Salvation (January 22, 2023)

As crazy as this sounds talking to a room full of Christians, what is the definition of Salvation? deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ.

Please understand, I believe that I am SAVED by the faith I have in Christ, that He died on the Cross for my sins; I am no longer a sinner, but I am a Child of God; I am not a sinner Saved by Grace; I am a Child of God! There are benefits that come with being a Child of God; these are things we will be looking at later on this year.

To stick with looking at our Theme for 2023 and for our purpose of these few Sundays, let’s look at Salvation, more importantly, the Plan of Salvation that we are to be giving to those we meet. Remember, we must have SEPARATION/SANCTIFICATION in our lives in order to deliver the Plan of SALVATION to those around us. WHY? We can not be living like the world and still try to convince the world they must change their lives … right? Remember, I am not changing my life, unless I want to change MY LIFE!

Let’s look at the Plan of Salvation; too many times Christians think we have to correct, fix, change those we bring to Christ; too many times unsaved, non-Christians believe they must correct, fix, change all the wrong in their lives before they can come to Christ – both of these are WRONG!

Let’s look on the Day of Pentecost and see what Peter said in his sermon as they came out of the upper room, when he spoke to over 3,000 men (not counting the women and children) and those that heard were saved.

Acts 2:17-21 ~ “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Peter told those there that day that we are in the last days and there are things coming happening starting that day and still happening TODAY. Peter declared:

• TODAY, this day, the great prophecy of Joel begins to be fulfilled

• TODAY, this day, begins the last days of earth’s history

• TODAY, this day, begins the last days of God’s work on earth

• TODAY, this day, begins the last days the final age of God’s plan for human history

• TODAY, this day, begins the last days, the dispensation of God’s grace, the age of the gospel

For our thought this morning, let’s focus on the last thought of Peter’s sermon, verse 21.

The last days include the days of great salvation. Throughout the last days, during the whole period, man can be saved by doing two simple things:

• He has to call: to sense the need to be saved

• He has to call upon “the name of the Lord”: to know and believe that Jesus is the Lord and to be ready to submit to His Lordship, to serve Him as Lord.

Romans 10:13 ~ “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:9-10 ~ “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

This is it! You don’t have to get rid of your old habits, you old language, you old lifestyle in order to get Saved. You heard me right, you don’t have to do any of those things – and to many times either we as Christians begin to think this or those that are not Christians begin to think – I have to change everything PRIOR to receiving Salvation and THIS IS NOT THE CASE.

Many things in life are exclusive – clubs, golf courses, restaurants – yet when the God of the universe designed the Plan of Salvation, He made it perfectly INCLUSIVE! He will save a dying thief (Luke 23); a sin-stained woman (John 4); a ruthless, ungodly tax collector (Luke 19); innocent little children (Matthew 18); a brutal Roman Centurion (John 19); a self-righteous Pharisee named Saul/Paul (Acts 9); a demon possessed man (Mark 5); a demon possessed slave girl (Acts 16); a wealth female merchant (Acts 16) and He can and did and will save you and I!!!

Too many times, people believe that all they have to do is just ask and then go back to their lives with no change and all is well. This is also NOT the case. To be saved, a person must be aware of some very important things:

• They must know that they are sinners – Romans 3:23; John 6:44;

• They must know that there is a price on sin – Romans 6:23; Romans 5:12;

• They must know that Jesus paid that price for them – Romans 5:6-8;

• They must understand the truth of the Gospel – Jesus died, was buried, rose from the dead and they must be willing to confess that back to God – Romans 10:9-10;

• They must be will to ask the Lord to Save their Soul – Romans 10:13;

We turn from good works, from religion, from church membership, and we realize that Salvation is by grace and faith alone – nothing could be easier! Salvation is simple, all it requires is that you receive the Gospel message and that you receive Jesus into your life. However, there is one things easier than getting saved – it is going to Hell – because all you have to do is nothing!

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.”

SERVICE

After Salvation, we now have work to do!