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[0:00] We're going to go to Ephesians 2, if you've got your Bibles, Ephesians chapter 2. Shall we pray?

[0:12] Lord, we thank you for your word and for this blessed fellowship of your dear people, Lord,! our brothers and sisters in Christ and everyone that's here, Lord, those that might be watching elsewhere or later, Lord, we thank you for this time.

[0:26] We can come to your precious word and open its truths, Lord, to our understanding. Lord, help us to make it live in our hearts and walk in our shoes.

[0:36] Lord, may your grace be prevailing over each one. Lord, we thank you for the grace that enables us to give, the grace that enables us to receive.

[0:47] Lord, the grace that helps us walk day by day with you and to be faithful as you help us in that regard. Lord, we thank you for your prevailing love, for your undergirding, for any hurts or needs amongst us.

[1:03] We pray that we would look to you as our supply and find that great grace that is sufficient unto us. Lord, we thank you in Jesus' precious name.

[1:15] Amen. Amen. Looking at the subject of grace, and I guess contrasting that with works-based salvation, and we go to Ephesians 2, a blessed scripture that really captures it all.

[1:32] It says this, Ephesians 2, 8 through 9, it says, For by grace are ye saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

[1:45] It's important to know what salvation is and what salvation is not. First point, salvation is simple.

[1:55] Salvation is very simple. God has not made salvation difficult or complicated, not difficult to understand or to receive. Some would try to make it complicated.

[2:06] Yet the Bible shows us how very simple it is to believe. Some would call this easy believism. I call it biblical salvation. It's simple.

[2:17] It's simple. Some would rather preach a hard believism. They're confusing messages about salvation. One man preaches that you can lose your salvation, yet the Bible never teaches that.

[2:29] Another man preaches that Christ only died for some, though the Bible says that he tasted death for every man. The Bible actually shows us that salvation, it is simple.

[2:40] The Bible way to be saved is to believe on Christ alone. To believe on Christ alone. As in Acts 16.31, what must I do to be saved?

[2:51] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. That's very simple. The Lord Jesus says, I am the way, I am the truth and the life.

[3:06] Christ alone. Faith alone. In Christ alone. That's what saves us. And 1 Corinthians 15 shows us that salvation, again, it's simple.

[3:22] It is very simple. It is not hard. We read there of this gospel by which ye are saved. What is the gospel? Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

[3:36] He was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. That's not hard. That's very simple what Christ has done and how to be saved.

[3:47] The gospel. You are a sinner who deserves hell, but Christ paid for your sins at the cross. And he promises to you eternal life. And that happens the moment that you believe upon him.

[4:01] At that moment you believe on Christ, you are saved. And he promises us, John 10, 28, of those who believe. And I give unto them eternal life.

[4:12] And they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life. It's forever, everlasting life.

[4:26] And he says they shall never perish. That means they shall never go to hell. The moment that you trust Christ, you are saved. Forever saved. Men try to make salvation hard.

[4:40] And why? Basically it's the flesh. We get that when we go door knocking. We got that yesterday. At doors yesterday. Most people want to trust their own works.

[4:52] They say things like, oh, I'm a good person. I've heard people say lately, just be the best version of yourself. Actually, the best version of myself is not enough.

[5:05] I've got to tell you. The best version of myself is a damned, hell-bound, eternally lost sinner. That's the best version of myself. And when people say that salvation is hard or they try to make salvation hard, basically it's the flesh.

[5:26] Most people don't want to simply trust Christ. They want to trust in their own works and their self-righteousness. But friends, the truth is that salvation is by grace.

[5:38] Here's another simple truth. And we're going to put it down to these simple phrases here. Salvation is by grace.

[5:51] Grace. A lot of people don't really understand what grace means. And how that applies to the Christian life. It's very important to understand grace.

[6:02] Salvation by grace. The grace of salvation is absolutely free. It's astonishing when you really sit back and think about it, what grace is.

[6:14] Grace is free. The very definition of grace, it comes from the word gift. A gift is something free, isn't it?

[6:24] Everyone who trusts in Christ alone to be saved is justified freely by his grace. That's Romans 3, 24. We're saved.

[6:36] We're justified. It says freely by his grace. It's free. It's grace. Grace. Does grace demand that a person must produce good works to be saved or to stay saved?

[6:50] No. Grace is a free gift. It's unconditional. It's unconditional. That's the staggering truth of it, that grace is undeserved. It's unmerited.

[7:01] And it's unconditional. And grace is about this truth. Someone paid for your sin. Someone paid for it. All my sins are paid for. That's the basis for my eternal security, that all my sins have been paid for.

[7:18] When you catch that, when you grasp that, as much as how can we grasp it, that's a great blessing, isn't it? That's grace. That's salvation by grace. And the Bible talks about our God as being the God of all grace.

[7:32] It's bewildering to think that God so graciously could love me, could love us so unworthy as we are. Grace. Grace. Grace.

[7:43] Marvellous grace. Grace that is greater than all my sin. Grace. And he's the God of all grace. And grace really is the motivator to help us grow in our Christian life.

[7:56] Grace is what drives us to grow. And that knowledge of Jesus Christ. To grow in Christ's likeness. Our Christian growth depends upon grace. It's based upon grace.

[8:06] As our initial salvation was. Grace. And so grace keeps on working. We're saved by grace. And grace keeps on working. Grace teaches us. Grace trains us. It tells us to renounce ungodliness.

[8:19] To forsake worldly lusts. To live a godly and righteous life. So grace keeps on working after we save. We see that in Titus 2. 11 through 12. For the grace of God.

[8:30] That bringeth salvation. Have appeared to all men. Teaching us. That denying ungodliness. And worldly lusts. We should live. Soberly. Righteously.

[8:40] And godly. In this present world. Goes on looking for the blessed hope. So the grace of God. It brings salvation. And it keeps on working. Teaching us. Training us.

