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VIEW PERSONAL BELIEFS
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POSTED BY:
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prisonchaplain
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DATE:
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18.11.2008 |
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SUBJECT:
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I was, am being, will be saved |
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LOCATION:
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Federal Way, WA, United States
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SALVATION
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Introduction:
When Christians first meet each other, they sometimes ask, “When were you saved?
The answer is usually either a specific date, or a vague reference to having grown up in the church and having embraced Christianity from early childhood.
Both answers are acceptable, but neither is complete.
Scripture: 1 John 5:13: These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Proposition: There are three stages of salvation.
Interrogative: What are the three stages of salvation?
Transition: We need to know that we HAVE BEEN SAVED, that we ARE BEING SAVED, and that we WILL BE SAVED.
I. Do you know that you have been saved?
A. Saved from what?
1. It’s a reasonable question.
a. After all, Monica Lewinsky was recently saved by Jennie Craig from 32 lbs of fat.
b. More people are concerned with their weight than they are with their souls.
2. Romans 3:23: Saved from our sins. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
3. Romans 6:23: Saved from death. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
B. How does salvation happen?
1. John 3:16:
a. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
b. God makes salvation available through faith in Jesus Christ.
2. 1 John 1:8-9:
a. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
b. We recognize our sin, and ask Jesus to forgive us.
Transition: Besides having already saved us, God is also in the present business of saving us.
II. Do you know that you are being saved?
A. Saved from what?
1. The power of sin. Romans 6:1-2: What shall we say, then?
Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Romans 6:6-7: For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
a. Recall that it was sin that had us facing death.
b. Though God has forgiven our sins, he still hates sin. He wants us to stop sinning.
c. When Jesus enters our lives and breaks the power of sin over us.
d. We now have the power, through Jesus Christ, not to sin.
2. We are being saved from Satan’s control: Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.
3. We are being saved from the loneliness that comes from separation.
a. From God the Father. John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
b. From God the Son. Rev 3:20: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
c. From the Spirit. Psalm 139:7-8: Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
d. From the people of God.
i. We must not forsake meeting together–as some are in the habit of doing. Hebrews 10:25: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
ii. We must love one another. 1 John 4:7-8: Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
iii. Give more attention to your Christian brothers than you do the world. They will know we are Christians by our love.
B. How does the process of being saved take place?
1. We are saved from sin by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. Galations 5:19-23: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness 20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
2. We are saved from sin by our willful submission of our bodies to God. Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
3. We are saved from Satan’s control by understanding our limitation, and by calling upon the unlimited power of God to deliver us. Zecharia 4:6
4. We are saved from loneliness by welcoming God and his people into our lives, daily, hourly, moment by moment.
Transition: God has and is saving us. God also WILL save us.
III. Do you know that you will be saved?
A. Saved from what? Hellfire. Revelation 20:13-15: The sea gave up the dead that were in it, And death and hades gave up the dead that were in them, And each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
B. How does it happen?
1. We get saved by following the A B Cs.
ADMIT we are sinners. 1 John 1:8
BELIEVE Jesus can save us. John 3:16
CONFESS our sins, and call on Jesus to forgive us because of his sacrificial death on the cross of Calvary. 1 John 1:9
2. We keep growing and strengthening our salvation through dependence on God, and through obedience to his will.
i. THE GREAT COMMISSION says we are to obey all that Jesus has commanded us.
ii. The story of THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY reminds us that once we have received God’s mercy we to “Go and sin no more.”
iii. Our will, combined with the power of God, can deliver us from the grip and temptation of sin.
iv. “The fruit of the flesh” vs. “the fruit of the Spirit”. This passage was written to Christians.
v. Obviously we are capable of both, and must embrace the Spirit to live holy.
vi. Note that we do have a part in the development of our holiness.
vii. But it’s a part that humbles us. We recognize our inability to live God’s way, and call out to God to empower us to think, say, and do what he wants.
3. We are assured that we WILL BE SAVED from the coming wrath of God, by maintaining our relationship with God, and our reliance on him.
CONCLUSIONS
1. We have spiritual foundation because WE ARE saved. We are saved from our sins and our broken relationship with god.
2. We have spiritual motivation because WE ARE BEING saved. We are being saved from current temptations and from the plans of that lying, thieving, murdering devil.
3. We have spiritual aspiration because WE WILL BE saved. We will be saved from the Lake of Fire and from eternal salvation. We will be saved unto an eternal life of peace and joy with our god and his people.
4. Remember that God + 1 makes a majority!
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