“The Why of Salvation” Sunday, May 4, 2014 I Jn.3:1-9

“The Why of Salvation”
Sunday, May 4, 2014
A. I Jn.3:1-9 - … The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work ...
1. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is historical fact ...
2. Why He did it is found in I Jn.3:8 - … to destroy the devil’s work.
- Gen. 3 - the fall of man - fellowship with God is broken and man is bound to sin ...
- To destroy: undo; loosen; dissolve the bonds …
3. The fellowship between God and man is restored through salvation - being born-again ...
- Rom.5:1 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ ...
- How are we saved ..?
- Eph.2:8 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God ...
- From what are we saved ..? Sin
- Eph.2:4-5 - ... because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with
Christ even when we were dead in transgressions ...
- Sin’s penalty – sin can’t condemn me …
- Sin’s power – sin can’t control me …
- Sin’s pressure – sin can’t contain me …
B. WHY are we saved ..?
1. If it were simply to go to heaven, wouldn't it be much easier if we went the moment we got
born again ..? (Jn.16:33; Acts 14:22; II Tim.3:12)
- Heaven is the reward of our salvation, not the purpose for it ...
- Your paycheck is the reward for your labor, but not the purpose for it ...
2. Eph.2:10 – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus do to good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.
- Acts 10:38 - ... God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He
went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God
was with Him.
- I Jn.4:16-17 - ... God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way,
love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment,
because in this world we are like Him.
- GWT - ... While we are in this world, we are exactly like Him with regard to love.
- I Jn.3:16 - This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we
ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
3. Works are the product of, not the pathway to salvation …
- They are the fruit of our fellowship and relationship with the Lord ...
- No tree produces fruit for its own use ... it is always for the use of others ...
- If you are part of the kingdom of God and the body of Christ, you have something to give ...
- Therefore, you have a responsibility to give it ...
4. Matt.12:33 - Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be
bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
- I'm not judging a tree because I discern its fruit to be what it is ...
- Gal.5:22-23 (TLB) - ... when the Holy Spirit controls our lives He will produce this kind of fruit
in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control ...
5. Lk.5:17-26 (Matt.9; Mk.2) - ... they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat ...
- v.18 - Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat ... (KJV - ... taken with a palsy ...)
- "paralyo" - weak or feeble; to loose or part things placed side by side ...
- Infers something separated from its proper place or function ... (i.e. divorce)
- Families and members; churches and membership; nations and their citizens ...
- These men were bringing to Jesus someone who had been separated from their proper
place and function ...
- We are to become funnels that heaven pours through, touching the lives of others as we carry
them to God's grace through Jesus Christ ...
- We are saved in order to carry others to salvation through Jesus Christ ... (SKIT)
6. Attributes of these men:
- Desperate - v.19 - When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd ...
- Gen.30:1 - ... "Give me children, or I'll die!"
- I Sam.1:10 - In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord.
- Passionate - v.19 - ... they went up on the roof ... (refused to be dissuaded)
- Rom.12:11 - Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
- Determined - Mk.2:4 - ... they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging
though it, lowered the mat ... (refused to be discouraged)
- Flexible - willing to change their plans to fulfill their purpose ...
- Oswald Chambers (April 29) - "... when we are rightly related to God, life is full of
spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy." (Klaus Kugler; David Alsobrook)
- Full of faith - v.20 - When Jesus saw their faith ...
- God wants men to be saved - I Tim.2:3-4 - This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who
wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
- What all men are really looking for is to be reconnected to their God, they just need someone
to give them directions ... if we can just get them to Jesus ...
- More concerned with results than with consequences - more interested in their friends healing
than their own comfort or well being ...
- This was going to cost them - there is a price, but it's always worth it!
- SUCCESSFUL - v.25-26 - Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been
lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God ...
- Keith Greene - "Asleep in the Light" ...
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