Okay, now one more time. Let's read John chapter 6 verse
29. This is the work of God. Salvation is totally the doing
of God. And this is the work of God that
you believe on Him. Believe to the saving of a soul.
Believe on Him that is the Christ of God, the Christ that sent
of God. Now the title of the message is found in that verse,
salvation is the work of God. Salvation is the work of God. It's similar, it reminds me of
the statement of David, the king of Israel, that's found in Psalm
118. And in that Psalm it says, concerning
salvation and concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the
Lord's doing. Salvation is the Lord's doing
and it's marvelous in our eyes. It is indeed marvelous in our
eyes. All that is connected and all
that is concerning the salvation of sinners is totally the work
of God alone. The Lord Jesus Christ called
himself on more than one occasion, the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning
and the end. He's the A to Z of salvation. The alphabet of salvation, Christ
is everything in that scheme of salvation. He is the beginning
of it. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. Salvation is the total work of
God alone. God the Father, God the Holy
Spirit, and God the Son. The total work of God, the triune
God alone. Salvation, therefore, does not
depend upon the puny will, the frail and fickle fallen sinful
will of the sinner. Salvation is not by the will
of the sinner. Salvation is not dependent upon
the will of the sinner, nor is it dependent upon the work of
the sinner. Salvation, as it's revealed in
God's book, salvation is totally dependent upon, salvation is
totally determined by, and salvation is totally accomplished by the
Lord Jesus Christ alone, God our Savior. It's His will It's
His work. It's His way. It's His doing. It's His Word. We repeat, and
I repeat to you again, things that I have said to you before,
that salvation is of the Lord. That's the message of this book.
Salvation is of the Lord and His planning. What the plan of
man? God's purpose. God has an eternal
purpose that he purposed in Christ Jesus before the foundation of
the world. Before Adam ever fell, the Lord
Jesus Christ stood as the surety of the everlasting covenant of
grace. Before Adam sinned, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as the
surety. Before sin entered in, the Lord
Jesus Christ stood as a lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. Salvation is of the Lord and
it's planning. He planned it. Not only did He
plan it, He executed that plan. What good is a plan if you can't
execute it? He not only planned it, He executed it. It pleased
God to bruise Him in our room and in our stead. Salvation is
of the Lord and it's planning. Salvation is of the Lord and
it's execution. Salvation is of the Lord and
it's purchase. He bought His people with His own blood. The Apostle Paul says, you are
no more your own, you're bought with a price. We are redeemed
with His precious blood. He bought the church with His
own blood. So salvation's of the Lord in
its planning, its execution, its purchase. Salvation's of
the Lord in its application. In its application. Preacher,
what do you mean? I mean this, he will have mercy on whom he
will. The determining factor of who's saved and lost is not
in the hand of a sinner. He applies this salvation that
he planned and executed, he applies this salvation to whom he will.
You got a problem with that? Not if you're a believer. He
will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. salvations of the
Lord not only in all the above planning execution application
performance but salvation of the Lord in it in his power in
his power his power his power That's why the Apostle Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is a power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Ah, preacher there,
you see, we have to believe. Oh yeah. You know how we believe
and why we believe? I'm gonna read it to you in a
little while. We believe according to the working of His mighty
power. This is the work of God that
you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're a believer,
Don't pat yourself on the back. Who made you to differ from another?
It's God who has made you to differ from another. Salvation
is of the Lord and it's power. We believe according to the working
of His mighty power. And salvation is of the Lord
and it's preservation. God doesn't save us one day and
then lose us the next. God doesn't give us salvation
one day and pardon us one day and then impute and turn around
and impute our sin back unto us because we mess up. No, we
sin all the time. I sin more than I want to, wish
I could stop, one day I will. But Paul, the John brother said,
when you sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. When you sin, you lose your salvation. No, you don't. He, does English,
does the English language mean anything? He saves us with an
everlasting salvation. He gives unto his sheep eternal
life and they shall never perish. We used to have a saying out
where I grew up. I grew up out there in Indian
country. And we used to have a saying out there, he's an Indian
giver. Indian giver. You've heard that saying before.
