Sermon Recap — October 23, 2022

Sermon Recap

The Doctrine of Salvation

Jeremy Bell
October 23, 2022
Sermon Recap PDF

 

I. What Is the Gospel and what do we receive by believing it?

“The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ and all that He did in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension to accomplish salvation for humanity.” — Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith

“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” — Romans 3:23

“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 6:23

“The gospel stands as the core message of the Bible, which in all its parts testifies to God’s saving acts culminating in the person and work of Christ. This good news is the power of God for salvation for all who believe, providing hope for the lost, and abiding comfort and strength for the believer. There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.”
— Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved” — Ephesians 2:4-5

God graciously and effectively calls to Himself those He chose to save in Christ. Through the proclamation of the gospel, the Holy Spirit regenerates the elect and brings them into a living union with Christ, bestowing new spiritual life, opening their eyes to see God’s glory in Christ, and enabling them to respond to the gospel in faith and repentance.” — Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith

“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” — Romans 8:29-30

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. — Ephesians 1:11-14

II. How Does the Gospel Help Us to Live Day by Day?

1. The gospel breaks the power of sin and condemnation

“As the all-sufficient Savior, Christ also sanctifies His people, cleansing them from the impurity of sin and setting them apart for God and His service. The renewing work of the Holy Spirit breaks their bondage to sin and Satan and raises them to new life, enabling believers to put sin to death and grow in likeness to Christ.”
— Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 8:1

“As long as I am stricken with the guilt of my sins, I will be captive to them, and will often find myself re-committing the very sins about which I feel most guilty. The Devil is well aware of this fact; he knows that if he can keep me tormented by sin’s guilt, he can dominate me with sin’s power. The gospel, however, slays sin at this root point and thereby nullifies sin’s power over me. The forgiveness of God, made known to me through the gospel, liberates me from sin’s power because it liberates me first from its guilt; and preaching such forgiveness to myself is a practical way of putting the gospel into operation as a nullifier of sin’s power in my life.” — Milton Vincent

2. The gospel empowers joyful obedience

The gospel roots out a works mentality to our faith and replaces it with security in our justification by faith alone.

“Anyone who believes that our relationship with God is based on our keeping up moral behavior is on an endless treadmill of guilt and insecurity. As we know from Paul’s letters, he did not free Gentile believers from the moral imperatives of the Ten Commandments. Christians could not lie, steal, commit adultery and so on. But though not free from the moral law as a way to live, Christians are free from it as a system of salvation. We obey not in the fear and insecurity of hoping to earn our salvation, but in the freedom and security of knowing we are already saved in Christ. We obey in the freedom of gratitude.” — Tim Keller

3. The promises of the gospel cause spiritual growth

The gospel is not the first step in a stairway of truths, rather, it is more like the hub in a wheel of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A-Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom. We are not justified by the gospel and then sanctified by obedience, but the gospel is the way we grow (Gal. 3:1-3) and are renewed (Col. 1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through every barrier (Rom. 1:16-17). — Tim Keller

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” — Romans 1:16-17

Questions for Discussion/Application

  • Consider taking time, before the discussion, for each person to silently read for themselves section 9 of the Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith. This should take about 10 minutes.
  • In reading the Statement of Faith, is there anything that immediately stands out to you or encourages you that you want to share with the group?
  • If someone were to ask you, “What is the Gospel?” what would you say? How would you respond?
  • Why is it important that we “preach the gospel to ourselves every day?”
  • What problems arise when believers assume the gospel and don’t repeatedly review it and meditate upon it?
  • What blessings come to us when we are faithful to preach the gospel to ourselves?
  • What are some practical ways we can keep the gospel before us daily? What ways have you done this that have been beneficial?
  • Consider taking time to pray, asking God to help us all to live in the good of the gospel daily.

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