From the Principal's Desk
A religious leader came to Jesus early in His earthly ministry (John 3). This man had seen the works Jesus had done and knew for certain that God was with Him. Nicodemus knew that Jesus was a teacher come from God, and he was interested in Jesus. He also knew something was missing in his soul. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a master teacher of Israel. Yet for all of his study, he had a spiritual shallowness that did not deepen with ritual. For all of his zeal, he had a hollowness that he could not fill with law keeping. Jesus preached a message that struck home, but Nicodemus feared what his colleagues would think. He recognized that Jesus preached the truth from the Scriptures, and he couldn’t argue against it. What was his greatest need? When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, the Lord identified that need: “Ye must be born again.” May I say to you today that this is still man’s greatest need, and perhaps it is yours. Are you born again? Are you saved, having placed faith in Jesus Christ alone, having repented of your sin, believing in eternal security, and demonstrating humility and brokenness over your sin?
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Jesus emphasized that without being born again, born from above, having a heavenly birth, that entering the Kingdom, having eternal life, is an absolute impossibility. You may be religious; you may not be religious. The fact is the same. If you will escape the eternal judgment of God, you must be saved. Salvation comes by placing your faith in Jesus Christ alone. In this same conversation, Jesus said, “…that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). You must completely depend on Jesus. He did everything necessary to please the Father regarding your salvation by His death, burial, and resurrection on the cross. You cannot depend on living a “good” life and hope to be accepted by God. All of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6). You must believe, and you must repent. Jesus said in Luke 13:3, 5: “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” To repent means to turn from your way of sin, to relinquish control of your life to Jesus Christ, to admit that your way has been wrong, to want the way of righteousness. You must choose to serve Jesus Christ. He is the great God and our Savior. He is the King of glory. Don’t choose sin. Choose Christ!
To be born again, you must believe in eternal security: “once saved, always saved.” The Bible teaches this. Jesus told Nicodemus, “He that believeth on him is not condemned” (John 3:18). You will never face the judgment of God when you believe on Jesus Christ. He enables your faith to continue. Someone who stops believing never believed in the first place. You cannot lose your salvation. Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst….” Did you see that: “shall never thirst.” Never, ever thirst! Jesus told the Jews in John 10:28-30: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” Denying eternal security denies the promises of God. It denies the power of God. It denies faith in God. Those who deny eternal security depend on their “obedience” to keep themselves saved. My friends, this is works salvation; and we are not saved by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). If you believe you can lose your salvation, you have nullified faith (Galatians 4:4). You are not believing in Bible salvation. To be born again, you must believe in eternal security.
There are many things that a person must believe to be saved, including the deity of Christ. But foundationally, you must understand your need to be saved, and this comes from a right understanding of sin. Sin is the transgression of the law. Sin violates the commands of God and rebels against His will. Sin separates us from God and causes us to deserve eternal punishment in hell. The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23). The Bible ends by saying that whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). This is our hopeless, helpless plight…without Christ. Many people know these facts, but they are not moved by them. To be saved, you must be broken over your sin. You must be smitten in your heart at the reality of having lived a life of sin against God. You must be like the deceiving tax-collector in Luke 18, who smote upon his breast saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” He understood where the root of his sin problem lay: within him. He didn’t blame someone else; neither did he excuse his actions. He admitted his fault to the Lord, knowing he fully deserved God’s wrath. But because of his brokenness and faith, God was merciful. Brokenness has a sister: humility. Humility causes one to see himself as lowly, as a spiritual beggar, as having absolutely nothing to offer God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). In the Sermon on the Mount, humility is the initial requirement for being saved. Pride resists the truth, both in admitting to its rightness and in letting it expose you. Humility allows the light of God’s Word to shine brightly on you to show you who you are. Are you humble and broken over your sin? If you are saved, does your sin still bother you?
