Session 5 - Crucified, Buried, Raised & Saved Forever

Now we're gonna be looking at identity, some popular questions that relate to our new identity in Christ. So this first question is, why did the Apostle Paul say, I die daily? Now, you know that we just got done talking about how we don't have to die over and over again. We don't have to die every day because we already died with Christ. He put us in himself. We were taken to the cross. We were crucified, buried, and raised to newness of life. And so why would the Apostle Paul say, I die daily? And the answer is that it has nothing to do with his old self. Look at this passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Look at what Paul is actually saying. He says, why are we all so in danger every hour? I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I die daily. If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? So what's he talking about dying daily? He's talking about being in danger. He's talking about real trouble, physical trouble, and in fact, being attacked by wild dogs or wild beasts at Ephesus. And then what do we do? We take that three-word phrase, we pull it out of context, we turn it into a morbid Christian doctrine.

You gotta wake up every day and try to be like Paul and try to die daily. Well, that is not the gospel and Paul is not contradicting himself. Here he is simply saying, look, I'm an apostle, me and my fellow apostles, you know, we're on the road and we're out there facing danger every day as we proclaim this message. So this is not some caveat, some exception, some verse that somehow debunks the entire message. No, no, you have been crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, you're raised to newness of life, don't try to kill what God has called new. And just think about that. I mean, imagine if you had children and you were to say to them, I love you, I accept you, but I kind of want you to spiritually off yourselves. You know, I want you to try to get rid of you, get rid of yourself. And so it's rejection. We don't realize it, we think we're being humble, we think it's sacrificial. And really, what is the Bible really say about you and me and sacrifices? Hebrews says, the sacrifices that the fruit of lips that give thanks to our God, that's the sacrifice that he wants, thank you, Lord. Then Romans says, how about you offer your body to God every day, that's a living sacrifice, not a dead one. That's a living sacrifice.

And by the way, that's worship. We think worship is the 21 minutes where the band is up front. And that's great, four songs and a closing prayer and that's worship, that's part of worship. But 99% of our worship doesn't involve music. 1% of our worship may involve music. The other 99% is any move we make in dependency on Jesus, trusting him as our life, presenting our bodies to him. Even our bodies, he says, I'm not trying to kill your body. No, I want it to be a living sacrifice because I build you up, I don't tear you down. I don't need you to be less of you. So we have clarity then on what it means, right? To, for Paul to say, I die daily, he was saying, look at me, I'm in danger every hour. So we have no business taking this out of context. Instead, we can celebrate the clarity of the message that we are truly new and don't try to put to death what God has already resurrected. All right, well then, if that's true, then why did Jesus say take up your cross and deny yourself? Jesus said both of those things. Why'd he say that? Well, because that's what salvation is. He's talking to the Jews 2,000 years ago. They're not born again. And so he looks at him, he says, look, if you really want new life, you're gonna have to follow me into death.

Take up your cross and follow me. Where did he go? To Calvary, why? To die. What happened to you at salvation? Crucified with Christ. Buried with Christ. And so, deny yourself? Yes, at salvation you say, I am so sick of my old life, Jesus, I need a new life. I deny that, that is garbage, that is emptiness, that is nonsense, that is hollow, I need real life, Jesus. I'm calling upon you. And you see, that's what Jesus meant. He was talking about a new way that they didn't understand yet. A new way where they would let go of the old and take hold of the new. And then, lo and behold, 2,000 years later, we get saved and then we read these verses and we apply them to ourselves every day. It's like we're trying to get saved again and saved again and saved again. What, you gonna die and get saved again every day? Jesus is talking about the one time that you are put in Christ and you follow him into death, burial, and resurrection. But we gotta stop this get busy dying stuff and we gotta get busy living.

Count yourself alive to God. And yet, we still continue this morbid stuff. We talk about I'm just broken and God's breaking me. Well, you look broken when you say that. How about you say God's made me whole and yes, my life, my circumstances might be a mess. My health might be a mess. My business might be a mess. My family might, the circumstances might be a mess. But God's not trying to break you. We use that term. It's almost like we imagine him snapping us in half and then he's gonna teach us a lesson after. Have you ever been going through a hard time and somebody says, well, God's really getting your attention. Well, thanks, thanks a lot. No, God got my attention through the cross and the resurrection. He got my attention when he put his spirit inside of me. He got my attention when he saved me and secured me forever. And now the world is trying to get my attention. Planet Earth is coming at me, but Christ is working in me. And this idea that God's trying to break you and teach you a lesson and put you in the corner and paint you into a catastrophe. Man, that is morbid stuff. And it's not in the scriptures. And so whether it's God's breaking you

