“Accept Jesus as your personal savior”
1) In almost area of life we use special terminology.
a) Doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers and bankers have their own way of describing things.
b) A mother has her own special words and ways.
c) Even religious groups use terminology that is often specific to their group.
2) When it comes to people who believe in Christ, there is an expression that is often used.
3) Jesus is referred to as a “personal savior.”
4) Within the churches of Christ we do not hear “personal savior” all that often.
5) There is nothing necessarily wrong with personal savior; our brethren typically use other wording.
6)
Tonight we want
to think about Jesus being a “personal savior,” especially in the sense
that others use this expression.
7) This material is designed to make several brief points.
a) First, I want to take note of what people generally mean by “personal savior.”
b) What is the intent when someone says, “Is Jesus your personal savior?”
c) Most of us have heard someone say, “Accept Jesus as your personal savior today.”
d) What is the exact meaning of this expression?
8) Generally a person is saying someone should put their faith and trust in Christ.
9) A person should accept Jesus into their heart and trust He will forgive them of their sins.
10) A person who wants Jesus to come into their heart is then usually asked to say a brief prayer.
a) Within the churches of Christ, we generally describe this process as “faith only” salvation.
b) We use this description because a person is being told that are saved by faith alone.
c) If they “accept Christ,” all they do is believe.
d) Nothing is being said about repentance, confession, baptism or faithful Christian living.
11) If we are following the Bible, we object to how the world uses “accept Jesus as your personal savior.”
12) Anytime these words are used and the meaning is salvation by faith alone, we cannot support that.
13) We need to be careful with this expression because it never occurs in the Bible.
14) Not one time do we find a statement like, “accept Jesus as your personal savior.”
15) This is one of the reasons many members of the church shy away from this language.
16)
It is not only
without Biblical support, what people mean by these words is also not
found in the Bible.
WHILE WE WOULD NOT AGREE WITH WHAT THE WORLD MEANS WHEN IT SAYS “ACCEPT JESUS AS YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOR,” WE WOULD AGREE ON THIS FACT: JESUS IS THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.
a) Luke 2 tells us that shortly after Jesus was born shepherds were notified of His birth.
b) An angel of the Lord came near to them (Lk. 2:9) and these men were frightened.
c) The angel said to not fear; it had “tidings of great joy” (verse 10).
2) Here is a description of the angel’s good news – verse 11 – READ
3) In the “city of David” a “savior” was born.
a) Is Jesus a savior? Yes. Heaven has said this is the Lord’s role.
b) Paul told Titus (Tit. 2:13) that Jesus is our savior.
c) Jesus was born to be a savior and He fulfills that divine role.
d) Peter said “grow in the grace and knowledge of our savior” (2 Pet. 3:18).
e) John (1 Jn. 4:14) says Jesus was sent into the world to be a “savior.”
WE FULLY AGREE THAT JESUS IS THE SAVIOR. ANOTHER THING WE AGREE ON IS THAT WE MUST GO TO THE SAVIOR; JESUS WILL NOT SAVE US IF WE DO NOT SEEK HIM.
a) In a great invitation (Mt. 11:28) Jesus said, “come unto me.”
b) If we accept this offer, who are we going to go to? The Savior.
c) Jesus said in Jn. 7:37 – “if any man thirst, come unto me.”
2) In the Old Testament era the nation of Israel had “thirsted.”
3) Being in the desert left people parched; they needed water to survive.
4) There was also a need for water to wash clothing.
5) It has been estimated that Israel needed 11 million gallons of water a day while in the desert.
6) In 1 Cor. 10:1-4 Paul told the Corinthians that Jesus provided the water for the nation of Israel.
7) Imagine the Lord providing millions of water a day for the Hebrews – that is impressive.
8) Let’s move forward to the New Testament. Now Jesus is still helping people.
a) He is not providing the physical things like He did for Old Testament Israel.
b) He offers “spiritual drink” and “spiritual food.”
c) The Lord addressed this in places like Jn. 4.
d) He met up with a woman who was after some water.
e) Jesus said He could offer her “living water.”
f) He offered water that was so unique He said no one would ever thirst again.
g) This is figurative language that meant He was and is the savior.
h) Israel received physical help; in the New Testament era Jesus specializes in spiritual help.
9) Jesus is the savior and we must go to Him.
10) If we do not go to Him, the Lord has promised (Jn. 14:6) that we will not make it to the Father.
