You Must Be Born Again! Part 2 | Sunday, September 19, 2021

Welcome to Cross Connection Church online! We're so happy that you're joining us today. Before we get started, we want to let you know that if you want more information about Cross Connection Church and some of the things that we do, make sure that you check out our website at lifeinconnection.com.

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Faithfulness has walked beside me. The winter storms may wait for spring, and in every season, from where I'm standing, I see the evidence of Your goodness all over my life. I see Your promises in fulfillment all over my life. Help me remember when You lead my heart to victory. You are my strength, and You always will be. I see the evidence of Your goodness all over my life.

I see your promises and fulfilling. I see the cross, the empty grave. The evidence isn't endless; all my sins rolled away because of You, oh Jesus. I see the evidence of Your goodness all over my life, all over my life. Amen.

Shortly after my 19th birthday, I began serving at this church as what was called at the time a ministry intern. I grew up at this church, and after I graduated from high school and really from the youth ministry here, I was given a partial scholarship to attend a Bible college up in Murrieta. I began attending that school in the fall of 1998, after I graduated from high school.

About halfway through the first semester, I found that I had a growing desire to come back home to serve at this church. Although the Bible college program was a great program, I came to realize that a lot of the things I was learning at the school were things I had been taught here through the regular ministry of this church. However, the thing that was missing in the Bible college program was an opportunity to regularly serve at a church, or this church, and I missed that.

When I began to have that desire to come back here to serve, there wasn't really an opportunity to do so. I didn't have any real reason to leave the Bible college for that. But a couple of weeks after I started to have that desire, I was here on a Sunday. After church, one of the pastors talked with me and asked if I would be interested in leaving the Bible college program to join the staff here as a ministry intern in the new year. It didn't take me very long to decide.

In January of 1999, I started serving here full-time as a non-paid intern at the church. Thankfully, my parents were okay with me leaving school to come here and work for basically nothing while living at home. When I first started serving, my job was pretty simple. Like many people who begin serving in ministry, I did just about whatever needed to be done. If there was a computer that needed to be fixed or a printer that needed attention, I was the IT guy. If there were phones that needed to be answered, I was the receptionist. If there was cleaning in the bathrooms or emptying of trash that needed to be done, I was the janitor. I did whatever needed to be done, and when all of those tasks were completed, I would walk around the facility to find something else that needed attention. I absolutely loved doing that.

About a month after I started working here, I was flagged down one day as I was leaving the parking lot. I believe it was on a Tuesday afternoon when Pastor Tony, our youth pastor who still attends here at the church, asked me to pull over to the side. I rolled down my window, and he said to me, while standing outside my car, "Miles, I want you to consider doing something for me." I kind of said, "Well, okay." Tony continued, "As you know, our junior high youth pastor is moving to Arizona, and I want you to consider teaching the junior high youth ministry."

Now, that was not something I felt ready to do, nor was it something I really wanted to do. But what do you do when someone you look up to— even if he is a lot shorter than you— asks you to do something that you don't want to do? You don't want to say no, because it's not very Christian-like to decline when someone asks you to teach the Bible. So, what you do is give the Christian no and say something like, "Well, I'll pray about it." That's what I did. I told Tony that I would pray about it, but that night, I actually went home and prayed. When I did, something happened that I wasn't really expecting.

Have you ever had that happen before, where you pray and find that God does do something, but it wasn't what you were expecting Him to do? That's exactly what happened in that moment. At the time that this happened, I was reading through the Scriptures, just like I try to do every single day. I was going a chapter in the Old Testament and maybe two chapters in the Old Testament, a chapter or two in the New Testament every single day. I would often do that at night.

So that night, I prayed. I don't remember exactly what the prayer was, but it was something like, "God, as you know, Tony asked me to consider teaching the junior high, and I told him that I would pray about it. So I'm praying about it. As you may know, I don't really want to teach the junior high. I'm not a teacher, and I'm not a public speaker. I don't think that I can do this, but I am praying about it because I said that I would pray about it. You need to show me what it is that you want me to do. I want you to speak to me."

It is my conviction that God speaks, and if He speaks, He speaks primarily through the Scriptures. I came to the Lord and said, "I need to know from You what You want me to do." I was reading in the Scriptures. The prayer probably wasn't exactly like that, but it was something close to it. I didn't really want to teach the junior high here at the church; it intimidated me, and I absolutely did not feel like I was ready to do that. But I did pray, and then I opened up to the Scriptures.

At that moment, as I was reading through the Bible systematically, my encouragement to you is that you read through the Scriptures—at least a chapter a day, through something in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Just go progressively through the Scriptures. I think that is a really good place to start. If it's not a chapter a day, read five verses a day, and then go to the next five verses the next day.

In early February 1999, I was reading in First Samuel and the book of Ephesians. I happened to be in First Samuel chapter 12 at that moment, on that night, as I was praying and asking the Lord about what He wanted me to do with the youth ministry here at the church. This is what I read at the end of First Samuel chapter 12, beginning at verse 23: "Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, but I will teach you the good and the right way. Only fear..."

The Lord and serve Him in truth with all of your heart, for consider what great things He has done for you. I didn't expect that when I prayed that prayer after Tony had asked me to consider teaching the junior high ministry, I would go and immediately read something like that. To read there that I’m going to teach you and show you the good and the right way—that's exactly what I saw. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I don't think it was.

Then I read this in Ephesians chapter four. I was reading through First Samuel at that time and through the book of Ephesians. In Ephesians chapter four, the Apostle Paul writes, "He, Jesus Himself, gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."

I read those passages of Scripture, and then the following Sunday, which was February 14, 1999—Valentine's Day—I began to teach the junior high youth here at the church. I have been teaching through the Scriptures, teaching you the good and the right way for the last 22 and a half years. I have been committed to equipping the saints. Those are Christians; saints are just Christians, not some highfalutin super spiritual people, just regular old Christians.

Equipping the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, is not my job. It is not my career or vocation; this truly is my calling. When I think about this calling, I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in the ancient city of Colossae. In Colossians chapter one, beginning at verse 28, Paul says this to the church at Colossae: "Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end, I labor, striving according to His working, which works in me mightily."

I bring all of this up this morning because I believe it's relevant at this moment as we are in a series here at the church, which we started last week, called "The Disciplines of a Disciple." In all that has happened over the last year and a half here in our culture, I...

I have had a strong sense that we, as a church, need to go back to some of the basics—back to some of the first principles of our faith. We need to revisit the principles of discipleship and grow toward maturity as Christians. This has been my calling: to teach those who are followers of Jesus, disciples of Christ, and to equip you to follow Him more faithfully. Everything that has been going on in our culture over the last 18 months has really driven home for me how important this is.

Because of that sense I have had over the last several months, in August, I did a series laying the groundwork for our faith and our trust in Christ. This series was called "First Things First." You can find it on our YouTube channel or on our website, lifeinconnection.com. Now, we are continuing from that series to talk about the first principles of what it means to be a disciple. A disciple is an obedient follower of Jesus.

So, what are the principles of being a disciple and an obedient follower of Jesus? How do we grow in our discipleship? How do we grow as disciples? That is what I am aiming to explore in this series. As a preview of where I hope we will go over the next several weeks, I want to discuss several things that I think are essential for us as followers of Jesus.

These are not just important; they are essentials for being a follower of Jesus and for being a Christian. If you are a Christian and you want to grow in your faith in Christ and your trust in Him—not just your trust, but your faithfulness to Christ—then we need to be discipled. We need to be raised up in the faith. My calling has everything to do with teaching the faith of Christ in such a way that those who trust in Him will be better equipped to follow and serve Him.

We preach Christ so that we may see you grow toward maturity in Him, and that is my hope for you. I want you to grow up as a follower of Christ. This is the desire of every parent. I have four children, and the desire of every parent is to see them grow up, grow out into adults, and really move into life and do life well. As a pastor, my desire is to see those who are a part of the church that God has called me to thrive in their faith.

Serve to grow up and move out into the life that God has called them to live as followers and Christians, to fulfill the purpose for which He made you. God made you for a purpose, and He wants you to fulfill that purpose. We want to equip you to more effectively fulfill that purpose.

