Are You Locked In With Jesus?

Text: Ephesians 2:8-10

Introduction: Does this phrase mean anything to you all: Sola fide justificat sid non fides quo est sola? It didn’t mean anything to me either until I discovered what it means. This phrase was championed by the reformers, and it means “The fath that justifies alone is not a faith that is alone.” What were the reformers getting at when they meant this. Well, in their time, some people were saying that to be a Christian you had to do all these works plus faith. The reformers recognized that true salvation was by grace through faith ALONE! They did, however, understand that true faith can only be evidenced by works; thus, they wrote that a living faith is evidenced by works (faith that is not alone). What’s the point here? True conversion is not based on works. If it were, we’d all be hopeless. True salvation is based on God, but it is accompanied with works. The title of the lesson is, “Are you locked in with Jesus?” I propose to you all that a locked-in believer has a faith that is accompanied with works, and a believer that is not locked-in or a person that is unsaved has no works.

Declaration: Locked in Christians should be noticeably different than the crowd.

Transition: Today, we will see three truths about locked in Christians.

I. Locked-in Christians recognize what true salvation is (2:8).

Explanation: By grace you have been saved through faith. It’s interesting that Paul leaves no room for you in there. He doesn’t say by grace and works through faith. God’s grace, that infinite attribute of His that He so freely lavishes on His people, is the means of salvation. Paul uses a tense in “have been saved” to indicate something that was completed in the past and continues up to the present, literally meaning that you were saved in the past (point of conversion) and continue to be saved from the weight of sin and death to this current day and will continue to be saved up until the consummation of all things. What an amazing truth about our salvation! He transports grace through the channel of faith—thus, grace through faith. True salvation is not our own doing. We cannot strive for salvation, nor can we obtain it apart from God. It is God’s gift, implying that we did nothing to deserve it. He freely gave of His own volition. Did you know that in the original language the pronoun “it” has a neuter gender. What does this mean for us? It means that it doesn’t just refer to grace or to faith but to both at the same time, leaving no room for us in salvation. Salvation is a miraculous gift of God in providing escape from the death that we were looming over. We are saved from ourselves, our world, our flesh, and the devil.

II. Locked-in Christians realize what true salvation requires (2:9).

Explanation: Locked-in Christians realize that true salvation requires the sin that we bring it. We can do nothing to save ourselves; it had to be all of God. Our salvation is not a result of works. We cannot merit our salvation, so that God may look to us and say, “You know what, I think Will Conley deserves to be saved because he just helped that old lady with her groceries.” God doesn’t do that. He planned salvation for you before you were even born. He saved you, not you saved you with God. **Read Titus 3:3-5** Why does God not allow us to merit or earn our salvation? It’s because He knows that if that were possible, then we’d be prone to brag about it. “Look at me, I earned my salvation through my good works.” “God likes me more than He likes you because He gave me salvation and you don’t have it.” God knows that we would have boasted in our salvation, so He doesn’t allow us to earn it or merit it. He wants us to boast in Him and in His Son. Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

III. Locked-in Christians reciprocate what true salvation produces (2:10).

Explanation: Paul says that we do not have salvation by works, but this does not mean that works aren’t involved in some way with salvation. We are His workmanship. The Greek word used for workmanship is poiema. What do you think this sounds like? We are God’s poem, His masterpiece! He has created us in Christ Jesus. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians and told them that any man in Christ is a new creature, he was literally saying that the new man in Christ is someone who has before been seen on the earth. When we are born again, born of God, we become something never before seen on the earth. We are made new. We are brought from death to life in a masterful way by the Great Poet. We are created in Christ for good works. Notice the order. You are saved and then you can do the good works that God foreordained. God’s intention for His masterpieces is that they would walk in good works. We are to abound in every good work, not just to those who were deem “deserving” of them, but to all people. Locked-in Christians should be noticeable in the crowd because of their works. Remember what James said? “Show me your faith apart from works, and I’ll show you my faith by my works.” What did Jesus say? “By this shall all men know that you are mine, if you have love for one another all the time.” True salvation apart from works produces works. This is what the reformers were getting at, this is what Jesus was getting at, this is what Paul was getting at, James, etc. Being locked-in with Christ means we produce good works.

Application: Would everyone bow their heads and close their eyes? We’re almost done. I want to ask two questions and then we’ll conclude. First, we’ve talked a lot tonight about being locked-in with Jesus. We talked about being locked-in by abounding in good works. We talked about being locked-in by knowing what our salvation was. These are all good things, but the first step towards being locked-in with Jesus is salvation. Is there anyone in the room today who would say, “You know, I’ve just been trying to work my way to salvation. I was hoping that if I were a good enough person, then God would accept me into heaven.” Maybe, you have never even heard of the gospel message before. Can I say this, friend, Jesus loves you. He died for you so that you could have a relationship with Him. He wants you in His family. If you will recognize your sin, understanding that it was the cause of Jesus death, confess it, which means that you agree with God that your sin is wrong and that you can do nothing to forgive it yourself, and then believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and call out to Him, then the Bible says you can be saved. Is there anyone here tonight who would say, “Today is my day for salvation.” My second question is this, for those who are saved, how are you doing? Would someone be able to see that you are locked-in with Jesus. Can someone see your living faith? Or are you a little dry? Are you stagnate, not moving forward from where you are? Can I say this to those people, God has created you new for good works. He wants you to walk in them. He gives you His Spirit to help you. Would there be anyone here who would say, “Jonny please pray for me. I haven’t been abounding in every good work. I need the Spirit’s help in my life today. Would you pray that I can rededicate my life to serving the Lord?”