(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, we're here in Romans chapter 8, and as I mentioned in the announcements, I'm preaching on salvation here today, and this sermon, the first couple points are going to be pretty basic and it will sound very familiar, but then I'm going to kind of go really in-depth on something that's kind of a new concept to me, or at least the specific verse that I'm talking about. And what I'm talking about is in Romans 8 verse 24, where the Bible reads, For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? And the name of the sermon is, Hope that is seen is not hope. Now, we're doing this Romans memorization challenge, and Romans chapter 8 is a pretty famous chapter in the Word of God. And I would say many of us know a lot of the verses in Romans chapter 8, but I've never really heard anyone talk so much about Romans 8 24. Didn't seem like it was necessarily as important of a verse, but it's actually teaching a big truth here today. Now, go back to Romans chapter 6, Romans 6, and the first point we have today is this, that salvation has two parts. Salvation has two parts, okay? It has the spiritual side and it has the physical side, okay? Notice what it says in Romans 6 verse 7, Romans 6 verse 7, For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now, the context here, it just talked about baptism in verses 3 through 5 of Romans 6, and what it said is, you should walk in newness of life. It does not say you will walk in newness of life. It says you should walk in newness of life. And so basically, salvation, what you're saying is, I believe that Jesus died, ini li bing, at muling na buhai after three days, okay? You're saying you believe he was buried and he rose again, okay? And what the Bible says is, knowing that you should walk in newness of life, but it's not a guarantee you will walk in newness of life. And so that's in the context here. So it's not just referring to spiritually getting saved, but also physically God wants you to live an obedient life, okay? It says in verse 8, Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. One day, we will live with Christ. One day, we will be up in heaven. One day, we're gonna get our glorified body. When a person dies right now, their soul will go to heaven or hell, depending on if they're saved. Their body does not go. Look, if your body was cast into hell, it would burn up immediately, okay? But one day, those that go to hell are gonna get a new body to live forever and be punished in the lake of fire. And us that go to heaven at the rapture, there's a glorified body, okay? Verse number 9, Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So in verse 11, it says, you know what? When you're saved, you're dead indeed unto sin. Now some people would wrongly teach, well, that means you're gonna live a good life. You're never gonna sin anymore because you're dead unto sin. But notice verse 12, Let not sin therefore reign. Let not sin therefore reign. Do you see how it's an option in verse 12? He's commanding you do not allow sin to reign or to control. You think of reigning, think of a king. A king reigns or controls. And what he's saying is do not allow sin to control your life. It's an option when you get saved. It's not a guarantee after you get saved, you're gonna start living a good life. You have to make the choice to not allow sin to reign in your body. He says, Let not sin therefore reign. Notice this in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lust thereof. So we understand with salvation that you receive Kaliktasan or Walang Hangang Buhai. You receive spiritual life. You understand the spiritual aspect, but notice how it mentions your mortal body. See here's what you need to understand. Right now I have a mortal body. It means I am going to die one day. I don't have a glorified body at all. I have a mortal body that will one day die. So I want you to understand if you're saved here today, your spirit was regenerated. You're 100% perfect, but you still have a mortal body. And see, I want you to understand with salvation, there's the spiritual side and there's the physical side. Now what you see here in Romans chapter six is it's still the mortal body. This is Paul the apostle. Go to Romans chapter seven, Romans seven, Romans chapter seven. See usually when we think of salvation, we just think of it from a spiritual standpoint, but there's more to it than that. There's also the physical standpoint of the body, okay? And what we saw in Romans six is that Paul still speaks about the mortal body while you're alive, which means it will die one day. You're going to get older and the evil days will come upon you. That's going to happen in your life. Romans chapter seven, Romans seven verse 21, I find then a law. This is Paul the apostle, perhaps the greatest soul winner outside of the Lord Jesus Christ who has ever existed. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. Now what is Paul saying there? What he's referring to is the flesh. I mean, if you've been memorizing in the book of Romans and you see the context of these figures, it keeps talking about the flesh and how we should live a good life and basically cast down the sins and start to try to obey God's rules. And he's saying, I want to do good, but evil is present with me. Why? Because there's the spirit and there's the physical side as well. You have your soul, but you also have your body. He says, evil is present with me for I delight in the law of God after the inward man. So when he says the inward man, that's referring to the spiritual man. There's still the outward man though. There's still the flesh that exists. Okay. So he says on the inside, I delight after God. Verse 23, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bring me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. So he says, you know what? I want to do good. The inward man delights after God, but I've got another law of sin in my members. Okay. That's fighting against me to do good. I mean, isn't it true in this room that everybody would say, you know what? I want to read the Bible more. I want to pray more. I want to memorize the Bible more. I want to get rid of the sins I have in my life. And here's the truth. Every single one of us has those sins that we're aware about. Every single one of us has areas of our life we need to fix, including myself. Look, I preach sermons. It doesn't mean I never tell a lie, but I preach sermons on why you should not tell a lie. It doesn't mean I'm never going to tell a lie the rest of my life because I'm not perfect. Okay. I still sin. I'm still struggling with these things. I'm trying to become a good Christian as well. But look, we all want to live a good life. Why don't you? Because of the fact you've got the spiritual man, but you've got your flesh fighting you. Isn't that true? You want to do what's right. And look, I wish every single morning I was just waking up and I said, I don't care what's going on in the world. I just want to pray for 30 minutes and read the Bible for an hour and just memorize the Bible. And here's the thing. When I do that with my life, I feel great. I feel great. I mean, when you're serving God, you feel great. But unfortunately, the spirit's willing, but the flesh is weak. Isn't that true? We're here in church. We know what we should do. And yet we battle that sinful flesh. Why? Because it's not just the spirit we have. We also have the flesh. Okay. And so notice what it says in verse 24, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? You