The Gospel in Twenty Questions (13 page)

I said at the start
that Jesus has wonderful words for us, and here they are:

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined
in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can
cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
(Revelation 3:18)

Is Jesus saying
salvation is something that can be bought? And if the Laodiceans were truly
poor, how could they afford to buy anything?

To
buy something is to exchange something we own for something else. Jesus is
counseling the Laodiceans to give up what they have (wretched poverty) in
exchange for three things: refined gold, which speaks of Christ our everlasting
treasure; white clothes, which refer to his perfect righteousness; and salve,
which is a revelation of his perfect work.

The
new life Jesus offers is free, but we still have to buy into it. You might say
we buy salvation by exchanging our sins for his forgiveness, but the real
exchange is his life for ours. Jesus took our broken lives and gave us his
abundant life. He took our hurts and gave us his healing. He took our death and
gave us his life.

No
doubt there will be some who worry that I am painting an overly rosy picture of
salvation. They will frown because I’m not preaching a more balanced message of
sacrifice and personal responsibility. They want you to know that there is a
cost to following Jesus, and they are right. The cost is your life. You cannot
call him Lord without handing over your crown.

But
see the bigger picture. See what you get in return! This is hardly a fair deal.
God favors us with this exchange. We give him our broken, ramshackle little
lives and in return get him and everything besides. This is the scandal of the
new covenant. This is the good news for the poor and the deal of a lifetime.
[25]

If
salvation means nothing more to you than self-denial and personal sacrifice,
you’re missing the benefits of grace. Without him we are poor, naked, and
blind. With him we’re truly and eternally blessed. Jesus encouraged the
Laodiceans to buy from him “so you can become rich.” When you have Jesus, you
have the greatest treasure in the universe.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
Therefore be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:19, NKJV)

It’s easy to
dislike religious people. After all, they’re guilt-dispensing fault finders.
And don’t forget it was religious people who put Jesus on the cross. But the
amazing thing is Jesus loves religious people. He loves ‘em to bits! Think
about it. When Jesus came to earth he adopted as his home the most religious
nation on the planet. When he departed the earth he did so from its most
religious city. And now, sitting in heaven, he’s sending love notes to the
religious Laodiceans. “Your religion makes me sick, but
you
I love.”

So be enthusiastic and in earnest and
burning with zeal and repent. (Revelation 3:19b, AMP)

Jesus speaks in
language we understand. The Laodiceans were zealous with a carnal zeal, so
Jesus says to them, “You want to be zealous? How about zealously repenting of
your unbelief. All that natural fervor and enthusiasm you have for dead works,
why not direct that towards something healthy like free grace?”

Jesus
is such a good shepherd. There’s no guilt-tripping, no brow-beating, just a
wonderful exhortation to do that which we wanted to do all along but didn’t
know how. His gracious words are the cure for lifeless religion.

If
there is apathy in the church, perhaps it’s because people are tired of hearing
they are not doing enough for God. They are weary of being told they are not
hot enough, working enough, or shouting “Amen” enough. The remedy is to preach
pure, undiluted grace. Let people drink grace straight from the tap, and they
will repent from dead works with joy. Genuine enthusiasm comes not from what we
have done for God, but from appreciating what he has done for us. And he has
done it all.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with
him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20, NKJV)

Have you ever known
people who were so smug and arrogant they made you sick? Did you feel like
spending time with them? Probably not. Yet here’s Jesus asking if he can join
them for dinner. I have literally walked out of religious churches, yet here’s
Jesus trying to get into one. He’s outside knocking on the door saying, “I want
to come in and be with you forever.” The love of God is amazing.

What
does Jesus want us to do? He wants us to behold him, hear him, and open the door
of our hearts to him. Do that and you will benefit from this wonderful promise:

To him who overcomes I will grant to sit
with me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his
throne. (Revelation 3:21, NKJV)

Jesus is not
challenging us to a do-or-die obstacle course. He’s reminding us that he has
overcome the world and that through him so have we (see 1 John 5:4
–
5).

If
you have been ruined by religion, the letter to the Laodiceans is Christ’s cure
for you. It’s his antidote for those poisoned by a toxic cocktail of grace and
works. Jesus is not challenging us to impress him with our zeal and hard work.
He is exhorting us to repent from dead works and receive him with open hearts.

The
good news is not an invitation to get busy for Jesus. Nor is it the threat of
expulsion for those Christ has qualified. The good news is the happy revelation
that, in him, we are already seated in heavenly places. From that position of
rest, we reign with him in life.

Can you lose your salvation if
you don’t endure to the end? There are nearly two dozen scriptures in the New
Testament that have some bearing on this question. In this chapter we will look
at three of these scriptures. (We will look at more later in the book.) The
three scriptures are all quotes from Jesus:

He who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew
10:22, 24:13; Mark 13:13, NKJV)

At first glance Jesus seems to
be saying, “Salvation hangs on your endurance. If you don’t endure, you’re not
fit for the kingdom.” If so, this is not good news. You may worry, “What if I
don’t stand firm to the end? What if I have a bad day, a bad month, or a bad
year? What if I stumble?”

What is Jesus
saying here? Is he saying life is one big probationary period and only those
who perform flawlessly every day will qualify for the kingdom? Well if he were,
he would be contradicting promises he made elsewhere (see chapter 16).

Jesus is not
talking about eternal salvation, but rather staying alive in the face of
persecution. He is describing what can happen to those who preach his gospel of
grace. This becomes clear when we compare
what Jesus said would happen
with
what actually happened
in Paul’s case:

What Jesus
said: “Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be
flogged in the synagogues”
(Matthew 10:17).

