Your Salvation Is God’s Desire

He wants You to live with him.

 

• God created man in the beginning because he had a desire for man to live forever with him. He did not want man to be a robot forced to be with him. He wanted to feel love like you love. He wanted man to also desire to live with him. So, he gave man freedom of will to choose him or reject him.

  • We have been learning from the catechism that he established a Covenant of Life with man on the condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Death, eternal separation from him, would be the consequence for any disobedience.

    • As you know Adam and Eve, using their free will, ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and sin and death entered the world.

  • But because God still wanted the man to live, and live in a relationship with him, he later established another Covenant of Works.

    • Again, respecting man’s freedom of choice, he told the man if he would now be obedient to the Law of God, he would still give him life abundantly and eternally.

      • Think of the numerous occasions God, in his word, promised them blessings for obedience. 

      • But no one could be perfectly obedient. 

    • The man’s mind and his will to do right was weakened because of his flesh. 

      • Satan would always play upon that weakness.

  • But God still wanted man to live with him, so he established the Covenant of Grace. 

    • Under this covenant, God himself would come and pay for man’s transgression himself. He would suffer the penalty of death and accept the punishment for man’s disobedience so that man could live with him.

    • God came in the flesh, in the image of man and lived among us known as Jesus, full of grace and truth.

    • He would perform the Covenant of Works perfectly and accept the penalty of death in place of the man.

    • He would establish this new covenant by sacrificing his body and his blood to bring it to pass.

 

• • The Covenant of Grace was not like the Covenant of Works 

    • It was not based upon man keeping the law of God. 

    • It was based upon faith.

Eph 2:8–10 (ESV) — 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 

• • • Man would not have to work or do anything except submit to the will of God by allowing him to do his will in the man’s life. 

  • Under the Covenant of Grace man only had to believe in his heart on the name of the Jesus in such a way that it his belief would change his way of living.

    • Salvation Is God’s Desire

 

• • God would do the work and totally recreate man and give him the ability to obey him by faith. He would give man a new heart and a new spirit. But this was only if the man was willing to yield to God spirit. 

God said 

Eze 36:25–27 (ESV) — 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 

• • • See, God would direct the man, order his steps to walk in his statutes and his rules. 

    • God would do all the heavy lifting. All man had to do was to submit and let God have his way with him.

 

• • Why would God do this? Salvation Is God’s Desire

Jn 3:16–18 (ESV) — 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 

 

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

 

Jn 1:12–13 (ESV) — 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

 

• • Under the Covenant of Grace, by simply believing in Christ, God re-creates us as a new creation of his.

2 Co 5:17 (ESV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 

• • • If the old has passed away, we don’t have the judgment of death on us because of sin. 

    • For now, and forevermore, we don’t have to question our salvation like we did under the old covenant.

    • Neither should we have any fear of Hell.

    • We have been set free from the law of sin and death by God himself. Not by any work that we do.

 

• • God made it so easy for us to be saved by a simple confession.

Ro 10:9–10 (ESV) — 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 

• • As we read these next few verses you will develop a confidence when you leave here that you did not have before and hopefully you will learn how to use your faith to experience life more abundantly with the knowledge, I will give you.

 

Because God is doing the work of salvation under the Covenant of Grace Scripture tells us. 

 

Ro 8:1–4 (NKJV) — 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 

 

Under the Covenant of Grace

 

THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION, JUST JUSTIFICATION!

 

Ro 8:2 (ESV) — 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 

 

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 

 

4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

 

NOW THERE IS COMPLETE SANCTIFICATION

 

God justifies us and then he sanctifies us. Therefore 

 

WE ARE 1)  JUSTIFIED AND DELIVERED FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN AND THEN WE ARE 2) SANCTIFIED AND DELIVERED FROM SIN’S POWER 

 

THE BLOOD OF CHRIST MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR

GOD TO BE THE JUSTIFIER AND

THE SPIRIT TO BE THE SANCTIFIER

 

• Let’s take it verse by verse 

Ro 8:1 (NKJV) — 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

• • The first clause tells us that our salvation is assured and unchallengeable!

