In Christ

Text

Acts 4:10–12 “10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11 “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. 12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.””

The key to Salvation is Jesus. . .nothing else

All the sermons we find being preached ended with Jesus

Peter started in Joel, went to Psalms and ended with Jesus

Peter went over into Deuteronomy and ended with Jesus

Stephen went over the History of Israel covering Genesis, Exodus and Numbers, but he ended with Jesus

Phillip was prompted by the Ethiopian eunuch to begin Isaiah, but “he preached unto Him Jesus”

Wherever they began, they all ended with Jesus. It does not matter where your beginning is, make sure you end with Jesus!

Acts 4:12 “12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.””

This implies firstly, that Salvation is locative. It’s located in Jesus

This means that for me to access salvation, I need to be where it is found; that’s in Jesus. Not in creeds, traditions, people, your intellect IN JESUS

This implies secondly, that Salvation is exclusive to Jesus.

This means Jesus is the only source that is reliable to give me salvation. There are not many ways to God, there is one, and His name is Jesus.

Outside of Christ

To appreciate the good news of being in Christ, we need to consider how dreadful and terrible it is to be out of Christ

For the christian, we need to be constantly reminded of this lest we think we no longer need the grace of God. Lest we think we could now do it on our own. Lest we begin to devalue our salvation and allow it to depriciate so we no longer have the desire and determination to hold on to it.

Hebrews 2:3 “3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,”

Don’t allow self righteousness to step into your life so that the Spirit of God becomes quenched

Romans 3:23 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Ephesians 2:1–3 NASB95

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course [system, standard of practices] of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

These operative words show us plainly what was our condition before Jesus

Some of us thought we perfect, that we didn’t need that much saving. The reality is this, even if you only committed one sin, that was enough for Jesus to go on the cross

John 1:29 “29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Your one sin. . .put you in a state of hostility with God and God must punish sin.

#1 Saved In Christ

Saved in Christ means blessed in Christ

If you are not in Christ do not think you are too bad, or too sinful for Jesus to save. That’s exactly what He came for!

Luke 19:10 “10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.””

To be saved in Christ means you are blessed in Christ

What a job by the Saviour to bring us from brokenness to blessedness

Ephesians 1:3–4 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love”

Notice the connection between “blessed us” and “in Him”, don’t just see ALL spiritual blessings, see in Him. The location for the blessing is “in Jesus”

Consider the blessings:

Predestined us to adoption in Him

Redemption (His blood) forgiveness (His grace)

Made His will known to us, this He purposed in Him

Obtained an inheritance in Him

Sealed in Him by the Holy Spirit

#a. Redemption and Forgiveness

Both words (redemption and forgiveness) have the notion of “release” imbedded in them

Redemption emphasizes the ransomer and the ransom for the release

Forgiveness emphasizes the reason for the release, and the result of the release. The result is freedom from the effects of the debt.

Consider forgiveness?

Greek word aphesis [a-feh-seece]

To let something go or to release someone from a debt or legal obligation or punishment

To leave something behind

Lexham Theological Wordbook ἄφεσις

Indicates the state of having a particular obligation removed or ignored in a given relationship

From a cultural perspective, someone declares ‘aphesis’ (forgiveness) then the debt is paid. You have been released

Spiritually, you were released when God forgave you.

You had some stuff but God released you. You had sin but God released you. You had some skeletons but God released you - And when God releases you no man no woman no devil could put you back in that bondage.

When God releases He releases. . . Ps 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

“If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed”

What brings great significance to appreciating FORGIVENESS, is KNOWING WHY I NEEDED IT.

Consider Redemption

The term redemption warrants a consideration because it introduces the concept of “buying back”

From what? is the question

REDEMPTION

The term (Greek lutron) refers (Heb. gaal) - The release of people, animals, or property from bondage through the payment of a price

Legally, it was a requirement for the deliverance of a person or animal “buying back” to get someone released

To effect the release, a payment must first be made

Ultimately, it means to remove from a bad situation Ex 6:6 ““Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.”

What makes REDEMPTION POWERFUL, is understanding that there must first be some value in the thing/person being redeemed.

“What is man that thou art mindful of him?”

You have value in the eyes of God

Sin was our Slave Master

Redemption is God’s way to get us back

Sin took us from where we were

Redemption is God’s way to get us back

It is God’s great reversal, to regain what was lost

Sin messed up God’s good world, redemption is what makes us fit to enter the new one

Sin means we lost, redemption means we get back what was lost

Sin means we are trapped, redemption means we have a way of escape

Sin means we’re undone, redemption means we will be renewed

Sin means we were under a harsh master, redemption means we are under new management

“Know ye not, that you were bought with a price?”

#2 Stay In Christ

You cannot have all of this and think its a good idea to abandon the only source salvation and security

Our sin was bad

But God

Ephesians 2:4–6 “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”