But then there comes this issue of, okay,
so if you believe on Jesus Christ,
you're eternally saved and you're eternally secure,
some people would say, well, you know,
that means you're also gonna continue doing the works.
And we already talked a little bit about that,
that that isn't really true.
Go if you would to 1 Corinthians chapter number three,
1 Corinthians chapter number three.
And let's get the true story on this from the Bible,
1 Corinthians chapter three,
because remember you don't have to do any works to be saved.
A lot of people will then turn around and say,
well, you don't have to do any works to get saved,
but if you're really saved, you'll do stuff.
And they set the bar really low anyway,
because they can't say like,
you're gonna be this awesome Christian,
because what do we see?
We see most Christians not being
an awesome Christian, unfortunately.
Like I said, the world would be a very different place
if everybody who's saved just automatically lives
this godly, zealous Christian life.
Wow, we turned the world upside down.
I mean, isn't one of the biggest commandments of Christ
to preach the gospel to every creature?
I mean, didn't Jesus tell us to go into all the world
and teach all nations?
And isn't there the scripture where Jesus said,
"If you follow me, I'll make you fishers of men."
I mean, if every single truly saved Christian
were a fisher of men,
everybody'd be getting the gospel given to them
like every month.
I mean, think about it.
There are tens of millions of people in the United States,
I believe, that are saved.
And yet, do you see 10 million people out there
winning souls and preaching the gospel?
No, if so, man, you would evangelize America
in one afternoon.
You could evangelize the entire nation in one day.
So what does that tell you?
It tells you that 99 some percent of Christians
are not evangelizing.
So are they continuing in the works?
Are they saved?
Yes, they're saved, but they're not doing the work
that Christ has laid out for us, are they?
They're saved.
But many Christians, let me tell you something,
will go years and years and years
without sharing the gospel with a single person.
And you know what?
I can tell you that for a fact because I've done it.
You know, when I was growing up,
there were times in my teenage years
where I went a whole year
without ever preaching the gospel to someone,
without ever attempting to get someone saved.
I was saved.
People around me were the same way.
And so, you know, works are not required for salvation,
and works are not automatic after salvation either, okay?
That's why they're called works,
because you have to do them, okay?
And they're not, they don't come automatically either.
But look at 1 Corinthians chapter three.
Bible says in verse 11,
"For other foundation can no man lay
than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now, if any man build upon this foundation,
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble,
every man's work shall be made manifest,
for the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed by fire,
and the fire shall try every man's work
of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide, which he had built there upon,
he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss,
but he himself shall be saved, yet so is by fire.
Now, this guy who is saved, yet so is by fire,
he doesn't have any works of any eternal value.
So this guy gets to heaven, he's saved.
The Bible says he himself shall be saved,
but he makes it in without getting any rewards
because he didn't do any works that had any eternal value.
What sort of everything that this guy brought to the table
is wood, hay, and stubble.
That's all he's got.
No gold, no silver, no press of stones,
but isn't it interesting how he's still saved though?
Why? Why was he saved?
Because he believed in Christ,
even though his works were all just garbage.
They were all worthless, they were all refuse.
They all got burned up in the trash.
Nothing made it through.
Now, why is that?
Because you don't purchase your way into heaven.
See, gold and silver and precious stones
could be used to purchase something,
but you can't purchase heaven.
So you can walk into heaven
with literally no money in your pocket
and no spiritual currency either.
No gold, silver and precious stones
from the judgment day either.
You just walk in, paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ,
a free ticket, you're saved.
It's that simple.
And so first Corinthians chapter three shows us
that even if none of your works are up to snuff,
you still shall be saved, okay?
So this idea that everybody who's truly saved
will do works isn't really biblical
because the Bible says him that worketh not
but believeth is still saved.
Here he says, all your works are burned up,
you're still saved.
Why?
Because you have the foundation of Jesus Christ.
You have Jesus as your savior, that's it.
You could be a guy like the thief on the cross
who gets saved at the last minute
and that guy didn't do works.
I mean, he didn't go around doing works,
didn't get baptized.
All he did was just call upon the name of the Lord.
Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
That's all he did.
And then he's dead.
He did nothing, okay?
Yet he is saved.
Now, he's not gonna have a bunch of rewards
when he gets to heaven.
He's not gonna be in the same situation
as the apostle Paul or something,
but he's still saved, okay?