Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the book of
Hebrews, chapter 10. And the title of the message
is The Believer's Profession. The Believer's Profession. And
what I'm talking about is not a profession in the sense of
a professional person who does a job. I'm talking about what
true believers profess to believe. And it's in verse 23 of the book
of Hebrews, chapter 10, where it says, let us hold fast the
profession of our faith, or the profession of faith, without
wavering. And then it has in parentheses,
and this was in the original, it wasn't in parentheses, but
this shows the source of everything. It says, for he, and the he there
is God, he is faithful that promised. So let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that is promised.
Now, what he's talking about, holding fast, you know, the Bible
talks about believers holding fast. It talks about the believers
continuing in the faith. If you continue in the faith,
it talks about believers persevering, going on, not turning back, all
of that. It's what we call perseverance
of the saints, that's the doctrine. In other words, and what the
Bible teaches is this, that if God truly saves a sinner by his
grace, that sinner, I can tell you three things about that sinner. If God has truly saved me by
grace, if he saved you by grace. I can tell you what your profession
is in just a moment, but there's three things I can say about
you. Number one, you cannot deny the faith. And that's what he's
talking about, the profession of our faith. The faith there
is the body of doctrine, the message, the truth that sets
a sinner free, that God uses to bring a sinner unto salvation.
So I can tell you these three things. Number one, you cannot
deny it. If I preach to you the gospel,
and you deny what I preach, if I'm preaching from the word of
God, now it's not, listen, it's not just because I'm preaching
it, and it's not just agreeing with me, but if I'm preaching
unto you the word of God, and you deny it, okay, then I can
tell you right now, you don't believe, obviously, you haven't
been saved, you haven't been born again by the Spirit. All
who are saved by the grace of God, all who are born again by
the Spirit, profess to believe the faith. What is that faith?
Well, we're gonna talk about that. We believe the same thing,
the same gospel. We're not different denominations,
all right? Different takes on the same thing.
All right, so you cannot deny it. Secondly, you cannot even
ignore it. I've had people come in and sit
in our congregation for years. and claim to believe it, but
when it came right, when push came to shove, so to speak, where
they had to take a stand against friends and family who don't
believe it, they would leave and just ignore it, claiming
they really believe it, but they just ignore it. I don't want
to hear that anymore. Well, if you truly believe it,
you can't deny it and you cannot ignore it. The Holy Spirit resides
within the people of God and He will not allow you to ignore
it. It'll haunt you and He'll bring
you back. And then thirdly, you cannot
leave it. You can't get away from it. These
people that talk about you can be saved one day and lost the
next, they don't know what they're talking about. That's a false
gospel. If God saves you by His grace
and brings you to this faith, the profession of our faith,
You can't leave it. And why is it you can't leave
it? It's not because of your own power or your own goodness
or your own will. Here's the reason, look at it
again, Hebrews 10, 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our
faith without wavering, without veering off into other doctrines
that deny the gospel, for he is faithful that promised. There's
the foundation of it. God is faithful. Our Savior,
Christ, is faithful. Paul said this in 2 Timothy 1.12. He said, I know whom I have believed
and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've
committed unto him against that day. Now, what have I committed
unto Christ? My whole salvation. Do you understand
that? I have not committed part of
my salvation to him and then part to me. It's all committed
to him. And he said in John chapter 10,
he said, he said, my sheep, they'll hear my voice, they'll follow
me, they'll never perish. Why? Because no one can pluck
them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. God's
got a hold on his people and he will not let go. Now, if God
did let go, we'd fall in a minute. We'd fall away, but he won't
let us go. And the evidence that I'm a sinner
saved by grace is that I persevere in the faith, hold fast the profession
of our faith. Well, what is the profession
of our faith? Well, first of all, you can start it this way.
It's the gospel, the gospel of God. What is the gospel? Now, there's your key. Now, people
today have watered down the gospel to where it really means nothing.
