[0:00] place that I want to read a few verses here and draw out a thought and then build upon it. I forgot to mention earlier, Brother Russ Chamberlain, your wife, is going this week.
[0:18] What day was that? Thursday? Is that Thursday? Okay. Okay. So it's this week, the 9th, his wife's going in to have some surgery on her eyes and she's nervous about that.
[0:35] So, all right. Romans chapter 4, let's read the first eight verses together. Please follow along. What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
[0:46] For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what sayeth the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
[0:59] Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
[1:13] Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without work, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
[1:24] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. So it's not a man's work that has any effect or that can produce any spiritual results.
[1:39] The deeds of the law or the good deeds of any man today, whether they're moral, whether they're just, whether they're helping people, those deeds, those works don't produce a spiritual effect.
[1:50] You could work all your life and do the greatest things and be the greatest person according to man, and you can still fall short of the glory of God. You'll still fall short of what the term in this passage is, is righteousness.
[2:04] A man's work cannot earn him righteousness. Not enough to please God. And in verse number five, it says, To him that worketh not, but believeth.
[2:15] There's faith. There's faith. To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. So the faith is in a person, and that person is not the man, but rather the Lord Jesus Christ.
[2:28] His faith is counted for righteousness. What could we call that man from verse five? A worker or a believer? Him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly.
[2:41] His faith is counted for righteousness. The man that gets the righteousness, the man that has the righteousness imputed to him, is the man that doesn't work. It's not the worker, but the believer.
[2:54] Now the term believer is kind of a rare term in the Bible, and it's really a term that I, it's a term of choice for me personally. It's found in Acts chapter five one time, and another second time, only second time, in 1 Timothy chapter four, where Paul tells Timothy to be thou an example of the believers.
[3:11] But the term itself, a believer, referring to a person, is rare. It's very much more common that you'll see the word, a pronoun, like he in this case, or whosoever, or him, or them, or whatever, collected to a verb, believeth.
[3:32] For instance, whosoever believeth in him, he that believeth, or in them that believe. Christ is the end of the law to everyone that believeth.
[3:44] And even right here in Romans four, there's one real close. Look at chapter three, verse 26, just another example of this. 3.26, declare, I say at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
[3:59] Now I know what that is, and I forget what that is in English, and I know you don't care. I don't think it's in a positive phrase, but it's one of those phrases. And if I studied with my kids and homeschooled them a little bit more, I'd know, but I'm sorry.
[4:15] Anyway, the term believer is rare in the Bible, but it generally shows up in that way. Him that believeth, or whosoever believeth. But I prefer to use that term when referring to Christians, or believers, or Paul says, unto us which are saved.
[4:30] I prefer to use the term believer, because the term Christian is also very rare in the Bible. It only shows up three times. And that thing is, it's used more than anything today, right?
[4:43] I think you would acknowledge that. The term Christian has become such the popular way of referring to the saved, believers. Paul calls them saints a lot of times in his epistles, when he opens the epistle to the saints which are at such and such a church.
[4:59] But the word Christian is also very rare in the Bible. And in my opinion, it maybe became too popular. Because it's anybody that is associated with Jesus Christ, any religion that has the name of Christ in it, they then become Christians, or it becomes termed Christianity.
[5:15] I mean, go to Wikipedia and just type in Christianity and find out what they think Christians are. Anybody that prays to Mary is still called a Christian. And anybody who confesses their sins to a priest in a little closet somewhere, and says a certain number amount of prayers, and thinks that they can get baptized and have their sins washed away, they think they're a Christian.
[5:35] And so I tend to steer away a little bit from the term Christian. And this has nothing to do with the message itself, but that's just the term I use, believer. For what it's worth. You can say whatever you want.
[5:46] And I'm not trying to steer you or give your opinion. I'm just telling you why I use that all the time. Now, in Romans chapter 4, we see something. We see that the one that believes on Christ is justified.
