Here's another thing they'll say, cheap grace.
And whenever somebody says that to me, who's heard that one?
Cheap grace?
Yeah, look at all the hands.
Here's what I always say to that one, it's not cheap, it's free.
Just lower the price just a little bit, because it's not cheap.
You know what's cheap grace?
Salvation by works is cheap grace.
But here's the thing, these people out there that want to call what we believe cheap grace,
they're the cheapest stinking cheapskate bracers in the world, because they think that their
good works, which are a filthy rag, are going to pay their way to heaven.
That's the cheapest grace I've ever heard of.
And anyone who would call that cheap is blaspheming God, because the blood of Jesus is priceless,
and that is what saves us.
See, if it's free, it's not cheap.
Our grace that gets us into heaven is the most expensive thing you can imagine, because
it's paid for by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Doesn't get any more expensive than that, folks.
The blood of Christ.
Let's put the blood of Christ up against your stupid works, and you know what?
The blood of Christ will put your works and your repent of your sins in the shade, my friend.
But this is the kind of nonsense that spiritually blinded people will say, they're blind, folks.
You'd have to be a blind person to say, oh, well, faith alone, but faith is never alone.
Well, faith without works is dead.
Okay, but you just said faith without works doesn't exist.
How can faith without works be dead if it doesn't exist?
Faith without works exists, and it's dead, and it exists.
And the Bible says, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
again godly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Many people are trusting in their works, and they say they believe in Jesus, but in their
heart, they're trusting in their works.
And those people in Matthew 7 said, we've done all these wonderful works.
And Jesus said, I never knew you.
And he didn't say, I used to know you, and then you lost yourself.
No, no, he said, I never knew you.
Depart from me, he cursed into everlasting fire.
Then there's also the no works gospel.
Jesus is countering those false teachers by saying no, no.
You have to have a life that reflects that confession.
And Jesus speaks directly to this one in verse 21.
Look at what it says.
He says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
This is the false gospel of not living under the lordship of Christ.
Now, Jesus Christ said in Matthew chapter 12, for by thy words, thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words, thou shalt be condemned.
You have to have a life that looks like that is in line with what you're confessing.
In other words, you just can't only point back to a day 43 years ago and say, see, I'm
saved.
Here's the simplicity.
You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you're saying, oh, that's cheap.
Wrong.
It's free.
So let me tell you this.
Whenever you preach that salvation's by faith alone, people will always come at you with
this straw man argument that says, oh, so just praying a prayer saves you.
Praying a prayer saves you.
That's what they'll always hit you with.
Many false teachers and many false hearers proclaim this one.
They say, all you have to say is a prayer.
Just say these words.
Just repeat after me.
When you didn't even admit, you said faith and they just say, oh, prayer, just prayer, prayer.
No, we didn't say praying a prayer saves you.
We said faith in Jesus Christ saves you.
And Jesus is not teaching a work's righteousness here.
He's not saying, listen, you have to do these things.
But what he is saying.
Anybody who preaches that is a heretic out of hell.
Anybody who preaches that somebody has to give up their sins to go to heaven is a heretic out of hell.
But what he is saying.
You can't just have a right belief.
You have to have a changed life.
Wrong.
Don't tell me that that's not what gets people to heaven.
Because I used that Bible for years to win people to Christ.
And I've been preaching that gospel since I got saved when I was six years old.
And that's the gospel I'm going to preach until I die.
Don't tell me that that's not what gets people to heaven.
Because believing on Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.
Don't tell me that somebody's not saved because they don't turn their life around.
Yeah, you're right.
Some people say that they got saved.
They pray and say they got saved.
And they're not really saved.
They're a liar and they're going to go to hell if they say that.
But I'm going to tell you something.
If anybody goes to hell, it's because they didn't believe.
It's not because they didn't give up their sins.
And this is the Father's will.
Because remember in Matthew 7, he said you have to do the will of the Father which is in heaven.
To put it biblically, you can't just have a right belief.
You have to have a changed life.
It says, you say to me, Lord, Lord, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
That's, you need those two things.
You see, false converts have a right confession.
Lord, Lord, it says here.
That's a right confession.
Almost every commentator I read said, that is an orthodox confession.
And they point that it says, Lord, Lord is respectful.
You know, the Greek word they're curious is a respectful term.
It's orthodox.
Saying Lord, Lord doesn't get you into heaven.
The fourth, the third, they say it's fervent.
I mean, when you have a double in Hebrew or also in Greek, that's an emphatic.
So it's a fervent claim, Lord, Lord.
It's sincere.
If saying Lord, Lord were enough, then this verse would not be true.
Is saying Lord to God enough to get you into heaven?
No.
And also it's public.
He's saying it out loud.
That's Romans 10 again, right?
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.
These people have publicly confessed that Jesus is Lord.
You can't just sound like a Christian.
You have to look like one too.
Verse 40, and this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son
and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.
There have to be an evidence of your living under the lordship of Christ, under the authority of Christ.
So what's the will of the Father?
That people will see the Lord Jesus Christ, believe on him and be raised up at the last day.
What is the will of the Father?
According to verses 39 and 40, that people would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and that none of them would be lost, none of them would ever lose their salvation
and that they would be raised up at the last day.
Those two things have to be evident.
When the elders examine a person for membership, those are the two things we're looking for.
What fruit has that borne?
What change?
What name, one or two changes that happened in your heart that resulted in behavior changes?
Because those two things have to be there.
So doing the will of the Father which is in heaven is not just saying,
well in every area of life you're always doing God's will all the time, keeping every commandment.
If they were keeping every commandment that saved us, none of us would be saved, number one.
Because there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not,
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.
And you know what?
I can stand here tonight and be humble and say my salvation has nothing to do with any of my righteousness,
not having my own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith and I am not having anything to boast of tonight.
Nothing.
I'm not going to boast to you tonight about how I gave up this and I quit this and I joined.
No!
It's all through Jesus, he gets all the glory.
I am nothing.
I have nothing.
Oh, I gave my life to Christ.
No, he gave his life for us.
He got that backwards.
I didn't give him anything.
I have nothing to give.
You can't come to Christ.
Oh, if you give your life to Christ, you'll be saved.
He gave his life for you.
This false gospel highlights the confession at the expense of the life lived.
This is the great tragedy, the great tragedy of the revivalist period in American history.
You know, where those evangelists, those circuit riders were going out into the west, in the northeast too,
and they were, you know, putting up tents and putting down sawdust and, you know, in the aisle so it wouldn't be muddy.
And we say many people went up the sawdust trail and became Christians.
But all they preached was, many of them just believe.
If the Bible never one time says, repent of sin, and that's something that we have to do to be saved, good night!
Why didn't he warn us? Why didn't he tell us?
But look, I have hundreds of verses that say believe.
Why? Because believing is what you have to do to be saved.
All they preached was, many of them just believe.
Right away in John 1-12, he says, But as many as received him, to them gave me power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
John 3-16, 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.
John 3-15 says the same thing.
John 3-36 says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on it.
John 5-24, Verily, verily, I say to thee, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life.
John chapter 6 repeatedly says that you have to believe to have eternal life.
You get into chapter 7, he says, Whosoever believeth.
You get into chapter 9, dost thou believe on the Son of God.
You get into chapter 10, it's believe.
You get into chapter 11, it's I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.
Believest thou this?
And the book of John says believe, believe, believe, believe, believe.
And it says this book is written that you might believe and be saved and have eternal life.
It's written to be unsaved, to get them saved.
Isn't salvation the most important thing?
I mean, what's a man profit if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
I mean, the number one most important doctrine is salvation.
Now let me ask you something, is God trying to hide salvation from us?
And the title of my sermon tonight is The False Doctrine of Lordship Salvation.
The False Doctrine of Lordship Salvation.
Now, at the door when we're out soul winning, if the person is not saved, if they're not a Christian,
but they claim the name of Jesus, they're holding to this lordship salvation.
Every single one of them are holding to this lordship salvation.
And so what exactly is it?
Okay, so what I did was I went to John MacArthur.
He's Mr. Lordship Salvation.
I went to the Grace To You website.
Now listen to what he says.
To put it simply, the gospel call to faith presupposes that sinners must repent of their sin and yield to Christ's authority.
This in a nutshell is what is commonly referred to as lordship salvation.
So that's lordship salvation.
Is that biblical salvation?
No, it's not biblical salvation.
In fact, quitting sinning and making Jesus your boss, to me, when you read the Bible,
and we're going to read a couple of verses in a moment, is discipleship.
This is Satan yet again taking a biblical term like repent, gay.
He's redefining it.
He's repackaging it.
And he's selling it as salvation.
Okay, this is discipleship.
Now listen to the Lord Jesus Christ in these verses and tell me if this does not sound like what they're peddling as salvation.
Luke 14, you can turn there.
Luke chapter 14, verse 26.
If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters,
yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Verse 27, and whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Verse 33, so likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
So is Jesus saying that you can't be saved if you don't follow after him, surrender your entire life?
No, he's saying you can't be my disciple.
You're not going to be a good servant if you're in the flesh all the time.
You can't be my servant. You can't be my disciple.
So the bottom line is, and we're going to flesh this out, lordship salvation is discipleship repackaged as salvation.
And John MacArthur and all those loser pastors all over the country and all over the world preaching this stuff,
they're Satan's best salesman.
We have to examine ourselves too, brothers and sisters.
Yes, believe, but then live under the lordship of Christ.
Are you living under the lordship of Christ?
Because that lordship is tested in subtle ways in our life.
Daniel Dorianni says, the test of loyalty, the test of our submission to the Lord comes when his will crosses ours.
We truly obey God whenever we obey a command that requires strange, painful and strange actions.
Painful and strange actions.
Is that present in your life?
On a cathedral in Lübeck, Germany, I engrave these words.
You call me master and obey me not. You call me light and see me not.
You call me the way and walk with me not.
You call me life and live me not.
You call me wise and follow me not.
You call me fair and love me not.
You call me rich and ask me not.
You call me eternal and seek me not.
If I condemn thee, blame me not.
As one person has said, if you want to know what the Lord is calling you to do,
read the parts of your Bible that are not underlined.
Catherine Booth, the wife of Salvation Army founder, William Booth wrote this,
There comes a crisis, a moment, when every human soul which enters the kingdom of God
has to make its choice of that kingdom, in preference of everything else that it holds and owns.
And those moments are called living under the Lordship of Christ.
But they say, well, you just have to be willing to turn.
Okay, where's that in the Bible?
Are there commands in scripture that to you are painful, yet you do them?
Can you think back to a time when you looked odd or sounded odd in a conversation?
Because you're living under the Lordship of Christ, because He calls you to speak out.
Over and over again, when the question's asked in Act 16, the chapter right before the one we're reading,
What must I do to be saved?
They said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
You see, salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.
He was buried and three days later, He rose again from the dead.
Look, He did all the work for salvation.
We don't have to work our way in.
We don't have to do our own works.
We don't have to turn over a new leaf and stop sinning.
Look, we just have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.
You can't just have a right belief.
You have to have a changed life.
You must be born again.
The Bible didn't say born again and again and again and again.
The Bible says you must be born again.
You believe on Christ.
And in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, you are saved.
You are regenerated.
You are passed from death unto life.
You are a child of God.
Now look, after that, you're still going to sin.
Every single person in this room has sin in their life.
No one is perfect, myself included.
And so therefore, if we had to turn from our sins to be saved, no one would be saved.
John the Baptist was saying to the Pharisees when they came out to see him, right?
They're all dressed up.
They look really good.
But he says, what?
Where's your fruit in keeping with your repentance?
Where's that fruit?
Where's the lifestyle?
Where's that fruit?
Where's the lifestyle?
Where's that fruit?
Where's the lifestyle?
Here's the thing.
What is John the Baptist looking for from the Pharisees to baptize them?
Repentance.
Okay?
And specifically, fruits worthy of repentance.
Now, I want to check whether or not someone has repented in regards to salvation.
What am I looking for?
I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
I put my faith in Jesus Christ.
I'm looking for them to say something.
What do they say?
Well, we're the children of Abraham.