And they all, most of them believe that the gospel presents Christ
as a savior who died for everybody and trying to save everybody
if, if, if they will cooperate, if they will believe, if they'll
do this or if they'll do that. And that's not the gospel. In
the book of Romans chapter one and verse 16, it says, Paul says,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it, that is the
gospel, is the power, the dynamite of God, it's the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and
the Greek also, verse 17, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith, that is from the body of doctrine,
to faith, to the gift of faith that brings us to lay hold and
hold fast. to that truth. I believe God's
gospel. What is the gospel? It's good
news. It's the gospel of Christ. What is the gospel? Well, it
involves the doctrine of Christ. John wrote in the book of Second
John, verse nine, he that transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ, he continues not in the doctrine of Christ, hath
not God. But he that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son. So the evidence
that I believe the gospel and that I'm saved by the grace of
God is holding fast the doctrine of Christ. Well, what is the
doctrine of Christ? Well, it's the doctrine of His person. Who
is Jesus Christ? Exactly who is He? Now, here's
where we need to be concerned with this. What does the Bible
say? Not what men say. Not what your
denomination or my denomination says. What does God say? And
God says that this person, who is the savior of sinners, is
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is both God and man in one
person. In the book of John chapter one,
he's called the Word, the Word of God, which was from the beginning,
which created the world. And in John 1.14 it says, that
word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The
glory is the only begotten of the Father. The word was made
flesh. That's speaking of the deity
and the sinless humanity of Christ joined together in a miraculous
union. The old theologians used to call
it a hypostatic union, which meant this, that the two natures
of Christ, deity and humanity without sin, they didn't mix
together, you can't mix them together, but they joined together,
and he walked this earth as God in human flesh. Matthew 1.21,
when the angel came to Joseph, telling him not to put Mary away
because of her pregnancy. He talked about the child who
was to come, and he said, here's what you're going to name him.
His name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. And then in verse 23, it says,
his name shall be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God
with us. That's who Christ is. Paul wrote
to Timothy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. That's who Jesus Christ is. He
had to be both God and man in one person in order to save his
people from their sins. He had to be God because only
God can produce, create, give, and sustain life. He had to be
man because death, he had to die. Blood had to be shed. Justice
had to be satisfied. And so he had to be both God
and man and one person in order to do what was required. And
that was to bring forth what Romans 117 called it the righteousness
of God. And what is the righteousness
of God? It's the justice of God fully satisfied against the sins
of His people as they were charged, imputed, accounted, reckoned
to the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the surety
of His people. That means their sins, the sin
debt, was charged to Him. and he was required to take their
place, to take the place of his people. That's substitution. He had to come and take into
union with himself that perfect sinless humanity, walk this earth
in strict obedience to the law, and he had to die to satisfy
God's justice. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no forgiveness of sins. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. What is that blood? That's his
death. What does that mean? That means righteousness established
by the God-man. And he had to redeem us by the
shedding of his blood. So the person of Christ, that's
the doctrine of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? Now, anyone
who claims to be a Christian, who denies either the deity or
the humanity, the sinless humanity of Christ, is not a Christian. is not a believer. So when he
says, let us hold fast the profession of our faith, the profession
of the faith of God's people is that we believe, we rest in,
we plead the righteousness of Christ who is God manifest in
the flesh. And then the doctrine of Christ
involves his finished work on the cross. Now listen to me very
carefully here. The gospel, the faith, that indicates
one of the true people of God, hold fast the profession of our
faith. The gospel is not simply, not
the bare historical facts of the death, burial, and resurrection
of Christ. Now don't get me wrong, those
historical facts are included in the gospel. But the gospel
tells us this, it tells us why he died, why he was buried and
why he arose again from the dead. It tells us what he accomplished
in the death, burial and resurrection. Over in 1 Corinthians, where
it talks about how Christ, 1 Corinthians 15, I believe it is, where it
talks about how we preach the gospel that speaks of how that
Christ died for our sins. And then it says, according to
the scriptures, Now it's not talking about just the historical
fact of his death, that's true. And then it says how he was buried
and how he arose again the third day according to the scriptures.
