Faith, Grace, and Salvation

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 19th of April, 2026, and our 5th blended service.  There was a power outage at the start of our service this morning, and our internet service may not have revived.  But if all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

We opened our service this morning by singing our reason for being here: to worship God.  And then we rejoiced over God’s amazing grace and the unfailing love of our Lord Jesus.  With our responsive reading, we acknowledged that it is by our faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of amazing grace.  Through Jesus’ selfless act and our belief in Him as the Christ, we receive salvation.  By our faith and God’s grace, we will share in Jesus’ victory over death.

Faith, grace, and salvation.  God is certainly worthy of our worship.

The Apostle Peter, in his letter to the early church, encourages us to keep trusting in God's promise of salvation, reinforced by Jesus' resurrection, no matter what we go through.  And this might be a problem for many.  When adversity rears its ugly head, our faith may begin to fade.  When things are going really great, we may take God’s wonderful grace for granted.  We may forget God’s great goodness as each mundane day drags on and on, with life’s busyness pushing faith off to the side.  To keep on doing anything can be a challenge for us, especially in our world where new and different is what so many seek.

But Peter tells us to keep on trusting God’s goodness, for He will show us even greater kindness when Jesus returns.  After all, what is faith but trust – trusting in what we may have no proof of, trusting in what we believe.  Please listen and follow along to what Peter wrote in the 1st chapter of his 1st letter to the early church, verses 3 through 13...

3 All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is His boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead. 4 And God has reserved for His children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And God, in His mighty power, will make sure that you get there safely to receive it because you are trusting Him. It will be yours in that coming last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here.

7 These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it — and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of His return.

8 You love Him even though you have never seen Him; though not seeing Him, you trust Him; and even now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself. 9 And your further reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls.

10 This salvation was something the prophets did not fully understand. Though they wrote about it, they had many questions as to what it all could mean. 11 They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about, for He told them to write down the events which, since then, have happened to Christ: His suffering, and His great glory afterwards. And they wondered when and to whom all this would happen.

12 They were finally told that these things would not occur during their lifetime, but long years later, during yours. And now at last this Good News has been plainly announced to all of us. It was preached to us in the power of the same heaven-sent Holy Spirit who spoke to them; and it is all so strange and wonderful that even the angels in heaven would give a great deal to know more about it.

13 So now you can look forward soberly and intelligently to more of God’s kindness to you when Jesus Christ returns.

--1 Peter 1:3-13 (TLB)

Let us honor God now as we pray…  Father God, You have given each of us a measure of faith to believe that Jesus is Your Son and our Redeemer.  He is Your Christ, sent to atone for our sin.  This is the full measure of our faith, that we put all our trust in You.  You have promised us life eternal if we would only follow Your Son, accepting Him as our Lord.  And we do believe, we do trust in Your promises.  But Father, we tend to be a little weak in our determination sometimes.  We often have trouble holding true to our commitments even during the best of times, let alone during adversity.  Please help us remain strong and true to our convictions.  Remind us of Your promises, backed up by Jesus’ words and deeds.  Help us keep our faith fresh by exercising it daily, loving all others, helping them in their times of need.  This is what Jesus expects of us, what He did while He walked among us, showing Your love through our love.  Please help us be more like Him.  This we pray in the beautiful name of our Lord Jesus.   Amen.

During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton was overseeing the work of the Red Cross in Cuba.  One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her, wanting to buy food for his sick and wounded Rough Riders.  But she refused to sell him any.  Roosevelt was perplexed.  His men needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds.  When he asked someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, “Colonel, just ask for it!”  A smile broke over Roosevelt's face.  Now he understood.  The provisions were not for sale. All he had to do was simply ask and they would be given freely.

Jesus said "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."  (Matthew 7:7 (NKJV))  Roosevelt couldn’t buy the supplies, even though he and his men desperately needed them.  We cannot buy our salvation.  Fortunately for us, it is freely given because of our faith.

Our passage opens with Peter giving all honor to God, whom he acknowledges being the Father of Jesus.  This is the same as saying that Jesus is the Son of God, a fact that so many of his Jewish fellows refused to admit or believe.  Peter goes on to affirm that it is only by God’s boundless mercy that we are born again into His family, as God’s children.  Only by God’s amazing grace do we live in the hope of eternal life, founded by Jesus rising from the dead.

Peter says that God has reserved everlasting life for us in heaven, and then the apostle makes a remarkable statement.  God will make sure we safely get there, to heaven, to receive eternal life because we trust Him, we have faith in Him.

Peter also kind of paraphrases the author of the Letter to the Hebrews when he states that we love Jesus even though we have never seen Him.  Which is just another way of saying we have faith in Jesus, for we wouldn’t love Him if we didn’t believe in Him, even though we’ve never seen Him.  This love and our promise of life in heaven makes us happy, and a greater joy awaits us because we trust in Jesus and in God for our salvation.  So we can look forward to even more of God’s kindness when Jesus returns.

Peter, first known as Simon, walked with Jesus from the very start of our Lord’s ministry up in Capernaum, on the shore of Galilee.  The Apostle John was also one of the first Jesus called to follow Him.  The Apostle Luke, however, did not walk with Jesus at any time.  But Luke was a learned man, disciplined in making notes and keeping accurate records because of his profession as a physician.  So although he never knew Jesus as a man, he knew Him by faith.

His Gospel account, written as his first letter to a man named Theophilus, is based on interviews of the people who walked with Jesus and those who witnessed His mighty works.  And his account is incredible, such as the time when Jesus appeared to His disciples along the Sea of Galilee, after His resurrection.  Please hear what occurred after they had eaten breakfast, that Luke saved for us in the 24th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 44 through 48…

44 Then [Jesus] said, “When I was with you before, don’t you remember My telling you that everything written about Me by Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must all come true?” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand at last these many Scriptures! 46 And He said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah must suffer and die and rise again from the dead on the third day; 47 and that this message of salvation should be taken from Jerusalem to all the nations: There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to Me. 48 You have seen these prophecies come true."

--Luke 24:44-48 (TLB)

You know, Family, so many times we forget what our bible has told us, what Jesus told us.  We bemoan that the world seems to be going crazy.  We lament the terrible things that happen, now more and more frequently.  We wonder why God doesn’t do something about it all.

Just as Jesus had to remind His disciples all that was written about Him and what would be done to Him, I too often find myself reminding folks that everything that is happening has to happen.  All of this, and more, has to take place before Jesus returns.  It’s all right there in our bibles.  And yes, this is terribly sad to hear.  So Jesus gave us a message of salvation to share with all people: there is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to Him, who follow Him.

Like the disciples, we have also seen the prophecies and promises Jesus spoke of come true, and we’ve seen many more fulfilled since.  Now we anxiously await our Lord’s return and complete fulfillment at last.  So let us keep our faith in the promises of God and His wonderful grace.  And let us share the message of salvation with all we encounter in our daily walk.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for giving us the faith to believe in and follow Your Son Jesus, whose resurrection serves as the promise of our own eternal life.  By Your great grace we receive salvation.  But sometimes, Father, we have trouble maintaining our trust and faith in You.  All the madness going on around us takes our attention away from You, takes our focus off the things of heaven, takes our eyes off Jesus.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  Please strengthen us to put our faith into action and carry out our mission while we draw breath.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for so selflessly giving of Yourself for our sake.  Thank You for Your unconditional, sacrificial love, and for loving us to the very end.  Please help us strengthen our faith by following Your word.  Help us reach out to others and be more open in showing our faith, in sharing Your words and Your works, in repeating Your message of salvation and the promise of life everlasting.  Help us carry out the mission You gave us to bring others to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.