Common Ground Week 3 Summary

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Common Ground Week 3: Mankinds Story We believe in the creation of the human race in Gods image as immortal, morally

responsible beings whose purpose is to serve and glorify God. Mankind chose rather to serve self-interest and thus all have sinned, creating the need for individual reconciliation to God.

We are trying to find the bottom line on these items. We would break fellowship if you went any lower than this statement of faith. Romans 3:19-31 Martin Luther, upon reading Romans 3 for penance from his sins as a priest, realized that salvation was from faith alone (in Latin, sola fida). Later his commentary on Romans was used in a sermon at Aldersgate where Charles and John Wesley were attending and it impacted them to become the founders of the Methodist faith. Chapels Statement of faith begins with, The Statement of Faith to which this church adheres finds its expression in all of the great historic confessions of the true church of Jesus Christ. (Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed) Our 8 Rocks are anchored in Church history. Words that are not included neither in Statement 3, nor in those other creeds: predestination, free will, Calvinist, Armenian, lose your salvation. Each person needs individual reconciliation to God, therefore there are no spiritual grandchildren, i.e. grandfathered in because of the faith of their ancestors. We do not say anything declarative about election, free will, or whether someone can lose their salvation vs. once saved, always saved. The Law led us to become conscious of sin. We learned we were sinners because of the Law, but we could not improve our condition through that same law. The Law condemns us, only sacrifice on our behalf, payment for our sin, can redeem us. The redemption we have been offered comes only through the payment for our sins by Jesus on the Cross. That act of grace, covers our sins, if we accept it with faith in our spirit. The Law is not a bad thing for us to disregard. People are lost without Christ. The purpose of global missions is too bring the message of Jesus to the lost world. The message is that it is through faith alone that we can be justified, forgiven from our sins. Romans Road of Salvation The first verse on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God. There is no one who is innocent. Romans 3:10-18 gives a detailed picture of what sin looks like in our lives. The second Scripture on the Romans Road to salvation, Romans 6:23, teaches us about the consequences of sin - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal

life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death! The third verse on the Romans Road to salvation picks up where Romans 6:23 left off, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:8 declares, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus' death paid for the price of our sins. Jesus' resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus' death as the payment for our sins. The fourth stop on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 10:9, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, all we have to do is believe in Him, trusting His death as the payment for our sins - and we will be saved! Romans 10:13 says it again, "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The final aspect of the Romans Road to salvation is the results of salvation. Romans 5:1 has this wonderful message, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship of peace with God. Romans 8:1 teaches us, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins. Finally, we have this precious promise of God from Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Isaiah 53:

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 59:1-2

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God;

your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

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