--GRACE BEYOND SALVATION~~--By: Adrian Rogers
-The grace of God truly is an extraordinary gift. Anybody, no matter how wicked or vile, can come to Him in repentance and faith, and God will gloriously save him. 
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But the Apostle Paul says that God's grace doesn't stop at salvation. From Titus 2:11-15, he teaches that grace should lead us to righteous and godly lives--and away from worldly pursuits and nearer to Him. He warns us to deny ungodliness so as not to become a disgrace to the grace that God so abundantly gives. We are called to be separate from the world.
Let's look at the life of
a man named Lot. In Genesis 13, when Abraham left his homeland to go to the land of Canaan, his nephew Lot went along. The Bible tells us that he was just and righteous.
Abraham and Lot were both wealthy and had a lot of flocks and herds. But because there was not enough grazing land for both families, a dispute arose.
In Genesis 13:11, a good man began to go wrong.
"Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves." Do you see the first words there? That's the key right there. No prayer, no looking to God.
And then in verse 12:
"Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom." Though it was unspeakably wicked, Lot stayed.
-FOUR PRINCIPLES TO APPLY FROM LOT~~1) RESIST THE PULL OF THE WORLD. = There was the lust of the flesh, Sodom with its pleasures. There was the lust of the eyes, Sodom with its possessions. There was the pride of life, Sodom with its philosophy. And Lot was drawn in. From
Romans 12:1-2 our first responsibility should be: "..Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."2) REFUSE THE PERSUASION OF THE WORLD. How did Lot end up in such a horrible state? By pitching his tent toward Sodom, he made a little compromise. Next, he made a wrong decision; He chose to move on in. But it got worse.
Genesis 19:1 says, "And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate..." That's the Courthouse, where decisions were made. Lot had become a leader in Sodom. But I want you to see something in
Genesis 19:7: "And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly." Now he called the Sodomites his brothers. Do you see how the world persuaded him, conformed him and corrupted him?
3)= REALIZE THE POLLUTION OF THE WORLD. God sent two angels to warn Lot that Sodom was going to be destroyed. The Sodomites wanted to commit sodomy with those angels. Lot had become so vile that he offered his two virgin daughters to the wicked men in order to satisfy their lusts and to avert himself from the judgment of these angels.
4)--REMEMBER THE PRINCE OF THE WORLD= Lot's family, except his wife and two daughters, were in the city as it was destroyed. The angel had to pull Lot out of Sodom, but his wife turned around and was turned into a pillar of salt.
There is a system in place. There is a prince who seeks to undermine us. There is a worldly philosophy that would lull us into complacency. But we see where that got Lot. With God's help, we will not be fooled.~~ [D]
