1. Saved from what?
Genesis chapter 5 The descendants of Adam…..and he died, and he died, and he died……..
he died, and he died……..
2. What is our number one bottom line problem? Death…. We die !
100% mortality rate.
But most people believe in some concept of an afterlife. Many feel they are basically good and will go to heaven based on their goodness. Only really bad people go to hell. Many feel that eternal life can be earned by doing more good that bad. Some believe in practicing some form of religious ceremony or keeping a code of rules or conduct will save them.
“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:21
Not only do we die physically but even more importantly we are born spiritually dead.
When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.Gen 5:3 (NIV)
We inherit a birth defect from our parents. This we call “original sin”, which is the result of a disconnect between our spirit and the Spirit of God.
3. What is death? Death does not mean extinction. It means separation.
We come into the world with a dead spirit, a carnal sinful nature, with no hope of connecting to God or obtaining eternal life.
The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. Romans 8:7-8 (NIV)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? Jer 17:9 (NASB77)
Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil. Jer 13:23 (NIV)
and their lawless deeds.” Heb 10:17 (ISV)
And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6 (NKJV)
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11 (NKJV)
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor 2:14 (NIV)
“There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”Romans 3:10-12 (NIV)
So let’s recap our situation.
1. We are dead spiritually to any hope of experiencing God or the things of God.
2.We sin because we are sinners, it is our nature. It is
impossible for us to obey God. (Romans, 6:23 the wages of sin is death)
3. Romans 5:10 calls us “enemies of God” in need of reconciliation.
4. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience Eph.2:1-2
5. We are unable to understand the call of God.(For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.) 1 Cor 1:18 (NIV)
The apostle Paul puts it like this:
For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Romans 7:15-24 (NASB77)
Who indeed!
4. So what is the first step in the process of being saved? The first step in being saved is to recognize that you are lost.
On April 14 1912 HMS Titanic carrying 2224 passengers hit an iceberg off the coast of Nova Scotia, and in two hours sank. 1519 people lost their lives mostly because of an arrogant belief that the Titanic was “unsinkable”. First of all their were only lifeboats enough for 1178 passengers, after all why take up all that space with life boats on an “unsinkable” ship. Secondly only 705 passengers got into the life boats because many did not take the danger seriously. Many of the life boats were only half full. In some ways this disaster is a picture of the world today. This world is heading for disaster, Jesus is saying “come get in the lifeboat”, but most of the world’s passengers are not conscious of the danger.
In the book of Acts The Philippian Jailer recognized his lost condition and the resulting danger.
What must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved– Acts 16:30-31(NIV)
5. So that’s the bad news, what is the good news? The Gospel.
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me 1 Cor 15:1-8 (NKJV)
6. Ok so a Jewish carpenter/rabbi died on a Roman cross 2000 years ago. How does that help me? After the defeat of the slave rebellion lead by Spartacus in 71 B.C. the Romans crucified 6,600 of Spartacus’s followers along the Appian Way from Brundisium to Rome. What is one more crucifixion?
The Essence of Christianity
The essence of the gospel message is that God has achieved eternal salvation for all who will believe, through the work of the sinless Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who died on the cross of Calvary as the sinbearer of the world. In a word, salvation was accomplished for men by the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.
(1) While the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus are of great value and import to the Christian, it is His death on the cross which saves us.
While it is essential to understand that the life and teachings of our Lord proved Him to be qualified for the work of the cross, it was His death on the cross that brought salvation to men. His teachings instructed men and prepared them for his death, but His death actually saved them. His miracles authenticated His teaching and helped to establish His deity, but His death is what accomplished our redemption.
Thus we must see the cross of Calvary not just as a part of the gospel; it is the heart of it.
(2) The death of Christ was not an accident or an after-thought, but a part of the plan of God from eternity past.Some have attempted to teach that Jesus died a tragic martyr, misunderstood and killed by an unfortunate turn of events. The Bible tells us that our Lord’s death was a part of God’s eternal decree, determined before creation:
… knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a Lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you …(1 Peter 1:18-20).
“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father” (John 10:17-18).
(3) The death of Christ was substitutionary. Jesus did not die for His own sins, because He was guiltless:
… knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19).
… who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed (1 Peter 2:22-24).
When John the Baptist introduced our Lord, he exclaimed,
”Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Jesus said of His purpose in life and death,
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
(4) In His death our Lord died in our place, bearing the penalty for our sins. The prophet of old announced that the coming Messiah would be a sinbearer:
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him(Isaiah 53:4-6).
The apostle Paul wrote,
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him(2 Corinthians 5:21). WOW!!!
(5) The death of Christ was a final, once-for-all, payment for sins. In the Old Testament God merely passed over the sins of the nation (cf. Romans 3:25-26). The blood of the sacrificial animals did not forgive sins. These bloody sacrifices did not bring pardon, but merely a reprieve. By offering the sacrifice, the Old Testament saint expressed the faith of one who looked forward to the coming of the “Lamb of God.”
… and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12).
It is because of this that our Lord could confidently say from the cross,“it is finished!” (John 19:30).
The work of the cross was complete, final. Sins were paid for in full. No more payment was needed.
(6) In large measure, the work of the cross can be summarized in four words: redemption, propitiation, justification, reconciliation.
Redemption refers to God’s purchase of a people for Himself. The price paid is the blood of Christ. At times the emphasis is on the idea of buying back, with the imagery being that of the slave market. We have been purchased out of bondage to sin by the work of Christ on the cross
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Col 1:14
Propitiation describes the appeasement of the righteous indignation of God, which is aroused by our sin. God’s standards have been violated, His word ignored or rejected. The wrath of God is thereby incurred by fallen man. The death of Christ satisfies the demands of justice, and God is now able to deal with us in mercy and grace. In a sense, propitiation points to God’s being appeased. If I am angry because you have offended me, but you then appease me, the problem will be removed. Thus propitiation brings in the personal element and stresses that God is no longer angry with us. Propitiation is the result of expiation. The expiation is the act that results in God’s changing His attitude toward us. Expiation is what Christ did on the cross. The result of Christ’s act of expiation is that God is propitiated. It is the difference between the ransom that is paid and the attitude of the One receiving the ransom.
As Hal Lindsey put it, “God ain’t mad us anymore”.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1John 2:2(NKJV)
Justification has a two-fold reference. In the first place, justification refers to our innocence under the Law and our resulting immunity from condemnation under the Law’s requirements. Our sins have been borne by Christ on the cross. Our penalty has been paid, and so the Law has no claim on us. God therefore declares us innocent, justified. Beyond this, justification declares us to be positively righteous in God’s sight. While our sins were imputed to Christ, His righteousness was imputed to us and so God, as judge of the earth, declares us to be both free from guilt and deserving of the rights and privileges of righteousness.
“I will never again remember their sins
The result of all these is reconciliation. We who were once alienated from God by our sin (Ephesians 2:11ff.), are now brought near through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:16ff).
Reconciliation: After WWII there was a lot of anger toward Japan, Japanese people and Japanese products. I remember talking to veterans who had been tortured in Japanese prison camps. I remember people talking about “the Japs”. Anything “made in Japan” was considered junk. The Japanese even resorted to putting “made in USA” on their products (Usa being the name of one of their cities) in an attempt to hide the fact that it was made in Japan. Now there is almost complete reconciliation between our two countries. Many of us drive Mitsubishi automobiles or watch Mitsubishi televisions. Mitsubishi was the manufacturer of the Japanese Zero, the fighter which shot down hundreds of U.S. planes during the war. Now Japan is considered one our closest allies. This is reconciliation.
7. So, what about our number one problem?
Jesus referred to it as being “born again”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”John 3:5-8 (NKJV)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
“Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.” John 14:6
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, 1 John 5:11-13 (NKJV)
So it appears that eternal life has something to do with believing in the Lord Jesus. But believing what.
Believe that Jesus died for our sins, a fulfillment of prophetic scripture. We have over three hundred scriptures concerning the Messiah.
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 Mark 8:31-32 (NKJV)
Surely He has borne our griefs
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
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. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Romans 10:9-13 (NKJV)
Jesus died an all sufficient , vicarious, substitutionary death on the cross.
He was truly “the Lamb of God”.
For almost 1500 years the Jewish priests would kill innocent lambs as a ritual ceremony, symbolically covering the sin of the people with the blood. A picture of what the messiah would accomplish to the nth degree.
SAVING FAITH THEN IS CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE Lord as believing that he paid the price for your sins. Paid the price, this is redemption, buying back something that was formally lost.
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, 1 John 5:11-13 (NKJV)
8. So, what happens the moment that I call on the Name of the Lord, trusting in the finished work of the cross?
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:5 (NIV)
Rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. No longer is my spirit
dead but now it is alive and the Holy spirit, the Spirit of Christ, comes and lives in me.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me Gal 2:20(NASB77)
“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5
“the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:17 (NKJV)
“For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!”
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Romans 5:9-10 (NKJV)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die John 11:25-26 (NIV)
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.“ John 5:24
“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.‘ ”(John 14:6)
9. So, if I say “I am saved”, “I am being saved”, “I will be saved” what would I be taking about.
There are three parts to salvation. Past, present, future.
Justification: which would encompass many of the things we previously talked about. This happens at a point in time.
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. John 5:24 (NKJV)
Sanctification
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; Phil 2:12 (NKJV)
6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 Phil 1:6-7 (NKJV)
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, Romans 8:29 (NKJV)
Glorification
Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 1 John 3:2(NLT)
Let me tell you a secret. Not all of us will die, but all of us will be changed— 52 in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet. Indeed, that trumpet will sound, and then the dead will be raised never to decay, and we will be changed. 1 Cor 15:51-52 (ISV)
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality [1Cor. 15:53].
Notice the word must — it is emphatic. We cannot go to heaven as we are now. We cannot go to heaven with the old bodies we have. We wouldn’t be able to see what is really up there, nor could we hear the music. Our bodies are quite limited. We are almost deaf and blind as far as heaven is concerned. Even here on earth there is so little of the spectrum that we actually see and so little of the sounds that we actually hear. If we went to heaven in these old bodies, we would miss half of what was taking place. And, my friend, when I go up there, I don’t want to miss a thing! Therefore I’m going to need a new body. “This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” —J. Vernon McGee’s Thru The Bible
10. So is this salvation thing totally my choice or is God involved also?
“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44 (NKJV)
Actually, the word translated “draw” is drag. That is divine
election. You ask me to explain it? I can’t explain it at all, friend; I just know that you have a free will, and you can exercise it. God holds you responsible for it, and you know you are responsible. You know right now you can come or not come. It’s up to you. —J. Vernon McGee’s Thru The Bible
The Jews resisted the drawing of God. Only those accept Jesus whom God draws to him. The word which John uses for to draw is helkuein (<G1670>). The word used in the Greek translation of the Hebrew when Jeremiah hears God say as the King James Version has it: “With loving-kindness have I drawn thee” (Jer 31:3). The interesting thing about the word is that it almost always implies some kind of resistance. It is the word for drawing a heavily laden net to the shore (Jn 21:6, 11). It is used of Paul and Silas being dragged before the magistrates in Philippi (Ac 16:19). It is the word for drawing a sword from the belt or from its scabbard (Jn 18:10). Always there is this idea of resistance. God can draw men, but man’s resistance can defeat God’s pull.—Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
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