Past, Present & Future Grace

Transcript

GRM 1025
04/12/2009
Past, Present and Future Grace
Titus 2:11-14
Gil Rugh


What an amazing difference three days made, from gloom and despair and hopelessness as the Messiah of Israel, the One in whom the followers of Jesus had placed all their hopes, crucified on the cross as a common criminal, rejected by His own people Israel, crucified under the authority of the Roman government. Despair, hopelessness. Three days later He is raised from the dead and everything is seen in a different light. The sovereign God has provided salvation, the death of His Son was part of the plan that He had set in place before the creation of the world to provide and make provision for the saving of lost, sinful human beings. So indeed the resurrection is a glorious event. Something we celebrate, not just on this day, but it is constantly before us every day because it tells us the death on the cross did indeed accomplish the work of salvation.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to Romans 4. I want to look at a couple of passages of scripture with you before I take you to one passage where we will be focusing our attention for our time this morning. In Romans 4 the Apostle Paul has been setting forth in this chapter the only way of salvation, it's the only way there has ever been for a person to be saved. He uses Abraham. Abraham lived about 2000 years before Christ. And Abraham is the example that he uses to show how a person can indeed be counted as righteous in the sight of a holy and righteous God. And it is simply by faith. And he uses a passage in Genesis 15:6 where we are told Abraham believed God and God credited to Abraham as righteousness. And that establishes the pattern. Anyone who has ever been saved, been forgiven their sins and brought into right relationship with God has been saved on the same basis—faith in God and what He has promised. No one ever at any period in time and history, not one person ever has been saved by their good works, by their religious activity or by any other action. It has always been simply by faith in God and the promises He has given. That's because there is only one God, so there can only be one way of salvation.

You come down to the end of Romans 4. After telling us it was because, and there is the quoting of the verse in verse 22, was because Abraham believed God. It was also credited to him as righteousness. Now that wasn't just written for Abraham's sake so he would know that he was righteous by faith in God and His promises, but it was written for our sake also, verse 24 tells us. So that you and I would know how to be saved. Understand, many people are confused on this today. They think that they'll be saved, they'll be acceptable to God by virtue of the fact they are a pretty good person, they haven't done anything terribly wrong, or they've tried to be good, they've tried to be religious. They got baptized, they teach Sunday School or whatever. But this was written for our sake also so we would learn how God will credit righteousness to our account.

But for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, righteousness will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. What God has declared is that He has provided salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. The penalty for sin is death, Jesus Christ God's Son died to pay our penalty. So you read verse 25, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions. Delivered over to crucifixion. Why? Because of our sins, our offenses. The wages of sin is death, the Son of God stepped in and took our place. He was delivered over to be crucified because of our sins. He was raised because of our justification. Justification simply means to declare righteous, same basic word we get the word righteousness from in the Greek language. He had provided righteousness, He had done what was necessary for us to be declared righteous by the righteous judge, the Holy God. He was raised because righteousness had been provided for us, He had stepped in, taken our place, paid the penalty for our sin so it would be possible for God to declare sinful people righteous.

So Romans 5 begins, therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. How do I get the work of Christ credited to my account? By faith. We are justified by faith, by believing God and what He has promised, that He will save anyone who believes in His sin, will recognize that he is a sinner and that the Son of God came to earth to die on a cross to pay the penalty for sin. And He was raised from the dead. Why are we celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Even if it were an awesome miracle that a dead man came to life, that's wonderful, that's a miracle, that's tremendous. Why is that so important to me personally 2000 years later? You know there were many other miracles done and recorded in the Bible. Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ of such overwhelming importance? Because it declares that there is salvation, the death of Christ on the cross satisfies the demands of God's righteousness. He will save all who believe in Him.

Turn over to II Corinthians 5. This is in the context where we have been reminded that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ some day. Down in verse 14 we are told that the love of Christ controls us, the love that Christ had for us, having concluded this that one died for all, therefore all died. And He died for all so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. You cannot separate the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His death without His resurrection would have left us without hope. You have to have the resurrection as the climax, the victorious climax of His death that shows He conquered death. He was the victor over sin.

Now why did He die and live again? To forgive us our sins, if we would believe in Him. Yes, but that's not the completion. Look at verse 15, He died for all so that they who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. The salvation that He provides cleanses us from our sins, makes us new so that now we will live for Him. So we're told in verse 17, therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature. The old things passed away, behold new things have come. Now all these things are from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, now note this, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against Him. And He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. We have been entrusted with this message to tell people, you can be reconciled to God. You are the enemy of God because of sin, I am the enemy of God because of sin. But we can be reconciled to God. Why was the Son of God on this earth hanging on a cross? Why was He raised from the dead? Because we are sinners. There are no exceptions. All have sinned, there is none righteous, not even one. There is no excuse for not understanding the clarity of God's Word on this. We are all sinners justly condemned.

But now we have a message to tell people—you can be reconciled to God, you can be brought into right relationship with Him. Verse 20, therefore we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. How can this happen? He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf. He took our place. Peter said it this way, He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. So that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. The penalty for my sin has been paid. Now God can credit me with the righteousness of Christ.

Well we beg you to be reconciled. What do you have to do? Remember what we just read in Romans 4? Believe what God has said. You are a sinner, Christ died for you, He was raised because He provided salvation for you. Be reconciled to God. What are you waiting for? Why not today? We beg you, be reconciled to God.

Come over to Titus 2. We read in II Corinthians 5 that Christ died for us so that we would no longer live for ourselves. The beautiful thing about the salvation that God has provided is it is complete. It provides cleansing from sin and has delivered us from the penalty of our sin which is death and an eternal suffering in hell. And it provides for us to live lives now that are pleasing to God. In the book of Titus Paul is concerned that we understand that true salvation brings about a change in life. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold new things have come, II Corinthians 5. Look in Titus 1:18, they profess to know God. There are some claiming to be Christians or claiming to be believers in God. They profess to know God but by their deeds they deny Him. Then he has some very strong language. Being detestable, disobedient, worthless for any good deed. They claim to know God but their lives show them to be liars.

He goes on in chapter 2 to talk about whether you are an old man, an old woman, a young man, a young woman, a slave. If you believe in Jesus Christ, He'll change your life and make you new and enable you to live a life that is pleasing to God. He's concerned as he says at the end of verse 10, that we will adorn the doctrine of God, Titus 2:10. Adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. In other words our lives are like the clothing, the adornment, what is seen that show and reveal that the salvation of our God has changed us completely from the inside out. How does this work? Verse 11, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all men. He's really telling us how and why we live lives of godliness. Some people are confused, they think they try to live a good life, a life that would be pleasing to God so that God will accept them so they can be saved. But that's not possible. What it takes is a supernatural work of God to change us so we can live for Him. So we're told the grace of God has appeared. The grace of God is a beautiful little expression that really summarizes in a concise way that Jesus Christ died for our sins and He was raised from the dead on the third day. And all who believe in Him will be cleansed and made new and credited with God's righteousness. That's what it means, the grace of God. God's grace is that which we do not deserve, we cannot earn, we cannot merit, we cannot do anything to acquire. His grace is what He has done for us in His love, His mercy, His kindness, something we don't deserve.

The grace of God has appeared. When did it appear? Past tense, in the past, it appeared with the coming of His Son, His crucifixion on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. We know that because down in verse 14 he'll tell us that Christ gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed. The grace of God has appeared. We're going to find here, we're going to just go through these verses quickly, that God is going to unfold what He has done for us in the past, what that means for us in the present and what is the focal point of our life for the future. The grace of God has appeared. We are celebrating today the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Reminder, three days earlier He was crucified and buried. The grace of God has appeared. What can you call it but grace, why the Son of God stepped from the throne of glory to come and be born into this sin-cursed world so that He could die the awful death of crucifixion, be cursed of God because cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree so He could pay the penalty for our sins. The grace of God has appeared, He did for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Bringing salvation for all men. You know some people get very offended because Bible-believing Christians say there is only one way to heaven. Turn back to Acts 4. We live in a pluralistic society and the world likes to think that everybody should be free to believe what they want and every religion is of equal value and all of our beliefs are of equal value. And it becomes very offensive to tell people that there is no way for you to be saved and become acceptable in the presence of a holy God, but through faith in Jesus Christ. Note Acts 4:12, and there is salvation in no one else. You'll note that, there is salvation in no one else. What's the context? Verse 10, he's talking about Jesus Christ the Nazarene, He was from Nazareth. Whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. There is salvation in no one else. How sad. People going to church today, thinking that will help them be acceptable to God. They've been baptized in a church, thinking that will help them to be acceptable to God, or other religions have their beliefs. There are poor deluded sin-controlled people, blowing themselves up, thinking that will enable them to step into Paradise. You understand, there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. Only one way to be saved. You know what that means? Everyone else who does not come this way is lost and on their way to hell. We say, that's awful narrow. But what did we just read?