or God's trying to get you to die, we are fascinated with offing ourselves. It's crazy. And really, we should be counting ourselves alive to Jesus and saying, thank you, Lord, that you're my life and that I get to live in you every day. Healthy Christianity. All right, well, this one kind of goes along with that. Should it be more of him and less of you? Have you heard that? And as I said, it was on a billboard here in Texas that I would pass every once in a while. And what do we see about that? Well, first of all, I think the words of John the Baptist come to mind. John the Baptist said, I must decrease and he must increase, right? So what was he talking about? Was John the Baptist talking about vanishing or killing his old self? He was talking about his ministry. His ministry was coming to a close and Jesus's ministry was coming into effect. And so he's saying, I'm the last, he's the last prophet of the old, boom, we got the cross, the resurrection. So he's, you know, Jesus said, of all the men that have been born of women, John the Baptist is the greatest. And yet he said, you know what though?

Compared to those who were born again in the kingdom, those folks are greater. All of them are greater than John the Baptist. How about that? So what's he signaling? A new covenant, the born again relationship. Boom, you get resurrection life. And so John the Baptist was not talking about eradicating himself, eliminating himself. He was saying, I'm fading into the backdrop, my ministry, because there's a greater ministry coming through Jesus Christ. Now again, look at what we've done, guys. We have gravitated to some verse that we take out a covenant. text, and next thing you know, we're back to this gross idea that God's trying to push you down so it can be all of Him and none of you. He already had that. God already had all of Him and none of you, didn't He? It was before creation, and He decided, you know what? I'm going to create them. And then they rebel, and I'm going to pursue them. And then I'm going to save them. And then I'm going to fill them with my very person. I'm going to indwell them, and I'm going to seal them. He already had life where it was all of Him and none of you. He wants you included. He wants you to be part of this. He's not trying to replace you. He wants to embrace you. You see that?

So it's not all of Him and none of you. It's all of Him and all of you together in a beautiful union. You're not in God's way. You're not an obstacle. You're His instrument. You're His child. Imagine if I told my son Gavin, hey, I really love you to death, man, but listen, it's got to be all of me and none of you. It's got to be more of me and less of you. What would Gavin start to think there? Rejection. That's not the gospel. That's not the message. And so we see, look at this I here. There's an I, and then there's a second I. Watch this. I've been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, okay? So now you're gone. It says, but Christ lives in me. Now if we stop there, you don't exist. It's just Jesus. And there are honestly, sadly, I kid you not, there are movements within Christianity where people talk like this. And they basically see themselves as a hollow tube, a fire hose, a place where Christ is living through them, and they're pretty much gone. And they pretty much believe almost that they're Christ. And now that's getting way out there. Because what we see instead is something much more healthy and natural than that. God is not getting rid of you. The verse continues.

It says, and the life, and the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. So what's going on? Well, the first I in this verse is the old self, crucified with Christ. It's gone. But you're not the old self. You're the new self. And so there's a second I in this passage, the new creature. And the life you now live, you live by faith in Jesus. You see that? God's not trying to replace you. He wants to embrace you. Big, big difference. Amen? All right, here's one. Look at how Paul expresses it. Now, oh, Paul, you're being legalistic, Paul. You talking about laboring and striving? No, he's talking about being in the middle of everything. This is, folks, this is not passivity. Watch. He says, for this purpose also, I labor. So Paul is laboring. He's working. He's doing stuff. He's active. And then he says, striving. Oh, Paul, you can't say that now. That's legalism. See, Paul, listen to this.

Get this now. Paul is not afraid of his own participation. And if we're not careful, we start thinking, oh, I'm just in Jesus's way. It's got to be all of him, none of me. Jesus threw me. I'm a fire hose. Jesus, no. You're a person. You get to be you. And so Paul is saying, I labor and I strive, but it is according to his power, which mightily works within me. It's me, but it's him. But it's me, but it's him. And we're so afraid to be involved. Somebody comes up and gives a compliment to you, and you say, oh, no. They say, oh, it's so meaningful what you did for me. Thank you. And we say, oh, no, that wasn't me. That was the Lord. Really? Well, I didn't know the Lord was wearing a purple shirt. We're involved. You're unique. You're special. Each one of us, we're involved. We're in the middle of it. God invited us. We're a part of everything he's doing. He could be by himself, but that's not what he wanted. He wanted you and him and you and him in a perfect union

where everybody gets to be who we are. See, identity in Christ is not just a feel-good message where you get to put 10 out of 10 for your self-esteem column. It's not just about value and worth and esteem. It's more than that. It's recognizing that you're not in his way and you're not an obstacle and he's pleased with you and he likes you. You know, that sense of humor you've got, those quirks and those mannerisms and those hobbies and those interests and the downtime that you enjoy. Do you realize, like, Jesus didn't say, I came to give you church. He said, I came to give you life. How much church was there in the Garden of Eden with the original creation? There was no church. It was humans with life in them. He gave them life. And then they lost life and Jesus came and he said, I've come to give you back the life. I've come to give you life, which means taking the kids to school, playing golf, doing your favorite stuff, hanging out with friends at a coffee shop, life. Life, not church. Church is awesome. We're the church. We're a walking church.

