[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:14] All right, take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to the book of Galatians chapter 1. I am excited that you get to learn today what you already, I'm sure, know, but you'll see it in the Bible, you'll mark it down, and you'll have it so clearly before you.
[0:28] There's only one God, and it's only one gospel. There's only one God and one gospel. The Apostle Paul is writing this letter to a church at Galatia, and it's a church that he has had the privilege of working in and seeing people get saved, and after he's left, some really bad stuff has happened, and some people have come in.
[0:48] You'll see all the verses about that. I hope you have a sheet of paper, and you're ready, and so they're trying to make it very clear there's only one way to go to heaven, that's through Jesus Christ. There's only one way. God's not a God of the Israelites or a God of the Americans.
[1:02] He's a God of the universe. He is the creator of the God of the universe. So if you got your Bible open to Galatians chapter 1, I just want to remind you of some words, and I want to read through the passage with you, but with you looking at it and kind of marking some things.
[1:17] In verse 6, he says, Paul's writing to him, he said, I can't believe it. I went there, and I showed you the gospel, and you have so quickly removed from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto another gospel.
[1:31] So, you know, one person could say, well, they left Paul, and they walked away from Paul, and they've gone to this other gospel, but if you check it out here, it said you're removed from him that called you into the grace unto another gospel.
[1:43] So they had pulled away from the one who explains, the one who shows you how to be saved, the one who saves you. I believe that's God. I believe that's the Lord Jesus Christ, unto another gospel.
[1:54] You need to underline that word, another gospel, because they were telling them that there was another way to be saved. They were explaining the good news in another way. In verse 7, it says, it's not another.
[2:08] They may say it's another, but it's not another. And then it says in verse 7, they're troubling you. They're bothering you. They're upsetting you. They're getting you off base, and they are perverting the gospel.
[2:21] You need to underline that. That's some mighty strong talk, and we'll look at it a little bit further. They are perverting the gospel of Christ. And then he goes into this harsh statement in verse 8 and 9, and he says, I don't care if me or another angel or an angel from heaven preaches another gospel.
[2:39] He said, I hope he's accursed. I hope he has the curse of God on him. I hope he's separated from God, because you can't preach another gospel.
[2:50] And he repeats the same thing in verse 8. So go with me, if you would, to a few verses. At least write these down. They'll show you on the screen, but write them down if you would. The problem in Galatia was caused by some false teachers that with no real credentials that were teaching salvation by works.
[3:09] They were teaching salvation by works, either before salvation or after salvation. Read with me Acts chapter 15 and verse 1. The book of Galatians is kind of tied to this chapter.
[3:21] There's been this big conference up in the city of Jerusalem. And look what it says in verse 1, Acts 15, 1. And certain men, which came down from Judea, taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the matter of Moses, you cannot be saved.
[3:38] So there's what the problem was. So there's some people coming down from Judea. We call them Judaizers, but that's just a word that's not in the Bible, actually. They came down. They found these people that Paul had led to Christ, and they said, guys, I don't care what Paul's told you.
[3:53] It is true you believe in Jesus, but you must be circumcised. If not, you can't be saved. And the apostle Peter says in chapter 15 and verse 24, Acts 15, 24, he said, I've heard about the problem.
[4:07] I know what's going on. Look at chapter 15 and verse 24. For as much as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you, same word, with words, subverting your souls and saying you must be circumcised to keep the law to whom we gave no such commandment.
[4:26] So Peter says, now, wait a minute, I've heard about the problem, and they're leaving here, and they're going out, and they're saying, I sent them, and the other guys here in Jerusalem sent them. I'll just go ahead and tell you, we didn't send them.
[4:36] So we gave no such commandment. We did not send those guys out. They've been down in Galatia. They've been causing trouble, and we didn't send them out. Look if you would, it's Acts chapter 15 and verse 7.
[4:47] Again, Peter says, this is before the, even before the last verse, he said, I didn't teach that. I don't believe that. I don't care what these guys are telling you in Galatia, and if they can use my name all they want, it's not true.
[4:58] He said in verse 7, and when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
[5:13] He said, wait a minute. Guys, let's back up here. Before Paul ever started preaching to the Gentiles, I was already preaching to them. I went to see Cornelius. I went to see Cornelius. I'm the one that took the gospel to those guys, and they believed the gospel just like us, and they believed.
