Salvation's Three Wonderful Blessings Series

SALVATION FROM A TO Z

Bob Marcaurelle

freesermons@homeorchurchbiblestudy.com

Website: Yahoo search homeorchurchbiblestudy.com bob marcaurelle

Copyright 2005 by Bob Marcaurelle

2014 Revision by Bob Marcaurelle

Sermon 1

SALVATION’S

THREE WONDERFUL BLESSINGS

“Call his name, Jesus (The Lord saves), because He will save His people from their sins.” -Matt. 1:21

“Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” – Acts 2:40

THE MEANING

The Bible uses the term “save” for those who give Jesus their sins to forgive (faith) and their lives to change and control (repentance). Nothing is more important to God than our salvation. It is His desire. Peter says He “does not wish for any to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9) He named his Son Jesus, “the Lord saves”. Jesus came “to seek and save that which is lost” the lost (Lk. 19:10). He gave us the Bible to “give us wisdom for salvation”. (2 Tim. 3:15).

Most of all Jesus went to the cross so we can have salvation. The OT says “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb. 9:22 / Lev. 5). We can only imagine the horror Jesus felt when as a boy or young man He read this and knew it was his destiny. The important thing is – He accepted it. The night before He died He said in the memorial supper,

“This is my blood of the new covenant shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt. 26:28)

Max Lucado says Jesus looked at the cross and saw hell but He went there anyway because He did not want to go to heaven without us.

The term salvation means to deliver; rescue, release, set free etc. When the Israelites were set free from the Egyptians at the Red Sea they sang of God’s “salvation” (Ex.15). When Peter was drowning he cried out to Jesus, “Lord save me.” (Mt. 14:30). We use the term to this day saying such things as a fireman who saves someone from a burning building.

There are over 90 different descriptions of salvation and they all come under three headings. We are forgiven – delivered from the penalty of wrongdoing. We are changed - delivered from the controlling power of wrongdoing. We are allowed into heaven where we will be delivered from the very presence of sin.

Sadly, salvation is not important to the world. The term itself is mocked. It is “nonsense” to them (1 Cor. 2:14). They do not understand it because they don’t want to understand. Unbelief is more moral than mental. People don’t like the idea of a judgment waiting beyond the grave. Sadly they are betting their souls that they are right. Deep inside them is the gnawing fear that they are wrong. When Paul stood before a pagan ruler we read:

“ (Paul) said there will be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked / As he preached on righteousness, self control and the Judgment to come, Felix trembled with fear.” and said, ‘That is enough for now.’” -Acts 24:25

A TV child actress had improper relations with her father for years. One day, in her twenties she walked in and said, “Daddy- you and I are going to hell for what we have been doing.” Then she put a stop to it.

THE THREE STAGES

Salvation comes in three stages - a past completed act; a present process and a future completion.

Eph. 2:8

“By grace you have been saved.”

1 Cor. 1:18

“To those of us who are being saved, Christ is the wisdom of God and the power of God.” (

1 Thessl. 4: 3 / 5:23

“This is the will of God, your sanctification; that you may avoid sexual immorality / May God Himself, the God of peace sanctify you through and through.

1 Cor. 1:2

“ To the Church of God in Corinth “sanctified- holy” in Christ Jesus and called to be sanctified – holy”

Rom. 13:11

“Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

Christians have been saved. Somewhere in their past is the moment when they were instantly and eternally forgiven. This is “justification- made righteous”. At that same moment they were instantly and eternally changed on the inside in the new birth. This is regeneration. You never find anyone in the Bible who is justified or born again twice. It is a once for all, never to be repeated act of God.

We can also say we are being saved when in Christian growth we are slowly being delivered from individual sinful habits and attitudes like profanity, worry, prejudice, greed, etc.. This new life, called sanctification (holy, being made saints, etc.). is comparable to our baptism when we enter the family of God. Sanctification is comparable to foot washing; where we daily wash off the world’s dirt.