Saved - Being Saved - Should Be Saved

Now, there's nothing wrong with
using the word saved in our religious conversation. It's been abused,
it's been misused, it's been applied where it should not have
been applied. In fact, that which caused me to preach this message
tonight was my anger being generated or raised, the way a man used
the word saved in my presence the other day. And I started
thinking on this subject. But it's a Bible word. Our Lord
said to his disciples, Go ye into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. That's a Bible word. The angel
announced to Mary and Joseph that they should name the Son
of God who would come to this earth, Jesus, for he shall save
his people from their sins. And then in Luke 19.10, our Lord
said, The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which
was lost. And then when the Philippian
jailer asked Paul, What must I do to be saved? Paul replied,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's
a Bible word. and it's full of rich meaning.
It means to deliver, it means to heal, it means to make whole. That's what the word means in
the scripture. And I intend to keep using it, trusting that
the Holy Spirit will give understanding to those who hear me, to those
who heed the word of God. What troubles me is this, and
really it troubles me to no end, and that is the meaning which
the religious community has given to that word saved. There's a
vast difference in the way our Lord uses the word saved and
the way people use it today. Example. Newspaper article. David Berkowitz
made a profession of faith, leaving Judaism and joined the Beth Haven
Baptist Church of Louisville when he was a soldier at Fort
Knox. When one member of the Church heard of the arrest of
David Berkowitz, who is accused of being the son of Sam and having
murdered and maimed many people, this was her comment. I knew
him when he was a member of our Church. He was a great soul winner.
I don't know whether he's guilty or not, but if he is, no, if
he is, if he's the murderer, I'm sure thankful that he was
saved. For you know, the Bible teaches, once saved, always saved. I object to that, strongly object
to that. And then I hear people talk about
these great religious campaigns. They hold a campaign. One preacher
had in the paper Saturday that he held a campaign recently in
Jamaica, and 895 people were saved. And then they announced about
some great campaign where several hundred people walked the aisle
to accept Jesus, and we pronounced those people saved. The report
is 250 people got saved. The Church roles are bulging
today with these people, with the names of people who have
got saved. But they do not worship the Lord. They do not seek the
Lord. They do not love God's word,
they do not pray, they do not read the Bible, they do not honor
God with the firstfruits, they do not pant after righteousness
or hunger or thirst after the things of God. We pronounce these
people saved, and we just keep adding folks to the church rolls
who are getting saved, but they bear no resemblance whatsoever
to disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's look at several
examples in the New Testament. Turn, first of all, to John 2.
John 2, verse 23. Now, all you've got to do is
believe and you'll get saved. All you've got to do is accept
Jesus and you're saved. Look at John 2.23. Now, when
he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed
in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did." Now,
we would pronounce those people saved. They believed, didn't
they? He was there, and they believed. They saw the miracles
which he did, and they believed. And we would count these people
as saved, but the Lord didn't. Notice the next verse. But Jesus
did not commit himself to them, because he knew all men. And
he needed not that any should testify of man, he knew what
was in them. He was not deceived by their
professions, he was not deceived by their enthusiasm, he was not
deceived by their so-called faith. And he did not commit himself
to them. Let's try another one, Luke 9. Luke 9, verse 57. Now, all a fellow's got to do
today is raise his hand, and we pronounce him saved. All he's
got to do is just let on like he believes what we're preaching,
we'll count him saved. All he has to do is make a physical
move toward the front of our church and he's saved. But now
you listen to Luke 9, verse 57. It came to pass, as they went
in the way, a certain man said to him, Lord, I'll go with you
whithersoever you go. Now we know we count him. But Jesus said to him, Foxes
have holes and birds of the air have nests. The Son of Man hath
not where to lay his head. Well, another one said, and he
said unto him, follow, unto another, follow me. And he said, Lord,
suffer me first to go and bury my father. And Jesus said, let
the dead bury their dead. You go thou and preach the kingdom
of God. Now, we'd count him, probably, all he had to do was
fulfill one task, and then he'd come with us. Notice the next
verse. And another said, Lord, I'll
follow thee, but first let me go bid them farewell with you
at home, at my house. And Jesus said to him, no man.
having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for
the Kingdom of God. Look with me at John 6. All these
people profess great things. Lord, I'll follow you anywhere
you go. Lord, I'll follow you, let me go bury my father. Lord,
I'll follow you, but first of all let me bid them farewell
at home. No encouragement whatsoever from the Master except to say,
let the dead bury their dead. Let the dead bury their dead,
take up your cross and follow me." John 6, verse 24. When the
people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples,
they took shipping, and they came to Capernaum seeking for
Jesus. They took passage, they came
a long way seeking for Jesus, and when they found him on the
other side of the sea, they said, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? And Jesus answered and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw
the miracle. That crowd over there sought
me because they saw the miracle. They believed because they saw
the miracle. But I'll tell you why you're seeking me. You're
seeking me because you did eat of the loaves and you were filled.
That's the reason you're seeking me. You're seeking me for the
benefits. You're seeking me for all of the benefits that you
can derive from my kingdom. That's why you're coming. These
were, those others were miracle believers, and these are material
believers. Want to go to heaven when you die? You want to live
on easy street? You want to retire and stay retired for three million
years? Have all you want to eat and all you want to drink and
all you need to wear? Live in the sunshine and never
work another day? Yes, sir, I'll sure take you
up on that. Well, believe on Jesus. Turn to Luke 22, Luke
22. And a man be a fool not to take
you up on that proposition. If you want to miss the judgment,
if you want to miss hell, if you want to be raptured with
the church and taken into God's presence and live happily ever
after, all you've got to do is come down the aisle and shake
my hand and tell me you believe on Jesus, be baptized and join
the church, and you can live in direct disobedience to all
the commands of Jesus Christ and still go to heaven when you
die and be delivered from the penalty of sin. Man, be fooled,
I'll take you up on that. In Luke 22, verse 32, now listen,
this is interesting, verse 31, Luke 22, 31. Now listen carefully. The Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift
you as wheat. But I prayed for you. Now, this
is at the Lord's table. This is the Passover feast. This
is the last meeting with the disciples before he's crucified.
They had been together three and a half years. This is the
last time. But I prayed for you that your faith fail not. And
Peter, when you are converted, strengthen your brethren." And
he said, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to
death. Now, we'd have pronounced Peter saved, wouldn't we? When would you? At what time
in Peter's experience would you pronounce Peter saved? The Lord
hadn't pronounced him saved here. He said, Peter, when you are
converted. That same word used over there
when our Lord said, Except ye be converted and become as a
little child, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of God. And he said, I tell you, Peter,
verse 34, I tell you, the cock will not crow this day before
you three times deny that you even know me. We go right ahead in these campaigns
and Let them come down and make their release. He saved, blessed
the Lord. Brother so-and-so got saved,
did he not? Did he not? I'll tell you this,
he might have made some move toward God, and he might have
made some move to seek the Lord, and he might have shown some
interest in missing hell and going to heaven, and he might
have shown some interest in the Word of God, but Brother so-and-so
didn't get saved that moment. And you can't pronounce him saved. Now, this is serious business,
and we're dealing now with the foundation of this thing. Turn
to John 6. I hope he's saved, and you hope
he's saved, too. But it's dangerous business to
pronounce somebody saved who has shown no evidence of loving
Christ. Now, some of you folks here,
I can say, I believe you're well saved. I've been looking into
your face for 20 years, or 15 years, or 10 years, but here
a man comes down and shakes my hand and sits down, and I tell
you his name, take him in the pool and baptize him, and we
go out and say, he got saved! Yes, sir, he's saved! How do
you know? I hope he's saved, I hope he's saved, I hope God's
doing a work of grace in his heart. I sure hope so. But this thing of every time
a man makes a religious move, or a hand raise, or some religious
effort, or makes a move toward God, just put the seal on him,
this man is saved! Well, that's the reason the world
is laughing at the Church now. That's one of the reasons, among
many. That's the reason they're laughing. Now, listen to our
Lord here. In John 6, verse 66, I read this
Sunday. From that time, many of his disciples went back and
walked no more with him." Now, they were disciples. They had
been following him, they had been walking with him, they had
made a profession. They had followed the Lord, they
had been walking with the Lord, they had been sitting listening
to the Lord, they had been identified with the Lord, they had been
identified with his people, they had made some kind of outward
identification with Jesus Christ for some time, but here they
quit and went back. And you know something? Today
they would be saved. They'd be backslidden, or they'd
be carnal Christians, or they'd be inactive Church members, or
they don't come with us anymore, they don't walk with us anymore,
but in 1977 these folks would be saved. They'd be saved, because
they did make a profession, and they did follow the Lord, and
they did associate with the Church for a little while, and they
did make some outward religious profession. And the hardest thing
in the world today is to get unsaved after you've been saved
in a Baptist Church. But our Lord Jesus Christ, when
that group of people left him, he even turned to the twelve,
to the elect, to the elite, to the chosen ones, and he said,
will you also go away? He said, what if they had? They'd
have never been numbered with the redeemed, I'll tell you that.
Now I'm going to let the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and I know
this, there's got to be a starting point, I realize that. There's
a point when the Holy Spirit comes and convinces a man of
sin and creates an interest in the gospel, an interest in the
Word of God, an interest in his soul, and he starts seeking the
Lord and he makes a public confession of Christ. That's the starting
point, but that's not all of salvation. By no means. Let our Lord describe discipleship. Let him define salvation. Turn
to Matthew 10. And let's listen to some of these
scriptures here, Matthew chapter 10, and see if this fits our
conception of salvation. Now we, I want to be charitable,
I want to be generous, I'd like for a lot of people to be saved,
but I don't think I should go beyond the scriptures. I don't
think I should give a man a hope which the scriptures does not
give him. I don't think I ought to label a man saved if the Bible
doesn't label him saved. And if he doesn't meet the definition
of Christ in regard to this matter of salvation, listen to Matthew
10, verse 32, "...whosoever therefore shall confess me before men,
him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my
Father which is in heaven." Now, that's as far as we go, but let's
read on. He says, Don't think that I am come to send peace
on this earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. I am come to set a man at variance against his father,
and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter against
her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
a man's foe shall be they of his own household. He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And could not that also say,
he that loveth this world, or he that loveth his job, or he
that loveth his possessions, or he that loveth anything else
more than me is not worthy of me? And he that taketh not his
cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that
findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for
my sake shall find it. Look at Matthew 16 and let's
see what it says. We're talking about salvation
now, we're not talking about discipleship. We're not talking
about this insurance policy that you keep in the safety deposit
box and pull it out just before you go to judgment and flash
it on the Lord and tell him you got all fixed up by September
1, 1947 in a revival meeting and you believed and got saved.
In Matthew 16, verse 24, listen to this. If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever shall save his life, or lose it, and whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a
man profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul?" Turn to Luke 14. The Master defines redemption,
discipleship. Luke 14, verse 25. And there went great multitudes
with him. Now this, if we could just get
great multitudes, I'm getting so tired of hearing folks say,
how many? How many? Invariably, when somebody walks
in to study a stranger and you introduce them to this brother
of mine, how many members do you have? How many do you have
in Sunday school? How many baptisms did you have
last year? The Holy Meeting, how many people
were saved? How many? It doesn't matter what
was preached, it doesn't matter if God was there, it doesn't
matter if people worshiped the Lord, it matters how many. And
this thing here, great multitudes went with him. I want you to
listen to this. And he turned and said to them,
If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother and
wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, his own wife,
also he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever does not bear his
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Now, that's
the way to thin out a multitude, isn't it? We wouldn't dare. We get these great multitudes
coming and we do everything in our power to keep them coming,
to entertain them. not to offend them, not to drive
them off, to make everything as comfortable for them as possible.
