Jesus Christ: The One and Only (Part 4)
1 Timothy 3:16
Introduction:
1. If somebody asked you this question, how would you answer? “If you were to die today, do you know 100% for sure that you would go to heaven?”
2. If your answer is “Yes,” what if they asked this next? “Why do you know you will go heaven?” How would you answer this? If you were to stand before God, and if He were to ask you why He should allow you into heaven for eternity, how would you answer this?
3. Would you say, “I joined the church. I was baptized. I kept the Ten Commandments. I never did anything too bad. I was better than most.”?
4. None of those answers are going to work. Why is this? Because none of these things can wash away our sin. At the end of the day, no matter how many churches we joined, or how many ponds we were baptized in, we have all sinned, and God cannot allow that sin to go unpunished.
5. When we stand before God, the issue will be very simple. The issue will be what you have done with God’s provision for sin – Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is truth, He is life. vs. 16
6. The entire divine gospel plan revolves around the person of Jesus Christ. What a person believes about Jesus Christ is the difference between eternal life or eternal judgment. This is why, as a church, we have a mission to proclaim Jesus Christ.
“…believed on in the world…”
1. How would you answer that question, “What must I do to be saved?”
2. The apostle Paul was asked that very question. Here is how he answered: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.” Acts 16:31
• That man did believe on Christ that day and was gloriously saved and changed.
3. This story could be repeated scores of times as we read about Paul’s ministry in the book of Acts. He went into heathen, pagan, Gentile lands and proclaimed Christ unto the Gentiles, multitudes believed on Christ, and their lives were radically changed. 1 Thessalonians 1:9
4. Many times Paul would begin his ministry in a city by proclaiming Christ to the Jews that were there. After all, if anybody should recognize who Jesus Christ was, it would be a Jew who had God’s Word and knowledge of the true God.
5. But time after time (because of pride and stubbornness), they would reject the message of Christ, and Paul would turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). The Bible says that the Gentiles were glad when they heard this, glorified the Word of the Lord, and they believed!
6. The only thing necessary for salvation today is to believe on Christ. You say, “Pastor Dan, that sounds terribly simple. All I must do is to believe on Christ? How can that be?” Let me explain.
7. Our sin created a debt that we had no possible way of paying. Romans 3:23, 6:23a
• The Bible tells us that all sin will be avenged by God. Sin is a violation of the law, and the wages of sin is death. Forgiveness is not enough. The debt is still owed.
• If I fall behind on my bills, the bank may empathize with me, but I still have that debt. The debt must be paid by me or someone else. Even bankruptcy does not wipe out the debt, it just transfers it to others. Someone will eventually pay.
8. We owe a debt because of our sin, but Jesus never sinned one time. He kept God’s law in totality. Christ then willingly paid the debt for our sin by dying on the cross. He satisfied the demands of God’s holy law, and then paid our debt in full. Romans 5:6, 8
• Christ took the full wrath of God against sin so that we would not have to incur it. When we fully deserved the wrath of God for our sin, Christ took God’s wrath for us on the cross. Romans 5:9-10
9. But how do you take what Christ did for us on the cross and apply it personally to your sin debt, to your heart, and to your life? Look at Romans 3:25, 28, 5:1.
10. The Bible is clear. You apply it to your heart by faith in Jesus Christ. The moment you believe and trust that His sacrifice was for your sins, God fully forgives you of all sin and brings you into a place of peace with Himself.
• It isn’t done on the basis of your good works, religious rituals, or self-effort. It happens on the basis of the fact that Christ died for your sin and paid your sin debt.
11. God is fully satisfied with the sacrifice Christ made for sin. When you rest in Him, trust Him, and believe that what Christ did was fully sufficient, you and God become in full agreement, and He saves and forgives you based on what Christ did on the cross.
12. Have you trusted Christ? Have you simply believed totally on Him to save you from the wrath of God and make you at peace with God? If not, you need desperately to trust Him today.
13. You may be thinking, “I have believed in Jesus Christ since I was a child.” Did you notice in 1 Timothy 3:16 it says, “…believed on in the world?” Paul told the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”
• Illustration: Imagine a chair or stool. I can say all day long that I believe in the chair, but when I actually sit on it… now I am believing on the chair. In other words, now I am truly trusting in it. Before that, I simply had a mental assent.
14. Believing in Jesus Christ – that He existed and lived and died on the cross – will not save you from your sin and bring you into a right relationship with God. Did you know that even the devils do this? Luke 4:41
15. The devils know exactly who He is, yet we know they are not saved and going to heaven. My friend, you must believe on Jesus Christ. It must go from your head to your heart. Many people will miss heaven by 18 inches – the distance from the head to the heart.
16. You must trust in Him. You must with your heart fully trust in what He did for you, and believe that it is fully sufficient to save you from your sin. If you are trusting and believing in anything else other than the finished work of Christ to get you to heaven, you will not make it.
In Conclusion:
1. Illustration: Two people are seeking to be restored to God because they know they have sinned.
• The first person says, “I’ll go to church, get baptized, give money, do religious rituals, do good to others every chance I get, etc. Surely this will appease God’s wrath and pay for my sins!”
• The second person says, “I will humble myself before God and tell Him that I know that I don’t deserve His favor and never will, but I believe that Christ made a full payment for my sin, and I believe that what Christ did is enough. I am fully trusting Christ.”
• Which person is justified before God? Romans 3:28, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
2. Christ has done it all. He cried out “It is finished.” Will you trust Him today to be your Savior?
