Faith is the Ingredient to Enter into Salvation - Dimensions of Faith Part 1 - 7-15-23 GTC CoMo

Sermon Outline
- James 2:18–23 (ESV)
- Hebrews 4:2 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. (NKJV)
- “All Christians would agree to the supreme importance placed upon faith. The Bible assures us that we are "saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8) and that the just "live by faith" (Romans 1:17), and it reminds us that "without faith it is impossible to please [God]" (Hebrews 11:6). Finally, we are commanded to take "the shield of faith," the Christian's essential defense against every weapon of his soul's enemy (Ephesians 6:16). Clearly, a correct view of faith is essential to biblical Christianity. Therefore to come short or to be confused in the area of faith is a very serious matter. 46 BEYOND SEDUCTION It is therefore understandable that in his plans to seduce the human race, Satan should make faith a primary object of his attack, seeking to destroy it or at the very least to discredit it in the minds of some people, or, as the Master Deceiver, to lull others into a false assurance, a deadly deception indeed.” (Beyond Seduction: A Return to Biblical Christianity by Dave Hunt page 45 to 46)

** Faith is the Entrance and Consummation of Salvation **

- The Roman Road to Salvation:

• 1. Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Because all of us have sinned, we are separated from God. Not many people will dispute that they have sinned. We all have personal weaknesses and person guilt. People are naturally self- serving. Even though people do good things, we all have done our share of wrong.

• 2. Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." The consequence of our sin is death. This verse explains one of the most important concepts of the Bible in one sentence. God is Holy and perfect, without any wrong. He can not be in the presence of sin. Because we have all sinned, we are all separated from Him. This is much like a limb being cut from a tree; it has been removed from its source of life! We cannot have spiritual life because we have been removed from God because of sin. So if we have all sinned, and God cannot be in the presence of sin, how can we be saved from eternal spiritual death?

• 3. Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates His own love to ward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ. Notice that this verse does not say "God loved us so much that He was really distressed that we were separated from Him by our sin." No! God demonstrated His love. He did something in history that proved His love; Jesus Christ died for us. Despite our sinful condition, Christ died for us. This is the wonderful message of the gospel: God loves us despite our sinful condition, so much that He became a man, Jesus Christ, the perfect, holy, and sinless God in the form of man. He came to die in our stead, taking the penalty of our sins (death) on Himself so that we might live the way God intended for us to live: in total dependence on Him and in total obedience to Him.
• 4. Romans 10:9: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." If we repent of our sinfulness, then confess and trust Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of our lives, we will be saved from the penalty of sin. The gospel offers us a promise, to save us from the penalty of sin; we must believe it. The gospel also offers us a person, Jesus Christ who paid our penalty and who deserves to be Lord of our lives; we must receive Him. I would like to invite you right now to pray to God, telling Him you're ready to trust Christ to save you from the penalty of sin and to confess Him as the Lord over your life. There is a prayer you can pray right now, but let the words be your own; don't just repeat words as if they were a spiritual chant, but speak them to the personal God who loves you enough to die for you. Lord, / admit that / have sinned and made myself unclean before you, the Holy God, I understand that I deserve death as the penalty for my sins, and I believe that Jesus Christ paid this price with His blood, I want to turn away from my lifestyle of selfishness and sin; I repent, I confess Jesus Christ as my Savior and I put Him in control of my life as my Lord, /pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. (Nelson's Minister's Manual NKJV Edition, page 226 to 227)