Salvation in the past tense—the new birth, or justification by God—is wonderful. Blessed indeed is the person who can look back and say, “I have been saved. I have committed my life to Jesus as Lord and Savior and experienced the joy of forgiveness and the privilege of becoming a member of God’s family.”
Salvation in the future tense, which includes the promise of victory over death and the grave and the privilege of fellowship with the Father and the saints for eternity, is certainly a great salvation that brings joy to each believer. The New Testament calls this glorification. The gift of the Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee to each believer of the final redemption from the consequences of sin.
Salvation in the present tense—called sanctification in the New Testament—is also part of God’s plan for each of his children. It is not God’s will that his children live under the dominion of evil. Jesus Christ came to save us from the power and practice of sin as soon as we experience the new birth; this protection continues until either death or Jesus’ glorious return.
To be saved from the penalty of sin, trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. To be saved from the tragedy of living a life of emptiness and failure, you must live in cooperation and fellowship with Jesus Christ as he seeks to work out God’s great salvation in your life.
The Christian life should be seen as a process of becoming and being what God wants us to be. Many focus only on the beginning of this process. Others think only of its final consummation.
Today we concentrate on an absolute essential for experiencing triumph in our spiritual lives: Today we focus on the process of growing spiritually.
Click the YouTube link at the end of the manuscript to hear an audio recording of the sermon.
Some people would like to experience victory over failures and mistakes before they make a profession of faith and become identified with Christ. These sincere people need to be more informed.
A. The new birth, which results in a new nature from God, must happen first.
No one can begin to live a Christian life and manifest the fruit of the Spirit until he or she experiences the new birth.
John 3:5-7 NIV Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
Jesus said this because we must be born before we can have life.
B. Salvation is much more than a person sincerely making some good resolutions.
- Now that I’m saved I’m going to pray everyday.
- Now that I’m saved I’m going to read the Bible everyday.
- Now that I'm saved I'm gonna treat everybody right
- Now that I’m saved I’m going to give to those in need.
- Now that I’m saved I’m going to witness for Jesus
Those are all good resolutions and I hope that you keep them all but salvation is more than that because we often do those things or try to keep those resolutions in our own power.
Those are good things but we can’t keep it up outside the help of the Holy Spirit.
As seen outwardly, good works are those actions which agree with God’s revealed precepts in the law. Even the unsaved may appear to do things considered to be “good”. These good works do nothing to improve acceptability before God.
True good works are the result of and a fruit of regeneration. Therefore believers do good works by the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit which enables them to do those works. When God moves us and enables us, we are doing the good works as his agents.
Philippians 2:12-13 NIV Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
We are His ambassadors.
2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
C. Salvation is much more than just obedience to a code of laws.
In Romans 7 Paul described his attempts to please God and himself by obedience to laws through the power of human effort.
Romans 7:14-20 NIV We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
As believers in Christ, you and I can identify with Paul’s struggle with sin. Sin does not just go away when we become a believer. There is an ongoing struggle that each one of us has with sin. Those who are genuinely born again will continue to battle with sin.
Paul, like most of us, failed miserably and was very unhappy as he sought to find acceptance before God through obedience to the law.
However he and we can rejoice because of our salvation through Jesus.
Romans 7:25 NIV Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
D. At Salvation, God creates new life in the heart of someone who believes the good news of salvation.
James 1:18 NIV He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Some people want to experience salvation through human effort, but it cannot be experienced until they turn to God in repentance and faith.
Ephesians 2:4-9 NIV But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Physical birth does not produce a full-grown person. At birth no one is strong, mature, or competent. There are some things that only time, growth, and experience can provide. The same is true in the spiritual realm.
God relates to each of us in terms of tender, loving care. Our Father wants all of His children to know they are part of a spiritual family, the church, where they can all be nurtured.
Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
There are many things that children of God are unable to do because of their immaturity. Time and growth can make a difference.
Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Human children are exceedingly dependent on their parents for nurture. In a similar manner, the children of God are dependent on the church family for nurture and encouragement.
Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
2. Spiritual children, like human children, make mistakes.
Some mistakenly believe that conversion alone will solve the major problems and completely change the habits that were developed before they came to know Jesus Christ as Savior. This false expectancy has contributed to both spiritual defeat and depression. We need to realize that just as human infants make mistakes as they progress toward maturity, infants in the family of God also experience failure before they reach maturity. To be a child in God’s family should cause us to have an attitude of humility concerning ourselves.
Romans 12:3 NIV For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
1 Corinthians 10:11-12 NIV These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
At the same time that we exhibit humility, it should encourage us to have hope for a better tomorrow if we continue to grow.
1 John 1:8-9 NIV If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
A. Spiritual hunger is normal for children of God (Matt. 5:6).
Matthew 5:6 NIV Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
As hunger and thirst are the most highly developed of our natural appetites, this hunger and thirst refers to "those whose deepest cravings are after spiritual blessings."
Just as physical craving is urgent, and calls for instant gratification, there is a spiritual craving that is equally, if not more intense.
We're not to hunger and thirst after happiness, but after righteousness.
So Jesus was actually asking, “How much do you want righteousness? As much as a hungry person wants food? As much as a thirsty person wants water?”. If you do, Jesus said that you will be blessed, or happy.
B. We are commanded to hunger for nourishment from God’s Word.
The absence of hunger indicates either illness or the absence of life. Those who are spiritually dead have no hunger for spiritual things. An intense hunger for the things of God indicates the presence of spiritual life.
We should intensify this hunger so we can become strong and zealous children of God and effectively minister to others.
The Bible is more than an instruction manual or a rulebook. It is more than a random collection of stories, poems, and letters. It is the voice of God communicating with us. That is why the Bible is often referred to as “the Word of God.”
Matthew 4:4 NIV Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
David saw God’s word as his source of life and hope. He delighted in it. He continually meditated on it. He understood that God spoke to him through it.
I'm going to read verses to show you just some of what David said about God's Word.
Psalms 119:97-98, 105, 114 NIV Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.
C. Spiritual growth is God’s plan for us.
Simply listening to the truth does not mean that we've gotten it. Actual growth requires more than just inputting information. It requires action.
Here’s something that I read a couple of years ago from Dr. Charles Stanley;
James 1:22 (NKJV)22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Growing in Christ involves far more than just attending church, tithing, and listening to a sermon.
In fact, many believers do these yet remain stagnant in their walk.
There are two elements necessary for us to become more like Jesus: instruction and involvement.
The first of these, learning truth, is vital to a healthy walk with God. Our Savior proved the importance of instruction by devoting much of His time on earth to it. The apostle Paul is another example, as he wrote letters to educate Christians about godliness.
So how can we gain knowledge and understanding? One of the most important and effective ways is to read the Word of God. Scripture instructs us that just as newborns crave milk, we are to desire His Word so that we might grow.
(1 Peter 2:2 NIV) “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation”
Yet simply listening to the truth does not mean that we've acquired it. Many people love attending Bible studies and expanding their knowledge base, but their lives remain unchanged. We have to apply the Word to our lives. Even then, actual growth requires more than merely inputting information. It requires action.
James 2:26 states, "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
Are we careless hearers, deceived into thinking that we're growing? Or are we listening intently and abiding in the truth? If we're truly maturing, our lives will be increasingly Christlike, and our desires will align more closely with God's heart. Make sure that you are listening and responding to His truth.
Conclusion
Spiritual birth begins the journey from where we are to where God wants us to be. Our spiritual growth is in proportion to the amount of Scripture we “eat.” Every day we need to read, digest, and manifest the great truths found in God’s Word.
(1 Peter 2:2 NIV) “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation”