1. The condition of man before God.
2. What God is for us. 3. How we cannot be saved. 4. How we can be saved. 5. Blessings pertaining to the believer. 6. Our responsibility as saved ones.
Let us look at them in some detail; and may the Lord guide the writer’s thoughts, and open the reader’s heart to believe the precious teaching of His grace therein.
1. The apostle says, “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” This was his and his fellow-laborers’ condition before God until they were converted. And this is the condition of the whole human race, without exception, more or less manifested. The heart is the same in all, “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:99The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)).
“Foolish.” We read, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child” (Prov. 22:1515Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. (Proverbs 22:15)). And is it not the height of folly to live for time, sense, and the world, with the Word of God in our hands telling of eternity and all the glories of the unseen world, and the awful and eternal consequences of sin unrepented of? And yet how many millions are living as though there were no future, no responsibility, &c. And, alas! how many there are who profess to believe these things, whose lives are a practical denial of it. Reader, it is the height of folly to live another moment without Christ; and if you have received Him, the height of folly to live for yourself.
“Disobedient.” From end to end of the Word of God we find the same testimony to man’s disobedience. Adam was disobedient in Paradise. Israel was disobedient to God’s holy law. The Jews and others were disobedient to the grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ. The world at large is disobedient to the testimony of the Holy Ghost. Millions take the Word of God in their hand, and say, “We’ll do Thy will,” but do not. All by nature are “children of disobedience.”
“Deceived.” Yes, by Satan, sin, and self. Satan “deceiveth the whole world” (Rev. 12:99And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9)). “The heart is deceitful above all things,” &c. (Jer. 17:99The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)). We read, too, of “the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:1313But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:13)); of a man “deceiving his own heart” (James 1:2626If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. (James 1:26)); and “deceiving himself” (Gal. 6:33For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. (Galatians 6:3)). What an awful mass of deceit! You didn’t think matters were quite so bad, did you? No! Then that is because you were deceived. Are your eyes open now? Deceived you are, if unsaved; and to remain so, is to be deceived and duped by the devil till you are lost forever.
“Serving divers lusts and pleasures.” “Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,” says another scripture (Eph. 2:33Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (Ephesians 2:3)). “Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Tim. 3:4, 54Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:4‑5)). This is Christendom without Christ. Do you need proof? Which does your heart like best, and which do you more readily follow: ―The Word of God, the assembly of His people, the prayer-meeting, the company of His children? or the theater, the concert-hall, the banquet, the racecourse, the flower-show, and the whole round of vanity fair?
“Living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” Perhaps some reader will think, “Well, I do not live like that. Have you read the newspapers lately? How much love do you find there? Does not every number contain records of the truth of the above solemn statement of God the Holy Ghost? And although you may not have indulged your evil nature so much as many others, dare you say in the presence of God that your heart is one whit better? If love reigns in the world, what mean these vast armies and fleets of millions of men, armed to the teeth to destroy each other the moment war breaks out? What mean these thousands of police, and all these prisons? Ah! ‘tis enough. Thy record is true, and the facts incontestable, ―malice, envy, and hate reign.
Well, the above is a sad picture, but drawn by a master-hand, and drawn to the very life. The one who wrote it was in the eyes of his fellows a pattern man. Deceived like the rest, he was zealous for God, and thought he was everything he should be. But once a ray from the excellent glory pierced his dark heart, the above is what he says about himself. Will you lay claim to be a better man than “a Pharisee of the Pharisees”?
With such a record, one would expect to find the next verse full of judgment. But oh! how blessed to find, side by side with this dark picture, ―
2. “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.” This is what God is for us. Not a syllable about judgment, His strange work, but all about what He is. A Saviour-God, not a Judge. This He will be in the ever-nearing future. But here, full of kindness and love! And what appeared, ―was manifested in the person of Christ upon the earth, in the midst of the wickedness! A Saviour-God walked as Man among men. “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:1717For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)). Like David to Mephibosheth, He shows the kindness of God to poor lame sinners (2 Sam. 9:33And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. (2 Samuel 9:3)). How blessed to know that God is for us, a kind God! Not against us, as Satan has led so many to believe, but for us. He is for us; but we are against Him. And He is for us, but against our sins. And therefore came Christ into the world, the fruit of the kindness and love, the philanthropy of God, to save. All appeared, and shone to perfection in the person of Jesus. In the Old Testament all was on the ground of promise. Now we have to do with blessed facts. It is a fact that the Saviour appeared, and that God’s kindness and love appeared in Him. What is the consequence?
3. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done.” This is how we cannot be saved. So the first thing to learn, according to this scripture, if you want to be sewed, is the utter worthlessness of all our wretched doings. We are sinners, and we have no righteousness. “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Saul tried that road, and far outran all of us, but had to learn that all his righteousnesses were as filthy rags (Isa. 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)). Are you a religious sinner? Are you indulging the vain thought that church and chapel going, alms deeds, &c., will stand you in good stead? Learn now, ere it be too late, that the Word of God says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done.” This is unmistakably plain. “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:99Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:9)). “Not according to our own works” (2 Tim. 1:99Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, (2 Timothy 1:9)). Oh, when will men take God at His word? Do you think He means something else than what He says? Then why are you always religiously striving to climb to heaven by the ladder of your own self-righteousness? Your ladders so to speak, is too short. Not of works. Not by works of righteousness which we have done. Why? For the simple reason, that salvation is by the work of righteousness which He has done. The only work whereby you can be saved was done on Calvary, and the One who did it is raised and glorified in righteousness at God’s right hand, and now God’s righteousness is revealed from heaven unto all and upon all them that believe. So that all we have done, or ever hope to do, as the ground of our salvation is out of the question. Then follows the blessed statement: ―
4. “But according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” This is how we are to be saved, and how Paul and others were saved and knew it. According to His mercy He saved us. Not will save us. Not we hope to be saved if. Not we think or trust we are saved, but “He saved us.” It was the mercy of God. “I obtained mercy,” he says elsewhere (1 Tim. 1:1616Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. (1 Timothy 1:16)). Yes, our God is a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful (Neh. 9:1717And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not. (Nehemiah 9:17)). Zacharias spoke of John as sent “to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of sins, through the tender mercy of our God,” &c. (Luke 1:77,7877To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, (Luke 1:77‑78)). And now it is mercy for all, the fruit of Christ’s death.