As a preview of where we're going in this series, we're going to talk about the work of the Word of God in the life of the Christian. Twenty-two years ago, I was reading through the Scriptures, some in the Old Testament and some in the New Testament, every single day. I still make it my aim every single day to spend time reading through the Scriptures. I don't always fulfill this, but my aim is to do so. I know that the Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, and it is able to transform us. It is able to correct, reprove, and rebuke us, and to instruct us in righteousness.

In this series, we will talk about how we take in the Word of God and allow it to change and transform us. We will also discuss the place of prayer because, through the Word of God, this is the chief way that God speaks to us. Prayer is the primary way that we speak to God, and it is supposed to be a two-way conversation. We bring our needs, requests, and desires, and we intercede on behalf of other people. We bring all of those things to God in prayer, trusting that He hears us. We are talking to Him, and we trust that He is going to speak to us through His Word and through the body of Christ, through other believers.

We will talk about the Word of God, prayer, and the work of the Holy Spirit in our walk as we seek to grow toward maturity and become more faithful followers of Jesus, stronger in our faith in Him. We need the Word of God, we need prayer, and we need the work of the Spirit of God in our lives. Jesus promised that He would not leave us as orphans when He ascended into heaven, but He would give us the Spirit of Truth, who would guide us into all truth and teach us all things.

We will also discuss the church and your place in the church. These four things—the Word of God, prayer, the Holy Spirit, and the church—are essentials for us to grow in our faith and walk with Christ.

Throughout the week, all of those things—the Word of God, prayer, the Holy Spirit, the church—are great, essential, and important. However, you cannot jump into the disciplines of a disciple or a follower of Christ without first discussing how to become a disciple and a follower of Christ. If you're going to talk about those things, you need to go back and discuss salvation. Unfortunately, I didn't get nearly as far as I had planned in my message last week, so this week is kind of like Salvation Part Two.

I can think of no better place to begin when considering salvation than probably the most famous verse in the Bible, which is found in John chapter 3, verse 16. You may have seen it in the end zone; as we are coming into football season again, you might see someone holding a big sign that says "John 3:16." This is that verse:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

John chapter 3, verse 16, is probably the most translated verse of the Bible and possibly the most well-known verse. If you had to know just one verse, there is probably no better place to begin than John chapter 3, verse 16.

The simple teaching of the Scriptures, the simplest teaching of the Bible, is that all have sinned and fallen short of God's perfect standard of His glorious righteousness. This is what we read in the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 3, verse 23: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."

Secondly, the consequences of our sin—where we reject God's call, command, and law, and disobey—are death. This is not just a physical death; we all understand that everything that lives is going to physically die. However, the Bible also describes what is sometimes called the second death, which is eternal death and separation from God forever. You see, God...

God made you to live forever; that's His desire. However, there is the possibility that you could die forever. The consequence of sin is eternal death and separation from God forever. But the story goes on from there. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death, but God loved us, His creation, so much that He sent His Son to rescue us from sin and death.

John chapter 3, verse 16, tells us that Jesus literally came here on a mission from God—a mission to rescue us. This rescue mission demonstrates God's love towards us in that while we were still sinners, when we were still His enemies, far from Him, Christ died for us on the cross. This is found in Romans chapter 5, verse 8.

There are four really important verses to remember: Romans 3:23 states that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. John 3:16 reveals that God loved the world so much that He sent His Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Finally, Romans 5:8 shows that God demonstrates His love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This is the simple and essential message of the Gospel. I referenced this last week in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 15, which says that this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Paul adds there, "of whom I am chief."

When Jesus came to this world, His parents were told that they should call His name Jesus, which means Jehovah is salvation, for He will save His people from their sins. This is truly good news, which is why it is called the Gospel. Sometimes you hear that word "Gospel." It simply means good news. It comes from the Greek word "euangelion," from which we get our word "evangelize" or "evangelism," and it even inspired my daughter's name, Evangeline.

So, "euangelion" is the good news—the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were dead in trespasses and sins, but Jesus came to rescue us because of His great love and mercy for us. You may think that this is really good news for all those sinners out there, but you consider yourself a pretty good person, which is what a lot of people think.