[5:57] He's the one that justifies the ungodly. And justification is an act, they call it a judicial act, like a judge declares.
[6:07] He either declares that you're righteous or you're unrighteous, or you're guilty. You're either condemned, and that means declared guilty, and therefore punishment follows, or you're declared righteous, innocent, and that means he's justified.
[6:21] He's justified of the charges. And so, him, God, justifieth the ungodly. That's an amazing thing. That's kind of a paradox. For a holy God to declare ungodly people, unrighteous people, to be righteous.
[6:35] That just doesn't add up unless, of course, there's a reason, there's a payment. And there's Jesus Christ that is the propitiation for our sins, and has appeased the wrath of God, and that's a whole other topic to discuss.
[6:49] But we see in this passage that the one that believes on Christ is justified, and he's justified because of his faith, because he's exercised his belief or his trust in him that justifieth the ungodly.
[7:02] And he says that it's counted to him for righteousness, like it's accounted to him or credited to him, to think of along in banker's terms. His account receives righteousness, whereas it stood as ungodly and sinful and unrighteous.
[7:21] The just died for the unjust. That was on your account. Now, he wipes that account clean and calls you righteous. And what I want to say about that is that this believer, receiving righteousness, receiving justification from God, it's a benefit.
[7:38] It's a benefit of believing that he would be justified. He could work, and he'll never receive the benefit. He could work all of his life. He could be way better than the believer, the worker, could morally be a better person, more devoted, more faithful to his family and to his culture and society and to his neighbors and loving them, giving, giving, giving, and still never believe on Christ and die and go to hell.
[8:03] The man that believeth on Jesus Christ, the believer, is the one that gets the benefit. And what I want to point out today is three things. They're so simple, but I have to say, I don't know if there's anything more enormous.
[8:17] They're so simple, but they're so huge. Three benefits of believing. And these are truths that will apply to anybody that believes on Christ. So take your Bible to the previous book here, Acts chapter 16.
[8:31] Look back at Acts 16 and be ready to turn in your Bible here and there. We'll stay pretty much in these Pauline epistles. There are some benefits of believing.
[8:51] And here's the first one. Acts chapter 16. And here's Paul and Silas. They're praying and singing praises unto God. There's an earthquake and the prison, the foundations are shaken, it says in verse 26.
[9:04] Doors are open. There's a keeper of the prison that wakes up. And in verse 27, it says, he's seeing the prison doors open. He drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
[9:15] So he's guilty. He didn't do his job. He's going to be executed. He's just going to take care of it right here and right now. You can see this is high drama for this man, this jailer.
[9:26] An earthquake at night, waking him out of sleep. I mean, that's pretty rare. That gets you going, gets the adrenaline flowing. And then thinking that everybody's took off and the doors are open and he's just killing himself right now.
[9:39] And Paul cried, verse 28, with a loud voice saying, Do thyself no harm for we are all here. And he called for the light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas.
[9:50] And it says in verse 30, And brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Here comes the answer. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house.
[10:05] And the first thing I want to say is that the believer is saved. A benefit of believing is that the believer is saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
[10:19] It'll happen. It's going to happen. It's as good as this book in front of you. The word of God declares that a believer is saved. What's he saved from?
[10:31] The Bible says, Who delivered us from so great a death. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. And whosoever is not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire.
[10:44] And long story short, you're saved from paying the eternal penalty for your sins against your creator. You're saved from that. You're delivered from that.
[10:56] You're rescued from that position. You're saved by believing on Jesus Christ. Now, how does... How do you get delivered from that?
[11:09] How do you get saved? What precedes the salvation in that verse? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's pretty simple. It's simple to all of us who have believed on Jesus Christ, but people have a hard time with this one.
[11:24] What it does not say, what Paul's answer was not, what must I do to be saved? What he didn't say was repent of your sins and trust Jesus Christ or believe on Christ.
[11:35] What Paul did not say is pledge your life to Jesus Christ. Follow the teachings of Jesus the best of your ability. There's no giving. There's no observing sacraments.
