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

We are glowing, heaven is forever, with his saints to reign. We oppose, we oppose, hallelujah, Christ our rose. That could not keep his frame, Jesus, my Savior. We tore the boys away, Jesus, my Lord. The grave, dear Lord, will abide each high and poor soul. We arose, walking through from the dark, hoping that he lives forever with his saints to reign. We oppose, we oppose, hallelujah, Christ our rose. The marvelous lessons we bring, in glorious peril we sing. Wonderful Word of the King, Jesus is coming again, coming again, coming again. Maybe morning, maybe noon, maybe evening, maybe soon. Coming again, coming again. Oh, what a wonderful day it will be. Jesus is coming again. Forest and flower exclaim, mountain and meadow the same. All earth and heaven proclaim, Jesus is coming again. Coming again, coming again. Maybe morning, maybe noon, maybe evening, maybe soon. Coming again, coming again. Oh, what a wonderful day it will be. Jesus is coming again. Now, standing before him at last, trial and trouble all past. Jesus is coming again, coming again, coming again. Maybe morning, maybe noon, maybe evening, maybe soon. Coming again, coming again. Oh, what a wonderful day it will be. Jesus is coming again. Christ our Redeemer died on the cross, died for the sinner, paid all his due. All to receive him he never feared, as he will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Chiefest of sinners, Jesus can save, as he has promised so will he do. Oh, sinner, hear him, trust in his word, when he will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Christ is coming, all will be there, who have rejected, who have refused. Oh, sinner, pace and let Jesus in, when God will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Oh, great compassion, oh boundless love, Jesus have power, Jesus is true. All who believe are saved from the storm, only will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. On Calvary's mountain, what dreadful morn, what Christ my Savior, weary and worn. Facing for sinners, death on the cross, many might save him from endless loss. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer, seems now I see on Calvary's screen, who live and bleed, more sinners bleed, more than a bleeding, dying for me. Good morning everybody and welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. It's great to see everybody here this morning. We'll go ahead and find our seats, we'll go ahead and get started. And once you do, let's go ahead and grab a hymnal and go to song number 419. Song number 419, Sound the Battle Cry. Song number 419, let's all sing it out with some zeal this morning. Sound the battle cry, see the foe is died, raise the standard cry for the Lord. Burn your arm, put on a standing curve, everyone, rest your claws upon his holy throne. Crowds and soldiers, round and round the river, ready, steady, fast or long. Onward, forward, shout aloud the Santa, Christ is captain of the mighty throng. Strong to meet the foe, marching on we go, all our cause we know must prevail. See the land and the right, leaning in the light, howling for the brotherhood and the hill. Crowds and soldiers, rally round the banner, ready, steady, fast or long. Onward, forward, shout aloud the Santa, Christ is captain of the mighty throng. Oh, thou God of all, hear us when we hold, help us more than old by thy grace. When the battle's won and the victory's won, may we wear the crown before thy face. Ready, steady, fast or long. Onward, forward, shout aloud the Santa, Christ is captain of the mighty throng. Great singing, everybody. Let's open up the service now with a word of prayer. Lord, we love you and we just thank you for the opportunity to gather here and hear your word preached and sing your songs together. Lord, we love you and we just ask you to fill this room with our spirit, or your spirit. Bless everything that we do, Lord, and it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, for our next song, let's go to song number 93. Song number 93, Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Languid. A little bit of a newer song to us. Let's all try to sing it out together and follow along. Song number 93. Art thou weary, art thou languid, Art thou so distressed, Come to me safe, one and coming, We at rest. Happy parts to lead me to him, Give me, be my guide, In his free and hands are the prince, And his son. It's their diadem as one arm, That his brow adores, Yea, a crown in very surety, Love the Lord. If I ask him to be safe, He will be safe today, Not till earth and not till heaven Pass away. Finding, calling, keeping, struggling, Is he sure to bless, Saint apostles, prophets, martyrs, Answer yes. Good morning. Thank you so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you did not already get a bulletin, you can lift up your hand up and we'll get you a bulletin. On the front we have our Bible memory passage, Matthew 28, verse 19. And we're getting really close to finishing Matthew 28. So if you're able to quote the entire chapter, you can receive a special prize. If you've been doing each verse every week, you probably got to the point where it's really easy. These last few verses are kind of pretty iconic. On the inside we have our service time, our soul winning times, our church stats. On the right we have a list of expecting ladies. Please be in prayer for them. Upcoming events, we have our kids choir practice that we're continuing until Easter services. And we're looking forward to hearing them perform for us on Easter Sunday morning. Also there's a spring swap that's going to be April 13th. There's a Mansfield soul winning marathon, the 19th. We have Easter cards that we have for our soul winning material. So if you'd like to hand out an invitation for Easter services, we have some nicer cards that you can hand out for the Easter services. Our ladies' tea is going to be May 10th. There is some church reminders down there below on the back. We also have our prayer list. And that's really all I have as far as announcements. We'll go ahead and go to our Psalm of the Week. It's going to be Psalm 117, Psalm 117. All right, that was Psalm 117 in your special binders. If you're not familiar with it, follow along. If you are, sing it out loudly. Psalm 117, we're going to sing it twice. Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations. Praise Him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us. And the truth of the Lord endured forever. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations. Praise Him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us. And the truth of the Lord endured forever. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Great singing, everybody. Now, as the offering plates are being passed around, go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Galatians chapter number one. That's the book of Galatians, chapter number one. . . . . . . . Galatians 1, the Bible reads, Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead. And all the brethren, which are with me unto the churches of Galatia, grace be to you in peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and was unknown by faith unto the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they had heard only that He which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once He destroyed, and they glorified God in me. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this day, for our church. I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit. Give him clarity of mind as he preaches to us. Help us, Lord God, to apply this sermon to our lives. Bless all aspects of it, and help us to serve you better every single day. We love you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Galatians chapter 1 and verse 6, the Bible says, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, and unfortunately not everything saves. There's only one thing that saves, and it's faith alone in Jesus Christ. Anything else is another gospel, and what I want to preach this morning is about why we know faith alone is correct, why we know or why faith alone is correct. Now, I'm not necessarily going to spend a ton of time proving faith alone from the Bible, but I want to just talk about how do we know that we're right about salvation being only faith alone? And I think for a lot of people today, they think that faith plus works is going to get them to heaven. They also think even if faith alone was what saved, that the belief that faith plus works would save them because, well, I already got the faith. But the Bible is clear that you have to believe in faith alone to be saved. And we know that we're correct from many different proofs in the Bible and our human experience, and I want to talk about why we know faith alone is correct. Now, in Galatians, the Bible is saying that there are people preaching another gospel. What does it say in verse 7? Which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and will revert the gospel of Christ. Why does it say it's not another? It's because everyone virtually teaches the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, whether that be a Catholic, whether that be a Protestant, Lutheran, Presbyterian. They're going to teach the basic facts of the gospel, that Jesus Christ died on the cross, that Jesus Christ was buried, and that he rose again. And we see in this world today many people, if not the largest religion in the world, believes in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the same gospel. But yet, they still pervert the gospel because they don't end up teaching that it's faith in the gospel that saves you. Rather, they diminish what the gospel means, they take away from what Christ has done, and they cause people to not be saved. But if someone preaches a perverted gospel, the Bible says in verse 8, But though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed, as we said before. So say it now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which he have received, let him be accursed. Why is it that the person who preaches another gospel is accursed? Well, look at chapter 3, verse 10. The Bible tells us, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. If you believe salvation is by works, or if you add works to salvation, you are cursed because you're under the curse of the law. Because works is a curse when you can't keep them perfectly, and the problem is for all of sin it comes short of the glory of God. Therefore, anybody who does not believe salvation is by faith is cursed. And those who preach a false gospel are accursed of God. And the Bible has a strong wrath towards those that are perverting people and causing them to believe a false gospel who would be damned and go to hell. Go to Romans, chapter number 3. Go to Romans, chapter number 3. Now, the most obvious point as to why we know that faith alone is correct is because the Bible just explicitly says salvation is by faith. It just says it over and over and over. You would think if salvation was by works they would have at least one verse that said that. Have you noticed that the Bible never says, For by works are you saved? Have you noticed that the Bible doesn't just say, Oh, whoever has the works will go to heaven? They don't have just all these verses saying this. And many people want to make it seem like, Oh, the Bible kind of teaches both, or actually the Bible brings up works all the time in context of salvation. No, it doesn't. The Bible hammers faith when it brings up salvation and it just brings it up over and over and over and over again that salvation is by faith. Romans, chapter 3, verse 20 is this passage or this part of scripture is just so clear and I feel like it's just so powerful in describing our point. It says in verse 20, Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin. No one is justified by works. Works have nothing to do with justification. It has to do with condemnation. You are condemned by not keeping the law but you are not justified in the sight of God by keeping the law because no flesh shall be justified. Did you read that? No flesh shall be justified in his sight. You cannot look to your works to be justified. If you look to your works, you'll be condemned is what the Bible clearly teaches. It says in verse number 21, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. What do we believe? Salvation is without the law, without works. And he's saying right now to be righteous in the sight of God without the law is being made obvious. How is it being made obvious? Because Jesus Christ is being preached. In the Old Testament, he was a shadowy figure. The verses were a little bit darker. But now that Jesus Christ has come to the earth for people to actually see the gospel with their eyes and be eyewitnesses of the gospel, well, the gospel is now being manifested and the apostle Paul and others are going out and preaching the manifestation of the gospel because the apostles saw the resurrection Jesus Christ. Think about it. How much more obvious could the gospel be to you if you saw the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ? And they're going out and making manifest the gospel, the righteousness of God, which is what? Without the law is what the Bible says. And it says it's being made manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, meaning the Old Testament and every prophet preached the exact same thing. But now it's just a little bit clearer. It's just a little bit more obvious than what they had said. It says in verse number 22, even meaning specifically the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference. Notice again, the Bible is crystal clear. It's by faith. And what does by faith mean? Those who believe. And it says then in verse number 23, for all of sin it comes short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Verse 24 is just a powerful verse. Notice that we're justified freely. Salvation is a free gift. The Bible hammers the freeness of salvation saying in verse 25, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past for the forbearance of God. Verse 25 is a very powerful verse if you understand what it just said. Because think about this. When we talk about salvation being by believing or having faith, and we read verses like Acts 16, verse 30 and 31, which says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. What does that mean to believe though? What are we believing? We're not just simply believing that Jesus is a person. We're not just simply believing that Jesus existed. We're not just simply believing that Jesus Christ died. We're not just simply believing that he resurrected. You know what we're believing? We're believing that his shed blood was put on the mercy seat and that his shed blood is what gives us the forgiveness of sins. And then when you notice in verse 25, it says to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. That's what we're actually believing to save us is the blood of Jesus Christ being applied into our account, just like the Passover. And that's what gives us salvation. You can't just believe Jesus existed. You have to actually put faith in his blood and that saves you. Notice for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness. Salvation is by his righteousness, not ours, because the Bible says there's none righteous, no, not one. Those who say it's by works are declaring their righteousness and they're not saved. If you think salvation is by your righteousness, you're not saved. If you think it's by repenting of your sins, you're not saved. If you think it's by going to church, you're not saved. If you think it's by getting baptized, you're not saved. If you think it has anything to do with your righteousness, you're not saved. You have to put your faith in his blood. That's where you get saved. And what am I declaring? His righteousness. We don't have righteousness. It says that he might be just. Who's the he? Jesus. Jesus is the only one that's ever been just and ever will be just. You're not just. You're not justified. Notice, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Notice again, it doesn't say that Jesus justifies those that follow the commandments. It doesn't say that Jesus justifies those who've been catechized or follow some religious tradition. He justifies those which believe in Jesus. He doesn't justify those who are born of the Jews. It's not an ethnicity. It's not a race. It's not a denomination. It's not a set of rigid rules. It's not someone who turned over a new leaf. It's those who believed in Jesus, and Jesus justifies those who believed in him. You say, verse 27, where's boasting then? How in the world can I brag if it was free? How in the world can I brag if I did nothing to earn it, if I don't deserve it? Well, what is the conclusion? It is excluded. There is zero that you can brag about. There is zero that you can include of your works, your righteousness, what you've done. It's completely excluded. By what law of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. So we see that faith and works cannot be the same thing. Some people say, oh, faith means have the works. No. Notice it said by what law of works? No, but by the law of faith. Works and faith are not the same thing. They're opposites. They are opposites, and you're not saved by your works. Otherwise, you could brag. Otherwise, you could boast. Otherwise, you're declaring your righteousness. Notice by faith, so then you can't boast. It's free, and you're declaring his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. So what's the conclusion? Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Now, how can you read these eight verses and then come away with any conclusion other than faith alone? It's because you're blinded. You've been lied to. You've been taken advantage of. People are twisting scripture because the Bible just hammered faith alone right here. It couldn't have made it clearer. And of course, we're not done. Look at chapter 4, verse 1. What shall we say then that Abraham our father is pretending the flesh hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath where of the glory, but not before God. For what sayeth the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. So how is Abraham saved? By faith, not of works. Verse 4, he explains this. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If works has anything to do with salvation, then salvation could not be of grace. Grace and works are incompatible words. They cannot coexist. Just like me and these faggots, we can't coexist, all right? Just like me and these people that believe in multiple genders, we can't coexist. And these stupid bumper stickers, if you have a coexist bumper sticker, I don't want to coexist with you. Those people are weird, and they're liberals. And in the same way, works and grace cannot coexist. They don't exist together. They're separate from one another. Otherwise, both words become meaningless. They are exact opposites. Black is not white. White is not black. And if you try to say they're the same, well, you've ruined both definitions. Truth cannot be lies. Lies cannot be truth. Some things are the exact opposite, and works and grace are the exact opposite. And if you were saved by your works, well, then it wasn't by grace. It was a debt that God owed you. But God does not owe anyone salvation. No one has earned it. No one can get it. It's a free gift. It says in verse 5, but him that worketh not, meaning he never did any works, never did any good, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also described the blessings of the man unto God and puteth righteousness without works. You know, people say, oh, where does the Bible say faith alone? Where does the Bible say that salvation is by faith alone? Well, it said right here that it's righteousness without works. Instead of verse 28 in the prior chapter, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Yeah, it's explaining that concept over and over and over and over and over. So we just simplify it and say it's faith alone. We're just trying to put it in a condensed way where you can understand what we're saying. And look, you understand what we're saying. Because when we say faith alone, you disagree with it. But then we show you from the Bible over and over and over and over how it's faith alone, and you just don't believe the Bible. Now, look at, if you would, chapter 5 for a moment. Think about what the Bible describes salvation as like. It says it's a free gift, verse 15. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For through the offense of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. So Adam was the offense. Jesus is the free gift. He's giving us the free gift. Skip down to verse 17. For if by one man's offense, death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. So again, we have here one man's offense, which is what? It's specifically Adam. Then it says the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one. That's Jesus Christ. Skip back up to verse 16. It says, and not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift, for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. So in verse 15, it's a free gift. In verse 16, it's a free gift. And verse 17, it's the gift of righteousness. Verse 18, therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men unto condemnation, even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Oh, you just think, you believe in cheap grace. No, I don't believe in that. I believe in free grace. It's not cheap. It's free. And you know why it's not cheap? Because it costs Jesus the most precious thing in the world? His blood. It's the most expensive gift to Him, and it's the freest gift that we could ever receive. And notice 15 free gifts, 16 free gifts, 17 gift of righteousness, 18 free gift again. How many times does the Bible have to tell you it's a free gift? You look at Romans chapter number 3, verse 24, being justified freely. Then it's in chapter number 5, free gift, free gift, free gift. Oh, man, you guys just think it's a get out of jail free card. Yes, I do. But substitute jail with hell. Get out of hell free card, believing in Jesus Christ. That's all you have to do. Just like you play the game of Monopoly, all you have to do is just take that community chess card, just grab it, and you now are out there. You just have to take the gift of life freely. It's out there. All you have to do is just accept his free gift, and you're saved forever. And the cool thing about the card is you don't have to play it and lose it. You just always have it. He gives you that card, and it's just a permanent card that can never be taken away, and you're saved for all of eternity. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. Keep your finger in Romans. I want to come right back. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So the Bible says, by grace are you saved through faith. Isn't that similar to what we've already read? It's the exact same thing. Now, in Romans chapter 11, if you look at verse number 6, the Bible tells us something about grace. Verse 6, And if by grace, then it is no more works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. The Bible says salvation cannot be by both grace and work. It's either grace and no works, or it's work and no grace. It cannot be both. And you'll often hear Calvinists. You'll hear Catholics. They'll get up and say, God gave me the grace to do the works. And you're just like, you don't even understand definition of words now. They'll say, oh, the gift was for me to do all the work. That's not a gift. I mean, what if I said, hey, I'm offering all of y'all a gift. You can mow my lawn for free whenever you'd like. I'm so gracious. I'm going to give you a great gift of grace. You can wash my car. You can mow my lawn. You can clean my house. Isn't that so lovely that I give you that opportunity to do that? I mean, that's nonsense. It's nonsense to say, oh, this is such grace. No, grace would be you transgress against me and I don't give you what you deserve in return. That's grace. Grace is I give you money and you don't pay me back and I say, don't worry about it. That's grace. And in the same way, we transgressed against God. We sinned against God. And by His grace, we don't have to go to hell to be punished for our sins. Jesus took our place for us. Jesus paid our debt for us. And He sprinkled His blood on the mercy seat so we wouldn't have to die and go to hell for our own sins. And He offers us salvation by grace. Let's take a quick journey through John. I'm not going to show you every verse on this, but I mean, point one is just so clear. The Bible just teaches salvation by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith. And what was the synonym of this? Believe. It's those who believe, which is the same thing. Believing, faith, same thing. The Bible hammers believing is what saves us. John 1 12, but as many as received Him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. How do you become a child of God? By believing. Verse 13, which were born not of blood, nor the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Look, you weren't born because of the fact that you were a certain ethnicity or a certain race or you had certain parents. Nobody was born into God's family physically. You were born into God's family spiritually when you believed in Jesus Christ. And it wasn't by you working or wanting to be saved. It was by you believing in Jesus Christ and getting the free gift. Look at John chapter 3 verse 15. That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Verse 16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Verse 18, he that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. What does it say in verse 36? He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on Him. Good thing you have a King James in your lap this morning because modern versions will often change verse 36 to say, he that does not obey the Son shall not see life. You know what? That's not what the Bible says. It says he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on Him. Just like we saw in Galatians chapter number 1, those who have another gospel are accursed, those who are still of the works of the law are under the curse, and those who believe not are what? They have the wrath of God abiding on them. They have the curse of God on their life, and if they die cursed, they're going to go to hell. John chapter 5 verse 24, the Bible says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is past from death and life. John 6, 47, the Bible says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. How many verses do you need for the Bible to just explain this point? It's believe, believe, believe, faith, faith, faith, grace, grace, grace, no works, no works, no works, free gift, free gift, free gift, free gift. How do you know faith alone is right? Have you read the Bible? I mean, the Bible is just crystal clear on this point. Salvation is by faith, not of works, by grace, no works. It's a free gift. All you have to do is just trust in Jesus Christ, and you're saved for all of eternity. Go back if you went to Galatians now. Go back to Galatians now. Okay, so point one, the Bible just says salvation is by faith. You can't get away from it. Now, because the Bible is so clear on what we just read, false religion also realizes all those verses are in the Bible. So you know what they all have to do? Give lip service to salvation by faith. And frankly speaking, it would be hard for you to find a religious leader that won't just say salvation is by faith. I mean, I don't care if you find a Catholic, some Presbyterian, some Methodist. If you get them on TV, if you get them in an interview, and you say, hey, do you believe salvation is by faith? They'll say like, yes, I do. Because there's so many verses on it. But it's then when they start explaining it, you start realizing this guy does not believe in salvation by faith. That is not what they're really trusting in. You know, it's a meaningless and a vain exercise in many cases to just be like, I think this guy is saved. Don't you think salvation is by faith? And they're like, yeah. They'll just say it. They'll just say it. I mean, how many people have you knocked on their door? And they'll just say, yeah, salvation by faith. And then you're like, oh, okay, can you lose it? Oh, yeah. Is this like a one-time event or does this take like a lifestyle? Oh, it's a lifestyle. If you don't have the works, are you going to be saved? No, not at all. You have to have all the works. You're like, you just said salvation is by faith. Why do they sit there and parrot that? Why is it that many times they'll just give that as the first answer? Because the Bible just says it so many times that if people are getting up and not preaching that, people would be confused. They'd be thinking like, well, I read it like 50 times. So we have to drill down, ask more questions. And this is something that I think a lot of people sincerely wonder when you talk to them at the door or you're evangelizing is they hear, okay, salvation is by faith, but I believe it's faith and works. So I think it's like extra. So I would obviously be saved then because I have the faith and I have works. How am I not better than you? How am I not doing more than what's even required? But the problem is if you believe salvation is by faith and works, you're not saved. And so how do you know you're correct on that? Well, the entire book of Galatians is dealing with this issue. Galatians is dealing with the issue of, well, can I add something and still be saved? Or can I put a little bit of extra in there and get into the door? And the answer is no. We already read in chapter one there's people preaching another gospel. He brings us up chapter two, verse four, and that because of false brethren and wares brought in who came in privileged to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus that they may bring us into bondage, to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. Now, in the context of Galatians, the apostle Paul's bringing up this question that had been previously entered in the minds of these Judaizers and saying, well, you also have to be circumcised. And if you think about it, Galatians is pretty interesting because they're not even just necessarily saying you have to do everything to be saved. They're just adding like one extra cherry. It's like faith and circumcision. And the apostle Paul is saying, hey, there is these people, these false brethren, unawares, brought in who came in to privately spy out our liberty. Now, let me explain something. False brethren are not saved. So if faith plus work saves you, then why isn't the people bringing this doctrine are not saved? Riddle me that. Someone that's bringing the doctrine of faith plus anything is a false brethren. They're not saved. And the text is already telling us that people that have this extra version of the gospel that add to the gospel are false brethren and they're not saved, and they were trying to spy out Timothy. I mean, it sounds kind of homo. I mean, think about it. I mean, think about it. These guys seem kind of like fruity. Why in the world are they so interested in trying to figure out what's going on with Timothy? I mean, this is disgusting. This is gross. And that's what a false gospel does. It makes you gross. And it makes you want to do gross things. And we see these false brethren are coming in to spy on them and to try and try to attack them. Verse 16, it says, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Now, doesn't that ring some bells and all the verses we just read again? I mean, this is such a powerful verse. It says we already know that no one is justified by works of the law. Why? Because that's what he preached to this church. That's why they got saved. That's why they got plugged in. That's why they joined. That's why they got baptized is they knew that salvation was not by works. It was by faith. Because when Paul showed up, he wasn't telling them to keep the works to get there. He's like, you showed up at church because I told you it was a free gift. You got baptized because you believed it was by faith. And then you started hearing about Jesus because of the faith. We know that's the truth. And he says, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. Why? Because by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. Exactly what it said in Romans, chapter number 3. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, as therefore Christ the minister of sin, God forbid. So he's saying, look, obviously if I end up sinning after getting saved, which is what everyone will do, it's not like Christ is just saying, hey, let's just keep sinning and partying because we got saved and we can't lose it. No, Christ isn't a minister of sin. Christ isn't telling people to sin. Christ isn't wanting people to sin. Christ isn't giving you a license to sin. Christ just saved you from your sin. That's all he did. Just like you go out and you swim and you start drowning and the lifeguard goes out there and drags you out of the water and saves you from drowning. He's not saying, hey, now I want to give you a license to go drown whenever you want. In fact, don't ever try to swim. The lifeguard will say, swim. If you go back out there, make sure you're swimming. But what's the lifeguard going to also say? If you fail, you get a cramp. If you get tired, something's weird, I'll still run out there and I'll drag you out of the water every time. And in the same way, Jesus Christ is like that lifeguard that when we get in the pool, when we get in that ocean, that body of water, even if we decide to stop swimming, he's not going to let us drown. He's not going to let us die. But he's not saying, don't try. He's not saying, don't swim. He's not saying, don't do good things. Obviously, Christ wants us to follow all the commandments. He wants us to do a good job. He wants us to learn how to swim in our spiritual sea. But you know what? He's going to rescue us every single time and he's never going to let you die on his watch. He's not handing out licenses to drown. In the same way, Christ is not handing us out licenses to do whatever we want. Christ is not a minister of sin. But then Paul says this in verse 18, for if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. What is he saying? Well, but if I go back to my previous religion, what are the things that he destroyed? He destroyed the Pharisee religion. He destroyed the Jewish religion. He's like, if I go back and rebuild the Jewish religion, I'm going to make myself a transgressor because no one can keep the law. If I'm going to say salvation is by the works of the law, I'm going to make myself a transgressor because no one is perfect. I've already destroyed that. I don't need that anymore. I'm done with that. Verse 19, for I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God. He's dead to the law. He's already died in the law, meaning the curse of the law is dead to him. It has no effect unto him. He cannot go to hell because he's dead to the law. The law does not apply. Now, what does the law not apply to? His end time judgment. It's not meaning that the law of God doesn't apply to us right now. He just explained that. Christ is not a minister of sin. But what he is saying is he's dead to the law that when he stands before God, the law can't throw him into hell because he's dead to it. But, you know, before you die physically, you better make sure you're keeping the law, all right? Verse 20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If you have to be saved by works, then what Christ did was meaningless. Think about it this way. If we go to lunch and I say, hey, don't worry. I'll pay for lunch. I got it. And you think that. You get up, we eat, we get up, we're leaving, and then the waiter or waitress comes over and they say, hey, are you going to pay for your meal? And you're like, he paid for it. And they say, no, he didn't. His credit card didn't work. His credit card was expired. His credit card failed. Are you going to pay? And you're like, okay, I guess I'm going to pay. Then you know what you're doing? You're invalidating the other person. The other person didn't pay. The other person didn't do their job. It makes what they did meaningless. How meaningful would it be if I invite you to lunch and then say I'm going to pay and then I didn't pay? You're not going to be like, thanks so much for lunch. I mean, can you imagine paying for the lunch after I told you I was going to pay and then thanking me for it? Thank you for buying my lunch. I mean, why in the world are we singing hymns to God? Why are we singing hymns to Jesus Christ that he paid it all to God be the glory? It's only through Jesus. You know, if he didn't actually pay for it, he actually paid for it so then we can say thank you so we can actually give him the glory and him the honor. And I'm not going to frustrate the grace of God and say, oh, no, no, no, it's what I do. Well, now we're making what Christ did of none effect. It's vain. It was meaningless. And you know what? Catholics make the gospel meaningless. Work salvationists make the gospel meaningless because they're saying, no, no, no, I got to pay. Well, now you're taking away the payment that Jesus already made. And if you go to the restaurant and they pay the meal, you can't pay on top of it. They won't let you pay the meal. Obviously, you can give an extra tip. But you know what? That doesn't do anything. You know, you can't pay for the meal that's already been bought and already been paid for. The receipt has already been made. They handed the receipt to the person that paid. And you know what? Jesus already has the receipt. You can't pay for it. It's already a done deal. There's nothing to pay for. You either just accept it or you don't. Now, if we keep reading in Galatians, it just keeps getting more clear that these people are not saved. Look at chapter four, verse 11. Chapter four, verse 11. I am afraid of you lest I bestowed upon you labor in vain. Now, he's saying this group of people got mixed up. So imagine you go to an area, you preach the gospel, you get a bunch of people baptized, you bring them into a church, and then later you come back to that church, or later you hear about that church. And this church is now saying, salvation is by works. Now this church is saying you have to be circumcised. Now this church is saying you have to do more than just believe. You're thinking like, maybe all that labor, I'm afraid that what I did didn't work. I'm afraid that you guys actually aren't even saved. I'm afraid that somehow this didn't stick because you obviously don't even believe the gospel anymore, and he's worried that it's kind of mixed up. Now, a couple things we can learn. Number one, it seems like it must be possible for someone to get a little mixed up on the gospel and still be saved, okay? But here's another thing we can learn, that if someone's a little mixed up, you should have zero confidence that they're saved, okay? So if someone's a little mixed up and I'm doubting their salvation or don't believe they're saved, that's the attitude Paul has. He's saying, well, I'm afraid that you're just not even saved, okay? Because we shouldn't think like, oh, well, this guy that's mixed up in the gospel is still saved for sure. No, if someone's mixed up in the gospel, it should be like a huge red flag that they're probably not saved, and we need to make sure that they're right. You know, we go out, knock doors, and we talk to people. Many people are confused, and it's like some people criticize, oh, you're just getting people that are saved, saved again or something. Well, even if that was what I was doing, praise God, I'm not that worried about it. Like, oh, you went from being really screwed up on the gospel to now being sharp? That's still a win, you know? I mean, and look, if they were saved and we prayed to get them saved again, it didn't hurt them. It didn't like get them in a lower level in heaven or like give them a chance to go to hell or something like that, right? I mean, what's the worst thing you did? Oh, today I convinced somebody salvation was by faith more than they thought earlier and reassured them that they were saved. I mean, if that was what we did, praise God anyways. But look, I believe that most of our salvation, most of our preaching, we really are getting people saved, that we're really converting them into our religion. But even if all we are doing is sharpening people up on the gospel to praise God, maybe then they won't go to a church that's confusing them constantly. But yeah, it is possible for someone to get a little mixed up. But that's not the vast majority anyways. People that are just wrong, it's just 99% of the time they're just not saved, they need to get saved, they've never been saved, and that's why they're giving wrong answers, that's why they're screwed up. But notice, if you think it's faith plus something, what does the Apostle Paul say? I don't even think you're saved. He doesn't say, oh good, you got extra, bonus credit. Oh, you filled out the entire test and filled out the bonus section. No, there's not a bonus section. When you try to add works, now you're just not even saved. If you try to add anything, faith plus works does not save you, he's afraid of you, he doesn't think you're saved whatsoever. He's frustrated, he's thinking like, man, when I come back to this church, I'm going to have to try and get you guys saved again. I'm going to have to try, I changed, my voice is changing. I was kind of talking to you like we're brothers, like we're friends, like you're saved, but now I'm going to have to try to change my voice and it's going to be like, y'all aren't even saved. I'm going to be rebuking you, I'm going to have to be sharp, I need to figure out where we're at. And you know what, sometimes we have to change our voice a little bit. Oh, this preacher's kind of mean, he's changing his voice. Okay, well, what does Paul say? He's not always a mild-mannered, even-tempered guy. Sometimes he has to change his voice, sometimes he has to approve, rebuke, exhort of all long-suffering and doctrine. Chapter 5, verse 2, it says, Behold I, Paul, saying to you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. If you think it's salvation by faith, plus works, you're not saved. He says in verse 4, Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace. Now what does it mean to fall from grace? Well, it's not that they were saved and in grace and lost it, it's that grace was being extended to them, and instead of receiving it, they fell from it. So God was extending them this grace option, and then they fell from the grace. Think about it this way. Let's say you miss a payment on your mortgage, your bills, and the company, you call them, and you say, Hey, sorry, something happened. And they say, No problem, we'll give you a 10-day grace period. And if you pay your bill in the next 10 days, we won't hit you with all these late fees and charges. And then you don't pay in those next 10 days. What's going to happen? Now they're going to slam you with all the extra fees. Why? Because you fell from the grace period. You had the grace extended to you, but you didn't accept the grace because you didn't end up paying your bill. And in the same way, God is extending grace to the unsaved. God is extending grace unto those that are not already a son of God. But if they don't believe in that grace period, well, now they've fallen from grace, Christ has become of no effect unto them, they're going to the law, they're going to be circumcised, and they're not saved. Now this is not saying that if someone's physically circumcised, they can't be saved. It's saying someone who's trusting in their circumcision, someone who's trusting in the works, is not saved. They've fallen from grace, they didn't understand that salvation was a free gift, they didn't understand that it was just by believing, they went to try and seek salvation by works, and they're not saved. Verse 5, For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Notice the hope of righteousness. This is such an important phrase. What is the hope of righteousness? You're not righteous. You weren't righteous before you got saved, you weren't righteous the moment you got saved, and you're not righteous after you get saved. But you have the hope of righteousness. Meaning what? That one day we'll get a new body and we'll be glorified, and then we'll be righteous. But now we still sin. The apostle Paul said in his saved state in Romans 7, I am carnal. He's still not perfect. We're going through a process of sanctification, we should strive to do that which is right, but you're not righteous, you won't be righteous in this life, you have the hope of righteousness. And how do we acquire the hope of righteousness? By faith. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we become saved, and later in the future we will be redeemed fully, and we'll have a new body and we'll finally become righteous. And you know what? That's great. We should have a desire to want to be righteous. You say, hey, being saved is wanting to be righteous. Have you heard this? You have to be willing to be saved or willing to be righteous. All I have to do is just have faith in Jesus to be saved. But you could say, yeah, I do want to be righteous, but I know I'll never accomplish it in this life. All I know is if I believe in Jesus and he gives me a new body, then I can be righteous and I have the hope of righteousness in the future. But you know what they're teaching? You can be righteous now. There are people that say, oh, we're righteous. Oh, I don't sin. People say they don't sin anymore. They're only confusing themselves. There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. The Bible is clear that there's none righteous. I mean, if you actually understand sin, no one's escaped this. I mean, the Bible says the thought of foolishness is sin. To him that knoweth the good and doeth not to him it is sin. The Bible says the look with lust is sin. The Bible says to be angry with your brother about a cause is a sin. I mean, if we were honest with ourselves, we're probably sinning multiple times every day. We can't escape it. And that's at like the base level. Let alone, many people are still lying, stealing, committing fornication, committing adultery, getting drunk. I mean, if you really knew what people are doing behind the scenes, you wouldn't think no one's sinning. People put on a brave face at church, but we know it's really going on. And it's hard to convince pastors people don't sin. We know all kinds of stuff, all right? You didn't stop sinning. Hey, the Catholic priest, he knows people didn't stop sinning. He's got people coming confessing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going on. Let alone the people that think that they're super righteous. Well, you still have bad thoughts. You still have bad actions. You still are lazy sometimes. We're still selfish sometimes. We're still prideful sometimes. I mean, you can't escape sin. But we have the hope of righteousness that one day we will no longer be prideful, selfish, carnal, having temptations of gossip and lust and covetousness and being dishonorable and lazy. I mean, we won't have that. We'll be righteous finally. Now, we don't have it. But you know what's clear in the book of Galatians is that if you add anything to salvation, you're not saved. He's afraid of you. He stands in doubt of you. He doesn't think that they're saved whatsoever. And of course, we have to think that about other people. You know, I know that salvation is faith alone because when you add anything else, you're not saved. It said it was by faith alone, and then when you added anything else in Galatians, it's clear that you're not saved, and it doesn't save, and it can't get you there, and you're making what Christ did in vain. Here's the third thing. Go back to Galatians 2. Why is faith alone correct? Well, the Bible says salvation is by faith. Why is faith alone correct? Because adding works doesn't save you. Why is faith alone correct? Because those are the people who evangelize. People who believe in faith alone are the people that actually do the evangelism in the world. Look at Galatians 2, verse 7. But contrary-wise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. Now, this is what's interesting. The apostle Paul, this is such an important point. In chapters 2, verses 7 and 8, the apostle Paul says, hey, God wanted me to reach the Gentiles, and God wanted Peter to reach the Jews. That's the circumcision. The circumcision is the Jews. The uncircumcision is the Gentiles. Now, is there a verse in the Bible that just says, like, Peter, only go to the Jews? No. There are verses in the Bible that kind of indicate God wanted to send the apostle Paul to the Gentiles, but how does the apostle Paul know that's what God wanted? It's because it's what happened. It's their works that ended up establishing what God truly wanted. Why is it that we know Peter was supposed to get a bunch of Jews saved? Because he got a bunch of Jews saved. Why is it that we know God wanted Paul to get a bunch of Gentiles saved? Because Paul got a bunch of Gentiles saved. And you can kind of see it was about the works, wasn't it? How do you know that you were chosen of God to do a work? Because you did the work. It doesn't matter. Oh, you're ordained. Oh, you're given this commission. Oh, you say you're going to do it. It doesn't matter. Did you do it? You know, think about the parable in the New Testament. There's two sons, and the dad says to one, hey, son, go in my vineyard. And he's like, I won't go. But then later he goes. And then the other one says, yeah, I'll go. And then he does it. And then he says, which of these twain did the will of his father? It's the one who did it. Because who cares what you say? Who cares what you're commissioned to do? Who cares where you're sent? It matters if you do it. And if we think about this, it's not the people that give lip service to evangelism. It's not the people that say they're going to do evangelism. It's the people that do evangelism that matter. You know what? Show me the people that are actually getting people saved and doing evangelism, and I'll show you the people that God wanted to do the evangelism. How do we even know who's right? Well, who's actually doing the work? I mean, think about it. What if the people that were right were people that never go out soul winning? Oh, Calvinists were right. Well, that stinks because they never told anybody. They never went out and did anything. Like, wouldn't you want the people that are actually doing something to be the people that are right? And at the end of the day, we notice the people who believe in faith alone, they're the ones doing the work. Show me a soul winner, and I'll show you someone that believes in faith alone. In fact, apart from your two cults, the Mormons and the J-dubs, which have a completely different plan of salvation, completely different Bible, they will go out and damn souls to hell. But at the end of the day, if you really want to find people that are doing hardcore evangelism, it's pretty much independent fundamental baptism. You could ask the internet. You could just look in reality. I've had an independent fundamental baptism that's had nothing to do with our church or movement, knock on my door, and try to give our family the gospel. Who would say they've had an independent baptism ever knock on their door before? Yeah, I mean, some of us. It should be all of us, you know? I would love it for it to be like 50 times a year. But at the end of the day, at least I've had that. How many of you have had a Calvinist knock on your door to give you this gospel? Oh, zero. How many of you had a Catholic knock on your door to try to give you the gospel? Oh, zero again. Okay. Is that a coincidence? No. The people who believe in faith alone are the ones doing evangelism. Think about this. If we were wrong and they were right, well, then the Great Commission's being fulfilled by no one. We are the ones going out and preaching the gospel. There's other groups. If you look online, it'll say Southern Baptists and Evangelicals are also out there doing work, trying to reach people. I don't think they're doing it as much as independent fundamental Baptist soul winning. And honestly, they're kind of mixed up sometimes. Sometimes they're kind of weak. But at least they're doing something. And look, a lot of Southern Baptists are saved. A lot of Evangelicals are saved, and they have some desire to reach people. And look, the people who believe in faith alone, those are the people that are going to go out and preach to other people and get them saved. Just like we saw Peter, just like we see the Apostle Paul going out and preaching the gospel. And how do I know faith alone is correct? Well, those are the people who are evangelizing. I mean, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Someone's got to do that. Who's doing that? You think the Spirit of God just doesn't exist in the world anymore? You think that the Spirit of God isn't flowing in somebody that's saved? I mean, someone's got to be saved. And if the Spirit of God is flowing in that person, Jesus Christ said, if you follow me, I'll make you a fisherman. So someone's getting someone saved, unless just everyone's unsaved. But no, if you actually believe that there's really fishermen, that people are really saved, well, you're going to find them by the people that are reaching people and going to a wedding and getting people into church. And those are the people who believe in faith alone are the ones going out and preaching the gospel. Go over to Matthew 28, and we'll look at the famous verses there. I know that we're correct, because we're the ones who are doing the work. You know why we do the work and they don't? Because we're confident in what we believe and they're not confident. We know faith alone works. We know faith alone saves. They aren't confident in their presentation, so they're not going to go out, because if they did, they would fail. It would be confusing. People would run them off. They would run into one of us, and they would just get destroyed. We'd be like, let me show you in your own... I'd basically take the sword out of their hand and then slay them with their own sword, okay? Because we know how to be saved and they don't, and that's why we win. That's why we're aggressive. That's why we're confrontational. But think about just the practicality of the gospel. The Bible tells us in Matthew 