WE UNDERSTAND FROM THE VERSES GIVEN THAT WE MUST COME TO JESUS BECAUSE HE IS THE SAVIOR, BUT WHAT HAS BEEN SAID THUS FAR DOES NOT TELL US “HOW TO COME.”
a) How do we let Jesus be our savior?
b) We often talk about having “faith” in someone.
c) We may say we “have faith” in someone or we “do not have faith” in a person.
d) Jesus says He will not be our savior if we do not have faith in Him.
2) If we do not have faith in Jesus as the savior, we will die in our sins (Jn. 8:24).
3) We cannot come to Jesus without belief.
a) This is understandable, but where does this belief come from?
b) Often times when people are told to “accept Christ” the belief they have has no basis.
c) God says this is not how He designed things to operate.
d) Rom. 10:17 says “faith” (belief) comes by hearing the word of God.
4) We cannot have faith (something that is absolutely required) without the scriptures.
5) Many times I hear people tell others to “accept Christ” but say nothing about the scriptures.
6) That type of teaching is a contradiction.
a) We cannot have faith in Christ without the Bible.
b) Having the Bible and believing what it says, though, is not enough.
c) Bible faith is an active faith (it obeys).
d) This is why Jesus said in Lk. 13:3: Repent or perish.
e)
Jesus wants to
save us, but He will not do that if we do not make a commitment to live
in the right way.
7) A man who is a drunk cannot continue that way of life.
8) A thief cannot continue to steal – repentance means change and change for the better.
9) If we are going to turn to Christ as our savior, that change will be acknowledged.
10) This is what we refer to as “confession.”
11) Timothy made a “confession” (1 Tim. 6:12) – he decided to follow Christ.
12) That was an important step, but it was not the final step for him.
a) Jesus will not save us unless we become part of His spiritual body (the church).
b) Thus, in Gal. 3:27 Paul spoke of being “baptized into Christ.”
c) Acts 2:38 says people were “baptized” and then “added” to the people (church (verses 41, 47).
d) Baptism puts us into the “one body” (the church, 1 Cor. 12:13).
e) There are terms to be met for Jesus to save us and those terms have just been given.
13) If we take Christ as our savior, that means He is going to control things in our life.
a) In Col. 2:23 Paul spoke of “will-worship.”
b) There were some people who thought they would decide what was right and wrong for worship.
c) Whoever these people were, they really had guts.
14) Imagine walking into the place where we work and say, “It is time for some changes.
15) “I know I am not the boss, but we are going to do things my way.”
16) In the physical realm no person who wants to keep their job would do that.
17) In the spiritual realm this happens all the time.
a) People claim to come to Christ for salvation and then proceed to tell Jesus how things are going to be.
b) They tell Him how often they are going to worship. They tell Him how they are going to worship.
c) They tell Him what they will and will not do in the Christian life.
d) They tell Him what to give them when they pray.
e) In many respects Jesus moves from savior to man’s personal slave.
f) When we look at how some think and act, Jesus is given the role of a divine butler.
g) People may try to live their lives in this manner, but Jesus will not accept this way of life.
18) Long ago Jesus said this in Lk. 6:46 – QUOTE.
19) There are those who claim to take Jesus as their savior, but Jesus said the claims are a lie.
JUST BECAUSE A PERSON NAMES THE NAME OF CHRIST, OR LIVES AS A CHRISTIAN FOR A WHILE, DOES NOT MEAN HE TRULY BELONG TO JESUS.
a) If Jesus is our savior, He has that relationship with us because we have been obedient.
b) “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
c) This is what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.
d) Who will be in heaven, Lord? “He that does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
e) If we turn to Jesus for our savior, we seek to be obedient in all things.
2) Accept Jesus as our personal savior makes for a nice line in a speech.
3) It sounds great in a sermon or in a personal Bible study.
a) Unfortunately, this is not what God decided to put in the Bible.
b)
Jesus said “take up my cross.”
“Love your family less.”
“Seek first the kingdom of God.
“If
you love your life, you are going to lose it” (Jn. 12:25).
c) “Sell what you have and give to the poor” (Mt. 19:21).
d) “Follow me.” “Be faithful, even to the point of death.”
4) The “accept Jesus as your savior” sounds like an easy and carefree life.
5) Jesus said His way is not all that easy. He will save us and He wants to save us.
6) He will save the people who have committed (bound) themselves to Him.
7) “Accepting Christ” sounds a lot like filling out a form – fill it out, mail it, and we are all done.
8) Christianity is not like that. Jesus said it is a “daily” part of life.
9) Are we a Christian who is committed to live as a Christian every single day?