Salvation and Growth
Intentional Discipleship -- Discover FBC • Sermon • Submitted
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· 45 viewsObjective: To understand salvation, security and how to grow spiritually
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Ask the class to define the church...
What is it?
What is its purpose?
Who can be included in the church?
In other words, is everyone included in the church or are there biblical requirements for inclusion in the church?
What is the difference between the Masons and FBC...or the Troy Chamber of Commerce and FBC…Lion’s Club and FBC…your Family get togethers and FBC...
In other words, is the church just another social club with a regular gathering place and meeting date or does it have a divine directive and eternal purpose?
Point…just because a group of people are gathered together we cannot equate them with the church…
If just being gathered together makes us a church, then every time your family gathered you would be called a church.
That is what this class is for…to help us identify what the Bible says about the church, our involvement in it and some specifics of the “nuts and bolts” of FBC.
Some key verses for understanding what makes the church different from all other gatherings of people is &
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
19
One of the key purposes of the church is to make disciples...
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Another key purpose of the church is to gather together to encourage greater devotion to God and one another and to be equipped for ministry.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Let’s answer a key question first...
What is the requirement for inclusion in the church?
What is the requirement for inclusion in the church?
Again let’s take a closer look at
Turn to
Only those who have repented and trusted in Christ for their salvation are included in the church.
Only those who have repented and trusted in Christ for their salvation are included in the church.
Something had to happen to those people for them to be added (included) to the church...
Have you trusted in Christ for your eternal salvation?
Have you trusted in Christ for your eternal salvation?
What are the “essential tenets” of salvation?
What are the “essential tenets” of salvation?
Admit and comprehend the depth of your sinfulness
Admit and comprehend the depth of your sinfulness
as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Rom 3
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Your sin separates you from the Holy God
Without salvation you face eternal death separated from the Holy God
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Believe that Jesus, God the Son, came to this earth as fully God and fully man to die on the cross in your place, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Believe that Jesus, God the Son, came to this earth as fully God and fully man to die on the cross in your place, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Acts 16:31
Confess Jesus as your Lord
Confess Jesus as your Lord
Ask him to forgive you of your sins and come into your life, receiving Him as your Savior.
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. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Understand that your salvation is eternal!
Understand that your salvation is eternal!
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
How do the following verses give you assurance that the truly saved individual cannot lose their eternal salvation?
How do the following verses give you assurance that the truly saved individual cannot lose their eternal salvation?
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 john 5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
How can and should have the assurance of your salvation help you?
How can and should have the assurance of your salvation help you?
The assurance of your salvation gives God the glory
The assurance of your salvation gives God the glory
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
The assurance of your salvation frees you from fear!
The assurance of your salvation frees you from fear!
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
1 jn
The assurance of your salvation motivates you to serve Him faithfully
The assurance of your salvation motivates you to serve Him faithfully
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Key Terms Every Believer Should Know
Key Terms Every Believer Should Know
Salvation
What does it mean? Why is it necessary? What are we “saved” from? How does it happen? Who is responsible for my salvation? Who is responsible to proclaim it?
Ryrie’s Basic Theology I. The Scope of the Subject
From God’s perspective, salvation includes the total work of God in bringing people from condemnation to justification, from death to eternal life, from alienation to filiation. From the human perspective, it incorporates all of the blessings that being in Christ brings both in this life and the life to come.
Justification
Justification
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
It is important for us to get this right because the proclamation of the gospel is every believer’s responsibility.
If we do not have a clear understanding of this we can be guilty of proclaiming a false gospel.
Salvation is such a broad theological concept we cannot deal with it completely here…but in its most basic full Christian usage means saving from eternal death and endowing a person with everlasting life...
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Our salvation has a past aspect that occurred when we believed, a present aspect, and a future consummation.
In other words, we have not yet experienced the fulness of our salvation...
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
See also
Justification
Redeemed
What does it mean? When does it occur? How does it happen? What is necessary for it to happen?
Justification
Ryrie’s Basic Theology I. Justification
Justification is not only one of the great benefits of the death of Christ but is also a cardinal doctrine of Christianity because it distinguishes it as a religion of grace and faith. And grace and faith are the cornerstones of the doctrine of justification.
