SF530 - WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT SALVATION (1 John 5 11-13)
WHBC - 8/6/95AM
SF530
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT SALVATION
1 John 5:11-13
INTRODUCTION
Last week we discovered that man is a sinner in need of a Savior.
This morning we are going to discover how we can know for certain that we are saved and going to heaven when we die.
A rock, ribbed assurance that you have eternal life. Every Christian ought to have this privilege.
You ought not to be a question mark with your head all bent over wondering whether you're saved. You ought to be an exclamation point. Standing up straight and tall saying, Thank God I know if I died right now I would go to heaven.
It is possible to have doubts...
Because if we couldn't doubt, why would John have written this? John is writing this that those who might doubt will not doubt.
So if you have doubts, that doesn't mean that you're not saved. It could mean that you're not saved, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you're not saved. You can be saved and have doubts.
How many of you have had doubts?
Doubt is to your spirit what pain is to your body. Doesn't mean you're dead, it means something's wrong. As a matter of fact, dead people don't feel any pain. In the doubt there is in a sort of a strange sense a backward affirmation of faith. You only doubt that which you believe.
WE BELIEVE THAT...
1A. YOU CAN BE SAVED - HOW? (1)
Admit that You are a Sinner
(Romans 3:23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(Acts 3:19) Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
(Acts 26:20) ...I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
Believe that Jesus Christ Died and Rose Again to Pay the Penalty for Your Sin
(Romans 5:8) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Isaiah 53:6) We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior
(Romans 10:9‑10) That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. {10} For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
(Matthew 10:32) "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
2A. YOU CAN BE SURE YOU ARE SAVED
How can you know for sure?
Three Tests...
1B. The Lordship Test (2:3-4)
Obedience is not the way of salvation
It is the witness of salvation.
“obey” = tereo, to guard (from loss or injury, prop. by keeping the eye upon
The Navigator
A navigator when they sailed by the stars at nighttime. The sailor could keep his course by keeping the stars.They would plot the heavens. And the man with his chart would look at the heavens and keep his hand on the rudder, or his hand on the wheel, and he would sail by the stars.
Now, to you as a child of God, those stars are the commandments of God. That is what you steer your life by.
Now, a sailor might go to sleep at the wheel. He might get distracted. He might have his attention diverted. He might get blown off course. But when he recognizes it, he goes right back on course. Because the desire of his life is to steer according to that course.
And that's the way it is with a child of God. Yes, sometimes we get blown off course. Yes, sometimes we take our eyes from the stars. Yes, sometimes we may fail. Yes, sometimes we may over steer or under steer, but the great desire of our life is to keep the commandments of God.
(Luke 6:46) "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?
2B. The Fellowship Test
Our relationship with God is...
Demonstrated and validated by our fellowship with His people...
1 John 3:14
This fellowship is based and built on our love for God...
1 John 4:7, 20
1 John 5:1
This fellowhip is based on Christ’s relationship to the Church and our relationship to Him
The church is the body of Christ
You cannot love the head and hate the body.
The church is the bride of Christ
You cannot love the groom and not love his bride
The church is the building of Christ
Christ is the foundation upon which we are built.
3B. The Relationship Test (11-13)
Key “believe” = not past tense, present tense...
Does not refer primarily to a past experience but to a present relationship
Not as important that you know a day and time as it is important that you know now that you are walking with God.
You cannot have a present reality without a past experience.
The big question is not did you believe in Jesus but are you believing in Jesus.
Going to Atlanta by airplane. You fly to Atlanta. And get off the airplane. Now, did you cross the state line? Did you know when you crossed the state line? Why? You didn't know when you crossed the state line.
You drive to Atlanta, you cross the state line. Do you know it? Yes! Now, you crossed the state line two separate ways. How do you know you crossed the state line? If you get out at the Atlanta airport, beyond a shadow of any doubt, you had to of crossed that line.
If a person sitting in this auditorium right now is saying with all of my heart and soul, I am trusting Jesus. I may not know exactly when it happened, but I know I have a relationship with the Son of God. You see, it is not some distant experience that you had. It is a present reality. It is a relationship.
Not theology. You say, well I know the plan of salvation. Well, you're not saved by the plan of salvation. You're saved by the man of salvation.
APPLICATION
How is your Lordship?
How is your Fellowship?
How is your Relationship?
Follow the A B Cs....
Admit you are a sinner
Believe that Jesus died for your sins
Confess Jesus personally and publicly!