Turn over in our Gatsby's to
hymn number 45. Hymn number 45 in the Gatsby. Salvation by Christ alone. We will sing this to the tune
of Am I a Soldier of the Cross. How can ye hold deluded souls
to see what none e'er saw? Salvation by the works obtained
of Sinai's fiery law. There ye may toil and weep and
fast and vex your heart with pain. And when you've ended,
find at last that all your toil was vain. That love would make
your guilt abound. Sad help and blood is worse. All souls that are under, that
are found, by God Himself are cursed. This curse pertains to
those who break one precept, e'er so small. And where's the man in thought
or deed that has not broken all? Fly, then, awake, and sinners
fly. Your case admits no stay. The fountain's open now for sin,
come wash your guilt away. See how from Jesus' wounded side
the water flows and blood. If you but touch that purple
tide, you then have peace with God. Only by faith in Jesus'
wounds the sinner finds release. No other sacrifice or sin will
God accept but this. All right. Anybody have one that
you'd like to request? Alright, well how about we sing
one more in the Blue Book, the Songs of Grace. Hymn number 115. Hymn number 115, Jehovah Shammah,
the Lord is there. Jehovah-Shamma, I hope that word
means the Lord is there. Hymn number 115. I will sing
this to the tune of All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name. Jehovah-Shamma, God is there
where ransomed men are found. The Lord is with His chosen ones. whose hearts are heaven bound. The Lord is with his chosen ones,
whose hearts are heaven bound. Jehovah Shammah Church of God,
The trials are sharp and long. Be not afraid, the Lord is near. His holy arm is strong. Be not afraid, the Lord is near. His holy arm is strong. Jehovah Shama may it be that
in this place, this hour, the Lord will let us see His face
and show His saving power. The Lord will let us see His
face and show His saving power Jehovah look my heart to that
bright world the lord is there city of god where saints all
rest in love The Lord is their city of God, where saints all
rest and love. Alright. Before we break for lunch, let's
look at a few more verses of Scripture here in Romans. Turn with me, if you would, over
to Romans chapter 5. We've just seen and talked in
the last section that salvation can never come by the deeds of
the law, so works are excluded from the work of salvation. No works of the law will any
man be justified, and so we don't have any ground to stand on.
But we also found that salvation or justification and ultimately
all salvation is predicated upon the work of Jesus Christ alone.
Now in Romans chapter 5, we see down in verse 18, if you look
at Romans 5 and verse 18, It says, therefore, as by the
offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation,
even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon
all men under justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Now, there's a couple of things
I'd like to point out here. Number one, you'll see that the
grounds upon which one is given life and the grounds upon which
one is given righteousness is by the obedience of one. Okay? It's not by the obedience of
the many. It's by the obedience of one.
It was Christ's obedience that procured our life, procured our
righteousness. So it's His obedience. But the
thing I'd like to also point out is that Oftentimes, and here
again is that fine line between what some sovereign grace believers
teach and what others teach, is that we are accounted righteous
or made righteous by quickening. There are many that teach that
we are made righteous by quickening. or that we are accounted righteous. Two different things. One that
we are imparted and made righteous and others say that we are counted
righteous or it's accounted unto us righteous at quickening and
thus faith ensues and then God justifies us based upon that
faith. But here it says that by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. It's the obedience
of Jesus that made all of his elect righteous. Now again, I go back to what
about all the people in the Old Testament? That was before Jesus'
obedience was manifested. But yet they were made righteous.
And it wasn't their faith that made them righteous. It wasn't
quickening that made them righteous. It was the obedience of Jesus
that made them righteous. So, as we look at that, we see
that the righteousness of the saints is an imputed thing, not
an imparted thing. The righteousness that it's talking
about is a righteousness that is a legal righteousness laid
to their account based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ,
and that includes His obedience. Whenever I say the finished work
of Jesus Christ, I'm basically meaning everything that he did
while he was here. Everything. Okay? And so it's
that obedience, and particularly the death, burial, and the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Not so much the burial, but the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. we see is what makes
us righteous. So, that ought to dispel any
notion that our faith makes us righteous. It ought to dispel
the fact that we can do any kind of works to become righteous. Again, there's a lot of people
out there that think that we become more and more sanctified
by our works, thus becoming more and more righteous in and of
ourselves. But brethren, the Bible is very
clear. The flesh is just flesh. It cannot please God. The flesh
cannot get any better. It will never get any better.
