By Grace: A Sure Salvation
Isaiah 25:1-9; 26:19;
Ephesians 2:8-9
"In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.'"
(Isaiah 25:9)
A student was walking across the campus one day. Another student approached him and asked, "Brother, are you saved?" He replied, "Saved from what?" Salvation can mean many things. The Hebrews were saved from their enemies. We might think of being saved from a burning building, or from some other danger. But when the Bible speaks of salvation, its ultimate meaning is in verse 8: "[God] will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken."
Eternal life was a concept spoken of rarely in the Old Testament. In Jesus' day, the Pharisees be-lieved in life after death, but their counterparts, the Sadducees, did not. The problem was that the Pharisees thought that righteousness came by keeping the Law of Moses, and placed a heavy load on those they taught. But these verses are clear. God's salvation is a free gift of grace, through faith - trust - in the One who speaks only truth.
INSIGHT
Don't be deceived by those who teach that we must add something to what God has already done in Christ. Trust Christ alone.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Genesis 20-21
Psalm 10
Matthew 16-17
Isaiah 25:1-9; 26:19;
Praise to the LORD
1 O LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done marvelous things,
things planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall
5 and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is stilled.
6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people
from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.
9 In that day they will say,
"Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
But those who die in the LORD will live;
their bodies will rise again!
Those who sleep in the earth
will rise up and sing for joy!
For your life-giving light will fall like dew
on your people in the place of the dead!
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
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