say, well, wait a minute, Paul, the apostle, you're saved. Why are you saying you're a wretched man? Why are you saying who shall deliver me? Because spiritually he was delivered, not physically. He still got the same flesh. He's like, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Why? Because Paul was still fighting the flesh. You know, you, you talk to some of these false religions, talk to the Calvinists or people that believe in work salvation. And they're like, if you're truly saved, you're going to walk the walk. If you're truly saved, you're just going to want to do what's right and you're going to read the Bible. It's like, that's not what Paul the apostle said. He says, I want to do good, but I've got my flesh fighting me. And this is Paul the apostle, O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death. So he's saying, I haven't been delivered yet. Is he saved? Absolutely. He saved spiritually, not physically. You understand the difference? There's two aspects to salvation. Go to Acts 16, Acts chapter 16. I mean, when you're reading Romans and you're memorizing Romans, you know, one thing that's really coming up is although Romans is a book on salvation, what I'm noticing is it really focuses on the aspect of living a holy life, the physical aspect that you should, and yet you're not because you haven't been delivered yet. That's what the last several chapters in six and seven and eight, it's all about living a holy life and the fact that you're still fighting that sinful flesh because it's not been delivered. Okay. When we think of salvation, we usually just think of the spiritual aspect. And you say, brother Stuckey, you know, I got somebody saved, you know, yesterday. Praise the Lord for that. And I'm not, I'm not saying you didn't, but I want you to understand they spiritually got saved, not physically. They're still going to sin again, but unfortunately they're probably not going to come to church. Unfortunately they're probably not going to start reading the Bible. Why? Because they spiritually got saved. That doesn't mean that physically they're just going to be a perfect person. They're always going to do what's right. No, because there's two aspects to salvation. There's a spiritual and there's a physical. So the second point is this, the salvation of the soul is 100% the moment you believe. It's 100% the moment you believe. Acts 16, Acts 16, notice what it says in verse 30, and brought them out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Now when he makes a statement, what must I do to be saved? What he's referring to is what do I have to do to avoid hell? Okay. He's not thinking about, Oh, I want to start living a good life, start living. Because you think of the spiritual aspect of salvation. Everybody gets saved because they don't want to burn in hell, right? Everyone's like, I don't want to burn in hell. I don't want to go there. So that caused you to be like, yeah, I need a savior and you reach out and grab it, right? And you understand salvation and it's preached to you. So I want you to understand he's saying basically, I don't want to burn in hell. What must I do to not burn in hell forever? What must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved in thy house. Now in verse 31, I want you to understand this is not the only thing they said to him. This is basically the recap of what they said. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's soul winning conversations in the Bible. If they listed every single word, then these chapters would be like longer than Luke. Okay. They'd be longer than Jeremiah. They'd be really long chapters in the word of God. They'd be like Psalms 119 times five. Okay. And so it's giving you basically the recap. He says, believe and you'll be saved in also thy house. Okay. Now he says this to him, but then this jailer actually takes them to his house. Okay. Verse 32, and they spake onto him the word of the Lord and all that were in his house. So notice they take him out of the jail, the jailer does, to his home to preach not just to himself, but also to his family. Okay. I presume he probably heard the gospel and got saved in the jail and then he goes home to the family to talk to them. Or it's possible he's so moved by what's happened and he's just like, you know what? And he just says, let's go now. And then they all get saved the home. But anyways, him and his family gets saved and he goes, they go to his house to preach the gospel. Notice verse 33 and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized. He and all his straight way. Now notice how it says they were baptized. Okay. This family is baptized. And the reason why is because they got spiritually saved. They received salvation. They're saved and on their way to heaven. Okay. Now the mode of baptism in the Bible is by immersion. Okay. Ilubog an katowon satubig. Baptism is by immersion. Okay. The reason why is what you're doing. You're picturing that you believe Jesus died in Ili bing at Mulingna Buhai after three days. That he was buried and that he rose again. That's what you're saying you believe. So baptism is done by immersion as you picture the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's why we do it by immersion. Okay. They got baptized. You say why? Because they believed and they were spiritually saved. They did not have to wait to start doing good works to prove they were saved. They didn't have to wait and take communion, wait and read the Bible. They didn't have to take a baptism class like a lot of Baptist churches. It's like you get saved and it's like, okay, we have an eight week baptism class before you can get baptized. It's like eight weeks. I mean, I just showed you what baptism is right there. I explained it's by immersion, you know, and then you come up and it's because you're picturing the burial and resurrection. I mean, it takes you eight weeks to explain that. It's like they believe they can get baptized immediately. Okay. Turn to Ephesians two. Ephesians two. So look, they got baptized because they spiritually got saved immediately. Okay. They spiritually got saved immediately. So look, if you're saved in this room, you're spiritually saved 100% perfectly, which means your soul is never going to sin. It's never going to be guilty. The Bible says whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, meaning you will never sin ever again. And yet the same Bible says, Paul the apostle, I die daily. He says, I sin every day. Why? Because there's a difference between the spiritual side and the physical. Okay. If you are spiritually saved, your soul is perfect, 100% innocent forever, no matter what you do the rest of your life. Even if you were to commit a terrible sin, whether it was murder or suicide or you rob a bank, your soul is perfect. If you have salvation, your body's not perfect though, because only the soul got saved at the moment of salvation. Ephesians chapter two, verse five, Ephesians two, verse five, even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ by grace ye are saved. Quickened means made alive. There's a movie called the quick and the dead, meaning the alive and the dead. Okay. And so quicken means made alive. Verse six and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works as any man should boast. The Bible says we're saved by grace through faith. And if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ for your salvation, you are saved forever. And that will never change. You don't have to doubt your salvation if you screw up, you