Now, a lot of people think they're saved and they're not.
And they would say like, well, you know, you can't just live however you want, you
know, because they don't get it.
And the fact that they're saying that shows that they don't get it.
It's already done, it's already paid for, the Holy Ghost is already inside of us,
they're sealed unto the day of redemption, etc.
Nothing can pluck us out of his hand.
But number three, go to Romans chapter 10, salvation requires a step of faith.
It requires a step of faith.
Number one, it's trusting in Christ.
Number two, it's believing the record about Christ.
Because how do we know that he died and buried and was risen again?
It's only through scripture that we have that record.
But number three, it requires a step of faith.
Now let me give you an illustration for this that's very fresh in my mind.
You know, a couple days ago, me and my sons had received this Christmas present
of doing this extreme adventure course in Flagstaff that involved a lot of zip lines
and like a ropes course, you're swinging on ropes, climbing on nets and going on
these like Tweety Bird swings where you have to kind of jump from one to the next
and so forth.
And here's the thing, you know, there was some faith required in some of this equipment.
Now what was the highest zip line that we did that you guys said?
How many feet was it?
So we're like, you're like 61 feet off the ground.
So imagine you're 61 feet off the ground and it's like, okay, you know, you're harnessed
up and you latch in, but then you have to jump.
And here's the thing, if that cable doesn't hold you, and I'm looking at the harness,
I'm like, there's one point of failure.
Like if that fails, everything fails.
There's another point of failure.
There's another possible point of failure.
But here's the thing, at the end of the day, I just had to have the faith to say,
you know, and here's the thing, I don't know anything about what kind of metal was
used to make this equipment.
I didn't ask them for some kind of a, you know, a breakdown of the alloy.
I don't know how this fabric is woven and these cords and straps and so forth.
But at the end of the day, I just had to trust this company.
Just this random company.
I just have to trust them like, well, you know, everybody else is doing it, it's working.
But here's the thing, there had to be that point where I stepped off the edge and went
on the ride.
And then it's a fun ride.
Now what if I told you, I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that this thing's going
to hold me, but then I'm like, I'm not doing that.
I'm not going on that.
I'm not.
Forget this.
61 feet.
Are you serious?
Folks, in order to have salvation by faith, there's a step of faith required.
You know, you have to actually trust Jesus, right?
And I'm trusting that zip line when I step off the platform.
And salvation is a similar idea.
Look at Romans chapter 10 verse 9.
Romans chapter 10 verse 9.
Romans 10, 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.
And then verse 11 is often misunderstood.
It says in verse 11, for the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
If you study the word ashamed in the Bible, because it says as it is written, you know,
you go back to the Old Testament and you look at these verses about not being ashamed
and trusting in the Lord, not being ashamed.
What that word means is that you're not going to be let down.
You're not going to be disappointed.
You're not going to be put to shame like, I put all my faith in Jesus and he didn't
come through for me.
That's what it means biblically to be ashamed if you study that word throughout scripture.
It'd be like if I stepped out on the zipline and the thing broke.
Now that's not going to happen with Jesus.
Now here's another illustration that's pretty popular.
I heard this illustration a lot growing up in church of a chair.
You know, basically you could be standing next to the chair and say, you know, I believe
in the chair, the chair could hold my weight.
If I sit on it, it's going to work.
Everything's going to be great, but then there's actually sitting on the chair, right?
So in order to be saved, we have to put our faith on Christ.
We can't just say like, yeah, yeah, yeah, affirm the facts about Christ, believe facts
about Christ, say that he exists or something.
You know, at the end of the day, we have to say, hey, I'm putting my trust in Christ.
And there's a moment when you sit in that chair, there's a moment when I stepped off
that platform, there's a moment where you place your faith and trust in Christ.
And the Bible describes this here as a moment when somebody calls upon the name of the
Lord as their savior.
And that's the vehicle whereby they put their faith in Christ of actually trusting him,
actually calling out to him, and confessing with their mouth the Lord Jesus, and believing
in their heart that God raised them from the dead.
And the Bible says, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.
So it's clear that confession leads to salvation, right?
But obviously, if you look at verse 13, it says, for whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed?
So here's the thing, if you don't believe in Christ, if you're not trusting in Christ,
if you don't believe the record that God gave his son, you can call out any words and it's
going to do nothing for you.
You know, you could say words, you could repeat a sinner's prayer, you could repeat
and say anything, even if what you say is perfect.
If you don't believe in your heart, that's not salvation, you know, the heart is where
man believes unto righteousness, and then with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
But a lot of people might just have kind of a head knowledge or just kind of believe
the facts about Jesus that he existed, but they're not relying on him for salvation,
they have not put their faith and trust in salvation.
And one of the key points I want to make here is that salvation occurs in a moment.
Salvation is not a process.
Now, coming to faith in Christ could be a process, right?
Where you, you know, first you hear a Bible verse and you start thinking about it, you're
digesting it, seed's been planted, and then that seed is watered, and someone else
talks to you, and then something else happens in your life, and you know, it might take
someone hearing the gospel multiple times, different people talk to them, different preaching
that they hear, events in their life, leading them, but there is a moment, there is a twinkling
of an I moment where salvation occurs.
Salvation is in a moment, it's that moment that you step off the platform on the zip
line, it's the moment that you sit in the chair, it's putting your faith and trust
in Christ, and it's just simply calling out to the Lord and relying on him to be
your savior, and asking him to save you, it's that simple.
you