How do we know it's not of works?
Well, we know it's not of works because it's by grace.
We know it's not of works because it's through faith.
We know it's not of works because it's not of yourselves.
We know it's not of works because it is the gift of God.
But here's how we also know it's not of works
because he says, lest,
he says, unless any man should boast.
Now what does the word boast mean?
It means to brag.
It means to gloat.
It means to show up.
Go to Romans chapter four.
Romans chapter four.
The word boast means to brag, to show up, to gloat.
There's another word in our King James Bible
that's used anonymously with the word boast,
and it's this word glory.
Romans 4, 1.
Now the word glory can be used different ways
in different contexts, but I want you to see it here
in Romans 4, 1.
Remember, Paul is giving us this little discussion, right?
He says, what shall we say then that Abraham our father,
as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
He says, look, let's talk about Abraham.
What is it that Abraham found?
Because he says, well, Abraham started this whole thing
called believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
calling upon the Lord that morphed
into New Testament Christianity.
He says, what is it exactly that Abraham found?
Verse two, for it.
Now look, he's not saying that this happened to Abraham.
He's just using this as a hypothetical.
He says, if Abraham were justified by works,
he's not saying Abraham was justified by works,
but he's saying, let's just pretend
that Abraham was justified by works.
If Abraham were justified by works,
he says, he hath whereof to glory.
Here's what he's saying.
Because the word glory means to brag,
to gloat, to show off, to boast.
Here's what he's saying.
If Abraham was justified by the works that he did,
he would have something to boast about,
brag about, show off about, gloat about.
He would have whereof to glory,
but then Paul answers our question.
He says, but not before God.
You say, why is that?
Well, Romans 3, 23.
You can look at it in the chapter before.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
You know how nobody's gonna get up to heaven
and boast and brag and gloat before God?
We all come short of the glory of God.
But you say, is salvation not of works?
Yeah, here's why.
Not only because it's by grace,
not only because it's through faith,
not only because it's the gift of God,
not only because it's not of yourself,
it's also not of works because the Bible says
that here's how salvation works.
Once you have it, you can't boast about it.
You can't brag about it.
You can't gloat about it.
You can't show off about it.
I had a pastor who would often tell this story.
He said he was out sowning.
One time he knocked on the door and this elderly,
very stately, dignified lady comes to the door
and he asks her this question.
He says, do you know if you were to die today,
are you on your way to heaven?
And she said, oh sure.
I believe I'm on my way to heaven.
And he asked something along the lines of,
well, what is it that gives you that confidence
that you're on your way to heaven?
What are you trusting in to get you to heaven?
And she began to give him this list of things.
And she said, well, you know,
I've taught Sunday school for 30 years
and I raised good children and I live a good life
and I volunteer and I give to the church
and I give to this charity.
She gave him this whole list of reasons
why she thought she was on her way to heaven.
He opened up his Bible and went to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.
He read these words for him.
And he said, for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast.
And she looked at him and she said,
oh, I've been boasting, haven't I?
And really that's what,
look, if you are trusting in your works,
oh pastor, you know, I used to be a drug addict
and I turned away from that and that's why,
look, I hope you turn away from that,
but that's not gonna get you to heaven
because if you could, you could boast about it.
You could brag about it.
You could gloat about it.
What's salvation?
Salvation is this.
I was a helpless sinner on my way to hell
and Jesus saved me.
By grace, I didn't deserve it.
By grace, I didn't earn it.
By grace, it was unmerited.
He did all the work.
All I did was believe and he saved me.
So how do we know that salvation is not of works?
Well, we know because it's by grace
and we know because it's through faith
and we know because it's not of yourselves
and we know because it is the gift of God
and we know because once you have it,
he says, less any man should boast.