Sermon Tone Analysis

Series: Abundant Christian Living

Date: September 1, 2013

Discovering the Purpose of Salvation

Romans 8:28-30

Introduction: Knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour is the greatest privilege of life.

And most people here today had good reasons and purposes for accepting Christ.

Primarily, we desired to have our sins forgiven and to know God now and forever.

But the question will usually linger: What next?

How do I make this whole “Christian” life work in my life?

What does being a Christian look like in my life?

God wants us not only to live but He wants us to have life more abundantly!

To “abound” in the Christian life!

Abound:

1.

To have or possess in great quantity; to be copiously supplied; followed by with or in; as to abound with provisions; to abound in good things.

2. To be in great plenty; to be very prevalent.

The Abundant Christian Life can never be fully enjoyed until:

1.

A person is born again…saved.

2. Sure that they are saved…

3. Begin to develop an understanding as to the purpose of salvation:

I.

The Purpose of Salvation - 8:29c

A. To conform believers to Christ

Note – Through God’s redemptive plan He is calling out a people for Himself.

We will be a people who will dwell and reign with Him for all eternity.

Note – It is God who calls us and it is God who accomplishes His will in us.

Note – His work is complete: Therefore no believer will ever face condemnation.

No believer can possibly lose salvation.

Adam’s life was simply natural life and he forfeited that when he sinned, but God gives to believers eternal life, and that can never be forfeited.

It would not be eternal life if it could.

So He says, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

He puts no conditions around that promise, “They shall never perish.”

The word “perish” is in the middle voice, so that if rendered literally in English, you would really have to make two words of it, because we do not have a middle voice.

The words “perish” and “destroy” are the same in Greek.

“I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never destroy themselves.”

middle — The grammatical voice that signifies that the subject of the verb is being affected by its own action or is acting upon itself.

1. Spiritually – God is in the process of sanctifying us to the image of Christ.

Sanctify=to set apart or to separate.

2. Bodily – We will be like Him!

Ill – A Grandpa and granddaughter were sitting and talking when she asked, “Did God make you, Grandpa?”

He said, “Yes God made me.”

For a few minutes she examined her grandpa and then she looked at herself in the mirror.

At last she spoke up.

“You know Grandpa, God is doing a lot better job lately.”

B. To make Christ preeminent – That He might be the firstborn among the brethren.

Note – The term “first born” was used among the Jews to depict a privileged status.

It is used here as a reference to preeminence.

1. Jesus is to be first In Creation and the world

Story of father teaching his daughter the map of the US.

Dad tore it into pieces and told her to go put it back together.

She studied it and in a little while she brought the map back to her father; all taped together and accurately showing the entire map of the US.

Dad- “how did you do this so fast and so accurately?

Girl- “It was easy, I knew that on the back of the map was a picture of Jesus, and when I put Jesus in His right place then I knew the country would be put together right!”

Sounds like we may need to put Jesus back in His right place so: our families, marriages, jobs, churches, nation can be put back together!!!

2. Jesus is to be first place IN the lives of believers

II.

The Plan of Salvation –verse 30

Note – The plan of God is based on His foreknowledge which is mentioned in verse 29.

(Pro Ginosko – to know ahead.)

We cannot fathom the omniscience of God.

However, God sees our faith in advance of our lives.

In Jeremiah 1:5 God said, “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you.”

God’s predestination is based on His foreknowledge!!

PREDES´TINATE, v. t. [It.

predestinare; Fr. predestiner; L. prœdestino; prœ and destino, to appoint.]

To predetermine or foreordain; to appoint or ordain beforehand by an unchangeable purpose.

He will never force you to do something against your will…always asking you to make the decision to follow Him…

Revelation 3:20

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.

A. He pre-determined our destiny.

– A destiny of conforming to His image.

Ephesians 1:11

11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Note – It is because He pre-determined our destiny that we know all things work together for Good!

Note - God makes no mistakes.

B. He calls us to His destiny.

– He does this through the preaching of His Word.

The Holy Spirit calls at the moment of salvation.

2 Timothy 1:9

9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Note – The fact that He “calls” indicates that we must answer.

We must exercise our will.

John 3:18

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Note – God does not limit atonement; man limits atonement when He says “no” to God.

God is not willing that any should perish….

2 Peter 2:9

9- The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

C.

He paid for our destiny.

– (through justification)

2. In theology, to pardon and clear from guilt; to absolve or acquit from guilt and merited punishment, and to accept as righteous on account of the merits of the Savior, or by the application of Christ’s atonement to the offender.

Note – Justification refers to a believers being made right with God.

D. He declares our destiny.

– (to be glorified)-vs.

30

2. To make glorious; to exalt to glory, or to celestial happiness.

Whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Rom. 8.

The God of our fathers hath glorified his son Jesus.

Acts 3.

III.