However, John chapter 3, where that very famous verse, John 3:16, is found, is nestled in a powerful and interesting passage. When Jesus says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," He emphasizes that whosoever believes in Him would not perish.

Perish but have everlasting life. He is speaking to or having a conversation with a very religious man, a hyper-religious and probably hyper-self-righteous man named Nicodemus. What Jesus said to Nick—before He told him about God's love and salvation—kind of exploded Nicodemus's brain.

I want to read through it, and hopefully, you'll follow along. The words will be up on the screen, but hopefully, you have your own Bible or your Bible app to follow along as I read through John chapter 3, verses 1 through 17. This passage gives us the layout of those two verses that I read just a little bit ago. Remember, Nicodemus was one of the chief rabbis; he was a very righteous and religious man. Jesus and he had a conversation one night in Jerusalem, and this is what we find in John chapter 3, verse 1.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one could do these signs that you do unless God was with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" His head is kind of exploding at this point. Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and you do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who has come down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God...

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Nicodemus was a good guy. He was very religious, very holy, very honorable, and he was respected and looked up to in Israel 2,000 years ago. But even to Nicodemus, the hyper-religious, super-righteous ruler and rabbi, Jesus says, "Unless you are born again, you will not be with God." This midnight conversation with Jesus reveals an important point: your good works and religious righteousness will not save you. Let me say that again; that's really important. Your good works and your religious righteousness will not save you. If Nicodemus wasn't good enough and righteous enough to save himself, you and I have absolutely no hope.

He was of the most religiously committed sect in Israel, called the Pharisees. In what's called the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:20, Jesus says, "For I say to you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." You have got to be better than the most religious, the most righteous, and even that would not be enough because all of our righteousness is as filthy rags before a perfectly holy God. We are all an unclean thing. In Isaiah 53, Isaiah says, "We all, like sheep, have turned away; we have all gone astray; we have all done wickedly."

Your good works and your religious righteousness will not save you, which is a major problem because we live in a culture filled with a lot of really good people who are trying really hard to do the right things. Those things ultimately, on the day of Christ Jesus, will not rescue you and save you from the power of sin and the penalty of sin.

This is a really important point. Nicodemus was truly a good guy, but he was not good enough, and this blew Nicodemus's mind. He said, "How can this be?" But as much as it blew his mind, it was still true. So if it is true, how then do we have any hope of salvation? How then can we possibly hope to be with God? I believe that God made us to be in...

Our relationship with God is meant to be connected, allowing us to be with Him forever. However, how can we be connected to Him if we are disconnected because of sin? How then can we be saved?

What did Jesus say? He stated in that passage that we must be born again. This concept confused Nicodemus, and it might confuse you as well. So, Jesus continued, saying, "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' You have to be born again by the Spirit."

But how does that happen? Jesus provides an interesting illustration for Nicodemus, who would have understood exactly what He was talking about when He mentioned Moses and the serpent. You may not know the details, but Nicodemus was an expert in the Old Testament Scriptures. The Old Testament comprises the first two-thirds of the Bible, from Genesis to Malachi. Nicodemus likely had large sections of it memorized.

Jesus reminds him of this, saying, "How is a person born by the Spirit? How is a person born again?" He explains, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

What does this mean? You might be a bit confused when Jesus refers to the serpent in the wilderness. He is talking about how Moses lifted up this serpent, and in the same way, Jesus will be lifted up. Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

An explanation is necessary. Thousands of years ago, when the children of Israel were redeemed from Egypt by Moses, they faced many challenges. Perhaps you have seen "The Prince of Egypt," or the movie "Gods and Kings" with Christian Bale, or the classic "The Ten Commandments." You may remember the story of Moses going to Egypt and telling Pharaoh to let his people go. After ten plagues, the children of Israel came out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, and entered the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land.

They spent a long time in the wilderness, and at one point, the Book of Numbers tells us that they found themselves in a difficult situation with God. Venomous snakes, referred to as fiery serpents in the Old Testament, entered the camp of Israel. Those who were bitten by these snakes began to die. The people started to panic, just as anyone would if venomous snakes were roaming their camp and causing fatalities.

