Salvation Questions
Notes
Transcript
What the Bible says about eternal life and judgment.
What the Bible says about eternal life and judgment.
1. All people are sinners ().
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
2. The penalty of sin is death – eternal separation from God ().
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
3. Christ died to pay the penalty for the sin of the whole world (; ; etc.).
42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”
2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
John 4:42
4. People are saved from eternal judgment when they put their trust (“believe”) in Christ’s death on the cross for their sin (; ; ; ,; Ephesians 7:8,9; etc.).
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Acts 16:30-31
5. Not all are saved; those who reject Christ’s payment for sin will eternally endure God’s wrath on sin in hell (,; ).
18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John
36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation
Can a person have his sins forgiven and have eternal life apart from knowledge of Christ?
Can a person have his sins forgiven and have eternal life apart from knowledge of Christ?
1. No, a person must hear the gospel of Christ and place his or her faith in Christ
13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
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2. “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me” ().
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
3. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” ().
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
4. “There is salvation in no one else…no other name under heaven…by which we must be saved” ().
12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
Is God fair if He sends people to hell who have never heard about Christ?
Is God fair if He sends people to hell who have never heard about Christ?
1. God is just (; ).
25 “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
11 For there is no partiality with God.
2. Since all are sinners, God would have been just to send all people to hell. He was gracious to provide salvation through Christ ().
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
:1-9
3. God has put within people a basic awareness of Himself and of the requirement to do right (,; ).
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,
4. God has revealed Himself (as eternal, as all-powerful, as good, etc.) to all by means of the created world ().
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
5. Man willfully can ignore that revelation.
a. They “suppress the truth” ().
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
b. They refuse to “honor God” ().
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
c. They choose to worship idols of men or beasts instead ().
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
d. They choose to ignore God’s standard of righteousness ().
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
6. So when God has revealed himself and some have willfully rejected Him, He is fair to judge them.
If an isolated person responded to God’s revelation in his heart and in nature, how would he ever hear about Christ?
If an isolated person responded to God’s revelation in his heart and in nature, how would he ever hear about Christ?
1. God desires that all men be saved (; ).
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
2. God seeks for those who acknowledge their spiritual need and seek Him (; ).
11 For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.
10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
3. When people are seeking the true God two things happen:
a. God brings the message to them by prompting a Christian to go to them ().
6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
b. The person hearing the message will respond in faith (,).
13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled. 14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
Suppose a person was lost underground in a dark cave and suddenly found a little lighted arrow pointed a certain direction. Whose fault would it be if he failed to follow it? Obviously his own. God’s “little arrows” are His revelation in man’s heart and nature. We can trust the good and loving Savior to bring the message of salvation to the one who seeks Him.
A final evidence.
A final evidence.
If the yet unreached people of the world are not lost, why did Jesus tell His disciples to “proclaim His name to all the nations (), “to Go, and make disciples of all the nations” (), and to be witnesses “even to the remotest part of the earth” ()?
47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24:4
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Why did He tell them to tell others if that knowledge would only condemn most of them? Then it would actually be best if they didn’t hear. Did Christ mislead His disciples? Was Paul misguided to go throughout Asia Minor and Europe? No, the reason Christ sent them, the reason they went and the reason why many should go today is because Christ is the only way to be saved.