Salvation – Get All the Pieces!

Question: Why was Bubba so happy when he finished his jigsaw puzzle in six months? Answer: Because on the box it said 2 – 4 years! If you don’t "get it" you are what we call "puzzled!" A puzzle is a game, toy, or problem that requires careful logic and thought and sometimes, as in the case of a jigsaw puzzle, effort to put together. The goal in "putting a jigsaw puzzle together" is not just to pile all the pieces of the puzzle on a table. The goal is to arrange and fit them together accurately so that the intended picture or image becomes complete. Many know first-hand how frustrating it can be to get well into assembling a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle only to discover there is a "missing piece!" Even with a thousand piece puzzle, the picture just isn’t complete unitl you find and insert that one missing piece!

The New Testament’s teaching about salvation from sin can be likened to putting together a puzzle. That is, we have to "put the pieces together" to get the whole picture. For instance, one piece is found in the apostle Paul’s statement in Romans 14:2-3 about Abraham. That passage reads, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness’ " (quoting Genesis 15:6). Besides belief, in Romans 3 Paul mentions justification (3:24a) and God’s grace (3:24b) as other pieces of the puzzle of salvation. Faith is stressed again in Romans 3:22 where Paul explained that "the righteousness of God" is through "faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe." Again in Romans 3:28 it is declared that "a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law." But careful, friend. Right here is where some people distort the puzzle and picture. For instance, Martin Luther, in reacting against the perverted teaching of his day that men could merit and earn salvation by certain religious acts, unnecessarily and unjustifiably added the word "alone" to Paul’s statement in Romans 3:28. The New Testament asserts we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), but it never teaches salvation is by "grace alone" through "faith alone." We are told Jesus is "the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (Hebews 5:9). Hebrews 11:8 tells us "By faith Abraham obeyed" God. James 2:21-22 brings another piece to the puzzle – "Was not our father Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ " Salvation by God’s grace neither contradicts nor negates the need for a faith that obeys the gospel (see Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21)! To get the complete New Testament picture of salvation, you must get ALL the pieces! Do you have them? Think about it.

--Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN