The Message of the First Conference

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation by grace versus law?

The Bible teaches that salvation is through grace alone, not by law or works. The issue of salvation is a central theme in scripture, primarily found in Acts 15, where the apostles discuss whether Gentiles must follow the law to be saved. Peter clearly articulates that salvation is by grace through faith, stating that both Jews and Gentiles are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 15:11). Throughout scripture, the message is consistent: no one can be justified by the law, but rather, salvation is a gift from God, given freely to those who believe in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:20-24). This grace is crucial because it underscores that our works do not contribute to our salvation; it is God's sovereign grace that equips us for redemption.

Q: How do we know grace is sufficient for salvation?

Scripture emphasizes that grace is sufficient as it guarantees salvation to all who believe. The sufficiency of grace for salvation is framed within the apostolic teachings found in Acts 15 and throughout the epistles. Peter asserts that all believers, whether Jew or Gentile, are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 15:11). This declaration isn't based on the merits of individuals but testifies to God's unmerited favor towards sinners. Moreover, Romans underscores that it is by grace you are saved through faith, reaffirming that it is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). This connection indicated by both scriptures and the historic reformed perspective affirms that God's grace is not only sufficient but also exclusive in the act of saving for every believer, indicating a total dependency on Him.

Q: Why is recognizing the difference between grace and works important for Christians?

Understanding the difference keeps Christians reliant on grace rather than their own works. Recognizing the distinction between grace and works is crucial for a proper understanding of salvation. The tendency to conflate grace with our works leads to a misunderstanding of the gospel's transformative power. In Acts 15, the apostles addressed these very issues, stressing that adding any requirement of works, such as circumcision, to salvation undermines the grace of God (Acts 15:10). This principle is echoed throughout the New Testament, where Paul explicitly states that we cannot be justified by the deeds of the law (Romans 3:20). For Christians, understanding salvation is rooted in grace emphasizes our complete reliance on Christ and His finished work rather than our flawed efforts, thereby fostering a heart of gratitude and love towards God.

Q: How does the law relate to salvation for believers?

Believers are no longer under the law as a means to justify; they are free in Christ. For believers, the law serves a different purpose after salvation; it highlights God's holiness and reveals our sinfulness. In Acts 15, Peter notes that the Jewish people could not bear the yoke of the law nor could the Gentiles (Acts 15:10). This indicates that the law was never designed to save but rather to point us to our need for Christ. Believers are declared righteous through faith in Christ and are thus no longer under the law (Romans 10:4) as a means of justification. The law, while still holy and just, serves to guide believers in their daily lives as they express their faith through love, not as a means to earn salvation but as a response to the grace that has already been bestowed upon them (Galatians 5:18).

Well, good morning, everyone. I'd like to begin our service reading a portion of Romans chapter 4. And I told Janet yesterday, I felt like I had a real good message to preach this morning. And after Dan's lesson, I'm pretty excited about it, because it's obvious the Spirit led both of us in the same direction. I'm going to pick right up where he left off. But I'd like to read the first 16 verses of Romans chapter four.

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 the 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. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, Come with this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also. For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.

How was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had being yet uncircumcised. that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.

And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect, because the law worketh wrath. For where no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore, it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. All right, let's stand together. Shawn leads us in singing our call to worship.

My God, my Father. My God, my life, my love, the only I adore. My Savior, Lord, my priest, my King, my all for ever. Oh, let my heart rejoice thy grace my every thought. But when I see thee as thou art, I'll praise thee as I ought. Assist thy servant, Lord, thy gospel to proclaim. Let power and love attend thy word, and glorify thy name. Great is the Lord our God. Oh, let his praise be great. He makes his church his own, above his most delightful sea.

OK, if you would now please turn to Number 17, number 17, Come Thou Fount. Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me songs a melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love. Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy help I'm come, and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.

Jesus saw me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, he to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood. Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. ♪ To leave the God I love ♪ Here's my heart, oh take and seal it ♪ Seal it for thy courts above If you would open your Bibles with me to the book of Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter 15.

And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. And they caused great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. There rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago, God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. Then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by then. We'll end our reading there. Let's bow before our Lord together. Our Father, we've come into this house this morning. We trust it's your house to worship you and to hear word from thee.

And father, I beg of you that this morning is your word is open and Christ is preached from it. Father, that you might cause each one of us here to hear with the ear of faith, that you would take your word and apply it to our hearts. Father, that you would be pleased to deliver us from just having a head knowledge of some facts from the scriptures, but she calls us to hear the gospel and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we beg of you as we look into your word that you'd show us your glory, the redemptive glory of Christ our Savior. Father, enable us to truly worship this morning. We don't want to just go through the motions of religion so that we feel better about ourselves, Father, that you might enable us to truly worship you from the heart, in spirit and in truth.

