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NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY #1
PLEASE INDULGE ME
I imagine that every first of January, all of us who
are believers are driven by a question: could this be the year? After
so much waiting — 2000-plus years now — could the year 2003 be THE year
that we see the return of our Savior in the skies?
All year long we’ll probably be tempted to draw illustrations from that
old, visionary film: 2001: A Space Odyssey. There’ll be a lot of that
these next 365 days, to be sure. But you know, that old Stanley Kubrick
picture DID envision intergalactic flights, people going from one galaxy
to another. What an incredible thing it would be if Jesus Himself would
bring fulfillment to those old Hollywood predictions this year!
And really, all of us are sympathetic to the question: Is there anything
I can do to HASTEN His return? If I lived a better life, if I went to
church more often, if I preached better and better sermons on the radio,
to a bigger and bigger audience . . . could I help MOVE UP that hidden,
that longed-for day?
Today I’d like to explore with you, very carefully, a method whereby it’s
been SUGGESTED that you and I can do exactly that.
In what’s called a “papal bull,” or announcement from the Vatican, the
pope, John Paul II, going back just about a year now, something along
those very lines was suggested. This particular proclamation, or bull,
was entitled at the time: “Incarnationis Mysterium,” or “The Mystery of
the Incarnation.” And I bring it up here because, according to this announcement,
believers still have until this coming Saturday, April 5, 2003, to earn
indulgences as part of the Year of the Jubilee, or Year 2000.
Now, what does this mean? All during this millennial celebration we’ve
just been through, and continuing until this coming Saturday, which marks
the Feast of the Epiphany, a penitent person who does a charitable deed,
or gives up smoking, even just for the one day, or abstains from alcohol
for a day, can earn an “indulgence.” And THAT, we are told, will eliminate
time for the penitent person in purgatory. In fact, with a “plenary indulgence”
obtained during this Jubilee Year, a sinner could even get a FULL pardoning
and go directly to heaven. Other indulgences include attending a Mass
in any of a number of designated churches. Doing the rosary or the stations
of the cross. Visiting the sick, someone in prison, a handicapped person.
Giving money to the poor.
Now friend, if you’ve listened at all to the Voice of Prophecy over the
years, you know that we’re a rather Protestant radio ministry. We don’t
teach purgatory; we don’t believe in purgatory. We don’t teach or believe
in indulgences. The Vatican suggested in 1985 that a person could receive
one via television, but you can’t get one here, today, on the radio.
And please understand that we’re not wanting to begin Year 2001 on a “(quote)
Catholic-bashing” note. Our brothers and sisters in that great religious
communion are entitled to their sincere beliefs, and it is absolutely
NOT our intention to bring the slightest taint of ridicule to today’s
message. I bring up this papal announcement really for one reason: because
our first topic is titled as follows: NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY.
It’s a hallmark of many Christian traditions, and especially of the Protestant
faith, that our salvation, our home in heaven, is offered on the following
basis . . . and this is a rather well-known quote:
“Justification through GRACE alone, by FAITH alone,
in CHRIST alone, NOTHING . . . ELSE . . . BEING . . . NECESSARY.”
And friend, those might be the four toughest, hardest,
most challenging words in the Christian message. NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY.
Is it really true that we are saved by having faith in the blood of Jesus
shed on Calvary, and that WE bring NOTHING to the equation? Do our good
deeds count for NOTHING? Does our obedience count for NOTHING? Does our
character count for NOTHING? Does our church membership count for NOTHING?
And we quote in defense of that concept Philippians 3:9:
“That I may gain Christ and be found IN HIM . . . NOT
having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which
is through Christ in faith.”
There are some hard stories in the Word of God — coming
right from the lips of Jesus, in some cases — which can cause a good Protestant
to scurry around for spiritual cover. Have you ever read the one in Luke
18, where a very rich young man asked Jesus: “Good teacher, what must
I do to inherit eternal life?” And it must be duly noted that Jesus didn’t
say to him, “Just have faith in Me . . . nothing else is necessary.” No,
He flat-out told him, “Go sell your entire estate, man. Liquidate EVERYTHING,
give it all to the poor, and then come follow Me. That’s what it takes
for you to get eternal life.” Seemingly the very opposite of: NOTHING
ELSE BEING NECESSARY. Not just 24 hours with no cigarettes and beer .
. . EVERYTHING! So how valid is this Protestant expression?
We have to confess, here in 2003, that the expression, NOTHING ELSE BEING
NECESSARY, runs contrary to the human instinct, the human spirit, and
also to the spiritual core of virtually all religions. And it can be one
thing to SAY that in your denominational creed, and another thing entirely
to understand it and to live by it.
In their well-written book, Protestants and Catholics: Do They Now Agree?,
John Ankerberg and John Weldon write:
“That salvation by PURE grace is truly revolutionary
— and utterly antithetical to fallen human nature — can be seen by two
facts: 1) all non-biblical religions in the world, throughout history
and today, have taught salvation by WORKS. As Luther once noted, there
are really only two religions in the world: the religion of works and
the religion of grace; and 2) even the true Church has had to struggle
to MAINTAIN the gospel of grace.”
Philip Yancey, in his equally good book, What’s So
Amazing About Grace?, adds a P.S. to that thought:
“My visits to other churches have convinced me that
this ladder-like approach to spirituality is nearly universal.” A bit
later he adds: “The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge,
no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The
Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant,
and Muslim code of law — each of these offers a way to earn approval.
Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.”
But friend, you know and I know that even within the
very heart of Protestant worship, we very much tend to think inside:
“Justification through grace alone, by faith alone,
in Christ alone, this and this and THIS . . . ALSO being necessary.”
And we have visions pop into our minds of cigarettes
and beer and Commandments and all the rest.
There’s a great old book in our Seventh-day Adventist archives, entitled
Questions on Doctrine. It’s a ringing endorsement of this great Protestant
hallmark of truth. And again, ON PAPER, we manage to put this down:
“NOTHING we can ever DO will merit the favor of God.”
That’s on page 108. Twenty-seven pages later, the authors
hit the same note again:
“There is, and can be, NO salvation through the law, or by human works
of the law, but ONLY through the saving grace of God. This principle,
to us, is basic.”
That’s wonderfully said, isn’t it? It might be a good
New Year’s resolution to read something like that 365 times here in the
year 2003. “ONLY through the saving grace of God.” Basic basic basic.
NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY. But in actual practice, how easily it slips
away. How easily we begin to think that the successful performing of some
of the OTHER New Year’s resolutions we made can be just a PART of what
will get us into heaven.
Let me say this in closing — and by all means, friend, please stay with
us all week. If you’ve got a beer in your hand right now, as you watch
that bowl game, it would be great if you quit drinking. For a day or forEVER.
I’m all for you taking a day off from your cigarettes between now and
next Saturday, indulgences or no indulgences. It would be a marvelous
thing if you decided here in 2001 to begin keeping God’s Ten Commandments;
after all, this Seventh-day Adventist radio ministry has been extolling
the great blessings of the Sabbath — that’s Commandment #4 — for 70-plus
years now. But where do we PUT these acts of obedience, these good deeds,
these sacrificial offerings? When we visit the sick this week, or write
a letter to a prisoner, where do we pile these things up? In the shadow
of the cross . . . or in subtle competition to it?
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