don't have to hope and wonder like, Oh, I hope I'm still going to make it. I committed a bad sin. No, he promised you everlasting life. There's no way you can ever lose that. Okay. And there's, and here's the thing. This is very obvious. And yet in most Baptist churches, they try to make you doubt your salvation. It's like, Oh man, you're skipping church. You might want to check your salvation. You haven't been reading the Bible much. You might want to check your salvation. It's like, man, how are you having some bad thoughts? You might want to check your salvation. It's like, good night. I mean, spiritually, you get saved, not physically, spiritually, you're saved. And guess what? That type of preaching causes saved people to doubt their salvation. They start doubting it because they've heard preachers say, if you're really saved, you're going to start living a good life. And it causes actually saved people to doubt their salvation because you got a heretic in the pulpit saying, if you're really saved, you're going to live a good life. Where's that in the Bible? You're not going to see that. No, being saved does not guarantee you're going to live a good life. That's why Paul said, let not sin therefore rain. He says, it's your choice. Okay. He's like, don't allow it to rain, but that's saying it might rain in your body. Okay. If a drug addict gets saved right now, today, he's still a drug addict afterwards. He still has the desire to do drugs. Being saved doesn't mean, man, I don't want to really, I don't want to ever smoke again. I don't want to ever drink again, man. I just love the Lord. I just want to read the Bible for three hours every day. Turn to Titus three, Titus three, I've heard a lot of preachers say this. They're like, well, when I got saved, I got all the way saved. I never wanted to smoke or drink or gamble ever again. I'm just thinking it's kind of funny. I never did smoke before I was saved. You hear these preachers, they're bragging about, man, I never wanted to smoke or drink or gamble. I never wanted to my whole life. It's like, they're bragging about how, man, I don't gamble anymore. I never did gamble. It's just like, they're bragging about their sin. Like, man, I used to get drunk every night, but now I gave my life to God and now I never wanted to drink ever again. It's like, man, I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. I've never been to a casino in my life. Okay. I've never gambled in my life. It's just like, they're bragging about stuff. It's like, man, some people have never even done those sins. It's like, why don't you stand up and say, I never have a bad thought ever. You never hear them say that, do you? Why? Because they still have bad thoughts. And the thought of foolishness is sin, the Bible says. You never hear them say, man, once I got saved, I just read the Bible six hours every day. You say, why? Because they don't read the Bible six hours every day. And so it's like, they brag about certain things they don't do. And it's just like, good night. We can all brag about stuff that we don't do. We can be like the publican, right? I mean, like the Pharisee with the Pharisee and the publican, how he's saying, I'm not an extortioner. Hey, I'm not an extortioner either. I don't steal money from people. It's like, why are you bragging about that? It's like, and so you hear these preachers and they brag about things they don't do. And it's just like, you know what? Your salvation is not dependent based on what you do. It's dependent on what you believe. And they're bragging about how they changed their life. If we're going to brag in anything, brag about the fact that Jesus died and paid for our rent, and gave us a gift of eternal life. Titus three, verse five. It says this in Titus three, verse five, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. And so Paul's able to look back and says, you know what, I'm saved. According to his mercy, I'm saved. I got saved. I received eternal life. It happened in the past. So spiritually, Paul is saying he saved 100%. So what we talked about so far here today is that there's two aspects to salvation. There's the spiritual side and there's the physical side. The spiritual side happens 100% the moment you believe and get saved. The physical aspect of salvation is 0% the moment you get saved. Not 1%, not 2%, 0%. There's a major distinction here because most people have this idea that when you get saved, you're going to want to start living a good life. No, no, no, salvation physically is 0% the moment you get saved. The reason why us in this room want to live for God is because we decided to start reading the Bible and going to church and that can change your heart. And think of someone who's addicted to smoking cigarettes. If he just stopped smoking cigarettes for a couple of weeks, his desire to smoke cigarettes would slowly die off. And so as you start to read the Bible and you stop doing some of your sins you did before, your desire will start to change, okay? Your heart's going to follow your actions, okay? A lot of people are waiting for their heart to want to start reading the Bible before they read the Bible. That's not the way it works. You get a desire to read the Bible by starting to read the Bible and then your heart actually changes. It follows after your deeds. That's what the Bible teaches, okay? But when it comes to salvation physically, there is no change that happens to the body when you get saved. Go to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. You say, Brother Stuckey, when I got saved, you know, it's just like I started to inherit that immortal body, okay? So if we shot you with a gun, would you still die? It's like if you started to change that immortal body. So I mean, if you got shot in the head, I mean, would you die? It's like, well, yeah, I'd still die. Yeah, because you haven't changed at all. You still have the mortal body, okay? When you got saved, you didn't become better looking. You didn't become in better shape. You didn't get taller. And here's the thing, your flesh did not change its desires either one bit, okay? Not a single bit. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, okay? So flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. When a believer dies, what happens is his soul goes to heaven, not his body. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. You say, why? Neither doth corruption inherit in corruption. What the Bible is saying is this, your body, your flesh is corrupt. It's sinful, okay? It's gonna corrupt, it's gonna die, it's sinful. It's not gonna be able to go to heaven. Corruption does not inherit in corruption. Now here's the thing, your soul is in corrupt if you're saved. So your soul goes to heaven, but your body doesn't go to heaven. Why? It's still corrupt. Corruption does not inherit in corruption in heaven. You will get your glorified body at the time of the rapture. The dead in Christ shall rise, okay? The Bible says you're gonna get your new glorified body. Not yet though, you don't have it yet. Then it says this in verse 51, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Now sleep is a term in the Bible to say somebody dies, okay? It can mean either taking a nap or it can mean actually dying. It's kind of a nice way to see somebody die. So the Bible is saying not all of us will die before the rapture. Some people will be alive, okay? We're not all gonna sleep, but we shall all be changed, meaning you're gonna get your new glorified body. Why? Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So you will be changed, meaning your body will be changed. You're gonna get your glorified body. Whether you're dead, you're gonna be raised and in corruption. Or if you're alive, you're gonna get a new body as you go to heaven, okay? Verse 52, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. So people that died and are already buried, when they get raised, they are incorruptible. That body will never die. That body will never sin. That body is a glorified body and it says, and we shall be changed. Verse 53, for this corruptible, the body must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality, okay? These things must happen. Verse 54, so when this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? See at this point, the body's never gonna die. So death, where is thy sting? Grave, where's thy victory? Because nobody's gonna be dying and being buried anymore, okay? Once they have a glorified body up in heaven. Let me ask you a question. Has this taken place yet? No. Your body's still corrupt. Your body still does wrong. Your body is going to die one day. You're going to get older. You're gonna have sickness. You're gonna have illness. You're gonna get tired, okay? But eventually, one day, you will get your glorified body. But that has happened zero percent so far. Not one percent. It hasn't happened at all yet. It's zero percent. Let's go to First Thessalonians four. First Thessalonians chapter four. See, a lot of people, they get saved, and then they wonder, why do I keep doing the same things that I used to do? Why do I keep sinning? Why do I keep doing wrong? Why do I find this music, you know, enjoyable, even though it's blaspheming God's name? Why do I enjoy these movies that are glorifying violence and sex and drugs and are against the things of God? Because your flesh didn't change. Now when you feel guilty by watching those movies, it's because your spiritual side is saying, you know what, hey, that's wrong, okay? But your flesh has not changed one bit. It's still going to desire the same things. What causes you to change your life is a process of time, of hard work, okay? If you're in this room and you say, I don't listen to bad music anymore, that did not happen the moment of salvation. That happened because you made a decision, you know what, I'm going to live for God. And slowly the flesh got weaker and weaker and weaker, okay? But let me tell you something, you are always going to be battling that flesh. And your flesh did not change the moment of salvation. First Thessalonians chapter four, verse 13. First Thessalonians chapter four, verse 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep or them which are dead, that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope. Verse 14, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. And so the Bible is saying, you know what, if Jesus rose again one day, we are also going to rise again one day. Now Jesus rose again 2,000 years ago, right? But before that, you know, he died, his body was in the ground, his soul was in hell for three days and three nights, and then he was raised incorruptible, the Bible says, okay? But for us, that has not taken place at this point. Now what the Bible says is, he gives us the earnest of our inheritance. The Bible talks about basically the Holy Spirit is our earnest. If you've ever bought a house before, oftentimes when you want to buy a house, there's a lot of people that are bidding for it, and you have to get approved for a loan and things like that. So sometimes you'll tell the person selling the house, I really want this house, I'll give you basically 100,000 pesos right now to guarantee that I'm going to come back in a week and buy this house. It's called earnest money, okay, when you sell a house. Earnest money. What you're doing is putting money in there because here's the thing, when you're selling a house, you're going to sell to the first person that's bidding, okay? And so you're not going to wait because it takes people time to get approved for a loan and sometimes they don't. What happens is, if I give $2,000 to the person selling the house, and it turns out I can't get approved for the loan, he keeps the $2,000, okay? Because he basically put that house on hold because I said I will buy it. And if I say I can't buy it, what happens? He gets the money that I gave him, okay? So basically you're not going to give people earnest money unless you know for sure you're going to buy that house, and the earnest money is an amount that's pretty big. So what happens is the person who's selling knows he's not going to just give away a couple thousand dollars. He's going to come back and buy this house, okay? Well the Bible says the Holy Spirit is our earnest, and what the promise of the Holy Spirit is this, I'm going to come back and give you the glorified body. Now if God does not give us the glorified body, he loses the Holy Spirit. Now that's not going to happen, okay? He gives you the Holy Spirit, it says in Ephesians 1, as the promise, it's the earnest of our inheritance that we will inherit in corruption. We will go to heaven one day with our glorified body, okay? But I want you to understand something, that is not taking place yet, okay? Notice what it says here in verse 16, 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. So the comfort is that those that are dead are going to be raised incorruptible one day, and also inherit heaven one day, they're spiritually speaking. Go to Titus chapter 2, or their bodies I should say, they're going to get their glorified bodies. Go to Titus chapter 2. And so in Titus chapter 2, notice what it says in verse number 11. Titus chapter 2 verse number 11. Titus 2 verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Okay? So Jesus died for everybody. Then it says in verse 12, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. So what the Holy Spirit teaches us as people that are saved, is that we should live soberly. We should live righteously. We should live godly. It doesn't mean that we will live soberly, righteously, and godly, but it teaches us that we should. So salvation's appeared to everyone, but quite honestly, unsaved people, they just don't understand what it means to live for God or why they should live for God. When you're saved, it teaches you that you should live godly, but it's still your choice whether you're going to. Notice verse 13. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Now, this is referring to when we're going to be raptured, okay? And we're going to get our glorified bodies at the rapture. The Bible says we look for that blessed hope. Why is it that we look for the blessed hope of basically being glorified, okay? It's not because of the fact, oh, I hate my life so much, I just want to be out of here. No, it's because of the fact we don't have to fight the flesh anymore. That's the context. Because as believers, the thing we should be most bothered at in this world is the fact we still mess up, we still do wrong, and we look forward to the day when we're raised incorruptible and we never have a desire to do what's wrong anymore, okay? Because while we're here on earth, we still do wrong. And verse 12 said we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, but you know, here's the reality. We don't do that every day, and we don't do that throughout the day. And so we look for that blessed hope. Why? Because we will no longer fight the flesh anymore. We're just going to serve God, and we will never sin once we're glorified, okay? Once we have