GOD HAD A LAW
Thank you and a most pleasant good morning to each one who has
honored us with your time and attention. It is good to have you in
our audience and I trust that you have your Bible, a pencil and some
paper to jot down what we shall say. Be sure to call someone and
remind them of these broadcast from Sunday to Sunday. Now to our
lesson for the morning.
How often have men expressed the following statement: "Man is
not saved by law: he is saved by grace and therefore what man does
has nothing to do with his salvation." Have you ever heard someone
say that? Perhaps you have even voiced that opinion. The idea is, if
man had to do something to be saved, it is "by law" and not of
"grace"; it is by "works" and not by "faith." But, my dear friends,
this is the wrong conception of both "law" and "works." One who so
states that conviction does not understand how the "grace of God"
saves man, neither does that one understand how "salvation by grace
through faith" (as stated in Ephesians 2:8, 9) is bestowed upon man.
No man can be saved by "law" or "works" separate and apart from the
"grace of God." Likewise, no man is saved by "grace" or through
"faith" apart from "obedience unto God." The "grace of God" bestows
upon man the blessings of God, "through faith," when that "faith
obeys the commands of God." What we must all learn is, when God gives
a law, or a command, it must be obeyed. Just because man has to obey
God, does not mean it is NOT by "grace through faith." The grace of
God has provided the remedy which man could not provide, and the
faith" on man's part appropriates the blessings provided by that
"grace," by obeying the Savior's orders or commands. It has always
been so in every age of God's dealings with mankind. Many MUST obey
God!!
In 2 Kings, chapter five we find the story of a man named
Naaman. Naaman was captain of the host of the king of Syria. But,
Naaman also was a leper. In verse two of 2 Kings 5, we read, "Syria
had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and
she waited on Naaman's wife." This girl said unto her mistress,
"Would my lord (Naaman) were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for
he would recover him of his leprosy." When Naaman told this to the
king, the king of Syria sent Naaman to the king of Israel, with gold
and silver and a letter on introduction from the king of Syria.
But, the king of Israel could not heal Naaman of leprosy. In
like manner, too many people today in search of salvation are going
to the wrong source for their information. Man must come to God's
Word, the Bible. It and it alone is the revealed will of God to man.
Elisha, the prophet of God, heard of the events and sent to the
king of Israel and said to him, "Let him (Naaman) come now to me, and
he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." The scriptures tell
us "Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at
the door of the house of Elisha." The prophet sent his servant out to
tell Naaman what to do. He said, "Go and wash in the Jordan SEVEN
TIMES and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be
clean." This enraged Naaman. The Bible said he was wroth. He was
angry, mad. God's commands had made him angry. Why? Because things
did not happen like he thought it would be. Hear him as he says, "I
THOUGHT, he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name
of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover
the leper." You see, he had it all figured out. When God's law did
not meet with his approval, he turned away in anger. Is it possible
that this same thing happens today when God's plan of salvation does
not suit man's way of thinking? My friends, God has a law, God said,
through the prophet, "Go wash seven times in the Jordan River." As
Naaman turned back toward his homeland, mad at God's prophet, he
said, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all
the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean? So he
turned and went away in a rage. He evidently thought the "water"
would cleanse him. But not so. It was God's grace, unmerited favor
that would heal him; but, it would not heal him until Naaman obeyed
"God's law" and did what the prophet told him to do. Notice, Naaman
did not misunderstand what the prophet told him to do. He just did
not accept it as necessary. Anytime man's thinking contradicts God's
law, serious things happen.
It was then that Naaman's servant said, "My lord, if the prophet
had bid thee to do some GREAT THING, wouldst thou not have done it?
How much rather then, when he saith to thee, wash and be clean?" The
servant was wiser than his master. How often today men want to do
some great thing to please the Lord. All the while ignoring the
simply commands of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Naaman accepted this
wise advice from his servant. He had come there a a leper. no power
of his own could cure him. He was returning a leper to die. He had
God's remedy and was mad at the prophet of God for giving it to him?
