Dear all,
this is a concised notes on what is salvation all about. The whole document is split into 4 parts, we will be posting one part per week so do come back for more!
It is done up by Shixiong and he has kindly agreed to share it with us on this tribe blog. So do give him a pat on his shoulders when you see him on sunday!
DEtribe Blog Team
SALVATION (THE CROSS)
The Cross is the center of the Christian faith. (Main Passage: Titus 3:4-6)
Salvation for Old Testament people à On the basis of what Christ will do in future
Salvation for New Testament people à On the basis on what Christ has already accomplished
Both eras are saved according to the cross. God is timeless, that’s why He can extend His hands of grace towards the Old Testament people even though He can’t stand sin.
Rev 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
THE ORIGINAL STATE OF MAN
Original State of Man from the Book of Genesis:
a. The mind, emotions, will are filled by the characteristics of God (We are made in His likeliness)
b. We are spiritual beings with the filling of God’s own breathe
c. We are given authority and are God’s representatives on earth
The very essence of God is holy and just. And we are made in His image and likeness.
DEFINITION OF SIN
Sin is a failure to meet God’s laws and holy standards. Sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
Sin includes both wrong acts as well as wrong attitudes. (E.g. In the Ten Commandments: “Thou shall not covet”)
James 4:17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
Sin does not come from God. Sin is a direct contradiction to God’s nature and His excellence in moral standards.
Deut 32:4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he
It is even impossible for God to desire to do evil.
James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
With the fall, we went out of control, fallen short of God’s plan and there’s corruption in the world.
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Prov 20:9 Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"?
We became sinners by nature.
Eph 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
This means even infants, even before birth, have a sinful nature.
Ps 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
PROBLEM WITH SIN
1. The universality of Sin
There are no exceptions. There is none righteous and everyone has that same propensity to sin.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:10-18
10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
13 "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit "The poison of vipers is on their lips."
14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know."
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
2. The seriousness of Sin
Rom 5:23 For the wages of sin is death…
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…
We will all be judged.
Romans 2:6 God "will give to each person according to what he has done."
Col 3:25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
3. The inability of mankind to deal with Sin
a. By good works and charity? All rich men will go heaven?!?
b. Cover evil with good? I pay you $20 after I slap you?!?
c. Make an offering? I pay you $100 after I break your $100 handphone?!?
Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Galatians 2:16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
RESULT OF SIN
1. We become spiritually dead and in bondage to Sin
Eph 2:1-3 "1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."
2. We become alienated from God – Sin in us is so repulsive to God, that even as God loves us, He cannot stand us
Colossians 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
3. We become subjected to God’s wrath because of His righteous anger – God’s wrath needs to be satisfied
Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness…
Eph 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
In the same capacity that God uses to create, He can use it to destroy.
“Do not measure God’s anger with our own understanding of anger.”
4. We become guilty under the law – None of us are righteous enough for God
Isa 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Ps 53:1-3 "1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. 2 God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3 Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one."
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
5. We become slaves to Sin – Sin reign over us
Rom 7:21-24 "21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
ATONEMENT IS NEEDED
Atonement means “someone taking the place of punishment for another person”.
This is because:
a. Man’s inability to deal with sin
b. The righteous demand on sin that has to be carried out
Romans 5: 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
With Christ’s death, the price of sin is paid. Hence, God took the wrath upon Himself.
Isaiah 53:10
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE CROSS
1. Substitution for Sin
Sin in front of a Holy God demands payment. Christ died on our behalf.
Rom 5:23 For the wages of sin is death…
Matt 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
2 Corin 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2. Redemption from Sin
– We are no longer spiritually dead and in bondage (to Sin)
Rom 6:11-13 "11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but (present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Gal 4:5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
– We are no longer slaves to Sin
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
– We are redeemed from the curse of law
Gal 3:13-14 "13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"-- 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
– We are bought at a price (like slaves from a market place)
1 Corin 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
– We are totally set free
Romans 8:1-2 "1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
John 8:31-32 "31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
– We are forgiven
Colossians 2:13-14 "13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
– We are provided for
Rom 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
3. Propitiation for Sin
Propitiation means to appease. Death of Christ propitiated God and averted His wrath; All of God’s wrath that was originally directed at us was diverted to Jesus
2 Corin 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 John2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
4.Reconciliation with God
The barrier between God and man was torn down.
2 Corinthians 5:19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
5. Justification in Faith
God is just and He demonstrated His justice.
We are declared righteous before God. God passes the “Not Guilty” verdict.
God pronounces us just, not because of what we had done, but what He has done.
Gal 2:16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Titus 3:4-7 "4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life
Romans 3:25-26 "25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."
6. Broken the power of Sin in our lives
By Christ’s death at the Cross, power of sin is broken.
Romans 6:1-10 "1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
7. Cleanse (Purified) us from Sin
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8. Basis of judgement of satan and his demons
Colossians 2:13-15 “13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."
John 12:31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
- READ ON!
...SUMMARY.
Juliana: MyHope taught us to be good hosts and allowed our friends gain some ideas about "church stuff" in a comfortable setting.
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