Baptist Christian Church

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Matthew 11:25-30

We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. Almost every part of our life is governed by processes, or routines that help us reach goals in our life. Some of them are so commonplace that we give them no, or at least very little thought. Our daily routines, and many of our processes span the gamut from being easy to accomplish in a short time to being very difficult to accomplish and requiring much time. It is perhaps because of this step-by-step mentality and way of life that so many people, including true Christians, have trouble growing in grace. People often miss the truth that God periodically asks and expects us to do more than one thing at a time. One might say God is the original inventor of multitasking!

Today we are going to focus our discussion on the importance of that sincere commitment to forsake our sin and walk in obedience to Christ. I believe that it is at this point right here where people most often falter, most often miss the point, and most often fail to understand the very essence, the very heartbeat of salvation. One of the most serious doctrinal errors that has ever plagued of the church is teaching that people get saved so they go to heaven. Or conversely people get saved so they don’t go to hell! Beloved, you must learn and know the reason for and the goal of salvation as well and as readily as you know that our God is a Triune God, The Great Three in One, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, all One yet three distinct, separate Persons! …or as well as you know and believe the Scriptures are the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. The real reason a person is saved is because they come to the point where they understand their sin and sinfulness is an eternal offense to God, and can only be taken away by placing their faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Read Eph. 1:3-10: our redemption comes as a result of our unquestioning faith in the finished work of Christ. Neither is the goal of salvation heaven, the goal of salvation is Christ likeness as we read in Rom. 8:29.

If you study the teachings of the OT writers, Christ, and the Apostles you will readily see true Biblical salvation demands a radical and immediate change in both life and lifestyle where Jesus is the unchallenged and sovereign Lord. There are several ways to find the true answer to that question. One way is to stand in front of the mirror, look the person in front of you straight in the eyes, and then listen to the answer from your conscience. That answer will be the true answer because your conscience never lies. Another way is the testimony of other people.  Another indicator is a sincere desire in your heart to see others come to a saving knowledge of Christ. The hardest part of turning from a life of sin to a life in obedience to Christ is getting over yourself! The only way that this will work as if you stop trusting in yourself and what you think you can do to impress God – and start trusting in the finished work of Christ because He has already done everything that needs to be done and has obtained for you everything you need to be accepted by God. Is that transference of trust hard? Yes, it’s probably the hardest thing you’ll ever do in your whole life! Is it worth it? Absolutely – the decision brings with it immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine!

If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.

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Continued from the previous week.

Psalm 32:1-5

We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. Why is it that so many people today who claim to be Christians show little or no evidence in their daily living that they really came to a saving knowledge of Christ? The positive way to ask that same question is: what is it that causes a person who claims to be a Christian to make such a radical change in their life and lifestyle to live in submission and obedience to God and His Word? The answer is found in Wayne Grudem’s definition of repentance, which is: a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ. In the coming weeks we will look at 4 truths that must be followed for true conversion to take place.

The 1^st step must be A HEARTFELT SORROW FOR SIN. I don’t think anyone expresses heartfelt sorrow for sin more clearly than David. Read Ps. 32:1-5; 38:1-4, 18; 51:1-5. Can you feel the sorrow David feels when he is confronted-deep in his heart, with his sin? The true Christian, the true man or woman of God can feel that sorrow. The apostles had the same message, please go to Acts 2:37; 24:24, 25; 1 John 3:20. Repentance begins with sorrow of heart because you are confronted with the reality that you have defaced or marred God’s handcrafted workmanship, and impugned His reputation. When we were learning about the doctrine of regeneration, we learned our sinful nature is so dangerous because Paul tells us in Eph. 2:3 we do, or choose to carry out, the wishes of our understanding. Understanding means the ability to perceive; the thinking consciousness (including moral reflections); judgment; resolve; and intention. When God leads a person to the point in their life where they, of their own free will choose spiritual life and godliness, they also choose to do all God requires of those who accept His gracious gift of salvation, the individual knowingly, willingly, intentionally, and consciously chooses to turn from their life in sin (repentance), to a new life walking in obedience to Christ (faith).

True Biblical repentance is not an emotional experience. True Biblical repentance is a conscious, willful, intentional decision that takes place in a person’s mind. Repentance causes us to have a genuine sorrow and hatred for sin physically, mentally, and spiritually! So the question is—how does that genuine sorrow and hatred for sin become reality in a person’s life? Read John 16:1-11. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin because they do not believe in Christ as their Savior. In this verse the word convict means, to show someone his sin and to summon him to repentance. Conviction can take place: privately between 2 people. Matthew 18:15. Conviction can also take place publicly. Read 1 Tim. 5:20. In the future the Lord Jesus will convict of sin In His letter to the church in Laodicea the Lord Jesus says, “those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” When all this happens in a person’s heart they have begun to turn from sin and repentance to Christ in the faith. And there is no greater experience in this life!

