It’s time again for the Super Bowl: Chili Cook-Off! Once again we will gather together on “Super Bowl” Sunday to taste, critique, and prayerfully enjoy chili prepared from different recipes. Some recipes have been passed down through the generations, some from cookbooks, some from online resources, and some are made up simply “to taste.” No matter the source of the recipe, someone is going to be recognize as having the “winning recipe” for their chili.
God has given us a winning recipe in His Word. The winning recipe is not how to make Esau’s best red stew (chili?), instead He has given us the winning recipe for salvation.
The winning recipe is called “The Gospel” and it wins all of the time! In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, we are told what the Gospel is: “3 [. . .] that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” The Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It is the “gospel” (the good news) because it is by the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we are saved (1 Corinthians 15:2).
So what’s the recipe? First, we start with God’s grace. In Ephesians 2:8 we read, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” We are saved by the grace of God, but does that mean everyone is saved by doing nothing? John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It is important that we believe. We are saved by our belief in Jesus, or our faith, by the grace of God. Is that all to God’s winning recipe? Well, Romans 10:9‑10 tells us, “9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” We are saved by our confession along with our faith, by the grace of God. Does that mean we can continue to go on sinning? 2 Corinthians 7:10 tells us, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” God’s winning recipe tells us that we are saved by our repentance along with our confession and faith, by the grace of God.
Now, if you were to try to enter God’s Kingdom without the rest of the ingredients to His winning recipe, you would not be permitted to enter into His presence. So, what other ingredients are in God’s winning recipe? 1 Peter 3:21 gives us a very important ingredient, comparing it to Noah and the flood, telling us that “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” God’s winning recipe includes how we enter into the New Covenant of Christ and are saved: baptism.
So, baptism, along with our repentance, confession and faith, by the grace of God is God’s winning recipe for salvation. But what about cooking time? While salvation is granted when we enter into His Kingdom at our baptism, we must continue to remain faithful in order to receive the winning award of salvation. Revelation 2:10 tells Christians to “Be faithful until death, and I [Jesus] will give you the crown of life.” The cooking time for God’s winning recipe is a lifetime of faithfulness.
Everyone who enters our annual Super Bowl Chili Cook-Off enters to win, but there will be only one winning recipe. Winning chili recipe or not, with God’s winning recipe for salvation we can all be winners as we “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13).”
