9.25.16~”The Fundamentals of Salvation”
“The Fundamentals of Salvation”
In previous studies we have looked at the Work of God in Salvation, the Work of Christ in Salvation, and the Work of the Holy Spirit in Salvation.
We have studied how God the Father initiated salvation (by sending His Son), how God the Son paid the full price for our salvation, taking our punishment (by His death on the cross), and how God the Holy Spirit made our salvation effectual (birthing us into God’s family by indwelling us and making us a new creation).
But today, I want to look at salvation from a little different perspective with you. I want to consider what the Bible says about our salvation being real, being eternal, and also being experienced while we are still on this earth.
What makes all of mankind guilty of sin (Romans 5:12-21)?
Salvation is never accidental! No one has eternal life, no one goes to heaven, neither by mistake or coincidence, for to be “saved,” “born again,” “born from above,” or “born of God,” is sovereignly done by God (John 1:12-13; 14:6).
When a person acknowledges and repents of their sin, believing in and confessing Christ as Savior and Lord, they are eternally saved (John 3:16; 11:25-26; Romans 10:9-10, 13).
Biological conception is often the result of accident, mistake, or irresponsible behavior, as is evidenced by the 1.6 million abortions each year.
Spiritual birth is never a mistake; but is the result of God’s mercy and grace being accepted by faith.
Every person born into the family of God, personally receives God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life, this can never be lost by us, given back, or taken away from us.
What about someone who says, “I used to be a Christian” (see Romans 8:28-30; 1John 2:18-25). Can a true believer in Christ ever depart from saving faith? (See Romans 8:35-39;11:29).
Listen, salvation can’t be received by a nation, a race, a family, or a group; it must be accepted one person at a time; just like coming through the small gate onto the narrow road (cf. Matthew 7:13-14).
We have a great example of what is necessary for salvation, in the story of a jailer in the book of Acts (see 16:25-33). Notice (v. 30), the jailer asks Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?”
The jailer in Acts 16 was just doing another nights work when his whole life (and that of his whole family) was about to be changed: there was an earthquake, prisoners were freed, and the jailer was going to end his own life. At that moment, God reached out to the jailer's heart and offered him forgiveness and eternal life.
Many times it takes a tragedy or calamity before a person gives any thought to God’s existence, let alone to His free gift of forgiveness and eternal life.
The jailer was at the point of death (v. 27) when he asked what he needed to do to be saved, Paul and Silas replied (v. 31), “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved -- you and your household.”
Most humans have never come to the point of realizing, let alone acknowledging, their need for forgiveness, the payment Christ made for their sins, let alone that they must believe in and confess Him as their Savior and Lord, and then follow Him by obeying God's Word.
There was urgency in the jailer's question!
Less than four months ago. Moon Kim, a dear sister in the Lord, died and went to heaven. She fell asleep, and she woke up in the presence of the Lord.
Psalm 17:15, "And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness."
There are many people who walk away from an encounter with the gospel message who don’t have a tomorrow or another chance to accept God’s offer.
Salvation is the most important thing in all of eternity.
On October 8, 1871 D.L. Moody had just given a stirring message to challenge the hearts of his listeners in the large meeting hall in Chicago, IL; in closing, he said, “I want you to take home the question ‘What shall I do with Jesus?’ and come back next week with your answer.”
That very night (in fact, screams and sirens could be heard at the closing of Moody’s message) the great fire which destroyed Chicago began to rage.
Many of the people Moody challenged to come back the following week with their answer concerning what they would do with Jesus, well, they didn’t have another week, for many of them died that very night, apart from the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Never again did Moody close a message without making clear the urgency with which every individual must personally decide, “what they are going to do with the gospel message about Jesus Christ.”
The jailer in Philippi had no desire to wait until tomorrow or next week. He wanted to know right then, right now, what he had to do to be saved. Every man, woman, and child of age must personally respond to this very same question and believe in Jesus Christ.
Paul didn’t tell the jailer he needed to change jobs, take a bath, or start going to church. Paul directed the man to Jesus and told him that he must believe in Jesus Christ, the only One who could set him free, forever.
Not only the jailer (vv. 32-33), but every member of the jailer's family also “believed” was “saved,” and immediately identified with Christ in baptism.
In John 11, Jesus was speaking to Martha about Lazarus who had been in the grave for four days:
John 11:25-27, Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? 'Yes, Lord,' she told him, I believe that you are the Christ the Son of God.”
In John 11:43-44, Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave and he came out, alive!
There is not a more important question to ask than this one, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer has always been the same, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
If you want to spend eternity in heaven with God, you must believe in Jesus Christ for salvation.
1John 5:11-12, "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
Jesus never has, nor will He ever, turn anyone away who is seeking forgiveness for their sins through Him; after all, He is the Savior, God’s Salvation.
You can study the fundamentals of salvation indefinitely, but the question you must answer is this. Have you received it? Have you asked Jesus Christ to forgive your sins? Have you believed in Him as Savior and Lord? I urge you today, if you have not already done so, to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
Do you remember why God’s Son was given the name Jesus? When the angel Gabriel came to Joseph in Matthew 1:21, he said, “You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Acts 4:12, “There is no other name under heaven given to men, by which they must be saved [only Jesus Christ the Lord].”
The fundamental teaching on salvation is expressed in Acts 2:21, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” and Acts 2:38, “Repent... in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins”
Why does God save us? So we will tell others the message of salvation, that they too might be saved.
2Corinthians 5:14-21, “Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Pastor Mike <‘(((><