see everybody here this morning go and find our seats we'll go ahead and get
started let's go ahead and grab a hymnal and go to song number four hundred and
nineteen song number four hundred and nineteen the battle cry song number
four hundred and nineteen sing it out with some zeal this morning we just
thank you for the opportunity to gather here now hear your work preached and and
sing your songs together Lord we love you and we just had you to fill this
room with our spirit or your spirit and uh bless everything that we do Lord and
in Jesus name we pray amen all right for our next song let's go to song number 93
number 93 art thou weary art thou lame let's all try to sing it out together
and follow along song number 93 so much for coming to steadfast Baptist Church if
you did not already get a bulletin you can lift up your bulletin or lift your
hand up I'm sorry get you a bulletin on the front we have our Bible memory
passage Matthew 28 verse 19 now we're getting really close to finishing Matthew
28 so if you're able to quote the entire chapter you can receive a special prize
if you've been doing each verse every week you've probably got to the point
where it's really easy these last few verses are kind of pretty iconic so on
the inside we have our service time our soul winning times our church stats on
the right we have a list of expecting ladies please be in prayer for them
upcoming events we have our kids choir practice that we're continuing until
Easter services and we're looking forward to hearing them perform for us
on Easter Sunday morning also there's a spring swap that's gonna be April 13th
there's a Mansfield soul winning marathon the 19th we have Easter cards
that we have for our soul winning material so if you'd like to hand out
an invitation for Easter services we have some nicer cards that you can hand
out for the Easter services our ladies tea is gonna be May 10th there is some
church reminders down there below on the back we also have our prayer list and
that's really all I have as far as announcements we'll go ahead and go to
our psalm of the week it's gonna be psalm 117 psalm 117 psalm 117 in your
special binders you're not familiar with it follow along if you are singing out
loudly psalm 117 we're gonna sing it twice to Galatians chapter number 1 that's
the book of Galatians chapter number 1. Galatians 1 the Bible reads Paul
fossil not of men neither by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who
raised him from the dead and all the brethren which are with me under the
churches of Galatia grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our
Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from
this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father to whom be
glory forever and ever amen I marvel that you are so soon removed from him
that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel which is not another
but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ but
though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you let him be accursed as we said before so say I
now again if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have
received let him be accursed for do I now persuade men or God or do I seek to
please men for if I yet pleased men I should not be the servant of Christ but
I certify you brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not after
man for I neither received that of man neither was I taught it but by the
revelation of Jesus Christ for ye have heard of my conversation in time past in
the Jews religion how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God
and wasted it and profited in the Jews religion above many my equals in my own
nation being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers but when
it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace
to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the heathen immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood neither when I up to Jerusalem to them
which were Apostles before me but I went to Arabia and returned again unto
Damascus then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode
with him 15 days but other of the Apostles saw I none save James the Lord's
brother now the things which I write unto you behold before God I lie not
afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia and was unknown by
face unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ but they had heard only
that he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once
he destroyed may glorified God in me let's pray father in heaven we thank you
for this day for our church I pray that you fill pastor Shelley with your spirit
give him clarity of mind as he preaches to us help us Lord God to apply this
sermon to our lives bless all aspects of it and help us to serve you better every
single day we love you in Jesus name I pray amen amen
Galatians chapter 1 and verse 6 the Bible says I marvel that you're so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel
and unfortunately not everything saves there's only one thing that saves and
it's faith alone in Jesus Christ anything else is another gospel and what
I want to preach this morning is about why we know faith alone is correct why
we know or why faith alone is correct now I'm not necessarily going to spend a
ton of time proving faith alone from the Bible but I want to just talk about how
do we know that we're right about salvation being only faith alone and I
think for a lot of people today they think that faith plus works is going to
get them to heaven they also think even if faith alone was what saved that the
belief that faith plus works would save them because well I already got the
faith but the Bible is clear that you have to believe in faith alone to be
saved and we know that we're correct from many different proofs in the Bible
and our human experience and I want to talk about why we know faith alone is
correct now in Galatians the Bible is saying that there are people preaching
another gospel what does it say in verse 7 which is not another but there be some
that trouble you and revert the gospel of Christ why does it say it's not a
another it's because everyone virtually teaches the death burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ whether that be a Catholic whether that be a
Protestant Lutheran Presbyterian they're going to teach the basic facts of the
gospel that Jesus Christ died on the cross that Jesus Christ was buried and
that he rose again and we see in this world today many people if not the the
largest religion in the world believes in the death burial and resurrection of
Jesus Christ which is the same gospel but yet they still pervert the gospel
because they don't end up teaching that it's faith in the gospel that saves you
rather they diminish what the gospel means they take away from what Christ
has done and they cause people to not be saved but if someone preaches a
perverted gospel the Bible says in verse 8 but though we are an angel from heaven
preach any other gospel unto you then that which we have preached unto you let
him be accursed as we said before so say it now again if any man preaching any
other gospel unto you than that which you have received let him be accursed
why is it that the person who preaches another gospel is accursed well look at
chapter 3 verse 10 the Bible tells us for as many as are of the works of the
law are under the curse if you believe salvation is by works or if you add
works to salvation you are cursed because you're under the curse of the
law because works is a curse when you can't keep them perfectly and the
problem is for all of sin it comes short of the glory of God therefore anybody
who does not believe salvation is by faith is cursed and they those who
preach a false gospel are accursed of God and the Bible has a strong wrath
towards those that are perverting people and causing them to believe a false
gospel who would be damned and go to hell. Go to Romans chapter number three
go to Romans chapter number three. Now the most obvious point as to why we know
that faith alone is correct is because the Bible just explicitly says
salvation is by faith. It just says it over and over and over. You would think
if salvation was by works they would have at least one verse that said that.
Have you noticed that the Bible never says for by works are you saved? Have you
noticed that the Bible doesn't just say oh whoever has the works will go to
heaven? They don't have just all these verses saying this and many people want
to make it seem like oh the Bible kind of teaches both or actually the Bible
brings up works all the time in context of salvation. No it doesn't. The Bible
hammers faith when it brings up salvation and it just brings it up over
and over and over and over again that salvation is by faith. Romans chapter 3
verse 20 is this passage or this part of scripture is just so clear and I feel
like it's just so powerful in describing our point it says in verse 20 "Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by
the law is the knowledge of sin." No one is justified by works. Works have nothing
to do with justification. It has to do with condemnation. You are condemned by
not keeping the law but you're not justified in the sight of God by keeping
the law because no flesh shall be justified. Did you read that? No flesh
shall be justified in his sight. You cannot look to your works to be
justified. If you look to your works you'll be condemned, is what the Bible
clearly teaches. It says in verse number 21, "But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested." What do we believe? Salvation is without the law,
without works, and he's saying right now to be righteous in the sight of God
without the law is being made obvious. How is it being made obvious? Because
Jesus Christ is being preached. In the Old Testament, He was a shadowy figure.
The verses were a little bit darker. But now that Jesus Christ has come to the
earth for people to actually see the gospel with their eyes and be eye
witnesses of the gospel, well the gospel is now being manifested. And the
Apostle Paul and others are going out and preaching the manifestation of the
gospel because the Apostles saw the resurrection Jesus Christ. Think about
it, how much more obvious could the gospel be to you if you saw the
resurrected Lord Jesus Christ? And they're going out and making manifest the
gospel, the righteousness of God, which is what? Without the law is what the Bible
says. And it says it's being made manifest, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, meaning the Old Testament and every prophet preached the exact
same thing, but now it's just a little bit clearer, it's just a little bit more
obvious than what they had said. It says in verse number 22, even meaning
specifically the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. Notice again the
Bible is crystal clear, it's by faith. And what does by faith mean? Those who
believe. And it says then in verse number 23, for all sin it comes short of the
glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Verse 24 is just a powerful verse. Notice that we're
justified freely. Salvation is a free gift. The Bible just hammers the
freeness of salvation, saying in verse 25, "Whom God has set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past for the forbearance of God." Verse 25 is a very
powerful verse if you understand what it just said, because think about this. When
we talk about salvation being by believing or having faith, and we read
verses like Acts 16 verse 30 and 31, which says, "Sir, what must I do to be
saved?" And they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved." What does it mean to believe, though? What are we believing? We're not
just simply believing that Jesus is a person. We're not just simply believing
that Jesus existed. We're not just simply believing that Jesus Christ died.
We're not just simply believing that He resurrected. You know what we're
believing? We're believing that His shed blood was put on the mercy seat, and that
His shed blood is what gives us the forgiveness of sins. And then when you
notice in verse 25, it says to be a propitiation through faith in His blood.
That's what we're actually believing to save us, is the blood of Jesus Christ
being applied under our account, just like the Passover, and that's what gives
us salvation. You can't just believe Jesus existed, you have to actually put
faith in His blood and that saves you. Notice, for the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, His
righteousness. Salvation is by His righteousness, not ours, because the
Bible says there's none righteous, no not one. Those who say it's by works are
declaring their righteousness and they're not saved. If you think salvation
is by your righteousness, you're not saved. If you think it's by repenting of
your sins, you're not saved. If you think it's by going to church, you're not saved.
If you think it's by getting baptized, you're not saved. If you think it has
anything to do with your righteousness, you're not saved. You have to put your
faith in His blood, that's where you get saved. And what am I declaring? His
righteousness. We don't have righteousness. It says that He might be
just. Who's the He? Jesus. Jesus is the only one that's ever been just and ever
will be just. You're not just. You're not justified. Notice, "and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus." Notice again it doesn't say that Jesus
justifies those that follow the commandments. It doesn't say that Jesus
justifies those who've been catechized or follow some religious tradition. He
justifies those which believe in Jesus. He doesn't justify those who are born of
the Jews. It's not an ethnicity. It's not a race. It's not a denomination. It's not
a set of rigid rules. It's not someone who turned over a new leaf. It's those
who believed in Jesus and Jesus justifies those who believed in him. You
say verse 27, "Where's boasting then? How in the world can I brag if it was free?
How in the world can I brag if I did nothing to earn it? If I don't deserve it?
Well, what is the conclusion? It is excluded. There is zero that you can brag
about. There is zero that you can include of your works, your righteousness, what
you've done. It's completely excluded by what law of works? Nay, but by the law of
faith. So we see that faith and works cannot be the same thing. Some people
say, "Oh, faith means have the works." No, notice it said by what law of works? No,
but by the law of faith. Works and faith are not the same thing, they're opposites.
They are opposites and you're not saved by your works, otherwise you could brag,
otherwise you could boast, otherwise you're declaring your righteousness. No,
it's by faith, so then you can't boast. It's free and you're declaring his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. So what's the conclusion?
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. Now how can you read these eight verses and then come away with any
conclusion other than faith alone? It's because you're blinded, you've been
you've been lied to, you've been taken advantage of, people are twisting
scripture because the Bible just hammered faith alone right here. It
couldn't have made it clearer. And of course we're not done. Look at chapter
four verse one. "What shall we say then that Abraham our fathers were tending the
flesh hath found for if Abraham were justified by works he hath whereof the
glory but not before God for what say of the scripture Abraham believed God and
it was counted unto him for righteousness." So how is Abraham saved? By faith not of
works. Verse four he explains this. "Now to him that worketh is the reward not
reckoned of grace but of debt." If works has anything to do with salvation then
salvation could not be of grace. Grace and works are incompatible words. They
cannot coexist. Just like me and these faggots we can't coexist, all right? Just
like me and these people that believe in multiple genders we can't coexist. And
these stupid bumper stickers if you have a coexist bumper sticker I don't want to
coexist with you. Those people are weird and they're liberals and in the same way
works and grace cannot coexist. They don't they don't exist together. They're
separate from one another. Otherwise both words become meaningless. They're exact
opposites. Black is not white. White is not black. And if you try to say they're
the same well you ruin both definitions. Truth cannot be lies. Lies cannot be
truth. Some things are the exact opposite and works and grace are the
exact opposite. And if you were saved by your works well then it wasn't by grace
it was a debt that God owed you. But God does not owe anyone salvation. No one has
earned it. No one can get it. It's a free gift. It says in verse 5, "But him that
worketh not," meaning he never did any works, never did any good, "but believeth
on him that justifieth the ungodly." His faith is counted for righteousness. Even
as David also described with the blessings of the man, "until God imputeth
righteousness without works." You know people say, oh where does the Bible say
faith alone? Where does the Bible say that salvation is by faith alone? Well it
said right here that it's righteousness without works. Instead of verse 28 in the
prior chapter, "therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law." Yeah, it's explaining that concept over and over
and over and over and over. So we just simplify it and say it's faith alone.
We're just trying to put it in a condensed way where you can understand
what we're saying. And look, you understand what we're saying. Because when
we say faith alone, you disagree with it. But then we show you from the Bible over
and over and over and over how it's faith alone, and you just don't believe the
Bible. Now look at, if you would, chapter five for a moment. Think about what the
Bible describes salvation is like. It says it's a free gift. Verse 15, "But not
as the offense, so also is the free gift. For through the offense of one, many be
dead. Much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus
Christ hath abounded unto many." So Adam was the offense. Jesus is the free gift.
He's giving us the free gift. Skip down to verse 17, "For if by one man's offense,
death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and the
gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." So again we
have here one man's offense, which is what? It's specifically Adam. Then it says
"the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one." That's Jesus Christ. Skip
back up to verse 16. It says "and not as it was by one that sinned so is the
gift for the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of
many offenses unto justification." So in verse 15 it's a free gift and verse 16
it's a free gift and verse 17 it's the gift of righteousness. Verse 18 "therefore
as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men under condemnation even so
by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification
of life." Oh you just think you believe in cheap grace. No I don't believe in
that I believe in free grace. It's not cheap it's free and you know why it's
not cheap because it costs Jesus the most precious thing in the world his
blood. It's the most expensive gift to him and it's the freest gift that we
could ever receive. And notice 15 free gifts, 16 free gifts, 17 gift of
righteousness, 18 free gift again. How many times does the Bible have to tell you it's a
free gift? You look at Romans chapter number three verse 24 being justified
freely then it's in chapter number five free gift free gift free gift. Oh man you
guys just think it's a get out of jail free card. Yes I do but substitute jail
with hell. Get out of hell free card believing in Jesus Christ. That's all you
have to do just like you play the game Monopoly all you have to do is just take
that community chess card just grab it and you now are out there you just have
to take the gift of life freely. It's out there all you have to do is just accept
his free gift and you're saved forever and the cool thing about the card is
you don't have to play it and lose it you just you always have it. He gives you
that card and it's just a permanent card that can never be taken away and you're
saved for all of eternity. Ephesians 2 8 and 9. Keep your finger
in Romans. I want to come right back. Ephesians 2 8 and 9 says for by grace you
save through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of
works lest any man should boast. So the Bible says by grace are you saved
through faith. Isn't that similar what we've already read? The exact same thing.
