You must stop believing the lies of your past and embrace the truth that your old self died when you were born again. Remember that your sins are not counted against you, so walk in the freedom of God's forgiveness today. Let this foundation of grace fuel your obedience and growth in the Christian life.
What's up, Real Church? Excited about today, we're starting a new series titled Foundations. Whenever you're moving into a new season, it's really important to go back and reinforce the foundations so that whatever you build off of, it's built off of the "right foundation". And the only foundation to build off of is Christ. And really, the only thing to build with is Christ.
So I know this is gonna encourage you. Part 1 is salvation. This with you. We're entering into a new series called foundations. In a season of transition, when a sports team's about to go into a new season, they go back and they review the foundations.
It's important to reinforce the foundations so that you're ready to grow, so that you're ready for what's next. Amen? So, we're gonna start a new series titled foundations today. Okay? And, I'm gonna spend today talking about salvation.
Now, the series is going to be number 1, salvation. 2, a transformed life. What does salvation look like moving forward? 3, Prayer. Now, 3 could be the next 1 as well because Daniel's speaking whenever my wife goes into labor because she's about to have a baby, if you couldn't tell.
And and so, prayer is communication with God, but I mean, communication is I'm speaking to him, but I'm also hearing from him. Right? Learning to hear his voice. How can you pray his will if you don't hear him? Next next next together we.
There's importance. Part of the foundational teachings of Christianity is being together. This is not a private religion. It's a private relationship that impacts everyone publicly. Right?
But publicly, we can know him together too. Together, what's next? Holy Spirit. Big deal. It's a part of the foundation of who we are.
So, we've been talking about that. Next is the normal Christian life. Not not what everybody thinks a normal Christian is, but what does this say a normal Christian is? Let's raise the bar back to normal. Alright?
After that is sowing. Why? Because as a Christian, we sow our time, talents, and treasure into what he says to do. And then after that is, go. The great commission.
When you're you're strong in your foundations, now go minister. And, you can start to minister, you can start to go in your daily life from day 1 as a brand new believer. *Maturity* doesn't come first and then you go minister. Actually, you mature as you minister. And, if you haven't been ministering, you probably haven't been maturing.
It's time for you to get out of your comfort zone and share what Jesus has done in your life even if that's just your testimony. Because as you give out, he gives too. Yeah? You you mature as you minister. Amen?
So, *salvation*. We're gonna start with salvation, and I gotta start with this. I I was a bit shaken yesterday. Yesterday was tough. I was here riding my bike with my my little 6 year old and my 9 year old, Eden Rose was getting stronger in riding her bike, and it was awesome and fun.
Then we went to Mike and Angie's house to swim a little bit, and they're getting stronger and swimming. It was just a great time with the kids, but then I get home at 02:30, and I didn't even have time to change out of my swimsuit. 5 minutes later, my neighbor runs in frantic. Come Dave. Come Dave.
I'm running. I'm following him. I go in and in the back room of his house, there is his mother laying on the bed. 91 on the phone, he's frantic, end up doing chest compressions and she was already dead. That was yesterday.
So the rest of the day is spending time comforting the family, and encouraging, and processing. So what are we saved from? *Salvation*. What's the purpose of salvation? What are we saved from?
We're saved from death. That's what we're saved from. We're saved from death. It's appointed once for all men to die. Every 1 of you, all all people are you're gonna die physically, unless Jesus comes back before that.
You're gonna die. And then, there's judgment. So, we'll all stand before *Jesus* or the father. We'll all stand before the father, "great judgment", and we'll either go into life or what's called the second death, where it's *eternal* death. Not not nothingness.
Death is not nothingness, by the way. Death is not nothingness. God is life. Right? So separation from God is?
You're *eternal*. You're either gonna live eternally with him or you're gonna live eternally separated from him. Now, if God is life, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness, self control, faithfulness is in there somewhere. I mean, that's the fruit of who he is. So, to be separated from God who is life, God who is love, God who is goodness, is to be the opposite in in a place with the opposite of love, of joy, of peace, with hate, and and despair.
It's torture. It's gonna be hell. Hell's real, guys. It's a real place. Fiery torment.
It wasn't created for you. It wasn't created for you to be there. That is not God's will. God's will is not that you die. God's will is that you live forever.
*John-17:3, eternal* life is knowing God. It's a relationship with him and eternal life can start now. *Salvation* is saved from death, saved from separation from God. That's what salvation is. It's saved to a relationship with him where he impacts every aspect of your life.
For God so loved the world, not just this person and this person and this person. Actually, in John-17:23-26. Who do who does God love? The world. Everyone.
Watch this. *John-17* verse 23 says, I in them and you in me so that they may be brought to complete unity, then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Why does God offer *salvation* to the world? Because he loves the world as much as he loves Jesus. Whether you're running from him right now or not, whether you're in sin and and living as if you hate God and somebody drug you here, you're a witch and and you're you're actually just here to whatever.
God loves you as much as he loves Jesus. Even you. He that's what it says. Right? He loves you as much as he loved the world.
That's why he gave his son to die for you in your place. It is a free gift. A gift requires 2 things. A gift requires a giver and a receiver. Some of this for for a lot of you is review.
It's important for you to understand this so you can explain it too. A giver and a receiver, the gift has already been given for the whole world. But, there's many people who don't believe that gift is for me, so they die separated for eternity from the gift. Or they say, you know what? I don't want the gift.
Whatever the case, they die separated eternity from the eternally from the gift when it wasn't God's will. It's not God's will that any should perish. That any should die separated from him. Somebody dies and doesn't know him and go See, love requires a choice. God is love.
Right? It requires a choice. So he gives you the choice whether or not to choose him because he wants you to love him too. If he obligated you to walk with him, then it's not love, it's obligation. If he forces you, he doesn't force you.
He presents himself to you. He gives you opportunity after opportunity and if you won't see him, here's what'll happen. He'll let your sin play itself out until you hit "rock bottom" so that you look up. And that's even out of love because in your own pride, you're not looking to him. So, he lets your choices play out until you hit some type of rock bottom and look up.
And then, in his grace, he comes and saves you in that moment. But, if you again say, no, not your will, mine be done. He lets your sin play out and over and over is casting you lifeline. Why? Because he loves you and he cares for you.
*Salvation* saved from our own sin. From our own choices. From our own mistakes or our own disbelief because of whatever has happened to us because of what somebody else's says. Amen? Saved.
Are and I it's important for you guys to know this and I think a lot of real church knows it but maybe you don't if you just started coming. Are you a sinner because you sin? Most people would say, yes. Right? Oh, I've sinned a lot so I'm a sinner.
No. You *sin* because you're a sinner. What you do flows from who you are. It's very important to understand and I'll just show you in scripture. And this is a major part of *salvation* just to understand moving forward.
*Romans-5:19* says, for just as through the disobedience of the 1 man, the many were made sinners. You're not a sinner because you sinned, you're a sinner because 1 man sinned. Because the be in the beginning, Adam and Eve sinned. Their nature to choose not God was passed to you. So when you were born, you were born with a nature to choose not God.
And because of who you were born as, you sinned growing up. Some may be less than others. Nevertheless, every 2 year old steals. And you ask them about it and every 2 year old lies. There's a nature.
So you you not only have to be saved from your you have to be saved from yourself, not just your You have to be saved from yourself. There's a heart issue. So, Jesus came because we could never make it to him. God for God so loved the world that he sent his son to save us from ourselves because we couldn't ever be "good enough". *Salvation*.
Every other religion is you get you try to make it to God to be good enough. But but, problems in our hearts, never never good enough. That's why every other religion is false. Every other religion is false. Jesus is the only way to the father.
He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I don't respect other religions. I love the people. I'll listen to them. I'll listen to what they believe and why they believe it.
And, I'll have compassion on them and I'll care about them. But, I don't respect what they believe because it's false. I love them. By the way, if if that's you, I love you. I love you.
That's why I'm telling you truth. *Jesus*, God so loved you that he sent his son because you can't save yourself. But, you have to recognize that. *Romans-4. Romans-4:4* says, now to the 1 who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.
Think of that in salvation terms. You get what you deserve. However, to the 1 who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. God doesn't justify those who think that they're godly enough based on what they did. He justifies those who recognize that in and of themselves they're ungodly.
I'm not like you and I could never be in and of myself, so I need you. Amen? So then, we come to our point where I need to be saved from me. *Jesus*, I believe you died in my place. You rose again.
You died as my sin. You died as me on that cross. And, you rose again showing that that pay payment was good enough so I could receive your life. I confess you as Lord. That's what the Bible says.
Believe in your heart. He died and rose again. Confess him as Lord. What you're saying is, moving forward, I don't know what's best. I'm gonna follow you.
My life's not gonna be Lord. The good feelings from you aren't gonna be Lord. Church isn't gonna be Lord. My sin's not gonna you're gonna be Lord. I'm gonna follow you.
And I might get it wrong, but I know you're you you have saved me in that moment. In that moment, you're born again. Amen? Amen? Amen.
That's the beginning. Do you want me to stop here? Can I get get 4 more minutes? Okay. 5?
Anybody give me 5? 10? 10? Alright. That's 15 together.
Okay. No. I'm just kidding. I was an auctioneer for a little no. So, there you're born again, in that moment.
And, that's the beginning. A lot of people say, stay there. And, they never grow on to maturity. Because they still think they're filthy, rotten sinners. When you're born again, the filthy, rotten sinner died.
So, if you're born again and you say you're you're a filthy, rotten sinner, you're confessing that Jesus did nothing. So, if you're a Christian, never say that again. *John-1* verse 14 13 well, 12, Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. So, no longer children of Adam, but children of God in a moment, instant new creation. Children born not of natural descent nor of human decision, but of or a husband's will, born of God.
So, literally, God's nature is now in you. So, you have a new heart. You have God's heart. You have a bent towards righteousness instead of towards evil. Now, the problem is in your mind, it has to be renewed to the reality of who you are in Christ Jesus.
So, now, you can either believe what the gospel says about you or believe what your past says about you. Right? *Righteousness*, "right standing with God". 2 Corinthians-5:21, He who knew no sin became sin for us so that in him, are you in him? Yeah.
You might become the righteousness of God. So, when God looks at you, he sees right standing with him. It takes faith to believe that. It takes unbelief to say, but, I just did this. Yeah?
When I when I meet a Christian on the street, I find out that they're a Christian. You know what the first thing I said I asked them? I say, hey, I got this, you know, if I get in the conversation, God gives me the grace, I'll say, I say, righteous are you? I I will. I'll just pull it out.
And and it catches them off guard, but it's great because I love it. And, they're like, well, not not really that much. And and, you know how I respond? I respond by telling them how forgiven they are. *Romans-4:8 says, blessed is the person whose sin is never counted* against them.
Who is the person whose sin is never counted against them? Who? It's not Jesus. Jesus never sinned. Who is the person whose sin is never counted against them?
Us. It's the person who put their faith in Jesus. Why? Because your sin was forever counted against Jesus' blood. Now, the reason I do that when I find a Christian is because of this, and and I'll be done, and we'll go into the transformed life next week.
Really? I'm not just being preacher on you here. Sure. I hear you. Alright.
*2 Peter-1*. I want you guys to go home and read this. It's important. Verse 5, it says, for this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness, and to your goodness knowledge, and to your knowledge self control, and to your self control perseverance, and perseverance godliness, and to your godliness mutual affection, and to mutual affection love. Kind of like that's like Peter's version of the "fruit of the spirit".
Right? Faithfulness, godliness, like, all this awesome, cool Jesus stuff. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's someone that's growing in these things. But, whoever does not have them is "nearsighted and blind".
Someone who's nearsighted is focused on themself, or blind, they can't even see. Forgetting that they've been cleansed from their past sins. Most Christians I I see aren't a lot or a lot of Christians that I talk with are not producing that kind of fruit. They they they were born again, or at least they tell me they were, so I'm gonna assume that they were. Born again and but but, I don't see godliness in their life, or I don't see this in their life.
It's not it's not flowing out of them. Right? So, what is the first thing that I do? I remind them that they're *forgiven* because they've simply forgotten that they've been cleansed from their past sins. That's why there's no fruit.
Yeah. But, when they remember they're forgiven, now they can walk with the Father again in relationship, and you can't know him without being transformed to be like him. But, if I don't think I'm forgiven, I'm not going to walk with him. And so, that's the starting place of maturity, is understanding that you're forgiven and right standing with him. The way to grow to maturity, *Hebrews-5:13, that's the verse by the way, Hebrews-5:14*, the way to grow to maturity is by constant use.
It's by doing what he says, day in and day out. Oh, you can't grow to maturity without obedience, but you can't be obedient without understanding you're forgiven. So, I understand he's I'm forgiven, but I don't just sit there. I do what he says. And until I do what he says, I'm not growing in maturity.
I'll be going in a circle. Amen? You're forgiven. You're loved by God. He cares for you.
Walk with him. Amen? Thank you for tuning in today to the Real Church podcast. I pray that you walk away from today encouraged with a deeper understanding of how much God loves you. If you'd like to connect with us, we can't wait to reach out to you and pray for you.
You can go to ww.realchurch.us/connect. And then also, if you would like to give to what God is doing in and through our ministry, you can do so at www.realchurch.us/giving, or you can text any amount to 84321. And then just search in the link that comes up. Search for Real Church of the Lord. God bless you, and the "best is yet to come".