Our Salvation

Introduction

We’re gonna start a short series this morning entitled, “Our beliefs.”

And through this series were going to look at a few of the key beliefs we share as both a church and a denomination.

Beliefs

The reason I want to look at these beliefs is because it’s important that we as a body understand what we believe scripture says to us..

Its important to know what we believe

Because Our beliefs determine our actions..

What we believe will determine what we do and how we will act.

So we as christians should know what we belief so we can live it out and share it with others.

Series

Through this series I want to look at three specific beliefs

Our Salvation

Our Holiness

Our Spirit Baptism

Because these three beliefs, even though there are others as well, are part of what differentiates us as an organization and church.

Today

So today were gonna start this series

and were going to look at one of the most fundamental beliefs we have ..

The belief that brings us into this thing we call family and church..

into the body of christ..

and that is our salvation.

Our Salvation

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

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.

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

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.

Salvation is the event that makes us christian..

Its what makes us followers of Jesus..

And its one of the fundamental beliefs that all christians share..

Without Jesus, and the work he did for us,

without the cross and our belief in him…

We are not a part of the Kingdom of god..

Meaning.. Without salvation we have no fellowship with god..

And no promise of eternal life..

Without salvation, there is no christianity…

There is no discipleship..

There is no blessing and favor..

There is no eternity in heaven or eternal life..

EVERY CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION SHARES THIS VIEW TO SOME DEGREE..

BUT NOT EVERY CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION SHARES THE SAME VIEW OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BOTH BE SAVED AND LIVE SAVED…

But remember.. What you believe will dictate how you live..

and so we see different church organizations…

who act very different in their living..

and its undoubtable in part because they have some very different beliefs about salvation..

Different Us

Even here in our church..

There may be different people who believes a few different things in regards to salvation..

and to an extent thats ok..

We are all different in some ways of our understanding and rational when looking into scripture..

in fact..

Philippians 2:12 ESV

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

we each have to know what and why we believe it..

and some of us may interpret the scripture to have slightly different meanings..

and the kingdom is strong enough to have that kind of diversity..

Today

But understand what I am going to share with you today is what WE.. as the CHURCH of GOD.. FREEDOM CHURCH.. BELIEVE TO BE THE CORRECT INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE IN REGARD DOCTRINE OF SALVATION..

And therefore.. its the foundation of what we believe.. how we live.. and how we teach..

Salvation

So What is salvation?

Salvation is the divine act of god to deliver humanity from the Bondage and Consequences of sin.

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of [that] sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

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.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

inherited sin

Simply put..

Because of the sin of our great great great… grandfather Adam..

Sin came into the world and into humanity.…

and through it death..

and this sin has been passed from generation to generation through the bloodline of humanity..

And so we are born into sin.

Psalm 51:5 ESV

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Death

And this sin brings with it the consequences of death..

Certainly original sin brought about physical death..

but more importantly sin brings the consequences of spiritual and eternal death..

that being an eternal separation from god..

SO WITHOUT SALVATION.. WE ARE ALL DOOMED TO DIE A SPIRITUAL DEATH AND BE ETERNALLY SEPARATED FROM THE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD HUMANITY WAS CREATED FOR..

THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PHYSICAL DEATH BECAUSE IT IS ETERNAL!

That separation the bible says takes place in what we know as hell..

or the lake of fire..

this is the destiny of those in sin….

those who live in and dwell in sin..

Savior

But thanks be to god that he did not just leave humanity to the consequences of its sin.

But instead..

He made a ways for us to be redeemed from and cleansed of our sins..

and that way was through the blood..

Hebrews 9:22 ESV

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

First

at the first sin..

God shed blood in the garden..

He made sacrifice for adam and eve..

Moses and the law

Then later in the days of moses god revealed the law..

and the law allowed blood to be shed of animals to cover the sins of the people..

but that sacrifice was unperfect..

It has to be done regularly..

and so god established a greater sacrifice..

Jesus

the sacrifice of his son.. Jesus

and Jesus became the spotless lamb who took away our sins..

the Final sacrifice for us..

Hebrews 9:13–14 ESV

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

And that

Romans 10:9 ESV

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.

That is salvation!

Thats what most Christian churches believe..

We were sinners..

Jesus died for us..

and through him we are saved..

And thats what we believe?

Our Salvation

So what makes us different?

As a church we believe 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.”

We believe that when we repent..

and confess the lordship of christ Jesus in our lives…

putting our faith in him and his sacrifice..

that by HIS grace we are saved..

And furthermore we believe that its not by works..

or in other words..

