Absolutely Free to You (Luke 18:18-30)
Gary McManus, 11/01/2015Part of the God's Love; Beyond Belief series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
November 1, 2015 All Saints’ Day:
A Happy and Blessed All Saints Day!
Luke 18:18-30 (p.1039)
I am blessed beyond reason!
See Matthew 16:44:
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.
When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went
and sold all he had and bought that field.”
Compare 2 Corinthians 12
The word “delight” occurs over 100 times in scripture.
And many times the Bible speaks of God’s delight.
We might also notice that the delight is a two way street.
The Lord delights in us and we can take delight in the Lord.
Deuteronomy 30:9
Psalm 111:2, Psalm 119:77, 143, 174
Psalm 147:11, Psalm 149:4
That the Lord takes delight in you is best summed up in
Zephaniah 3:17 (New International Version)
17 The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."
“This is the best thing, the best thing that could be happening
and I think you would agree the best things is that it’s
happening to you and me.”
No one is innocent. Genesis 3
Sin is more like a frame of mind—and our actions follow
our frame of mind.
Jesus said that sins come from man’s heart.—his frame of mind:
Matthew 15:17-19 (New International Version)
Even the disciples. . . (Mark 14:50, Matthew 26:56)
The rich young man hasn’t followed the Lord.
And that brings us to the final point:
salvation is free. Salvation is absolutely free!
Do you have a “tax payer theology”?
If you believe that by your obedience you will be accepted,
that isn’t the gospel.
Correct: Heaven isn’t cheap
BUT Jesus paid the admission for you to go to heaven.
(Enter the kingdom)
There aren’t any rules that get you eternal life.
But what you do have to do is live a new life
-- that is what Jesus offered, a new life—“follow me.”
This is tough truth in our society.
They all understand rules and jumping through hoops
to get something. They figure the church just has different
rules/hoops.
Go and sin no more Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery.
John 8:11
Jesus told her to get a new life.
As a tax payer, do you have rights?
That isn’t the gospel.
- - - -
So you have two groups of people.
Both groups are obedient. They look very similar
But they have two different systems of motivation.
They have two very different reasons for their obedience.
One obeys Jesus in hopes of being saved.
The other one is already saved
and obeys Jesus in gratitude for a new life.
Only one of those groups has faith in Christ.
The Bible says that
The just (or the justified) by faith will live.
He who is righteous by faith will live.
(Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17) Amen.
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