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Hebrews 10:11-14 - Day after day every priest stands and
performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices
which can never take away sins. But when this Priest [Jesus] had offered for all
time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that
time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool, because by one sacrifice
He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one
should boast.
Titus 3:5-7 - He saved us, not because of righteous things which we had done,
but because of His mercy. He saved us by the washing of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our
Savior, so that, being justified by His grace we might become heirs having the
hope of eternal life.
Romans 4:3,6 - For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and
it was credited to him as righteousness." David says the same thing when he
speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart
from works.
John 8:42-44 - Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love
Me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own, but He sent
Me. Why is My language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I
say. You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out your
father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth,
for he is a liar and the father of lies."
Acts 17:30-31 - In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands
all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the
world with justice by the Man [Jesus] He has appointed.
(King James version.)
Have you ever thought about how the believers in Old
Testament times were saved? If Jesus Christ hadn't yet come to die for the sins
of the world, could they trust in Him as Savior? If we had asked them,
"Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior?" they would probably
have responded with a blank stare--especially the believers who came before the
great Messianic prophecies were given! Does this mean that there are two ways of
salvation--one way for Old Testament believers and another way for New Testament
believers? Doesn't the Bible teach one way of salvation, regardless of
time and culture? How does the Bible answer these questions?
Believe it or not, most of these questions can be answered using the acronym
"B.M.O.C." Many of you will recognize B.M.O.C. as a familiar
old university acronym for "Big Man On Campus." But what does
"Big Man on Campus" have to do with growing Christians? Absolutely
nothing! However, B.M.O.C. can also represent "Basis," "Means,"
"Object," and "Content." Still confused? Well,
this acronym can help us to remember the four important aspects of God's way of
salvation for mankind throughout history: The Basis of salvation, the Means
of salvation, the Object of faith and the Content of faith.
The Basis of God's salvation for mankind has always been the same--the finished
work of Christ. The Means by which people receive salvation has always been the
same--by grace through faith. The Object of saving faith has always been the
same--the one and only true God. But the Content of faith has grown over time as
God has progressively revealed His truth. The Bible does not teach two ways of
salvation--there's only one way of salvation for all time for any
member of the fallen human race. But the body of truth which must be accepted
and believed in order to be saved has been amplified as God has revealed
more truth over the course of human history. Now let's look at each of the
initials of our acronym in more detail.
The Basis of Salvation
The Basis of salvation has always been the finished work of
Christ. Hebrews 10:12 & 14 clearly states that Christ's death on the cross
was for "all time" and for "all those who are
sanctified." And Hebrews 10:11 tells us that all the Old Testament
sacrifices never took away a single sin--not even the 142,000 sacrifices which
Solomon offered in one day (1 Kings 8:63)! All of those sacrifices were only a
portrayal, an anticipation of the one Great Sacrifice to come. John the Baptist
realized and emphasized this fact when he pointed to Jesus and said,
"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John
1:29). Notice that John the Baptist, an Old Testament believer, did not announce
a "new" way of salvation. John proclaimed that Jesus would be
the sacrifice that would atone for the sins of the world. When the Lord Jesus
said, "It is finished" and "sat down at the right hand of
God," the basis for the purification of sins for all time was completed
(John 19:30; Hebrews 10:12 and Hebrews 1:3). Everyone who is "written from
the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was
slain" is only there because the Lamb has been slain (Revelation 13:8). The
only basis of salvation for any person from any culture at any time in any
situation is the finished work of Christ.
It is sometimes said that Old Testament believers were saved "on
credit," in view of the future work of Christ on the cross. Well, that's an
OK way to put it, as long as we remember that God is not limited by
time--neither past, nor present, nor future. With God all is
"present"! God is "outside" of the time dimension, because
time is part of this space-matter-time universe which He created. So the basis
of God's salvation for all the redeemed is, and was, and will always be, the
sacrificial work of Christ on the cross for the sins of the world, which was
accomplished in "time" and history.
The Means of Salvation
The Means of salvation has always been by grace through faith. No one
is saved apart from God's grace and no one is saved apart from the way of faith.
Ephesians 2:8 says "it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." Titus 3:7 tells us
"that having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs." It
is important to notice that "by grace through faith" does not mean a
mixture of God's grace and man's good works. Ephesians 2:9 says "not
of works" and Titus 3:5 says "not because of righteous things
we had done, but because of His mercy he saved us." If God's grace is
combined with human works, it is no longer grace. By definition, grace is God's unmerited
favor towards mankind. "Unmerited" means that there is absolutely
nothing at all anyone can do to merit or earn salvation--not even the act of
faith itself. If faith is viewed as a good act which "triggers" God's
grace, then God's grace is not grace. There is no such thing as 99%
grace--salvation is 100% by grace! Faith is rather a person's response to
God's grace. Apart from the response of faith there is no salvation. God's means
of human salvation is by grace through faith. Both grace and faith are intrinsic
to salvation. Salvation is by God's grace alone, coupled with the response of
faith from the human heart.
By grace through faith has always been God's means of salvation. In fact,
this is exactly the point that Paul makes in Romans 4. (Read the whole chapter!)
Paul brings two outstanding Old Testament characters into his legal argument as
Exhibits A and B. Both Abraham and David were saved by grace through faith.
There were no human good works of any kind in the salvation "formula"
for these Old Testament believers. Paul belabors the fact that Abraham's
salvation came by believing God--before the "good works" of the
covenant sign of circumcision and the Mosaic Law were given. David's salvation
came after both were given, but it was certainly not based on the "good
works" or Law-keeping of King David! David speaks of the joy of those whose
unrighteous, lawless works are forgiven--by the grace of God! Obviously
both Abraham and David came before the saving work of Christ. The historical
time period didn't make any difference as far as God's means of salvation was
concerned. God's means of salvation has always been by grace through faith.
The Object of Faith
The Object of faith for human salvation has always been the one true
God. And the one true God is the God of the Bible--not a "supreme
being" created in the mind of man! As we reach out to evangelize people
from other cultures, we must be very careful in this area. Sometimes the name of
the "supreme being" from one of the world's religions (such as
"Allah") has been used to represent the God of the Bible. The reason
for doing this is to bridge the communication gap, so the motive may be pure.
However, the result is that "unbiblical baggage" is often brought
across the gap we are trying to bridge.
Remember what the Lord Jesus said to the religious Jews in John 8. They claimed
that they were following the one true God--the God of Abraham. The Lord Jesus
said that if they were indeed following God as their Father, then they would
automatically recognize and receive Him as the Son of God. The fact that they
did not receive Him proved that they did not believe in the one true God. In
fact, the Lord said that they were following Satan (v44)! It is significant that
the Lord was not speaking here to Muslims or Hindus, but to orthodox Jews. If
any religious group had a claim to the God of the Bible, it was the Jews! But
the understanding of God held by these works-oriented Jews was just as off-track
as any other world religion. This Scripture has a lot to teach us about equating
Allah, etc., with the one true God of the Bible.
Is there enough evidence of the one true God of the Bible apart from the Bible?
Yes! Romans 1:19-20 indicates that God has given enough evidence of Himself in
creation, so that no one has an excuse not to respond in faith to the one
true God. But this response of faith to the true God should not be equated with
the "religious activities" of "sincere" Buddhists or
advocates of other such world religions. When there is a response of faith to
the God of the Bible, there will be an automatic acceptance of the truth
that God has revealed in the Bible. This acceptance may not be immediate, but if
the individual is truly following the one true God of the Bible, then it is only
a matter of time before the blind spots begin to be removed by the Holy Spirit.
Remember, the Holy Spirit is the one true God of the Bible!
Noah responded in faith to the one true God (Genesis 6). Naaman, the Assyrian
soldier, responded in faith to the one true God (2 Kings 5). The people of
Nineveh responded to the one true God at the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 4 and
Matthew 12:41). Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar responded in faith to the one
true God (Daniel 4). The Jewish leader Nicodemus exercised faith in the one true
God when he believed the words of Jesus (John 3). All these believers from
different times and nations had more in common than names beginning with the
letter "N"! They all exercised faith in the one true God and were
saved. The object of faith which is necessary for salvation is, and always has
been, the one true God of the Bible.
The Content of Faith
The Content of faith necessary for salvation has not always
been the same. While the B, the M and the O of B.M.O.C.
have always been the same, the C has not always been the same. Why? Is it
because God has changed His mind or way of salvation? No! It's because God has
progressively revealed more truth over the course of human history. The content
of faith for Nicodemus, for example, was different than the content of faith for
Noah, because during the time between Noah and Nicodemus the content of faith
had grown. Noah knew nothing about receiving Jesus as the Messiah! Between
Noah's time and Nicodemus' time the content of faith had enlarged greatly. So
while there has never been more than one way of salvation for mankind, there has
been progressive revelation of truth from God to mankind over time. As a result,
over the course of human history the way a person expresses his response
of faith to the one true God will be different. For example, today we don't
bring sacrificial lambs and goats to an altar to express our faith in the one
true God, because the further and full revelation of truth about the Son of God
as Savior has come. God has now clearly revealed Himself as a Trinity, and the
content our faith for salvation must include acknowledging that Jesus, the
second Person of the Trinity, is God and Savior (see Romans 10:9-10).
Expressions of faith apart from this content of faith are not responses of
saving faith to the God of the Bible. Thus Unitarians and Jehovah's Witnesses
and others who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, but reject His deity, are
not saved.
In Acts 17, the apostle Paul made it clear to the Athenian philosophers that the
content of saving faith included belief in the resurrected Jesus as Lord. Our
message to the pagan philosophers of today should be the same: "God
commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30), and "There is no
other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). God's
ultimate revelation of truth has shown that Jesus is the Way, the Truth
and the Life, and no person comes to the true God apart from Christ (John 14:6).
God's way of salvation for man has never changed, but the content of faith for
salvation has been enlarged with God's ultimate and final revelation of himself
in Christ.
B.M.O.C. may be an outdated collegiate acronym. However, its
"rebirth" as Basis, Means, Object and Content
will never be out of date, because God's plan of salvation for mankind
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