28, verse number 18, I'm sorry, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you, and lo, I am with you, always, even in the world. Amen. Think about the practicality of this verse. If God wants us to teach all nations, and getting someone saved takes months, years, decades, it could never happen. Salvation has to be done quickly. And if salvation has to be done quickly, well, it can't be by works, and it can't be by us inspecting their fruit because then we'll never really accomplish much. It has to be fast. And you know what's fast? Salvation is by faith alone, it's a free gift. Handing out free gifts can go quickly. You know what doesn't go quickly? Being a disciple. I mean, there's many people who take a long time to become a disciple. There are many people that get saved, and then it takes them a while to end up getting baptized. It takes them a while to end up getting into church. It takes them a while to read the whole Bible. It takes them a while to start dressing like a fundamental Baptist, getting plugged in at church, actually start becoming a soul winner, actually producing fruits. I mean, that could be a really long process for many people. And we can see God slowly working in people's lives. But that's not what gets them saved. It was that free gift that they got, that's what got them saved. And yeah, some people don't do much with that free gift. Some people aren't even that grateful for that free gift. But you know what? That's what we're handing out. And it wouldn't make sense that it would take a long time because then how could we ever baptize someone? If I have to wait and do like an eight-week course to figure out if you're even saved to get me baptized, we're not going to be baptizing scores of people on every day. We're not going to go out and get 3,000 people saved in one day. Think about this. The early disciples, 120 people, they get 3,000 people saved in one day and baptized on the same day. How long can you really spend with a person to give them the gospel and baptize in one day when it's 120 ratio to 3,000? It had to be something that was done quickly, wouldn't it? It had to be fast. It had to be quick. And of course, if God expects us to go out and do lots of labor, it has to be something that can be done quickly. And let me tell you something. If your gospel presentation takes days, weeks, years, it's wrong. Go to Acts 8. I would argue if it takes an hour, it's wrong too. Now look, sometimes it does take an hour. But if it always takes an hour, there's something wrong. I believe that if you effectively communicate the gospel, you should probably be around 10 to 15 minutes. And if you're a little slower, it takes you 20, no problem. If it's a super rush and super receptive person, I think it's possible to get someone saved six, eight minutes. I've seen it. It can happen. It's like the Bahamas. But if you're getting someone saved in two minutes, you're probably doing it wrong. Two to four minutes, you're probably doing something wrong. You're probably not being thorough enough. You probably need to improve. And if it's taking you like 30 plus minutes, you probably need to work on your efficiency. You need to think about, I think that's the sweet spot. And it's about 10 to 15 minutes, and maybe extends to 20, 25, depending on what kind of objections they have or what kind of situations you run into, maybe how distracted they are. Obviously some people are just low-hanging fruit, and you can just get through it pretty quickly. And it's going to depend a little bit on the person. But you know what it doesn't take? Thirty-five weeks. It doesn't take 35 years to preach the gospel. Now it could take someone a long time to end up getting saved because they're just hardened, resistant. You have to sow a lot of seeds and water in that person's life for them to finally come to the point where they want to get saved. But you know, the gospel presentation itself, you explaining how to be saved, should not take like years and decades and whatever. It takes just a moment of time. And look, Acts chapter 8's a great story about this. Look at verse number 35, because there's this Ethiopian eunuch reading the Bible. The deacon or evangelist, Philip, is running unto him. He reads Isaiah, and he's like, hey, what's this about? It says in verse 35, Then Philip opened his mouth and began to the same scripture and preached unto Jesus. So guys, reading the Bible, you have an evangelist show up. Hey, what does this mean? So he just immediately starts explaining to him the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 36, and as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, See, here's water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. Now, do you think it would be a good idea to baptize people that are not saved? That would be bad, right? Giving them a false assurance of salvation, not being clear. But how can this guy meet him, and in the same day, probably just moments later, end up baptizing him? It's salvation by works. Wouldn't you have to wait and see, like, well, do you have the works? Are you going to change your lifestyle? Have you repented of all your sins? Have you done all these things? Because I don't want to just baptize you. But look, he doesn't know anything about the guy. He doesn't know what sins he's committed. He never told him he's going to repent of any sins. He never said he wants to change his lifestyle. He's not even going to live in that part of the world. He's going back to wherever he's from. But he says, hey, I'll baptize you based on one thing, if you believe with all your heart. And he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He believes it. He's trusting in Jesus Christ. He wants to believe in Jesus Christ. And, of course, at that time, you know, these events happened. Jesus was a real person. Everybody had heard of Jesus. Everybody knew this guy died on the cross. Everybody pretty much knew about the resurrection. And to confess that he was the Son of God or Christ was to admit you believed his death, burn, and resurrection. It was to admit that you were believing that that was what gave you the forgiveness of sins, not the works of the law. So in many cases, them by saying, just, he's the Son of God, they're kind of lumping all of that belief into that statement. Today, because of so much false religion, people can say he's the Son of God and not actually be saved, not mean all that or not believe all that. So we want to be careful that we're more thorough today. There's been more heresy spread, you know, in times past, more false religion spread. I mean, back then, they don't have the Catholic Church. Sorry, Catholics, you don't go back to Peter. You didn't start with Peter. No, there isn't Mormons. There isn't Jehovah's Witnesses. There isn't Calvinists. Calvinists don't exist. Presbyterians don't exist. Greek Orthodox doesn't exist. No, there's just John the Baptist, right? There's Baptist, okay? They go back to Peter. We go back to John the Baptist, all right? Hey, we're before you, all right? And we're with them that were baptized in the wilderness. We go back even further all the way back to Moses at that Baptist church. Hey, they were baptized through the Red Sea, weren't they? All right? Because it's always been Baptists, all right? I'm not changing the denomination. How pathetic to change, to get Baptists off the sign. Sorry, this is a little rant. You take Baptists off the sign, that's lame. Just basically just say like you're a lame Christian that doesn't want to do what the Bible says. No, we're going to keep Baptists on the name. We're steadfast Baptist church. We're not just going to become steadfast. We're steadfast Baptist church. And we're not going to get away from being a Baptist. Like Philip, who's baptizing. You know who gets away from this? People who take out verse 37, the NIV. So then the church changes the NIV, then they take Baptists off the sign, don't they? And they take out baptism verses in the Bible. And what requires you to even get baptized. And of course, why is it that these churches want to baptize people so quickly? Because it's a sign that you're actually getting people saved. But you know, if you don't get anybody saved, no one's going to get baptized. And so they have to just baptize people. They don't even know what they believe. They just drug them off the street. We'll give you a sandwich, get baptized, get in line. And you know, there are a lot of people that have been baptized that aren't saved. But we don't want to do that. But you know what, it doesn't take a lifetime of works to figure out if we can baptize them or not. It takes what? A profession of faith. Just simple faith and Jesus Christ saves you. And we see that salvation can be quick. Now it says in verse 39, And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing. Think about how weird of a baptism experience this is. Like, some guy just comes out of nowhere, tells you, hey, Jesus died on the cross. He was buried, rose again. He's like, can I get baptized? Well, do you believe it? He's like, I believe it. He dunks you. As soon as he brings you up, he's just gone. Like, you just come out of the water and you're like. You're like, check it, where did he go? But then he just went, he's just rejoicing. Maybe he saw the Spirit of the Lord whisk him away. I don't know. But isn't that kind of crazy? You'd be thinking, like, this guy got baptized and then the guy's just gone. Oh, don't you have to do follow up? The Spirit of the Lord's forcing him to not do follow up. He couldn't even invite him to his church. You're like, ah, sometimes you go and you preach some of the gospel and get them saved and you walk away, you don't even know their name. Okay. Well, the Spirit of the Lord whisked me away to another door to get another person saved. You know, it's more important to me than knowing that guy's name that I'll forget five minutes later anyways, was another person. I mean, who in here would say I know every single person's name that I've gotten saved? Like, I remember every single convert I've ever had. Yeah, I mean, we all forget. And especially if you do a lot of soul winning, that becomes impossible. I many times don't know their name while I'm talking to them. Like, they tell me and I'm like, oh, I don't know. Go to a foreign country and you're just thinking, like, can I call you something else? Like, you know. Especially, I mean, Asian countries, I really struggle to, like, understand it's dark sayings for me, you know. And so, they're telling me their name. It's funny, when I went to college, we played basketball and all the foreign students, they just made up American names, you know. They're just like, my name Charlie, you know. My name John. And it's like, but what's your real name? It's like, Ting Cha Cha. And it's just like, okay, Charlie, no problem, you know. Because, like, for me, I'm just like, I just struggle. Like, you know, I just don't understand that, okay. And there's, like, do I have to know the person's name to get them saved? No. It's meaningless. Hey, do I have to stick around and hold their hand and make sure they come to church? No, no, I can preach them the gospel. We can get them baptized the same day. Why? Because faith alone evangelizes quickly. Whereas salvation by works takes years and decades. Hey, you go to the Catholic church, it'll take like a year or two to get confirmed. You have to go to all these classes and get catechized and they're just trying to damn your soul forever. Hey, you go to the Mormon church, it's going to take forever to join that church and to be a part of the Mormon group. You know what? That is not the Bible. The Bible, people are just running through towns, just getting scores saved and leaving. Paul's just going and just killing it. Go to Galatians chapter 3. Go back to Galatians chapter 3. So point one is the Bible says salvation is by faith. That's how we know it's correct. Number two, adding works that you're accursed. You're not saved. Number three, those who believe in faith alone are the people doing the evangelism. Number four, evangelism is quick in the Bible and it's quick in the world and the only way it could be quick, if it's faith alone. The only way it could be quick is if it's a free gift. And that's how we know that they're saved is because they believed it. Not by some works or some outward manifestation because that doesn't save you anyways. I don't need that. You know what I need is a profession by faith. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh and when I ask you what you have to do to be saved and you say be a good person, you're not saved. When I ask you what you have to do to be saved and you say faith alone in Jesus, well that's all I can do for you. And when someone gives me the right answers, even if I'm not sure, I mean there's not much else I can do. If they're lying to me, I can't really stop that. So I'm going to move on and try to give someone else the right answers. Galatians chapter number three, here's the fifth point I want to make. I'm just going to make these last few points pretty quickly but Galatians chapter number three, the people who believe in faith alone, you know why we know we're correct? It's because it's the people who understand the Bible. Look at verse two. This only, what I learned of you, received you the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. Are you so foolish having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the flesh? So he's trying to say like, you guys got plugged into church and made all these changes in your life not because you started doing works but because you received it by faith. And think about it, people realize, oh, I don't have to change anything to be saved. They believe that and then they change everything. And then the Bible just turns on like a light bulb in their head and now all of a sudden they just understand the Bible even though they didn't do anything. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter two, go left just a hair. 1 Corinthians chapter number two, the Bible says in verse number 11, For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Verse 12, Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things to spiritual. Hey, you know what man's wisdom teacheth? This is theology. Theology is not how you understand the Bible. If you study a bunch of theology, you'll get screwed up on the Bible fast. Theology is wrong. Theology is Greek wisdom. Theology is coming from Plato, it's coming from Aristotle, and then it gets into the hands of the church fathers, but it's just a repackaged Greek wisdom, Greek philosophy. The Bible says to beware of philosophy. That is what man's wisdom... Man thinks he can teach you the Bible apart from the Bible, but it's nonsense, it's foolishness, it rejects the clear scriptures. Do not think that you're going to understand this book apart from this book. We understand this book with this book and with faith alone. People who believe in faith alone know this book. Man, when I listen to people explain parts of the Bible that aren't saved, it's goofy, weird, crazy, and they just make all these weird excuses. The Bible says, let not your women speak in the church, and then they'll say, that's talking about how back in the day women were on this side of the church and men were on this side, and during the middle of the service women are like, hey honey, what's for lunch? And it was causing kind of an issue in church, so it's saying like, hey, let's not let the women yell across the auditorium during the church service. What? Who came up with that? Not someone that believes in faith alone. Some weirdo. Okay? Not only that, people that deny faith alone believe weird stuff about the Trinity. They interpret the parables wrong. They interpret all of the law wrong. They get up and say, I read Leviticus 2013 and I still don't understand what it means. You know, the people who believe in faith alone actually believe and understand the Bible. And they get to compare spiritual to spiritual. Why? Verse 14, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. They read how they're supposed to eat the body of Jesus and they think, let's eat it. They hear about drinking blood and they think we have to drink blood in church every single week. You know, it just goes over their head. It says call no man father. Oh, let's call the main guy in the room father. It says, hey, don't disfigure your face when you fast and then they put ash on their face. It just goes over their head and then because they're not saved they just can't get it. It's like when little kids try to explain to you adult subjects, like where babies come from or how money works and you're just thinking like, wow, you have no idea what you're talking about, but you're cute because you're a kid. You know, when you become an adult Catholic, you're not cute anymore. You need to grow up and become a man and believe in faith alone and that's how you understand the Bible. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 1. And it's also, you know, this is a different sermon for a different time, but it's really concerning when you see a pastor that's been a fundamental Baptist for decades and supposedly read the Bible for decades and is supposedly Spirit-filled, being wrong on just so many doctrines and just being wrong in so many interpretations. And just constantly teaching things that are off because you're just thinking like, I don't know that you have the Spirit of God because the natural man doesn't understand this stuff, but the spiritual guy would. I mean, it's just weird when you're just wrong on everything. Like there's something off about you, okay? And then they start attacking faith alone or attacking soul winning. Wow, that's someone you want to stay far, far away from. Here's the sixth point I want to make is those who believe in faith alone are the people who make lifelong changes. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 12, The Apostle Paul says that he had the biggest transformation of anybody in the world, and yet he preached salvation was a free gift by faith alone. And you know, some people say like, oh, when you go out and preach this message, you're hurting people because now they're just going to live however they want. But isn't it funny that we're filled in a church right now where everyone believes salvation by faith alone, and yet many of us have the strictest standards of anybody? I mean, isn't it funny, like people criticize us like, oh, your church makes you follow these rules and all these standards and you try to do everything the Bible is saying and you're so legalistic. All the while, then they also say, yeah, but your faith alone, you're saying you don't have to do anything. Wasn't it funny? Which one is it? Us that believe in faith alone seem to be trying to do everything, and then you get mad at us saying what you're teaching is causing people to not do that. Wait a minute, I feel like our room is full of people doing that. Isn't our room full of people actually trying to serve God even though none of us think we have to do it to be saved? I mean, I know for a fact I could walk out right now, never come back, do nothing good, sin as much as I want, and I'm going to heaven. You know why I'm standing here? Because I actually fear God, and I want to be rewarded in this life and the next, and I actually love my wife, and I love my children, and I love you guys, and I love the loss, and I'm here so we can pull more people out of the fire. Because I have love in my heart. I didn't just want to get out of jail free card. I also want to help other people get that card too. And the people who believe in faith alone are the ones that make the best changes in their life. They're the ones where the men actually lead and actually provide for their households. Show me a church where there's more men who are the single breadwinner in their house than our church. Hey, you look at church, compare us to the Catholic church, compare us to the Presbyterian church, compare us to the non-the-non church. Show me churches where they have more men that are the single income earner than our church. Show me a church where the women are dressed more modestly and more godly than our church. Show us a church where people know the Bible more and have read the Bible more. Show me a church where the kids are memorizing more verses every single week. Show me a church that's doing more evangelism. Show me a church that's actually trying to give up sin. Show me a church where people aren't drunk. Show me a church where they're not fornicators. Show me a church where they're not extortioners and railers. You know what? We are separated and sanctified and we're trying to serve God here even though we believe it's faith alone. They want to say, oh no, the transformation of the Gospels, they have a changed life. Look around. And look, I'm not saying that we've arrived. I'm not saying that we're better than every other church. What I am saying is when we do a little bit of comparison, I notice the people living the most sanctified lives are the ones that believe salvation is the freest. That's how I know faith alone is correct. Hey, wisdom is justified of our children. If we saw the Catholics just being so much better people than us, it would kind of make us wonder, like, maybe they're right. If we saw the Mormons being better than us, we would think maybe it's right. But you know what? I see more hypocrisy in the other churches, more ungodliness, less faith, less sanctification, feminism, liberalism, heresy. That's what I see. Go to 2 Peter 2. Just flip to the right. Go to 2 Peter 2. Our church is trying to make lifelong changes. I mean, who in here would just self-admit I'm way different than when I got saved? I mean, look around the room. And none of us are doing that because we want to go to heaven. We're doing that because we want God to be pleased with us. Because we want Him to be happy with us. And we know even if we did nothing again, we would still be saved. But that doesn't motivate me to be a bad person. Now, many churches are teaching you to change your life, and give your life, surrender your life. I mean, think about what the other churches are saying. Surrender your life. Robert Morris is Lord of salvation. This is what he said. This is how you know you're saved. Who's the boss? Who makes the decisions in your life? He says, if you're still in charge, you're going to go to hell. I mean, think about the extremity of what he's saying. Yet, you go to Gateway, you talk to people at Gateway, their lives don't look like Jesus is making every single decision in their life. They're not separated and sanctified. Why? Because they don't believe in faith alone. They believe in work salvation. And when you believe in work salvation, you have this crisis. Because you realize you're not sinless. So then you have to drag this bar way down to make you feel like you're somehow righteous when you're not at all. Whereas we realize we'll never get there, so our bar is as high as possible. Be therefore perfect, even as our Father which is in heaven is perfect. But we're still striving for that. They have to drop the bar so low, because they realize how low they are, and they have to then pretend like they're still righteous with such a low bar. And those who believe in faith alone, they're the ones that actually make real lifelong change. You see these false religions? People end up becoming worse. Their lives are worse than when they got into church. Look at verse 20. For after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the Holy Commandment and deliver it unto them. But it has happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. Now some weirdo taught that this is talking about saved people. He's wrong, and he's wrong about a lot of stuff. But notice in verse 22, it says the dog is turned to his own vomit again. Dogs are not saved in the Bible. Dogs are a picture of unsaved creatures. So it doesn't matter how much you wash up the dog. It's still a dog, and it's still not saved. And as soon as it can, it's going to eat its vomit again. The pig, no matter how much you scrub it, it'll jump in the mud immediately once it gets another chance again. You know what's saved? Sheep. The dog didn't become a sheep and then get cleaned up. It's still a dog. Because repenting of your sins doesn't change who you are. And people that are going to a church trying to repent of their sins to be saved are still a dog, they're still a pig, and they're still going to want to do disgusting things. You have to be changed on the inside and become a sheep, become a son of God, before you have the capability of having a lifelong change, something that will actually stick, someone that will become a fundamental Baptist and stay a fundamental Baptist. You know what that word is? Steadfast. Those who believe in faith alone, those are the people that are going to be steadfast. People who believe in works, as soon as they screw up big enough, they'll quit forever because they realize they can't make it. They realize that they can't keep going. And so many of them get discouraged and they go back, and you know what, they're never going to be saved. I want to go to one more place, go back to Galatians 5. Here's the last point I'm going to make. It could probably be a whole sermon, but this is why I know faith alone is correct, is because it's the people with the greatest persecution. We are the people with the greatest persecution, those who believe in faith alone. And it's not a coincidence because, of course, the enemy wants us to stop getting people saved, so he's going to attack us the most and the heaviest. Galatians 5, look at verse 11. Look, almost every other religion and every other group teaches in works salvation. That's why they can get along with each other so well. Why is it that the Catholics and the Jews on our Supreme Court are getting along so well? Why is it that the Catholics and the Jews in our government get along so well? Why is it that Ben Shapiro on The Daily Wire, the Jew, can be such good friends with Matt Walsh, the Catholic? Because the offense of the cross has ceased for both of them. Why is it that we can see these ecumenical councils for the president where we have the Pope and the Dalai Lama and some imam or some Muslim representative and there's all these false religions, they're all wearing a dress and a skirt and a weird hat, and it's just different colors, and they're just all up there and they're all buddies because, you know what, the offense of the cross has ceased for that group. Why do we suffer persecution? Because we bring the cross of Jesus Christ. Because we bring the true gospel and we say, you guys are all wrong, you're all unsaved, you all believe in works, you're all false prophets, and then they gnash on you with their teeth, they want to destroy you. And you know what? Faith alone is correct because we're the ones being persecuted. We're the ones that are actually being attacked. We're the ones being protested. We're the ones being shut down. We're the ones that are being infiltrated. We're the ones getting all kinds of grievous things happening unto us. Why? Because we're right. Gay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Hey, if you aren't suffering persecution, you're not godly. You know, it's funny, churches that once were being persecuted or once being afflicted, now they're not. Now no one's mad at them. Now they have no problems. You know what happened? They lost their godliness. Think about it. How many churches today that are speaking a pro-Sodomite message or whatever, they're getting protested, banks are shutting them down, they're getting attacked, they don't receive the persecution. And you know why a lot of churches won't preach things in the Bible? Because they just don't want to be persecuted. They don't want to be afflicted. They don't want to be attacked. You know, you go out and you knock on doors. I mean, isn't that the best thing we can do? Isn't that the nice thing we do is knock on doors and offer someone a free gift of salvation? You don't even know how many emails and phone calls we get about that. How dare you come and knock on my door? You guys shouldn't be doing this. I'm going to call the cops. I mean, look, people in our church have been punched in the face for going out and preaching the gospel. People have been banned from countries trying to go out and preach the gospel, let alone what we actually say, the gnarly stuff in the Bible. But look, when you go out and you preach the gospel, you will face persecution. And that's how I know that we're right. I know that we're right. You know, and what's the point of the sermon? Well, when we're persecuted, we should rejoice and allow this to further increase our faith so that we're godly and on the right path. We need to know that we're on the right path and we need to have confidence in our message because we don't want to get to a point where we're going out and they're like, yeah, faith plus works, and we're like, yeah, they're probably saved. Well, I know they think they can lose their salvation, but they're Pentecostal. They're probably saved. No, we need to know this person's not saved. We need to have a desperate zeal in our heart to get these people saved. We want to make sure that we know, hey, it's not faith plus works because we live in an area of the world where almost everybody believes they're saved. We live in an area in the world where everybody will give lip service to the gospel, which is not another, but there's many which have perverted the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we need to be sharp. We need to be clear. We need to be confident. And you know what? We know that salvation is by faith alone because that's what the Bible teaches. We know salvation by faith alone because adding works won't save anybody. We know that faith alone is what works because those are the people doing the evangelism. We know faith alone is right because it's quick and we can get people quickly saved. We know that faith alone is right because those are the people that understand the whole Bible. We know faith alone is right because those are the people that actually make changes in their life. And we know that faith alone is correct because those are the people being persecuted in this world. Let us never lose confidence of salvation by faith alone, but let us be those bold mouths that go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, so much for giving us the gospel and giving us the understanding. Thank you for giving us such a quick and efficient tool that we can go out and preach. Thank you for making salvation so free. Thank you for giving us just so much wisdom and knowledge freely so that we could understand all parts of the Bible. And thank you for also helping us to be able to change our lives and live godly lives. And thank you for giving us faith to overcome persecution, to overcome obstacles. I pray that when we're persecuted we'll rather rejoice but not be discouraged. I pray that when we're persecuted we'll embrace it and we'll know we're on the right path. I pray that when we're persecuted and afflicted that it'll just help us know that we're even more right than we previously thought. And I pray that you would help us to do all this work in the honor and glory of your Son. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, in closing, let's go to song number 404. Song number 404, When the Battle's Over. Song number 404, let's all sing it out together. When my young soldier rode across the border of the land, And shall I fear to own his cause or cause to speak his name, And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a bright and shining crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Must I be carried to the skies, on plowing miseries, While others fought to win the prize and steal the bloody scene? And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a bright and shining crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Sure, I must fight if fun were raining, freeze my courage, Lord. I'll bear them toil and cure the pain supported by Thy word. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. Yes, we shall wear a crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. Wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a bright and shining crown. And when the battle's over, we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem. We have a baptism this afternoon. Kesia is coming for baptism. Have you trusted Christ as your Savior? Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Bearing the likeness of His death, raised to walk in newness of life. Make sure to congratulate Kesia and her family. God bless you. You're dismissed. Thank you.