And Father, I thank you for this place. I thank you for this congregation. And Father, I pray your continued blessing be upon us. Continue to bless your word here. Continue to call out your sheep. Continue to make this place stand as a lighthouse for sinners. Where the poor, needy, sick sinners can come here. of spiritual healing and salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, bless us for Christ's sake. Not for our sake, not because we've done anything right, but Father, bless us for Christ's sake, we pray. It's in his name. For his sake and his glory, we pray. Amen. Now, I titled the message this morning, The Message of the First Conference. What we have here is the first recorded Bible conference in history. And from reading through these verses, you see what the issue is here. The issue is salvation by law or grace. Is it all of law? Is it all of grace? Is it a mixture of the two? What is it?

That's the issue. And whether it stands out as clearly or not, as it did here in this place, the issue is the same today. The issue is always the same. It's salvation by law or grace. Now which is it? It's got to be one or the other. We even find this issue in the heart of every believer. This is the issue that's going on. It's the warfare between the old man and the new man. The flesh and the spirit. The flesh always is trying to push us and want salvation by works. Salvation by us keeping the law. And the spirit, the new man, desires only salvation by grace. Now, which is it? Which is it? That's the issue here. Now, look here at verse one, Acts 15.

And certain men, which came down from Judea, taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Now, the gospels being Preached here, the apostles are there, just in the early church, the blessings that God was bestowing upon them spiritually. And you know, that's where Satan will always attack. Satan doesn't need to attack where Christ is not being preached. Satan attacks when Christ is being preached and when the Lord's blessing that preaching. And commonly, he'll use false prophets.

You know, I guess these people came from Judea These new believers thought, you know, they've been under the law and the prophets and the scriptures for so long, they must know better than us and they let them teach. And these false prophets taught, yes, yes, salvation's by grace, but you also have to be circumcised. You have to keep this one law. If you don't keep this one law, you cannot be saved.

And I just bet Paul and Barnabas, their heads just about exploded when they heard this. They're just not gonna stand for this for a second. Verse two says, And when therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. Now this word dissension, they had no small dissension.

That word means an insurrection. I mean, this was a notable, this is an insurrection. And the disputation means a discussion. This made me think about back when I was working in the business world. My boss bought all the managers in the company. This book, it was called Fierce Discussions. Fierce Discussions. And fierce doesn't mean you be mean to people, but it means you be plain. You make sure people understand exactly what you're saying. That's what was going on here. This was a fierce discussion.

And if you look over at Galatians chapter two, Paul describes what happened here. You know this, I mean, Paul and Barnabas had very, very plainly worded discussions with these false prophets about the truth of the gospel. And they will not back down from it one bit, no compromise. Galatians two verse four.

And that because of false brethren, unawares brought in, who came in privileged to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. You're telling these believers now, yes, you're saved by grace, you're saved by Christ, but there's this one law you still have to keep.

There's this one ceremony, the circumcision. That's putting men under bondage. They're under bondage, if they would do that, if they would be circumcised in order to be saved, they're under bondage to keep the whole law. I mean, how cruel these men are, put these people under bondage.

In verse five, Paul says, to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour. I mean, we're not gonna subject ourselves, we're only gonna subject these believers this for even an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. And that's the stand that every believer has to take in this matter of the truth of the gospel. Is it grace or works? We can never surrender to this thing. It's a constant battle. The moment we let up our guard, it's gonna creep in.

So they said, well, we're gonna send you to Jerusalem to discuss this matter. And verse three says back in our text, and being brought on their way by the church, They passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. And they caused great joy in all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders.

And they declared all things that God had done with them. I mean, that had to be such a pleasant trip. Don't you think they're going to these churches and they're telling them This is how God's been gracious to the Gentiles. And oh, it brought such joy to those believers to hear what God's doing for his people, for these Gentiles. And they came to Jerusalem and the other apostles that were there, the elders, the people were so encouraged to hear what God had been doing by his grace for these Gentiles through the preaching of Christ. And everybody was just so blessed and so happy.

But Satan will never quit, will he? Look here at verse five. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which believed saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. I know there's some debate about whether these Pharisees truly believed or not, but it looks to me like they probably did believe. Now Satan is using believers who are, what looks like to me, who have been untaught, they're dead wrong about the law, and they're teaching the very same thing these false prophets taught, that yes, salvation's by grace, salvation's by the blood of Christ, but you still have to keep this one law, the law of circumcision. See, this issue will never go away. It will never go away till Christ returns. And I can understand, how these Jewish, if they're believers, it says they believed, how it was so difficult for them to give up this matter of circumcision.

