The Ingredient Of The New Life Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• I hope that our journey looking at God’s recipe for Salvation has been enlightening for everyone.

• My prayer is that when some asks you what they need to do in order to become a part of God’s family, you will be able to give them a full, complete, biblical answer!

• This is the final message in the series and in the spirit of looking at ingredients, I have one last ingredient list to share with you.

• Enriched Bleached flour (Wheat Flour, Barley Malt, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate (vitamin b1) Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) Folic Acid, Water, Sugar, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed oil with TBHQ to Preserve flavor, Dextrose, Eggs, Modified Corn Starch, Whey (Milk) Leavening… Natural and Artificial Flavor, Sorbic Acid (TO RETAIN FRESHNESS) Corn Starch, Colors (Yellow #5 Red #50) Citric acid, Potassium Sorbate (TO RETAIN FRESHNESS)

• Delicious! Now who would like to have the fruit of these ingredients? Come on Up!

• OK Here is what they got!

• SLIDE #2

• Here is what the web site says concerning this product! This great-tasting snack combines delicious golden sponge cake with fluffy vanilla creme filling. Individually wrapped 10 to a carton.

• NOW did you hear ANYTHING about vanilla crème?

• Today we are going to examine the final ingredient to God’s recipe for Salvation.

• I had some trouble with outlining the message today because the ingredient of The New Life is an ingredient in God’s recipe for salvation, but it is also something more.

• Let us turn to 2 Corinthians 5:17

• SLIDE #3

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

• Let us begin by seeing…

• SLIDE #4

SERMON

I. The outcome of following God’s recipe for salvation.

• (Therefore, if anyone is in Christ He is a new creation)

• Thus far we have looked at several passages that tell God’s recipe for salvation starts with faith, which leads one to the desire to confess that Jesus is now their Lord.

• We confess that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Then with that realization, we start to understand the need to repent of our old way of life.

• Then because we are still dogged by our old self, we are bogged down by our old sins. We submit to being baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and so that we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit!

• So what is the outcome of adding these ingredients to our recipe?

• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

• Before we get to the main point of this part of the verse, we cannot overlook the first part, IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST.

• The prerequisite to becoming a new creation is to be IN Christ.

• From my research commentator James Burton Coffman states, “A phenomenal blindness is the only thing that could account for the total absence from the writings of so many scholars of any reference whatever to this little prepositional phrase which is nothing if not THE VERY EYE OF CHRISTIANITY. Paul used this expression, or its equivalent, 169 times!”

• He further states, “n the light of the above, how is it that one can read 57 commentaries and find not one single reference to the all important question of "How does one find the status of being `in Christ’"?”

• WE have answered the question by looking at God’s recipe for salvation.

• SLIDE #5

• Galatians 3:27 (ESV) For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

• So what do we get when we follow God’s recipe for salvation? We become a NEW creation!

• How can sinful people stand before a holy God?

• They become a NEW creation! Our sins are washed away and we are NEW!

• The word NEW denotes a SUPERIOR QUALITY OF BEING.

• As I have said before the Bible teaches us that when we sin, we are separated from God.

• When we are in Christ, we are alive spiritually again!

• SLIDE #6

• John 3:3–5 (ESV) 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.