Are You Saved? Series

“ARE YOU SAVED?” Titus 2:11

FBCF – 1/3/21

Jon Daniels

INTRO – New Year – new resolutions – new commitments – new challenges – new opportunities.

- Steve Lawson: “A life of resolve comes with a price tag. You will be tested by the lure of the world. But you must turn a deaf ear to the crowd & live instead for the [commendation] of Christ. There will always be a cross before a crown, sacrifice before success, & reproach before a reward. The call of discipleship will cost you popularity, possessions, & position. But God will use your commitment. The grace of God will be multiplied in you if you cultivate a fixed resolution to live for the glory of God.” (https://gracequotes.org/topic/resolutions-general/)

Maybe wanting to get in better shape after all the holiday feasting we’ve done.

- Friend of mine, Jeff Parker, pastor, Southside Bapt Church – had a heart scare right before Christmas – widowmaker artery 90-99% blocked – stent put in on Dec. 22. Posted this on Facebook last week: “Your body forces a decision your mind refuses to make. I wrote this after my heart scare. 2021: Get healthy.”

Some of us may need to make an appointment w/ our doctor for a check-up. Find out where we are physically, get a baseline, talk about what we may be facing & what we need to do to take better care of ourselves – change our diet, start exercising or change our exercise regimen, stop smoking, try to get more sleep – all the things we know we need to do to take better care of our bodies. And we should.

- 1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…?”

Start month-long series today – “Time for a Checkup” – a spiritual checkup. Take the next 5 weeks & ask 5 basic questions about spiritual lives. First question: ARE YOU SAVED?

EXPLANATION – Titus 2:11

Strife & conflict in the Church has been around for a long time. Satan is constantly looking for ways that he can divide us & destroy us. Normally doesn’t happen from the outside, but from the inside. He stalks us & schemes & strategizes against us, looking for those who are weak in their faith, & vulnerable to his temptations & attacks. They may be someone who is in a leadership position in the church, or someone who is a church member who has never served in any leadership position. All he needs is someone who has drifted away from the Lord, grown cold in their love & commitment to God, is flirting w/ temptation & sin, & are apathetic in their walk w/ Him. If that’s you, you are a prime target for him right now.

Paul wrote this short letter to Titus to encourage him & give him some wise counsel as he endured ongoing opposition from folks inside the church he was pastoring on the island of Crete. Paul instructed Titus to do these things as the pastor of the church:

- Make sure his leaders were qualified to lead & rebuke those who were causing problems (1:5-16)

o “If people can’t follow who you are, they won’t follow what you say or do” (Jeff Holland).

- Make sure he was teaching sound doctrine (2:1)

- Make sure that he taught people in every age-group in the church to live the life that God would have them live – older men, older women, younger men, & younger women - & make sure that HE was living that life, too (2:2-7)

- Make sure that he was dealing w/ divisive people quickly & effectively (3:10-11)

- Make sure that he preached to them about the grace of God & the salvation that comes only through Jesus Christ (2:11-14; 3:3-8)

That’s where we are going to park for the next few weeks as we do this spiritual checkup. Everything we are going to talk about flows out of a relationship w/ Jesus Christ. So, we start today on this 1st Sun in 2021 w/ a simple, straightforward question: ARE YOU SAVED?

APPLICATION – God’s gift of salvation is for each & every one of us.

Quick word study:

- The “grace” of God – charis – the kindness, gift, favor of God

- Has “appeared” – epiphaino – has been illuminated; has shown forth; has manifested itself.

- It is “bringing salvation” – soterios – to save you, deliver you, preserve you; to bring you to eternal safety

- To “ALL people”- pas anthropos – every human being, total, every kind of person; the whole of mankind; all flesh, mankind; everyone

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED? – Let’s start by defining exactly what it means to be saved. There are 3 statements that will help us defined what it means to be saved: