Are You Saved? # 2

Last time we were saying that some people mistakenly believe that they are saved because they believe that Jesus is their SAVIOR 

Yes, Jesus is our SAVIOR, but He is more than Savior, He is Lord, and we are saved not by confessing Him as Savior only but by confessing Him as Lord 

Romans 10: 9 ‘If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’ 

This time I want to talk about those people who mistakenly believe that they are saved because they believe that they are GOOD 

The reason people mistakenly believe that they are good is because they compare themselves to someone else who they think is bad 

Now, thinking about history, who would you consider to be an infamously bad person? 

Over the last few weeks, I have been reading Eric Metaxis excellent book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer the Christian Pastor who resisted the Nazi political Movement in Germany in the early 1930’s up till 1945 

The Nazi Movement was led by Adolf Hitler who was responsible for murdering millions of Germans and invading Europe, North Africa and Russia 

Most people would say that Hitler was a bad person 

This might surprise you, Hitler considered himself to be a good person and he considered the millions of people that he murdered to be bad people 

Hitler’s quotes about himself: 

“My conduct is in accordance with the Almighty” 

“As a Christian…I have a duty to be a fighter for truth and justice” 

“My spirit will rise from the grave and the World will see I was right” 

Here’s what we learn: just because people mistakenly believe that they are good, doesn’t mean that they are good 

But to justify their mistaken belief that they are good, people will compare themselves to other people who they think they are bad 

They will express their belief like this, “I’m better than you, therefore I am good” – and, “because I’m good, I’m righteous & right with God” 

What did Jesus say about this? 

Luke 18: 9-12  

Two men in the Temple 

By comparing himself to the second man in the Temple, the first man mistakenly believed that he was good, and therefore was righteous & right with God  

11 ‘I am not a sinner like everyone else…I’m certainly not like that tax collector.’ 

Let me give you a real-life testimony on this point: 

Late last year I was talking with ‘friends’ about their son who was in his early 20’s 

The son was attending a large Church here in Nelson 

His girlfriend attended the same Church too  

He got her pregnant and was living with her  

And I asked my friends if their son was a Christian 

My friends didn’t want to answer that question and instead they tried to justify their son’s behavior and said, “a lot of the young people at that Church were doing the same kind of things” 

The parents were justifying what their son was doing by comparing his behavior to the other young people in the Church 

In their mind, their son was OK because other young people in the Church were doing the same kind of things 

Back to Jesus story about the two men in the temple 

Jesus said that the first man in the temple was not right with God and then drew our attention to the second man who wanted to be right with God! 

The second man did this by confessing his own sinfulness and his need for mercy from God 

Luke 18: 13-14  

In another place Jesus said this 

Luke 5: 32 “I have come to call, not those who think they are righteous (GOOD), but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” 

The Word of God is very clear that our inner sinful nature is not good 

Romans 3: 9-10   

9 ‘should we conclude that we Jews are better than others?’ 

Here in this passage, Paul said that the Jewish people were mistaken in their thinking that they were good because they considered themselves to be better than the Gentiles (non-Jews)  

Paul said no, ‘all people…are under the power of sin’ 

And, 

10a ‘No one is righteous’ 

12b ‘No one does good’ 

Paul said, in our sinfulness, the reason we cannot do good is because we are not good 

So, if we are not GOOD, not righteous & not right with God, how are we saved – 

We are saved by God’s mercy! 

Titus 3: 5 ‘He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy’. 

So, are you saved? 

Don’t be like the first man in the temple who believed that he was saved because he mistakenly believed that he was good 

Be like the second man in the temple who confessed his own sinfulness to God and asked for mercy and went away from the Temple saved 

How do we obtain mercy from God? 

Through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

Romans 3: 22-25a 

the Best of the Best

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Click on this Link: The Best of the Best – The CopyPress

This book includes my Ministry Autobiography and what I consider to be the best Message I preached in each year of my Pastoral Ministry which I have selected from my archive of over 2,500 messages. Each chapter retells a vivid recollection of my experiences, realizations, and lessons from the Lord at that time.

I have reworked the messages to include both old and new illustrations. Many of the examples, personal testimonies, and names have been left out for sensitivity and security reasons.