What
happened: Paul was flogged by the Jews on five separate occasions (2
Corinthians 11:24).

What Jesus
said: “
On my account you will be brought before
governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles” (Matthew 10:18).

What
happened: Paul was brought before two governors, one king, and a Caesar and
witnessed to all of them (Acts 24
–
26).

What Jesus
said: “
But when they arrest you, do not worry about
what to say or how to say it” (Matthew 10:19).

What
happened: Paul didn’t worry but was happy to speak before these men (Acts
26:2).

What Jesus
said: “
At that time you will be given what to say,
for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through
you” (Matthew 10:19
–
20).

What
happened: Paul’s words to those in authority made it into the Bible, so they
must’ve been inspired.

What Jesus
said: “
Brother will betray brother to death …”
(Matthew 10:21).

What
happened: Paul’s Jewish brothers tried to kill him in Lystra and plotted his
murder in Jerusalem (Acts 23); his Roman brothers beat him with rods in
Philippi (Acts 16:22).

What Jesus
said: “You will be hated by everyone because of me
…”
(Matthew 10:22).

What
happened: Paul was hated by all kinds of people
—
Jews and Gentiles
(see above).

What Jesus
said: “… but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (
Matthew 10:
22).

What
happened: Despite intense and mortal opposition, Paul stayed alive.

What Jesus
said: “
When you are persecuted in one place, flee to
another” (Matthew 10:23).

What
happened: Paul typically left any place he was persecuted (Acts 13:51, 14:20,
16:40, 17:10).

Paul was arguably the greatest
gospel preacher of the first century. He is famous for planting churches,
writing letters, and standing up to those who opposed his message of grace. But
what is not so well known is that Paul often fled hostile situations.

In Lystra,
Paul was dragged outside the city, stoned, and left for dead (Acts 14:19). The
next day he quit the town and went to Derbe. In Thessalonica and Berea, it was
the same story. Trouble started brewing, and Paul left before it got out of
hand (Acts 17). Paul stayed two years in Ephesus and then left after a riot
(Acts 20:1). W
hen faced with mortal persecution, Paul
typically walked away
—
he endured and stayed
alive.

Imagine
what might have happened if Paul had stayed in Lystra after being stoned.
Imagine if he had thought,
Jesus died for Lystra. I’ve got to stay and
finish the job even if it kills me.
The Jews would’ve attacked him again
and this time really finished him off. But Paul didn’t stay.
Plenty of
cities in the world.
He moved on to Derbe.

Paul was one
of the bravest men in the Bible, but he was no fool. He knew that a dead
apostle serves no one and that the best way to keep preaching the gospel is to
stay out of trouble. So whenever he encountered life-threatening persecution,
he heeded Jesus’ words about fleeing to another city and moved on.

The one time
that didn’t happen was when Paul ignored the warnings of the Holy Spirit and
headed directly into trouble in Jerusalem (Acts 21:11). In other words, Paul
did the opposite of what Jesus recommended and, as a result, found himself
chained and on a boat bound for a Roman prison.

Jesus said if
they
persecuted him, they would persecute us as well.
But while Jesus had to go to the cross and die, we don’t have to. His is a
finished work. Our deaths add nothing to his. Better to follow Paul’s example
and live to preach another day than die at the hand of a madman or an unjust
state.
[26]

Whether
you’re a believer in China, Iran, or California, it’s always a good idea to
avoid trouble, endure to the end, and stay safe. There’s a time to dig in and a
time to run. If people are coming at you with stones and whips, that may be a
sign that it’s time to get out of Dodge.

The gospel of grace elicits
strong reactions. Some people love it, others hate it. It never ceases to amaze
me that when I tell people God is good and his love for them is greater than
their sin, some respond with indignation and wrath. This baffles me. It makes
me think I did a poor job conveying the good news. “My apologies, I wasn’t
clear. Let me try again. God really loves you and he has forgiven all your sins
on account of his grace. Isn’t that wonderful?” And they tear my head off.

It’s
not just me. I’ve seen grace-preaching pastors bullied out of their own
pulpits. I’ve seen ministers disown their grace-loving children. I’ve seen
families split and friendships end over grace. Why? Because grace is
threatening to those who have invested their lives in a system that rewards
hard work and good behavior.

When you have
spent years earning gold stars, the last thing you want to hear is that the
stars count for nothing. When you have made a point of avoiding sin and being a
faithful churchgoer, you won’t be thrilled to learn that those who enjoyed the
pleasures of sin for a season are loved just as much as you are. You’ll be
offended. And if your livelihood depends on the regular giving of those who
believe they must give to be blessed, you’ll resist any message that says every
spiritual blessing is already ours in Christ.

But that’s
only part of the reason why some are opposed to the “dangerous teaching” of
grace. The bigger reason is they see this grace message as offensive to a
bookkeeping God. “God sees your sin. Sin must be paid for and you’re going to
pay, either now, through contrition and discipline, or later, through fire.”

So their
opposition, which would otherwise be merely personal, becomes ideological, a
religious crusade against heretics under the influence of Satan. I know of what
I
speak. For preaching grace, I have been called a
wolf in sheep’s clothing, a false teacher, a heretic, and a devil
—
all on the same day! This is ugly and unjust, but it is a
common experience for those who proclaim the good news of God’s grace. Jesus
said,

… the time is coming when anyone who kills
you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things
because they have not known the Father or me. (John 16:2b
–
3)

Religious people
persecuted Jesus all the way to the cross and they
hounded Paul from one city to another. To this day
the
religious and powerful
continue to oppose
the gospel of grace that Jesus revealed and Paul preached.