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The Book of Second Timothy:
Message Eight
By Dr. Michael
Guido, D.D.
A stranger came
to town boasting that he could tell a person's
character from the shape of his skull. One of the
townsmen volunteered to be examined and the stranger
declared him to be a rough and unreliable fellow. The
crowd laughed, for they knew him to be kind and
dependable. But the man said, "That description
fits me exactly before I was saved." You see,
the Christ within makes a change without.
Let's see what He
did. Testified Paul in 2nd Timothy 1:9, He
"saved us." The word "saved" is
used in a number of different ways: to deliver from
disease, to deliver from danger, to deliver from
debt, to deliver from despair, and to deliver from
the penalty and the power of sin. The last expression
is the one that's used in this verse. Now the word
"saved" signifies an action that has taken
place in the past, and is still taking place in the
present, and will keep on taking place in the future.
So if you're a Christian, the Lord has saved you,
He's saving you now, and He'll keep on saving you.
It's all of the Savior and not of the saved. The
performance of your salvation didn't rest upon you in
the beginning, and the permanency of your salvation
doesn't rest upon you now. It all rests upon the
Savior. The other day a 4-year-old boy, according to
the Associated Press, climbed aboard a Southern
Pacific train to play. When the train began to move
his older playmates jumped off, police said, but Rene
was too frightened to jump, and hung on. The other
boys notified the authorities and the train was
stopped. After a ride of 3 miles, at 5 miles an hour,
the police lifted him to safety. He was saved by his
strong grip. But our salvation doesn't depend upon
our hold, but the Lord's. He said, "I give unto
them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand . . .
and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's
hand."
Let's see why He
saved us. Answers the apostle Paul in 2nd
Timothy 1:9, "To be holy." The Lord doesn't
save us "in" our sins, but "from"
our sins. The Bible says, "Thou shalt call His
name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their
sins." Dr. William Barclay told of a New York
gangster and ex-convict "who had recently been
in prison for robbery with violence. He was on his
way to join his old gang with a view to taking part
in another robbery when he picked a man's pocket on
Fifth Avenue. He went into Central Park to see what
he had succeeded in stealing, and he discovered to
his disgust that he had picked a man's pocket of a
New Testament. Since he had time to spare before he
was due to meet his fellow gangsters, he idly began
to turn over the pages and to read. Soon he was deep
in the Bible, and he read to such effect that a few
hours later he went to his old comrades and told them
bluntly what he had been doing, and he broke with
them forever. For that ex-convict and gangster, the
gospel was the call to holiness." A call to the
Savior is a call from sin. If you've answered that
call there'll be a change in your attitude and
actions, in your talk and in your temperament, at
home and at work, at school and at play. There should
be a difference between a Christian and a
non-Christian.
"Lord, since
we speak as Christians, O give us Christian ways!
Low thought of
self, befitting recipients of Thy grace;
O make us each
more holy, in spirit, pure and meek:
More like to
heavenly citizens, as more of heaven we speak."
Now let's see how
He saved us. And the Bible answers, "by
grace." "What's grace?" you ask. It's
more than pardon from sin, it's power over sin. It's
more than forgiveness of sin, it's freedom from sin.
It not only produces in the Christian an abhorrence
for that which is wrong, but also an appetite for
that which is right. But basically it means a gift.
And salvation is a gift. You and I don't deserve it,
and we can't earn it, but God gives it. But before
you can possess it, you must receive it. A genuine
gift can't be purchased, it must be received. For you
to have salvation, you must receive the Savior. The
moment you receive Him, you have salvation. Have you
received Him? You haven't? Receive Him now.
copyright 2000 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
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This series of messages on the
books of the Bible were originally written for
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Sower." They are collected and reprinted here
for your enjoyment and spiritual edification.