But he came to give us something bigger that we were lacking because of the garden. This is spiritual biology. That's what we're saying here. Wherever you go, he's your life. He's not trying to change where you go. Wherever you go, he's your life. We keep trying to rearrange the circumstance. Oh, I'm out of God's will. What are you thinking? Well, I heard that he wants me to be a missionary in Africa. Are you excited about that? No, I don't wanna go. God's making me go. No, he's not. No, he's not. He's not making you go. You know how I can say that? Because he works in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. He's not yanking you around the planet and making you do stuff you don't will or want. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. And when God is leading you, he leads you through desire, not through secret messages. As a young person, I used to look at the license plate in the car in front of me at the intersection. Oh, what's God telling me?

One, one, one. Oh, he wants me to be single. Two, two, two. Oh, I can get married now. You know? You know what that is, folks? That is a search for rightness. See, if I could get all the secret messages and do all the right stuff, then I could stay in God's will and I could stay right with him by what I do, by what I choose. And people grow up trying to get in God's will and stay in God's will. Boy, if I could choose the perfect job and the perfect house and the perfect spouse, all the ones that God pre-picked, then I'd be in his will and really, I'd be right with him. And also, then I can blame him when bad stuff happens. Lord, why'd you do this to me? He's thinking, well, that wasn't me. Look, that's planet Earth. It comes at you. And so, it's him, but it's us, and it's him, but it's us. Now, I got a few remaining minutes here in this next 10 minutes or so. I wanna deal with a big question. And this deserves a lot of time.

This big question of, can you lose your salvation? Now, I hope by now, here we are, day two of the Grace Message Conference. I mean, you've heard you're forgiven. You've heard you're righteous. You've heard you got eternal life, not temporary life, everlasting life. But let's just let, let's let God speak to us through his word from a number of angles. Watch as God just confirms to us how safe we really are. First, you can know. You don't have to wonder. You can know that you're saved. 1 John 5, these things I've written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. Does it say you gotta be a theologian? Does it say you gotta have all your theology right? You know, Abraham was told that the people in heaven would be like the stars in the sky, like the sand at the seashore. That's a lot of sand, a lot of stars, a lot of people. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord, whoever believes in the name of the Son of God, whoever believes that he was crucified, buried, raised, the New Testament says it so many ways. And we're asking, yeah, but what church do you go to? What's the sign on the door? Have you been confirmed? Did you go through this class? Did you pray the prayer?

Watch out for that one now. Don't mess with the prayer. There is no sinner's prayer in the scripture that we memorize and say and sales pitch to people. You know what Galatians says? It says we receive the Spirit by hearing with faith. We hear it, we believe it, and that's how we're saved. If you said a prayer, fantastic. That's an expression of your heart. That's great. Nothing wrong with it, but you are saved by hearing and believing. And so here it says they believe in the name of the Son of God. Who is he? What's he stand for? Is he God? And when we depend on Jesus as God for everything that he did for us, wow, you can know. You can know that you have temporary life, eternal life. So let's let Jesus speak to this issue because if anybody knows whether you're safe, it's going to be Jesus. Here he says in John chapter six, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. Isn't that beautiful? Then we say, but I mean, you might blot me out, right? You might say, depart from me, right? And Jesus says, speak of the English. John chapter six, do I need to put it in Deutsch, sprechen Sie Deutsch? I will certainly not cast you out. What do you think that means? Is he going to cast us? No.

How about this one? This is the will of him who sent me that all of that, that he has given me, I lose nothing, but raise him up. When? On the last day. How long are you safe? All the way to the last day. Nothing happens in the middle. You never get lost. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. Don't you love that? What is Jesus trying to say? You're safe, you're secure, you're okay. And you know, does this make, is everybody just excited to go out now and sin because you're safe? Is that what that does to you? See, I tell you what it does to us. We go, the God of the universe has qualified me, made me right, brought me near, filled me with his spirit, sealed me, called me clean, made me close, and he said you'll never lose it. What happens? Your heart starts warming up to the gospel like never before. You realize what you got. And the last thing on your mind is sin. Oh, you'd be saved, saved and miserable. You can touch the hot stove again if you'd like, but here's the secret. You don't like. You're a slave of righteousness. You don't like.

