Salvation Has Always Been By Grace Through Faith Alone

Acts 10:36-44, “The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.”

Acts 10:43 is very clear that “ALL THE PROPHETS” gave witness, that salvation has always been through faith alone in Jesus Christ! They didn't know the name of Jesus throughout the Old Testament, but they plainly knew about the coming promised Messiah. John 4:25, “The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.” The Bible teaches that ALL OF THE PROPHETS preached salvation through believing in Christ. That means Enoch, Noah, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Elijah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Elisha, Jonah, Joel, Amos, Zephaniah and Habakkuk (to name but a few), all preached salvation by faith. Habakkuk 2:4, “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”

There are many false teachers today, who falsely preach that people were saved by works in the Old Testament. They also claim that salvation during the future Tribulation period will again be by works. But they claim salvation today is by faith alone. So these false prophets literally are claiming that there are two different plans of salvation, applicable during different times of history. Some of these false teachers include Dr. Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016), Bryan Denlinger, Robert Breaker, Chett Hensley, William P. Grady and Pastor Gene Kim.

In the preceding YouTube sermon by Dr. Gene Kim, he errantly attempts to use The Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12 to support his heresy of salvation by works in the Old Testament. Matthew 7:12, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Kim is horribly taking the Bible out of context. Dr. Kim harshly refers to Free Grace Christians (such as myself) as “anti-dispensational salvation losers.” The truth is that Dr. Kim is a false prophet who espouses damnable heresy! 

I do not agree with dispensationalism. It is simply not found in the Holy Bible. Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) is one of my favorite Bible teachers. Dr. Ironside did teach dispensationalism at Moody Church and Moody Bible Institute. Dr. Ironside said that dispensationalism is not doctrine; but rather, a helpful overlay of the Scriptures to help the student learn the Bible. Although I don't have a problem with that per se, I wouldn't use it, simply because I have seen too many Bible students go wacky as a result. Dr. Gene Kim is a classic example, using dispensationalism to justify having a different plan of salvation under Mosaic law. Another example are Zionists, who place the emphasis upon Israel instead of the Gospel. My humble advice to you dear reader is to avoid dispensationalism, and anything else which is not clearly taught in the Bible.

In the preceding YouTube video, Dr. Kim makes a lot of insulting and bold claims that people were saved by works in the Old Testament. He repeatedly calls his critics in this doctrinal matter “losers.” Kim cites the following Scripture passage in an attempt to justify his heresy. This is the famous passage about the two men, who unknowingly walked with the risen Savior, on the road to Emmaus. Luke 24:13, 24-26, “And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. ...And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. Then he [Jesus] said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” I don't know where in the world Dr. Kim gets works for salvation out of this Scripture passage! The Bible plainly says that Jesus expounded the two men concerning Himself. That is exactly what Acts 10:43 says, To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”

Jesus called the two men fools for not quickly believing all that THE PROPHETS had prophesied concerning Him. Our wonderful Savior helped them to see clearly, expounding them by beginning in Genesis and working His way through the Old Testament concerning Himself. Oh what a wonderful Savior!!! But according to Dr. Gene Kim, Jesus explained to these two men that salvation was by works in the Old Testament. Dear reader, Dr. Kim is very wrong, incompetent as a theologian, and you should avoid all of his religious teachings. I say that kindly, but with Biblical authority! What saith the Scripture? Romans 16:17, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” Right doctrine matters!

Jesus' very own apostles didn't believe the ladies when they reported what they had seen. Mary Magdalene and other Christian women saw the empty tomb. Mary personally spoke with the Lord in His resurrected body. Yet the apostles didn't believe their report. Luke 24:11, “And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.” Wow! May we always be quick to believe the truth, but skeptical about anything that cannot be backed up soundly by the Scriptures.

Old Testaments Saints Were Only Saved By Faith

Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”

The following very helpful truths are being quoted from Dr. John R. Rice's invaluable verse-by-verse Bible commentary titled, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pages 250-252:

All Prophets Preach the Same Savior, the Same Plan of Salvation

Not only are the Apostles witnesses of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and above five hundred other witnesses who saw Him after His resurrection, but “all the prophets,” that is, every prophet in the Old Testament as well as the new Testament times, bears witness to the same Saviour and the same plan of salvation!

There are some who think that the Old Testament saints were saved by animal sacrifices and the ceremonies of the law. They are utterly mistaken. The sacrifices and ceremonies of the Old Testament were simply object lessons pointing to Christ and salvation by faith in Him. Baptism now pictures that one is buried in the likeness of Christ's death and raised in the likeness of His resurrection (Rom. 6:4, 5), and those that take the Lord's Supper in the bread and cup “do shew the Lord's death till he come” (I Cor. 11:26). So Old Testament sacrifices taught the same thing, that salvation is only through Christ. Every prophet in the Old Testament pictures Christ. So Jesus could preach to Nicodemus the Gospel from Numbers 21:5-9, about the serpents in the Wilderness. So Philip could preach to the Ethiopian eunuch from Isaiah 53:4-6, preaching the same Saviour and the same Gospel. It was this Saviour whom Abraham saw and believed in (John 8:56; Rom, 4:3). It was by faith in this Jesus that “Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,” the firstling of his flock which pictured an atoning Saviour. It is Christ and salvation by faith in His shed blood that is pictured in the passover.

