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All right, we're in Romans chapter four, and you know, sometimes we spend several weeks in a chapter if there's a lot of information or a lot of different ideas. But kind of the main theme of Romans chapter four is Old Testament salvation, and that is the name of the sermon, Old Testament salvation. Now there's a doctrine out there called dispensationalism, and this has many types and flavors depending on who you ask. But the biggest heresy, I believe, is when they say salvation was different in the Old Testament or different in different time periods. And they will say that some people got saved by living a good life, by doing animal sacrifices. Some people got saved by baptism. Some people got saved by repenting of their sins. But see, the Bible is very clear that we all get saved the same way, because when the Bible says for all of sinned and come short of the glory of God, that is true for people before Jesus Christ also. They also sinned and came short of the glory of God. So point number one is quite simply this when it comes to Old Testament salvation is faith. Faith. Notice what it says in verse one. What shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. See, the Bible says if he got to heaven by his works, he could glory or brag about that. Doesn't the end of Ephesians two say lest any man should boast, saying nobody can boast or brag about their salvation, because that salvation had nothing to do with us. We didn't do the works. We didn't pay for it. It's a matter of us just believing that Jesus did. He died, you know, was buried and rose again. So it's not of works. Otherwise we would be able to boast. And guess what? Abraham was not justified by his works, according to verse two. If Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God, because no one will be justified by their works before God, according to the Bible. Verse three. For what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now verse three is a quote from the Old Testament, because the Bible says, For what saith the scripture? It's quoting from Genesis chapter 15. So go to Genesis chapter 15, Genesis 15, Genesis 15. Now let me also say this, that Abraham lived before the Mosaic law. Abraham was before Moses, because people that try to say salvation was by works in the Old Testament and animal sacrifices. Well, Abraham was before Moses, though. So what dispensational salvationists will say, they will add a lot of different plans of salvation throughout the Bible. They'll tell you that Adam and Eve were saved by not eating fruit. They'll say that basically, you know, they'll just change it in different time periods. Abraham was saved by works. And then in Moses, they had to follow the Mosaic law. And then in the time of Jesus Christ, you know, it's still under the Old Testament law until he dies. And then it changes to baptism later in the Bible, and it changes the repentance of sins. And finally, in Revelation 14, we get the everlasting gospel. Okay, finally, God found a method that he's going to stick with, according to them. But see, the Bible's clear, all of us are saved by the same exact way, by faith. Genesis 15, verse six, And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. I mean, isn't it clear he got saved not by works? I mean, it quotes from Genesis 15. And it says, If he were saved by works, he hath where of the glory, but not before God. It says he was not saved by his works. Now what people that believe in dispensational salvation will say, they'll say, Well, he was a special circumstance. He was a special circumstance where he got to be saved by faith. Now go back to Romans four, Romans four, you know, what's so foolish about that is that if Abraham were a special circumstance, and he was like the greatest man who lived during that time period, wouldn't have his salvation been by works as opposed to faith, if he's a special circumstance, because he's so good. He's saved by faith, because he can't work his way to heaven. And so all the people that lived with him during that time period, if Abraham couldn't work his way to heaven, and he had to just believe on the coming Savior, everybody else would have had to do the same thing. It doesn't even make sense, okay? The Bible's very clear, Abraham was saved by faith, okay? Verse four, Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Look, it doesn't say his faith is counted for righteousness in this present dispensation. No, his faith is counted for righteousness. Old Testament, New Testament, it has always been by faith alone, okay? Now here's what we need to understand. Obviously Jesus died 2000 years ago, okay? So people that lived during Abraham's day, they didn't know the name Jesus Christ. There wasn't as much information revealed to them, but they were saved by putting their faith in the coming salvation, the coming Savior that would come and die for them. They were not saved by working their way to heaven or by sacrificing or doing good works. They were saved by faith. Verse 13, Romans 4 verse 13, For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. So it's not just that Abraham was saved by faith, but the Bible says through him the heir of the world, it's passed on faith to faith throughout the entire Bible. The righteousness of faith. It's not just Abraham. This promise was by faith, the Bible says. Verse 14, For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. And see what the Bible is saying in verse 14 is that if somebody could get to heaven by the law or by their works, the promise of by faith alone is done. So what is verse 14 saying? There cannot be two ways of salvation. If it's by the law, it can't be by faith. If it's by faith, it can't be by the law. You cannot have two different ways of getting to heaven. If it's by the law, the promise of faith is done away. It's one or the other. And so look, when people try to come to the Bible and say, well, James 2 is just a different dispensation or a different group of people. Acts 2 38, different dispensation. That's called being lazy with studying your Bible. It's like, I don't know the answer. So it's just a dispensation for, you know, yeah, in India, you got to put a red dot in your head. It's like that's their dispensation or whatever. It's like you're just being lazy with studying the Bible instead of finding out what it's actually talking about. No, the Bible says, if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of none effect. So it's either by faith or by works. And so there are two plans of salvation in this world. One is by faith alone. That's what we believe. That's what we teach. That's what we preach. The other is by works. And so when people say, I'm going to work my way to heaven, I'll be judged by my works. That's how I'm going to get there. It's like, all right, you will be judged by your works. You're right about that. And you will be guilty. You will not make it, okay? Verse 15, because the law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgression. Now go to verse 19, and being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead when he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. So the Bible's showing it is by faith alone, okay? And so with Abraham, he was saved by faith alone, and there's also examples of his life where promises were given by faith, and it's all picturing the fact that salvation is by faith alone, and it always has been. Okay? Go to Isaiah 64, Isaiah 64. You say, why is it by faith alone? Well, because we're guilty, right? We cannot work our way to heaven. And if we could work our way to heaven, if there had been a law which could have given righteousness, verily righteousness should have been by the law. If there had been a law given which could have given righteousness, verily righteousness should have been by the law, the Bible says. But there is no law that can give us righteousness. It is by faith alone. Isaiah 64, Isaiah 64, you say, well, you're just quoting the New Testament. Well, Isaiah 64 is Old Testament, right? Verse six, Isaiah 64, verse six. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Notice we are all as an unclean thing. You say, what does all mean? Means everybody. It means all, okay? Old Testament and New Testament, we are all as an unclean thing. Look, people in the Old Testament, they were unclean. They were sinners. They broke God's law. So guess what? They needed a sacrifice. They needed a payment. And look, those animal sacrifices were not good enough to save them. That's what the Bible says, okay? Jesus had to come and die and pay for their sins, okay? Now go in your New Testament to Acts 10, verse 43. Acts 10, verse 43. Acts 10, verse 43. And what's interesting about this is the New Testament tells us that everybody was saved by faith alone in the Old Testament as well. Acts 10, verse 43. Acts 10, verse 43. To him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. And so what did all the prophets teach that salvation's by faith alone? Believing on the coming Savior that would come and die for our sins? That is how the remission of sins happens. Whosoever believeth in him. You know, that's pretty similar to whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And in the Old Testament, it was whosoever will. Whosoever believeth in him. That is what they taught. Go to Luke 23, Luke 23. Luke chapter 23. Now in Luke 23, Jesus is not yet dead. So this is technically the Old Covenant. I mean, it is the Old Covenant, okay? Because before Jesus Christ died, those laws were still in place. And so he has not died yet, he has not paid for the sins. And so in Luke 23, we are looking at someone under the Old Covenant, Old Testament, okay? With the Mosaic law in Luke 23. That's what it says in verse 39. And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. We know Jesus was crucified, one to his left and one to his right. And this man says, If you're the Christ, save yourself and then save us. He's mocking Jesus. Verse 40, But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God? Seeing thou art in the same condemnation. And we indeed justly, for we receive the due rewards of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. What is he saying? I believe Jesus Christ is perfect. This is the same man who was mocking Jesus earlier in the Bible. He mocked Jesus earlier when he's on the cross. And he's had a change of tune when he was beside Jesus Christ. Now, we don't necessarily know exactly everything that was said when Jesus was on the cross. I mean, the Bible mentions certain things that he said. But he had either already heard the gospel before and he changed his mind about Jesus or he heard the gospel when he's on the cross. But he changes his mind about Jesus Christ, and he says, This man is perfect. Verse 42, And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now let me ask you a question. If this person's under the old covenant and saved by works according to people that believe in dispensationalism, what works does this guy have? Show me the good deeds this man's done. I mean, he's being crucified because he's a bad person. He's being crucified because he's done things wrong. And he's saying, We deserve this. I deserve the death penalty. He said, I deserve this. He has no good works to show. No good works whatsoever. And guess what? Jesus is saying, You know what? You're saved. Why? Because he believed. That's what we see. He had no good works. Okay? Nothing. And yet Jesus says before he dies, You know what? I'll see you in paradise. You say, Why paradise? Because paradise and heaven are the same place. Okay? But he says, You know what? I will see you in paradise. He's like, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Why? Because salvation was not by works in the Old Testament. Salvation has always been by faith alone. Everybody who's ever gotten saved, it was by faith alone. Turn to Romans four. Romans four. Romans four. So number one with Old Testament salvation is by faith. Number two. Point number one is faith. Number two is forever. Point number two is forever. The salvation in the Old Testament, it was received by faith, and it lasted forever. It never ended. Romans four, verse six. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works. So notice David is saying, You know what? Righteousness comes by believing, not by works. Okay? Now David came after the Mosaic law, and Abraham came before. And you notice they are both saved the same way, right? Special situation, right? Abraham was a special situation, and David is also a special situation. Okay? That's what they say. Well, I mean, David said this. He said righteousness without works, saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. And David's saying this. When you're saved, your sins are gone. You will never be guilty. Turn to Psalm 32 in the middle of your Bible. Psalm 32. Now, look, David was a man after God's own heart. He was a great man of God, but let's be honest. He was someone who was very thankful that salvation was forever. You say why? Because he didn't just sin after he got saved. He committed big sins after he got saved. Right? I mean, we saw that this morning. We touched on it. We're basically, he committed adultery, and then he ends up at the end of that story, he commits murder to her husband. He leaves him on the front of battle and just leaves the man to die, and the Bible says you're the one who killed him. He's guilty of adultery and murder, and yet this man David preached, salvation is by righteousness without works, and God will not impute sin to the person who has the righteousness of Jesus Christ upon him. The righteousness of God our savior upon him. He said salvation was by faith alone, and David was saying, you know what? It's also forever. It does not end. Psalm 32 verse 1, Psalm 32 verse 1, and this word's quoted from, it says, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputed not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Okay? Now go to Psalm 51, Psalm 51, and let me turn there myself. I'm going to add this to the sermon. Psalm 51, Psalm 51, and let's actually look at David's reaction after he's actually committed adultery and murder, and he's been confronted by David, because we can actually see his reaction in Psalm 51, okay? Let's notice closely to what he says here in verse 9, Psalm 51 verse 9, hide thy face for my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. Give me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Now I want you to understand something. Even as saved people, we should still confess our sins to God and say, I'm sorry, cleanse me, help me to do better. Just as a son should tell his father, I'm sorry, Dad, I lied to you. I'm sorry, Dad, you know, I did this, okay? I had a bad attitude. Forgive me. I didn't listen to what you said. Look, a son is still going to be a son of a father no matter whether he does that or not, but to restore a good relationship with his father, he needs to obey and say he's sorry when he messes up. Now our salvation is forever, but if you want a good relationship with God, it means you go to bed at night and saying, God, forgive me for what I did wrong today. And when you wake up in the morning, God, forgive me for what I did wrong and help me to do better today, okay? That should be our daily routine about the mistakes we make with God. Why? Because otherwise we will not have a clean heart, okay? Getting right with God is something that's a daily thing. Now our salvation is a one-time thing, but being right with God is a daily thing where you say, I'm sorry, I messed up God, forgive me, help me to do better. Verse 11, cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Now people would stop at verse 11 and say, well, you see, the Holy Spirit could have been taken from him. Well, wait a minute, in the Old Testament, were they indwelled with the Holy Ghost? No they were not. You say, well, what is this talking about? Because remember the promise of Jesus Christ was, unless I leave, the Comforter is not going to come. And once Jesus died, the Comforter came and everybody who's saved today, we are indwelled with the Holy Ghost. Here's the thing, salvation was still forever in the Old Testament though, but they were not indwelled with the Holy Ghost. But what would take place is the Spirit of the Lord could come upon them. The Bible speaks about the Spirit of the Lord came upon King Saul and David and Samson and various people. You say, what is that? It helped them do mighty and great things for God. Now in today's world, after Jesus Christ's death, we are indwelled with the Holy Ghost, but the Spirit of the Lord can still come upon you to do things. Right? I mean, when the men do the Bible reading before the sermon, don't they often pray? We pray that the Spirit of the Lord will come upon Brother Stuckey to preach this sermon. You say, why? Because that still happens today. When we go soul winning, we pray for God's Spirit to be with us. Now we're already indwelled with the Holy Ghost, but we pray for God's Spirit to be upon us, so we're not doing it in our own flesh, but we're using the Holy Ghost. And so when David is saying this, he said, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. He's not saying, hey, God, please don't take away my salvation. That's not what he's saying. He's saying, God, I still want to be used by you. I still want the Spirit of God to be upon me to do great things. I still want to be in your presence that basically you're still there speaking through me and helping me do mighty things. You say, well, how do you know that? Verse 12, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Now let me ask you a question. Does he say restore unto me my salvation or give me my salvation back? Or does he say restore unto me the joy? He says the joy. Why? Because a saved person that is living in sin is not going to have any joy in their Christian life. I mean, when we're living a sinful life and we're doing wrong, aren't we pretty miserable? Right? I mean, the Bible speaks about how basically, you know, your bones are broken is one of the terminologies. Basically on the inside you feel defeated. And quite honestly, that's the way we feel. That's the way I feel when I'm really messing up and not living for God. It's like you feel weak and you can't even serve God. You say, what is that? It's called the Holy Spirit of the Lord departing from your life. Now you're still in dwell with the Holy Ghost, but the Spirit of God upon your life is gone. Why? Because the Holy Spirit wants to be in a clean vessel. And when you're living a life of sin, God's Spirit is not going to work through you and you will have no joy in the Christian life if you're going through it in your own flesh. So David says, you know what? I need my joy back. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. You say why? Verse 13, then will I teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee. What is that? Soul winning. David says, if you give me my joy back, I will teach transgressors thy ways and sinners shall be converted unto thee. What is he saying? If the Holy Spirit comes back in my life and works through me, I will get people saved. Sinners will be converted. You say, man, everything was different in the Old Testament. Well, it sounds like soul winning took place in the Old Testament. It sounds like David says, you know what? I've converted sinners. And you know what? Last year in my life, I haven't done a very good job with it. Ever since I was being lazy and committed adultery, my life has been terrible. God, restore unto me the joy. And let me tell you something. If a man like David could commit a wicked sin like that, that could happen to any of us. And all of us from time to time should say, God, please restore to me the joy of thy salvation. Go in your Bible to Psalm 103, Psalm 103, Psalm 103. I mean, when you're living for God, man, it's so exciting serving God. You're thankful for just everything God gives you. But you know, when you start to sin, it's like your bones are broken and you just don't have any joy, right? You know, you're not going to serve God consistently unless you're living a clean life, unless you're living a godly life. If you're living a life of sin, if you're saying, I'm going to go soul winning on Sunday and commit these terrible sins on Monday, you're going to stop living for God, okay? Why? Because we only do things when we have joy doing them, right? I mean, there are many things we should do in life, but we don't tend to do things we don't enjoy, okay? I mean, people that enjoy working out, I enjoy working out, okay? And the reason why I work out is I enjoy it. And we do things we take joy in, right? I mean, if you hate reading, hopefully you still read the Bible, even if you hate reading, but if you hate reading, what are you going to do? You're just going to watch documentaries. You're not going to read. Why? Because you don't have any joy in that, okay? And if you don't have joy in serving God, you're only going to go through the motions for so long. Look, if every time you go out soul winning, it's such a burden to you and you hate it, you're like, yeah, I'm just trying to obey God, you're not going to go soul winning for that long. You need to find a way to enjoy it. I mean, if you hate reading the Bible, you better find a way to enjoy it. Otherwise, you know what? You're going to quit reading it. And the reason why you probably don't enjoy reading the Bible is one, you're either living a life of sin, or number two, you're reading with lots of distractions when you're exhausted and you're not learning anything. If you would put away distractions, you would actually enjoy reading your Bible. You say, why? Because when you learn something from reading the Bible on your own, man, it excites you. I remember a long time ago, and maybe most of you know this, maybe you don't, but I remember just when I was reading the Bible, you know, like 15 years ago or so, you know, I was kind of newly saved. I've been saved a year or two or whatever. And you know, in John chapter three, it talks about as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And that's going back to an Old Testament story, right, with a brazen serpent. And I remember I was just reading my Bible and I had never heard it preached before. And I was like, man, that's what the Bible is talking about. I was so excited to learn that. Now, here's the thing. That's not necessarily a deep, deep thing in the Bible, but it was something I learned by reading the Bible on my own. I had never heard it preached. And you know what? That was 100 times more exciting to me than if I had heard it preached. Because when you learn things from the Bible, it will excite you more than when you hear preached. Okay? Psalm 103, verse 10, Psalm 103, verse 10. And so, look, if David did not lose his salvation for committing adultery and murder, explain to me how you would lose your salvation. Okay? Psalm 103, verse 10, he hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Okay? Now, let me just warn you that if you believe in a flat earth, then this won't make any sense to you. Okay? But we don't believe or teach a flat earth around here. Okay? But what it says in verse 12 is this, as far as the east is from the west. Now what is the Bible trying to tell you? Well, let me explain something to you. If you're going north, you eventually reach the North Pole. Right? Then you're going south until you reach the South Pole. Right? It's like you're going north, you're going south. You're going north, you're going south. You're going north, you're going south. Right? Then you just start heading east. You keep going east for thousands of miles, thousands of miles. Tell me when you start going west. You will never start going west. You say, why? Because there is no east and west pole. What the Bible's saying in this verse, as far as the east is from the west, it means you could travel going east until you meet west. You'll never meet it. That's what happened to your sins. They're gone. East never meets west, and you will never meet your sins again. They are gone as far as the east is from the west. Why? They're going in different directions, always going west, always going east. They never meet. And the Bible's saying this in Psalm 103, your sins are gone. You will never have those sins again. They're done. They are forgiven and you are innocent. And when you got saved, it was forever, including your future sins. They are all gone. God will never say you're guilty. He will never cause you to end up going to hell. Your sins are as far as the east is from the west. They're gone. You're never going to come in contact. There's a reason why it doesn't say north and south. Because north and south, north, you know, north then south, okay? Then you'll change direction. You start going east, you will never start going west, okay? Verse 13, why is this? Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. You know, as a father loves their child, even when they do wrong, a father will never disown their child and throw them in a burning lake, right? I mean, do I spank my son? Absolutely. Do I discipline him? Absolutely. But did you realize I never put him in a burning oven? Did you realize I never say, son, I'm going to put you in this oven and lock the door? You say, why? Because you love your children. And what the Bible's telling us in this verse is that when you get saved, you became a child of God, and God loves his children. Those that go to hell never believed on Jesus Christ. But you know what? Those that are saved, it's forever as a father pitieth his children. And this is Old Testament. That's what we're looking at. Isaiah 51, Isaiah 51. So what are we seeing? Well, salvation in the Old Testament, it's forever. It's forever. Isaiah 51, Isaiah 51. And I'll be honest with you, this might surprise you. There are more verses that prove salvation is forever under the Old Testament than the New Testament. And you say, well, how's that possible? There's all these verses I quote from John. Jesus wasn't dead yet. Do you understand that? John 3 16 is Old Covenant. He didn't die yet. I mean, all the verses we use for salvation being forever, they're Old Testament, right? I mean, John 3 16, anyone who's gone soloing with me, I always use John 3 16. I