Members Without Salvation Series

Members without Salvation

1 John 3:4-9

Intro

Of all the without messages, I have brought to you this far, this one is the most troubling. So many churches today are filled with sinners and little salvation. The difference between the average church member and the average un-churched person is very vague.

The average church member will:

 Come to church 24 times a year

 Give $900 a year to the church

 Read their Bible 52 times over s year

 Witness to 1 person during the year

 Have a SUDO Salvation

The average un-churched person:

• Will come to church maybe once during the year (Christmas or Easter)

• Give nothing to the church

• Will not read the Bible, if they even own one

• Will not witness

• Have no salvation

A poll taken a few years back stated that 50% of the names on the average church role are lost.

Churches today have gotten too wrapped up in size (Attendance & Budget) instead of soul winning. Yes, the quest for size and number may put people in the pews, but it does not put them into Heaven.

This morning I want to share with you how we can ensure that we do not fall into this mold, and our members have a solid salvation.

READ TEXT

I. A Lifestyle that proves our sinfulness (v. 4)

a. When we chose to break public law, we are criminals.

b. When we chose to break the Law of God, we are sinners.

i. One day God will break us, when we continue to break His law.

c. Counseling, meditation, education, and prison cannot change who we are on the inside

d. The only thing that can change the natural lifestyle of sin is Jesus Christ

e. We will always conduct our lives in the manner of the inner source of our life.

i. If your inner source is void, then all of your actions will be of fruitlessness and produce nothing good.

ii. But if you inner source is the Holy Spirit that resides in you, your conduct will be that of modeling the Savior himself.

1. When you truly have the savior in your life, there will be a change about you.

2. You and more importantly others will notice a change in your actions, personality, and manner of living.

II. A Righteousness that proves our Salvation (v. 5-6)

a. There is nothing we can do alone to change ourselves

b. Once we surrender to Jesus Christ and receive genuine salvation God will change us from the inside out.

c. Question = has your salvation changed you?

d. Question = Can you pin point a time in your life when Christ entered your life and your lifestyle changed?

i. There are plenty of people that tell me that they are saved and that they have accepted Christ as their savior, but they just can’t remember a time when they shifted gears and headed in God’s direction.

ii. That is probably because they never changed and that salvation experience that they say they had, must be questioned.

iii. When you are truly humbled and accept Christ as your Lord, you become a willing vessel and allow God to start to mold you into the likeness of Christ.

1. The Fruit of the Spirit will start to appear. (Gal 5:22-24)

2. Let’s take a little survey here of our life’s.

3. Can you say yes to any of these characteristics in your own life?

a. Love

b. Joy

c. Peace

d. Patience

e. Kindness

f. Goodness

g. Faithfulness

h. Gentleness

i. Self-Control

4. If you can’t say that any of these characteristics can be used to characterize you, then you need to stop and ask yourself a question.

a. Do you really have a relationship with Christ? Or are you just playing Christian?

5. The good news is that you don’t have to keep playing and living a life of uncertainty.

6. You can humble yourself today to the Lordship of Christ Jesus and allow Him today to become the Lord of your life.

Closing

Why anyone would want to go through life, not knowing for certain if they were saved or not, is beyond me. But God in His word has told us that we can know, without a shadow of doubt where our eternity lies; If we will just trust in Him.