“Almost Saved” | Steve DeFrain

“Almost Saved”

Acts 18… ¹ After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

…² There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla,  because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³ and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. ⁴ Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

…¹¹ So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

2 Corinthians 2… ⁴ For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

Matthew 25… ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

2 Corinthians 13… ⁵ Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test.

THE FAITH TEST…

(POINT ONE) AM I FOLLOWING OR JUST BELIEVING JESUS?

(POINT TWO) DO I REPENT OR JUST CONSENT?

Psalms 139… ²³ Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. ²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

(POINT THREE) DO I HAVE FRUIT OR FICTION?

Matthew 7… ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

John 15… ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

(POINT FOUR) AM I BUILDING THE KINGDOM OR JUST BENEFITING FROM IT?

2 Corinthians 5… ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again… ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 

(POINT FIVE) IS MY FAITH PUBLIC OR PRIVATE?

Romans 1… ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Matthew 10… ³² “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

Stop FAKING It, FACE it

Start with SURRENDER, not STEPS

Stay in COMMUNITY that has ACCOUNTABILITY