Now in Romans chapter 11 if you look at verse number 6 the Bible tells us
something about grace. Verse 6 and if by grace then it is no more works otherwise
grace is no more grace but it would be of works then it is no more grace
otherwise work is no more work. The Bible says salvation cannot be by both grace
and work it's either grace and no works or it's work and no grace. It cannot be
both and you'll often hear Calvinists you'll hear Catholics they'll get up
and say God gave me the grace to do the works and you're just like you don't
even understand definition of words now because they'll say oh the gift was for
me to do all the work that's not a gift I mean what if I said hey I'm offering
all of y'all a gift you can you can mow my lawn for free whenever you would like
I'm so gracious anybody I'm gonna give you a great gift of grace you can wash
my car you can mow my lawn you can clean my house isn't that so lovely that I
gave you that opportunity to do that I mean that's nonsense it's nonsense to
say oh this is such grace no grace would be you transgress against me and I don't
give you what you deserve in return that's grace grace is I give you money
and you don't pay me back and I say don't worry about it that's grace and in
the same way we transgressed against God we sinned against God and by his grace
we don't have to go to hell to be punished for our sins Jesus took our
place for us Jesus paid our debt for us and he sprinkled his blood on the mercy
seat so we wouldn't have to die and go to hell for our own sins and he offers
us salvation by grace let's take a quick journey through John I'm not going to
show you every verse on this but I mean point one is just so clear the Bible
just teaches salvation by faith by faith by faith by faith and what was the
synonym of this believe it's those who believe which is the same thing
believing faith the same thing the Bible hammers believing is what saves us John
1 12 but as many as received him to them gave me power to become the sons of God
even in them that believe on his name how do you become a child of God by
believing verse 13 which were born not a blood nor the will of flesh nor the
will of man but of God but you weren't born because of the fact that you are a
certain ethnicity or a certain race or you had certain parents nobody was born
into God's family physically you were born into God's family spiritually when
you believed in Jesus Christ and it wasn't by you working or wanting to be
saved it was by you believing in Jesus Christ and getting the free gift look at
John chapter 3 verse 15 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have eternal life verse 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have
everlasting life verse 18 he that believeth on him is not condemned but he
that believeth not is condemned already because he have not believed in the
name of the only begotten son of God what does it say in verse 36 he that
believeth on the Sun hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Sun
shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him good thing you have a
King James in your lap this morning because modern versions will often
change verse 36 to say he that does not obey the Sun shall not see life you know
what that's not what the Bible says it says he that believeth not shall not see
life but the wrath of God abideth on him just like we saw in Galatians chapter
number one those who have another gospel are accursed those who are still
of the works of the law are under the curse and those who believe not are what
they have the wrath of God abiding on them they have the curse of God on their
life and if they die cursed they're gonna go to hell John chapter 5 verse
24 the Bible says verily verily I say in you he that heareth my word and
believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into
condemnation but has passed from death and life John 6 47 the Bible says
verily verily I say in you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life
how many verses do you need for the Bible to just explain this point it's
believe believe believe faith faith faith grace grace grace no works no works
no works free gift free gift free gift free gift how do you know faith alone is
right have you read the Bible I mean the Bible is just crystal clear on this
point salvation is by faith not of works by grace no works it's a free gift all
you have to do is just trust in Jesus Christ and you're saved for all of
eternity go back if you went to Galatians now go back to Galatians now
okay so point one the Bible just says salvation by faith you can't get away
from it now because the Bible is so clear on what we just read false
religion also realizes all those verses are in the Bible so you know what they
all have to do give lip service to salvation by faith and frankly speaking
it would be it would be hard for you to find a religious leader that won't just
say salvation by faith I mean I don't care if you find a Catholic some
Presbyterian some Methodist if you get them on TV if you get them in an
interview and you say hey do you believe salvation is by faith they'll say like
yes I do because there's so many verses on it but it's then when they start
explaining it you start realizing this guy does not believe in salvation by
faith that is not what they're really trusting in you know it's a meaningless
and a vain exercise in many cases to just be like I think this guy's safe
don't you think salvation by faith and they're like yeah they'll just say it I
mean how many people have you knocked on their door and they'll just say yes
salvation by faith and then you're like okay can you lose it oh yeah is this
like a one-time event or does this take like a lifestyle it's a lifestyle if you
don't have the works are you gonna be safe no not at all you have to have all
the works you like you just said salvation is by faith why do they sit
there and parrot that why is it that many times will just give that as the
first answer because the Bible just says it so many times that if people are
getting up and not preaching that people be confused they'd be thinking like why
read it like 50 times you know so we have to drill down ask more questions
and and this is something that I think a lot of people sincerely wonder when you
talk to them at the door you're evangelizing is they hear okay
salvation is by faith but I believe it's faith and works so I think it's like
extra so I would obviously be saved then because I have the faith and I have
works how am I not better than you how am I not doing more than what's even
required but the problem is if you believe salvation by faith and works
you're not saved and so how do you know you're correct on that well the entire
book of Galatians is dealing with this issue Galatians is dealing with the
issue of well can I add something and still be saved or can I you know put a
little bit of extra in there and get into the door and the answer is no we
already read in chapter 1 there's people preaching another gospel he brings us
up chapter 2 verse 4 and that because of false brethren and wares brought in who
came in privilege to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they
may be brought bring us into bondage to whom we gave place by subjection no not
for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you now in the
context of Galatians the Apostle Paul's bringing up this question that had been
previously entered in the minds of these Judaizers and saying well you also have
to be circumcised and if you think about it Galatians is pretty interesting
because they're not even just necessarily saying you have to do
everything to be saved they're just adding like one extra cherry it's like
faith and circumcision and the Apostle Paul is saying hey there is these people
these false brethren unawares brought in who came in to privily spy out our
liberty now let me explain something false brethren are not saved so faith
plus work saves you then why is the people bringing this doctrine are not
saved riddle me that someone that's bringing a doctrine of faith plus
anything is a false brethren they're not saved and the text is already telling us
that people that have this extraversion of the gospel that add to the gospel are
false brethren and they're not saved and they were trying to spy out Timothy I
mean it sounds kind of homo you know I mean think about it I mean think about
it these guys seem kind of like fruity why in the world are they so interested
in trying to figure out what's going on with Timothy I mean this is disgusting
this is gross and that's what a false gospel does it makes you gross and it
makes you want to do gross things okay and we see these false brethren are
coming in to spy on them and to try and try to attack them verse 16 it says
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of
Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the works of the
law shall no flesh be justified now doesn't that ring some bells and all the
verse we just read again I mean this is such a powerful verse it says we already
know that no one is justified by works of the law why because that's what he
preached to this church that's why they got saved that's why they got plugged
in that's why they joined that's why they got baptized is they knew that
salvation was not by works it was by faith because when Paul showed up he
wasn't telling them to keep the works to get there he's like you showed up at
church because I told you was a free gift you got baptized because you
believed it was by faith and then you started hearing about Jesus because of
the faith we know that's the truth and he says even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of
the law why because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified exactly
what it said in Romans chapter number three but if while we seek to be
justified by Christ we ourselves also found sinners is therefore Christ the
minister of sin God forbid so he's saying look if obviously if I end up
sinning after getting saved which is what everyone will do it's not like
Christ is just saying like hey let's just keep sinning and partying because
we got saved and we can't lose it no Christ isn't a minister of sin Christ
isn't telling people to sin Christ isn't wanting people to sin Christ isn't
giving you a license to sin Christ just saved you from your sin that's all he
did okay just like you go out and you swim and you start drowning and the
lifeguard goes out there and drags you out of the water and saves you from
drowning he's not saying hey now I want to give you a license to go drown
whenever you want in fact don't ever try to swim no the lifeguard will say swim
if you go back out there make sure you're swimming but what's the lifeguard
gonna also say if you fail you get a cramp if you get tired something's weird
I'll still run out there and I'll drag you out of the water every time and in
the same way Jesus Christ is like that lifeguard that when we get in the pool
when we get in that ocean that body of water even if we decide to stop swimming
he's not gonna let us drown he's not gonna let us die but he's not saying
don't try he's not saying don't swim he's not saying don't do good things
obviously Christ wants us to follow all the commandments he wants us to do a
good job he wants us to learn how to swim in our spiritual sea but you know
what he's gonna rescue us every single time and he's never gonna let you die
on his watch okay he's not handing out licenses to drown in the same way Christ
is not handing us out licenses to do whatever we want Christ is not a
minister of sin but then Paul says this in verse 18 for if I build again the
things that I destroyed I make myself a transgressor what is he saying well but
if I go back to my previous religion what are the things that he destroyed he
destroyed the Pharisee religion he destroyed the Jewish religion if he's
like if I go back and rebuild the Jewish religion I'm gonna make myself a
transgressor because no one can keep the law if I'm gonna say salvation is by
the works of the law I'm gonna make myself a transgressor because no one
is perfect I've already destroyed that I don't need that anymore I'm done with
that verse 19 for I through the law I'm dead to the law that I might live under
God he's dead to lie he's already died in the law meaning the curse of law is
dead to him it has no effect unto him he cannot go to hell because he's dead to
the law the law does not apply now what is the law not apply to his end time
judgment it's not meaning that the law of God doesn't apply to us right now he
just explained that Christ is not a minister of sin but what he is saying is
he's dead to the law that when he stands before God the law can't throw him into
hell because he's dead to it but you know before you die physically you better
make sure you're keeping the law right verse 20 I am crucified with Christ
nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave
himself for me I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness come
by the law then Christ is dead in vain if you have to be saved by works then
what Christ did was meaningless think about it this way if we go to lunch and
I say hey don't worry I'll pay for lunch I got it and you you think that you get
up we eat we get up we're leaving and then the waiter waitress comes over and
they say are you gonna pay for your meal and you're like he paid for it and they
say no he didn't his credit card didn't work his credit card was expired his
credit card failed are you gonna pay they're like okay I guess I'm gonna pay
then you know you're doing you're invalidating the other person you're
not the other person didn't pay the other person didn't do their job it makes
what they did meaningless how how meaningful would it be if I invite you
to lunch and then say I'm gonna pay and then I didn't pay you're not gonna be
like thanks so much for lunch I mean can you imagine paying for the lunch after I
told you I was gonna pay and then thanking me for it thank you for buying
my lunch I mean why in the world are we singing hymns to God why are we singing
hymns to Jesus Christ that he paid it all to God be the glory it's only
through Jesus you know if he didn't actually pay for it he actually paid for
it so then we can say thank you so we can actually give him the glory and him
the honor and I'm not gonna frustrate the grace of God and say oh no no it's
what I do well now we're making of what Christ did of none effect it's vain it
was meaningless and you know what Catholics make the gospel meaningless
work salvationists make the gospel meaningless because they're saying no no
I got to pay well now you're taking away the payment of Jesus already made and
if you go to the restaurant and they pay the meal you can't pay on top of it they
won't let you pay the meal obviously give an extra tip you know what that
doesn't do anything you know you can't pay for the meal that's already been
bought in and already been paid for the receipt has already been made they
handed the receipt to the person that paid and you know what Jesus already has
the receipt you can't pay for it it's already a done deal there's nothing to
pay for you either just accept it or you don't now if we keep reading in
Galatians it just keeps getting more clear that these people are not saved
look at chapter 4 verse 11 chapter 4 verse 11 I am afraid of you lest I
bestowed upon you labor in vain now he's saying these this group of people got
mixed up so imagine you go to an area you preach the gospel you get a bunch
of people baptized you bring them into a church and then later you come back to
that church or later you hear about that church and this church is now saying
salvation is by works now this church is saying you have to be circumcised now
this church is saying you have to do more than just believe you're thinking
like maybe all that labor is I'm afraid that what I did didn't work I'm afraid
that you guys actually aren't even saved I'm afraid that somehow this didn't
stick because you are obviously don't even believe the gospel anymore and he's
he's worried that it's kind of mixed up now a couple things we can learn number
one it seems like it must be possible for someone to get a little mixed up on
the gospel and still be saved okay but here's another thing we can learn that
if someone's a little mixed up you should have zero confidence that they're
saved okay so if someone's a little mixed up and I'm doubting their
salvation or don't believe they're saved that's the attitude Paul has he's saying
well I'm afraid that you're just not even saved okay because we shouldn't
think like oh well this guy that's mixed up in the gospel is still saved for sure
now if someone's mixed up in the gospel it should be like a huge red flag that
they're probably not saved and we need to make sure that they're right you know
we go out knock doors and we talk to people many people are confused and it's
like some people criticize oh you're just getting people that are sage saved
again or something well even if that was what I was doing praise God I'm not that
worried about it like oh you went from being really screwed up on the gospel
to now being sharp that's still a win you know I mean and and look if they
were saved and we prayed to get them saved again it didn't hurt them it
didn't like get them in a lower level in heaven or like give them a chance to go
to hell or something like that right I mean what's the worst thing you did oh
today I convinced somebody salvation was by faith more than they thought earlier
and reassured them that they were saved I mean if that was what we did praise
God anyways but look I believe that most of our salvation most of our preaching
we really are getting people saved that we're really converting them into our
religion but even if all we are doing is sharpening people up on the gospel
praise God maybe then they won't go to a church that's confusing them
constantly yeah it is possible for someone to get a little mixed up but
that's not the vast majority anyways people that are just wrong it's just 99
percent of the time they're just not saved they need to get saved they've
never been saved and that's why they're giving wrong answers that's why they're
screwed up but notice if you think it's faith plus something what does the
Apostle Paul say I don't think you're saved he doesn't say oh good you got
extra bonus credit oh you filled out the entire test and filled out the bonus
section no there's not a bonus section when you try to add works now you're
just not even saved if you try to add anything faith plus works does not save
you he's afraid of you he doesn't think you're saved whatsoever verse 19 my
little children of whom I travail and birth again until Christ be formed in
you I desire to be present with you now and to change my voice for I stand in
doubt of you he's frustrated he's thinking like man when I come back to
this church I'm gonna have to try and get you guys saved again I'm gonna have
to try I changed my voice is changing I was kind of talking to you like we're
brothers like we're friends like you're the saved but now I'm gonna have to try
to like change my voice and it's gonna be like y'all are even saved like I'm
gonna be rebuking you I'm gonna have to be sharp I need to figure out where we're
at and you know what sometimes we have to change our voice a little bit oh this
this preacher is kind of mean or this he's changing his voice okay well what
does Paul say he's not always a mild mannered even tempered guy sometimes he
has to change his voice sometimes he has to reprove rebuke exhort of all long
suffering and doctrine verse five I'm sorry chapter five verse two it says
behold I Paul saying to you that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you
nothing if I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor
to do the whole law if you think it's salvation by faith plus works you're not
saved he says in verse 4 Christ has become of no effect unto you
whosoever you are justified by the law you are fallen from grace now what does
it mean to fall from grace well it's not that they were saved and in grace and
lost it it's that grace was being extended to them and instead of
receiving it they fell from it so God was extending them this grace option and
then they fell from the grace think about it this way let's say you miss a
payment on your mortgage your bills and the company you call them and you say
hey sorry something happened and they say no problem we'll give you a ten day
grace period and if you pay your bill in the next 10 days we won't hit you with
all these late fees and charges and then you don't pay in those next 10 days
what's gonna happen now they're gonna slam you with all the extra fees why
because you fell from the grace period you had the grace extended to you but
you didn't accept the grace because you didn't end up paying your bill and in
the same way God is extending grace to the unsaved God is extending grace under
those that are not already a son of God but if they don't believe in that grace
period well now they've fallen from grace Christ has become of no effect unto
them they're going to the law they're going to be circumcised and they're not
saved now this is not saying that if someone's physically circumcised they
can't be saved it's saying someone who's trusting in their circumcision someone
who's trusting in the works is not saved they've fallen from grace they didn't
understand that salvation is a free gift they didn't understand that was just by
believing they went to try and seek salvation by works and they're not
saved verse 5 for we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith notice the hope of right this is such an important phrase what is the
hope of righteousness you're not righteous you weren't righteous before
you got saved you weren't righteous the moment you got saved and you're not
righteous after you get saved but you have the hope of righteousness meaning
what that one day we'll get a new body and will be glorified and then we'll be
righteous but now we still sin the Apostle Paul said in his saved state in
Romans chapter number 7 I am carnal he's still not perfect we're going through a
process of sanctification we should strive to do that which is right but
you're not righteous you won't be righteous in this life you have the hope
of righteousness and how do we acquire the hope of righteousness by faith when
we believe in Jesus Christ we become saved and later in the future we will be
redeemed fully and we'll have a new body and we'll finally become righteous and
you know what that's great we should have a desire to want to be righteous you
say hey being saved is wanting to be righteous have you heard this you have to
be willing to be saved or willing to be righteous all I have to do is just have
faith in Jesus to be saved but you know you could say yeah I do want to be
righteous but I know I'll never accomplish it in this life all I know is
if I believe in Jesus and he gives me a new body then I could be righteous and
I have the hope of righteousness in the future but you know what they're
teaching you can be righteous now there are people who say oh we're righteous oh
I don't sin people will say they don't sin anymore they're only confusing
themselves there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sin is not
the Bible is clear that there's none righteous I mean if you actually
understand sin no one's escaped this I mean the Bible says the thought of
foolishness is sin to him that know it is good and doeth it not to him it is
sin the Bible says the look with lust is sin the Bible says to be angry the
brother out of causes of sin I mean if we were honest with ourselves we're
probably sinning multiple times every day we can't escape it and that's that
that's at like the base level let alone many people are still lying stealing
committing fornication committing adultery getting drunk I mean if you
really knew what people are doing behind the scenes you wouldn't think no
one's sinning people put on a brave face at church but we know it's really going
on and it's hard to convince pastors people don't sin we know all kinds of
stuff all right you didn't you didn't stop sinning hey the Catholic priest he
knows people didn't stop sinning he's got people coming confessing all kinds
of crazy stuff that's going on let alone the people that think that they're
super righteous well you still have bad thoughts you stop bad actions you still
are lazy sometimes we're still selfish sometimes we're still prideful sometimes
I mean you can't escape sin but we have the hope of righteousness that one day
we will no longer be prideful selfish carnal having temptations of gospel and
lust and covetousness and being dishonorable and lazy I mean we won't
have that we'll be righteous finally but right now we don't have it but you know
what's clear in the book of Galatians is that if you add anything to salvation
you're not saved he's afraid of you he stands in doubt of you he doesn't think
that they're saved whatsoever and of course we have to think that about other
people you know I know that salvation's faith alone because when you add
anything else you're not saved it said it was by faith alone and then when you
added anything else in Galatians it's clear that you're not saved and it
doesn't save and it can't get you there and you're making what Christ did in
vain. Here's a third thing go back to Galatians 2. Why is faith alone correct?
Well the Bible says salvation is by faith. Why is faith alone correct? Because
adding works doesn't save you. Why is faith alone correct? Because those are
the people who evangelize. People believe in faith alone are the people that
actually do the evangelism in the world. Look at Galatians chapter 2 verse 7, "But
contrary wise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was
committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, for he that
wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same
was mighty in me toward the Gentiles." Now this is what's interesting. The Apostle
Paul, this is such an important point, in chapters 2 verses 7 and 8, the Apostle
Paul says, "Hey, God wanted me to reach the Gentiles and God wanted Peter to
reach the Jews." That's the circumcision. The circumcision is the Jews, the
uncircumcision is the Gentiles. Now is there a verse in the Bible that just
says like, "Peter, only go to the Jews." Now, there are verses in the Bible that
kind of indicate God wanted to send the Apostle Paul into the Gentiles, but how
does the Apostle Paul know that's what God wanted? It's because it's what
happened. It's their works that ended up establishing what God truly wanted. Why
is it that we know Peter was supposed to get a bunch of Jews saved? Because he got
a bunch of Jews saved. Why is it that we know God wanted Paul to get a bunch of
Gentiles saved? Because Paul got a bunch of Gentiles saved. And then you can kind
of see it was about the works, wasn't it? How do you know that you were chosen of
God to do a work? Because you did the work. It doesn't mean, "Oh, you're ordained.
Oh, you're given this commission. Oh, you say you're gonna do it." Doesn't matter.
Did you do it? You know, think about the parable in the New Testament. There's
two sons and the dad says to one, "Hey son, go in my vineyard." And he's like, "I
won't go." But then later he goes. And then the other one says, "Yeah, I'll go."
And then he does it. And he says, "Which of these twain did the will of his
father?" It's the one who did it. Because who cares what you say? Who cares what
you're commissioned to do? Who cares where you're sent? It matters if you do
it. And if we think about this, it's not the people that give lip service to
evangelism. It's not the people that say they're gonna do evangelism. It's the
people that do evangelism that matter. You know what? Show me the people that are
actually getting people saved and doing evangelism and I'll show you the people
that God wanted to do the evangelism. How do we even know who's right? Well, who's
actually doing the work? I mean, think about it. What if the people that were
right were people that never go out soul-winning? Oh, Calvinists were right.
Well, that stinks because they never told anybody. They never went out and did
anything. Like, wouldn't you want the people that are actually doing something
to be the people that are right? And at the end of the day, we notice the people
who believe in faith alone, they're the ones doing the work. Show me a soul
winner and I'll show you someone that believes in faith alone. In fact, apart
from your two cults, the Mormons and the JDubs, which have a completely different
plan of salvation, completely different Bible, they, you know, will go out and
damn souls to hell. But at the end of the day, if you really want to find people
that are doing hardcore evangelism, it's pretty much independent fundamental
Baptist. You could ask the internet, you could just look in reality. I've had, I've
had an independent fundamental Baptist that had nothing to do with our church or
movement knock on my door and try to like give our family the gospel. Who
would say they've had an independent Baptist ever knock on their door before?
Yeah, I mean it's some of us, it should be all of us, you know. I would love it
for it to be like 50 times a year. But at the end of the day, at least I've had
that. How many of you had a Calvinist knock on your door to give you this
gospel? Oh zero. How many of you had a Catholic knock on your door try to give
you the gospel? Oh zero again. Okay, is that, is that a coincidence? No. The
people who believe in faith alone are the ones doing evangelism. Why would, think
about this, if we were wrong and they were right, well then the Great
Commission is being fulfilled by no one. We are, we are the ones going out and
preaching the gospel. There's other groups, if you look online they'll say
Southern Baptists and Evangelicals are also out there doing work, trying to
reach people. I don't think they're doing it as much as Independent Fundamental
Baptist soul winning and honestly they're kind of mixed up sometimes,
sometimes they're kind of weak, but at least they're doing something and look a
lot of Southern Baptists are saved. A lot of evangelicals are saved and they have
some desire to reach people and look the people believe in faith alone, those are
the people that are gonna go out and preach to other people and get them
saved just like we saw Peter, just like we see at the Apostle Paul going out and
preaching the gospel and how do I know faith alone is correct? Well those are
the people who are evangelizing. I mean go ye into all the world and preach the
gospel of every creature, someone's got to do that. Who's doing that? You think
the Spirit of God just doesn't exist in the world anymore? You think that the
Spirit of God isn't flowing in somebody that's saved? I mean someone's got to be
saved and if the Spirit of God is flowing in that person, Jesus Christ said
if you follow me I'll make you a fisherman. So someone's getting someone
saved, unless just everyone's unsaved. But no, if you actually believe that
there's really fishermen, that people are really saved, well you're gonna find
them by the people that are reaching people and going soul-winning and
getting people into church and those are the people who believe in faith alone
are the ones going out and preaching the gospel. If we go to Matthew 28 and we'll
look at the famous verses there. I know that we're correct because we're the ones
who are doing the work. You know why we do the work and they don't? Because we're
confident in what we believe and they're not confident. We know faith alone works.
We know faith alone saves. They aren't confident in their presentation so
they're not gonna go out because if they did they would fail, it would be
confusing, people would run them off, they would run into one of us and they would
just get destroyed. We'd be like let me show you in your own, I basically take the
sword out of their hand and then slay them with their own sword, okay? Because we
know how to be saved and they don't and that's why we win. That's why we're
aggressive, that's why we're confrontational. But think about it, think
about just a practicality of the gospel. The Bible tells us in Matthew 28 verse
number 18, "Go ye," I'm sorry, "and Jesus came and spake unto them saying all
powers given unto me in heaven and in earth, go ye therefore and teach all nations
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you, and lo, I'm
with you always, even in the end of the world, amen." Think about the practicality of this
verse. If God wants us to teach all nations and getting someone saved takes
months, years, decades, it could never happen. Salvation has to be done quickly.
