“ARE YOU SAVED?” Titus 2:11
FBCF – 1/3/21
Jon Daniels
INTRO – New Year – new resolutions – new commitments – new challenges – new opportunities.
- Steve Lawson: “A life of resolve comes with a price tag. You will be tested by the lure of the world. But you must turn a deaf ear to the crowd & live instead for the [commendation] of Christ. There will always be a cross before a crown, sacrifice before success, & reproach before a reward. The call of discipleship will cost you popularity, possessions, & position. But God will use your commitment. The grace of God will be multiplied in you if you cultivate a fixed resolution to live for the glory of God.” (https://gracequotes.org/topic/resolutions-general/)
Maybe wanting to get in better shape after all the holiday feasting we’ve done.
- Friend of mine, Jeff Parker, pastor, Southside Bapt Church – had a heart scare right before Christmas – widowmaker artery 90-99% blocked – stent put in on Dec. 22. Posted this on Facebook last week: “Your body forces a decision your mind refuses to make. I wrote this after my heart scare. 2021: Get healthy.”
Some of us may need to make an appointment w/ our doctor for a check-up. Find out where we are physically, get a baseline, talk about what we may be facing & what we need to do to take better care of ourselves – change our diet, start exercising or change our exercise regimen, stop smoking, try to get more sleep – all the things we know we need to do to take better care of our bodies. And we should.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…?”
Start month-long series today – “Time for a Checkup” – a spiritual checkup. Take the next 5 weeks & ask 5 basic questions about spiritual lives. First question: ARE YOU SAVED?
EXPLANATION – Titus 2:11
Strife & conflict in the Church has been around for a long time. Satan is constantly looking for ways that he can divide us & destroy us. Normally doesn’t happen from the outside, but from the inside. He stalks us & schemes & strategizes against us, looking for those who are weak in their faith, & vulnerable to his temptations & attacks. They may be someone who is in a leadership position in the church, or someone who is a church member who has never served in any leadership position. All he needs is someone who has drifted away from the Lord, grown cold in their love & commitment to God, is flirting w/ temptation & sin, & are apathetic in their walk w/ Him. If that’s you, you are a prime target for him right now.
Paul wrote this short letter to Titus to encourage him & give him some wise counsel as he endured ongoing opposition from folks inside the church he was pastoring on the island of Crete. Paul instructed Titus to do these things as the pastor of the church:
- Make sure his leaders were qualified to lead & rebuke those who were causing problems (1:5-16)
o “If people can’t follow who you are, they won’t follow what you say or do” (Jeff Holland).
- Make sure he was teaching sound doctrine (2:1)
- Make sure that he taught people in every age-group in the church to live the life that God would have them live – older men, older women, younger men, & younger women - & make sure that HE was living that life, too (2:2-7)
- Make sure that he was dealing w/ divisive people quickly & effectively (3:10-11)
- Make sure that he preached to them about the grace of God & the salvation that comes only through Jesus Christ (2:11-14; 3:3-8)
That’s where we are going to park for the next few weeks as we do this spiritual checkup. Everything we are going to talk about flows out of a relationship w/ Jesus Christ. So, we start today on this 1st Sun in 2021 w/ a simple, straightforward question: ARE YOU SAVED?
APPLICATION – God’s gift of salvation is for each & every one of us.
Quick word study:
- The “grace” of God – charis – the kindness, gift, favor of God
- Has “appeared” – epiphaino – has been illuminated; has shown forth; has manifested itself.
- It is “bringing salvation” – soterios – to save you, deliver you, preserve you; to bring you to eternal safety
- To “ALL people”- pas anthropos – every human being, total, every kind of person; the whole of mankind; all flesh, mankind; everyone
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED? – Let’s start by defining exactly what it means to be saved. There are 3 statements that will help us defined what it means to be saved:
1. We are saved FROM something – When we think of being saved from something, we think about something that can harm us or even kill us. Dictionary definition of word “save” even says that: 1) to rescue from danger or possible harm, injury, or loss. 2) to keep safe, intact, or unhurt; safeguard; preserve.
a. We think of someone being saved from drowning, a housefire, or some sort of attack.
b. In biblical, spiritual definition, we are saved from our self, from sin, & from separation from God.
2. We are saved FOR something – Many times, I’ve had people say to me, “There’s some reason why I’m still alive,” after they’ve been through a life-threatening sickness, or some type of accident that could have killed them.
a. That’s the truth! There IS a reason that you’re still alive today – right now in this service. It’s b/c God wants to save you. And He not only wants to save you from something – from yourself, from sin, & from separation from Him – He also wants to save you FOR something. He wants to save you so you can serve Him!
3. We are saved BY someone – It’s not your church. It’s not your grandfather who was a deacon, or your mama who taught Sunday School for 50 years, or by your Christian husband or wife. You’re not saved by a preacher, or a priest, or the Pope, or any other person.
a. And you’re not saved by your self – your good works – teaching Sunday School, being a deacon, singing in the choir, going on a mission trip, giving your money to the church.
b. We are saved by Jesus Christ & Jesus Christ ALONE! He alone is the Savior of the world. That very word “Savior” literally means, “a person who saves, rescues, or delivers.” And that’s what ONLY Jesus can do for you.
WHAT EXACTLY IS SALVATION? – Plain & simple: It’s a gift! And that gift is Jesus Himself coming into our life when we place our faith & trust in Him alone. We “receive Him” – take hold of Him; acquire Him; come to believe in Him. John 1:12 – “…to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (NIV84). And when HE comes in, He brings w/ Him the gift of eternal life!
- It’s a gift of GRACE & MERCY – “For the GRACE of God has appeared…” – Grace is God giving to us that which we do not deserve. Mercy is God NOT giving to us what we DO deserve.
o It is God coming to us & saying, “I’ve got a gift for you, & it has nothing to do w/ who you are, what you’ve done, or how you’ve lived. I simply want to give this free gift to you.” And what’s the only appropriate response to the offer of a gift? Accept it & say “Thank you.”
o “Grace…means the full & free forgiveness of every sin, w/out God demanding or expecting anything from the one [who is] forgiven…” (J.N. Darby)
o Titus 3:5 – “…He saved us, not b/c of works done in righteousness, but according to His own mercy…”
- It’s a gift brought to us through JESUS – Titus 3:6 – “…through Jesus Christ our Savior…” –
Vincent Ardolino – tugboat owner in NY harbor when WTC attack happened on 9/11. When towers fell, thousands of people swarmed the pier desperate to escape. Their only option – jump into water.
Vincent turned toward the island of Manhattan & headed toward the people. Wife: “What if there’s another attack?” “If I only rescue 1 person, that’s 1 less person who will suffer & die.” Other boats joined him, & over the course of the next 9 hrs, 500,000 people were rescued by the grace gift of these boat captains. “Each person jumping into a boat accepted the gracious gift of a rescue, putting their faith in the boat & its captain.” (Randy Frazee)
Jesus offers to rescue you from your island of sin & death. You only have to jump in w/ faith & trust Him alone.
- It’s a gift for EVERYONE – I love the word “all” in the Bible. I love it here in v. 11. Through Jesus, God has brought “salvation for all people.”
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SALVATION COMES TO US? – Look at Titus 3:3-7.
- We are changed – v. 3
- We are saved – v. 5 – delivered, rescued, healed
- We are washed – v. 5 – a spiritual bath
- We are born again – v. 5
- We are renewed – v. 5
- We are justified – v. 7 – declared “Not guilty & right w/ God!”
- We are named as heirs – v. 7 – What belongs to Jesus now also belongs to us!
CONCLUSION – So, back to original question that is the title of this sermon: ARE YOU SAVED? If not, do you want to be today?
