THE BIBLE AND SALVATION

THE BIBLE AND SALVATION
Romans 10:17
by Cooper Abrams

Introduction: If a person begins to think about anything other than the every day life he lives he must realize he has a problem. The problem can be stated in a question: "What am I doing here!" "Where did I come from, what am I to do and where will all this end?"
ILLUS: There was a song released in 1960, and sung by Larry Verne, that I thought was very funny and entertaining. Its was name "Mr. Custer" The song was about Custer's Last Stand and one of the soldiers is singing and describing the battle. You can hear arrows flying past and drums beating in the back ground. Zip, zip..... The soldier says in the song, "Boy, look at all them Indians!" The lyrics of the song are...
"That famous day in history, The men of the 7th Cavalry went riding on, And from the rear a voice was heard, A brave young man with a trembling word rang loud and clear, " What am I doin' here? "Please Mr. Custer, I don't wanna go Hey, Mr. Custer, please don't make me go I had a dream last night about the comin' fight Somebody yelled "Attack!" And there I stood with a arrow in my back. Please Mr. Custer, I don't wanna go (Forward, HO-O-O-O-O!) Oooohhhh."

           If a person begins to think about life he must also come to the conclusion he is in a predicament. He had nothing to do with being born, yet he was born. He is alive and therefore must go about the business of living. He sees people around him dying and knows he will die too in time. He too cries out in his soul....."I do not want to die."
           How can we know why we are here and what life and death is all about. The answer is that this universe, the earth and you and I are the creation of Almighty God.
           There are two way we know that. One is called Natural Revelation. We see the design in the Universe and know if there is design there must be a Designer. Natural Revelation does not tell us who is the Designer, but that He exists.
           Second we have what is called Special Revelation that comes from our Designer or Creator. This tells us about who God is, about ourselves and God's workings and plan down through ages and into the future.
           Special revelation is the written word of God which explains all the questions for us. It gives us the absolute truth and also explains our purpose for being here and what is our Creator's plans for us.
           Our Creator tells us in Romans 3:10-18
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that under standeth, there is none that seemeth after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. "

           Romans 3:23-25 continues and says:
           "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God."
           God tells us we are sinners and that redemption is in Christ Jesus who is the "full payment" (propitiation) for our sins through faith in his blood. In other word God who created us is saying salvation comes through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ and God gives us or imparts to us His rightness for the remission of our sins. The forbearance of God speaks of His grace to us, meaning His giving us unmerited favor.
           The Bible tells us that salvation involves four things:

1. Conviction of sin.
2. A knowledge of the way to be saved.
3. A definite acceptance, by faith of that way.
4. Instruction in living fulfilled satisfied, successful and productive live for the Lord.

           The instrument God uses to accomplish all this is His Word - The Bible. Many have down through time cast doubts on whether we can trust the Bible or not. Some have declared it a book of myths, of the traditions and legends of the Jews and denied that it is the inspired word of God. They are wrong and we have ample evidence to prove that the Bible is God's infallible, inspired word and is without error. This means we can be totally confident that if we believe what the Bible says, it is our Creator's word and if we believe it and obey it God will save us, give our lives purpose and heaven when we die. Lets look at what God's very word does.

I. THE BIBLE CONVICTS MEN OF THEIR SINS. Hebrews 4:12

A. God tells us about ourselves. He uses the Bible to do that.

1. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb. 4:12)
2. The Word of God, called here the Law, tells us what is sin.

Romans 3:20. "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

           One of my hobbies is working with computers. I once purchased a manual which explains what computers are, how they work, and how to repair and upgrade them.
           If I wanted to know about computers then I will read the material and learn about them. In turn what I learn will be applied in how I use them and what I do to them.
           If a problem arose I would go to the manual to find the answer and what should be my response, my action. However in time computers changed and the manual became worthless.
           The Bible is God's instruction book. It tell the plain and pure truth about God, this world, man and our relationship to Him.
           It tells us were we came from and why we are here. It is written my God, using men who loved God and let God use them.
           It is an eternal Book, because it is the very word of God and God and His word are eternal. Further, God is immutable as Mal. 3:6 tells us meaning He does not change and therefore neither does His word to men.
           The truth is that man is a sinner and needs redemption. The Bible explains that man is blinded by sin, and thus God gave us the Bible, His word to tell us this truth and reveal our condition and its cure.

B. When a person hears the truth, God does not stop there with just letting him hear it. God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit brings conviction to the heart and helps us to understand and realize it is truth.

