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NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY #3

GETTING THE HORSE BACK IN FRONT OF THE CART

We’ve all heard the old expression about “getting the cart before the horse.”  Today I guess we would say, “Don’t put the car in gear before you’ve turned on the engine,” or “Don’t hit the ‘send’ button until you’ve written the e-mail.”  You get the idea; “A” needs to come before “B” and not the other way around.

I imagine many of you have heard the gospel story of “Old Joe.”  He was a slave in the deep south, long before Abe Lincoln came along with his Emancipation Proclamation.  And Old Joe, after a lifetime of slavery, of involuntary servitude, of being sold at auction, of having his family ripped away from him, decided to just put into practice his own emancipation proclamation.  One day, as they were herding him to the market to be sold once again, like a side of beef, he just plain and simple decided he wasn’t going to work any more.  They could beat him or torture him or lynch him or kill him . . . but this was it.  Never again.  He’d rather be dead than work a single day for the white master ever again.

Well, they put him up on the block, and he flat out said to the crowd: “I won’t work.  I won’t work.  Don’t waste your money, ‘cause I won’t work.”  But, of course, the wealthy landowners paid no attention to him; the bidding went round and round, going higher and higher.

Finally, a man with a friendly sort of face put the bidding over the top, and it was “Going once, going twice, SOLD . . . to Mr. Jones.”  Old Joe was now the property of Mr. Jones.  And as this plantation owner led Joe, still in his chains, to the carriage, Joe kept saying, “I won’t work.  I won’t work.  Forget it; I won’t work.”  But the new owner said nothing.

They rode in the carriage a long way, in total silence.  Finally they got to the farm, and it seemed all right.  Then the man, this Mr. Jones, went past the house and drove the carriage to a very attractive little bungalow down by the creek.  Cobblestone steps; new paint; furniture; flower beds.  Not bad at all for a slave’s quarters; in fact, this was a sight better than what Joe had ever had before in his life.  “Joe, this is your new home.  You’ll be staying here.”

And for a moment the old slave felt some conflict, but he looked right into the eyes of his boss and said: “It’s mighty nice . . . but I won’t work.  No sir.”

There was a long pause.  And then the man said very gently, “Joe . . . you don’t have to work.  Ever again.  This is YOUR home.”  And then the clincher: “I bought you to set you free.”

And you know, friend, that’s the story of the gospel right there.  “I bought you to set you free.”  No strings attached.  No buyout required.  No quid pro quo — I do this for you if you do such-and-such for me.  No, this Mr. Jones redeemed that old slave without reservation, without requirements, without obligations, without ANYTHING.  As we’ve been saying in this radio series:

“Justification [comes] through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY.”

Friend, I don’t know if this old slave story is apocryphal or real, but it certainly illustrates the truthfulness of that statement.  And here’s just about our favorite Voice of Prophecy verse to back it up.  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 — NOT by works, so that no one can boast.”

That seems to fit well with an old classic Christian hymn you’ve probably sung before . . . goes like this:

“Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; Sight, riches, healing of the mind, Yea, ALL I need, in THEE I find.  O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

And there you have it.  A free bungalow by the creek.  The gift of your liberty, the chains of sin removed.  And a kindly master says: “You don’t have to do ANYTHING.  I bought you to set you free.  NOTHING ELSE IS NECESSARY.”

The great preacher, Vernon McGee, puts it this way:

“There are only two kinds of religion in the world. . . . They all say, ‘Do, do, do.’  Only Christianity says, ‘Done.’  Christ has done it all.”

But you know, friend, I didn’t tell you the whole story of Old Joe.  And some of you who have heard this before know that I stopped one yard short of the finish line.  Old Joe, having muttered 5000 times: “I won’t work, I won’t work, I won’t work,” has this friendly man say to him, “You don’t have to work, Joe.  I bought you to set you free.”

And the old slave can hardly understand this.  He “scarce can take it in,” as we say.  But as the truth sinks in about what Mr. Jones has done for him, about this incredible gift he’s just received, he falls to his knees at the feet of his benefactor, and cries out, “Master, I’ll serve YOU forever!”

And what we find here in this miraculous Christian formula, what we MUST truly find, is this: Good works and obedience and service FOLLOW — yes, they FOLLOW — the gift of grace.  They are the RESULT of salvation, not its cause.  They are the fruit of the Calvary gift, not the ROOT of it.

I read to you Ephesians 2:8, 9, which are two great, powerful Hallmark verses describing the Christian gospel, the FREE gift, the very heart and soul of NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY.  But did you ever stop and focus on what THE VERY NEXT VERSE says?  Here it is — and keep Old Joe in mind as we hear these words together:

“For it is by grace you have been saved through faith — and this not from yourself, it is the GIFT of God.” (I know we already read this part, but I love it so much.)  “NOT by works, so that no one can boast.”  Now listen to this: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to DO good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

And we see here a vital one-two punch of power, a vital sequence: “A . . . then B,” a horse-before-the-cart, and not the other way around, which you and I have to think about every single day of our lives.  Number one, Jesus saves us.  Based on NOTHING we ever have done, or ARE doing, or ever WILL do.  We put in ZERO.  We contribute NOTHING.  THAT . . . is the gospel message.

BUT — and don’t be afraid of this “but” — in gratitude for the gift of salvation, the Christian who has faith in Jesus Christ is then going to exhibit good works.  He or she is going to obey.  He or she is going to keep the commandments, as Jesus SPECIFICALLY invites those saved by His grace to do.  We read that yesterday in John 14:15:

“If you love Me, SHOW IT by doing what I’ve told you.”

That’s absolutely perfect, isn’t it . . . the great Message paraphrase by Eugene Peterson.  Jesus says to us: “Do you love Me?  Are you grateful for this FREE gift, this life-saving, life-changing ETERNITY I was so glad to give you at Calvary?  Then follow Me.  Follow My lead.  Follow My example.  Make Me happy by walking in My pathway.”

I don’t know.  Maybe we make it hard.  Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther himself, the great reformer, put it in just about one sentence.

“Justification is by faith alone, but not by the faith that IS alone.”  He also put it this way, meaning the same thing: “We are not Christians because we do good works; we do good works BECAUSE we are Christians.”

Do you get a clear feeling of “Horse . . . then Cart”?  Salvation . . . then obedience?  Calvary . . . then Commandments?  Faith . . . then following? 

In that book, Protestants & Catholics: Do They Now Agree?, the writers got it down to one sentence as well.  See what you think:

“Works do not BRING justification, but they do flow FROM it.”

It might be well, though, as we close, to think with the mind of that liberated slave, Old Joe.  He sees this beautiful home, the quiet creek, the fresh paint on the shutters, the pantry filled with home-baked food, the sign on the door with his name on it.  He senses, with a flood of tears, that he is suddenly breathing FREE air.  He is a free man!  The chains have been torn away from his wrists and ankles . . . and all because of the kindness of this person standing before him, who says, “Joe, I bought you to set you free.”

And maybe we almost insult the kindness of this Friend by standing around dissecting the gift, and going to ourselves, “Hmmmm . . . A before B, horses before carts.  Justification, sanctification, glorification.  What does my Greek dictionary say about all of this?”

No, I think at a time like that, you just want to respond from the HEART.  Sure, there’s a time for Greek dictionaries, but there’s also a time to fall down on your knees, take the hand of your Benefactor, and say to Him, “Jesus, I love You so much!  And I’ll serve You forever!”