Introduction Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. The gospel of Christ is the Good News of Salvation! In fact it s great news! The good news of Jesus bringing salvation to our lost and dying world is the best news this world has ever received! What do we mean by salvation? The word salvation means To save / To rescue / To deliver Salvation means to be saved / rescued / and delivered from sin and its consequences. Sin had many consequences, but the primary consequences of sin was death and separation from God. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Ezekiel 18:20 KJV 20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. The primary result of salvation is to be reconciled to God with the end result of salvation being eternal life. fpc Lexington Love.Live.Serve Page 1
Salvation the primary theme Salvation is the most important topic in the Bible It is the primary theme of the New Testament It is the reason for Christ s coming It is the reason for Christ s suffering and his death on the cross It is the most important thing that you can have. Without salvation we are LOST Nothing is more important than being saved! Nothing is of more value! To live without salvation is to live an empty and meaningless life. To die without it is to be hopelessly lost. What is the basis for our salvation? 2 important points You cannot earn salvation Salvation is the work of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Salvation a free gift Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Salvation is not a wage that God pays us. (Wages are payment for work. Salvation is not payment for work that we ve performed) You cannot earn salvation. You will never deserve salvation. Salvation is a free gift, unmerited and undeserved. Salvation is free to us, but it cost Him everything! Salvation comes through and is the work of a Saviour fpc Lexington Love.Live.Serve Page 2
St Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. We couldn t save ourselves, so he came to save us. St John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Salvation is based upon a person, the Saviour Jesus Christ. Salvation was earned and paid for by Jesus. He paid for this gift by giving his very own life. He suffered and died on the cross and he shed his life s blood. Sin s penalty was transferred over to him and he suffered punishment on our behalf so that we could be saved. Yes, salvation is now a free gift, but it came with a very great price that Jesus paid for us. 1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold.. 19. But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot. Jesus paid the price with his very own blood, and salvation is now a gift. This is Grace! It is unmerited and undeserved! It is a free gift! So, when God gives us salvation he s not paying us wages for work that we have performed. He is giving us a gift that he has purchased for us! It s free to us but it cost him everything!!! How do we receive salvation? There are two places in the scripture where we see an apostle being asked what must I do or how can I be saved? In Acts 16:30, a Phillipian jailer asked the Apostle Paul the following question: fpc Lexington Love.Live.Serve Page 3
Acts 16:30 And he brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. In Acts 2:37 on the Day of Pentecost, a crowd who had just listened to the Apostle Peter preach asked the following question: Acts 2:37-39 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the Apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all them that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Here is what we find in these two passage of scripture: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ It begins with believing. It is impossible to be saved without placing one s faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Saviour. He is the only way of salvation. The only way to approach him, the only way to receive him is through faith. Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. fpc Lexington Love.Live.Serve Page 4
Romans 10:8-11 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. There are a few things that one must believe in order to be saved: Jesus is Lord, the Saviour, the Messiah Jesus died to save us from our sins Jesus arose from the dead You must believe that he will save you or anyone who turns to Christ and calls on the name of Jesus Ok, so I believe in all of this. I believe Jesus is Lord. I believe Jesus died for my sins and that he arose from the dead. Does this mean that I am saved? You can t be saved without believing these things, but just head knowledge of these facts alone will not save you. There are plenty of thieves, adulterers, and drunkards who believe these things, but are still lost in their sins, because they ve never put their faith into action by making a choice to turn from their sins to follow Jesus. You must put your faith into action in order to be saved. How do I put my faith into action and what is saving faith? Our faith only begins to save us when we act on our faith. Saving faith goes beyond just believing in the historical accuracy of the story of Jesus. It means to literally believe on him and to put one s trust in him as Lord and Savior. It means to believe that He died for your sins and that He arose from the dead to save all that call on his name. Saving faith is a personal trust in Jesus. It means we place our trust in him believing that what did on the cross is applicable to me today. It means that we make fpc Lexington Love.Live.Serve Page 5
that choice to follow Christ and to obey the gospel. So how do we do this? It begins with repentance. Faith mixed with repentance! Repentance St Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance is a turning point. It is that place in our lives where we chose to forsake our past life of sin and to follow Christ. It means that we place our faith and trust in Jesus as Saviour. It means that we confess and forsake our sins and we place our trust in what he did for us on the cross. As we make this choice and decision to follow Christ and as we call on his name confessing our sins, we place our trust in him believing that we are forgiven through what Christ did on the cross. Repentance consists of the following elements: A choice to turn from a life of sin to follow Christ Confession of our sins with Godly sorrow / asking for forgiveness of our sins through Christ Jesus Faith in Christ / placing our trust in what Christ did on the cross / believing that because he died for our sins he hears and answers our prayer of repentance and grants to us mercy and forgiveness. fpc Lexington Love.Live.Serve Page 6
This is repentance and when repentance is mixed with faith in Christ it is where we begin our relationship with the Lord and Savior. (It s not where we end, but it s where we begin!) Caution don t stop here!!! There is more!! Faith/Believing doesn t save without repentance Repentance is incomplete without water baptism Water Baptism is ineffective without faith and repentance Water Baptism St Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Romans 6:3-4 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. To help us to understand baptism God gives us an example in the Old Testament that the Apostle Paul references in 1 Corinthians 10:2. When God led the children of Israel out of Egypt (which represents sin and bondage) to bring them into the promised land, he led them through the waters of the Red Sea. 1 Corinthians 10:2 tells us that this was a type of baptism. Israel had not left Egypt until they had crossed through the Red Sea. Once, they crossed through the Red Sea they were cut off from fpc Lexington Love.Live.Serve Page 7
Egypt.. Just as Israel passed through the Red Sea, we go through the waters of baptism and bury the old man in Jesus name. When we are baptized in water in Jesus name we are cut off from our past life of sin. The old life is gone. A new life lies ahead with all of God s promises. Baptism serves to sever us from our past life of sin. Egypt has been left behind. God s promises lie ahead. Caution Don t Stop Here!!! There is more!!! The Baptism of the Holy Spirit Jesus died for our sins and rose again so that we could be forgiven and that we could be filled with his Spirit. His Spirit is his personal presence. Acts 2:38-39 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all them that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call. The Gift of the Holy Spirit is not something that we can work for or earn. It s a gift that comes through faith. Jesus purchased this gift for us with his own blood. What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? The word baptize means to immerse, so to be baptized with the Holy Spirit means to be filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the personal presence of Jesus, so to be filled with the Spirit means to be filled with his presence. fpc Lexington Love.Live.Serve Page 8
This is an experience that you can and will feel. You will know it when the Spirit of the Lord comes on you. It is love, joy, peace, freedom. It is the most wonderful feeling you will feel this side of heaven. When you are filled full of His Spirit and have yielded yourself completely to him, you will speak with other tongues in worship and praise to God just as recipients of the Holy Spirit did in the Book of Acts. (see Acts 2:4, Acts 10:44-46, Acts 19:5-6) The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a GIFT promised to every believer who believes and obeys the gospel. Conclusion Full salvation comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We begin a relationship with him when we repent and place our trust in him. We follow this up by being baptized in his name. God responds to our faith by baptizing us with his Spirit. The blessing is we are forgiven of all our sins and given the joy of salvation. The end result is eternal life with Jesus our Lord. fpc Lexington Love.Live.Serve Page 9