Sermon Tone Analysis

Salvation and the New Birth

Key Verse: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16

Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to help the disciple form a clear understanding of salvation and of the new birth.

A Very Important Question

If you stood at the gate of heaven when you died and were asked on what basis should you be allowed to enter heaven, and were given only one chance to get it right, what would be your answer?

Salvation

What is salvation?

Each religion and cult offer a different meaning and means to be “saved”.

Here are just a few:

Biblical Christianity: Salvation is by grace through faith in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.

Salvation is not a reward for an individual’s good works.

It is a free and unmerited gift of God’s grace to those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and who trust exclusively in His work of redemption on their behalf through His physical death on the Cross followed by His physical resurrection from the dead.

Mormonism: Salvation is by grace after you have done all you can do.

A person must do their best, deny all ungodliness, turn from all former sins, and commit them no more.

If a person commits a past sin again, the former sins return.

To remain forgiven, a person must never commit the sin again.

Jehovah Witnesses: Salvation involves four things: 1) having a knowledge of the only true God (Jehovah) and Jesus Christ including His purpose for the earth and His role as earth’s new King, 2) obeying God’s commandments, 3) being associated with God’s channel of salvation, his organization, the Watchtower Society, and 4) being loyal to personally advocate Jehovah’s kingdom to others.

Only 144,000 will live as spirits in heaven.

The rest of the righteous will be raised to live on earth for 1,000 years during which time they must obey God perfectly or else be annihilated.

Oneness Pentecostals: Salvation is possible only when the following three conditions are met: 1) repentance, 2) water baptism by an ordained Oneness minister with the phrase “in the name of Jesus”, and 3) speaking with tongues as evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit.

Only Oneness adherents will go to heaven.

Christian Science: Eternal salvation is already possessed by everyone.

Evil, sin, sickness, and death are not real.

Scientology: There is no such thing as sin so there is no need to repent.

Salvation is freedom from the cycle of reincarnation.

This freedom is achieved through becoming “clear” of all “engrams” (hang ups) through a process called “auditing” whereby Dianetic principles are applied by an “auditor”.

The path to “Clear” is called “The Bridge”

New Age: Salvation from sin is not a goal in the New Age because it does not recognize any moral absolutes.

All truth systems are tolerated as a means of “harmonization”.

The problem is not sin but a failure for mankind to realize that they are divine by nature and must pursue attaining the “Christ principle”.

Through their own divine self-awareness, they can then experience and create their own reality.

Progress toward the Christ principle is achieved by offsetting bad karma with good karma using meditation, self-awareness, and “spirit guides”.

Peace and harmony in all areas—man with man, man with nature, and man with God will be realized as mankind become united through this divine knowledge.

Judaism: Salvation in the mind of some Jews is achieved through religious prayers, repentance, and obeying the Torah (Law of Moses).

Salvation in the mind of other Jews is achieved through the improvement of society.

Islam: Salvation is a matter of Allah’s sovereign decision.

Allah requires all who wish to be saved to observe the Five Pillars of Islam: 1) Confessing the Faith (Shahada), 2) Prayer (Salat), 3) Fasting (Sawm), Giving of Alms (Zakat), and Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).

Some Muslims hold to a Sixth Pillar called “Jihad” (“Holy Struggle” or “Holy War”) whereby a person is guaranteed heaven if they die in a Jihad.

In general, salvation involves the weighing on the balance of good deeds versus bad deeds in an individual’s life.

Allah’s sovereign mercy may tip the balance toward heaven.

Hare Krishna: Salvation is obtained through a dedicated process of chanting Krishna’s name, complete devotion to Krishna, worshiping images, and obeying the rules of ISKCON through many reincarnated lives to be freed from bad karma.

Transcendental Meditation (T.M.): Salvation involves the evolving of the self to the highest and final state of union with Brahman.

This evolution involves ridding oneself of excess evil and doing good.

This process may require a series of reincarnations.

Hinduism: Salvation is the release from the cycles of reincarnation into final union with Brahman.

This final union with Brahman is achieved over many lifetimes through the practices of yoga and Hindu meditation.

Baha’i World Faith: Salvation comes through placing one’s faith in “Baha u llah” as the ultimate manifestation of God, and through knowing and living by his principles and teachings.

What does the Bible say about Salvation?

Jesus came to SAVE His people from their SINS.

Matthew 1:21 (NKJV) “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Jesus came to save sinners from the WRATH TO COME.

Romans 1:18 (NKJV) “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

Romans 5:9 (NKJV) “Much more then, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NKJV) “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

There is none RIGHTEOUS before God.

Romans 3:10 (NKJV) “There is none righteous, no, not one.”

Isaiah 64:6 (NKJV) “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.”

All have SINNED and fall short of God’s standard of perfection.

Romans 3:23 (NKJV) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Galatians 3:22 (NKJV) “But the Scripture has confined all under sin…”

By the deeds of the law no one will be JUSTIFIED before God.

Romans 3:20 (NKJV) “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.”

James 2:10 (NKJV) “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”

Rather than being justified by good deeds, the consequence of our sin is DEATH.

Genesis 2:17 (NKJV) “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) “For the wages of sin is death.”

Death is not only physical but is also spiritual.

Physical death separates the living from the dead.

Spiritual “death” separates the unrighteous dead from God eternally in a place called the lake of fire.

God did not leave us in our sinful condition without hope.

God so LOVED us that He gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins.

John 3:16 (NKJV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Ephesians 2:4-5 (NKJV) “But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved).”

Why did God give the Law of Moses if it could not make man righteous before Him?

So that all would be GUILTY before God.

Romans 3:19 (NKJV) “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

So that all would know what SIN is.

Romans 3:20 (NKJV) “for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Romans 7:7-8 (NKJV) “What shall we say then?

Is the law sin?

Certainly not!

On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law.

For I would not have known covetousness unless the law said, ‘You shall not covet.’

But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire.

For apart from the law sin was dead.”

So that all would recognize their need for CHRIST.

Galatians 3:24 (NKJV) “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ.”

The Gospel (“Good News”) message is that righteousness (“right standing”) before God can be obtained not through the works of the law but by GRACE through FAITH in Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:21-22 (NKJV) “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe.”

Romans 4:4-5 (NKJV) “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Grace is the undeserved favor of God given to us as a gift.

Faith is a heartfelt trust in God accompanied by such full assurance that a person acts upon what God says.

Faith without corresponding action is dead faith rather than true faith.[1]

It is impossible to be saved by our own works.

Some try to “clean up their lives” before getting saved.

This is like trying to get cleaned up to take a bath.

It is only another attempt to work to earn one’s own salvation rather than to receive salvation as an unmerited gift of God’s grace.