And if salvation has to be done quickly, well, it can't be by works and it can't
be by us inspecting their fruit, because then we'll never really accomplish much.
It has to be fast. Hey, you know what's fast? Salvation is by faith alone. It's a
free gift. Handing out free gifts can go quickly. You know what doesn't go quickly?
Being a disciple. I mean, there's many people who take a long time to become a
disciple. There are many people that get saved and then takes them a while to
end up getting baptized, takes them a while to end up getting into church,
takes a while to read the whole Bible, takes them a while to start dressing
like a fundamental Baptist, getting plugged in at church, actually start
becoming a soul winner, actually producing fruits. I mean that could be a
really long process for many people. And we can see God slowly working in
people's lives. But that's not what gets them saved. It was that free gift that
they got that's what got them saved. And yeah some people don't do much with that
free gift. Some people aren't even that grateful for that free gift. But you know
what? That's what we're handing out. And it wouldn't make sense that it would
take a long time because then how could we ever baptize someone? If I have to
wait and do like an eight-week course to figure out if you're even saved to give
you baptized, we're not gonna be baptizing scores of people on every day.
We're not gonna go out and get 3,000 people saved in one day. Think about
this. The earliest I was 120 people. They get 3,000 people saved in one day and
baptized on the same day. How long can you really spend with a person to give
them the gospel and baptized in one day? When it's 120 ratio to 3,000. It had to
be something that was done quickly, wouldn't it? It had to be fast. It had to
be quick. And of course, if God expects us to go out and do lots of labor, it has
to be something that can be done quickly. And let me tell you something. If your
gospel presentation takes days, weeks, years, it's wrong. Go to Acts chapter
number eight. I would argue if it takes an hour, it's wrong too. Now look,
sometimes it does take an hour. But if it always takes an hour, there's something
wrong. I believe that if you effectively communicate the gospel, you know, you
should probably be around 10 to 15 minutes. And if you're a little slower, it
takes you 20, no problem. If it's a super rush and super receptive person, I think
it's possible to get someone save six, eight minutes, you know. I mean, I've seen
it. It can happen. It's like the Bahamas, okay. But if you're getting someone saved
in two minutes, you're probably doing it wrong. Two to four minutes, you're
probably doing something wrong. You're probably not being thorough enough. You
probably need to improve. And if it's taking you like 30 plus minutes, you
probably need to work on your efficiency. Okay, you need to think about, you know,
I think that's the sweet spot. And it's about 10 to 15 minutes and, you know,
maybe extends to 20, 25, depending on what kind of objections they have or
what kind of situations you run into. Maybe how distracted they are. Obviously
some people are just low-hanging fruit and you can just get through it pretty
quickly. And it's gonna depend a little bit on the person. But you know what it
doesn't take? 35 weeks. It doesn't take 35 years to preach the gospel. Now it
could take someone a long time to end up getting saved because they're just
hardened, resistant, you have to sow a lot of seeds and water in that person's
life for them to finally come to the point where they want to get saved. But
you know the gospel presentation itself, you explaining how to be saved should
not take like years and decades and whatever. It takes just a moment of time.
And look Acts chapter 8 is a great story about this. Look at verse number 35
because there's this Ethiopian eunuch reading the Bible. The the deacon or
evangelist Philip is running unto him. He reads Isaiah and he's like hey what's
this about? It says in verse 35 then Philip opened his mouth and began at the
same scripture and preached on him Jesus. So guys reading the Bible you have an
evangelist show up. Hey what does this mean? So he just immediately starts
explaining to him the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 36 and as they went on
their way they came unto a certain water and the eunuch said see here's water
what doth hinder me to be baptized and Philip said if thou believest all thy
heart thou mayest and he answered said I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God and he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into
the water both Philip and the eunuch and he baptized him now do you think it
would be a good idea to baptize people that are not saved that would be bad
right giving them a false assurance of salvation not being clear but how can
this guy meet him and in the same day probably just moments later end up
baptizing him his salvation is by works wouldn't you have to wait and see like
well do you have the works are you gonna change your lifestyle have your
penitent of all your sins have you done all these things because I don't want
to just baptize you but look he doesn't know anything about the guy he doesn't
know what sins he's committed he never told him he's gonna repent of any sins
he never said he wants to change his lifestyle he's not even gonna live in
that part of the world he's going back to wherever he's from but he says hey
I'll baptize you based on one thing if you believe with all your heart and he
said I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God he believes it he's trusting
in Jesus Christ he wants to believe in Jesus Christ and of course at that time
you know these events happened Jesus was a real person everybody had heard of
Jesus everybody knew this guy died on the cross everybody pretty much knew
about the resurrection so to confess that he was the Son of God or Christ was
to admit you believed his death burn resurrection it was to admit that you
were believing that that was what gave you the forgiveness of sins not the
works of the law so in many cases them by saying just he's the Son of God
they're kind of lumping all of that belief into that statement okay today
because of so much false religion people can say he's the Son of God and not
actually saved not mean all that or not believe all that so we want to be
careful that we're more thorough today there's been more heresy spread you
know in time past more false religion spread I mean back then they don't have
the Catholic Church sorry Catholics you don't go back to Peter you didn't start
with Peter no there isn't Mormons there isn't Jehovah's Witnesses there isn't
Calvinists Calvinists don't exist Presbyterians don't exist Greek
Orthodox doesn't exist no there's just John the Baptist right there's
Baptist okay they go back to Peter we go back to John the Baptist all right hey
we're before you all right and we're with them that were baptized in the
wilderness we go back even further all the way back to Moses to that Baptist
Church hey they were baptized through the Red Sea weren't they all right
because it's always been Baptists all right I'm not changing the nomination
how pathetic to change to get Baptist off the sign sorry this is a little rant
you take Baptist off the sign that's lame just just basically just say like
you're a lame Christian that doesn't want to do what the Bible says no we're
gonna keep Baptist on the name we're steadfast Baptist Church we're not just
gonna become steadfast or steadfast Baptist Church and we're not gonna get
away from being a Baptist like Philip who's baptizing you know gets away from
this people to take out verse 37 the NIV so then the church changes the NIV then
they take Baptist off the sign don't they and they take out Baptist baptism
verses in the Bible and what requires you to even get baptized and of course
why is it that these churches want to baptize people so quickly because it's a
sign that you're actually getting people saved but you know if you don't get
anybody saved no one's gonna get baptized and so they have to just
baptize people they don't even know what they believe they just drug them off the
street we'll give you a sandwich get baptized get in line and you know there
are a lot of people that have been baptized that aren't saved but we don't
want to do that you know it doesn't take a lifetime of works to figure out if we
can baptize them or not it takes what a profession of faith just simple faith and
Jesus Christ saves you and we see that salvation can be quick now it says in
verse 39 and when they were come up out of the water the spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip that the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing
think about how weird of a baptism experience this is like some guy just
comes out of nowhere tells you hey Jesus died on the cross he was buried rose
again he's like can I get baptized would you believe it he's like I believe it he
dunks you as soon as he brings you up he's just gone like you just just come
out of the water you're like you're like check it where did he go but then he
just went he's just rejoicing maybe saw the spirit of the Lord whisk him away I
don't know but isn't that kind of crazy you'd be thinking like this guy got
baptized and then the guy's just gone oh don't you have to do follow-up the
spirit of the Lord's forcing him to not do follow-up he couldn't even invite him
to his church you like ah sometimes you go and you preach some of the gospel and
get them saved and you walk away you don't even know their name okay well the
spirit of Lord whisk me away to another door to get another person saved you
know it's more important me than knowing that guy's name that I'll forget five
minutes later anyways was another person I mean who in here is that I know every
single person's name that I've gotten saved like I remember every single
convert I've ever had yeah I mean we all forget that's about it especially we do
a lot of soul-winning that becomes impossible I many times don't know
their name while I'm talking to them like they tell me and I'm like I don't
know go to a foreign country and you're just thinking like can I call you
something else like you know especially I mean Asian countries I really struggle
like understand it's it's dark sayings for me you know and so they're telling
me their name this is it's funny when I went to college we played basketball and
all the foreign students they just made up American names you know there's like
my name my name Charlie you know my name John and it's like but what's your real
name it's like teen Tasha all and it's like okay Charlie no problem you know
because like for me I'm just like I just struggle like you know I just don't
understand that okay and there's like do I have to know the person's name to get
them saved no it's meaningless hey do I have to stick around and hold their hand
and make sure they come to church no no I can preach in the gospel we can get
them baptized the same day why because faith alone evangelizes quickly whereas
salvation by works takes years and decades hey you go to the Catholic
church it'll take like a year or two to get confirmed you have to go all these
classes and get catechized and they're just trying to damn your soul forever
hey you go to the Mormon church it's gonna take forever to join that church
and to be a part of the Mormon group you know what that is not the Bible the
Bible people are just running through towns is getting score saved and leaving
Paul's just going and just killing it go to Galatians chapter 3 go back
Galatians chapter 3 so point one is the Bible says salvation is by faith that's
how we know it's correct number two adding works that you're accursed you're
not saved number three those who believe in faith alone are the people doing the
evangelism number four evangelism is quick in the Bible and it's quick in the
world and the only way it could be quick if it's faith alone the only way it could
be quick is if it's a free gift and that's how we know that they're saved
is because they believed it not by some works or some outward manifestation
because that doesn't save you anyways I don't need that you know I need is a
profession by faith out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and when
I ask you what you have to do to be saved and you say be a good person you're
not saved when I ask you I have to do be saved and you say faith alone in Jesus
well that's all I can do for you you know and when someone gives me the right
answers even if I'm not sure I mean there's nothing much else I can do you
know if they're lying to me I can't really I can't really stop that so I'm
gonna move on and try to give someone else the right answers Galatians chapter
number three here's the fifth point I want to make I'm just gonna make these
few points these last few points pretty quickly but Galatians chapter number
three the people who have believe in faith alone you know why we know we're
correct is because of the people who understand the Bible look at verse two
this only what I learned of you received you the spirit by the works of the law
or by the hearing of faith are you so foolish having begun in the spirit are
you now made perfect by the flesh so he's trying to say like you guys got
plugged in the church and made all these changes in your life not because you
started doing works but because you received it by faith and think about it
people realize oh I don't have to change anything to be saved they believe that
and then they change everything and then they the Bible just turns on like a
light bulb in their head and now all of a sudden they just understand the Bible
even though they didn't do it do anything go if you had to first
Corinthians chapter 2 go left just a hair first Corinthians chapter number 2
the Bible says in verse number 11 for what man know the things of man save the
spirit of man which is in him even so the things of God knoweth no man but the
spirit of God verse 12 now we have received not the spirit of the world but
the spirit which is of God that we might know things that are freely given to us
of God which things also we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things is spiritual
hey you know what man's wisdom teacheth this is theology theology is not how you
understand the Bible if you study a bunch of theology you'll get screwed up
on the Bible fast theology is wrong theology is Greek wisdom theology is
coming from Plato it's coming from Aristotle and then it gets into the
hands of the church fathers but it's just a repackaged Greek wisdom Greek
philosophy the Bible says to beware of philosophy that is what man's wisdom man
thinks he can teach you the Bible apart from the Bible but it's nonsense
foolishness it rejects the clear scriptures do not think that you're
gonna understand this book apart from this book we understand this book with
this book and with faith alone people believe in faith alone know this book
man when I listen to people explain parts of the Bible that aren't saved
it's goofy weird crazy and they just make all these weird excuses you know
the Bible say like let not your women speak in the church and and then they'll
say like oh well that's talking about how back in the day women were on this
side of the church and men were on this side and during the middle of the
service women are like hey honey what's for lunch and it was causing kind of an
issue in church so it's saying like hey let's not let the women yell across the
auditorium during the church service what who came up with that not someone
that believes in faith alone some weirdo okay not only that people that deny
faith alone believe weird stuff about the Trinity they interpret the parables
wrong they interpret all of the law wrong they get up and say I read Leviticus
2013 I still don't understand what it means you know the people who believe in
faith alone actually believe and understand the Bible and they get to
compare spiritual with spiritual why verse 14 but the natural man received not
the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness unto him neither can
he know them because they're spiritually discerned they read how
they're supposed to eat the body of Jesus and they think let's eat it they
hear about drinking blood and they think we have to drink blood in church every
single week you know they just it just goes over their head it says call no
man father oh let's call the main guy in the room father it says hey don't
disfigure your face when you fast and then they put ash on their face it just
they just it just goes over their head and then because they're not saved they
just can't get it it's like when little kids try to explain to you adult
subjects like where babies come from or how money works and you're just thinking
like wow you have no idea what you're talking about but you're cute because
you're a kid you know when you become an adult Catholic you're not cute anymore
you need to grow up and become a man and believe in faith alone and that's how
you understand the Bible go to 1st Timothy chapter 1 and it's also you know
this is a different sermon for a different time but it's really
concerning when you see a pastor that's been a fundamental Baptist for decades
and supposedly read the Bible for decades and a supposedly spirit-filled
being wrong and just so many doctrines and just being wrong and so many
interpretations and just constantly teaching things that are off because
you're just thinking like I don't know that you have the spirit of God because
the natural man doesn't understand this stuff but the spiritual guy would I mean
it's just weird when you're just wrong on everything like there's something off
about you okay and then they start attacking faith alone or attacking
soul-winning wow that's someone you want to stay far far away from here's the
sixth point I want to make is those who believe in faith alone are the people
who make lifelong changes first Timothy chapter 1 verse 12 and I think Christ
Jesus our Lord have enabled me for that economy faithful putting me in the
ministry who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious but I obtained
mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief and the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus the Apostle
Paul says that he had the biggest transformation of anybody in the world
and yet he preached salvation was a free gift by faith alone you know some
people say like oh when you go out and preach this message you're hurting
people because now they're just gonna live however they want but isn't it
funny that we're filled in a church right now where everyone believes
salvation by faith alone and yet many of us have the strictest standards of
anybody I mean isn't it funny like people criticize like oh your church
makes you to follow these rules and all these standards and you try to do
everything the Bible saying and you're so legalistic all the while then they
also say yeah but but your faith alone you're saying you don't have to do
anything wasn't it funny which one is it us that believe in faith alone seem to
be trying to do everything and then you get mad at us saying what you're
teaching is causing people to not do that wait a minute I feel like our room
is full of people doing that isn't our room full of people actually trying to
serve God even though none of us think we have to do it to be saved I mean I
know for a fact I could just I could walk out right now never come back do
nothing good sin as much as I want and I'm going to heaven you know I'm
standing here because I actually fear God and I want to be rewarded in this
life in the next and actually love my wife and I love my children and I love
you guys and I love the loss and I'm here so we can pull more people out of
the fire because I have love in my heart I didn't just want to get out of jail
free card I also want to help other people get that card too and the people
who believe in faith alone are the ones that make the best changes in their
life they're the ones where the men actually lead and actually provide for
their households show me a church where there's more men who are the single
breadwinner in their house than our church hey you look at compare us to the
Catholic Church compare us to the Presbyterian Church compare us to the
non-denom church show me churches where they have more men that are the single
income earner than our church show me a church where the women are dressed more
modestly and more godly than our church show us a church where people know the
Bible more and have read the Bible more show me a church where the kids are
memorizing more verses every single week show me a church that's doing more
evangelism show me a church that's actually trying to give up sin show me
a church where people aren't drunk show me a church where they're not fornicators
show me a church where they're not extortioners and railers you know what we
are separated and sanctified and we're trying to serve God here even though we
believe it's faith alone they want to say oh no the transformation of the
Gospels you have a changed life look around and look I'm not saying that
we've arrived I'm not saying that we're better than every other church what I am
saying is when we do a little bit of comparison I noticed the people living
the most sanctified lies are the ones that believe salvation is the freest
that's how I know faith alone is correct hey wisdom is justified of our children
if we saw the Catholics just being so much better people than us it would
