Let’s Pray

This morning we have reached a wonderful truth

Salvation

This truth is laid out simple and concise

However many believe it’s meeting Jesus and claiming to be a Christian which makes them saved

that is just not true

today we will look at truth God’s Truth so we can fully understand and proclaim the Gospel

Salvation

Romans 10:9-10

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Romans 10:9–10 “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.”

I want to start by looking at the Greek word translated

Salvation

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Means deliverance.....rescue

What a wonderful look at salvation

so many times we today look at salvation as forgiveness of sins...this is a very true part of salvation but it is much more than that

Let’s look at what salvation delivers us from

1. Lostness

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Luke 19:10

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Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.””

Lost here in Greek means destroy...die...perish

Salvation saves you

delivers you from being destroyed

delivers you from dying the second death....spiritual death

All are born sinners....lost...destined to be destroyed by God’s Holy wrath because of your sin

2. Wrath of God

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Romans 5:9

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Romans 5:9 “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

Wrath....Greek word means anger, temper, character

we get anger

God hates sin

sin caused Jesus to be a sacrifice on the cross...that angers God

shows God’s temper

but character.....that is deep....that really smacked me when I looked into wrath...in fact if I am honest it caught me off guard at first but when you think about it character fits perfect here

God’s character is holy

since God’s character is holy it demands His anger be poured out because of sin

you either get delivered from that wrath by the blood of Jesus or you take it upon yourself because God is holy and sin must then be paid for in full

3. Willful Spiritual Ignorance

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Hosea 4:6

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Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

II Thessalonians 1:8

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2 Thessalonians 1:8 “in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”

God created each of us to know Him

everyone is born with a desire to find God.....many call that a God sized hole in your heart.....if you think about that for just a minute it is ridiculous...God almighty....the creator of the universe.....God who is all places at all times...past...present...future....God who knows all things....God who is all powerful....your human body and heart could never be big enough to have a God sized hole in it

now I get the meaning which is this truth.....you are born with a desire to know God

God knits that into you when HE knits you together in your mothers womb

until we realize what it is we shove all kinds of things in there

drugs

alcohol

sex

porn

greed

hobbies

idols

work

all kinds of things that can never satisfy that desire because they are not God

Willful spiritual ignorance....ignoring God and trying to replace Him with physical things

4. Evil Self-Indulgence

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Luke 14:26

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Luke 14:26 ““If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Hate from the Greek means detest but also love less

This is not Jesus commanding you to hate your father and mother and family etc

That would stand in direct opposition of one of the 10 commandments...Honor your father and mother

so it can’t be hate as we define hate

no it is love less than

So many have family as idols

you love them more than you love Jesus

look no further than your fruit

do you routinely turn down ministry opportunities because of family...some times that is good...the quality of your yes is defined by the quantity of your no

Do you put your family before God

I can’t make it to the secret place today because I have to do _______ with family

do you love your family more than God if so that is evil self-indulgence

5. Darkness of False Religion

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Colossians 1:13

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Colossians 1:13 “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,”

I Peter 2:9

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1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

any religion not based on Jesus and Jesus alone is false and darkness

the entire Old Testament is pointing to Jesus

The entire New Testament is about Jesus

Jesus is the theme

God the Father

God the Son

God the Holy Spirit

three in one

anyone without Jesus is in the dark.....any religion without Jesus or denies Jesus as God is also darkness

That is what salvation delivers you from now lets look at what it rescues you from

Ultimate Penalty Of Your Sin

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Revelation 20:6

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Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

Saved

those who have made Jesus Lord and Savior

“one who shares in the first death”

Unless you are alive when Jesus returns all will die a physical death

first death at that time what you did with Jesus matters

accept Him make Him Lord and Savior found repentance that led to salvation through Holy Spirit then you are heaven bound

or

reject Jesus....lost and experience the 2nd death....spiritual death and eternity in hell

salvations rescues you from the second death

That is a look and salvation in terms of deliverance and rescue

now lets look at the how to become saved

Belief Is Not Enough

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Romans 10:9–10 “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.”

I want us to understand this because so many miss it and will miss heaven because they have never truly made Jesus Lord they just believe

Matthew 8:29

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Matthew 8:29 “And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?””

Mark 5:7

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Mark 5:7 “And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.””

demons know Jesus

demons know He...Jesus...will judge them at judgement day

James 2:19

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James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

the problem the demons have and so many today including those claiming to be saved is all they have is head knowledge...belief

look at james

the demons believe and they even shudder

most walking inside churches this morning across this country expect God to make them feel better

to bless them

to give them things

you are to respect and fear God because He is holy and paid the price and owes you nothing but His wrath and destruction

the demons shudder because they know what is coming yet refuse to make Jesus Lord

head knowledge is important but it cannot save you

satan and demons believe but are not saved

why is that important

because satan has gotten so many inside the church to think of this...confess and believe as head knowledge not Lordship

the Gospel is very simple but very hard

head knowledge is so simple

read

learn

memorize

know

that is not what God is talking about here in Romans

Confess

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Greek means to assent, acknowledge, covenant

meanings matter

I pray you get that and that you start digging into scripture to find original meanings and not settle for watered down English meanings

confess is much more than I rock with Jesus

i am cool with Jesus

this is covenant

eternally binding

eternity changing

you make a covenant with God that Jesus is Lord

complete control over your life

ultimate power to decide your fate

you make a covenant so you belong to Jesus

He bought you with His blood

Not just say a prayer

or be moved with emotion

knowingly entering into covenant with God that Jesus is Lord and you are alive in Christ and dead to you

Believe

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Greek have faith, entrust, commit

this goes beyond head knowledge

head knowledge stops believing when things get hard

i know in my head i must start eating healthy

getting more exercise

I know it

but i don’t believe it

If i believed it I would be committed to it

it is easy to say I am going to get healthy and lose weight until your body and habits fight back

things get hard and without belief

commitment you quit when things get hard

you have to have complete faith

complete commitment that God raised Jesus from the dead because if Jesus is still in that tomb you and i are doomed to hell

salvation isnt a prayer you say

can you say a payer to confess and believe...absolutely

however if you think the prayer saves you....you are eternally wrong

no

this is Holy Spirit opening your eyes to the fact that you are a sinner

doomed to hell

He moves and you agree

He then leads you to repentance...confessing Jesus as your Lord and Savior

surrendering to His Lordship

confessing your sin and that because of that sin you deserve hell

then you leave all that behind...you do a 180 degree turn and walk in God’s way leaving your way and sins way and the worlds way behind you

this is a choice

this is a decision

this is NOT emotion

Once you have been led by Holy Spirit to confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior you enter a covenant with God giving Him full control

you then place your faith and commitment in God raising Jesus from the dead

again you do a 180 degree turn walking away from you and sin and the world to follow Jesus

that is salvation

your faith in Jesus justifies you and your commitment.....covenant proves you are saved

so many times we are somewhere

Christian concert

revival

retreat

church event

and are emotionally charged

Holy Spirit is

moving

convicting

leading you to repentance leading to salvation and you move

come forward

say a prayer

cry

whatever

yet you didnt get saved

salvation is a result of a decision to enter covenant making Jesus Lord and having faith

commitment that God raised Him from the dead

that results in complete life change in an instant

Are you in?

are you in covenant

are you commited this morning?