In this insightful sermon, we delve into Romans 3:23, focusing on the concept of salvation. The discussion navigates through the common understanding of the five steps of salvation—hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized—and introduces an engaging perspective on the 'Four "Mits" of Salvation.' These "mits", rooted in the Latin suffix 'mit,' represent pivotal actions: admit, submit, commit, and transmit. Each step is thoroughly explored, emphasizing our need to admit our sins, submit to God's authority, commit our lives completely to Him, and transmit Christ's image to the world. Join us as we dissect these crucial elements and provide a comprehensive guide to achieving salvation and living a faithful Christian life.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:41 The Four Myths of Salvation
02:15 Admitting Our Sins
13:52 Submitting to God's Authority
24:45 Committing to a Life with God
30:02 Transmitting the Message of Christ
34:33 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

Good afternoon. Would you take out your Bible, please, and turn to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3 is where I've turned in my Bible. And I invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 3 and verse 23. And that's where we'll begin, here in just a moment. Thank you for your presence tonight. To all who are with us, whether you're a regular member or a visitor, we're grateful for your presence.

If you did not get a handout for the lesson tonight and you'd like one, raise your hand and one of those will be provided to you. We had some young men standing at the door who handed most of those out as people were coming in, but if you did not get one and you'd like one, raise your hand and one will come to you.

You've heard of the five steps of salvation. hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. Most of us have heard of that. I think one of the really great and wonderful things about the plan of salvation is how it can be expressed in a number of different ways. And those aren't contradictory ways, but just expressed from different perspectives for people to see and hear and understand.

So, you know of the five steps of salvation, but have you ever heard of the four myths of salvation. The four myths of salvation. Well, that's what I want us to think about for a few minutes this evening. Myth is a Latin suffix and it's found on many of our English words. Remit, omit, emit, permit, and usually that word myth means to send.

It's an action suffix. Something is happening. We're doing something. And when we think about us doing something in regard to salvation, some people's you know, the hair on their neck stands up a little bit. I don't know about that. Please don't misunderstand me. Just because we're doing something, just because we're working doesn't take anything away from God's working.

On the contrary, our working is only possible because of His, because of what God has done, we are able to respond. But these four things, These four myths that I want us to think about this evening are things that all of us must do if we are going to be saved. Consider with me the four myths of salvation.

The first one is the word I can't even say it now, admit, right? We're going to admit And that word admit means to send, that's our mit, but it's, add means to or towards or into. We're sending into something, sending towards something. If we think about it, that word admit means to allow entrance, right?

We're allowing entrance to what? Well, if we admit something, we're allowing entrance of those realities into our mind. Thanks. and our lives when we admit these things to ourselves and others. So what is it that we must admit if we want to be saved? Well, we all have to admit that we have sinned. Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 is a great place to start any discussion about salvation.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We all have sinned, and we have to admit that reality. That, that reality has to gain admission into our mind and our, and our thoughts if we're going to be saved.

It's a wonderful first step to take, but it is hard to see that in ourselves sometimes. Like David with his sin with Bathsheba, or the prodigal son who has left his father. Perhaps we don't see our sin until we come to ourselves. And then we can begin the process of returning to God. We admit that we have sinned.

But many people get stuck here. They admit this. Yeah, I've sinned. But that isn't enough in terms of what it is that we must admit. We must admit that we have sinned, but we also must admit what sin is. What is sin? Is it a misstep? Is it just a mistake or a poor choice? Yes, it is all of those things, but it's much more serious than sometimes people want to make it sound.

It is A violation of God's law. If you turn to 1 John, 1 John talks a good deal about sin and how we deal with sin. But notice how it describes sin in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 4. Whoever commits or practices sin also commits or practices lawlessness. And sin is lawlessness. Kind of the opposite is found just a chapter or so later.

So, in 1 John chapter 5 and verse 17, all unrighteousness is sin. So what is sin? It is a transgression. It is unrighteousness against the commands of the creator of the universe. That the creator of the universe has said, this is what you're supposed to do, this is what is right, this is my law, and you have transgressed against that.

Now that's a big deal. With real and lasting And so we all must admit that we have sinned and that we are in sin and what sin is. We also must admit what we are in that sin. And there are all these, whoa, there are all these metaphors in the Bible for what sin is and what sin looks like. We're not going to turn to these passages today.

