Alright, open your Bibles to
Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1. I want to begin by asking some
questions that rolled through my mind. And here's the first question. What is salvation? What is salvation? We come here
every week. We sing these songs. We have
a very narrow list of songs, right? We come here every week, we look
at the same things. I quote a lot of the same scriptures,
don't I? Every week. And then we ask a
simple question like, what is salvation? And we think, hmm. I'm talking about me. Talking
about myself. As I study back here in this
room, I ask myself these questions. What is salvation? How do I explain that? How do
I describe that? Well, the answer is, what does
the scripture say? Right? That's our only answer
is what does the scripture say? What is salvation? All right. Here's the next important question. What is the gospel? I feel like that's all I've been
saying on the radio the last few weeks. I think it's all I'm
going to say on the radio for the rest of my time on the radio.
Really? What is the gospel? That is going
to be the issue till the day we die. It really is. That's going to be the question
that we search the scriptures for till the day we die. Isn't that something? What is
the gospel? Paul said in Romans 1.16, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, For it is the power of
God unto salvation. So what is the gospel? Well, the word gospel means good
news. It's an announcement of good
news. So here's the next all-important
question. What is the good news? What is the announcement? What
is the declaration? If it's good news, and if I holler,
good news, your response is going to be, well, what is it? Right? What is the gospel about? All right, we'll look at Mark
chapter 1. Verse 1. This was enjoyable for
me. I hope it's enjoyable for us.
I really do. Mark 1 says, The beginning of the gospel of... and that word of means about
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The gospel is good news about
Jesus Christ. Good news involving Jesus Christ. Alright, now look at verse 14. Mark 1 verse 14 it says, Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of The kingdom of God. The gospel is good news about
His kingdom. That's what the gospel is. It's
good news to His kingdom, His people, His chosen family, His
kingdom. The gospel is good news involving
Jesus Christ, and His kingdom. What is it? What's the good news? Turn over to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 verse 24 says,
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and
the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify
the gospel of the grace of God. The gospel is about grace. That's what the gospel is about. It involves Jesus Christ, his
kingdom, and his grace. It says, the grace of, and that
word of means the grace that belongs to, the grace that comes
from, the grace that is given to us by God. That's what it means. All right. Now everybody talks about grace. I was talking to a man on the
phone the other day. And he attends a place that I
know what they preach and I don't agree with it. He was talking
to me about law and grace. And he knows that term grace. Everybody talks about grace. Alright, listen to this. What
is grace? That's an important question
to just throw the word out there. Well, we preach grace. All right,
well, what is grace? Turn with me to Romans 1. Romans 1 verse 1 says, Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel of God. Now look at verse 9, it says,
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel
of His Son. Now look at verse 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Grace has something to do with
God and His Son. And the gospel is about Christ. The Christ. The Lord asked His
disciples, Who do they say I am? What do they preach Him? What
are they preaching over there? Who do they say I am? And they said, well, they say
you're a good man. You're a good prophet. You're a good example. And then
he asked Peter, what do you preach? Whom do you say I am? And Peter said, thou art the
Christ. That's what we preach. Thou art
the Christ. All right now, what about Christ? What does that mean? We preach
he's the Christ. Well, what does that mean? What does it mean to say Jesus
is the Christ? Alright, and here's a question.
How is that good news to me? Tell somebody, Jesus is the Christ. Right. How's that good news to
me? Turn to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, look at verse
15. And how shall they preach, except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. That's who the Christ is. He is our peace. Our peace with God depends on
the fact, it totally hangs on the fact, and it rests on the
fact that this man, Jesus, is the Christ. The gospel is an announcement
of peace. Isn't that something? That's
good news to me. That's good news. Turn over to Ephesians 1. Ephesians
chapter 1. Verse 12 says, that we should be to the praise
of His glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom you also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. The gospel is about your salvation. That's good news, isn't it? The gospel is about how our salvation
was accomplished by Jesus Christ for His kingdom and only His
kingdom. And it was all freely given. By grace are you saved. And this
spiritual peace, this appeasement is only found in one person. The Christ. Jesus Christ. Now turn with me to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1. Second Thessalonians chapter
one, look at verse eight, inflaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, who is the Lord Jesus Christ? Turn a couple of pages to 1 Timothy
1. Verse 11 says, according to the
glorious gospel of the blessed God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
blessed God. That's who he is. The fact that
he's the Lord means he is God. The fact that He is Jesus means
He is man. And the fact that He is the Christ
means He's totally, completely, 100% both. The Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, man is united to God. Sinful, vile, rebellious man
is united to God. Now, that's amazing. That's amazing. That's amazing. In Him, sinful,
vile, rebellious man is united to a holy, pure, righteous God. Isn't that amazing? Amazing love. How can it be? How can it be? That's amazing. If we ever enter
into that, it's amazing that He would even allow that. That's
amazing. The gospel is the good news about
how a sinner is justified before God. That's what the gospel is.