There is no condemnation. No condemnation by anyone. Why? Because God is one doing it.

• • • Jesus and God worked together to give us this freedom!

    • Salvation is God’s desire and His idea!

      • Not ours!

    • So, who can take salvation away from us

    • Therefore, there is no condemnation for us as believers!

    •  PERIOD! 

 

• • Paul makes the clear at the end of the chapter.

Ro 8:33–35 (ESV) — 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 

If it is God who has done this. Who dares condemn us? Not man, not devils, not demons not even Satan himself can dare touch us. 

 

We are God’s anointed

The Scripture has said touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm. 

 

God has justified us because he intends to glorify us!

 

Ro 8:28–30 (ESV) — 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 

 

Ro 8:34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 

• • • This says, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation the old things have passed away, including the law of sin and death.

    • God has given us his son that we might have life and have life with him dwelling inside of us. 

      • He has called us His children. What parent would allow their children to be hurt?

      • Therefore, we can be confident no matter what happens,

Ro 8:37–39 (ESV) — 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

• • • Our salvation is assured if we just allow God to work the change in us.

      • All we have to do is let him do it.

      • Just let go and let God have his way!

 

• • We have a new heart and a new spirit, given to us by the work of God, but our mind and our body are still of the old man. The stuff we used to do is still in our minds. 

    • Our body is accustomed to the old ways and will cry out for the old things it used to.

    • We still have desires and passions that we had before we were saved. 

    • We will still want to go to the places we used to go to and do the things we used to do before we accepted Christ.

    • We will be still tempted the way Satan used to tempt us.

  • The old man does not die immediately. So, we must learn to put the death the deeds of the old man daily. 

    • But just like we have faith to believe that God would save us we have to have faith to believe that God will also sanctify us!

 

• • Though we could not do this easily before, God has given us his Spirit. And, because God has given us his Spirit, if we choose, just like we accepted Christ, by faith we can overcome those thoughts and desires.

 

NOW, BY FAITH WE SHOULD ALLOW GOD TO PUT THE DEATH THE DEEDS OF THE BODY BY HIS SPIRIT!

 

• • • It is by faith we are saved and we must by faith walk in the new spirit not in the old ways of man that have passed away.

    • Remember it is God who is working in us. He began the work of salvation he will complete it.

      • Stop trying to overcome sin by our own methods.

      • By Faith Confess your sins before God and he will wash them away!

      • 1 Jn 1:9 (ESV) — 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

    • We must remember that God gave us freedom of will and life is choice driven, we must choose life and not death. 

  • Adam and Eve were given a choice when they had a clean and pure heart, but they chose to go the way of the world.

  • They ran away from God when they should have confessed what they had done. 

  • Don’t HIDE from God RUN to God!

Ps 51:17 (ESV) — 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

 

• •  A person who has accepted Jesus can also choose to go the way of the world. But …

 

AFTER WE ACCEPT THE SALVATION OFFERED US, WE MUST SUBMIT TO HIS SPIRIT TO FINISH THE WORK HE STARTED

 

• • God will do the work if we submit to him for, he has said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. We have to stop fighting the spirit. 

  • We must allow the spirit have his way with us. And not grieve him.

 

• The Scripture goes on to say, there is no condemnation for a certain conditions here and later in the fourth verse, 

Ro 8:1 (NKJV) — 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

• • This is the condition of no condemnation. What does it mean?

    • You must choose to walk according to the Spirit and reject the flesh!

    • It means you must choose to live in the word of God by the Spirit of God by faith. Not by your works.

      • This is not something you have to struggle with.

    • Just submit to God and resist the devil and he will flee from you because God will fight your battle. James 4:7

 

• • God has given you a new spirit and it is by faith you trust God who has begun his work in you to bring it to completion. Philippians 1:6

 

• • • Many people claim to be Christians and think they are saved from the wrath of God. But they are deceived because they do not submit to his spirit to walk in him.

