Back to Basics #7 Salvation

Introduction

Thank you everyone for being here today….

What is salvation?

We all have a God shaped hole in our heart.

Jeremiah 24:7 - “I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart”

How do we return to God? Why do we need to be saved? We need to know a few things.

God is Holy. He is perfection in every way. He is without flaw. He knows all things forever. God cannot look upon sin. He cannot sanction sin, he cannot approve it. God cannot delight in sin.

Habakkuk 1:13 - “You (God) who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong.

In Isaiah 6:3 the seraphim describe God as “Holy, Holy, Holy”

This is repeated in Revelation 4:8. God is described as “Holy, Holy, Holy”

These are heavenly creatures describing God as perfectly Holy.

The whole earth was created perfect by a perfect God. This perfect creation has fallen away and now stands in rebellion to him. This rebellion against Gods perfect Holiness is sin.

People are sinful. We are all fallen from grace. Our natural worldly state is separated from Gods Holy state.

1 John 3:4 - “Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God”

From the choice made by both Adam and Eve all of mankind has been doomed to separation from God. Man’s original sin was to trust Satan more than God himself and rebel against Gods command to not eat the fruit of the tree of good and evil. This misplaced trust in Satan continues to this day.

Deuteronomy 9:7 says we “have been constantly rebelling against him (God)” We are all guilty.

Romans 3:23 - “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”

Sin has consequences. Do not believe when worldly people tell you that you are perfect in your imperfection. That the world is a beautiful place. These are seductive lies and they will keep you from seeing your need for God.

Romans 6:23 - “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord”

Gods holy nature and pure righteousness are at odds with the sin of this world. God is completely aware of sin, he is not blind to it, but he cannot tolerate it. Tolerance of sin is evil in the eyes of God.

God reconciles us back to him through Jesus Christ. Jesus is Gods son. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, the only sinless man to have ever lived. God decided that his sinless son could die in place for us. God loves us so much that he was willing to place all the sin of this world and the spirit realm upon his beloved

perfect son so God and man could be together again. The responsibility of every evil thing we have done is now the fault of Jesus. Jesus had to atone for it. He was the only one that could.

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

Jesus Christ bore the penalty of sin on the cross. A poor mans death. A public death so all would see. What happened to him was written down so we would know. Written in the bible, the only perfect thing on this earth.

Jesus remained dead for three days to fulfill his Fathers will. Jesus did perfectly what God the Father wanted him to do. On the third day, after everyone could be certain of his death, and in fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus rose from death in triumph over sin and evil.

1 Corinthians 15:3 describes a risen Christ appearing before his disciples, then in front of more than 500 of his followers at one time. He was alive. Even the apostle Thomas, doubting Thomas, felt the nail holes in Christs hands to convince himself that the resurrection had actually happened.

God breathed life back into his Son, the very same way he will breath life back into you, if you turn yourself over to Christ.

Through grace alone

People are saved by Gods unmerited favour; by his grace alone. He saves us because he loves us. We do not deserve his love; indeed, we reject his love. We are all sinful through to our cores. We are powerless to bring God closer. It is God who has to do all the work… and he has done this already through Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Jesus defeated evil in the spirit realm. Satan is the ruler of this earth. We can feel it. He is doing everything he can to win you over to himself. The cross disarmed Satan. Satan no longer has power to condemn us for our sin.

When Jesus was resurrected he confirmed that Satan will be crushed forever. All who follow Satans way will be crushed forever.

Colossians 2: 13-15 - You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities, He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

Jesus is the author of our salvation; it could be no other way. The sin of this world will be destroyed forever. Thank you LORD. Conclusion

The way of salvation was provided to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. His love, his righteous justice, his mercy, his complete power are all evident in salvation. Salvation shows us the very nature of God himself. All of his perfect attributes are on display in salvation.

It is impossible for any of us to understand God. We cannot rationalize salvation. Salvation is a gift to be accepted. Our good works do not count.

When Christ was crucified two other men were executed on crosses on either side of him. We learn from Matthew 27:44 that

both men mocked him. One of these two criminals had a complete change of heart when he observed Jesus dying.

Luke 23:40-42 - But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom”

The thief on the cross, condemned to die, did not have time to be baptized, did not have time for good works, did not have time to think about ways to earn Gods love. He was out of time.

Jesus answered him “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise”.

The thief offered himself fully for the Glory of God and Jesus accepted him without hesitation. He was forgiven for whatever he did; we do not know what he did. What the thief did was not recorded in the bible, the very same way as it was stricken from the heart of God himself.

We can offer ourselves to Jesus Christ for his glory. We can set ourselves down before the Lord in prayer and say “God, please

accept all I have to offer, my whole heart is yours forever”. This is all we can do. By faith alone we may receive salvation, which is given by grace alone.

1 Peter 1:9 - “The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls”

Have you given yourself over to Jesus Christ? If not I ask you to make today the day. You will never be more ready. God will accept you exactly as you are in this moment. Every sinful thing you have done, that you have thought, will be stricken from the heart of God.

Pray “Lord Jesus Christ I trust you. I believe you. Please forgive me for my sin and accept me into your holy embrace”.

Set yourself down. Give up your own way. Jesus Christ will pick you up.

Let’s pray together…

* mention baptisms March 1*