New Year, New You: Full Spectrum Salvation

Sermon for the service of January 8, 2017 by Pastor Steve Hopkins



v  (Titus 2:11-14, NIV) For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

 

New Year, New You: Full Spectrum Salvation

v  “The blessed hope” of Jesus Christ

<!         1.      The Good – “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female, he created them.” (Genesis 1:27, NIV)

<!         2.      The Bad – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23, NIV)

<!         3.      The Ugly (Prevenient Grace)

·          Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:9-10, NIV)

·        But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace.  Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. (Galatians 1:15-16, NLT)

                    TQ: Can I remember a time in my life where I did not know God but his grace was drawing me near to him?

<!        4.      The Good News, part 1 (Justifying Grace)

·  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8, NRSV)

·   For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many.  But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17, NLT)

<!        5.     The Good News, part 2 (Sanctifying Grace)

·   So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus.  For the power of the life-giving Spirit—and this power is mine through Christ Jesus—has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death. We aren’t saved from sin’s grasp by knowing the commandments of God because we can’t and don’t keep them, but God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours—except that ours are sinful—and destroyed sin’s control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. So now we can obey God’s laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us. (Romans 8:1-4, TLB)

TQ: Does my Gospel include the full picture of salvation or do I cut it short?

 

v  A people that are his very own

<!            ·        “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it                   is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13, NIV)

<!            ·        The Means of Grace – Fellowship, Works of Mercy, Baptism, Communion, Scripture, Prayer, Fasting.

TQ: What am I struggling with? What am I fighting in my life?

 

ü  Additional Reading: John Wesley, The Scripture Way of Salvation (free online at wesley.nnu.edu); Romans 3-8

 

 

 

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