God's not an Indian giver. He doesn't give something and
then take it back. God's not an Indian giver. Whatsoever God
does and what He gives, He gives and He does eternally. God does
not change. His salvation. Are believers
eternally secured in the Lord Jesus Christ? Absolutely. Is there any possibility that
they can lose their standing with God in Christ Jesus? Absolutely
not. Now that gives this sinner comfort,
rest. Our life is hid with Christ in
God. Now, hid in Christ with God,
secured in Him. He saves us with an everlasting
salvation. Now I wanna work on four things. My message has four points. Let
me give them to you. The first point is this, salvation
is according to the work of God. Okay? Salvation is according
to the work of God. Secondly, salvation is according
to the will of God. Thirdly, salvation is according
to the way of God. And salvation is according to
the word of God. The work of God, the will of
God, the way of God, and the word of God. Now this is a easy
outline to follow. I hope I can preach it and present
it to you in such a way that you can follow along with me. I enjoy simple preaching because
I'm a simple man. We get into great trouble when
we try to be complicated and educated. The Lord on purpose
chose the way of simplicity He said, I fear lest you be removed
from the simplicity that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
in another place he said, seeing we have such a hope, we use great
plainness of speech. Plainness of speech. I don't
want to speak in such a way as to try to cover up the truth,
but rather to expose it. To expose it and give it to you
just as it is. You know, if we try to remove
the offense of the cross, we remove the power of the cross. I have no ambition at all to
try to tone down or compromise the gospel to keep from offending
sinners. I would much rather offend the
sinner by telling the truth than to offend God by telling a lie. How about you? Here's number one. Salvation. Salvation is according to the
work of God. The work of God. Now, let's use
our Bible. Turn to Philippians chapter 1.
Philippians chapter 1. Salvation is according to the
work of God. All that is involved in our salvation is totally the
doing of God. the doing of God, the doing of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the doing of God alone through Christ Jesus. It says in Psalm 57 verse two,
that the Lord Jesus, and that's who it's referring to, He performs
all things for us. You mean preacher most things,
no, all things for us, all things. All things in salvation are of
the Lord. Now, I told you to turn to Philippians
chapter one, Notice verse 6, being confident, persuaded of
this very thing, that He, that is God Almighty, which hath begun
a good work in you, salvation is Christ in you, He begins the
work, it's a good work, it's His work, it's a work in you,
God who hath begun this work in you, He will finish it. He
will perform it, He will perfect it until the day that we are
totally glorified in glory with Christ Jesus. Salvation is all
according to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, turn
back to John and turn to John chapter 4. John chapter 4. This is going to be a straightforward
No nonsense message. John chapter 4. Salvation is
by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Now let me tell
you something, John chapter 4, and then I'm going to read verse
34 in just a minute, but let me have your attention first.
You remember when the Lord Jesus was 12 years old, just a young
boy? and his parents, that is, Mary, his mother, Joseph, we
could say his foster father, stepfather, however you want
to say that, what is natural father, begotten of God, they
went to pay their taxes annually, yearly. And they came and they
did that and they went back home and on their journey back home
they were missing this lad, 12 years old. And they went back
and found him in the temple teaching and confounding the scholars
of his day. You remember what he said? I
must be about my Father's business." The first recorded words of the
God-man mediator were speaking, doing God's business, His work
that God gave Him to do. Now, look at John chapter 4 verse
34. The Lord, the disciples were
concerned that He had not eaten anything. They had gone away
to find something to eat. And the Lord said to them, where
verse 33, therefore said the disciples to one another, hath
any man brought him ought to eat? And the Lord said in verse
32, I have meat to eat that you knew not of. Verse 34, my meat,
my delight, my satisfaction, my pleasure is to do the will
of him that sent me and to finish his work. His work to finish. That's my delight, that's my
desire to finish His work. Now stay right here in the book
of John. Turn to John 17. John 17. John 17. Verse 2. You recognize this as the Lord's
Intercessory prayer for his covenant people as thou has given him
power over all flesh John 17 to that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hath given him and This is life eternal
that they might know thee the only true God Let's read it this
way the only true God Jesus Christ whom thou has sent I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work That
you gave me to do now. He had a work to do and His pleasure
and delight was to finish the Father's work, the work of salvation,
the work of redemption. That's why He came. That's why
He came. Now turn to John 19, 30. John
19. The Lord Jesus Christ, as He
dies as a sinner's substitute, bearing our sins and His own
body on the tree. In verse 30, when the Lord Jesus
had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished. He bowed his head and he gave
up the ghost. Now, simple question. Did he finish the work the Father
gave him to do or did he not? Did he actually put away the
sin of God's covenant people or did he make just a down payment? Did He actually redeem all the
sin of all God's covenant people? Or did He just try to make an
effort? Did He actually make an atonement, complete satisfaction
to God? Is He the complete expiation
of sin of all of God's covenant people? Or did He just make an
attempt? The Lord Jesus Christ didn't
make an attemptment for sin. He made an atonement for sin.
Well, preacher, what's your theory on atonement? I don't have a
theory. I have an atonement. The Lord Jesus Christ put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. You see, it's His doing. It's
His work. I have no part in it. None at
all. The Lord Jesus Christ, now three
things under this one point. The Lord Jesus Christ alone honored
the Law of God, satisfied the Law of God in all of its precepts,
631 precepts of the Law. The Lord Jesus Christ magnified
the Law of God on our behalf. Christ is the end of the Law
for righteousness to everyone that believes it. The Lord Jesus
Christ honored the Law of God. As a matter of fact, it says
that And our Lord said in Matthew 5 verse 17, He said, I didn't
come to destroy the law, I came to honor the law of God. And
He did that. And then in Isaiah 42 verse 21,
it says, God the Father, speaking of the redeeming work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, His priestly high work, it says of Him, the
Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake, He will magnify
the law, He will make it honorable. Did he get it done? Absolutely. When he by himself purged our
sin, what happened? He sat down at the right hand
of God. Why did he sit down? His work
was done. His redeeming work was complete,
finished, done. Done to the satisfaction of God. So the Lord Jesus Christ honored
the Law of God alone. The Lord Jesus Christ alone established
and brought in an everlasting righteousness for us. We don't
go about to establish a righteousness of our own. You remember Paul
writes about that in Romans 10 about those religious Jews who
were ignorant of God. ignorant of the gospel of God,
ignorant of the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel,
therefore they were going about to establish a righteousness
of their own, not knowing that Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Christ alone
brought in an everlasting righteousness, blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputed righteousness without works. And Christ alone, as I
said a moment ago, the Lord Jesus Christ put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. He appeared once in the end of
the age, Hebrews 9, 26. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And my
friend, the Lord Jesus Christ as God's servant, He is righteous
servant, shall justify many. The Lord Jesus Christ knows nothing
of failure. What's that scripture over in
Isaiah 42? I think I know what it said.
The Lord Jesus Christ cannot fail. He cannot be discouraged. You see, He finished the work
of salvation for us. Now be careful. Oftentimes in
religious circles, I've said this here before, I've made this
statement here before, but it's worth repeating. Oftentimes in
religious circles, you hear this saying, well, I'm trusting the
finished work of Christ. Now be careful, be careful, because
that's not a good statement. Because I'm trusting the Lord
Jesus Christ who finished my salvation, who completed and
accomplished my salvation. I trust Him. You see what I'm
saying? It's not that I'm trusting His
finished work, although that's involved. You can't divorce His
work from His person, His person and His work. But I'm trusting
Him who finished the work. It's like saying, well, I believe
the sovereignty of God. Well, okay, that's okay, but
here's a better statement. I believe God who is sovereign.