I preached this Series in 2020-21 at the Nelson International Church. General themes throughout the Series include the Sovereignty of God, Salvation in Christ alone, Grace, Guidance, the Church, Ministry, Preaching, Leadership, Discipleship, Missions, and Evangelism.

Are You Saved? # 1

2 Peter 3: 18 ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’. 

Please notice: that our text refers to Jesus Christ as ‘our Lord and Savior’ 

When we preach and teach the Message of Salvation and witness to our friends about Jesus, we make a big mistake if we refer to Jesus Christ as Savior only 

If we refer to Jesus Christ as Savior only, we are minimizing and trivializing Who Jesus Christ is, and as a result of that, instead of making true converts to Christ, we make false converts 

In early April this year, yet another high-profile ‘Christian’ turned away from his faith in Christ 

Paul Maxwell, a teaching professor at Moody Bible Institute in the U.S. He made the announcement that he was no longer a Christian – Maxwell said, “I’m just not a Christian anymore, and it feels really good. I’m really happy.” 

Unbelievable! His articles are still available (at the time of writing) online www.desiringgod.org and www.sermoncentral.com

The question is, was he ever a Christian? Of course not, he was a false convert, a Christian in name only  

I say this because no one can be saved by confessing Jesus Christ as Savior only – we are saved by confessing Him as ‘our Lord’ 

Romans 10: 9 ‘If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved’ 

Dear friends, we must remember that many people follow Jesus, but that doesn’t mean they are saved – many people that follow Jesus and profess to be ‘Christian’ are false converts and eventually they abandon Him 

John 6: 66-68 ‘At this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted Him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.’’ 

Jesus said this to the 12 Disciples  

John 13: 13 ‘You call Me… ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am’. 

John 8: 24b “unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.” 

I’m wondering if teaching professor Paul Maxwell Ph. D believed that!? 

I will say it again, no one can be saved by confessing Jesus Christ as Savior only – we are saved by confessing Him as ‘our Lord and Savior’ 

Q. Now, what does that mean for us – how does that apply to our lives? 

A. When we confess Jesus Christ as ‘Lord and Savior’, we are confessing our willingness to submit to His OWNERSHIP over our lives 

And that’s the problem! 

To the unbelieving mind it is offensive to be asked to give up our life and submit it to Jesus Christ – It’s less offensive and more user-friendly to refer to Jesus Christ as Savior only 

That’s why most people reject the Message of Salvation – Christ, ‘our Lord and Savior’ is offensive 

1 Peter 2: 8 ‘a rock of offense’ 

When ‘our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ calls us to come to Him, He requires (not requests) us to come to Him on His terms, not ours 

Matthew 16: 24 “If anyone wants to follow after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me”. 

Luke 9: 57-62 

When we come on His terms and begin a new relationship with Christ – He becomes ‘our Lord and Savior’ and we become His Servants 

Jesus explained this new relationship in one of His Parables 

Luke 17: 7-10 

To the unbelieving mind this is offensive 

They might even say something like this  

 “Serving the Lord is a really bad idea – why should I give up my life to follow Jesus” 

For me though, serving the Lord is the greatest blessing of my life and here’s why I have given up my life to serve ‘our Lord and Savior’ 

1/ The Word of God reminds me that God the Father CHOSE me for salvation: 

Ephesians 1: 5 ‘God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ’ 

2/ The Word of God reminds me that Jesus Christ PAID for my salvation with His blood on the cross: 

1 Corinthians 7:23 ‘Christ has paid the price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world’. 

3/ The Word of God reminds me that I am OWNED by Jesus Christ  

Titus 2: 14 ‘He gave Himself for us, to rescue us from all wickedness and to make us a pure people who belong to Him alone and are eager to do good’ 

4/ The Word of God reminds me that I am SUBJECT to God’s will over the will of human authority (government) 

Acts 5: 29 ‘If we have to choose between obedience to God and obedience to any human authority, then we must obey God’ 

5/ The Word of God reminds me that I am the RECIPIENT of God’s Grace 

Philippians 4: 19 ‘My God will use His glorious riches to give you everything you need. He will do this through Christ Jesus’. 

I can say with the Great Apostle Paul 

Galatians 2: 20 ‘The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.’ ^{Msg Trans} 

Jesus Christ is ‘our Lord and Savior’ 

Are you saved?