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Be Sure of Your Salvation - Lakeside Church of Christ Web Site

Be Sure of Your Eternal Salvation

Introduction--

  1. "How to Become a Christian" or "How to Be Saved" used to be a common topic in pulpits across the country.
  2. A sermon on the Plan of Salvation would be unwanted in many churches because:
    1. Many preachers desire to make members feel good, rather than to encourage members to be right before God.
    2. Growing spirit of tolerance toward those who believe in "another" plan or gospel (Galatians 1:6-7).
    3. We have simply been negligent, comfortable in our own knowledge of the gospel, we have overlooked the need to teach the truth by which people may be saved (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
  3. Needs to be preached and heard (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16).
  4. Acts 20:18-20, 27
  5. Skipping to the end: Jesus said, "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day" (John 12:48).
    1. All the words (not just the red ones) in the NT are Jesus' words to us.
    2. In a concordance look up key words like save, saved, salvation, forgiveness, justification, sanctification, holy, eternal life, etc.
    3. In your own Bible, read what Jesus wants us to do in order to be saved, forgiven of sins, justified, etc.
    4. Acts 17:11
  1. The Plan of Salvation
    1. We are saved by the love of God, whose love for the world is so great that he gave his only begotten Son as a sacrifice for the sins of all men (John 3:16; Rom. 5:7-8).
    2. We are saved by the grace of God (Ephesians.2:8-9). Without this gift from God, we would have no hope of salvation, for there is nothing that we can do that would earn our salvation or obligate God to save us. All the good that we do, and the best we can live, will still leave us in desperate need of his mercy.
    3. We are saved by the blood of Christ (Matthew 26:26-28; Romans 5:9). Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22), and the blood of the lamb of God was offered for our sins (Hebrews 9:28).
    4. We are saved by the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:14; Romans 1:16). The facts of the gospel are the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, but those facts, in and of themselves, do not save us from sin. Through his sacrificial death upon the cross, he became the propitiation for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), thereby making it possible for us to be reconciled unto God (Colossians 1:19-22).
    5. We are saved by hearing the gospel (Romans 10:17). In order to be saved by the gospel, we must hear the gospel. Note the hearing of the gospel in the biblical examples of conversion, either specifically stated or implied, in Acts 2:36-37, 8:35-36, 10:33, and 16:30-33. However, hearing the gospel does not, within itself, save us from sin.
    6. We are saved by believing that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 16:30-31). Jesus proclaimed that those who believe the gospel are the ones who shall be saved (Mark 16:15-16), and the "golden text" of the Bible declares that "...whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
    7. We are saved by repenting from sins (Acts 2:38; 17:30-31). The gospel brings the good news of the goodness of God in our behalf, and his goodness leads us to repent (2 Corinthians 7:10). However, let it be noted that repentance is far more than being sorry for sin; it is the turning away from sin. Repentance is the changing of one's will that results in the changing of one's life (e.g., Matthew 21:28-31).
    8. We are saved by confessing our faith in Christ (Romans 10:9-10). This confession that is unto salvation is not the confession that "God has, for Christ's sake, forgiven me of my sins," as is taught and practiced in some denominations. Such a confession is not taught in the scriptures by command or example, and it would be premature to make such a confession before being baptized, because our sins are not forgiven until we are baptized (see point 9). Instead, the confession that one makes unto salvation is the confession that "I believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." The conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch provides a beautiful example of this confession (Acts 8:35-39).
    9. We are saved by being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). In this text, Peter commanded two things-repent and be baptized. And they are both modified by the prepositional phrase, "for the remission of sins," which means that the purpose of repenting and the purpose of being baptized is "for" (i.e., in order to obtain) the remission of sins.
      1. In Matthew 26:28, Jesus said he shed his blood "for the remission of sins," (meaning, obviously, that he shed his blood so that man could obtain the forgiveness of sins). And Peter used the same words to signify the purpose of baptism. Therefore, we must conclude that until one is baptized for the remission of sins, he does not obtain the remission of sins.
      2. Jesus made the relationship of baptism to salvation crystal clear in Mark 16:16. (KJV) He said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned," which unmistakably establishes baptism as a prerequisite of salvation. Jesus could not have made it any clearer--the one who shall be saved is the one who has believed and has been baptized!
      3. Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21
    10. Characteristics of Bible baptism--look again in the concordance!
      1. Candidate for baptism -- one who believes (Mark 16:16; Acts 8:37) and repents (Acts 2:38). (Adult, accountable)
      2. Mode of baptism -- burial, immersion, in water (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12)
      3. Into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; into Christ (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:26)
  2. Misconceptions about the Plan of Salvation
    1. We are saved by faith alone.
      1. On the contrary, James 2:24
      2. The faith that saves is the faith that is expressed in obedience to the will of God (Hebrews 5:8-9). James cited Abraham as example of one who was justified by faith when his faith "wrought with his word (Jas. 2:21-23).
    2. We are not saved by works. Those who say that we are not saved by works usually contend that, if we are saved by works, then we earn, or merit, our salvation. This conclusion most likely grows out of a misapprehension of the works that are commanded by the Lord. The works that one does in response to the commands or promises of God are not works of merit. They are, rather, works of righteousness (e.g., Jas. 2:21-23).
      1. For example, when one is baptized because God has commanded him to do so and because God has promised to forgive his sins when he does so (Acts 2:38), that act of being baptized is an act of righteousness, in which one relies upon God to keep his promise. And the merit in the action is not with the one who is baptized; the merit is with God who commanded the baptism and makes it effective.
      2. To say that we are not saved by works is to deny the plain truth of God's Word. Consider Hebrews 5:8-9, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 and Matthew 7:21, which obviously teach that obedience is essential to salvation.
        1. John 12:48 -- "My words will judge him on the last day."
        2. 2 Corinthians 5:10 -- deeds done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
      3. A Bible example: Jericho, recorded in Joshua 6.
        1. God gave the city to Israel (Joshua 6:2), but not unconditionally. There were conditions to be met in order to receive the city.
        2. Israel believed God (Hebrews 11:30; "by faith"), but the city was not theirs the moment they believed the promise of God.
        3. Israel did what God commanded (Hebrews 11:30). Jericho was given to Israel by God's grace, the Israelites believed God and expressed their faith in obedience to his commands.
      4. Likewise: Salvation
        1. God gives us salvation, but not unconditionally. There are conditions to be met in order to obtain salvation.
        2. We must believe God in order to receive salvation, but salvation is not ours the moment we believe the promise of God.
        3. We must do what God commands. Salvation is given to us by God's grace, when we believe God and express our faith in obedience to his commands.

Conclusion

  1. Through God's amazing grace, Jesus died on the cross and shed his atoning blood for our sins!
  2. Those who believe in him and obey the gospel are saved and are added to the church of Christ (Acts 2:36-47).
  3. Have you obeyed the Gospel of Christ?