Saved, Now What (Revised)

Introduction

Psalm 100:4 tells us to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.” and this morning as we come together we certainly filled with thanksgiving and praise, but we also come filled with joy as we celebrate together the Ordinance of Baptism. Any time we can join together with brothers and sisters who have, by the work of the Holy Spirit, professed faith in Jesus Christ, and who desire in response to this faith to publically proclaim their profession by being baptized, is a time that is a cause for celebration but also time for reflection and honest personal evaluation. This evaluation is not just for those being baptized but also for those who are witnessing the baptism. This morning as we prepare for this celebration we need to also prepare our hearts.

To begin this preparation, let us first reflect on the Ordinance of Baptism itself, and to do so we turn to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. As a reminder, this document is a “tried and true teaching tool that lays out the faith in a clear way” it is always subject the authority of Scripture as the very first line of the confession reads “The Holy Scripture is the ONLY sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience.” The 1689 LBCF, faithfully summarizes the teaching of Holy Scripture regarding baptism in this way:

Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century XXIX. Baptism

BAPTISM

29:1 Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ. To those baptized it is a sign of their fellowship with Him in His death and resurrection, of their being grafted into Him, of remission of sins, and of submitting themselves to God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life.

29:2 Those who personally profess repentance toward God and faith in and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.

29:3 The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, in which the individual is to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

29:4 Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary for this ordinance to be administered properly.

As you will note, in the first paragraph of this chapter, Baptism is a “sign” or an outward demonstration of saving faith. Baptism itself does not save but proclaims salvation and although the act is not a requirement of salvation in the sense that it is necessary for salvation to occur, it is, because it demonstrates saving faith, a desire of those who believe because they desire to obey the commands of God. Each of our candidates for baptism have professed faith in Christ and desire now to demonstrate that faith and the obedience that results from that faith.

It is interesting to me that in many churches today, that although the act of Baptism is performed and celebrated as it should be, it is almost an isolated event in the life of a believer. What I mean by that is how often do we actually give thought to what this truly signifies, not only in the moment, but for this person going forward, but not just this person or these people being baptized, but for the fellowship of believers, the church.

This morning, as we prepare for the celebration of these baptisms, I want us to be thinking about what comes next, both for these individuals as believers and for the church as a whole. How do we as the body of Christ help to ensure that those who will be publically demonstrating their faith continue to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In preparation to look towards God’s Word regarding these truths I want to take a moment to lay the foundation for the remainder of our time today by clarifying for all who hear what it truly means to be saved.

We begin with a definition of salvation. It is the effectual work of the Holy Spirit in the life of an individual which leads us place our faith in Christ. Paul clearly outlines this for us in scripture, Romans 10:8–10 “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation.” Notice that faith is what compels these actions (confession and belief) in our lives and as we learn in Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast.” , faith and grace are both the gift of God. Therefore, the entirety of salvation is God is working in and through you.

But what of repentance? So many have taught that one must repent in order to believe. Repentance is absolutely a necessary reality, we are often called in scripture to repent, but true repentance is only the result of salvation, it is not an action that leads to salvation. If repentance led to salvation then the work would be yours, the effort would be yours and in that case, you can boast, but notice what the word says, it is a GIFT of God so that no man can boast.

So, if it is faith that is necessary for salvation, what is faith? What does it mean to believe. This is what it means to believe, to have faith, in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have faith in that the “Lord our God is one, the only living and true God. That He, this divine and infinite Being consists of three real persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit .  That Second Person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, being truly and eternally God, took upon Himself the human nature. And

Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century VIII. Christ the Mediator

The Lord Jesus most willingly undertook this office. To discharge it, He was born under the law and perfectly fulfilled it. He also experienced the punishment that we deserved and that we should have endured and suffered. He was made sin and a curse for us. He endured extremely heavy sorrows in His soul and extremely painful sufferings in His body. He was crucified and died and remained in a state of death, yet His body did not decay. On the third day He arose from the dead with the same body in which He suffered. In this body He also ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of His Father, interceding. He will return to judge men and angels at the end of the age.

Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century VIII. Christ the Mediator

The Lord Jesus has fully satisfied the justice of God, obtained reconciliation, and purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven for all those given to Him by the Father. He has accomplished these things by His perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself, which He once for all offered up to God through the eternal Spirit.

