Assured Salvation 1 Qualities of a Christian Abound
Assured Salvation 1
Qualities of a Christian • Abound in all joy – John 15: 11; Romans 15: 13; Galatians 5: 20 • Have peace that surpasses all understanding - Philippians 4: 7 • Over flowing with gratitude and joy - Romans 1: 21; Ephesians 5: 20; Philippians 4: 6 • Pray unceasingly without doubt - 1 Thessalonians, James 1: 6 • Teach with full conviction - Matthew 28: 19 -20; 2 Timothy 2: 2 • Endure and persevere until the end - Hebrews 10: 34 -36 2
Mercy and Grace Verses • Ephesians 2: 8 -9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. • Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 3
Obedience Verses • Hebrews 5: 9 … He (Jesus) became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, • 1 Peter 1: 22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls … • 2 Thessalonians 1: 8 -9 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 4
Is There a Contradiction • When some verses of scripture appear to contradict others verses in scripture, the tendency is to disregard one in order to embrace the other. • Some disregard the obedience verses to hold to the mercy and grace verses. • Others disregard or don’t understand the mercy and grace verses to embrace the obedience verses. • And thus it gets confusing. 5
No Contradiction Exists • All scripture is inspired by God. 2 Timothy 3: 16 – God does not contradict Himself • God’s word is truth. John 17: 17 – Truth does not contradict truth but supports and confirms truth. • The grace and obedience verses do not oppose each other. • Instead, they form the entirety of God’s plan of salvation. 6
God’s Plan of Salvation consists of two integral components which define our relationship: • God’s unconditional promise of eternal life • God’s conditional covenants requiring obedience. 7
Promise Defined A promise is a unilateral - unconditional commitment to the one receiving the promise. The one to whom the promise is made is not required to do anything in order to receive the promised blessing. If something is due in return for the promised blessing, then • Grace is no longer grace. • The promise is no longer a promise. • And the gift is no longer a gift. 8
God’s Promise is Unchangeable God declares that His promise is immutable, unchangeable, and eternal. Ephesians 1: 4; Titus 1: 2; Ephesians 3: 6, 11; Hebrews 6: 16 -17 Conclusion: We can absolutely trust God and we can absolutely trust His promise of eternal life. Our salvation depends upon it 9
Book of 1 John 2: 25 And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. 1 John 5: 11 … God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 John 5: 13 These things I have written to you … that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5: 14 And this is the confidence which we have before Him, … Romans 6: 23 …the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 10
Covenant Defined Hebrew word for covenant is berit meaning “bond” (meaning union) or “fetter” (meaning restraint) The word covenant literally means contract Contracts are conditioned upon compliance with the terms of the contract. If a person does not fulfill their covenant obligations, the covenant union is broken and the fetters are released. God’s word is essentially a book of covenants. 11
God’s Covenant is a Testament God is superior to all others Only God writes His covenant Only God sets the covenant requirements And only God determines what the inheritance is. And finally, God requires a death to put His covenants into effect 12
UNIQUENESS OF God’s Covenants God’s covenants involve the giving of ourselves to God and, in return, God giving Himself to us. • We become God’s people and God becomes our God. Leviticus 26: 12; Jeremiah 31: 33; Romans 8: 16; Colossians 2: 6; 1 Corinthians 3: 23 • Secondly, God’s dwells among His people. Leviticus 26: 12; Exodus 25: 8; Exodus 29: 45; Galatians 3: 27; John 14: 20; John 17: 19 • There is only one other comparable covenant in all of mankind. And that is the marriage covenant. Genesis 2: 22 -24 13
UNIQUENESS OF God’s Covenants God’s covenant is eternal. Hebrews 13: 20 • Enter into God’s covenant for all eternity • We are God’s children forever • God is our God forever • Our inheritance of eternal life is forever • And those not in a covenant relationship with God are separated from Him forever. 14
The Relationship of God’s Promise and God’s Covenants • The Old Covenant leads us to Christ – the Promised Blessing. Galatians 3: 24 • The New Covenant gives us Christ – the Promised Blessing. Colossians 2: 6; 1 Corinthians 3: 23 15
New Covenant Gives Us Christ God’s covenant give us Christ through the its purification requirements. Why? Because the divine union of God and man under God’s covenant is direct opposition to God’s requirements for absolute purity and holiness. 16
New Covenant Gives Us Christ Because God is perfectly holy • Revelation 4: 8 … " HOLY, is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, … Nothing unclean enters into God’s presence • Revelation 21: 27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it (heaven), …. . Our sins that separate us from God. • Isaiah 59: 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, …. 17
New Covenant Gives Us Christ Separation from God is the penalty of eternal destruction • 2 Thessalonians 1: 8 -9 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, This is God’s law. It is immutable. It cannot be changed. The penalty for sin is death. • Ezekiel 18: 4 "… The soul who sins will die. • Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, …. 18
New Covenant Gives Us Christ God’s promise of eternal life is likewise immutable and unchangeable. Therefore, according to God’s promise God made provision for our sins that: • Saves us from eternal death and • Purifies and cleanses us of our sins to give us eternal life. • This is where God’s unconditional promise of eternal life and God’s covenants come together. 19
Three Purification Requirements • Obedience: Repentance – vow to obey God • Mercy: Substitutionary Death – Saves from Death • Grace: Purification by Blood – Gives Eternal Life 20
Repentance - the first holiness requirement • God instructs His people to Obey His Covenant – call for holiness • Repentance – Vow to Obey • Must first vow to obey God, i. e. , repent, before we can enter into God’s covenant to God’s mercy and grace. 21
Why Obedience? • Transformation into the image of God Romans 12: 2, Ephesians 5: 1, 1 Peter 1: 15 -16; Ephesians 5: 1 -2, 1 John 5: 3 • Service to God. Hebrews 13: 16; Matthew 25: 33 -40 • Give gratitude to God. 2 Corinthians 9: 12; Hebrews 12: 28 • Love for God. John 14: 15 • Glorify God. Matthew 5: 16; 1 Corinthians 6: 20 • Obedience is beautiful: Love, Kindness, Forgiveness, Selflessness • God is holy. Therefore, His children under His covenant shall be holy. 22
Repentance Completely God’s Holy People by: • The exercise of God’s will according His mercy and grace. • And the exercise of our will to be holy in all our behavior. That is, we obey God from the heart Romans 6: 17 -23 • Our vow to walk in love, holiness, and the light. Indeed, God’s children are known by their obedient and holy behavior 1 John 3: 7 -10 • This is how God knows His children. 1 Corinthians 8: 3 • And this is how we know God. 1 John 2: 3 23
Mercy – 2 nd Purification Requirement Greek word eleos - pitying compassion. • Because of God’s great love and resulting pity and compassion, He spares His children the penalty of eternal death – the death we deserve. How? • By allowing the sacrificial death of a perfect, unblemished and sinless life to serve as a substitute for the death that is our due as sinners. • This sacrificial death put God’s covenants into effect Hebrews 9: 16 -17 • It is also required for the more substantive reason of getting all things ready 24
Mercy -Old Law Pattern The first covenant was ordained or put into effect upon the sacrifice of the lives of innocent animals. Exodus 24: 5 These animal sacrifices served as foretelling figures of the perfect sacrifice of Christ whose death ordained and put into effect the New Covenant. 25
Mercy –New Covenant Pattern Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures • 1 Corinthians 15: 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, Christ died for us. Romans 5: 8 • Romans 5: 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Christ’s death put the New Covenant into effect and abolished the old covenant. Hebrews 10: 9 -10 26
Grace – 3 rd Purification Requirement • Greek word charis which literally means kindness or favor. It is sometimes translated blessing or gift. • It is by God’s grace that He gives us the promised gift of eternal life that we don’t deserve. How? • God cleanses our sins away through the blood of the innocent life who died in our place. 27
How the Blood Gives Life - Cleansing Leviticus 17: 11 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. ' Hebrews 9: 22 … all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 28
How the Blood Gives Life - Cleansing Life is in the blood. Leviticus 17: 11 God gives us the blood and the life. Leviticus 17: 11 Since sin causes spiritual death – separation from God – in order for the blood to impart life, it must necessarily wash away our sins. Therefore, the blood cleanses, forgives, and atones for our sins Leviticus 17: 11, Hebrews 9: 22 29
How the Blood Gives Life - Cleansing Thus, through the blood of Christ, we are cleansed, forgiven, and redeemed (payment of ransom). God pays the price of life. • Ephesians 1: 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, • John 1: 7 …the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. • And thus having our sins washed away by the purifying blood of Christ, sin’s separation is removed. • We are united to Christ – having been reconciled through His blood – and therefore have been given eternal life – the life that is in Christ’s blood. 30
Old Covenant Pattern How Do We Receive the Blood? • Moses sacrificed sinless and innocent animals. Exodus 24: 5 • He sprinkled half the blood on the altar. Exodus 24: 6 • Next he spoke the word of the covenant to the people. Exodus 24: 3 • The people vowed obedience. Exodus 24: 7 • At which point, Moses literally sprinkled the blood of the sacrificed bulls upon the people. Exodus 24: 6 -8 • Thus, the Israelites entered into a covenant relationship with God through the blood of the covenant Exodus 24: 8 31
New Covenant Pattern How Do We Receive the Blood? • Christ was put to death. Exodus 24: 5; 1 Corinthians 13: 3; Romans 5: 8, • Christ ascended into heaven with His shed blood. Exodus 24: 6; Acts 1: 9; Hebrews 9: 24 • Apostles first spoke the word of the New Covenant to the people on the Day of Pentecost. Exodus 24: 2; Acts 2: 1 -36 • When the people asked what they must do to be saved, the Apostle Peter commanded them to repent and be baptized. Acts 2: 38 And Peter said to them, " Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; 32
New Covenant Pattern How Do We Receive the Blood? • The first command was to repent – repentance being a vow to obey God – the same as what the Israelites vowed when they entered into the Old Covenant. Exodus 24: 7 • Upon repentance, the apostles baptized the people for the forgiveness of their sins as foretold at Exodus 24: 6 -8 when Moses sprinkled the sacrificial blood upon the people. 33
New Covenant Pattern How Do We Receive the Blood? • Acts 2: 38 … be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; …. • Matthew 26: 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many forgiveness of sins. • Acts 22: 16 … be baptized, and wash away your sins…' • Revelation 1: 5 and from Jesus Christ, …. who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood • Mark 16: 16 " He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; … • Romans 5: 9 having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved … 34
Does Christ’s Blood Continue to Cleanse? Do we have assured salvation. Yes! • When we are baptized, the blood of Christ cleanses us of all sin: Past, Present, and Future. • If baptism only cleansed us of past sins, we would have be perfect as God – sinless by the exercise of our own will, i. e. , by works • And, of course, God tells us first that all men have sinned and therefore, we are saved by grace and not works • Thus we understand the blood of Christ continual cleanses us of all sins committed while under God’s new covenant: Past-Present-Future. 35
Does Christ’s Blood Continue to Cleanse? The confirmation of this understanding is in 1 John 1: 7 … if we walk in the light (according to our vow of repentance) as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 36
Children of God Galatians 3: 26 -29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 … for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 … you belong to Christ, …. 1 Corinthians 3: 23 … you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. 37
Heirs of God Romans 8: 16 -17 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, … 38
Inheritance: Eternal Life Matthew 19: 29 "… shall inherit eternal life. 39
Children & Heirs of Promice Galatians 4: 28 And you brethren…are children of promise Galatians 3: 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are …heirs according to promise. 1 John 2: 25 And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. 40
Assured Salvation • Under both the Old and New Covenants, God’s first purification requirement is the people’s obedience • Secondly, no man keeps God’s commands perfectly. • Therefore, it is very clear that the blood of Christ cleanses us of all sins – past – present- and future – as stated in 1 John 1: 7 … if we walk in the light …the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 41
Assured Salvation The Hebrew writer reveals: • How the Old Covenant pattern of purification which could not perfect God’s people prophetically symbolizes • The New Covenant pattern of purification that does perfect. 42
Assured Salvation Old Law – law of sin and death. • But God actually provided for continuous purification of His people under the first covenant. • The fact is, the Israelites could and did not perfectly keep their vow to obey God. Romans 2: 17 -23 • Therefore, God necessarily made provision for their continuing sins. • Otherwise, God could not have preserved His holy nation for the purpose of bringing the Messiah into the world. 43
Old Covenant Pattern for Sin Purification God appointed a high priest who served as a mediator who intercedes with God on behalf of the God’s people who had sinned. Hebrews 5: 1 -5; 8: 3 This he did once per year – every year - on the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16: 29 On that day, the high priest made intercession according to the exact pattern God commanded Him to follow – The pattern foretold the New Covenant pattern for the purification of sins under the New Covenant. Exodus 25: 9; 40; Hebrews 8: 5 44
Old Covenant Pattern for Sin Purification • The high priest offered animal sacrifices – the substitutionary death. Leviticus 16: 11 • Then he took their shed blood suffered in death and entered into the most holy place of the tabernacle. Leviticus 16: 14 • There He sprinkled the sacrificial blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant to make atonement for the sins of the people. Leviticus 16: 14 -16 • And because it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin –it was necessary for the high priest to continually make sacrifices on behalf of the people. Leviticus 16: 29; Hebrews 10: 1 45
Old Covenant Prophetic Symbols • The Old Covenant high priest symbolized Christ our true and eternal high priest. Hebrews 5: 1 -10 • The Old Covenant animal sacrifices symbolized the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Hebrews 10: 1 -4; Hebrews 10: 10 -14 • The Old Covenant sacrificial animal blood symbolized the perfect blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9: 12 -14 • The Old Covenant tabernacle symbolized heaven. Hebrews 9: 11, 24 46
So Far: This is Confidence! God not only provided continual purification for His people’s sins under the Old and Imperfect Covenant. Leviticus 16: 11 -16 But He revealed that by the Old Covenant pattern, God now provides for His children’s continuing sins committed under the New and better Covenant Rhetorical question which I will paraphrase: • If God provided for continuing sins under His first covenant – year after year - which could not perfect God’s people, how much more does He provide for the continuing sins under His New and better Covenant which does perfect God’s children? • The answer is inherent in the question: The blood of Christ cleanses perfectly forever; thus no need for continuing sacrifices 47
New Covenant Pattern for Sin Purification God appointed Jesus Christ as our eternal high priest who able to save God’s children forever Hebrews 5: 9 -10; Hebrews 7: 17, 22 -25 As our eternal high priest, Jesus also offered up Himself “once for all”. Acts 2: 24; Romans 5: 8; Corinthians 15: 3; Hebrews 10: 10 -12 Jesus took His blood, entered into heaven and into the presence of God where He made eternal purification for our sins - once for all. Hebrews 9: 24 -25; 28; Hebrews 10: 10 48
“Once for All” Hebrews 7: 27 [Jesus] who does not need daily, … to offer up sacrifices, … for the sins of the people, because this He (Jesus) did once for all when He offered up Himself. Hebrews 10: 10 … we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10: 18 "Now where there is forgiveness of these things [sin and lawless deeds – Hebrews 10: 16], there is no longer any offering for sin. 1 John 1: 7 … if we walk in the light (according to our vow of repentance) as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 49
Conclusion: Confidence in Salvation! 1 John 2: 25 And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. 1 John 5: 11 … God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Romans 6: 23 …the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 John 5: 14 And this is the confidence which we have before Him, … Hebrews 10: 19, 21 -22 … we have confidence to enter the holy place (heaven – Hebrews 9: 24) by the blood of Jesus, … 1 John 1: 7 … if we walk in the light (according to our vow of repentance) as He Himself is in the light, … the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 50
Therefore • • • Abound in all joy Have peace that surpasses all understanding Be over flowing with gratitude and joy Pray unceasingly without doubt Teach with full conviction Endure and persevere until the end 51
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