The Book of Romans, chapter 10,
verse 9 and 10 declares, that if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. And then Paul wrote in verse
13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. Now, that's my text this morning,
and the subject is this. When is a man saved? Just exactly
when is a man saved according to the scriptures? Well, it's
premature to talk about when a man is saved. unless we come
to some conclusion as to what it means to be saved. We're going
to have to find out from God's Word what salvation really is. Now, I may say that salvation
is one thing, and you may say that salvation is something else.
So if we're going to find out when a man is saved, we're going
to have to first of all establish some understanding about what
it is to be saved. What is it? To be saved. What
is salvation? What is eternal life? Well, let
me suggest three or four things from God's Word. First of all,
to be saved, to have eternal life, is to know God. Now, that's what Christ our Lord
said. In John 17, verse 3, the Master said, eternal life is
to know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. He didn't say
eternal life is to believe there is one God. The scripture says
you believe there's one God, you do well. The devil believes
and trembles. That's in James 2.19. It's not
to believe there is a God or that there is one God, but Christ
said eternal life to be saved is to know God. It is to know
God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. In 1 John 5, verse
20, the Scripture says, 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 that we are in him, that is true, even in his Son,
Jesus Christ, and this is the true God and eternal life. So salvation is not just a profession. Salvation is not just a religious
claim or decision. Salvation is to know the living
God, to know God and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. Now, secondly,
what is it to be saved? Well, first of all, it's to know
God. And secondly, it is to be delivered from the guilt and
condemnation of sin. Now, all the way through the
Bible, the Scriptures declare that God must and will punish
sin. No question about that. Sin,
when it is finished, bringeth forth death. The soul that sinneth,
it shall surely die. God said, I will in no wise clear
the guilty. God will and God must punish
sin. He's not only merciful, but God
is righteous. God is not only gracious, but
he's holy. And his holiness and his righteousness
demand that sin be punished, demand that the law be honored,
demand that justice be satisfied. God must punish sin. So salvation
is to be delivered from the punishment of sin, from the penalty of sin,
from the condemnation and guilt of sin. Paul wrote in Romans
8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation, and the word is
judgment. to them who are in Christ Jesus. That's why the
Lord came to this earth. He came to save people from their
sins, and to save them by dying for them. The angel said to Mary,
thou shall bring forth a son and call his name Jesus, for
he shall save his people from their sins. That's why God sent
him. That's why he came. That's the
purpose he came to accomplish, to save his people from their
sins. Luke 19, verse 10, the Lord Jesus
said himself, the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost. And John 3, 16, that familiar
passage of Scripture declares, for God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. And Isaiah wrote, he was
wounded for our transgression He was bruised for our iniquities,
the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes
we're healed. Our sins are put away by the
sacrifice of Christ. And Paul wrote in Romans 8, 34,
who is he that condemns? It is Christ that dies. Yea,
rather, is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who ever liveth to make intercession for us. So to be saved, is to
be delivered from the penalty of a just law, is to be delivered
from the punishment of the justice of God, is to be delivered from
the guilt and condemnation of sin. A man cannot say that he
is saved who does not know God. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. And a man cannot say that he
is saved who has not been delivered from The penalty, and the condemnation,
and the guilt, and the punishment of sin. If sin's judgment is
still on you, then you're certainly not saved, because you know what
the word saved means? Delivered. Delivered. That's what the word saved means.
Delivered. So, what is it to be saved? It's
to know God. In a saving, vital interest. It is to know God in a personal,
intimate, vital union. It is to be delivered from the
penalty and punishment of sin by the sacrifice of another.
Now thirdly, what is it to be saved? We're not going to be
able to deal with the subject, when is a man saved, unless we
have some understanding of what it means to be saved. All right? Thirdly, to be saved is to be
delivered from the power and from the practice of sin. Now
listen to me. A lot of people want to talk
about being delivered from the punishment of sin, who don't
want to hear anything about being delivered from the practice of
sin. There are a lot of people who want to hear about being
delivered from the condemnation of sin, who do not want to hear
about being delivered from the power of sin. But let me tell
you this. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he's a new creature. You say, I've heard that somewhere.
