Essentials Part 6

Teaching #6. October 29, 2006.

I am posting my notes on Pastor Mike’s teaching from Sunday, October 29th. These are MY notes. Not a transcript. Not his notes. Any misquotes, mistakes, or mystifications are my fault (or something like that). All verses are from NASB 1995 unless noted.

Essentials #6: Salvation (part 1)

Salvation has 2 key components. What do you need for salvation to happen ?

1) Need a savior. This is Jesus
2) Need a “savee.” The “savee” is me (all of us “me’s”).

Observation: We do not use the words salvation or savior in everyday conversation. Unless one is talking about life guards or the Lord Jesus.

Matthew 1:20-21
20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

"Jesus" [Bill's concordance - Yehoshua or "the Lord (Yhvh) is salvation"] was named Jesus because He was meant by God to save Israel from their sins. But Israel was looking for a political savior. A person who would end the wars, and save them from the oppression that they suffered.

Matthew 8:25. And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”
And
Matthew 14:30. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Both times the disciples were “perishing.” And they asked Jesus to save them.

Luke 1:46-47
46 And Mary said:
“My soul exalts the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

Mary was exalting in God because He was her savior.

Luke 1:67-71
67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
71 Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;

God has “accomplished redemption.” Redemption is a form of salvation. Zacharias prophesied that God, through Jesus, would save His people.

John 3:17. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, He was declaring salvation.

John 4:22. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.”

John 4:42. And they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Both of these are from the Samaritan woman at the well. Salvation was from the Jews, but it was meant for all people.

John 1:1-4
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

Genesis 2:7
7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Genesis 1:26a. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image...”

"In Him (Jesus) was life.” Life was breathed into us, man. And this life was breathed through Jesus. The plurality of God, creating man and breathing life into us. Jesus was and is a life bringer.

John 1:5. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Jesus is light, but man does not comprehend Him, the light, because we are in the dark.

John 1:6-9
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.

John the Baptist bore witness to the light that was coming. All of us are filled with darkness; but the light illuminated all men.

John 1:10-11
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.

The Light came into the world, but the world did not comprehend it or acknowledge Him. Even though He was the bringer of life, coming to those who were His, they still did not receive Him.

John 1:12-13
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

“But...” “s many as received Him...;” so some did recognize Him. How?

All of the nation of Israel was the blood of Abraham. But that blood was not enough. (Example: there are problems in all families. The members of a family are related by blood, but there are still divisions and disunity). Jesus came to His “blood” (His family, Israel) and they did not receive Him.

“The will of the flesh” is normal procreation; flesh begetting flesh. “The will of man” is the attempt to be righteous by the law. The ones who operated this way could not see/comprehend/recognize/receive Jesus.

Only those who are “born of God” could receive Jesus.

1 Peter 1:1-2
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

Three steps to salvation:
1) “Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God.” [Mike gave a demonstration. Three children volunteered/were chosen by Mike to receive a gift, by redemption. That is, by redeeming a worthless thing for a “valuable” thing (an Oreo cookie). Mike knew before hand what the gift would be, and what he would redeem it for. However He did not know which 3 children out of the church would get the gift.]

2) “Sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Sanctified - set apart, made holy, consecrated. God did it. There is a difference between God’s choice and our decision to participate. That comes later. Even the faith to believe comes from the Holy Spirit.

We are in total darkness. We did not have any light in us, nor any desire for light. The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit was predetermined. We did not seek Him first. But He chose us.

3) “Sprinkled by the blood” [for the remission/cleansing of sins.]. An Old Testament reference. The high priest, after killing the sin sacrifice, sprinkled the blood on and around the altar. This cleansed the sinner.

Romans 5:12-21. Read this on your own. It shows the link between sin and death. In the Garden of Eden, Satan said, “Surely, you will not die.” The sin of disobedience brought death to Adam and Eve. But what kind of death. The survived eating the fruit.

Genesis 2:7. Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

The word “life” there is plural in the Hebrew. “God...breathed...the breath of lifes.” There was a physical life breathed into man and a spiritual life breathed into him at the same time. When Adam and Eve sinned, the spiritual life was the one that died. The physical life endured on, but without God.

John 3:1-7
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

1) “God is with You.” A testimony to what this man saw in Jesus
2) “You must be born again.”
3) This confused Nicodemus (actually it “amazed” him). One cannot enter a second time into a mother’s womb? Nicodemus was thinking of being “born of the flesh,” not “born of the spirit.” He did not see that he needed to be spiritually alive.

“Again” - there are two words meaning “again in Greek
1) “palin” - “again,” “back,” or “further.” It means “again” in the sense of “to repeat an act.”
2) “anothin” - this can be translated as “again” and as “from above.” It means “again” in the sense of “the same as the original act.” In other words, to be “born again” means the way we were in the Garden, both physically and spiritually alive. We need to be born from “above,” and born “anew.”

John 3:5. Born of water and the Spirit. What does this mean?
1) “Water” could mean “Washing with the water of the word. Or it could mean the water of baptism. Or it could mean the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is often likened to water (John 7:37-39 and Isaiah 44:3).

2) The word “and” usually is a conjugation meaning “both.” But here, the Greek word means “and” or “even,” They had to be born of ‘water, even the Spirit.” In other words, it emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in the being born of God

Being born of flesh, begets more flesh. Being born of the Spirit begets spirit.

Jesus is spelling this out to Nicodemus. We can be born again, from above, by the action of the Holy Spirit.

Why was Jesus saying this to Nicodemus? Nicodemus was a respected teacher. But he was stunned, marveling. He did not get it.

John 3:7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

The “you” here is plural. ALL of the rulers, all of the ruling elite of Israel needed to be born again. In talking to Nicodemus, Jesus was talking to the heart of the Jewish nation.

Nicodemus had snuck out, in darkness, because the elite had rejected Jesus. But the Holy Spirit was working in him, and he had to ask, had to find out who Jesus was and what He was doing.

Why was Jesus talking about being “born again” here? He could have said anything to Nicodemus. He said all kinds of things in response to the questions He got. Even other questions from the elite. He was telling something new to Nicodemus.

To be continued, next week.