Sermons
Requirements of Salvation
John 1:11-13
I. Salvation Requires a Decision
Our salvation and opportunity to live eternally with God in heaven does not come apart from a willful decision to accept Christ as Savior. We have to be willing to invite Christ into our heart and live for Him. This is what God showed us through the nation of Israel.
Israel was God's divinely chosen people, but their divine election didn't automatically bring His blessing upon them. God required Israel to acknowledge His lordship by choosing to obey Him. When Israel rejected God, God dealt with them according to their willful determination—their choice.
Let me show you how this played out in the first century. When Jesus appeared 2000 years ago the Jews rejected Him. If any nation should have known the time of the Messiah's appearing it should have been the Jews, the vanguards of Scripture.
Jesus fulfilled every predictive revelation of the Old Testament. He was a Jew descending from the tribe of Judah, born in the town of Bethlehem. He was dedicated according to the Law in the presence of two duly recognized Temple prophets—Simeon and Anna. Of the many OT Scriptures that pointed to His appearing, not one was unfulfilled. But the Jews rejected Him.
John says in our text that Christ "came unto His own, but His own received Him not." The people that should have been first to accept Him, rebuffed Him. And that scenario is repeated today. Many people raised in Christian homes refuse to accept Christ. Even though they understand God's love and offer of salvation they spurn Him.
And the Bible warns us that it's these very people that will suffer the terrible consequences of hell. You see, people don't have to blaspheme or murder somebody to wind up in hell; all it takes is a silent rejection of Christ. Simply ignoring the Holy Spirit's conviction upon your heart is enough.
(Example) If we could take a trip through the corridors of hell the majority there would confess they were sentenced to that awful place of torment because they did nothing—they weren't murderers or blasphemers; they simply ignored Christ's saving work at Calvary and made no decision to ask His forgiveness.
Conversion involves decisive action. You have to say, "Yes, I will follow you Lord." It requires a willful decision to make Jesus your Lord and Savior. And God won't force Himself on anyone. God created every human being with the gift of moral determination. We are free moral agents, not robots, and we each have the power to decide our destiny. I hope you have made the decision to live for Christ!
(Transition) Secondly, conversion not only requires a decision, it also requires that we look upward—to Christ.
II. Salvation Requires that We Look Upward—to Christ
John says in verse twelve: "to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— (13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."
Man may open his heart to receive salvation, but it originates from heaven. That makes it unearthly! It's divine and out of this world. In fact, the ultimate end of our salvation takes us to another world—it takes us to heaven! So in order for us to receive salvation we need to look up to the face of Christ Jesus.
(Illustration) Let's suppose you plan a driving vacation to San Francisco—a destination thousands of miles away. There's not necessarily any one correct route for arriving in San Francisco. Many highways will eventually get you there. Perhaps on your trip, you drive 50 miles off course to visit a friend. Or maybe a spirit of adventure entices you to visit the Grand Canyon before you reach San Francisco. But even veering off to visit a friend or the Grand Canyon won't prevent you from reaching San Francisco.
Getting from earth to heaven isn't like that. You can't reach heaven by taking routes that exclude keeping Jesus in full view. There is only one passage to Heaven and it's on the Turnpike of Truth. Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life and no man can come to the Father except by Me."
What are the directions for accessing this thoroughfare? Let me assure you that you don't have to peddle the bicycle of works or burn fuel on endless paths of legalism. Paul said salvation was "not of works lest any man should boast."
Christianity is unlike any other religion in the world. It's not what we can do for God; it's what God does for us. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation. All God expects from us is to use the faith He has placed in our heart to trust in Christ as our Savior. Listen again to John's words: "to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (JOH 1:12).
A mere human intermediary can't forgive sins—not a pastor or Rabbi or Priest. The Bible says, "There is only one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ." What God wants from us is to place our faith in Him for salvation. And one ounce of faith is more valuable than a chunk of gold the size of Jupiter.
That's why church attendance or studying the Bible or good works can't save you. God accepts us into His family when we believe on Christ as our Savior.
I want you to note something about faith. Faith personalizes salvation. It makes your conversion individual and intimate. Let me show you what I mean about faith personalizing salvation.
One of the most intimate chapters in Scripture is Hebrews 11. Throughout that chapter you read the words, "By faith Noah . . . by faith Abraham . . . by faith Moses . . . by faith Samson . . . by faith Joshua. . . ." The writer is showing us the close, personal relationship with God that faith brings. This is why each person here "has been dealt the measure of faith." It's our means of personally connecting with our Heavenly Father.
(Parable of Talents) I wish mothers and fathers and preachers could get saved for others; but it's impossible. This is what Jesus emphasized in the Parable of the Talents. When the master returned to investigate his servants' investments, each servant gave a personal accounting of his enterprising.
And you hear this personal accounting in the language Jesus used in this parable. Jesus said the master spoke directly to the man with five talents; he looked squarely at the man with two talents; and he personally scrutinized the unfaithful servant with one talent.
Unfortunately, there is one brand of thinking today that makes victims out of the guilty and makes villains out of the innocent! The Parable of the Talents would have ended vastly different in today's Courts. The man with five talents would have been scorned for not sharing with the able-bodied, but lazy, man that hid his one talent.
But God doesn't play these type games. The Lord isn't a liberal or conservative. The Bible says He is a "defender of the weak," but . . . He is "no respecter of persons"! And when the human race is gathered before the judgment seat "every man will give an account of himself before God." There'll be no blame shifting.
(Transition) Thirdly, salvation not only requires us to look upward, salvation requires us to surrender everything to God.
III. Salvation Requires Surrender
The biblical definition of the word, surrender, means, "to relinquish oneself into the power of Christ." And that's what the Lord wants from every person on earth. He wants us to surrender our heart, mind, and body to His control.
One writer put it this way: "If He's not Lord of everything, He's not Lord at all."
There's a principle of surrender that applies to every Christian that desires to grow in grace; and it's this: The degree to which you surrender to Christ is the degree you will enjoy His blessings. Do you believe that? I do!
You can't hang on to Christ with your right hand and the world with your left and then expect God's blessings to overflow in your life. You have to surrender to Christ's lordship and give Him complete control.
I want you to understand something about the principle of surrender. In the kingdom of God surrender is not like the world's principle of surrender. Let me show you:
In athletics when one team surrenders to another team, it's an acknowledgement of defeat.
When one army surrenders to another, it's a concession of being conquered.
When one opponent of any kind surrenders, that opponent admits defeat.
But this is not the case in the kingdom of God. When you surrender to Christ, you win!
Jesus said, "Whoever would seek to save his life will lose it, and whomever will seek to lose his life, for Christ's sake, will gain it." He said, "Whomever will exalt himself shall be abased, but whomever will humble himself will be exalted."
In other words, in the kingdom of God the principle of surrendering is reversed. But it always leads to victory! When you give Christ your heart, mind, and actions and you will win His blessings!
(Transition) I want to share an interesting story as I close this message.
Conclusion
(Illustration) This past week a copy of the USA Today newspaper was laid at my motel door. Many of you know I was away for several days attending the Church of God Campmeeting. Something caught my attention when I opened the paper to the Sports Section. There was a black and white picture of a horse born in 1950 named, Native Dancer. Native Dancer is a legendary horse. He won 21 of 22 races and was twice crowned Horse of the Year in 1952 and 1954. He even made the cover of Time Magazine. Although Native Dancer died in 1967, even today 75% of all American thoroughbreds trace their ancestry back to this horse. In fact, the last fourteen Kentucky Derby winners have been descendants of this stallion. But here is what's interesting about the 2008 Kentucky Derby. There were twenty horses that entered that race, and each horse could trace its bloodline back to Native Dancer! It didn't which of those twenty horses would have won the Kentucky Derby, each one could have traced its bloodline back to one source—Native Dancer. Native Dancer was responsible for infusing the Kentucky Derby victor with its winning stride.
Copyright © 2009 by Pulpit Today
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