always use John 3 36. Hey, that's Old Covenant. Okay. Notice what it says in Isaiah 51 verse six. You say, well, I don't know. That's still kind of New Testament. Well, okay, whatever. But notice what it says in Isaiah 51 verse six, Isaiah 51 verse six, lift up your eyes to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath. For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment. And they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. So the heavens are going to get old, the earth's going to get ahold. We know there's a new heavens and a new earth. The Bible teaches that. We'll talk about that in several weeks on a Wednesday. Everything gets old, everything dies, it fades away. But notice what it says. But my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. What is that? That's called salvation was forever in the Old Testament. My salvation shall be forever, right? These dispensationalists, they try to just change all these terms and everything and they say, you know, salvation, you know, salvation is different than, you know, everlasting life. Well here, salvation is forever. Eternal life, everlasting life, salvation, okay, it's the same thing. It's one and the same, different ways to express the same thing. My salvation shall be forever. Turn in your Bible to John three, John three, John three. So what are we seeing? Well, we're seeing that salvation in the Old Testament was by faith and it lasted forever. John three verse 16, John three verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ preached before he died that if you believe in me, you will have everlasting life. Life that lasts forever never ends. Now do you know what people say that believe in dispensational salvation? What they say is this, it's true that Jesus taught salvation was by faith alone. They don't deny that. And they say, though, that during this time period, salvation was by works. They admit that if you listen to these famous dispensationalists. They say during this time period, salvation was by works, but Jesus preached faith alone. But the reason why he preached faith alone was to prepare people for when salvation would be by faith alone. I mean, like, what kind of sense does that make, right? I mean, can I preach a false gospel today? Because they'll say salvation's forever right now, but what if I preach the gospel they say in the book of Revelation? Why you better not take the mark of the beast, man, it's by works, right? So can I preach a false gospel today to prepare people for when it will be by works? That doesn't make any sense, right? Jesus preached salvation by faith alone. Why? Because salvation was by faith alone. And guess what? John the Baptist in this chapter also preached salvation by faith alone. I guess he was just preparing people for 30 years down the road, right? And this is how crazy it is. I mean, I don't think people realize how deep this dispensational stuff goes. And one reason why I know this is if you've ever seen that documentary that Verity Baptist co-produced with First Works Baptist, you know, in preparation, I actually watched a lot of sermons on dispensationalism. So I listened to all those teachers and everything they say. They say a lot of crazy things. I mean, in Acts chapter 10, where Peter's preaching to Cornelius, what they explain about this, or at least some of them, is that Peter did not know that salvation had changed. So he was accidentally preaching the wrong gospel. But then, you know, he was told about salvation is like, okay, then he changed his method of salvation. Like how confusing would that be reading the Bible? If you have to stop and say, I mean, it's ridiculous. The Bible is meant to be simple. It's meant to be understandable. Look at John 3, verse 3. John 3, verse 3. So not only did Jesus say it's everlasting, but notice what it says in John 3, verse 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 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? Now as saved people, we understand that Jesus is preaching on the spiritual birth, not the physical birth. Now the spiritual birth largely resembles the physical birth though. Just as a baby does nothing to be born and the mom is the one who goes through the labor, when it comes to our salvation, it's by faith alone. We do nothing because Jesus Christ did the labor. He did the work. He's the one who paid for our sins. And then once you become a child of your parents, my son will always be Zeph, right? And when you become a child of God, your parents will always be your parents. If you do bad, they punish you in this life, but they're still your parents. Just as God will punish you in this life if you do wrong. Nicodemus is confused. 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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Being born of water is the same as born of the flesh is flesh. It's the physical birth. Being born of the spirit is the spiritual birth. Verse seven, notice this, this is important. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth and now hears the sound thereof, but canst not tell when to cometh and where there goeth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? He's like, I don't understand the spiritual birth. How is this possible? Jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of Israel? No, it's not these things. It's like you believe in the Old Testament. How do you not know that salvation is by faith alone and forever? He's like, how do you not get that? He expected Nicodemus to know this. Why? Because he's a master of Israel. He's one who studied the scriptures. And what he's telling Nicodemus is, hey, if you really studied the scriptures, you should have known this. You say, why? Because the entire Old Testament shows us by faith alone and forever. It's never changed. And he says, you as someone who has read the Old Testament, art thou a master of Israel? And you don't know this? You're confused on the spiritual birth. He's saying it's always been by faith alone. It's always been being born into God's family. It's always been forever. He should have known that according to Jesus from the Old Testament scriptures. That's what he's saying to him. You say, why? Because salvation has always been by faith alone and it's always been forever. Go to Romans four, Romans four, Romans chapter four, verse nine, Romans four. So with Old Testament salvation, how did it work? Well, it was by faith alone in the coming savior. It's by faith alone. It was forever and it was freely available to anyone, according to Romans four. Romans four, verse