Dec 6th "Sealed!" Eph. 1:11-14

And this question is what many of our questions would be. How is that possible? How am I going to be born again? Am I supposed to crawl back up into my mother's womb? And Jesus says, no, no, no. I'm talking about a new birth that is spiritual. A birth that takes place by my Spirit. We, who are in Christ, have been born again, once and for all. [00:09:46] (30 seconds)  #SpiritualNewBirth

Scripture tells us that the moment we are united to Christ by faith, 1 Corinthians 12, that we are baptized into his body. And that this is to be never repeated again. That we've been born again. In John 6, Jesus says that it's the Spirit that gives life. The flesh accomplishes nothing. What does that mean for us? It means that there are no number of prayers or actions that can regenerate our dead hearts. The flesh adds nothing to our salvation. [00:10:17] (37 seconds)  #SpiritNotFlesh

Our flesh is the problem. Only the Spirit of God regenerates and renews, which is what Paul writes to Titus in chapter 3. That we are renewed by the Spirit and therefore justified by his grace. So that we, with all of the church for 2,000 years, can raise our hands together and praise God for his glorious grace because we are saved by grace alone. We're saved by grace alone. And grace truly means, grace alone truly means alone. That you don't deserve it, you can't earn it, and so God has saved you by his very grace. [00:10:53] (43 seconds)  #SavedByGraceAlone

And the Holy Spirit moves in our lives. And hear me, if you want Jesus, it's because the Holy Spirit is moving in your life tonight. If you want Jesus, it's because the Holy Spirit is drawing you to the Father. And so place your faith in Christ because the blessing of sealing, the blessing of security, the blessing of sanctification that we're going to talk about here in just a minute does not belong to those who have not yet been born again. You have to be born again in order to be sealed by the Spirit. [00:13:04] (34 seconds)  #DrawnByTheSpirit

God marks us not because we are perfect, but because he's placed the value of his son upon us and he protects what he has purchased. Just a few weeks ago, we talked about redemption. That Jesus entered into the slave market of our sin and purchased us with his blood. That's how costly our salvation was and is. And then the Holy Spirit comes and seals us. [00:20:55] (33 seconds)  #BoughtAndSealed

Maybe you've asked this question before. Can I lose my salvation? Have you ever asked that question? Many people have asked that question over the years and sadly, some have formed the wrong conclusion. Some have come to the conclusion that you can lose your salvation. The scripture resoundingly replies to the question, can we lose our salvation with no? No, you cannot. The spirit is the seal, is the guarantee we see in verses 13 and 14 that we will forever belong to Jesus. [00:21:28] (48 seconds)  #SealedForever

And you're like, well that's not good news, Pastor. No, it's really good news. It's good news because of who God is. Because God is gracious and merciful, he has done everything in order for us to be saved. And the same God who has done everything in giving us his son so that we will be saved is the same God who closes us in, who shuts us in, just like he did with Noah and his family, who seals us and guarantees our salvation. [00:23:42] (31 seconds)  #GodSealsAndSaves

Remember that if you are in Christ, Jesus has a hold of you and he will not let you go. This is the promise that Jesus gave us that all those whom the Father gives to him, he will not let any of them go. And so if you're in Christ today, your salvation is guaranteed. I love that guarantee. Your salvation is guaranteed. [00:29:38] (27 seconds)  #SalvationGuaranteed