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Greetings!Rev. Scott Jones has been an American Baptist minister since 1997. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa, growing up in Iowa and South Dakota. He received his Bachelor of Arts in vocal music at Iowa State University in 1994 and earned a Masters in Divinity from Northern Seminary in 1997. He was ordained in 1997 in the Mid-America Baptist Churches (Iowa and Minnesota). Scott is the 21st minister of the First Baptist Church of Greensburg.
Scott first responded to Jesus in faith as a young child and was baptized at age 13. He has been blessed throughout his life with wonderful role models in his parents, ABY youth group, and ABC summer camp, where he was invited to say “yes” to the Lord’s call on his life. His ministry is about worship, preaching, teaching, evangelism, and relationships. He uses his musical background to lead people into the presence of God. He is involved in our Region as instructor of New Testament with the Academy of Christian Training and Service (ACTS), our lay-pastor training institute. He also sings with the Irwin Male Chorus. |
Pastor's Newsletter
God’s Word is unequivocal in its assertion that the only way to eternal life is by God’s grace, through faith in the finished work of Jesus. The bold statement of Christ leaves no room for doubt about His meaning: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) That is because He, alone, is the sinless Son of God. He is the One we all sin against, thus breaking fellowship with Him and dooming ourselves to eternity apart from Him. As the aggrieved party, only He can forgive. Only He can make provision for our redemption. Only in Jesus is there the sharing of divine and human natures that is needed to serve as the Mediator between God and humanity. As Paul explains in 1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV), “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” In all of the world’s history, only one Man lived a perfectly sinless life, and only He could therefore make a perfect sacrifice to redeem us. No other religious leader or system can offer this; there is only One God, who Has made provision for our redemption through His One and Only Son.
We all know that this is a deeply unpopular claim among those who hold other religious beliefs. We live in a society with a great plurality of spiritual paths. The conventional wisdom of the day insists that there are many paths to God. So long as one is sincere and dedicated, due credit will be given and the door to eternity will be opened. It’s a time when every life choice, every spiritual belief must be esteemed as equally valid. Those who claim universal tolerance display the gaps in their own system, however, when they refuse tolerance to a significant part of the world—to the monotheists, who believe that their god is the only way. Those people must not be tolerated, under any circumstances. They are to be reviled and cast out. The hatred displayed in these cases gives the lie to their “tolerance,” the central tenet of their own belief.
Scripture does not budge in the face of their opposition, however, and neither must we. To the Jewish Sanhedrin, who were deeply offended at the Apostles’ proclamation of Jesus as the only Way, it was paramount that these men be forbidden from speaking in that Name. Peter did not budge, any more than Scripture does. After telling them that they had crucified God’s own Messiah, he proclaimed, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NKJV) To the Ephesian church, Paul declared that to be without Christ is to be “without hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12 NKJV) I don’t think that the Bible can be any more clear about this, regardless of how many people hate it. It is not loving, moreover, for Christians to compromise the exclusive claim, made by Christ Himself, that He is the only way. Heaven forbid that, by our laxity, we might encourage someone onto a false path that would divert them from eternal life!
Consider the diseases which used to wipe out catastrophic numbers of people, leaving their families shattered with grief. But, one glorious day, a scientist stepped forward, having developed the vaccine that could prevent the disease and stem the tide of all that suffering and death—Jonas Salk, for instance, who discovered how to defeat polio with a vaccine comprising dead virus. This would cause the body to produce antibodies to the disease before it could contract it. (He did his research at Pitt, you know!) When the vaccine was released to the public, families rejoiced. So many of them had experienced the loss or tragic handicap of their children. My own aunt, Shirley, had to spend time in an iron lung when she was young. Imagine the glorious news, then, when families learned that their children would be protected from that terrible scourge. I doubt that any of them balked at being told that there was one, and only one vaccine available at that time. They simply would have been so relieved to know that there was a way to keep their kids well. Sin is a far worse disease than any mortal condition, and it is eternally fatal. There is just one remedy for it, the atoning power of Christ’s blood, and it seems unjust to quibble about the fact that He is the only way to redemption. As for me, I’m just overjoyed that Jesus loved me enough to save me.