Come back to Titus 2. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to or for all men. You know what? We only need one way because it doesn't matter if you are an old man like me or an old woman, or a young man or a young woman, or a slave. It doesn't matter. You know what? God's grace has provided a Savior for all men, all nationalities, all languages, anywhere on the face of the earth. There is a Savior. Now there is only one but we only need one because what He has done is paid the price and the penalty for sin for all men. So this salvation is available to anyone and everyone. So while it sound narrow, it is as broad as it could be. The problem is men and woman want to have it on their own terms—I will tell God how I am going to be saved, I will tell God what will make me acceptable to Him. That will never work. But there is a Savior and He is for all men.

This grace has appeared, it has brought salvation for all men. We learn from this grace something about our present lives. Look at verse 12. This grace that appeared 2000 years ago providing salvation for all people instructs us, teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age. When God brings salvation to a life, He changes that life. Remember II Corinthians 5, if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, a new creation. We are made new. That is thrilling. Whatever my sin, we're all in the same boat, defiled by our sin. Sin is ugly, sin is embarrassing. How many people have been embarrassed when they've been revealed with certain sins. You say, how could they do that. But yet all of us are sinners, defiled by our sin, corrupted in the sight of God.

But now He has saved us through faith in Christ, His death and resurrection. Now that grace that saves us teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires. First thing to note, we have to recognize we are new. The old things passed away, I renounce those things, I deny them, I'm done with them. Now I'm not doing this to try to make myself acceptable to God, I'm doing this because God has made me a new person in Christ when I believed in Him. Now I'm done with the old life, I'm renouncing and denying ungodliness, those things which are contrary to God's character, to God's will, to what God would have me be and do, the way He would have me live my life. All ungodliness, all things contrary to the character of God in my behavior, I'm done with them. And worldly desires, worldly lusts, the things of this world that consume and occupy the people of this world. They are focused on being successful, on accomplishing and acquiring and gaining. And it's all focused in this life and this world. But we're denying those worldly desires and the things contrary to the will of God.

Turn over to I John 2:15, do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. You see you can't love God and love the world. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And this world is passing away and also its lusts. But the one who does the will of God lives forever. He's coming to that in our passage in Titus. This is how we are to live, we are to be careful in this present age which is passing away. We don't want to love the things of this world. The world gets in turmoil. Why? The market is down, my hopes for the future are dashed because that was what I was basing my hopes for the future on. Too bad, that's sad. I'm not happy my 403V is down and I'll be preaching here at 90 if the Lord doesn't come, but that's not my hope, that's not the passion of my life. My world has not fallen apart. We're not in love with the things that this world says is important. That doesn't mean we don't enjoy things, we have to provide food for our family, we have to provide a place to live, we have to have clothing. But you know what? Those are just necessities we take care of. But we're not in love with this world, the things that drive this world that the world thinks are so important, that the world admires. We've renounced those worldly desires. That's liberating. I'm free. How glad I am, I can get up and whether the market is up or down, it's all right, I'm okay. The Lord is still on His throne and I still belong to Him and I'm not living for the things of this life, this world.

