Turn with me, if you would, to
Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. Last Sunday morning we looked
at verse 8 for our morning message and the focus of that message
in this verse was the subject of Abraham being called when
he was called. A sinner has to be called to
salvation. And how do we know he was called?
He believed God. That was the message last Sunday
morning. Now for our Bible study this
morning, I want us to look at this same verse again, Hebrews
11 verse 8, and see if the Lord will clarify to us something
that has been very confusing to many people. very, very confusing
to many people. You're going to see what I'm
talking about in just a second. Let's start by reading this verse.
Hebrews 11, verse 8, it says, By faith Abraham, when he was
called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed and he went out not knowing whither
he went." All right, now, turn with me, if you would, to 2 Peter
1. 2 Peter 1, verse 20 says, Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Meaning, the Apostle
Paul didn't write what he wanted to write. And the Apostle James
didn't write what he wanted to write. I've heard men, and that's
how men view the Scriptures, I've heard men comment on the
Word and even say, you know, well this is what Paul said here,
but then he wrote this other letter years later and he learned
some things and he changed his mind and now he said this. Paul
didn't write what he wanted to write. None of the apostles wrote
what they wanted to write. Verse 21 says, The prophecy came
not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Every word in this book
was written by one writer. God's Holy Spirit. Every single
word. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All scripture
is given by inspiration of God. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. Okay, now, with that being said,
we have that, right? With that being said, go with
me to Romans 4. Romans 4, verse 1 says, "'What
shall we say then that Abraham, our father as pertaining to the
flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the Scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." Now do we understand what that's
saying? Verse 2 says, if Abraham were justified by works, then
he would have something to glory in. But he doesn't have anything
to glory in because he wasn't justified by works. He wasn't
justified by works. How was he justified? Verse 3
says, well, what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God first. That's where it starts. Abraham
believed God. Can Abraham take credit for that? That was not of himself. It was
the gift of God to him, wasn't it? God showed kindness, He showed
grace to Abraham, and He gave him faith. In kindness, He gave
him the gift of faith. With the gift God gave to him,
By the work of God in him. It's God which worketh in us,
right? To will and do. By God being
the author and the finisher. By God performing that which
he had begun in Abraham. What this means is by God doing
it all. I mean start to finish. By God
doing it all, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him
for righteousness." That's justification. Okay? Totally justified. Justification. If a man is righteous
in God's eyes, he's not a sinner. And if he's not a sinner, he's
justified. Right? If God looks at a person
and in God's eyes that person is not a sinner, he's justified.
He's not a sinner. Verse 4 right here, he's saying
had Abraham earned his justification, it wouldn't have been by grace.
It would have been by debt. But verse 5 says that's not how
Abraham was justified. He did not earn it. He believed
on him that justifieth the ungodly and his faith was counted for
righteousness. So in summary, he's saying it
started with faith. For Abraham, this is where it
started. It started with faith. And faith in Christ revealed
righteousness before God. Faith, righteousness. All right? Faith, righteousness. Or we could say justification.
Faith, justification. All right, we got that? Turn
with me, if you would, to James chapter 2. James chapter 2, verse 21 says, Was not Abraham our father justified
by works Was not Abraham our father justified
by works, when he had offered Isaac his
son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the
scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God,
and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called
the friend of God. You see then how that by works
a man is justified and not by faith only. Likewise also was
not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received
the messengers and had sent them out another way. For as the body
without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. I don't know if I've ever read
a truer verse of Scripture. I don't think I've ever read
a truer verse of Scripture. That's a factual statement. Every
word in this book is the truth. There's not a truer word of Scripture.
All equal truth. But that verse is absolute truth. Now, is the Apostle James right
here totally contradicting the Apostle Paul? James didn't even write this.
God's Holy Spirit did. Right? God's Holy Spirit wrote
it. James just penned what God told him to pen. Same thing Paul
did. Paul just penned what God told
him to pen. Well, what is God's Holy Spirit
saying right here? What's He saying in all of these
things? The end of verse 22, He said, By works was faith made
perfect. That means mature. By works was
faith made mature. Verse 23 says, And the scripture
was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God. James is saying
the same thing Paul did. The exact same thing. James is
saying it starts right here. Abraham believed God. Salvation
started by God-given faith. Look at that conversion, that
having our eyes open, started by God-given faith. Abraham believed God and it was
imputed unto him for righteousness. He was justified in God's eyes.
Faith, righteousness, justification. And then it says he was called
God's friend. Verse 24, he said, Do you see
how the work of God and a sinner is never left undone? Never. God never starts a work and doesn't
finish it. God never starts a work and does
not finish it. Verse 24, you see then how that
by works a man is justified and not by faith only. He didn't
say that a man is not justified by faith. He said not by faith
only. Not by faith only. Sinners by
nature are enemies of God. Enemies of God. They hate God. They hate God's law. And God,
in grace and in kindness, He said, I'm gonna take out that
heart of stone. That heart that hates the things
of God. I'm gonna take out that heart
of stone. But He didn't stop there. He never takes out a heart
of stone without putting in a heart of flesh. Never. He never starts
a work without finishing it. God chooses a sinner, and He
gives faith to that sinner, and that sinner, through the gift
of God, believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that belief,
that casting my all on Christ, casting my all on what He did
on that cross, casting my all on His blood, That casting it
all on Him justifies a sinner before God. Christ is my all,
I'm covered in His blood, God says justified. And as a redeemed,
justified child of God, God then begins to conform that sinner
to the image of Christ. That sinner starts to grow in
grace, grow in spiritual maturity. He becomes conformed to the image
of Christ. So here's what we have. Let's
say this cup is faith. Okay? Faith. And then this right
here is righteousness. These are works. Okay? He goes, faith, righteousness,
or justification, works. Okay? The declaration of the
truth. The declaration of this message.
And this is why even believers get so confused by this. So confused
by this. I thought you said it was not
of works. Didn't you say it was not of works? Didn't I hear you
right? You told me a few years ago it
was not of works. Alright, so when this declaration
goes out, The declaration of the truth deals with three subjects.
Faith, justification, justified in the blood of Christ, and works. It deals with three things all
through this word. Faith, justification, and works. Now the declaration of lies,
the declaration of the error of false religion, that declaration
deals with three subjects. righteousness or justification,
and works. The truth deals with three subjects,
faith, justification, and works. Lies, all lies revolve around
three subjects, faith, justification, and works. The only problem is
they get the order mixed up. This is their problem. Works,
justification, faith. You see that? That's why it's
so close, and that's why people, well, they're saying this, and
they're saying that, and that's, they just get the cart before
the horse. That's the only problem. They're
dealing with three subjects, we're dealing with three subjects.
They're talking about Jesus Christ dying on the cross. They're talking
about, they're saying the same things we're saying, yeah, but
here's the thing. God says it's faith, justification, and works. Right? The problem with the other one
is it takes all the glory away from God. That's the problem.
Faith is not me to God. Faith is God to me. God to me. God to me. And my response of
God to me. God in me. Right? And flipping that around takes
all the glory away from God. It puts salvation literally in
my hands, in my works. And that's just not what God's
Word declares. It's not at all what it declares.
God condemns our works if we try to make them have any merit
in our salvation. God condemns as soon as we, as
soon as I try to take my hands and put it in front of this microphone,
God condemns it. God condemns it. God will not
share His glory. And God's people, every one of
them, would repent in dust and ashes at the thought of trying
to take any glory from Him. We don't want to take any glory
from Him. At the same point in time, we believe Him. We do believe
Him. And this is His message all through
the Word of God. It's always been this way and
it's always going to be this way. Turn with me over to Ephesians
2. Ephesians 2, now this, I believe
this will even more so clarify everything we've said up to this
point. This right here is Romans 4 and James 2 put together. Alright, that's what we're about
to read. Romans 4 and James 2 put together. The Apostle Paul dealt with the
first half of the equation. James dealt with the second half
of the equation. This is both of them put together.
Ephesians 2 verse 8 says, For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. And that's Romans 4. That's what
the Apostle Paul said. Alright, now here's James 2,
verse 10. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. That's easy enough to understand,
isn't it? We're not trying to take any credit for our salvation.
Not at all. Our works are our heart's desire
to obey God. That's all they are. We just
love Him. It's just the response. We want
to be like Him. We do not look to our works.
for confirmation of salvation. I want to say that again 150
times. We do not look to our works for
confirmation of salvation. Am I saved? Well, what do your
works look like? Are you showing that result?
And you see it's faith, righteousness, works, right? Well, are you showing
that evidence? We do not look to our works for
confirmation of salvation. We look to Christ for that. Am
I saved? Did Christ die? Did He shed His
blood for sinners? And am I a sinner? Well, then
I'll rest right there. We look to Christ for that. Ephesians
2 verse 13 says, But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far
off are made nigh by the blood of Christ, not by our works,
but by the blood of Christ. Verse 14, For He is our peace,
who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to
you who were far off, and to them that were nigh, for through
him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." He did
it. That's the point. He did it.
Colossians 2.9, you know what that says? All the fullness dwells
in Him, and you are complete in Him. You're complete in Him. If we're complete, We're done. Isn't that right? If we are complete, there's nowhere
else to go. In Christ, we're complete. We're complete. Here's what I'm
trying to say. I, Gabe Stoniker, do want to
grow in good works. I do. I do. Let that be plastered to the
world. If I want one thing for the world
to know about me, my heart's desire truly is to grow in good
works. I want to be gooder and gooder. I want to grow, grow, grow in
all of the evidences, all of the spiritual love, faith, meekness,
temperance, patience, kindness. I want to grow in good works,
but if I do, if I do, I won't be any more complete than I am
right now in the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not be any more
complete. 1 Corinthians 1 tells us, Of
God are we in Christ, who of Him is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Of God are we in Christ. And
it goes on to say, let me quote it to you, it goes on to say, Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Let him glory in the Lord. What
that means is there's nothing for us to glory in. I'm pushing
good works this morning. There's nothing for us to glory
in. We ought to have better works. There's nothing for us to glory
in. Nothing. God puts us in Christ. Christ is all our wisdom, it
says. All of it. Outside of Him, I
have none. Outside of Him, there's none to be attained. Christ is
my righteousness. He's all my righteousness. Outside
of Christ, I don't have a righteousness. Outside of Christ, there's not
one to be attained. Christ is my sanctification. This right here is so important.
This right here is so important. You will be confronted with this
issue. Christ is our sanctification. What that means is sanctification
is holiness, cleansing, purity. Christ is our holiness in cleansing
and purity. I'm not trying to grow in sanctification. I am not trying to grow in holiness. I am not trying to grow in purity. I'm not trying to grow in a cleansing
before God. I'm not trying to wash myself
more. I want to grow in good works,
but I'm not trying to grow in holiness. Christ is my holiness. Does that make sense? To grow
in holiness. And this is important, to grow
in holiness. Alright, it's faith, it's justification
under good works, yes it is. But to grow in holiness is to
become more holy than Christ, if He's my sanctification. And
not only is that not possible, that's blasphemy. That is absolute
blasphemy. If Christ is our sanctification
in Him, we're as sanctified as we're ever going to be. You will run into that a lot.
A lot in Christ. We're sanctified as we're ever
going to be. Christ is our redemption. Outside of Him, I don't have
a redemption. Outside of Him, there's not one to be attained.
All right. If that's the case, if all that's
the case, ultimately, why do we bother with good works? Why
do we? The reason is because we love
Him. We stated it once, we'll state
it again. We love Him. We're so thankful for the justification. We're so thankful for the righteousness.
We're so thankful for the sanctification. We're so thankful for the redemption.
We strive for good works because we want so badly to be just like
Him. Don't you want to be just like
Christ? Don't you really? The last reason
I'll mention is the first reason we even produce good works. They are the result of faith.
They really are. They are the result of faith.
They are what faith produces. If God ever gives true faith,
God will give good works. He will. If God ever gives true
faith, God will give good works because faith is unto good works. It's what faith produces in a
sinner. And we see every bit of that
in the verse we read. Just listen to it. Hebrews 11,
8 said, By faith. That's where it started. By faith. Abraham, when he was called to
go out into a place which he should have to receive for inheritance,
God called him, come. He was justified. He obeyed, and he went out. He didn't even know where he
was going, but he obeyed. Faith, justification, works. Where his workmanship created
unto good works. May God produce him in us, and
may all the glory for him go back to him. Okay, you're dismissed.