JESUS SAVES!

Jesus Saves!

Pastor Joseph Clark – Airing July 30, 2023

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Ephesians 2:8

8?For?by grace you have been saved?through faith. And this is?not your own doing;?it is the gift of God,”

The Holy Gospel aka The Holy Good News of Christ, is Jesus’ invitation to all people of all nations to be reconciled with God, their eternal salvation found only in Jesus Christ.?

My brothers and sisters the only thing that matters is that we are saved by our Lord Jesus.?No problem, no disease, no addiction, no tragedy, no heartbreak, no financial or employment problem, truly matters, relative to yours and my eternal soul.?Receive the saving Grace of Jesus and devote yourself to Him.?Not as a part of your life, but as your life.?Do this and the Holy Spirit will dwell within you, The Holy Spirit inhabits you, and he will guide and direct you to Godly, Holy, righteous things.?This is the way to eternal freedom.

For those listeners who have yet to receive Christ into your hearts, there are no obstacles.?One must make a choice to turn their back on any doubts and choose out of faith to repent, which is to change direction from walking away from God to the direction of walking with Christ, God the Son.?This means that we yield and dedicate ourselves to the Lord, the Holy Spirit who will dwell within us, counsel us, and guide us.?When you receive Christ, with all our hearts as your Lord and Savior, we become a new creation in Christ.?All our sins past, present, and future are forgiven and forgotten by God.??We can rely ons dependence on Christ alone.?Do this and you will be dead to sin, and you shall have eternal life.?He loves you more than you can possibly imagine.

Jesus said:?“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,?32?and you will?know the truth, and the truth?will set you free.” – John 8:31-32.?The truth that Jesus speaks of is that he is your freedom.?Freedom from sin.?Freedom from guilt, shame, and anxiety.?Freedom from eternal torment.?Christ frees.?Being free in Christ is not about following a bunch of rules.?It is not about a philosophy to life.?It is not about making Jesus an important part of your life.?It is about recognizing Christ as your life.?Giving control of your life to Jesus.?It is about transformation into love, hope, mercy, forgiveness, non-judgement, and freedom.?

In today’s reading in Ephesians 2:8, Paul reminds us that we owe our salvation entirely to the undeserved favor of God’s grace.?We cannot earn that Grace.?It is an unconditional gift of Christ.?His hand is offered to pull us form the icy cold waters of sin in which we are drowning, and we choose to have faith and accept that saving grasp and allow Him to pull us free.?Faith is not something we create.?It is a trustful response which in itself is evoked by the Holy Spirit.?Our faith does not contribute to our salvation, salvation is a gift from God.?Those who reject Christ, reject that gift.?Those who receive it, receive the gift of eternal life with God.

The struggle for believers is not conforming to the world’s patterns.?The struggle of remaining as sin free as we possibly can despite the weakness of our flesh, of our, pride, our tempers, are bodily and mental compulsions.?Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount;

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” (Matthew 6:21).?

On the matter of the heart and the mind Paul writes:

7?And the peace of God,?which transcends all understanding,?will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:7.

The point is many people think that Christians are rulesy, hypocritical people who judge, and scrutinize one another, and who have set a bar of behavior for themselves which they fall short of.?And why wouldn’t they think this.?All too many do behave this way.??It is as though many have forgotten that Jesus was the sacrifice for our sins.?He took on our punishment and gave His life physically, spiritually, supernaturally, so that through Him we shall have eternal life.?

To Paul’s point, our minds and hearts are tied together, and to Jesus point our minds and hearts go where our treasure is, and our minds help us to recognize where that treasure is.?Our treasure is our salvation in Christ.?It is not about religion.?It is about a relationship.?It is not about what we do, it is about who we become in Christ.?When we believe the truth of the Gospel which is that we are saved in Christ, and that God the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we can open our ears and our minds, and our hearts to The Holy Spirits counsel and guidance in our lives.?This is the only way to walk in the Spirit, who will be our strength when we are weak in our struggle with our human frailty.?Christ is our freedom.?The Gospel is truth.???When we faithfully receive Christ we are baptized by the Holy Spirit transforming us to His righteousness.?We become dead to sin, and alive in Christ.?We become part of His kingdom now for all eternity, and when the Lord calls us home we will go to His Heavenly kingdom in spirit.?We are not saved by our deeds or behavior.?We are only saved by Christ’s Grace.?

Heavenly and righteous Father, I thank You for sending us your only son, for coming to us as God the Son.?For your Gospel is truth.?Thank You with all our hearts.?In righteous and Holy name of Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.