Do you know what Salvation is? Do you think you know?
Well, a lot of people have their own idea of what salvation is.
• Some think that salvation means being saved from ourselves.
• Others think salvation means being saved from the devil.
But neither is the case.
All who have sinned against God are under the judgment of God. This judgment is known as damnation. This damnation is where God condemns to eternal Hell all those who have offended Him by breaking His Law.
Sounds harsh doesn’t it? Sounds like we all have a problem. Why, because we all have sinned and came short of the Glory of God.
But don’t get in your head that God is unfair. He’s just the opposite, he loves us. Just as parents today punish their kids, God must punish the sinner.
Punishment should teach you to not travel that path again. Punishment should help you learn from your mistakes. But if you do happen to travel down that road of mistakes again, He has provided a way of escape so that we will not face His righteous judgment.
Brothers and sisters, God is both holy and loving. He must show each quality equally. So, being saved from the wrath of God is called salvation.
Salvation is found in Jesus and only in Jesus, who is God in flesh and who died for our sins and rose from the dead.
Acts 4:12 states: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
In order to understand what it means to be saved, we need to understand what we need to be saved from.
The Bible teaches that because all men have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glory. It’s these sins that separate us from God, putting us into a state of needing to be reconciled with God. It’s these sins that propel God to pick us up, if only we ask and believe.
We all need salvation. When we are born again into the family of God, we become children of God and heirs according to God’s promise.
My sermon today is ------------What does it take to be saved?
Now…..What does it take to be saved? And are you?
• Saved means that the Christian has been taken out of darkness and into light.
• It means that the Christian has been forgiven of his past sins, and become a child of God.
• It means that the Christian may now call upon God as Father and ask for ongoing forgiveness of sins committed after baptism.
• But it doesn’t mean that the Christian can abandon that relationship and return to darkness.
Those who come to God decide to leave behind sin, and that’s repentance. It’s the reversal of life from sin and darkness to a life towards righteousness and light.
• This doesn't mean that a Christian is perfect.
• But it does mean that a Christian is trying to do God's will and live righteously.
• It also means that the Christian has God’s promise that one day he will be saved from the sorrows, pains, and temptations of this life into a place where no evil shall dwell and Father and child may be together throughout eternity.
1 Cor. 15:1-2 says "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
So, Are you saved? “Have you taken the necessary steps to be saved.”
Well, the Bible teaches us that there are some people who think they’re saved, but in actuality they are not. In fact, did you know that Jesus himself said that there were going to be some people who think they are saved, yet will be eternally lost?
Go with me if you will to Matthew 7:21-23,which says: “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Lord, Lord…….
So, I ask you again, Do you “think” you are saved?
Maybe at this point you’re thinking about what you did in order to be saved. This is good. However, what did you do to be saved? And….How do you know you are saved?
Perhaps your answer is like many in the religious world today who say:
• Well, I prayed to Jesus and told Him that I accepted Him into my heart and that’s how I know I am saved.
• I stopped doing those bad things so I should be saved.
• I stopped smoking, so that should do it…. right.
• I stopped lying, and that was hard to do. I must be saved.
• I stopped cursing; God has to love me for that.
• I stopped hanging out with that crowd that meant me no good, I gotta be saved.
Well, all those things are wonderful, and they say that you believed that Jesus was the Son of God. They say that you are trying. They say that your faith is growing, and faith is necessary in order to be saved.
John 5:24 states Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
However, are these the ONLY things, required on your part for salvation? Well, no! It’s not that simple.
In fact, Jesus acknowledged in that same scripture in Matthew 7, that there were some who called him “Lord” yet they were not saved. They believed in Jesus, but they were not saved.
Are you one of these people?
Perhaps you’re asking yourself now, “Well, if I can be a believer, yet not be saved, what must I do to be saved?” This is a very good question to ask. But where do we go to find the answer to this question?
• Should we go to our teachers at school?
• Should we go to our family?
• Should we go to our Christian friends?
• Should we go to the deacons?
• Should we go to the elders?
• Should we go to the preacher?
To all these questions, you must answer, “No.” In fact, in order to find out what one must do to be saved, we must accept ONLY the answer that God gives to this question.
So, Where does God answer this question?
Simple……..He answers it in the Bible.
The book of Acts in the New Testament states this question several times. The question is specifically stated three times in the book of Acts.