But consider some of these images for what sin is. What we are in sin. When we are in sin, we are separated from God. Isaiah 59. We are lost when we are in sin. Luke 19. We're in bondage to sin and slaves. John 8 and a number of other places. We are engulfed in this kind of total darkness. Colossians 1, 13.

And again, other places with these metaphors. And each one of these should bring powerful, vivid images to our mind. We think about this idea of being separated from God. I'm amazed at, at military families Isaac is with us today and, and he is, he's about to be deployed for 9 to 12 months and it's so good to see him and I'd, I'd ask you to keep him in your prayers.

And there are other families here who know all about that idea of a deployment to somewhere. And I'm amazed at these families where spouses are gone for, for weeks at a time, months at a time. Even some of the other people in our congregation who work various different jobs, where they have to be gone days at a time.

That's, that separation is difficult, tough. But at least there is, in our modern time, there, there is the opportunity for communication, even seeing somebody. over FaceTime or whatever the case might be. But separation that is permanent, separation that is without real communication, separation that is without hope of reconciliation coming back again, that is almost unbearable.

And maybe it's not unbearable if it's separation from one that we don't like very much, but separation from one who loves us, who cares for us, that we need desperately, desperately. That's where we are in sin. We are lost in sin. Not just, you know, have you ever been to the market, market, marketplace, the grocery store?

Ever been to the grocery store? I'm, you know, I'm up here preaching and so marketplace comes to mind. Have you ever been to the grocery store? And you're going through the aisles and you're lost, right? I can't find the olives, or whatever the case might be. Maybe that's a bad example. You can usually find the olives.

But maybe a specific kind of crackers, or whatever it is. And you're going aisle by aisle and you're kind of lost. But eventually, you find what it is you're looking for. That's not the kind of lost that I'm talking about. I'm talking about loss that has an element of danger to it. Maybe I've told this story before.

I'm not exactly sure. But we were driving up to Tennessee one time. And it was, we, we often drive through the middle of the night just because traffic is so much better. And I remember Stephanie was going to drive to Memphis, and then she was going to wake me up. So it's about 3 in the morning when we get to Memphis, and I'm not sure if she took a wrong turn.

I think maybe they had you get off the interstate. And she wakes me up, and we are in, like, the ghetto of Memphis at 3 in the morning. I look over there, and I see some people who are very clearly strung out on drugs. There's a red light coming up. She wakes me shakes me awake and says, You know, what do I do as she's slowing down for this red light?

And I said, well, don't stop at this red light, right? And so we, we finally made it somewhere, but we were lost there. We didn't know where we were exactly, but there was danger to it. Well, that's the kind of loss that we're thinking about when it comes to sin, right? It's not just, oh, I'll find my way eventually.

No, I'm in a very dangerous predicament here. And something needs to change. I need to be found, or this could lead to my death. That kind of loss. And we could talk more about bondage and darkness and those other images, but perhaps the one that is most impactful, at least to me, is found in Ephesians chapter 2.

If you turn there. Ephesians chapter 2.

Remember, sin is a trespass against God and His law. And what are we when we are in sin? Verse 1 of chapter 2, And you who were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, And we're by nature, that is, our habitual practice, children of wrath, just as the others.

We aren't just lost or in darkness or separated. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. And yet God is one who is able to provide resurrection. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved.

And raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So we admit that we are dead in our trespasses and sins. This unrighteousness of breaking God's law and all of us admit that we have sinned. Which means that we all must admit that we need a Savior. That we need Jesus.

And I would put it this way. We can't talk about a wonderful Savior. You know, this time of year, people do that, right? We've talked about that some already. Sing these songs about the birth of Jesus, and what a wonderful Savior He is. But do you know what that word, Savior, means? It's one who saves. And so we can't talk about a Savior without talking about those who need to be saved.

Those who are lost. Those who are in darkness. Those who are dead in trespasses and sins. And if we have not been saved by this Savior, that's Only those that need saving need a Savior. And yet, many want to proclaim that Savior, but act as though nobody really needs saving. That you can come as you are, that you're fine the way you are, that you can find God wherever and however you want to.