[11:46] There's no demand for baptism or taking the mass. And my, my, my, how many religious institutions on this planet would not agree, do not agree, with the answer of the Apostle Paul.
[11:59] They, they would, if they, if you ask them that question, what must I do to be saved? The answer is not going to be what Paul gave. Their answer is going to be a whole different line of thinking.
[12:09] It's going to be a religion. Come on in. Start following us. The believer though, according to the Bible, the believer is saved. And that's good to know.
[12:21] It's good to know that you can be saved by believing on Jesus Christ. Some people believe on Jesus Christ, but they never get that assurance that they are in fact saved.
[12:32] That they are right now possessing eternal life within them. And that no matter what happens, they'll go to heaven. People have believed on Jesus, and then there's reasons why. And I'll give you three quick ones that I believe people that are saved don't have the assurance and don't know that they're saved.
[12:49] One reason is they're walking after the flesh. They're walking after that old nature, that sinful nature, and have never come out of them, put off the old man, and started walking in the spirit and the new life that Christ gives them.
[13:02] And in the flesh, the flesh isn't saved. He didn't change a bit when you got saved. He still doesn't want anything to do with God or spirituality or Jesus Christ or church or the word of God.
[13:12] He just wants to keep doing what he's doing. He wants sin. He wants to satisfy himself. And if you're walking in the flesh, and if you're absorbing this world and inputting this world into you, you're not going to feel saved.
[13:24] You're not going to know you're saved because you're walking in a guy who's not saved. Hope you understand that. It doesn't mean you're not saved, though. If you believe on Christ, there's a new man in you. And that new man, we'll talk about that in a minute.
[13:37] The believer's saved. Some people don't know they're saved because, number two, they're ignorant of the scriptures. They don't even know what the Bible says about it. They might know what some churches say about it, but they've never gone to the word of God and seen with their eyes what God said took place in their life and what he did when they trusted Christ.
[13:58] When you believe on Jesus Christ, you read the book of Romans, it is a doctrinal thesis on the operation of salvation. Paul discusses redemption. He discusses propitiation.
[14:10] He discusses reconciliation. He discusses justification, sanctification, predestination, glorification. I mean, so much doctrine. Paul just dumps in there in his very first epistle to the world to show you the operation of salvation, of believing on Christ.
[14:27] The believer is saved. The third reason that some believe on Christ, but they never get the assurance, is because they've received false doctrine. Because somebody taught them something that's not true.
[14:37] They showed them a verse in here somewhere that doesn't apply to them and they think, well, I better do that. Or, well, maybe I'm not really saved. Well, and they don't know. And there's a reason why people don't have assurance of salvation.
[14:50] Turn with me over to 1 Corinthians. Skip Romans. Go two books to the right. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And let's notice something Paul says here. That the believer is saved.
[15:05] 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Paul's talking about preaching the gospel. In verse 17. And in verse 18, he says, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.
[15:27] The preaching of the cross is the power of God to who? To us which are saved. Now, a lot of new Bibles have changed that verb tense and they've added a word. They added the word being. And what their Bible says is, unto us which are being saved, it is the power of God.
[15:43] Look at verse number 24. No. Where is it at? 21.
[15:54] For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Not to start the work of salvation.
[16:06] That's a Catholic doctrine among others. Is that when you come to believe on Christ, that's the beginning of God's working of grace in your life to draw him unto this satisfying perfection age of, or not age, but I forget the term, this state of grace.
[16:22] That you're going to, you don't know if you'll ever make it. You better do your best. Because maybe you'll make it. And if you make it, you'll find out when you die. If you make it. That's that teaching, and that's interwoven into the new version by unto us which are being saved.
[16:38] You're not being saved. It's not a process. It's a product of believing on Jesus Christ. The believer is saved. And thank God for that. It's likened to a birth. It's not a progressive work.
