What is salvation by, according to Les?
Salvation is by grace and faith, plus nothing. It is not by works of the law, circumcision, or any human effort added to grace. The Judaizers wrongly insisted on law-keeping, but the true message contrasts law and grace and rests entirely on God's grace received through faith.
Les teaches that the book of Galatians constantly draws the contrast between law and grace. The Judaizers were undermining the Galatian congregations by insisting that salvation could not be by grace alone, but required keeping the law and circumcision. Les notes that similar insidious ideas still creep into believers' lives and produce doubt, prompting Satan to suggest that they must do something more. Therefore, believers must stay in the Word, resting in the truth that salvation is by grace and faith, plus nothing.
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How is salvation received according to Les?
Les explains that Galatians constantly shows the difference between law and grace. The Judaizers were submarining the Galatian congregations by saying, “You can’t be saved by grace alone; you have to keep the law, you have to keep circumcision.” Les notes that while circumcision may seem past, believers today face many other insidious things that creep in, causing doubt and making them wonder, like his grandson, “Have I believed enough?” Satan then suggests, “Maybe I have to do this, maybe I have to do that.” The remedy is to stay in the Word, because salvation is by grace and faith, plus nothing. Christ accomplished it; it is finished, and He did not die in vain.