That this sin business is not urgent. No, we are drowning, we are dead, and we need someone to save us. And, and the Apostle Paul himself had to admit this, if he was going to come to Jesus and find that salvation. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 1, 1 Timothy chapter 1. As Paul writes to Timothy. He tells him this, beginning in verse 12 of 1 Timothy chapter 1.

And I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has enabled me, because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord Jesus was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Amen. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief, or first, or foremost. I was a sinner. I was an insolent man. I was a persecutor. I was a blasphemer. And Paul admitted that, because he needed a Savior. And Jesus was the one who saved him by his mercy and by his grace.

This is our longest point because there's really no point to the rest of the lesson without this, without admitting, admitting who we are in sin, and admitting what sin is, and admitting our need for a savior. There's really no need to talk about how one is saved from there. But, if we can admit, if we can admit these things, then we are ready then to submit.

So again, MIT is to send, and sub, think about a submarine, right? Sub is under. So we are sending ourselves under, what? Under the authority, and direction of somebody else. So we are submitting ourselves. And that means that we, yes, have to submit person of Jesus Christ and who he is, but we also submit to all of the precepts and commands of that person, of that savior that we said we needed, right?

I'm in sin. I can't save myself. I need a savior. And so I must submit to the one, the Savior, who has come to save me. We read from James chapter 1 this morning. Turn back there again if you would. Turn to James chapter 1. We submit to his precepts. We submit to his commands. We submit to his word.

James chapter one in verse one. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness, the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. Now we know that Jesus does the saving, but he does so through his word that directs us on what we must do, but be doers of the word.

Verse 25, He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. This one will be blessed in what he does. We must submit to what Jesus says and not what we feel or what others say, but what he commands, what he directs, because he is the Savior.

And we submit to this, and please know I say this respectfully, we should submit, send ourselves under what Jesus says by his word, no matter how foolish it might sound to us, no matter how strange it is to our ear, no matter how we don't understand it. Even if it sounds foolish, if this is what Jesus demands, that is what we should do because that's what submission is.

Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Both Jew and Gentile struggled and still struggle to this day with this concept of submitting ourselves to the foolishness of God's plan in the cross. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, this whole section deals with the foolishness of what By, by man's perspective of what God called us to do.

But notice just a few verses from this context. Verse 18 of chapter 1. For the message of the cross, the word of the cross, literally, is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. So other people look at what we do as Christians and what we submit ourselves to and say, That's foolish, why would anybody do that?

But to us it is the power of God to save us by Jesus Christ. Verse 21, For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. This is one of the ways that God tests our willingness to submit.

Have you ever thought about how there are lots of foolish, from a worldly perspective, things that God asks people to do in Old and New Testaments? In order for Him to give them the things that they asked for. March around a wall seven times and yell really loud and it'll fall down. That's foolishness.

Is it not? But God demanded that, submission to that, obedience to that. If they desired the salvation that came with it. Drop down to verse 25. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Verse 27. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world, they're not really foolish, but the world looks at them that way, to put to shame the wise things of the world.

And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. God desires submission from us, demands submission from us, no matter how foolish it sounds. Even if we say, that's not the way I would do it, that's not the way I think it should be done. Naaman, the leper, I think is a great example of this.

When Elisha sends his servant out and he says, you go dip in the Jordan River seven times and you will be healed. And he's angry about it, and he said, I thought he would do some great thing. He's gonna wave his hand over the spot, or whatever the case might be. It was foolishness to Naaman. But Naaman had to submit to that, that foolishness.

That thing that he didn't think was the way it ought to be done, if he was going to be saved by the Savior. And maybe for some, the idea of hearing and believing and repenting and confessing and being baptized and living faithfully, that sounds foolish. That's not the way I would do it. That's not the way I've heard it done before.

But may I say with all due respect, our expectations for how we think we ought to be saved don't matter at all when confronted with God's commands. And so we need to submit. No matter how foolish it sounds, and maybe even more difficultly, no matter the cost of that submission. Turn to Luke chapter 14.

This is what Jesus demands from all of us if we are to be saved by Him. In Luke chapter 14,

beginning in verse 25, and I want you to know I am not minimizing this at all, right? This, this is tough. This is difficult. But our perspective has to be I'm dead in sin. And so I'm willing to do whatever it takes in order to be made alive again. Now, great multitudes went with him and turned and said, and he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, in his own life also, he cannot be not my disciple.

