Salvation

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NKJV

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

In the simplest of terms, the Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But to explain what that means and why it is important, we have been walking through this series, “The Gospel of C.H.R.I.S.T.” so that each of us not understand the Gospel better for ourselves, but are also equipped to share that Gospel with confidence to others.

We have been using the title “Christ” as an acronym, and each week, we move on to the next letter. We have already covered the first 4 letters:

Creation

Today, we move on to the fifth letter, which is the letter “S”.

Out topic for today is “Salvation”.

Context

This is what we have been building towards since the beginning of this series. The Gospel is all about the salvation of mankind from sin. It speaks of how a Holy, Righteous God moved out of mercy to bring about the undeserved salvation of all men.

We are able to know this great love of God only because He was gracious enough to share it with us. Our salvation is completely and totally a merciful act of God, and for this, we are to be forever grateful.

If not for this great grace of God, we would forever be lost in our sin, doomed to suffer in full the just penalty of our own sinful actions. But God, in love, moved in a divine way to make a way for us to know forgiveness. He provided a means for us to know Him and His love through Jesus Christ our Lord. Hallelujah!!!

So today, we want to talk about this graceful act of God. We have already discussed in great detail how we come to know the Lord. We have seen that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father except through Him.

We have seen that the blood He shed at Calvary was the only price worthy enough to be accepted as payment for the reconciliation of man to the Father.

We have seen that as we place our faith in Him, which means we truly and sincerely believe who Jesus is and what He has accomplished for us and decide to surrender ourselves to His will, that our sin is laid to His account and His righteousness to ours through Imputation.

But our focus today is on salvation itself. What does it mean to be a Christian? Once we have come to a place of truly giving ourself to God, what does that mean for us now, and what should life look like moving forward?

1 Peter 1:3–12 NKJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. 10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

Let’s Pray!

Content

To help us understand this wonderful salvation that we have, we want to simply walk through this text today.

1 Peter 1:3 NKJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

“Abundant Mercy” - I love that phrase. God did not just how us mercy, but He showed us abundant mercy. It speaks to just how far from God we really were. This salvation that we speak of came by the way of God’s abundant mercy.

Let me share with you an illustration that explains this wonderful mercy of God. Some of you have heard it, but some of you probably haven’t. I heard another preacher use this illustration several months ago, and it seems fitting for where we are today:

There was a king in a land, and this king was known by all to be the most loving and the most just king around. He was a very wealthy man and lots of money in his personal treasury. There came a time when he noticed that some of his money was going missing.

Because he was such a loving king, he sent out a message to the entire kingdom: “I have noticed that money has been taken from my treasury without permission. All that I ask is that whoever has done this to bring the money back and all will be forgiven. We will move forward as if nothing ever happened.”

Some time goes by, but instead of the perpetrator bringing the money back, more money goes missing instead. The king is now forced to take more extreme action. He now sends out another decree unto the kingdom: “Whoever was responsible for stealing money out of my treasury did not return the money as requested. Instead, they have taken even more. I am now commanding my leading officers to do whatever is necessary to find this thief and bring them to justice. The punishment is execution.”

His officers go out and begin their search, and before long they find the one responsible for this egregious action. It was none other than the king’s daughter herself.

Once word got out of who was responsible, a rumbling began throughout the kingdom. Some of the people said, “He is the most loving king we have ever known. There is no way he will be able to kill his own daughter.” Others said, “He is the most just king we have ever known. Though it is his daughter, there is no way he will let her go.” Back and forth these conversations went until the day of the execution.

Everyone gathered around the whipping post, where a person was to be tied and flogged to death. The daughter is brought out before the crowd, followed by a long silence. Finally, the king broke the silence and said, “Carry out the execution.”

The soldiers brought the king’s daughter to the whipping post, leaned her over the top, and chained her to it. They then ripped the dress she wore from the back to reveal her bare back to those holding the whips. Once everything was set, the soldiers paused for a long moment, looking at the king, then back at his daughter. Nothing was said, so the soldier raised his whip and started to lay the first lash.

All of a sudden, the king stood up and screamed, “STOP!!”

The soldier was relieved, but this sent a ripple throughout the crowd instantly. Everyone began to murmur, wondering what was going on.

The king walked down the stairs from his second story terrace to where his daughter was chained. He removed the robes from his own back, leaned across his daughter, and then said, “Continue!”

The soldier said, “But sir… I cannot lay the lashes to your daughter without hitting you. You must move before I can continue.” The king replied, “I said continue.”

The king took every lash that his daughter deserved, and ultimately gave his own life so that hers could be spared.

That is the abundant mercy of our heavenly Father. We said last week, that He not only died for us, but as us.

As Jesus was beaten, we were beaten. As Jesus was nailed to the cross, we were nailed to the cross. As Jesus died and was buried, we were buried also. And as Jesus rose again the third day, we too stand on resurrection ground.

Notice the verse again. It says that according to His abundant mercy, He has begotten us again. That means that we have been born again. According to the abundant mercy of God Almighty, we have been begotten again, born again, given a new birth into a living hope.

Listen to me… We praise God for the death of Jesus on that cross at Calvary, but we do not worship a dead Savior. He is risen, and because He is risen, we too are risen into a new life in Him. It is a living hope, not a dead hope. And it is a living hope because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

In His death, we died, and in His resurrection, we were resurrected unto eternal life.

1 Peter 1:4 NKJV

4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

Anytime someone has a party nowadays, they want you to RSVP. In other words, they want you to secure your spot.

Have you already RSVP’d to Heaven? I sure hope that you have.

Those of us who are in Christ have an inheritance. But notice how it describes this inheritance:

It is incorruptible - It cannot be corrupted.

It is Undefiled - It cannot be defiled.

It does not fade away - It is permanent.

Reserved - It is kept just for you. It has your name on it, and nothing or noone can keep you from it.

Listen to what this is saying. Placing your faith in Jesus Christ has an eternal impact. Once you have been born again, you can never go back to being unborn again. It is a forever thing. Once you got it, you got it. Once your name has been attached to this inheritance, it is yours forever.

The inheritance you have in Jesus, which is your salvation, cannot be corrupted, it cannot be defiled, it never fades away, it is reserved for you. Who is reserving it, God is:

1 Peter 1:5 NKJV

5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

We are kept not in our own power, but in His power. We are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation. This means that once someone has truly placed their faith in Jesus, that faith will be kept by the power of God for salvation. We are not saved in our own power, but in His power. We do not keep ourselves saved in our own power, but also in His power.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NKJV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Hebrews 12:1–2 NKJV

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…

The very faith to believe in Christ was given to us of Christ, and once we act upon that faith, it is completed in Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith.

It is because of this great truth, that it goes on to say,

1 Peter 1:6 NKJV

6 In this you greatly rejoice…

Of course we do. We greatly rejoice that Jesus has promised to finish the work He started in us.

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Jesus is not going to let us go. He is going to finish that work which He started in us, and those who have truly placed their faith in Him will be secure in Him.

John 10:27–28 NKJV

27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

Amen and Amen!

We greatly rejoice in the saving power of our Lord Jesus Christ. He does not make mistakes, and when He truly saves someone, He does it right the first time. According to His own words here, those who are His are kept by Him. Praise God!

So how do we know? Obviously not everyone who has ever claimed to be saved was actually saved. We know this to also be true. Some have went to their grave believing that they were saved and went straight to hell. I don’t know about you, but that is a scary truth to behold.

How are we supposed to know?

First, let me tell you that you can know that you are saved, and God wants you to know and have assurance that you are saved. He doesn’t want you to walk through life constantly worried whether or not you are saved. Where would the rejoicing be in that? No, we want to have an assurance of this salvation Jesus speaks of.