What do the scriptures, the word of God, say about his death,
his burial, his resurrection? What did he actually accomplish
for my salvation in his death, burial, and resurrection? Well,
that goes back to the righteousness of God again. What did Christ
do? Did He die for everybody to make everybody savable or
to make salvation available? Was His death a blanket pardon,
but it means nothing unless you receive it or seal the deal or
put your stamp on? That is not what the Bible teaches.
His death, the Bible teaches, was a propitiation. It was a
sin-bearing sacrifice that brought satisfaction to God's justice
so as to secure the salvation of every sinner for whom he died. And that's what the Bible teaches.
The death of Christ is the establishment of the righteousness of God by
which God's elect people, chosen people, are justified. That means they're forgiven.
That means they're declared righteous. That means their sins are covered.
That means God cannot impute iniquity to them. David wrote
in Psalm 32, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not
iniquity, and in whose heart is no guile, and in whom there
is no guile. Paul, in Romans chapter four,
commented on that passage in Psalm 32. In Romans four and
verse six, he said, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth
righteousness without works. So that's what it's all about.
And if God has justified them, he will bring them to faith in
Christ and repentance of dead works and perseverance of the
faith. And that's what we hold fast,
we hold on, we grip tightly, the profession of our faith.
I'm saved not because I made the difference. I'm saved because
Christ made the difference. His death was a sin-bearing sacrifice
that brought satisfaction that secured my salvation. He said
it himself in John 12, He said, And I, if I be lifted up, will
draw all unto me. All who? All of His sheep. In
John 6, 37, what did he say? He said, for all that the Father
hath given me shall come to me. They're going to come. If God
chose you before the foundation of the world and Christ died
for you, you will come to Him. You will believe in Him. That
will be the profession of your faith. And somebody says, well,
then that means if I'm not elect or if I'm not one of His sheep
and I want to come to Him anyway, then what good is it going to
do me? Oh no, listen to the rest of John 6.37. He says, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. Any and every sinner who comes
to God seeking salvation, his way. God's way, not your way,
not my way, but God's way. You see, there are others who
claim salvation is another way. Some claim it's conditioned on
the sinner. Some claim that it's by believing
or by baptism or whatever. But it's by the grace of God
based on the righteousness of Christ. And if you ever want
to come to Christ God's way according to the scripture, that's an indication
and an evidence that you were one whom the Father gave to him
before the foundation of the world. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. And he went on to say in that
John six passage, he said, this is the will of him that sent
me that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing,
but raise it up again at the last day. He saves us, He keeps
us, He'll bring us to glory. Now back here in Hebrews chapter
10, right before He says this in verse 23, look at it again,
verse 23, our text. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith, the gospel, wherein the righteousness of God is revealed.
the gospel that tells me who Christ is and what he accomplished
on the cross by way of righteousness. And incidentally, in Romans chapter
10, Paul makes it very plain there that if you're ignorant
of or not submitted to the righteousness of God in Christ, You're lost,
you're an unbeliever, going about to establish a righteousness
of your own. That's salvation by works. And
he says in Romans 10, four, for Christ is the end of the law,
the finishing, the perfection of the law, for righteousness
to everyone who believe it, everyone who has this profession of faith.
And so here in Hebrews 10, 23, let us hold fast the profession
of our faith, without wavering, for He is faithful that promised."
Right before he said this, he gives us the content of the gospel.
Look back up in Hebrews 10 and verse 10. Look here. He's talking
about the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of His sheep, the
sins of His church. Christ, by His blood, He bought,
He purchased His church. And it says in verse 10, by the
witch will, that is by the will of God, we are sanctified, set
apart through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. His one sacrifice was enough,
more than enough. to save his people from their
sins. Now that for all in verse 10 was not in the original. It
was added by the translators for clarification. Some say it
means once for all time, and that's okay. And then some say
it means once for all of his own, his own people, and that's
okay too. But look at verse 12. He says, this man, this person,
Lord Jesus Christ, and he is man, but he's also God, he's
God-man. After he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, see, one forever, sat down on the right hand of
God. What does that mean? It means the work's done. It's
finished, he has no more to do as far as establishing the ground
of salvation, the righteousness of God that ensures the salvation
of his people. Verse 13, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, that means victory.