“See mercy, mercy from on high,
Descend to rebels doomed to die.”
Are you saved through His mercy? God judged His Son that He might show mercy to us. The whole blessing is through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Believe on Him and you are saved; saved now and evermore.
“Salvation, oh! salvation!
Endearing precious sound;
Sound, sound the word salvation
To earth’s remotest bound.”
Yes, the moment you judge yourself before a Saviour-God, and believe on Him, you are saved with a full, free, and everlasting salvation. When we believe His word, and it enters with power in our souls, we are washed with the washing of regeneration. With this there is the renewing of the Holy Spirit; and He is also abundantly shed upon us. All the blessing is abundant. We read elsewhere that believers receive “abundance of grace” (Rom. 5:1717For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) (Romans 5:17)); that we have life and that more abundantly, and have the Holy Ghost shed on us abundantly. Verily can we say with the apostle, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:2020Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: (Romans 5:20)).
5. “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs, according to the hope of eternal life.” Here we find some of the blessings pertaining to the believer. Not only are we saved through His mercy, but justified by His grace. And grace reigns through righteousness (Rom. 5:2121That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21)). It is recorded of a poor old dying saint, that when asked what she trusted in, she replied to the effect, that she “believed in the mercy of God, but trusted in the justice of God.” Blessed answer! Do you? Mercy, indeed, it is. Mercy from first to last; but there is more. God is righteous. God is “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:2626To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:26)). His grace is boundless, but flows through righteousness. How solid and stable is the whole fabric of God’s everlasting salvation! And who could accumulate together such a rich heap of blessing as we find in these precious verses. Are you justified by His grace? Not only forgiven, but reckoned as a righteous man before God, and that by God Himself, our Saviour-God. It is God that justifleth; who is he that condemneth? No answer. Not a voice raised. Don’t you think Satan would question it if he could? Not a voice raised, do we say? This is scarcely true. But, blessed be God, it is a voice for and not against. The one who puts the question answers it. “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom. 8:3434Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:34)).
There, doubter, find a flaw if you can. Not a single loophole for the foe. Christ died, and rose, and lives, and intercedes. He died to put away our sins. He rose for our justification. He lives for us in the presence of God. He intercedes for us until He receives us up in glory.
We are justified by God’s grace, and that freely, now and forever; “that we should be made heirs, according to the hope of eternal life.” God’s justified ones are His children, and His children are His heirs. “If children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom. 8:1717And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)). Christ is heir of all things, and we are bound up with Him, when we believe in all that God has given to Him as the Man of His eternal counsels, who glorified Him at the cross. Hence, we read in 1 Corinthians 3:21, 2321Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; (1 Corinthians 3:21)
23And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. (1 Corinthians 3:23), “All things are yours,” &c. Soon the Heir shall appear, and we shall appear with Him in glory. Already are we made heirs, and it is our privilege to enjoy the hope of eternal life. In the natural state there is “no hope” (Eph. 2:1212That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:12)). Our case is utterly hopeless, and we are without strength to help ourselves (Rom. 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)). But saved, we have a hope, a sure, abiding, everlasting hope. We hope in God, the God of hope, who cannot lie. We wait with confidence to enjoy eternal life in the glory with Christ Himself. In John’s writings we have eternal life in the Son. In Paul’s we are justified in Christ, and we abound in hope of eternal life with Him in the glory. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Both are true. We have it, and we are going to have it. We have it in Him, and we wait to enjoy it with Him. Christ Himself will come and take us up to glory, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor. 15:51, 5251Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51‑52)). Are you ready? Are you justified? Are you in Him? Is this blessed hope yours? All, all is yours, when as a poor guilty, lost one, you believe on Him.
“6. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” Here we find our responsibility after we are saved. The Word of God is perfect. Not a syllable about our works, except to reject them, until we have believed in God. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom. 4:33For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3)). And then he showed his faith by his works (James 2:21, 2221Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? (James 2:21‑22)). He is a pattern for us to do the same. This is “a faithful saying, and these I will that thou affirm constantly,” says the apostle in the words of the Holy Ghost, “that they which have believed in God may be careful to maintain good works.” Yes, the faith that saves produces fruit. In this day of loud and light profession, tens of thousands are talking flippantly about believing and being saved. But where are the good works? The good work of Christ is the alone ground of our salvation, but the good works of the believer are the evidence of the reality of my faith. If the tree is good, the fruit will be good. Where there is fire, there is also smoke. When there is life in the soul, there are works to show it. God alone can read the heart, but the world is very sharp to read the actions. “Be careful.” Are we careful? “Careful to maintain good works.” The same epistle says, “They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:1616They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. (Titus 1:16)). Ah! reader, profession without practice is utterly worthless. “These things are good and profitable unto men.”
May you, dear reader of these lines, learn what your condition before God is, find that God is for you, to save you now and forever in a manner worthy of Himself, without a single work of yours.
E. H. C.