1. What is Salvation?
1.1. Salvation is the decision of who you will have as Lord of your life, who will be your King and then living that out until you finally die and experience eternity with Jesus.
1.2. Bob Dylan Said “you’re gonna have to serve somebody”
1.3. The decision to serve the King is what it’s all about.
1.4. You can’t serve a king you don’t trust.
1.5. It’s deciding to be a willing slave
1.6. Romans 1:1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God
1.7. A bondservant was a slave who could be free but decided to stay voluntarily because his situation was so good.
2. What are we being saved from? The Wrath of God and Death
2.1. Romans 5:9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
2.2. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
3. Immortality belongs to God alone
3.1.1 Timothy 6:16 He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
3.2. Psalm 90:2 Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
4. Man possesses “conditional immortality”
4.1. The default condition of mankind is not immortality, it is death.
4.2. Man was not created immortal. The idea that people live forever, only their destination is unclear isn’t very clearly taught in the bible.
4.3. This idea comes entirely from the eternal conscious torment view of hell.
4.3.1. Eternal Conscious Torment
4.3.2. Annihilationist
4.3.3. Universal Reconciliationist
4.4.John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
4.5.John 11:25-2625 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
4.6. Romans 2:7 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
4.7. Timothy 1:10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
4.8.1 Corinthians 15:53-54 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
5. Adam’s Sin Distanced us from God
5.1. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
5.2. Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
6. What is Sin?
6.1. "Hamartia" = "To miss the mark", as in archery competition, and therefore fail to receive the prize, or blessing. This is the general Greek word for sin, and is used 221 times. "Hamartia" encompasses the other 6 words for specific sins, in the sense that in all types of sin, we are "missing the mark". Example: Heb. 12:1, KJV = "the sin (hamartia) which doeth so easily beset us". We are aiming at God's best, but miss it.
6.2. "Hettema" = "Diminishing what should have been given full measure". Example: 1 Cor. 6:7, KJV = "there is a fault (hettema) among you". We all need God's constant help on this one! Placing emphasis on the things that please God will bring God's wonderful blessings into our life.
6.3. "Paraptoma" = "Falling when one should have stood". This one is actually an unintentional slip. I guess you've experienced this, as I have, and we are surprised when we realize we've sinned. Example: Eph. 1:7, KJV = We have "the forgiveness of sins (paraptoma), according to the riches of His grace". Even our "slip-ups" are forgiven.
6.4. "Agnoeema" = "Ignorance when one should have known". Example: Heb. 9:7, KJV = "the errors (agnoeema) of the people". This passage speaks of how the Old Testament was a shadow of the New Testament. Ignorance is no excuse, that's why we stay in the Word!
6.5. "Parakoe" = "To refuse to hear and heed God's word". Example: 2 Cor. 10:6, KJV = "disobedience". In this passage, Paul urges us to hear God's Word and to bring every thought into captivity for Christ.
6.6. "Parabasis" = "To intentionally cross a line". Example: Heb. 2:2, KJV = "every transgression (parabasis) & disobedience (parakoe) received a just recompense of reward". When God "draws a line in the sand", we can suffer great loss of rewards and blessings by intentionally "stepping over".
6.7. "Anomia" and "Paranomia" = "Lawlessness, or willfully breaking God's written rules". Example: Titus 2:14 KJV = Jesus gave himself for us in order to "redeem us from all iniquity (anomia)". God has "rules" to bless us, not to curse us. Someone said "the Bible is the owner's manual for human beings". Can you imagine trying to operate something as complicated as a human life without referring to the owner's manual? That would be just asking for frustration and failure!
6.8.1 John 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
6.9.Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
6.10. Romans 7:18 For I know that pin me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
6.11. 1 John 1:18 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
6.12. James 1:14-15 14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
7. The emptiness of our lusts – Saved from a life that is dead
7.1. Blaise Pascal
7.1.1. Pascal's development of probability theory was his most influential contribution to mathematics
7.1.2. Fluid Dynamics – Pascal’s Law
7.1.3. So, while the present never satisfies us, experience deceives us, and leads us on from one misfortune to another until death comes as the ultimate and eternal climax. What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.
7.2. I’ve met a lot of very rich and very famous people and have had an opportunity to work with some of them in business and media. I can tell you firsthand that they are mostly miserable and seeking meaning.