You see, I think there's a difference there. I'm not trying to split
hairs. I'm trying to help you. It's not that we're all caught
up and entangled with the sovereign attributes of God. It's God who
is sovereign. The glory of it and the glory
of every blessed doctrine of the gospel is His person. What is election without the
elect? He is the elect. What is covenant love without
the covenant Redeemer? Well, you know, it's just cold
and dead. You see, it's His person that
adds the warmth, that adds the life, that adds the intimate
love relationship God had with His people. You got number one? Okay, here's number two. Salvation
is according to the will of God. The will of God. The will of God. Now, we're right
here in the book of John. I've got several references,
but let's look at John chapter 6. Turn back to John chapter
6. Now, salvation is according to the will of... Did I say the
will of God? You know I did. Salvation, therefore, is not
by the will of the creature. It's by the will of the Creator.
Oh, now preacher, wait a minute, you've gone too far. Man the
free moral agent. That's what I've heard. That's
what religious folks say. You know this book doesn't say
that. This book doesn't say that. Man's not his will. You know,
man's a free will moral agent. No he's not. Man's will is in
bondage to his nature, therefore it's not free. Man's will, I
repeat what I've said over the years, man's will is always self-worth
and downward, never God-worth and upward. Man's will is like
free running water. Which way is free-running water
going to go? It's not going to go up, is it? It's going to go
down, is it? Men love darkness, not light, because their deeds
are evil. So salvation is not by the will
of man. Man's will is not free. He's
in bondage. He's in bondage to his nature.
Man's not free, and certainly he is not a free... Man's not
moral. He's immoral. He's ungodly. He's
vile. He's wretched. He's a sinner.
You're depraved, totally! It's one thing to say, well,
that man's depraved. It's a whole other thing to say,
I'm the ungodly sinner. So man, his will is not free. Man is not a free moral agent. He's an ungodly, wretched sinner,
and he's certainly not an agent. An agent is someone who has the
authority to act on the behalf of another. Your insurance agent
acts on your behalf. Are you an agent of God? Can you bind God and hold Him
to a contract? No. See how ridiculous? Men in religion who don't know
the God of the Bible, man is not a free moral agent. He's
a wretched rebel against God. He's a God-hater. Men love darkness,
not light. That carnal mind is enmity against
God. Hates God. Well, I don't hate
God. Tell you left to yourself you
do. It's what the Word of God says. So salvation is not by
the will of man. Salvation is according to the
will of God. Now, did I tell you to turn to
John chapter 6? I got a little bit carried away
there. Look at verse 37. All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out. For I came down from heaven not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that all which he hath
given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. And this is the will of him that sent me. that everyone
which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life, and I'll raise him up at the last day. The will of God. Salvation is according to the
will of God. Look at John 6, 44. John 6, 44. Our Lord said, no man can come
to me, except the Father which sent me draw him, and I will
raise him up at the last day. Now turn back to John chapter
five, verse 40. Verse 39 and verse 40. Our Lord
said to these Jews, you search the scriptures and in them you
think you have eternal life. They are they which testify of
me and you will not come to me that you might have life. Verse
42, I know you that you have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father's name
and you receive me not. How can you believe, verse 44,
which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor coming
from God only? Had you believed Moses, you would
have believed me, for Moses wrote of me. Our Lord plainly says,
you will not come to me that you might have life. So, left
to ourselves and our own sin and deadness and depravity and
hatred against God, men don't In and of themselves they will
not come to Christ they will not come to Christ you see Salvation
is according to the will of God now turn back to John chapter
1 John chapter 1 He came unto His own, verse 11,
and His own received Him not, but as many as received Him,
to them gave He power, the right to become sons of God, even them
that believe on His name, you got it, John 1, 12, believe on His name, not a period
there, which were born, not of blood, fleshly bloodlines have
nothing to do with salvation, we believe on His name, Because
we're born of God, it says, not of blood, not of the will of
the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. Is that clear? That's clear,
isn't it? If a man believes and receives
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's because he's been
born and begotten of God. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Believing the gospel is the fruit
of being begotten of God, born of God. Except the man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Except the man be born
again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The flesh profiteth
nothing. Says that in John 6, 63. It's
the spirit that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth nothing. The
word that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Now, we believe, we believe according
to the working of His mighty power. And that's the only way
a sinner will believe the gospel. Not left to himself. Turn to
John, or rather Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Left to
ourselves but will not come to Christ. He has to make us willing
in the day of His power. And we believe the gospel. Now
often times I get an argument from folks who want to argue
and folks who want to fight about grace and about sovereign grace.
