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 for this message today. This message is the second
message in a series of messages that accompany a new book that
we're offering to you free of charge entitled, What is a Christian? What is a Christian? A Biblical
Study of the One True Faith. And this is the second message.
The title of this message follows along with, these messages will
follow along with the chapters of the book. I urge you if you're
listening to this or if you get the DVD or a CD of this message
to get the book too. The book is intended to be a
companion to guide you through the Bible. concerning the true
definition, the biblical definition of what a true Christian is and
what a true Christian is not. It's what I call, in my writing,
as far as writing books, I've written another book called,
What Is Salvation? You may be familiar with that.
These things are tools for self-examination. Examine yourself, whether you
be in the faith. Well, this message is entitled,
The Uniqueness of True Christians. And this is part one. I had to
divide this up into two messages. The uniqueness of true Christians. And here's the logic of this
title and this chapter. If we're going to say that Christianity
is the one true faith, the one true way of salvation, Jesus
Christ and Him crucified, then it cannot blend in with other
religions or human religion. There are things that are unique
about Christianity. And that's what I wanna deal
with in this message and the next and in the chapter of the
book. What is unique about true Christianity that no other religion
holds to? Jesus Christ. He said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. None other way of salvation,
the scripture says. Christianity. And so this is
the uniqueness of it. Now let me say at the outset,
before I get started on what I'm going to deal with, what
I deal with in the book and what I'm going to deal with in these
messages. about what is unique about Christianity. I in no way
intend to deal with every unique doctrine of Christianity, everything
concerning the doctrine and the practice of true Christianity
that is only unique to Christianity. There's no way I could do that
in even two messages or even one book. There are a lot of
things that we could talk about that are unique to Christianity.
What I'm going to deal with concerns the basics of Christianity in
the way of salvation. What is unique to Christianity
as far as how God saves sinners? And of course, we understand
that that means that Jesus Christ is the only Savior. We'll be
talking about that. But what's unique about that
way of salvation? That's what this book is, the
book that I've written, and as it guides you through the scriptures
and these messages. And the first thing that I want
you to see is what I call the most foundational truth of Christianity. If I were to ask you that question,
what is the most fundamental truth of Christianity, what would
you say? Well, here it is. And that's this, the Bible, is
the inspired, inerrant Word of God. That's the first, most fundamental,
unique doctrine, truth of Christianity. This book, the Bible. I mentioned
in the last program that no human book can compare with the Bible.
This is God's Word. This is what you need to be reading
and studying. The reason I preach, the reason
I write books is not to set myself on the level of the word of God,
even though I have a lot of scripture references in the book, and I
have a lot of scripture references in my preaching. In other words,
whatever I say to you, it must be based upon scriptural testimony. Thus saith the Lord, Isaiah 8
20, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, there's no light in them. So no human book, no human
message can't compare to God's Word. It has to line up with
God's Word. And certainly no human book can
replace God's Word. There's just no comparison. So
if you do order the book, and I urge you to order it, it's
free of charge. Don't think that I'm trying to
say, well, put down your Bibles and read this book that I've
written. No, no, get your Bibles. and let it be a guide through
the Bible and see if what I tell you lines up with the Bible.
That's the fundamental truth. Everything I believe and know
about Jesus Christ in His person. Everything that I know and believe
about Jesus Christ in his work of salvation, what he did to
accomplish salvation for his people is found and based upon
what the Bible says. Therefore, I say the most unique
doctrine of Christianity is this, the Bible is the inspired and
inerrant word of God. Look at 2 Timothy chapter three. That's the fundamental text that
we'll start with. Second Timothy chapter three
and verse 14, which reads, and Paul writing to Timothy, he says,
but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has
been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And what
he's talking about there, he's been taught of God. Verse 15,
and that from a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures, the
written word of God, which they had then as the Old Testament,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Christ Jesus. In other words, the word of God.
This is the word of life. And look at verse 16. He says,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Most of you know that
means literally God breathed. This is the breath of God. This
is the inspired. the inerrant Word of God. It's
profitable for doctrine, that's the teachings of the Bible. Profitable for reproof, that
has to do with exposing what is wrong. And for correction,
that's telling us what is right. And for instruction in righteousness,
the way of righteousness. What is the way of righteousness?
The only way I can find that is in the Bible. You see, that's
how I know. that the way of righteousness
is not the works or the will of men. The Bible says there's
none righteous, no not one, none that doeth good. The way of righteousness,
according to the Bible, is in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord
of glory, and what He accomplished on Calvary's cross to save His
people from their sins. And Paul writes in 2 Timothy
3, 17, that the man of God, that's a sinner saved by the grace of
God, that's one who's justified by the imputed righteousness
of Jesus Christ, that's a Christian. The man of God may be perfect,
that means complete. You see, Christians are not perfect
people, but they are complete, complete in Christ, throughly
or thoroughly furnished unto all good works. So understanding
that the Bible, this is unique now to Christianity, this book
right here, no other book is like it. No other book even compares
to it. You need to read and study and
pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the words of this book.