Victory in the salvation of his people and victory in the condemnation
of his enemies. And then verse 14, I love this
verse, listen. For by what offering He hath
perfected, finished, completed forever them that are sanctified. Now, who are the sanctified?
Well, they're the ones who have this profession of faith. They're
believers. Do you believe the gospel, the
gospel that is set forth in this Bible? There are a lot of false
gospels. Did you know that? There's a
lot of false gospels. Paul dealt with that in Galatians
chapter one. If he that cometh to you, though we are an angel
from heaven, preach any other gospel than that which we have
preached, let him be anathema. So here's the true gospel, and
here are the many false gospels. How are you gonna know the difference?
It's only through the doctrine of Christ. What does the true
gospel say? What do all these other gospels say, these false
gospels? The true gospel is the preaching
of the person and finished work of Christ, the revelation of
the righteousness of God, which is the merits, the value of the
obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ for His people to
secure their salvation and final glory. All these false gospels
have one thing in common. It's all salvation in some way,
at some stage, to some degree, conditioned on sinners. Those
are false gospels. And so, when we talk about this
one offering that he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified,
who are the sanctified? They're set apart. They were
set apart before the foundation of the world as God chose them
in Christ. They're set apart. in Christ
in redemption when he died for their sins and was buried and
arose again the third day. And then they were set apart
by the Holy Spirit in the new birth when he gave them life
and brought them to faith in Christ and repentance of dead
works. You know there are counterfeit Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? What did he accomplish? Well,
here's the true Christ. And here are the many counterfeits,
there are many. What is it about the true Christ? Who he is, he's
God manifest in the flesh. What did he accomplish? He accomplished
the certain assurance of salvation unto glory for all for whom he
died. He established the righteousness
of God. He is the righteousness of God,
which God has freely imputed to them and by which through
the work of the Spirit they are brought to believe in Christ.
And continue in the faith, for he is faithful to the promise. What was God faithful to do?
He was faithful to keep his promise to save his people from their
sins through the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
How do you know he was successful? He arose again the third day.
Righteousness was established, sin was put away, and they must
have life from the dead. And then what do all these counterfeit
Christ? Well, just like the false gospels,
they're the ones who made salvation available if man would do his
part. And the problem is is that that
lifts man to a higher level than what the scripture will give
him. So for by one offering, he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. We'll look down at
verse 18 or verse 17. Based upon the death of Christ,
God says, their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now,
does that mean God has something in his mind that he forgets and
he doesn't know exist anymore? No, it means God will not bring
them up again in the record. Their names are written in the
Lamb's book of life. They stand before God, washed
in his blood, clothed in his righteousness. No sin is charged
against them. They're sinners saved by grace.
And God's not pretending here, He will not charge them with
sin. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's
God that justifies. And it says in verse 18, and
their sins and iniquities, verse 17, will I remember no more.
Verse 18, now where remission, pardon, forgiveness of these
is, and that's based upon the blood of Christ, there is no
more offering for sin. I don't need to offer anything
unto God for my sins. The blood of Christ cleanses
me from all sin. What do I offer unto God? My
thanks, my gratitude, my love, my obedience, not in order to
be saved, not in order to be kept saved, but because I already
am saved and kept by the grace of God in Christ. How do you
know that's true? Look at verse 19. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness, liberty, confidence to enter the holiest,
the very presence of God, by the blood of Jesus. That's the
ground. You don't enter the holy presence
of God because you've been very good or you've had a good week
or you prayed a good prayer or preached a good message. You
enter into the holy presence of God by the blood of Christ. That's our profession. Hold fast
the profession of our, hold fast to that. When people come and
try to challenge that and say, no, you've got to do this and
you've got to do that in order to be qualified. Hold fast our
profession for he is faithful, that promise. And that's what
it's all about. A new and living way, he says,
which Christ has consecrated. Christ made the new and living
way. And that's our profession, that's the profession of God's
people. I hope you'll join us next week for another message
from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.