Are we saved initially by God’s grace and then sustained spiritually by our good works? What is the role of God’s grace in our salvation? What are the “acts” dependent on us to be saved? Is anything dependent on us so that we can inherit salvation? Listen to learn more on how a man is saved unto eternal life.
Every other religion says that man is basically good, and that he needs to be reminded of the goodness in him so that he could walk in uprightness and start loving God. But the Bible says something different about our heart condition, that we are completely dead in our sins. By nature, we are not only unwilling to love God, but incapable of loving God. That means, we would need a help from outside of us to actually change us. This is why God’s intervention is absolutely necessary.
God’s dealing with His people has always been through covenants. The Bible is predominantly divided into two covenants. Old and the New Covenant. In this passage we learn the spiritual benefits of the new covenant in the light of the old covenant.
How do you view your relationship with Christ? Do you relate yourself to Him as a sinner or as a saint? If you relate to Him as a sinner then you’re unlikely to experience the joy of forgiveness: justification, adoption (into God’s family), and the certainty of eternal life. However, relating to Christ now as a new creation (saint) also does not negate the fact that you’re a sinner. In this passage, we learn what kind of identity we are given in Christ and the implications of that in our daily lives.
In our culture, Christianity is often presented as a religion of supernatural healing (from diseases, chronic illnesses) and miracles (prosperity, prevention of death, dreams and visions, tongues). It is also seen as religion of prophecy about the end times. All of these gifts are seen as the necessary manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. In this passage, we learn how the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not mainly about tongues, prophecy and supernatural healings, but of Spiritual transformation in our lives through the ordinary means which God appointed.
Every religion provides some kind of answer to life after death. Some religions belief in reincarnation, others emphasize on this life as all there is and nothing beyond that. But these views miss an important point, they do not mention our relationship with God, the Creator of life and death; they do not talk about the purpose and existence of our lives in the light of eternity. Most importantly, they do not give hope of a life beyond death free of sorrows, sin, pain, evil and suffering. Only Christianity gives such a hope, it is found in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the Resurrection and the life! Listen to the sermon to find out what that means.