      • They do things that are opposite to God’s word in the Bible.

      • They claim they love the Lord but don’t love their brother.

      • They know what the word of God says do but they make exceptions.

      • They follow God in some things and in some things they don’t.

      • They support things that clearly go against the word of God and encourage people to do it.

    • Don’t be a hypocrite! Don’t be deceived!

 

THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION FOR ONLY THOSE WHO BELIEVE AND SUBMIT THEMSELVES TO WALKING ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT

 

• Here is Why! 

Ro 8:2 (ESV) — 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 

• • God has a law that he will not violate. 

    • The law of his spirit and the law of his spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death.

    • Your Salvation is God’s desire 

  • God sent his son, he paid the price and now the Holy Spirit has set us free from the law of sin and death.

    • We don’t have to worry about eternal damnation if we are allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us in our lives. 

    • However, if we blaspheme against the spirit, if we don’t allow him to do his work to seal us, this is the unpardonable sin.

    • If we don’t allow the spirit to have his way with us, there is no other way.

 

• • By the spirit, we have been set free from the Covenant of Works. We can now experience the covenant of eternal life that was offered to Adam.

    • We are not bound by the law of sin and death!

    • God is not judging us according to our sins. They are no longer recorded.

 

• Ro 8:3–4 (ESV) — 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,  

  • God did this! That is why it is so tragic to ignore Christ; to ignore the action of God to save us.

    • He sacrificed his son to save us.

    • Our salvation was God’s desire.

  • He sent him in the likeness of sinful flesh, not sinful flesh. There was no sin in him. 

  • There is no condemnation left for us because God took the condemnation for us. Our flesh is too weak to follow the laws of God so God sent Jesus to take away the sin of the world.  

  • He put his wrath on Jesus! 

Is 53:5–6 (ESV) — 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

• • • He took the punishment for us. Why?

• 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, 

who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

• • This is important to see. the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us,

    • this means our sanctification can be fulfilled in us by his Spirit.

    • It can be fulfilled in us as we walked the narrow road following the word of God and not fulfilling the lust of the flesh.

  • We are no longer slaves to sin.

    • Because we are under the covenant of grace which operates by faith, we can use our faith to overcome our temptations knowing that God has given us the ability to do so.

    • Where we may have failed in the past to be able to not do a thing, we can overcome sin by our faith knowing that God in verse 4 gives us the ability to fulfill the law by the spirit. the law might be fulfilled in us,

  • walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

    • Get up every day and commit yourself to walking in the spirit and God through providence will lead you every step of the way. 

    • He will order your footsteps.

    • He will lead you besides the still waters and through the valley and the shadow of death.

    • Be led by the spirit,

    • Ga 5:16 (ESV) — 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 

 

• • To walk in the spirit, we have to realize that Christ’s words are both spirit and life. John 6:63 

    • Therefore to walk in the spirit we must learn the word of God to hear God speak to us and speak to God in prayer.

 

• • Let us read this again with understanding.

  • Ro 8:1 (NKJV) — 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 

Ro 8:3–4 (ESV) — 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

• • As we walk in the spirit it is God who works in us to cause us to do his perfect will without the power of the flesh weakening us.

Eph 2:10 (ESV) — 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 

 

Php 2:13 (ESV) — 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 

 

• • We need to recognize there is no limitation now placed upon us by the flesh. The only limitation we have is that we remember our slavery to the flesh. 

 

• • We need to begin to realize we can do far greater things by faith than we could when we were limited by the flesh. 

  • God was with the great heroes of the Old Testament under the covenant of works, and they were blessed mightily, but God is in us under the covenant of grace. Consider how much more blessed we can be!

We are now under the Covenant of Grace and the currency for the medium of exchange for blessing is faith.

Receive Now By Your Faith!

 

• • We must stop limiting the power of God that works within us by remembering the old man and his limitations.

  • There are no limitations under the covenant of grace

 

RELEASE YOUR FAITH