"Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage.
Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
For I testify again to every man that's circumcised that he's a debtor to do the whole law."
Now what is he saying here?
He's saying, "Look, if you're going to say that there's a certain biblical commandment
that we have to keep, in addition to trusting Christ, we also have to keep this one commandment."
He's saying, "You might as well say we've got to keep all the commandments.
And if you think we have to keep all the commandments, then nobody's going to heaven."
I mean, think about that.
He's saying, "Look, if you say, 'Okay, the only part of the law that you have to do to
get to heaven is just to get circumcised,'" he's saying, "Okay, well now you've got to
do the whole law.
You're a debtor to do the whole law."
Because it's either all faith or it's faith and works, and if it's faith and works, good
luck keeping the law perfectly because you're a debtor to do the whole law.
You've just obligated yourself to doing the entire law.
Anybody want to try to keep the entire law perfectly?
None of us is without sin.
We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
And as soon as you add one legal requirement of you must be circumcised, because a lot
of the Jews, they were having trouble letting go of these things.
They didn't like the fact that Gentiles are getting saved so easy.
They're just believing in Jesus and they're saved.
They're like, "Well, you've got to keep the Mosaic Law."
And the apostles are like, "No, you don't."
But then they're like, "Okay, but you do have to do this one thing.
Come on, at least you've got to get circumcised."
And he says, "Look, if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing."
Now obviously, you know, people who are circumcised could still go to heaven.
What he's saying here is that if you go out and get circumcised because you think that's
a requirement for salvation, Christ shall profit you nothing.
And by the way, we don't practice circumcision in the New Testament.
The Bible's clear on that.
That's a whole other sermon.
There are many scriptures in the New Testament, and some of the older generation have a problem
with that because they got brainwashed in their generation by a bunch of Jewish doctors
that brought circumcision in the United States.
You know, before World War II, Americans weren't circumcised, my friend.
You know, everybody in my grandpa's generation, they didn't get circumcised.
But then by the time it got to my dad's generation and my generation, they're circumcising everybody.
Now people are starting to get away from that once again.
But circumcision is not a New Testament practice.
The Bible is specific about that.
But what we're talking about specifically here is that circumcision as a requirement
for salvation, okay, well then everything's required.
You can't just pick one thing, and this would be like if somebody said, "Well, it's just
believing in Christ to get you to heaven, but you also have to, you also at least have
to follow that one commandment, thou shalt not kill."
Okay, but he that said, "Do not kill," he's the same one who said, "Do not commit adultery."
And the Bible says in James chapter 2 verse 10, what does it say in James chapter 2 verse
10?
"Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all."
Did you hear that?
"Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all.
For he that said, 'Do not commit adultery,' said also, 'Do not kill.'
Now if thou commit no adultery, but yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor
of the law."
It's so funny how people love to go to James 2 to prove a workspace salvation.
You know, they should have started back in verse 10.
Because back in verse 10 of James 2, it says that if you keep the whole law and offend
in one point, you're guilty of all.
So I don't care how good you are, you can never earn your way into heaven with the works
of the law at all.
And you say, "Well, it's Jesus plus the law."
Nonsense.
Because the Bible is talking about people here who are trusting Jesus and circumcision.
But you know what he says?
He's saying, "If you believe in Jesus and circumcision, Christ is of no effect unto
you."
Does it sound like you're going to heaven if Christ is of no effect unto you?
If Christ is of no effect unto you, that's another way of saying, "You're going to hell,
buddy.
You're not saved."
Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law.
Are there in verse 4 of Galatians 5?
Sorry, I didn't tell you that.
He said in verse 3, "I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he's a debtor
to do the whole law.
This has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law.
You are fallen from grace, for we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith."
Those of us that are saved, we're relying on faith to save us.
We're relying on the hope of righteousness through faith.
Those of you that are justified by the law, now let me ask you this, is anyone actually
justified by the law?
No, the Bible says by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
So when he says those of you who are justified by the law, he's saying those of you who think
you're justified by the law, Christ has become of no effect unto you, you are falling from
grace.
They're not actually falling from grace because they never actually were in a place of grace,
but they thought they were.
They thought they were justified by the law.
They thought that they were saved by grace, but they weren't because they are falling
from grace.
They do not have salvation.
Now look, just because we're talking about circumcision, you could insert anything into
that same blank.
You could say, you know, if you be circumcised Christ shall profit, you know, you could substitute
that as, you know, if you be catechized, Christ shall profit you nothing.
If you think that that's what you have to do in order to go to heaven, you know.
If you do mass and think that that's going to get you to heaven.