Here our Lord Jesus Christ turns to them and challenges them with
complete discipleship. And even tells them, read on,
"...which of you intending to build a tower, let not sit down
first and count the cost, whether ye have sufficient to finish
it." Then goes on, verse 33, "...so likewise whosoever he
be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be
my disciple." And not only the Lord, but the
disciples themselves, the apostles themselves, gave no hope to those
who made professions and didn't continue steadfastly in seeking
the Lord. They didn't give any hope. I want to give you a few examples.
Let's turn to Hebrews 3. I'm saying the Lord defined discipleship,
and then these disciples held to it. They gave no hope to those
people and no comfort to those who made professions and did
not continue in the faith. Listen to Hebrews 3, verses 12
and 13. take heed lest there be in any
of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living
God." Paul is talking to believers. But you exhort one another daily,
while it's called today, lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to
the end. Now, listen to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verse 38, the Apostles
are giving no hope except a man continue in the faith. And he
warns us to exhort one another, and help one another, and edify
one another, and pray for one another, lest somebody fall through
the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 10, verse 38, he says
that just shall live by faith. That's so. Four times the scripture
says that. But if any man draw back my soul
shall have no pleasure in him. For we are not of them who draw
back unto perdition, but of them that believe." Keep on believing,
keep on believing to the saving of our souls. Turn to 2 Peter
2, and this goes on and on through the Word. In 2 Peter 2, verse
20, You know, we preach a meeting,
a bunch of people come down, we pronounce them saved. They
got saved. Then we turn from them, we go out and try to recruit
some more and win some more and reach some more. And these poor
folks, they're all right, they're all fixed up, you know. They
took a dose of medicine and they're all well now. And we go out challenging
someone else to make their decision, make them two-fold more the child
of hell than we are. In 2 Peter 2, verse 20, "...for
if after they have escaped," listen, the pollutions of the
world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
These people have made a profession, and they have quit dancing and
quit drinking and quit the pollutions of the world. They have come
to some kind of knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus. They
are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse
with them than the beginning. It would have been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they've
known it to turn from the holy commandments delivered unto them.
It is happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog
is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to
her wallowing in the mire." Now one other, 1 John 2, verse 19,
1 John 2, 19. And John says, 1 John 2, verse
19, "...they went out from us, but they were not of us. If they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.
But they went out, that they might be made manifest, but they
were not all of us." Here's what I'm saying, back to our text,
2 Corinthians. And I realize, if you look at
this text again, 2 Corinthians 1.10, I know what this text refers
to. I'm not lifting a text out of
the contents and trying to make it mean something that it doesn't.
I know exactly what it refers to. Paul, back in verse 8 of
2 Corinthians 1, says, "...we would not, brethren, have you
ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia." And he says,
this trouble that came to us in Asia, he said, it's trouble
we faced far above our strength. We weren't sufficient for it.
We couldn't handle it. We weren't able to cope with
it. It was trouble far beyond our strength. And then he says,
we had the sentence of death. Look at verse 9. We had the sentence
of death in us. That is, we'd given up all hope
of living, of surviving, of getting through this thing. The trouble
was so intense and so great that we didn't even hope to live.
We'd already decided we were going to die. And he said, we
could put no trust in ourselves, none whatsoever, but only in
God who raises the dead. But thank God, he said, verse
10. God delivered us from so great a death, and he doth deliver
us, and I trust he'll yet deliver us. But now wait a minute. Isn't
that a picture of redemption? For our sins are above our strength. Paul said this trouble we had
in Asia, it was above our strength. We couldn't cope with it, we
couldn't handle it, we couldn't do anything about it. It was
above our strength. He is not seeing the same thing?
The disciples said, who can be saved? The Lord said, it's impossible
with men. In the flesh dwelleth no good thing, in the flesh no
man can please God. We can't challenge Satan or cope
with sin, it's above our strength. And then the sentence of death.
Paul said the sentence of death was in ourselves. Isn't that
true of every sinner? Haven't we already been sentenced
to death? Man's not on trial, the trial's over. He's already
been found guilty. The evidence has been presented
and he's been sentenced. The wages of sin is death. The
soul that's in it, it shall surely die. You're not on probation. You're not on trial. The trial's
over. We're on condemned road. We're
on death's road. We're in cell 13. We're waiting
execution. There's no hope. We've already
given up. There's no hope. We're without
God, without help, and without hope in this world. sentence
of death. And then that last line where
he says, we can't trust in ourselves but in God who raised the dead,
we put no confidence in our flesh or anybody else's flesh. Salvations
of the Lord. Salvations of the Lord. All right,
Paul said, God delivered us from this impossible state, from this
great trouble we could not defeat. God delivered us from death,
from sure execution. God delivered us. And that's
what the scripture teaches when it talks about a man who is saved. Turn to Ephesians 2. Now, we'll
come back to this in a minute. Get those three tenses there.
Paul says, God hath delivered us, and God doth deliver us,
and we trust he'll yet deliver us. Note this, the Bible says,
Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. I don't want to challenge the
King James Version, I think it's the best. But some of the King
James Version can be improved upon, some of the phrases. And
this is all right, for by grace are you saved, the whole work
of salvation, are you saved, but this is saying here, for
by grace have you been saved. That's what this is, you have
been saved by grace. The Amplified Version says you
have been delivered from judgment and you have been made partakers
of Christ's salvation. You have been saved. For by grace
have you been saved. This is the work of God for us. It's the work of God for us in
reference to the law, in reference to the justice of God. We have
been saved. Let's look at some scripture
on that. First of all, turn to Romans
8. We have been saved. When is a man saved? Well, we
have been saved back in eternity past. Look at Romans 8, verse
29, "...whom he foreknew." He predestinated to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. "...whom he predestinated, them he also called." And whom
he called, them he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
You English students, aren't all those words in the past tense?
He foreknew, he predestinated, he called, he justified, he glorified. It's already done. What shall
we say then to these things? I say this, if God be for us
in mercies, in covenant grace, in substitution, who can be against
us? Every one of his elect was chosen
in Christ, loved in Christ, accepted in Christ, regarded in Christ.
back before the world began. Christ didn't die until 2,000
years ago, but the scripture says he was slain from the foundation
of the world. Was slain, not will be slain,
was slain. God says, I declare the end from
the beginning and from ancient times, the things that are not
yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, I'll do my pleasure.
It's done, God says. When God decrees it, it's done.
When God purposes it, it's done. When God plans it, it's done.
So if you want to talk about when we were saved, S-A-V-E-D,
we were saved when God put us in Christ, because the gifts
and calling of God were without change. God says, I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. When
God Almighty put his sheep in the care of the shepherd, They
were all as secure as they will be when they're in heaven, just
as secure. When God Almighty made Christ
the surety of the eternal covenant, that debt was paid, it was satisfied,
it was fully satisfied, just as much as it will be in eternity
future. God is not a creature of time.
He doesn't have to wait until 1977 to find out what's going
to happen. You and I do. Look at Romans 8, verse 1, "...therefore
now, no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." None
whatsoever. None whatsoever. You have been saved. Listen,
Isaiah 53, he was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised. My friends, turn to Isaiah 53. Now, this was written 700 years
before Christ died, 700 years before Christ came to this earth
and died on the cross. Read it. Verse 4, Isaiah 53,
"...he hath borne our griefs." Why, he hasn't even come yet.
Yes, he has, too, in the purpose of God. It's done. "...he hath
carried our sorrows. We did esteem him, stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted." He was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace
was upon him with his stripes. We are healed already. I'm saved, and have been since
God put me in Christ, technically. That's right. And when Christ
went to the cross and died for my sins, My sins were laid on
Christ. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree. You know what scripture says?
He bore whose sins? He bore our sins. These sins
he bore were not fictional. They were our sins. When Christ
died 2,000 years ago, he didn't just bear the sins of the people
who lived before he died, he bore the sins of the people who
lived after he died. And the debt was paid. Was it
paid? Jesus paid it all, we've seen
that, all the debt I owe, but I didn't have any debt when he
died. How could he pay it? I wasn't even here. I was in
God's purpose, in God's mind. We've got to quit subjecting
Almighty God and bringing him down and thinking he's a creature
like we are. When Christ died on the cross,
he bore all my sins and all your sins. He paid the debt. And I say, When he put the blood
on the mercy seat of glory, he put the blood there one time,
one time. He doesn't go every time somebody
is born in the world and put a fresh supply of blood on the
mercy seat. Hebrews says, he hath entered once into the holy
place with one offering. By one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. You know what it says? One offering.
