UNDERSTANDING OUR SALVATION 1

UNDERSTANDING OUR SALVATION

All of us sin.  We need God.  We need Christ to go between our sinful self and our Maker, God.

            Romans.3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

                Gal.3:22  But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ

              might be given to those who believe.   

SIN?  Not just murder, stealing, etc.  We have wrong attitudes and do things with which God is not pleased.  Even our selfishness and pride is sin.  We sin with our tongues.  We all have sinned.  Christ Jesus was the only one without sin and He is the only One that can cleanse us from that sin.

            1 John 1:7,8  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another

             And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.  8. If we say that we have no sin, we

             deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

The lack of truth is sin!

WHAT DOES SIN DO?

            Isaiah 59:2  But your sins have separated you from your God, And your sins have hidden His face

              from  you so that He will not hea..

                Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our

                Lord.

We must pay for our sin unless we accept Christ paying for it with His death on the cross.

We could never pay for our sins ourselves.

FAITH

            Gal.3:22  But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus

                Christ might be given to those who believe.

Faith is not just mental consent.  Many would say, “I believe”, but do nothing to show it;

however, belief is where we must begin.

            Heb.11:6  But without faith, it is impossible to please Him for he who comes to God must believe

                that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

            John 3:16  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.

Peter recognized the Truth that we must believe.

            Matthew 16:16  Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Just believing is not enough.  We have to act upon that faith which includes obedience.

OBEY

            John 3:36  He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not

                see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.  (NASB)

                John 14:23  Jesus replied, If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love

                Him and we will come to him and make our home with him. (NIV)

                James 2:19   You believe that God is one.  You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

The demons may be believers but certainly are not ready to become Christians.

REPENT

Repentance is to feel remorse or regret for sins and then turn and change the mind, actions, and attitudes in keeping with God’s Word.  It is difficult to admit we are wrong.  It takes humility.  We set aside self and let the Lord live in us.  We let go of our old life and turn to follow Christ in a new life. 

            Acts 3:19  Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of

                refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

                2 Corinthians 7:10  For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be

                regretted’ but the sorrow of the world produces death.

                Acts 2:38   Then Peter said to them, “Repent and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of

                Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

These were the instructions given to the very 1^st converts to Christianity.

Sometimes people hold on to the fact that they are fairly “good” and don’t do anything “bad”.  We still have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  We all need the saving power of Jesus before God, our final judge.  Jesus is like our lawyer before God.  He has paid the debt of our sin for us.

            Romans 10:2  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their

                own righteousness have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

                Hebrews 9:28  So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a

                second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

CONFESS

We must believe that Jesus is the Son of God as Peter confessed in Matthew 16:16.  We

cannot be ashamed. 

            Matthew 10:32  Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My

                Father who is in heaven.

                Romans 10:10  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession

                Is made unto salvation.

           

A promise of salvation is promised with faith, with repentance, and with confession.  The Bible does not ever say ONLY with any one of them.  We need all three.  We can never take one verse and make a doctrine from it.

BAPTISM

Baptism seems to be a subject of contention and yet it is the one element of salvation that all examples contain.  We learn by COMMAND, PRINCIPLE, and EXAMPLE.  The following will give all three.

Baptism is the final step of becoming a Christian.  Jesus could have chosen whatever He desired.  He chose baptism.

• It takes humility for someone else to dip you.
• It takes desire of obedience to succumb to such an act.
• It has to be done for the right reason and with the right attitude (not just get wet)
• Most important—it is a symbol.

                  Jesus’ death – We die to sin and self.

                  Jesus’ burial—Our old life and will is buried under.

                  Jesus arose—We come up out the water to live a new life in Christ.

The Greek word for baptism is baptizo which means immerse.  Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness.

            Matthew 3:15  But Jesus answering said to him, “permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting

                for us to fulfill all righteousness.”  Then he permitted Him.

God acknowledged  Jesus as His son and showed His pleasure in Him as He was baptized.

            Matthew 3:16,17  After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold ,

                the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him.

                And behold a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I

                am well-pleased.”

Jesus commanded His disciples:

            Matthew 28:19  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name

                of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

                Mark 16:16  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be

                condemned.  (A person would not be baptized if he didn’t believe.)

The first gospel sermon included these things and 3000 men did just that.

            Acts 2:38  Then Peter said to them, “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of

                Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.