Rev. Dr. A. A. Obe (JP)
May 29, 2022
SUSTAINING YOUR SALVATION
TEXT: John 3:3,16; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:1-11
John 3:3 – 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:16 – 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Acts 16:31 – 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Romans 10:1-11 – 10 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
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.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Definitions:
What is salvation?
1. Preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss.
2. It is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, salvation generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its consequences. The academic study of salvation is called soteriology.
3. In Theology, it is deliverance from sin and its consequences, salvation is believed by we Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ.
4. Biblically, salvation is the saving of human beings from sin and its consequences, which include death and separation from God.
5. In another word, it is been saved from sin unto God.
6. From our Tenets of Faith, Salvation to be delivered, safe kept, healed and strong. If you take equally of all these things and put them together into one word, you will have Salvation.
7. Salvation means being rescued by God from the consequences of our wrongdoing. This can only be made possible by accepting Jesus Christ in your life as you Lord and Saviour, forsaking the world and all its affiliate and totally surrendering to Jesus completely. (To be born again)
Introduction:
When we repent and give our life to Jesus Christ, What a joy it was to be forgiven and born again! God wants all His children to continue to rejoice in His wonderful salvation for their whole lives. This should be the normal experience of every believer, as we see in 1 Peter 1:8: “You exult with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.”
But while we can never lose our eternal salvation, we can sometimes lose the joy of our salvation.
How does this happen?
1. Sin
Sin causes us to lose the joy of our salvation.
Although we’re saved, we all still sin, fail the Lord, and disobey Him. The sins we commit cause us to lose our joy. After we sin, we feel that something’s wrong; we sense a barrier that’s come up between us and the Lord. Isaiah 59:2
Isaiah 59:2 “Your iniquities have become a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
Our sins separate us from God because God is righteous; He can’t tolerate sin. This is why even a small transgression creates a barrier between us and God. Big or small, our sins cause us to lose the joy of our salvation.
2. Grieving the Holy Spirit.
Grieving the Spirit who indwells us causes us to lose the joy of our salvation – Romans 8:9
Romans 8:9 “the Spirit of God dwells in you.” When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, He not only redeemed us, but He also came to dwell in us as the Spirit. Now we’re no longer alone; we have another Person living in us, and He has His own thoughts, feelings, and preferences. Whenever we go along with the Lord who lives inside of us,
In Ephesians 4:30, Paul says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.” Note 1 in the New Testament Recovery Version explains what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit:
“To grieve the Holy Spirit is to displease Him. The Holy Spirit abides in us forever (John 14:16-17), never leaving us. Hence, He is grieved when we do not walk according to Him (Rom. 8:4), that is, when we do not live according to the principle of reality with grace in the details of our daily walk.”
Let’s say, for example, we want to go to a certain place. But when we think about going, we feel uneasy. This feeling tells us that the Lord doesn’t want to go there. Though we may try to reason that it’s really okay, the uneasy feeling won’t go away; the Lord Jesus simply doesn’t want to go there. But say that instead of agreeing with the Lord and obeying Him, we go anyway. By not walking according to Him, we grieve Him and make Him unhappy. And it’s impossible for us to be happy when He’s grieved.
As Christians, our joy can sometimes seem very elusive. We may even find ourselves crying out as David did, “Lord, restore to me the joy of Your salvation!” What can we do to recover our joy in such times, and how can we avoid losing it in the first place.
II. WHAT TO DO
1. Confess your sins and forsake it
Whether our sins are small transgressions or serious offenses, we must confess them to the Lord. Whenever our conscience makes us aware that we’ve sinned, we shouldn’t wait to confess to the Lord. 1John 1:9
1John1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We confess, and God is righteous to forgive us and cleanse us. When the problem of sin is dealt with and our fellowship with Him is restored, we experience the joy of salvation once again. Learning to confess our sins without delay is a good habit to develop.
2. Study the Word of God as our spiritual food daily.
We all know how grumpy and irritable we can be when we haven’t eaten and are physically hungry, or even undernourished. We experience the same thing spiritually when we haven’t been eating. If we spend time daily to delight ourselves in His Word, the words we feed on become the gladness and joy of our heart, supplying us throughout our days. 2 Timothy 2:15.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”.
3. Don’t play with your prayer life Always praying all the time.
When we come to the Lord, we don’t need to kneel down and solemnly recite a formal prayer. We can simply open our hearts and speak to the Lord Jesus in a personal way. At any time, day or night, we can talk to Him. John 16:24.
John 16:24 “ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be made full”.
Speaking to God in prayer about everything brings us joy. We can even pray by simply calling upon the name of the Lord.
4. Fellowship with other Christians regularly.
Having fellowship with other Christians also helps us maintain our joy in the Lord, since one of the greatest joys of the Christian life is to come together with others who love Jesus. 1 John 1:3-4
1 John 1:3-4 “That which we have seen and heard we report also to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write that our joy may be made full.”
Gathering with other believers to read the Bible, speak about Christ, and praise the Lord refreshes us, encourages us, and makes our joy full.
5. By sustaining your Pentecost Experience.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a major part of the PENTECOSTAL Experience, without it we cannot carry out the full assignment of God.
To sustain it helps our salvation in many ways it also helps to keep us far away from sin. John 14:16,26.
John 14:16,26 “16. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
26. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”.
Conclusion:
God wants us to live for Him in all things. We can if we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us to live right with God and man.
May we endeavor to build up these healthy habits in our daily lives. By confessing our sins, feeding on God’s Word, speaking to the Lord in prayer, getting together to fellowship with other Christians and sustaining our PENTECOSTAL Experience. If we do, we will maintain an overflowing joy in our Christian lives.
Rev. Dr. A.A Obe(JP)