You think you like, and then you realize that still hot, still hurts. No thanks. Because otherwise, if that's not true, then God's lied to us and God doesn't know anything about contentment and sin is better. I mean, do you really believe that sin is better or do you think God, our creator, has the market cornered on fulfillment? So I used to kind of look at it in an immature way. I mean, like, you know, all the unbelievers out there, they're having the fun. Oh, but you better not because you're a Christian. You shouldn't. Now, shout not because they're having all the fun. But you, you're a church boy, right? And now, what do we see? What's the reality? Thank you, God, for rescuing me from that stuff. Boy, you bite into it and you think it's going to be great and then it's not. It's wax fruit, there's no life in it. So, are we beautifully saved? Yes. Are we forever saved? Yes. Is God a truth teller? Yes. And he says, nobody can snatch you out of his hand. Now let's let Paul speak to this. Paul might have a thing to say or two. Here we are in Romans chapter eight. You know the passage. I'm convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present,

nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So, can you fall out? Oh, I'm out of God's will. No, God's will is Jesus and you're in Jesus. Who told you you could go in and out of God's will? Doesn't exist. It's not in the New Testament. You don't go in and out of God's will. You don't go in and out of God's anything. You're in, you're in Christ. Nothing separates you from his love. Well, yeah, but he can't hear my prayers. Where'd you hear that? You know where that got started? There's a passage in the New Testament where it's talking to a married couple. It says their prayers will be hindered because they're fighting. That's not their prayers bouncing off the ceiling. That's, I'm mad at her. She's mad at me. We're not praying together. We're not even on the same page. Our prayers together have ceased. They've hindered. They've been hindered. We're annoyed at each other.

And what he's saying is resolve that so that you can enjoy praying together. But you're on the same page. Has nothing to do with God hearing you. Remember the cross. There is no sin blockage. I've heard, you know, God's ears are all stopped up with all your sins. So he needs a Q-tip. No. Your sins are gone, remembered no more, removed as far as the east from the west. So nothing separates. As Paul says in Romans 11, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. That's a fancy way of saying they can't be revoked. They won't be revoked. God's not ever gonna revoke your calling and your gifts, which include the greatest gift of all, which is new life. Here Paul says in Ephesians 1, in him you listened to the message and then it was the gospel and you believed it. And then you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise who was given as a pledge. So God's making a promise and a pledge of our inheritance. When you get the inheritance, that's coming, the new body, the new heaven, the new earth, the whole new way, all that's coming and that's beautiful. But you got the spirit now and you got new life now.

So the promise and the pledge, and then we gotta ask, is God a liar? All right, so what I'm seeing here is there's three main reasons we're safe. Let's think about it globally now, the big picture. Three main reasons we Christians are safe. Number one, we have total forgiveness, not partial. Number two, we have eternal life, not temporary life. And number three, we have the promises of God and he's not a liar. So we gotta deal with the elephant in the room here. Oh yeah, I know he'll never leave me, but couldn't I leave him? See, come on, he getting tricky now, aren't you? Here's the thing, do you remember that part about you being crucified with Christ? You remember that part about your old self being buried? What part of that was resurrected? None, dead, buried, gone. That person, the old self might say, I don't want Jesus. I'm tired of being churchy. I'm tired of being religious. I don't want Jesus anymore. That's old self talk. You're the new self. You're the new creature in Christ. The whole problem, folks, do you remember the problem of the old covenant? They did not remain faithful. That's an old covenant problem.

He has made us faithful. When you called upon him, you got eternal, everlasting, new creature life. And you will never, get this, this is big, Ephesians 6.24, you will never stop loving Jesus. Ephesians 6.24 says you have an undying love for Christ. Israel could not say that. They did not remain faithful, so I turned away from them, says the Lord. Why? Because they didn't continue. They weren't faithful. They stopped loving me. They stopped desiring me. So what did, what did God do in the new covenant? You have an undying love. So think of all the sermons you've heard, all the messages, all the books over the years that basically say, are you proving your love for God? Are you showing your love for God? Do you love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind? That's the law. Hang on. They came to Jesus. They said, what's the greatest commandment in the law? And he answered them, love your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind. How do you think Israel did, loving their God with all their strength? Did they do a good job? No. That is the law and it is a standard they could never meet. Oh, and then by the way, he tosses in another one. Just love your neighbor as much as you love you.

