WEST CENTRAL INTEGRATED TREATMENT FACILITY – Jan. 31, 2015
Wayne and Julia Smith met with 25 amazing ladies at WCITF for our Saturday evening service.
After the opening prayer and an anointed time in praise and worship, Wayne continued his teaching on Salvation looking at how the Grace of God works in our lives, and affects our lives.
After the opening prayer and an anointed time in praise and worship, Wayne continued his teaching on Salvation looking at how the Grace of God works in our lives, and affects our lives.
Wayne and Julia Smith met with 25 amazing ladies at WCITF for our Saturday evening service.
After the opening prayer and an anointed time in praise and worship, Wayne continued his teaching on Salvation looking at how the Grace of God works in our lives, and affects our lives.
Wayne pointed out three foundational components in Salvation
1. Salvation involves a change (Past Tense - Jn 3:1-16; 1 Pet 1:23; Eph 2:4-5). This is when we are saved FROM our sins.
2. Salvation involves a journey (Present Tense - 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 2:15; 2 Cor 3:17-18). Even once we are saved from our sins, Salvation is involved as a journey in which we need the Gospel to work in our lives every day of our lives.
3. Salvation involves a destination (Future Tense 1 Cor 9:24-27; Phil 3:14; Rom 13:11)
Wayne then unpacked these three components through Scripture.
1. Salvation as a past event - We must repent to be saved from our sins (Acts 2:38). This is not saying that we don’t mess up, but we don’t make excuses four our mess ups, we move on in the correction in which God does in us. This is the point in which the Spirit of God deals with us, we repent and God gives us a new heart and puts His Spirit in us. We are then redeemed from our sins (Acts 3:26; Titus 2:14) and we strive to avoid sin (1 Jn 5:18; Rom 6:3-6, 12-13; Jn 3:36; Heb 5:9; 1 Cor 15:34)
2. Salvation involves a journey - They opened up their Bibles to Philippians 2:12-13 and started camping out on this passage. They looked at how the Grace of God effects our lives by
1. the Grace of God undergirds every facet of Salvation. We need the Gospel to know Christ. But, not just to come to Christ but
2. to GROW in Christ. Philippians 2:13 says it’s because of God’s work in us that we have the ability to work out our Salvation. And then
3. Grace is our Master. Since sin is no longer our master (Rom 6:1-6), we are then slaves to Grace. This is what it means to live by the Spirit (Gal 5). By His Grace we are free from the penalty of sin (Romans 6:1-2) and by His Grace we are free from the power of sin (Romans 6:1-6). Then
4. Grace is our motivation for the good we do (Titus 2:11-14; Colossians 3:1-10; Gal 2:20; 2 Peter 1:3-7).
Wayne emphasized that while we are grateful for what God dId, gratitude is not our motivation for doing good. Grace is a gift, and as soon as we start trying to pay back that gift it undercuts the reason for Grace. Besides, we can never pay God back. And, even if we could come close, it is through God that we are able to do good. Unfortunately, people see this salvation by faith and they understand that there is nothing we can do to pay God back so they just kinda let go and don’t do anything - and that is not Christianity either. Matthew 7:21 shows that works plays some kind of role in our Salvation. We are saved by Faith, but Faith is not an intellectual faith. Faith is the God-ordained link between His work and our work in Salvation. Wayne used Scripture to show this link between God’s work and our work in Salvation (Titus 2:11-14; Colossians 3:1-10; Galatians 2:20). What we find through Scripture is that Faith is a radical dependence of God’s work in our lives (Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Corinthians 15:9-10; Colossians 1:27-19; Romans 2:6-9; Romans 11:21-22).
3. Salvation involves our destiny (Mark 13:13; Heb 3:6, 14; Rev 2:10; Col 1:22-23; 1Timothy 4:16). There is a battle between once saved always saved and the ability to fall away. This battle is not a Biblical battle because the Bible does not talk about Salvation in the same way we do today. We have this thing of making a decision and saying a prayer then people talk as if they are saved from hell but what they are saved from is their sin. It’s at this point they need to respond to the Gospel in their lives and move forward in God. Then, Scripture makes very clear, by the words of Christ and the Apostles, that whoever endures in their walk with God to the end shall be saved. They closed out the sermon with Philippians 2:12 where Paul said, “Work out your salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING”. The greatest fear we need to have is to live a life that does not Glorify God; to live a life that dishonors God.