The flesh will always be the flesh and it will always be corrupt
and never attain any better. And so the flesh can't be improved
upon. So there is no making more righteous
the flesh. And the Spirit of God that is
in us, the new creation that is born from above, the Bible
says is created in holiness and righteousness. It can't be improved
upon. It's holy. It's righteous. It
cannot sin. So, that nature cannot be improved
upon. So, if you can't improve upon
the flesh and the new creation that's in us is perfect and holy,
then what is there to make more righteous? See, it still all
comes down to the righteousness of Christ alone. It's either
the righteousness of Christ in us Or it's the righteousness
of Christ laid to our account. So whether it's practical or
whether it's positional, it all is about the righteousness of
Christ. And it's not about us at all. Mike Smith doesn't become
more righteous. Do I do righteous acts? Yes,
I can do righteous acts. As God works in me to will and
to do His good pleasure, those would be acts of righteousness.
But if Mike does anything of the flesh, that is filthy rags. It's nothing. And so it says
here, For by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. So again we
find that the work of Christ is the grounds of salvation. and attaining to righteousness,
the accounting of righteousness, and even the experience of righteousness. It's all about the work of Jesus
Christ. Look with me, if you would, at
Romans 6 and verse 23. We read this in our preservation
portion, but let's look at what it says. It says, For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord, not through your faith. The gift of God being eternal
life doesn't come through faith. And that's, again, the whole
notion that I used to preach and teach is salvation by faith. It's through Jesus Christ our
Lord. The gift of God is based upon Jesus Christ our Lord. It comes through Jesus Christ
our Lord. That word through there kind
of points us to the fact that Jesus then is a medium. He's a mediator. God has the
gift. His elect are the recipients.
And for the gift to get to the recipients, it has to go through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Positionally, it went through
the Lord Jesus Christ because He stood as our substitute in
life and in death. So salvation comes through Jesus
Christ that way. But also the experience of salvation
comes through Jesus Christ. Jesus said that I have been given
authority over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as God
has given to me. So the experience of our salvation
begins at quickening. That's when we begin to experience
that salvation, to know of our salvation and to experience our
salvation. It comes at quickening and that
quickening comes through the Lord Jesus Christ because He's
been given power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many
as God has given to Him. The Holy Spirit quickens those
whom Christ sends to quicken. The Bible says the Spirit goes
where it listeth. Well, it listeth where Christ
tells it to list. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of Christ. Spirit goes where it listeth. He goes where He determines He's
going to go. He goes where He wants to go.
No one else can determine where it's going to go. No one else
can tell it where to go. No one can ask it to come. No one can command it to come.
No one can buy it to come. So even the experience of our
salvation is out, the beginning of that is outside of ourselves.
That comes through Jesus Christ. At the appointed time that God
says, let that child come to know their salvation, let them
come alive. He sends the Spirit. The Spirit quickens the heart.
The heart now is receptive. The heart now is given to spiritual
things. The mind can understand spiritual
things of God. The heart is open to spiritual
things of God. It feels the weight of its sin,
knows that they are a sinner, knows that they cannot attain
to anything before God, sees Christ as the only answer for
their salvation, looks to His work alone as their hope, and
trust in Christ Jesus. That comes because the Lord Jesus
Christ gives you life. We've seen that in Irresistible
Grace. So whether it's position or whether it's through experience,
salvation is through Jesus Christ. It has nothing to do with an
action on you. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. So we see here again that this
is by grace. Turn with me now if you would
over to Romans 11. Romans 11. Starting in verse 1, it says,
I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid, for I
also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Woe ye not
what the Scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets
and dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek
my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal."
And here it is. Even so, at this present time,
there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Now,
God uses the term election of grace. They are elected on the
terms of grace. That's why we say salvation is
by grace alone. That's why we say it's all about
grace alone. It's not about works. It's not
about free will. It's not about man's dignity.