There are those hyper-dispensationalists who think that John the Baptist preached a different Gospel from Christ when he commanded repentance (Matt. 3:2). But it is the same repentance Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17, in Luke 13:3 and 5, and the same repentance that Paul preached in Athens that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30 31). Repentance is not a different plan of salvation from having faith: it is part of the same plan of salvation. Or rather repentance is simply another way of describing or looking at the plan of salvation. One who turns from sin to God has done so by trusting in Jesus Christ. A change of mind toward sin is necessarily involved in saving faith.

Everyone who genuinely repented under the preaching of John the Baptist put his trust in the Saviour John the Baptist preached, and was regenerated. There is no such thing as being “a disciple of John the Baptist” in any honest sense without being a disciple of Jesus, that is, without trusting Christ for salvation.

There are those who think that Peter in Acts 2:38 and 39 preached that baptism was essential to salvation when he said, “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 Ghost.” But the phrase “for the remission of sins” could well be translated “referring to the remission of sins” for the indefinite preposition of reference and so used many, many times in the Bible. People are not baptized in order to be saved, but baptized with reference to the salvation they had when they repented. So it has always been among Bible-believing Christians who follow the Scriptures.

So here in Acts 10:43 we have the statement by Peter, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Get this great doctrinal matter settled: God has only one plan of salvation and that is all He ever had! He has only one Saviour, and that is Jesus Christ. Every Old and New Testament prophet agrees in this that “whosoever believeth in him shall have remission of sins.”

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 250-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

Boy I love that! The Old Testament ceremonial laws, just like the Lord's Supper and water baptism today, were object lessons. These were NOT necessary to be saved. Salvation was always by faith, as we read in Habakkuk 2:4b, “the just shall live by his faith.” In Number 21:9, all God expected of the Israelites was to LOOK AND LIVE. Jesus used this passage to teach the Gospel to Nicodemus in John 3:14-16. Isaiah 45:22 teaches to LOOK AND LIVE! Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Salvation has always been by grace through faith in Christ.

The Just Shall Live By Faith

Galatians 5:13-14, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” If Dr. Gene Kim is correct in his theory that people were saved by works in the Old Testament, then a person can be saved by fulfilling The Golden Rule. The obvious inherent problem with this theory is that no human being (except Jesus - Hebrews 4:15) has ever been able to perfectly keep the law. That is why we need a Savior!

Habakkuk 2:4, “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” The Apostle Paul quotes from Habakkuk 2:4 in the following passage:

Galatians 3:9-14, “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

There is absolutely no way for Dr. Kim, Robert Breaker or anyone else, to weasel their way out of this Scripture passage to teach salvation by works in the Old Testament. Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 to reiterate the truth that salvation is by faith alone. Paul even states that no man is justified by the law in God's sight. It would be absurd for Paul to quote the Old Testament, if they had followed a different works-based plan of salvation in Habakkuk's time.

I beseech you dear reader to be very cautious listening to Bryan Denlinger, Robert Breaker, Gene Kim, or anybody else who is wrong on the plan of salvation in the Old Testament. Bryan Denlinger preaches hardcore Lordship Salvation, wrong on salvation then and now! I am tired of hearing well-meaning Christians attempt to whitewash these heretics, by emphasizing that they believe New Testament saints are justified by faith. Listen, something is wrong with their theology! These men have bugs in their thinking. 

If Salvation Were Ever By Works, Then God Would Owe Someone It

The very fact that a preacher could entertain the false idea of people being saved “SOME OTHER WAY” is cause for great alarm! John 10:1, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” Since the beginning of human civilization, salvation has always been promised by God to those who place their trust in the Savior.

The following passage of Scripture 100% unequivocally PROVES, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that no one has ever been saved by the works of the law:

Romans 4:1-4 “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.”

What Peter Ruckman, Gene Kim, Robert Breaker, Chett Hensley, William Grady and Bryan Denlinger are literally teaching, by saying that people were saved BY WORKS in the Old Testament, is that GOD OWED THEM SALVATION!!! I didn't say that, God did! Please read Romans 4:1-4 again if you missed it. The Bible says if Abraham had been saved by works, then salvation wouldn't have been by grace, but of debt. Dear friend, do you really think God owes anyone eternal life? Do you think God owed everyone salvation in the time of Moses, who attempted to obey the Mosaic laws but utterly failed? It blows my mind that any preacher could even think of following such a disastrous, heretical, unbiblical, and theologically irresponsible notion—to teach that anyone has ever been redeemed by keeping God's law.

Romans 4:2-4 “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.” Please don't miss that! If Abraham had been saved by works, then he would have had justifiable grounds to brag of his own self-righteousness. No human being has that right! These heretics, like Dr. Peter S. Ruckman, claim that Abraham was saved by faith, but then salvation became by works under the Mosaic law. That is utter nonsense and heresy! 

The same argument made by the Apostle Paul in Romans 4:1-4 regarding Abraham, absolutely applies to every human being! No one, not at any time in human civilization, has ever been owed salvation by God. As we just plainly read in Romans 4:1-4, if salvation were by works, then it would be of debt and not of God's grace. That eternal truth didn't change under the Mosaic law. Salvation has ALWAYS been solely by God's undeserved grace, provided through the blood sacrifice on His only begotten Son on the cross.