They say, well the sinner has to believe. Well that's true.
The sinner will believe the gospel and he will believe the gospel
because God makes him willing in the day of his power. Now,
look at Ephesians 1 verse 19. Here's what I'm getting at. We
believe and what is exceeding greatness of His power to usward. Who believe? Ephesians 1 verse
19. according to the working of His
mighty power. The energy and the dynamite of
His mighty power. Now what kind of power are we
talking about? Look at the next verse. Which He wrought in Christ
when He raised Him from the dead and set Him in His own right
hand in heavenly places. He's talking about resurrection
power. Right down in chapter 2 verse
1, Ephesians 2 verse 1, it says, you hath thee quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sin. So if a sinner's quickened, of
his own will beget he us with the word of truth. So salvation is according to
the, you got number one, the work of God. Salvation, secondly,
is according to the will of God. The will of God, the will of
God. Not of him that willeth, Romans 9, not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but it's God that shows mercy. So salvation is according to
the work of God. Salvation is according to the
will of God, not the will of man. And thirdly, salvation is
according to the way of God. the way of God. Now what is that
way? Turn to John 14. John 14. John 14. Thomas said unto him,
Lord, we know not whither thou goest. John 14 verse 5. You see it? How can we know the
way? And the Lord said unto him, I
am the way. Now that's pretty clear, isn't
it? He's not a way, some way. He's the, definite article, the
way of God. The way of salvation. He's not
only the way, he is the truth. He is the life. And then he says,
no man comes unto the Father but by me. Turn to John 10 turn
over there John 10 verse 9 Christ is the way Christ is the door
into the sheepfold and John 10 verse 9 I am the door I am the
door you got it John 10 9 by me by me This is the work of God, that
you believe on Him, whom He has sent. I am the door, by me if
any man enter in, he shall be saved. By me, we enter in by
Him. Blessed is the man to whom God
chooses and causes to approach unto Him. That's Psalm, what
Psalm is that? Psalm 65 verse 4, I believe it
is. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. Go in and out, and find fast. Now I wondered about that statement
for a long time. How do you go in and out? Out of death into life. That's the way it comes out to
me. Out of death, depravity, sin,
into the Lord Jesus Christ and we find plenty, pasture. Be plenteous in redemption. So Christ is the way. of salvation. Now I have three bullets, bullets,
three bullets under this one head here. Christ is a way of
salvation. It's the way of grace. It's the
way of grace. Now my favorite scripture, I
quote it almost every time I pray, 2 Timothy 1.9, Rupert brought
that message here that night. where it says, when the Apostle
Paul was in prison and he's writing back to Timothy and telling him,
don't be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it's God who saved
us, it's God who saved us, it's God who called us, not according
to our works, but according to, there's that thing, not according
to our work, but according to His own purpose, His own grace,
purpose and grace married together, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the foundation of the world. So Christ is the way,
and it's the way of grace. The way of grace. The way of
grace. Secondly, it's the way of faith,
not works. The way of faith, not works. The way of faith. You see, faith
gives him all the honor and glory. Abraham was strong in faith,
being fully persuaded that all that God had promised, he was
able to perform. He was strong in faith, glorifying
God by believing God. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith, I like
what Arthur Pink said about faith. Faith, he said, in one of his
books, I can't remember. Faith, he said, is something
exotic. Faith is not something that's native to this old wretched
heart. Faith is not of the flesh. Faith
is the gift of God. The faith of God's elect, you
know what it does? It acknowledges the truth. The
faith of God's elect loves the truth of God. The faith of God's
elect looks unto the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and
finisher of faith. God loves the way of faith. It
says four times in the word of God, the just shall live by faith. Live by Christ. Christ is the
object of faith. So Christ is a way, it's a way
of grace, it's a way of faith, not work, it's a way of mercy,
not merit. It's a way of mercy. It's a way
of mercy. Mercy, mercy, mercy. We are,
believers are this. Here's what believers are, they're
mercy beggars. They're mercy beggars. Our Lord tells us to
come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. He didn't say come boldly that
you may earn. You can't earn mercy. Can you? If you could earn mercy, it wouldn't
be mercy. Mercy's for the miserable. Come
into the throne of grace that you may obtain. Come boldly into
the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. Now I like this scripture too,
found in Titus three, not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Now there's some more of that
that I can't quote, but I can read it to you. In Titus, don't
turn, let me just get it for you here quickly. He saved us by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being
justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the
hope of eternal life. So it is the way of grace alone,
the way of faith alone, the way of mercy alone, the way of Christ
alone. That's the way of salvation.
