The Simplicity of Salvation

THEME: Every religion in the world can be lumped together into one group because they all essentially teach the same exact thing. When you strip away all the beliefs and morals and practices and traditions and ceremonies and holy places, they all boil down to what man has to do to appease God so that He will accept us and grant us eternal life in some form. But depending on religious observances or sacrificial acts to earn God’s favor is doomed to fail because all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags in God’s eyes. Since we are innately and completely corrupted by sin, none of us are good enough nor will we ever be able to do enough good to atone for our sins so that we are acceptable to God. All the strange, all be it, sincere things man has devised to get right with God have only served to complicate the matter of salvation. We have made salvation much harder than God ever intended it to be. Salvation is simple; it is so simple anyone can be saved. All the searching and striving is unnecessary since salvation is easily and equally accessible to everyone regardless of who we are or what we have done. We simply have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the basic point Paul was making in this passage as he explained Israel’s failure to believe in Jesus and depend solely on His righteousness as the only way to get right with God.

1. Ignorance - No one can be saved by fervor alone (vv. 1 - 4)

2. Acceptance - Anyone can be saved by faith alone (vv. 5 - 13)