Paul called it Christ and Him crucified. Alright, now the truth is who
man is and what he's done. That's the truth. And we have
to tell people the truth. People don't like to hear the
truth. Who man is and what he's done. The gospel is who the Lord
Jesus Christ is and what he's done. And it's all good news. Not one ounce of it is bad. Everything he's done for us to
God, to himself. He is God. All right, now our
very first question was, what is salvation? And the answer
is, it's not a what, it's a who. Not a what, it's a who. Salvation
is a person. It's not a knowledge. It's not a knowledge. You know,
this is what I used to know, this is what I know now. It's
not a knowledge. That thief on the cross, he didn't
know what he used to know and he didn't know what he knows
now. But he knew whom he had believed. It's a person. I don't know anything about my
doctrine and I don't know anything really about my sin, but I know
Him. I see Him. Right? It's a person. It's not an action. Well, I see
a big change in myself. Not an action. It's not a decision. Well, I've decided to put it
all in God's hands. Well, gee thanks, it was already
anyway. Salvation is a person. If a sinner has received salvation,
then it means a sinner has received the Lord Jesus Christ. NOT ACCEPTED. There's no choice in the matter.
Received. Alright, now turn with me to
John 17. John chapter 17, look at verse
21. Our Lord says, that they all
may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast
sent me. and the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them, that they may be one even as we are one."
Now verse 23 is amazing. I in them. Can you imagine Christ condescending
down to want to be in me? in this vile, sinful flesh, I
in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one,
that's Christ, and that the world may know that thou hast sent
me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. That's good news,
buddy. That is good news. I in thee that they also may
be one in us. Union with Jesus Christ is salvation. Christ in us and us in Him. We must be in Him. I think that would be a good
thing to teach our kids, the young kids. Kids, we must be
in Him. Turn to 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5, look at verse
11. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. Now look at verse 20. And we
know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding
That we may KNOW Him, that is true, and we are IN Him, that
is true, even IN His Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God
in eternal life. We must be in Him. Salvation is being in Him. Alright, I'm 36. I have heard
that my whole life. My whole life. I remember a time when I used
to hear that and think, what does that mean? I don't understand
where Nicodemus was coming from. Can a man enter his mother's
womb a second time? What do you mean I must be in
him? What does that mean? I hear what you're saying, but
really, what does that mean? What do you mean I must be in
Christ? That sparks our next all important
question. This question is as vital as
they come. In the scripture we're about
to turn to is our text. Here's the question. How does
a person get in Christ? That's a good question. How does a person get in Christ? If the gospel is all about Jesus
Christ and what He has done for His people, how a sinner can
be justified with God, and if salvation is union with Jesus
Christ, Him in me and me in Him, how does a person get in Christ? Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1. Verse 30 says, But of Him are
you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Of Him are you in
Christ Jesus. I need to be in Christ. And there's only one way to be
in Christ. One way that leads to eternal
life. And it's only of Him. It's only of Him. Look at verse 26. It says, For
you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. Not many
wise after the flesh. in their own eyes, in their own
mind. Wisdom is not the way. It is not the way. Fear is. Fear of the Lord is the beginning. Fear of being outside of the
way. I've got to be in the way. And
what I'm afraid of is winding up outside of the way. outside
of Christ. The wise think they have all
the answers. They're confident. They think
they have God figured out. They think the way is in their
knowledge. It's not. Of Him are you in Christ? It says not many mighty, mighty
in their own eyes. They believe salvation is in
their might. They believe that they have the
ability. Not many noble, noble in their
own eyes. They believe they're worthy.
They're not. They're not. But verse 27 says,
now listen to this. Here's the gospel. Okay. Verse
27 says, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world. Excellent. I'm foolish. That's good news. God, it says,
it goes on to say, hath chosen the weak. That's wonderful news. I'm weak. Base things of the world and
things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which
are not. That's the best news I've ever
heard. I'm lower than the least. I physically hate myself. I'm nothing and I'm nobody. And that's the best news I've
ever heard in my life. Verse 29 says that no flesh should
glory in His presence. But verse 30 says it's all of
Him. Salvation is being in His choice,
right? Salvation is being in His perfection. Salvation is Him pouring this
living water that He told the woman at the well about, all
over me and cleansing me. Salvation is being covered in
His blood. Look at verse 30. Are you in Christ Jesus, who
of God has made unto us all the wisdom we need? Because He is
all the wisdom there is. And righteousness, all the perfection,
all the holiness, all the innocence we need. And sanctification,
all the cleansing and redemption. All the payment we need. Paid it all. Now here's our last
all-important question, okay? Who gets the glory in salvation? If I don't have a say in the
matter. You know, when you realize, I don't have a say in the matter.
That's what I've just said. We don't have a say in the matter.
You know that strikes fear. It really does. As soon as we
remember that, I think, oh, wait a minute. I've sat into this
my whole life. I'm preaching now. What if He
didn't choose me? Salvation's of the Lord. It's His choice, it's His purpose,
it's His will. That's fear, and that's a good
sign. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. That's a sign that wisdom has
entered a person, isn't it? If I don't have a say in the
matter, if nothing I do can earn it, if by nature I'm the exact
opposite of worthy, And if the Lord Jesus Christ
went all the way to the death of the cross to accomplish salvation
for His people, then who gets the glory in salvation? Who's
owed all the glory? Verse 31 says that according
as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And we do, don't we? We do. To
God be the glory. Great things He hath done. All
right, let's stand together.