This is what it means to truly believe, to understand, profess, proclaim and stand firm on these truths.

But, this is not the extent of salvation. In this world today, salvation is so often taught and seen as a momentary action, something that is a simple statement made or prayer prayed with no future demands or consequences. There is certainly a level of truth to this, the moment we have faith we are saved, or justified, in the eyes of God, but in truth salvation is a momentary event and a continual process. Salvation consists of three dimensions. John McArthur summarizes the three dimensions of salvation in this way, “believers, therefore, have been saved, are being saved and will be saved.”

The first of these dimensions is what we have been discussing, we like to use the word salvation but the correct theological term for the initial momentary dimension is justification…. This is the redeeming work of Christ on the cross. The action by which the punishment for our sins was completed, this is the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. Christ death on the cross was our punishment for our sins paid by Him. 

The third dimension is also a momentary event, it is the dimension of glorification, which occurs at either the time of our physical death or the moment when Christ returns to call His people home. The result of either of these is that we are removed from this life of flesh and eternally enter the presence of God, fully glorified to live eternally in His presence.

The second dimension is sanctification. This is the Christian life whereby the spirit molds you through His will and His working in us and our responsibility in this is obedience.  This morning, as we prepare for this celebration we are going to look at what scripture says regarding this dimension of salvation. Our text for this morning comes from Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. Written to believers this letter is a letter of encouragement to the church as they are living an obedient life. In the opening sentences Paul makes this statement Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” There are those who take this teaching of sanctification as a teaching that there is the possibility of someone who truly believes falling away or being lost, but in fact, what it demonstrates is just the opposite. In our text this morning we will see a command that is given, a comfort that is offered and purpose of the perseverance in this idea that we as sinners saved by grace are to be obedient and responsive to the work of the Holy Spirit within us so that ultimately, we live as lights in this dark world, for His glory! With that in mind, if you will turn to Philippians 2 and we will be reading verses 1-13 for context and then our focus will be in verses 12 & 13:

Text

Please stand for the reading of God’s Holy, Inerrant, Infallible, Complete, Authoritative and Sufficient Word:

Philippians 2:1–13 LSB

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, fulfill my joy, that you think the same way, by maintaining the same love, being united in spirit, thinking on one purpose, doing nothing from selfish ambition or vain glory, but with humility of mind regarding one another as more important than yourselves, not merely looking out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Heavenly Father, thank You for our blessed Lord Jesus, for no human mind could conceive of nor invent the true gospel message, that Christ, acting in eternal grace, is both the messenger and the message. A message that was lived out on earth through infinite compassion, enduring in Your life insult, injury, and death. This done so that we might be redeemed by your blood, ransomed by your sacrifice and freed from the bondage of sin in our lives. Blessed be You, oh Father, for decreeing this reality before the foundation of the world. Eternal thanks to You, O Lamb of God, for opening the way to us and everlasting praise to You, O Holy Spirit for applying this way to our hearts. Glorious Eternal Trinity continue to impress upon our hearts and soul the truth of the gospel until every faculty that we possess is filled with its truth. That this truth is heard, acknowledged, professed and felt. Teach us to secure this mighty blessing by submitting our heart and lives to the commands of your words, that it controls our affections, shapes our understandings, keeps us in Your commands, and strengthens us to resist all forms of temptations from the evil one. Take us to the cross that we may seek glory from its infamy, strip us of every pretence of personal righteousness by our own strength. Precious Lord, how often we have neglected You, put You to open shame, and crucified You again by our prideful flesh and ways. We are so thankful for Your long standing patience and for the grace that has now made us willing to be Yours, in all ways. Father unite us to you with inseparable bonds, that nothing could ever draw us away from You, our Lord and Savior. These things we ask in the precious name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Command

"So then" (or "Therefore") – A Transition

Paul begins this verse with "so then," connecting it to what he has just said about Christ’s humility and exaltation (Phil. 2:1-11). Because of Christ’s work on the cross and His resurrection:

1 Corinthians 15:13–14 “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”

If Christ had not been raised, our faith would be in vain. But He has been raised, and so our faith is anchored in His finished work.

"My beloved" – Brotherly Affection

Paul speaks with deep love for the believers in Philippi. This command is not given as a cold directive but as a loving exhortation. As the family of God, we are called to encourage and build each other up in faith.