[16:50] It's not a process. It's likened to a moment. And we read it to save them that believe. Look at Ephesians chapter 2. Keep moving to the right. Let's see this again.
[17:02] Ephesians chapter 2. No believer in Jesus Christ is being saved.
[17:14] They're either saved or they're not. They're either alive in Christ or they're dead in trespasses and sins. And it takes place in the moment.
[17:27] In verse number 1 of chapter 2, And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. In verse number 4, it says, But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.
[17:43] By grace ye are saved. Are saved. You're saved. The believer is saved. In verse 8, For by grace are ye saved through faith.
[17:54] The believer is saved. It's important that you understand and that you know that it is settled and that it's not dependent upon you. And you didn't earn salvation.
[18:06] You don't deserve salvation. And so it's important that you know your place or that when you place your faith in Jesus Christ, that you have it, that you possess it, it's quite a benefit.
[18:21] And I want you to consider and look back at chapter 1 of Ephesians. I want you to understand and believe and believe what the book says, that the believer is saved. Something else about the believer is he's sealed.
[18:33] Look at chapter 1 of Ephesians and verse number 13. This is what the Bible says and all you need to do is believe it. Verse 13, In whom ye also trusted, that's Christ from verse 12, ye trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
[18:59] You'll notice that there's no baptism again. There's no sacraments. There's no prayers. There's none of that religious nonsense. It's believing in a person.
[19:09] Verse 13, In whom ye also trusted. And he refers to that same thought in the middle of the verse, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
[19:23] Ye were sealed. Now come to chapter 4, verse 30. Here in Ephesians 1, he says, Ye were sealed. After that ye believed, ye were.
[19:35] It took place, past tense, ye were sealed. Now notice chapter 4, verse 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
[19:46] When God sealed you when you believed on Christ, you don't lose that. He said you are sealed still today until a future day called the day of redemption.
[19:59] That's a day when your body is redeemed. When Jesus Christ comes back or when you're brought up out of the grave and he's given you a new body. Romans chapter 8 says, The redemption of our body.
[20:10] Here he calls it, and look back at chapter 1, the redemption of the purchased possession. In verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.
[20:20] So you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of God until the day of redemption or until, he says in verse 14, the redemption of the purchased possession.
[20:31] The believer is sealed. That's something you need to understand and put away in your heart and head and never forget. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Here's the third time where Paul says this same thing about being sealed.
[20:49] 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And we'll try to explain what that is a little bit here in a moment. Verse 20, or verse 21 and 22.
[21:01] 2 Corinthians, I'm sorry if I misspoke. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 21. Now he which establisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God.
[21:18] So God is doing this work. Who hath also sealed us. And, notice the word, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. Here he calls it the earnest of the Spirit.
[21:32] I didn't point it out. Maybe you saw it in Ephesians chapter 1 where we just read. That when you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance. Now before we talk about that, just keep that in mind.
[21:45] A seal, you're sealed by God. It's said here. You're sealed with the Spirit of God. A seal can be several things in the Bible. In some cases, the purpose of a seal is to protect and to preserve the contents of something like a letter.
[22:02] You'll read in the Old Testament that he wrote it and sealed it with the king's ring. And it could be a decree or it could be a letter that's to be sent off. And some say that there's, that they'll, at the closure of such a letter, they'll drip wax onto that thing and then seal it with something that's related to the king and then therefore it dries and it's proof and it's closed and that's just maybe.
[22:25] But a seal can be that. A seal can be something else. A book can be sealed. In Revelation 5, a seal has seven seals on it as they open those seals. If you've read Revelation, there's some judgments and tragedies coming out of that.
[22:40] Daniel's words, the book of Daniel, were closed up and sealed until the time of the end. And so that seal is protecting and preserving what's written therein. And that's one way a seal is used or described.
[22:53] A seal is also a mark or an identifying characteristic, a distinguishing mark. For instance, in Revelation 7, there's 144,000 servants of God that are sealed, having the seal of God in their foreheads.
