What We Believe - Salvation
Secular:
What we have seen with the floods…
· Trailers… were able to endure moderate levels of water… we have been stripping insulation from under the floors… drywall... carpets and flooring
· But… some trailers were in areas of higher… faster moving water… many of them tipped… and were devastated… when they were up righted… they collapsed…
· On the other hand… many HOUSES that were hit… we have been pumping basements… lifting floor coverings… dealing with wet drywall… but under the floors… drywall... carpets and flooring
· Foundation – tough storms
o Something to work with…
Biblical:
Section G - Salvation
We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious, expiatory and propitiatory death; that justification is by faith alone in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord.
Personal:
Set-up for failure…
Way more than you could ever imagine…
· That sinking feeling when you are 7 or 8 years old… and Mom sends you into your room…with the words “you are not coming out until everything is straightened up”
· The pit of your stomach… “angst” when as a teen… you look at that last question on the Algebra exam… and even though you desperately need the 10 marks it is worth… it still looks like a bunch of Greek….
· Our a new mother… the first time she holds that baby… and realizes what is involved in making this lifetime commitment
· Our husbands… when your wife send you to clean the garage and tells you there will be no more playing golf… or watching TSN until that mess is straightened up…
Bridge:
Those things are truly conquerable…
· a little organization
· a little more studying
· a little more help and experience
· a little more doing what your wife said the first time she said it
But there comes a point… when you realize the greatest prize… the prize of most value… is out of your hands…
That despite all that we do, all that we say… we are unable to earn for ourselves a place in heaven…
It is that sinking feeling… that overwhelms the pre-Christian… brings us to our knees… the need of a Saviour!
Need for salvation from our sins…
The need to be in relationship with Jesus Christ…
Body:
Sovereign, Electing Grace
NAU John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36 “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
- All that the Father gives Me will come to Me
- Sovereign…. Not a cosmic chess match!!
- God over all….
- No surprises… nothing apart from God
- Imagine his salvation was rooted in our own affections… our own abilities…
- Emotional instability with…
- Kids
- Spouse
- Annoying guy doing 50 kmph down the Highway…
- Our relationship is based on the timelessness, grace, compassion, love and mercy of God…
- SOVEREIGN
- And the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. <hear the electing grace of God>
- Not based in us… or on us…
- Those who come by the Sovereign call of God will not be cast out…
- John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand…”
- No one includes us… Think about it… If God effectual calling is Sovereign it is over all of us…
- Conscription… sort of… (guys over a beautiful women… do stupid things… follow… like dogs)
- God calls… we come…. God is far more attractive… irresistible grace… the electing Grace of God.
- Sovereign, Electing Grace
Vicarious, Expiatory and Propitiatory death;
Justification is by faith alone
Jesus Did it All
NLT Romans 3:19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to bring the entire world into judgment before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying it. 21 But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight-- not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. 22 We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. 23 For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. 24 Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. 25 For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. 26 And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.
- Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us… (fits any definition of a hero!)
- Vicarious: (slide)
- In our place… instead of…
- Acting or serving in place of someone or something else; substituted.
- “is about being there…”… presence… Jesus was there… and is there
- For God sent Jesus… to satisfy God's anger against us.
- Expiatory
- To wipe clean…
- To make amends or reparation for; atone
- “is about guilt”… our ‘record’
- Made white as snow… (cleaned up our rap sheet)
- For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins
- Propitiatory
- To pay the price…
- To conciliate (an offended power); appease
- “is about justice”… the price… the cost
- And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.
- All Sufficient…
- Nothing extra…
- Nothing else…
- Nothing… but Jesus
- Salvation by Grace through Faith in Christ alone!!
- He declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.
- Christian Faith isn’t a ladder…
- It’s a leap… all or nothing I Christ!!
- (Yet… how we live demonstrates who we serve… but first comes trusting and believing)
Jesus did it all…
No Surprises!!
NAU Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (No Surprises)
- God’s Sovereign… Foreknew… Pre-destined
- God’s Elect… He called
- God’s Sacrifice… Justified
- God’s Preserved… those who were chosen by God’s Power…
- God’s Perfection… Sanctified… made holy… conformed to the image of His Son… Glorified in Christ…
SOF - those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord.
Made like Christ…
Sanctification begins in this life…
Resurrected to perfection in Glory…
No Surprises
The Anchor
NAU 1 Peter 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.
- It is not temporary or fleeting…
- It is not anchored in anyone or anything of this world…
- It is not anchored in human will or our own decisions…
- It is anchored in Christ!!
- It is anchored in the God of all creation
- It is anchored in eternity… in the very character and nature of God.
- The Anchor
The Sovereign Electing Grace
- Abandoned by God?
- Close to God…
- Called by God…
- People on a Mission
- To Serve
- To Love
The Sufficiency of Christ
- Vicarious… he did so we wouldn’t have to
- Thank-you
- Expiatory… the slate is clear… expunged
- Thank-you
- Propitiatory… justice is satisfied… (not arbitrary)
- Thank-you
- "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
No Surprises
- According to plan
- Chosen, bought and paid for…
- To be perfected… made like Christ
The Anchor
- Doesn’t fade
- Doesn’t weaken
- Doesn’t move
- Salvation is not in us…. It is in Christ