kind of make us wonder like maybe they're right if we saw the Mormons
being better than us we would think maybe it's right but you know what I see
more hypocrisy in the other churches more ungodliness less faith less
sanctification feminism liberalism heresy that's what I see go to 2nd
Peter chapter 2 just flip to the right go to 2nd Peter chapter 2 our church is
trying to make lifelong changes I mean who in here would just self admit I'm
way different than when I got saved I mean look around the room and none of us
are doing that because we want to go to heaven we're doing that because we want
God to be pleased with us because we want him to be happy with us and we know
even if we did nothing again we would still be saved but that doesn't motivate
me to be a bad person now many churches are teaching you to change your life and
give your life surrender your life I mean think about what the other churches
are saying surrender your life Robert Morris is Lord of salvation his is what
he said this is how you know you're saved who's the boss who makes the
decisions in your life he says if you're still in charge you're gonna go to hell
I mean think about the extremity of what he's saying yet you go to Gateway you
talk to people Gateway their lives don't look like Jesus is making every single
decision of their life they're not separated and sanctified why because
they don't believe in faith alone they believe in work salvation and when you
believe in work salvation you're you have this crisis because you realize
you're not sinless so then you have to drag this bar way down to make you feel
like you're somehow righteous when you're not at all whereas we realize
we'll never get there so our bar is as high as possible be therefore perfect
even as our father which in heaven is perfect but we're still striving for
that they have to drop the bar so low because they realize how low they are
and they have to then pretend like they're still righteous with such a low
bar and those who believe in faith alone they're the ones actually make real
lifelong change you see these false religions people end up becoming worse
their lives are worse than when they got into church look at verse 20 for if
after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ they are and again entangled therein and overcome
the latter end is worse with them than the beginning for it had been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known
it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them but has happened
unto them according to the true proverb the dog is turned to his own vomit again
and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire now some weirdo
taught that this is talking about saved people he's wrong and he's wrong about a
lot of stuff but notice in verse 22 it says the dog is turned to his own vomit
again dogs are not saved in the Bible dogs are a picture of unsaved creatures
so it doesn't matter how much you wash up the dog it's still a dog and it's
still not saved and as soon as it can it's gonna eat its vomit again the pig
no matter how much you scrub it it'll jump in the mud immediately once it gets
another chance again you know what saved sheep the dog didn't become a sheep and
then get cleaned up it's still a dog because repenting of your sins doesn't
change who you are and people that are going to a church trying to repent of
their sins to be saved are still a dog they're still a pig and they're still
gonna want to do disgusting things you have to be changed on the inside and
become a sheep become a son of God before you have the capability of having
a lifelong change something that'll actually stick someone that'll become a
fundamental Baptist and stay a fundamental Baptist you know what that
word is steadfast those who believe in faith alone those are the people that
are gonna be steadfast people believe in works as soon as they screw up big
enough they'll quit forever because they realize they can't make it they
realize that they can't keep going and so many of them get discouraged and they
go back and you know what they're never going to be saved I want to go to one
more place go back to Galatians chapter 5 here's the last point I'm gonna make
probably be a whole sermon but this is why I know faith alone is correct is
because it's the people with the greatest persecution we are the people
with the greatest persecution those who believe in faith alone and it's not a
coincidence because of course the enemy wants us to stop getting people saved so
he's gonna attack us the most and the heaviest Galatians chapter 5 look at
verse 11 and I brethren if I yet preach circumcision why do I yet suffer
persecution then is the offense of the cross ceased look almost every other
religion and every other group teaches and works salvation that's why they can
get along with each other so well why is it that the Catholics and the Jews on a
supreme court are getting along so well why is it that the Catholics and the
Jews in our government get along so well why is it that Ben Shapiro on the daily
wire the Jew can be such good friends with Matt Walsh the Catholic because
this the the offense of the cross has ceased for both of them why is it that
we can see these ecumenical councils for the president where we have the Pope and
the Dalai Lama and some is my Imam or some Muslim representative and there's
all these is false religions they're all wearing a dress and a skirt and weird
hat and it's just different colors and they're just all up there and they're
all buddies because you know what the offense of the cross has ceased for that
group why do we suffer persecution because we bring the cross of Jesus
Christ because we bring the true gospel and we say you guys are all wrong you're
all unsaved you all believe in works you're all false prophets and then they
gnash on you with their teeth they want to destroy you and you know what faith
alone is correct because we're the ones being persecuted we're the ones that are
actually being attacked we're the ones being protested we're the ones being
shut down we're the ones that are being infiltrated we're the ones getting all
kinds of grievous things happening unto us why because we're right yeah and all
that will have God in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution hey if you aren't
suffering persecution you're not godly you know it's funny churches that once
were being persecuted or once being afflicted now they're not now no one's
mad at them now they have no problems you know what happened they lost their
godliness think about it how many churches a day that are speaking a pro
sodomite message or whatever they're getting protested banks are shutting
them down they're getting attacked they're receiving they don't receive the
persecution and you know why a lot of churches won't preach things in the
Bible because they just don't want to be persecuted they don't want to be
afflicted they don't want to be attacked you know you go out and you knock on
doors I mean isn't that the best thing we can do isn't that the nice thing we
do is knock on door and offer someone a free gift of salvation you don't even
know how many emails and phone calls we get about that how dare you come and
knock on my door you guys shouldn't be doing this oh I'm gonna call the cops I
mean look people in our church have been punched in the face for going out
and preaching the gospel people have been banned from countries trying to go
out and preach the gospel let alone what we actually save the gnarly stuff in the
Bible but look when you go out and you preach the gospel you will face
persecution and that's how I know that we're right I know that we're right you
know and what's the point of the sermon well when we're persecuted we should
rejoice and allow this to further increase our face that we're godly and
on the right path we need to know that we're on the right path and we need to
have confidence in our message because we don't want to get to a point where
we're going out and they're like yeah faith plus works and we're like yeah
they're probably saved well I know they think they can lose their salvation but
they're Pentecostal they're probably saved no we need to know this person's
not saved we need to have a desperate zeal in our heart to get these people
saved we want to make sure that we know hey it's not faith plus works because we
live in an area of the world where almost everybody believes they're saved
we live in an area in the world where everybody will give lip service to the
gospel which is not another but there's many which have perverted the gospel of
Jesus Christ and we need to be sharp we need to be clear we need to be
confident and you know what we know that salvation is by faith alone because
that's what the Bible teaches we know salvation by faith alone because adding
works won't save anybody we know that faith alone is what works because those
are the people doing the evangelism we know faith alone is right because it's
quick and we can get people quickly saved we know that faith alone is right
because those are the people that understand the whole Bible we know faith
alone is right because those are the people that actually made changes in
their life and we know that faith alone is correct because those are the people
being persecuted in this world let us never lose confidence of salvation by
faith alone but let us be those bold mouths that go out and all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature let's go in prayer thank you heavenly
father so much for giving us the gospel and giving us the understanding thank
you for giving us such a quick and efficient tool that we can go out and
preach thank you for making salvation so free thank you for giving us just so
much wisdom and knowledge freely so that we could understand all parts of the
Bible and thank you for also helping us to be able to change our lives and live
godly lives and thank you for giving us faith to overcome persecution to
overcome obstacles I pray that when we're persecuted we'll rather rejoice
but not be discouraged I pray that when we're persecuted we'll embrace it and
we'll know we're on the right path I pray that when we're persecuted and
afflicted that'll just help us know that we're even more right than we
previously thought and I pray that you would help us to do all this work and
the honor and glory of your son in his Jesus name we pray amen right and
closing let's go to song number 404 song number 404 when the battles over
song number 404 let's all sing it out together
baptism this afternoon Tezia is coming for baptism have you trusted
Christ as your Savior then I baptize you in the name of the Father Son and Holy
Ghost thanks of his death raise to walk in newness of life
congratulate Tezia and her family God bless you're dismissed