MESSAGES
Demands of Commitment-Part III
From Egypt to the Promised Land
Overcoming Obstacles part - II
Overcoming Obstacles Part -III
Receiving the Promises of God -I
Receiving the Promises of God - II
Reformation: Going Beyond the Obvious
Well Done is Better Than Well Said
When the Church is Gone - Part II
When the Church is Gone - Part III
When the Church is Gone - Part IV
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EVIDENCE OF SALVATION JAMES 2:14-20 Here James asked the question can faith
save a man. We know that
the answer to that question is yes.
For we know that Ephesians 2:8-9 says that, “For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God: Not of works,
lest any man should boast”.
In other words we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ
as the payment for our sins. The
point James is trying to make is that his is not some superficial
or surface belief that Jesus is who he says he is for even the
devils believe. James points
out that superficial faith is empty, void, worthless and dead. It stands alone having not evidence that it
even exists. It is not
this superficial, head knowledge belief in God that saves a man
rather faith that flows out of a heart willing to surrender itself
to God and his plan for man. Man is saved by a faith that moves him to action.
If you ask many today if they are saved they will reply
yes but we still leave them with a bit of skepticism, wondering
if they have answered truthfully.
Why, because we see no evidence of their faith and thus
no evidence of their salvation.
I want to talk today about EVIDENCE
OF SALVATION. LUKE 19:5-10 Zacchaeus here shows the evidence of
a changed and repentant heart.
He says to Jesus, “If I have wronged any man I will
restore fourfold.” Zacchaeus who is the chief tax collector, meaning
that other tax collectors reported to him, volunteered to make
restitution to all whom he had cheated.
Notice that no-one had brought him to Jesus, accusing him
of having sinned, but rather Zacchaeus in the presence of the
Master was convicted of his own sin and felt the desire to repent.
The restitution that he offered was that which was required
by the Law of a man who had stolen and killed or sold someone’s
sheep or oxen and had been caught. Zacchaeus had not been caught and reported by
those he had injured but he had been caught by his own conscience
as he stood before Jesus. I JOHN 3:19-21 This typifies the state that Zacchaeus
found himself in. His own
heart was condemning him. If
our heart tells us we are wrong, we know that God is more holy
than are we and thus He too must see our actions as wrong. The fact that Zacchaeus’ heart is
changed by his encounter with Jesus is also seen in his offer
to give half of his possession to the poor.
This proclamation from a man who had needlessly cheated
in an attempted to gain riches is evidence of a changed heart.
Based on these two statements Jesus declares to Zacchaeus
that salvation has come to his house. LUKE 8:26-30, 35-39 Here with the Gadarene demonic possessed
man we see a change in nature evidenced by a change in action. Look at how the man is described before his
encounter with Jesus. He
was naked and lived in the graveyard among the dead.
He was so wild and crazy that they had often chained him
up only to see him break the chains and free himself.
But in verse 35 we find him seated at the feet of Jesus,
clothed and in his right mind.
There has been a change in his nature.
Where the demons had possessed and greatly tormented him
he now has found peace in his soul. As Colossians 1:13 describes it, he has been
“delivered from the
power of darkness, and hath translated us
into the II CORINTHIANS 5:17 When
we come to Christ accepting His forgive for sin and committing
ourselves to live for him two old things pass away or lose power
over us, the old nature, the part of me that desires to sin and
the power of sin itself. When I submit to God, I get a new nature that
desires to follow after God and sin loses its pleasing taste. The more I see sin through the eyes of God,
the more I hate each individual act of sin that my flesh tries
to crave. When my nature is truly changed, my actions
will start to give evidence of that change.
The man who was once trying to get away from Jesus is now
asking to travel with him. This
is so unlike many who get saved today.
Rather than seeking to hang out with Jesus and his crew
many who come to Christ today want to continue hanging out with
their previous associates. They
want to continue living among the dead. Where the possessed man initially was driven
away from others, now he is sent to others to tell of the wonderful
works of God. Ask yourself, “Do my actions give evidence
to my salvation, or am I in anyway still living among the dead.” JOHN 4:28-29, 39 The Samaritan woman, after her encounter
with Christ could not wait to go and tell others. She had a new life and a new light and she was
not going to let her light be hidden.
She wanted everyone to know of the great blessing she had
found. This is a woman who in her lifetime had encounters
with several men. She had
had 5 husbands and was not married to the man she was currently
with. We are not told what became of the five husbands,
but it seems obvious to me that this woman had spent years looking
for a man to fulfill some missing need.
Finally she had found the right man and she wanted everyone
to come and meet this man. Have
we who have entered into relationship with Jesus, found that relationship
to be so fulfilling that we want others to meet him and enter
into relationship with him. Or are we hogging Jesus to ourselves, never
willing to tell others of his goodness as if there will not be
enough to go around. Are
we telling others about Jesus, or are we hiding away our relationship
with our big brother like we are ashamed of him.
Is our joy of having a relationship with Christ being evidenced
by our telling other of him? Many believed the Samaritan woman not because
of what they saw her behave differently but simply because of
what she said and how she said it.
I can sense the excitement in her as she raced back to
the city to bring others back to Christ.
Is there an excitement in you when you talk to others about
Christ, an excitement that gives evidence to your salvation? ACTS 8:36-39 This eunuch showed an immediate willingness
to submit to the will of God and act in obedience to the command
of God. Some would say
“well God did not actually tell the eunuch to get baptized,
Philip did”. Well to that I will ask, “If you know for
sure when you receive the message, that in deed the message is
from God, and is meant for you, then what difference does it make
who God uses as the messenger?”
We want to spend too much time focusing on questioning
whether or not something is God’s will for us.
Stop worrying about that which you are not certain of and
put your energy into doing those things that you know to be God’s
will for you. If you set
about to do what you know God has asked you to do, He will surely
make clear to you all else that he wants you to do.
Some would say, “But God has not revealed anything
to me that he wants me to do.”
I say to that “not so”. God has told you to live holy; 1 Peter 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am
holy. He has told you to lay aside all sin and anything that gets
in the way of your developing a close relationship with him; Hebrews
12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us.
He has told us to live a lifestyle centered on glorifying
him; 1 Cor. 10:31 Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God. Is the
evidence to your salvation shown in your eagerness to submit to
God and obey him at all cost? Our love for Jesus must be evidence by our obedience
to the command of God. Jesus
told his disciples in John 14:15, John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. Can
the evidence of our love and commitment to him be seen by our
obedience to his will for our lives? ACTS 11:1-4, 17-18 Sometimes in being a Christian committed
to obeying God we have to stand up to those who are wrong even
when we are in the minority on the issue, or when it seems that
those who have authority over you are in support of the issue.
Here in this passage Peter is being rebuked because he
went to ACTS 16:30-34
This Philippian jailor gave evidence
to his salvation by his willingness to meet the needs these servants
of God. In fact we will
find many throughout the Book of Acts who opened their doors,
shared their resources and made great material sacrifices in helping
to advance the GALATIANS 2:20 What the Apostle Paul is saying here
is “Yes I am alive but at the same time I am dead. I am dead to my own desires, my own needs, my
own wishes and cravings and I am alive to whatever the will of
God is for my life. I live
not for me, but rather I live for Christ who has died for me.”
If we can learn to approach our own daily living in this
manner, then our lives will truly give evidence of our salvation. |