I Am Saved – Now What? – Dr. Charles Stanley

Have you ever wondered what happens after you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior? Dr. Stanley shares with us what really happens when a person invites Christ into their heart and the next steps of the Christian walk.

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The teaching ministry of Doctor Charles Stanley, reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Next on in touch, I am safe Now what?
When you were saved, did anybody sit you down and say, well, let me explain to you just what happened to you.
I wanna talk to you about god so you’ll understand who he is.
I want to explain to you, uh, who Jesus is in his relationship to god.
I want you to understand the presence and the work and the power of the Holy Spirit that now will begin working in your life.
I wanna help you see that you have some responsibility now that you’ve become a Christian.
Because what you’ve said is you are willing to become a follower of Jesus Christ.
Did anybody say to you now there are certain things you need to know now that you are a Christian.
I want you to listen carefully because there’s a passage of scripture that takes all of this in.
And if you’ll think about it for a moment, it is a serious thing to receive Jesus Christ as your personal savior and choose by an act of your will to follow him.
So I want you to turn if you will to Philippians chapter 2.
Beginning in verse 5 of this second chapter of Philipp.
Script just says, have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of god, did not regard equality with god a thing to be grasped.
But emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
For this reason, also, god highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name that is above every name.
So that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and on the earth.
And that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is lord to the glory of god the father.
Now watch the next phrase So then, that is on the basis of all that.
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is god who is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
That is one of the most important verses in the Bible when it comes to living a Christian life.
And probably most of you read that and thought, well, I wonder what that means.
So I want us to think about something here.
I want us to think about 3 issues, 3 things that I want us to consider.
And the first thing I want us to talk about is simply this, and that is the person and place of Jesus Christ in your life.
You said, oh, well, I’ve been a Christian for years years years, but just listen carefully.
Who is he? Many people think Jesus was a man who died on the cross for my sins.
But listen to what Paul said. Paul said that Jesus Christ was the incarnate son of god.
What does that mean? That means he was god who came in the flesh walked among men and made it possible for us to understand who god is and and what he’s like.
That’s what he’s saying in this scripture.
And he said he emptied himself, taken upon himself, the form of a bond servant.
That is Jesus came into this world, as the son of god taking upon himself as a servant to obey his father.
Not only that, the scripture says he was found in appearance as a man, humbled himself as a man, just like any other man, only he was senseless.
And not only that, the scripture says in this passage, that he obeyed the father even to the point of going to the cross.
That is the reason Jesus came was to die for you. Now watch this carefully.
If god, the father, send his son Jesus, and he died on the cross to make it possible for you to be forgiven and have a right relationship with him and go to heaven, There must be something very, very serious about living a life of sin.
Because the father sent his son to down the cross and pay your sin debt in full that was the only way you and I would ever get to heaven.
And so he says he came.
And he went to the cross to pay your sin debt in mind.
That that’s who he is, and that’s what he’s about.
Then he says in this passage, For this reason, because he did that, god highly exalted him so that his name is above every other name that exists.
That is the name of Jesus is the highest name there is.
There is no name that cares more quality. There’s no more no name more heavenly.
There’s no name that has the power and the energy. That the name of Jesus Christ has.
He gave him that awesome name.
Then the scripture says not only that, but He says, for that reason, god highly exalted him and bestowed on him, the name which is above every name.
So that at the name of Jesus, every knee, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven on earth under the earth.
And that is Jesus Christ came as lord, not only his savior.
Every knee would bow Every time will one day confess that Jesus Christ is lord as he says to the glory of god, the father.
Now let me interpret that word lord. What that means in essence is this, he is the boss.
Lord here means he is the sovereign ruler that created as Paul described him in in colossians.
He created all things and all things exist and are sustained by him. He’s the boss.
When you trust in Jesus Christ as your personal savior, You you listen.
You didn’t just get your sins forgiven.
You assumed a position of fellowship that is to follow Jesus Christ who is the lord of everything in all things.
And so many people who trust Christ as their savior nobody ever tells them about that.
They say, well, I trust that Jesus is my savior. Now I’m a Christian, a Christian to do what?
A Christian to live, how? No name to equal his name.
He is the lord, every needle bow, every tongue confess why.
Confessed that he is lord to the glory of god, the father.
That’s the will of the father that I confess that he’s my lord.
And what I’m saying is simply this, but in the modern terms, I see Jesus Christ as my savior I also know him in a practical way daily, he’s the boss.
He has the right to call every single play in my life.
He has the right to tell me where to go.
He has the authority and the enablement and the power to not only tell me what to do, but also enable me to do it.
He is the lord of our life.
And somewhere along the way, we separated Jesus Christ as savior and from lordship.
When you deny his position as the lord right up front and say, well, I’ll take him as my savior, but that lord business, I don’t know about that.
Listen, you know what? He’s not two persons. He is Jesus Christ, our savior, and lord.
And the Bible says he is exalted to the point of the lord because listen, it brings glory and honor to the father.
So the first thing that we must remember and understand fully is who he is and what his place is in our life.
Now this is what Paul was saying in this first part of these passage now.
Look, if you will, at, um, at verse 11, when he says that every tongue will confess and every knee is gonna bow.
That’s the will of the father. Now watch what happens in the next verse here.
Having said all that, here’s what Paul says. He says, So then, that is therefore, wherefore now.
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now also more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Now what does he mean by that? Work out your salvation, fear, and trembling.
Well, Paul was writing to Christians when he starts out this book, he says the very 1st verse to the saints at Tilapai.
So he’s talking about Christians. And he says in this particular passage, he says, but while I was with you, you were very obedient and follow the lord’s, uh, uh, work.
And now that I’m gone, you’re still doing the same thing. That’s wonderful. And here’s what he said.
Now so then work out your salvation with fear and trembling, what in the world did he mean?
Well, here’s what many people think.
And this is the most deceptive idea that Satan can ever perpetrate, and he’s very successful at it.
When he says work out your salvation, listen carefully, he did not say work for your salvation but having been saved, work it out.
And that’s a vast difference because you see, many people believe and many people have been taught, well, if you’d be good enough, if you just live a good life, you’re going to heaven and and god god approves you just live a good life.
Well, what’s a good life? Now watch the fellas of this because this is what state and perpetrates upon multitudes of people.
And if you ask your friends, You ask your friends, people you work with.
Why do you think when you stand before god, he’s gonna accept you into heaven?
Well, I’m a pretty good person. I’m not bad. I don’t steal my cheating. I don’t come in adultery.
Never have been to prison, and and I try to do a hard day’s work.
If I can’t, there was of why shouldn’t I go? What’s all that about? All that’s about I.
Now watch this. This is the most one of the most critical things in the Bible.
God does not accept us on our works.
For the simple reason that salvation is not based on what I do.
Salvation is based on what Jesus did when he went to the cross and shed his blooded calvary.
That’s what Salvation is about because you see, it’s righteousness that god wants in our life.
And there’s not a single one of us who is righteous within ourselves.
Every single one of us has sin and sin and sinned and sinned. We can never boast of righteousness.
We can just boast of our works, but you see what listen.
What god was dealing with at the cross is our sin problem, not our works.
By our birth nature, we came in this world as sinners.
So it’s not that works. It’s our sin. He dealt with our sin problem.
And what it caused him was the death of his son.
When he died on the cross, He made it possible for every person who is willing to accept him as their personal savior to be accepted by him and become a child of god.
And your name written in the lamb’s book of life.
So people who think they go into heaven by good works, I can tell you, my friend, you are not going to heaven by good works, you cannot bring one single verse of scripture to me to prove that you can.
I can give you a minute that prove that you cannot.
And if you can get to heaven by good works, god made a horrible mistake by sending his son to the cross and having him crucified for your sins and mine biggest mistake ever made in human history.
God doesn’t make mistakes.
And so he send it across because that was the only way he paid you a send that in mind in full.
Now with that, look at this verse.
He says that we are to work out our salvation with fear and tyranny.
What does he mean by that? Here’s what he means. He simply means this that we are to listen.
We are to watch this carefully. We are to put our salvation experience into the operation mode.
It’s to be operational. That is now having trusted Jesus Christ as my savior, I am to live out What god has placed within me, which is the life of Christ.
When you trusted him as your savior, the Bible says the Holy Spirit came to end dwelled you.
In you with you and upon you forever.
It is the Holy Spirit working in and through us that god works out our life.
And so it is a progressive thing. He says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
That is we’re to live in such a fashion that somebody knows you different.
This is why he said, once you trust him, as you say, you to be like salt, you to make a difference.
It may be healing to some and agitating to others. But depends upon their response.
You’re to be like salt and like light. You impact.
That is when believers live a godly life in recognition that the lord is their boss, and they’re following him because they love him.
And they understand what he’s done for them. Then what happens? Their life impacts other people’s lives.
And what I want you to say is this, because somebody didn’t explain all this to you early in life, is no excuse.
You said, well, you know, uh, I wanna do the best I can with you hearing it.
That is that Jesus is the lord of your life and he’s living and working within you to accomplish his purpose.
For you, And so what does that say? It says you and I have responsibility.
That’s what it’s all about.
That is if if I trust him as my savior, He writes my name in the limb’s book of life.
I know I’m going to heaven. He’s preparing a place for me. I have a responsibility.
He says, work out your salvation.
Jesus Christ is the lord of your life, and he has the most awesome plan.
But you’ve got to be willing to follow his leadership and his guidance.
And that is, I’m to get up every morning, recognizing and realizing this.
That by my conversations with people and by my conduct before them and by my character, I’m gonna make an impact of some sort.
That’s what he wants you to do. You see, people say, well, you know, I can’t preach. I can’t teach.
You you don’t have to do either one of those. Because what you’re doing is you’re sending a message.
Well, whether a person is standing on a platform sending a message or living among other people sending a message, you’re sending a message.
And the issue I would ask you is this. What is the message you’re sending?
Are you sending a message that you’ve been saved with the grace of god that you have peace and joy in your heart?
Are you sending the message that the power of god is working in your life.
Are you sending them the message that this is the best life yet?
What kind of message are you sending them?
That god answers prayer, that you’re not threatened in fuming over things, that you put your trust in him.
You’re sending a message. He says, work it out.
And he com he commended them for their obedience to when he was with them and when he was not with them.
Work it out in your home.
What are you working out that’s inside of you in Christ?
What about where you work? What do they see? What do they hear?
Uh, what do they what’s implied by the life that you’re living?
When they tell a dirty joke or something, do you listen and laugh, or do you walk away?
When they suggest things that you know that deep down inside is really dishonest, do you say no?
Do you say maybe, or do you say yeah?
When you’re invited somewhere that you know is not befitting for a child of god, Do you say yes or do you say no?
Watch this.
The more conscious you are of the lordship of Jesus Christ who is living within you.
The more conscious you are of his presence, the more quickly you’re gonna give the right answer.
There is a responsibility to live a godly life, and he says you to work it out.
You to live it out. That’s our responsibility. So first, here’s what he said.
He said, you need to know the place of g who he is and the place of Jesus in your life.
And secondly, you need to realize you have a responsibility.
You have a responsibility to live out what he’s placed in you.
And the third thing he says is simply this, that every one of us has this powerful resource within us.
So listen to what he said.
He said now, So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but also in my absence, work out your salvation and do it with fear and trembling.
Now what does that mean? Does that mean I’m gonna be afraid? No. Here’s what it means.
What I say to you often, you must take it seriously.
You must not relate to Jesus Christ and his lordship in a casual sort of way.
That is does it make any difference?
Does it make any difference to things you say, the things you do, the places you look places you go, yes, it does.
With fear and trembling means this, not that I’m to be afraid that I’m gonna make a mistake.
We all make mistakes. But it means that I take serious.
I take seriously that Jesus is my lord.
And I want to take it so seriously that I consider carefully before I make decisions.
Before I’ll say I’ll do this, or I’ll do that or or that I agree with somebody about something they wanna do that that I’m not sure about.
And so You see, if Jesus is my lord, it’s serious business.
Because you see, we’re talking about eternal life We’re not talking about just these figures.
We’re talking about eternal life. We we we’re talking about an eternal reward.
We’re talking about taking seriously what Jesus said when he said follow me.
When you trusted him as your savior, You didn’t hear an audible voice, but I can tell you this.
His spirit to your spirit, you may have been young. Follow me. I’ll never mislead you.
I’ll always got you right.
And I love what he says and the way he says in this particular passage.