If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:21 — 32.5MB)

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2 Cor. 7:8-12

We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. We are continuing our study in the doctrine of conversion. We learned last time that in order for a person to be saved they must be aware of truth. That awareness comes through revelation-or reading the inspired Word of God. In order for a person to be saved they must also come to the point where they agree that the Bible is truth and accept it as such, especially if a person has had no, or very little, exposure to Scripture. However, the next step is one of the hardest steps in receiving God’s free gift of salvation. At some point every person who has ever received God’s gift of salvation has come to the point where they stop trusting, or depending in themselves and all their own efforts to gain favor or merit with God – and become totally dependent upon the finished work of Christ to save them.

You remember conversion means turning from sin which is repentance to Christ which is faith. This is so, to speak, the point where you take your hands off the wheel and trust Christ to do all the driving for the rest of your life! Often times the first time you ever try anything new in your life, is the hardest. The first time you tried to tie your shoe, or the first time you tried to button your shirt or blouse, or the first time you tried to parallel-park. Throughout our life there are many first times that are hard for us. Many of those hard times happen in our Christian life when God asked us to trust Him completely in a new area of our life for the 1^st time! Conversion, or becoming totally dependent on the finished work of Christ as the only work that will change the direction of our life from eternal death in hell to eternal life in Christ – is for all who are saved, the first time they are required to trust their eternal future to a Person they have yet to meet face-to-face. Wayne Grudem correctly teaches, our faith should increase as our knowledge increases. We place our lives in the devices of our daily living without giving a second thought because we do it every day and it has become commonplace to us.

This doctrine of conversion is part of the reason I tell you, you do not have to judge whether or not a person is a true Christian. All you have to do is watch how they live their daily life away from this place, and listen to the way they talk away from this place, the way they treat others away from this place, and they will tell you, and show you whether or not their heart belongs to Christ. One reason even true Christians struggle in growing in Christ is because they do not fully understand, as Wayne Gruden so clearly explains, faith and repentance must come together. He defines repentance as “a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.”  My prayer is that God will bring the following question to your mind over and over in the days to come. Ask yourself this question: if someone who doesn’t know me, and had never before read The Bible, watched me and listened to me without my awareness they were doing so; and at the same time read just the NT for the 1^st time in their life, would they, at the end of the week, come and ask me to teach them how to live the way the Bible teaches because they’d seen me live that way all week? Now beloved, everyone in this room, and many in the listening audience, already know the true answer to that question. And as you deal with that question this week it’s important for you to remember God also knows the true answer. If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.

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We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. We are continuing our study of the Biblical doctrine of conversion. Beloved, listen carefully! It is important that you understand, at least the general workings, of this doctrine. Why? Because when you share the Biblical message of salvation with someone you will help walk them through the initial part of their conversion. This doctrine of conversion is part of the roadmap you need to follow to bring them to a saving knowledge of Christ, then help them grow in Christ. Remember last time we learned God’s willing response to man’s willful choice to sin is salvation, which is God’s gift of grace (or His desire that all should come to repentance) that results in spiritual life. Conversion means turning from sin (which is repentance) to Christ (which is faith). In its simplest form, one might say God’s plan of salvation involves only 3 agents to help a person come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Do you know what those 3 are? The Bible, John recorded Jesus prayer in the garden where He prayed, “sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth.” The 2^nd agent God uses is the Holy Spirit, John records Jesus words and 15:26 when He says, “when the Helper/Holy Spirit comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who precedes from the Father, He will bear witness about me.” And the most amazing agent of all is YOU! Let’s look at 3 more parts of this doctrine of conversion that will also help us to understand how important we are as God’s ambassadors, and why it is so “life and death” important that we who call ourselves Christians continually grow by letting The Holy Spirit conform us to the image of Christ every day of our lives. Here again Wayne Grudem provides a clear and concise outline of what true saving faith includes:

1. Revelation. Romans 10:14 says in part, “how can they believe in Him of whom they have not heard.” Before people can be saved they must have some revelation or information about Christ. But, knowledge of mere facts, even though they are truth, is not enough by itself to bring a person to the point of salvation. Read Rom. 1:18-3:31 where Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, contrasts God’s righteous does with man’s unrighteousness; and how God’s wrath is justified because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So knowledge alone will never get anyone to heaven. In addition to revelation true saving faith must include…
2. Ratification, which means agreeing with the facts, and that those facts are truth. Read Jn. 3: 1,2. In his statement here Nicodemus verifies that information and approval by themselves, do not result in salvation. Nicodemus is viewing this whole thing from a purely physical, intellectual viewpoint. Has anybody ever told someone how to be saved and their response to you is, “I hear you and I believe you, I’m just not ready!” So why isn’t knowledge, even if it is accepted that the knowledge you are sharing is truth, enough to bring a person to the point where they are ready to be saved? Because in addition to knowledge and approval there must be a…
3. RESOLUTION. Listen to the way Wayne Grudem defines this resolution or decision of dependency; “in addition to knowledge of the facts of the gospel and approval of those facts, in order to be saved, I must decide to depend on Jesus to save me. In doing this I moved from being an interested observer of the facts of salvation and the teachings of the Bible to being someone who enters into a new relationship with Jesus Christ as a living person. We may therefore define saving faith as trust in Jesus Christ as a living Person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God.”

If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.