Now I love, I love me some meat. You know what I'm saying? Love your neighbor as much as you love you and love God with everything you got, without fail, all your strength, all your person. And Jesus says that's in that is the entire law. The law is summed up in that. Now see, that's the kind of message we're sometimes hearing today. And it sounds kind of right because it's about, I mean, who's going to knock it? It sounds like it's about loving God a whole lot, but there's pressure in it. Are you loving God enough? Are you showing God your love? Are you demonstrating your love for God? You know what the scripture says? It says, we love because he first loved us. It says he poured out his love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. So it's counterintuitive. I get it. We all want the pep rally about loving God more, but listen, listen to this. It's about being a receiver, not a producer. Are you willing to let God love you? Because when you let him love you, you reflect that to other people. Wow. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Let him express himself. Why? Because you've been sealed for when? For the day of redemption. That's a long time away. You're safe. You've been sealed until the day of redemption.

For I am confident, Paul says, in this very thing that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until when? Is he going to quit? Is he going to get frustrated? Is he going to get mad? Is he going to ditch you? He says, I'll perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. This can't be any clearer. There is no room for any Christian to think that our father is going to abandon us. It is not true. Now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit, soul, and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he who calls you and he also will bring it to pass. You know, that's what he's saying there. What he's saying there is, I'm going to make sure that you are without blame at my coming. I'm going to bring it to pass. You will have no blame, no shame. He who believes in me is not judged. That's the gospel truth. Second Timothy chapter one, I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. He's keeping my salvation. He's keeping my inheritance. He's keeping everything. It's everlasting life, which means it lasts forever. Somebody's out in the Titanic and they're sinking. You come along with a lifeboat and say, hop on, buddy. But on the way to New York City, they start cussing a lot and you toss them in the Atlantic. Is that salvation? That was a temporary rescue.

Reprieve, that's not salvation. And so, it says he's able to guard what I've entrusted to him until that day. 2 Timothy 2, if we are faithless, he remains faithful. I love this, how beautiful. Because he cannot deny himself. How does that even make sense? Okay, watch this. He can't deny himself, and where is he? He's in you. He's in heaven, but he's in you. But he's in heaven, but he's in you. Even when we act faithless, God is always faithful. In fact, it would contradict his own nature to abandon himself, and he's sealed in you. So he won't ever abandon you. Abandoning you would be like abandoning himself. That's a strong statement. He remains faithful because he can't deny himself. He has to be himself, and he is faithful. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. Wow. All right, we got a few more. We're just gonna let Hebrews speak. Here's Hebrews. Therefore, he is able to save, how long? Forever, those who come to God through him. Why, because you always live good?

It says since what? Since he always lives to make intercession for us. You will be saved as long as Jesus lives. He is able to save you completely, and he's living always to intercede for you. He says, yeah, the cross, yeah, the cross. It's finished, it's over, it's done. He always is our high priest, and the work is finished. So you will be saved as long as he lives, and that's forever. So I used to think, and I've heard many times, it's about the quality of my living, how you've been living. Now I realize it's about how long he lives. Eternal life is Christ's life. You'll be saved as long as he lives. For by one offering, he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Total forgiveness, not partial. So, you know, it's amazing. I'll be candid with you. There's some denominations out there, and they are happy to sign off. They'll sign quickly on once saved, always saved, but they will not sign off on totally forgiven. Try to make sense of that. How can you be once saved, always saved, but not totally forgiven of your next sin? Because if you're not forgiven of your next sin, you are not once saved, always saved.

They go hand in hand. They're the same thing. You are saved forever because you are forgiven forever. Now let's let Peter speak as we close. Peter says, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, it'll never die, undefiled, it won't fade away. It's reserved in heaven. That's where it's safe. You can't mess with it. It's reserved in heaven for you. And we, who are we? We are people who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. All right, what did we just see, folks? God has spoken. Through Paul, through Peter, through Hebrews, through the words of Jesus, God speaks. And what he is announcing is that without a doubt, we are safe forever. And that security is exactly what God wants us to know. Because when you start realizing you're safe, you start acting like a person that is loved and secure and clean and close and okay. Off the charts, okay. What if there's nothing wrong with you? What if God likes you? And what if he wants to be with you forever, no matter what? That's the gospel truth. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you. for speaking to us through your word. We believe you. We trust you. We know it's gotta be the truth. There's no way you forgave us halfway. There's no way you loved us halfway. Agape love, agape grace, agape forgiveness, without strings. Thank you. Thank you for loving us. In Jesus' name we thank you. Amen.