Salvation requires the right belief in the right gospel. This right belief includes the reality of eternal security, which the Lord gives to those who are humble and broken. We are coming to the end of the year. Maybe you have shown interest in salvation, maybe you are like Nicodemus and know that there is something missing, a void that no pleasure or religious activity can fill. Maybe you have known the way of salvation, but you have resisted the Lord’s working to give in to Him. If you would like to talk to me further about salvation, please contact me. Don’t put it off. The Bible says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton
A religious leader came to Jesus early in His earthly ministry (John 3). This man had seen the works Jesus had done and knew for certain that God was with Him. Nicodemus knew that Jesus was a teacher come from God, and he was interested in Jesus. He also knew something was missing in his soul. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a master teacher of Israel. Yet for all of his study, he had a spiritual shallowness that did not deepen with ritual. For all of his zeal, he had a hollowness that he could not fill with law keeping. Jesus preached a message that struck home, but Nicodemus feared what his colleagues would think. He recognized that Jesus preached the truth from the Scriptures, and he couldn’t argue against it. What was his greatest need? When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, the Lord identified that need: “Ye must be born again.” May I say to you today that this is still man’s greatest need, and perhaps it is yours. Are you born again? Are you saved, having placed faith in Jesus Christ alone, having repented of your sin, believing in eternal security, and demonstrating humility and brokenness over your sin?
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Jesus emphasized that without being born again, born from above, having a heavenly birth, that entering the Kingdom, having eternal life, is an absolute impossibility. You may be religious; you may not be religious. The fact is the same. If you will escape the eternal judgment of God, you must be saved. Salvation comes by placing your faith in Jesus Christ alone. In this same conversation, Jesus said, “…that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). You must completely depend on Jesus. He did everything necessary to please the Father regarding your salvation by His death, burial, and resurrection on the cross. You cannot depend on living a “good” life and hope to be accepted by God. All of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6). You must believe, and you must repent. Jesus said in Luke 13:3, 5: “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” To repent means to turn from your way of sin, to relinquish control of your life to Jesus Christ, to admit that your way has been wrong, to want the way of righteousness. You must choose to serve Jesus Christ. He is the great God and our Savior. He is the King of glory. Don’t choose sin. Choose Christ!
To be born again, you must believe in eternal security: “once saved, always saved.” The Bible teaches this. Jesus told Nicodemus, “He that believeth on him is not condemned” (John 3:18). You will never face the judgment of God when you believe on Jesus Christ. He enables your faith to continue. Someone who stops believing never believed in the first place. You cannot lose your salvation. Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst….” Did you see that: “shall never thirst.” Never, ever thirst! Jesus told the Jews in John 10:28-30: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” Denying eternal security denies the promises of God. It denies the power of God. It denies faith in God. Those who deny eternal security depend on their “obedience” to keep themselves saved. My friends, this is works salvation; and we are not saved by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). If you believe you can lose your salvation, you have nullified faith (Galatians 4:4). You are not believing in Bible salvation. To be born again, you must believe in eternal security.
There are many things that a person must believe to be saved, including the deity of Christ. But foundationally, you must understand your need to be saved, and this comes from a right understanding of sin. Sin is the transgression of the law. Sin violates the commands of God and rebels against His will. Sin separates us from God and causes us to deserve eternal punishment in hell. The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23). The Bible ends by saying that whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). This is our hopeless, helpless plight…without Christ. Many people know these facts, but they are not moved by them. To be saved, you must be broken over your sin. You must be smitten in your heart at the reality of having lived a life of sin against God. You must be like the deceiving tax-collector in Luke 18, who smote upon his breast saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” He understood where the root of his sin problem lay: within him. He didn’t blame someone else; neither did he excuse his actions. He admitted his fault to the Lord, knowing he fully deserved God’s wrath. But because of his brokenness and faith, God was merciful. Brokenness has a sister: humility. Humility causes one to see himself as lowly, as a spiritual beggar, as having absolutely nothing to offer God. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). In the Sermon on the Mount, humility is the initial requirement for being saved. Pride resists the truth, both in admitting to its rightness and in letting it expose you. Humility allows the light of God’s Word to shine brightly on you to show you who you are. Are you humble and broken over your sin? If you are saved, does your sin still bother you?
Salvation requires the right belief in the right gospel. This right belief includes the reality of eternal security, which the Lord gives to those who are humble and broken. We are coming to the end of the year. Maybe you have shown interest in salvation, maybe you are like Nicodemus and know that there is something missing, a void that no pleasure or religious activity can fill. Maybe you have known the way of salvation, but you have resisted the Lord’s working to give in to Him. If you would like to talk to me further about salvation, please contact me. Don’t put it off. The Bible says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton