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GREAT REDEMPTION TRUTHS ...

April 30, 2000 AM

Sermon Outline

1 Pet 1:1-5

INTRO: A great hymn says, Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. Few words can be more thrilling to a Christian than the word redeemed. Another hymn says, therefore, we are singing redemptions sweet song. If we comprehend the utter hopelessness of our eternal prospects without redemption, then, redemption becomes for us a subject of incomparable significance. Eph 2:1,5 both note that unredeemed people are dead in their sins. So, truths about redemption are happy truths.

I. OBEDIENCE AND BLOOD (1:2)

A. No election, no sanctification without them!

B. Obedience: mans part

1. the idea that man has nothing to do relative to his redemption is not Biblical

2. so, Rom 6:17,18 and 1 Pet 1:22 cannot be clearer

C. Blood of Jesus Christ: Gods part

1. Jno 3:16 makes this point

2. Heb 9:22 one of the great facts about the atonement ... and it is Jesus blood which makes total remission possible for us

II. NEW BIRTH (1:3)

A. Not repaired; not fixed; but a new creature!

1. this is what Jesus explained to Nicodemus

2. Jno 3:3,5 it must have been a revolutionary idea to him ... but what a wonderful contemplation

3. Gal 6:15 you can be a new creation of God

B. Why? Because of Gods abundant mercy

1. note 2 Cor 1:3 ... the Father of mercies ...

2. while grace is a wonderful thing to consider, I personally revel in mercy ... I think I have a better understanding (from my humanness) of mercy ... I dont get what I deserve

3. but my being born anew depends on those two things mentioned earlier: obedience and blood

III. LIVING HOPE (1:3)

A. Most religions (then and now) had no basis for hope

1. dead animals; dead idols; dead originators

2. the landscape was strewn with altars, shrines, temples to dead deities

3. hoping in something dead, inanimate is futile hope

B. Ours is a living hope in a living Lord

1. 1 Cor 15:19-23 how beautifully said

2. if that in which we hope cant get past the earth, its a dismal hope

3. this is why there were witnesses of the risen Jesus ... this fact means everything (Acts 1:8 and 2:31,32)

IV. UNFADING INHERITANCE (1:4)

A. There is a reward for the faithful!

1. the reward motive is so often minimized

2. we want to think of higher motives, etc.

3. but scripture does not shrink from reminding us of reward ... and unfading inheritance

B. And it is secure because its in heaven!

1. Mt 6:19,20 earthly inheritances can fail!

2. note how Peter says its reserved ... for you

3. this very personal ... it is mine ... so, I should want to live so that I wont be disinherited

V. KEPT BY GODS POWER (1:5)

A. No one appreciates Gods power more than I

1. and the Old Testament speaks volumes of His power ... as does Jesus resurrection

2. Rom 8:37-39

B. But note the means of Gods power is our faith

1. once again: Gods part and mans part

2. 1 Jno 5:4 oh, how we need to maintain and do all possible to build our faith

CLOSE: Finally, Peter comes to the great word salvation. Thats what its all about. Have you been redeemed?

Cecil A. Hutson

30 April 2000

God's Plan of Salvation

You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

You must believe and have faith in God because "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)

You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called "Sinner's Prayer" that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the "Sinner's Prayer" to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)

You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus "Lord of your life." Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just "accept Jesus as your personal savior." We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)

Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God's grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God's grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)