So they go to Moses and cry out, "Moses, you have to fix this!" The Book of Numbers tells us that he goes to God, and in Numbers chapter 21, that's where this story is found. If you go to the very beginning, the Bible starts with Genesis, the first book, followed by Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, which is the fourth book. In the 21st chapter, Moses has a conversation with God about the snakes in the wilderness.

In Numbers 21, verse 8, the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall be made alive; they shall live." So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it up on a pole in the midst of the camp of Israel. It was so that if the serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

This is a strange story. If you had been in the camp of Israel thousands of years ago, and people were being bitten and killed by these fiery serpents, and then Moses comes to you and says, "All right, I've got the remedy for this. Here's what you're going to do: If you're bitten by the snake, all you have to do is look at that bronze snake that I made. I put it on a pole in the middle of the camp. All you have to do is look at that thing, and you will be saved."

Because we are stubborn and hard-headed, and sometimes kind of foolish, you probably would have thought to yourself, "I don't need to do that. That's not going to help me. These snakes aren't that bad; they're not going to get me, and I'm okay. Everything's just fine." So, you probably would have said, "Well, that's just stupid. I'm not going to look at that thing." You know what? We probably would have died, and a lot of people did die because they were unwilling to do that thing that just seemed so trivial. They refused to look at the snake.

But why did that whole thing happen? In the New Testament, in the Book of First Corinthians chapter 10, the Apostle Paul says that all these things happened to the children of Israel as instructive teaching pictures for us; they are meant to teach us. So why did this happen? It happened because God was going to do something later on that was connected to this.

Why did Moses put this snake up on the pole, and why did all the people just have to look at it? Well, it's a lesson. All these things in the Old Testament were written for our instruction and admonition. Now, you come to John chapter 3, where Jesus is having a conversation with Nicodemus one night, and Nicodemus is saying how...

Can I be born again? How can I be born by the Spirit? Jesus says, "In the very same way that Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, the Son of Man is going to be lifted up." Lifted up how? Lifted up on a cross. Even so, the Son of Man is going to be lifted up so that whoever believes in Him, trusts in Him, and looks to Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Only trust in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross will save you from your sins. This is so important. We will not be able to save ourselves by our good works. Only trust in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross will save you from your sins.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and He did so by dying in our place on the cross, by being lifted up on the cross. As we trust in His work on our behalf, we can be saved. But that begs the question: What does it even mean to be saved from our sins? This is key. When the Bible talks about this concept of salvation, it can sometimes be a little bit confusing. The biblical authors will write that we are saved, like in the past tense. They will say we are saved; it is a finished and accomplished act. Often, the word is not only in the past tense or appears in the past tense in our Bibles, but it is also in the passive voice, meaning that this salvation is an action acted upon you. Someone else has done the saving.

The Bible says in various places that you are saved. For example, in First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 1, it states, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which you are saved." You have been saved by somebody else, past tense. If you have received the good news of the gospel and trusted in the finished work of Christ Jesus on your behalf, then the Bible says that you presently, at this moment, are saved. You have been saved.

In another place, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." By God's grace and your trust in the mercy and grace of Christ, you have been saved.

So where's the confusion? Well, the confusion comes when you also read in the New Testament of the Bible that those who have...

Trusted in Christ, we are being saved. Some passages say we are saved or we have been saved, but then there are other passages that say we are being saved. This concept of salvation in some passages of the Bible seems like it is not a completed act but a process that is taking place.

For example, in First Corinthians chapter 1, verse 18, it states, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God." Similarly, in Second Corinthians chapter 1, verse 14, it says, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." Verse 15 continues, "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."

This can be a little confusing. We are told that we have been saved or we are saved, but then in other passages, it says we are being saved. The confusion is amplified when we read that salvation seems to be something that is yet in the future and that we shall be saved. For example, in First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 8, the Apostle Paul writes that we have the hope of salvation. In Romans chapter 13, verse 11, he says, "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time for you to awake out of your sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed."