And here's one of the first things that if this book makes you,
if God makes you wise unto salvation, through the teachings of this
book, here's the next thing that's unique to Christianity, and that
is this. This Bible is a book of Jesus
Christ and the way of salvation by God's grace in and through
Him. This book is a book of Christ. In other words, it's simply telling
us this. If I read this book, and miss
Christ and the way of salvation in him, then I've missed the
meaning, the theme, the object, the value of this book. Christ told the Pharisees that.
He says, you search the scriptures, in them you think you have eternal
life. He said, they are they which testify of me. And in this
book, in passages such as John 14 and verse six, what does he
say? He says, I am the way, I am the
truth, I am the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by
me. This book and these things that I'm telling you now are
unique to Christianity. It speaks of Jesus Christ Himself
and what He alone accomplished for His people to save and to
preserve them unto eternal life forever and ever. It speaks of
the person of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? Now, this
book is so unique. It speaks of the sinfulness of
man. And I'll talk about that later
in these series of messages. Talk a lot about it in the book.
The total depravity of man. We fell in Adam. This book teaches
that. No other, that's unique to Christianity. No other book teaches that. No
other book other than the Bible and those things which relate
the Bible truly. We fell in that ruined by the
fall. Man was ruined. And the only
way that man can be saved is to be redeemed by the blood of
Jesus Christ. That's the death of Jesus Christ
as the surety and substitute of his people. And all who have
been redeemed by the blood of Christ will be regenerated by
the Holy Spirit. They'll be brought to faith in
Christ. But let's go back. Jesus Christ himself. Who is
Jesus Christ? The Apostle Paul was inspired
by the Holy Spirit to write in the book of Romans chapter one
and verse one. He says, Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of
God. We're going to see that the gospel
is unique to Christianity, the true gospel. Verse 2, which he
had promised afore or before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
the Old Testament. And he says, concerning his son
Jesus Christ our Lord. Now this is about God's Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. What does that tell us? This
person, Jesus Christ himself, is fully human without sin. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. He is man. He's the perfect man. And then verse four of Romans
one says, and declared to be the son of God with power, according
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.
Jesus Christ is God. He is God, man. He is the word
made flesh dwelling among us. And this is unique to Christianity. Jesus Christ is God and man in
one person. And that's an amazing truth.
It's a truth that just boggles our minds, but it's true. Great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
His name shall be called Jesus. Matthew 1.21, when the angel
telling Joseph that Mary shall bring forth a son and shall call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
And then in verse 23, he quotes from Isaiah 7. He says, behold,
a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and
they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God
with us. That's an amazing thing. And
as I quoted before, 1 Timothy 3.16, without controversy, without
argument or debate, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up
unto glory. Who is Jesus Christ? The fact, the truth of this,
of the person of Christ is unique to Christianity. He's God in
human flesh. This is the kind of person it
took to save God's elect from their sins. And that brings us
to another unique truth of Christianity. And that's this. Jesus Christ
lived, He died, and arose from the dead, but now don't stop
there. You know, I've heard people say,
well the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
Well, the gospel includes those historical facts. And you cannot
be a Christian, you cannot believe the gospel, unless you believe
that Christ truly lived, that he truly died and that he truly
arose from the dead. When I was in seminary, I had
professors who claimed to be Christian who denied the literal
virgin birth of Christ, they denied the literal perfect obedience
of Christ, and they denied the literal resurrection of Christ.
Now they were denying the uniqueness of true Christianity. Jesus Christ
lived, He died, and He arose from the dead. That's uniquely
Christian. And you cannot be a Christian
and deny those things. But don't just stop there. Don't
just say the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
What is unique to Christianity? Yes, Jesus Christ lived. Yes,
Jesus Christ died. Yes, He arose from the dead,
but here's the key. He did all of that as the surety
and substitute of His people. Now, who are His people? True
Christians. He said in John 6, 37, All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. are the ones whom the Father
gave Him before the foundation of the world. They're called
God's elect. And if you study the Bible, now listen to me,
if you study the Bible, you will find that one of the most common
names for true Christians in the Bible is the elect of God. Some people say, well, that just
refers to the nation Israel. Oh, no. Study the Bible. But
here, now let me emphasize this. These things are unique to Christianity. Jesus Christ lived, died, and
arose from the dead as the surety and substitute of His people.
What is a surety? That's one who takes the debt
of another upon himself to pay that debt. And Jesus Christ was
set up before the world began in eternity to be the surety
of His people, whereupon their sins, the sins of His people,
were charged, imputed to Him. And His righteousness, meaning
the value, the merit of the work that He would do in their place
as their substitute, in His death and burial and resurrection,
His righteousness would be charged to them. Romans 10 verse 4 says
this, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone that believeth. That means Jesus Christ is the
finishing, the fulfillment, the completion, the perfection of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Everyone
who believes in Jesus Christ truly, every true Christian has
righteousness before God. And that righteousness has nothing
to do with their works, has nothing to do with their decision. It
has all to do with what Christ did in fulfilling the law and
dying on the cross. He is the Lord my righteousness. Second Corinthians 521 says this,
For He, that is God the Father, hath made Him, that is God the
Son incarnate, Jesus Christ, to be sin for us. Christ who
knew no sin that we, who's that? True Christians, might be made
or become the righteousness of God in Him. Christ took my sin
as it was imputed, charged to Him. And He gave me His righteousness,
which is imputed or charged to me. So the next truth that is
so unique to Christianity, listen to this now, is this. Justification
before God based on the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. No other religion teaches that. Justification before God based
on the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
is unique to Christianity. What is it to be justified before
God? Listen to me now. To be justified
before God is number one, to be declared by God Himself to
be not guilty. Not guilty. Now listen, I'm a
sinner. I'm a sinner. And if God were
to ever give me what I've earned, or what I've deserved, even based
on my best efforts to serve Him, I would receive nothing but eternal
death and damnation. So, how can I be not guilty? To be justified before God is
to be declared righteous. How can I be declared righteous?
I don't have a righteousness of my own. Even at my best days,
I do not qualify or equal to the righteousness of God. There's
only one way. and that's the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ charged to me. His blood washes away
my sins. Romans 1 16 says, for I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God and
the salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith, as it is written, the just, the justified
shall live by faith. Those who are true Christians,
Those who are truly justified live spiritually, eternally,
by looking to Jesus Christ as the author and finisher of their
faith. That term, the righteousness of God, in Romans 117, is so
important. You see, my righteousness before
God is not the righteousness of a man. It's the righteousness
of God, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. No other religion
teaches that. That's unique to Christianity.
That's unique to the gospel, the Christian gospel. You see,
Christ is my righteousness. He's my surety. He paid my debt
in full. Christ is my righteousness. I
can't plead my faith. I can't plead my decision. Yes,
I have faith. It's the gift of God. Yes, I
made a decision because God made me willing in the day of His
power. I can't plead my prayers, my worship, or anything. I must
plead Jesus Christ alone. as my righteousness before God.
Who is He? He's the God-man. What did He
do? He accomplished my salvation
through the redemptive work that He did as my surety and substitute. I stand before God in His righteousness
alone, freely imputed, which God the Holy Spirit in the new
birth has brought me to receive by faith. I believe in Him. I
rest in Him. I, my confidence is in Him. When
I stand before God at the judgment, I have one hope, I have one plea,
and that's Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, the Lord, my righteousness. Do you understand how unique
it, there's no other, God can only be just to justify me based
on the righteousness of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is
so unique to Christianity. No other religion. Every other
religion, every religion of man, has in some way conditioned salvation
at some stage, in some way, to some degree on man. And let me
add this. Whenever Christians, those who
claim to be Christian, claim that Christ died conditionally
for people, upon their meeting some condition, that is a false
Christianity. Read the Bible. Read the Bible. Go through the word of God. Remember
what I said at the beginning of this message, the uniqueness
of Christianity. The Bible is the inerrant inspired
word of God. If you claim to be a Christian,
can you put that claim to the test of scripture? Am I a Christian
according to what this book says? People may say other things.
Your loved ones may say other things. Your own heart may tell
you other things. But what does the Word of God
say? That's what this whole series,
that's what this book is all about. What is a Christian? A
biblical study of the one true faith. And there's no other way
to determine this subject, but by the power of the Holy Spirit
through the Word of God. What is really unique about Christianity? We can talk about a lot of things.
As I said, there's no way I can cover every teaching, every doctrine
that is unique to Christianity alone in just one book, two messages
or whatever. But I wanna give you the fundamentals.
I wanna talk about salvation. I wanna talk about who Jesus
Christ is and what he accomplished and how that affects the lives
of his people. That's what we'll be studying
in this series on what is a Christian. I claim to be one. Do you claim
to be one? Are we really? What does God's
Word say? God's Word says that Christians,
the justified, not guilty, righteous before God, shall live by faith. And that faith is not their own
power. It's not their own goodness. It's the power of God's grace
and God's goodness revealed in both the person and the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that passage in Romans
10.4. Christ is the end of the law, the fulfillment of the law.
You're not the fulfillment of it. I'm not the fulfillment of
it. Your faith is not the fulfillment
of it. My faith is not the fulfillment of it. Christ is the end, the
fulfillment, the completion, the finishing of the law for
righteousness to who? To everyone that believe it.
And who are those who believe? Well, they're true Christians.
And why do they believe? Because God has given them the
gift of faith from the life of Christ, based on the redeeming
work that He accomplished to fulfill all righteousness on
behalf of His people. And that's why Paul said, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God
unto salvation, that word power. That's where we get our English
word dynamite. It's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, the Jew first and the Greek or the
Gentile also. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. From faith, that's the preaching
of the gospel, to faith, that's the gift of faith that God gives
His people in the new birth, as it is written, the just shall
live by faith. 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 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 31707. 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.