Are you really a CHRISTian?

Are you really a CHRISTian?

How many of you want to grow spiritually in this new year? To grow in Christ
you must first be in Christ. In other words, you must be a Christian. This first sermon
helps you know whether you are a Christian or not and how to become one if you
are not. Knowing Christ is the most important matter in all of life. Rejecting Christ
would be the most harmful. If you are sure you are a Christian, this sermon will be a
helpful review. The apostles Paul and Peter considered it their duty to remind
Christians of the basics.(1 Cor 15:1-5,2 Peter 1:12-15)

Now who is Jesus?

Phil 2:6-11

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit as the only
true and living God. They are 3 distinct persons, equal in power and glory. The
father is not the Son, The Son is not the Spirit yet they are not 3 gods but one God.
We call this mystery the Trinity.

God’s Son became a human and went in his humiliation and obedience to God the
Father until the point of death on the cross. In response to that, God exalted Him to
the highest place and gave Him the name above every name. Eventually, everyone
will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

1 Cor 15:3-7

Since Jesus is the Son of God, for what did he die? He died for our sins. The good
news is, He did not remain in the grave but he was raised on the third day! Who can
testify that? Peter first saw Him, and then the twelve apostles.

Jesus is no ordinary man. He is true God who became true man. In one person
Jesus is both God and man. As a man, Jesus came to save His people by doing for
them what they could not do for themselves. We had disobeyed God, broken His law
and earned His punishment. Jesus, however, perfectly obeyed His father. He never
sinned. Moreover, He willingly endured the punishment we deserved for our sin. As
our substitute, He satisfied God’s just requirement that sin be punished by taking
our punishment on Himself. In this way God is both just, because sin is punished,
and merciful, because He forgives our sins.

Why do you need Christ?

Romans 3:23

Everyone on this earth has sinned and fall shorts the glory of God. This includes you
and me. Is sin serious? The answer is yes for the wage of sin is death but the gift of
God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 2:6-11

It’s ok if nobody sees your good deeds or the bad people go free for God will judge
us one day according to what each of us has done. There will be trouble & distress
for evil people. According to these verses, people who are self-seeking, rejecting
truth and follow evil will be punished. Do you have these characteristics?

In fact, we are all sinners as we rebel against God. It’s natural for us to commit
wrong deeds but we struggle to do good. Perhaps you don’t think you’re a sinner.
Try reading the Ten Commandments.(Ex 20:1-17) How many have you broken
outwardly or in your thoughts? If you’re honest, you will have to admit you’ve broken
either by actions or thoughts. Now do you see why God takes your sin so seriously?
God will punish us for our sin with the troubles of this life, with physical death and
sufferings of hell forever. That’s why we need Jesus.

God’s Promises and Your Response

Jesus promises to raise up those who believe in Him at the last day. You must
believe in Jesus (put your faith in Him) in order to be saved. There are 2 things you
must do: Confess ‘Jesus is Lord’ with your mouth and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead. What’s next? You’ll be justified and saved. For everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Rom 10:13)

Faith in Christ means you trust Him to save you and you submit to Him as Lord.
If you just want forgiveness but do not want Christ as your Lord, then you do not
have real faith. The person who says he believes in Christ but does not begin to
obey Christ (stop sinning) is fooling himself. (1 John 2:3-6) Faith always has with it a
desire to turn from sin and to serve Christ. True faith brings true repentance. You
must rely on Christ to forgive you and to change you.

The Gratitude We Owe to God for Salvation

How many of you here love Jesus? If you just raise your hands, you just mean you
do obey His commandments for those who love Him will obey His commandments.

Matthew 22:37-39

How much should we love God? We should love Him with all our heart, soul and
mind. Besides, we should also love our neighbours as ourselves. (Surrounding
people)

Eph 2:8-10

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are
God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do”

It’s by the grace of Jesus Christ, through the faith we put in Him that we are saved.
It’s a common mistake that the world believes they can be saved by good works.
Doing good works are our duty as human, not to be seen as merit. Imagine you’re
looking at a baby crawling at the edge of a drain. Saving him from danger is our
duty. If we just let him be and falls, we would be sinning by not doing the right thing.
Rather, the bible says we are saved to do good works! If you’re not doing any good
work, the purpose of your salvation is not fulfilled.

The good works that we do are possible only because God has saved us. Initially our
good work themselves are sufficiently tainted by our sin that they are not acceptable
by God but He is pleased to accept and reward them for the sake of Jesus Christ
and His perfect righteousness.(1 Peter 2:5)

Conclusion

Our good works cannot save us from God’s punishment and the fire of hell. Only
through believing in Jesus Christ that you can be saved and have everlasting life
with Him.