¹ “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: ² May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. ³ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

I am sure that some people will be a little bit surprised that Jude would desire to write an Epistle to already saved people about the doctrine of salvation. Clearly, he tells us that was his desire and intent.

Many, many, many people (and most of them lost) think that salvation is “pray a prayer” “sign a card” or “walk an aisle” – been there and done that! Every Bible-believing Christian knows better than that.

A vast amount of Biblical content deals with the Doctrines of Salvation. While our experience of salvation may indeed take place in a brief period of time; (although with many people, coming to faith is a long process.) That certainly was the case in my life.

Back to my point: while the experience of being saved may well be simple and brief; the experience of salvation involves the whole person over our whole life and the Scriptures give lots and lots of verses to help us understand all that is involved.

For example, our salvation involves…

Election; Predestination; Substitution; Imputation; (and double imputation at that) regeneration; justification; sanctification; and, glorification! (Don’t worry – I am committed to staying within my “self-imposed” 30 minute time limit!)

Each and every one of these doctrines could easily be a SERIES OF SERMONS by itself. God wants HIS people to fully understand our salvation and Jude was intent on teaching them these wonderful truths.

So, what would cause Jude to change his mind and devote his one opportunity to write Scripture to a warning about false teaching and false teachers?

False teaching and false teachers are a really big deal because they are a real threat to the spiritual health of those unfortunate people who fall for their errors!

To quote Dr. Lee Roberson, “There is one saving gospel, only one!”

And that “one saving gospel” is this…

In spite of the fact that we have all sinned against HIM, God loves us and sent HIS Son Jesus to pay for our sins on the cross. If we will turn away from our sins and believe in Jesus as our Savior and LORD; God will forgive our sins, change our life, and take us to heaven when we die.

That’s it; plus nothing and minus nothing!

As I pointed out last Sunday, our world is awash in heresy. False teaching and false teachers abound on every hand. The miracle of modern electronic communication has brought with it the curse of world-wide heresy!

As the LORD allows, I will “briefly” discuss the Biblical doctrine of salvation; including, “From Before the Foundation of the World” “In the Death of Jesus on the Cross” and “In the life of the Believer.”

THEN…

I will spend the balance of our time showing the FOUR KEY REASONS that our salvation in Jesus is indeed, a “Common Salvation.” I plan to close the message with one paragraph (just one) about the importance of God’s man being open to the leading of the HOLY SPIRIT to change what he had planned to do!

As Tom Rains loves to say, “I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side

Love you guys!

Pastor Lanny