BELIEVE #7

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THE CREATION & FALL OF MAN 

Heart for the Series:
1.  We believe IN Jesus and we believe ABOUT Jesus
2. We believe TOGETHER as a local body of believers

ARTICLE X — STATEMENT OF FAITH
“We believe and accept the following statements as essentials for the unity and practice of the members of this church:”

6. THE SALVATION OF MAN 
(John 3:16; 14:6; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:24; 6:23; 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:18-19, 22-25; 1 John 5:11-13)
“We believe that salvation is the free gift of God’s grace, from sin, death and hell, to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Every believer has eternal life and complete security in the finished work of Jesus Christ when He died on the cross for our sins, and arose from the dead, thus guaranteeing our own resurrection and eternal life.”

QUESTION #1: Why do human beings (your actual neighbor) need salvation?
ANSWER: When Adam made the choice to disobey God, it changed everything!

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  Genesis 3:6 (NIV)

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world.  Romans 5:12 (NLT)

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Romans 3:23 (NLT)

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)

Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart; I am pure and free from sin”?  Proverbs 20:9 (NLT)

It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.  Isaiah 59:2 (NLT)

The LORD forgives people for evil, for sin, and for turning against him, but he doesn’t forget to punish guilty people.  Exodus 34:7 (NCV)

Your “old life” with its sin comes with a huge consequence…God’s punishment!

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.  34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.’ 41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.’  46“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”  Matthew 25:31-46 (NLT)

The consequence (or punishment) for your sin is eternal separation from God.

QUESTION #2: Is my actual neighbor forever doomed because of their sin?
ANSWER: No! God made a way for them to be saved!

For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23 (NLT)

Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.  1 Corinthians 15:22 (NLT)

QUESTION #3: What must my actual neighbor do to experience God’s salvation?
ANSWER: They must put their trust (believe) in God’s Son Jesus Christ!

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”  

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”  John 6:28-29 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  John 3:16-18 (NIV)

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  1 John 5:11-12 (NIV)

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.”  John 11:25 (NLT)

…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

The only way you can escape the punishment your sin brought, and get this brand new life, is through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

6. THE SALVATION OF MAN 
(John 3:16; 14:6; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:24; 6:23; 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:18-19, 22-25; 1 John 5:11-13)
“We believe that salvation is the free gift of God’s grace, from sin, death and hell, to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Every believer has eternal life and complete security in the finished work of Jesus Christ when He died on the cross for our sins, and arose from the dead, thus guaranteeing our own resurrection and eternal life.”

Goals for the Series:
1. Increase DIALOGUE about these essential statements of our faith in Jesus Christ
2. Increase UNITY as a local body of believers in Jesus Christ