Luke 19:9, “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”
In Luke 19 we find a little man, Zacchaeus, who was rich and the chief among
the publicans. He sought to see Jesus but could not because of the group of
people (“press”) and his short stature. He climbed up a sycamore tree and
Jesus found him, and told him He must stay at his house that day.
Luke 19:1-5, “And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.”
What happened with Zacchaeus? He got saved. We know this to be true because
the next verse tells us he received Jesus.
Luke 19:6, “And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.”
This caused the people to murmur, that Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the
world, would be the guest of a sinner! After coming down and receiving Jesus
Christ as his Saviour (by believing on Him), Zacchaeus vows to restore
fourfold anything he has taken by false accusation.
Luke 19:7-8, “And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he
was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and
said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor;
and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore
him fourfold.”
Finally, Jesus said unto Zacchaeus that salvation is come to his house, and
that he was a son of Abraham.
Luke 19:9-10, “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to
this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is
come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Why did Jesus call Zacchaeus a “son of Abraham”? Because he received Christ
as his Saviour by faith. Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians, affirms that
whosoever is born again by faith in Christ is the seed of Abraham.
Galatians 3:6-9, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the
same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be
of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”
Galatians 3:26-29, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if
ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the
promise.”
Also note that Luke 19:6 tells us that Zacchaeus RECEIVED Jesus when he came
down from the tree. The book of John tells us that they who RECEIVE Christ
as their Saviour by faith become sons of God.
John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
In other words, Zacchaeus was not saved because he made promises (giving
half of his goods to the poor, restoring fourfold the things he had taken by
false accusation), and he was not saved because he called Jesus “Lord”
(confession). He also was not saved, according to the scriptures, because he
got baptized, went to church, kept sacraments, asked Jesus into his heart,
made Jesus Lord, or stopped sinning! He was saved because he received Jesus
Christ as his Saviour by faith! Salvation is that simple, because it is a
free gift!
Romans 5:12-18, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there
is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them
that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the
figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free
gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of
God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded
unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the
judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences
unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much
more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of
one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness
of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”
It was the Lord Jesus Christ who did all the hard work of sinlessly keeping
the law and sacrificing Himself for us, that our sins could be forgiven and
we could have eternal life. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, was
buried, and rose again the third day for our justification. That is the
gospel of salvation that we must believe to be saved; our works WILL NOT
save us from eternity in the lake of fire! Only Jesus can save us if we
believe His gospel!
1 Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye
stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto
you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all
that which I also received, 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:”
