Saved the Same Way

No Difference

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The first workers complained that the owner had made the late workers “equal to us” (Matthew 20:12). In God's family, everyone who trusts Jesus is made equal in that same way. No one has a head start, and no one is second-class.

No difference. Paul wrote, “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace” (Romans 3:22-24). Everyone needs the same Savior, and everyone receives the same gift.

One God for all. Paul asked, “Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also” (Romans 3:29). Because there is only one God, He makes everyone right with Him the same way, through faith (Romans 3:30).

A big question. In the first years of the church, many people who were not Jewish began to trust Jesus. Many of them had grown up worshiping idols, far from God's law. Some Jewish believers said these new believers had to keep the law of Moses to be saved (Acts 15:1, 5).

A meeting in Jerusalem. The apostles and leaders of the church met to talk it over. Peter stood up. He reminded them that God had given the Holy Spirit to the non-Jewish believers, just as He had given Him to them (Acts 15:7-8).

No distinction. Peter said that God made no distinction between the two groups. He had made their hearts clean by faith (Acts 15:9).

A heavy load. Peter asked why anyone would put a heavy load on the new believers that even the Jewish people had never been able to carry (Acts 15:10). No one is saved by carrying the law. Everyone is saved by grace.

Saved the same way. Then Peter said that they believed they were saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as the newcomers (Acts 15:11). Peter had followed Jesus from the very beginning. Yet he said he was saved exactly the way the newest believers were.

One body. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:13). In Jesus, we belong to one family, whatever our background.

One cross for all. Christ died for our sins and rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The same Savior who saved Peter saves every person who trusts Him today.

What to do. Welcome new believers as full members of God's family. Learn their names, invite them to join you and pray for them. If you are new to Jesus, know that you belong just as much as anyone.

“You made them equal to us” (Matthew 20:12). The first workers meant it as a complaint. In the church it is the good news: everyone who comes to Christ is made equal by grace.

No difference (Romans 3:22-24). “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace.” The same sin and the same grace remove every claim to a head start.

One God, one way (Romans 3:29-30). “Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” Because there is one God, there is one way to be made right with Him, and it is the same for everyone: faith.

The question at Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-6). As Gentiles, people who were not Jewish, believed in Jesus, some teachers insisted that they must keep the law of Moses to be saved. The apostles and elders met in Jerusalem to settle the question.

Peter's testimony (15:7-9). Peter reminded them that God, who knows the heart, had given the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles just as He had to the Jewish believers. God made no distinction, purifying their hearts by faith.

A yoke no one could bear (15:10). Peter asked why they should test God by putting a yoke on the disciples that neither their fathers nor they had been able to bear. The law shows our need, but it cannot carry anyone to God.

In the same manner (15:11). Peter concluded that Jewish believers are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same manner as the Gentiles. Peter put it in a surprising order: he, a disciple from the very beginning, said he was saved like the newcomers, not the other way around.

One body. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13). Background and history do not create ranks in Christ.

The ground of equality. All of this rests on the cross. Christ died for our sins and rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The same blood that saved the first believers saves the newest one.

Application. Treat new believers as full brothers and sisters, not as people who must earn their place. If you are the newest one, stand on the same ground of grace as everyone else.

Last of All

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Paul wrote a list of people who saw Jesus alive after He rose from the dead. At the end he said, “Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:8). Paul was the last one on the list.

Born out of due time. Paul meant that he came to Jesus at an unexpected time, after everyone else. The other apostles had walked with Jesus for years. Paul met the risen Jesus later, on the road to Damascus. The risen Jesus spoke to him, and Paul's whole life was turned around.

Grace alone. Before he trusted Jesus, Paul had hurt Christians, and he said that he was what he was only by the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:9-10).

Less than the least. Years later, Paul called himself less than the least of all God's people. Yet he said that God had given him grace to tell non-Jewish people about the riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8). The man who came last never claimed a better place. He was simply thankful.

Not too late. Can a person do too much wrong to come to God? No. Paul shows that no one is too far gone. God saved a man who had fought against His church. But do not put it off: “now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

An example of patience. Paul later wrote that God showed him mercy so that he would be an example of Jesus' patience to everyone who would believe after him (1 Timothy 1:16). Paul's story is good news for every latecomer.

Not too young. Are you too young to really belong? No. Your trust in Jesus counts just as much as anyone's. He welcomes children as gladly as grown-ups.

The same gift. Paul came last, but he received the same gift as Peter and John: forgiveness, the Holy Spirit and eternal life. Jesus died for our sins and rose again so that this gift could be given freely.

A life of thanks. Paul wrote, “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

What to do. Thank God that His grace made you who you are. Then serve Him gladly, not to earn His love, but because you already have it.

“Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:8). Paul listed the witnesses of the risen Christ: Peter, the twelve, more than five hundred believers, James and all the apostles. Then he put himself at the very end.

Out of due time. Paul's phrase pictures a birth that comes at the wrong time. He came to faith after the others, outside the time when the risen Jesus was seen by the first witnesses. He was, in his own words, the last.

By grace (15:9-10). Paul called himself the least of the apostles because he had persecuted the church, and he said that he was what he was by the grace of God. His standing rested on grace, not on his record or his timing.

Less than the least (Ephesians 3:8). Paul later called himself less than the least of all the saints, yet said grace was given to him to preach the riches of Christ among the Gentiles. The latecomer never claimed a better place. The lower he placed himself, the more he spoke of grace.

A pattern for latecomers. Paul later wrote that he received mercy so that Jesus could show all His patience in him, as a pattern for those who would believe afterward (1 Timothy 1:16). The apostle who came last became a living picture of grace.

No regret about timing. Coming late to Jesus does not mean receiving less. Coming early does not mean earning more. Paul and Peter stood on the same ground. But grace is never a reason to wait: “now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Faith that rests on Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). The life Paul lived, he lived “by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

The gospel for every hour. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Because of the cross and the empty tomb, the door is open to the first and the last alike.

Application. Stop measuring your faith by how long you have had it. Let grace make you humble and hard-working, and give God the credit for every good thing He does through you.

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