Man, Salvation, and God’s Purpose of grace

MAN

BY laws and Constitution

We believe that man was created in innocence and that by voluntary choice he transgressed God's law, in consequence of which all men are born in sin and are under the just condemnation of God.

We are made in God’s image

Genesis 1:27 CSB

So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.

The Image of God means that we have a spiritual capacity and the ability to fellowship with God. We possess a soul, described in the Bible as our spiritual capacity and inner knowledge. The soul is eternal, it survives death. At the same time we are embodied. See we are not a Body with a soul, but a SOUL EMBODIED. And our bodies are a gift from God, and is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us.

Male and Female

“He created them male and female”.

The fact that this is in the Word of God tells us that the struggle we are facing today is not something new! Gender confusion is as old as SIN!

We are sinners by nature and sinners by choice

Salvation

Salvation - The process by which God redeems His creation thorough the life, death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.

The cross stands at the very center of Christian faith

1 Corinthians 1:23 CSB

but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.

1 Corinthians 15:3 CSB

For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

Romans 5:8 CSB

But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It is CENTRAL! We are sinners who have a CRUCIFIED and RISEN saviour!

And in that very action we sinners are:

rescued

ransomed

purchased

and liberated

FROM SIN!

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:13 CSB

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

EVERYONE! NOT SOME!

It all starts with:

Repentance is godly sorrow for sin and turning away from it

Repentance defined - A change of heart and mind resulting in a turning from sin to God

Faith Defined - Belief in and personal commitment to Jesus Christ for eternal salvation

Two sides of the SAME COIN! They go TOGETHER!

I am reminded of the words of the great theologian W.T. Conner:

It is no accident that the experience of becoming a Christian has two fundamental aspects, for in this experience man in concerned with two fundamental relations of life. One is his relation to sin; the other, his relation to God as a God of grace, revealed in Christ as Saviour. The inward turning from sin is repentance; turning to Christ as Saviour is faith. Each implies the other. Neither is possible without the other. At the same time and in the same act that one turns from sin he turns to Christ. Sin and Christ are the opposite poles of the moral universe, and on cannot turn from one without turning to the other. Repentance and faith are not two acts or moral attitudes; they are two aspects of one act or attitude.

Our salvation is secure in Christ.

This truth should be your evening comfort and joy! You are secure in Christ Jesus!

There is this process that happens with salvation:

Regeneration - Spiritual Rebirth

Justification - God’s declaration of a believer as righteous through the blood of Christ

Sanctification - the POSITION and PROCESS of holiness by which a believer is set apart by and for God

Glorification - The perfection of God’s image and character in believers when they enter God’s presence.

See when you get saved, things start happening. Some instantaneous, some over time. The reality of these is that you are now a NEW CREATION.

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

The You that existed before you Repented and turned to Jesus: that has passed away.

The you that Repented and Asked Jesus to be your savior: The NEW has come.

This is why when you go back to doing some of those things that the old you did, they feel strange and foreign. They just don’t sit well.

But the New “Christian” stuff feels funny too. Why? Because it is NEW, and you never did it before. And New feels strange. Sometimes New feel comfortable.

So what you have to do, is get comfortable being uncomfortable!

Why - because you are no longer from this world. Which means the comforts of this world should feel strange.

But you don’t need to get used to the things of this world. Because this world is temporary!

Just get comfortable in the arms of Jesus.

God’s Purpose of Grace

Grace - the unmerited favor of God that provides salvation

UNMERITED

God saves SINNERS! And God’s plan to save sinners began before the creation!

Yes - God knew man would sin! It was not a shock!

God knows all things: past, present and future. Therefore, mans fall into sin was not a shock to God. It did not catch God off guard. Despite this, God still created man.

Knowing this, understanding this, is powerful in your walk. Your security, in salvation, comes from God’s power, desire, and purpose; not your own. He is holding you, not you holding Him.

G.R.A.C.E.

God’s Reward at Christ’s Expense

Charles Spurgeon:

Election, to a saint, is one of the most stripping doctrines in all the world - to take away all trust in the flesh, or all reliance upon anything except Jesus Christ. How often do we wrap ourselves up in our own righteousness, and array ourselves with the false pearls and gems of our own works and doings? We begin to say, ‘Now I shall be saves, because I have this and that evidence.’ Instead of that, it is naked faith that saves: that faith and that alone unites to the Lamb, irrespective of works, although it is productive of them.