The Gospel: How We Live Part 2
The Gospel: Our Lifeblood • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 37:17
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· 24 viewsThis series tackles foundational issues about the gospel and the Christian life. What is the gospel? Why is the gospel important? How do I know if I’m saved? How does a person go from being dead in sins to being a citizen of God’s kingdom? What is our identity in Christ? How should we live now that we are children of God? Regardless of whether you’re a mature follower of Christ or an unbeliever, these are truths that, for the sake of eternity, you can’t live without.
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Three Foundational Truths in Salvation...
Three Foundational Truths in Salvation...
We’re in again this week. If you remember last week we said Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians because they were having some selfish relationship issues with each other within the church. So in light of all that, Paul says conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of Jesus Christ. That’s why he comes to this point in ...
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; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
“Work out the ramifications of the gospel in your heart, in your life. Work those out every day, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Now based on that, we looked last week at the three components of salvation. Now I want us to look at the three foundational truths in salvation that are all over these two verses. I want us to look at these truths in light of the second facet of salvation, this process of being saved. Truth number one...
The grace of God undergirds every facet of salvation.
The grace of God undergirds every facet of salvation.
The grace of God undergirds every facet of salvation.
What we have got to realize is that it is the grace of God at work at the point that we are saved, but it is also the grace of God at work as we working out our salvation each and every day, the process of sanctification.
I know this passage sounds like it’s work we do, but don’t miss it. Look at the way verses 12 and 13 flow together. They are linked by one important word. Verse 12 says we are to work out our salvation. How can this happen? Verse 13…For it is God who works...
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; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
In other words, what he is saying is the only way you can work out your salvation is if God is working in you. So who is the actor in this part of salvation? It is God. Just as God is the one who brought us to salvation, God is the one who carries us through this whole picture of salvation. The grace of God undergirds the whole thing. Think about it in three different levels. First of all, think about the fact that...
Grace is our message…
Grace is our message…
From beginning to end, grace is our message. Think about it with me...
We need the Gospel to know Christ.
We need the Gospel to know Christ.
Now that sounds very basic. But there’s a very dangerous tendency to leave the gospel at that point at which we know Christ and go on to bigger and better things trying to figure it out. We leave the gospel behind. We need the Gospel to know Christ, but second...
We need the Gospel to grow in Christ.
We need the Gospel to grow in Christ.
The gospel is the means by which we are saved, but it’s also the means by which we are being saved, or as we said last week, “being delivered from the power of sin” or sanctification.
One writer put it this way, “The gospel isn’t one class among many that you will attend during your lifetime as a Christian. The gospel is the whole building that all the classes take place in.” We have the mentality that we need the gospel at that certain point, and we move on apart from the gospel. The reality is our souls are sanctified by Christ, forgiven by Christ, given new life by Christ, our souls need to feed on the gospel day after day after day. It is the foundation by which we live today as followers of Christ. It is all based on the gospel. The gospel is the foundation for every dimension of our lives. That is the message of grace. Second...
Grace is our master…
Grace is our master…
We take the term master from when Paul said, “Sin shall not be your master because you are not under law, but under grace.” I want us to think about how grace has conquered sin, who was our master… has conquered it in two ways. Number one...
By His grace, we are free from the penalty of sin.
By His grace, we are free from the penalty of sin.
Because of the gospel we know that Christ has taken the penalty of sin, the ultimate penalty, death and has removed it. We don’t have to fear death because He has conquered the penalty of sin. Not only can God save us from the penalty of sin, He’s powerful enough to free us from the power of sin...
By His grace, we are free from the power of sin.
By His grace, we are free from the power of sin.
says...
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Listen to it. If you’re a follower of Christ, you’re dead to sin! And you are alive to God. Why do some of us live in guilt over sin that God has forgiven? Two chapters later Paul says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” God doesn’t count your sin against you anymore. This is grace. It is grace as our master.