The service lasted late, so they just closed in prayer and also prayed for one of the ladies going home this week.
After the opening prayer and an anointed time in praise and worship, Wayne continued his teaching on Salvation looking at how the Grace of God works in our lives, and affects our lives.
Wayne pointed out three foundational components in Salvation
1. Salvation involves a change (Past Tense - Jn 3:1-16; 1 Pet 1:23; Eph 2:4-5). This is when we are saved FROM our sins.
2. Salvation involves a journey (Present Tense - 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 2:15; 2 Cor 3:17-18). Even once we are saved from our sins, Salvation is involved as a journey in which we need the Gospel to work in our lives every day of our lives.
3. Salvation involves a destination (Future Tense 1 Cor 9:24-27; Phil 3:14; Rom 13:11)
Wayne then unpacked these three components through Scripture.
1. Salvation as a past event - We must repent to be saved from our sins (Acts 2:38). This is not saying that we don’t mess up, but we don’t make excuses four our mess ups, we move on in the correction in which God does in us. This is the point in which the Spirit of God deals with us, we repent and God gives us a new heart and puts His Spirit in us. We are then redeemed from our sins (Acts 3:26; Titus 2:14) and we strive to avoid sin (1 Jn 5:18; Rom 6:3-6, 12-13; Jn 3:36; Heb 5:9; 1 Cor 15:34)
2. Salvation involves a journey - They opened up their Bibles to Philippians 2:12-13 and started camping out on this passage. They looked at how the Grace of God effects our lives by
1. the Grace of God undergirds every facet of Salvation. We need the Gospel to know Christ. But, not just to come to Christ but
2. to GROW in Christ. Philippians 2:13 says it’s because of God’s work in us that we have the ability to work out our Salvation. And then
3. Grace is our Master. Since sin is no longer our master (Rom 6:1-6), we are then slaves to Grace. This is what it means to live by the Spirit (Gal 5). By His Grace we are free from the penalty of sin (Romans 6:1-2) and by His Grace we are free from the power of sin (Romans 6:1-6). Then
4. Grace is our motivation for the good we do (Titus 2:11-14; Colossians 3:1-10; Gal 2:20; 2 Peter 1:3-7).
Wayne emphasized that while we are grateful for what God dId, gratitude is not our motivation for doing good. Grace is a gift, and as soon as we start trying to pay back that gift it undercuts the reason for Grace. Besides, we can never pay God back. And, even if we could come close, it is through God that we are able to do good. Unfortunately, people see this salvation by faith and they understand that there is nothing we can do to pay God back so they just kinda let go and don’t do anything - and that is not Christianity either. Matthew 7:21 shows that works plays some kind of role in our Salvation. We are saved by Faith, but Faith is not an intellectual faith. Faith is the God-ordained link between His work and our work in Salvation. Wayne used Scripture to show this link between God’s work and our work in Salvation (Titus 2:11-14; Colossians 3:1-10; Galatians 2:20). What we find through Scripture is that Faith is a radical dependence of God’s work in our lives (Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Corinthians 15:9-10; Colossians 1:27-19; Romans 2:6-9; Romans 11:21-22).
3. Salvation involves our destiny (Mark 13:13; Heb 3:6, 14; Rev 2:10; Col 1:22-23; 1Timothy 4:16). There is a battle between once saved always saved and the ability to fall away. This battle is not a Biblical battle because the Bible does not talk about Salvation in the same way we do today. We have this thing of making a decision and saying a prayer then people talk as if they are saved from hell but what they are saved from is their sin. It’s at this point they need to respond to the Gospel in their lives and move forward in God. Then, Scripture makes very clear, by the words of Christ and the Apostles, that whoever endures in their walk with God to the end shall be saved. They closed out the sermon with Philippians 2:12 where Paul said, “Work out your salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING”. The greatest fear we need to have is to live a life that does not Glorify God; to live a life that dishonors God.
The service lasted late, so they just closed in prayer and also prayed for one of the ladies going home this week.