| We can know! by Norman Childs |
| Books by Norman Childs Links Guest Register Home Contact Us About Us 800-973-2646 |
|
Chapter Three ROMAN ROAD Rom. 3:23; 6:23; 5:8, 10:9,10; 2:4; 10:13; 6:3,4 Rom 3:23 XE "Rom 3\:23" - “...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Who does this include? Does this include the Pope? Billy Graham? Me? Does this include you? Have you sinned? Rom 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death...” The word “wages” means “payment for services rendered.” When we serve the devil we get paid for our services. What we earn is death. The word death means separation. We have all been to funerals and have seen people that are dead. What is different about these people now from a week ago? They have the same hair, eyes, noses and feet but the thing that is different is that their soul has been separated from their body. Spiritual death, on the other hand is simply being separated from God. God told Adam, “The day you eat it you will die.” Adam lived to be over 900 years old, but he died, was separated from God, the very moment he ate of the forbidden fruit. The moment we sin we die spiritually. A person without God is a walking dead man. If we die physically while we are dead spiritually we will be eternally separated from God. This is our wages for serving the devil. Rom 6:23 “...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Notice that a person can earn death but cannot earn life. Eternal life is a gift that we cannot earn, merit or deserve. If God had said, “You must climb mount Everest before you can come to heaven,” even though we climbed it a hundred times we could not have earned heaven for earning something means that we give something of equal value. The only way we can go to heaven is by receiving the free gift which is offered to all. If the gift of heaven is offered to all then why doesn’t everyone go to heaven? As with every gift, offering it is not enough. It must be received. The gift of heaven is offered to many but few receive it. (Matt 7:14) Rom 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. Many people say, “When I break the smoking habit, or the cursing habit, or correct this problem or that in my life then I will become a Christian.” Most of us feel that we must climb up the “good” ladder several rungs before God will accept us, but God shouts down from heaven, “I want you! I want you just as you are!” We don’t have to give up smoking, or drinking or any of those things to become a Christian. There is only one thing that God requires us to give up and that is ourselves. If we will turn our lives over to Him He will help us break all our bad habits. Rom 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Do you believe the Bible? Do you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead? A person cannot be saved if he does not believe these truths. Rom 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” To receive the free gift of salvation we must believe and confess. What do we confess? We must confess Jesus. The word “Jesus” means savior. To truly confess Jesus as savior we must first acknowledge our need for a savior. Allow me to illustrate. Let’s suppose that one warm afternoon I find you sleeping in your favorite Lazy-Boy recliner and suddenly I grab you, drag you out of your house and proclaim, “I’m your savior!” What would you think? You would probably think I had lost my marbles and that I was nothing but a pest. You see, at this point you wouldn’t realize that you needed a savior. Next let’s suppose you hear a sudden explosion and your house goes up in a million pieces. Now you could truly confess that I was your savior. If we don’t believe we are facing a disaster we cannot truly confess Jesus as our savior. However, many will confess Jesus as savior but are not willing to truly confess Jesus as Lord. The word “Lord” means master, ruler or boss. To truly confess Jesus as Lord is to confess that we are yielding our will and energies to do whatever He wishes. Many confess Jesus as savior but few truly make Him the Lord of their lives. Will you make Him your Lord and Savior today? Will you confess Him to others? Rom 2:4, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?” When we truly consider the blackness of our sins against the backdrop of God’s goodness, we become so overwhelmed we are led toward repentance. Repentance means to turn again. When we are born we are heading directly toward God. When we commit our first sin we turn away from God and turn toward Satan. When we repent we turn again toward God.
Rom 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Luke 18:13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’”
Rom 6:3-4, “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Eph 1:3 XE "Eph 1\:3" “Praise be to the God... who has blessed us... with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” In order to receive spiritual blessings we must get into Christ. The way we get into Christ is by being baptized.
Rom 6:3-4, “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” This is a strange expression. What does it mean? Let’s suppose that I am in my living-room with dirt on my hands and in the next room there is a sink, soap and water. Will the cleansing agents do me any good when I’m in one room and they are in another? No, I must contact the cleansing agents in order for them to do me any good. We all know that it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from sin but how do we contact that blood? Jesus’ blood was poured out nearly one third of the way around the world from us. It was poured out nearly 2,000 years ago. How can we contact it? Where did Jesus shed his blood? He lost some blood when the thorns pricked his head and some where the nails pierced his hands and feet. Some blood was shed where the lash was laid against his back but most of his blood was shed when the sword pierced his side. John 19:34 XE "John 19\:34" “...one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” Was Jesus alive or dead when the blood poured from his side? Jesus was dead. If we desire to contact the cleansing blood we must get into his death. There is only one way to get into the death of Jesus and to contact the blood. “...all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.” Rom 6:4, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Please allow me to tell you a make-believe story. When I was a boy of about fourteen my parents put me in charge of the house for three days while they made an emergency trip. I felt sure I could handle things until the very first crisis developed. When I walked into our kitchen the next morning I found that our old dog, “Shep” had died. What a shock! I shed a few tears. I knew I couldn’t let him lay there for three days, until mom and dad got home, but I just couldn’t bring myself to bury my dear friend. Suddenly I heard a knock at the door. It was Joe. I told him about my problem, told him that I would pay five dollars if he would bury Shep and he agreed to do so. Joe picked up old Shep and headed to the back yard. Realizing this was the last time I’d see my dog, to hide my tears, I peaked from the curtains and watched Joe. He did something strange. He laid Shep down and grabbed a hand full of sand and sprinkled it on Shep’s head and then came back in and asked for the five dollars. Do you think I should have paid him? Neither do I. Well Joe left and soon after that Bill came riding up on his bike. I told Bill about my problem and offered him the five dollars. Bill went to the back yard and guess what? Bill took a cup, filled it with sand and poured it on Shep’s head and then wanted me to pay him five dollars for burying my dog. Should I have paid Bill? I didn’t! Next came Bob. I explained everything to him and he went to the back yard, dug a deep hole, laid old Shep in and covered him completely with dirt. Finally Bob came in and asked for the five dollars. Do you think I should have paid Bob? So do I, and I did. What a silly story. We all know the difference between sprinkling, pouring and burying. Paul very clearly tells us here that Bible baptism is a burial. Rom 6:3-4 “...all of us who were baptized into Christ... that, just as Christ was raised from the dead... we too may live a new life.” What would you say if I told you that in my younger days there was a guy in town that I didn’t like and one day I shoved him down in a deep hole and covered him with several feet of dirt? You wouldn’t think very well of me would you? But suppose I told you that this guy had died from natural causes and that I was working for an undertaker and the hole was a grave that I had been hired to fill in. That would be alright, wouldn’t it? What makes the difference? At first I allowed you to believe that I buried the guy alive. We just don’t go around burying live people! That would be wrong! Why is it then that many people insist that they are alive in Christ, are born again Christians and then they get buried by baptism. That’s wrong! Christians that are alive in Christ should never be buried. Burial is for dead people not those who are alive. Paul showed us clearly that we rise from baptism to live a new life. We sin #1. We die spiritually #2. We get buried #3. We rise to live a new spiritual life #4. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water (baptism/new life) and the Spirit” John 3:5. A man once approached my brother-in-law and said, “I want you to baptize me!” My brother-in-law asked why. The fellow said, “To get my wife off my back!” Do you think that type of baptism is acceptable to God? Obviously for a dunking to be a true baptism the person getting dunked must realize God’s purpose for it, and desire baptism for the proper purpose. Study Guide Chapter Three
Now please click on "Assurance of Salvation."
|
Twenty Four Parts To Salvation
|
|
|
|
|
