The Truth about Salvation
May 26, 2013 Evening Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: Jesus came to save those who would believe.
Focus Passage: John 3:1-21
Supplemental Passage: Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6 NASB)
Introduction: In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells about Virgil, a man who had been blind from early childhood. When he was 50, Virgil underwent surgery and was given the gift of sight. But as he and Dr. Sacks found out, having the physical capacity for sight is not the same as seeing.
Virgil's first experiences with sight were confusing. He was able to make out colors and movements, but arranging them into a coherent picture was more difficult. Over time he learned to identify various objects, but his habits--his behaviors--were still those of a blind man. Dr. Sacks asserts, "One must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person. It is the interim, the limbo . . . that is so terrible."
To truly see Jesus and his truth means more than observing what he did or said, it means a change of identity.
Terry Seufferlein Norman, Oklahoma
I. Born Again
a. A second birth from the Spirit is needed
b. Our first birth is our physical birth
II. Believe in Jesus
a. Not join a church or even be baptized
b. Not follow a list of rules
c. But BELIEVE in Jesus, as Paul expounded, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)
III. Unbelief or Disbelief results in judgment
a. In our natural state, we are condemned
b. In our natural state, we reject God and the knowledge of Him that He placed in our hearts. As Paul says, For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20 NASB)
The audio of this sermon can be heard and downloaded at http://sermon.net/rboyne/sermonid/1200033997
