ONLY ONE WAY OF SALVATION
After certain Judaizers came to Antioch, teaching that circumcision was required for salvation, Paul and Barnabas were sent to bring the question to the apostles at Jerusalem. After much deliberation, Peter stood and reminded everyone that he had been the first one chosen to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. He reminded them how the Spirit had been given to them when they heard the gospel and believed in Jesus. He questioned why the yoke of the law should be added to salvation when even the Jews couldn’t keep it and in fact, weren’t saved by the law, but by the “undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
The basis of salvation is grace, which is God’s unmerited favor given to those who have put their faith in Christ Jesus. As the apostle Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
This grace is not only unmerited (we didn’t earn it), but it is “undeserved” because as sinners, we actually deserved death. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8). In other words, Christ died in our place. Now that’s grace!
There is not a Jewish “way” or a Gentile “way” of salvation. We are all saved by the “same way,” which is by the undeserved, unmerited grace of Jesus Christ!
PRAYER: Dear Father, in this day of relativism, when people are deceived to think there are many ways to God, help us to speak the truth that Jesus is the only way. Give us a holy boldness to proclaim the gospel. In Jesus’ name, amen.