Ask:
What does it mean to you to be saved?
Teaching Time:
Salvation is such an important part of the Christian faith. We’ll break up our teaching time a little differently this week and talk more into the three points below. To break salvation down into practical terms, it’s the moment when a person comes to know Christ personally and trusts Him and realizes He has done everything necessary for a person to be saved. It is also discussed in the Bible in three separate tenses. There is a moment when we are or we were saved, as we grow in our faith in this life we are being saved, when this life is over and will meet Jesus and ultimately be saved. This plays itself out in the form of justification, sanctificaton and glorification. When we come to Christ and trust Him as our Lord and our Savior, we are justified completely and our identity is immediately transferred into the Kingdom because of what Jesus did on the cross. At no point in your life will you be “more saved” than at the moment of salvation. Then, through sanctification, we are daily being made into Christ’s image as we trust Him deeper with our whole life. Finally glorification happens as we move from this life, into eternity. 1 John tells us, we will be “like Him”. Salvation is a vital topic to know, study and understand. Without an understanding of this, we will not be able to understand many other topics of our faith.
Application:
Read Ephesians 2:1-10
- What does this teach us about salvation?
- What is man’s spiritual condition before salvation?
- How are we saved?
- Why is it important to understand that salvation is a work of God and not something we can do in and of ourselves?
- What does v10 teach us about our purpose after salvation?
Read Acts 2:37-38 & Romans 10:9-10
- What is man’s responsibility in salvation?
- What is repentance? What is faith?
- Why is baptism important?
Read Ezekiel 36:26-27
- What does this passage teach us about salvation?
Read James 2:14-26
- What are the evidences of true conversion?
Read Romans 6:17-18
- What are the evidences of true conversion?
Read Galatians 5:22-25
- What are the evidences of true conversion?
Read Matthew 7:21-24
- What was Jesus' warning about salvation?
Read 1 John 5:11-13
- How can we be sure that we are saved?
- What is your next step based on our conversation today?
Where do we get it wrong?
- People believe they are saved because they go to church, prayed a prayer, or had an emotional experience at some point in their life.
- People believe they can be saved by being a better person.
- Every other religion teaches that we are saved by faith and works. Christianity teaches that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone.
- People believe they can be saved but have no evidence of God’s work in their life.
- Most people believe salvation is initiated by man and is a decision we make. However, Scripture teaches that no man comes to salvation unless the Father draws him first (John 6:65) and that being born again is an act of God (John 3).
- Some people believe that salvation can be taken away. However, the Bible teaches that we can have assurance and are sealed with the Holy Spirit upon salvation. We didn’t do anything to earn it. We can’t do anything to lose it. (Eph 1:13-14; Php 1:6; John 10:28-29; 1 John 5:11-13)