This sermon was preached on Sunday
evening, June 28, 1981, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville,
New Jersey. Now let us once again seek the
Lord's face in prayer. Our Father, as we bow in your
presence again, We remember the earnest entreaty of the Apostle
Paul, pleading with the churches that they would pray for him
and for his ministry, that the Word of God would run and have
free course. And, O Lord, that is our prayer
tonight, that the Word of God would run unimpeded by prejudice,
by the pride of human ignorance, by the stubbornness of unregenerate
flesh. O God, we ask that the Word may
run in the power of the Spirit, overcoming every obstacle to
its being received in faith and in obedience. O Lord, we are
conscious that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but
against principalities and powers, against spiritual wickedness
in heavenly places, And we thank you that our Lord Jesus in his
work upon the cross has triumphed over the host of darkness and
we pray this night that the ministry of the word will be but another
dimension of the manifestation of the triumphs of his cross
in bringing every thought captive to himself. Bless then the preaching
of the word and to your name and to your name alone Be the
praise and the honor. Amen. We come tonight in our study
of the Word of God to the sixth and final message in a series
entitled, Some Missing Notes in Contemporary Gospel Preaching. Because the biblical gospel sets
forth God's only answer to the problem of human sin, any distortions
of, additions to, or subtractions from that gospel are ruinous
to the souls of men. In our previous studies, we have
considered three such missing notes in most contemporary gospel
preaching. namely, the note of the wrath
of God, the note of true repentance, and the note of the nature of
saving faith. Now those studies are available
on cassette from the Trinity Pulpit, a fact I disclose not
because I think the preaching was all that great or outstanding,
but simply because those notes are so absent that any effort
to set forth the biblical teaching on these matters is worthy of
your serious consideration. Now tonight we take up this final
missing note, not that it's the only And final note that is missing,
but for the purposes of this series of studies, this final
note in this brief series, the note of the necessity of obedience
and holiness as indispensable evidences of grace. The note of the necessity of
obedience and holiness as indispensable evidences of grace. Now, what
I propose to do in our studies is this. I'm going to demonstrate
from the Scriptures that a life of obedience to the revealed
will of God and a life of increasing conformity to Jesus Christ are
not optional commodities. Rather, that without these things,
one has no grounds to regard himself as a Christian. Now, in order to clear away any
just cause for confusion or misunderstanding, let me underscore two important
biblical truths on the very threshold of our study of this missing
note. The first truth is this. The
ground of a sinner's acceptance before God lies totally outside
of himself, both at and subsequent to his conversion. If we are asking the question,
how do guilty sinners find acceptance with God, the answer of the Bible
is only by the righteousness of another. When we come in all
of our guilt and undoneness, seeking the way of acceptance
with a holy God, the Bible clearly teaches that nothing less than
the righteousness of God will satisfy the demands of God. And
it is just that that is offered in the Gospel, Romans 117, for
therein is revealed a righteousness of God. And so in the sinner's
initial coming, and in all of his subsequent standing before
God, the ground of his acceptance lies totally outside of himself. As a mature Christian, Paul said
his one ambition was to know Christ and the power of his resurrection,
to know him in the fellowship of his sufferings, to know him
in a righteousness which was not of himself. Philippians chapter
3. So that truth must be underscored
at the outset. Whatever is said tonight about
the necessity of holiness and obedience Nothing is being said
which in any way attacks in the slightest degree that fundamental
truth of the gospel that sinners are accepted on the grounds of
a righteousness not their own. What one theologian has strikingly
called it is an alien righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. And then the second biblical
truth that needs to be underscored by way of introduction is this.
The appointed means for a sinner's possession of the righteousness
of Christ is faith alone. The appointed means for a sinner's
possessing the righteousness of Christ is faith alone. By grace have you been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Romans 4, 5, To
him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness and Romans 330 the uncircumcision
as well as the circumcision are justified by faith. So whatever is said tonight about
the obedience and holiness which are essential elements In evidencing
the grace of God, there is no contradiction nor erosion to
this fundamental truth that a sinner's acceptance is grounded in the
righteousness of another and is received by faith alone. So if anyone hearing my voice
listens to the exposition and says, that preacher is teaching,
you're saved on the basis of your obedience and on the basis
of your holiness. My friend, you have not listened.
