Authentic Talk: Saved By Grace, Created For Works

First talk delivered to Authentic, the students and twenties group at Kings Church Eastbourne.

Saved_By_Grace_Created_For_Works.pdf

The Pursuit of Holiness (Part 3)

A brilliant quote from the Biography of James Hudson Taylor that further expands this concept:

"Where God is working the devil is sure to be busy; and the nearer one seeks to live to the Lord Himself, the more painful are the consequences of grieving Him"
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This perfectly echoes Ephesians 4:27

"do not give the devil a foothold"

Trajectory

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2:10

This is nothing to do with salvation (which is a free gift by grace alone); it's about the purposes of God for your life, the path you walk and the works you actually complete. It's like you can start out walking the path and completing the works God prepared for you to do. But maybe something in your trajectory is slightly off.

Maybe it's something in your mindset, habitual sin, or a lack of zeal. Slowly but surely, if you don't course-correct, you end up miles off course. You might not even notice until you're 40 or 50, and you realise that you've missed much of the purposes God had for your life. The gap from what might have been is larger than ever. And perhaps unobtainable.

James Hudson Taylor seemed to course-correct very early on. And he walked this way throughout his life. His trajectory was probably very very similar to God's plan A for his life.

At church last Sunday (15.11.09) Andrew Wilson was speaking and read a verse from Genesis 5. It was 5:23-24 and reads "all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him".

That key phrase for me was "Enoch walked with God". It fires off a real ache in your gut. A real desire to have that. If there was one line written about you after you're gone surely it would be "[your name] walked with God".

Same old stuff

"If you're not satisfied with the permanent output of your life it could be that you're just spinning your wheels, never engaged in what really counts."
G Campbell White

Most of life just seems to be dealing with the same old stuff: busyness, temptations, struggles, tiredness and such. What sparked off this thought was reading my journal from 5 years ago. I read it, and I realised it's all the same old stuff! Over and over, round and round. It's easy to think "when I get past this issue [insert your issue] life will be better and I can really focus". But maybe those same struggles will be there for the rest of our lives. Maybe we'll never get past them, maybe we can only get on top of them.

Maybe we have to shape-up and realise that all of life is a fight. Rather than be all overcome, living a half-hearted Christian life, we have to get on top and beat all of that stuff into submission. Otherwise, in 20 years time, it's going to be the same old story.

Again, it seems to come down to this whole analogy of a fight, or a war. It's so easy to forget, yet so prominent in the bible:

"the whole world is under the control of the evil one"
1 John 5:19

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
Ephesians 6:12

How do you know you are saved?

This is the classic question the now retired founder of my church Don Smith used to drill us with. And as long as you knew Romans 10:9-10 you were safe! But this has got to be one of the most important questions to ask. I've been at my current church for 18 years, and one thing I can definitely say is that not everyone who believes they are a Christian is one.

Faith is tested over time through the course of life. Many people start well, hit a snag, and then drift off into the abyss. As Matthew 13:21 says "since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away." Being a Christian isn't easy.

"small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it."
Matthew 7:14

I never want to sow seeds of doubt about whether or not you are saved. But sometimes it's just not clear. If certain people I know died today, I would be left wondering whether or not they had gone to Hell, even though they professed to be Christians. And I hate that. As Paul said in Acts 26:20 "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds."

I would totally stress the need to prove your salvation to yourself and everyone around you. To make it abundantly clear that you are what you say you are. A few additional verses which I feel support this viewpoint:

"Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
James 2:17

"Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."
Philippians 2:12

"Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure."
2 Peter 1:10

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The sinners prayer is nowhere in the bible.

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Francis Chan (a church pastor in California) pointed this out in a preach, and I found it quite provoking. Nowhere in the bible do you see a one paragraph prayer that makes you a Christian. Not that the sinners prayer is essentially bad, definitely not if you truly mean every word you pray. But really, it's a very very condensed summary of a process that can take months or years.

So what would you find if you just read the bible and let it speak for itself? I've done my best to collate all the verses that relate to salvation. In doing this, they seem to suggest a certain process:

believe in Jesus > realise you are a sinner in danger of Hell > repent > be baptised > regeneration & new life.

In this, repentance seems to be the clear point of salvation. But I would argue that what follows (baptism and regeneration) are key evidences of salvation. When these are missing you get either carnal or counterfeit Christians. There's no real proof and a lot of uncertainty.

Below are the verses. This takes the form of a handout which I produced for one of my life group talks... hope it's useful!

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1. Believe in Jesus Christ

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"That 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
Romans 10:9-10

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16

By believing in Jesus, you are not merely believing that he existed, but you are believing in everything he said and did. This includes believing that:

He is the Son of God (Mark 14:61-64, John 8:58-59, John 10:30-33, John 14:8-9)

He came from Heaven (John 6:38, 41-42, 60, 66; John 16:28)

He was sinless (John 8:46)

He is the only way to heaven (John 14:6, John 11:25)

He was crucified on a cross (Matt 27: 32-66)

On the cross he paid the penalty for all your sins (past present and future), dying in your place and purchasing salvation. (1 Peter 3:18, Hebrews 10:12, Romans 3:25-26, Romans 5:19)

Three days after his death, he resurrected (Matt 28: 1-10)

Today he is seated on a Throne in Heaven, where he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Philippians 2:9-11, Revelation 19:16, Hebrews 12:2)

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2. Realise you are a sinner, in danger of Hell

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"There is no one righteous, not even one"
Romans 3:10

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
Romans 3:23

"But unless you repent, you too will all perish"
Luke 13:3

"For the wages of sin is death"
Romans 6:23

"Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment"
Hebrews 9:27

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins"
Ephesians 2:1

"They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts."
Ephesians 4:18

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3. Repent

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"Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
Mark 1: 14-15

"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord"
Acts 3:19

"I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus."
Acts 20:21

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4. Be Baptised

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"Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins" ... those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day."
Acts 2:38

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:19-20

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3. Regeneration and New Life

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"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
2 Corinthians 5:17

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
John 7:38

"By their fruit you will recognize them... a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
Matthew 7: 16-20