[8:51] Growing us. Grace teaches us to live godly lives. He wants that for us. Now the opposite of grace. Is really a perversion of grace. Legalism.

[9:04] Either you've got grace. Or you've got some substitute. And one of those substitutes is legalism. That makes out that we need to keep non-biblical. Man-made standards. To be acceptable to God.

[9:17] That kind of church does not understand grace. It actually doesn't get it. What grace is about. It's important to understand that grace is God's unmerited. Unmerited favor.

[9:28] It's given to those who do not deserve it. And God did everything that he could to show his grace. In sending his son to die for us. But. As we started off.

[9:39] For by grace. It says. For by grace. Are ye saved. And we can't put a but. By grace are you saved. But.

[9:51] Or by grace are you saved. And. Plus. Plus something. Plus something. After that. Some people want to say. Well. Salvation is free. But. Some would say.

[10:03] We're saved by grace. But. But. But we have to prove it. By our good works. Or something. That's when people can get confused about grace.

[10:13] The Bible says. We're saved by grace. Saved. S-A-V-E-D. And we are kept. By grace. And that we are to grow in grace. It's grace from go to woe. This is the fundamental doctrine.

[10:25] That we have to be very clear about. And Paul tells us. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God. Unto salvation. To everyone.

[10:37] That believeth. To the Jew. First. And also. To the Greek. Paul says. The gospel of Christ. Is about the power of God. It's. Unto salvation.

[10:48] It is to everyone. That believeth. For we must know. Salvation by grace. There is no other way. There actually is no other way. No other option. If you add anything to grace.

[10:59] It's no longer grace. Nothing else needs to be added to it. This is the. Again. It's almost. A shocking. Jolting truth.

[11:09] That actually. It's grace. All of grace. Nothing else needs to be added. Grace is more than just our salvation too. It's grace from beginning to end. It's grace that saves us.

[11:19] It's grace that keeps us. It's grace that sustains us. It's grace. It takes us to glory. And in Galatians. We see that Paul's trying to teach this purity of the gospel of grace. In Galatians.

[11:31] The Galatians were. Getting. Confused. They were trying to go back under the law. And Paul says. No. You've got to get grace. You've got to get this concept of grace.

[11:42] When you think about grace. It's God's very nature. It's his character. It's his person. He so lovingly. Graciously. Extends. His gift. To such as we.

[11:52] And we. Are saved by grace. Through faith. Romans 3.24. It says. Being justified freely. By his grace. Through the redemption. That is in Christ Jesus.

[12:05] So our salvation. Our justification. It's freely. It's by his grace. And we've got a redemption. Which is a picture of. Setting free. This freedom. He's loosed us from.

[12:17] The bondage. He's set us free. As. Slaves are. Purchased and redeemed. Set free. From the slave market. So grace is the effective means of our salvation.

[12:29] And faith is the instrumental means of our salvation. Grace the effective means. Faith the instrumental means. In other words. Faith is how we appropriate it.

[12:40] We're justified freely by his grace. So grace and faith. They fit together. They complement. One another. They fit. As. Hand in glove. Grace and faith. They fit together. So we've seen.

[12:51] Salvation is by grace. Also we see. Salvation is through faith. Salvation is through faith. Romans 4.5. But to him. That worketh not. But believeth on him.

[13:03] That justifieth the ungodly. His faith. Is counted. For righteousness. Get that again. Him that worketh not. His faith is counted.

[13:15] For righteousness. Some falsely say that faith really means obedience. Or faith means commitment. No. Faith is a synonym for trust.

[13:28] To have faith is to believe. To have faith is to trust. Christ. Believing on Christ is not about changing your lifestyle. That's not the object.

[13:40] The object of our faith. Is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the object. Our faith is on him. Not upon ourselves. Either you believe in him. Or you do not. And when a man recognises the fact.

[13:51] That Jesus Christ is truly the saviour. And trusts him to be his saviour. It's then. That he receives salvation. It says to him that worketh not.

[14:02] And it says that we access grace by faith. It's like there's this doorway. And it's entered in by faith. It's by faith that we access this grace. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace.

[14:15] We receive it by faith. If salvation is a free gift. There's nothing to do to earn it. Nothing to do to earn it. We access grace by faith. As we trust Christ to be our saviour.

[14:28] We receive his salvation. It says we have access by faith into this grace. Wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. So it's telling us here. And some of these truths are hard to kind of get our head around.

[14:41] But if we take the scripture as read. It's saying that we're justified by grace. It's saying we've got access by simple faith. By trusting truly that Christ is my saviour.

[14:52] Trusting in him. And then we receive salvation. And it says we access this grace by faith. And God wants us to have faith. We live by faith.

[15:03] We walk by faith. We get salvation by faith. It's not because of our guilt that we want to live a godly life and serve God.

[15:13] It's grace. See a picture here. On the one side you've got some that it's works oriented. We see that works oriented.

[15:24] The hamster wheel. We see grace oriented. The gift of God's salvation. Friends, the motive for us to live a godly life.

[15:36] The motive for us to serve God. It's actually grace. It's actually grace. Now there's some churches where the pastor's got to hound people.

[15:47] If they miss a meeting. You know, where are you? What's going on? Or you know, you're dropping the ball. It's all about orienting to works.

[15:58] Let's face it. It's works. Or we actually have grace. We actually are grace oriented. So it's not because of guilt or some pressure or some hamster wheel or some busyness of the Christian life.

[16:14] Some having to perform by works and effort and energy of the flesh. It's not because of guilt that we want to live a godly life and serve God.

[16:25] It's because of grace. He saved us such amazing grace. Grace that is greater than my sin. Grace that would extend salvation's gift to such as me. Grace motivates me to want to live godly and to serve God.

[16:39] Grace is what motivates obedience. It doesn't require obedience. But it motivates us to obedience. Grace is what motivates us to godly living. May God help us to be such a church that we're a grace oriented church.

[16:53] Amen. That we're a church that motivates people to grow by grace. Not by guilt. It's grace that works in us. It's not this hamster based. Hamster wheel with works based kind of thinking.

[17:08] And with overlording. It's a boot. It's not this hamster wheel. It's grace. It's grace. That's what we need. The grace of God. It's grace that works in us. It's not because of a fear of losing our salvation.

[17:20] Or a fear of not having salvation. Some would motivate by fear. It's not because we're struggling with doubts. And we better work harder to prove our salvation. We're on the side of grace.

[17:33] It's not about working harder to prove our salvation. It's grace. Some of us put it like this. Really as to the motivation. We can live a thank you life by grace.

[17:44] Instead of a have to life. The Christian life is not we have to. The Christian life is thank you Lord. Thank you. And this is where, you know, sadly, I'm being honest here.

[17:55] Some preachers can go off track. Some preachers get off track. They would say I have to be better. I have to work harder. I have to prove my salvation to myself. Or to someone else.

[18:07] Honestly, that's performance based. That's legalism. There may be people even here today who've not fully put their trust in Christ. In his grace.

[18:17] To fully trust in Christ. To rely on something else. It's not going to cut it. We must rely on Christ. We must trust in Christ. Because where we place our faith is critical.

[18:30] That's really fundamental. Another truth about salvation is salvation is a gift. Salvation is a free gift. It's paid for by the Lord Jesus. Now, friends, some would say, oh, that's easy believism.

[18:43] Well, it's not hard to get a gift. It's not hard to get a gift. You put your hand out and you grab it. Salvation. It's not hard to get a gift. To receive something that's free. It's not hard to trust in Christ.

[18:56] It's really not hard to be saved. What people find difficult is the difficulty is taking the trust of ourselves. That's the difficulty and putting our trust in Christ.

[19:07] Some just can't get off this idea of trusting in themselves and trusting in their own works. Like the Pharisees. It has to be trusting in Christ and receiving his gift.

[19:20] Some would confuse the terminology about salvation too. And they would say phrases that aren't actually biblical. They use phrases that aren't actually biblical. And I've said these myself in times past.

[19:32] Things like, make Jesus Lord of your life. Make Jesus your saviour. Actually, Christ is the Lord. He is the Lord already. You don't make him saviour.

[19:45] You don't make him Lord. That's who he is. That's a fundamental really, isn't it? He is Lord. He is saviour. Because that's what he does. He saves.

[19:56] And when you mix the grace of God with the efforts of man, you rob the gospel of its power to save. Man needs salvation. Man cannot save himself. He needs a saviour. And Jesus Christ is the saviour.

[20:08] Salvation is a gift from the saviour to you. He gives it. Your part is to receive it. So salvation is a gift. Another truth about salvation is salvation is not of works.

[20:21] Another simple truth is that salvation has nothing to do with your works. Some would say, by grace are we saved through faith. But I have to add works. So I'm going to add repentance of my sin.

[20:34] I'm going to add confession. I'm going to add baptism. I'm going to add perseverance. They make salvation to be a number of steps. That's what the Church of Christ in America does.

[20:45] There's all these steps. You've got to hear it, believe it, repent of your sin, confess. And then you've got to maintain it by persevering till the bitter end.

[20:56] They make salvation to be a number of steps. And then you've got churches like the Revival Centre. Well, you've got to speak in tongues as well or you're not saved. Ridiculous. But the Bible salvation is nothing like that.

[21:09] It's not of works. Works-based salvation is this belief that you must work your way to heaven. It's climbing those steps. And God forbid if you miss one of those steps or you get it wrong. You must do things yourself and to earn your own righteousness.

[21:23] That's what they would say. People like Paul Washer say that. Paul Washer says things like, if you're not living a certain way, you're not really saved. He would say, you'll go to hell if you don't have works.

[21:37] If going to heaven was based on our works, our performance, then we'll all go to hell. Because no one in this room has stopped sinning. No one in this room will ever stop sinning.

[21:48] You can't. Really, that's basically it, isn't it? We need a saviour. That's the point. And salvation is not of works. And Paul says in Romans 7, 18, For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

[22:02] For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. Really, and truly, I won't stop this battle with my sin until I die. And then I get my glorified body.

[22:14] But some people are effectively preaching a works salvation. They're preaching a lordship, repent of your sins. Live a certain way salvation. It's a lordship salvation.

[22:25] As much as they might say, oh, we don't preach lordship salvation. If they're saying things like that, you know, repent of your sins, live a certain way, then they're adding to faith. Some preachers say that.

[22:37] They say you can't live any way you want to and expect to go to heaven. Problem is when you say things like that, when you actually boil it down, what are they teaching? They're teaching you to trust in your works.

[22:48] That's a problem. Some sadly believe that their salvation depends on whether they go to church, whether they give money, whether they pray through, whether they hang on.

[23:00] Folks, we cannot save ourselves. We cannot. We cannot muster up enough good works, enough self-righteousness, enough human merits to save ourselves. When you actually look at what the Bible emphasises, it's something quite different.

[23:16] Paul tells Titus, Notice there, verse 5, So, if we can just catch this truth, that salvation is in Jesus alone.

[23:51] It's God's mercy. He gets all the honour. He gets all the credit, all the glory, all the praise. It's not of works. And that's kind of counterintuitive.

[24:02] We think, well, surely we've got to do something, do something to deserve it. Grace is something you can't deserve. It's undeserved. It's all glory to God.

[24:12] It's all of grace. It's not of works. It's not by works of righteousness. It's not according to how you live. You can't live good enough. You can't live up to the measure, which is perfection.