Acts 2:37. "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

The Philippian jailer saw the faith of Paul and Silas. The Holy Spirit brought conviction to his heart and he asked, "Sirs what must I do to be saved?"
John 16:7-15. (the promise of the Comforter)
ILLUS: It has been said that God's Book does not yield up it's secrets to those who will not be taught by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is not a carnal book to be understood in the power of the flesh. It is not an intellectual book to be understood by the mental faculties of man. It is rather a Godly book to be interpreted by the Spirit of God.

II. THE BIBLE ALONE REVEALS THE WAY OF SALVATION.

A. Timothy did not know of God because his mother and grandmother were good people and taught him to be good too. He came to trust Christ and receive eternal life because they taught him the Word of God.

"And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:15

B. Paul said this was what he preached and why.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4. "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

C. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

1. The verse says God "breathed" or inspired the very words of those He used to write the Bible.
2. These words are profitable, "or reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

D. If we want to please God then we can will full confidence know we do when we live by His word.

III. THE BIBLE MUST BE BELIEVED IF ONE IS TO BE SAVED. John 5:24

A. Remember my computer manuals. I have a will and I can chose to believe what the manual says or not.

1. Christ Jesus told men they needed to repent of their sins and accept the promises and free pardon of God.

The message of the greatest Preacher was most rejected, even as it is today. However, a small band of 12 men, 11 believed and placed their trust in Him and what He said. Not without evidence of who He was, they said the miracle He preformed. They saw the evidence that He was God as He said He was.
These men were saved and many after them, yet still most people reject this simple truth.

2. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

James 1:21. "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."
Other books were written for our information. God gave us the Bible for our transformation.

B. God is not the wrathful uncaring God of the world, but a loving God who is also respectful. If a man chooses to ignore the Word of God, God lets Him.

It grieves the Lord greatly, he know the wages of sin is death, he warns us but he does not force us to heed the warning.

IV. THE BIBLE DEMANDS AND PRODUCES FAITH. Acts 17:11-12

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few."

A.. The more we know of the Bible the greater is our confidence in it. You can not have full confidence in something you know very little about.
B. We must apply ourselves to the whole Bible before we can apply the whole Bible to ourselves.
C. Samping the Word of God only occasionally will never give you a real taste for it nor will it satisfy you and fulfill you needs.

ILLUS: Almost every time you go to Sam's Club there will be ladies there serving little tid bits of various food products. They only give you a tiny little taste. It certainly does not satisfy and the point it to get you buy the product and then "chow down" until you are filled. We should read and study the Word of God will vigor so that we might be filled and fed fully by God.

D. Those who know the Lord are the messengers of God's Truth. Jesus prayed for those who would believe after hearing the truth from those others who believed and taught.

John 17:20. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Romans 10:17. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Matt. 28:19-20, we are command to teach all nations, to make disciples (students) of them.

V. BY THE BIBLE WE ARE BORN AGAIN.

A. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." 1 Peter 1:23

1. Think for a moment? If what a church teaches is not the pure truth of God's Word, what is the effect?
2. We are saved and forgiven by the Word of God.
James 1:18. "Of his own will begat us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

B. Only the truth will save. Only a belief of the truth can a man be saved. Believing a lie produces a lie.

VI. WE WILL BE JUDGED BY THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE. Hebrews 12:25

A. "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:"

1. Although man has degraded the Bible and cast a shadow over it, it remains pure.
2. It is common for people in frustration to say the Bible is confusing....yet the confusion is in the minds of men, not in the Bible. And each of us can know without error what God has truly said.

B. God said His word was not given for private interpretation. All can know it and be changed by it.

John 12:48. "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

CONCLUSION:

1. Do you believe the Word of God? In other words do you believe God.

a. God's word says we are all sinners and separated from God. Further it tells us the wages of sin is death....eternal death and separation from God.
b. The Gospel or Good News is that Jesus Christ, our God and Savior died on the cross and there paid the sin debt we owe. He offers us redemption, which means forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven with Him as a free gift if we will believe and receive Him. c. The question this morning is have you believed and accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior.
d. God has given us His word on the matter and says to all men:

READ: Romans 10:9-10.
2. The Bible was written over a period of 2500 years. The last book was written 2000 years ago. Yet, we still have it today preserved in its entirety without error or omission because God as preserved it so that we might know Him and have eternal life.

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