Are You Saved? # 1

2 Peter 3: 18 ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’.

Please notice: that our text refers to Jesus Christ as ‘our Lord and Savior’

When we preach and teach the Message of Salvation and witness to our friends about Jesus, we make a big mistake if we refer to Jesus Christ as Savior only

If we refer to Jesus Christ as Savior only, we are minimizing and trivializing Who Jesus Christ is, and as a result of that, instead of making true converts to Christ, we make false converts

In early April this year, yet another high-profile ‘Christian’ turned away from his faith in Christ

Paul Maxwell, a teaching professor at Moody Bible Institute in the U.S. He made the announcement that he was no longer a Christian – Maxwell said, “I’m just not a Christian anymore, and it feels really good. I’m really happy.”

Unbelievable! His articles are still available (at the time of writing) online www.desiringgod.org and www.sermoncentral.com

The question is, was he ever a Christian? Of course not, he was a false convert, a Christian in name only

I say this because no one can be saved by confessing Jesus Christ as Savior only – we are saved by confessing Him as ‘our Lord’

Romans 10: 9 ‘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’

Dear friends, we must remember that many people follow Jesus, but that doesn’t mean they are saved – many people that follow Jesus and profess to be ‘Christian’ are false converts and eventually they abandon Him

John 6: 66-68 ‘At this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted Him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.’’

Jesus said this to the 12 Disciples

John 13: 13 ‘You call Me… ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am’.

John 8: 24b “unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”

I’m wondering if teaching professor Paul Maxwell Ph. D believed that!?

I will say it again, no one can be saved by confessing Jesus Christ as Savior only – we are saved by confessing Him as ‘our Lord and Savior’

Q. Now, what does that mean for us – how does that apply to our lives?

A. When we confess Jesus Christ as ‘Lord and Savior’, we are confessing our willingness to submit to His OWNERSHIP over our lives

And that’s the problem!

To the unbelieving mind it is offensive to be asked to give up our life and submit it to Jesus Christ – It’s less offensive and more user-friendly to refer to Jesus Christ as Savior only

That’s why most people reject the Message of Salvation – Christ, ‘our Lord and Savior’ is offensive

1 Peter 2: 8 ‘a rock of offense’

When ‘our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ calls us to come to Him, He requires (not requests) us to come to Him on His terms, not ours

Matthew 16: 24 “If anyone wants to follow after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me”.

Luke 9: 57-62

When we come on His terms and begin a new relationship with Christ – He becomes ‘our Lord and Savior’ and we become His Servants

Jesus explained this new relationship in one of His Parables

Luke 17: 7-10

To the unbelieving mind this is offensive

They might even say something like this

“Serving the Lord is a really bad idea – why should I give up my life to follow Jesus”

For me though, serving the Lord is the greatest blessing of my life and here’s why I have given up my life to serve ‘our Lord and Savior’

1/ The Word of God reminds me that God the Father CHOSE me for salvation:

Ephesians 1: 5 ‘God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ’

2/ The Word of God reminds me that Jesus Christ PAID for my salvation with His blood on the cross:

1 Corinthians 7:23 ‘Christ has paid the price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world’.

3/ The Word of God reminds me that I am OWNED by Jesus Christ

Titus 2: 14 ‘He gave Himself for us, to rescue us from all wickedness and to make us a pure people who belong to Him alone and are eager to do good’

4/ The Word of God reminds me that I am SUBJECT to God’s will over the will of human authority (government)

Acts 5: 29 ‘If we have to choose between obedience to God and obedience to any human authority, then we must obey God’

5/ The Word of God reminds me that I am the RECIPIENT of God’s Grace

Philippians 4: 19 ‘My God will use His glorious riches to give you everything you need. He will do this through Christ Jesus’.

I can say with the Great Apostle Paul

Galatians 2: 20 ‘The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.’ Msg Trans

Jesus Christ is ‘our Lord and Savior’

Are you saved?