All because it was not like HE THOUGHT it should be. So he reversed
his steps, went to the Jordan and dipped himself seven times beneath
the water. Question: Why did Naaman go and wash? It was because he
suddenly trusted the words of the prophet of God. Was he healed the
moment he TRUSTED GOD'S PROMISES. Oh no! He was not healed until he
obey the words of the prophet and dipped seven times. If God's grace
always blesses without law or commands, he should have been cured the
moment his faith trusted the promise of God to heal him. This man
washed once, twice, six times, and yet was a leper. May I ask you,
Why this? Here is a faith obeying; a faith trusting; and yet he is
not cured. The answer is very clear: "God had a law." That law said,
"Dip seven times." And not until that law was obeyed would the grace
of God heal his leprosy. My friends, none in this listening audience
can successfully deny this. He dips the "seventh" time and his "flesh
because as that of child," (verse 14).
Question: Did Naaman trust in the "water" to heal him? Listen to
his own words, "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but
in Israel." He did not turn to the water and praise the water. He
knew where the power was, and he knew WHY that power healed him. It
was when he surrendered his will to the will of God. He knew it was
God's grace that had healed him. He also understood that GOD HAD A
LAW. Naaman was not cleansed until he obey that law. God's grace
works through his laws, his commandments. Read with me 1 John 2:3-5,
"He that saith, I know him and keepeth NOT HIS COMMANDMENTS is a liar
and the truth is not in him."
Suppose on his way to the Jordan he had met a man who told him
that all he had to do was just "believe," "trust God" for the cure.
If you have to "wash in Jordan" you will be trusting the water; it
will not be by the grace of God. Suppose another would have said to
him, "You are to wash because you are already healed"; just to show
the world you are already cured. What do you think would have
happened to Naaman? Do you think he would have been healed? You well
know he would not have been healed. God had a law and that law
commanded Naaman to go and "wash (dip) seven times IN Jordan and thou
shalt be clean." It was only after he obeyed the law of God that he
was cleansed. No power in the water; the power was in God. But, only
when he was willing to DO what the prophet commanded of him.
Stay with me now for just a few more minutes, and listen very
carefully. When we come to the New Testament we read in Romans 3:27
that God has a law. The apostle Paul calls it "a law of faith." It
is through this law that "God's grace through faith," is able to
bless us with salvation.
What has the Lord said to sinful mankind? Has Christ offered
salvation? And if so, what has He said? Has God given a law with
respect to man's salvation from sin? I hear Christ Jesus stating in
Mark 16:15-16, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to
the whole creation. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned." What is God's "law of
faith" here for the salvation of man? Did you hear?? "He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Man often reacts to this
command in the same manner that Naaman reacted. Man has his own ideas
about how God ought to save him. And more often than not man's ideas
run contradictory to the Lord's commands. Notice that Christ placed
between the "sinner" and his "salvation" the command to be baptized.
Just as he placed "dip seven times" between Naaman and his cleansing.
Here also, God has a law. A law that the sinner must respect and
obey. In Acts 2:38, the apostle Peter states, "Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ FOR THE
REMISSION OF SINS, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy spirit."
Here again is stated God's law for the pardon of sinners. This law
includes "baptism for the remission of sins." Not because sins have
already been forgiven. Not to demonstrate to the world that one's
sins have been forgiven, but in order to have sins forgiven.
Jesus says, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."
But, man comes along and says, "Now I think, the water cannot save
you." "If you have to be baptized in order to be saved you will be
trusting your own works to save you." What if the sinner believes
this? Do you think God's grace will save him any more that it would
have cleansed Naaman, had he not obeyed the command to dip seven
times?
Yes, my dear friends in the radio audience, GOD HAS A LAW of
salvation. In that Law man must believe God. Hebrews 11:7, "Without
faith it is impossible to please him." Man must repent of his sins.
Acts 17:31, "The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now
he commandeth men that they should everywhere repent." Man must be
baptized. As seen in Mark 16:16 above. This is God's law. It must be
obeyed. We have the right to choose to do or not to do the law of
God. But, my friends, if you choose to do the law of God, you have no
right to choose how or which law. You must choose to do what the Lord
commands in the way that He commanded it be done.
Be as Naaman. Do what has been commanded. The Lord will bless
you. You will become the recipient of the grace of God. You will be
saved by grace through faith. When was Naaman cleansed? When he
dipped seven times. When is man saved? When he/she is baptized for
the remission of sins. Isn't that what Jesus Christ promised?
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