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Luke 14:28-30 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?
Implications • Salvation is not “free” in the sense that there is nothing we must do to receive it. • Salvation by faith alone is a false doctrine. • Salvation is not unconditional • Hebrews 5:9, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 • 1 John 2:3-6, 17, 3:24, 5:2-3 • Philippians 2:12, Romans 6:17
Implications • Once Saved, Always Saved is a false doctrine. • Luke 14:28-29; cf. 8:11-15, Matthew 13:20-22 • Hebrews 3:12, Galatians 5:4, 2 Peter 2:20-22
What is the cost? • Admit we need salvation.
Admit we are in need of salvation. Romans 3:10-18, 23; Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23 Isaiah 64:6a But we are all like an unclean thing,And all our righteousnessesare like filthy rags; Titus 3:5 (ESV) he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, cf. Romans 5:8-9
What is the cost? • Admit we need salvation. • Submit.
Submit to God. • Initial obedience. • Hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized • Submit to Jesus as Lord every day thereafter. • 1 Timothy 6:15, Matthew 28:18-20 • John 8:31, 51 • Luke 6:46, Matthew 7:21 • Luke 14:25-27
What is the cost? • Admit we need salvation. • Submit. • Offer our bodies as living sacrifices.
Sacrifice our lives in service. Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. cf. Matthew 16:24-26
Sacrifice • Our time • Acts 17:25 • Our efforts • Mark 12:30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. • Colossians 3:23-24, Philippians 2:12
Sacrifice • Our resources • 1 John 3:17 • 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 • 2 Corinthians 9:5-11
What if we determine the cost is too high? 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 Romans 2:5-6 Matthew 16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?