Come back to Titus 2. We're denying worldly desires and the sinful things. I think it is sad. You know they have spring break for the colleges you'll see on the news all the places the college students flock to. Why? Because they can drink themselves silly, have sex .................. That's what life is about at that stage? How sad, how empty, how futile, how worthless. When Christ changes your life He makes you new and we renounce those things. I learn that from the grace of God because the grace of God in Titus 2:12 is instructing us. We are learning from it. It's not, I made a decision, I trusted Christ when I was 10 years old. I know I haven't been much involved with things but at least I know I'm going to heaven. No. God's grace takes control of your whole life, makes you new and now controls your life and directs your life so that we renounce ungodliness and worldly desires.

And positively, we've learned from God's grace to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age. Sensibly means self-control, with your life under control. You know the world is controlled by its passions. There was an editorial in the paper over the weekend I believe it was, our local paper, by a person who is a research professor, I believe, at the university. And talking about love. What an empty article. Love is when you get that clammy feeling in your palms, those feelings in your ........... You know, is love just a feeling. And so if you can have those feelings you are truly in love. Some people have those feelings for their dog, nothing personal. But I mean it's just a feeling, and you know what happens, all of a sudden I don't feel the same for this person but I feel it for this person. So I guess I'm not in love with this person, I'm in love with this person. But soon the clammy paws, or clammy hands, they are gone and I'm on to the next. And it's one feeling after another. You know what? The grace of God teaches us to live controlled, self-controlled in the biblical sense. I am not controlled by my passions, my desires, drawn by the things that draw the people of the world. I live self-controlled. And as Paul said in I Corinthians 9, I've learned to discipline my body and bring it into subjection.

So you live sensibly, righteously. This is the word to be connected to the word justification. Righteously. In accord with what? Well God has declared my righteous and credited His righteousness to my account when I believed in Christ. So now I live consistent with what I am no was a new person in Christ, characterized by righteousness and righteous behavior, that which is right in the sight of a holy and righteous God. And I live godly. That's just the opposite of what I denied, verse 12, instructing us to deny ungodliness and to live godly. You see God's salvation not only cleanses me from my sin and delivers me from the penalty of my sin which is an eternity in hell, but it now teaches me, instructs me, and enables me to live differently in the present age, in the now age, how we live now, presently. It shapes my conduct. You know there are people who claim to be believers. Oh, yes, I'm a Christian. But their life does not conform to the Word of God, they are not living sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age. You say, I live a pretty good life. We're talking about a life that is lived in obedience to the Word of God. God's salvation not only is powerful enough to forgive me, powerful enough to deliver me from hell, it is powerful enough to give me a new life. That's what it does, and it teaches me how to live.

Now that's the present. I look to the past, the grace of God has appeared in the past, 2000 years ago for us when Christ was crucified and raised from the dead. And that brought salvation for all men, all of us. Two thousand years later we sit here, people are saved. How? By believing in the death and resurrection of Christ. We have no hope, but the fact that Christ died for us and was raised from the dead. And now we live lives pleasing to Him. Now the future, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are looking for the future. You know our sights have been lifted up from this world, the things of this life, the things that control the people of this world. I was reading in one of the business magazines this week about a man who had a heart transplant over a dozen years ago. Now it's breaking down. But he's 79 and he says, that's all right, 80-year-old people don't have a long future anyway. But the sad thing is from the article about him, he knows nothing of the wonder of God's salvation. You know what he is devoting his life to in his last days? Trying to fix the financial problems of this world. You understand there is no future in that. We have a blessed hope that lifts us from the muck and mire of this world and what occupies this world. We have a blessed hope. It's the appearing. Wait a minute, I thought the grace of God sending His Son to suffer and die and be raised from the dead has appeared, verse 11. Yes it has appeared with the appearing of Christ 2000 years ago. But you understand we're looking to His appearing in the future. That's our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is coming again, He's going to gather us to Himself and when He does He'll complete the transformation of our lives to bring us into conformity to Himself.

Look over in I John 3:1, see how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God. And such we are. For this reason the world does not know us because it does not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We haven't yet manifested the fullness of what God has planned for us as those that He has redeemed for Himself. We know that when He appears. There we are. We will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. When God calls us to meet Jesus Christi n the air we will see Him face to face, in an instant of time we will be transformed to be like Him.

