God's Words for Salvation
Sunday AM July 1, 2007
God’s Words for Salvation
Psalm 27:1 page 796 – Salvation
Romans 3:10-18 page 1737 – Redemption
Philippians 3:8-9 page 1874 – Justification
Opening Prayer
God freely offers us eternal life in Jesus Christ.
But understanding the exact process,
by which that life becomes available to us is sometimes difficult.
Therefore God paints various pictures in the Bible to help us grasp the concept
Each one with its own unique importance.
We are going to examine 3 of those word pictures:
SALVATION, REDEMPTION AND JUSTIFICATION
SALVATION: Salvation means “deliverance,”
“bringing safely through,”
“keeping from harm,”
In Psalms 27, 88 and 61, God reveals Himself as the One who saves His people.
Salvation in the New Testament is “the way” or “the road that leads through life to
eternal fellowship with God in heaven.” (Matthew 7:14; Mark 12:14; John 14:16;
Acts 16:17; II Peter 2:2 and 2:21; Acts 9:2; and 22:4and Hebrews 10:20.)
This road of SALVATION must be walked to the very end.
We can describe SALVATION as a one way with 2 sides and 3 stages:
1. The One Way of Salvation.
John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 teach that Christ is the way to the Father.
Romans 3:24 teaches, SALVATION is provided for us by God’s grace,
which He gives us freely in Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:25 and 5:8-10 say SALVATION is based on His death
and resurrection.
And Hebrews 7:25 says He is continually interceding for believers.
So, the way to the Father, is SALVATION that is provided for us by
God’s grace, which He gives to us freely in Jesus Christ.
So we have SALVATION because Jesus came and died and rose again.
Now He sits at the Right Hand of the Father in intercession for us.
2. The 2 Sides of Salvation:
SALVATION is a gift of God’s grace received through faith in Jesus Christ.
(Romans 3:22-28)
It is extended to us by God as a result of His GRACE.
And is received by us through the response of faith.
(John 1:16; Acts 16:31; Romans 1:17; and Ephesians 1:15 and 2:8)
3. The 3 stages of SALVATION
a) The past stage of SALVATION includes the personal experience by
which we as believers receive forgiveness of sins as a free gift,
(Acts 20:43; Romans 4:6-8)
and pass from spiritual death to spiritual life, (I John 3:14)
from the power of sin to the power of God, from Satan’s
dominion to God’s dominion. (Romans 6:17-34; and Acts 26:18)
It brings us into a new personal relationship with God, and rescues us from
the penalty of sin. (John 1:12; Romans 1:16 and 6:23 and I Corinthians 1:18)
b. The PRESENT stage of SALVATION:
Saves us from the bondage, power and dominion of sin,
and brings us into fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
This includes: The privilege of a person-to-person relationship with
God as our Father and Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
(Matthew 6:9; John 14:18-23; and Galatians 4:6)
The call to count ourselves dead to sin, and to submit to the leading of
the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. (Romans 6:1-14; Romans 8:1-17;
John 8:31 and 14:21; and II Timothy 3:15-16)
The invitation to be filled with the Holy Spirit and the command to
keep being filled. (Acts 2:33-29 and Ephesians 5:18)
The demand to separate ourselves from sin, and the present corrupt
generation. (Romans 6:1-14; Acts 4:40; and II Corinthians 6:17)
The call to contend for the advance of God’s kingdom against Satan
and his demonic host. (II Corinthians 10:4-5; Ephesians 6:11 and 6:16 and
I Peter 5:8-9)
c. The FUTURE stage of SALVATION:
Romans 13:11-12; I Thessalonians 5:8-9 and I Peter 1:5 includes:
Our deliverance from God’s coming wrath. (Romans 5:9; I Corinthians 3:15
and 5:5; and I Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9)
Our sharing in Christ’s glory (Romans 8:29 and I Corinthians 15:49)
And receiving a resurrected or transformed body (I Corinthians 15:52)
And our receiving rewards as faithful over comers.
This FUTURE SALVATION is the goal toward which all Christians
strive. (I Corinthians 9:24-27 and Philippians 3:8-14)
All present warnings, discipline and punishment have as their purpose
that believers should not sacrifice our future SALVAITON.
(I Corinthians 5:1-13 and 9:24-27; Phillippians2:12-16; and II Peter 1:5-11)
Redemption: The root meaning of “redemption” is ransom by the payment of a price.
The expression refers to the means by which SALVATION is acquired
namely, by the payment of a ransom.
The doctrine of REDEMPTION can be summarized as follows:
1. The state of sin out of which we must be redeemed:
Romans 3:10-18 teaches that humans are separated from God.
Acts 10:38 and 26:18 teach that we were under the dominion
of satanic powers.