Justify means to declare righteous…it does not mean to make righteous, but to announce righteousness...
It is a courtroom concept…to give a verdict of righteous...
It is related to concept of God as Judge
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
“The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
If God, the Judge, is without injustice and completely righteous in all His decisions, what pronouncement must He make to sinners? God has three options as we stand in His courtroom...
Condemn them all
Compromise His righteousness and receive them as they are
Change them into righteous people
If He exercises this third option, He then can announce them righteous…this is justification.
Now any righteousness the sinner has must be actual, real, acceptable by God’s standards…if this can be accomplished, then and only then can He justify.
“Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be in the right before God?
God does in fact exercise the third option...
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Again time will not permit a full disclosure on this important topic…a central passage in understanding justification is
Here is an outline of that critical passage.
The plan — Centered In Christ —
The plan centers in the Person of Jesus Christ...
The prerequisite — Righteousness Through Faith —
Not because of faith, but through the channel of faith…faith must have the right object…Jesus Christ
The price — The Blood of Christ —
It cost Him much and comes to us freely — GRACE!
The position — In Christ
At the point of salvation, we receive Christ and we are placed in Christ.
This is what makes us righteous…we are made the righteousness of God in Him…it overcomes our horrible condition and measures up to the full standard of God and the demands of His holiness.
The pronouncement — Justified —
Not only does Christ’s righteousness meet the demands of God’s holiness, it also demands God justify us…because we are now in Christ, God remains just and justifies the one who believes in Jesus.
Justification assures us of peace with God…our relationship with God is right, legal and eternal...
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sanctification
What does it mean? When does it happen? How does it happen? Who is responsible for it?
Sanctification
Sanctify means to be set apart…it is the same root word as the words saint and holy...
There are three aspects to our sanctification
Positional — Every believer is set apart as a child of God as a result of their faith in Christ regardless of their level of growth.
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Progressive — continual process of being set apart during the whole of our Christian life…every command and exhortation to live holy lives concern progressive sanctification...
since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
Future Sanctification — final goal attained in heaven of complete and the eternal setting apart to God...
that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Again time will not permit a full disclosure of this topic…however, we need to understand that we must work in concert with the Holy Spirit to do our part in the growth process...
I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
4 Views of Spiritual Growth
4 Views of Spiritual Growth
4 Views of Spiritual Growth
4 Views of Spiritual Growth
The Religious View
The Religious View
This is the view that one must DO certain things in order to reach God.
The Emotional View
The Emotional View
There is often a salvation experience
One must then experience a “shazam” moment when and where one is “zapped” with super spirituality and you are fully sanctified
The Confused Believer View
The Confused Believer View
One experiences genuine salvation…however when the freshness of new birth wanes there is often confusion about what to do next.
Biblical View
Biblical View
One experiences genuine salvation
He or she begins to read the Scriptures and discovers ways in which he or she needs to grow
There is conviction of sin
There is repentance from that sin —
There is growth out from one’s sin toward righteousness
This growth is a process called “Progressive Sanctification”
Progressive Sanctification is the process whereby one grows to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ.
Progressive Sanctification is the process whereby one grows to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ.
Upon salvation one is “positionally” made righteous…this is called “justification”
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Once an individual is justified upon salvation, the growth is called “sanctification”, which is called the process of spiritual growth.
Here are some key passages that speak to the matter of spiritual growth
; , ;
We often refer to this process as the “put off/put on” principle —
Through the reading, studying and application of God’s Word, one is convicted of an area of sinfulness to be “put off”
That area of sinfulness is “put off” by an act of the will…you choose to lay it aside just as you choose to take off jacket…it is an act of the will.
This may take radical amputation —
This takes honesty regarding your heart…not just behavior!
This area of sinfulness to be “put off” is described as “deceitful desires” which means that you put off living by your feelings.
You are to be “renewed in the spirit of your mind” —
You then “put on” righteousness and holiness by an act of the will…this is simply choosing to obey God through the enabling power of the Spirit!
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Phil
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Phil
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Be willing to take responsibility for your spiritual growth and maturity asking for God’s help and power of His Spirit every step of the way!
Be willing to take responsibility for your spiritual growth and maturity asking for God’s help and power of His Spirit every step of the way!
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,