It was the outward fleshly token of the covenant, and only the Jews had it. And they were so proud of that. They were so proud of having this outward fleshly token of the covenant. And it was okay for them, apparently, to give up all the rest of the law. We can give up the rest of the law and the ceremony But circumcision, they just couldn't give it up because it had been so important under the law to the whole Jewish nation. And they loved it because it's a token in the flesh. It's something I can show in my flesh to show I've been saved. I'm part of God's covenant.

And we can understand, every one of us here, that this was their particular brand of grave clothes. Every one of us here has our own particular brand of grave clothes, whatever it is. Believers, because we've still got that old nature, you know, when God saves us, he doesn't eradicate the old nature. We still struggle with this problem of wanting the flesh to contribute something. If I can just contribute something, I feel like I'm better. It's giving the flesh some of the credit, some of the glory, that's supposed to be going to Christ our Savior.

And you know, I'm not saying that the law of God is not important. Not at all. A believer loves the law of God. I love the law of God because the law of God reveals the character of God, the holy, just character of God. And I tell you another reason I love the law of God. The law of God, drives me to Christ. Because if I ever see the law, I'm going to say I can't obey it. I can't keep it. And it's going to drive me to Christ. And anything, no matter how painful it is, that drives me to Christ, I'm thankful for it. Aren't you? I'm thankful.

The law, we love the law of God, but believers, have absolutely no relationship to the law of God whatsoever. Dean showed us that in the lesson. Christ is the end of the law. He made an end of the law. He made an end of believers being under that bondage of the law. He's the end of, he put it away. He put it away by his perfect opinions. The end of the law, the goal of the law is Christ.

It's not something that we can do in order to make ourselves better. Christ is the goal. The goal of the law is to drive us to Christ for redemption. Believers don't even look to the law as a rule of life because a believer, someone who'd been born again of God, cannot be motivated by the law. If Christ obeyed the law for you, what is the motivation of the law?

It's fear of punishment and promise of rewards. Well, there's no fear for anyone who trusts Christ. There's no fear of the law. He obeyed it for us. He paid the penalty of the law for us. And we're not looking for rewards from the law. We have our reward, don't we? Christ is our exceeding great reward. Believers are motivated by the royal law of love. If you're motivated by love, love for Christ and love for His people, your conduct and attitude will be just fine. I mean as good as it can be, you know what I'm saying, in this flesh. You know, if you give me a list of rules, I'll use Jan as an example, you give me a list of rules, now Frankie, you gotta do this, you gotta do this, you gotta... I'm gonna eventually rebel against that.

When our girls were little, I don't know how they got this little a pad of paper that had Disney princesses on it. And one of the little pieces of paper said, don't tell me what to do, Snow White. Snow White's boss and all that. Don't tell me what to do.

If you start giving me a bunch of rules and things I've got to do for every day, eventually, I'm going to get tired of that. I'm going to rebel against it. That's just the nature of a human being. But if you tell me frankly you love her, Lover as Christ loved the church. I don't need that list of rules anymore. See what I'm saying? Believers are motivated by love. And love is a much better motivator than fear of punishment. Much better.

So verse six, the apostles and elders came together for to consider this matter. Now, let me tell you, without talking to Paul and Barnabas before they set out on this trip and when they got to Jerusalem, I know what was in their mind. They're not going up to Jerusalem to consider this matter, to debate and say, well now, which one's right? Maybe we better find out which one's right. Is salvation by the law or salvation all of grace or is it a mixture of the two? They weren't going up there to decide which one's right.

They already knew which one was right. The Lord Jesus personally had taught Paul the gospel for three years. He knew salvation was by grace. Paul and the other apostles, Peter and James were there too. They're not going up to have a debate about this thing to decide which one's right. These men are going to declare, they're going to declare the truth of the gospel, that salvation is all of grace that's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. But apparently other men did come to debate this matter.

Let's see. We'll debate. I'll give my opinion. You give your opinion. You give your opinion. And then we'll kind of see which one we think is right. And they are arguing back and forth. Oh my goodness. I can just see it. How miserable that had to be. Well, Peter had finally heard enough. I'm not listening to this junk anymore. And he's going to set the matter straight. And this is such.

A wonderful example for us to follow. Peter did not set the matter straight by telling those men who thought that the law, circumcision, still somehow contributed to our salvation. He didn't tell them how stupid that they were and what unbelievers they were and what heretics they were. That's not how he set them straight. He set them straight by preaching Christ to them.