3. "Just as you have always obeyed…" – A Call to Consistent Obedience

True faith leads to obedience, not only when being watched but at all times.

A regenerated heart is marked by a desire to obey Christ, regardless of circumstances.

4. "Work out your salvation" – Not Works-Based Salvation

Paul does not say "work for" your salvation but "work out"—meaning that salvation, already received, must be lived out in obedience.

John 15:9–17 ““Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. “You are My friends if you do what I command you. “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would abide, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. “This I command you, that you love one another.”

Remaining in Christ’s love means obeying His commands.

Matthew 22:37–40 “And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.””

Love for God and neighbor sums up all of God’s moral law.

John 13:34 ““A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

We are commanded to love as Christ has loved us—sacrificially and unconditionally.

"With fear and trembling" – Reverence for God’s Majesty

We recognize the seriousness of our call to obedience.

This should not be a paralyzing fear, but a reverential awe that leads us to rely completely on God’s grace.

Application – Living a Life of Ongoing Obedience

Every day, we are to live and love as Christ commands.

Our lives should be a testimony to His transforming grace.

Though we stumble, we move forward in obedience, trusting in His strength.

The Comfort

"For it is God who is at work in you" – Divine Assurance

The comfort in this passage is that our obedience is not left up to us alone.

The Holy Spirit works in us, teaching, edifying, and strengthening us.

"Both to will and to work for His good pleasure" – God Provides Desire and Power

God gives us both the desire and the ability to obey Him.

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Transformation comes through renewing our minds.

Ephesians 4:17-24

Ephesians 4:17–24 LSB

Therefore this I say, and testify in the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their mind, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart. And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way— if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, to lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

We are renewed in the spirit of our minds.

Titus 3:5 “He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”

Salvation is through the washing and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Illustration – The Need for Power

A car without fuel cannot run. Likewise, we cannot serve God without the power of His Spirit working in us.

The Purpose

"Shine like stars in the world" (Philippians 2:15 “so that you will be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,” ) – Reflecting the Glory of God

Our transformed lives should be a beacon of light in a dark world.

Matthew 5:14 ““You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;”

"You are the light of the world."

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

We are being transformed from glory to glory.

We Are Called to Be Different

We are not to conform to the world but be transformed by God's renewing work.

True faith is always accompanied by action.

The Conclusion

As fellow believers, our sanctification is not a solitary process. We are called to help one another in the faith. The church is a body, and we must encourage, exhort, and build each other up:

Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

We are to exhort one another daily to prevent hardness of heart.

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

We are to bear one another’s burdens.

Hebrews 10:24–25 “And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

We are to spur one another on toward love and good works, not neglecting to meet together.

This means walking together in faith, reminding one another of the power of the gospel, and helping each other stay obedient to the commands of Christ. Our faith is deeply personal, but it is never meant to be private—it is to be lived out in the context of the church.

Salvation is not merely a past event but an ongoing work of sanctification through the power of God. We have been justified by faith, we are being sanctified daily, and we await our final glorification when we stand complete in Christ.

For those being baptized today, this is not just a ceremonial act but a public declaration of obedience to Christ. It is a testimony to the church and the world that you belong to Him, that you have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection, and that you now walk in newness of life. But baptism is not the end—it is the beginning of a lifelong journey of faith and discipleship.

For those witnessing this ordinance, let it serve as a reminder of your own profession of faith. Are you walking in obedience? Are you working out your salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure? Let today be a time of renewal, a re-commitment to the life of obedience and faith to which Christ has called you.

As the body of Christ, we have a responsibility to one another. We are called to encourage, exhort, and build each other up in the faith. Those being baptized today do not walk this road alone—we, as the church, must walk alongside them, teaching, discipling, and bearing one another’s burdens. This is the beauty of the church, a community of redeemed sinners striving together toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

So let us rejoice today, not only in the baptism of new believers but in the ongoing work of salvation that God is accomplishing in each of us. Let us continue to grow in grace, pressing on in faith, knowing that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

May we leave here today with renewed hearts, committed to obedience, strengthened by the assurance that God Himself is working in us, and encouraged by the fellowship of the saints. To Him be all glory and honor forever. Amen.