I don't know how to state these truths any clearer than I've
stated them. The ground of a sinner's acceptance
in the beginning and the end is Christ and Christ alone. And the means by which we possess
the righteousness of Christ is faith alone. But now, having
said that, And learning those things from our Bibles, lo and
behold, this same Bible teaches with equal clarity and emphasis
that all who truly believe, and thereby possess the righteousness
of God in Christ, become an obedient and a holy people. And if there
is no obedience and holiness, there is no true faith. And if
there is no faith, there is no imputed righteousness. If there
is no imputed righteousness, you are yet in a state of wrath
and condemnation. Now, disobedience and holiness
does not add to or improve upon the perfect righteousness of
Christ, but it is the inevitable attendant and necessary fruit
of faith. and acceptance with God. All
right? Having introduced the subject
with those two affirmations, let us now consider, briefly,
several key texts demonstrating the necessity of obedience as
a mark of the genuineness of grace. Turn, please, to Matthew's
Gospel, Chapter 7. Any one of these texts deserves
a full treatment that would take the entire time, I can only point
to the text, make a few comments upon it, and pass on. We're looking,
not in an exhaustive list, but a specimen list of key texts
which demonstrate the necessity of obedience as the evidence
and fruit of faith. Matthew 7 and verse 21. As our
Lord is drawing what we call the Sermon on the Mount to a
close, He says in verse 21, Not every one that says unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth, and the doeth is an old English way of setting
forth the present tense. He that is doing would be the
way we would translate it in contemporary American. but he
that is doing the will of my father who is in heaven. Now
if the text teaches anything, it teaches in plain and simple
language that the only people who are going to heaven are those
who are doing the will of God. Isn't that what it says? I mean,
you don't need to be clever, you don't need to have 145 IQ,
don't need to even be a high school graduate to understand
the clear teaching of the verse. Not everyone that gives some
kind of lip service or external profession of attachment to me
will enter the kingdom of heaven, only such as whose relationship
to me has brought them into the way of obedience to the will
of my Father. It's interesting. how much this
text has been overlooked in contemporary gospel preaching. A preacher
on one occasion was addressing a group of young people, and
he said, now before I announce my text, I want to ask a couple
of questions. He said, the first question is
this, how many of you young people sitting here tonight have trusted
Christ as your Savior, and you know if you died tonight, you'd
go to heaven? Almost every young person in a group of some 50
or 60 raised his hand. He said, now you're sure. that
if you die tonight, you go to heaven because you trusted Christ
as your Savior. Almost the entire group hands
went up and said, all right. Now my second question is this.
How many of you young people sitting here is seriously attempting
to do what you know to be the will of God. I'm not asking you,
are you perfect? I'm not asking if you don't have
to pray at the end of every day, forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against us. I'm not asking you
if you're beginning to sprout nubby little wings here and you're
half glorified. No. But I'm asking you this.
that in terms of your present understanding of what the will
of God is, is revealed in the word of God, as it relates to
your relationship to your parents, your social relationships at
school, at play, how many of you are seriously purposing and
pursuing obedience to the revealed will of God? And of that large
group, almost every one of which raised a hand saying, I know
I'm on my way to heaven because I've trusted Christ, there was
just a smattering of hands. that could be raised saying they
were doing the will of God. You know what the text was for
that evening? This very text. And the preacher
proceeded to bring home to the consciences of those young people
that their confidence that they were on their way to heaven had
no basis in the word of God. Obedience is not optional. Turn
please to John chapter 10. Here in this precious chapter,
if I may use that word without being saccharine at all, for
it is a precious chapter, a chapter in which our Lord sets himself
forth as the great shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep,
who is loved of the Father with increasing love of complacency
because of his obedience. In this chapter, he goes on to
say in verse 27 these words, John 10.27, My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall
snatch them out of my hand. My Father who gave them unto
me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out
of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." Here
is one of the most precious passages on the absolute, not unconditional,
but absolute security of every true sheep of Christ. The Lord
Jesus says that he has his sheep in his hand, and no one can pluck
them out of his hand, for they are held with a hand of omnipotence. I and my Father are one. But now, who are these sheep?
