"A True Salvation Experience"

"A True Salvation Experience"

Text-Acts 4:9-12

dannymoss777@yahoo.com

Introduction-I hope that you will listen to this

message very closely and intently today, because I

feel that I have a much needed word from God to

share with you. My message concers having a genuine

expereience of salvation. Unfortunately, in this

"We gotta make ’um feel good generation of preaching"

it is clearly evident that we have much religion,

but little authentic Christianity. We hear people

share their so called "personal testimonies", and

tragically, there seems to be something missing.

They talk about "joining the church," and "being

baptized", or "being saved" by some preacher, or

unScriptural experience. Jesus isn’t mentioned.

No repentance has been shown, and no lives have

changed. God help us! It might surprise us to

go back to the Bible, and preach the truth, and

then we will see men transformed by the power of

God, and the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is clear that Peter and John, and the other

apostles did not worry about making folks "feel

good" on their way to Hell, but preached repentance

toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.

I don’t guess I should be surprised. Some people

seem to think that salvation comes to them like

joining the PTA, or Lions Club, or some other

organization-attend a few meetings, give some

money, fill out some information on a card, and

"Hocus Pocus!", they now believe they have "fire

insurance" to keep them out of Hell, no matter how

they live from that point on. Preachers, we are

going to be help accountable for what we preach,

and whether or not we tell people the Gospel truth,

so we had better take heed.

So, what is a true salvation experience? How do you

know you have the real thing? I believe that every

conversion is different in some respects, but that

there are certain essential elements that are present

in every genuine conversion experience. What are

these elements?

I. First of all, in every true salvation experience,

faith is exercised.

Romans 1:16-"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of

Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation

to every one that believeth; to the Jew first,

and also to the Greek."

"to every one that believeth"-Did you notice those

words. There can be no salvation experience with-

out believing God. Heb. 11:6-"But without faith

it is impossible to please God..."

If faith is required, and it is, then where do we

acquire it? We are not born with it. What do the

Scriptures say? Romans 10:17-"Faith cometh by

hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."

So, no one can be saved until they hear the Word

of God-the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:13-14, "For whosoever shall call upon

the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall

they call on Him in whom they have not believed?

And how shall they believe in Him whome they have

not heard? And how shall they hear, without a

preacher?"

A messenger from God

Notice what is

required- An introduction to Jesus

belief, or faith

Instead of preaching Jesus today we see even

so called "Christian evangelists" using gimmics

like giving away presents to people who come

forward, and promising trips, or some other

thing to "get decisions." Again I say, we had

better be careful. Christ only wants true

followers. God is "the Justifier of him which

believeth in Jesus."-Romans 3:25-26

II.Secondly, I would like to point out that repentance

is necessary for there to be a true salvation ex-

perience. What is repentance? In the Greek there

are words that express sorrow for sin, a change of

mind, a change of heart, and a change of will.

All of these are involved when we truly repent.

We are convicted of our sins by the Holy Spirit.

We feel rotten-condemned and lost. But then the

light of the Gospel shines upon us, and we see

and realize that God truly loves us, and that He

gave His only Son to die for our sins, and we

turn from sin to God. We beg His forgiveness,

and we take Christ as our own personal Lord and

Master. Romans 2:4-"The goodness of God leadeth

thee to repentance..."

Luke 12:4-"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise

perish."

Let me ask you to be honest now. Has there ever

come a time in your life when you were deeply

sorry for your sins, and you looked up to God and

asked for His mercy, believing in Christ, and

trusting only in Him, and what He did for you

on the cross and by His resurrection from the

dead? Then, if you have, I believe you can be

assured that your "salvation experience" is real.

Was there a definite turning point in your life?