[23:10] That's a distinguishing, separating mark put on somebody. It's called a seal. A seal is also evidence or proof or something that's deemed verification.
[23:22] Paul said that the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 9, verse 2, those converts, that local church was the seal or the proof or verification of his apostleship.
[23:37] It's evidence or proof. Similar to that, in Romans chapter 4 where we began, we read down to verse 8. A little bit later it goes talking about Abraham and in verse 11 it says, he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had being uncircumcised.
[23:58] Now, circumcision is called a sign and it's called a seal. And in Revelation, or I'm sorry, in Genesis 17 it's called a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
[24:10] God said that. That he gave, Abraham believed him, his faith was counted for righteousness and he gave him the token of circumcision as a symbol of this covenant that God made with Abraham.
[24:22] And so this is a seal. Circumcision is a seal then. So then the question that I'm going to bring out here then is what is this new teaching of the Apostle Paul? Because it's brand new as you're going through your scriptures that you're sealed.
[24:37] He that believes on Jesus Christ or trusts in Christ, after you hear the gospel, you're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. What is this new teaching? In Ephesians chapter 1 we read that that Holy Spirit of promise is called the earnest of our inheritance.
[24:53] In 2 Corinthians 1 we're sealed and he says he's given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. What does that mean? Well an earnest is a pledge or it's a down payment.
[25:06] It's a security or a surety for something else bigger and better that is to come. It's just a little glimpse of well this I'll give you this I'll put this down payment.
[25:16] The Holy Spirit of God we're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance. Now God doesn't put a mark on our foreheads. He doesn't put a mark on us physically to separate us from the world or from them but instead he seals us with his Spirit.
[25:34] Why does God give us his Spirit? Why? Why are our bodies now called the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own.
[25:46] I want you to notice that we read it if you need to turn back you can look at it but in Ephesians chapter 1 what we read was that the Holy Spirit isn't doing the sealing. He is the seal.
[25:57] It says that you're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And we read in Corinthians that it is God that sealed us and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
[26:11] So God the Spirit the Holy Spirit is the seal. He is the pledge. He is the down payment that God gives to us and we were sealed when we trusted Christ and we still are sealed until the day of redemption and we're not going to lose his gift of his Spirit which is a promise that he's going to one day redeem our bodies and make them new and make them like unto his glorious body.
[26:36] The Holy Spirit is the token of a promise that God made to all believers. Do you remember in Genesis chapter 9 when Noah came off that ark that God made a covenant with him and with all living things and he said I'm going to make a give you a token of this covenant.
[26:52] You know what that was? It was the bow that is in the clouds in the day of rain. Yeah. The rainbow was a token of that covenant or a pledge to all living. We get that today.
[27:04] And the Spirit of God just the same is a seal. He is a token. He is a sign. He is a gift to believers. He is that seal that declares that God hath given to us eternal life.
[27:21] The Bible says in Romans 8 verse 16 the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Without the Spirit bearing witness what do we know? How do we know it?
[27:32] We don't feel anything. The believer is sealed. It's a benefit of believing. He is sealed and he now has the Spirit of Almighty God dwelling in the new man.
[27:44] He has been given a token or a pledge that God will one day glorify us. That he will redeem our bodies and that we will one day be conformed to the image of his Son. That's what the Spirit has given to us for a down payment in earnest of the inheritance.
[28:00] So the believer is saved. The believer is sealed. And one more thing I want to say turn to Philippians chapter 1 the believer is secure. The believer is secure.
[28:16] Philippians chapter 1 and verse number 6 take a look at this. We just we sang this in the hymn a little bit ago that a new work begun when we were saved by the blood.
[28:33] Chapter 1 verse 6 Paul says being confident notice that word confident not questioning not uncertain but confident of this very thing singular that he that be God which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.
[28:54] what God began in you upon salvation he began it and he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
[29:04] Paul's confident not confident in them that I really think you guys are going to make it because you're good you're good people and you love the Lord and you love his word no he's not confident in them at all he's confident of this thing that he will perform it that he which begun it will perform it.
[29:26] That's something that his confidence is in God and the work that God said he would do. In Romans chapter 8 he uses another you can turn if you want unless Greg you just want to shout at all of us like you did those guys the other night.
[29:42] Greg got a little excited when we were out there and he he didn't like what one of them said so he quoted Romans 8 38 and 39 and the decibel level was pretty high.
[29:53] I'm pretty confident anybody Samuel you were there I'm sure you probably were standing back like oh my goodness anybody within 100 yards probably heard Greg he was street preaching two feet from the face but here's what he said and Paul said earlier that he's confident in this case he says he's persuaded in verse number 38 for I am persuaded of something but what what can I back up a little bit further and get bring you into this persuasion look at verse 32 he says for he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all that's that's Calvary his death on the cross how shall he not with him also freely give us all things saying that if he gave his only begotten son what what on earth is he going to withhold from us like what's bigger than his son you can't think of anything if he didn't if he didn't spare his own son for us then what else would he withhold from us he's not talking about money and things if your mind goes that way that's not it at all look at verse number 33 who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us who shall separate us from the love of Christ there's a bunch of good questions who's going to lay anything to the charge of God's elect if you've believed on Jesus
[31:25] Christ and he's justified you as it says it is God that justifieth then who on earth heaven and hell all together and things under the earth who can lay anything to your charge and declare you're guilty if God almighty declares you're righteous and that's a great question who is he that condemneth if Jesus Christ died and is risen again and Romans chapter 4 says it was for our justification then who who's going to separate us from the love of God the answer is plain nothing and so in verse 38 he's persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord and this isn't just like from his love he loves us so much it's in the context of God declaring us righteous justifying us as believers in Jesus Christ Paul's confident he's persuaded in Jude in verse 1 he writes to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus
[32:35] Christ preserved the believer is secure in 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 5 Peter says who are kept by the power of God by faith through faith you're kept by the power of God you're preserved in Christ Jesus Paul's persuaded that you're justified and nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord and he's confident that what God began he will perform your hands are off the wheel the believer is secure you're in Christ Jesus it's that electric vehicle that just drives itself takes you straight to glory people have such a hard time with this though they have such a hard time with this well what if I what if you want go ahead say it think it up dream it up what's the worst thing you could do in this life pile it on does that make the atonement of Jesus Christ blood insufficient for what you do after you believe on
[33:36] Christ what if I kill somebody oh God never saw that coming what if you kill somebody shall anything be able to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect you know what God justified the ungodly isn't that what we read so put all the sins on the ungodly Christ died for the sins of the world the Bible says that the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin so is the scripture mistaken about your justification if you can lose it or if you can sin and do something so grave that God can't forgive that one by him the Bible says in Acts 13 verse 39 by him all that believe are justified from all things I'll take that one but what if I justify from that too but what if what if we do this every day justified from that one too the Bible says in
[34:38] Colossians 2 having forgiven you all trespasses so it is God that saves you it is God that sanctifies and cleanses you it is God that seals you it is God that justifies you it is God that makes you holy and without blemish in Christ Jesus it is God that began a good work in you and it is God that will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ the believer is secure that's a benefit of believing believing on the Lord Jesus Christ you're secure in Christ Jesus if you didn't catch that very last phrase at the end of Sunday school that's where it's at it's being in Christ you're not secure by living a good life that's where people mess up I'm saved okay so now I need to live it your security doesn't come from your life or from your performance get it from the book he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ it's based on his performance and on his faithfulness did you receive the gift of eternal life or not if you did is it eternal like God said it is or is it temporary are you going to believe the
[35:47] Bible or not if a boss decided to give a bonus to his employees and he gives it to all his employees no matter who they are every employee that believes in Christ every employee will receive the gift he'll direct deposit it straight into their bank account what happens if that employee after two weeks quits the job does he have to give it back does he lose it or has it already been imputed to his account who who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect once you have imputed righteousness to you the righteousness of God which is by faith in Christ Jesus you're secure you can quit you can sin you can kill somebody you can commit the vilest act that your brain can conceive you can walk away from God and curse his holy name if you've been born of the spirit if you if you've been justified by believing on Jesus Christ you're in Christ and your righteousness is not keeping you saved his righteousness is keeping you secure
[36:53] I wonder if you think well um oh let's just pass on these three things here I'm giving you they're benefits of believing they're not benefits of laboring they're not benefits of promising they're not benefits of covenanting and crying out to God and pledging and praying they're benefits of believing they're not wages that you've earned they're not they're rather results of a work that God performed he performed it on a just a filthy no good sinner he performs a work on a useless sinner that comes to Christ in faith someone that comes just to receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ when they receive Jesus Christ him that worketh not he receives the righteousness of God and he's saved and he's sealed and he's secure and these are benefits that are true because the believer's in Christ because his salvation and his sealing and his security are not based on his performance but on the faithfulness and on the ability of the
[38:00] Lord Jesus Christ I hope you've received these benefits and more importantly than just receiving them then is that you understand them and that you rest in them and that you walk in the spirit knowing I'm saved I'm sealed I have been given the spirit of God and because I have the spirit of God I'm going to be one day glorified to be like Jesus Christ and the Bible says in Romans 8 I don't know if you're there still I'm still there look over at chapter 8 verse 23 or verse 22 oh man verse 21 gotta stop doing this because the whole thing's the same but verse 21 says because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption that's that body that's the new man inside you is the new creature he's going to get delivered from being in this body into the glorious liberty of the children of God for we know that the whole creation grown and travaileth and pain together until now and not only they but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body later on he tells you that you're going to be glorified and you're predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son these are benefits of believing you've got those benefits don't you so do you know that do you have assurance of that do you have it in here in your head and assurance in your heart don't fear when you sin confess that sin and tell God I don't want to go this way that's that's my bad and I I want to walk with you and I do it and you need to do it too but when I sin it doesn't affect my salvation because
[39:51] Christ settled that it doesn't affect that I'm sealed with the Holy Spirit of God and it's going to change my future now Christ settled that too and it doesn't affect my security in Jesus Christ and it won't affect yours either now shall we continue in sin that grace be of God forbid no there's so much there's a life that's so much better and we could add to this sanctification to this outline and carry on with that a little ways but these three I've told you they're simple but they're enormous and if you don't have them settled then maybe this will help you get them settled so that you can start putting one foot in front of the other for Jesus Christ and living for God and not fearing losing it and not being uncertain whether you have it if you've believed on Christ and called out to him whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and if you've got that salvation you've also got the spirit that sealed you and you've also got security that you can't lose it and those are some things that you need to know you need to believe and have assurance of let's close together in prayer not going to have an invitation this morning for anything but we're just dismissing a word of prayer and I hope that this morning this was help to some of you and I hope that this will help you grow our father we got to say thank you because as we've read we didn't earn or deserve we're unworthy of all of this so thank you for saving our souls thank you for taking our sin for forgiving us and for washing us in the blood of Christ thank you for declaring us a son that we can be part of the family of God children of God and joint heirs with Christ
[41:25] Lord we've got to be thankful for so much of this and we could go on and on so Lord my prayer is that these thoughts and these doctrinal truths would be driven home into each heart that they'd be received and understood and that we could as a result grow in grace that we could move forward and not doubt our salvation and not misunderstand things or be misled by false doctrine and false teachers Lord help us to grow in the truth thank you for these truths thank you that we can settle on them and rest in Jesus Christ thank you for giving rest unto our souls and Lord I ask you bless us as we go our way help us to be faithful to administer the gospel to someone who doesn't know and to see someone come to Christ as you allow we love you we thank you for these things in Jesus name amen amen you are dismissed this morning that love you Thank you.