Isn't that what the Pharisees consistently believed was going to get them to heaven?
Is the fact they were the chosen people.
They thought because of their lineage.
They thought because of who their parents were.
That was going to get them to heaven.
And John the Baptist is asking for them to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance,
which would be to believe on him that is on Christ Jesus.
Look at what John the Baptist preached about repentance.
It says in Acts 19, 4, then said Paul,
John verily baptized with the baptism of what?
Repentance.
So what was he saying?
What was he saying when he baptized with the baptism of repentance?
Saying unto the people that they should believe on him,
which should come after him that is on Christ.
So what was the repentance he was preaching that they needed to believe on Christ?
And we need preachers to be clear on this issue.
Not more confusing.
There's nothing more important than the gospel.
If you can't give me a clear message on the gospel, bye.
Why would I want to even listen to a preacher that's mixing up the gospel,
not clear, not thundering it forth, not making it manifest.
Go look at a preacher.
Go find a preacher that you have respect for,
that you're not sure where he stands,
and find me any sermon where he's preaching clearly on salvation.
Like, why can't I find him?
It's because he's wrong.
How could you be saved and there's no gospel presentation,
there's no sermon about it?
You're just never preaching the right gospel?
Well, the few times he did, he saw something wrong.
That's because he's wrong.
But here's a problem.
Their altar is the wrong altar.
They're offering sacrifices on a huge stone altar
rather than the whole stone altar of the gospel by faith.
And here's the thing.
God will have no respect for those sacrifices.
Just like God did not respect Cain's sacrifice,
God did not respect Cain's offering,
anybody that has the wrong altar will not be accepted with God.
God's Word needs to be preached clearly, distinctly, and plainly,
and if it's not, the result is confusion.
Number one, there is confusion about salvation.
And I'll tell you what, people are getting a mixed message
and it's confusing them.
It's confusing.
You see, there's nothing confusing about this.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.
There's nothing confusing about that.
There's nothing confusing about,
for by grace are ye saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God,
and not of works lest any man should boast.
There's nothing confusing about Brian not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
There's nothing confusing about that.
There's nothing confusing about whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,
and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
There's nothing confusing about whosoever shall confess
that Jesus is the Son of God.
God dwelleth in him and he in God.
There's nothing confusing about the fact that the Bible says,
what must I be to be saved?
And the answer is, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved in my house.
See, there's nothing confusing about he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life,
but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God Almighty.
There's nothing confusing about John 6.47,
verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
There's nothing confusing about Jesus saying unto her,
I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
There's nothing confusing about verily, verily, I say unto thee,
he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life.
But the reason people are confused is because they're getting a mixed message.
Because one minute it's all faith,
and then the next minute it's repent of your sins.
Confuse it.
Which one is it?
He's saying, repenting of your sins is part of faith.
Why?
No, it isn't.
Because repenting of your sins has to do with your sins,
and faith has to do with believing in Jesus.
They're two totally different things.
You see, repenting of your sins is something you should do every day.
Die daily.
Take up the cross daily.
Crucify the flesh daily.
Take up the cross and follow him daily.
That happens every day.
It's not something that happens one time at salvation.
See, salvation is not turning over a new leaf.
Salvation is not you turning away from sin.
And people say this, turn from sin to the Savior.
But wait a minute now.
Have you turned from sin?
Finally and briefly, unsound hearers never knew the right place for their works either.
If you look at verses 22 and 23, Jesus is addressing that.
He says, on that day many will say to me,
Lord, Lord, didn't we not prophesy in your name
and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name?
And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.
Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.
This is the scary part of what Jesus is saying, isn't it?
Because we think to ourselves, I thought to myself, is that me?
Can I live under the Lordship of Christ?
Have I been living under the Lordship of Christ and still not be accepted?
Boy, it sounds like these people are doing all the right things.
Now in verse 22 there, are these people trying to justify themselves or what?
Or are they looking to Jesus Christ to be justified?
Are they looking to the blood of Christ?
Are they looking to the death, burial and resurrection?
Are they saying, hey, we believe salvation is by faith alone?
Not at all.
Because when they stand before God and they want to be justified,
they're saying, look what I've done.
I prophesied in your name, in thy name we cast out devils,
in thy name we've done many wonderful works.
What are they trusting?
Their own works, things that they've done.
They're not even bringing up the Lord and the fact that He's the Redeemer
and the fact that Jesus Christ shed His blood or anything of that kind.
But what's so funny about this is that people will literally point to this.
I literally think that I get an email about this scripture every week of my life.
And you know what it proves?
Well, I get a lot of emails though.
But out of all the tons of emails that I get, I get an email about this scripture.
Pastor Anderson, what do you do with that scripture if you believe salvation is by faith alone?
What do you do with this scripture if you just believe on Jesus Christ and you're saved eternally?
What do you do with that?
See, what Jesus is doing in verse 22 is balancing out what He said in verse 21.
He's a master teacher.
He's balancing out what He said in verse 21.
It's not just a right belief that gets you into heaven in verse 21,
but living under the Lordship of Christ.
Got it.
Then in verse 22, he says that you can never rely on those good works.
In other words, works are necessary for salvation, but you have to know the right place for them.
And that should just illustrate for you, my friend, how blinded the unsaved are to where they can't even comprehend scripture at all.
I mean, they can just look at scripture and it just has no meaning to them.
It just goes over that.
How could anyone look at this scripture and say, this proves that faith alone doesn't save you?
Are they out of their minds?
These people aren't even mentioning faith.
But what are they mentioning?
Works.
And yet unsaved people all day long will point to this scripture and say, see, you have to do works.
What are I mean, are we reading the same passage?
The people who are trusting in their works are the ones who are damned here.
And they'll say, well, but yeah, but it says there in verse 23, you know, you have to do the will.
Or I'm sorry, in verse 21, it says you have to do the will of the Father.
Yeah, except look up what the will of the Father is.
Every time Jesus talked about the will of the Father, he said, this is the will of the Father that everyone that believeth,
everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on him might have everlasting life and he shall raise him up at the last day.
That's the will of the Father that they would believe on Christ and be saved.
Okay, but these people are doing it in their own righteousness.
Now, a lot of people will point to this scripture bizarrely.
Unsaved people will point to the scripture and say, well, see right there, it's not just enough to call Jesus Lord.
You've got to do the works.
But that's not what this says.
This says not everyone that says to Jesus, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And then he gives examples about people that are trusting in their own works.
You can be a false prophet and not know that you're a false prophet.
Those who open the Bible and give false explanations of what it says and what it means,
what it applies to, who look and sound and speak as if they're speaking the truth, but they're really speaking lies.
So how would you answer the question, are good works necessary for salvation?
I would argue, as reform theologians have, they are necessary for salvation, not according to the necessity of merit.
Good works are required as the means, not as the grounds.
Now I got one more point.
All this sounds wonderful.
It's a gift.
It's eternal life.
It's forgiveness.
It's justification.
It's righteousness.
It's redemption.
What's the catch?
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
That's pretty amazing right there.
Not everyone who calls me Lord is going to go to heaven.
But he who does the will of my father in heaven.
It's free.
What's the catch?
Well, here's number seven.
It's total commitment.
Who's the boss?
Who makes the decisions for your life?
If you're still in charge, listen to me carefully, you're going to go to hell.
You've never come to a place where you've given control of your life, Lord.
And listen, there are a lot, and I believe children can be saved.
My wife got saved at night, but it's still, it's the same thing for an adult.
It's submitting your will.
There are a lot of children who make a decision, but now you're grown up.
You have a choice.
And I want to know as a grown up, are you in charge of your life?
Are you the boss?
Because if you're, you say, well, how can I know?
How can I know if I'm really saved?
It's real simple.
Who's the boss?
A sinner's prayer said 50 years ago at youth camp, but never lived out.
A child who grows up in the church, goes to church every Sunday,
can speak Christianese, but never lives the Christian life.
I'm telling you today that it takes total commitment to receive this free gift.
A businessman who comes to church every Sunday,
but lives a totally different life the other six days of the week.
We have some successful businessmen that are on their way to hell.
Because you won't give control over it.
You must, must, must yield control.
He is either Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all.
I've had people say, well, but it says believe.
Well, let me just explain that.
Satan believes.
He believes and trembles.
He really believes.
But he's not going to heaven.
You want to know why?
Because he won't submit his will to the lordship of Christ.
There have to be an evidence of your living under the lordship of Christ,
under the authority of Christ.
The demons do not have that.
You just have to believe and receive.
Receive the gift.
And I've got a question for you.
I thought about this when I was praying this week over this message.
Why not just do it?
Why not just say, today, I give you everything.
I make a total commitment of my life to Jesus Christ today.
And you can be forgiven and justified and redeemed and saved.
Listen to how John Piper says this.
I want to know what it is to believe because I'm required to believe in order to be saved.
And this world is so full of crazy ideas about what believing is.
Believing a doctrine.
Just believing a fact like he died for your sins.
It's not enough.
How do you get into heaven?
And don't get into heaven by faith alone.
Faith in the Hebrew language only exists as a verb.
Because, listen, faith, biblically speaking, does not exist apart from action.
Belief does not become faith until you act on it.
And so he got us around in a circle and he read Matthew, chapter 7,
which is the passage where Jesus says that many people are going to say to him on the last day,
Lord, Lord, didn't we do many mighty wonderful works in your name?
And he's going to say to them, depart from me, I never knew you.
And I remember he explained, he said these people were not like non-Christian people.
These are people that recognize Jesus as Lord.
Four insights into saving faith, men and women, listen to me.
You have to get this right.
Do not delude yourself into thinking that because you prayed a prayer that you're going to heaven.
The Bible says in James, chapter 2, that even the demons believe.
The demons believe more than you do.
You know why? They know he's the son of God.
They know he raised from the dead. They were there when it happened.
See, like, oh, I believe in Jesus. Congratulations.
You've achieved demon level status with your faith.
Thou believeth that there is one God.
Thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble,
but wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead.
Now, again, this is misquoted constantly as the devils believe on Jesus Christ.
Now, does this passage, let's all look at it.
Does this passage say in verse 19, the devils believe on Jesus Christ?
You know what it says? The devils believe that there's one God.
Here's somebody else that believes that there's one God, Muslims.
So has anybody ever taught as a Baptist that believing in one God gets you to heaven?
Has any Baptist ever taught that? Believing in one God saves you.
Well, then that would mean all of Islam is saved, because they believe in one God.
But guess what? It's a false god.
Okay, it's not the same God that we believe in.
It's not the same God that we trust in.
First of all, in this cluster of verses, believe means to believe that God exists.
Now, is that salvation? No.
Believe that God exists? That's absolute no.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is to have faith, trust.
That's what believe means.
And by the way, there's nowhere in the Bible that God offers salvation to devils or to the devil himself.
Satan, he only offers it to man.
There's nothing in the Bible that says that.
So this is totally taken out of context by these people.
1 Timothy 2.5, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Not between God and devils, it's God and man.
John 14.6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
It's not, he doesn't say no devil cometh, right?
This is not offered to them, right?
John MacArthur is a false prophet.
When is this guy going to stop?
John MacArthur points out,
One thing marks the difference between a true believer and a false believer,
and that is a pattern of loving, eager, submissive obedience to the word of God.
Obedience is the key.
Hearing the word and doing it, that is the only genuine, authentic validator of true salvation.
This is John MacArthur.
What is biblical repentance?
He says repentance is a response of the total person.
Therefore, some speak of it as total surrender.
How many of y'all have totally surrendered?
Look, I know some of y'all don't even come on Wednesday nights.
You haven't totally surrendered. You're not saved.
He's saying you can't have total surrender and think salvation just by, you know, simply believing.
What he's saying, he's accusing us of saying that biblical repentance, turning from your sin,
is not necessary for the saving transaction.
Let me help you out with the answer.
Right.
It is not part of it.
He says this view hinges on making the saving transaction nothing more than forensic justification.
So he's going to say this is false.
God's gracious declaration that all the demands of the law are fulfilled on behalf of the believing sinner through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Go to Romans chapter 3.
Now let me read this again.
He's saying this is false, okay?
God's gracious declaration that all the demands of the law are fulfilled on behalf of the believing sinner through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
There is not a more blasphemous sentence that I could possibly read of him saying that this is false.
He's saying, hey, if I put faith in what Jesus did and I'm resting in his righteousness, that's not sufficient enough for salvation.
The righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Me putting my faith in him.
What does the Bible say?
It actually says the exact opposite.
Look at verse number 21.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe.
For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
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 through the forbearance of God.
To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is Boastington?
It is excluded, Calvinist.
Sorry, that was my idea.
By what law of works?
Nay, but by the law of faith.
Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
That entire thing was what he's saying is false.
He basically just said all of Romans chapter three is false.
One of my heroes is the Puritan Richard Bagster.
He was a pastor who pastored a small church in England in Kidderminster.
And he had a long and profitable ministry there and he wrote a book called The Reform Pastor.
And in that he writes this,
Oh, what a constant companion, what a tyrannical commander, what a sly and subtle insinuating enemy is this sin of pride.
That's what pride is.
It's sly.
It's subtle.
A.W. Tozer says to too many Christians, Christ is more like an idea or at best an ideal, but he's not a fact.
Millions of professed believers talk as if they were real and act as if they were not.
Our actual position is always to be discovering by the way, discovered by the way we act, not by the way we talk.
That's what Jesus seems to be saying here.
There must be evidence of Jesus' lordship in your life.
If you claim to be a believer and you live a totally worldly life, there is no reason to think that you'll be safe when he comes back.
That's hard to say.
If Christ is not is on the periphery of your life, if going to church is just a checkbox in your week,
if you in your life and your concerns dominate your time and your mental energy,
if there's no love for the believers in your heart, if the coming judgment on believers doesn't tug and break your heart,
listen to what Paul wrote to the Galatian church.
He says, do not be deceived.
God cannot be mocked.
A man reaps what he sows.
One who sows to please the sinful nature, from that nature, he will reap destruction.
The one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit, he will reap eternal life.
In God's economy, there is no cramming for the final exam.
The final exam is happening right now because God is watching.
Do you believe that?
God is watching our lives.
Why would anyone want to twist that scripture unless they just hate the gospel that salvation is by faith?
Look, there are people that just don't like it when you teach that all you have to do to be saved is believe in Jesus.
They don't like that.
Hey, just believe.
And they say, no, no, no, you don't mean to tell me that you can just believe and live however you want.
Only a wicked heart says that.
Don't mean to tell me you can just believe and just live any old way.
No, because the same person says, oh, the love that drew salvation's plan.
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man.
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary.
Amazing grace.
How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
You see, saved people love the grace of God.
They love the fact that salvation's free.
They say thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.
They love it.
I love the gospel.
I love that salvation's free.
And I don't sit there looking at people who are backslidden and not following God's word.
I believe in Christ, but they're not obeying and just like wish them to hell in my mind.
Oh, man, that person better not be going to heaven.
Don't mean to tell me that that guy is going, you know, I go to church three times a week.
I fast twice in the week.
I give tithes of all that I possess.
Don't tell me that this publican is going to heaven.
Yes, he is.
Yes, he is going to heaven.
You know, I'm glad I'm glad to see him there.
I'll see you there, buddy.
If you believe in one who never darkens the door of a church, if you believe in Jesus Christ, I'm glad you're going to heaven.
I'm not trying to wish you to hell.
I don't wish that you would go to hell just because you're backslidden.
You know who would wish?
A person who believes on Christ but struggles with sin but falls into sin.
The person who would wish that they were going to hell?
A wicked person.
It doesn't love their brother.
It doesn't love their sister in Christ.
It's wicked doctrine.
I just can't see how.
Look, you say, well, I still think that some of these people who teach this are saved.
You can think whatever you want.
But I'm telling you that anybody who turns Romans 7 on its head, I say I believe that they're not saved.
Because I can't see how a saved person would teach such a bizarre, warped, weird doctrine except just with a motive of just saying that believing is not enough.
People who don't do the works just aren't saved.
It's just not enough.
It's sufficient.
God's grace is sufficient.
His blood is sufficient.
Faith is sufficient.
Don't tell me that these people are saved.
Just because they just confess the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, I want to see works.
Yeah, because you're a false prophet, that's why.
It says in Jonah 3 10 and God saw their works.
What did God see?
Works.
God saw their works, comma, and now he's going to tell us what those works were.
That they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did not.
That right there says that when you turn from your evil way, that's your works.
So if you believe that a person has to turn from their evil way and believe on Christ, here's what you're saying.
They have to believe on Christ and have works.
And you know what? The Bible says salvation is without works.
And Jonah 3 10 says turning from your sins or turning from your evil way is works.
So that's why this is such an important doctrine.
You see, the devil wants to get you to trust your works to save you.
It's a false gospel when you think that you're justified by works.
All throughout Romans he tells us we're not justified by works.
I mean, he warns us, look, trust Christ for salvation.
Don't trust works.
So basically the devil wants to get in the back door.
He doesn't just want to come right out and say trust works, okay?
You're like, well, no, the Bible says not to trust works.
She's like, well, it's not works, but you do have to repent of your sins.
Well, I'm not saying it's works, but you just can't live however you want.
I mean, you got to do something, right?
You got to at least go to church three times a month or something.
I mean, you know, you got to do something, right?
No, you have to do nothing.
But you weren't saved by a magic formula or some words you repeated after someone else.
You were saved because you repented of your sins and you believed.
My dear friend, there is no such thing as a carnal Christian.
No, if you don't have work, you're going to hell.
And this guy Paul Washer has one major emphasis of his ministry.
One thing that he harps on over and over again.
And basically that is that if you're not living right, you're not really saved.
I mean, that's the main thing that he just keeps coming back to.
Well, if you haven't had a dramatic change in your life and if you're not living for God and blah, blah, blah, then you're not really saved.
And he has a famous quote that he harps on over and over again.
Paul Washer says this.
There is no such thing as a carnal Christian.
That's what he says.
Many times he said it in many sermons, he's repeated this theme of there is no such thing as a carnal Christian.
One time I heard him say it this way.
He said there's a doctrine today that is tailor made for American Christianity.
The doctrine of the carnal Christian.
American Christianity has invented this idea of the carnal Christian because they just want to be carnal and everything.
You know, and he tries to act like, oh, everybody in these other countries are all just these wonderful Christians and everybody in America is a loser and whatever.
But anyway, there's no such thing as a carnal Christian.
Okay, well, what did the Apostle Paul say in verse 14?
I'm carnal.
So if there's no such thing as a carnal Christian, then why did the Apostle Paul say I'm carnal?
You see, faith doesn't just have an object.
You can't just have an object of faith.
Faith necessarily requires action.
Faith has to have action or it's not faith.
You can't just have your little believe-ees like Louis C.K. says that comfort you.
Authentic faith is action based.
All the New Testament writers agree.
I mean, Jesus' brother James wrote that epistle towards the back of your Bible and he says probably the boldest statement on that.
Faith without works is dead.
It's no faith at all.
Look at Romans chapter 4.
It says in verse 1,
Now compare verse 2 of Romans 4.
Now flip back to James 2 and look what it says in verse 21.
Okay, so in James 2 21 it says,
So let me ask you this.
Was Abraham justified by works in the sight of God?
No.
Does he have whereof the glory?
Yes.
Is he justified?
Yes, but not before God.
So who else is there to be justified before?
If you're not being justified before God, who are you being justified before?
The poor man.
Okay.
And that's why it talks about that by the deeds of the law.
Go back to chapter 3.
This isn't in my notes, but I think I can find the verse quickly.
I think it's in verse 20.
Yeah, Romans 3 20 it says,
Okay, so basically there's being justified before man,
and then there's being justified before God.
Do works have anything to do with being justified before God?
No, but works justifies before man.
That's why it says in James chapter 2, if you flip back over there,
verse 18,
That's what man says.
That's not what God says.
See, man can only see your works.
Man can't see your faith.
Man can't see your heart.
But by the deeds of the law, there's no flesh justified in his sight.
Look, Abraham whereof to glory.
I mean, look, could Abraham glory in the fact that he had such great faith
that he was actually willing to offer Isaac, his son, his only begotten, upon the altar?
Yes, but not before God.
He was demonstrating his faith before man.
Look, we know that Abraham is a great man of faith.
He is the father of faith unto all them that believe.
Why? Because that story is what shows us the faith of Abraham.
And when God wants to give us an example in Hebrews 11
of the greatest moment of faith in the life of Abraham,
it's that story about him offering Isaac his son.
So we see here that James cannot be talking about being justified before God.
He cannot be talking about being saved and on your way to heaven
and you're standing with God.
He's talking about from the perspective of other people looking at you.
Are you going to be justified in the eyes of man?
Abraham was justified in the eyes of man.
When he offered Isaac his son upon the altar,
that's why we look back at him and say,
wow, look at the faith of Abraham.
To have the faith to take the son that he's been praying for
and longed for and waited decades for,
that son is finally born.
And then God says, okay, now offer him as a sacrifice.
And he had the faith to obey that.
Unbelievable faith.
That justifies him before man.
But is that what saved his soul?
Is that what saved his soul?
His soul was saved already approximately 60 or 70 years before that point.
I mean, back in chapter 12.
He was already saved. He's already a believer.
Okay, way back in chapter 12.
Tim Keller in his book Conversions About Christmas writes this.
And I think we have to say, no,
your justification doesn't mean imputed righteousness.
Sanctification is a sign that you've got the saving faith.
I think that's how I've been doing it.
And to use the words of James,
it's a sign because if your faith isn't producing a change,
isn't producing love, it's not real.
Right.
There is a holiness without which you won't see the Lord.
And I think that passage to mean there are behaviors and attitudes
that if you persist in, you go to hell.
And they say, I thought I was justified by faith.
So what do you respond to a person like that?
Go back to what you just said.
You're saved by faith alone, but not by a faith which remains alone.
That's not good news.
That's the worst news I've heard all day.
Oh, you're struggling with sin?
That's not biblical salvation.
Come to the altar and be saved a 50th time.
It's garbage.
And that lying, phony hypocrite behind that pulpit
is just as much of a sinner as anybody else.
And he gets up and acts like he's so holy and righteous.
And you know, some of these guys are 100 pounds overweight.
That's called gluttony.
But then they're, oh, I repent, I never drank again.
Yeah, you drank Kool-Aid again.
And then when you say, yeah, faith alone,
you know what they'll say?
Well, yeah, but faith never is alone.
You know, that's like their little slogan,
like, yeah, faith alone, but we know faith's never alone.
Well, then that's a stupid slogan.
If faith's never alone, then why'd you make a slogan called faith alone?
Folks, this is what they say.
They literally say, yep, faith alone, but faith never is alone.
Then that's a stupid slogan.
It's like, well, yeah, faith alone, but faith never is alone.
Did you just sit down and think about what you just said?
Faith alone!
Doesn't exist. Doesn't exist.
Faith is never alone. Doesn't exist.
That's garbage. You can't have it both ways.
It's either faith alone or faith is never alone.
Pick one.
He died for us!
We don't have to do the redemptive work of salvation.
He did it!
It's done!
So if you don't have the works, but you have the faith, you're saved.
If all of your works are burned up, the Bible says in I Corinthians 3,
Yet you yourself shall be saved.
Yet so is my fire.
You will get into heaven and have no rewards, but you'll get there if you believe in Christ.
You will get there if you believe in Christ.
We cannot produce faith.
If we have genuine faith, it's a gift.
The Bible says that very clearly in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.
We are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves.
It's the gift of God.
The Calvinists will take Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8
and they will try to say that, you know, man is unable to turn to Christ for salvation.
Man is unable to believe on Christ.
God has to give him the faith so that he can even be saved.
Even the faith itself was a gift of God.
And here's the thing.
Ephesians 2 tells us that even that faith is a gift.
Can't even take credit for that.
So God chooses you, then he makes you believe.
That's what Calvinism teaches. It's false.
Look, people make their own choice whether they're going to be saved or not.
They hear the word of God and they choose to either believe it or not believe it.
That's what the Bible teaches.
But look at Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.
