Passage: Mark 4:1-20 By the time of our passage, Jesus has been ministering in the region of Galilee for over a year with no better than a mixed reception. The Jewish religious leaders rejected him outright and sought to have him killed. The crowds flocked around him but appeared more interested in what he could […]
Mayer Community Church
'Salvation' Tagged Posts
The Gift of Forgiveness: Our Substitute
Passage: Romans 3:21-26 Propitiation. That is not a word you hear many people use anymore. In fact, many theologians have become a bit embarrassed by the word, even though it is clearly a biblical concept. Perhaps the problem is that many have confused the biblical idea with pagan variations, where a local god is appeased […]
The Helmet of Salvation
Passage: Ephesians 6:17a Christians typically speak of salvation almost exclusively in the past tense: I was saved when…; Have you been saved?…etc. The truth is that Scripture speaks of salvation in three different tenses. We have been saved from the penalty of sin. We are being saved from the power of sin. We will be […]
God’s Workmanship
Passage: Ephesians 2:10 Paul has spent a great deal of time speaking negatively of the role of works in our salvation. Now, in verse 10, we have a major shift. Works are now mentioned positively, as the very reason God saved us. To paraphrase Paul, we were not saved by works but we were saved […]
The Good News: But God!
Passage: Ephesians 2:4-7 Having set forth the bad news of humanity’s condition without Christ, Paul now begins to rise in praise as he proclaims the good news of what God has done to save us in and through Christ. These are possibly the two best words in all of scripture: But God! Our hopeless condition […]
Sealed by the Spirit
Passage: Ephesians 1:11-14 This morning, we conclude Paul’s profound doxology concerning the redemption that has been planned and accomplished by the Triune God. We now move to the application of our redemption in the work of the Holy Spirit. Because many Christians struggle with an assurance of their faith, this passage is especially meaningful, demonstrating […]
Redeemed by the Son – Part 1
Passage: Ephesians 1:7-10 As we continue moving through this opening portion of the book of Ephesians, one long and glorious sentence setting forth the riches of our blessings in Christ, we cannot help but be struck by Paul’s Trinitarian framework; each person of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, working in unison to plan, […]
Chosen by the Father
Passage: Ephesians 1:4-6 There are few concepts in the Scriptures that tend to be more controversial and divisive than the doctrines of election and predestination. No one denies them; after all, they are in the Bible. But more often than not, we miss the true value of these doctrines, seeing them as points to argue […]
A Surprising Conversion
Passage: Acts 9:1-31 The remarkable conversion of Saul (soon to be the apostle, Paul) is one of the most significant events in the book of Acts and in all of church history. On this day when we focus on persecuted Christians around the world, it is fitting that we would consider how God transformed Saul […]
More Abundantly Than We Ask or Think
Passage: Acts 3:1-26 When Luke records a significant event or miracle, he often does so to provide an illustration of a spiritual truth. As we look at the first of the signs and wonders accomplished through the apostles and recorded by Luke in the book of Acts, we will see an illustration of God’s grace […]