A couple of weeks ago I had the privelage of leading out in Midweek fellowship at my church and the topic of the night was the experience of salvation, so i thought i would post the notes if any of you were interested… God bless.
Luke.
[note:these words are not all mine, it is a customization of the corresponding Baptismal study]
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In Infinite love and mercy God Made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might be made the righteousness of God, led by the Holy Spirit, we sense our need, acknowledge our sinfulness, repent of our transgressions, and exercise our faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ, as Substitute and example. This Faith which receives salvation comes through the divine power of the Word, and is the gift of God’s grace.
Through Christ we are justified, adopted as God’s sons and daughters, and delivered from the lordship of sin. Through the Spirit we are born again and sanctified; the Spirit renews our minds, writes God’s law of Love in our hearts, and we are given the power to live a holy life. Abiding in Him we become partakers of the divine nature and have the assurance of salvation now and in the judgement.
All Human beings need to be saved. We are sinful by nature and need to admit and repent of our sins, and receive Christ as our sinless substitute.
We have all sinned, we have not lived up to the standard God set for us
Romans 3:23
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.
Our sinfulness alienates us from God and alienation leads to further sin
Romans 8:5-8
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
The Holy Spirit points out our need for repentance
John 16:7-8
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement:
We need to recognize and admit our sinfulness
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
We need to Repent
Acts 2:38
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We cannot save ourselves, we need a Saviour.
Titus 3:3-7
3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Further Study | Galatians 3:13-14 | 1Peter 2:21-22 |
Through faith we receive our Saviour Who forgives us for our past, gives us assurance of eternal life, brings about our adoption as sons and daughters of God, and give us power to live Holy lives.
In the Bible, faith is mentioned 231 times, it might surprise you to discover that 229 of them occur in the new testament, the English word faith is only rendered twice in the old testament, if you include the word faithful, you find another 29 references in the old testament but this still creates a remarkable imbalance to the distribution of the term “Faith” though we see amazing displays of faith in the old testament it seems that the Hebrew language it was almost exclusively written in, did not have an adequately robust term to describe faith, whereas greek (the language of the new testament) does.
Faith in Greek= πίστις
Pistis
From persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: – assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
Keep this definition in mind as we cover the proceeding verses.
Ephesians 2:5-10
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Therefore Faith and Salvation are God’s Gifts to us.
In Luke 17:5 the disciples asked of the Lord Increase our faith.” this is a revealing passage, as we see the true nature of faith is that of a gift, but when viewed in light of Romans 10:17 we see a more detailed picture.
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
So it is right for us to pray for more faith, but we should know that it comes by hearing the Word of God.
By Faith we accept Jesus as our Saviour, John 3:16
16 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.
By Faith we receive forgiveness and justification Romans 3:21-26
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
By Faith we are adopted as God’s Children. John 1:12
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:
Also see:Galatians 4:4-7
By Faith we are delivered from evil and given the assurance of eternal life. 1John 5:13
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you maycontinue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Also see:Galatians 1:4,
By Faith we are Born again to a new life. John 3:3-8 1
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, 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, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
1 Peter 1:23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever
By Faith we are changed to be more like God Romans 12:2,
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Further study: 2 Peter 1:3-4
By Faith we receive power to live a holy life, Ezekiel 36:25-27,
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Romans 8:1-4.
1 Thereis therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
God Has promised to write his law of love on our hearts to help us obey “from the heart” Hebrews 8:7-12
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—9not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD.10 For thisisthe covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; andI will be their God, and they shall be My people.11None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know theLORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,and their sinsand their lawless deedsI will remember no more.”
God also promises to forgive us as we confess our sins 1 John 1:7-9
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 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Further study | Mark 9:23-24 | Colossians 1:13-14 | Romans 5:6-10, 8:14-17 | Galatians 3:26 |
Finally, The Experience of Salvation, is not merely a “one-off” event, the Apostle Paul wrote “I die daily” we must die to self and accept the free gift of salvation afresh each day, keeping our rebellious human will, in perfect surrender to the Creator. Mrs White said it this way;
There is truth to be received if souls are saved. The keeping of the commandments of God is life eternal to the receiver. But the Scriptures make it plain that those who once knew the way of life and rejoiced in the truth are in danger of falling through apostasy, and being lost. Therefore there is need of a decided, daily conversion to God. {FLB 157.4}
We must each choose to put our faith in the saviour to experience salvation for ourselves, no one can experience it for someone else. We must pursue it daily and personally.