our glorified body. Now turn back to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. And so we're going back to Romans 8 where we had our text verse, and let's go to verse number 19. Verse number 19. Romans chapter 8, verse 19. The Bible says this in Romans chapter 8, verse 19, for the earnest expectation of the creature. Expectation. This is something that we are expecting. It's something that is going to happen, okay? As a saved person, you know you're spiritually saved. As a saved person, if you know what the Bible says, you're going to know that you have not physically been saved at all. There's not a change in your body whatsoever. So the earnest expectation of the creature, that one day you will be raised incorruptible. You're going to have your glorified body. You'll never do wrong anymore. It's the immortal body. That's the expectation, something that's happening in the future. Waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God, okay? Waiteth for the manifestation. What does manifestation mean? Think about where the Bible says God was manifest in the flesh. Who is that referring to? Is that referring to God the Father? No. Is that referring to God the Son? No. It's referring to Jesus Christ. Why? He's the one that we saw. God was manifest in the flesh. Everybody saw him. It was God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, okay? It wasn't God the Father. It wasn't the Holy Ghost. And so when it's saying the manifestation, this is something that we can see. We're looking forward to the manifestation of that, but it hasn't happened yet. The body has not changed yet, okay? One day it will take place. Verse 20, for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly. See, your body has not changed, and it's subject to vanity, not willingly. You fight that flesh. You want to do what's right, and yet your flesh still messes up. God could have just 100% regenerated you and given you a glorified body, just taken you to heaven, okay? He didn't do that, though. When you got saved, he says, you know what? I want you to be here on earth to be a soul winner until the day you die, okay? So he says, you know what? I'm going to keep you here on earth. Your body's not going to be changed. You're going to be a soul winner, and once you pass away, one day you're going to get your glorified body, but it's not happening right now because you're expected to be a soul winner here on earth, okay? He said it was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Now notice shall be delivered. That's the future. It has not happened yet. Your body has not been delivered yet. It has not been changed yet. It shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. The Bible says one day you're going to be raised incorruptible. You're delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. You say, why does it say liberty? Well, let me ask you a question. Someone who's addicted to smoking cigarettes, who smokes cigarettes every day of their life and spends a lot of money, okay? Spend 150 pesos a day or whatever every single day addicted to smoking cigarettes. Look, if I had a button right here and they could press that button and they would never desire to smoke a cigarette ever again, but instead they would have desired to basically just live a godly life and read the Bible, do you realize every single person would just come up here and press that button so they would no longer have the desire to smoke cigarettes? Say why? Because they want to do what's right, but the flesh is weak. You know what that means? It means they're not free, right? They're in bondage to their sin. And all of us to some degree are in bondage to our sin. That's what the Bible is speaking about. There are things we want to do and we don't do them. What does that mean? It means we're not free. Why? Because we're giving into the flesh, okay? Every single person in this world that is addicted to drugs, if they could press a button where they would no longer ever want to do drugs ever again, every one of them would press that button. But the problem is they still want to do drugs. Why? Because our flesh is weak, okay? And so I want you to understand something. We are not in full liberty right now because we still do what we don't want to do. Don't we do things that we don't want to do? Why? Because the spirit's willing and the flesh is weak. That's what the Bible teaches. So one day we're going to be basically delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. We do not have 100% liberty now when we choose to serve the flesh. We become in bondage to the flesh if we choose to basically walk after the flesh, the Bible says. Verse 22, for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. The Bible says the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. What does that mean? It means everybody in this world is going to get old and die. Things are going to break down. Look, when the Garden of Eden was created, things were perfect. Man was sinless until they ate that fruit and just everything went well. And now after that, the curse was upon man where basically God says you're going to have to work extremely hard just to provide your needs. There's the curse upon mankind because of that. And the result is that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. We get old, we die. There's sickness, there's weakness, we do wrong, we have to fight the flesh. And look, this whole world is under that as well where they basically work very hard just to provide their needs and things get old, things go bad. One day when we're older, we're going to die. The whole creation, saved and unsaved, groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Now as believers, should we whine about that and cry about that? No, that was God's judgment in Genesis chapter 3. But notice what it says in verse 23, and not only they, so not only everybody in the world, but ourselves also. What is Paul saying? Us that are believers, ourselves also, okay, we groan and travail in pain together until now, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, save people, even we groan ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. When does this happen? It happens at the rapture, okay. And what Paul says is, as believers, the reason why we should be looking forward to the return of Jesus is because we're waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body, because our body is still sinful, it still does wrong. And look, obviously heaven is better than earth, but you know what, I want to live to be an old man. I want to go soul winning for the next 50 years of my life and preach sermons and then help people grow spiritually, train my kids to be soul winners and to love God. I don't want to leave this earth. Obviously heaven's great, but God has left us here for a purpose. And look, as believers, yeah, we look forward to the return of Jesus, but not because, oh, I'm so miserable in this world, but no, because of the fact we get the redemption of the body. That's what Paul says. That's why we look forward to the return of Jesus because of the fact we want to do what's right and yet we still sin. So the body has not been regenerated at all. So point number one we had was this. Salvation has two parts, the spiritual side and the physical. Point number two, the spiritual side happens 100% the moment you believe and get saved. Point number three, the physical side happens 0%. Not even just, well, I mean, if you're really saved, you know, I think you're going to want to do no, no, no, no. 0% is