We were slaves to sin, and in need of deliverance from sin’s guilt,
punishment and power. (Romans 6:6 and 7:14; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18 and 6:1-23; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:13 and I Peter 2:9)
2. The price paid to free us from this bondage:
Jesus Christ secured that ransom by shedding His blood and giving His life.
(Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; I Corinthians 6:20; Ephesians 1:7; Titus2:14;
Hebrews 9:12 and I Peter 1:18-19)
3. The resulting state of the redeemed:
As believers REDEEMED by Christ we are now free from the law in the sense
of legalistic laws and free from sin’s slavery and Satan’s
dominion. (Acts 29:18; Romans 6:7-14; Colossians 3:13-15)
a. This freedom in Christ results in righteousness and loving obedience to
Jesus Christ expressed basically in a responsible love.
(Romans 6:16-18, 12:9-21 and 13:8-10)
b. In strangely enough, freedom comes through loving obedience just as glory
comes through suffering. (Galatians 5:13-14; Romans 8:17; and
I Corinthians 6:19-20 and 7:22-23)
4. The New Testament teaching of REDEMPTION foreshadowed by REDEMPTION in the Old Testament:
The greatest Old Testament redemptive event was the exodus from Egypt.
Furthermore, through the sacrificial system, the blood of animals was the
price paid for the atonement for sin. (Leviticus 9:8)
Justification: “To be justified” means to be acquitted, declared “not guilty”,
in the worlds sense.
And “declared righteous in God’s sight,” in God’s sense.
So it is directly related to God’s forgiveness in Christ of us the guilty and
repentant sinner, who then becomes as if we had never sinned.
JUSTIFICAITON is the legal aspect of the conversion experience in which we are
viewed from God’s perspective.
God the Father, because of the atonement of Jesus Christ,
credits the righteousness of Christ to us.
Paul says in Philippians 3:9, “credited righteousness” is not really our own, but is Christ’s.
God the Father sees us wrapped in the perfect righteousness of Christ.
This is what allows God to accept us into His heaven,
since no one can ever be good enough to merit heaven.
The term JUSTIFICATION is best understood in the analogy of a courtroom.
Jesus Christ is our attorney, who is able to present us
before the Father as being credited with His righteousness.
There are several important points to know about JUSTIFICATION.
1. JUSTIFICATION is only one aspect of the conversion experience.
At the moment of conversion, several other things are taking place.
REGENERATION is the beginning of the new life in Christ,
“being born again.” (John 3:3)
Christ comes to live in us. (Galatians 2:16-21)
The Holy Spirit abides with us and energizes us to live victoriously.
(Romans 8:9 and Romans 8:5-13)
We are given the “witness of the Holy Spirit” that we belong to the
family of God. (Romans 8:16)
There are many blessings that come to us in the instant of the conversion.
JUSTIFICATION is that part of conversion that features our standing
before a Holy God.
JUSTIFICATION, must be seen alongside
SANCTIFICATION,
that begins with REGENERATION.
2. JUSTIFICATION is a gift of God – (Romans 3:24 and Ephesians 2:8)
Romans 4:2-5, tells us that not one of us can put ourselves right before God by
keeping the law or by performing good works.
Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
4. JUSTIFICATION is grounded in the work of Christ; it is
“through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.” (Romans 3:24)
No one is JUSTIFIED apart from the redemption of Christ.
4. Romans 3:22-24 and 4:3-5 tells us that, being JUSTIFIED before God comes
“by His grace” and is appropriated “through faith in Jesus Christ”
as Lord and Saviour.
5. Being JUSTIFIED by God is related to the forgiveness of our sins. (Romans 4:7)
We are declared guilty by the law, and condemned to eternal death.
(Romans 3:19-18; 3:23 and 6:23)
But in Christ by faith we are forgiven because of Christ’s atoning death
and resurrection.
We are given eternal life. Romans 25, 4:5, 4:25; 5:6-11; 6:23 and 8:1-3)
Everyone bow your head.
During His time on earth, Jesus was always inviting people to become His followers.
He said to those by the Sea of Galilee, “Follow me.”
He invited His listeners to come to Him, to come by faith, to come for healing, to come for hope,
to come for happiness.
He said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28)
He said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross,
and follow Me. (Matthew 16:24)
Imagine if Jesus were here, giving this invitation.
What would you do?
He really is in this room.
And He is inviting you to become His child, His follower, His disciple.
If you need to Jesus to be your Saviour.
Come and I will pray with you.
Don’t worry about what anyone else things; this is your time with Christ.
He is calling you as an individual?
Is He calling you as a couple?
Is He calling you as a family?
He died and rose again just for you.
His blood washes away your sins.
He gives you new life if only you will come to Him.
Jesus waiting for you.
Closing Prayer