It's not about man's accountability. It's not about man's responsibility. It's about grace, God-giving
grace. And it says that there is a remnant
according to the election of grace. And if you remember, and
Brother Larry points this out quite often, in chapter 9, that
the selection of Jacob over Esau is so that the purpose of God
according to election might stand. God's purpose in glorifying Himself
includes or there is election is the purpose of God in glorifying
Himself. And so choosing one over another,
which is what election is all about, is the purpose of God. And so again we see it reiterated
here that there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. But look what he says in verse
6, and if by grace, which he just said it was by grace, and
if by grace then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. Now, let's just stop there. What's
Paul saying? Paul says that salvation is by
grace, not by faith, by grace. And he says, if it is then by
grace, then it excludes works. There is no more works to be
considered for this. It is no more of works than it
is of anything, you know? If it's grace in and of itself,
the whole definition, the whole connotation of grace means no
work. Grace is something that is done
without a condition. If there's ever a condition applied
to anything, then it is not grace. It is a wage, right? It's a wage. You've earned a wage. It says,
and if by grace it is no more of works, otherwise grace is
no more grace. So if it's anything that you
have to do to be saved, then it's not of grace. And He's already
told us that election is of grace. He's already told us that our
salvation is by grace. in all the chapters preceding
this, He's told us that faith is predicated upon grace being
given to us. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. It's through
the faith of Jesus Christ that we experience His salvation. experience the grace that is
given to us. It is his faith that is the grounds for our justification. Salvation is on what Jesus did. And so here, he says, if it's
by grace, that's given. What Jesus did was graciously,
freely given to you. He said, so if by grace, then
it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. So, if a person wants to have
conditions for salvation, then there is no way that you
can be saved. The salvation that you might
have is not the salvation of God. It's not the salvation of
Christ. It's a carnal salvation. It's
a worldly salvation. It's a pagan salvation. And it's
not a salvation that's going to get you anywhere. The only
salvation that God has designed and any salvation that God is
involved in is a salvation that is freely given by Him at His
choice. It's not offered. It's given. It's not earned. It's freely
given. It's a gift. It's by grace. Otherwise, but if it be of works,
then there's no more of grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
So there isn't this middle ground. The Catholics like want to find
this middle ground. They want to say that salvation
is by grace plus works, grace infused with works that yes,
it's by grace, but also by works. Now this one scripture, and there's
others that will deny that teaching, but if those others didn't even
exist, this one verse in and of itself puts to bed the fact
of Catholics being Christians as long as they continue to hold
that doctrine. I'm not saying that there isn't
an elect among Catholic people that the Lord won't bring out
of that. But what I'm saying is the religion,
the Catholic religion, doctrine, church, false church, false doctrine,
It's just as false as any other thing. Some people want to say
it's close enough. You know, I used to listen to
the Bible Answer Man, Hank Hanegraaff, and his radio program, and he
talks all the time on there how he can't, you know, he calls
Catholics his brothers in Christ because they believe enough of
the foundational doctrines. Jesus said if they don't come
with the doctrine of Christ, you're not to receive them. And
the doctrine of Christ, they don't have. People want to say
that Catholics is Christianity, another form of Christianity
or part of Christianity. No, it's not. It's not. They
deny salvation by grace alone. They deny the finished work of
Jesus Christ sufficient alone to save his people. They add
conditions just like Arminianism does. People want to say, well,
Arminianism is closer to us because they don't believe in works like
the Catholics do. Whenever you put a condition,
believe, repent, receive, trust, come forward, baptize, membership,
whatever you put forth to be saved or to be included, to stay
saved, you've now entered into false religion. You've now entered
into false doctrine, false teaching. You have a false Jesus, a false
God. Those are not the God of Scripture,
the Christ of Scripture, the salvation of Scripture. And we
got to take a stand on those things. Too many people want
to be wishy-washy and just be so ecumenical. Listen, I think
we need to be loving. I think the people of God ought
to be loving towards one another. I think we ought to be patient
with one another. I think we ought to keep the
unity of the spirit until we're brought to the unity of the faith.