nine, cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only. And what Paul is basically saying is, does this blessedness of salvation being by faith alone forever, is this upon just the Jews or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. And what he says is, you know what? The salvation started with Abraham, this promise, I mean, obviously salvation was the same beforehand, but the promise that he made with the covenant with Abraham was by faith alone. That's what he said. And look, Abraham came before Jacob. Abraham came before Israel, right? Because where did the Jews come from? They come from the tribe of Judah, one of the children of Jacob. I mean, Jacob's in the mid twenties in the book of Genesis. He's not around with Abraham, but before Jacob, before Israel, before the Jews, guess what? Salvation was by faith alone. And Abraham, we see this. So what he's saying here when he says, we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. What he's driving home is this, hey, before there was a Jew, it was by faith alone. So it's not like, you know, the Jews have been here from the very beginning. And look, a Jew in the Bible is someone from the tribe of Judah, those that linked up with him. Okay? The tribe of Judah and also the tribe of Benjamin joined them. That's not even the 12 tribes. It was a tribe of Israel and they broke apart. The 12 tribes combined together as one, you have the Northern kingdom, the Southern kingdom. A Jew does not mean all 12 tribes, it's someone from the tribe of Judah. Okay? But realize Abraham came before any of that and Abraham showed us it was by faith alone. So guess what? When Jacob was born, it didn't change. It stayed the same. It was the same before the Jews. It was the same after the Jews because they're pretty much dissolved now other than the religion of state. Okay? So then how was it then reckoned when he was in circumcision or an uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. See what the Bible is saying is this, hey, you know what, yes, the Jews were circumcised, but guess what? Before Abraham got circumcised, he was already saved. So it's not about growing up as a Jew or growing up in the circumcision and growing up in those beliefs. Before Abraham was circumcised, he was already saved according to the Bible. Why? Because it was a freely available, whether you're a Jew or a Gentile, Jew or Greek, whether you're from the Philippines or the US or Europe or Africa, no matter where you're from, it has always been freely available to everybody. Turn to Genesis 12. Genesis chapter 12. Let's look at this more in detail with Abraham. Genesis 12. Genesis chapter 12. And here's what we need to understand when we're reading the Bible. Although we have looked at many Old Testament verses, one thing you need to understand is that the New Testament helps shed light on the Old Testament. It's a lot clearer today than it was back then. Okay? But what I'm saying is this. We have the whole Bible to help teach us everything. So if you're confused on something in the Old Testament, you know a good way to figure it out? Read the New Testament. Why? Because it sheds light on the Old Testament. And in Romans 4, it is driving home the point, salvation is by faith alone, forever, freely available. Huh. That sounds pretty similar to today. You say, why? Because nothing's ever changed. It has never been by works. It has never been something you can lose. And God has never been a Calvinist, right? It's always been freely available as faith alone, and it was forever. Okay? Genesis 12, verse one. Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, or Abram, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shall be a blessing. Now bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Now people try to take verse three here and they say, well, if you're of this physical lineage, if you're a Jew, you get this special blessing. It has always been by faith. Okay? God's people are the ones that believed by faith. Okay? Verse four. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken onto him and Lot went with him and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. Okay? Now go to Acts chapter seven, Acts seven. Let's learn more about Genesis 12 by reading the book of Acts. Okay? Acts chapter seven will teach us more about what happened in Genesis 12, because if you remember, Abraham was told to depart from his father's house. God told him, leave your family. Okay? Now, why would he do that? Acts seven, verse one, and he said, men and brethren in fathers hearken. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charon or Haran and said unto him, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and come into the land which I shall show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. Okay? So what I want you to understand is that when God first appeared to him and told him to leave his father's house, he doesn't obey God immediately. Okay? He was told to depart, but what you see here is this. He leaves the Chaldeans where God appeared to him and he goes to dwell in Haran. Okay? With his father. Notice what it says, and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein he now dwell. Now remember, God told him, depart from your father. Okay? He only departs from his father once his dad's dead. Now I don't think God was telling him, hey, I want you to depart from your dad so once he dies then you go. No, I think he's saying before he's dead. God told him, I want you to leave your father. Now why would God do that? Because if you read the Bible closely, we'll see this in a second, his father did not believe. His father believed in false gods. Go back to Genesis 11, Genesis 11, Genesis 11. So what we saw in Acts 7 was that God appears to Abraham in Mesopotamia before he dwelled at Haran. Before he dwells at Haran, God appears onto him, leave your father, and he doesn't leave his father, and they go to Haran. He lives with his father. You say, how do you know that? Well notice what it says in Genesis 11 verse 31. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. And they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan, and they came on to Haran and dwelt there. So God appears to Abraham in Mesopotamia, and he's told, leave your father. What takes place? His father takes the family to Haran when God was told, separate from your father. And then it says in verse 32, and the days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. So instead of obeying and leaving his father, he allows his father to move the family to Haran where he was not supposed to go. And once his father dies, then he obeys what God says. Now go to Joshua 24, Joshua 24. I know we're looking at a lot really quickly, but I really don't have time to just really dig in. It'd be like a whole other sermon. But what I want to show you is this, that Abram was not raised with the belief in the true God from his family, because his dad was not a believer. And we're going to see that in Joshua 24. So how did Abram get saved? Because salvation was freely available, even to those that were not born with that special lineage. He was born into a false religious system, and guess what? He believes and gets saved the same way all of us do. So guess what? It doesn't matter what your lineage is. It matters what you believe. It doesn't matter if you're physically a Jew or not a Jew. It doesn't matter what your heritage is. It matters what you believe. Joshua 24 verse 2, And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood, in old time, even Terah, this is Abraham's father, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nacor, and they served other gods. So look, Abraham's father, he served other gods. Why? Because he didn't believe in the true God. He believed in false gods. So why does God tell Abraham to separate? Yeah, because your dad doesn't believe. You're living in a family where your family doesn't believe the same things. And look, what's an application for us today? Well, hey, you know what? It's probably not smart to dwell with people that believe in a different gospel, that believe in different things than you, right? I mean, sometimes a healthy separation from certain people can be a good thing. And if you've got family that believes different things, and they're hardcore Catholic, I'm not saying you can't visit them from time to time or spend a few days at Christmas. But you know what? If you're just hanging out with them every week, you're going to stop serving God. God would say the same thing today. Hey, depart from those that believe different things. That's what he said here, okay? And so he tells them to depart from his father because his father served other gods. So Abraham was not raised with a proper faith. But you know what? He believed on Jesus Christ. He believed on the coming Savior. He believed on the true God, and he got saved. Why? Because salvation has always been freely available, whether you're born in Iraq, whether you're born in North Korea, or whether you're born in a Christian country, okay? Turn to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. Say, why is this important? Because people have this idea that the only ones saved in the Old Testament were Jews. Well, I mean, the Jews aren't in Genesis 1. I mean, they're midway through Genesis in the 20s, and here's what you have to understand. I get that that's only like 25 chapters into the Bible, but you know, a lot of human history is gone before the Jews appear on the scene. I mean, you've got like 1600 years or so right before the flood or whatever it is. A large part of human history, there are no Jews, and then there's still a lot of time that goes by before you even get to the Jews, right? I mean, they've been here like half of human history when they actually came into the picture, okay? And Abraham was before the Jews, and he was raised in the wrong faith, but salvation has always been freely available, okay? In the Old Testament, it was not just the Jews. So every Jew does not automatically get saved because they must believe. And you can be a non-Jew that believes and gets saved. You say, why is that? It's just the fact that God poured out the word of God there, and there were many that did believe. But there were always plenty of them that didn't believe, right? I mean, do you think that everybody with Moses believed in the true God? I don't think so. I mean, when you're reading the Bible, guess what? There's plenty of them that don't believe, okay? Hebrews 11, verse 30. Let me give you one other example of this. By faith, Hebrews 11, verse 30. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days. By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace. I mean, if you remember that story, they come to this woman Rahab, who was a harlot, a prostitute, a loose woman, a whore, not living a godly life, but she believes in the true God. Now, that alone destroys repentance of sins for salvation. Because it doesn't say, well, you got to stop being a whore. Actually, it says she believed in the true God. She was saved, because you don't get saved through your lifestyle. You get saved by what you believe, okay? She doesn't perish with those that don't believe. Now, here's the thing. Many people perished inside of that area that, guess what? Probably weren't harlots. There were probably many of them that weren't living as bad of a life as her, but they didn't believe, and they did perish. But you're seeing a woman here who's saved, and she wasn't raised with the right religion. She's not living a good life. You say, why? Salvation was freely available in the Old Testament. I mean, you didn't have to be a Jew to go to heaven in the Old Testament, and it didn't give you an automatic spot in heaven. Now, turn in your Bible to Romans 4. Romans 4, we'll close up here in a little bit. Romans 4. I mean, wasn't one of the apostles Simon the Canaanite? Now, I don't even, for the life of me, I really don't know what the best answer is to these Baptists that say, well, he was a Jew. They say that was a nickname. It's like, I mean, what am I supposed to even tell you? It's like, the Bible says Simon the Canaanite, oh, that's like a nickname. I mean, Matthew Stuckey the American, oh, it's just a nickname, right? I mean, what sense does that make, okay? Why is it that Jesus intentionally chose someone that didn't have that special heritage to show that genealogies mean nothing? It matters what you individually believe. That's why. Romans 4, verse 16, Romans 4, verse 16, therefore, it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end, the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that which also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. So the Bible is saying this promise is not just to those of the law, the circumcision, the Jews, but also those that are not the Jews, okay? And then he's the father of us all. As it is written, I have made thee a father of the Jews. Is that what it says? I have made thee a father of many nations. Why? Because anybody can get saved if they believe because it was freely available in the Old Testament. A father of many nations before him who he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead and called those things which be not as though they were. Now here it says in verse 17, who quickeneth the dead, that means to make alive. And look, that's the way salvation was in the Old Testament. You became a child of God. You were made alive into being a child of God, okay? Who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. Go down to verse 23, verse 23, verse 23. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. What are we seeing? Salvation was freely available to anybody, okay? So point number one, Old Testament salvation was by faith. It was forever. It was freely available, but we also see figures here in Romans four that are mentioned, figures or pictures or shadows. Notice what it says in Romans four, verse 11, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith, which he had yet being uncircumcised that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed onto them also. Now Abraham was saved before he was circumcised. The circumcision was merely a sign. It was merely a figure. It was not the salvation. It was a sign that you believe in this God, okay? It was a sign it was not the salvation. It was a figure. Verse 12, and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had yet being yet uncircumcised. Go to First Corinthians seven. First Corinthians seven. We'll look at a few more places. First Corinthians seven, because a lot of people have this idea that in the Old Testament, circumcision saved you, but the Bible never teaches that. The Bible says Abraham was saved before he was circumcised, and it says that it's merely just a figure. It's merely a sign. It is not the salvation, okay? First Corinthians seven, verse 19. First Corinthians seven, verse 19. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. So what the Bible says here is that circumcision is nothing. Circumcision is nothing, okay? Now turn in your Bible to Romans six, Romans chapter six. So were people saved by circumcision in the Old Testament? No. It was merely a figure. Now in today's world, post the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we do have a couple of figures or pictures of salvation, okay? In the Bible, it uses the word ordinance, and if you remember when Jesus rose again, the New Testament tells us there were certain ordinances that we do not follow anymore. Because if you read closely, an ordinance is a picture of the salvation. It's not the real thing, okay? Animal sacrifices were an ordinance. It's done away because it was a picture of the land that would come and die for us, okay? Now in today's world, we have two ordinances left. What are the pictures of salvation we have? One of them is the Lord's Supper, right? Is the Lord's Supper salvation? No, but it's a picture of salvation. It's something that's merely symbolic, and even though most ordinances were done away, because so many things in the Old Testament, the Sabbath day, the sacrifices, so many of those things were done away because they were an ordinance, okay? They were a picture, but post-resurrection, God gave us a couple pictures of salvation. One of them is the Lord's Supper, right? When we take the Lord's Supper, we say this represents the body of Jesus Christ. Now look, if you come from a Catholic background, maybe you have to preach a whole other sermon, it doesn't actually become the body of Jesus. It is an ordinance. It is a picture. I mean, they say when it's in your mouth, it's the body of Jesus. When you take it out, it's bread. You put it back in, it's the body of Jesus. It's like, what in the world? It's like, I didn't know that we believed in cannibalism, okay? It's a picture of the body of Jesus Christ that was broken. That's why we break the bread, okay? The unleavened bread, because leaven is a picture of sin. When we take the grape juice, not wine, because we were a picture of the perfect Jesus Christ, so it's grape juice, not wine, it represents the blood of Jesus Christ, okay? And so the Lord's Supper is an ordinance that we follow today. What is the other ordinance that we follow today that's a picture of salvation? Baptism. Baptism is not salvation. But did you know it's a picture of salvation, right? I mean, when a person gets baptized, this is why salvation must act. Let's read Romans 6, and I'll explain. Romans 6, verse 3, know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. And so look, baptism is a picture of salvation, which is why it has to be by immersion. Because you're picturing the burial of Jesus Christ. And you're picturing the resurrection, you're also picturing the death of Jesus Christ, because when your body hits the water, it's basically in the shape of a cross, okay? So it's very much like a cross, so you picture the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, right? So the water crosses the body, you picture the death of Jesus, the burial, you go fully under the water, then you come up, that pictures the resurrection. Now is that salvation? No it's not. But what is it? It's a figure, just like there were figures in the Old Testament. Now the figures are different today, because they didn't do baptism in the Old Testament. But now after everybody knows that Jesus Christ died and was buried and rose again, you know what, when you get baptized, you're showing people, I believe this. When you take the Lord's Supper, you're saying, I believe this. That's why we don't sacrifice animals, because we believe he already died. And God gave us a couple of ordinances that are figures or pictures of salvation, okay? And in the Old Testament, guess what? They had figures that were pictures of salvation, okay? So what is Old Testament salvation? Number one, it's by faith alone. Number two, it's forever. Number three, it's freely available. And number four, there are also certain figures like circumcision, as it mentions in Romans 4. And the reason it trips people up is because of the fact that certain things are pictures of salvation. Sometimes people look at the wordings and say, well, see, that's salvation baptism. It's like, no, God's driving home the point that this is a picture, a figure of salvation. It's not the actual salvation. Salvation has always been the same, because we have always been sinners and no one can work their way to heaven. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to read this wonderful chapter in Romans 4. And to understand Old Testament salvation a little bit better, God, and help us to continue to love our Bibles and to read our Bibles and study our Bibles, God, and understand these things. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.