17th March 2019 Sunday
Worship Service
10:30-12:30 AM, Grace Derabassi Church
Text: John 1: 12-13
Title: A Genuine Christian’s Response to
the Gospel – Part 2.
Would
you turn your bible to John1:12-14? We are continuing our series on “A Genuine Christian’s
Response to the Gospel” from John 1:10-14, which we have started last Sunday.
Apostle John presented Jesus in his book as the Son of God, the giver of
eternal life. His main purpose in writing
this book is for the reader to believe in Christ. John 20:31 “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Everybody
will die one day but will be resurrected
again on the Judgement Day of Christ. Some will be raised to eternal life, where
there will be no more sin, no more pain, no more sorrows, and no more evils. Some
will be raised to eternal death, which means separation from God to a place
where they will bear the wrath of God for eternity. Gospel John is written that
we may have eternal life. Are you not tired of sins in your life? We kept on
doing what we don’t want to do, and we
don’t do what we want to do. We are bound to sin and live a miserable life. Eternal
life in Christ is a sinless, blameless, and faultless
life; a life of holiness, purity, and
righteousness; a life of joyfulness and true worship!
Eternal
life is offered to all in Christ, and you have to receive it. If you have this
eternal life through Christ, you are a genuine Christian. Therefore, it is how
we respond to this offer. Our response should not be the rejection of the
message of the Gospel like the Jews and the rest of the world written in verses
10-11. They ignored the truth, they opposed the truth. And Apostle John
described them in a very sad way, “they did not know Him.” That’s the
indictment! And what we learn from that is TO KNOW CHRIST. Who is Christ? Last
time we talk from verses 10-11 that He is the Creator, Sustainer of Universe
and everything in it. He is the God who revealed Himself to the world in the best possible way by coming to the world as
a man to bear the sins of the world.
And
then in verse 12 “But as many
as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those
who believe in His name”
He is the Author of Salvation. He is the One that births Christian. He is the
cause of Christian, the source and the perfector, the security and the
guarantee of Christian! So,
the question we want to ask ourselves now is what do we do with this person Jesus
Christ? Our responsibility is not only to Know Christ but we must Believe Him.
2.
Believe Christ (12-13) (how?)
One
cannot only know Christ. It doesn’t do any good. Knowing is the intellectual
aspect. Believing is the volitional aspect. You must commit yourself to Him.
You must put your trust in Christ. Verse 12-13.
“But as many as received Him, to
them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His
name: who were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Apostle
John describes Christian in four different words; those who have received
Christ, those who believe in the person and work of Christ, those who are born
of God, and children of God. The first two descriptions show the Responsibility
of man, and the last two show the Sovereign work of God. And in v13, he
strongly asserts how one is not saved, how one does not become a Christian.
i.
Your
responsibility
While
verse 10-11 is between Christ and the world, and the response is a Rejection of
Christ; verse 12-13 is between Christ and Christian, and the response is a
Reception of Christ. Verse 12 begins with a contrasting word “but,” and that
makes all the difference. And here is
the blessed contrast. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right
to become children of God.”
The world rejects Christ, but anyone in this world, irrespective of geography,
skin color, language, culture, tribes, or communities, whoever receives Jesus
Christ becomes a child of God – a Christian.
See!
Christ did not come into the world to condemn us (John 3:16-20). He did not even
come to ask us to do something. He just came to save us. He is a loving saving
God. Our response is just to receive. How do we receive Christ? (He is back in
Heaven now.) Obviously, not as we receive a material object, that we can touch,
see and feel it. ESV and NIV help us to understand this verse better. They
translated in this way, “But to all who did receive him, who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
To receive Him is to believe Him. Believing Him demonstrates reception of
Christ.
This
belief is “in His name” – in the person and His work - what He has done for you
for your salvation. The name Jesus means, Saviour, Matthew 1:21 “He shall save His people from their sins!” The
name Christ means “anointed one” to deliver sinners from the wrath of God. It
is believing that Jesus came to save sinners. The Scripture is consistent
throughout the Bible.
Acts
16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be
saved.” Acts 4:12 “there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Romans
3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 5:7-8 “For scarcely for a
righteous man will one die; yet perhaps
for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love
toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Hebrews 9:28 “so Christ was offered
once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from
sin, for salvation.” Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised
Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart
one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.”
See! Numbers of Scripture says what to
believe, why to believe, and how to believe. Again, 1
Pet 1:8-9 “whom having not seen you
love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy
inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your
souls.”
By the way, many people used to say, “Do not
judge someone’s faith. It is by one’s faith that one is saved!”
That’s a lie from the pit of hell! You are not saved by your faith, (the
subjective faith); you are save by the object of your faith. Let’s take for an
illustration. Suppose, someone keeps poison in a Coca-Cola bottle, and you come
along and drink that thinking and believing sincerely that it is a Coke, would that sincere faith saves you? No!
No matter whether your faith is sincere
or not; you are dead if you drink it. You see, it is the object that matters.
You need to believe in the Biblical Christ, not the Christ of your imagination
or your ideas!
How
wonderful is that we are saved when we just believe in Him! That’s the
difference between Christianity and all other religions. Other religions teach man to do good works to get into heaven. Bible
says, No! You can never enter heaven by any good works. You enter heaven, not
because of any good works done by you, the good, perfect, righteous work done
by Christ. 2 Timothy 1:9 “who has saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace
which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Believing
is trusting. Based on your trust you enjoy. Doubt is not “believing” How many of you doubted that those chairs could
support you before you sat on it? You didn’t! You just sat on it. That’s how
you must trust Christ for your Salvation! I am telling you, those chairs will
be broken someday, but Christ will never be moved. He says in John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”
And
the Bible says even Belief, Faith is, in fact, a gift (Eph.2:8-9). Also 2 pet
1:1. “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus
Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the
righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” We
can’t even believe it. God must give us that faith to believe. And that is the
reason why though many of us “believe” the Gospel but are not saved. True Faith
or Saving Faith comes from God. Do you have saving Faith? And this reality
leads us to the Sovereignty of God in Salvation.
ii.