When did he make that? Two thousand years? No, you go
back further than that. He's always been our Priest,
always been our Sacrifice, always been our Atonement. But there
was one time in the history of this universe, in the purpose
of God, when our Lord actually entered into the Holy Place,
not made with hands, but into Heaven itself, and there he obtained
redemption, past tense, he obtained it. It's already bade for, already
bowed. When was I saved? Look at Romans 8 again, listen
to Paul. In Romans 8, if I'm saved at all, that's when I say,
and I sow, if I'm saved at all, that transaction took place,
tis done, the great transaction is done, I am my Lord's and he
is mine. in Romans 8, verse 34, "...who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us." And he makes intercession
for that little babe who shall someday be brought to him as
a 40-year-old man that hadn't even been born yet. All of his
people, all of his people. So then God hath delivered us
from so great a So greater death, he hath delivered us. Now, the next thing he said,
and he doth deliver. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1, verse
18. These preachers know this is
so, and I'm not making a play on words now, but you get another
translation American Standard even has this,
some of the others, 1 Corinthians 1.18, "...for the preaching of
the cross is to them that are perishing." That's what that
says, foolishness. But unto us which are being saved,
it's the power of God. We're being saved. This is the
work of God in us. That's what happened one day
when you out of fleshly religion or out of Arminianism or out
of self-glory and out of self-righteousness, one day sat down and God Almighty
came in the power of his Spirit and awoke you up and raised you
from your dead state and gave you a new nature and let you
hear the gospel. One day you heard the gospel and you said,
I'm lost, I need grace, I need mercy, and you cried out, Lord,
save me. That's God working in you. Paul said that, God who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace
was pleased to reveal his Son in me. And that's when I'm saved,
when I believed on Christ, when I received Christ, when I trusted
Christ. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, verse
10. Now listen to this, 1 Corinthians
15, 10. Paul says, By the grace of God
I am what I am. That repentance is the goodness
of God that led me to repentance. It's the goodness of God that
led me to weep over sin. It's the goodness of God that
gave me faith. It's God that worketh in you
both to will and to do his pleasure. We're his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. Paul said, I travail in birth
again till Christ be formed in you. This is the work of God
in us, in bringing us to saving faith. Preacher, do you think
then a man can be saved without faith? No, sir, I do not. I do
not. For by grace are ye saved through
faith. Our Lord said to several people,
Thy faith hath made thee whole. Without faith it is impossible
to please God. The just shall live by faith.
Believe, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. But
here is what I'm saying. Everyone whom he gave to Christ,
everyone for whom Christ died, will be brought by the Holy Spirit
to hear the gospel and call on Christ and believe in Christ.
And in that way we are justified by faith. Now, turn, if you will,
to the book of Romans, chapter 10. It's what we studied in our
Sunday school, Christ's Sunday. Romans 10, verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How, then, shall they
call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? God decreed that Noah would go
in that ark, but Noah willingly went into the ark. Noah willingly
went into the ark. God decreed that Saul of Tarsus
would preach to the Gentiles. But Saul of Tarsus willingly
came to Christ and willingly went to the Gentiles. Because
thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. But they
are willing, and they do believe. And God is saving us, he is delivering
us. Now last of all, and Paul said
we trust that he will yet deliver us. Listen to the words of this
song. O to grace, how great a debtor. daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness like a fetter
bind my wandering heart to thee." That's God's Word. And then this
part of the song, "'Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy
help I'm come, and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive
at home.'" Turn to Romans 13, let's look at a verse. Romans
13, verse 11. And that knowing the time, that
now it is high time to wake out of sleep, for now is our salvation
nearer than when we believe. He that hath begun a good work
in you shall perform it in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
Savior. Death is swallowed up in victory. My friends, it's
faith that saves, knowing this, that a man is not justified by
works, but by the faith of Christ Jesus and by faith in Christ
Jesus. But let me say this, turn to James, if you will. I think
this needs to be said. It is not just any faith or any
kind of faith that saves, but a certain kind of faith.