Now, that's not hate in the sense of ill will, it's a comparative thing. You have to love me so much. You have to submit to me above all others to the degree it's as if you hate your father and mother in your own life also. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Bearing the cross is just another image of submission, right? So every day I have to choose that I'm going to do what it is Jesus calls me to do. I'm going to bear His cross, rather than what it is, I would do myself. For which of you, he gives some illustrations, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it.

Lest, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able, with ten thousand, to meet one king.

Meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand or else while the other is a great way off He sends a delegation and asks for conditions of peace first. You have to count the cost verse 33 so likewise Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple We may have to give something up in order to be saved and we need to be ready for that It might be that we can't continue the work the job that we've had It might be that it will cause strife in our family.

It might be that we have to give up something in our lifestyle. Drinking, partying, sexual promiscuity, entertainment, whatever the case might be. But consider something else with me when it comes to this idea of, of the cost. I hear people from time to time say, Well, if I accept and submit to what I now understand the Scripture say in regard to salvation, Then that means that I am condemning other people who maybe don't believe that same thing or haven't done that same thing.

Even somebody close to me, maybe a mother or a father or a brother or sister who did not accept this same thing. That's a cost. And I would say, number one, we're not the judge of that. God is. God is going to judge all of those things. Number two, if that person or those people have passed, their destiny is already sealed one way or another and my actions have no bearing whatsoever on their eternal destiny.

And if they're alive, well then, if I've submitted and come to a knowledge, I need to share that knowledge with them. And number three, if, if indeed they are condemned, and God's the judge of that, based on the rich man and Lazarus and other passages, their desire for us would be for them, for us not to join them, for us not to be condemned as well.

That would be their desire. And, and, and those three things are all good and well intellectually to talk about, but practically it still feels sometimes like we're condemning them. I know because it feels that way for me with some that I love. And that feels terrible, but this too is a cost. That Christ, that going to heaven, that salvation, and being right with God is more important to me than anything or anyone else.

And I am willing to forsake all, all that I have, to be His disciple.

And I'm not going to let the devil use this idea of condemning someone else against me to keep me. from submitting to him. And that's submission, but it's also commitment. And that's our third mit of salvation. We have to commit. Come means together. So to send, or in this case, to bring together. You're bringing things together and you say, well, what does that have to do with committing?

Well, the idea is that you're binding something. You're bringing something together and binding it together. I'm tied to this and I'm not going to let it go. We might say I'm all in, you know, You know, put a rope around me, tie me to the mass because I'm going down with the ship. I'm committed to this and we all must commit our life completely to God.

If we are to be saved, this is not a part time religion. There is no half hearted service that will be accepted. We can't serve God. One and a half days a week can be found pleasing to Him. We need to put off any half heartedness and inconsistency because Christianity is a daily religion. Every day we must make the choice, as we read, to take up our cross and follow Him.

Yesterday isn't enough. Tomorrow we can't put it off till then. We must choose to follow Him today. And there are so many passages that emphasize our commitment. Even as we've read here, we can't love Father and Mother more than Him. What about, you have to be willing to go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor and follow Him.

We have to be faithful unto death, yes, our whole life, but even to the point of death. And He will give us a crown of life. We have to deny ourselves and follow Him. All of those passages are about our total commitment to Him above all else. But again, let's look at this from maybe just a little bit different perspective.

Too often, I think we only focus on what we have to give up in terms of commitment. I'm going to have to give up all of these things if I'm going to submit and commit to Him. Almost as if, I mean, we wouldn't think about it this way, really, but it's almost as if the things that we're giving up are greater or just almost as good as the things that we're receiving from God.

But the truth is, as Paul said in Philippians, the things we have to give up are like trash. Compared to what we receive, what we gain by this commitment. And so commitment to God, while difficult in comparison to what we are receiving and salvation should not be a burden to us. And it's not just that we commit to him and giving things up.

We also are able to, we're able to commit our troubles to him as well. We're able to commit our lives to him for good and for bad, right? For difficult and for easy. for what we give up and what we gain as well. We are committing ourselves totally to Him. We have tied ourselves to God, and we will not let go.

Yes, it is hard for us to let go of the things we cannot control when we commit our troubles to God, but if we took a step back, perhaps we would see more clearly what we get when we are committing our troubles to Him. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Christ, our Savior, knows our sorrow and pain.