This body will be glorified, it will be transformed, be like the body Christ had after His resurrection from the dead, a body not susceptible to pain, sorrow, suffering sickness. No more crying and tears. A body made new, glorified, suitable for eternal glory in the presence of the God of glory. That's my blessed hope, to be taken to the glory of heaven, to dwell in the place that Christ said He was going to prepare for those who loved Him. That's our blessed hope. Christ is coming again. This world is falling apart, turmoil, confusion. That's all right, my hopes are not in this world. My hopes are in the Savior who is coming again. My hopes are in the Savior who, when He comes, will set things right because His salvation includes the ultimate transformation of this earth to be a dwelling place for the people that belong to Him.

Come back to I Corinthians 15. We can't stay long here, but verse 51, behold I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, referring to death, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, this mortal will put on immortality. That's our blessed hope, that's what we're looking forward to.

Come back to Titus. Now you'll note, we have a backward look to the first appearing of Christ, and the salvation He provided, which transforms a life, makes it new, sets it free from sin. Now we live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope. So I look back and base my life on what He did for me on the cross. And I look forward to the fact He will appear again and gather me into His presence. He is the One, verse 14, it takes us back again to the past, we look to the present, the One coming again is the One who came in the past. He gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed. You understand the reason Christ came and suffered and died was to pay the penalty for our sin. He gave Himself for us. Galatians 1:4 says He gave Himself for our sins.

Back up to I Timothy 2. We are told in verse 4 that God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. You realize, what a wonderful statement. Isn't it wonderful to know God wants you to be saved, He wants you to come to know the truth that His Son died to pay the penalty for your sin. He wants you to believe in His Son. God desires all men to be saved. You'd think we would be hearing people say, I wish I could be saved, but God wouldn't want me to be saved. He desires you to be saved, He desires all men to be saved. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There is only one way to God, there is only one who stands between God and men—the man Christ Jesus. Who gave Himself as a ransom for all. We have in Titus He gave Himself to redeem us, so a form of the word we have here, a compound word here with a preposition on the front. To ransom us, to redeem us, to pay what was necessary by standing in our place to pay our penalty. Think of that. You deserve to die and go to hell, I deserve to die and go to hell. Jesus Christ when He died on that cross was stepping into my place to bear my penalty so that God could offer me the free gift of eternal life, if I would turn from my sin and believe in His Son. Is it any wonder we call it the grace of God? He gave Himself as a ransom for all. God desires all men to be saved, so you know what He did? He provided a Savior for all men. The tragedy is there are still multitudes of people who are not saved. Why? They are in rebellion against God, they try to tell the holy God, the awesome God, the only God, I'm doing it my way. These are my beliefs. My beliefs won't save me, my faith won't save me. Only God can save me and only when I believe what He has said, what He has done will I be saved.

He gave Himself a ransom for all because God desires all men to be saved. He made a provision for you, He made a provision for everyone, He made a provision for the Muslims, made a provision for the Hindus. But they are traveling the wrong road. There is only one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all.

Back to Titus. He gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed. The fact that we'd be reminded when the grace of God appeared bringing salvation to all men, He gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed. Every act of rebellion against a holy God, every offense against a holy God. I John 3:4 tells us that sin is lawlessness. When you sin you rebel against God, you break the law of God. We're not talking about the Mosaic Law, it's talking about what God demands and requires of us—perfect holiness, perfect righteousness. We have sinned. He came to redeem us by paying the price that our sin required, which is death. And to purify for Himself. So He set us free from our sin, rebellion against God, to purify for Himself. Can that be any more precious? God wants me for Himself. A people for His own possession, His own special, unique people, the people that have been redeemed, cleansed, given His righteousness. Purify for Himself a people for His own possession. So He redeems us from our lawlessness and purifies us. Doesn't matter what our sin is, the salvation of God cleanses and makes us white as snow.

