Sermon Summary 11 June 2017
The HOW of Salvation:
In Acts 16:29-30, Paul and Silas were asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” It is important for us to know and be able to explain to anyone who asks us, how we are saved.
The Gospel saves me in an instant and changes me gradually.
Let us cover the first part of the statement: “The Gospel saves me in an instant…”
- Through seeing Jesus. (2 Corinthians 4:4-6)
Satan, the “god of this age”, blinds people by making them think of Jesus simply as a fictionalfigure in history, a moral teacher or a spiritual guru. Satan will do anything to stop you from seeing Jesus for who He truly is. But God graciouslyshines his light on us that we might see who Jesus really is. This light mightcome through looking at creation and realizing there is a creator behind it or listening topreaching or reading the Bible and so on.This is why in his famoushymn,Amazing Grace, John Newton described his conversion as “I was blind but now I see”.Then, seeing must lead to…
- Through believing in Jesus.(John 3:16-18)
While we love to quote this verse we sometimes leave off the bit at the end. This is an important point that we can’t miss out on. If you are not yet a follower of Jesus you are currently perishing. You are travelling on what AC/DC calls the “Highway toHell.” Without deliberately changing lanes and taking the off-ramp of belief, you are assured aspot in hell. It is that simple. Just keep driving. Just keep breathing.There were two thieves on the cross on either side of Jesus. One believed that Jesus was Godand was saved. The other didn’t and wasn’t.
The saving work of Christ on the cross is sufficientbut not automatic. You must choose to believe that Jesus is God. You don’t drift across the lineof faith – you deliberately cross it saying, “I did not believe that You are God, Jesus, butnow I do. I believe that you are not only Lord but also Saviour, saving me from the punishmentof my sin. I believe!”Salvation is available to those who place their faith in Jesus and a brand new life as well as an eternal life awaits those who BELIEVE IN Jesus.
- Through receiving Jesus. (Romans 1:17; 3:22)
When we place our belief in Jesus we receive something from Him. You need to receive God’s gift of righteousness.What is righteousness?
Dictionaries definerighteousnessas “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness is not possible for man to attain on his own; the standard is simply too high. The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
(GotQuestions.org)
How can I receive the gift of righteousness?See Romans 10:9.
That’s it, no prerequisites exist before we are saved except believing in Jesus. Without Jesus we cannot be saved.We also do not need to “clean up” our act before coming to faith in Jesus. We must confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts and WE WILL BE SAVED.
But we cannot leave it there because, while the Gospel, Jesus, saves us in an instant, we are also changed by Him gradually through the power of His Holy Spirit. The fact that we experience a tangible life change after meeting Jesus is the evidence that we are saved.
The Gospel that changes me
Let us cover this second part of our roadmap statement and this means talking about identity. God has designed humans in such a way that howwe think about ourselves largelydetermineshow we behave.Psychologists tell us that a person who feels insignificant willbehave like that, and vice-versa. So, change your identity (how you think about yourself) andyour behaviour will change accordingly.Or, as Craig Groeschel puts it: “When you know who you are, then you’ll know what to do.” When Jesus saves you, you get abrand new identity up front that if you believe and embrace will catalyse a change of behaviourfrom the inside-out.
Change your identity - change your behaviour.What is your identity when you follow Jesus?Your identity is now: “Righteous One” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Unfortunately not all of us are living out this righteous identity.Imagine that beforecoming to Christ you were literally a pig. Because pig was your DNA youwalked, talked, and smelled like a pig. Now when you came to Christ, He didn’t say to you, “HelloPig, time to stop behaving like a Pig. Stop rolling in the mud of selfishness and stinginess. Fromnow on Pig, you must behave like an eagle flying on wings of unselfishness and generosity!”Thatwould have set you an impossible task because as one well knows, pigs can’t fly. Instead, Jesussays: “Hello Pig. I am now changing your DNA from pig to eagle. Eagle is your new identity. Now,my eagle friend, go fly!”
You may say, “That’s all very wellbut deep down I know I’m still pig so it won’t be long before I amonce again rolling in the mud of sinful behaviour.” Well, that's the problem, isn’t it? Youhaven’t embraced your new Gospel identity, have you?
Let’s change the metaphor: Maybe you think youare like aChristmas tree. You are grateful that the Gospel has sprinkled a few shiny lights onyou, but you know that underneath you haven’t really changed much at all - still just a dull Christmas tree. This is total rubbish.You are no longer a sinner who sometimes behaves righteously, you are now arighteous one who sometimes behaves sinfully.
You are not an onionthat looks okay on theoutside but once you peel off the layers you discover that it is rotten on the inside. You arecompletely the reverse of that. Although your outer ‘behavioural’ layer might sometimes lookrotten, cut yourself open and you will find you are not rotten to the core, you are righteousto the core.
This is not merely the power of positive thinking;you are not trying to think yourself into a fictional state of righteousness, rather you are lining your mind up withyour factual state of righteousnessthat is yours in the Gospel. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;the old has passed away, and see,the new hascome!
When you truly experience Jesus you will then be transformed by him over time and the way in which we live our lives will line up with our new righteous identity.