10-11-2020

We know we're in Romans chapter 8 verse 30 moreover whom he did predestinate them. He also called and whom he called he also justified so. We know the verse before that said whom he foreknew he also predestinated those two things happened before time began.

So they are not in sequence. They just are. God is now he's the eternal now and they just are they just happened. He knew you with love and relationship before he made anything. He predestinated that you'd be adopted into his family and be his child that happened before time began.

And he did it by name. He knew you by name. That's how special you are. The world tells you you're a number. God tells you you're an individual child of his that he loves more than we can love our own children and grandchildren.

Which is amazing to think about. And then in time as we come into time two things happen in this verse first. We are called by the Holy Spirit and that's where the regeneration takes place. Because at the calling he regenerates us.

This is what we call the effectual calling in theology. He regenerates us. He does about 33 things to us and in a nanosecond or less. Including giving us the faith of Christ giving us repent a desire to repent.

Giving a repentance by the way means to change the mind. So he literally changes our want to. And see we a lot of people think you have to repent to get saved. It's the Holy Spirit who changes your mind.

You don't repent. He does he changes your mind. That's the repentance and he just it lets you decide you're not God. God is God and that's what the Holy Spirit does. Your God exists and you're not him and You need him and there's your Savior and you're hungry and he's the shepherd has the food.

He does all that in a nanosecond and our desire changes because if that weren't true We would have gotten saved the day before or the day before that the day before that. So the calling is so important and I don't hear a lot of sermons on the calling anymore.

But you go back 150 years. You heard it every Sunday practically and with the calling came justification is one of those 33 or more things that God did for us at salvation and Justified if you remember it means to be rendered righteous.

It's something it's in the passive in Greek. Which means God had to do it to you. You could not do it yourself. It's not in the active tense. It's passive. I should say boys. It's passive and he did it to you and Bill's Sunday school lessons for was magnificent talking about Jesus.

Saying that it'd be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Then for a wealthy individual to get saved well the Jews felt like wealth as you so well said in your lesson that wealth was directly tied to God's blessings and it's like he it's like it blew their mind when Jesus taught that and Like Bill said some of the commentators try to say oh, well, that's the camel gate.

It just meant wasn't really a needle. It's called I think it's called the camel gate or maybe the needle gate. I don't know what it's called. I remember reading commentaries on years ago. Where the camel had to get down on his knees and get unpacked to make it through so it's really hard.

That's incorrect. If you see that in your commentary your commentator is incorrect. It's a literal needle and it's a literal camel and it's impossible. It's teaching the impossibility of a natural man woman boy or girl to save themselves and yet Jesus said right in the passage.

He said with man it is impossible. Just like it would be for a needle literal camel to go through the eye of a literal needle. It's impossible for a man woman boy or girl to save themselves and yet the modern gospel is all about that but it's it's wrong and Yet Jesus didn't put a period there when he said it's impossible.

He said yet with God all things are possible. What does that teach us? Salvation is of God not man. And that's what we're talking about this morning. It's God who foreknew you. It's God who predestinated that you'd be saved from a fallen race.

All of which the rest is going to hell because it deserves it because it's totally turned its head away from God. There's none that seek of God not one. We've all gone our own way. The Bible says and so God had to wake us up so he sent his Holy Spirit and Awakened us.

The Bible says he quickened us while we were dead in our trespasses and sins. He quickened as he brought us to life. He brought us to life that salvation nowadays. It's all about what we do to get saved.

No, it's not that's not it. Those are effects not the cause. The cause of the salvation is the regeneration which happens at the calling and the Holy Spirit does the regenerating. He applies the blood all these things gives you the faith of Jesus and so forth gives you a change of mind.

The change of heart all of that everything that we do is a is an effect of that. We do it because he saved us. Even the coming down the aisle to get saved you were already saved for you left the pew because the Holy Spirit woke you up.

You know, it's really interesting. I was thinking about this bill while you were teaching and I know I should have been teaching thinking only about what you were teaching. But this played in with it really?

Well, I remember years ago. I was looking I think it's Romans 3 10 13 Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, that's such a common verse. One of the first verses I learned as a new Christian.

I hadn't actually done a word study on it in years and years and years bill probably 25 30 years because it just seems simple. But it was in one of my sermons. Year or so ago, maybe a couple of years ago time flies when you're having fun.

But uh, so I said well, you know what I'm gonna do word study on this thing and I looked it up and in the Greek It actually says Whosoever desires to call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So the Holy Spirit puts the desire there and that person shall be saved.

So it's not the formula that we're taught in churches and so forth that saves us work. It's the Holy Spirit calling us and regenerating us. All the rest is effects all of our denominations bicker over the effects.

Which is so silly because none of them are the cause of the cause. An effect can never be the cause of a cause so we know that justified means you are rendered righteous by God. All right last couple of times we we talked about there's about seven things.

You need to know in order to understand Justification the first one up there is the depravity of man, which we talked about that a second ago. None seeketh God. There's not one that looks for God. Man is depraved.

He's not looking for God. All right, number two, though is we need to understand the meaning of grace. We've been studying that for several weeks. So So the meaning of grace in Galatians chapter 1 verses 6 through 9.

We saw one meaning at one thing about grace is when you move away from grace. Like the Galatians did where they wanted to add works to their salvation. They thought they could add works to faith to stay saved and Paul rebuked him and called him foolish.

And he said who bewitched you so you have to be wit be bewitched to believe that false doctrine of works. Bewitched is a frightening word if you think about it, and he said to them. When he said let's just put the verse up here.

Look at Galatians 1 6. I marvel that you after he called him foolish. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him. That called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. So when you move into adding works to either get saved adding works to faith like faith.

Yeah, I believe in Jesus, but That can be fatal spiritually when you put that there. I Believe in Jesus, but you also gotta that can be fatal spiritually. Because Paul said if you say you need to be circumcised to be saved then Christ Benefits you nothing.

Wow, think about what that's saying. So we have a lot of friends that we need to teach these things to the Lord if he would open the door, don't we? So Notice that it doesn't say you move away from good doctrine.

You move away from good doctrine when you add works to faith for salvation or to stay saved. It's not that you move away from good doctrine it says you move away from him. Who is that? That's God. That's frightening, too.

Second thing we learned there is no other gospel than the real gospel. The real gospel is that Jesus died For the sins of his people not the sins of everyone but the sins of not every individual but for the sins of all kinds of individuals Jews and Gentiles not just Jews and He died for the sins of his people he was buried and he rose again for the sins of his people proving that he was who he said he was and The Bible goes on and says that God placed us in him the day he died and the day he was buried.

So our old man has already been crucified that happened two thousand and more years ago. So you here again salvation is of God that's work that God did not work you and I did. We're saved by works, but only God's works not our works all the work the Father Son the Holy Spirit did.

From before time began when he foreknew us and predestinate us all that work saves us. We don't do anything to add one whit to it and the modern gospel adds a lot to it. Even in all denominations pretty much at this point or adding things to it.

That's very very dangerous. But of course Jesus said in the end times will have many false prophets. Did he not fulfill prophecy? That's kind of exciting the only way that we can Stay right is to stay in this book right here or your phone or whatever you have the Bible on right?

You got to stay in this. You you need the water of the word and you need the Holy Spirit to know what's true and what's not. The Bible says there'll Be a generation when they call good evil and evil good.

Do you think we're there now? Just watch the debates. You just watch the debates. Okay, it's pretty clearly I won't say what I was about to say, but I will say you can see people calling good evil and evil good all day Long so we're there.

There's a generation that says itself is right. We're there a generation that thinks itself is right. Boy the young young people in our country today. They think they've got it down you can kind of smile at that if you're my age 66 years old or older you just kind of smile at them when they Think they've got it down because we thought that too at one point, didn't we?

But I'm telling you I've never seen the time so set up for People who have the right mindset to accept the Antichrist as if he's the Messiah. It'll be it would be so easy. At this day in which we live but there is no other gospel than the true gospel it's all about the blood of Jesus is what paid the price for your sins and Without that you can't add anything to that for salvation and the Holy Spirit.

One of the things he does when he comes in the calling when he regenerates us is he applies Jesus's blood this individual person to me to you individually not as a group and. Then he comes to and dwell in our body.

Our body becomes the temple of the Living God that has to change a person. That's why we see fruits in genuine Christians. We see changes over time. Number three the destiny of those who preach these false doctrines of adding works to grace or even works to staying saved.

Or you might call it sanctification. What's their destiny. Book of Jude says their destiny is often the blackness of darkness forever. That's hell. Now the reason I said often because there's two kind of false prophets.

There's one who Satan put here. To come into our churches secretly and steal our freedom away. They're predestined for hell. The book of Jude says I don't know all of you had people that Bible never says God Predestinates anyone to go to hell does it?

Well read the book of Jude. But then there's another kind of false Prophet who's just young and doesn't hadn't been through the Bible enough times and he makes a mistake and teaches something wrong but later the Holy Spirit teaches him and he corrects himself and apologizes and Tries to correct it the best he can and he moves on and that's all of us.

So not every false prophet ends up going to hell. But there are some predetermined to hell and Satan slips them in. Privily or secretly into churches to take our freedom of the true grace of God away from us.

Keep that in mind. So we talked about that then in Galatians 2 verses 4 through 5 and 16 20 and 21. How do we deal with these false prophets? So we talked about that and then what causes people to believe these false doctrines.

Galatians 3 1 and following says you got to be bewitched. That's frightening. We talked about what that means. All right, and then in 2nd Timothy 2 24 and following is a beautiful passage of scripture.

It tells you how to how to to speak with people that are believing false doctrines like that. How do you deal. You'd have to do it in meekness and you instruct them? You don't try to debate them you instruct them you tell them the truth.

Even if they don't believe the truth you tell them the truth even while they're not believing it and go read that passage. It'll blow your mind if you weren't here the day we covered it. 2nd Timothy 2 24 and following amazing information.

It also speaks of the sovereignty of God and how that comes into play and even people understanding genuine true doctrine. Alright, so then we talked about we started this just barely started this last time the total illogic of salvation by works.

And number one it is impossible for the natural man to be saved by doing good works. Galatians 3 11 but that no man, that's zero. How many is zero? No man is Rendered righteous Justified by doing good stuff or keeping the law in the sight of God not one man.

So it's illogical to add works to salvation because God says nobody that does that can be saved. All right, the just live by faith. Not by works. You say does that mean they can live any way they want God forbid.

How can we who are dead to sin live any longer in it? But those are effects the good life is an effect not the cause of the salvation. So now we talk to start right here today. In Galatians 3 13. Let's talk about another reason why adding works to salvation is incorrect.

And why are we even discussing this because what we're talking about is you cannot possibly understand Justification and that's the best word for like when I grew up Baptist where you say I got saved what we meant was we got Justified that was the moment when the Holy Spirit rendered us righteous.

He applied Jesus's blood to us and rendered us righteous. We say I got saved right? I do like the phrase God saved. It didn't say I saved myself. I didn't grow up in a church that said I saved myself said I got saved.

That means he God did it to me. That was correct. That was good doctrine back in those days, but The thing is People come along and try to get you to add works in there say yeah, but you gotta you got to do this.

You got to do that. You got to worship on Saturday. Which is nonsense because Sabbath means arrest. We have Sabbath every day born-again Christians have Sabbath every day. So don't tell me which day I have to Worship the Lord every day we choose the Lord's Day was his Resurrection Sunday, which the early Christian Church chose is clear from the book of Acts and church history and everything.

It's very clear. Only Judaizers would want to cause you to go back and do the Sabbath on Saturday it is true. The Sabbath is Saturday the Jewish Sabbath, but our day of worship is the Lord's Day, right so Christ one of the reasons it is so Illogical to add works to salvation number two reason is because it's totally contrary to the Abrahamic Covenant now we mentioned this right at the end of last Sunday and In Galatians chapter 3, it's interesting that the greatest information about the Abrahamic Covenant in the New Testament happens to be in this book.

That's rebuking and calling foolish the people that add works to their salvation for salvation or to stay saved. Now don't get me wrong. We believe in adding works to our salvation, but it's an effect of the salvation.

It's not the cause of it plays no role in the cause of it. That's a big difference. That's a big distinction. So we believe that Ephesians 2 8 9 is true, but so is verse 10. It says that God pre-ordained that those who are saved will walk in good works.

That's part of God's plan and the reason you do is the same reason you got saved the same Holy Spirit that called you Will help you to start walking right start cutting sin out of your life putting conviction on us for the sins.

We have to to help us get rid of those and make us more like Jesus. We don't ever arrive perfect until he comes back for us. Do we but but it's a it's a lifetime of effort. To live and be good men and women and follow Jesus Christ.

And yet the scripture says so clearly that he's put this treasure. Which is the born the new man new woman in earthen vessels. God understands. We're natural. We still have an old man and we mess up don't we so if salvation had any role in us performing we would lose it.

It's totally illogical to teach that or believe it. I don't like to debate but if you ever wanted to get me in a debate. Just let me put me on the stage with somebody that believes that I won't even need a bible.

I don't think just need the holy ghost to help me, but It's just so illogical. There are a thousand points of scripture that teach it that it's illogical to add works. For salvation or for staying saved.

It's ridiculous Galatians 3 13. I'm kind of dogmatic on that. Can you tell? Like that's that's not something I fudge on. Uh dogma i'm not changing on that one and that is a point of fellowship really.

And by that I don't mean we can't be friendly and nice with our friends that go to denominations that don't understand this. We'd be very friendly and nice to them, but we'd probably be very uncomfortable worshiping with them.

Wouldn't we? That kind of fellowship like the lunch we're going to have after this. You're fellowshipping around christ. You just be arguing all day. How can two who are not of the same mind walk together the scripture says so that won't work.

So I do believe we should remain friends with them and try to have open doors to discuss some of these very scriptures with them. But even when you do only god can open their mind because they're blinded by satan.

And that's the second timothy passage teaches that. So chris talk about this abrahamic covenant christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse in our place. And on behalf of us it means both four means both those things.

For as it is written cursed is everyone that hangs on the tree so the first point we see is that the word redemption Means to be set free by paying a price. All right now look at verse 14. That the blessing of abraham might come on the gentiles.

And that's what paul means when he said christ died for all men. He doesn't mean every individual. He means all kinds of men. He was you always ask who's he speaking who's being spoken to in a passage of scripture.

That's one of the ten rules of bible interpretation who's being spoken to. Speaking to jews who thought god would not save a gentile and paul says no you're wrong brother. Jesus died for all kinds of men and in the greek the word pos Translated all more often means all kinds of than it means all individuals.

It means both but you can only tell by the context. But i'll tell you what you can take the the context of this whole book right here from the first page to the last page. And the context of this book Teaches that all those passages can possibly mean is that jesus died for all kinds of men.

Had he died for every man woman boy or girl, then they would all be in heaven because Salvation is by the blood of jesus and whoever he spilled that blood for is saved. How do I know because the bible says we were ransomed?

And whoever the price is paid for that's who gets away from the captor, isn't it? So I just do the math on that. I mean, that's just logic and we've gotten so far away from it 150 years ago and on back for at least three or four hundred years of more modern christian history.

Well over 90 percent of Certainly baptist believers believe that jesus died only for the elect not for the whole world not for every individual. And that's the only thing that fits all of scripture. And well if you stick with us long enough, I know that's difficult for some of you not here Locally, but some of you guys that's difficult and that's okay because my job is not to convince you.

My job is to get you to study. Just check it out and see if i'm right. Okay, because if i'm wrong you need to email me so I'll get rid of it. Because i'm not in it for the argument i'm in it for the truth.

If i'm wrong, let me know show me where. And I don't say that tongue-in-cheek. I mean it people that live here. Know that we mean that we will correct ourselves as a group if we're teaching something wrong we will stop teaching it.

But I don't think you can find anything when we jump when we finally do get past verse 30. We've already covered the rest of romans 8 so we're done with it. And we're going to be in romans 9. How are you going to make that fit anything?

If you don't understand all these other things so we'll we'll get there. Redemption it's interesting when you see the word redeemed it means to be set free by a price that's paid for you. And it's also translated sometimes as ransom.

And we've talked about ransom. It's only whoever the ransom is paid for that's who gets loose not everybody. So jesus ransomed his own he knew who they were before the foundation of the world. Is that difficult?

It said the scripture were on earlier Romans 8 29 and 30 for whom he foreknew that means he loved you had a relationship with you before he made anything. Those are the same ones who get called and justified.

Those are the same ones for whom he gave his blood. All right, so. Now we see here that the blessing of abraham. Why is it that christ redeemed us? From the curse of the law. Why did he set us free by giving his blood to us?

And the holy spirit sprinkling it on us individually at the moment of our salvation of our justification. I should say at that moment why Did all of this come to pass. Verse 14 tells us why so that the blessing of abraham might come on the gentiles as well as the jews.

You see jesus died For every man meaning this for every kind of man jew gentile black white. Every kind of man, so there will be some from every race of man saved by jesus christ and this passage shows That it brings the abrahamic covenant and shows that it was never meant just for the jew.

It was meant for the jew and the gentile. In fact, ask yourself the question was abraham a jew or a gentile. Two seconds before he was circumcised. He was a gentile. So the father of the jewish religion is a gentile and yet they thought in the time of paul.

They thought well god won't save a gentile. They just weren't thinking were they. We christians are that way. We don't think enough. Do we? We don't think about the things we already know enough. This jesus died to redeem us from the curse of the law so that the blessing.

And the covenant the promise of abraham could come on the gentiles through jesus christ that we might receive the promise of the spirit. Through faith not through works. Not through faith plus works through faith number two all saved by the abrahamic covenant.

Need to understand that it is an unconditional covenant. There's nothing in that covenant for man to do. God does all the work. So that makes it illogical for us men. To add works to the blood of christ for salvation not as the cause.

Works are the result. Works are the effect. The blood is the cause. The holy spirit is the cause. The father is the cause. The work that they all Did on our behalf from before time began is the cause.

Man wants to get a little bit of credit, but he doesn't get any. God gets all the glory for this. A man getting part of the glory for his own salvation would be as impossible as a camel going through the eye of a needle.

Jesus and brother bill taught this morning verse 17 says in this I say That the covenant that was confirmed before of god in christ. It was confirmed before the law. The abrahamic covenant happened 430 years before moses came along and it cannot disannul anything moses taught.

Moses cannot add works To an unconditional salvation covenant canny. So the works apparently were for something else the law Was for something else it had another purpose not to save people. In fact, it kills people.

Because unless you keep the law in every point you die you deserve death eternal death. So that's not the purpose of moses and the law it was to show us a great need for a savior. It was to show us the need for that blood of jesus christ.

Jesus taught during the times of the law didn't and he kept pointing out. Well, listen if you if you even look at a woman and lust for her. You need to pluck your eye out because it'd be better to go to heaven with one eye than to go to hell with two.

Eyes, he said that's how hard it is to get saved by the law. If you want to start adding that or helping that to get to heaven. You can't possibly do it. In fact, jesus the only man who did it. The only man you can't do it.

I can't do it. They couldn't do it when he spoke to him and he was pointing out by showing them the law and it's true since. It goes beyond the letter. It goes to the spirit. And god sees your heart and desires.

You're going to save yourself by covering that up like a pharisee. That's a white encephalic on the outside and full of dead men's bones on the inside. Or are you going to believe jesus when he says that won't get it you see?

So The covenant of abraham was long hundreds and hundreds of years 430 years before moses came along and so moses cannot change it. He cannot eliminate the promise and he didn't try to he understood how it fit together and he he understood.

He you know, he understood jesus. And a lot about jesus christ, too. It existed 430 years before the law of moses for 18 for if the inheritance comes by the law of moses. It is no more promise. So you can't both call it a covenant of promise an unconditional covenant and say you got to add the law to it won't vote.

It's totally illogical argument. But god gave it to abraham by promise by faith in that promise not by works. And moses law can't change it. The third point we see is salvation by works is a contradiction in terms.

You can't say it's by promise and faith, but it's also by works and moses you can't doesn't fit. Oil and water. All right, so it's all right here. So what is the correct purpose of the law we see that's the next point.

It's to lead us to christ and see a need for grace because all the law does is expose how Impossible it is for us to fit through the eye of that needle. We're not even camels, but we can't fit through it with or without the camel.

So look at verse 22. But the scripture has concluded all under sin. All pos it means all kinds of men both jew and gentile. Now in this context, I think it can also mean every individual. You can only tell by the context but All we certainly know it means all kind both jew and gentile all all jews and all gentiles.

Are all concluded to be under sin. Why so that the promise by the faith and notice it doesn't say in jesus in a good bible. Because a good english bible that follows the greek it will say of so check your bible right now.

What are you reading the american standard niv? They're going to say in right there. King james is the only book i've found in english that says of and it's what the greek says. So you have errors? In the modern versions you need to know that I know it's not popular.

And I listen. I want to make this clear. I would rather you read an niv than not read the bible. So i'm not one of those that says just throw it out throw away your bible, especially if it's all marked up.

But I am saying consult the king james from time to time and the greek if you have a good concordance. And you'll see some amazing things that are missing that you need to know and this is one of them.

Because what it says is the scripture. Is concluded that all of us are under sin, which means we're not going to be able to save ourselves by being good. All right. So that the promise of the promise.

That works by the faith the faith of jesus not faith in jesus. See that's different. Faith in jesus something I can do. It's a work. Because when I work my brain, that's a work. I got to eat food for my brain to work, don't I?

I've got to eat food. And my brain has to work for me to think anything certainly to work up belief in something, right? You can't be saved by that kind of belief. You're saved by the faith of christ.

Galatians has it more than one place in other places in scripture. The holy spirit gives you jesus's faith that can walk on water. Your faith is here today and gone the first time god doesn't answer your prayer.

Yes, then you doubt him that faith won't save you. Admit it with me. You've done it. I've done it. He doesn't answer your prayer like you wanted. You doubt him at least for a little while. And then the holy spirit comes back says no don't doubt him, right?

Isn't that how it works? And you say, okay I'm, sorry lord I don't understand you, but I don't doubt you. How about that? That's better. So the holy spirit comes but you see it's not our faith that saves us.

It's the faith of jesus that saves us. Very few americans know that today. You go back 150 years. Everyone in sound churches knew this. We don't know it today. We think it's our own faith. Why. Because we introduce humanism to our salvation something i've got to do something at least let me believe.

You know, I grew up in a denomination the baptists. I pick on them from time to time because I was one. And they used to pick on the church of christ because the church christ had five things you had to do to be saved.

That's evil. Saved by faith they would say and yet they would have two things. You got to believe and repent. You gotta right you gotta believe and repent. They had two things. So go to church with us.

We only have two requirements. It's easier than going with them, right? It's so silly. Those are all effects. None of that saves you. What saves you is the faith of christ. Check it study. Just you don't have to believe me.

I don't want you to believe me. I want you to study on your own. But it is the the promise becomes operative. When the holy spirit calls you opens your blind eyes your deaf ears and your turns you your mind on.

Changes your want to changes your thinking. That's repentance by the way. So he gave you the repentance too. You didn't do it. He gave it to you. That's from god. And then he helps you understand because he all of a sudden he gives you faith as the gift.

Ephesians 2 8 9 and 10 very clear. He gives you faith as a gift. It's not something you did. It's something you received. Now that by that faith you can receive the promise because the promise is by faith only.

The faith of jesus christ might be given. Does that sound like you work to get it. Listen can you like if I dave wants to give me a new set of golf clubs, that'd be awesome. I said well dave, let me pay you 350 bucks and he says Dad, did you know those have gone up?

Since the last set you bought. Would you believe? 1500 bucks. Oh. So at this point I want grace just give me the golf clubs. Right. So but if I pay him, is it a gift or did I just defy the definition of gift?

You listen people play with the bible all the time like that. They defy definitions of words of the greek words that the holy spirit picked you can't. That's not that's breaking the 10 rules of bible interpretation.

You listen it says it's given to you. What'd you do to get it? Nothing that the faith of christ Will will give you the the help you receive the promise. As a gift it's given to them that who believe. Well who believes?