The Except of Salvation

Temple Baptist Church - 9-7-2014

 

John 3:1-7

 

Introduction:

A. There are many times in the Bible when God says, “Except.” “Except” means no exceptions and, when God says no exceptions, He means just that. One of the more notable “excepts” in the Bible has to do with the new birth or being saved.

B. There is only one way of salvation and that is through the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. I often refer to this as “plus nothing, minus nothing, and mixed with nothing.” The work of Calvary is “done,” not “do.” Salvation is the work of God!

C. We live in “religious days” with churches of every denomination and flavor popping up on almost every street corner. If you do not like the church you are in, you can just shop around and find one that suits your personal desires. How do you find the right church is the question.

1. A church that preaches and teaches out of the King James Bible.

2. A church that stands fast in the Old Paths of doctrinal, ecclesiastical, and personal separation.

3. A church that loves and actively seeks sinners.

4. A church that is missions hearted.

5. A church that faithfully assembles.

6. A church that is autonomous and biblically structured.

D. Today’s liberal and worldly churches are producing a people who profess Christ but in works deny Him and the great change that biblical salvation makes. Satan has blinded the minds of those who believe not and provided many alternatives to the new birth.

Did you know?

1. A person can believe in God and not be saved. James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (The world in general believes in a god and many believe in the God. The light of God lights every man who comes into this world. If there was no God, then all men would be born atheists but the exact opposite is true. The vast majority of mankind believes in a Supreme Being who created and controls all. Atheism is a willful act of denying the light that God has given to every man. All of nature declares the glory of God and rejection of such knowledge cause man to become a fool. Knowledge of a “god” or even of the “God” alone is not enough to save. Salvation is a trust.)

2. A Person can pray to the Lord Jesus and not be saved. Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (I saw a sign the other day at the Laurens Middle School that read: “As long as there will be tests, there will be prayer in school.” I prayed at times as a lost man. Someone once said, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”)

3. A person can stand in a pulpit and preach without being saved. Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Being a pastor, preacher, evangelist, or missionary does not make one saved. Salvation has nothing to do with preaching, it has to do with a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.)

4. A person can do many wonderful works in the name of the Lord and not be saved. Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (I have some great neighbors who would do anything for me but they are not saved. I have known of many who went to foreign countries and gave their lives to help the poor and sick but have not known Jesus Christ.)

5. A person can have great zeal to serve the Lord and not be saved. Romans 10:2-3 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (3) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. (At funerals, I often hear preachers tell of all of the good things that the deceased had done and how much they had served in the church but salvation is not of works but of grace.)

6. A person can have a genuine interest in salvation and not be saved. Matthew 19:16, 22 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? … But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. (It is often the person who will listen when you witness who will not be saved though they seemingly showed great interest in salvation and heaven. Interest and a good listening ear will not save unless the decision is made to come to Christ.)

7. A person can be a good person in the eyes of the world and not be saved. Romans 3:10-13 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (13) Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: (How often have we heard someone say about a person that had died that “if anybody ever made it to heaven, they did.” Nothing about Jesus Christ; nothing about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; nothing about repentance from dead works and faith in Jesus Christ.)

8. A person can only be saved when he/she comes to Jesus Christ in faith alone! Romans 3:24-26 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (25) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (26) To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Salvation is a personal faith in the finished work of Calvary: Jesus Christ—God’s only begotten Son, died for your sins, was buried, and rose again bodily the third day. If you are not saved, turn from sin to Christ alone this morning and be saved.)