[5:28] And he said, the Gentiles will be saved by grace. Look at verse 11, Acts 15, 11. But we believe through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they.
[5:40] So we get saved by believing Jesus. They get saved by believing Jesus. And these guys have gone down to Galatia causing trouble. They're not us. They're not us. There were three major problems going on, and they go on today.
[5:54] There are three major problems that you might say about salvation that you might ought to take note of. You can write these down somewhere, maybe in the margin of your Bible. And the first one is legalism.
[6:04] The first one is legalism, which teaches that we're saved by works, by observing rituals, by ceremonies, keeping the law. And God entered this era in the book of Romans.
[6:16] And in Romans 3, 28, the Bible says, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Can I look up here a second?
[6:27] When you get saved, you get saved by believing in Jesus. When you get saved, you get saved by believing that God in human flesh died on a cross, paid our sin debt. And it's not by keeping the Ten Commandments.
[6:40] It is not by being a good moral person. It's not by doing anything. It's said in the Old Testament. You're not saved because you don't eat pork. You're not saved because you keep the seventh day. You are saved without any of those things.
[6:51] You're saved by faith, by faith. If you should open your Bible and mark that by faith without the deeds of the law. So legalism. Another one is antinomianism.
[7:03] Look, if you would, in James chapter 2 and verse 17, there's this problem called antinomianism, which means basically that we're saved by the law, by the grace, and it doesn't matter how we live or how we behave.
[7:16] And so some people, they're like, well, you get saved by grace. And it's okay then, whatever's okay, because you're saved by grace. Sometimes people that believe in once saved, always saved, that's basically what they'll end up saying.
[7:26] Now, we believe in eternal security, but there's no such thing in the Bible as I'm saved. I'll go live like the devil. That's just not in the Bible. Could you say amen right there? And the Bible says in James chapter 2 and verse 17, even so faith, if it have not works, is dead, being alone.
[7:42] So if you're saved totally by faith, but if your faith isn't something that changes you, you didn't have real faith. If you have faith that didn't do a work in you, you don't have real faith, the Bible is saying.
[7:57] And then a guy named M.R. DeHaan called this third mistake Galatianism. Galatianism. So it's like Galatians with ism on the end of it. It's really another word for legalism that teaches that we're saved by faith, but then after we get saved by faith, we have to keep the law.
[8:13] So our ultimate salvation depends on our works and so the grace of God. God answered that error by this wonderful book. Look at Galatians 3.3. Galatians 3.3.
[8:24] And by the way, this is the most common one. It's just another word for legalism. Can I just tell you almost every Christian believes this one? I'm pretty sure there are people in this room that believe this one.
[8:35] You somehow believe that by his mercy and his grace, he saved me. But after that, I got to do a lot of stuff. It's kind of like God does 70 or 80% of it, but I got to finish up with the 20 or 30 or 10 or 2 or 1%.
[8:48] I got some stuff I got to do. So it is God saving me, but me coming through on the end. But look what he said in Galatians 3.3. This whole book is about this, and that's where we're going to be for the next few months.
[9:00] Are you so foolish, having begun in the spirit, are you now made perfect by the law? Do you think that on May the 6th, 1962, Austin, you accepted Christ as your Savior, and I saved you, and I put you on the road to heaven, and I made a new creature out of you, but you got to hold on, finish up, do the work.
[9:19] It's all depending on you. You got to get circumcised. You got to get baptized. You got to take the Lord's Supper. You got to, you got to, you got to. If that's what you're believing, you started by spirit. You finished by spirit.
[9:29] You started by grace. You finished by grace. So there's a big problem. So that's what he's going to answer in the book of Galatians. He's going to answer that. See, these people came down, and they came to these Galatians. Paul had walked into a town full of heathens and, and wild people, the people that, people that didn't even know God, and he had preached these Gentiles, and he preached the gospel to them, and they'd gotten saved, and he told them, here's what has to happen.
[9:53] You got to realize you've sinned against the Holy God. You got to realize that you deserve to go to hell when you die. You got to realize that the God of heaven loves you, and Jesus died for you, and all you're going to do is trust him.
[10:03] You're going to give your heart and life to him, and you're going to be saved. God will show you you're a sinner, and God will save you, and then you'll be saved. These Judaizers came down. These people, you got to understand, man, they left their false gods.
[10:16] They left all their junk they'd done, their, their, their Zeus worship, or whatever it was they were doing. They left all that, and they were following Jesus, and then they came down and said, but you got to do some stuff. It's not enough to believe.
[10:28] You got to do some stuff, and so this book is written about, no, you don't really have to do something. So I want you to get something clear today. You're either saved by grace or by law, grace or works, faith or works.
[10:42] You're either saved by trusting what Jesus did or what you do. It's not a matter of law and grace, but rather of law or grace, it cannot be both. So I want to take you through something.
[10:53] There's a basic thing, and I want you to understand this morning, because you live in a pluralistic world. You live in a world that's kind of like, well, we got our Christian beliefs, and Austin's telling us our Christian beliefs, and that's what Christians believe, but there's a lot of ways to heaven.
[11:10] And so you might get to heaven like a Buddhist, and you might get to heaven like a Muslim, and you might get to heaven like a Hindu, and you might, and I just want to tell you up front before we get started, it's all grace of the God of heaven through Jesus Christ.
[11:23] God, there's no other way to be saved. And I want you to write some things down. This is why we're a missionary church. This is why we're doing so much to get the gospel out, because good news has to get to people so they can know.
[11:36] I've asked a bunch of missionaries, I'm going to give you some things I heard this week from them when I asked, but there's only one God, and all other religions and ideologies are wrong and lead to hell.
[11:48] I'm going to repeat that because I want you to hear it. There's only one God. So all other religions and ideologies are wrong and lead to hell.
[12:01] Not trying to be ugly, just trying to be factual. Not trying to be ugly, just trying to tell you what the word of God says. There's only one God. The Bible says in Isaiah 44, 6, thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, I am the last.
[12:19] There is no other God besides me. And beside me, there is no other God. I'll need you to listen to me a second. There's not a Muslim God. There's not a Hindu God.
[12:38] It's not, well, as long as you believe what you believe, as much as you believe it, you'll be okay. That's not true. It's Jesus or hell. It's Jesus or hell.
[12:49] So believing that there is one God is step number one. See, all of us got to get a hold of something. This isn't Baptist stuff I'm teaching you. This is the word of God.
[12:59] You should have it in your hands. You should be looking it up. You should be questioning me. You should be saying, wait a minute. I want to see if the Bible says that or if that's Austin spouting off Baptist junk. Well, it's not.
[13:10] So look it up in the Bible. There's only one God. And by the way, the devils in James chapter 2 and verse 19, they know there's only one God. The demons of hell know there's only one God.
[13:22] In James chapter 2 and verse 19, the Bible said, And thou believest there's one God. Well, you're doing good. Thou doest well. You just moved about as far along as the devil has. So Satan in hell knows there's only one God.
[13:34] He knows there's not 50 different gods. He knows there's not a million different gods like the Hindus might say. The devils learn that much. And so if you don't understand that, you can't be saved. There's only one God.
[13:45] There's only one God. The second thing I want you to learn is there's only one way to get to God. There's only one way to get to God. And you should know that in a pluralistic world, in a world where everybody's tolerant and everybody's like, Well, all of them are good and they all worship God their way.
[14:01] No. There's only one God. The God of eternity. And the only way to him is through Jesus. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2.5. 1 Timothy 2.5.
[14:13] For there is one God. One God. You should underline that. There's one God and one mediator between God and man. The man Jesus Christ. Or Christ Jesus.
[14:24] Now look at me. Listen to me a second. Do you understand? There's not like the Christian God. The Muslim God. The Hindu God. The atheist God. There's not like that.
[14:34] There's one God. And there's only one guy that's to go between. Between man and God. That is the man Jesus Christ. The Bible says in John 14.6.
[14:47] Jesus said it. So look it up. John 14.6. Jesus said unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.
[14:58] You should underline that in your Bible. There's only one way, one truth, one life. And nobody will ever get to the God of heaven unless they come through Jesus. So you might say, well I think those Muslim people and what they're doing, I mean I respect that.
[15:13] And I respect what those, I don't. The Bible doesn't. God doesn't. The Apostle Paul didn't. You need to understand there's only one God and one way to him. In Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, the Bible said, Neither is there salvation in any other.
[15:28] For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It's the name Jesus Christ. Read the Bible, get the context there. It's the name of Jesus Christ.
[15:39] There's only one way. Now Galatians was written to Christians. The letter's written to Christians. But as we delve into this, I need you to understand, we're not just talking about Christian doctrine.
[15:49] I once was in college, back before the turn of the century and many moons ago. And they said, well there's a lot of ways to heaven. Christians have like three or four ways to get to heaven.
[16:01] And then there's the other ways of all the other religions. And I was just a 17, 18 year old boy in college, but I knew that wasn't true. I read enough Bible to know better than that.
[16:12] I'd gone to church enough with country preachers that didn't know anything but the Bible. I knew better than that. I understand there's only one God. So I asked the missionaries this week that are with our church. I asked a bunch of them, just tell me what you know.
[16:24] And here's what Hindus do. They offer no salvation. When a person dies for 13 days, their good and bad works are judged. Then they will determine whether they advance or go backward or escape the process of reincarnation.
[16:38] They live their lives in fear of displeasing one of the gods. If you get sick, you must have done something to displease one of the gods. Everything is based on works and with no guarantee that it will ever lead to anything.
[16:51] If you don't do good, you might come back as a cow, a rat, or a dog. So you better do good in this life. No God loves them. No God loves them.
[17:01] There is no promise of salvation. Let's just be honest. That religion is a godless religion. No salvation. Our major Christian religious group in England believes that being Christened as a child makes them Christian.
[17:17] That's just about as bad as Hinduism. You're getting Christened as a child. It doesn't make you saved. It doesn't make you go to heaven. It just got you wet. In a part of Spain, they often say they need to do good to everyone.
[17:30] They're not so wildly evil that God, the universe, or whoever would condemn, they're fine. So again, religious works, being good, being moral, that's how they get to God. That's not true.
[17:41] You can be the most moral person. You can be the best person. You can not be so bad as some of the worst, but you won't go to heaven. In Bolivia, much of Latin America, salvation is a process more than an event.
[17:54] A lifelong journey. No end in sight. No certainty of getting there. They pride themselves that they can't be sure. And they use that to motivate and manipulate.
[18:05] Sounds like a lot of churches in America. In the Cosa culture, they have to please their ancestors. So they really can't talk to God. They've got to talk to their dead granddaddy or great granddaddy or uncle.
[18:17] And they do sacrifices so that everything will be okay. Muslims believe that your good works and your bad works will be put in a scale. Kind of like Christians that don't know the Bible. They'll be put in a scale and weighed out to figure out where they go.
[18:30] They have no guarantee that they'll go to heaven. It's all up to Allah anyway. From China, atheists have no concept of salvation. So they simply cease to exist when they die.
[18:42] That'd be good if that were true, but it's not true. The Buddha urges us to prepare for death and to prepare for that journey by cleansing the mind, not being so attached to things, to be able to let go and release ourselves from needing to be, from needing to have.
[18:56] They hope to get out of the cycle and leave forever, obtaining a niverna, and release from the cycle of death and rebirth. Let's listen to me before I take you into the book of Galatians.
[19:08] Salvation is a matter of recognizing that there's only one God. How many of you believers, only one God say amen? Amen. You will do what he says or you'll be lost forever.
[19:20] There are only two religions in the world in all honesty. You've heard of many religions, and Christianity has almost every one of those religions mixed in the middle of us. There are only two religions. Grace and faith are works and law.
[19:34] It's what I do, or what he did, or what I do. So many Christians are mixed up, and Galatians will help us with that. You must realize that you only get to heaven through what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary.
[19:48] And by the way, that's why vision has to be such a strong missionary church. If we could believe that atheism would get you to heaven, then we'd leave China alone and wouldn't take the gospel to them. If we could believe that Hinduism would take care of them, then India wouldn't need the gospel.
[20:00] If we could believe that doing good stuff, we'd leave Africa alone because most of them got good works in them. But we know it's only through Jesus.
[20:11] And Jesus is the only way to be saved. Now go with me, if you would, to verse 6. Galatians chapter 1 and verse 6. They left Jesus for another truth.
[20:23] That's what's got Paul upset. Paul knew these people. He had worked with these people. He had taught these people. And he says in verse 6, I marvel, I'm shocked that you have so soon removed from him, from Jesus, from God, the one that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another gospel.
[20:42] The Holy Spirit had done a work in you. It was Jesus who had delivered them from their sin in this present world. Look at Galatians chapter 1 and verse 3. You have your Bible open there? Look at it.
[20:52] The Bible says, Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins. Who gave himself for our sins.
[21:04] Jesus died on the cross on purpose to pay my sin debt. If you understand that, say amen. He gave himself for our sins, the Bible says, and to deliver us from this present evil world.
[21:16] Jesus died for my sins and to deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father. He died on purpose. He died with a purpose.
[21:28] He came to seek and save that which was lost. He rescued them and he rescued us from this world and the power of sins and the consequences of man's rebellion. But they had listened to false teachers.
[21:41] By the way, I'm afraid you do too. Enough of TBN and you're going to get really messed up. Enough of radio preaching and other preachers and you're going to get messed up. The Bible says in verse 6 again, look at it.
[21:54] He said, wow, I'm shocked. You've pulled away from Jesus. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ under another gospel.
[22:07] I think most of you probably got saved like I did. On May the 6th, 1962, I'll just be honest with you. I didn't have a whole lot of understanding of a whole lot of anything. I was like seven and three quarters old.
[22:19] I'm about to turn eight years old. It's May the 6th. I'll be eight on August the 21st. I'm about to get there. And I heard that Jesus died on the cross. I still remember that Sunday morning. I didn't pay much attention.
[22:30] I was like a common kid in church not paying attention. But he kept talking about how Jesus was dying on that cross. And he talked about how Jesus was suffering. And something hit my little seven-year-old heart and said, you are a sinner and you need to be saved.
[22:44] I went forward. I just trusted what Jesus did on the cross. I just trusted that he died for me. I just trusted that God loved me and I accepted Jesus as my Savior. That's how I got saved. I think that's probably how most of you got saved.
[22:56] But then somebody came along after that and they started adding a whole bunch of stuff to what God said. They started adding a whole bunch of stuff to what God said. And that's what happens.
[23:07] Paul said, I cannot believe it. I am shocked. I am shocked. I taught you clearly. So here's a letter to straighten you back up and put you back on the right road. You need to understand this morning.
[23:18] It's an either-or situation. Okay? You've got to do it. You've got to get saved by one or the other. You can't mix them up. Look at Romans chapter 11 and verse 6 if you would.
[23:31] Romans chapter 11 and verse 6. Now listen to me. You're saved either by grace or by works, but you're not going to mix them. Look at what the Bible says in Romans 11 and 6. He's explaining the same truth.
[23:41] And if by grace, then it's no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it's no more of grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
[23:52] Let me put that in Tennessee Hillbilly for you. If you think that you get saved by trusting Jesus, but then you've got to get baptized to be saved, that's works. You have now turned it into something you did.
[24:04] If you think that you've got trusted Jesus and you've got to take the Lord's Supper, then that's works. If you think that you've trusted Jesus and now you've got to get circumcised, that's works. And if it's works, it's not grace.
[24:16] And if it's grace, it's not works. It's either trust Jesus or go to hell. It's either trust Jesus or go to hell. Now listen to me.
[24:27] I'll tell you something. I'm afraid so many of us may not be saved. Because, man, we are really, really, really trusting what we've done. We're really trusting what we did.
[24:37] And so we don't relax and trust what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary. It is either or. You're either saved by what you do or you're saved by what he did. That's the lesson of Galatians chapter 1, verses 6 through 9.
[24:51] If you provide your own merit, then it will not be his merit. If it's your obedience or your work, it's no longer grace. When you get to heaven, guys, there will be no boasting.
[25:02] There will be no bragging. There will be no showing off when we get to heaven. In Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9, that you know by heart, I'm sure, the Bible is very clear. The Bible said in Ephesians 2, for by grace are you saved.
[25:14] Could you say that part with me? Ready? For by grace are you saved. For by grace are you saved. Through faith, that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God. Now look at verse 9 and say it with me.
[25:27] Verse 9, say this part with me. Ready? Go. Not of, lest any man should. Do you realize that if we were, if it was about what we've done, you could go to heaven and say, well, I never got a divorce like that guy.
[25:40] And I never, and I never, I never slept with anybody like that guy. And I never got drunk like that guy. I was just the best guy you ever met. We'd all be walking around heaven bragging on each other. Well, probably not. We'd just be bragging on ourselves.
[25:51] He said, you get to heaven, you will be bragging on you. Because you'll realize it wasn't what you did, it's what he did. You were saved by grace, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God.
[26:02] It's a gift. It's a gift. I get to heaven, I'll get there because of a gift, not because of what I did. Go with me to Titus chapter 3, verse 4.
[26:13] It's a teaching all through your Bible. It's a teaching. That's why Paul is so upset. How could these people who trusted Jesus all of a sudden accept another gospel?
[26:24] In Titus 3, 4, the Bible says, But after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward men appeared. Do you have your Bible open? Underline in that verse, you really ought to open your Bible so you know I'm getting that out of the Bible.
[26:38] Underline it, it says, After the kindness and love of God our Savior toward men appeared. How do we get saved? Well, I tell you how. After the kindness and love of God our Savior toward men appeared.
[26:53] That's how we got saved. It's the kindness of God. It's the love of God that did the work in our heart. Verse 5. In case you didn't catch what he said in verse 4, he said, Not by works of righteousness which we have done.
[27:05] Can I get you to repeat that part with me? Just say that out loud with me. You ready? Not by works, righteousness, which we have done. Well, it wasn't my baptism. It wasn't me getting circumcised.
[27:17] It wasn't me taking care of to obey the Sabbath rules. It wasn't me not eating shrimp. It wasn't me doing any of that stuff. It was not by works of righteousness which we have done.
[27:28] But it was according to his what? His mercy. He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. It was the work of God that did it. Look at verse 6 with me.
[27:39] Titus 3.6. Which he shed on us abundantly through, say that with me, through who? Jesus Christ our Savior. That, okay, I want you to read with me the next verse.
[27:50] Verse 7. That being, repeat this part with me. That being justified by? Grace. Say it again. Being justified by? His grace. We shall be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
[28:06] Galatians chapter 1 and verse 6. He says, guys, I am shocked. I just do not know what has happened here. How in the world could you turn from Jesus to what you've got to do? How could you turn from what the God of heaven did for you to what you do?
[28:19] I can't get it. I don't get it. Romans chapter 3 and verse 24. Just more verses so you know. So when you go home you know. Write them in the margin of your Bible so you have it.
[28:30] In Romans 3.24, I want you to read it with me. Look at it. Look at it right behind my head if you didn't look it up in your Bible. Ready? Here it goes. I want you to say at least those 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 words right after being. Are you ready?
[28:41] The Bible says being justified freely by his grace. Would you circle the word freely? Now preachers love to hold it over your head. If you don't give, you're probably going to go to hell.
[28:52] If you miss a church service, you're going to go to hell. If you don't give. No, no. Being justified what? Freely. Say it again. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
[29:04] Verse 25. Romans 3.25. Whom God has sent forth to be a propitiation. Say this with me. Through faith in his. Okay. Say it again.
[29:15] Through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Verse 26. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness that he might be, say it, that he might be just and the justifier of him that.
[29:36] You know what? He's right. And he's the one that does the saving. If you'll just believe in Jesus. Verse 27. Romans 3.25. Where is boasting then?
[29:49] It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay. But by the law of? Faith. Verse 28. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the?
[30:06] I think you're getting it. Romans chapter 4 and verse 4. By the way, this is not a Baptist opinion. You're reading this book.
[30:18] If you understand that, say amen. Amen. And I ain't even saying a whole lot. We're just letting God do the talking. Romans chapter 4 and verse 4. Ready? Romans chapter 4. Now to him that what?
[30:29] Worketh. Is the reward not reckoned of? Grace. But of? Ho, ho, ho. I got to take care of Sabbath day. I got to keep all the rules. I got to cross myself enough times.
[30:40] I got to take the Lord's Supper. I got to get baptized. I got to get circumcised. I got to be faithful to church. I can't do this on Sunday. I can't do this on Saturday. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He said, whoa, whoa, whoa. If you want to keep rules, then you owe it to me.
[30:54] Keep them all. Look at what he says. To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, not of God's goodness towards you, but you owe it, but of debt.
[31:05] Look at verse 5. Just want you to see what the word of God says. Verse 5. But to him that. I need to hear you. Come on. It's for you. But to him that. Worketh not.
[31:17] But. To him that. Wait a minute. I want to start back on the verse. I'm sorry. That's my fault. But to him that. Worketh not. But. Believeth on him.
[31:27] That justified who? Let a minute. Who did he justify? All you good people? He said, I don't even start with good people. I start with rotten ones. That's us. Amen. I start with sinners.
[31:39] For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's none righteous, no not one. He justifies the ungodly. Read the verse. We've chapter 4 and verse 5.
[31:51] Again, start at the very beginning. The Bible says, but to him that. Worketh not. But. Believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is. Actual. Okay.
[32:02] His faith is. Actual. Uh-huh. Verse 6. Even as David also described the blessedness of the man unto whom God. Imputeth. Righteousness.
[32:12] Actual. That word imputeth is a big word. It just means accounted. It just means put on his account. It's an accounting term. It's like what God does is say. I.
[32:23] Let me. Let me. If you got faith. I'm going to write on here. That's it. I'll. I'll give you righteousness. You're trusting him. And when he keeps the books. He takes the sinner stuff off. And puts the work stuff on.
[32:33] He puts the righteousness on there. It's God doing the work. Without works. Righteousness without works. Now go back to Galatians with me.
[32:46] We're not going to finish today. Come back next Sunday. We'll get it. Galatians chapter 2 and verse 16. Saying the same thing to the Galatians. He said it to every church he wrote to.
[32:58] He's telling them salvation is by what Jesus did. If you're saved here today and you're on your way to heaven. It's really not by how good you are. It's not by the clothes you wear.
[33:09] It's not by the things you do and the things you don't do. It's by trusting Jesus. Galatians chapter 2 verse 16. Knowing that a man is what?
[33:22] Okay. Say it all. By the works. Ready? Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law. How is he justified? But by the faith of Jesus Christ.
[33:34] Even as we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be. We have believed that we might be what? Justified by what? Faith of Christ. Not by the works of the law.
[33:46] For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Okay. We read a lot of Bible. Okay.
[33:57] So you want to argue with me. You want to argue with the word of God. How many people are going to get to heaven because they've been circumcised? None. How many people are going to get to heaven because they don't eat shrimp and pork and all that?
[34:12] None. How many people are going to get to heaven because they're good to their neighbors? None. Because you don't get there by what you do. You get there by what he did. Jesus gave himself to save us and to rescue us from this wicked world.
[34:27] That's why every song is about Jesus. That's why we brag on him and lift him high because it's about Jesus. It's what Jesus did. It's what Jesus did.
[34:37] That's why we brag on him. Real quickly. Go with me if you would to Galatians chapter 1 and verse 7. In verse 6 he said, I marvel that you were so soon removed.
[34:50] You shocked me that you walked away from him that called you under the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Now see, they didn't lose their salvation, but they were confused. Kind of like you.
[35:01] They didn't lose their salvation. You don't lose your salvation. But they're confused. They're like, oh my goodness, I better go get circumcised. And I better dress the way the Baptists tell me and I better do all the things they tell me because if I don't do all the stuff, I might not go to heaven.
[35:15] Verse 7. In verse 6 he said, called you under the grace of Christ unto another gospel. And then he said, which is not what?
[35:27] Look at verse 7. Which is not another. There's not another. There be some that trouble you and would pervert, twist, mess up the gospel of Christ.
[35:45] Those that had come from Jerusalem were turning the good news, the gospel, into something not so good. I hate to say this, but it's true.
[35:56] Many people get saved by grace and they're excited to hear that you can be saved by what God did, but then we turn it into a bunch of rules and a check-off list to make sure I'm still saved or whatever.
[36:08] Paul said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Throw the list away. It's what Jesus did. They turned what was meant to let you rest into what would cause you stress. I'm not sure I'm going to heaven.
[36:21] Got to be careful. Make my works. I was sitting in the home of a Saturday Adventist and the man was a nominal Catholic, didn't go. His wife was a Seventh-day Adventist. I was witnessing to him on a Saturday and he enjoyed talking to me.
[36:34] You know, the big old white guys in his house talking to him about Jesus. And somebody came to the store. They have a little store in their garage and they banged on the thing. They said, hey, somebody come and take care of me. And she said, honey, you got to go take care of that.
[36:47] You know I can't go. He said, I'm talking to this guy, you go. And she said, I can't go. You know I can't go. You know I can't do that on the Sabbath. You know I can't. He said, I'm going to talk to this guy.
[36:58] You go. So she went and took care of him, got the money. She came back in and said, I have lost my salvation because you want to talk to that guy. That's not rest. That's stress. Some of you almost got that.
[37:09] Some church almost taught you that. It's not what it is. He said, they're perverting the gospel. It had been about God being good to them, but they turned it into measuring up in goodness.
[37:20] So all of a sudden, it's like, I got, I mean, yes, Jesus saved me, but I got to be real good so I can go to heaven. That's not what the Bible teaches. You got to understand, the Galatians had a problem.
[37:32] There's no doubt that what God does in my heart will change me or I'll be disciplined, but you need to understand salvation is purely by what Jesus did. They turned a gift into something conditional with the option to lose it or have it taken from you.
[37:46] They caused the people to become self-focused more than God-focused because it was more about what I do than what God did. It would cause other Christians to be judgmental and critical as everyone evaluated the works of another.
[38:01] Well, that's not our churches today. People walk into church and they're like, let me look you over. I don't think you're obeying all the rules. Maybe you're not going to go to heaven. Hey, I saw that you skipped Sunday night. Whoa, I'm pretty sure you're getting lower on the checklist.
[38:13] I'm counting the number of services you come to. You're probably going to go to hell when you die. And so all of a sudden, churches, that's why nobody wants to go to church because nobody understands it's not what you do.
[38:23] It's what he did. So the good news became bad news as soon as they had it. I was very guilty of that in my younger life. I so desperately wanted you to live right, so I kept heavy, heavy hanging over your head.
[38:36] Makes for good, easy preaching, though, because you get to yell at people and fuss at them instead of saying, I know you're a born again child of God by the grace of God. It really makes it tough. Look at verse 8.
[38:48] 8 and 9. Those that preach another gospel are from the devil. Okay? Those that preach another...
[38:59] By the way, Christians are doing it. Christian does a baby, did the catechism, keep all the rules.
[39:10] But though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
[39:28] There was the gospel Paul preached, which was that God loved you, and you sinned against God, and Jesus died for you and took your sins on him. There was the gospel these other men preached. They were preaching, you've got to be circumcised.
[39:41] You've got to keep the laws of Moses. I grew up all my life on Sunday. If I played baseball, I might go to hell. They would never say it that way, but it was all... It was just...
[39:51] I mean, you knew. You can play baseball on Saturday, you can play baseball on Monday, but you can play it on Sunday. Always funny, you know? It's like they picked what they wanted to pick on. Here's what Paul would have said.
[40:02] Guys, you might not ought to play baseball. I'm not saying you ought to or you ought not. I'm just telling you, that's not how you get saved. That's not how you get saved. Paul wanted them to be accursed.
[40:13] Do you see that word? I mean, this is like a preacher getting to the point of saying, I want them accursed. I want them given a curse or destruction.
[40:24] I want them separated from Christ and salvation. The apostle Paul, look how harsh he is. He's like, these people are messing up the gospel.
[40:36] These people are twisting the truth. That's exactly where the Jews had gotten. It was all gospel in the Old Testament until they got a hold of it, like men do, and started making a bunch of rules.
[40:47] It was all about the sacrifices. It was all about where God would meet them, but they made a bunch of rules. The Galatians are doing the same thing. You must understand that if you change the gospel, you make it no gospel.
[41:01] If you change the gospel, you make it no gospel at all. Have you heard and believed the good news of Jesus' death on the cross for you? Have you trusted Jesus Christ and what he did for you?
[41:14] If you have it, today's the day. You listen to me. It's a free gift. And no, there won't be any hidden coupon book given to you after you trust Christ.
[41:24] We're not going to say trust Christ, and as soon as you do, you've got to check off these next 25 things and you're not really saved. We're not going to do that. It's realizing you've sinned against the Holy God. It's repenting of your sin, and it's trusting what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary.
[41:37] Paul said, boy, they changed all that, and I want them to be accursed. If you're here and you haven't been saved or maybe you've been doing all the religious things, you've got to speak in tongues.
[41:48] If you don't speak in tongues, you're not saved. You've got to get circumcised or you're not saved. You've got to get baptized or you're not saved. What you do because you want to will be something totally different than what you have to do.
[42:00] There's no gotas, and there's no got yous, and there's no switching it out, and there's no bait and switch here. It's trust Jesus and what he did on the cross at Calvary.
[42:11] That's all there is to it. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[42:21] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.