These people that now are His possession are zealous for good works. You know that word zealous? We have to purify for Himself a people, those of us who have believed in Him. That word zealous is singular, each one of them a zealot for good works. You know what the outstanding characteristic of a true believer in Jesus Christ is? He's a zealot for good deeds. Now you note the pattern here, we are not saved by doing good deeds, but when we've experienced the life transforming power of God in salvation we become a zealot for doing what God wants us to do. We are full of zeal for serving Him. Some people think, I'm a believer, I've placed my faith in Christ, did it when I was young. I know I should be more into it, but at least I know I'm saved. How do you know it? Here we're told that when Christ gave Himself to redeem us, it was to set us free from our sinful rebellion against God, to be purified so we could be a people that belonged to a holy and pure God, and zealous to serve Him. Not just wandering about, claiming to be a Christian, claiming to have made a decision for Christ some time, maybe when I was young. No, how do I measure up a zealot. The zealots were the fanatics in biblical times, they were those who would go to any length for their cause. We have people who are fanatics today, how sad many are fanatics for things that don't matter or fanatics for lies. But you know we shouldn't be embarrassed to be fanatics for Jesus Christ. We are zealots, we are consumed with a zeal that is the passion of our lives, to please the One who loved us and died for us. That's what it means to be zealous for good works. That's what matters in my life. Not whether I get a promotion, not whether I get a bigger house, not whether I get a comfortable retirement, but that I please the One who redeemed me for Himself. What more would I want? I belong to the living God, I'm a special possession of His because Christ has redeemed me. My faith is in Him and Him alone, my blessed hope is the future appearing of Christ when I shall see Him face to face and I will be like Him. I'm not doing good deeds to try to become acceptable to Him. We are driven because He has changed us and made us new.

We close with Ephesians 2. The first part of this chapter, and if you're not familiar with it, I encourage you to take time to read it sometime today. It starts out saying we were dead in our trespasses and sins, we walked according to the power of the devil dominating our lives. We were sons of disobedience, we were by nature children of wrath. And then verse 4, God being rich in mercy, even when we were dead in our transgressions, verse 5, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. And raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenlies in Christ so in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves, that salvation is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not as a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, He made us new in Christ, created in Christ Jesus for good works. The only works that are pleasing to God are the works that we do now as His children. Which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them.

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we're celebrating the salvation that God provided. It took death. You know the resurrection is significant because Christ died. Why did He died? He was without sin, He died because you are a sinner, I am a sinner, we were under condemnation, we were without hope in the world, we were doomed. But God rich in mercy and kindness in grace had His Son come and suffer and die to pay the penalty for our sins. When you place your faith in Christ, that salvation changes you on the inside and makes you a new person. You are not the same person. You now are ready to turn from sin, turn from the things of this world and serve the living God sensibly, righteously and in a manner consistent with His own character, godly. You have your focus, your hope for the future fixed on the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we are constantly reminded, He redeemed us from our lawlessness. We now live for Him, not just vegetables going on, not doing anything too bad, not doing anything too good, just getting by. This passage has been summarized. Jesus Christ died to set us free, to set us apart and to set us on fire. That zeal is the evidence that He set us free, that we are living as those set apart to serve Him. What a privilege, what a glorious celebration we have. Our Savior is alive and He is coming again, and I'm living in light of that event, and I trust you are, too.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Father, that Jesus Christ suffered and died. What an awful, dark day in this world that the Son of God, the Creator of all things has been crucified and yet how amazing that that was your plan so you might provide salvation for lost, sinful human beings. And Lord the wonder of it all is the salvation provided for all. Christ has brought salvation for all so that any and all who believe in Him might experience that power of being set free from sin, the bondage to sin, the control of the passions and lusts of this world; set free to live for you, the living God; to have a blessed hope of anticipating the appearing again of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ; to bring us into the glory of your presence. Lord, I pray that we would consider carefully, each one here individually, their relationship with you. Not whether they were raised in this church, not whether they have children that attend this church, not whether they were baptized or have done other things. But Lord maybe we should start and say, are we a people on fire for Christ, zealots for doing what is pleasing to you. If not, we must ask, have we experienced your power that sets us free from the control of sin, the domination of worldly passions. _____ know what it is to be clean in the sight of a holy God, to be righteous in your sight because you have credited our righteousness to our account. Lord, what a wonderful salvation. We praise you for this Savior and I would ask that it might be a day of salvation for any who have not yet trusted Him. And for those of us who have, Lord, may we testify to it wherever we go, showing our zeal and passion to be pleasing to you until Christ comes. We pray in His name, amen.