WEBVTT 00:00:01.509 --> 00:00:03.910 Welcome to the official podcast of the Church 00:00:03.910 --> 00:00:06.410 of Christ Wheeler area. We're so glad that you've 00:00:06.410 --> 00:00:08.910 tuned in for today's message. Whether you're 00:00:08.910 --> 00:00:11.109 on your morning commute or if you're relaxing 00:00:11.109 --> 00:00:13.109 at home, we're here to share the strength and 00:00:13.109 --> 00:00:16.089 truth of God's Word with our community. If you're 00:00:16.089 --> 00:00:17.730 in the neighborhood, we'd love to meet you in 00:00:17.730 --> 00:00:21.350 person. Come see us at 1500 South Allen L. Bean 00:00:21.350 --> 00:00:24.350 Boulevard right here in Wheeler, Texas. We gather 00:00:24.350 --> 00:00:27.429 every Sunday morning at 1030 a .m. and in the 00:00:27.429 --> 00:00:30.230 afternoon at 230 p .m. We meet again on Wednesdays 00:00:30.230 --> 00:00:33.829 at 7 p .m. Right now, let's open our Bibles together 00:00:33.829 --> 00:00:39.969 and dive in to today's sermon. This evening we 00:00:39.969 --> 00:00:42.250 want to study for a little while salvation from 00:00:42.250 --> 00:00:45.189 3 ,000 feet that'd be a low -flying airplane 00:00:45.189 --> 00:00:48.649 30 ,000 feet 30 ,000 feet and if you'll notice 00:00:48.649 --> 00:00:51.189 we've got a picture looking out a window and 00:00:51.189 --> 00:00:52.770 usually whenever you say we're going to look 00:00:52.770 --> 00:00:55.609 at something from 30 ,000 feet what you're saying 00:00:55.609 --> 00:00:58.969 is we're going to take a high view of something 00:00:58.969 --> 00:01:02.049 we're going to look at it in as broad an aspect 00:01:02.049 --> 00:01:04.849 as we possibly can and what I want to do this 00:01:04.849 --> 00:01:07.549 evening is begin a study that will take us through 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:11.250 maybe the next two or three evenings about salvation 00:01:11.250 --> 00:01:13.609 and we want to look at salvation from the very 00:01:13.609 --> 00:01:17.069 beginning to the very end and I know a lot of 00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:19.549 times whenever we study about salvation we'll 00:01:19.549 --> 00:01:22.469 study about certain aspects of salvation but 00:01:22.469 --> 00:01:25.049 what I want us to do is to get a big picture 00:01:25.049 --> 00:01:28.329 view of what salvation is because whenever we 00:01:28.329 --> 00:01:30.689 do that it's going to help us to understand some 00:01:30.689 --> 00:01:33.680 things maybe that aren't real clear to us and 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:35.819 hopefully bring us to a greater understanding 00:01:35.819 --> 00:01:38.680 and a better appreciation for what it means that 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:42.299 the Lord saves us. And so this evening we're 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:44.120 going to go back to the very beginning and we're 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:46.340 going to talk about being a sinner because Paul 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:50.000 said in Romans 3 .23, all have sinned and have 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:52.780 fallen short of the glory of God and all means 00:01:52.780 --> 00:01:56.040 all. That's all of us. Those of us who are Christians, 00:01:56.140 --> 00:01:58.379 there was that time when we fell short of the 00:01:58.379 --> 00:02:00.780 glory of God and if you're here tonight and you're 00:02:00.780 --> 00:02:03.980 not a Christian and you haven't obeyed the Please 00:02:03.980 --> 00:02:06.799 give careful attention to what the word speaks 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:09.580 to you this evening. And we're going to go from 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:11.539 being a sinner and we're going to go all the 00:02:11.539 --> 00:02:16.400 way through to the judgment. that time whenever 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:18.819 there's going to be a resurrection to life that 00:02:18.819 --> 00:02:20.580 you're going to be a time for a resurrection 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:23.639 to condemnation and the Bible tells us that in 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:27.280 John 5 28 Jesus said don't marvel for the hours 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:30.500 coming in which all who are in their graves will 00:02:30.500 --> 00:02:32.740 hear his voice and come forth those who have 00:02:32.740 --> 00:02:35.639 done good to the resurrection of life and those 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.860 who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation 00:02:38.860 --> 00:02:42.000 so all of us sitting here tonight have fallen 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.520 short of the glory of God. And all of us here 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:47.879 tonight are going to hear the voice of the Lord 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:50.759 one day and we're going to come forth from our 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:54.139 grave and we're going to go to the resurrection 00:02:54.139 --> 00:02:57.840 to life or the resurrection to condemnation. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:01.810 All of us. So when we study about salvation, 00:03:02.330 --> 00:03:05.250 it's something that all of us need to listen 00:03:05.250 --> 00:03:08.110 to because whether you are a sinner tonight, 00:03:08.330 --> 00:03:10.810 you haven't obeyed the gospel, you're not a Christian, 00:03:11.129 --> 00:03:13.990 and if you are a Christian, we need to understand 00:03:13.990 --> 00:03:17.409 what this looks like from beginning to end and 00:03:17.409 --> 00:03:20.710 understand the truth of God concerning salvation. 00:03:21.050 --> 00:03:23.469 Well this evening we want to talk about what 00:03:23.469 --> 00:03:26.349 does it mean to be a sinner Okay to be a sinner 00:03:26.349 --> 00:03:28.710 doesn't just mean well I do some bad things and 00:03:28.710 --> 00:03:30.629 I've made some mistakes and I haven't been a 00:03:30.629 --> 00:03:34.610 good boy No, it means far more than that. It 00:03:34.610 --> 00:03:37.469 is much more profound than just being a group 00:03:37.469 --> 00:03:40.530 of imperfect people The Bible tells us in Romans 00:03:40.530 --> 00:03:43.689 3 23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory 00:03:43.689 --> 00:03:46.610 of God Let me ask you this. What's the glory 00:03:46.610 --> 00:03:50.949 of God? Well, the glory of God is the standard, 00:03:51.689 --> 00:03:54.789 because those that fall short of the standard 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:57.789 are sinners. So in order to understand what it 00:03:57.789 --> 00:04:00.030 means to be a sinner, we need to understand what 00:04:00.030 --> 00:04:04.909 the glory of God is. What is that glory? Well, 00:04:04.909 --> 00:04:09.389 just to put it plain, it is perfect holiness 00:04:09.389 --> 00:04:14.319 and righteousness. Perfection. You see, whenever 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:17.319 we talk about God and we talk about God's glory, 00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:20.540 we don't talk about God's glory in graduated 00:04:20.540 --> 00:04:25.180 terms. You know, He's really glorious. He's a 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:29.100 lot glorious, though He is absolute in His glory 00:04:29.100 --> 00:04:32.639 and in His perfection. And whenever we consider 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:35.879 ourselves before God, we have to consider Him 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:38.660 as the perfect standard, and the question is 00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:43.680 really simple. Am I perfect like God? And if 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:49.079 I'm not perfect like God, I'm a sinner. I'm a 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:51.800 sinner. Now you may look around this room and 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:54.000 think, well, I'm as good as the people that are 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.920 here. And you may follow me around during my 00:04:56.920 --> 00:04:59.259 daily life and watch me stumble and fumble and 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:01.120 look at me and think, well, I'm just, I'm as 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:04.500 good as you are preacher. But the only problem 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:06.759 is the people in this building and the preacher 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:11.050 is not the standard of righteousness. God is 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:17.290 the standard and God is perfect. You're either 00:05:17.290 --> 00:05:21.870 perfect or you're not perfect. There's no such 00:05:21.870 --> 00:05:26.310 thing as sort of perfect or kind of perfect. 00:05:26.970 --> 00:05:30.389 You are either right with God in his perfection 00:05:30.389 --> 00:05:34.009 and in his holiness or you're not and if you 00:05:34.009 --> 00:05:38.120 are not, you are a sinner. There was a man in 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:40.720 the Old Testament that saw the glory of God in 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:44.240 Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 to 5 Isaiah was carried 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:47.000 off into a vision and we read we won't read the 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:49.240 whole text but he looks into the temple and the 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:52.139 temple was filled with the glory of God and then 00:05:52.139 --> 00:05:54.500 all of the hosts the seraphim were there singing 00:05:54.500 --> 00:05:58.439 holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the whole 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:01.399 earth is full of his glory Whenever the heavenly 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:03.759 chorus seems about things about the holiness 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:06.759 of God, they don't just say holy is God They 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:12.019 say, holy, holy, holy. Why three times? That's 00:06:12.019 --> 00:06:15.920 called a Hebrew superlative. Like you and I would 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:18.620 use, okay, something's hot, something's hotter, 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:22.079 something is the hottest. Whatever's the hottest, 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:26.620 everything else is less than that. Well, that's 00:06:26.620 --> 00:06:28.660 like saying God is holy. No, wait a minute. He's 00:06:28.660 --> 00:06:31.279 not holy. He's holier. No, no, that's not enough. 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:37.050 He's the holiest. He's the holiest. And notice 00:06:37.050 --> 00:06:40.910 how Isaiah responds to seeing the holiness of 00:06:40.910 --> 00:06:44.350 God. Notice verse number five, he said, so I 00:06:44.350 --> 00:06:50.670 said, God, aren't I a pretty good guy? I mean, 00:06:50.730 --> 00:06:54.750 after all, I'm a prophet. So you and I need to 00:06:54.750 --> 00:06:57.449 be okay, don't we? He didn't say that, did he? 00:06:58.029 --> 00:07:01.170 He didn't say God look around at all of these 00:07:01.170 --> 00:07:03.529 people of the children of Israel and how wicked 00:07:03.529 --> 00:07:06.529 and corrupt they are God Don't I look really 00:07:06.529 --> 00:07:11.529 good? Aren't you and I good? Isaiah when he saw 00:07:11.529 --> 00:07:15.290 the holiness of God said what every sinner should 00:07:15.290 --> 00:07:18.529 say Whenever they consider themselves in light 00:07:18.529 --> 00:07:26.029 of the holiness of God. Woe is me The word woe 00:07:26.029 --> 00:07:30.500 that's used there is a pronouncement of a curse. 00:07:31.259 --> 00:07:37.439 Isaiah cursed himself before God. He wasn't going 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:40.579 to stand before God and try to make, you know, 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:43.420 to try to reason with God and talk to God and 00:07:43.420 --> 00:07:46.680 convince God that he was a pretty good guy. He 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:49.439 knew immediately when he saw the glory of God, 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:54.480 he says, woe is me. That would be the same as 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:59.220 saying condemned is me doomed is me ruined is 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:04.319 me for I am undone And if you're here tonight 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:06.459 and you're not a Christian and you consider the 00:08:06.459 --> 00:08:09.060 glory of God don't look at the people in this 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:12.019 room and compare yourself to them. Don't look 00:08:12.019 --> 00:08:15.420 at me and compare yourself to me. You look directly 00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:19.060 into the holiness of God and you say the only 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:22.279 thing that a sinner can say before the glory 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:29.959 of God, I am lost. And you are just fooling yourself 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:34.820 if you say anything different. That's the only 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:39.379 reasonable and possible response. to the glory 00:08:39.379 --> 00:08:44.820 of God. Why are you getting so worked up about 00:08:44.820 --> 00:08:48.340 this? Well, because if we don't understand this, 00:08:48.779 --> 00:08:51.059 we're not going to appreciate everything that 00:08:51.059 --> 00:08:56.120 follows after that. We're going to look at salvation 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:58.259 like, yeah, when I was before God, I was a pretty 00:08:58.259 --> 00:09:00.759 good person, but because of God's salvation, 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:04.639 I've become a better person. No? It's not about 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:07.340 a good, a bad person become a better person. 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:09.799 Whenever we look at the words of the Apostle 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:14.659 Paul and he characterized lost people, he referred 00:09:14.659 --> 00:09:20.440 to them as dead people. What can a dead person 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:26.220 do for themselves? Nothing. And as we're going 00:09:26.220 --> 00:09:28.759 to study this evening, as you stand and you look 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:31.500 at the glory of God, you have to understand, 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:34.460 and I have to understand before I was in Christ, 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:39.840 that I was a dead person. I was doomed in light 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:44.840 of the glory of God. Paul says in Romans 1, 18, 00:09:44.980 --> 00:09:47.460 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against 00:09:47.460 --> 00:09:51.580 all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Throughout 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:54.460 the history of God's dealings with His creation, 00:09:54.539 --> 00:09:59.080 He has manifested His wrath towards all ungodliness 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:09.399 and worldly lust. Our God is an angry God. Our 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:13.259 God's an angry God. Notice what the psalmist 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:16.720 says in Psalm 7 verse 11. God is a just judge 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:20.659 and God is angry with the wicked every day. You 00:10:20.659 --> 00:10:25.299 know what happened today? God was angry. God 00:10:25.299 --> 00:10:29.200 was angry today. You know what's going to happen 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:33.639 tomorrow? God's going to be angry. You know why 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:36.220 He's going to be angry? Because there's wickedness 00:10:36.220 --> 00:10:40.100 every day in this world. And we look at this 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:42.779 and we think, well, I thought God was a God of 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:46.919 love. Hey, God can do two things at the same 00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:52.529 time. He's God. He can love and he can plead 00:10:52.529 --> 00:10:55.629 with humanity and cry out to them with the voice 00:10:55.629 --> 00:10:59.750 of grace Saying be saved and be saved today and 00:10:59.750 --> 00:11:02.590 all the while he's doing that He's over here 00:11:02.590 --> 00:11:05.710 with the other hand sharpening his sword Excuse 00:11:05.710 --> 00:11:08.909 me sharpening his sword and getting his quiver 00:11:08.909 --> 00:11:12.110 of arrows ready to go out and bring about judgment 00:11:12.110 --> 00:11:16.090 against the wicked He can do both. In fact, when 00:11:16.090 --> 00:11:18.570 you read verses 11 and 12, that's exactly what 00:11:18.570 --> 00:11:21.330 the psalmist tells us that he's doing. He's angry 00:11:21.330 --> 00:11:23.490 every day with the wicked. Every day the Lord 00:11:23.490 --> 00:11:26.169 sharpens his sword and every day the Lord gets 00:11:26.169 --> 00:11:30.110 his bow and arrow ready to execute vengeance 00:11:30.110 --> 00:11:35.509 and wrath against the wicked. And that's what 00:11:35.509 --> 00:11:43.059 makes God's love so amazing. So amazing. But 00:11:43.059 --> 00:11:46.700 in order to appreciate his grace and his love 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:50.779 we have to understand his anger and his wrath 00:11:50.779 --> 00:11:55.480 and again He can do two things like that at the 00:11:55.480 --> 00:12:02.480 same time because he's God Because he's God Roman 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:05.580 623 the wages of sin is death the gift of God 00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:10.450 is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord So if 00:12:10.450 --> 00:12:12.009 you're here tonight and you're not a Christian, 00:12:12.090 --> 00:12:14.149 this is where you are. You're standing before 00:12:14.149 --> 00:12:19.070 a God who is perfect, that a God who looks at 00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:22.570 your sin and your iniquity today and he's angry 00:12:22.570 --> 00:12:27.690 with you. He's angry with you. But while he's 00:12:27.690 --> 00:12:30.269 angry with you, he's also speaking to you and 00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:32.509 pleading you from the mercies and love of his 00:12:32.509 --> 00:12:37.350 heart. Be saved. because this sword over here 00:12:37.350 --> 00:12:39.389 that I'm sharpening for the wicked, I don't want 00:12:39.389 --> 00:12:43.210 to use that on you. These arrows and this bow 00:12:43.210 --> 00:12:45.529 over here that I'm getting ready to use on the 00:12:45.529 --> 00:12:50.809 wicked, I don't want to use that on you. And 00:12:50.809 --> 00:12:53.090 so we don't need to, if you're a sinner, to sit 00:12:53.090 --> 00:12:56.230 there and try to rationalize and reason about 00:12:56.230 --> 00:12:59.289 your situation before God because it's very simple. 00:12:59.629 --> 00:13:04.299 It's very absolute. God is perfect. So either 00:13:04.299 --> 00:13:06.580 you're perfect and you're okay with God like 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:10.220 you are or you are Imperfect and you are a vessel 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:18.240 of his wrath right now And if those of us who 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:20.919 are our Christians when we are in Christ we need 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:24.080 to understand that this is what salvation is 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:27.360 about You know, I grew up all of my life in the 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:29.659 church when I obeyed the gospel. I just did what 00:13:29.659 --> 00:13:34.070 was expected of me And it wasn't until later 00:13:34.070 --> 00:13:37.730 on in the faith that I truly realized what happened 00:13:37.730 --> 00:13:42.549 in my life that day that God saved me in Jesus 00:13:42.549 --> 00:13:46.830 Christ. And so if we're sitting here as Christians 00:13:46.830 --> 00:13:48.450 and we think, well, I've already obeyed the gospel, 00:13:48.509 --> 00:13:50.769 this doesn't apply to me. I want you to understand, 00:13:50.789 --> 00:13:53.289 look at these verses, Romans and Romans. Who 00:13:53.289 --> 00:13:55.929 was Paul writing to about all of this? He was 00:13:55.929 --> 00:13:59.100 writing to Christians about all of this. Because 00:13:59.100 --> 00:14:02.379 you can't live right as a Christian if you don't 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:06.679 understand your salvation. And a lot of what 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:10.200 we're going to read tonight about salvation of 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:13.299 the sinner, Paul writes to Christians about because 00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:16.840 he wants Christians to understand. And a lot 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:19.500 of times as Christians we don't fully realize 00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:21.899 until we grow in the truth and the awareness 00:14:21.899 --> 00:14:25.279 of what God has done for us and realize that 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.779 yeah though I went to church all of my life and 00:14:27.779 --> 00:14:29.879 the people at church sang my praises because 00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:33.759 I was such a good boy. At that time I stood before 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:43.779 a perfect God doomed to His wrath. And so whether 00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:48.519 we are someone who has been raised in the church 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:52.159 and did what was expected. which is a good expectation 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:55.419 and our parents should teach us that or if we 00:14:55.419 --> 00:14:58.019 are the most wicked sinner in the world coming 00:14:58.019 --> 00:15:00.919 in off the street to find out about what's going 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:04.200 on here and then comes in repentance to Jesus 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:08.919 the same miracle of salvation occurs in every 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:12.720 party because in every situation it's God taking 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:18.059 a dead person and making them alive again. So 00:15:18.059 --> 00:15:20.600 what does a sinner need? A sinner needs to be 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:25.879 justified. The word justified is a forensic courtroom 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:29.159 term. We read the word justified in the Bible 00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:31.340 a lot and I want us to really stop and understand 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:34.840 what being justified means. The definition, it's 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:38.139 a term to set forth as righteous, a judicial 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:42.840 decision to free a man from his guilt. It's a 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:45.139 courtroom term where you have a judge and someone 00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:48.000 comes before the judge and then the judge declares, 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:53.159 You are righteous. You are righteous. What I 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:55.399 want us to notice is that the Bible teaches that 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:59.679 there are two ways of justification. It's very 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:02.419 clear. Paul says in Romans 10 verse number three, 00:16:02.580 --> 00:16:05.460 talking about his countrymen, he says, for they 00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:07.879 being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:10.539 to establish their own righteousness have not 00:16:10.539 --> 00:16:14.559 submitted to the righteousness of God. Very clear. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.440 There is God's righteousness. and there is our 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:21.580 own righteousness. Paul talks about that in Philippians 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:25.240 3 verse 6 and be found in him not having my own 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:27.720 righteousness which is from the law but that 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:30.820 which is through faith in Christ the righteousness 00:16:30.820 --> 00:16:33.980 which is from God by faith. So again there is 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:38.639 a righteousness of God that is God's way of providing 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:42.220 for our righteousness and there is our own righteousness 00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:47.120 that is us providing our own way. for righteousness. 00:16:48.299 --> 00:16:51.019 And what I want us to highlight is how that these 00:16:51.019 --> 00:16:55.779 two ways of righteousness are exclusive to each 00:16:55.779 --> 00:17:00.559 other. Paul says in Romans four verse number 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:03.480 four, now to him who works the wages are not 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:07.960 counted as greats but as debt. And whenever Paul 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:10.839 talks about to him who works he's talking about 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:14.279 someone who is going to try to be righteous on 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:18.519 their own. And he says, the person that tries 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:21.759 to be righteous on their own, what they're seeking 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:25.420 to do is in debt God to them because of their 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:28.660 goodness, where God is not constrained by his 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:32.480 grace, but God is constrained by debt in order 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:36.019 to declare that person righteous. In other words, 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:39.500 God looks at Jay and says, Jay, you're just so 00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:43.099 good. I'm just doing what I've got to do. I owe 00:17:43.099 --> 00:17:47.509 you this. You're righteous. Paul goes on to say 00:17:47.509 --> 00:17:50.529 in Romans 11 verse number 6 and if by grace then 00:17:50.529 --> 00:17:53.890 it is no longer of works otherwise grace is no 00:17:53.890 --> 00:17:56.609 longer grace but it is of works it is no longer 00:17:56.609 --> 00:17:59.869 grace otherwise work is no longer work. Say that 00:17:59.869 --> 00:18:03.150 fast three times in a row. But basically what 00:18:03.150 --> 00:18:06.569 that saying is is that grace being justified 00:18:06.569 --> 00:18:10.130 by grace and being justified by works are mutually 00:18:10.130 --> 00:18:12.430 exclusive and this is a point that I want to 00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:15.430 emphasize this evening because sometimes whenever 00:18:15.430 --> 00:18:19.369 it comes to these methods of justification we 00:18:19.369 --> 00:18:22.769 get them confused and come to some false understandings 00:18:22.769 --> 00:18:25.410 about certain doctrines pertaining to salvation. 00:18:25.890 --> 00:18:29.009 So we want to be very clear about what these 00:18:29.009 --> 00:18:32.750 two methods of justification are. To be justified 00:18:32.750 --> 00:18:36.930 personally means that I'm trying to earn salvation 00:18:36.930 --> 00:18:43.190 and that there is no grace and there is no faith 00:18:43.190 --> 00:18:48.230 in Christ. I mean, when it says your own salvation, 00:18:48.230 --> 00:18:52.470 it is your own. You're saying, God, God, I don't 00:18:52.470 --> 00:18:56.160 need you. I don't need your grace. I don't need 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.920 Jesus Christ. I can do this by myself and I can 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:03.019 do such a good job at this that I'm going to 00:19:03.019 --> 00:19:07.420 earn your righteous favor towards me. That's 00:19:07.420 --> 00:19:11.799 what it means to seek to be justified by personal 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:14.759 righteousness. That's what it means to seek to 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:19.920 be justified by works. That whenever a person 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:22.960 and whenever the Bible talks about being justified 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:26.960 by works He's talking about trying to be justified 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:30.339 in a way that you earn God's righteous favor 00:19:30.339 --> 00:19:33.619 and you do it without God's grace and you do 00:19:33.619 --> 00:19:37.440 it without faith in Jesus Christ Whenever we 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:41.660 look at God's righteousness, it's a gift In other 00:19:41.660 --> 00:19:44.700 words, we look at the glory of God and say I 00:19:44.700 --> 00:19:52.299 can't earn this Once you become imperfect, you 00:19:52.299 --> 00:19:56.640 can't go back and be perfect. Once you ring the 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.960 bell of sin in your life, you can't unring that 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:07.220 bell. You can't un -sin. Well, how many sins 00:20:07.220 --> 00:20:10.259 does it take to separate us from God? Well, how 00:20:10.259 --> 00:20:13.740 many sins did it take to separate a creation 00:20:13.740 --> 00:20:18.240 from God? How many sins did it take to separate 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:26.299 a creation from God? So if one sin separates 00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:30.480 an entire creation from God imagine what one 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:36.500 sin does to you in God You see we're talking 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:39.680 about it. No, it's so it's not a matter of how 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:44.190 much it's a matter of have you And as we read, 00:20:44.390 --> 00:20:46.349 we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory 00:20:46.349 --> 00:20:53.329 of God. And so we realize, I can't earn it. God, 00:20:53.369 --> 00:20:58.230 I need your gracious favor. I need your mercy. 00:21:00.650 --> 00:21:05.869 I need someone other than myself to save me because 00:21:05.869 --> 00:21:10.490 I can't save myself. I need to put my faith in 00:21:10.490 --> 00:21:15.519 Christ Jesus. Now understand how clearly distinct 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:20.500 those two things are. Because a lot of times 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:23.119 what happens is whenever we preach the gospel 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:26.140 and we preach what's necessary for salvation, 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:28.660 people want to say, oh, but you're preaching 00:21:28.660 --> 00:21:31.680 salvation by works. And we're going to illustrate 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:36.980 tonight that we're not. The idea is in the religious 00:21:36.980 --> 00:21:39.259 world, well, if you think you have to do something 00:21:39.259 --> 00:21:41.759 in order to be saved, then you're trying to be 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:46.200 justified by works. Where in the Bible did that 00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:52.759 come from? Nowhere. That's just an idea that 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:55.119 we've gotten in our mind and it's one of those 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:57.500 things that's been repeated so much and you hear 00:21:57.500 --> 00:21:59.740 it so much that you think, well, it's just got 00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:01.660 to be in the Bible somewhere and it has to be 00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:08.910 true, but it's not. To do something to be saved 00:22:08.910 --> 00:22:11.750 does not mean that you're trying to be justified 00:22:11.750 --> 00:22:15.170 by works What determines whether you're trying 00:22:15.170 --> 00:22:18.690 to be justified by works or not is am I trying 00:22:18.690 --> 00:22:22.609 to earn salvation? Am I trying to do it without 00:22:22.609 --> 00:22:25.549 the grace of God and am I trying to do it without 00:22:25.549 --> 00:22:29.230 faith in Jesus Christ? That's what it means to 00:22:29.230 --> 00:22:34.380 be justified by works Notice what Paul says, 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:37.859 Galatians 2 .16, knowing that a man is not justified 00:22:37.859 --> 00:22:40.480 by the works of law but by faith in Jesus Christ. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.359 Notice how these are exclusive to each other. 00:22:44.180 --> 00:22:49.539 Works of law, faith in Jesus Christ. Those are 00:22:49.539 --> 00:22:52.759 exclusive. I can't do something out of faith 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:55.500 towards Jesus Christ and it be something that's 00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:59.220 a work of law because they're exclusive to each 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:02.440 other. He goes on to say, justified by faith 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:05.460 in Christ and not by works of law. Notice how 00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:09.000 faith in Christ and works of law, personal pursuit 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.859 of righteousness, that those things are mutually 00:23:11.859 --> 00:23:14.660 exclusive and you can't conflate them in some 00:23:14.660 --> 00:23:21.470 way. So let's remember that point. Ephesians 00:23:21.470 --> 00:23:24.210 2, 8 and 9, for by grace you have been saved. 00:23:24.410 --> 00:23:26.829 And again, notice that it's contrasted with not 00:23:26.829 --> 00:23:29.769 of works, not of yourselves, but it is the gift 00:23:29.769 --> 00:23:33.609 of God. Titus 3, 5, not by works of righteousness 00:23:33.609 --> 00:23:36.309 which we have done, but according to his mercy 00:23:36.309 --> 00:23:39.750 he saved us. Again, notice that these are exclusive 00:23:39.750 --> 00:23:42.470 to each other. And you'll understand why I emphasize 00:23:42.470 --> 00:23:45.099 this here in just a moment. So if we were going 00:23:45.099 --> 00:23:47.539 to make a summary statement of this when the 00:23:47.539 --> 00:23:50.599 Bible speaks about works that do not save or 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:53.779 justify It's speaking specifically about the 00:23:53.779 --> 00:23:57.299 works that a sinner does Absent of God's grace 00:23:57.299 --> 00:24:00.559 and void of any faith in Christ to earn righteousness 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:04.779 from God To determine whether something is you're 00:24:04.779 --> 00:24:08.299 being trying to be justified by a work by works 00:24:08.299 --> 00:24:11.799 the question to ask is not Well, are you doing 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:15.319 something to be saved? The question to ask is, 00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:20.740 is this of grace through faith in Jesus? If it's 00:24:20.740 --> 00:24:24.779 not of faith, if it's not of grace and not of 00:24:24.779 --> 00:24:28.460 faith in Jesus, then it's seeking to be justified 00:24:28.460 --> 00:24:31.869 by works. But if something can be shown to be 00:24:31.869 --> 00:24:35.109 done because of grace and out of faith in Jesus, 00:24:35.569 --> 00:24:37.609 even though you're doing something, you're not 00:24:37.609 --> 00:24:40.630 doing something to merit salvation of your own 00:24:40.630 --> 00:24:43.690 self, but rather you're seeking to be saved by 00:24:43.690 --> 00:24:46.009 the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. 00:24:46.750 --> 00:24:49.589 Notice what Paul said in Galatians 2 .21. Paul 00:24:49.589 --> 00:24:52.880 was writing to some Christians at Galatia. who 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:55.380 had begun in the faith, they had begun in the 00:24:55.380 --> 00:24:57.579 gospel, but then they decided all of a sudden 00:24:57.579 --> 00:24:59.759 because of some false teachers, you know what? 00:25:00.539 --> 00:25:02.519 We're going to forget about Christ and we're 00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:04.319 going to forget about grace and we're just going 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:08.319 to try to be justified by ourselves. So we said 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:11.160 up here a while ago that to be justified by works 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:14.240 means no grace and no Christ. Listen to what 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:17.829 Paul says. in Galatians 2 .21 as he's responding 00:25:17.829 --> 00:25:20.650 to these teachers and these people who were believing 00:25:20.650 --> 00:25:22.730 that they don't need grace and they don't need 00:25:22.730 --> 00:25:26.150 Christ and they can be saved on their own. I 00:25:26.150 --> 00:25:29.230 do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness 00:25:29.230 --> 00:25:31.710 comes through the law then Christ died in vain. 00:25:33.650 --> 00:25:36.670 Okay, so trying to be justified by personal righteousness, 00:25:36.930 --> 00:25:41.519 righteousness through the law, Paul said implies 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:43.940 here that if a person tries to do that, they 00:25:43.940 --> 00:25:46.700 don't embrace God's grace. They take God's grace 00:25:46.700 --> 00:25:48.359 and they set it over here and they say, I don't 00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:54.559 need that. I don't need that. And he goes over 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:57.319 here to the cross of Jesus and says, I don't 00:25:57.319 --> 00:25:59.960 need that. I don't know why you died. There's 00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:03.400 no need to die for me. I can make myself righteous. 00:26:05.199 --> 00:26:07.960 That's what it looks like to be justified by 00:26:07.960 --> 00:26:11.299 works rejecting grace and rejecting Christ. It's 00:26:11.299 --> 00:26:16.900 very clear Galatians 5 for Paul talking again 00:26:16.900 --> 00:26:19.099 to these people who were believing they could 00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:21.579 be justified without grace and without Christ 00:26:21.579 --> 00:26:24.380 He says you are become a strange from Christ 00:26:24.380 --> 00:26:27.480 you who attempt to be justified by law you fallen 00:26:27.480 --> 00:26:30.890 from grace So notice here the same things. Those 00:26:30.890 --> 00:26:33.829 who were attempting to be justified by law, justified 00:26:33.829 --> 00:26:37.670 by personal righteousness, He tells them, you're 00:26:37.670 --> 00:26:39.670 estranged from Christ. In other words, you were 00:26:39.670 --> 00:26:41.869 over here with Christ, but now you've looked 00:26:41.869 --> 00:26:44.230 at Christ and said, I don't need you, and you've 00:26:44.230 --> 00:26:46.309 walked away from Christ and you're estranged 00:26:46.309 --> 00:26:49.730 from Him. And that grace that you once were standing 00:26:49.730 --> 00:26:54.329 in and hoping in and living in, you have just 00:26:54.329 --> 00:26:59.930 fallen away from it. And so whenever we speak 00:26:59.930 --> 00:27:03.589 about being justified and being justified by 00:27:03.589 --> 00:27:06.190 works, we're talking about a method of trying 00:27:06.190 --> 00:27:10.029 to be justified by earning God's righteous favor 00:27:10.029 --> 00:27:14.289 without God's grace and without faith in Jesus. 00:27:17.849 --> 00:27:24.390 And so Paul says in Romans 3, 24 to 25, you need 00:27:24.390 --> 00:27:29.900 God's grace and you need Jesus. being justified 00:27:29.900 --> 00:27:33.460 freely by His grace. Not a one of us could be 00:27:33.460 --> 00:27:37.000 righteous were it not for the gracious disposition 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:41.420 of God and His willingness and His loving favor 00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:45.279 upon us. And we could work and we could work 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:49.079 and we could plead and we could cry all we want. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:54.859 And it never happened if our God was not gracious. 00:27:55.660 --> 00:27:58.500 And here's the thing about God's grace. Not only 00:27:58.500 --> 00:28:02.759 does God's grace give him the willingness, but 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:07.039 also God's grace also gives us the provision 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:11.700 that we need. It's not enough for God to just 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:16.740 want to save us if he doesn't provide for what 00:28:16.740 --> 00:28:20.839 we need. And out of his grace, he sent Jesus 00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:24.380 and through Jesus, we have redemption. The word 00:28:24.380 --> 00:28:28.000 redemption means releasing upon receipt of a 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:31.359 ransom, deliverance as the result of expiation, 00:28:31.579 --> 00:28:34.980 whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood 00:28:34.980 --> 00:28:37.799 through faith to demonstrate his righteousness. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:41.359 So God demonstrated his righteous plan when he 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:44.200 sent Jesus to the earth, and then Jesus walked 00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:46.960 among us perfectly, went to the cross, died on 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:50.039 the cross to pay the price for your sin and my 00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:53.950 sin, and then God says, That's my plan for righteousness. 00:28:56.569 --> 00:28:59.750 He demonstrated it. But what's a propitiation? 00:29:00.109 --> 00:29:03.710 A propitiation is an expiation. How many times 00:29:03.710 --> 00:29:07.049 this week have you used the word expiation? Probably 00:29:07.049 --> 00:29:11.430 not a lot. Not a word that we use a lot. An expiation 00:29:11.430 --> 00:29:14.190 just simply means the removal, the wiping away, 00:29:14.289 --> 00:29:16.970 or the cleansing of sin and guilt through a paying 00:29:16.970 --> 00:29:21.400 penalty or substitute sacrifice. God is not a 00:29:21.400 --> 00:29:24.579 God that justifies us and makes us righteous 00:29:24.579 --> 00:29:28.599 by just looking at us and saying, oh, that's 00:29:28.599 --> 00:29:33.740 okay. I understand. You're just human. Nobody's 00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:40.339 perfect. He can't do that because he is perfect. 00:29:42.019 --> 00:29:46.039 And if God compromises with your sin and God 00:29:46.039 --> 00:29:50.539 compromises with my sin, he's not perfect anymore. 00:29:51.630 --> 00:29:55.529 And so for God to maintain his perfection and 00:29:55.529 --> 00:30:00.609 his righteous justice, sin has to be paid for. 00:30:02.829 --> 00:30:07.730 And the paying of that penalty came through Jesus 00:30:07.730 --> 00:30:11.990 Christ. For he made him who knew no sin to be 00:30:11.990 --> 00:30:14.569 sin for us that he might become, that we might 00:30:14.569 --> 00:30:17.849 become the righteousness of God in him. You ever 00:30:17.849 --> 00:30:20.630 wonder why did God choose us to save us this 00:30:20.630 --> 00:30:23.630 way? I mean, after all, He's God. He can do anything 00:30:23.630 --> 00:30:31.069 He wants, can't He? Well, no, He can't. God is 00:30:31.069 --> 00:30:36.190 bound by His own justice. God cannot go against 00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:40.869 Himself. God cannot deny His righteous demands, 00:30:40.869 --> 00:30:45.309 and because of His holy, holy, holy nature, sin 00:30:45.309 --> 00:30:50.079 has to be punished. And the only way that sin 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:53.880 can be punished is either all the sinful people 00:30:53.880 --> 00:31:01.000 die and go to hell or the perfect Son of God 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:06.220 who is sinless dies upon the cross for our sins. 00:31:07.980 --> 00:31:11.660 And that's what He did. He sent Jesus who knew 00:31:11.660 --> 00:31:16.579 no sin. Jesus was perfect. But he became sin 00:31:16.579 --> 00:31:21.160 for us. What does that mean? He became the sin 00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:25.200 Sacrifice for us he went to the cross and died 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:28.779 as a sinner even though he was not a sinner So 00:31:28.779 --> 00:31:32.339 those of us who are sinners can live as if we 00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:39.859 had no sin You see the transaction That we might 00:31:39.859 --> 00:31:44.200 become the righteousness of God in him When Jesus 00:31:44.200 --> 00:31:47.500 went to the cross and died on the cross, he had 00:31:47.500 --> 00:31:51.079 no sin. He paid a debt that he didn't owe. So 00:31:51.079 --> 00:31:54.599 there is this big open account at the cross. 00:31:55.880 --> 00:31:58.980 An account where a price for sin was paid but 00:31:58.980 --> 00:32:02.480 no sin was committed. So then what God does is 00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:06.160 he takes our sin and he puts it at the cross. 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:12.640 And that is how righteous and how holy God is. 00:32:13.099 --> 00:32:17.059 That when the righteous and holy son of God dies 00:32:17.059 --> 00:32:21.240 as a sinner even though he's a perfect man that 00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:25.240 price is so Spectacular and so amazing that it 00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:28.900 can take upon itself the sins of all mankind 00:32:28.900 --> 00:32:32.539 throughout all Generations in every part of this 00:32:32.539 --> 00:32:35.819 world for however long the world exists to make 00:32:35.819 --> 00:32:43.160 that person righteous You see, folks, we're not 00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:50.240 just playing church here. This is amazing. This 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:54.440 is magnificent. And if we don't understand it, 00:32:55.059 --> 00:32:56.579 then if you're a sinner, you're going to die 00:32:56.579 --> 00:32:59.920 in your sin. And if you're a saint and you don't 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:01.720 understand this, you're not going to be able 00:33:01.720 --> 00:33:05.079 to live out your salvation that we've been called 00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:10.220 to live out. Paul said in Romans 6 verse number 00:33:10.220 --> 00:33:15.539 7, for he who has died is freed from sin. When 00:33:15.539 --> 00:33:19.880 you see the word died that's used there, or rather 00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:22.900 freed actually, whenever you look in the Greek 00:33:22.900 --> 00:33:27.680 and you look at the Greek word, it's actually 00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:31.349 the same Greek word as justified. It's as if 00:33:31.349 --> 00:33:34.650 Paul says for he who has died has been justified 00:33:34.650 --> 00:33:37.670 from sin for he who has died has been freed from 00:33:37.670 --> 00:33:42.849 sin Well, how can we die you see the wages of 00:33:42.849 --> 00:33:47.849 sin is death so we have to die But if we die 00:33:47.849 --> 00:33:50.410 for our own sins, then we're hopelessly lost 00:33:50.410 --> 00:33:56.529 for all of eternity And again Paul says being 00:33:56.529 --> 00:33:59.369 justified freely and so this statement right 00:33:59.369 --> 00:34:02.589 here says that he who has died has been freed 00:34:02.589 --> 00:34:05.589 from sin Here's the question. Have you died tonight? 00:34:07.869 --> 00:34:11.510 Have you died tonight? Anybody say well, how 00:34:11.510 --> 00:34:15.829 do I die? Well when we go to verse number eight 00:34:15.829 --> 00:34:19.469 Paul says now if we died with Christ we believe 00:34:19.469 --> 00:34:23.409 that we shall also live with him That's how we 00:34:23.409 --> 00:34:29.360 die We die with Christ Here's Christ over here 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:32.940 hanging on the cross paying the atonement for 00:34:32.940 --> 00:34:38.079 our sin and then I go to the cross and I take 00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:43.860 my place with my Savior and I've died with him 00:34:43.860 --> 00:34:46.800 and The Bible says that when I've died the penalty 00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:50.440 for sin has been taken care of and now I am righteous 00:34:50.440 --> 00:34:56.340 and justified How do we die with Christ? Romans 00:34:56.340 --> 00:35:00.539 chapter 6 verses 3 through 8. Whenever we look 00:35:00.539 --> 00:35:04.659 at the cross and we realize I cannot save myself, 00:35:05.219 --> 00:35:09.420 that I need the grace of God, that I need Jesus 00:35:09.420 --> 00:35:13.159 Christ and I come in contrition before the cross 00:35:13.159 --> 00:35:16.199 and I plead out to Jesus that I believe that 00:35:16.199 --> 00:35:19.159 you are the Son of God having that desire to 00:35:19.159 --> 00:35:22.539 change my life. in a different direction where 00:35:22.539 --> 00:35:25.440 in the past I have lived walking away from God 00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:32.199 now I want to walk to God and then I submit as 00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:36.039 the Bible talks about in baptism and it's in 00:35:36.039 --> 00:35:39.340 baptism that I die with Christ notice what Paul 00:35:39.340 --> 00:35:42.219 says do you not know that as many of us as were 00:35:42.219 --> 00:35:45.780 baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized where 00:35:45.780 --> 00:35:50.960 into his death When a repentant believing sinner 00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:53.920 is baptized, they are baptized into Christ's 00:35:53.920 --> 00:35:57.760 death. Christ's death becomes your death. You've 00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:01.920 died with Christ and you're freed from sin. We 00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:05.260 are buried with him through baptism into death. 00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:09.900 We are united together in the likeness of his 00:36:09.900 --> 00:36:14.139 death. To die with Christ to be justified and 00:36:14.139 --> 00:36:21.940 freed from sin, you must be baptized. The Apostle 00:36:21.940 --> 00:36:26.260 Paul said in Galatians 2 .20, I have been crucified 00:36:26.260 --> 00:36:31.019 with Christ, nevertheless I live. How was Paul 00:36:31.019 --> 00:36:34.619 crucified with Christ? When Paul came to Christ 00:36:34.619 --> 00:36:38.840 as a repentant believer, submitted himself to 00:36:38.840 --> 00:36:41.860 baptism whenever Ananias told him, arise and 00:36:41.860 --> 00:36:44.780 be baptized and wash away your sins and calling 00:36:44.780 --> 00:36:47.579 on the name of the Lord, Paul died with Christ 00:36:47.579 --> 00:36:54.380 that day. and he was justified and then he goes 00:36:54.380 --> 00:37:01.039 on to live not him but Christ in him but a lot 00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:03.860 of times the objection is raised to baptism well 00:37:03.860 --> 00:37:05.699 if you're baptized if you think that you got 00:37:05.699 --> 00:37:08.239 to be baptized to be saved then you think you've 00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:10.840 got to do something to be saved and then therefore 00:37:10.840 --> 00:37:17.550 you think that you're saved by works no That's 00:37:17.550 --> 00:37:19.849 not right. I'm just going to be honest with you. 00:37:19.849 --> 00:37:24.849 It's just not right. Let's look at baptism and 00:37:24.849 --> 00:37:27.250 how it relates to being saved by grace through 00:37:27.250 --> 00:37:31.469 faith. In Ephesians chapter 2 and Colossians 00:37:31.469 --> 00:37:35.849 chapter 2, both of these texts talk about being 00:37:35.849 --> 00:37:41.050 saved by grace through faith. And to fully understand 00:37:41.050 --> 00:37:44.840 Paul's teaching about this, we have to... hear 00:37:44.840 --> 00:37:47.920 the whole counsel of God. Notice the similarities 00:37:47.920 --> 00:37:51.139 between these texts. In Ephesians 2, Paul is 00:37:51.139 --> 00:37:54.659 talking to people who had been dead in trespasses 00:37:54.659 --> 00:37:57.300 and sins. In Colossians chapter 2, what's he 00:37:57.300 --> 00:37:59.739 talking about? He's talking about people whenever 00:37:59.739 --> 00:38:02.420 they were dead in their trespasses and sins. 00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:05.199 Kind of sounds like he's talking about the same 00:38:05.199 --> 00:38:08.789 thing, doesn't it? We go a little further and 00:38:08.789 --> 00:38:11.530 then Paul says okay, you were dead in your trespasses 00:38:11.530 --> 00:38:14.269 and sins And now you've been made alive together 00:38:14.269 --> 00:38:17.090 with Christ and then over here He said you were 00:38:17.090 --> 00:38:19.530 dead in your trespasses and sins and you were 00:38:19.530 --> 00:38:21.710 made alive together with Christ He's talking 00:38:21.710 --> 00:38:24.710 about the same thing in each text, isn't he? 00:38:25.670 --> 00:38:31.960 He is In the Ephesians 2 text he says okay after 00:38:31.960 --> 00:38:34.579 you've been made alive together with Christ what 00:38:34.579 --> 00:38:40.239 that is is you have been saved by grace In Colossians 00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:42.699 chapter 2 he says after you've been made alive 00:38:42.699 --> 00:38:47.019 together with him. He has forgiven you all your 00:38:47.019 --> 00:38:51.840 trespasses So whenever we put these two texts 00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:56.519 side -by -side What can we glean from this? Well 00:38:56.519 --> 00:39:00.440 if I was dead in sin and made alive with Christ, 00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:04.300 I was saved by grace. And whenever I was saved 00:39:04.300 --> 00:39:07.320 by grace, what happened? I was forgiven of all 00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:12.380 of my trespasses. You see how the two go together? 00:39:13.199 --> 00:39:15.860 So many times whenever you hear baptism taught 00:39:15.860 --> 00:39:18.719 or you read about baptism, so many instances 00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:20.980 if you go on the internet and just bring up articles 00:39:20.980 --> 00:39:23.940 about the necessity of baptism, most times they 00:39:23.940 --> 00:39:26.760 don't start with verses that talk about baptism. 00:39:27.369 --> 00:39:29.530 You know where they start? Ephesians chapter 00:39:29.530 --> 00:39:35.769 two. Ephesians chapter two. The salvation is 00:39:35.769 --> 00:39:37.989 by grace through faith not of works lest any 00:39:37.989 --> 00:39:40.449 man should boast. So see their baptism is a work 00:39:40.449 --> 00:39:42.610 because it's something you do to be saved and 00:39:42.610 --> 00:39:44.769 so therefore it's not necessary for salvation. 00:39:45.570 --> 00:39:48.130 That's just bad Bible interpretation and I'm 00:39:48.130 --> 00:39:50.369 not standing up here as an authority on biblical 00:39:50.369 --> 00:39:53.269 hermeneutics but let's just be real clear that 00:39:53.269 --> 00:39:55.969 is just not sound reasoning about scripture. 00:39:56.829 --> 00:39:59.889 because whenever you look at what Paul says in 00:39:59.889 --> 00:40:03.449 each of these instances, dead in sin, dead in 00:40:03.449 --> 00:40:06.230 sin, made alive to Christ, made alive to Christ, 00:40:06.289 --> 00:40:08.769 by grace you've been saved, having forgiven you 00:40:08.769 --> 00:40:12.130 all trespasses. And notice when this takes place 00:40:12.130 --> 00:40:15.489 in verse number 12 of Colossians 2, buried with 00:40:15.489 --> 00:40:19.940 him in baptism. in which you also were raised 00:40:19.940 --> 00:40:22.519 with him through faith in the working of God 00:40:22.519 --> 00:40:25.420 who raised him from the dead. When we plead, 00:40:25.480 --> 00:40:28.659 when this congregation... for people to be baptized 00:40:28.659 --> 00:40:31.400 to be saved. They don't do that because they 00:40:31.400 --> 00:40:34.699 believe in salvation by works. They do that because 00:40:34.699 --> 00:40:37.599 the scriptures teach that it is in that that 00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:41.039 we are baptized into Jesus' death. We are raised 00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:44.940 with Him through faith in what? The working of 00:40:44.940 --> 00:40:48.219 God. There's not a person that walks into that 00:40:48.219 --> 00:40:51.000 water thinking that when they're baptized that 00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:53.619 they've earned salvation without God's grace 00:40:53.619 --> 00:41:00.889 and without Jesus Christ. Not a one. When they 00:41:00.889 --> 00:41:04.849 do that, they do that because they've embraced 00:41:04.849 --> 00:41:09.909 the grace of God. They believe in Jesus. They 00:41:09.909 --> 00:41:13.550 believe in his atoning work on the cross. And 00:41:13.550 --> 00:41:17.309 they want to be in his death. And they submit 00:41:17.309 --> 00:41:20.849 to baptism because the Bible says that in that, 00:41:20.929 --> 00:41:24.949 God goes to work. God goes to work. I don't earn 00:41:24.949 --> 00:41:29.500 it, you don't earn it. God goes to work to raise 00:41:29.500 --> 00:41:35.179 us from the dead. Now whenever you put Ephesians 00:41:35.179 --> 00:41:37.400 2 and Colossians 2 together, you get the full 00:41:37.400 --> 00:41:41.380 picture. Both Ephesians and Colossians tell us 00:41:41.380 --> 00:41:45.000 we're dead in trespasses and sins. Colossians 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:47.639 tell us then we're buried with Christ in baptism. 00:41:48.570 --> 00:41:50.869 Ephesians and Colossians both tell us that we're 00:41:50.869 --> 00:41:54.250 made alive with Christ Colossians tells us that 00:41:54.250 --> 00:41:57.010 we have been forgiven of all of our trespasses 00:41:57.010 --> 00:41:59.630 and then Ephesians tells us that we've been saved 00:41:59.630 --> 00:42:03.010 by grace through faith it all works out and makes 00:42:03.010 --> 00:42:09.269 perfect sense so is baptism a work of personal 00:42:09.269 --> 00:42:11.989 righteousness well let's just check it out okay 00:42:11.989 --> 00:42:14.730 we said that we that to do something by works 00:42:14.730 --> 00:42:17.489 means that you try to earn it You don't want 00:42:17.489 --> 00:42:21.309 God's grace and you don't need Jesus. Let's put 00:42:21.309 --> 00:42:24.449 baptism to the test. Why does the scriptures 00:42:24.449 --> 00:42:27.010 teach us about baptism? Well, number one, Jesus 00:42:27.010 --> 00:42:32.219 commanded it. So whenever I or anyone else submits 00:42:32.219 --> 00:42:34.960 to Christian baptism, we're not doing it because 00:42:34.960 --> 00:42:37.219 we came up with the idea and we're gonna try 00:42:37.219 --> 00:42:40.039 to earn salvation. We're doing it because the 00:42:40.039 --> 00:42:43.400 God, the Savior and the Lord that sits at the 00:42:43.400 --> 00:42:45.940 right hand of the throne of God commanded his 00:42:45.940 --> 00:42:48.719 disciples to go out and to do it. We do it because 00:42:48.719 --> 00:42:52.800 Jesus commanded it. Oh, but wait a minute. If 00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:55.139 you're justified by works, you don't need Jesus. 00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:58.760 Why would you listen to Jesus? because baptism 00:42:58.760 --> 00:43:03.980 is not a work of self -righteousness. It's to 00:43:03.980 --> 00:43:06.619 be done in the name of Jesus. In Acts 2 -38, 00:43:06.739 --> 00:43:09.880 Peter said, Repent and be baptized for the remission 00:43:09.880 --> 00:43:15.920 of your sins in the name of Jesus Christ. In 00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:20.179 Galatians 3 -27, Paul says that we are baptized 00:43:20.179 --> 00:43:25.940 into Jesus. Romans 6 -3 says we're baptized into 00:43:25.940 --> 00:43:31.010 Jesus' death. Colossians 2 12 says baptism unites 00:43:31.010 --> 00:43:35.150 us with Jesus Colossians 2 12 tells us that it 00:43:35.150 --> 00:43:40.909 is done in faith through the operation of God 00:43:40.909 --> 00:43:46.829 Baptism is not a work of man's righteousness 00:43:46.829 --> 00:43:51.710 to earn salvation Because whenever you look at 00:43:51.710 --> 00:43:56.369 baptism as taught in the scriptures it is all 00:43:57.410 --> 00:44:05.650 because of Jesus. It is all because of the grace 00:44:05.650 --> 00:44:12.349 of God. So this evening we've looked at the sinner 00:44:12.349 --> 00:44:15.769 and if you're here tonight and you haven't been 00:44:15.769 --> 00:44:22.329 baptized, if you're here tonight and you haven't 00:44:22.329 --> 00:44:24.309 obeyed the gospel and you're not a Christian, 00:44:25.489 --> 00:44:28.280 this is something that's very urgent and very 00:44:28.280 --> 00:44:31.880 important to you because tonight right now you're 00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:36.880 staring the glory of God in the face and you 00:44:36.880 --> 00:44:39.340 may look at that glory and think well I'm okay 00:44:39.340 --> 00:44:41.880 but while you're doing that the psalmist tells 00:44:41.880 --> 00:44:45.179 us that he's sharpening his sword and he's getting 00:44:45.179 --> 00:44:49.900 his bows and arrows ready your response needs 00:44:49.900 --> 00:44:54.989 to be the response of Isaiah I am condemned How 00:44:54.989 --> 00:44:58.869 can you live another moment in this world knowing 00:44:58.869 --> 00:45:02.050 that you stand before the creator and Lord and 00:45:02.050 --> 00:45:08.210 God of the universe, condemned before him as 00:45:08.210 --> 00:45:14.909 a vessel of wrath? You need to go to the cross. 00:45:16.750 --> 00:45:19.750 Thousands and thousands of people have made that 00:45:19.750 --> 00:45:22.880 trek to the cross. and have taken their sins 00:45:22.880 --> 00:45:25.880 to the cross and you know what there's room for 00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:30.800 your sins there tonight there's room for your 00:45:30.800 --> 00:45:38.679 sins there you need to be baptized you need to 00:45:38.679 --> 00:45:41.599 be baptized because it is in baptism the bible 00:45:41.599 --> 00:45:45.460 tells us that god operates and takes you from 00:45:45.460 --> 00:45:48.900 being dead in your sin to being made alive with 00:45:48.900 --> 00:45:55.739 jesus You need to be justified so that you can 00:45:55.739 --> 00:46:00.920 become a saint. And that's what a Christian is. 00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:03.840 A person that's justified is a saint. A saint 00:46:03.840 --> 00:46:06.320 is someone who has been made righteous and been 00:46:06.320 --> 00:46:09.340 made holy by God. You know sometimes we look 00:46:09.340 --> 00:46:11.719 at ourselves and we like to say, well, I'm no 00:46:11.719 --> 00:46:14.059 saint. Well, if you're not a saint, you're lost. 00:46:15.920 --> 00:46:19.300 If you're not a saint, you're lost. Become a 00:46:19.300 --> 00:46:23.199 saint tonight. And we're doing this not of personal 00:46:23.199 --> 00:46:25.940 works of righteousness lest any man should boast. 00:46:26.599 --> 00:46:30.179 I've been a Christian now for 40 -something years 00:46:30.179 --> 00:46:33.599 and not one day have I boasted about being baptized. 00:46:35.739 --> 00:46:39.739 My boast is in Jesus Christ. My boast is in the 00:46:39.739 --> 00:46:42.000 grace and the faithfulness of God the Father 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:46.079 who operated in that moment in time to take me 00:46:46.079 --> 00:46:51.320 from being dead in sin to alive with Jesus. He 00:46:51.320 --> 00:46:58.039 can do that for you tonight. Thank you for listening 00:46:58.039 --> 00:47:00.320 to today's sermon from the Church of Christ Wheeler 00:47:00.320 --> 00:47:03.300 area. We hope this message encouraged you and 00:47:03.300 --> 00:47:05.579 strengthened you in your faith this week. Don't 00:47:05.579 --> 00:47:08.840 forget the doors always open at 1500 South Allen 00:47:08.840 --> 00:47:12.260 L. Bean Boulevard. at 10 30 a .m on Sundays 2 00:47:12.260 --> 00:47:15.380 30 p .m on Sunday afternoons and recharge with 00:47:15.380 --> 00:47:19.699 us midweek on Wednesdays at 7 p .m for more information 00:47:19.699 --> 00:47:23.019 or to hear past messages follow us on your favorite 00:47:23.019 --> 00:47:26.599 podcast platform look us up on Facebook and Instagram 00:47:26.599 --> 00:47:29.099 we hope you have a blessed week and we'll see 00:47:29.099 --> 00:47:29.860 you next time