the change in the body. When you get saved, what happens is you're indwelled with the Holy Ghost. Your body does not change at all. Okay. Point number four, let us talk about various forms of works salvation. Notice what it says in Romans 8 verse 24, for we are saved by hope. What is hope in the Bible? Hope in the Bible is not something where it's like, well, maybe this will take place. Hope is something that's a sure thing, but that you can't hold in your hand like two plus two equals four. I know one day I will go to heaven, but yet I can't prove that to you with physical evidence. Here's my salvation. I can't prove that like that. Hope is something where it's like, you know, it's going to take place, but it's not something where basically you can prove like a math problem. See two X plus two equals eight, meaning X equals three. You can't prove it on a whiteboard or whatever. It's something, you know, for sure, but what it says here in this verse, but hope that is seen is not hope. Hope that is seen is not hope. What does that mean? It means hope is not something that we can see, right? I know one day I will have my glorified body, but that's something that's a hope that I know is going to take place, but it's not something that's seen. There's no change in my body when I get saved. Hope that is seen is not hope. You say, what is your point? Here is my point. When people say about salvation, if you're really saved, you're going to start living a good life, hope that is seen is not hope. See what the Bible is saying is there is no physical proof of your salvation. Hope that is seen is not hope. And see when people are basing their salvation on the works they do, hey, if you're really saved, you're going to get baptized. Hope that is seen is not hope, my friend. Baptism is not proof of your salvation. Hope that is seen is not hope according to the Bible. Well, if you're really saved, you're going to persevere onto the end. Hope that is seen is not hope. If you're really saved, you're going to read the Bible. Hope that is seen is not hope. If there is some physical evidence based on that we know somebody's saved, that's not hope. And how are we saved according to the Bible? We're saved by hope. We're saved. And I cannot point to a Muslim and say, well, here's my proof of my salvation, Mr. Muslim. This is why you should believe. Here's my proof of salvation, Mr. Hindu. This is why you need to believe. Here's my salvation, Mr. Buddhist. This is why you should believe. Here's my salvation, Mr. Catholic. Here's why you should believe. No, it's not something with the physical evidence because it's hope, the Bible says. I know I'm saved. I know I'm on my way to heaven, but I cannot hand you evidence of that here today. And you cannot hand me evidence. Why? Because we are saved by hope. What is hope? Well, hope that is seen is not hope, which means you're not going to be able to see it. There's not going to be proof of a changed life, you're just living a great life, you're just such a great person. Now, no, hope that is seen is not hope, okay? So look, when people tell you things like, if you're really saved, you're going to start living a good life. Is that salvation according to the Bible? No, it's not. Hope that is seen is not hope and we're saved by hope, okay? Now let me say this because I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm saying. There are people that would say something that is just full blown work salvation and there's no question about it. Somebody tells you, you know what? I think if you're really saved, you're going to get baptized and you're going to live a good life and read the Bible for three hours every day and if you don't do that, then you're not saved. Okay, that person believes in a work salvation, right? Obviously they believe in a work salvation and if you don't do that, then you'll lose your salvation. Obviously that person believes in a work salvation. Now there are some people though that have this confusing middle position. I mean, either hope is something that's seen or not. I believe hope is something that's not seen, okay? I believe our body has changed 0%, okay? And somebody living a good life is not proof of their salvation. Praise the Lord if you read the Bible every day. That's not the proof of your salvation, my friend, okay? We'll look at the proof here later on in the sermon, but the physical evidence, that's not the proof. Some people have this middle position where it's like, well, I'm not saying that you have to turn from all your sins and never drink anymore, but I think if you're really saved, you're going to start living a good life, okay? Look, when somebody says that, they may be saved, but they are making salvation confusing, my friend. Because salvation is believe alone. Just believe on Jesus Christ. You receive the gift of eternal life. And when someone says, well, if you're really saved, you're going to start walking the walk and living a good life. It's like that person might be saved, but you know what? I'm not all that confident they're saved though. Say why? They're making salvation pretty confusing, right? I mean, one of the great proofs of salvation to me is when people explain Luke chapter 8 with the parable of the sower. See, some people look at that and they say, well, only the last one saved because the others didn't bear fruit. And it's like what they're basically saying is if you're really saved, you're going to live a good life, okay? They don't understand the parable of the sower. Or people turn to Matthew 7 verses 22 and 23 and they say, see, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name done many wonderful works and in thy name cast out devils? And then I profess unto them, I never knew you. And they point to that and say, well, see, here's someone who did a lot of wonderful works. He just didn't do enough good works. It's like literally unsaved people. That's how they explain Matthew 7. This guy says, I've done all these wonderful works. It's like, see? And they will point you to those verses and say, well, see, he just didn't do enough good works. And you think you're going to get there just by believing? It's like they don't understand the Bible. I look at that and say, well, see, obviously someone trusting in their works goes to hell. Okay? It's pretty obvious as a saved person, we understand that. But unsaved people don't understand the Bible. Here's what I'm saying. When people go to those stories and then those are their explanations, or they go to James 2. They go to James 2 and say, well, see, if you really have faith, you're going to have works. They don't understand what James 2 is about. And it's like, I'm not confident that person's saved when they're saying, if you're really saved, you're going to have works. No, the Bible says hope that is seen is not hope. And we're saved by hope. We know we're going to get the glorified body, but I don't have that physical evidence to prove it to you here this morning. But then it says in verse 25, well, verse 24 at the end, for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? So if it's something you see, it's not something where it's like, man, you've got that hope, the Bible's saying. Verse 25, but if we hope for that we see not, and this is the place we are, we know this is true, but we don't see it, then do we with patience wait for it. And we're patiently waiting for the redemption of the body. And look, this redemption of the body is not just the fact that you're never going to die, because the context in Romans 