through the law, and reveals Jesus as our Savior—the Gospel.  Paul calls him “Lord” because he is the Savior God who came from heaven as God’s only begotten Son.  Paul calls him “Jesus” [the LORD Saves] because as the angel told Joseph,

“you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”

Matthew 1:21

And it only gets better!   Paul calls him “Christ” because he is the promised Messiah in the flesh, the “Anointed one” (Ps 2:2).  Knowing the Gospel of Jesus Christ leads to true repentance (sorrow over sin and trusting in Jesus’ forgiveness) which is the sinner’s only hope.  Believe it!  And If…. you…. believe in your heart….you will be saved.“  But, is that all?  No!  Of course not!

You might very well know Jesus’ many names, but so does the devil.  Believing in Jesus is more than just knowing who he is, it is also trusting, leaning on, and depending on what he has done for you.  Jesus is our Prophet. Jesus came to proclaim the truth of God’s Word. Remember what God the Father told us?

“Just then, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him”

Matthew 17:5

That Word spoken by Jesus is used by the Holy Spirit to create faith in our hearts.  Jesus is our Priest. Jesus came to offer his life on the cross as the payment for all our sins.  St. John knew this when he saw Jesus walking toward the river and said,

“Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 1:29

He is still working today, not still paying for sins, but as our mediator in heaven.  Jesus is our King. You know what kings do!  They crush the enemy!  St. Paul said,

“⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

1 Corinthians 15:56,57

Jesus has done all this for you.  And all of this is yours and “If…. you…. believe in your heart….you will be saved.“  But, is that all? Yes.

We call this our Salvation!  Salvation is offered to all people in the Gospel.  When people hear the Gospel the Holy Spirit creates faith to receive what God has to offer.  Unbelief rejects what God has done and created. When we hear St. Paul say,

“and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”

we recognize that it is not enough to simply know of Jesus, his conception, birth, life, death and resurrection.  To believe is to receive as true, lean on, and depend on these truths of Scripture. Listen!  Jesus is the only religious leader who died and rose again.  There are over 500 witnesses to his resurrection.  Jesus died and rose again!  Believe it, lean on it and depend on it!  I usually demonstrate this to the Catechism kids by having one of them stand on a chair blind folded, and then line up the other kids behind that person and say, “Okay, fall backwards.  We’ll catch you!”  Will they believe and trust us?  If they believe they fall backwards and are caught, but if they don’t believe they won’t fall backwards into our arms.  You get the picture!  You fall into the hands of Jesus who died and rose again, trusting/believing that he will raise you up and take you to heaven, too.

St. Paul said, “If…. you…. believe in your heart….you will be saved.” That faith was created by the Holy Spirit using the Word of God.  “If you believe” is not a decision-making statement, but rather a declarative statement.  It states a fact.  This word in the Greek can also be translated, “When-soever.” These are the facts (Aorist, Subjunctive).  When A happens then B happens.  For instance, “When it rains the sidewalk gets wet.”  Likewise, “Whensoever ….you….believe in your heart (when this fact should happen)….. then this happens, ”you will be saved.”  Now you understand part 1, “If You Should So Believe” that is, when condition happens, You Will Be Saved! This is the unexpected truth of Scripture!  This is God’s promise to you. But, is that all?  No!  Of course not!

If You Should So Confess

This is Paul’s second “if” before us today.

“⁹ Certainly, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord ….. you will be saved.”

I don’t want you to listen to the rest of this sermon if you didn’t hear the 1^st part clearly!  I’ll say it again: Faith receives what God has to offer.  God offers forgiveness in Jesus Christ and the faith the Holy Spirit created in your heart receives that forgiveness.  St. Paul said it better,

“²⁸ For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law”

Romans 3:28  

However, the second “if” is a work!  Yes, it is also an unexpected truth of Scripture that says “faith lives!” We are not “stillborn Christians.”  We are living, active soldiers of the cross!  Think of how many passages teach us to run the good race of a Christian!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us”

Hebrews 12:1

You are believing active Christians! You have been made alive in Jesus Christ to make “Spirit-led decisions” to the glory of God!  We may call these “good works.” These are activities you do because you believe in Jesus.  The Bible also calls these “fruits of faith.”  James writes to some lazy Christians who were not doing a very good job of confessing Jesus as their Savior to remind them that Faith is Active,

“¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says that he has faith but has no works? Such “faith” cannot save him, can it? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister needs clothes and lacks daily food ¹⁶ and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but does not give them what their body needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ So also, such “faith,” if it is alone and has no works, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works”

James 2:14-18

Yes, God’s law does make us realize our sin of showing lazy faith, and we confess this sin before God and trust in his forgiveness.  Then what? 

⁹ Certainly, if [whensoever] you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord ….. you will be saved.”

Our good deeds do not save us, but they do give testimony to the faith that is active in our lives.  It is not “Faith + Works = Saved”  No!  It is “Faith works! = Because I’m saved!”  And I’m saved because Jesus is the Savior!

Now let the games begin! No, it really isn’t a game, but it is the realization that we are under constant danger because of our sinful nature, the devil and the temptations of the world around us. It is good for us to wake up every morning and remember that we are baptized children of God with a new name!  When God changes someone’s name big things happen!  Ask Abram (Abraham), Jacob (Israel), Simon (Peter) and you!  Because Jesus saved you when he died on the cross, and saved your when the Holy Spirit created faith your heart (for many of us) at your baptism, then today we are reminded of the expected truth that we will be saved in heaven someday!  So, “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord!”  Confess with words!  Let your faith live with actions!  Flee evil, avoid the temptations, fight addictions, smash the sins that work to ruin your loving relationship with others and with God as you remember “I’m but a stranger here, Heaven is my home!”  And let the games begin because our coach and our team leader is Jesus Christ, true God and true Man who died to save us all!

⁹ Certainly, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Yes, we love it when people speak kind words to us and the words you just heard are the best!  If you should so believe (when this condition exists), and If you should so confess (when this condition exists), that Jesus is God and saved you.  Then that’s it.  I will see you in heaven someday.  Amen.