SNBS #009 - THE RELATIONSHIP OF FAITH AND OBEDIENCE - PART 1 with Josiah Shipley

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Can we have fatih without works? Let's explore this with Brother Josiah Shipley in this week's Sunday Night Bible Study.

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SNBS #010 - Relationship of Faith and Obedience PART 2

SNBS #010 - Relationship of Faith and Obedience PART 2

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Good evening, everybody, and welcome to Sunday Night Bible Study at Witten Baptist Church with Brother Josiah Shipley, that's me.
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We have just concluded a, I don't know, four -part series on Isaiah chapter 53, and y 'all have to forgive me, you know,
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I do this in person in class Sunday nights also, and sometimes we're a week ahead or a week behind online, so sometimes
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I forget where we left off, but I know online we have completed Isaiah 53, in person we have one more week, and now what we're going to do is we're going to start a two -part series, we're not going to start a new book just yet, we'll get there, we're going to start a two -part series on the relationship of faith and obedience, relationship of faith and obedience.
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Now, a lot of Christians get this confused, so we're here to set the record straight, at least the best that we can, because we know the
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Bible teaches that we're saved by grace through faith. We're not saved by our works or our good deeds, we know that, and we're going to show that in the
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Bible, not because I tell you that, but because the Bible says that. However, we also got to fight, and we know that there are some that teach that you're saved by the good that you do, we know that's not right, but we also have to fight the other side of the coin, where there are those, and even in a good attempt to teach eternal security, you'll hear people say once saved always saved, you might hear them say something like, well, you know, and this is not true, but you might hear people say something like, well you know, you prayed the prayer once when you were seven, so you can live the rest of your life however you want with no repentance, no obedience, but you prayed the prayer one time, so you're good to go.
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So I am not interested in promoting any type of tradition, I'm only interested in promoting what the Bible teaches, so that's what we're going to set up to do.
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So we got part one on the board here, and I had Ms. Scharr here at the church write it out for us, it looks all nice, and then part two next week will be on, in light of what we learned about the relationship of obedience and faith, is what
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I like to call it, the relationship of obedience and faith, how can we have assurance of our eternal security, okay?
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So that will be next week, assurance of salvation, eternal security, once saved always saved, that's what we're going to do next week.
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For this week, the relationship of faith and obedience, okay?
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So two weeks on that. We got a lot of scripture to go through tonight guys, so go ahead, get your
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Bibles out, get your pens, get your paper, let's write some stuff down, you know, if you're driving that's one thing, all you can do is listen to it, but look, if you have a chance, go back and listen to this, get a pen, get a paper, get your
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Bible, write down the scripture references, read along with me because it's not important what I say, it's important what the
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Bible says. I'm here to teach you what the Bible is saying, okay? But the same Holy Spirit that's in me is the same
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Holy Spirit that's in you, and the Holy Spirit is the one that reveals things to you in the
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Word of God, okay? Not me. I'm just pointing you to what he's saying. I don't teach you new things,
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I teach you what the Bible says. Okay, so without further ado, here we go.
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We are saved by grace through faith, not works. Now this may sound familiar to some of you, others not, but Ephesians 2 .8
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.9 says it very clear. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no man can boast.
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So for by grace, grace, getting something good you don't deserve, right?
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You have been saved through faith, faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that, that right there, that whole thing, grace, faith, that whole salvation process is not of yourselves.
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It is the gift of God, not of works, so that no human being on this planet can boast and ever say that they saved themselves.
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No human being can boast. The reason why that grace through faith, that whole thing, that grace through faith is not of yourselves is so that you can't boast.
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Hey guys, be very careful to not become prideful in your faith, because what does
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Hebrews 12 tell us? Who's the author or the source of your faith? The author and finisher, the source and the end of your faith is
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God. He's the author. He's the source of it. He's the originator of your faith, not you.
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So be very careful calling it your faith and being proud of it. For by grace you have been saved through faith.
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Guys, we have no reason on this planet to boast in anything but Jesus Christ. Second Timothy chapter 1, 8 through 10,
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I'm, I'm, look, I'm, I just wrote a few scriptures I could fill out this whole marker board of just making sure everyone understands that we are saved by grace through faith, not works.
