A. ALL have a “terminal” illness (Isaiah 59:1-2)
1. We cannot “cure” ourselves (Jeremiah 10:23) “Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” (Isaiah 64:6) “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
B. Jesus offered HIMSELF to die in our place (Hebrews 7:25-27)
1. He took on the PENALTY of our sins (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) “Now then we [Apostles] are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
C. NOT everyone will be saved (Matthew 7:13-14) ”Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
1. We must CHOOSE to serve God (Joshua 24:14-15) “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye swell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
2. God has ALREADY called us (2 Thessalonians 2:14) “Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory or our Lord Jesus Christ.”
3. Salvation is IN Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away: behold, all things are become new.” (Galatians 3:36-27) “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” [ENDUO (Strong’s, no. 1746)]
a. Literally, we “CLOTHE” ourselves with, or “put on” Christ
D. We could not be FORCED to abandon salvation in Christ (Romans 8:1-2, 38-39)
1. “The devil made me do it” is NOT true (James 4:7) “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
E. We CHOOSE to come to Christ, and IF we fall, we CHOOSE to do so (Revelation 2:10) “Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) “Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” (2 Peter 3:17) “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you: As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard ot be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, l unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.”
1. We, as Christians, can STILL resist Christ if we choose
F. IF we reject Jesus, we have NO forgiveness for our sins (Hebrews 10:26-31)
1. We CAN fall from God’s grace (Galatians 5:4) “Christ is become of none effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
2. If we DO fall, the end is worse than the beginning (2 Peter 2:20-22)
a. Those that are fallen should heed Jesus’ instructions to Sardis (Revelation 3:1-5)
G. A fallen Christian does NOT need to be “re-baptized”
1. Simply REPENT , and CONFESSING you sin to God, as His FORGIVENESS
a. Simon the sorcerer tried to “buy” the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:22) “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
b. John outlined the process this way… (I John 1:6-9) “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
A. Without Jesus we are all dead spiritually
B. If we “clothe” ourselves in Him, we will live
C. If we have “taken off” Christ, to go back into the world and serve Satan, it is NOT too Late to REPENT, to come back to Jesus and be “clothed in life”