A good Bible expositor should be a theologian to some degree – he should know basic Bible doctrine.
But as an expositor, more importantly he must make sure that he understands the words of his text.
He shouldn’t try to read his theology into those words, at least initially.
He needs to know what the words mean in English, and he should understand their basic meaning in the original language.
He should try to understand what the SPEAKER MEANT by those words, and also what HIS HEARERS THOUGHT that he meant.
Then finally he should try to anticipate what HIS hearers might think when they first hear that scripture, and if he thinks that they will misunderstand it, then he needs to educate them.
In verse 28 there are four major words supported by a bunch of auxiliary words.
“Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.”
On Wednesday, we spent a few minutes thinking about one of those words: “Gentiles.”
I pointed out that it is a noun, not an adjective; it identifies them, but doesn’t describe them.
And they were a hungry people, proven by the fact that many off them were heartily receiving that gospel.
There are three other major words in this verse, which are glorious in any language.
But for the expositor who is looking at his New Testament in Greek, they just jump off the page.
“Soterion” ( so-tay’-ree-on ) – “salvation” – the root word for the study of salvation – “soteriology.”
“Theos” ( theh’-os ) – “God.” – the root word of “theology.”
And “apostello” ( ap-os-tel’-lo ) – “sent” – the verb form of “apostle,” a messenger from God.
This morning, I would like us to spend some time thinking about these three words and the way in which they are put together in this verse.
But as I’ve told you before, my parents, who were raised in another Christian denomination had no idea what I was talking about when I said that “the Lord had saved me.”
This is a common Bible word, and one which evangelical Christians often use.
But more & more, it has become an esoteric word, confined to the use of that particular KIND of Christian.
I hope that every member of our church could read this verse and briefly explain what Paul was saying.
But would the Jews, to whom he was first speaking, give the same explanation that you would give?
Salvation refers to DELIVERANCE.
After a cryptic prophecy which Jacob makes about his son Dan, the second use of the word “salvation” in the Old Testament was probably the standard Jewish understanding.
As Moses was leading Israel out of Egypt, Pharaoh and his army began an attempt to bring her back.
But “Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the SALVATION of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.”
In I Samuel 14 and again in chapter 19 when first Jonathan, and then David, lead Israel in defeating the Philistines, those victories were called “the salvation of the LORD.”
And I like the words of II Chronicles 20 when Judah under Jehoshaphat was in trouble:
“And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the SALVATION of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.”
But in the Psalms of David and other it takes on a spiritual meaning to augment the physical deliverance.
And then Isaiah and some of the other prophets sing the same kind of SPIRITUAL song.
When we come to the New Testament, this dual meaning is understood by the spiritually-minded people.
For example there was the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:67-79):
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
That we should be SAVED from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of SALVATION unto his people BY THE REMISSION OF THEIR SINS,
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
So the word “salvation” means “deliverance,” and when it was first being used, it spoke of deliverance from enemies, or from disease, or from other kinds of problems like debt or famine.
But that was selfish man’s use of the word, while the Lord had an higher version.
Slowly the more spiritual among Israel began to see that God’s highest form of salvation was of the soul.
And when we come to the Book of Acts spiritual salvation became the theme of the Apostles.
Acts 4:8-12 – “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.”
Food for that person is a blessing, and it can be his salvation from death.
When a person is enslaved by a foreign power, he might be in fear of his life, and the overthrow of that enemy can be called “salvation.”
But there is a starvation, a death and an enslavement which are not quite so recognizable, but just as real.
Turn to John 8:31 – “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; & ye shall know the truth, & the truth shall make you free.
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
When the Lord told them that they needed deliverance they denied it.
Although they were religious and beginning to listen to Jesus, they were, in fact, still slaves to sin.
And we are ALL slaves to sin – every child of Adam needs salvation.
If you have not been saved, then you are still in need of salvation, or you will spend eternity in the Lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
The first great word of this verse is “SALVATION.”
The war in Iraq, like the war in Viet Nam and a hundred other wars before them, have been explained and justified in a variety of different ways.
When weapons of mass destruction aren’t immediately found, there is always the argument about rescuing the enslaved.
But as we found in Viet Nam, and as we are learning in Iraq, some people don’t know they are enslaved.
Then there are some who want to be enslaved, & others who want to make sure that they stay enslaved.
There are freedoms which aren’t worth the paper that they are declared upon.
The people of Iraq, like the people of Indochina, and the people of North America are in desperate need of the deliverance that only God can provide.
Yes, some people are enslaved by inhuman dictators.
And yes, others are literally starving because of the wrath of their neighbors.
But if those dictators are overthrown and the economy is boosted, crops are raised and peace on earth prevails, yet if those people die without the salvation of God, then all has been in vain.
All the many salvations that man can provide, cannot rise to the ankle of God’s salvation.
Paul was taking the salvation of God to the peoples of the world.
It was a salvation that matched the character and attributes of the Lord:
God’s salvation CANNOT be given and WITHDRAWN, because ours is a God who does not change.
It is the Lord’s salvation, not the salvation of man.
This salvation was planned & commenced, not only before man sinned, but before man was created.
Man doesn’t cause it or deserve it; he doesn’t even really want it, until the Lord shows him what it is.
Salvation is the POSSESSION of the Lord and the GIFT of God.
Psalm 3:8: – “Salvation BELONGETH unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.”
Psalm 37:39: – “But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.”
Turn to Psalm 51:10 – “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.”
And in fact, salvation is so intimately enmeshed in the Lord, that the Bible describes it as actually being Him.
God is our salvation; the Lord Jesus is our Saviour and our salvation.
Psalm 27:1 – “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
Turn to Psalm 65:1 – “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”
Psalm 96:2 – “Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.”
Psalm 68:19 – “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. He that is our God is the God of salvation.”
Turn to Luke 2:25: – “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”
But if it is not God’s salvation then it is nothing at all.
Paul was one of the Lord’s apostles.
Our missionary, Tim Parrow, is in once sense of the word an apostle, and in the same sense, so am I,
An apostle is someone who has been sent by God for a particular purpose.
However, the few apostles that we see in the New Testament were special men especially sent.
I would prefer to limit the word “apostle” to those men; I think that it is correct to limit to those men.
Here the Apostle Paul declares that the salvation of God was being sent to the Gentiles.
I noticed that some of my commentaries suggested that Paul was talking about the gospel.
After thinking about that for a while, I have to say that although I don’t disagree, I don’t think that was quite what Paul was saying.
Yes, the gospel was being sent to the Gentiles, and it was even through that gospel that some were being saved, but what Paul said was that “salvation” itself was being sent.
What is the gospel?
It is the good news “how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
The gospel is the story of the salvation of God, but it isn’t that salvation itself.
God was sending both the story and the reality, first to Israel, and then to the Gentiles.
And there were many who were not Jews, who were hearing the gospel with their ears, hearing the Lord’s voice with their hearts, believing on Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and receiving the salvation of God.
That was something which had been prophesied in the Old Testament.
It was begun during the ministry of the Lord Jesus Himself.
It was crystalized during the ministry of the Apostle Peter.
And in Paul there was the chief of the Apostles to the Gentiles.
And that means that the door to Heaven and the blessings of the Lord have been opened to you and me – Gentiles according to the flesh.
Has God’s salvation been sent to you?
Has your heart been strangely warmed and then humbled before the Holy God?
Have your knees, back and neck been bowed and bowed before the Lord?
Have you found a faith in your heart to trust the One Who is Salvation?
You aren’t sure?
Give up all the human attempts at salvation.