Salvation is Offered Only Through Christ.

Romans 8:1-5, 26-27
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
(Read all of Romans 8. You may recognize the end of this chapter because we talked about it last week).

Christ is the only one who can offer us salvation - through his unconditional love and grace. No one, anywhere, can live up to this promise. This is probably one of the most obvious points made this week, but it is very important to remember.

The Holy Trinity - God, the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit - are a perfect combination to offer you such love and comfort. It's not going to get rid of all your problems though. I think that's where many people go wrong. They want to get saved by Jesus just so that they don't have any problems in their life. That's not the case or the way to go. Christians still have the same problems that everyone else has in the world. The only difference is that we have Jesus Christ as our loving Lord and Savior. He's who we can seek when we are weak. The spirit has been called the "Helper" and "Comforter." Those adjectives to me sound like there will sure be problems, but God can handle what we can't possibly take care of. His work is almighty and all powerful!

If you just stick with God and accept his way then all the suffering will become belittled by the rewards that you will receive. As a Christian, you will encounter difficulties, but beauty beyond all glory will be waiting for you down the road!

So even though Christ can only offer you true salvation, that doesn't mean you're saved from pain. However, you are saved from having to deal with situations on your own and that's why Christ is the one and only loving and forgiving Savior. Just knowing that you're an individual that can be granted salvation will make it so much easier to survive in all walks of life!

We learned this week that knowing you're a candidate for salvation involves a few steps that all interconnect: You have to trust the Lord, have faith, obey him, believe in and live according to his Word, and know that Christ is the one true provider of salvation.

To end this discussion about salvation, I want you to hear the song "Find Me Tonight" by Everyday Sunday. Prayer: Lord, now that I know how to be sure of salvation come find me and let me know that you are always there in my life! Let me be more faithful, trusting, and obedient toward you and your Word. Amen.



P.S. If you have trouble with the video stopping and starting, keep the video paused, and let it "buffer" (load) as it's called for a while. You will see the red bar along the bottom advance (speed depends on your Internet connection). Wait until that bar gets pretty far along (I'd say more than halfway) before you play the video and it shouldn't pause.