Where is that? That's in God's Word, 2 Corinthians
5, 17. If any man, doesn't matter who
he is, whatever his denomination, whatever his profession, whatever
his religion, if any man be in Christ Jesus, and that's where
the mercies of God are, they're in Christ. They're not in the
denominations or in the law or in the church building or in
the ordinances or holy days. God's mercies are in Christ.
And if any man is in Christ, then he's a new creature. Children
of God are not perfect. I know that, and you know that.
Paul said, I'm not perfect. I have not arrived. I count not
myself to have apprehended. God's people are always conscious
of the motions of sin within them. They're always conscious
of the thoughts of sin. They weep over them. They grieve
over them. They're always conscious of the presence of sin, the presence
of evil, but they do not serve sin. They do not love sin. They serve and love the Lord
God. God's people live honest and
God-fearing and holy lives. That's so. The fruit of the Holy
Spirit, to some degree, is manifested in every believer. What is the
fruit of the Holy Spirit? The fruit of God's Spirit. That
is, that means that that's the fruit that is produced by his
indwelling presence. And let me tell you this, if
any man have not the Spirit of God, he's none of this. People
talk about being saved, but seeking the Holy Spirit? Well, we seek
more of his fullness, and we seek more of his teachings, and
we seek more of his comfort, and we seek more of his presence.
But let me tell you this, if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he's none of his. We're born of the Holy Spirit.
We're called by the Holy Spirit. We're baptized into the body
of Christ by the Holy Spirit. And if any man does not have
the Holy Spirit, He doesn't belong to Christ. He's not even saved.
But the fruit of the Spirit, that is, the byproduct of the
indwelling Spirit, is love. There are nine of them listed
in Galatians 5.22. And they are love. And notice,
incidentally, it doesn't say the fruit, plural, fruits of
the Spirit. It says the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, patience, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance. He that loveth not, John said,
knoweth not God. So being faith is to know God,
the living God, to be joined by the Spirit of God into a living
union with the living God. And it's to be delivered from
the condemnation and judgment of sin. And it's to be delivered
from the reigning power of sin. It's to be delivered from the
daily practice of sin. And it's to be brought into a
life of holiness and godliness and honesty and truth. It is
to long to be like Christ. And then fourthly, what is it
to be saved? To be saved is one day. Our being
finally delivered from the very presence of sin, from this body
of sin, from this body of death and being perfectly conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what God has purposed
for every believer, to make him like Christ. We're all going
to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ. There'll come a day when
we're going to lay aside this body of flesh, this body of death,
this nature of evil, and we're going to be changed. You know,
the Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 15, For the trump shall sound,
and Christ shall come." And he says, I'll show you a mystery.
We're not all going to sleep. There'll be some folks alive
when Christ comes. We're not all going to sleep,
but we all are going to be changed. In a moment, in a twinkling of
an eye, for the trumpet of God shall sound, and the dead in
Christ shall rise, and we which are living shall be changed and
caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And this corruptible,
talking about our flesh, evil nature. This corruptible shall
put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality,
and then shall be brought to pass the saying, death is swallowed
up in victory." So what is it to be saved? It's to know God. Christ gave that definition himself. He said eternal life, John 17
3, is to know God. It's to know God. Like you know
your husband or wife or children. To know God. To be joined in
an intimate, personal, living relationship. To walk with God.
To live with God. To talk with God. For God to
speak to you. And it's to be delivered from
the condemnation of sin. Our record is clean. Our sins
are washed away. They're paid for. The holiness
and justice and law of God is satisfied. It's to be delivered
from a life of sin, from the practice and power of sin. It's
to serve the living God. And one day when that salvation
is complete, it will be to be perfectly conformed to the image
of God's blessed Son. Now, here's the question that
we have as our topic today. When does this take place? When
is a man saved? When can a man say, I am saved? Someone comes up to you and says,
are you saved? Well, when can you answer, yes sir, by the grace
of God, I'm saved. I'm a child of God. Well, some
folks say that a person is saved when he's christened as an infant.
You know, a lot of folks take infants that are newly born and
put water on them and say a few words over them, and some people
say that makes them saved. Well, now that has no scriptural
foundation. There's not in the Word of God
anywhere one example of any influence being sprinkled. It's just not
in God's Word. I know it's in books, and I know
it's in customs, and I know it's in rituals and so forth, but
it's not in God's Word. And even many who practice it
will tell you, well, it's not in God's Word, but we assume
this sort of thing. We do it because of prediction.
