I want to talk to you today about a subject that seems very simplistic to most Christians, but one in which very few have an understanding about. Actually, most don’t have a clue.
Salvation is what I’m talking about. This word usually gets a response of “you go to heaven when you die”. While that is true, it is only a small part of salvation. See, the Greek word for salvation is soteria and the root word is sozo. The meaning of sozo is saved, healed, delivered, whole, blessed, and prosperous. Matter of fact, every promise in the Word of God is wrapped up in that one little four letter word, sozo. Now, that I have preached to the choir, let me get to my main topic. Most people receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, ie get saved, and usually will “feel” peace, joy, jubilation, or even euphoric. It’s usually the next day that the devil begins to work on you. You find out you still have some of the same problems you did before you got saved. Some of the same desires you had before, are still there. You find out many of your physical and soulish problems are still in place. At this point, you begin to think if I got “really” saved, I wouldn’t still have all of these things going on in my life. I’ve heard many people lament “this Christian life is just too hard, I can’t do it.” My response to that for years has been, “Wrong; it's not too hard, it is impossible." The only one who could and did was Jesus and you are not Him. Roman’s 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” And Roman’s 10: 9 – 10 says, 9) “that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10) “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Many believe that when you get saved then they should be perfect; not so. Part of you is but two thirds of you is still a “hot mess.” 1st Thessalonians 5:23 says, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. You must realize that we are a triune person, that is, we are made of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. In other words, we are a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body. The real you is spirit, it’s your spirit that is saved, redeemed, and in union with the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father. 2nd Corinthians 5:17-18 says, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he IS a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given in us the ministry of reconciliation.” [emphasis mine] In my spirit, I AM new, but the rest of me is not. I still mess up, sin, have bad attitudes, etc. The good news is that it isn’t my spirit doing it. Romans 4:8 says, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” There is no sin attached to my spirit because of His sacrifice. In Romans 6:11 we are exhorted to “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. My born –again spirit is dead to sin. I AM alive in Jesus. Now, does that mean I don’t need to be concerned with sin in my body? No, Romans 6: 12 says, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Any time the bible says “let not”, it means you have the control. Some of you say well how do I do that. Glad you asked. As you get into God’s Word your soul which is your mind, will, and emotions, will begin to line up with God’s will and way. Like a little puppy, your flesh (body) will simply follow. In Romans 6:22 we read, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God…[read all of Romans chapter 6] Now, this brings me to the actual reason I wrote this. I have found that many in the church are not more successful in the things Jesus instructed us to do. John 14:12 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” [emphasis mine] The majority of the church has an Old Testament mindset of being a sinner. Many confess that “I’m just an old sinner saved by grace.” If you are born again then you were a sinner but you are NOW saved by grace. Please understand sinner has to do with your nature more than what you do. Your sin nature led you to sin, but you don’t have a sin nature anymore. You are a born again child of the Most High God. You have a new nature, so get into the Word and renew your mind according to the “washing of the water of the word. Eph 5:26.” As you learn WHO you are in Christ, and then find out WHAT you have because of His grace and then you will begin to walk in WHAT YOU CAN DO because the Holy Spirit lives in you. So few have won the lost, healed the sick, cast out devils, and performed miracles, BUT that IS our calling. I have won the lost, healed the sick, raised the dying off of their death beds, delivered demoniacs and I’m just getting started. Do I do this because I’m so special or wonderful? No. It’s because Jesus paved the way and then by His grace gave me the tools to do these things. Every born again believer not only can do these things but we are responsible to do this. My exhortation at this time is get into the Word, find out WHO you are, WHAT you have and then begin to do WHAT you can do! Stop living in the Old Testament mindset and do away with your unworthy attitude (because Jesus paid the price-He considered you worth the cost) and undeserving attitude (because you are not deserving-grace gives it to you) and set out in obedience to the call on each of your lives. If you have any questions or comments, click the blue comments link below. I will get back to you. Thank you for dropping by, and have a blessed day. Doc
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Dr. H. R. SharpJust a man armed with the Word of the LORD. Available now in the store
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