God’s
Sovereignty
Ephesians
2:1 “And you He
made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,” Ephesians 2:5 “even when we were dead in trespasses.” The Bible diagnoses us
that we are dead people. Can a dead man
believe? No man seeks God (Rom 3:11). Scripture says
natural man is hostile to the spiritual
thing. Can a natural man believe? Thus
Salvation is of God alone. That’s what it means when verse 12 says, “He gave the right to become children of
God.”
It is God that made one a Christian.
a.
How
one does not get saved
Last
Sunday I mentioned about four common misconceptions about becoming a Christian:
Some people think they are Christian because they grow up in a Christian
family. And some people do not care because they think they are going to heaven because God should be good
enough to let them in. There are other groups
of people who think they can become Christian sometime
later. And unfortunately, there are also people who think God is responsible
for all our sins and destiny to hell
This
magnificent verse 13 refutes all such thoughts and arguments in verse v.12-13.
“But as many as received Him, to
them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His
name: who were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Apostle
John describes who Christian really is and how one becomes. He refutes the
common misconception of most of the professing Christians. No one is Christian
by birth, he must become – become by spiritual birth. You were not, you are
not, the text says you must “become.” As Christ said to Nicodemus in Jn 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
A Christian is he who is born of God by the Spirit.
And
then the text says, “not of blood.” Christian is not a birthright. Sin is (Ps
51:5). You may have born to a godliest family in a godliest church in a
godliest society, but, you are not a Christian – not of blood. By the way,
friends, God is really good, better than you have or can ever imagine. But,
that is why He would not let sinner enter heaven. Even the Justice of this
world punish the criminals, God the Justice of Universe has to punish sinner
much more. The only way to heaven is to
believe that Christ received your punishment, and you receive the garment of
His righteousness to cover yourself before the throne of God!
For
those of you who blame God for sins and evils, and hell. John 3:17 says, you
shall die in your sins. For Christ came to the world not to damn you but to
save you. Yet you love sins and darkness and therefore shall die in darkness!
And
then the text further says, “nor of the will of the flesh.” You cannot convert yourself. You
cannot make yourself Christian. There are some people who say, “I’ll become Christian
next year.” You cannot; “nor of the will of the flesh!” It’s not your ability.
Can dead man decide to spring up from the grave? Does a dead man have “will?”
And
then the text further says, refuting all arguments, “nor of the will of man.”
Not even other can make you Christian. No man can convert you, nor can anyone
decide for you. I cannot pronounce you a Christian. Your pastor cannot make you
Christian. Then how does one become a Christian?
The text says, “born but of God.” You must be born of God. It’s a passive
voice. Somebody, God must birth you.
That’s
the reason why Christian must obey the Scripture when it says you must not
marry a non-Christian. Some people have a very
brilliant idea that they can convert their spouse. This idea is from the pit of
hell. You cannot convert anyone. Conversion is the Holy Spirit’s Job. Your job
is to obey. No compromise! Period. Don’t try to have a better idea than God your creator.
b.
How
one gets saved
Then
we may ask, how do I believe then? Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It is through Hearing
the true Biblical Jesus from the Bible or Biblical preaching. It is Hearing the
gospel. When you are hearing the Gospel, the Holy Spirit works in your heart,
mind, and soul. That’s why we need gospel
preaching. Gospel is the only means to salvation (Romans 1:16-17). Without
hearing the Gospel, nobody is saved! And that’s why God has started the work
for your Salvation from before you were born! He sent His Son to the Cross.
Jesus sent His Apostle to the ends of the Earth. And today we are hearing the
Gospel again. This is how saving faith, true belief is received from the
gospel.
When
we believe, God has “given” us the right. We do not earn, we just receive what
is given. God offers to all. He continues to offer us till today. Will you
receive Him? Will you commit yourself and trust the Lord saying, Lord, I
believe you have died for a wretched sinner like me. Thank you for saving me!
Thank you for making me your own now! I am crucified with Christ in the Cross.
All my sins of past, present, and even my
future sins are all crucified in the cross! I am free. I am forgiven! I have
become the child of God. If you confess that with your mouth and believe in
your heart, my friend, you are a born-again Christian, you are a genuine
Christian. Is not that simple? I plead you to receive Christ! Apostle Paul
says, “Behold now is the favorable time; Behold now is the day of Salvation!”
Would you believe in Jesus, the Christ?
Hymn
writer Augustus Toplady writes:
Rock
of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.
Not
the labors of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Can fulfill Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing
in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
While
I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Shall we pray?
Lord, we thank you for this glorious
truth you have given us through your servant John! You the eternal God came to
this world to save wretched sinners that we may become the children of God. The world did not know you, nor do they know the
privilege we have in you. Lord, I pray
you to grant repentance and faith to my brothers and sister here through the
hearing of the gospel today, that they may be saved
and receive eternal life. For we cannot convert anyone nor ourselves to you.
For Lord Salvation belongs to you. Glory and Honor belong to you forever and ever.
Oh! Lord, we rejoice
in this truth that you have justified us when we believe in you. Oh! That we
are your children, who can snatch us from your eternal love, care, and blessings. Oh! Now that we are covered by the garments of
Christ’s righteousness, as our filthy sinful rags are nailed to the cross, we
have this confidence to approach you as Father and receive all the spiritual
blessing that you have poured out on us! even then, Lord, we pray you again,
that you will help us to live worthy of your Gospel, for your fame and glory
and honor we pray, Amen!