Though in my mind, it’s unreasonable to argue against the idea that there is one path to salvation, people have been arguing for a very long time. The "salvation through Christ alone" position has been persecuted since the time of the Romans, who presided over a pluralistic, polytheistic culture. You’re probably thinking: that sounds a lot like our time! You’d be right about that, and that’s why this issue is especially relevant today. With time, Christianity became the official religion of Europe, and people were expected to be Christian. You might say they were required to be. Things started to change with the Age of Exploration, from the mid-1400's to the mid-1700’s. At that time, the churches of the Western world were forced to realize that the world was full of people of other faiths--people God loved, according to the Christian Bible. But if these people are raised in areas where a different religion is taught, how will they get a chance to hear and respond to the Gospel? What happens to them if they never do? People began to worry that the message of salvation through Christ alone was inconsistent with a God who "so loved the world." How could we really say that those who, by accident of their birthplace, might never hear the Gospel and thus be doomed? If God is truly loving, how could he eternally punish people for breaking His laws that they know nothing about? This is one of the conundrums that have most concerned Christians over the years, and I don’t think we should judge people who are concerned about it. After all, it represents a sincere desire to faithfully represent a God who identifies Himself as love personified.
We need to weigh in the balance those Scriptures which proclaim that God is love, and Christ’s own proclamation that He is the only way to the Father—that His shed blood is the only atonement available for our sin. We must also resist the human temptation to relativize Scriptures which make us uncomfortable, in favor of Scriptures that we find clearer and more palatable. When we take up God’s Word—any part of it—we are reading divine Truth that does not change. If we struggle to understand how it works together, it doesn’t indicate a flaw in His Word. It indicates a flaw in our understanding. Every part of Scripture works together to present a unified Truth. God’s love for all, and the singular path of salvation through Christ, are both part of the same Truth, even if we have to study to see how. So, we are going to spend a little time on this subject. Given the fact that people have struggled with it for so long, the likelihood is small that this humble preacher is going to clean it all up for you in one sweep. I would like to set the Scriptures out, however, and suggest some perspectives to help us move in the right direction.
Starting with what you do understand in the Bible is the first step in approaching what you do not understand. Here’s a question we can answer: if salvation is by Christ alone, how were the people saved who lived hundreds or thousands of years before Christ? The Old Testament is full of the stories of those whom God loved and favored. They walked closely with Him, and He blessed and used them mightily. Moses and Abraham are prime examples. Exodus 33:11 (NKJV) says, of Moses: “So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” Their close fellowship, I’ll remind you, began before Christ and before the law was given. How could God so favor and love him, then? What of Abraham, 500 years before there was a Moses, or an Israel? In Isaiah 41:8, God calls Abraham “my friend;” this was affirmed in James 2:23—“he was called the friend of God.” In the case of both men, however, I want you to notice something very important: God introduced Himself to them, and they responded in faith. I could give you other examples, such as Enoch and Methuselah, centuries before Abraham, or Elijah, who was such a close friend to God that he was chauffeured to heaven in a fiery chariot. These men were all accepted and greatly beloved by God, centuries before Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Most of them were so esteemed even before the sacrificial system was set up in Exodus. If it is as Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me,” how did the Old Testament saints find redemption and acceptance by God?
The answer might surprise you. They found it the same way we do: by the blood of Jesus. You might react with, “What? How is that possible? These people lived and died long before Jesus was even born into this world, and before He offered Himself on the cross!” It’s only natural if you think that, because we live in the linear march of time. God, however, does not; He created time and lives outside of it. He is able to see past, present and future, all at the same time. He can view it as a whole, and intervene in the stream of it anywhere He wants to. Though Jesus was not crucified until circa 33 A.D., God knew, from the beginning, that He would be, and He is fully able to extend the atoning sacrifice of Jesus to people of genuine faith who lived, chronologically, before Jesus was born. In Revelation 13:8, Jesus is called the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” What a curious way to describe Him! It makes it sound like Jesus was crucified for our sin when the world was first created, or even before! That just shows the profound difference between God’s perspective and ours. Since He’s not bound by time, God is capable of making His actions, that look future to us, apply in the past as well. In the case of Christ’s salvation of all believers, past, present and future, this is what theologians call the retroactive application of Christ’s sacrifice. Let’s look at it from the standpoint of an Old Testament believer.
When a faithful Israelite brought a sacrifice to atone for his sins, he understood that he was forgiven. But, it wasn’t the blood of that animal that actually effected the forgiveness. The New Testament explains that, even from the beginning, the blood of Jesus was necessary for the sacrifices made in faith by people of the Old Testament to be effective. The blood of the bull, sheep or goat did not bring the forgiveness—the animal was a symbol of the true atoning blood that would wash away their sin, though the Old Testament saints didn’t understand it at that time.
