A very special weekend is almost upon us @ Southbrook Church! This weekend I will share with you the early metamorphosis of a true believer. Let me explain…
As you often hear me say, despite a majority belief around the world that we must do good works to get God to notice us and gain entrance into His kingdom–salvation always has been and always will be a merciful and gracious work of God alone.
Period.
There’s nothing we can do to earn it.
So how do so many come up with this potentially damning false idea? Well, they follow human reasoning rather than the plain truth of God’s Word. The end result of man going with what makes sense to them rather than what God says is true is plainly spelled out in scripture:
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverbs 14:12
Let’s face it, we’re suspicious of something for nothing, and that’s what this deal sounds like to some. When we hear that there is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor, we almost immediately default to trying to find at least something we can bring to the table to feel like we did our part. But that’s just it, the only part we played was sinning in the first place and creating this whole mess of a fallen world! We should then be thankful for a God who loves us so much that He was willing to take the fall in our place so that we could be rescued.
“For Gos so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
So, for those of you who want to feel better knowing something was brought to the table–know this. SOMETHING WAS! Or I should say, SOME ONE was. God gave the very best He had–His one and only Son. How in the world are we supposed to earn that?! How are we supposed to jump high enough, help enough old ladies across the street or even live enough like Mother Teresa to pull even with the sacrifice God made in sending His one and only Son to die?!
Answer?
We’re not. We can’t, and God doesn’t want us to even attempt it. It’s insulting, really! Instead, we can only fall to our knees, confess our sinful condition to God and receive His love and forgiveness–his grace and new life provided by the sacrificial death and substitutionary atonement of His Son.
Period.
And then…
And then?
“‘And then?””Pastor Rob? You said it was faith plus nothing,”
And I meant it, but now for the main reason I wrote this post today. By, ‘And then,’ I am referring to the change. Listen to what God’s Word says about all of those who place their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation:
“…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us…” 2 Corinthians 5:17=18
There is a change, a complete metamorphosis away from what you were to something entirely new. You are a new person inside. Here’s another thing you’ve heard me say on several occasions, ‘much of Christianity is descriptive rather than prescriptive.’ Which is just another way of saying that a true conversion is always accompanied by this change.
Always.
No change, no salvation–period.
I’ll have more to say on this next week, but let me tell you why I believe weekends like this one are so important in light of all I just said…
Jesus says our first move as a new believer is to profess Him through baptism–to stand up and be counted as a true believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Honestly, every new believer ought to be practically tripping over themselves to get to the water and declare their new allegiance with God and His people.
Were you one of the 126 who gave their lives to Jesus over the last couple weeks?
Then why not stand up and be counted this weekend? I will be sharing part 3 of our, ‘Diary of a Wimpy Christian’ series ( a shortened message entitled, “Kill Will”) followed by a massive baptism celebration with our newest believers in Christ. You can be baptized at any one of the four services (Three @ Weddington and one @ our Monroe Campus) And, if you consider Southbrook Church your home, come support all of these and bring a friend. Few things are as powerful a testimony as these baptism services!
See you there!