It says, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
Now, Calvinists are grammatically challenged.
And so therefore, they will actually tell you that the gift of God in this verse is faith.
Now, that is a complete failure of grammar, both in English and in the original language.
It's impossible for the gift of God to be referring to faith.
It just doesn't work.
Now, look at this verse carefully.
It says, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves.
Now, notice the phrase not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God.
Now, Calvinists will look at that and say, see, faith is the gift of God.
Faith is not of yourselves.
But hold on a second. Look at the next verse.
Not of works lest any man should boast.
Now, look, obviously the not of yourselves and the not of works are both parallel statements.
And guess what they're both referring to?
Salvation. That you're saved.
Now, just to prove this further, there are many scriptures that describe salvation as the gift of God.
Go to John chapter 4.
John chapter number 4.
And there is not a scripture that teaches that faith is the gift of God.
As much as Calvinists who are grammatically challenged would like to say that Ephesians 2.8 is telling you that faith is the gift of God.
It says, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works.
Let's say he mentioned to us, what is not of works?
Salvation is not of works.
Now, to say faith is not of works doesn't make any sense.
Because we already know faith is not of works.
I mean, faith is faith and works is works.
He's saying salvation is not of works.
Salvation is not of yourselves.
Salvation is the gift of God.
But if you would look at John chapter 4 verse 10, it says, Jesus answered and said unto her,
If thou knewest what?
The gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
So here, the Bible talks about asking for the gift of God, and what are we asking for?
Living water.
That's the water of life.
That's eternal life.
The Bible uses that description all the time.
And he's saying you ask and you receive living water.
That is the gift of God.
And in Romans 6 23, the Bible says, for the wages of sin is dead, but the gift of God is what?
Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So all throughout the Bible, the term gift of God or the gift there, we see it referring to salvation, not to faith.
And that also defies grammar to try to make the gift of God refer to faith in Ephesians chapter 2.
We got it completely backwards, right?
Because they say that faith to believe is the gift of God, but salvation is based upon the effort that they put in.
Well, that's backwards, right?
We have to place our faith.
God doesn't make us believe, and salvation comes from God.
They have it the other way around.
And by the way, they say, well, no, it's not even your faith that saves you.
Okay, then why did Jesus say in, I believe what Luke 7 50 thy faith has saved thee?
I mean, the Bible says thy faith has saved thee.
And the Calvinists say it's not your faith.
It's of God. It's the gift of God.
You don't even have the, it's not even your faith.
No, thy faith has saved thee.
If there was something else you had to do besides believe, then John really blew it if he left out.
Because a lot of people say this, you have to do two things to be saved.
Have you heard this?
They say to be saved, you got to do two things.
You got to believe and you have to repent of your sins.
Now here's the thing.
If there really was another thing that you had to do to be saved and John is written to tell you how to get saved,
wouldn't John have really blown it and wouldn't God have left something out when he said over and over again,
just believe, believe, believe, believe it.
Oh, by the way, whoops.
You also have to turn from your sins.
I get so sick of this repent of your sins garbage coming from Baptist preachers.
We gave the gospel to a Muslim today and he said,
salvation through repenting of your sins.
Did he not say that?
We gave the gospel to a Mormon today and he said,
salvation by repenting of your sins.
Hey, why are these Baptist teaching the same garbage that the Muslims are teaching,
that the Mormons are teaching, that the Catholics are teaching?
It works.
But the Bible says we're saved by faith alone.
Repenting of your sins is works.
If you have to sit there and repent of this sin,
hey, the only thing you have to repent of to be saved is whatever's stopping you from believing in Jesus Christ.
And if you, if your Catholic religion is damning you,
you need to repent of that garbage and believe on Christ.
You don't have to repent of sin.
If you have to repent of sin, none of us is saved.
We are all sinners.
We die daily. We have to repent every day from the bad things that we do.
We have to die daily as Paul said.
We got to take up the cross daily.
But salvation is one time.
Oh yeah, salvation's all by faith.
All by believing.
And all you have to do is just turn away from your sinful life.
It's like, what?
You just said it was only by believing.
But now all of a sudden you have to turn from your sins.
You say, oh, you're against turning from your sins.
No.
I said you don't have to turn from your sins to be saved.
Hey, let me tell you something.
I'm for baptism.
I'm for repenting of your sins.
I'm for going to church three times a week.
I'm for reading the Bible every day.
I'm for prayer.
I'm for following the Ten Commandments.
I'm for living a godly life.
I'm for Bible memorization.
I'm for doing the right thing.
I'm for it.
But let me tell you something.
You don't have to do any of those things to be saved.
Because if you did, then we'd all be going to hell.
Because the Bible says, for all who stand, it comes to the glory of God.
And if you have to turn away from your sins to be saved, then nobody's saved.
I'd like for somebody to stand up right now and say,
I've turned from my sins.
You are liars what you are.
Turn from your sins.
You've turned from nothing.
You, in the secret of your heart, have sinned and an ident of iniquity.
Proverbs 20, verse 9.
Who can say, I've made my heart clean.
I'm pure from my sin.
You know who can say that?
A hypocrite. A liar.
Somebody who's filled with pride and arrogance and wants to boast before God
and say, I'm going to heaven because I turned from my sin.
You did nothing to get yourself to heaven.
Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow.
I had nothing to do with it.
All I did was reach up my hands with a childlike faith
and just cry out unto the Lord and call upon the name of the Lord.
That's all I did. He did everything.
I did what a child could do.
Just put all my trust in him.
And you know what? There's nothing boastful about that.
Oh, I gave up such a life of sin.
That's boasting.
Hey, if any man wants to glory and boast, let him glory in the Lord.
Why don't you brag on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ?
His death, his burial, his resurrection is the power of God unto salvation.
Not your 12-step program that you've repackaged as the gospel.
The gospel is not a 12-step program.
The gospel is not quitting drinking.
And look, just to prove it to you,
there are all kinds of people who quit drinking every day and they're not saved.
They don't believe in Christ. They went to Alcoholics Anonymous.
They went to Narcotics Anonymous.
And that's how they quit.
It had nothing to do with salvation.
That's the evidence of salvation.