We're not always going to agree on everything. But if we believe
the gospel and we hold to those things that we can find grounds
to do that. But brethren, if someone is preaching a false
gospel, whether it's your loved one, Whether it's your friend
or whether it's a stranger, it's all irrelevant. It's a false
gospel. And we try to want to put our
arms around ecumenically all these people because they say
Jesus, they say God, they say Christianity, they say grace,
they say all these words that we find. But yet they deny the
sovereign free grace of God in saving his people. That's the
gospel. The gospel is what Jesus did
and accomplished and sovereignly gives. That's the gospel. And if they don't come with that
gospel, they come with another gospel. And Paul says, let them
be anathema. Paul writes down for us the Holy
Spirit's words of not to receive them as brother. That's why I
can't call our Arminian friends and family and people like that
who hold to a salvation that is predicated upon them doing
something as a brother and sister in Christ because they, and I'm
not saying that they're, because I too held that position. And
I believe that I have been saved by God. I believe that I have
received His grace and that I'm one of His children. So that
doesn't mean, and I want to, especially for anybody listening
or watching, I don't want to say that anybody who's an Armenian
is not the elect of God and they can't ever be. But what I will
say is that the Spirit of God will never leave them there.
that He will bring them to the knowledge of the truth. That's
one of His purposes in being sent and put into us is that
He will lead us into the truth. He will speak of those things
only of Christ, not of us and Christ, but of Christ. He's going
to convince us of sin. To hold to a gospel that is contrary
to God's gospel is sin. And so He's going to convince
them of that. He's going to bring them to the
knowledge of the truth. Jesus said, all that the Father
gives me shall come to me. They'll hear my voice. They hear
my voice. Other shepherds, they won't follow
them. Whenever God gives them ears
to hear, gives them the understanding of spiritual things and brings
them to the truth, they will not follow that other system.
I couldn't follow it anymore. Whenever God revealed that to
me, I could not follow that and I can't go back to that. I've
tried, and listen, I have honestly, honestly tried to go back in
Scripture every time I have a conversation with a friend of mine or someone
at work, and we have differences and thoughts on this. I had a
conversation with a young woman at work one time, and she goes
to a church that has a similar name to us, and everything, and
I was kind of curious, and so I began to ask her about what
they believe at the church, and come to find out they didn't
believe A lot of stuff the same as us. But as I began to talk
to her about what I believe about that, you know, she was asking
a few questions. Again, honestly, I come back
and I look. I look to see, because I was so easily deceived for
so many years, I can be deceived again. And so I go back and look. And I'm telling you, brothers,
every time I go back to look to see, am I believing something
false? Have I gotten off into a cult? It more strengthens. Because
the more I study it, the more I look at it, the more I look,
page after page, every page. points to this work of God alone. And it just strengthens that.
And so to call somebody who's from the Armenian camp or any
other camp outside of true Christianity and say, well, they're not elect,
that's presumption on our part that God doesn't have people
in there when Revelation says to the harlot, come out of her
my people. That means he's got people in
harlot churches. under harlot teaching under harlot
preaching and so he's calling them out of that matter fact
probably everyone in here that i know here has come out from
underneath that so i'm not saying that but what i'm saying is until
they profess the gospel of jesus christ i can't don't have any
grounds biblically to be able to call them brothers and sisters
in christ That's not saying that they can't be saved. That's not
saying that they might even be saved and just yet to be revealed
that truth of God. But I can't call them brothers
because they come with another gospel. And so Paul here says
that If it's by grace, then it's no more of works. But if it be
of works, then it's no more of grace. If their gospel has anything
of works in it, then it's not the gospel of grace. And the
gospel of grace is the salvation that God has purposed and accomplished. Otherwise, work is no more work. Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Corinthians chapter 4. I want to look at two more verses,
and then we'll stop for the day. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. This was a verse here. I've told
you there was two or three watershed verses for me when I was coming
to the doctrines of grace. And this was one of those verses,
this is in my list of watershed verses that was kind of like
the aha moment. Sitting in a Southern Baptist
church here in common Southern Baptist preaching, the majority
of Southern Baptist preaching, whether it was at the church
that I attended or whether it was conferences that I went to or people that
I listened to on radio or TV or whatever the case might be.