7.3. Deion Sanders story
7.3.1. He played baseball and football and is the only athlete ever to appear in both a world series and a superbowl
7.3.2. The 1994 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Sanders earned eight Pro Bowl nods and six first-team All-Pro selections. Sanders won two Super Bowl rings, one with the San Francisco 49ers and another with the Cowboys, and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
7.3.3. Sanders hit .263 with 39 home runs, 168 RBIs, and 186 stolen bases on nine MLB seasons.
7.3.4. Sanders hit 14 triples and hit .304 for the Atlanta Braves in 1992, the year they lost to Toronto in the World Series. A few years later, Sanders stole 56 bases in 115 games for the Cincinnati Reds in 1997.
7.3.5. Deion Sanders was an eccentric player and the football world either loved him for it or rolled their eyes, all depending on the day. Sanders was everywhere in his prime. He released a rap album, Prime Time, and acted in music videos. He appeared in TV commercials for everything from video games to food chains. Sanders’ lucky, game-day underwear had huge dollar signs. For his last game at Florida State, Sanders pulled up in a stretch limo and arrived in a tuxedo.
7.3.6. In 1997, Deion Sanders had it all while also having nothing.
7.3.7. Everything went well for Sanders on the field. But his marriage was ending and the future Hall of Fame cornerback attempted suicide.Sanders survived after he drove his car off a 40-foot cliff. He suffered no significant injuries from the fall. Although Sanders remained a personable figure, he gave up some of his wilder antics and dedicated his life to Christianity. Sanders held Bible study meetings with his Cowboys teammates. The self-admitted “hedonistic” lifestyle Sanders lived vanished as he turned his attention to faith.
7.3.8. Play Video
7.3.9. If it’s all about you, you’ve already lost
7.3.10. “I could have stayed in the closet, but why should I hide Jesus? I don’t hide my cars, I don’t hide the jewelry and the gifts God has bestowed upon me … Why should I hide Jesus?”
7.4. Ecclesiastes 1:8 The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.
7.5. Ecclesiastes 1:14-15 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered
7.6. Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
7.7. Romans 6:20–23 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit 7to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For ethe wages of sin is death, but fthe gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
7.8. Isaiah 55:2–3 2 Why do you 1spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. 3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— The sure mercies of David.
8. What are we being saved to?
8.1. Part of becoming a Christian is that you must confess your sins to Jesus and ask for forgiveness.
8.1.1. 1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
8.1.2. If you have sinned against other people, you must put that right as well. The quicker you do it, the better. To be forgiven is a great joy and relief! You do not need to continue bearing a burden of guilt for your past sins, no matter how great or small. There is tremendous joy in knowing that you have put your affairs right before God and man. With forgiveness we are released from guilt and are reconciled with God Himself!
8.2. Salvation doesn’t stop at forgiveness. In fact, as a Christian you get help so that you don’t have to sin consciously, ever again. Forgiveness is an enormous gift, but how much greater to get help from Jesus in the time of temptation, before you fall in sin. You really can be free from sin!
8.2.1. Hebrews 2:18For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
8.2.2. Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
8.3. Every day, the Spirit wants to show you more of your own sinful human nature: stubbornness, arrogance, demands on others, envy, laziness, etc.
8.3.1. Peter 1:2-8 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
8.4. As you live this overcoming life, you will have peace in your heart—peace from Jesus Himself. Nobody and nothing can take it away from you!
8.4.1. Romans 8:28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
8.5. Freedom from Want
8.5.1. Psalm 23:1The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
8.5.2. Matthew 6:31-34“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
8.5.3. Phillipians 4:19And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
8.6. Believing in God and in the Scriptures will make you a stable, grounded person. Ephesians 4:14. till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
8.7.As a Christian, boredom is a thing of the past.
8.7.1. Ephesians 2:10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
8.7.2. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
8.8.You won’t be alone in this school!
8.8.1. 1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin
8.9.You can give light
8.9.1. 1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
8.9.2. John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
8.9.3. 1 John 5:4. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—[a]our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
8.10. The Christian life is one of intense training. It requires giving up everything, not just at the beginning, but again and again as the Holy Spirit leads you against your own sinful desires. But in the world to come, we will rule and reign with Jesus for all eternity. Revelation 3:21. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.