Salvation Without One Stitch! Series

Intro: Saved

1. Imagine, that your on the top of a building and your trying to cross from one building to another one which is a 500 feet away. Lets say it is 500 thousand feet down to the pavement below.

You have, however, a one inch thick piece of rope which is capable of holding up several tons. There is a problem though, for you have only 50 feet of rope.

I say, "Don't worry! I have 500 feet of thread. We can tie my thread to your rope and then throw it to the other building and tie it down, and then you can go across."

Would you take my offer? No way! I ask, "What is the matter? Do you not trust the rope?" "Yes," you say, "I trust the rope but I do not trust the thread."

Ok then let’s change the story and make it 450 feet of rope and only 50 feet of thread. Any takers? Then suppose we make it 495 feet of rope and only 1 foot of thread. Or just 1 inch of thread?

You see, if you have just 1 inch of thread, you will be just as dead when you hit the pavement below.

The rope represents what Christ has done to save us, and the thread represents what we have done. We must trust in Christ alone. One inch of our works to the work of Christ is a death sentence.

As Charles Spurgeon put it, "If we have to put one stitch into the garment of our salvation, we shall ruin the whole thing."

2. We have seen that they were Searched, Sentenced, and now...

3. They were Saved.

Trans: Gen. 3:20-24

I. FIRST, SALVATION INVOLVES HUMAN FAITH.

And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living - v. 20

A. First, Adam's first Pronouncement.

"And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." Genesis 2:23 (NKJV)

Adam originally named his wife - woman! It means "out of" and is related to the fact that she was "taken out of" man's side.

Trans:Reminds me of the movie Big Jake, where John Wayne had a dog. The dog's name was - dog!

B. Then, we have the Proclamation of faith.

In our passage he changes her name to Eve - "the mother of all living."

Strange? God had said that they were now spiritually dead and would eventually died physically, their bodies going back to dust. It looks like she was the mother of the dead!

Why? Why call her Eve the mother of all living? The only thing that changed between 2:23 and 3:20 is 3:15!

He changed her name because he believed the Promise of the coming seed who would crush the serpents head and bring deliverance. THAT NAME CHANGE DEMONSTRATED FAITH IN GODS PROMISE.

Trans: Faith is the only human requirement - and requirement is a gift not a work. Faith is not a work, it is trusting in the work of another.

"12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13 (NKJV)

"28 Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." John 6:27-29 (NKJV)

"and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." Acts 13:39 (NKJV)

"5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:" Romans 4:5-6 (NKJV)

If I stand on the ground floor of a 27 floor building and press the button for an elevator, I am confident (I have faith) that the elevator will arrive. Indeed, it does, and the door opens.

I am now presented with a vehicle that, I am confident (I have faith), will take me to the top of that building, provided I step into it. When I do, my faith in that elevator takes the form of personal trust.

I step into it, and it does the rest. My faith in the elevator does not empower the elevator, it trusts in the elevators power to take me to the floor I want to go to.