Modern evangelical, let's just call it, I won't just pick on
the Southern Baptist, modern evangelical preaching. People are preached to. in hopes
that the preacher, through the preaching, will change the minds
of those who are listening so that they might receive or believe
or repent and come to Jesus Christ, that they'll make a decision
for Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, who is it,
the famous TV preacher that had the hour of decision? Was it Billy Graham? Okay, the
hour of decision. It all comes down to, can I convince
somebody, whether it be oratory skills or a well-outlined sermon,
do I get my alliteration? Everything starts with a P. All my points start with a P.
All my points start with rhyming words, okay? I don't have nothing
against that, to be honest with you. I'm not against that. But
what I'm saying is we think because we can, with the wisdom and the
speech of men, convince others. But yet, One of the things that
really especially as I was preaching and I've shared with you that
time that I preached that revival in Oklahoma City and I poured
my heart out into those sermons that I purposely designed to
go from one night to the next night to the next night with
a common thread and at the end of that I thought man what a
A magnum opus right here that I've created of being able to
make all these things intertwined with the same theme, but different
subjects each night, but showing that there was one theme. You
know, and I preached my heart out that week. Not one person,
not only did not one person make a decision, quote unquote, for
Jesus, not one person came down and rededicated their life, quote
unquote, rededicated their life. No one came down and even prayed.
It didn't even convict anybody. No one even shook my hand and
said, hey, that was a good sermon. I went away, flogged and whipped. I mean, I was depressed and was
ready to give up preaching forever after that. I thought, how in
the world could all that week go by with such great outlined
messages and oratory skill That's how prideful I was about that.
And that's how deluded I was thinking that those things make
a difference in the hearts of men. And my, how I quickly found
out that that's not true. Unless God is in it, it's not
going to happen. But yet we think that we can
make the difference. That the only difference between
this guy who received Jesus Christ and that guy who received Jesus
Christ is the fact that this guy got it. This guy got it and
decided, hey, yeah, I'm not staying here no longer. I'm coming after
Christ. And this guy here just said,
nah. Or this guy here was smarter. He was able to understand it.
This guy over here, he needed it broke down into the ABCs and
123s. And that preacher there was too
intellectual for him. See, we put it in categories
like too theological, too doctrinal, too analytics, too emotional. We break it all down this and
people can't understand it. People never get saved if you
don't. Look with me if you would to
verse 7. For who maketh thee to differ
from another? You notice that it didn't say
what makes you differ one from another? 1 Corinthians chapter
4 verse 7. It says, For who maketh thee
to differ from another? Why does one person sitting under
the same preaching for 20 years professed Jesus Christ and believed
the gospel, and the person sitting beside him, maybe best friend,
maybe sister, maybe brother, maybe mother, maybe father, uncle,
aunt, for 20 years hearing the same messages, never get that. Never profess
Christ. Never trust the gospel. Was it because one was better
than the other? Was it because one was smarter than the other?
One listened a little better than the other? Maybe one had
big print Bible and the other one had too small a print Bible. No, it says, for who maketh thee
to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? Boy, that's a cut to the heart,
isn't it? That's definitely a cut to the heart of a preacher. That old preacher, Mike, that
shined up those sermons in a pretty fashion for those people in Oklahoma
City and thought he was going to make them to differ? A couple
of things he needed to know, and I'm thankful that the Lord
has shown me that and continues to keep me humbled before that,
is that it had nothing to do about how shiny you made it because
it had nothing to do with you. I was the only one that was going
to make anything differ. And what about you, preacher
boy? That sermon you preach, that message that you convey,
that proclamation that you make, what makes you differ than any
other person? That too you've received from God. That too you
get as a gift from God. It isn't you. If you speak anything
of the truth, it's not you. It's God who's given you that
truth. So I can't claim no sermon of mine for anything. I can't
claim any doctrine or any understanding or any revelation or any illumination
of Scripture and say, all my hard study, I've studied to show
myself approved, thus I cause myself to differ from that preacher
or that preacher or that preacher. See, we think as studious preachers
we can cause ourselves to differ. But God lays the axe at the root
here as well. That's just for instance, I can
lay that to the charge of anything, anybody. What causes you to differ? But that's not the question,
right? It's not what causes you to differ. If it was what causes
you to differ, then that means there are conditions, things
that can be used as instruments of differing. Isn't it ironic that Reformed
teaching says that faith is the instrument by which justification
comes? In that case, it would be what
makes you to differ? My faith makes me to differ. But it didn't say what makes
you differ. It says for who? It's the person. There is a person that makes
you to differ from someone else. It is a person who has given
you something. You've received something from
a person. And so you have no room to boast
of those things. Do you serve the Lord, ladies?