How are they to be identified? Whom does the Lord regard as
being part of that group called his sheep? Well, he tells us.
and he describes them by a two-fold description as far as the pattern
of their lives is concerned. Verse 27, My sheep hear, present
tense verb, My sheep are hearing My voice. And I know them. In other words, they are the
ones whom I regard with distinguishing love and affection. And they,
present tense verb again, are following me. And I give unto
them eternal life. To whom do you give eternal life,
Lord? My sheep. And Lord, what is the
mark of your sheep? Two things. They hear my voice. and they follow me. Lord, don't
you give eternal life to all those who have trusted in your
death, but who from that point on have simply not gone on to
discipleship and to a serious regard of your word? The Lord
says, Can I make it any plainer? My sheep hear me. My sheep follow
me. I give to them eternal life and
to no others. Jesus Christ does not regard
as his sheep any other person other than those who hear him
and who follow him. Isn't it plain? I didn't write.
There it is. Plain as the nose on my face
and yours. Plain as the beard on your chinny-chin-chin
tonight. I know them. Who, Lord? Those who hear me. Those who
follow me. I give to them. Now over to Hebrews
chapter 5. We're simply looking at key texts
which demonstrate the necessity of obedience. That obedience
is not an option having only to do with rewards. It has to
do with life itself. Hebrews chapter 5, in a chapter
in which our Lord is being described in his high priestly functions,
we read in verse 8, Though he, Christ, was a son, yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered, and having been
made perfect, that is, not morally perfect, as though there were
some imperfection, but having been made perfect in his function
and capacity as a sympathetic priest, having been perfected
in his priesthood through sufferings, notice what the end is, He became
unto all that make a decision the author of eternal salvation. That isn't what my Bible says.
Nor does it say He became unto all that make a profession of
faith the author of eternal salvation. No, the text is clear, and it's
clear in any translation that is true to the language of the
Holy Ghost. He became unto all that obeyed
Him the author of eternal salvation. Now, they are not saved by their
obedience. He would not have had to be perfected
through suffering if their obedience could earn salvation. Our salvation
is grounded in His suffering, not ours. His obedience and not
ours. But the suffering he underwent
in order to perfect our salvation has purchased a salvation for
a people who are made obedient by the grace of God. And if you
are not obedient and yet claim to be saved, your salvation comes
from someone other than this high priest. And if it does,
it is not the real product, for there is salvation in none other. And there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Obedience is
not optional. Obedience is an absolute essential
in manifesting the genuineness of the faith that we profess. And then I turn you to another
pivotal text, 1 John chapter 2. That's all we're doing, looking
at key text. demonstrating the necessity of
the city if you're tempted right now to say all but what about
what about my friend get rid of that what about mentality. One of the most subtle and yet
frighteningly dangerous things that we will not allow the clear
testimony of the word to come because of some obscure text
or some problematical text. And I have chosen plain and simple
text on which to rest the doctrine. 1 John, chapter 2, verses 3 and
4. Hereby we know that we know him
if we can remember with fondness the day of our decision. That's
the way many read it. Oh, how well I remember the day
I decided for Christ! I know I must be a Christian!
Why, I can... My friend, I don't care what
you can remember. I don't care if, upon the remembrance of it,
you can reproduce all the tingles and the chills. Look at the text. Hereby do we know that we know
him if... And here's one of those present
tense verbs again. If we are keeping his commandments,
He that says, Oh, I know him. Oh, I know I'm a Christian. No
one can take my assurance away. Why, I remember when. And they
go on and tell us of their glorious experience. Listen to John's
words. He that says, I know him and
does not keep his commandments. Obedience is not the basic pattern
of his life. What is he? It doesn't say he
is a carnal Christian and the rewards that might be his are
not with him. No, no. It says he is a liar
and the truth is not in him. Now, my friend, I didn't write
that. A holiness preacher didn't invent this. This is the word
of God. He that says, I know him. and
does not obey him is a liar, and the truth is not in him. And the final text is found in
the book of the Revelation, where we have a description of the
redeemed of the Lord, the people of God. They are described in
this very succinct manner in Revelation 14 and verse 12. Here is the patience of the saints. Here is the endurance or the
steadfastness of the saints. And now he's going to describe
them. They that are keeping the commandments of God and the faith
of Jesus. What a beautiful description
of a Christian. One who keeps the commandments
of God and the faith of Jesus. And the faith of Jesus is the
faith that says we're saved by the obedience of another. So
it is not a matter of being saved by Christ's work plus my work. No, no. To keep the faith of
Jesus is to keep that body of truth which says I can do nothing
to earn my salvation. This is the work of God that
I believe on the one whom he has sent. that I come without
reservation in the language of that hymn. Nothing in my hands
I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. And yet, wonder of wonders, they
are described at the same time as those who are keeping the
commandments of Jesus. So in no way do they think that
their obedience adds one gram to the merit that is in Christ,
and yet being freely forgiven and fully accepted on the obedience
and worth of another, they are nonetheless described as those
who keep the commandments of God. And unless you are keeping
the commandments of God, you are not keeping the faith of
Jesus. Both things are present. in every true child of God. Now, in summary, what do we say?