He experienced them to a greater extent and He relinquished those things to God. As 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 21 says, For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, who when he reviled did not revile in return, when he suffered he did not threaten, But committed himself to him who judges righteously.

I've committed myself to God and I've committed all these things to God. Jesus is our example of that. That God was going to make all things right through His plan. And God is faithful to take care of us as well if we commit ourselves to Him. As we see there in chapter 4 and verse 19 of 1 Peter.

Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good I've committed myself to God, and so whatever happens, God's going to make sure that it works out as it should. And I am able to cast all of my cares on Him, knowing that He cares for me. Chapter 5 and verse 6, Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him.

Think about it this way. We commit by letting go and relinquishing control to a higher power. But not just any higher power. One who loves us and knows what's best for us and wants nothing more than to lead us down the right path to unimaginable spiritual blessing. And we are striving to make our will align with His will.

And that's not a bad thing, that's a good thing, but it is a step that is absolutely required of us. We must admit, we must submit, and we must commit ourselves to God. And that leaves the final MIT word of salvation. Trans means across, and so it's to send across. I'm sending this, transmitting it, to another person or another place across time and space.

And maybe at this point in the lesson you're like, cute, Reagan, I see what you did with all the myths there, but you're stretching it a little bit when you get to transmit. But isn't that exactly what we all must do after we become Christians? This idea of our commitment and submission to God, even the idea that we are sinners in need of a Savior, is not something to be hidden or covered.

It is to be sent out, to be transmitted from us to other people. And that includes, obviously, preaching and teaching and studying with other people. That's something that we must do, but Also our example, that we cannot light a lamp and hide it under a bushel, Matthew chapter 5. But even more fundamentally, I think we must all transmit the image of Christ by our lives.

Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. Well that's, that's the mission and commitment, isn't it? Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but you. But Christ lives in me, Paul says, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Christ lives in me, and I am projecting, I am transmitting, I am sending out this image of who Christ is to the rest of the world. Turn to Colossians chapter 3, our final verse final passage, and the lesson will be yours.

Colossians chapter 3 verses 15 through 17, excuse me beginning in verse 5, Colossians chapter 3 and verse 5, Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, gives examples, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. And it's because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sins of disobedience, the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

Admit, yes, you lived in this way. But now you're putting off all of those things because you're submitting to God but now you yourselves are to put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you've put off the old man with his deeds.

And have put on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created uncircumcised,

We're still, we're still Greeks and Jews, circumcised, uncircumcised, male and female, another, another passage tells us in Galatians, we're, we're still those things. But now Christ is all and is in all. Meaning, we have submitted ourselves and committed ourselves to such a degree that all of us are striving to be like Christ.

And Christ is the one who is in us to such a degree that we find our salvation and our direction in Him. You've heard the phrase, I can read them like a book, right? Maybe a spouse says that about another spouse. I, I can read them like a book. I know them. Or maybe your child, or maybe, you know, lots of sports are going on right now, and there's that person that always goes right, you know, when they're, when they're dribbling down the court.

And you can just read it. You know exactly where they're going. They do the same thing every time. They're always going right. Well that should be true of us. That other people can read us like a book. I, I know exactly what Reagan's gonna do. Because Reagan is a Christian. And Reagan is striving to transmit the image of Christ to other people.

People should see us as we really are, without any ambiguity, as children of God. And if those with whom we come in contact with on a regular basis cannot see that we are Christians, or that we embody true Christian characteristics, then we are certainly falling short of transmitting Jesus into our lives and the lives of others.

So, how will you be saved by God's grace? Five steps or four myths? Well, yes, we all need to admit, and bow to repent of it. We all need to submit ourselves to the will of God for us, to be baptized for the remission of our sins. We need to commit our lives to God as, as your Lord, as your Christ, as your Savior and confess Him, not just in word, but in deed as you transmit the image of Christ in your life.

This is what all must do in order to be saved. Take these steps as God is faithful to save us by Jesus Christ, our Savior, if we are willing to do these things. And if you look at this list and you realize that there's something you haven't done, or aren't doing, there is no better time than right now to come and do what it is you know you need to do, to take that action, to send yourself toward God in such a way that says, I will do what you ask me to do.

And if we can help you with that, even tonight, come, while together we stand, and while we sing.