The last thing he says here’s this. For it is god in verse 13.
It is god who is at work in you, both to will and to work of his good pleasure.
Now let me show you why that’s important. Here’s what this means.
It is god who gives us places within us his will.
He will tell you what he wants you to do in any and every situation.
He says it and if he wants you to do something, he’ll place that well in you.
He says, not only does he give us his will, but he says, and he uses the term, he energizes us to get it done.
That is he would never ask you to do anything, he will not aid and enable you to do.
So when the lord speaks to somebody’s life, and I’ve met guys who the lord called him the priest and said I can’t do that.
I just can’t do it. And so they’ve rebelled against god. They say I can’t do it.
They don’t believe that verse of scripture. This is a powerful verse. Listen to this.
He says whatever whatever he says, it is god who is It is god who is at work in you, both to will and work for his good pleasure, which means this.
If he placed a desire in your heart, you can count on him. He’ll be there to work it out.
Whatever he tells you to do, he is committed to enabling you, giving you direction, and power and energy to make it a reality.
What could be more encouraging than that?
That whatever you have faced in life, god says, I am at work in you. Whatever I will I work.
So that’s not left up to us.
Remember this verse of scripture is just let’s look at it. Whatever he wills, he works.
That’s real simple, but it’s powerful because this is god’s awesome Listen, his awesome promise, whatever he requires of you, you can absolutely be confident that he is going to equip you, enable you to do it no matter what it is.
Just be sure it’s the will of god. That is it that he’s the one who said it.
And not someone else. Now what I wanna do is I wanna mention one other thing.
He says here, this is very significant because you’ll notice He says in verse 13, it is god who is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Now what’s that? What’s the good pleasure of god? What do you think would make god the happiest about you?
If he looks at your life today, what would what would he send you that that makes god humanly speaking?
Well, he says his pleasure. Uh, god’s good pleasure. Here’s listen. This is god’s good pleasure.
That you and I follow him and become Christlike as we work out and play out our salvation experience that we become Christ like.
That’s what he’s up to. That brings him the most go, listen. What watch this.
What you and I become in the eyes of god is far more than what you and I do.
He said he will work in us what he wills for us.
And it’ll bring him great pleasure. And the verse description approved that is Romans 829.
He says he predestined He predetermined what that you and I would be conformed to the likeness of his son.
That’s the will of god. That’s his purpose in your life.
That’s his plan for your life. And if you will acknowledge his lordship, He is the lord.
He’s the boss in my life. If you don’t like bosses, you just remember this.
He’s loving, kind, generous, and I could just go on and on and on with the wonderful attributes of god.
He’s the boss. But he guides and leads us for our own good and for his great pleasure.
He says it’s a pleasurable thing to god. That you and I would walk in his spirit.
Now I wanna put 4 statements up on the screens, and I’ll put them up there because I want you to be able to write them down because what it is that capsulates this whole sermon.
So look at this. We’re to continue to be aware that Jesus is the incarnate son of god is reigning in our life.
That’s the first thing we wanna be aware of of his place and his position in our life.
2nd month. We have a personal responsibility to live out what he has placed within us and that is the righteous life.
It’s a responsibility. And the 3rd, it is not only his will to do so but he is at work within us to make it so.
You have that awesome promise.
And his ultimate goal for each of us is Christ likeness, conform to the image of his son.
If you’re wise, you’ll write that down.
And if you hear somebody, for example, who just got saved, I’ll tell you what, uh, you you can be a blessing if you could sit down and you said to them, let me let me just show you 4 things if they’ll help you all of your Christian life.
Because that is what this Christian life’s all about.
Father, we love you and praise you, and thank you.
To make such a commitment as you’ve made that whatever you will for us, you will also work for us.
We just wanna say thank you.
Because that means we’ll never be in a position where we cannot do. Your precious will.
I pray for those who are listening or who are watching who are unsaved.
Been thinking about it, but never been saved. Even talked about it, even considered at some point.
But for some reason, have not been. Would you impress upon their heart in his serious business?
It’s eternal business. It’s all about Jesus, death on the cross.
And his willingness to live within us, and to live out through us every day, this awesome, and godly, all satisfying life.
We love you. We praise you, father, for loving us that much today, in Jesus’ name.
Amen.