We say that unless God gave his word deliberately to deceive
us instead of to instruct us in the way of life, these five
texts teach with unmistakable clarity that only those who obey
Christ have any grounds to claim they are saved in the righteousness
of Christ. Would you agree with that conclusion?
I trust you have no reservation in agreeing with it, but if some
of you do, you see what it does? It immediately puts more than
a wispy gray question mark over your professed Christianity.
It puts a bold red question mark over your profession of being
a child of God, because obedience is not the characteristic of
your life, an obedience that is principled and purposeful
and determined, but rather the mark of your life. is a haltering,
half-hearted, occasional compliance with a convenient command, but
when the chips are down, it's your flesh, it's the world, it's
convenience, it's your own depraved passions that dictate the course
of your life. My friend, you better heed that
bright red question mark, because these texts speak no peace to
anyone who is not in the way of purposeful obedience to the
will of God. Now, very quickly, let's look
at some key texts which demonstrate with equal clarity the necessity
of holiness. The key texts which demonstrate
the necessity of holiness. We start again in Matthew. Matthew's
Gospel. Chapter 5. And here in these
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Now all men and women, boys and
girls, will see God in the final day of judgment. But to see God
in the biblical sense is to see Him with bliss and delight, what
the old writers called the beatific vision. And Jesus said, the ones
who will see God with delight in the final day of consummation
are only such as are pure in heart. who have a principle of
holiness that goes beyond the mere external activities of life,
beyond the mere wooden conformity to rules and regulations, there
is a heart commitment to a life of holiness. But you see, if
it is a heart commitment, it will touch the most practical
aspects of life, even the members of our body. So that this same
Jesus goes on to teach the necessity of holiness in this sermon in
such language as is found in verse 27 of the same chapter.
You've heard that it was said, thou shalt not commit adultery.
But I say unto you that every one that looketh on a woman to
lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart." And it's as though our Lord anticipates the response,
well, if that's what adultery is, the looking with a view to
lust, the looking and having impure thoughts, then who can
help but be an adulterer? We just must live with adultery
as a way of life, even in the kingdom. Jesus said, is that
so? Listen to his language. And if
thy right eye causes thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast
it from thee. For it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole
body should be cast into hell. You see what he's saying? If
you say to the Lord Jesus, I can't help it, adulterous thoughts
have to be a way of life with me, Jesus said, they'll be the
way of death for you in hell. its holiness or burn. Our Lord uses the same strong
language later on in this sermon. He uses it again and again in
the gospel records. This is why he can conclude his
sermon as he does in chapter 7 verses 13 and 14 with this
exhortation. Enter ye in by the narrow gate
For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction,
and many are they that enter in thereby. Notice now, narrow
is the gate, and straightened or compressed is the way that
leads to life. How do we get to life? By the
way. How do we get on the way? Through
the gate. Gate, way, and life. The gate
is the gate of true conversion in repentance and faith. The
way is the way of biblical holiness. Life is the consummation of grace
in the world to come, and no one will enter life who does
not come along the way. The way is indispensable to life,
and the way is impossible without the gate. But if you say you're
through the gate, the proof is you're on the way. Everyone who
gets through the gates on the way. And if you say you're through
the gate, I'm saved, I'm converted, I've trusted Jesus. Then the
evidence must be you are on the way. What way? The way that is
constricted and narrow and compressed. The way of gospel holiness without
which there is no entrance to life. We look at another key
text that demonstrates the absolute necessity of holiness. Over in
Romans chapter 8, a passage read in your hearing in the scripture
reading this evening, Romans chapter 8, the Apostle says there
are but two spheres of moral and ethical commitment. One is
the realm of the flesh, the other the realm of the spirit. The
one is marked by enmity against God, the other is marked by submission
to God. Notice what he says at the end
of that statement of contrast. Verse eight. They that are in
the flesh cannot please God. Those who are committed to the
life of insubordination to the law of God and therefore a life
of unholiness and sin. They cannot please God. But look
at verse nine. But you are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwells in you. But if any man has not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. You see what he's saying? He
says you have been basically and fundamentally delivered from
the realm of the flesh if the Spirit has come to take up His
residence in you. If the Spirit is in you, you're
no longer in the realm of the flesh, but in the realm of the
Spirit. But someone says, oh no, I've trusted Jesus, but I
haven't gone the second step to get into the realm of the
Spirit. Paul says, if any man has not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of His. If you do not have the Spirit,
you are none of His, and if you have the Spirit, you're no longer
in the realm of the flesh as the basic sphere of moral and
ethical perspective, conduct, and attitude. That's why he can
go on to say in verse 13, if you live after the flesh, you
must die. And that death is not physical
death. The most spirit-filled believers die physically. That
death is the death of the soul. If you live after the spirit,
you must die. But if by the spirit you put
to death the deeds of the flesh, you shall live for as many as
are led by the Spirit of God. These and these only are the
sons of God. What about all these people who
say, I trusted Jesus? Some of whom, no doubt, are sitting
here tonight. But you're not being led of the
Spirit. And in the context, being led of the Spirit has nothing
to do with getting holy jags and impulses that you ought to
do this fool thing or that fool thing. No, no. Being led of the
Spirit has to do with conformity to the norms of the Word of God. not living after the flesh, but
living by the precepts of Almighty God. God says only such as are
led of the Spirit are the children of God. And, my friend, if you
are not under the guidance and tutelage of the Spirit unto a
life that is under the pressure and influence and regulative
power of Scripture, you have no biblical grounds to claim
you are a Christian. Holiness is not optional. according
to the Pauline statement of Romans chapter 8. Then we move on to
another key text in 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3, a key text
demonstrating that holiness is not optional. 1 John chapter 3. Though there
are problems of interpretation as to the precise intent of John,
this much we know. Whatever he's teaching in chapter
3 doesn't contradict what he already wrote in chapter 1 and
verse 10. If we say we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Verse 8, if we
say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us. If anyone tries to build a doctrine of sinless perfection
on these words, John has already told them what they are. They
are self-deceived and they are liars. But he does say this,
my little children, 1 John 3, 7, Let no one lead you astray. He that is practicing righteousness
is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that is practicing sin is
of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. To this end
was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil, whosoever is begotten of God, does not make a practice
of sin because his seed, the divine principle of life, abides
in him, and he cannot make a practice of sin because he is begotten
of God. In this, the children of God
are manifest in the children of the devil. Whosoever does
not practice righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves
not his brother. Can language be more plain? that
if the practice of righteousness is not the pattern of our lives,
we have no grounds to say that we are born of God, that we have
divine life within us. And then that great text upon
which the whole case could rest, Hebrews 12 and verse 14. Hebrews 12 and verse 14. Follow after, literally track
down, the same word for persecute in the original. Be continually
tracking down peace with all men and the sanctification or
the holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. It's as though the writer to
Hebrews is seeking to bring to bear upon the consciences of
those who would receive his letter the pressure of a very powerful
motive as to why they ought to pursue holiness. And he does
so by informing them that this is not a matter of degrees of
reward. It is not a matter of the extent
to which they shall enjoy the presence of God. He says, Pursue
that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. And so all within the sound of
my voice I ask the question again. Unless God has given his word
to deceive us, do these passages not teach with great clarity
that holiness is an essential element of the salvation purchased
for us in Jesus Christ? Now in the light of these two
clear sets of key texts, one demonstrating the necessity of
obedience and the other demonstrating the necessity of holiness, what
are we to say in the light of much contemporary, current gospel
preaching and thinking with respect to the gospel and its influence
upon those who profess to believe it? Well, the first thing I'm
constrained to say, and I confess to you I take no pleasure in
saying it, I'm grateful that in the providence of God, in
my own Old Testament reading, devotional reading, it fell to
my lot to read the first three chapters of Ezekiel yesterday.
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman. The whole concept
of the Christian ministry embodying the watchman imagery standing
upon the wall, seeing the danger and warning men. And in that
capacity I speak tonight in the light of these two clear sets
of texts. What must we conclude? Well,
the first and unavoidable conclusion is this, that the popular carnal
Christian doctrine is nothing less than an unscriptural and
damning delusion. The popular carnal Christian
doctrine is nothing less than an unscriptural and damning delusion. Now, what is that doctrine? Well,
briefly stated, it is this, that there are three fundamental categories
of humanity There are natural men, those who have never made
a profession of faith, never decided for Christ, those who
are yet in a state of guilt, condemnation, and wrath. Then
there are spiritual people, those who have not only accepted Christ,
but have yielded to the Lordship of Christ and to the control
of the Spirit. And how they know when they've
reached it, I've never been told in any of the books, but nonetheless,
they are the spiritual people. And in between, you have this
great mass called carnal Christians. Their lifestyle is basically
no different from natural men, but the difference is they have
done what spiritual people did at the beginning. They've accepted
Christ. And because they've accepted Christ, they are free from the
guilt and condemnation of sin, though there may be no evidence
that they are freed from the dominion and the power of sin. And so, when you see in the professing
church Multitudes who say without any reservation, I trusted Jesus,
I have the righteousness of Christ imputed to me as a believer,
and yet there is little or no evidence of pursuit of a life
of holiness and obedience. You are not to be too alarmed.
They are simply carnal Christians who, if they persist in that
pattern, may come ashamed at the return of the Lord stand
before him totally stripped of rewards, but will nonetheless
be ushered into the glorious presence of Christ. Now, that
is not a caricature. That is not a straw dummy. That
is the teaching set forth in the Schofield Bible, set forth
in Dr. Sperry Schaefer's book, He That
Is Spiritual, set forth in Campus Crusade booklets. I have not
created a straw dummy. Now, what's the fundamental error
in that teaching? Well, the fundamental error is
that it makes obedience and holiness desirable but optional, and that
the issue is only a matter of rewards and not an issue of life
or death. In the light of the text we have
studied tonight, are obedience and holiness optional? Are they
merely matters of degrees of reward, or are they matters of
life and death? Follow after holiness without
which no man shall have a full reward? That is not what Hebrews
12, 14 says. It says, without which no man
shall see the Lord. When our Lord said, not everyone
who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter, he did not say, but those
who do the will of my Father shall enter with all the bells
ringing and their arms laden with rewards, and all others
will come empty-handed. He said, if you don't do the
will of my Father, you will not enter. Lord, if there is a message,
I would cry from the steeple of every church, It is this message. Without holiness, no man shall
see the Lord. If we say that we know Him and
do not obey Him, we lie, and the truth is not in us. And the
results of this popular carnal Christian doctrine are tragic.
Multitudes have made a decision whose lives are bereft of the
fruits of true repentance and union with Christ. sit week after
week, comforted under the promises of the gospel, thinking all is
well, when in the language of the prophet they have only had
their hurt healed slightly by preachers who say, peace, peace
to them, when there is no peace. Ah, but someone says, doesn't
1 Corinthians 3 teach that there are carnal Christians? Not in
the way this doctrine is taught. 1 Corinthians 3 teaches that
the best of Christians can be overcome in specific areas of
carnality. Yes. And what Paul is addressing
in 1 Corinthians 3 is a specific outcropping of carnality in the
Corinthians. He says, whereas one of you says,
I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal and walk as
men? In this party spirit, you are
acting like men devoid of the spirit. So in that sense, the
best of Christians is a carnal Christian at points in his life. Anytime a husband becomes irritated
with his wife, at that point he's acting as a man devoid of
the spirit. The fruit of the spirit is not
irritation. It is love, gentleness, patience. So at the point that a man indwelt
by the spirit becomes irritable, he is acting carnally. At the
point that a woman allows jealousy to infect her spirit, she is
acting carnally. And the best of Christians in
the word of God are described with all their warts and moles,
falling into the grossest forms of sin. But the pattern of their
lives was not carnality. And the very use of the language
carnal Christian is a misnomer. It's using the word carnal as
a dominant descriptive adjective. When we talk about a joyful Christian,
we mean a Christian in whom the dominant characteristic is what?
Joy. When we speak of a zealous Christian,
we're speaking of a Christian in whom what quality dominates? Zeal. And when the term carnal
Christian is used, It's saying it's a Christian, a Christ one,
in whom the dominant characteristic is flesh. That's a contradiction
of Romans 8. You are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you.
