Today, we begin a new message series called “All About Salvation.” The topic of salvation is really the most important topic in the world. Your understanding of salvation and reaction to it will determine the success of your life on this earth and your eternal destiny in the next life. In one sense, salvation is simple. I present a simplified way to understand how to be saved every Sunday. A, B, C. Admit your sins, Believe in Jesus, Commit your life to Him.
Yet, as I talk to people and read, it seems to me that there is much misunderstanding about the whole topic of salvation. Although the concept of salvation in the Bible can be explained simply so that a child can understand, there also is a depth of wisdom in the Bible that God wants us to know.
This message series, All About Salvation will speak to anyone who is sincerely seeking to understand what the Bible teaches on the topic of salvation. If you are seeking to know God, then you will learn much and I trust become a believer by the end of the series. If you’re currently a believer, this series will be of great value to you. You will learn what the Bible has to say about salvation, so you will be better able to explain it to people you know who are not yet believers.
This more in depth treatment of salvation will help you answer questions or arguments against salvation that are espoused every day across the media. It is also my prayer that when we understand salvation more completely, that God will grip our hearts with the urgency of the hour and our need to be workers in telling others about Jesus.
So this series will be valuable both for the seeking unbeliever and for the growing believer. But there is a third category this series will be important for, those who think they are believers but are not. In many countries of the world, especially Muslim countries, the number of Christian believers is quite low. In those kinds of countries, it is a huge risk to make a claim to be a believer, so those who do are truly believers who want to stand for their faith. There is a huge cost to claiming to be a Christian.
In the United States, the situation is quite different. There is still great advantage in claiming to be a Christian, so almost everyone does. Today, 80% of adults claim to be Christian. Yet, of those 80%, only 1 in 7 say that their relationship with God is their highest priority in life. Only 1 in 5 say that their decision to believe in Jesus was their most important decision in life. If we delve into the beliefs of those 80% who say they are Christian, only 8% hold basic biblical beliefs on core issues. Bottom line, according to the Bible, is that only 10-20% of those who claim to be Christians, actually are. So, in the United States, one of the biggest impediments to reaching people for Jesus, is that we, as believers, think almost everybody we know is a believer and so do they, when the very opposite is true.
So, in this series, we’re going to be looking at the first 3 chapters of Romans, written by Paul, which talk about the need for salvation. I’d encourage you to read it on your own.
Romans 1:16-17 (NIV) I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
These are the theme verses of the entire book of Romans. A true faith in Jesus Christ results in salvation. But what are we saved from? That’s where Paul begins in Romans. So, today, my message is entitled “Understanding God’s Wrath.”
Listen to or watch my September 16, 2012 message Understanding God’s Wrath.