It came down from our fathers. But that's not when a man is
saved. Others say a man is saved when he makes a profession of
faith and joins the church. Well, Judas was Well, not that
for a row of pins. He was a member of the church.
In fact, he was an apostle. He held the highest office in
the church. And not only that, he was the
treasurer. Now, he just knocked that for
a row of pins, wouldn't he? Being a member of the church
didn't save him. And I'll tell you someone else, a man named
Demas, being a member of the church didn't save him. Paul
said, Demas hath forsaken thee, having loved this present world.
And then those folks in 1 John 2, verse 19, it didn't save them. John said, they went out from
us because they weren't of us. If they hadn't been of us, they
no doubt would have continued with us. So it didn't do them
any good. And then some folks say that
a man is saved when he's baptized. Well, Simon Magus destroys that. He was baptized, but he wasn't
saved. And the thief on the cross wasn't baptized at all, but he
was saved. Christ said today, Shalt thou
be with me in paradise." So that's not what saves, and that's not
when a man saves. Some folks say, well, you can't
know you're saved till you get to heaven. Well, Paul destroyed
that. He said, I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. John destroyed that. John said,
we know we've passed from death unto life. David destroyed that. He said, the Lord is my shepherd. A man can know he's saved before
he gets to heaven. Well, when is? I asked this question
this morning, and I want you to thoughtfully, prayerfully
consider it. When is a man saved? When can
a man say, I know God. I'm delivered from the guilt
and condemnation of sin. I've been, by the grace of God,
delivered from the practice and power of sin. Oh, I'm not what
I ought to be, and I'm not what I want to be. And I'm not by
the grace of God what I expect to be, but thank God I'm not
what I used to be. I know that. When can a man say
I'm saved? Let me give you four things to
carefully consider in answer to this question, when is a man
saved? First of all, a man is saved
when it pleases the Lord. That's when a man will be saved.
Not when he gets good and ready or when mom or daddy gets ready.
Or when somebody else gets ready, it's not of the will of the flesh,
it's not of the will of man, it's not of fleshly inheritance,
we are born of God. Now listen to this, Galatians
1 15, Paul speaking, the glorious, illustrious Apostle Paul, the
prince of preachers, the writer of Scripture, the first missionary,
he said in Galatians 1 15, but when it pleased God, but when
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace to reveal his son in me. When did Paul
come to know the Savior? When it pleased God. When was
Christ revealed to his heart? When it pleased God. When was
Paul broken under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and
smitten down into the dust on the road to Damascus? When it
pleased God. When did Paul see the glory of
Jesus Christ? When was he brought to Christ?
Lord, what will you have me do? When it pleased God. Now that's
when a man's gonna be saved. When it pleased God. My friends,
salvation's of the Lord. In Psalms, the writer David declared
salvation, the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. Jonah
chapter 2 verse 9 says salvation is of the Lord. Ephesians 2,
8 and 9 says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and
that not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which we have been ordained to
walk therein. My friend's salvation is of the
Lord. He was pleased to save us. He gave his Son to redeem
us. He's pleased in his own time
to call us. We're quickened by the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 2.1 says, You hath he quickened who were dead in
trespasses and sins. We're born of the Holy Spirit.
We're born of the water and of the Spirit. We're accepted in
the Beloved. We're his workmanship. Repentance
is the gift of God. Scripture says the goodness of
God led you to repentance. God has granted repentance to
Israel. Faith is the gift of God. It's
not of works lest any man should boast. One great old preacher
of many years ago used to say this nearly every time he preached.
He'd say, if my voice is the only voice you hear, nothing
of any eternal value will be accomplished for you. What do
you mean? I mean this. You've got to hear
the voice of a man, because God uses me. You've got to hear the
word of God preached, because how can they call on him in whom
they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? But
my friend, we've got to hear him speak, who speaks through
his word and through his preacher. We are ambassadors for Christ.
We've got to hear him who speaks from heaven. God, who at sundry
times and in diverse manners spake in times past to our fathers
with the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son. So when will a man be saved?
