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- My name is Pastor Ben or Benjamin Talley I'm the associate pastor at Witten Memorial Baptist Church and This is another timeout so Today we will be in Ephesians chapter 2 chapter 2 verse 8
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- Verse 8 and 9 and it says this it says for by grace you have been saved
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- Through faith and this is not of your own doing it is the gift of God Not of works and are not a result of works so that no one may boast
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- First we see that this is by grace Um We know that for those who have been forgiven much love much a lot of people brush through these verses and just think yeah, you know, it's a
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- Son of works And they just just brush through these passages, but we have to realize that it is a grace
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- This is something we do not deserve but are given freely
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- And it says, you know for by grace you have been saved through faith through faith
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- So we're saved not of our doing and it is through faith a lot of a lot of people want to argue you know is
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- Being saved the gift Is it not of your doing is faith not of your doing which is the gift?
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- You know, what which one is the the work not of your doing which one is the gift? Is it is it's being saved the gift or is faith the gift, you know, which one are they talking about?
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- well, I can kind of relate with both, you know being saved is a gift and so is faith but because you know being saved is definitely the gift and faith can't it can as well be the gift too because Faith is given to all of us.
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- We wouldn't be able to exercise any amount of faith if it weren't For God's grace and God creating us with the ability to practice or exercise our faith
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- Yes, and he says a grace amen So so so I would see it as both but but you got the
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- Reformers on one side who say that faith is the Gift and others who say being saved is the gift, you know, um,
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- I just don't tend to argue with them You know, both could be right, you know Both being saved is a gift and faith as well can be the gift
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- But either way it is not of our own doing and if you look at this is what's so beautiful about Greek If you look at the word saved
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- In the Greek that is a perfect passive participle That's three P three piece.
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- Okay. It is a perfect passive participle This is my favorite verse on eternal security because Because that is a perfect passive participle
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- Such a tongue twister It means that that denotes or that that shows that our salvation is covered that that perfect passive participle
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- Shows that we are is it basically means we are or have been saved
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- We are being saved and we will be saved Okay So that's what that means that word saved means we have been saved
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- We will be saved or we are being saved and we will be saved
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- So it covers all three Both we were justified. We are being sanctified and we will be glorified
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- So it covers all three. That's basically what that means okay, so this is a perfect verse for eternal security or You know as some
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- Baptist like to say once saved always saved, you know It is the gift of God and it is not not of our own doing we we didn't do that We didn't get saved on our own accord.
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- We didn't wake up one day and say, okay, I'm gonna get saved today No, it didn't happen like that God Tenderized our heart.
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- He drew us near to him. He softened our heart and made us Tender and open to his calling
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- And he drew us he he drew us near he he reached out his hand grabbed us and pulled us in So praise
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- God for that and verse 9 says it's not a result of works We did not earn it.
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- We did not do anything to receive it. It was God's work God simply said in eternity past look
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- Boom I got you. You're mine He says in Isaiah I have called you by name you are mine
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- I have redeemed you so That same scripture can be applied to us as the church because he has redeemed us
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- He has called us by our name We are his so We are saved we are redeemed we are the called out ones if you have repented of your sin and place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you belong to him and He is your eternal father.
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- And so This is again, this is not a result of works we didn't we didn't call a pastor to to pray over us and Get a hanky and get our names written in his book and then he he
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- He you know Sold us indulgences and You know
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- We did all the good works and we did this and we did that we you know, we didn't do anything to earn it
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- We just simply repented of our sins and placed our faith and trust in Jesus Christ We repented and replaced our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
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- We just responded to his offer He said come all who are weary and heavy laden.
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- I have died for you. I have Offered the sacrifice for your sins.
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- I am calling you to myself. And what did we do? We just responded That is not a work.
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- There's a response to his gracious offer We cannot take credit for it because he draws he drew us in He did the wooing or whatever.
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- You want to call it Armenians like to call it wooing Reformers call it drawing in Whatever it is, you know, he he drew us in he drew us in he did the work
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- I know I wouldn't have got saved on my own I was still caught up in addiction and drug abuse and things like that God did a work in me in that final week and One day
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- I just got sick and tired of sick and tired of being sick and tired and God said, you know what you're done.
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- You're done. You're coming to me and And I got on the Jesus plan
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- Dropped the drugs and I said God I'm coming to you I never would have done that in it of myself
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- There was something God was doing in me and I came and that was not a result of works and it says so that no one may boast
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- So that no one may boast We cannot boast and what God has done for us in regards to salvation
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- Let the redeemed of the Lord say so we boast in the Lord we boast in what the Lord has done for us not in anything we have done not in anything we've done this out of heaven or You know
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- You know, we just simply we can't boast we can't boast in anything we've done as far as salvation is concerned because those desires those motivations those
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- Intentions that we have towards Christ Have been given of God the desire to grow the desire to come to him the desire to place our faith and trust in him
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- That was all the work of God We can't boast in it
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- To boast in it would be ridiculous Because we and in our in and of ourselves are sinful human beings
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- Jeremiah 17 9 says the heart is deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. We have all gone astray like sheep
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- We have gone astray and each one has turned to his own way But God what did he do like a shepherd?
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- He he pulled us back. He pulled us into himself and so He drew us near when we were going wayward he drew us near we can't we can't take any credit for coming to him
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- So Guys, it is a good day God is good to us.
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- He has called us to himself for a purpose for a reason we have a reason to praise him we have a purpose to serve him and Guys it's time to get busy.
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- It's time to get busy. It's time to get busy serving the Lord Witnessing it.
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- It is beyond time to get busy The days are evil guys.
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- The days are evil and people are dying without Jesus People are dying to hear the name of Christ hearing the gospel that Jesus died for their sins
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- Was rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven You know, he is he is a reigning king on the throne
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- Waiting to put his enemies At his at his feet under his footstool and he is he is gonna come in glory to redeem his saint or to bring his saints to home and guys it's time for the church to rise up and get to work because he's coming soon and We need to be about his work and about his kingdom work kingdom -minded
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- So Guys, let's get busy. Let me pray for you God, I pray that we be kingdom -minded.
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- I pray that we be fixed on pursuing righteousness and Being Kingdom focus
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- Lord I pray that you help us meditate on your own your word on the fact that we cannot boast in our own salvation
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- That we cannot boast on anything that you have done because it's all your work Lord.
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- It's all your plan all in your plan to Bring us to Full of full fully glorified bodies and Set before you blameless and spotless before your throne in Standing in all your glory