6, 7, and 8, it keeps talking about living a holy life. Yes, we're never going to die, but also you're never going to sin anymore. You're never going to do what's wrong anymore. Turn to John chapter 3, John 3. Sometimes you go soul winning, and you're explaining at the door about how you don't have to obey God's rules to go to heaven, you don't have to live a good life, you just have to believe. They don't agree with you. And then partway through the conversation, they try to meet you in the middle. And they say, oh, I think I get what you're saying. You're saying that someone who's truly saved is going to live. It's not that their works get them saved, but if they're truly saved, they're going to have the works. They're like, right? It's like, no, that is not what I'm saying. Okay, I don't take a middle position because hope that is seen is not hope according to the Bible. Okay. And let me tell you something. Salvation is never something at this church we're going to take a middle position on. Salvation is faith alone. And let me tell you something, there are plenty of saved drug addicts out there. There are plenty of saved people that commit adultery, that fornicate, that do whatever. And you know what? They are still saved and on their way to heaven, because it's money well along. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not live a good life, not get baptized, not go to church, not well, well, if you're really saved, you're going to do the works. That's not what the Bible teaches. Hope that is seen is not hope. John three, verse four, Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? So Nicodemus is thinking about the physical birth. Jesus said about how being born again, and Nicodemus is like, I'm already born. What are you talking about? I've been physically born. What do you mean I have to be born again? Well this is the spiritual birth Jesus is talking about. Verse five, Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Now a lot of people go to verse five and say, well, see, you got to be baptized. I didn't see the word baptism in verse five. I saw except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, and Jesus is answering Nicodemus who's thinking about a physical birth. So Jesus is telling him, no, no, no, no, you've got to be physically born, born of the water, but then you got to be born of the Spirit. Why does Jesus say born of the water? Well, Mr. Nicodemus, when a baby's born, a mom's water breaks. That's why he's saying born of the water and of the Spirit. He's not saying, well, you got to get baptized. He didn't use the word baptism. He's answering. And look, the next verse proves this in verse six, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, physical birth, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. So he's saying, don't be confused about this Nicodemus that you have to be born again. Now notice verse eight. It's a bit of a cryptic verse. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and now here's the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. You say, Brother Stuckey, okay, verse four made sense, verse five, verse six, verse seven. What in the world is verse eight talking about? Why is he talking about wind? And it's like, well, Jesus is explaining about being born again. He used the concept of wind. He's like, you hear the sound, you know it's there, but you're not sure where it's coming and where it's going. And he's using that to apply to salvation. Why? Because what he's trying to say is you don't have this evidence here, Mr. Nicodemus, okay? You're thinking of a physical birth. We're talking about a spiritual birth, which means physically there's no change when you're spiritually born. Receiving everlasting life is a spiritual birth, not a physical birth, okay? It's not partially a physical birth. It's 100% spiritual, okay? Turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians four. We'll look at just a few more places. 2 Corinthians four, 2 Corinthians chapter four. Now look, I know in this room we understand salvation, we're saved and on our way to heaven, but we need to hear these things from time to time. But it's also important we don't take a gray area position on this topic, okay? The Bible's just very clear. Salvation is by faith alone. You don't have to live a good life. You don't have to change your life whatsoever. And the Bible does not say there's gonna be physical evidence that you're living a good life to prove you're saved. No, because it's by faith alone. 2 Corinthians chapter four, verse 16. For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. The outward man's referring to the flesh, the inward man, the spiritual man who's been regenerated. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. See, one day we're gonna be glorified, we're gonna have that eternal weight of glory, we're gonna be glorified. Verse 18, while we look not at the things which are seen. See, as saved people, we don't look at the things that are seen. Okay, I've never seen heaven, right? I don't have a glorified body, I don't see any of us having a glorified body. I've never seen heaven. I know it's there. I know it's true. I know I'm going to heaven. We look at the things which the Bible says, we do not look at the things which are seen. See, the world just looks at the stuff here. Doesn't the world tell you, I need evidence that Jesus is the way to heaven? I mean, if he just rose again in front of my eyes, I'd believe it. And yet 2,000 years ago, he rose again in front of people's eyes. Did people believe it? Not everybody. Most people didn't. The world wants to have evidence, and what Jesus said is the only evidence is the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Basically saying, you know what? The evidence is that I'm going to be buried, die, buried, and then rise again, okay? We do not look at the things which are seen. We look at the things of eternity, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, okay? These are only things that happen in this earth, they're going to pass away. But the things which are not seen are eternal, okay? We should not be looking at the things which are seen, okay? You say, well, how do I know if somebody's saved if there is no physical evidence whatsoever? Turn to Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11. See how do I know if I'm saved? How do I know if somebody else is saved? How do I know if there's no evidence? I didn't say there was no evidence. What I said was there was no physical evidence. There's nothing you can put in your hand and give to someone and say, here's my evidence of salvation. I didn't say there wasn't evidence. What I said is there's no physical evidence. There's a big difference there, okay? There is proof of salvation. There is evidence of salvation, but it is not something that is seen. It's something that is not seen, okay? Not something that's seen, but something that is not seen. Hebrews 11 verse 1, Hebrews 11 verse 1, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The Bible says faith is the evidence of things not seen. You say, Brother Stuckey, how do you know you're going to heaven? Is it because you read the Bible? That's not the reason why. Plenty of unsaved people read the Bible, okay? Is it because you pray? No, because I prayed before I was saved, okay? Everybody prays, okay? Is it because you believe in God? Well, I mean, everybody believes in God, okay? Pretty much. But here's the reason why I know I'm saved is because I placed my faith in Jesus Christ when I was 18 years old. Faith is the evidence of things not seen, and you know what? I don't have any physical evidence to prove to you, but I am fully persuaded 100% that I will go to heaven one day. You say why? Because I was given eternal life. I was given a gift that was paid for by Jesus Christ. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. What that's saying is salvation is not something that's seen. It's kind of like the wind. It's not something that's seen. You say, Brother Stuckey, man, when I got saved, I was expecting the room to light up, and I was going to feel all fuzzy and just like, man, energetic, and I was going to start speaking all these languages and everything like that. No, that's not salvation, my friend, because salvation is something that, you know what, the Bible says is not seen. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. So the reason why I know I'm going to heaven is primarily because of the fact I know based on faith. I believe, okay? Now, the Bible does say that as a saved person, the Spirit also beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And so I understand that from a personal level, but let me say this. There's no physical evidence that I'm saved because I read the Bible that doesn't make me saved. Because I memorized some of the chapters of Romans, that doesn't make me saved. And it's not proof of salvation either. And it works the same way with trying to figure out if somebody else is saved. Okay? You say, how do I know if somebody's saved? You say, how do I know if my wife's saved? How do I know if my husband's saved or my coworker? How do I know somebody else is saved? Here's how you know, what do they believe? What do they believe? If they are a drug addict that thinks salvation is by faith alone, that means they're saved. You say, but wait a minute, they're a drug addict. You can be a drug addict and go to heaven. It's not based on things that are seen. It's like, yeah, you know what? I'm sure there's plenty of drug addicts that are saved and on their way to heaven and praise the Lord for that. Because Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. He died for everybody. And look, I still have my own sins. I'm not a drug addict, but I certainly have my own sins. Okay? And so look, you say, how do I know if somebody's saved? You know, they say they believe, but they're drunk. Hey, if they believe the right message of salvation, they're saved. You say, but they drink alcohol every day. Yeah, because their flesh hasn't been regenerated. They spiritually got regenerated, but their flesh still did the same exact things they did before they were saved. How do you know? You say, Brother Stuckey, I knocked on someone's door and I knocked there and they were just basically, you know, I got there and they were singing the hymns from our hymnal. They're just singing the hymns and they were dressed real nice and they were oh so nice and everything like that. Their kids were really respectful and I asked them if they were going to heaven and they said you got to be baptized. But they're so nice. I think maybe they're saved. No, they're not saved. You say why? Because it's not based on the physical. It's based on what do they believe. Okay? And just as much someone who gives the wrong message of salvation but seems very godly, the opposite is true as well. Someone who seems very ungodly but they believe the right message of salvation, they are saved. Okay? And I want you to understand something. We're all in a process of trying to change our lives and kill off the old man every single day. And it's a battle because of the fact when we got saved it did not change. Why? Because faith is the evidence of things I've seen. What the Bible says is we're saved by hope and hope that is seen is not hope. So look, when it comes to salvation, this is something we need to make very, very crystal clear. Okay? When we go soul winning but also in our lives as well. Look, if somebody, and look, if somebody, if I knock on their door and they give kind of a gray area answer, I assume that they're not saved because I would rather give the gospel to someone that is already saved but confused, you know, an extra time or something, then basically walk away and say, well, maybe they're saved. No, you should still give them the gospel anyway. Okay? Yeah, there are people out there that get confused on salvation because you don't hear sermons like this priest of Baptist churches. You hear sermons that are very confusing, okay? And yes, there are people that are saved and confused but if they give me the wrong message of salvation, I've got to assume guilty until proven innocent. You say, why? Because most people are unsaved. When I knock on someone's door and they tell me they're a Baptist, I assume they're not saved because most Baptists are not saved. Now, obviously there's plenty of Baptists that are saved, okay? But you're going to run into some Baptists, plenty of Baptists that are not saved. It's the same way when you knock on the door of a Catholic. I remember just to end with one story, I was going soul winning with my friend in West Virginia and, you know, we knocked on this door of this girl who was in college and all of a sudden I noticed, I was a silent partner and my friend Elser was giving the gospel to this person and all of a sudden I noticed, hey, this is someone I gave the gospel to, you know, several months back, okay? So what I did is I basically slid to the side behind so I couldn't be seen by the door because I wanted him to give her the gospel to check to make sure she got saved because we can all have false converts and I want to make sure she got it and I kind of just went to the side and he was talking to her and he said, hey, do you know for sure you're going to heaven? And she's like, yes. And he asked what church, well, he asked what church to go to. She said, I'm a Catholic. He's like, do you know for sure you're going to heaven? And she's like, yes. He's like, well, what do you think it takes to get to heaven? Just believe. All you got to do is believe. He's like, do you have to live a good life? She's like, no. And he's getting confused. He's like, this is a Catholic. It's like, why are they giving me the right answers? And he kept asking questions like, well, do you have to repent of your sins or give? She's like, no, it's just by believing. And he's like, well, can you ever lose your salvation? Would a saved person, like if they did something terrible, they killed someone or committed suicide, would they still go to heaven? And she's like, yes, it's eternal life. And he's like, okay. And he just kind of walked away like, did I mess up or whatever? And I told him after, I was like, hey, you know, I got that girl saved a couple months ago. Now, I don't know if she was still going to Catholic church every week and just doesn't understand everything or maybe she goes because of her family, but here's what I'm trying to tell you. Okay. And obviously, if somebody says they're Catholic, they're probably not saved. But what I'm telling you is salvation is 100% based on what do people believe? Faith is the evidence. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see this topic of salvation. There's nothing more important. Help us to always take a very strong line on this topic of salvation and not be in the gray area or be confusing about it. And you know, help us make sure, God, we do everything we can to try to reach this community with the gospel. We do all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.