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By grace, we mean getting something good you don't deserve. If you see the Bible, the word grace or says
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God gave, right? That's grace by faith. What we mean, you know,
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Hebrews 11, one, it is the substance, the tangible thing of things hoped for the evidence of things not yet seen.
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Okay. And when we say works, the
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Bible speaks of works are often the word obedience. That's why I titled it obedience. Okay. Obedience will always follow true faith.
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We'll get to that in a minute. Second Timothy 1, 8 through 10, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our
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Lord nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
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Listen to this guys. Verse nine, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the world began or before the ages began.
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Verse 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our savior,
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Jesus Christ to abolish death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
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God saved us and called us to a holy calling. Remember, holy doesn't mean perfect. It means set apart for a purpose.
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Who saved us and called us to a holy calling guys, not because of our works. It says not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.
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When were you saved? In your brain, you might say when I was seven or in 1995 or whatever.
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In reality, that's when you were converted. That's when you came to realize what God had already done in your life.
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Guys, you were saved before the foundation of the world. Ephesians chapter one, before the ages began, he gave you his own purpose and grace.
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Excuse me, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but according to his own purpose and grace that he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.
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You know when you were saved? Before the foundation of the world. Remember, God is not a reactionary
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God, who when Adam and Eve sinned was like, oh man, I didn't see that coming. The lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world, according to the book of Revelation.
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He did all that for his own purpose and grace. We spoke of this last week.
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I'll mention it briefly again. Guys, the point of the gospel is not to show you that you were worth dying for, or that I was worth dying for.
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See, that would be works. The point of the gospel is to show us that we weren't worth dying for, and he died for us anyway.
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Remember, according to Romans 3 11, no one's even seeking God on their own. You can't seek
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God without God. You can't serve God without God, even as a believer. Even as a believer,
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Philippians 3 says it is God, excuse me, Philippians 2 says it is
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God who is working in us, enabling us to desire and work out his good purpose.
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All right, let's keep rolling through the scriptures, guys. Remember, we're saved by grace through faith, not works. This next one is one of my favorites.
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Turn with me, please, to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, and maybe this will be new to your ears.
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2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 6, 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6.
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For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, again.
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For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, now stop, don't keep reading if you don't understand that reference.
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When did God say that? The Bible right here, don't just read just to read, read what it says.
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For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, okay?
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The Apostle Paul wrote that. When did God say that? Genesis chapter 1, right?
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Let there be light, and there was light. And you can go back to one of our previous question and answer sessions on Saturday nights,
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I believe it was on how to read the Bible, and realize how that happened, even though the sun wasn't created until three days later.
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That's another topic. All right, so in Genesis 1, God said, let there be light, you remember?
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There was light. Now, God created that, right?
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Ex nihilo in Greek, out of nothing, he created that. Remember, we can make things, but we can't create, only
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God is the creator. Now, that God, who in the beginning said, let there be light, and it was so, that God said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown,
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S -H -O -N -E, has shown, that light has shown in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
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I can't read this without smiling, guys. I really can't. I mean, let me break the barriers down, I'm just a dude, just like you,
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I'm nothing special. I can't read this verse without smiling. The same way that he said, let there be light, that's the same way he's shown in our hearts.
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Let there be Josiah. Guys, if you're a believer,
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God didn't mend your broken heart. He replaced your broken heart.
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Jeremiah 31 -33 speaks of, prophesies about the new covenant, it says, I will give them a new heart and a new spirit.
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This is a heart transplant. The heart is desperately wicked and incurable, Jeremiah 17 -9.
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God did way more than just mend your broken heart. He gave you a new heart and a new spirit, so you could desire things and you could seek after them.
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So that, in the same way when he created the world, that's how he created the new you.
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We are crucified with Christ, nevertheless we live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.
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And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me,
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Galatians 2 -20. Just like in Genesis 1, when he said, let there be, that's how you got saved.
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Let me make this crystal clear. The same way in Genesis 1, when he said, let there be, that creative power is how you got saved.
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Read it. For the God who said, let light shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give us light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
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You didn't even have, or me, have knowledge of how glorious God was until he shone in your heart.
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Remember, Romans 3 -11 says there's no one seeking God. So how did you ever, how did
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I ever seek after God? He shone in our hearts. Just like in Genesis 1, when he said, let there be, at one point in my life,
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God looked at me and said, let there be, and gave me a new heart and a new spirit.
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See, he saved me before the foundation of the world, but that Holy Spirit didn't dwell in me until at my conversion, when
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I was regenerated, when I was made alive, Ephesians 2 says. Meditate on 2
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Corinthians 4 -6. Don't just read it. Remember, the Bible doesn't command you to read the Bible very much. Most times it says meditate, dwell on, recite, memorize.
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The God who said, let there be, the same way he did in Genesis 1, that's how you got saved, that creative power.
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So that, in the next chapter, in 2 Corinthians 5 -17, Paul can say, if any man is in Christ, he's a new creation, a new creature.
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Old things have passed away, behold, all have become new. Physically, I may be the same guy, and you may be the same guy you were before you were saved.
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But spiritually, you're a new creation. A new creation. A new spiritual being was created, if any man is in Christ, he's a new creature, a new creation.
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Old things have passed away, behold, all have become new. A couple more. John 14 -15, right here,
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Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commands. That's what he says.
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If you love me, you'll keep my commands. Now we know that he's not teaching some type of sinless perfection, where you're going to live the rest of your life without sinning again, but guys, there should be a marked difference between the world and believers, between you before you were converted and you after you were converted.
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If any man is in Christ, he's a new creature. For you believers out there, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
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But don't you hate the feeling when you sin? Don't you hate it? It keeps you up at night sometimes until you repent, until you make it right.
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And the longer you go without repenting, when that Holy Spirit's knocking, the worse you feel. If you're a believer, you know the feeling
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I'm talking about. In Romans 7, Paul is grieved at his sin. You read the end of Romans 7, he's grieved.
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But he starts chapter 8 by saying, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
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If you have no idea what I'm talking about, guys, if you sin and feel no conviction at all, ever, we might want to check to make sure that you really are a new creature.
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If there is no difference between you before conversion and after conversion, then how are you really a new creature?
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And if you have your doubts about that, ask yourself this question. How much do you really love
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Jesus? If you love Him, you'll obey Him. Do you want to obey Jesus?
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Now answer this question honestly. No one else is around. You're watching this video, you're listening to it.
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Answer this honestly in your heart right now. Do you want to obey Jesus? I'm not asking do you do it perfectly.
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You don't. Because I don't. No one does. Do you have the desire to obey
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Jesus? Or do you feel no remorse when you disobey Him? Because if you feel no conviction, the
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Holy Spirit says He convicts the world of sin. If you feel no conviction, the Holy Spirit may not be indwelling you, i .e.
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you may not be saved. I beg you to search your heart and repent today. Whoever call upon the name of the
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Lord Jesus. Now what does Lord mean? Master, right? Not just the Savior Jesus, the
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Lord Jesus. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. If He is your
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Savior, but He's not your Lord, He's not your Savior. John 14, 15 says, If you love me, you'll keep my commandments.
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But listen carefully. Follow my logic here. But 1 John 4, 19 says,
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We love because He loved us first. We love
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Him because He first loved us. Now people often say to me, well yeah
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Josiah, because Jesus died 2 ,000 years ago. No, no, no, no. Because Abraham, Moses, Joseph, the people in the
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Old Testament, the only reason they love God is because He loved them first too. See the reason why
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I put that here with showing that we're saved by grace through faith, not works is because the only reason that you love
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God is because He loved you first. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.
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Saved us with the holy calling that we read earlier in 2 Timothy 1, 9, according to His own purpose and grace, which
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He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Guys, there is no amount of good you can do.
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We went over sin last week, and Brother David, in the past two question and answer sessions on Saturday nights, if you haven't checked those out, my goodness, talks about sin, missing the mark.
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Every one of us are in sin, but according to Romans 3, it's not just we're all in sin, we're all totally depraved, totally helpless, and on our own we're not even seeking
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God. Ephesians 2, 13, maybe the scariest sentence in the whole Bible, it says we all, apart from Jesus, walk in this world without hope and without God.
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Without hope and without God. But to those of us who are in Christ Jesus, we have a hope in Him.
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I'm rambling. Alright, now between these four passages and hundreds others,
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I hope what you see, I hope what you see here is that we are saved by grace, through faith, not of ourselves.
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Okay, now, having said that, we know that true faith will always be followed by obedience.
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True faith will always be followed by obedience. So let's look at what we've got here. John 3, 36.
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John 3, 36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
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But whoever does not obey, some of your translations will say, but whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
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Alright. Whoever believes has eternal life. But whoever does not obey the
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Son shall not see life. Procedural style, works based salvation, it says whoever doesn't obey will not see life. No, no, no.
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This is proving my point, or God's point. Whoever believes has eternal life.
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But whoever doesn't obey, does not. You know why? Because true faith and true belief is always followed by obedience.
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If it's not, it wasn't true faith. The wrath of God to those who don't obey remains on Him.
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Guys, you are already condemned. Every one of us, the wrath of God has already been pulled out. You're guilty. By belief in faith,
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Christ's righteousness is imputed on you. And your sin is imputed on Christ. You know,
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Matthew 7, 22 says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter my kingdom, but only those who do the will of my
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Father. Procedural style, works based salvation. No, guys. No. The point of that is saying that just because you say
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Lord, doesn't mean He's actually your Lord. If you have called upon the name of Lord and believe in faith, there will be a marked difference.
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Where you will obey and you will do. And when you don't, it will convict you of sin to repentance.
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So that, God can say, whoever believes has eternal life. Whoever doesn't obey, means they haven't really believed.
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Does that make sense? I'll show you another passage here in 1 John that I think will help.
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But my point is this. John 3, 36. Go back and read it again. Dwell on it. Whoever believes has eternal life.
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But whoever doesn't obey, never really believed. James, chapter 2.
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James, chapter 2. Oh, goodness. Alright, here's one that people misunderstand a lot here.
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James, chapter 2. I'm going to read a rather long passage here.
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So try to stay with me. James 2, 14 -26. James, chapter 2, 14 -26.
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I'm going to read it out of the ESV, okay? What good is it my brothers? Talking to believers now.
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What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works?
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You see guys, James is writing to the church. But James knows that just because he's writing to the church doesn't mean that everyone that's sitting in that building is really part of the church.
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Guys, just because you go to the church doesn't make you a believer. Pastor Jeff always says, sitting in a church doesn't make you a
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Christian any more than standing in the garage makes you a car. So though James is addressing the church, he knows that does not mean that every single individual in that congregation is a believer.
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And he's putting them to the test. See, the Bible says, why are you judging outsiders? You should judge the insiders.
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So check this out. James is putting them to the test. Let's find out, is their faith real? Because we don't have a
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Holy Spirit radar. We can say, oh yeah, that person's really saved, that person's not. But by their fruit, you can judge the tree, right?
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Look here. What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but doesn't have works? Can that faith save him?
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That pretend fake faith that doesn't show anything? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, yeah, go in peace, be warmed and be filled.
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But doesn't give him the things he needs for the body? What good is that? So also, faith by itself, if it doesn't have works, is dead, necros, dead.
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18. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you faith by my works.
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You believe that God is one, you do well. Even the demons believe in shudder. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
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Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see, faith was active together with his works, and faith was completed by his works.
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And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteous.
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He was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not faith alone.
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In the same way, was not Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them by another way?
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For the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
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Necros. Okay, guys. So, is this teaching that your works are what save you?
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No. What it's teaching, guys, is these folks here in verse 14 and 15 that say they have faith and don't show it, and never show it.
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Never have any obedience. Never have any good works. James is calling them out saying, that's not real faith.
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That is dead faith, and it doesn't save. That is not believing faith. That's what
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James is saying. That's not real. It's fake. It's not real. You see, guys, look.
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These lights, they're off right now. If I flip on that switch, the lights come on instantly, right?
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So what is there is electricity and light. Electricity and light.
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And though they happen simultaneously by my eyes, you know, when the electricity is activated, if you want to think of it that way, light appears.
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I know which one came first. I know electricity precedes the light that I see.
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Guys, true faith will be immediately followed by a changed life.
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Immediately. That doesn't mean that changed life, that obedience, those works, are what caused that faith.
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That's putting the cart before the horse. The faith is what preceded it, but it's immediately followed by the obedience.
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So just like the electricity is there, and immediately when it's activated, the light shows, that faith, once it's activated, once it's given, the light, the obedience, shows.
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I hope that makes sense. What James is saying here is, okay, so you have these folks that have other people in the church, a brother, not even an unbeliever, a brother, who is lacking in daily food.
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That which is necessary to live, guys. And you say to him, oh, and they're lacking in clothes?
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Oh, well, have a good day. God bless you. Hope you're warm and filled. What does that do for them?
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It's like the folks where you're like, hey guys, I need someone to come over and help me build a fence.
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And they'll say, oh, well, I'll pray for you. And then they don't even do that. What good is that? How is that being a brother in Christ?
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What good does that do? That type of faith, where it's all talk and no action, is not real faith.
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That doesn't mean the action is what saves you. The action is what shows that faith was real in the first place.
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You can't show faith without showing faith. You can't show faith without obedience.
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True faith is always followed by obedience. Sometimes we get this backwards in James chapter 2. It's not the works that save you.
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It's the works that show you have been saved. Let me say that again. It's not the works that save you, but it's the works, the obedience, is what
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I like to call it, that show that faith is real and you have been saved. Just because you say to someone,
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I'm sorry, just because someone tells you, I believe, if there is no fruit, no evidence of that, ever, that's a false faith, a fake faith.
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It's not real. They may be a member of your church.
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That doesn't make them a member of God's church. And it's not your job to go around and say, hey, I don't think you're a believer, especially in front of other people.
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But individually, when you're discipling, when you're working with someone who's a professing believer, it is okay to say, hey man, privately,
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I want to warn you. I don't think what you're showing,
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I don't think the works, the obedience that you're not showing are an indicator of your true faith.
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And you have to have the right relationship with people and all that stuff, and I get all that. What I'm simply saying is James is calling out those who do this, who say they believe, but they really don't.
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And we know they don't because they have no fruit, no obedience. They live exactly how they want to.
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They don't care about their brothers or sisters. They do whatever they want to do, but they said something. They prayed a prayer when they were six and lived however they wanted the rest of their lives.
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That is a false, fake faith, and it's dangerous. Verse 23,
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Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Guys, that verse is true. Abraham believed, and by his belief and his belief alone, righteousness was credited to him.
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But how did he show that belief? How did he show that belief?
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By obeying God. When God said, go this way. When God said, your offspring will be as numerous as the stars, and it will be through Isaac.
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Abraham believed God. He continued showing that in chapter 22 when God said, hey, I told you your offspring will be through Isaac.
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Now go sacrifice Isaac. And Abraham believed that God would keep his promise, and Abraham still obeyed.
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Abraham believed, and that belief was shown by his actions. First John 3 .18
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puts it a very similar way. It says, little children, we must not love simply in word or speech, but in truth and action.
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Little children, we must not love in word or speech, but in truth and action. Guys, this right here is not love.
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Love is an action. If I tell you I love you and never show it, do I really love you?
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Guys, if I say I love Jesus and never obey him or care about any of his commands, do
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I really love him? No. No, I do not. Just because someone says they love
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Jesus doesn't really mean they do. Our faith, our belief, is always followed by obedience.
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And it's not a perfect obedience, because then the rest of the New Testament would be awash, because it's all about what to do when you sin and how to obey.
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And we'll see more of that next week. Okay. Very good.
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I'm going to wrap it up here in just a minute. Sin remains but doesn't rule over you anymore.
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Guys, before you were a believer, you were a slave to sin.
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See, you're either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ. Your father is either the devil, according to John 8, or it's the
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Heavenly Father. There's no middle ground, guys. There's no kind of good people. There are no good people.
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The only—there are no good people. There are those who have had Christ's righteousness put on them, imputed to them, not by works but by faith.
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And when that faith is evident, the works will be shown. Go back to Ephesians 2 real quick.
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Back to Ephesians 2. We read 8 through 9 earlier.
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Let's read verse 10. I know what it says.
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It's okay. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
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For we are his creation, or his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared ahead of time that we should walk in them.
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Titus 2, 11 through 14, says the same thing. He redeemed us from all lawlessness and purified for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
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God didn't save you for you then to just say, oh yeah, I walked down the aisle when I was seven and then live the rest of your life however you want.
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He saved you for good works that he prepared ahead of time. But Josiah, I can't follow them perfectly.
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God knows. That's why he gave you the Holy Spirit, who is working in you, enabling you to desire and work out his good purpose.
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Okay, Josiah, look. I swear to you, I want to serve God. But I still love my sins sometimes.
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But I want to please God. How do I do it? Let me sum it up for you in one verse.
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John chapter 3, verse 30. John chapter 3, verse 30. John the Baptist is talking, not the
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Apostle John. He says this. He must increase and I must decrease.
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Guys, in every area of your life, big or small, I don't care. Let God increase, become more important, magnified even more, and let you decrease.
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You become less important. It's less about you, more about God every day. Every day.
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Well, how do I do that? By realizing you are but a small tooth in the big cog of God's church.
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Guys, we've used this analogy before, and I'll end with this. When you're part of the body of Christ, you are made a body part.
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So that the eye can't say to the ear, I don't need you, and the nose can't say to the mouth, I don't need you. Guys, when you're made of the body of Christ, God makes you a part of his body.
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I've shared this story with you before. When I was in high school, this was 10 years ago at this point, because I'm 27.
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I was a senior, so 17, yeah, 10 years ago. I partially tore my MCL in my right knee.
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Now, at that time, I squatted 465 pounds. I bench pressed 300 pounds.
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I was able to power clean 265 pounds. I was a pretty stout dude. I only weighed 180 pounds.
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When I partially tore my MCL, I wasn't allowed to practice for two weeks. I couldn't lift weights.
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I had to be on crutches. I couldn't play. I was weak. I was pathetic. I was useless.
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Now, in all my body, in all my strength, in all my muscles, in all my power, I had one small tendon partially torn, my
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MCL. One body part wasn't doing its job, and the whole body suffered because of it.
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Guys, if you're part of the body of Christ, it's no longer about you. It's about your brothers or sisters who are also in Christ.
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When you don't do your job, just like my MCL wasn't doing its job, the rest of the body suffers.
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Guys, it was funny. When my right MCL was torn on those crutches, my left ankle started hurting and my back.
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Why? Well, for those of you who ever hurt your leg, you know why. Because now the other body parts have to pick up the weight because you're shifting all your weight to that leg.
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It's having to carry 100 % of your weight because you're not putting any pressure on the useless, hurt leg, right?
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So the rest of the body suffers. Guys, when you're not right with Christ, it does not just affect you.
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It affects the whole body. It affects the whole body. And see, my ankle didn't know why it was hurting.
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It didn't know it was because my MCL wasn't doing its job. My back just knew that it hurt.
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It didn't know why. Guys, Christianity is not just about you.
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Your salvation is between you and God, yes. But your sanctification, the process of being conformed into the image of God, into the image of His Son in His body, being made the best body part you can.
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Guys, that's a corporate thing. We're all in Christ, all of us who are believers. And you, when you aren't right, affect the whole body.
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But when you are, and when you're doing what you're supposed to do, and when you're serving other people and loving them and decreasing so God can increase, putting others' interests and needs above yourself,
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Philippians 2, the rest of the body flourishes. Okay?
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Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. If by your sin you can hurt others, by your obedience you can bless others multitudes over.
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Remember, in Genesis chapter 6, 7, and 8, the only person that found favor with God was
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Noah. But eight people got on that boat. Why? Because of Noah's obedience,
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God blessed Noah and his family. Okay, summary. We are saved by grace through faith.
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We are not saved by works, guys. You can't be good enough. But obedience will follow true repentance, true salvation, true conversion, true faith.
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Alright, I hope that was clear. Guys, if I wasn't clear on something, ask me, and I'll re -go over it. Next week, we're going to continue right here where we left off.
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1 John 1, 6 -10, the word struggle, and then we got assurance and eternal security.
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Okay? If it takes another week after that, it's fine, but I think we'll finish next week. I hope this was helpful to you guys.
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I love you all very much. Please, more comments. I read through every one of them, okay, on Mondays.
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And let me know how I can help, what questions you still have, what you want me to teach next.
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And next week, I want you to read, please, let's do this.
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Next week, for next week, would you please read John 5 -24 and Hebrews 10 -14.
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John 5 -24 and Hebrews 10 -14. Alright, I love you guys very much.
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Everyone have a great evening. Re -read these scriptures. Dwell on them. Okay? Share this video, please.
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That's how we get out to more people when you guys share the videos. Okay? So share the videos. Love you guys.