When it pleases God. When it pleases God to cross
his path. When it pleases God to arrest
him on his Damascus road to condemnation. When it pleases God to reveal
Christ to his heart. When it pleases God to give him,
grant to him, repentance and faith. All right, secondly, when
will a man be saved? A man will be saved when it pleases
God, and he'll be saved when he comes under the authority
of Jesus Christ, and when he comes to bow to the Lordship
of Jesus Christ. At the beginning of this message,
I quoted a verse of Scripture from Romans 10, 9. That is, thou
shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus to be Lord. Jesus to be
what? Lord, not just your personal
Savior, but your Lord. The Bible doesn't know anything
about a doormat named Jesus. The Bible doesn't know anything
about a fire escape named Jesus. The Bible does not offer any
salvation to any man who just trusts Jesus as his personal
Savior and refuses to bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The Bible doesn't know anything
about that. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord. Peter on Pentecost said this.
This same Jesus whom you crucified, God hath exalted to be both Lord
and Christ. What is a Lord? A supreme reigning
ruler. A sovereign master. Lord, Paul
said on the road to Damascus, what would you have me do? Lord,
the thief on the cross said, remember me. Lord, the leopard
cried, if you will, you can make me clean. My Lord and my God,
said Thomas, as he knelt at the feet of the Son of God. Yes,
sir, Philippians 2 says, let this mind be in you, which is
also in Jesus Christ, who thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form
of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. that he might redeem his people and wherefore God
hath a highly exalted him and Given him a name which is above
every name that at the name of Jesus Every knee should bow and
every tongue should confess that he's what? That he's my personal
Savior Doesn't say that it says that he is Lord Lord to the glory
of God the Father I'm saying this to you very gently and and
they're personally and they're plainly A man is saved not when
he walks down the aisle and says he accepts Jesus as his personal
Savior, but when he, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit,
bows to the authority and the Lordship of Jesus Christ in his
life. Christ will be Lord of all, or
he won't be Lord at all. That's so. Men can't serve two
masters, and Christ is our master. He either is our master, or we're
not his children. We're not his bond slaves. He
said, he that loveth father, mother, brother, sister, husband,
wife more than me is not worthy to be my disciple. He that taketh
not up his cross cannot be my disciple. He that puts his hand
to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, I'll give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you. All right, thirdly, a man is
saved when he sees the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Think about this when he sees
the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Moses said in Exodus 33, Lord,
show me your glory. Show me your redemptive glory.
And God said, I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I
will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. Show me your glory. Abraham, Christ said, saw my
day. He saw the glory of Christ, the
glory of redemption in Christ, and he rejoiced. 2 Corinthians
4, 6 says, For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What are you
talking about, preacher? A man saves when he sees the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This is what I'm talking
about. Job wrestled with this question. How can God be just
and justify the ungodly? How can God be holy and just
and righteous and put away the guilt and shame and sin of folks
like me and you? How can he do it and honor his
law and satisfy his justice? There's just one way, and that's
for a substitute, a sufficient substitute to take our place
and honor God's law and satisfy God's justice. Study Romans 3.26. It tells you how God can be just
and justify the ungodliness. Study Psalms 85.10. Psalms 85
10 it says mercy and truth met together Righteousness and peace
kiss one another where'd that take place at Calvary? That's
where Christ glorified the father by satisfying justice and honor
in the law And when you see that you can claim this thing called
salvation When you see it and come to love it and then a man
is saved last of all when he understands something of the
awful guilt of his sins and the price that Christ paid to put
them away. He, to whom much is forgiven,
will love much. Listen to David in Psalm 51.
He understood the guilt, the awful guilt of his sins, and
the terrible price that was paid for his redemption. He said,
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions,
or wash me throughly for my sin. Cleanse me from my iniquity. I acknowledge my transgression.
My sin is ever before me. O God, against thee and thee
only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that
thou mightest be just when you condemn, and clear when you judge. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity.
In sin my mother conceived me. O God, purge me with hyssop.
Wash me, and I'll be whiter than the snow. Create in me a clean
heart and renew within me a right spirit. That's the man who knows
the evil and consequence of sin.