But what if we still struggle with sin? Don’t worry, Paul did also. Read Romans chapter 7 when you have time. You see, we don’t just need grace at the moment of salvation. We need grace throughout our salvation journey. Which leads to the third way I want us to think about grace. Grace is our message, grace is our master, and third...
Grace is our motivation…
Grace is our motivation…
This is huge, especially when we come to this picture in ...
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
We may have a number of motivations for obeying God. Guilt. Gratitude. Fear. Wanting to please. While these are not necessarily bad, none of these are best motivation to drive us to obey God. Instead...
The motivation for our obedience is never gratitude toward God.
The motivation for our obedience is never gratitude toward God.
We are not in debt to God.
We are not in debt to God.
The motivation for our obedience is always the grace of God.
The motivation for our obedience is always the grace of God.
His grace is what motivates us. It’s not something external that drives us to obey God. This is important...
We are indwelt by God.
We are indwelt by God.
It’s His grace that lives in us. This is the beauty of Christianity. We can never relegate salvation to attempts to earn the favor of God or attempts to pay back. That undercuts the very foundation of the gospel.
Faith is the God-ordained link between His work and our work in salvation.
Faith is the God-ordained link between His work and our work in salvation.
Andrew Murray said this best this way in a book called Abide in Christ, a great book. He said, “The idea that many Christians have of grace is this, that their conversion and pardon are God’s work, but now in gratitude to God, it is their work to live as Christians and follow Jesus. No,” he says, “just as it was Jesus who drew you when He said, ‘Come,’ so it is Jesus who keeps you when He says, ‘Abide.’ The past grace to come and the future grace to abide are alike from Him and Him alone.” We are indwelt by God, and His grace undergirds every facet of our salvation.
And it’s at this point some people will begin to think, “Well, there’s nothing I can do. I’m just going to let go and let God.” And we begin to get this passive idea of Christianity, and that’s not the gospel either. We need to understand that...
Faith is the God-ordained link between His work and our work in salvation.
Faith is the God-ordained link between His work and our work in salvation.
Now here is where work comes in. Faith is the link. By grace alone. Through faith alone. Grace undergirds everything. But we have a part to play in our sanctification. Let’s look again at our text...
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; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:
So we have here God’s work and man’s work side by side. So how do we reconcile this, working out our salvation and it be the work of God? The answer: faith. Faith is the link between the two. It’s not a matter of us meeting God in the middle. What he is saying is we work, but when we work, it is God who is working in us. The only way we can work is if the work of God is evident in our lives. And...
Faith involves radical dependence on God’s work in our lives.
Faith involves radical dependence on God’s work in our lives.
So how does this faith and works link work? Number one, faith involves radical dependence on God’s work in our lives. The same faith that saved us then is the faith that sanctifies us now. Faith is the attitude of the heart that says, “I don’t bring anything in my hands. I need you.” It opens our eyes. Now because of what God does in our lives, He changes our hearts. So we need Him to...
We need Him to mold our hearts.
We need Him to mold our hearts.
That’s exactly what is talking about. It is God who works in you to do two things: To will and to act. He molds our hearts. This is not just about what we like. It goes to the depth of our genuine desires. He begins to make our wants His wants. This is what grace produces in our hearts. And for the transformation we talked about last week...
We need Him to empower our lives.
We need Him to empower our lives.
We need Him to empower our lives.
This is the working out of our salvation in verse 12.
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; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
We need God to change our hearts and we need God to empower our lives. It’s grace that motivates our obedience and it’s God’s power that enables us to act according to His will.
We need God to change our hearts and we need God to empower our lives.
Faith involves radical devotion to God’s will for our lives.
Faith involves radical devotion to God’s will for our lives.
God purposes to complete our salvation for His glory.
God purposes to complete our salvation for His glory.
Be afraid…
Be afraid…
Fear living in a way that dishonors God.
Fear living in a way that dishonors God.
Be in awe…
Be in awe…
God is working in you!
God is working in you!
Be assured…
Be assured…
God will finish what He started.
God will finish what He started.