Salvation Wrap Up
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Slave girl with a demon that had the ability for fortune-telling is mocking Paul for claiming to know the way of salvation
Paul removes the demon from the girl and the slavery she’s been in for her whole life presumably
the slave owners are furious
they use their influence to get Paul and Silas thrown in the extra security prison
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
What must I do to be saved? I dont even think that the jailer himself knew that he had just asked the most important question that had ever left his mouth.
probably the jailer was wondering how he was going to not be put to death by the Romans, but Paul sees an even deeper problem. Paus didn’t just see a jailer that failed at his job, he saw a sinner who needed to be saved by God.
I don’t know what your circumstances are, I don’t know what you want to be saved from, but know this: you have a deeper need, and that need is the fact that you are full of sin and are in need of saving from God.
whatever your physical circumstances, the most important question you can ask of God is, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
The deepest need you have in life can only be met by this: believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
but what do we mean by believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?
in a sermon we see in the book of ACT’s, we see Peter explaining to the people that they have sinned against God and crucified the Son of God in their sin. The people realized this was true and after the sermon, we read this response
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
what does he call them to do? Repent and be baptized.
what does it mean to repent?
to turn from what got you into this mess in the first place, and follow Jesus instead. It means letting go of what is sinful and committing yourself to God, trusting in him and only him with everything that you are.
Peter and Paul took the time to show the people from the Scriptures what needed to take place, I want to do the same with you
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 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. 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
here is what that passage makes clear:
we are sinners, and are dead in our sin. our sin has bogged us down to the point where we can’t do anything about it anymore.
God is loving And merciful, and even though we were dead in sin, God raised us up through the resurrection of his Son Jesus.
this is immeasurable grace. We did not earn it or coax God into doing it, he just acted of his own desire to save us. It is a gift.
the new person that God recreates is created for good works, not evil ones like we used to perform.
If you hear this gospel and you feel the way the Philippian jailer did, or the way the crowds did after Peters sermon, I can’t let you leave before I give you the same invitation that they gave out.
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent from who you used to be, and give your whole self to Jesus. He loves you, he wants you, he’s patient and gentle. He gave himself up for you, died for you, and beat death for you.
if you know your sin but you don’t know Jesus yet, I beg you to come and meet the only one you can save you from your sin, and the one who loved you enough to do exactly that.
there are leaders here who want to help you know him. We are all going back home with you guys, and if you want to continue to learn about Jesus and the salvation he offers you after today, we want that too. Come and learn with us!
whether you are placing your faith in him for the first time or youve known him your whole life, Jesus is calling you to walk with him in ways that you haven’t before. He is calling you to leave behind what is killing you, and step forward into the life he has won for you.
Lewis quote
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
Salvation is the greatest gift we have ever received, and it changes everything we have ever known. By the grace of God, through his Son Jesus Christ, the impossible has been done. salvation has been won, and it’s been offered to the worst of sinners. It’s been offered to you too.
Salvation is free, but it will cost you everything.
George MacDonald illustration about God building a palace to live in.
Salvation from start to finish is by...
Grace Alone
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 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—
there is nothing you can do to earn it or merit it. Salvation is the gift of God that we do not deserve and did not earn. It is purely out of his love for us.
through Faith Alone
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.
That gift is applied to us through faith. As we trust in God to save us we will see his salvation worked out in us. We must have faith in God, that he will do what he said he was going to do.
in Christ Alone
let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
There is only one way to the Father, and that is through Jesus Christ. We cannot just have generic “faith,” but we must place our faith completely and wholly in Jesus Christ alone. He is the only way for salvation. All other paths lead to death.
revealed In the Scriptures Alone
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
There are many counterfeit Jesus’ out there, and many counterfeit gospels. The true Jesus is the one revealed in the Scriptures of the Bible. Everything we need to know has been written down there, and there is no higher authority when it comes to teaching us about God and ourselves.
To the Glory of God Alone
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Finally, the goal of our salvation is ultimately God’s glory. This wonderful gift of life is beautiful for us, but its important that we also recognize it isn’t all about us. God saves us, but not to place us at the center of the universe. He saves us so we can rightly love him again as the center of all things.
