Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/church4u/sermons/86309/saved/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] 1 Peter 1, 3-5 Saved! Salvation! What does it mean?

[0:47] That's important to get the definition right at the start. If we're talking about the security of our salvation, we need to know what is salvation and how we've got the real thing.

[0:58] Because we know at times some have got the impression that they're a Christian for all kinds of reasons. Maybe they've gone through all the motions as it were, as far as men could explain it to them.

[1:12] And yet really God's not done a work in their heart, in their soul. They might have gone through all the ritual and all the accepted things to do. Maybe going forward in a meeting and bowing their knee and repeating words after someone even.

[1:27] And yet, it may not be real for them. And so salvation, it's important that we get to the key issues.

[1:38] And are we saved? That's the first question really. What does it mean to be saved? It means life eternal. Life eternal, when you look at salvation, it's referred to as eternal life in God's Word.

[1:52] In verse 3 it says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope.

[2:03] The first point I'd like to make of our salvation is it's His life. It's His life. In verse 3, He has begotten us again. And He has reborn us.

[2:15] He's made us born again. He's begotten us again. To a lively hope. A life. A hope that's alive. That's living. We who were once dead, as the Bible says, we were dead in our trespasses and sins.

[2:29] We were considered like a dead man. Like a corpse. A carcass. We were dead in our sin. He has brought us to life. He's raised us to life.

[2:40] He's given us new life. New birth. We're born again. Reborn. Reborn to spiritual life. Reborn to eternal life. Reborn to live forever.

[2:51] And the salvation that He offers us is eternal life. Eternal. A genuine Christian is forever. Forever. His child.

[3:03] The child of God. When you are physically born, a record was made of your birth. And the state holds that record of your birth. It says you are physically born.

[3:16] A record was made. A birth certificate. When we are born again, a record was also made. In 1 John 5.11 it says, And this is the record that God has given to us.

[3:29] Eternal life. And this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

[3:43] These things write I unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know. That's present knowledge. That you may know that you have, that's present possession, you have, in the now, eternal life.

[4:02] And so this is a record for us. God's promise to us. God's words to us is a record for us. And he has put it on record, as it were, that we have eternal life, as in the now, in the present.

[4:18] And your birth certificate was marked with a seal. Your physical birth certificate. You know, the government puts a stamp on it, a special mark, a special authorizing of it.

[4:31] Likewise too, our eternal birth is sealed by the Holy Spirit. There's verses in Ephesians 1.13 and 4.30. The seal of the Holy Spirit.

[4:42] Your spiritual birth is marked by the Holy Spirit of God, his seal. And physically speaking, you will be your father's son for eternity. You could leave the country, disown each other, change your name, and never see him, hear from him, or even think about him for the rest of your life.

[5:02] But it will never change the fact that he is your father. You can't change that. He, your physical father is. And some of them are a blessing. I know my dad's a blessing to me.

[5:13] But the same is true of your heavenly father. Your heavenly father. You can die, but you can never be unborn. Your birth is fixed forever, both physically and spiritually.

[5:25] And at the instant of your conversion, the newborn child of God is instantly made a child of God. At that instant, at that moment, God in heaven becomes our father, and we enter into a special relationship with him.

[5:39] We're adopted. Adopted into his family. The family of God. He takes us as his children. And in the context of the day, what adoption means, adoption was something that was permanent.

[5:52] We cannot be adopted today and disinherited tomorrow. Adoption in the Bible days was something that was continuous. And we enjoy all the rights and privileges of a legitimate son in the new family.

[6:08] We're considered a son, a daughter, just as truly as if we had been born into that family. And our connection with our former family is abolished.

[6:20] It's cancelled out. And like us too, in our spiritual life, that's the case, isn't it? As the word says, you're of your father, the devil. And we know that we're all children of the devil, as it were, when we were born.

[6:32] Yet, he takes us from that family into his family, into the father's family, the heavenly father. So, number one, his life. His life. Secondly, salvation is his work.

[6:44] It's his work. As we read in verse 3 of our text. According to his abundant mercy, he hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

[6:58] To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. That word reserved has got a very strong connotation.

[7:09] It's something that's settled. It's reserved. It's a guarantee. And the Lord Jesus, he's come to seek and to save that which was lost. He's come to save. And in Jonah 2.9 it says, salvation is from the Lord.

[7:25] It's of the Lord. Salvation is from him. The Lord Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. He says, I give my sheep eternal life and they will never perish.

[7:39] There's a promise there. I give my sheep eternal life and they shall never perish. So, once you are one of his sheep, he has given you eternal life.

[7:50] They shall never perish is his promise. And salvation, we receive it as a free gift. We never deserved it. We never deserved it at the beginning, at the moment of salvation.

[8:03] There was nothing we could do to earn it, to deserve it, to warrant it. Christ paid the full price of our sin. Salvation, at that moment of salvation, he cleanses us from all sin, for all time.

[8:21] It's totally achieved for us by Christ on the cross. Because it says in 2 Corinthians 5.21, He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

[8:35] So, it's his work. That's the amazement of it, really, isn't it? That's the wonder of it, that salvation is his work.

[8:47] And this is where the cults get it wrong, because they think somehow they've got to earn it, or work for it, or make it something of their own doing.

[8:58] And yet, really, it's not of our own doing in any way at all. It is his work, it's his gift, and it's forever. It's forever. We are saved not because we are holy, or do good works.

[9:11] You know, the ones that did all the good works, what did Christ say to them? I didn't come for you. I came for the lost. I came for the sinful. And it's not because we are holy, or do good works, but it's by his blood.

[9:25] It's by the blood of Christ. And when you can grasp that, the amazing truth of that, it puts it all into perspective. And Luke 10.20, the Lord Jesus, he says to the disciples, he says, they were talking about the miracles and the wonder of things going on.

[9:47] He says, don't rejoice about that so much as rejoice rather because your names are written in heaven. That's Luke 10.20. He says, rejoice about that.

[9:59] So there we can think, as it were, of the record keeping of the name being written. You're in his care. You're in his family. It's his work. God himself puts your name down.

[10:12] Or, well, we don't know who writes the name, but God certainly makes the name recorded in heaven. And that's something that we can rejoice in that. Just think of it, that today, your name is written down somewhere.

[10:26] In another world, in another place. In some amazing book, the book of life. It's written there because he has written it. He has made it such that your name is written. And when it says your name is written there, it's got a sense of your name stands written.

[10:41] It stands written. It's got a sense of it's a sure thing. It's a sure thing. So we see it's his life. We see it's his work.

[10:52] And thirdly, it's his keeping. It's his keeping. Now, I've met people through life. And there's times when I've understood things that way too. That somehow I could lose my salvation.

[11:05] That somehow I could stop being a Christian and forfeit heaven. And be lost forever. It could be by my own belief or lack thereof or my own actions or inactions.

[11:18] And somehow that it's somehow my work. But it's his work. That's what it boils down to. And that's the wonder of Calvary.

[11:29] It's the wonder of it. Because his grace is undeserved. It always has been. It always will be. And verse 4 of our text, it says, of his keeping. To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God.

[11:48] Kept by the power of God. Through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. So he does the saving. He does the keeping. Now, it's different verses.

[11:58] Some would claim, oh, these are verses that would intimate that we might lose our salvation. But we actually analyse them one by one.

[12:09] It's talking about warnings about the Christian living the life. And of being faithful. Or of a loss of rewards. But not a loss of salvation. It's about our rewards.

[12:20] It's about an urging us to faithfulness. It's about an urging us to walk in his tread. And a cautioning of us to be alert to, when we do fail, to seek him and to get things right.

[12:37] But at no place does it talk about us forfeiting our salvation. So verse 4, we are kept by the power of God. Verse 5. He does the saving. He does the keeping. It's not what we do that keeps us.

[12:48] Now, if that were the case, I think, I know about me, I would not have a hope. If it was about my doing anything to be keeping myself saved, then I would have lost it before now.

[13:01] And I'm sure we could all think, well, I would hope that none of us could think, I'm keeping myself saved. You know, there's some cults that do teach that.

[13:12] And, you know, there's some well-meaning Christians who think that. And it's in their kind of statements that it's one of the steps of salvation, as it were. You know, you do certain things to get saved.

[13:24] And one of them is keeping faithful. Well, as much as, and this is not an excuse to be unfaithful, but it's not your doing anything that keeps you saved.

[13:36] That's really the bottom line. It's not what we do, but it's the power of God. It's the grace of God. Otherwise, we're just like the cults. And we're teaching a works-based salvation, if we think that.

[13:46] That's the danger of it. It's not our doing, but his keeping that saves and keeps us. We can rest in his loving care. Our Saviour's care. Our Saviour's will. Who has done all to give us all.

[14:02] He has done everything to save us. And the Lord Jesus is the wonderful assurance that you can have. Now, I've met Christians, as I say, that are living life as if they're walking a tightrope.

[14:14] As if, oh, if I do something wrong, I'm going to lose my salvation today. And I'm going to have to become a Christian again. And all this kind of mentality. You know, some well-meaning people are tying themselves in knots, worried about this kind of, that it's dependent upon them.

[14:32] But they've got it round the wrong way. It's not dependent upon you to keep yourself saved, but upon him. And upon his blood, he will keep you saved. His blood has paid for all your sin.

[14:44] His power is able to save you and to secure you. And our salvation, the wonder of it, is it's wholly dependent upon him.

[14:55] Now, that's the amazing fact of it. It's guaranteed by him. By faith alone in Christ. Not in works. Because we did nothing to merit it. Nothing to merit it. Nothing to deserve it.

[15:08] Salvation is of God, not of man. And it cannot be purchased or paid for or deserved, even in part by us. Not in any part. Not after, before, or during salvation.

[15:20] It's not in any part of our own doing. But it's all of his doing. It's all of his payment for us. Otherwise, are we going to take credit for it? God forbid.

[15:30] God forbid that you should take any credit for your salvation. Because if that were the case, then there'd be a question mark about whether you've got the real thing. If you're thinking that you're keeping yourself saved today, or through your life, then there's a question mark about whether it's really salvation you've got.

[15:48] If you're thinking by your own works, you're going to get to heaven. Because that's really what it boils down to. So our part is simply to believe. As Paul said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

[16:02] It's that moment of faith, of that transaction made for time and eternity. It's God's part to save. And Christ has paid the full penalty for our sins. Because when you actually think of it, Christ died for our sins.

[16:17] So all of your sins were future when he died. On Calvary's hill, all of your sins were future and all of your sins were paid for. That transaction is made when you receive his taking your place on the cross.

[16:33] That is when your sins were paid for at the cross, at that point of salvation. And so it's a free gift. It's not that you can live a good enough life to keep your salvation.

[16:44] Or that somehow a faithful enough life can merit retaining the salvation that Christ has purchased for you. Now this is, maybe sounds, well, and again, I'm not to go out against people thinking, well, okay, I'm saved, I can go and live like the devil now.

[17:00] Well, if that's how you're thinking, you're not saved. Amen. Because you've got to have a new mind. You've got to have a new heart. You've got to have a new spirit. And you're going to have that wanting to live pleasing to the Saviour.

[17:12] And to wanting to love him and walk worthy of him. And if you've got the idea that somehow you can sin with abandon and there's no consequences for it, then it raises the question mark whether you're truly saved.

[17:30] The Bible says, though, for us that we have peace with God. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We're justified by faith. That's Romans 5.1. So all our sins, past, present and future, were forgiven at the cross.

[17:46] Peace was made. God's anger over our sin was fully vented at the cross. It was there that it was paid for. And so as a believer today, there is no judgment.

[17:58] The great white throne judgment is not for Christians. That is for the lost. But there will be the judgment seat of Christ for you. Every one of you has to give account.

[18:09] Every one of us has to come before that judgment seat as believers. And our works will be tested there. What we have done or not done. How we've lived or not lived.

[18:20] There will be a judgment and there will be a loss. A loss of rewards there. A loss of blessings that could have been yours had you been more faithful. Had you been more in his will.

[18:34] So it does certainly raise caution for us to not treat this lightly. Certainly not to be careless and to be neglectful of our salvation.

[18:45] And so Christ is our peace. We're no longer at war with God. He has been the one who's fenced it. He's taken the wrath against our sin by his suffering.

[18:56] And it says in Hebrews 10 and 12, it's once. Once he covered it all for all time. Once. And this sacrifice, it says, it made us perfect forever.

[19:08] Hebrews 10 and 12. So there's a sense for that one transaction at one point in history at that hill. He paid it all. He paid it all. And now he sees us, not as we see ourselves, as righteous as he is.

[19:25] He sees us as in Christ. And that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. And of course then Hebrews 10, 14, it talks about us being sanctified.

[19:36] So that's the ongoing work. But when we made more holy. We made more like him. As the Holy Spirit works that process in our lives. But Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1, 12.

[19:48] He says, For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able, he is able, to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. And there's an assurance there.

[20:01] 1 John 2, 25. There's many promises we could mention. But this is one. 1 John 2, 25. And this is the promise that he has promised us, even eternal life.

[20:13] It's his promise. It's his promise. And Christ takes our sin away. Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. That's 1 Peter 2, 24.

[20:24] And the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. That's a wonderful verse, isn't it? To think about the precious blood. The sinless, spotless lamb of God.

[20:36] His precious, worthy blood cleanses us from all sin. That's just a verse that is amazing, isn't it? That that can be for you, for us.

[20:50] We are changed. We are cleansed from all sin. And therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. That's what happens at conversion, at salvation.

[21:02] It's when we stop being our own boss and going our own way. When we let him have his way. We acknowledge his work.

[21:14] We receive his life. And we rest in his keeping. It's a simple trusting of what he offers. Of receiving what he extends to us.

[21:26] And then we made a child. And what's more, an heir of God. That we literally share in the ownership of everything that belongs to the Father. We are heirs of our Father.

[21:40] Our Heavenly Father. All that is my Father's is mine. I don't have to wait for him to die. My Heavenly Father. Because all that he has is mine. I have it now. And if you are a Christian tonight, everything that is your Heavenly Father's is yours.

[21:56] He's given you so much. As someone put it like this. Consider what he gives to us. What he has done for us. He died for me. He called me. He saved me.

[22:06] He did it all. He placed me in his body. He gave me a place of service. He equipped me to serve. He gave me gifts that would help me to do his will. He blessed.

[22:17] He worked. He controls the harvest. And when life is over, he will still reward me for the works I perform for him. 1 Corinthians 3.

[22:28] No wonder we'll toss our crowns at his feet. And praise his name. Revelation 4. So if your name is in the book. And that's the question for everyone here.

[22:41] If your name is in the book. Then you are going to heaven. You are going there. And the word written, it means to enroll as a citizen.

[22:51] Enroll as a citizen. When you receive Christ as your Saviour, your name is written in heaven. And I understand when it says written in heaven, it's got the sense of you're enrolled.

[23:02] Like a citizen would enroll in a citizenship of a country. And as a result, heaven and all that it is and contains is yours.

[23:14] An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you. So you don't have to worry that somehow something that you do is going to stop you being saved.

[23:30] Because it's not about what you do. It's about what he has done. It's about whether you've received that which he has done. That you're totally unworthy of and you will always be unworthy of. That his blood that was shed for you.

[23:42] His life that he extends as his gift to you that's eternal. His salvation. It's his work and it's his keeping. And one day heaven will be yours.

[23:54] One day that place spoken of is a place of no tears, no sorrow, no dying, no pain, no sin, no sinners, no curse. God with his people.

[24:05] Jasper walls, pearly gates, golden streets, the redeemed, the glory of God. And for us, home. Our Father's house. Where our Father's dwelling place is.

[24:16] Where there's many mansions for us. And he has promised it. So we can give him glory and honour for that, can't we? And rejoice in that. Friends tonight. But the question is if your name is in the book of life.

[24:29] And I can't know really as much as some might make claim of it whether you're a Christian tonight. But are you going by the book?

[24:40] That's what matters. Are you going by what he is saying to you here? He says, He that believeth on the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

[24:53] And it talks about the wrath of God abideth on him. I don't want to have the wrath of God on me. I don't know about you. But you see natural disasters around the world. And the sad lives some people live.

[25:06] And you think, well what would the wrath of God look like? Really he's the ultimate authority. And he's got the ultimate decision making as to what he does with us. I don't want to face his wrath.

[25:18] But thank God Christ at the cross took the anger of God against our sin. And the question for all of us is, Has my sin been paid for?

[25:31] Or will I have to pay for it? And only you can really answer that. If you've not trusted Christ as your Lord and Master, then you will have to pay for your sin. And that's going to be diabolical.

[25:44] It's going to be dire and damning and forever in hell. And only Christ can save you tonight. Not yourself. Not any working or striving.

[25:55] As much as you might be a very pleasant person and doing it utmost, you can't do it. It's got to be him. And it's got to be him that keeps us. So let's just pray, shall we?

[26:08] Dear Lord, we know that. We know one of us worthy. As we know, it says, There is none good. There is none that doeth good. There is none righteous.

[26:19] No, not one. And Lord, we know that we are unworthy of anything that you give to us. And unworthy of the name of Christian. Unworthy, Lord, of the grace, the mercy, the love, the blood that was shed for us.

[26:34] Unworthy. And never can be worthy. Lord, yet worthy is the land that was slain. You are worthy, Lord, of all glory and honour and praise and majesty and dominion and power.

[26:47] You are the one who is worthy, who by your blood has paid for, we that love you, has paid for our sin. And we thank you for that. We pray that people might understand that tonight.

[26:59] If there's any that haven't made that transaction between earth and heaven and realise that gift, that they might realise it today. The wonder of what you've done.

[27:10] And that we might be ever grateful for it. And Lord, help us, we that are saved, not to take it lightly or carelessly, knowing that there will be a loss of rewards for unfaithful ones.

[27:21] There will be results for our lives on this earth. And yet, Lord, we know, we thank you for your grace that it's not by our own works that we are saved and never can be.

[27:32] It's only by your work at Calvary, a finished work on the cross for us. We thank you, Lord, for it and for every soul here tonight. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. I love to tell the story of haunting things above of Jesus and His glory.