Do you serve your husbands? Your family? Do you serve here
at church? Listen, we all love the way that
you serve here at the church by providing meals. As a helpmate to your husband?
Husbands at home, how you serve your family? Children, how you serve your
family at home? Who makes you to differ? Is it
because you just got up that morning and said, I'm going to
be a better housewife than anybody else? Now, let me just say as
a side note, oh, how the world would be a better place if wives
would get up each morning and say, I want to be the best housewife. I want to try to out housewife
everyone else. What a wonderful place that would
be. Because our families need their
mothers. Our families need the keepers
of the home. God designed the women to be
keepers of the home. But ladies, what makes you to differ? Men,
what makes you to differ? for who maketh thee to differ
from another, and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?
Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou
didst not receive it?" So many people are preaching about faith
as if they hadn't received something that was given to them. But even
more than that, they act as if the work of Christ is nothing.
It's all about their faith. And that's what began to be so
deluded, that got me so disenamored, is that a word? Disillusioned,
unenamored, with Reformed teaching and all the books that I was
gathering to myself about all those writers, is everything
you read about was about faith, about faith, about faith, about
faith, about faith. And I'm not knocking faith, and
faith is a detrimental thing in Scripture, because without
faith, no man's gonna see God. But it was all about the work
of faith. And they acted as if they had
not received something apart from faith. Do you know, child
of God, that you've received something before you even had
faith? You received the title, Child of God. Elect of God. You received the title, Heir
of Salvation. You received the account, not
guilty. before ever you believed, forgiven,
accepted, reconciled. You received all those things
before you ever believed. Christ made you differ before
you even knew you differed. Did you even contemplate that?
Christ made you to differ before you ever considered yourself
differed. Matter of fact, you were considered
differed before the foundation of the world, when God set His
love upon you and wrote your name in the Lamb's Book of Life
before the foundation of the world. We were made to differ,
but not by a what, but by a who. And so Paul says in chapter 15
and verse 10, and we'll conclude with this, Chapter 15 and verse 10. He said, "...but by the grace
of God I am what I am. And His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
So Paul realized that it was the grace of God that caused
him to differ because of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ did what
he did and God by grace applied that to the Apostle Paul. The
work and finished work of Jesus Christ was laid to Paul's account
and so it was by the grace of God that he was what he was. It wasn't because he sat under
Gamaliel It wasn't because he was steeped in the Old Testament.
It wasn't because he was born a Pharisee of Pharisees. It wasn't
because he was even a Roman citizen or an Israelite of the tribe
of Benjamin. He was what he was because God
give him grace. and applied what Jesus had done. He said, but by the grace of
God, I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all. Oh, wait a minute. So there you go. Paul's starting
to say now, now that I'm quickened, it's all about my works. Got
to get in there and labor for the Lord. Now, Paul even realized
that that was also of the Lord. He said, Yet not I, but the grace
of God which was with me. If you labor in the Lord, it's
because the grace of God is in you. As a matter of fact, again, we reiterate
the verse. Work out your salvation with
fear and trembling. For it is God who worketh in
you, both to will and to do his good pleasure. Paul understood
that. Paul was given that truth by
Christ that yes, Paul, you will labor, but that labor isn't going
to make you right before me. That labor is not going to earn
you salvation or keep your salvation because not only am I giving
you grace to labor, but it is actually me going to be doing
the one laboring in you. giving you the desire to labor
and giving you the ability to labor, to do so. The want to,
the how to, and the do to. I'm giving you that. And so it
is by grace and grace alone and not by works. Has anybody got
any comments or questions or any additions to that, anything
else? I've went over a little bit,
so I'll just stop right there. Kind of got started a little
late, but still want to cut it off here. All right. Well, we'll stop there and we'll
pick up with that Lord willing next week.