Salvation:
The Only Solution
By
Stephen Terry
Commentary
for the October 27, 2012 Sabbath School Lesson
“And
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and
in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the
survivors whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2:32, NIV
Many public beaches and pools have lifeguards who
dedicate their time to making sure that swimmers are protected from the hazard
of drowning. Constantly aware of what is happening in the water, they are alert
to signs of anyone having trouble. Someone gasping for air and waving their
arms is sure to spark a rescue attempt. Those who have been rescued through the
years are many. However, lifeguarding is not without its danger for the
lifeguards. Panicked swimmers often try to cling to anything that might save
them, including the lifeguard. They can cling so tightly that the lifeguard can
no longer swim. When that happens, both are in danger of drowning. If the
rescuer cannot save himself, he cannot save the victim either.
Paradoxically, it is exactly the opposite for the person
drowning in sin. His or her only hope is to cling as tightly as possible to
Christ. Just as the clinging drowning victim can actually drown the lifeguard, the
clinging sinner assured the death of Christ on the cross. Except that death
made possible the sinner’s salvation. Fortunately, in this case, the One who
died was able to live again. This certainly isn’t true of regular lifeguards,
but it is true of Jesus. That ability to give life brought Lazarus from the
tomb (John 11:43-44) and is the earnest of our own resurrection.
So what is this sin that causes us to drown and brought
about the cross of Christ? The Apostle John tells us that sin is breaking the
law. (1 John 3:4) That moves us a little farther along in our understanding,
but still leaves us questioning. What law is the sinner breaking? At this
point, some might say that maybe it’s stealing or lying or some other of the Ten
Commandments Moses brought down from Sinai. (Exodus 20) However, the problem is
much deeper than that.
A lawyer who was concerned about what it means to be law
abiding came to Jesus and asked Him which law was most important.(Mark
12:28-34) Jesus answered him with Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18.
Perhaps the lawyer expected Jesus to recite one of the precepts of the
Decalogue. However, Jesus called these two the greatest of the commandments. By
definition then, the Decalogue must be inferior to these two. So what makes
these two special? It is simply love. We might therefore say that a failure to
love is the very essence of sin. To lose sight of this is to set oneself up for
a religion that is about rule keeping without regard to the motivation for
observing the rules. It is possible to hold to the Decalogue and observe all
its precepts without feeling a single ray of love in one’s heart. But it is
impossible for a heart filled with love to fail to observe all that the law
requires.
As simple as that might seem, it is impossible for any
sinner to achieve. Our selfishness keeps getting in the way. Sometimes we take
a perverse delight in pointing this out to one another. But when we do this, we
are no better than the one we are rebuking. We only demonstrate our own failure
to love. This should be no surprise to the Bible student, because Paul’s
Epistle to the Romans tells us that everyone has this problem. (Romans 3:23)
Because this problem is universal, it makes the world we live in a very cold
place. It is tainted with the smell of death like a global lazar house. The
despair this engenders is so overwhelming that many attempt to dull their
awareness of their condition with alcohol, drugs, entertainment, and a descending
spiral of depravity. They seek anything as a distraction. Ultimately, when they
run out of diversions, they come face to face with the reality of the bleakness
of their existence.
When they reach this point, far too many choose to end their
lives in a meaningless final gesture of futility. However, some, against all
expectation, find the will to ask the void if this is really all there is. At
that moment, a spark, however faint, inflames their heart with a glimmer of
hope. It tells them that in spite of all the effort they have put forth to
achieve only death, there is a beautiful hope that still waits for them.
(Romans 6:23) If they begin to seek that flame and follow that light, they will
come to Jesus. The Holy Spirit, who lights the way, will not fail to lead
everyone who willingly follows that light safely home.
The Bible tells us that God’s goodness is what draws us.
(Romans 2:4) If you have ever been in a dark room and lit a single match, you
know how powerful even such a small light can be in the darkness. It
immediately draws our eyes to it. When we experience the light of God’s love in
this darkened despairing world, we are immediately drawn to Him. As we feel
that love bath the coldness of despair with loving warmth, we feel a desire to
be completely enveloped in that warmth and to have it fill us completely.
Perhaps you remember as a child the joy of Christmas and
opening a gift to find exactly what you had hoped for. The joy of discovering
God’s love is like that only infinitely more joyous. Perhaps this is so because
instead of simply being what we want, it is exactly what we need, and it is not
only what we need, it is also what everyone else needs. This is why loving God
leads to loving our neighbors. Until we have exactly what we need, we have little
to give to fill anyone else’s need. We cannot love our neighbor before we love
God. If we try, it will only be marred with our imperfect ability to love. It
will be tainted with our selfishness. (Isaiah 64:6 & Jeremiah 13:23)
So if we accept a relationship with God, then our loving
acts will be perfect? No, as long as we try to love, we will fail. We can only
be a conduit for God’s love. We cannot even desire to love much of the time.
Someone cuts us off in traffic or cuts in line in front of us at the store and
our love flies right out the window. A neighbor’s dog digs up our favorite rose
bush, or their teenage son turns the neighborhood into an outdoor rock concert
and we find love hard to come by. If we can avoid bad language, we might pat ourselves
on the back for being good Christians. However, we still find that our smile is
made with gritted teeth.
So if this is the reality, how can love come into play? The
Bible tells us that not only do all righteous acts come from God but that even
the will to love comes from Him. (Philippians 2:13) We do not desire to love on
our own. That desire comes from God when we allow it. It is like this. When we
want water to drink in our homes, we do not try to become water. We simply turn
the faucet handle until the water flows. Why wasn’t it flowing before? It could
not clear the obstruction in the pipe. When we turned the handle, it opened the
pipe. In the same way, God’s love cannot flow through us until we clear the
obstruction preventing it. How do we do this?
The Apostle Peter put it very simply. He gave us three
steps. Two of those steps we can take, and the third God controls. First we
must acknowledge that what we have done so far isn’t working and stop doing it.
The Bible calls this repentance. Second we are called to be baptized as a
public profession of death to our old way of life and rebirth to a new life. Peter
says that if we do this then God will do His part and give us the gift of the
Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38) This is what clears the logjam holding back the love.
Once God lives in us through the presence of the Holy Spirit, then His love can
flow from this presence into our hearts and minds and into the lives of those
around us, our “neighbors.”
This is the answer to the cold darkness of this world.
No amount of neon lighting can drive that darkness away. This is because the
darkness rests in our hearts and minds. Despair can only be driven away by the
hope that love places in our hearts. We can believe. We can have faith in God’s
love. It is real, tangible and inexhaustible. We only need to make the decision
to turn the faucet handle so it can flow.
This Commentary is a Service of Still
Waters Ministry
If you wish to receive these weekly commentaries direct to your e-mail inbox for free, simply send an e-mail to:
commentaries-subscribe@visitstillwaters.com
If you
want a paperback copy of the current Sabbath School Bible
Study Quarterly, you may purchase one by clicking here and typing the word
"quarterly" into the search box.