James says in James 2.14, listen to this, "...what does it profit,
my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and hath not works? Can that kind of faith save him?"
That's what he's asking. Can that kind of faith save him? My friends, the kind of faith
that saves. Well, look at verse 19, "...thou
believest this one God, thou doest well the devils also believe
in the trouble." I believe Christ died on the cross. I've always
believed that. But the devil believes that, too. The people
who nailed him to that cross believe that. But James says,
can that kind of faith save? Well, what kind of faith can
save? Let me give you five marks of saving faith quickly. The
faith that saves is a faith that believes the Word of God. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Then listen
to this verse. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness
in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his Son." First, saving faith is to believe the record, the
Word of God. Secondly, faith that saves is
faith that genuinely comes from the heart. For with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness. And with the mouth, confession
is made unto salvation. It's a heart belief. The people
of Pentecost were pricked in their hearts. Almighty God says,
Keep thy heart out of it of the issues of life. Take heed lest
there be found in you an evil heart of unbelief. Job sat there
scraping his balls, crying, Though he slay me, I'll trust him. The faith that saves is a faith
in the word of God, that believes God's word. It's a faith that
genuinely, sincerely believes from the heart. Not a parrot
that repeats something that someone said, but from the heart. Thirdly,
a faith that saves is a faith in the person and work of Christ
Jesus alone. Now, you listen to Peter. We
know, he said, we were not redeemed with corruptible things, such
as silver and gold, from our vain conversation received by
tradition from our fathers, but we know we are redeemed with
the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without spot or blemish,
who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you. That's 1 Peter
1, 18-20. Philippians 3. Paul says, I count
these things but dumb, that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, but the righteousness which is
of God through faith in Christ Jesus, O that I may know him,
him, him, him, and the power of his resurrection. And then fourthly, a faith that
saves. It is a faith that receives the
word of God faith, genuine, sincere faith from the soul and heart,
faith in the work, the person of Christ alone. And fourthly,
that faith that saves is a faith that continues to rest in Christ,
that continues to rejoice in Christ, that continues to seek
the Savior. He that endures to the end, the
same shall be saved. Listen to Paul. He says in 2
Timothy 4, the time of my departure is at hand, I've fought a good
fight, I've finished my course, I've kept the faith. I have kept
the faith. Christ is a Son over his house,
whose house we are if we hold fast our confidence steadfast
to the end. It's a faith that continues.
And the fifth place, a faith that saves, is a faith that produces
a likeness to Christ. In 2 Thessalonians 1, 3, listen
to Paul. We are bound to thank God always
for you, brethren, as it is meat, because that your faith groweth
exceedingly. Anything that's alive grows. This is what bothers me about
all these people that got saved. You'd have to keep looking back
at their experience to prove they're saved. You'd never know
it by their lives now. The reason they have to go back
20 years to prove they're saved is they can't prove it. Somebody said, if you was on
trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence
to convict you? Paul Barnard used to say, if
you have to go back five minutes to prove you're saved, you've
missed Christ. He lives now. He's my Redeemer now. And this
faith that saves is a faith that grows. It's a faith that produces
a likeness of Christ, that produces the fruits of the Spirit. I believe
this, men who know Christ love the gospel more now than they
did when they received it. I believe they're more enthused. I'll tell you this, if I were
less enthused about God's Word and less enthused about my relationship
with him, and less encouraged by my relationship with him,
I'm not talking about something that comes occasionally, a valley
experience, a mountain, I'm talking about this continual indifference,
this continual downhill indifference and carelessness. I got saved,
and ever since then I've been going

Saved - Being Saved - Should Be Saved

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Saved - Being Saved - Should Be Saved

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