Sermon Tone Analysis

TEXT: Ephesians 2:8-9

TOPIC:  Salvation

Baptist Faith and Message Sermon 6, *Written by Calvin Wittman*

May 11, 2009

 

Introduction: For students of language, one of the most interesting phenomenon is the metamorphosis of language, as they study the continuous shifting of meaning with any giving system of verbal communication.

Think about how terms have changed over the years.

A hundred years ago gay meant to be happy or light hearted, cool meant to have a slight chill or to be cold and hip was a part of the body above which the belt was fastened.

And you don’t have to go that far back to see the effects of changing language, if you have a teenager at home you know exactly what I’m talking about.

When I was growing up if something was extraordinary or exceeded the normal standards of expectation, we said that it was “far out,” or “cool.”

Today if something exceeds the normal standards it is said to be “sick,” or to be, “the bomb.”

I mention this to highlight the reality that as language changes and precise communication becomes more complicated, words have a tendency to lose their impact and meaning.

* *

Nowhere has this been more pronounced than in the church.

When I was growing up terms like, “Giving your heart to Jesus,” or “being born again,” were often used to speak about salvation but over time, like a lot of other language, in the minds of many these terms have tended to lose some of their impact and the need for more specific language has become evident.

It is to that end that we as Christians need to be clear and unambiguous as we present the gospel of Jesus Christ to others.

Part of my rational for preaching this series on doctrine is to help us, as a body of believers, to become more theologically precise; to once again reassign meaning to terms like, “being born again,” so that when we use these terms there is a common understanding as to what it is we are referring.

We come today to the doctrine of salvation, which, in theological jargon is called, “Soteriology,” coming from the two Greek words, “Soter,” to save or deliver, and “logos,” which simply means word.

Thus, Soteriology is simply a word about salvation.

Of all the doctrines of the Bible, the doctrine of salvation is one with which every Christian should be familiar.

Not only because our salvation depends upon it, but because it is the one message which we as God’s people have been commissioned to share with the world around us and it is the only message whereby lost people can come into a personal and saving relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son.

Over the last several weeks we have been following the general outline of our confessional statement, the Baptist Faith and Message.

Here’s what it says in article 4, in reference to the doctrine of Salvation.

“Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christa s Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer.

In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification and glorification.

There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

*A.

Regeneration*, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace, whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus.

It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace.

Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God.

Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior.

*B.

Justification* is God’s gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ.

Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.

 

*C.

Sanctification* is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him.

Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person’s life.

*D.

Glorification *is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.”

For the purpose of our study this morning, we are going to keep it simple and discuss salvation within the context of three simple points.

We will begin with our need, then move to God’s provision and then conclude with our response.

*I.

Our Need*

 

As we studied last week, when we considered the doctrine of man, in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve sinned against God and because of their sin all of us are born with a sinful nature.

That is, by our very nature we are predestined to sin.

The Bible makes it clear in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Romans 5:12 says, /“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

/

 

So you see sin is universal.

Everyone is born a sinner.

As we noted in our study of anthropology: We sin primarily because we are sinners; we are not merely sinners because we sin.

It is our inescapable destiny, we are all born with a natural bent toward sin.

Understanding the universal nature of sin, we should consider some of the consequences or realities of sin.

Sin does several things.

*First of all, sin separates us from God.*

 

Isaiah 50:1-2 assures us that our sin separates us from God.

It says, /“Indeed, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save, and His ear is not too deaf to hear.

But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hid His face from you so that He does not listen.”/

In the Garden of Eden, before the fall, Adam and Eve had fellowship with God, but after the fall, their fellowship with God is broken.

The result is that all of us are born out of fellowship with God.

The Bible tells us that our problem is one which we cannot solve.

That means that there is nothing we can do within our own ability to get back to where Adam was before the fall.

When confronted with these biblical truths, people have come up with different ways of dealing with man’s problem.

One popular philosophy is that if you are just good enough, if you do enough good deeds while you are on earth, that someday, when you stand before God He will put all of your good deeds on one side of the scale and all of your bad deeds on the other side of the scale and if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds then you’ll get into heaven.

The only problem with that philosophy is that it is not biblical.

The bible tells us that we cannot be saved by works.

Titus 3:5 tells us that we cannot be saved by works and Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we are /saved by grace through faith, and not by our own doing, our salvation is a gift of God, not of works so that no one can boast/ about how good they have been.

Our problem is not lack of self esteem, as some would have us believe.

Our problem is not ignorance or lack of knowledge; if man has anything today he has intelligence and information.

Our problem is that we are sinners and that our sin separates us from God.

But not only does it separate us from God, it condemns us before God.

The scripture is clear is in Romans 6:23 which says that the penalty for sin, or God’s just punishment for sin, is death.

Ezekiel 18:4 says that /the soul that sins shall die./

It is important to remember that when we talk about any one doctrine, we must remember to be consistent with all the other doctrines of the bible.

For instance, when talking about the doctrine of salvation, we must be consistent with the doctrine of God.

We know God is righteous and perfectly just.

That means He must punish sin.

To do anything less would not be in keeping with His character.

He is a just God and His justice demands full payment for our sin.

Therefore our understanding of how and why God saves us must be in consonance with Theology proper, or what God has revealed to us about Himself.

You see, because God is righteous and just, He must punish sin and because we are all sinners, we are condemned before God.

And knowing that we cannot do anything in and of ourselves to escape our just punishment, our plight is really rather desperate.

That’s why the Bible tells us that salvation is rooted and grounded in the character of God Himself.

Not only is God just, but God is loving and as a loving God He wants to save sinners.

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3:9 that the Lord is, /“…patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” / This brings us to God’s provision.

*II.

God’s Provision*

 

Remember that God created us for His glory and for fellowship.

As long as we remain in our sin we can neither be in fellowship with Him, nor can our lives give Him glory.

In order for us to live for our created purpose we must somehow be reconciled to God.

This is the great story of salvation.

The Bible states this very clearly in 2 Corinthians 5:19 when it says, /“…in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and has committed the message of reconciliation to us.”/

The Bible tells us that salvation is from the Lord.

That is, if it were left to us we would forever be lost.

God is the one who initiates and consummates our salvation.

It is His work alone.

There are several things about salvation every Christian should understand.

*First we need to consider the WHY of our salvation.*

Why did God save us?

The reason God saved us has more to do with who God is than it does with who we are.

The Bible tells us that God is merciful – Psalm 103:17 says, “/But from eternity to eternity the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear Him.”/

Lamentations 3:22-23 says, /“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end.