That's the evidence of a 12-step program.
And so what I'm trying to say tonight is not that we should continue in sin.
Shall we continue in sin that grace may about God forbid?
But if we continue in sin, the Bible says grace will abound.
Romans 5-20.
You say, why are you so fired up about this?
You know why I'm fired up about it?
Because it's heaven and hell.
It's life and death.
You know, it's funny, people go to a ball game and they scream their heads off.
Well, you know what the difference between me and them is?
I'm going to scream my head off about something that matters.
And you've heard people teach this, haven't you?
Hey, if you see somebody and they just keep on sinning,
well, that just proves that they're not saved.
Well, my answer to that is, well, then nobody's saved.
The Apostle Paul wasn't saved.
Then John wasn't. Then we're all doomed.
Because nobody is without sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and that's not in us.
So whenever you say that to people, here's what they'll say.
Well, I'm not saying that you have to stop sinning altogether.
And then we enter just this major gray area.
You know what I mean?
Because people say, hey, if you want to be saved,
you know, you have to repent of your sins.
And, you know, if you're still living the same way,
you're not really saved and there needs to be a change
and you need to live right and everything.
But then it's like, but then you say to people,
are you saying that you're just going to totally stop sinning?
Well, not totally.
You know, it's like, well, you just have to kind of try.
Well, there has to be some change.
Or, well, you know, you're not going to have a habit of sin
or you're not going to sin lots, you know,
or you're not going to sin hard.
You know, you're just going to do the light sinning.
But see, that's just such a gray area and it's such confusion.
Now, look, does God give us power after we're saved
to overcome sin and do great things if we walk in the Spirit?
Sure, but that's not a requirement for salvation
and many people get saved and they continue to walk in the flesh.
Many people get saved and they don't do good works.
They're still saved.
And this lordship salvation garbage
is a perversion of the gospel of Christ.
It's just a back door work salvation is what it is.
You know, faith alone means faith alone.
And this is a slogan that you can trust around here.
There's an evangelism technique called evangelism explosion
just is very simple.
It asks you to go out and ask a person two questions.
The first question is have you ever come to a place in your life
where you know that if you died you would go to heaven?
Most people would say yeah, I think I'm going to go to heaven.
The second follow-up question is the diagnostic question though.
You'd ask them if you were to stand before God
and he were to ask you why should I let you into heaven,
what would you say?
That's the important question.
That's the question that gets at what you're really relying on for salvation.
So how would you answer that?
Don't say it out loud.
Think about it.
If God were to die and God were to say why should I let you into my heaven?
What would you say?
Can I teach Sunday school, serve the church for years, be a deacon, even an elder?
And still hear these words from Christ?
You know what the answer is?
It depends.
We have to examine ourselves too, brothers and sisters.
What would you say?
Because of the completed work of Jesus Christ.
You can't just sound like a Christian.
You have to look like one too.
You can never stand before Christ as these people are doing and pointing at your own life.
In other words, you just can't only point back to a day 43 years ago and say see I'm saved.
And Jesus is not teaching a work's righteousness here.
He's not saying listen you have to do these things.
There have to be an evidence of your living under the lordship of Christ, under the authority of Christ.
Works can never ever be your gospel.
You can't just have a right belief. You have to have a changed life.
You have to have a life that reflects that confession.
You have to have a life that looks like, that is in line with what you're confessing.
Because of the completed work of Jesus Christ.
Are you living under the lordship of Christ?
Where's that fruit?
Where's the lifestyle?
You never earn salvation. You can never point to what you have done and say see.
What fruit has that warm?
What changed? Name one or two changes that happened in your heart that resulted in behavior changes.
Because those two things have to be there.
I can't do anything.
Christ has done it all.
Yes believe, but then live under the lordship of Christ.
Because of what Christ has done for me, not anything that I've done for myself.
In other words, works are necessary for salvation, but you have to know the right place for them.
That's the answer.
But what you will hear from false prophets, you'll hear a false prophet preach one day that it's by faith, and then another day he'll preach that it's by works.
And look, when you show people he's preaching works salvation here, listen to what's coming out of his mouth.
Showing us another time when he said it was by faith is not a legitimate defense.
Because false prophets do both.
All you're proving is that he lies out of both sides of his mouth.
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.
Right, so in the mind of Catholics, in the mind of Protestants, in the mind of many Baptists today, they think it's a faith plus works salvation.
But here's the thing, if that's your altar, you're just not even safe.
Verse 4, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes in it.
Hey, you say, do I have to get saved by following the law? No, it's ended by believing in Jesus Christ.
You say, well, what commandments do I also have to fulfill? It's ended.
It's done.
The end of the law for righteousness.
There is no law that I have to keep to be righteous as soon as I believe in Jesus Christ righteous.
And you say, well, what other law do you have to keep done? Zero.
They want to create their own righteousness, they want to create their own altar, they want to pollute it.
And so instead of just accepting and submitting themselves to what God has provided for them, they have to provide it for themselves.
And it comes from a heart of pride.
So as soon as you add works to salvation, as soon as you add works to grace, it ceases to be grace, it ceases to be free, it ceases to be the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And here's the thing, it's sick how many preachers get up and preach lies and heresy, and they can say, well, that's not what I meant.
And people are like, okay, no problem.
Yeah, well, what did you mean? Whatever you want me to mean.
I know I taught for benefit of your sins and that if you're not living a righteous life, then you're not saved.
But what I meant by that is it's all by grace.
You know what makes sense to me? It makes sense to me that I'm a sinner, that I deserve hell, and that I'm unworthy of being saved no matter how much I clean up my life.
Because all my righteousnesses to God are as filthy rags. That makes sense.
And it makes sense that Jesus died for all my sins and paid my punishment for me and all I have to do is just turn to him and just believe on him and be saved.
That makes sense. But you know what doesn't make sense? Telling me that I have to turn from all my sins to be saved and then turn around and telling me, oh, by the way, it's a free gift that Jesus did everything.
It's like, did Jesus do everything? Jesus did everything, but you've got to make some serious change in your life. Well, did Jesus do everything or not? Is it free or not? Is it a gift or not? Is it faith alone or not?
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