[24:25] It's not according to how you live. You were never saved because you lived better than somebody else. And you're not going to get to heaven because you lived better than somebody else. No one has ever lived good enough to go to heaven.

[24:38] All the work has to be done by Christ. So, if you can catch this truth, I cannot add anything to it. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done.

[24:50] And as Ephesians 2 tells us, not by works, lest anyone should boast. How could I add anything to it that I could be prideful of to say that Jesus didn't give full satisfaction, that Jesus didn't make a full atonement, that Jesus didn't quite finish the work of my salvation at the cross.

[25:11] I have to add my own works to it. This is why Jesus Christ has to be the sole source of salvation. And he saves everyone that believes on him.

[25:26] Notice what he says. He says, He says, He says, He says, He that believeth on me, it says, hath.

[25:41] That's present tense. Everlasting life. So, the moment that you trust Jesus Christ for your salvation, the moment you trust Jesus alone for your salvation, it says you have eternal life.

[25:56] Everlasting life. And it's the will of God. This is the will, it says, of him that sent me, our Lord says, And everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life.

[26:09] And I will raise him up at the last day. The will of God is that we believe on him, on Christ. This is the will of God. The will of the Father for you is to believe on Jesus.

[26:21] And this means you believe what he did on the cross. And you trust that Christ alone. You trust and believe on Christ alone for your salvation. It's interesting, the Gospel of John, which is the Gospel which tells us and defines for us this is the way to believe.

[26:41] This is the way of salvation. The Gospel of John talks about believe about 100 times. So, if you're trusting your works, your baptism, your good deeds, your church, your religion, you're lost.

[26:54] And you need to get saved. Salvation is not of our works. It's all about belief. It's about faith. It's about trust. Your works cannot save you. They never could. They never will.

[27:05] The Bible does not teach that we have to make commitments to God or do any good works in order to be saved or do good works afterwards to validate that we are saved.

[27:16] It's not biblical. Now, we can all get caught up in terms or concepts that aren't actually biblical. Now, don't get me wrong here. I myself have used such terminology, such language before.

[27:30] But it can miss the mark because it's not entirely biblical. All right? So, get this. You're making a commitment. I used to say that a lot. You make a commitment to Christ.

[27:40] It's actually not that. You're making a commitment. You're giving your life to Jesus. You're surrendering to him. You're inviting Jesus into your heart. That won't save you.

[27:51] Of course, we've all used... I've used those phrases. But it's not about any of those things. What it's about is believing on him. It's about believing on him. It's faith in his finished work.

[28:02] Some would talk about fruit. They would require it. They would say, well, okay, I'm hearing what you're saying, but they talk about fruit and they require that. Yet, how much fruit is a person supposed to bear to prove that they are saved?

[28:17] Nobody knows. If you've got more fruit than me, is your fruit enough to get you to heaven and mine's not? It's not about your fruit to prove that you're saved.

[28:28] Really, nobody knows. How many works are we supposed to do, to be doing? Are you going to enough meetings of the church? You know, if we were to be measured by some kind of standards of man as to how spiritual are we?

[28:42] Are you doing enough works? Is it your works that you're doing that prove that you're saved? It's getting the wrong idea, isn't it? And some people, including some well-meaning preachers, they're trusting in the wrong thing.

[28:55] Some teach a salvation which adds a trusting in their works. That can be the problem. 2 Timothy 1.9, it says, Of Christ, who hath saved us and caught us with an holy calling, not according to our works.

[29:07] Get that. Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. That word again, grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

[29:17] So, he saved us, it says. Again, it underlines this, not according to our works. It's not your works that save. It cannot be.

[29:29] There's only one work, one work that can save, and that is the finished work, the finished work of the cross. That is the work that God has required as determined by his own purpose and grace, the finished work of the cross.

[29:42] And what we actually need is the humility and the total reliance on Jesus to be saved. But Jesus has paid it all. As the song we love to sing, Christ is sufficient.

[29:56] His work is sufficient. The sufficiency of the work of Christ, the sufficiency of his atonement. And we need really the humility to rely on that, that Christ is sufficient.

[30:08] Some might even trust in self-efforts of trying to repent of their sins, yet they're not relying on Jesus. Now, repenting of your sins is a good thing to do. But it's not a substitute for relying upon Jesus.

[30:22] It can be a relying upon ourselves. Have I shed enough tears of repentance? Have I got sorry enough about my sin? We don't put our trust there. We put our trust in his grace that saves us.

[30:36] He saves us. It's his work. God doesn't care for your supposed good works. What matters is, is your faith in Christ? Have you trusted in him? This is where the Bible puts the emphasis.

[30:47] When you trust in Christ, you have salvation. We see that in Ephesians 1, for example, that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted, who believed in Christ, in whom also you trusted, it says.

[31:00] After that, you heard the word of truth, the gospel, the good news of your salvation, in whom also after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

[31:10] So it's saying here, of you that have believed, what does it say? Of you that have trusted, it says, you're sealed. You're sealed by the Holy Spirit. It's done. Done. All done. The great transaction is done.

[31:22] And it's completed at that point, at that point of first trusting in Christ, that you are to the praise of his glory, that you are sealed now, that he's put this ownership seal upon you.

[31:36] Salvation is done at the point of trusting, trusting in Christ. Works have nothing to do with it. Question is, does he know you?

[31:48] Salvation is all about whether he knows you or not. It's not whether you claim Jesus, it's whether he claims you. So that was the problem with the people in Matthew 7. So for example, in Matthew 7, you know the one where they say, Lord, Lord, haven't we done all these things?

[32:04] Lord, Lord, we've done all these wonderful works. We've had all these miracles. Matthew 7, 21. Really, they sounded a lot like modern day Pentecostals here in the context, Matthew 7, 21.

[32:15] This is the problem with works-based salvation. Haven't we done many wonderful works? Lots of works, but they missed the point.

[32:27] This is the problem with works-based salvation. A trusting in works, it doesn't cut it. An independent Baptist can get this badly wrong as well. A man can profess to be saved, yet he's not trusting in the finished work of Christ.

[32:41] You can't trust in the finished work of Christ if you're trusting in something else. Whether it's your own works, your own repentance of sin, your own conviction, your own remorse, your continuance in repentance, your striving after living right.

[32:56] It's not trusting plus, it's trusting in Christ. That must be the emphasis, that must be what we're trusting in for our salvation.

[33:07] The question is, what is our trust in? If we make it about ourselves, about what we do, or our efforts to reform ourselves, this can actually be a kind of prideful type of unbelief, because we're failing to trust Christ.

[33:21] We're failing to trust in Christ. And the Bible's got this emphasis right through. It tells us here, that salvation is to him that worketh not, to him that worketh not, no works, but believeth on him, believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly.

[33:39] His faith is counted for righteousness. So, as much as it might sound strange for you to hear this, how you live has nothing to do with going to heaven.

[33:49] It's not about your works. It hasn't got anything to do with how you get to heaven. How you live doesn't prove that you're going to heaven, because it's very subjective. It's very subjective.

[34:00] Are you living right? Are you not living right? Am I the judge of that? Or is he the judge of that? It's solely by trusting in Christ alone. Now, I'm not negating the truth that God wants us to live holy.

[34:13] God forbid that we should live with grace as a license to sin. I'm not teaching that. It's that our trust, our salvation, is not our works.

[34:25] We cannot make that mistake. It's solely trusting Christ, in Christ alone. We see that in Romans 10, verse 4, that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.

[34:38] You know, they've got the law, we've got the truth of thou shalt not, or thou shalt. We've got the word of God that shows us our sin, our need of saving.

[34:48] And you don't have to earn it. Actually, you can't earn your salvation. This is the problem. This is the problem with every cult, every false, non-biblical kind of religion out there.

[35:02] And this is what people commonly tell us at the doorstep. Oh, I'm, you know, I'm trying hard. I'm, I'm, I'm a pretty good person. And I think God's gonna, you know, let me in because I'm so good.

[35:15] You can't earn it. You, you don't keep the law to get it, to get salvation. You don't keep the law to get saved, or to keep it. The law has nothing to do with it.

[35:25] Christ is the end. Finished. He's the end of the law. For righteousness to everyone that believeth. The person is saved when he's declared righteous without the law.

[35:37] So, again, how you live has nothing to do with it. As far as, you can't trust in your works. You can't. Even as a saved man, a saved woman today, don't rest or trust in your works.

[35:50] Do good works. Yes. We're created in Christ Jesus unto good works. We are his workmanship. We're created unto good works. But your salvation is not there. Your salvation is in the faith.

[36:02] It's in the faith. It's in trust in Christ. And you're declared righteous simply by believing, Christ is my saviour. Christ is sufficient. Christ has finished the work.

[36:13] Christ has done everything to pay for my sin. And I'm trusting in him for my salvation. Last point is, salvation is sure. Salvation is sure.

[36:26] The Bible makes it very clear that you can be sure. You can be sure that you're going to heaven. You can be sure. You can know once you believe on Jesus Christ, you are saved forever.

[36:36] You can have a full assurance. A full assurance. We know that scripture in 1 John 5, where it tells us about the assurance that we can have, that we can know. It tells us that John writes, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have, have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.

[37:00] He says, This is the record. God has given to us eternal life. This life is in his Son. Here that has the Son hath life. Here that has not the Son of God hath not life.

[37:11] So, there's very clear promises of scripture that you can know for sure. You know, we get that countless times when we go and witnessing to folk. They say, Well, I hope so.

[37:23] I hope that I'm going to heaven. Or, Well, I think so. I'm going to try my chances so. No, the Bible says you can know so. You can know that you're saved. Saved forever. You can have a full assurance.

[37:36] And our assurance comes from believing objective truth. It's believing this. This is where our assurance comes from. It's God's authority behind it. God's promise.

[37:47] Our assurance comes from objective truth. It's not dependent on subjective human performance or feelings. Now, some churches, they orchestrate it such that, you know, the music plays, and there's all kinds of pressure to go and parrot a prayer.

[38:03] And I'm not against altar calls per se, but the Son that would say that it's about the experiential, the feelings, the subjective, the human performance.

[38:15] It's not that. It's about the objective truth. You can know that you're saved. If you believe on the name of the Son of God, it says you can know that you're saved. You have eternal life because of what Christ has already done.

[38:27] And if you have trusted, if you've fully trusted, his full payment made for your sin, that is the only way to heaven. We're not basing it on our lifestyle. We're basing it on the fact Jesus Christ has paid for my sin.

[38:40] His blood shed for my sin. That's what makes me born again. Now, some would ask, well, what if I sin? What if I sin? If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus imputes his righteousness unto you.

[38:57] So when God the Father looks at you, he no longer sees your sin. We see that here in Romans 4, verse 7. It says, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.

[39:10] The moment you trust Christ for your sin, for all of your sins, past, present and future, they are forgiven. All of your sins are forgiven.

[39:21] I love this one older man. Some of us know him. He's passed away now. He used to often recite the scripture, The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

[39:36] It's a fundamental truth in 1 John. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. All sin. And here's another one that gives us that kind of assurance too.

[39:49] Paid. Paid in full. Here it is, Hebrews 8, 12. God says, For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. So once you receive the Lord Jesus as your personal saviour, all of your past sins, every bad thought, every deed you've done, all your present sins that you have done, and even your future sins you haven't done yet are all under the blood of Jesus Christ.

[40:18] The moment you trust Christ, He looks at you, God looks at you, at all your sins, and He says, I'll remember them no more. They're all gone. Gone.

[40:30] Gone forever gone. And He declares you righteous and He says, You're my child now. And you can approach Him no matter what because the blood gives you access. You've got boldness to enter.

[40:42] And that moment that you believe Christ died for your sin, He puts His payment on your account. And so, and I'm not saying this flippantly, but the reason that I know that I'm going to heaven is because I know that I cannot go to hell.

[40:59] Why can I not go to hell? Because I don't have any sins to pay for. Amen. You can say that. I don't have any sins to pay for because He paid for my sin.

[41:10] Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. There's many truths in the songs that we sing. He paid. He paid for. He paid for my sin. For your sin.

[41:21] What if I sin tomorrow and the next day until the day I die? He paid for those sins too. He paid for all of them. He's not coming down next year to pay for what I did this year.

[41:32] He already did it 2,000 years ago. It's the same for you. And this is the stunning grace of God. And again, I'm not meaning to portray, well, we should just live with abandon.

[41:44] No. It's all the more reason we want to live to honour Him, to bless Him, to please Him, to be thankful. Thank you, Lord.

[41:55] He wants you to believe that He died for you. The one we know so well, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

[42:09] When you believe in Him, He puts that payment to your account. Paid. Paid in full. As it says, it is finished. It was basically the cancellation.

[42:20] Tell a test die or whatever it is. It's, yeah, I can't say it and get it right but whatever that word is, it is finished. It's basically what they used to stamp on.

[42:31] Debts. Paid. Cancelled. Your sin, your sin debt is cancelled and it's stamped. Paid. Paid in full. And He's put His payment, His payment to your account.

[42:43] So again, to repeat some of the things we've talked about and it's just catching this, this truth, these truths about salvation. Salvation is simple but men make it hard.

[42:56] They make it hard to believe. Actually, it's not hard to believe. It's simple to believe. Salvation is simple and you can know a sure salvation. A salvation that's assured.

[43:09] Now, there's preachers like Wayne Grudem and John MacArthur that say that assurance comes from faith that works. Grudem says if you have some works, you can have some assurance.

[43:20] If you have a lot of works, you can have a lot of assurance but he never says you can have full assurance. John MacArthur publicly admits it. He was questioned about it.

[43:31] Are you sure that you're going to heaven? And he says, I'm 99% sure that I'm saved. John MacArthur, I'm 99% sure that I'm saved.

[43:43] They cannot say 100% sure. Why? Because they're basing on human performance, a subjective standard of performance instead of the objective truth.

[43:54] It's subjective instead of objective. You can't be 99% saved. If that's what you think, you'll be 100% lost. We have to understand the truth that it's not by works of righteousness.

[44:09] It's not by works. Why? Lest any man should boast. There's nothing to be added to what Christ has done for us. So if you're feeling for yourself, well preacher, I'm not feeling that I've got security.

[44:21] There's no salvation there. You have to get it such that you've trusted if you believe you have everlasting life. Get that right.

[44:32] Believe. Trust. That you can know that you have eternal life. You can have assurance. Not 99% assurance but 100%.

[44:43] Amen. You can have that assurance today before you leave this building. We have to understand the truth that it's not by works of righteousness.

[44:54] It's not of works. Why? Lest any man should boast. If it was of our works, if it was in any measure about our works, we'd be boasting about it, wouldn't we? We'd be thinking, I'm saved but he's not, she's not because I'm doing this or doing that because of what I have done.

[45:11] there's nothing to be added to what Christ has done for us. And if the gospel you believe cannot save forever, then it cannot save at all. I'd urge you to believe today what the Bible says, believe on the Son of God.

[45:27] Trust Christ as your Saviour. And actually how you live after you trust the Lord has nothing to do with you being saved. That doesn't mean you live ungodly, far from it.

[45:40] But I'm just trying to emphasise the point that your salvation is not of works. This is a fundamental truth. A salvation by grace must exclude any form of work at any time in any place.

[45:54] That means before or after. You see what happens, here's a picture that kind of illustrates what you could call works-based salvation or the works-based gospel. You can't front load and you can't back load it in any measure.

[46:12] Any one work by many or many works by us cannot save us. Works have absolutely nothing to do with saving your soul. The one work we need is the work of Christ on the cross, the finished work.

[46:24] Not any work that you do. Now the Lordship salvation preachers, Lordship salvation is a modern heresy. Lordship salvation preachers will say that a person cannot be saved unless they submit themselves totally 100% to Jesus Christ and follow him in a life of obedience.

[46:49] Okay? That's works. That's what it is. You cannot be saved unless you submit yourself 100% totally to Jesus Christ and follow him in a life of obedience.

[47:02] Basically what they're doing is putting merits, human merit or works into the front of the gospel. They're saying believe but you've got to do this, you've got to do that, you've got to do the other.

[47:13] It's called front-loading the gospel. In other words it's adding a whole load of requirements to be saved saying you're saved by faith plus works. Basically they're adding to the finished work of the cross.

[47:26] They're front-loading the gospel with works like repent of your sin or turn from your sins to be saved. Basically that's adding a condition of salvation. They're saying you have to show that you've earned salvation or you deserve it by your own merits.

[47:44] So faith in Christ's shed blood is not enough. That's what they say. And then they're adding works at the back end as well. They're adding works at the back end of the gospel. It's called back-loading the gospel.

[47:54] So they say yeah we're saved by faith but they say we are saved by faith that works. So they're redefining faith to include works. In other words you have to show good works.

[48:09] You have to have good works. Good works must follow. Your conduct. Your faithfulness. Your perseverance. After faith in order to stay saved or to prove one's salvation you have to have good works.

[48:23] Whatever way you look at it they're adding works. Works at the front. Faith plus. Or works at the end. Faith that keeps on doing, doing, showing, evidence.

[48:35] They're saying you have to show that you've earned salvation. So, friends, this is error. This is error. People who believe in a back-loaded gospel they lack assurance because they believe in a salvation by works.

[48:51] So they lack assurance. Have I worked hard enough? Have I run that hamster wheel enough? Have I done enough? Have I been good enough? Have I measured up enough? Have I achieved enough? Have I been not sinful so much that I'm proving that I'm saved?

[49:08] They need to look at their works to know if they really believe. But since we're all sinners with a mixture of good and bad behaviour that's not the measure.

[49:18] They're never sure that they're good enough to be saved. So they're saying you have to obey him all of your life. That's a pretty big call, isn't it?

[49:30] You don't have salvation if you live a certain way if you continue in sin or you don't make Christ the master and lord of your life. Effectively they're saying well you might be saved for free but if you don't show it by your good works then you really never were saved.

[49:48] Maybe for some that can be true. They might make just an empty profession. There is that truth that that can at times be so.

[49:58] We can be trusting in a profession in a parented prayer and we haven't really got true faith in Christ as our saviour and we don't want to be in that situation. I'm not denying that could be so.

[50:09] But for these ones they make it the measure of everyone's salvation. But we cannot be assured you never got any assurance. We're never sure whether our works have been sufficient. Now some will talk about evidence of salvation.

[50:23] If we need evidence that we're really saved this is when the fruit inspectors come out with their big magnifying glasses and they'll go and inspect everybody. They're going to search everybody. See if you're genuine as they define it and you're only genuine if they say so.

[50:40] They will scrutinise you. And well I could say to them well I'm genuine today but you should have seen me yesterday. I'm sure glad you didn't see me yesterday. It's not about that. The Bible is very clear salvation is not of works.

[50:53] The Lordship Salvation error it confuses sanctification and justification. It confuses discipleship with salvation. Now of course every believer every one of us who believe we will face the judgment the judgment seat of Christ.

[51:10] Our works will be measured. Our works will be rewarded. Our works will be shown for what they are. There is the truth that our works will be tested. We want our works to please God.

[51:20] But our trust in the present our trust as for our salvation is not not not in our works. It cannot be. That's the point. And many people they lack assurance what they need to understand the only basis for assurance is salvation by grace.

[51:38] It's not our performance by which we know that we're saved. Salvation is not based on our conduct which is very subjective. How do we measure it on this sliding scale?

[51:49] You measure up or you've reached a point where you don't measure up. It's not about our conduct. Salvation is based on the promise of God's word. It's objective. Let God be true and every man a liar.

[52:02] If our salvation our assurance was based on our conduct we will all fail. I know this sermon is a bit long. We almost need an intermission now don't we?

[52:13] But bear with me I'm nearly there. None of us is able to say I'm going to get to heaven because I've lived a perfect life or I've persevered in my conduct.

[52:24] Me, my, no. I think the Bible is clear. Faith, salvation is simple. We trust in Christ as our saviour. And these other believers they redefine faith as obedience as surrender as commitment.

[52:40] Again their view is called lordship salvation. They say it's because you have to make Jesus lord of all your life to be saved. How can anyone know for sure that they're saved if it's about our own performance?

[52:54] You can trust that the Lord Jesus has made full payment full payment of sin. Think of that. That's really the bottom line paid in full. Jesus paid it all.

[53:07] Jesus has made the full payment for my sin and I've received it and he's credited that to my account. That's the only way to heaven. Look in summary now salvation is by grace through faith.

[53:20] It's by grace through faith it's no more of works. It's by grace it says Romans 11 there Romans 11 6 if by grace then it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace but if it be of works then it is no more grace otherwise work is no more work.

[53:37] So it's got this contrast here you're either trusting in grace or you're trusting in works. It's grace the free gift of God or it's works that you're trusting in.

[53:48] If you say that it's by works then guess what you've earned it. If you've earned it it's not free it's not a gift. You paid for it or tried to and you can't. It can only be by grace not works.

[54:01] So don't mix the two. This is really the finished work of Christ the biblical model. So we can know the faith that saves we can know that we have eternal life Christ died on my behalf I'm not trusting in myself.

[54:15] We don't look at whether we have had enough faith whether we have really repented whether we are really a disciple. No we look at Christ we look at Christ the all sufficient saviour we look at Christ and know that he has done everything that had to be done to save me and it is finished and that included me.

[54:34] It's not about my performance it's my trust what our Lord Jesus has done but biblical salvation is that focus what Christ has done and simply believing that and when you believe in Jesus you have changed your mind about something this is biblical repentance metanoia change of mind repentance you suddenly said oh I'm a sinner I need a saviour I didn't understand that before but now I understand that repentance happens this is what the word means change of mind now some have criticised me saying we don't teach biblical repentance actually we are going with what the Bible actually says not man's interpretation repentance means change of mind that's it repentance is not necessarily about repentance of sin the object of repentance depends on the context what it is that you're changing your mind about when it comes to salvation you're changing your mind about whatever it is that's keeping you from believing in Christ as saviour that could be your works that could be your unbelief or false belief it could include your sin if that is the issue the point is it's a change of mind a mind shift to especially so change your mind from unbelief to faith when you believe in Jesus you can say

[55:48] I've changed my mind Jesus is my Lord the Lord Jesus died on the cross for me I've changed my mind about who he is he really did rise from the dead I've changed my mind repentance involves a change of mind a change of heart and in the New Testament the mind and the heart are used interchangeably used synonymously so repentance is a conviction that we're going down the wrong way I need to change my mind to change my thinking about something I need to believe in Jesus as my saviour sin is not always the object of repentance it can be the Bible talks about repentance from dead works it says that we should repent from idols it talks about repent towards God what matters is where we place our trust are we going to turn to God are we going to turn to Christ are we going to turn to the all saving saviour our precious Lord what matters most is where we place our trust we don't place our trust in our feelings our pleadings our altar call our begging from God it's not about some emotional experience or some epiphany it's not even about some regret or contrition about our sin what matters most is where we place our trust we should repent and turn to God our Lord

[57:00] Jesus assures us verily verily I say unto you as I said before he that believeth on me hath everlasting life it's simple you believe on him and you know that you have as a result you have everlasting life is that your trust that you're believing on him or are you trusting in something else have you trusted in what Christ has done we don't get to heaven based on our own merit not in any way do you believe if so for you that believe the Bible assures you that you have everlasting life and you're saved forever many scriptures like this one he that believeth on the son hath you have it as a present possession you have everlasting life what matters is what you're trusting in when you look at Acts 8 Philip gave the gospel to a man the inquirer and he sought baptism and after Philip had outlined the gospel to him he asked him one simple question one simple question to clarify whether he was saved

[58:04] Philip said if thou believe us with all thine heart thou mayest and he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God it's the simple gospel it's simple salvation when a person believes on Christ they're ready to be baptized when they trust in Christ they're saved and secure forever and friends today if you're in that situation you can say preacher I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God then on the authority of God's word you can know that you're saved now I'm not talking about just some mental assent to facts because the world could say well Jesus came and died and might even say Jesus rose from the dead but they don't believe in him for themselves but if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your saviour to be that saviour from your sin he will save you today and you can have everlasting life and it says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life now the

[59:05] Arminians would say yes believe on him so long as you don't mess up actually if you think you can lose salvation that means you don't understand it Arminians will say they have assurance that I say yes I'm sure I'm saved today because I'm living right but they can't say that they're going to be living right tomorrow so their assurance is not a full assurance now on the other side of the coin the hyper Calvinist will say yes Jesus loves you Jesus might love you he might have died for you and you can find out if you live faithfully to the end of your life and they will say we believe all the elect are secure but I won't know if I die!

[59:50] there's no full assurance there friends we can have a full assurance the simple Bible messages salvation is straightforward it's simple it's free it's available to all who will believe in the promises of God and Jesus Christ will save you from your sins he died for you believe in him and you can know that you're saved by grace plus nothing by faith plus nothing Christ plus nothing if I trust that Christ is my Saviour believing that he truly died for me he was buried and rose again to pay for all of my sins I'm saved at that very moment and there's nothing else that can be added to that there's nothing else that I have to do I'm guaranteed on the authority of God's word that I have eternal life now some would speculate well it matters how I live afterwards some would say well you have to that as proof that you're really saved some would say if there's no change then you didn't get it they would question the validity of a person's faith based on their subjective measures that's very subjective really isn't it honestly

[61:03] I don't have any evidence of salvation except the word of God he that believeth on me hath everlasting life that's the evidence of my salvation God's word that's all the evidence that we need people of God all the evidence that we need he that believeth on me hath everlasting life do you believe on him then you have everlasting life it's going outside of that you get into all kinds of murky waters I mean who's to say what works what evidence must be how will you measure should I measure you should you measure me what's the measure that we reasons on how to know when people are not saved all the evidence to look for they get the magnifying glass out oh he's got that sin she's done this or she's not done that so she doesn't measure up it's about measurement about scrutiny about are you really saved looking for evidences in other people's lives there are no evidences that people can use to prove that you're saved it's either the word of

[62:19] God the promise of God that you believe or you do not believe I mean when you think about it can a lost man go to church they could be there morning night and mid week faithful people they can be lost a lost man can go to church can a lost man pray a lost man can pray can a lost man give money can a lost man live right they might be the most upstanding church attender a lost man can live right that's not the evidence the evidence is he that believeth on me he that believeth on me the evidence says by grace are you saved through faith that not of your souls it is not of works not of works it is the gift of God not of works less any man should boast the evidence is how you're supposed to know you're saved is whether you've trusted Christ and I've probably pressed a few buttons here and there today but the truth is where's your trust that has to be the ultimate measurement of your trusted

[63:28] Christ not trusting Christ plus what you do but trusting Christ alone how are you supposed to know you're saved it's because you've trusted Christ as your saviour and you believe what he said that's your security for salvation is simple it's not complicated it's not hard some would say well that's easy believism it is easy in the sense that he's paid everything he's paid all the cost he's gone to the ends of the earth to go to the very cross to the extent of the cross it is costly but for us it is simple to receive it's by grace he's given it he's extended it he's offering it his grace is so super abounding it's through faith believe it's a gift receive as many as received him so then gave power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name it's receiving as in receiving a gift it's receiving the person Christ your

[64:29] Lord and it's not of works it's mentioned numbers of times it repeats it's saved not of works saved not of works and friends you can have a salvation that is sure you can have a sure and certain salvation you can have assurance of salvation a sure saviour not an assurance of salvation if but an assurance of salvation period full stop why because it's by grace it's by grace let's pray Lord we thank you that you are the all sufficient saviour Lord we know salvation is a hot topic and so vital that we get clarity about it Lord help us we pray that what I've delivered is the essential biblical meaning Lord that we'll get a hold of that we'll study it for ourselves we'll research these things we'll dig deep into the fundamental truth of salvation by grace through faith that not of ourselves we pray if there's any present they might be struggling they might be thinking well I've never had that assurance

[65:36]  I've never had that certainty I've always been doubting whether I've got it whether I've deserved it whether I'm persevering enough or whether I've even prayed enough or believed enough or done works enough to add to salvation Lord I pray that there's been more clarity now that our salvation is not of works it's entirely of your grace and your love the kindness and mercy of your giving yourself at the cross in Christ Lord we pray help us to get that clear that that's what we're trusting in to not add to it of any of our own measures or effort that our trust will be entirely in your saving power the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth we thank you Lord in Jesus precious name Amen Amen