Monday, July 4, 2016

The Greatest Miracle of Them All – Part 2 – The Savior's Salvation


Romans 6:20-21, 23When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Continuing Pastor Obie’s sermon: To understand salvation, you have to understand two things. (1) Holiness means to be set apart, perfect and pure, by a loving God, for God’s purposes. (2) Sin means disobedience to God’s law. All sin is the missing of the target of the high calling of God. Creator God gave us “free choice” because “true” love is freely chosen, not coerced or forced. So, we have a choice to trust, love and obey God or not. When we sin, we miss God’s Mark, we hit something else and there’s hell to pay because we chose to miss God’s pure target intentionally and that is sin. King David said in Psalm 51:4, “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.” Being not the same (pure and righteous) as God, we cannot be with Him. We were created to fellowship with God, but sin separates us from that fellowship.

We were all born with original sin, but we all stepped in it by ourselves, too many times to count, in our life. On our own, in broken fellowship, we unholy and not fit for Heaven. Three things to remember about sin are (1) sin hurts us, (2) sin hurts others, and (3) sin hurts God. Sin is a violation of God’s law and we cannot make it “right” because Hebrews 9:22 tells us that “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” In the past, Israelites symbolically put their sin onto an innocent lamb without blemish and sacrificed it unto the Lord, but that was not a permanent solution. Yet, an innocent life atoned for their sinful life … temporarily.

Hebrews 10:8-10 “When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”


We owe a debt for our sins and Jesus paid for it with His life. Jesus is the Lamb of God; our atoning sacrifice. Christ paid the price we had to pay, and died the death we had to die. Jesus’ righteousness becomes our imputed righteousness by His blood. That is what is meant where John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” The miracle of salvation is obtained by putting our trust in Jesus and repenting from sin. Repent means to change your life course and follow Jesus. Be sorry for your sins. Not in the laws of man, but the laws of God upon your heart. Not upon Capitol Hill, but Calvary’s Hill. Have faith, surrender you will to God, trust in Jesus, put Him in the position of authority and leadership in your life and walk in the Spirit.  

Matthew 9:12 “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

You do not need to clean up your life before coming to the Lord. You have to get well before going to the doctor. It is the sick that need healing. The main issue is a “heart” issue. Self-control won’t stop sin acted out, because the old heart remains. Hand the scalpel to the Great Physician and let him work the miracle of salvation in your life. We all have an eternal destination after our appointment with death. Where will you spend eternity?

Psalm 51:10-13 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.”

From my edited notes of Pastor Obie’s Sunday Sermon message.

In Christ, Brian

No comments: