If Part 3 Series

IF – Part 3

Scripture: Daniel 3:12-18; John 11:21-26; Romans 10:8-10

This is part three of my series on “IF”. As I have shared previously, “IF”, as defined in the dictionary, is “a conjunction used to indicate the circumstances that would have to exist in order for an event to happen.” When this word is used in Scripture, it applies to conditions that we must meet in order to walk in complete faith and fellowship with God. When we read this word in the New Testament, it gives us the opportunity to examine ourselves as it relates to our faith, our trust and our belief in what the Bible says. This morning you will have an opportunity, as you hear the message and read the scriptures, to honestly assess where you believe you are in terms of this one question: Do I really believe this deep down in my heart? Only you and God will know where you truly are. So, please be brutally honest with yourself because if you, no, if we don’t start from a place of honesty with ourselves, how can we have an honest conversation with God about why we are struggling to believe what the Bible says? New Light, without that honest conversation, we will not be able to come to a place of complete fellowship with God. I am going to repeat something that I’ve said before: only when our hearts beat with God’s heart will we have fellowship with Him. And this morning, our hearts, believing with our hearts, will be the focus of this “IF” message and we will start with one of the Scriptures we looked at last week. Let’s return to Romans 10:8-10.

Romans 10:8-10 says, “But what says it? The word is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:8-10) As I shared with you last week, these verses are about relationship – about becoming part of God’s family – and fellowship with God is not possible without first being either His son or daughter. We become part of God’s family when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. In these verses you see that in order to have the relationship with God that leads to fellowship, we must believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God and that God raised Him from the dead. The “IF” in these verses lets us know that, now listen closely, that faith, and only faith, is a prerequisite for salvation. We must believe that the spiritual change that happened in us really happened. When we believe, doubt ceases to exist. New Light, I know that my salvation is real. I know that I am going to spend my eternity with Jesus. I know this. No one, and I mean, no one can convince me to the contrary. Everyday, I do my best to live out of my salvation. I do my best to live the way my Father wants me to live. It is my prayer, my hope New Light, that you are as sure of your salvation as I am of mine and that you are doing your best to live the way your Father wants you to live. So “IF” we are to be saved, we must believe in Jesus; that He is the Son of God and that God raised Him from the dead. We must believe this FIRST, and let’s be clear here – I’m talking about having faith because that’s what this passage is. Believing it, doing it, is an act of faith because we have nothing else to go on other than what the Bible says and the Bible says this is the way salvation happens. Now, if you don’t believe this FIRST, then everything else that I will cover this morning does not matter for you. This is how we access the fellowship that God wants to have with us. So if you “believe” this first, then we can continue with other “beliefs” that you will need to add to this foundation. Once we believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him, then we must start believing what happens after that. Turn to Romans 6.

In the fifth chapter of the book of Romans, Paul addresses what happens to us when we accept Christ and are saved by grace versus the works of the Law. Grace was given to us through the death of Christ, but apparently some took it to mean that we can continue in sin because we are under grace. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Are we not hearing this preached today? Ecclesiastes 1:9 says there’s nothing new under the sun. So this belief about grace is not new. Paul addressed this head on in verses one and two of chapter six. It says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2) Paul tells the Romans that, because they are now born again, it is impossible for them to continue to sin as a way of life and believe that God’s grace will be their “free of sin” card to use as they sin. It won’t. The first two words of verse two make this clear – “God forbid.” In the Greek this is an emphatic answer. Paul is saying “You actually believe you can sin as you please and that God’s grace will make everything all right? That’s unbelievable! Let me remind you: The Christian life begins with death to sin!” He goes on to explain to them why this is the case – that they were baptized in Christ’s death and therefore buried with Him. He then explains that because they were buried with Him they were also raised with Him into a new life. In verse six he writes, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that we should no longer serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:6-7) The first two words of verse six, “Knowing this” – let me say it this way, “You should know this.” Paul is reminding the people of something that should already be settled for them. The “old man” that lived in “the body of sin” is talking about the sin nature that we received when we were born into this world. If we are born again, it no longer exists because it has been crucified and destroyed. That’s why we are no longer slaves to sin. We have been made free!