Before the Law had been given, though, men like Noah and Abraham were also considered by God to be in a right relationship with Him. But how? They had no code of sacrifices to atone for their sins; what made them right with God? We’re given the answer in Genesis 15:6 (NKJV)—“And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” It was Abraham’s faith, and the faith of every Old Testament saint, that made them right with God. But, faith in what? It was certainly not faith in their own righteousness, nor was their faith some kind of work that merited their salvation. They placed their faith in God, knowing that He’d promised them a home with Him, and that, somehow, He would work it out in accordance with His promise. This is expressed powerfully in Hebrews 11:13-14, 16 (NKJV)
In summary, we can now see how God secured the redemption of the Old Testament saints the same say that He secures ours: through the atoning blood of Jesus, which alone can wash away our sins and bring us the gift of eternal life. This is taught clearly by God’s Word, though it may take some study to understand. We’re going to use this clear teaching to come to grips with the murkier question I introduced at the beginning: if God is all-loving, and wants all people to be saved, what does this mean for those who, we think, have never heard the Gospel? It will take more discussion to get there, but for now, remember that God is at work to get the Gospel to more people than we’re aware of, and that He can apply the saving blood of Jesus to those who simply trust in the promises of Him, the ONE true God.
Your Brother and Servant,
Pastor Scott.
We all know that this is a deeply unpopular claim among those who hold other religious beliefs. We live in a society with a great plurality of spiritual paths. The conventional wisdom of the day insists that there are many paths to God. So long as one is sincere and dedicated, due credit will be given and the door to eternity will be opened. It’s a time when every life choice, every spiritual belief must be esteemed as equally valid. Those who claim universal tolerance display the gaps in their own system, however, when they refuse tolerance to a significant part of the world—to the monotheists, who believe that their god is the only way. Those people must not be tolerated, under any circumstances. They are to be reviled and cast out. The hatred displayed in these cases gives the lie to their “tolerance,” the central tenet of their own belief.
Scripture does not budge in the face of their opposition, however, and neither must we. To the Jewish Sanhedrin, who were deeply offended at the Apostles’ proclamation of Jesus as the only Way, it was paramount that these men be forbidden from speaking in that Name. Peter did not budge, any more than Scripture does. After telling them that they had crucified God’s own Messiah, he proclaimed, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NKJV) To the Ephesian church, Paul declared that to be without Christ is to be “without hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12 NKJV) I don’t think that the Bible can be any more clear about this, regardless of how many people hate it. It is not loving, moreover, for Christians to compromise the exclusive claim, made by Christ Himself, that He is the only way. Heaven forbid that, by our laxity, we might encourage someone onto a false path that would divert them from eternal life!
Consider the diseases which used to wipe out catastrophic numbers of people, leaving their families shattered with grief. But, one glorious day, a scientist stepped forward, having developed the vaccine that could prevent the disease and stem the tide of all that suffering and death—Jonas Salk, for instance, who discovered how to defeat polio with a vaccine comprising dead virus. This would cause the body to produce antibodies to the disease before it could contract it. (He did his research at Pitt, you know!) When the vaccine was released to the public, families rejoiced. So many of them had experienced the loss or tragic handicap of their children. My own aunt, Shirley, had to spend time in an iron lung when she was young. Imagine the glorious news, then, when families learned that their children would be protected from that terrible scourge. I doubt that any of them balked at being told that there was one, and only one vaccine available at that time. They simply would have been so relieved to know that there was a way to keep their kids well. Sin is a far worse disease than any mortal condition, and it is eternally fatal. There is just one remedy for it, the atoning power of Christ’s blood, and it seems unjust to quibble about the fact that He is the only way to redemption. As for me, I’m just overjoyed that Jesus loved me enough to save me.
Though in my mind, it’s unreasonable to argue against the idea that there is one path to salvation, people have been arguing for a very long time. The "salvation through Christ alone" position has been persecuted since the time of the Romans, who presided over a pluralistic, polytheistic culture. You’re probably thinking: that sounds a lot like our time! You’d be right about that, and that’s why this issue is especially relevant today. With time, Christianity became the official religion of Europe, and people were expected to be Christian. You might say they were required to be. Things started to change with the Age of Exploration, from the mid-1400's to the mid-1700’s. At that time, the churches of the Western world were forced to realize that the world was full of people of other faiths--people God loved, according to the Christian Bible. But if these people are raised in areas where a different religion is taught, how will they get a chance to hear and respond to the Gospel? What happens to them if they never do? People began to worry that the message of salvation through Christ alone was inconsistent with a God who "so loved the world." How could we really say that those who, by accident of their birthplace, might never hear the Gospel and thus be doomed? If God is truly loving, how could he eternally punish people for breaking His laws that they know nothing about? This is one of the conundrums that have most concerned Christians over the years, and I don’t think we should judge people who are concerned about it. After all, it represents a sincere desire to faithfully represent a God who identifies Himself as love personified.
