Sermon Central
-
Assurance Of Salvation Series
Contributed by Timothy Mills on Sep 28, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: How do we know for sure that we are really, genuinely, saved? Many things are blamed on God, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, plagues, famines. How do we know that God will keep His word?
1)Our condition before being saved was that we were helpless.
• We were “without strength”: weak, sick, feeble, and powerless. We were spiritually worthless & unable to help ourselves. Our condition was desperate.
• “For my life is spent with GRIEF, and my years with SIGHING: my strength FAILS because of mine iniquity, and my bones are CONSUMED” (Psalm 31:10). Sin does that to you.
• “At the right time,” not too soon, not too late, Christ died for the ungodly. The purpose of the Old Testament is to make us aware of our sin, aware that we can’t help ourselves, that we need a Savior.
• Where can we find someone to help us in our helpless condition? Who would be both able & willing to take our sins away? We need a Savior who is willing to die for us. Who would do that?
2) God demonstrated His love for us.
• We need this help to be tangible, not just words in a contract, we need the promise to be real. There are several Biblical love stories: Adam & Eve; Abraham & Sarah; Isaac & Rebecca; Jacob & Rachel; Solomon & his bride; Boaz & Ruth; Joseph & Mary. God & us.
• While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Gal 2:20; Eph 5:2 “just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” John 3:16.
• While we were STILL sinners Christ died for us. While we were sinners, you hated God, yet still He loved you. He loved you enough to give His only begotten Son for you. How can you NOT love God?
• If He loved us while we were sinners, how much more now will He love us now that He has justified us through the blood of Jesus! His love is great enough to save us from the wrath to come.
3) We are reconciled & saved.
• “Re” means again or repeated; in Adam man was at peace with God. Ever since Adam, we have needed reconciliation. His death reconciles us to God, on our side & God’s side, too.
• We are saved by His life, because Jesus did not stay dead, but overcame death through His life, which death could not hold.
• Reconciliation: The idea is that two persons who should have been together all along are brought BACK together; two persons who had something between them are restored & reunited. The enmity between God & you can be changed into friendship. What a difference! Would you rather be God’s friend or His enemy?