I'm constrained to say, and I take no pleasure in saying it because
I believe the reality of what I say. that in the light of these
texts we have studied tonight, the popular carnal Christian
doctrine is nothing less than a damning delusion. And those who are deluded are
legion, and that's why there can be no spirit of coasting
in our life and ministry as a church, no sense of being comfortable. There are yet multitudes deluded
by this teaching who need to hear the message of the Word
of God, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord, and
that Christ died to procure salvation for a people whom His grace will
make an obedient people. But then there is a second conclusion
forced upon us by these texts, and it is this, that the popular
doctrine of assurance is also unscriptural and a damning delusion. The popular doctrine of assurance
is also unscriptural and a damning delusion. Now let me state the
doctrine, and again, I'm not creating a straw dummy. The popular
doctrine of assurance goes something like this. When a person in a
counseling room, or in the privacy of his home, who's reading some
literature, or in the presence of a personal worker in his home,
is led to make a profession, he is then told something like
this. Now, my friend, did you sincerely ask Christ to come
into your heart? Well, what person is going to
say, no, I just went through a big charade, I'm a fake? I mean, come on, let's be honest.
What person would say, no, I was just fooling you? I was just
trying to get you off my back, so you'd get out of here. If
he was doing that, he ain't gonna tell it. So the personal worker,
albeit sincere and earnest, and many of them prayerful in their
zeal, puts us to shame, says to him, all right, if you were
sincere in asking Christ to come into your heart, where is he
right now? Would he lie to you? No. Would his word fail? No. What does his word say? If you
invite him in, where is he? Well, I guess he's in my heart.
All right, now. Whether you feel anything different, whether there's
any sense of change, one thing you must never doubt, Christ
has come in, you're a Christian, your sins are forgiven, you're
on your way to heaven, and nothing you do can change your ultimate
destiny. And a person is encouraged to
rest in an assurance that is based solely upon the remembrance
of a decision made. Now what is the result? Multitudes
whose lives give precious little, if any, evidence of the transforming
power of the grace of God are clinging to an assurance based
upon this fallacious teaching, that if they can remember when
they made a sincere decision, the fruit of that decision sticks
in the court of heaven, and in the last day, they'll be ushered
into the presence of God as saved people. The truth is, my friend,
that the evidences of grace are an integral part of the biblical
doctrine of assurance. The evidences of grace are an
integral part. John could say in his epistle,
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name
of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5 and verse 13. Well, what things did he write
that they might know? Well, he didn't give them a string
of promises to rest on. He gave them a series of tests
by which to evaluate their profession. He said, Hereby do we know that
we know him, 1 John 2, 3, if we keep his commandments. 1 John
2, 3, 14, if we love the brethren, we know that we have passed from
death unto life. And you go through the first
epistle of John and there are no fewer than six or seven tests
of life. And John says, These things have
I written that you might know what things. those things that
evidence the grace of God coming to a sinful life and transforming
it into a holy life. And this assurance that is maintained
in spite of the absence of a pattern of obedience and a pattern of
holiness is an assurance that is nothing less than a damning
delusion. And then the third and final
conclusion that we must make in the light of the text we have
studied tonight is this. Any doctrine of salvation which
makes obedience and holiness optional is not the biblical
doctrine of salvation. Any doctrine of salvation which
makes obedience and holiness optional is not the biblical
doctrine of salvation. As surely as this precious book
I hold in my hands knows no salvation by human merit and human works,
as surely as it knows no salvation in any other sacrifice than that
of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, it knows no salvation which
leaves believers still basically disobedient and unholy. You see,
the whole scheme of redemption has as one of its central concerns
the making of sinful men and women into holy men and women. Why were we chosen in Christ,
or to what end? Why we were chosen is the mystery
locked up in the inscrutability of the will of a gracious and
sovereign God. But the purpose is clearly revealed
in Ephesians 1 in verse 4. According as he hath chosen us
in him that we should be holy. We were marked out to be what
we were not by nature and what we could never be of ourselves. We were marked out not primarily
to be happy or to be safe, but to be holy. And why did Christ
die? Well, we read in Ephesians 5,
he loved the church and gave himself to the church, that he
might sanctify it, having cleansed it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. God chose us that we should be