1 John 5:13 NKJV

13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

John says, “You can know. You need to know. It is in the knowing that you will continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

1 Peter 1:6–7 NKJV

6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

He says that we are going to suffer in this life. Can anyone say Amen to that? That is a fact of life. Life is tough, and as we go through life, we are going to experience some suffering along the way. But look at why He says that is:

“That the genuineness of your faith… may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Your suffering has purpose. It serves to prove to yourself whether or not you really have faith in Jesus or not. When your world seems to be literally falling down around you, do you raise up your hands to the Father in heaven and continue to praise His name? If you do, that is because your faith is genuine and you can’t help but to praise the Savior of your soul, despite the circumstances that life keeps throwing at you.

He says that it is through the suffering of this life that we find out who we really are.

This water bottle holds water. If I were to take off the lid and then shake it, what is going to come out? Water...

When you get shook up, whatever comes out of you tells you what’s inside of you. This is why we are told to thank God for the suffering, to praise Him for the bad times. It is these difficult times in life that reassures us of our faith in Him.

1 Peter 1:8 NKJV

8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

In spite of our suffering, we love Him anyway. That is what genuine faith does.

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Our faith makes Him real. It is our genuine faith in God that gives Him substance. He is real beyond reality.

Think about that statement. When we speak of reality, we talk in terms of what we can see, touch, taste, smell, and hear, but God is beyond that. We can not physically see God, touch God, or hear God, but our faith tells us He is there nonetheless. He is just as real to us through our faith, as the person sitting right next to us.

We love Him though we have never given Him a hug. We love Him though we have never been able to tell Him that face to face. We love Him through we have never heard His audible voice. We love Him because our faith makes Him real to us. We know what He has said; We know what He has done; We know His love for us because our faith in Him convinces us that it is true and trustworthy. And because of this we rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.

And because our faith makes Him real we will be saved.

1 Peter 1:9 NKJV

9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

Now watch this. Our salvation is so special that the prophets of old longed to have what we have in Christ:

1 Peter 1:10 NKJV

10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,

The prophets of the Old Testament, through the leadership of the Holy Spirit within them, spoke of a time when salvation would come, but they themselves never witnessed it. But just because they did not witness it themselves, did not make their belief in it any less. They longed to see the day when Christ would come, but they never got the chance. They wrote about a future that they were never able to see.

It says they prophesied of the grace that would come… to you!

1 Peter 1:11 NKJV

11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

They searched diligently to find out when this time would come when they would be delivered from the bondage they knew so well, but again, it never came during their lifetime. They wrote about it and prophesied it anyway, because through the Holy Spirit, they knew it to be true.

1 Peter 1:12 NKJV

12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

It says not only were the prophets of old intrigued by this salvation of God, but even the angels desire to know of it.

Please don’t miss this…

We often take for granted just how valuable and precious our salvation really is. The prophets of old longed for it. The Angels of Heaven wish they could experience it. Let’s not undervalue what has been given to us and secured for us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Through Christ, all can be saved. He died for all, though all will not believe it or accept it. But that is not our mission. As Christians, as true, genuine believers in Christ, our mission is to herald the Good News of Jesus Christ to all who will listen. We cannot make them be saved, but we can tell them of how wonderful the salvation is nonetheless. That’s as far as we can take it. They must choose to believe, receive it, and act upon it.

Now watch this. It says the prophets wrote and proclaimed of this grace that was to come, though they never witnessed it for themselves. It says they finally realized that their message was not for their generation, but for the one to come.

That is exactly where we are today. Jesus has given us a message just like He did to them. The message is this:

Jesus is coming back one day. It might be in our lifetime, but it very well might not. Either way, He is coming back. He is coming back to take His children home. And all of those left behind will suffer greatly as He pours out His just judgment and wrath upon this world because of its sin.

We may or may not see this take place in our life, but it is going to happen nonetheless.

We are to be the prophets of our day. Just as they proclaimed a future grace that would deliver men from sin, we are to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to proclaim His love to all men in hopes that some might be saved.

The question is, will you be saved today?

Are you willing to set aside your pride, your stubbornness, your ego, your shame, or whatever else it is that might be holding you back and experience this new life in Christ today?

Are you willing to bow before a Holy righteous God and admit your sinfulness before Him?

Are you willing to truly surrender your heart to Him as Lord of your life?

I sure hope so....today is the day of salvation to all who will believe!!!

Commitment