The CrossRoad Connection

The CrossRoads Connection:SAVED!

Where do you stand as far as salvation? Do you know for certain that if you were to die that you would go to heaven? Do you know for certain that your husband, wife, sister, brother, mom, dad, son, daughter, - or the ones that perhaps sit with you on your pew are going to heaven? How about your neighbor, your co-worker, your best friend? Heaven is a real place, and Hell is a real place. Everyone who lives in Braggadocio, everyone who lives in Pemiscot County, everyone who lives in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, everyone in America, and everyone in the whole world will eventually end up in one of these two places.

In the book of Acts chapter 16 verse 25, Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel and we find them praying and singing hymns. The prisoners were listening and suddenly an earthquake came, and all the prison doors were shaken loose. The jailer ran in and saw all the prison doors were open, and to him it appeared all had escaped. Right before the jailer was to fall on his sword, Paul’s voice screamed out, “We are all here!” Every prisoner was still there. The jailer fell down trembling before Paul and Silas and in this position the jailer asks this question; a question that has been asked many times throughout the centuries.

What must I do to be saved?

What does the word “saved” mean? What is Salvation? What happens when you get saved? What changed in the days following your salvation? Why do you need to be saved? What are you saved from? How do people know you are saved? Can you tell if someone is saved? If you walked into a church, would you know who was saved? If you met them for coffee, would you know they were saved?

What was this Philippian jailer wanting to be saved from? What did he need to be saved from? What did he need to be delivered from? The Bible says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The answer comes from an angel who proclaims the birth of Christ. Listen to the angel’s words, “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

What are we saved from? What are we delivered from? From our sins! We are saved from our sins. We are delivered from our sins. So, what is sin? Sin is when we break a law of God!

I read that singer/songwriter, Willie Nelson, built a golf course on his own land. Someone visiting asked what par was on his course. Now par is how many attempts it should take to put the ball in the hole. He said, “It’s my golf course, so par is what I want it to be.” He pointed at the first hole, “That’s a par 47, and yesterday I birdied it.”

That’s how a lot of people approach sin, they think they can just define it for themselves! Never mind what God says about it, if they “feel” it’s ok then it’s ok! But the Bible points out the very root of the problem and calls it what it is: sin! Sin is when we break God’s laws! The book of Romans 3:23 says this, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” So, we are sinners; from the moment of our birth to the day we die, we sin. We fail God and fall short of his desire for us. Yet in our sin, Jesus Christ came and died for us that we might be saved or delivered from sin. Giving us the hope of salvation and deliverance. But the choice is up to us. Jesus Christ saved us from sin. We don’t have to continue sinning!

He saved us from the penalty of sin. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We all have this sin tied to us. But praise God, Jesus came to save us from the penalty of sin.

He saves us from the pollution of sin. When we get saved, the Lord says, I’ll not only keep you out of hell but I’ll give you a new nature, I’ll clean you up from the inside out, I’ll give you power to get victory over bad habits, to learn a better way to live, to get rid of the things that don’t belong in your life, and replace them with better things.

It’s not enough for us to be saved from just the penalty of sin, we must also be saved from the pollution and the power of sin. Not just the sin that would send us to hell, but the sin that will wreck our life now. Not just the sweet by and by, but now. The Bible says sin shall no longer have power over you! There’s no sin you cannot gain victory over by the power of Christ!

In the final days, in the end of days we will be saved or delivered from the very presence of sin. Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” One day in heaven there will be no sin!

Jesus Christ died for you and you and you that you might be saved. Delivered from your sins. Today if you are unsure or if you know that when you die you will go to the real place called Hell, and you want to be sure, then listen very carefully. It is as simple as ABC.

Admit you are a sinner,

Believe on Jesus Christ as only hope for salvation,

Call on Him to save you, Commit yourself!

Let today be your day for salvation.

Until Next Week, Pastor Danny Neal