Or if you think, well, it's my baptism that's going to get me to heaven.
Or well, it's that I don't do any of the big sins.
You know, I don't commit adultery.
I don't kill.
I don't steal.
You know, I don't do these certain sins.
Okay, well you just obligated yourself to keep the whole law, right?
You just played yourself, alright?
You are now a debtor to keep the entire law because you have started mixing the law with
salvation.
Well, it's a package deal, buddy, because whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet
offend in one point, he's guilty of all.
You've got to be saved by grace through faith.
So with salvation by faith, there's no backup or failsafe.
It's not like, well, Jesus is the parachute, but my good works are the backup parachute.
My circumcision is the backup parachute, right?
My, you know, my baptism, catechism, first communion, that's the backup parachute.
The confessional booth is my backup, Buddhism is my backup, Hinduism is my backup, Muhammad
is my backup.
You know what?
That's not how it works, because in this backpack that contains the Jesus parachute, there's
only room for Jesus.
Both can't coexist in this backpack.
So you know, when you're packing the chute, you better make sure that only Jesus is in
the pack.
That's how Jesus is going to work properly and deploy, otherwise you're going to fall
from grace, right, and go splat with the parachute illustration, right?
And so we said, number one, that salvation by faith means trusting in Christ.
Number two, salvation by faith includes believing a specific record.
It's not like, oh yeah, you know, I'm trusting Jesus.
But it's like, you know, well, do you believe that He, you know, was born of a virgin?
No.
You believe He came in the flesh?
No.
You believe that He physically bodily rose again?
No.
You believe He's the Son of God?
No.
You believe in the deity of Christ?
No.
Is that person saved?
I mean, they're believing in Christ, right?
Trusting Christ.
Look, you've got to believe the record that God gave His Son.
And specifically, things that are highlighted are that God has given to us eternal life.
Why is it important that it's a gift?
Because if it's not a gift, you're relying on the backup parachute of works.
The gift means Jesus paid it all.
It's in His Son.
It's eternal, right?
You can't lose your salvation.
So number two, salvation includes believing a specific record.
Number three, salvation by faith requires a step of faith.
A step of faith.
Actually putting the trust in Jesus.
Not just intellectually thinking about it, but actually saying, "You know what?
Jesus is my Savior.
I'm going to take Jesus as my Savior.
I'm going to actually call upon the name of the Lord to be saved and make this personal
to me."
And the thing I'm really getting at with that is that salvation occurs in a moment.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Just like your physical birth took place in a moment.
You know, I was born on July 24th, 1981 at 1611 in the afternoon.
That's how fundamental I am.
But anyway, I was literally born at 1611 on military time.
So it's my destiny.
It's on my birth certificate.
But here's the thing.
I wasn't -- it wasn't like, well, you know, I was born over the course of 1981 and 1982.
I was born from, you know -- I started being born on July 23rd, and I was finished around
July 27th.
Is that how birth works?
No.
I mean, once the head comes out, everything goes pretty quick.
You know, it's getting the head out that's the hurdle.
Once the head comes out, boom.
It's like -- it launches -- that's why they call it catching the baby, right?
And so then, you know what, they write down on the birth certificate, they write down
a moment in time, right?
4/11 p.m. is when I was born.
That was the time.
And it wasn't like over the course of an hour or a day or a week.
It was a moment -- well, the new birth is the same way.
Born again is the same way.
You know, there's a moment when you believe on Christ and you're regenerated and you're
saved.
But fourthly, we said that salvation by faith has no backup or failsafe.
Here's a statement I want to give you on this.
Unless Jesus comes through, I'm through.
Okay, you got that?
If Jesus doesn't come through, I'm through.
That's faith in Christ, where all reliance is on Jesus, okay?
Just like if my parachute doesn't work, I'm through.
If this zip line doesn't work, I'm through, okay?
If Jesus doesn't come through, I'm through because all of my reliance is on Jesus to
save me and nothing else.
Jesus plus works is not salvation.
Faith plus works is not salvation.
Somebody could say all day long that they believe in Jesus, but if they are trusting
in their works or their ritual or their church or the things that they do, they're not actually
trusting in Jesus.
They are relying on themselves.
You know, it's so funny when people, "Yeah, I believe in Jesus."
Well, why do you think you go to heaven?
Oh, because I, you know, I'm good to my fellow man and I rescue animals and I go to church
and I got baptized and I got catechized and I go to confession and I do this.
Well, what if you stop doing this?
Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, if I could lose it, you know, you can't just live however
you want.
Who's really the one they're relying on here, themselves?
And look, let's face it, the Christian life's not always easy.
