Complete Salvation
Hebrews 7:24 - 25, Hebrews 10:10, Romans 12:2
July 26, 2004
I. I was talking before I left on vacation about the freedom that we have in salvation, from the power of sin and the guilt of sin, and there is a question that goes along with that idea that we all wonder about but seldom get brave enough ask out loud.
A. Different people would word the question in different ways.
B. Some are the inquirers who want to know what becoming a Christian means.
C. Some are uncertain Christians who want to be sure of their faith.
D. And some are growing Christians who want to find the full joy and peace that Jesus promised.
E. But the question that we all wonder about is really "Why be a Christian"?
1. The first group really want to know what difference being a Christian makes. Their question is, does it work?
2. The second group wonder if it is worth it to keep going against the flow of the world around them. Their question is, is it worth it?
3. The third group wonder if the power Jesus said is available is really real. Their question is where is the power?
4. In a way we are all asking the same question, Why be a Christian?
F. There is a powerful answer to that question in Hebrews 7:24-25.
Heb 7:24 - 25 NIV) but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
1. Jesus is able to save completely because He has all power. His salvation is complete.
II. But, there is a word in those verses that has been over used and under explained.
A. It’s a word that leaves many people wondering and some people frustrated.
B. And, most people have been asked in some way are you saved?
1. A lot of the time that question is asked with an attitude of superiority instead of concern.
2. I read a story about a church member who had brought their parents to church with them. While they were waiting for the service to start an usher who was looking for seats for someone noticed that there were two empty seats on their row.
3. He asked "Are those two saved", talking about the seats.
4. The church members thought he was asking about the parents and said, "THEY SURE ARE"!
5. When they realized what had happened they all had a good laugh.
6. Being saved doesn’t give us reason for haughtiness, but it should give us reason for humility, because we have been given what we could never acquire on our own.
C. What does it mean to be saved?
1. You might be turned off by the word "saved" because you have heard it used carelessly and with no explanation of its meaning too many times.
2. Or maybe you have used it yourself without comprehending the joy that should go with it.
3. Or you might say "sure I’m saved but from what, for what, and what difference does it make in the struggle I have with day to day life?"
D. A new Christian once said " the thing I like about Jesus’ salvation is its so down to Earth, its for me, its for now, and its forever!"
1. That’s a good description, our salvation, is practical, its working in our lives now and its forever!
2. If for you being a Christian only means that one day you will go to heaven you are missing so much of what salvation is.
E. The assurance that we are going to heaven should make our lives in the here and now so much more alive.
1. Jesus is able to save completely!
2. Maybe what we need more than anything is for the word "saved" to come alive with its true meaning!
3. What does it mean when we say we’re saved?
III. Sometimes we don’t think of it that way but the word "save" in the bible is a power word.
A. The word save, is the most powerful verb in the bible.
1. It means deliverance, to keep safe and sound from destruction and danger.
2. It means healing and wholeness.
3. It means to rescue and deliver from the penalty of sin.
4. It means new life now and eternal life forever.
5. It means that the power and love of God came together in the greatest sacrifice and the most awesome display of force the world will ever see.
6. It means that when we choose to put our trust in Jesus we are forever the objects of the love of the creator and authority of the universe!
(Heb 10:10 NIV) And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
7. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us we have been made Holy in the eyes of God and it is a sealed deal.
B. Saved covers all that Jesus came to Earth to do, all that He has done, is doing, and will do for us and through us.
1. IT MEANS THAT JESUS IS ABLE TO COMPLETELY DELIVER US FROM THE LONELINESS AND PENALTY OF SEPARATION FROM GOD, BY WIPING OUR SLATE CLEAN OF ALL THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE DONE OR WILL DO THAT SEPARATES US FROM GOD’S PRESENCE!
2. IT MEANS THAT HE IS ABLE TO FREE US FROM THE GUILT OF OUR PAST FAILURES!
3. IT MEANS HE IS ABLE TO RE-PATTERN OUR MINDS AND BRING TO LIFE THE POTENTIAL THAT HE CREATED IN US.
4. IT MEANS THAT HE IS ABLE TO FREE OUR EMOTIONS, FROM FEAR THAT IMMOBILIZES US, AND THE ANXIETY THAT TRAPS US, AND THE WORRY THAT CONSUMES US!
5. IT MEANS THAT HE IS ABLE TO MAKE US WHOLE, COMPLETE, PEOPLE, NEW IN EVERY WAY FOR THIS LIFE AND FOR ETERNITY!
C. Jesus has the power to save the seeker from their sense of separation from God.
1. Jesus has the power to save the struggling from discouragement!
2. Jesus has the power to save the unsatisfied believer from their dissatisfaction in the rate that they are growing in Him.
D. The Christian life is a dynamic life.
1. A life of power, not because of our own abilities to control things, but because our lives are in the hands of the one who has the power to give life!
(John 10:10 NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
2. Our lives can only have power and peace and joy because "HE IS ABLE TO SAVE COMPLETELY"!
E. Being saved is something that has to have a definite beginning.
1. There has got to be a time that we put our trust in Jesus to make us right with God, and remove the things that separate us from God!
2. There has to be a time that we quit trying to be in control and make ourselves right with God by our own abilities and good works, and accept Jesus by faith as the only way that we can be right with God.
3. But, it doesn’t end there, and that may be the problem that most Christians have with their salvation.
F. Salvation has a definite beginning, but it is also constantly growing!
1. Jesus doesn’t only separate us from our sins that separate us from God.
2. Jesus also saves us from the guilt of past failures.
3. He saves us from the way our lives have been formed while we lived separated from God and reshapes our minds.
(Rom 12:2 NIV) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
4. Jesus gives us a new image of ourselves and our potential.
5. Jesus saves us from fear, anxiety, and worry.
6. But that will only happen, when we make our salvation a continuing process, that covers every area of our lives, and not just fire insurance.
7. Let me explain that statement. We give Jesus the control and freedom to save us from separation from God when we trust Him as the only way we can be right with God, but so many Christians limit His control in their lives to only that area of their lives.
8. When we refuse to give him control of our lives in day to day things we limit His ability to save us from the struggles of day to day things, as much as refusing to give Him control and trusting in Him to save us from separation from God keeps Him from being able to make us right with God.
G. I have spent time with people that are the perfect example of that.
1. They are saved, and they will go to heaven, but they have never given the control of their lives to Jesus.
2. They are intelligent, they have tremendous potential, but their lives are only built around what they can accomplish, and not what God can accomplish through them, because they have never given themselves to Him. They have never submitted to His authority as Lord the way they should, and aligned their lives with His will.
3. The result has been that they are extremely self centered, they have a low self esteem because they only find worth in what they accomplish, and they struggle constantly to control the people around them, because they have not allowed JESUS to control THEIR lives.
4. Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus completely saves us and that is true, but the level in which Jesus is able to save us from the daily struggles that we face is directly affected by the level of control that we give him in our lives.
H. Our salvation has to have a definite beginning, but is also has to be constantly growing in us and that happens when we give Jesus the same control and authority in our lives day to day that we gave Him when we put our trust in Him to make us right with God.
I. We have to choose to give Jesus the authority in our lives day to day, for Jesus to be able to make our lives all that God intended them to be. When we do things that we know are not pleasing to God then we decrease His ability to make our lives the joyful lives that He intends.
J. Salvation is not something that happened and then stops until we go to heaven, salvation is everyday.
1. And, our salvation will never be totally completed until we reach heaven.
2. Jesus has the power to save completely, but that power is released in us by His constant presence in our lives as we give Him control to direct our lives day to day.
IV. We are permanently saved when we accept Jesus as our Savior.
A. We have the status of saints, people who belong to the savior, and we have the security of knowing that our standing will never change.
B. Life’s biggest insecurity is healed. WE BELONG TO GOD OUR FATHER!
C. That power alive and working in us gives us security.
1. It meets the deepest longings of our hearts and fills the emptiness inside us.
2. It can give us confidence in life and courage.
3. We are forever free from having to try to earn our status with God by competing with others and trying to establish that we are worth something by trying to be adequate, or better than someone else..
4. We have been given the power to not have to struggle for human control.
5. But we give up that power when we don’t allow the salvation that Jesus provided to be continually making changes in our lives to make them better.
V. So is it worth it to be a Christian and stand against the flow of our culture. YES!!!!!!!!!!
A. But the bottom line depends on what is really important to us.
B. If we spend all of our energy gaining approval, applause, and awards of humans by our success, we will probably get a lot of cheers from people around us.
C. But it will mean that we make compromises that cost us the benefits of a salvation that is active and alive in our day to day lives.
D. Every compromise that causes us to hold on to control cuts off more of Jesus’ power, stalls our ability to soar in life, and limits Jesus’ ability to bring true peace to our lives.
E. Jesus does not give us His power to make us culturally successful, He give us His power to make us His servants in our culture.
F. If you are successful without compromising Jesus’ place in your life consider it a blessing and use your success to better serve Him.
G. Success itself is not bad, but success at the cost of our relationship with God costs too much.
H. Being popular at the cost of the closeness of God in your day to day life, costs too much.
VI. Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus is constantly making intercession for us.
A. He cares about us every minute of every hour of every day.
B. Jesus is our eternal cheerleader, He’s for us not against us!
C. He wants us to have the best he has to offer, He is constantly working in and around us to accomplish that, to the extent that we give Him room to work.
D. Why be a Christian?
1. Because a personal relationship with Jesus is the greatest joy in life and the only way to have real life.
2. He alone has power to save us now, when we face death, and all the days in between.
E. Why be a Christian?
1. Because it’s the most powerful life, the most joyful life, the most exciting life, the most creative life, the most challenging life, and the most hopeful life.
2. It is the only way to come alive and stay alive now and forever.
F. I want to challenge you to take a long look at your life and see where you are not giving Jesus control, because in that area of your life you are not taking advantage of the power of Jesus’ salvation that continuously works to perfect our lives.
1. Give it all to Him, and give him the opportunity to change your life for the better!
2. And if you have never taken that step to put you total trust in Jesus and what he did on the Cross so that you can be right with God, and live with Him forever. Do it now?
3. What on Earth could there be that would keep you from accepting His gift of salvation?
4. Whatever it might be I can guarantee you that is it not worth what you are giving up, so when we sing come and accept your gift of salvation..