We need to weigh in the balance those Scriptures which proclaim that God is love, and Christ’s own proclamation that He is the only way to the Father—that His shed blood is the only atonement available for our sin. We must also resist the human temptation to relativize Scriptures which make us uncomfortable, in favor of Scriptures that we find clearer and more palatable. When we take up God’s Word—any part of it—we are reading divine Truth that does not change. If we struggle to understand how it works together, it doesn’t indicate a flaw in His Word. It indicates a flaw in our understanding. Every part of Scripture works together to present a unified Truth. God’s love for all, and the singular path of salvation through Christ, are both part of the same Truth, even if we have to study to see how. So, we are going to spend a little time on this subject. Given the fact that people have struggled with it for so long, the likelihood is small that this humble preacher is going to clean it all up for you in one sweep. I would like to set the Scriptures out, however, and suggest some perspectives to help us move in the right direction.
Starting with what you do understand in the Bible is the first step in approaching what you do not understand. Here’s a question we can answer: if salvation is by Christ alone, how were the people saved who lived hundreds or thousands of years before Christ? The Old Testament is full of the stories of those whom God loved and favored. They walked closely with Him, and He blessed and used them mightily. Moses and Abraham are prime examples. Exodus 33:11 (NKJV) says, of Moses: “So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” Their close fellowship, I’ll remind you, began before Christ and before the law was given. How could God so favor and love him, then? What of Abraham, 500 years before there was a Moses, or an Israel? In Isaiah 41:8, God calls Abraham “my friend;” this was affirmed in James 2:23—“he was called the friend of God.” In the case of both men, however, I want you to notice something very important: God introduced Himself to them, and they responded in faith. I could give you other examples, such as Enoch and Methuselah, centuries before Abraham, or Elijah, who was such a close friend to God that he was chauffeured to heaven in a fiery chariot. These men were all accepted and greatly beloved by God, centuries before Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Most of them were so esteemed even before the sacrificial system was set up in Exodus. If it is as Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me,” how did the Old Testament saints find redemption and acceptance by God?
The answer might surprise you. They found it the same way we do: by the blood of Jesus. You might react with, “What? How is that possible? These people lived and died long before Jesus was even born into this world, and before He offered Himself on the cross!” It’s only natural if you think that, because we live in the linear march of time. God, however, does not; He created time and lives outside of it. He is able to see past, present and future, all at the same time. He can view it as a whole, and intervene in the stream of it anywhere He wants to. Though Jesus was not crucified until circa 33 A.D., God knew, from the beginning, that He would be, and He is fully able to extend the atoning sacrifice of Jesus to people of genuine faith who lived, chronologically, before Jesus was born. In Revelation 13:8, Jesus is called the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” What a curious way to describe Him! It makes it sound like Jesus was crucified for our sin when the world was first created, or even before! That just shows the profound difference between God’s perspective and ours. Since He’s not bound by time, God is capable of making His actions, that look future to us, apply in the past as well. In the case of Christ’s salvation of all believers, past, present and future, this is what theologians call the retroactive application of Christ’s sacrifice. Let’s look at it from the standpoint of an Old Testament believer.
When a faithful Israelite brought a sacrifice to atone for his sins, he understood that he was forgiven. But, it wasn’t the blood of that animal that actually effected the forgiveness. The New Testament explains that, even from the beginning, the blood of Jesus was necessary for the sacrifices made in faith by people of the Old Testament to be effective. The blood of the bull, sheep or goat did not bring the forgiveness—the animal was a symbol of the true atoning blood that would wash away their sin, though the Old Testament saints didn’t understand it at that time.
Before the Law had been given, though, men like Noah and Abraham were also considered by God to be in a right relationship with Him. But how? They had no code of sacrifices to atone for their sins; what made them right with God? We’re given the answer in Genesis 15:6 (NKJV)—“And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” It was Abraham’s faith, and the faith of every Old Testament saint, that made them right with God. But, faith in what? It was certainly not faith in their own righteousness, nor was their faith some kind of work that merited their salvation. They placed their faith in God, knowing that He’d promised them a home with Him, and that, somehow, He would work it out in accordance with His promise. This is expressed powerfully in Hebrews 11:13-14, 16 (NKJV)
- “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country…Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
In summary, we can now see how God secured the redemption of the Old Testament saints the same say that He secures ours: through the atoning blood of Jesus, which alone can wash away our sins and bring us the gift of eternal life. This is taught clearly by God’s Word, though it may take some study to understand. We’re going to use this clear teaching to come to grips with the murkier question I introduced at the beginning: if God is all-loving, and wants all people to be saved, what does this mean for those who, we think, have never heard the Gospel? It will take more discussion to get there, but for now, remember that God is at work to get the Gospel to more people than we’re aware of, and that He can apply the saving blood of Jesus to those who simply trust in the promises of Him, the ONE true God.
Your Brother and Servant,
Pastor Scott.