A lot of times the Christian life's very difficult.
A lot of times we struggle through the Christian life and often we're going to make mistakes.
We're going to sin either by sins of comission where we commit sin or sins of omission where
we omit things because the Bible says to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to
him it is sin.
So you could go through the whole day and say I didn't steal, I didn't kill anyone today,
I didn't commit adultery, I didn't bear false witness, you know, and you could go down the
list, I didn't do idols, you know, but then it's like, okay, but did you do all the good
things that you were supposed to do?
Folks, we all come short.
None of us measures up, we're saved by grace.
And then again, let's define grace.
Because again, some of these words, we take for granted what they mean.
What is grace?
What does grace mean?
Well, think about this.
What about when my bills come due and there's a grace period?
What does that mean?
The grace period means it's due on the first, but you know what, I'm going to give you till
the 10th.
Now, do I deserve to have until the 10th?
No, because I agreed to pay it by the first, that's what I bargained for, but they're saying,
hey look, since we print our own money anyway, since it's fractional reserve lending, it's
no skin off our back, we're going to give you grace until the 10th.
Well, if anybody prints their own money, it's God, because he paved the streets in heaven
with gold.
So, you know what, he's got plenty of grace to extend, even more than the bank could ever
extend.
He'll extend grace.
Okay, and what does grace mean?
It means he's basically giving you something that you don't deserve.
It's a gift, right?
It's by grace, that means it's a gift.
It's not earned, it's given, it's free, and the Bible says, "If it be by grace, then is
it no more works."
Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace?
Otherwise, work is no more work.
It's one or the other.
There's no mixing of grace and works.
It's sort of like this.
If I were to give you this Bible for free, it's a gift, but if I charge you five bucks
for it, it's not a gift.
But here's the thing.
How much would I have to charge for this before it stops being a gift?
How much could I charge?
Is there a certain like, "Well, if you do it for 10 cents, it's still a gift.
If you do it for 50 cents, it's still a gift."
But when you get to a dollar, that's not a gift anymore.
Is that how gifts work?
No, because what point does this stop being a gift?
As soon as I have to pay anything, even if it's one penny, it's not a gift.
Now, have you ever known people who for legal reasons sold a piece of land or sold a house
even or sold a car for $1?
Who's ever known somebody who sold a car or lots of people?
Why?
Because it's not a gift.
They don't want it to go down legally as a gift.
They want it to be considered a sale.
And so instead of giving it to the person, they say, "Okay, I'll sell it to you for $1."
And then it's not a gift anymore because you pay for it.
So why don't we take that -- I think we all understand that, right?
And I think if we were to go out soul winning, a lot of people understand that concept.
No problem.
If only now we could get them to see that salvation is the same way.
You know, you pull out that $1 -- and by the way, all your good works put together, that's
about what they're worth, about a buck.
All your good works that you're so proud of, and I cleaned up my life, and I went to the
12-step program, and I quit drinking, and I quit drugs, and I -- God cleaned up my life
so much, you know, he gets all the glory for how good I am, right?
People try to bring God into it to try to hide the fact that they're really bragging
about how good they are.
Well, I mean, God gets all the glory for how stinking awesome I am, and how perfect I am,
and how I gave up my rock and roll lifestyle, you know, because I was just all set to be
a big star, you know.
But I gave all that up for Christ, you know.
But it's all through, he gets all the glory for how cool I am and how good I am and how
many sins I've, look, don't be fooled by people who try to mix in a little Jesus with their
good works, with their good life, with their turning over a new leaf, and I turned from
all my sins, and I've, folks.
The real testimony of salvation is that we believed in Christ.
We put our faith in Christ, we trusted Christ, and we received a free gift.
There's no glory in receiving a free gift.
You know who gets the glory for a free gift is the giver.
Jesus actually gets the glory, and that's why the Bible says, and we'll close with this,
if you would, go to Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter
2, I'll read the famous verses while you're turning there, verses 8 and 9, "For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God."
And then look at verse 9, "Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Folks, if our salvation were by works, we could boast about it.
And you know what, believe it or not, there are people boasting in the circumcision.
I mean, that's what Paul says in Galatians 5 and 6.
He says that they compel you to be circumcised, that they might glory in your flesh.
Hey everybody, look at this guy, I got circumcised.
It's like, you're an idiot.
What's so cool about that?
There's nothing cool about that.
But their glory, not only do they glory in their own flesh, they're glory in some other
guy's flesh, or lack of flesh in this case.
You know, and so it's like, oh wow, you know, they compel you to be circumcised, that they
could glory in your flesh, but he said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ."