A MESSY VIEW OF SALVATION
MESSY SALVATION
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord!
We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ Â
But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me. (Matthew 7:21-23 – New Living Translation)
SALVATION: MESSY VIEWS OF HOW WE GET IT
ISSUE: We think that salvation is something we can achieve on our own
Messy Mentality 1: “I can be good enough� to get to heaven
For I was born a sinner -yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5 – New Living Translation)
Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard. (Romans 3:23- New Century Version)
Anyone who tries to keep all of the Law but fails at one point is guilty of failing to keep all of it. (James 2:10 – Contemporary English Bible)
Messy Mentality 2: “I can work hard enough� to get to heaven
We're all sin-infected, sin-contaminated. Our best efforts are grease-stained rags. (Isaiah 64:6 – The Message)
All of us have been sinful; even our best actions are filthy through and through. (Isaiah 64:6 – Good News Bible
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9 – New Living Translation)
SALVATION: MESSY VIEWS OF HOW WE LIVE IT
"I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please;
not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep,
but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk
or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man
or pick beets with a migrant.
I want the warmth of a womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.”
Messy Mentality 1: Incidental addition vs. Essential Foundation
These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. Â
They are foundational words, words to build a life on. (Matthew 7:24 – The Message) Â
Messy Mentality 2: External reformation vs. Internal transformation
I'll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. Â
I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 – The Message)
The “genuine label� of Christianity is a changed life!
This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is changing lives everywhere, Â
just as it changed yours that very first day you heard and understood the truth about God's great kindness to sinners. (Colossians 1:6 – New Living Translation
What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17 – New Living Translation)
Whenever anybody meets Jesus, they are never the same again!
You cannot be a Christian & stay the same as you’ve always been
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters
nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 – New International Version)
Those who live in Christ don't go on sinning. Those who go on sinning haven't seen or known Christ. Dear children, don't let anyone deceive you . . .
The person who lives a sinful life belongs to the devil, because the devil has been committing sin since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God appeared was to destroy what the devil does.
Those who have been born from God don't live sinful lives. What God has said lives in them, and they can't live sinful lives. They have been born from God.
This is the way God's children are distinguished from the devil's children. Everyone who doesn't do what is right or love other believers isn't God's child. (1 John 3:6-10 – God’s Word)
The world around us isn’t asking, “Is Christianity true?”
but rather “Does Christianity work?” and we’ve got to show them it does!
What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people. May God’s mercy and peace be upon all those who live by this principle.
They are the new people of God. (Galatians 6:14-16 – New Living Translation)
You can laugh at Christianity. You can mock and ridicule it. But it works. It changes lives.
If you trust Christ, start watching your attitudes and actions because Jesus Christ is in the business of changing lives. (Josh McDowell)
SALVATION – CLEANING UP THE MESS
D - O vs. D – O – N - E
He saved us because of his mercy, not because of any good things we did. (Titus 3:5 – Easy To Read Version)
Achieved vs. Received Â
He gave the right and the power to become children of God to those who received Him. (John 1:12 – New Life Version)
Religion vs. Relationship Â
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. (Revelation 3:20 – New Century Version)
“Christian”
“Christ in”
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. (Revelation 3:20 – New Century Version)
Let’s Pray