• Acts 2:37 states: “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
• In Acts 9:6 it is stated by Saul: “And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
• It’s also stated by a jailer in Acts 16:30: “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Brothers and sisters, God considered this question so important that He gave us the answer to the question several times. Each time the answer is the same, although the situation in which the answer is given is different.
The book of Acts is the first place that God's complete plan of salvation is announced. It contains the preaching of an inspired apostle, Peter, who spoke exactly what the Holy Spirit told him to say. Acts 2 begins with unsaved people and ends with saved people.
Acts 2:38 states: Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved?” was to repent and be baptized. Isn’t it strange that Peter didn’t tell them to believe? Why would he leave out such a critical piece of the answer?
Was it because they already believed?
This is, in fact, the case. They heard Peter’s message and were convinced that they had crucified the Son of God; they believed! So what more did they need to do?
“Repent and be baptized.”
The second place in which the answer was given, Jesus urges Saul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that people take the action steps necessary to demonstrate their obedient hearts.
Acts 9:6 states: “And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Did you notice anything missing from this answer?
Jesus did not say to Saul, “just accept me into your heart and you will be saved.? He told him that someone else would tell him what he needed to do.
Who was this someone else, and what did he tell Saul to do?
The person was Ananias. Although, Ananias objected, because he knew that Saul had been persecuting the saints, he did as the Lord instructed. He obeyed the Lord because the Lord told him that Saul was a chosen vessel, to bear his name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. So Ananias told Saul, if he wanted to wash away his sins, he needed to be baptized.
Acts 22:16 states: “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Nowhere in scripture do we read that faith alone can save. In fact, the passage in James says exactly the opposite: This is the only place in scripture where the phrase "faith only" occurs and it is preceded by the word "not!"
James 2:24 states: "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Ananias also left out the part about “accepting Jesus into your heart.” Why? Because Saul already believed.
The third place in which the answer was given, Paul himself told an unnamed man to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. In this answer, the man is told to “believe.” Why would this particular man be told to believe?
Well, he was told he needed to believe because he didn’t already believe. He needed to believe first.
Acts 16:31 states: “And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Did you hear that! ……. And thy house. Lord, Lord!
Acts 16:33 states: “And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.”
• Why was there a need to be baptized?
• Why was there a need to be baptized the same hour of the night?
• Why was there a need for him and all of his family to be baptized immediately?
Well, Brothers and sisters, some churches baptize once a week or once a month. What if something bad happened between that time? What if……
It was necessary for them to be baptized to be saved. The scripture says that he rejoiced after he was baptized. It also says that the action of being baptized indicated that they had believed.
In other words, baptism is part of the expression of belief in God. Without baptism, a person can’t really honestly say that they believe in God.
Acts 16:34 states: “And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
After baptism God begins to mold us into the kind of person He wants us to be through our obedience to His word and our growth as a child of God.
Baptized, brothers and sisters, not sprinkled, or tapped, or dipped, but buried in the watery grave and be born again.
After baptism, we are as a newborn babe in Christ, and are now in a right relationship with God. However we still need to continue to grow unto salvation in order to remain saved and inherit eternal life.
1 Peter 2:2 states, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
In other words, brothers and sisters, until we are baptized for the remission of our sins; until we are baptized to wash away our sins; any expression of faith on our part is no different than those folks that Jesus spoke about who merely said, “Lord, Lord.”
They “believed,” but they failed to do the will of the Father.
So, What do you need to do to make sure that you are saved ?
Paul says that you can be saved in exactly the same way that He was saved.
In 1 Timothy 1:15-16 in a letter that Paul wrote to a young preacher named Timothy, he said: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
Paul said that his salvation was a pattern for everyone else.
In other words, you can be saved in the same way that Paul was saved and, in fact, this is the way in which we must be saved. We don’t have to guess at how Paul was saved. We have the exact words that were used in his salvation, as we read earlier, in Acts 22:16.
And it does say, “Why tarriest” “Why wait”
Now………..Do you believe you were saved before you were baptized?
If you do, then you are in the same category as those who cried “Lord, Lord.” Believing that you are saved when you actually aren’t.
Remember, brothers and sisters, Jesus said that only those who “do the will of the Father” will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Don’t just hear the answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved,” …..Act on it……
If you believe you were saved before you were baptized, then all you did was get wet. You didn’t put your faith in God’s word to remove your sins as God said he would.
Remember, all of us have sinned against God and deserve judgment. When the corrupt Jewish leaders forced Rome's hand into crucifying Jesus, God used this crucifixion as the means to place the sins of the world upon Jesus. This is when Jesus became sin on our behalf.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
• The crucifixion became the place where Jesus bore our sins in His body and suffered in our place.
• He was nailed to the cross for our wrongdoings.
• He was pierced in his side for our transgressions,
• He was crushed for our iniquities;
• The cruel punishment for our well-being fell upon Him,
Remember, no sinner could please God perfectly, and no sinner could offer a perfect sacrifice to God. Only God in flesh, Jesus, could do that.
So, since there was nothing we can do that was righteous before God, then we couldn’t please an infinitely holy and righteous God by anything we’d do.
But, Jesus who is perfectly righteous before God the Father, died in our place. What we could not do, He did.
Isaiah 64:6 says: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Brothers and sisters, if you want to avoid the righteous judgment of God, then you need to trust in the sacrifice of God. You need to be made right before God, by God. This righteousness of Christ is given to you if you accept Him, trust in Him, and believe in what Jesus did.
When you trust in what Christ has done on the cross and by no works of your own, then the righteousness of Christ is “given” to you, even as your sins were "given" to Jesus.
You see, salvation is the opportunity to not have to be punished for the sins that we have committed. God has offered us an alternative.
If we believe that Jesus is God’s Son, confess Jesus as Christ, that Jesus came to the earth to provide something for man that man could not provide for himself. If we believe that Jesus came to earth to provide salvation from our sin, then God will allow Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross to be our “indirect” punishment for our sins.
Jesus covered your sin. You got His righteousness.
Once you have trusted in what Christ has done, and become a Christian, the blood of Christ covers the sins that we commit and confess and we remain in a state of God’s grace as we continue to serve and love Him.
It doesn’t mean that God excuses our sins. It means that when we sin and turn to God with a broken heart in penitence for our sins, then God continues to forgive our sins based upon our having been cleansed by the blood .
This doesn’t mean, however, that we won’t abandon God and lose our inheritance, or like the prodigal son, rebel against our father and end up in a place we really don’t want to be, and do thing we really know we shouldn’t.
God’s promise of forgiveness to His children is conditional upon the grounds that we remain faithful to God and His will.
It doesn’t mean we want slip, or be tempted, because we may. But we have to get back up, dust ourselves off, understand our wrong doing, confess, and ask forgiveness.
God’s relationship to us is like Father to child, but if the child rejects and abandons the Father, then there is no more sacrifice for sin.
We are children of God, and we must walk as God’s children. If we stop walking as God’s children we will be disinherited.
John 10:27-28 states… “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand,"
In closing…..
To be saved
• You have to realize that you are a sinner.
• You have to realize that you need a savior.
• You have realize that you can’t do it on your own.
• You have to Let Jesus into your heart.
• You have to Let Jesus into your life.
• You have to Let Jesus make you right with God.
• You must hear God’s word.
• You must believe his words.
• You must Repent of our sins.
• You must be sincerely sorry for them.
• You must asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins.
• You must Believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son.
• You must Believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
• You must Believe that through Him you can have eternal Life.
• You must be baptized in the water grave to be born again.
• You ought to want to: Fellowship with God.
• You ought to want to: Pray without ceasing.
• You ought to want to: Study his word.
• And, You must be faithful.
If you think you have time, think again. People drop dead every minute.
If you were to drop dead right now…are you ready for what happens in that next moment? Are you sure?
Do you believe that you are going to heaven, but have never personally asked God to forgive you, or believed in Jesus as our savior, and asked Him to save you?
• Don’t you want to know, beyond any shadow of doubt?
• Don’t you want to know that you will live with God in heaven for eternity?
• Don’t you want to know that you are saved from your sins and forgiven?
• Don’t you want to know that you can have peace about your life after this one?
Then you must:
Hear God’s word (Romans 10:17)
Believing it (Hebrews 11:6),
Repent of your sin (Acts 17:30),
Confess Jesus as Christ (Matthew 10:32)
And Be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16)
So…… what are we waiting for, let’s tell all we know, arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
Let’s share today’s message. Come back next time. Let’s plan to bring a friend. No one here is better than anyone else, we all fall short. That’s why we come back. We need to constantly hear his word to continue to grow in understanding, and remain faithful.
Someone once said: “There is nothing more important than your eternal salvation.”
References: The Holy Bible KJV
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