It seems like salvation is something in the future; it is closer than when we first believed. But I thought I was saved. Wait a minute, I am being saved, but salvation is in the future. Romans chapter 10, verse 13 states, "For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." This can be a little confusing. Have I been saved? Am I being saved, or am I waiting to be saved?

As I read through the whole of Scripture, it seems to speak about salvation in each of these ways. In reality, there is nothing here to be confused about when you begin to understand what is going on and what we would call the doctrine of salvation. If you were taking a theology class, you would refer to it as soteriology. Soteriology is just a big theological term; you can impress your friends by telling them all about it. It is simply the doctrine of salvation.

What is the basic doctrine of salvation? It is this: in Christ, we are...

Saved from the penalty of sin, we are being saved from the power of sin, and we will be saved from the presence of sin. This is so key. We have been saved from the penalty of sin, we are being saved from the power of sin, and we shall be saved in the future from the presence of sin.

Using theological language, we would say it like this: Jesus has made us righteous through justification. Soteriology talks about justification, which is declaring someone righteous. So, Jesus has made us righteous; He has declared us righteous through justification. Jesus is now engaged in the work through the Word, through prayer, through the fellowship of the body of Christ within the church, and through the work of the Spirit of God. Jesus is in the process right now of perfecting righteousness in us through sanctification.

Justification, sanctification, and glorification are three important concepts. The Bible promises that Jesus will make us perfectly righteous one day through glorification. Jesus is the only one who can save us completely and wholly from all of our sins: from the punishment of sin, from the power of sin, and from the presence of sin.

In the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, we read that the law can make nothing perfect (Hebrews 7:19). However, in Hebrews 7:25, we read this: "Therefore, Jesus is also able to save completely those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." This means that when you trust in Christ, He removes your sin and gives you righteousness.

It is as if you owed a huge debt. I'm sure none of you can identify with that, but imagine for a moment that you owed a huge debt—one that you could not pay. Not only did you owe a huge debt, but you had a massive overdraft on your account, your righteousness account. You owe this massive debt, tens of millions of dollars, and not only do you owe this debt, but you look at your bank account, and it is not just empty; it has a negative balance of tens of millions of dollars. You have an overdraft and you have debt. That is what every single person in this world comes into this world with when it comes to sin. We have no righteousness, and we have this huge debt of our sin. But the Scriptures make very clear that...

Jesus pays the debt with the riches of His grace. Not only does He pay the debt with the riches of His grace, but He also fills your righteousness account with His righteousness. The Bible says it like this in Romans chapter 4, verse 3: "For what does the Scripture say? Abraham, the father of our faith, believed God, and it was accounted to him; it was placed into his account. It was accounted to him for righteousness."

How did he receive righteousness? He trusted in God; he believed in God, and God gave him the righteousness that he did not have. However, after you are saved, you're not perfectly righteous in your conduct. You still do bad things. I still fail; we all continue to fail after we are rescued and saved from the penalty, the punishment of our sin. But Jesus, by His grace, is working in you and with you to work out salvation so that the salvation that God has done in your heart, by grace through faith, begins to work out through your life.

One of my favorite verses in all of the Bible is Philippians chapter 2, verse 12. It says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." God saved us; He justified us; He dealt with the penalty of sin. Jesus bore the penalty for sin upon Himself on the cross. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might receive, by faith, His righteousness credited to our account. That's justification.

He is working out that salvation. He works in us to will and to do His good pleasure as we are working out our salvation with fear and trembling. There is something going on where we are engaged with God in this process of salvation, which is called sanctification. In the future, when Christ receives you to Himself, He will transform this lowly body in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. First Corinthians chapter 15 says we shall be changed. This lowly earthly body will be transformed so it will be like His glorious body.

We will no longer have the stain of sin on us. It says it like this in Philippians chapter 3, verse 20: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we so eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."

There is so much more that I could say on this topic because understanding salvation is important. There is a wealth of information in the Bible that discusses this subject, and there are many verses I could point to. However, I need to wrap this up, as I could go on and on about this.

