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Beth Jones is a Bible teacher and founder of The Basics With Beth, a non-profit Christian teaching ministry dedicated to helping people learn the Bible basics.
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Understanding the Basics of Salvation 0:00 Hey guys! This is Beth Jones and I am so glad you have tuned into the Basics with Beth Podcast, and I'm so pumped up about helping you get the basics of the Bible. Or, as we like0:11 to say around here, get the basics, live the life, and do the stuff. I know you are gonna be so encouraged by today's podcast, and I really pray you enjoy0:23 every minute. If you'd like to know more about the basics and what we're doing, just head on over to the basics with beth dot com to get all the deets. And in the meantime, enjoy today's0:35 podcast. We are in a series called the the exclamation point, and so we're in week number 4. How many of you have been with us for at least 1 of these? Yay, okay, good, awesome.0:47 Listen, if you've missed any, I wanna encourage you, either watch them online or get the CDs or the DVDs. It's really, you know, honestly, it's really basic. I think we'd all agree this is sort of like getting a grip on0:55 the basics on steroids, but how many of you know you can never get too much of the basics? And God's Word is so pregnant and so loaded with revelation, things that we think we know, we find out we1:07 only sort of know. And it's like that, you know, and it'll be like that for all of eternity. It's gonna be like that for all of eternity. God's Word, the Bible says, is everlasting.1:19 The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever. And for eternity, this Word that we get the privilege of getting a glimpse of is gonna continue to explode for us1:31 and to us for all of eternity. That's a pretty that's a pretty pregnant word. That's a pretty rich, power packed word. And so this series is called the exclamation point.1:42 It's God His exclamation to us. Literally, it means a shout out. It's God's shout out to us by the power of His Spirit. He's trying to shout some things out to us like, come on y'all, get1:54 this. This is the good news of the gospel. This isn't just religious stuff. This isn't just church. This isn't just, you know, Christianity as usual. This is the gospel.2:07 And all the people said Amen. And so we're trusting the Lord has been shouting things out to you personally and will continue to do so. And so today, we're gonna talk about a great sozo, a great salvation,2:19 and what that means. So if you have your bibles, go ahead and pull them out. And if you need a Bible, raise your hands, the ushers will give you 1. And we will get into it. Let's pray. Father, thank you2:31 so much for your word and for your goodness. Lord, you are so good to us. Thank you so much for opening up the eyes of our hearts today and letting us see more and more and more divine2:43 revelation and insight. Lord, peel back the curtains and let us just get a better visual on everything You have provided, everything You have purchased2:55 through Jesus Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection on the cross, the finished work of Jesus Christ, and what that means to us, what that meant. And Lord, how3:07 this is the time. Help us, Lord, to get it. Thank you that you're gonna shout out to us, Lord, and you're gonna help shout out through us to be3:19 a light and a witness for your goodness. Jesus' mighty name we pray, and everybody that agreed said Amen. Praise the Lord. Okay. Hebrews 2 verse 4. Actually, I think it's starting3:31 at verse 2. Hebrews 2 verse 2 It says, Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we've heard, lest we drift away. For if the3:43 word spoken through angels prove steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great3:55 a salvation? So there's a lot in this passage. We're just gonna hit a couple highlights. At the very beginning, he says, Therefore, we who's the we? The we here is believers. The book of Hebrews was written to4:07 Christians, to believers. Now you might be here this morning, and you might be brand new to VFC, and and, you know, brand new to the Bible, and brand new to church, and faith, and God, and all of this, and that's4:16 awesome. You are in the right place at the right time. And we are glad you're here. And with every service, we have we have visitors and people that are just, you know, they're seeking. They're just, you know, what's the4:26 deal with God? And what's the deal with church and and eternity and heaven and hell? And, you know, all of those kinds of questions. So, on the other hand, we have people here that you've been walking with the Lord for a4:37 lot of years, and this particular passage is talking to you. He's saying, you mature believers, you people that have been walking with the Lord for a while, don't start taking this for granted. Don't just4:49 get, you know, kind of careless and and and don't let the gospel and the good news of salvation, don't let it be common. He said, give. You're gonna have to give more earnest heed. How many of you know the5:01 first time you hear something, you know, you hear like a a truth from God, and the first time you hear it, it's like, wow. It's just exciting and, you know, exhilarates your spirit. And the second time you hear it, it's5:11 like, wow. And the third time is still a wow, but sometimes, by the fourth or fifth or sixth or a hundredth time you've heard it, you