We believe that

Our salvation does not come from being good people..

or doing good things..

in fact Jesus in mark 10:18 said no one is good except the father..

but rather our faith in Jesus and his sacrifice causes grace to be applied to our live and cover us..

Works

But catch this..

while we do not believe you are saved by works..

we do believe that if you are saved their should be works..

or that if you are saved your life will reflect it..

James 2:17 ESV

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

in other word faith without work is not living faith..

Its dead faith..

some theologians have put it that faith with works is no saving faith.. because its not alive..

And again thats not to say the works save you..

but that there is a tension between living faith and death faith..

Furthermore..

Jesus said..

Matthew 7:16 ESV

You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

so works, righteous action..should come with salvation..

because they live hand in hands with with living faith..

in a nut shell..

while we don’t believe works will save you.. we believe if you having living faith your life will reflect that..

But we will talk more about that another day..

Of the Wesleyan tradition

As part of the Church of God..

We are of the Wesleyan Arminian faith tradition..

This is a set of beliefs from which the Church of God descended

Birthed by Jacobus Arminius and later further developed by John Wesley.

and we still hold many, though not all, of those beliefs in our doctrine and worship..

this is especially important in our beliefs about salvation because it sets us apart from others such as calvinist, lutherans, and many baptists who are more calvinistic in their faith

And there are some important differences that we need to look at..

1. We believe in Free will and not Predestination

To simplify it… We believe that scripture teaches Salvation is OUR choice..

Many Calvinists and reformed christians believe in Unconditional election..

Meaning that God predestined and determined before time who would be saved and who would not..

in other words GOD HAS ALREADY CHOSEN REGARDLESS OF MANS ACTIONS….

We in contrast believe scripture teaches conditional election.. or simplified free will and free choice..

THAT GOD LOOKED DOWN THROUGH HISTORY AND PRE CHOSE THOSE WHO KNEW THEY WOULD CHOOSE HIM..

This election is dependent on our choosing him..

Scripture bears witness to him..

Garden

Adam and even were given a choice in the garden..

the very first people..

would they obey god or obey the flesh..

Genesis 2:16–17 ESV

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

All Through out scripture we see where god calls his people to choose whom they will serve.

Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

Joshua 24:15 ESV

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

John 7:17 ESV

If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

Matthew 16:24 ESV

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Romans 10:9 ESV

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.

Scripture shows us we have a choice..

You can choose blessings or cursings..

You can choose to take up your cross and follow Jesus or not..

You can take the narrow path or the wide path..

You can serve god with gladness and see eternal life..

or you can deny him and experience eternal death..

BUT THATS YOUR CHOICE..

2. We believe in Resistible Grace in contrast to irresistible Grace

What is Irresistible grace?

irresistible grace is the concept that for those god elects he gives grace

and this grace, like it sounds, cannot be resisted..

essentially the elected individual has no choice in the matter..

Unconditional grace

normally hand in hand with this is unconditional grace..

this is grace that regardless of merit or action..

meaning

Hyper grace

Some even take this concept further to another idea called hyper grace..

hyper grace being grace that is all forgiving, regardless of the individuals actions..

and that grace covers all sins past, present, and future..

Why?

You might say pastor why are you talking about those concepts if that not what we believe?

Because this is the foundation of eternal security doctrine..

or once saved always saved theology..

because these are the types of grace required for such theology to be plausible..

But the problem with each other these concepts of grace is again that they deny the freewill of man..

because they are forms of grace that for grace upon mankind..

and we believe scripture teaches a different kind of grace..

that being conditional, or resistible grace

Resistible Grace

Resistible Grace is grace as we know it..

Its the unmerited favor of god..

freely given..and unearned

Endless in its supply..

And its no respecter of persons..

given to anyone who will accept it.. .

its for anyone and all..

And covers any and all..

Its grace given by faith…

and its not given due to works..

What makes resistible grace different though is the presence of conditions that must be met to receive it..

Simplified.. Grace is available to all but must be received..

In contrast to unconditional grace..

You and i have the choice to receive grace..

Faith

For instance Ephesians tells us we must have faith.. .

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

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.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Repentance

Scripture require repentance

Jesus tells us in Mark 1:15…

Mark 1:15 ESV

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Holiness..

Obligatory

3. We believe in Conditional Security

opposed to once saved always saved..

Eternally Secure IN CHRIST…

John 10

How do I know i am saved?

Have you repented of your sins and accepted the work of christ?

If your life producing the fruit of a new creation and righteous living? (that does not mean your perfect)

Then you can assure you’ve been saved!

4. Obligated to live holy

Altar Call

Salvation Altar Call