holy. Christ died that He might make
us holy. And when we are actually called
in the effectual call of God, what is that calling? Paul describes
it in 2 Timothy 1.9, He hath saved us and called us with a
holy calling. When we are brought into the
orbit of the dynamism of redemptive grace in our own life experience,
holiness is stamped upon the call of God. We are brought out
of our bondage to sin and our wedded state to the world and
to the flesh, and we are brought into union with Christ. My friend,
if your salvation has left you a stranger to holiness, it is
not the salvation of the Bible. And if it is not the salvation
of the Bible, it will do you no good in life, and it will
leave you utterly bereft of any hope in death. and it will bring
you to the judgment full of shame and horror and the terrors of
the damned. Oh, may God help anyone sitting
here tonight. who has been deluded by these
missing notes in contemporary gospel preaching, to come to
grips with the plain and obvious sense of these two sets of texts
that we have examined together, those texts demonstrating the
necessity of obedience, those demonstrating the necessity of
holiness, and in the light of them, May your mind and heart
be convinced that this popular carnal Christian doctrine is
nothing less than a damning delusion. The popular doctrine of assurance
is nothing other than a similar delusion. And any doctrine of
salvation which makes obedience and holiness optional is not
the salvation of the Bible. Now where does that leave you
sitting here tonight? In the light of that teaching,
where does it lead? Oh, you say, Pastor Martin, I'm
not as holy as I ought to be. I think of this besetting sin
that, my friend, so do I. But the issue is this. Can you
say in the presence of Almighty God, before whom all things are
naked and open, O Lord, you know that with all my heart I'm not
as holy as I want to be, but I long for holiness with all
that is within me. I am not as obedient as I ought
to be, or as I hope to be, or as one day I know I shall be.
But, Lord, I can say with the psalmist, I delight to do thy
will, yea, thy law is within my heart. My friend, if you cannot
say with judgment day honesty in the presence of God that the
principle of holiness and obedience is there within you, then give
yourself no rest until seeking that work from the living God
through the Lord Jesus. You know, you know that by the
grace of God you're in the path of holiness and in the path of
obedience. Now, one of the things that pains
me is to know that as clearly as I've tried to qualify in the
introduction that we are saved by the righteousness of another
and that that righteousness that is in Christ is received by faith
alone. Someone's going to go out tonight
and say, I'll never go back to that place again. They teach
you're saved by your own works. No, no, my friend. And the only
reason your mind is throwing up that smokescreen of untruth
is that the truth has found you where you need to be found. And
rather than bend before that truth, you're going to raise
a specious objection. It won't hold any water. Because
you know that's not what was taught here tonight. What was
taught is what's found you where you are. My friend, don't resist
the spirit. The spirit of grace in the overtures
of mercy has come to unmask you. Go to the God before whom you'll
stand in the last day and ask him to have mercy upon you for
Christ. And for those of us who can say by the grace of God we've
been put into the way of holiness and obedience, I hope we're never
weary of being reminded that that's the glory of the Christian
life. The glory of the day by day,
dogged, naked, at times cold, gloved obedience to the revealed
will of God and increasing conformity to the Lord Jesus. And whatever
thrills and chills and ecstasies we may get along the way, unsought
and unclaimed, but graciously given, what I call the special
embraces of the Lord Jesus to His weary children, well, we'll
thank God when they come. But for us, we're determined
that we shall serve Him, we shall follow Him, we shall be determined
to be like Him, no matter how unpleasant it is to our flesh,
no matter what it costs. May God grant that we as his
people shall never weary of that old, homely path, what Pastor
Blaise would say, homely path of obedience and holiness. Let us pray. Our Father, We can only plead
that you will take the simple testimony of your word, the many
passages read and briefly expounded in our hearing, and rivet them
to our consciences. O Lord, may they be riveted beyond
the level of memory and mere consciousness. Rivet them to
our consciences. Give no rest to those who have
no right to have rest. Trouble them with gracious troublings
until they flee to your beloved Son for grace and mercy. May the enemy not take the word
and cause trouble to the heart of any who ought not to be troubled. Lord, watch over your own word
to the end that it may accomplish that whereunto you have sent
it. We pray your further blessing now upon our brother Steve, as
he will speak to us briefly of that work to which you are calling
him, for he will have the privilege of teaching the glorious truths
of Holy Scripture. Lord, give us hearts large enough
to take in the concerns that our brother will convey. Hear
us, we plead, in Jesus' name. Amen.