can get an attitude like, yeah, yeah, I know that. Yeah, I know. I've heard that. I've5:23 heard that a lot. But who knows? It's not what we know that's important. It's not what we've heard that's important. It's what we are living out. It's what's tangible in our lives that's important and5:35 is the true test of whether or not we have it. The true test of any bible truth that we have is how we're living it out in our experiences. So he's telling mature believers, don't get careless. Y'all don't get just5:47 common with this or apathetic. Give more earnest heed, more earnest attention. Like dust off your Bible and reread some things in your Bible that you used to read and get excited again about5:59 the Word like you used to and stay up late into the wee hours, you know, with a nice little night lamp on and a cup of hot tea and read your Bible and talk to the Lord like you used to.6:11 Give more earnest heed. You have to give more earnest heed to these things, he said, because otherwise, lest we drift away. Lest we drift.6:23 You know, and we all understand drifting, I mean, if you've ever been on a boat, you know, out in the lake somewhere, and you didn't put down the anchor, and you're just out on the boat, and the waves aren't maybe that6:32 big, they're just, you know, lapping against the boat, and but the next thing you know, you look up, and you're like, wow, we've drifted. Look how far we've drifted. You didn't even feel it. This can happen in our6:43 Christian life. If we don't have ourselves anchored in the Word and giving heed to the Word and into the things God has said and done for us, we'll just drift. We'll just drift with the current of6:55 the world, and of the political scene, and and of the media, and of our own flesh, and of tribulations and trials and things we're going through. We'll just drift. And we're not gonna get we're gonna get off our7:06 anchor. And he's just saying to believers, you know, y'all, many of y'all, say give her give heed to give more earnest heed to the things you've heard. Make sure you are anchored. Make sure you know what you know.7:19 Make sure you know what you know, and I'm gonna talk about something here just a little bit, a conversation I had with somebody kind of along this line. Make sure that you know what you know. Don't know what I know, and7:27 don't know what your neighbor knows. What do you know? Know what you know. Own what you know. Give more earnest heed to what you know so that you are anchored in the Word. You are anchored in faith and nobody7:39 could take it from you. And all the people said. So he says here, if the word that was spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,7:51 what is he talking about? He's talking about the Old Testament when the law was given. In the Old Testament, you know, Moses went up to the mountaintop and and God gave the 10 Commandments and and, you know, wrote with8:01 his finger on the the blocks of stone, and it was very supernatural, the giving of the law. And in the Old Testament, any transgression of that law, any violation of the law, people received a8:13 just punishment. They were punished for breaking the law. Right? So but in the New Testament, Jesus came on the scene. That's why you hear us say the phrase, you know, we talk about Jesus and his work on the cross, the8:25 finished work. Because on the cross, Jesus took all the punishment of all the transgressions of the law, past, present, and future. So,8:37 under the Old Testament, they had to pay the price themselves for any violation of the law. But under the New Testament, the season in which we live, Jesus has paid that price. So what does he mean then when he8:49 says, how shall we escape? Jesus already paid the penalty. He already paid the price. How shall we escape if we neglect so great of salvation? It would be like this. It would be9:01 like if we don't pay attention and give heed and then not neglect this great salvation, it would be our experience in life would be as if there was no great salvation for us. Our9:13 experience in life would be as if Jesus hasn't paid the price. We might be saved, we might have received salvation, but we're not giving heed to it, we're not laying hold of it, we're neglecting it,9:24 and we are not experiencing the benefits of it, and it's as if we're not even saved. You say, what does that look like? That looks like a lot of Christians you know.9:37 They love the Lord with all their heart, it might even be your testimony. Love the Lord with all their heart and they're saved. But their Christian experience is rollercoaster. Their Christian experience is 19:48 of mostly defeat. I've shared with you guys my story. I mean, I lived a lot of years in my early days as a Christian living the defeated Christian life. Up 1 day, down 1 day. Living the10:00 defeated Christian life because I didn't even know there was such a thing as the victorious Christian life. I mean, for me back in the day, and some of you, you may understand this, it was a banner day to have like10:12 the joy of the Lord for the whole day. Like, Wow, this was a good day. I was like, I was filled with joy all day. That was like a banner day. Now, it would be a10:24 banner day if I felt depressed. Like, Wow, I haven't been depressed in so long, I forgot how that feels. Because what happens is you get a hold of your salvation, and it gets into your DNA, it gets into your10:36 spiritual DNA, and it becomes the norm for you. You begin to experience your great salvation, it becomes the norm for you. You're used to living in peace. You don't even know what it's like, like10:48 you might have these rare days that all of a sudden you experience a day of anxiety and strife and you're like, Oh, that was weird. I'm so not used to living outside of peace. Like, my whole life is10:59 peaceful. My life is filled with joy. My life is filled with contentment. It's just your norm. Listen, that's supposed to be the norm for the Christian. And all the people said, Yeah,11:11 that's supposed to be the norm. But the problem is there are so many of us, and I can, you know, testify from experience, that was not the norm for me. That's why I was so happy when it was a good day.11:23 That's supposed to be the norm, but for many Christians, it's not. And 1 reason is we are neglecting our great salvation. He said, how will you escape? You're gonna have a life that's as if11:35 you're are not even saved. You're not going to get any of the benefits of it if you neglect it. So what does it mean to neglect it? It means to be careless, to be indifferent, to be passive.11:47 Like, I know I'm saved, but I'm just kind of careless about what that actually means. I'm just kind of indifferent about what that actually entails. And so he's just given us an exhortation, he's given us a shout out,11:59 saying, this is not just a salvation, this is a great salvation. So let's give earnest, more earnest heed. The Message Bible says let's get a grip. Let's12:11 get a grip on our magnificent salvation. And then let's let's not just know more about it, but then, okay God, how do we activate it? And that's what we're gonna get to, we're gonna kind of share with you what's12:23 included in the in the great salvation that Jesus has provided, but then more importantly, how do we activate it? So that, again, it's not just something we know, it's not just, you know, another great theoretical12:34 message, it's like, no, this is something we can activate, tangibly activate this every day of our lives, in different areas of our lives. Alright? So, if you've got your Bibles, go ahead and go over12:46 to Matthew 1. We're gonna look up a couple verses, and while you're doing that, let me give you the definition for salvation. We've been talking about it in weeks gone by, but let's kind of remind12:58 ourselves. Salvation or the word saved kind of, they both come from the same root. When somebody receives salvation, you know, the Bible calls them saved, we're saved.13:10 So, the Greek word, for those of you that are students, the Greek word for salvation is soteria and the Greek word for saved is sozo. Okay? So, we're gonna look at some13:22 scriptures here and find out that our salvation, this great salvation, includes a whole lot more than a lot of us ever thought. Here's the definition. According to Greek scholars,13:34 Bible scholars, this is the definition for salvation, or being saved. It's all the spiritual blessings bestowed by God on men in Christ. The spiritual and13:46 eternal salvation granted to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to be rescued from the penalty of sin, to make well, to heal, restore to health, to13:57 keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction, to save a 1 suffering from disease, healing, welfare, prosperity, victory,14:09 preservation, material and temporal deliverance from danger and suffering. What didn't he include? What is possibly left out? And you've got to14:21 understand, this is the bible definition. Like, we have such a small definition so many times. We're like, yeah. Praise the lord. I'm saved. You know, my sins are forgiven. I'm saved. Praise the lord. I mean, this might14:33 be hell on earth, you know, my life here, but praise the Lord, I'm saved and 1 day I'm gonna go to heaven. I'm saved. And thank the Lord for that. I mean, that's huge. That's massive. But what we're gonna find out is our14:44 salvation, this great salvation, is so much more. Now, who knows if if all that salvation included was our sins are forgiven, and praise the Lord, our slate has been wiped clean, and when we14:56 die, we get to go to heaven, who knows if that's all that included, that would be enough. That's still pretty good news. That's still a pretty big blessing, isn't it? But we're gonna find out from the bible here that15:07 it's not just eternal blessings, it's temporal blessings. We're gonna find out it's not just a spiritual salvation, it's a spirit, soul, and body salvation, a threefold redemption. And,15:19 we're gonna get into the Bible and find out what does the Bible say about that because it's like this, you know, it's like how many of you have ever been on a cruise? Or, 1 of those all inclusive resort, vacations, you15:30 know? And when you go on those, I shared this with y'all before, but when our church experienced our 10 year anniversary, the church family, we were back at 9 95, romance, the church family bought our15:42 family, the Joneses, a trip on a cruise with the kids. And so, it was a gift for our tenth anniversary, you know, etcetera, etcetera. So, we went on this cruise as a family and the kids have never been on a cruise and15:52 so, you know, they're wide eyed and thrilled to find out that everything was included in the ticket. When you go on a cruise, those of you that have been know, or these all inclusive resorts, you know that once16:04 you get on board, everything's been included in the ticket. All the amenities on the boat, all the food, the midnight buffet, the ice carvings. Yeah, you16:16 don't have to pay any extra for the ice carvings. It's included in the ticket. I mean, you can have dinner and they can bring you whatever entree it is. Let's say it's lobster night, they bring you a lobster tail, and if16:27 you want another 1, it's in the ticket. And if you want a third 1, it's a part of the ticket. I know it would be kind of gluttonous, but I'm just saying it's in the ticket. We you16:39 know, I shared the story that our youngest son Eric was what how old were you at the time? 6? 6. It was 10 years ago, so yeah. 6. 16 minus 10. 6. Okay. Yeah. So Eric was 616:51 and he found the ice cream machine. And we didn't know it. But we eventually figured it out. And the the first day he found it, it was like 12 or 13 ice cream cones. He was partaking of his17:03 salvation. He found that ice cream. Well, was it part of the ticket? It was included. And see, as Christians, then you have to wonder what has been included in our ticket and how far below what17:15 Jesus paid the price for are we experiencing? You might say, well, you know, I don't like this. I don't like all this all this blessing included in the ticket thing. I don't like this because it just sounds selfish, it17:26 just sounds greedy and covetous. Listen, here's why it's important and here's why there's no apologies for it, because you can only give what you have. Okay? With me? You can only give what you17:38 have. We say around here all the time, God wants us to be blessed, to be a blessing. And I'll guarantee you, I bet you a hundred percent of the people in this room have a heart to be a blessing. I bet17:49 you everybody in this room is like, yeah, I want to be a blessing. I mean, if you had an extra couple of million hanging around, I bet you whoever that is that would have that situation, I'll bet you your heart would17:59 beat me and I want to bless people. I'd like to pay off some of the debt for this church. I'd like to help the people in Japan. I'd like to help some missionaries. I'd like to help some homeless people. Heart to be a18:09 blessing. We don't usually have to convince people. Be a blessing. Be be a blessing. No. Well,18:21 we really, it's funny. It's sad, but it's funny. What we have to convince people of is be blessed to be a blessing because you cannot give what you do not have. So if you18:33 resist your salvation, your great salvation, if you resist everything Jesus has purchased for you, and sometimes we do it sort of in the name of spirituality,18:44 sometimes we sort of resist it in kind of a false humility, kind of like, well, you know, bless God, you know, I'm just content with, you know, just Well, that's great for you. But you can't give18:56 to others what you do not have, so it's great that you're content, but go ahead and be blessed so that all the extra you can give to others. And all the people said Yes.19:08 Sometimes it really becomes a selfish mindset, but we spiritualize it. Well, you know, God doesn't want us blessed. They talk too much about the blessings. No. We don't talk enough about the blessings. Because there's19:20 too many Christians that want to give, that want to be a blessing, but they don't have it to give. Why don't they have it to give? Because they have neglected their great salvation. They're not partaking19:32 of everything Jesus purchased because they don't know it's been purchased in the ticket. I'll give you another example. I mean, this is, you know,19:44 we hear stories like this and it's kind of sad, but it's a really great parallel to a lot of us as Christians. And so, if nothing else, leave today with like, God, thank you. Permission to be19:56 blessed has been granted. After God, you're not going to be a selfish Christian. You're not going to be a greedy, covetous Christian. That wouldn't be your heart.20:11 Cause that's not God's nature. So an example is this, we heard a story recently about a gal that was in the hospital. And so she was in the hospital and she had not been in the hospital for, you know, decades, but had to20:21 go in for something. And so they would come by and she would fill out her her meal order and she would always just check off a small salad and a water. Small salad and a water. She'd been in a number of days.20:33 And so a friend of ours had gone to visit this person and she said that she noticed when they brought her food, they just brought her a small salad and a water. And the visitors said, well, how come you're just ordering20:43 a small salad and a water? How come you're not getting more food? And she said, this person said, she goes, well, I don't know how expensive it is. And I really can't afford, you know, all the extra food. The visitor20:54 said, it's included. It's a part of your stay in the hospital, like, insurance will cover it. It's it's it's gonna be paid for. You're you're all set. Order everything you need. They want you to be nourished. They want21:06 nutrition in you. Well, she just didn't know. She didn't know it was a part of the deal. And it's a great parallel of a lot of us Christians. We just didn't know. We're just living on a little salad and a glass of water.21:16 We just didn't know. It was a part of the deal. It was a part of this great salvation. Hey. I hope you are enjoying today's message and I wanted to interrupt this program toShow more In this video 0:00 Understanding the Basics of Salvation21:22 Activating Your Salvation
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