We are not saved by our works, not by works of righteousness that we have done. Jesus saved us by His grace, because of His great love and rich mercy. He does this when we trust in Him and receive the free gift of His grace through the gospel. At that moment, we are immediately justified; we are declared righteous by God. Righteousness is added to our account. We are saved; it is done. He immediately gives us the hope of ultimate salvation, which is the hope of glorification when we are with Him in His presence and receive new bodies. This old, earthly, lowly body is gone, and we are given a new body.

Right now, we are working out our salvation as He works in us through His Word, by the Spirit, through prayer, and through the fellowship of other believers within the church. It comes down to this: after having been justified, saved, and assured of our future glorification, our focus is on the working out of salvation. This is our focus; this is to be your focus. If you are a follower of Christ and have trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation, you have been declared righteous and have the hope of heaven. Now, what do you do?

Well, right now, because you are saved and shall be saved, we are in the process of being transformed. This process of working out our salvation is called sanctification. This is where the disciplines of a disciple come in. Over the next several weeks, we will discuss how we grow in Christlikeness. He is perfectly righteous; how do we grow in Christ's likeness so that we can display salvation in our lives to others? We will talk about how the Word of God, prayer, the work of the Spirit, and the work within the body of Christ—the church—help us to grow more in Christ's likeness. That's where we're going, and I hope you'll be with us next week.

So let me pray. Father God, I thank You so much for Your Word. I thank You so much for the...

Salvation is a gift that you give to us in Christ Jesus. Jesus, you came because of your great love. You demonstrated your love on the cross and died for us so that we might have life and life more abundantly. Through salvation, you have given us the righteousness that we did not have. You have paid our debt and promised us that we will be with you for eternity. You want to work out that salvation in us by your Spirit as we work with you.

I pray, God, that you would teach us what that means and help us to grow in Christ's likeness. Before we finish praying and wrap up our service today, I want to speak to those who might be watching this and have not yet received the gift of your grace and salvation. Lord, I pray that you would draw them to yourself by your Holy Spirit in this moment.

If you have never trusted in Christ, I want to share with you that the wages of sin is death, and we are all sinners. We will all receive the just punishment for our sin. If you want to receive the free gift of God's grace, the saving grace of Jesus Christ and His forgiveness, I want to offer that to you today by asking you to trust in Jesus Christ. Whoever believes upon the Lord will not be put to shame.

In Romans chapter 10, we read at verse 9, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." This means you are rescued from your sin and justified. If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. The Scriptures say, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." There is no distinction between Jew or Greek; the same Lord overall is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

If you want to receive the grace of Jesus Christ for salvation, I want to lead you in a prayer today. After that, I encourage you to go to the website that will be on the screen below and let us know that you did this so that we can reach out to you, get you a Bible if you don't have one, and connect you to a church if you're not in our location.

If you want to receive Christ today, I want to lead you in a very simple prayer. Prayer, as we will talk about in a couple of weeks, is talking to God. When we talk to God, He hears us and answers our prayers. You can pray right now a very simple prayer, something like this: if that's you and you want to receive God's grace, just talk to God where you are.

In your living room, watching on a cell phone or on the TV, wherever you might be, pray simply this prayer:

"Dear Jesus, I recognize that I am a sinner. I have not lived up to your perfect standard, and I cannot save myself by my good works. I pray that you would come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to trust in you and follow you by faith. In Jesus' name, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer today, go to the website down here below. We'd love to be in contact with you, get you connected to a church, and get you a Bible. God bless you!

Worship with us here as we close out with the end of this service.

Over Psalm, I see the evidence of your goodness all over my life. I see your promises in fulfillment all over my life.

And why should I fear? Oh, the evidence is here.

Thanks for joining us for our broadcast today. As we close, we would love to invite you to our services at Cross Connection Church campus at 8:30 and 10:30 every Sunday. Also, if you'd like more information about Cross Connection Church, go online at lifeinconnection.com.

Hey, family!

I would like to invite you to our renewed worship workshop on Saturday, September 25th. If you're interested in learning about worship leading, vocals, keyboards, and drums, join us from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

We'll have a time of connection and worship, and then we'll break off into learning groups. You won't want to miss this! Please register online at events.lifeinconnection.com before September 18th.

See you there!