You coming that way? God's people are brought that
way. They're brought that way. So salvation is according to
the, let's review, the work of God. What was the second point?
The will of God. The third point was the way,
the way of God, according to salvation, according to the way
of God. Then lastly is this, salvation
is according to the word of God, the word of God. Turn to John
chapter one, turn over there. Talbation is according to the
Word of God. The Word of God. The Word of
God, it says in Hebrews four, verse 12, the Word of God is
quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing
asunder soul and spirit, the discerner of the thoughts and
the intent of the heart. The Word of God is quick, living,
live, powerful. John chapter one, verse one. In the beginning was the Word.
Salvation is according to the Word of God. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. And this gets right back to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 14, and the Word was made
flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Verse 16 in John chapter 1, and
of His fullness have all we received grace for grace. The Word of God. I want you to
turn and look at this verse. We've looked at this a lot of
times. Romans 10, turn over there. Romans 10, verse 17, one verse,
Romans 10, 17. So then faith comes by hearing,
faith comes by the Word of God, hearing the truth, and hearing
by the Word of God. Hearing by Christ who is the
Word of God. Christ is the Word of God. So
salvation is according to the Word of God that is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by Christ, the Word, Christ the Eternal Word of God. Now I want you to look at a couple
of other scriptures, and I'll be through. Find 1 Thessalonians,
1 Thessalonians chapter 1, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. We read in James chapter 1 verse
18. I've quoted a while ago of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth. I don't think
you can rightly separate the incarnate word from the living
word, from the written word. They're all one in the same.
They're all wrapped up together in one sweet, blessed, precious
package. The word incarnate word, the
Lord God, His written word, His living word that's quick and
powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Now, first testimony
in chapter one. He says in verse 2, we give thanks
to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers,
remembering without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of
love, faith works by love, patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the sight of God and our Father, knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God for our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but it came in power. It came in the Holy Ghost. And
it gave us much assurance, as you know what manner of men we
were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us,
having received the Word, the Word, the Word incarnate, Christ
the Word. Having received the Word written,
the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Spirit. One more text and I'll let you
go. Find I Peter, I Peter chapter 1. He says, For
as much as you know, for as much as you know, verse 18, I Peter. For as much as you know, you
are not redeemed with corruptible things, silver and gold, vain
conversation, tradition of your fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,
who was verily, truly, foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him
do believe in God that raised him up from the dead and gave
him glory that your faith and hope might be in God seeing you
have purified your souls in obeying the truth or see to it that you
obey the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned or genuine love
of the brethren the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace
seeing that you love one another with a pure heart fervently being
born of God born from above not of the corruptible seed. That's
the way we're born the first time. But being born of an incorruptible
seed, the Word of God being born of Christ, begotten of God, which
liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, the
glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, the
flower thereof falleth away, but the Word of the Lord. Salvation
is according to the work of God, the will of God, the way of God,
and the word of God. But the word of the Lord endures
forever, and this is the word which by or whereby the gospel
is preached unto you. Salvation is of the Lord. From its get-go to its ultimate
glory, salvation is of the Lord.