Now here is Peter's outline, the outline of the first Bible conference. It's salvation is by grace. And Peter's first point is this. God always sends his gospel to his people. If God intends to save you, he's gonna send his gospel to you. Verse seven. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

Now the only way any sinner is ever going to be saved is if God sends gospel to him. Somebody's got to come tell us who Christ is, what he did, why he did it, and where he is now. Somebody's got to preach Christ to us or we can't believe on him. How can you believe on somebody that you don't know, that you haven't heard of?

So God's got to send the gospel to us and he To everyone God ever intended to save, he sent his gospel to them. Gave them an ear to hear it and a heart to believe it. Now not one of us had ever done anything to deserve God sending the gospel of his son to us. We haven't deserved it a bit. We can't go get it on our own. We can't go figure it out on our own. We'll never hear it. We'll never believe it. unless God sends his gospel to us. And I don't know who first said it, if it was Ralph Barnard or Henry or somebody before them, I don't know, but I know it's true.

Any town, any city, any burg, any hamlet, any little speck on the side of the road where God sends his gospel, that's a blessed place. Oh, what a blessed place that that is. You know why it's blessed? Because if God sends his gospel to a place, he intends to save somebody.

His word will not return unto him void. So our works never, ever enter into this thing of salvation. From its beginning to its ending, God must do all of the saving for us. Now I know that in truth, our salvation began, was accomplished in eternity past, wasn't it? In Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

But in our experience, that begins when God sends the gospel to us. And he gives us an ear to hear it and a heart to believe it. And I say, as I've said so many times, Almighty God has sent the gospel to this place. You know why he sent the gospel to this place? Because he has a people and he intends to save them. I tell you, thank God for that. Cherish that. Be thankful for it.

Because none of us ever would have found Christ first unless he found us first. And he does that through the preaching of the gospel. That's God's grace. God's, by his grace, he sent the gospel to us. Not because we did, you know, one or two good works to deserve it. It's all of grace. The only reason God ever sends his gospel to anybody It's his grace, salvation by grace. All right, number two, Peter tells us salvation is a heartwork and the flesh contributes nothing to it.

Verse eight says, and God which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now God knows the heart. That's where God deals. He doesn't look at the flesh. He doesn't look at the circumcision of the flesh. God looks at the circumcision of the heart. God doesn't look at our outward actions. He looks at the heart, the motive, the faith for him, the love for him.

And our hearts, the one we're born with, is desperately wicked. Who can know it? But Peter says here, God gives a pure heart, a heart that's been purified, purified of all sin. That's the pure heart that has never sinned and can never sin that God the Holy Spirit gives in the new birth.

See the sacrifice of Christ, his precious blood removed all of the sin of all of his people. He paid the debt in full and washed them white as snow. And the Holy Spirit, applies that sinless nature in the new birth. He applies what Christ purchased at Calvary. He applies to us in the new birth.

Now, if you've been born again with a pure heart, you didn't make your old heart pure by your works, did you? God did that by his grace. Surely, nobody can possibly think, you know, I was a good little boy. I was a good little girl. I deserve. for God to do this for me. To be born again? For Christ, the Son of God, to suffer and die for your sin? I don't deserve that. That's grace. And there's nothing about my flesh that contributed to this new birth. Not one. I don't know why we think, well, I mean, everybody knows I didn't have anything to do with my first birth. I mean, I had nothing to do with my first birth.

My birthday's in early January, and I think for the last 20 years, there's been an ice storm, a blizzard, or something. I mean, the weather on my birthday is, it's just been crazy. Janet finally gave up on ever trying to have a birthday party for me, because it's going to have an ice storm, it's going to be a blizzard, nobody's going to be able to come. If I had something to do with my first birth, I'd have been born in spring.

I didn't have a choice in the matter. I didn't have a say in the matter. There's nothing I could do to contribute to that. Then what on earth makes me think that I can do something to contribute to my second birth? It's impossible. I'm in the flesh and that new birth is a spiritual birth. And I can't contribute to it.

Only God can give it to me by his grace. And that new birth, look at 1 Peter 1, can only happen by the power of God through the preaching of Christ. It's the only way God gives it. 1 Peter 1 verse 18. For as much as we know, we're not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. We can't be redeemed by anything we do in the flesh, giving silver or gold being circumcised, we can't be redeemed that way. The only way we can be redeemed is with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

He was manifest to you through the preaching of the gospel, who by him, by his power, by his grace, do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory. that your faith and hope might be in God. Now seeing you purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently. Now how am I going to get that pure heart to love God and love you fervently?

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is his grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever.

And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. The only way I can be born again is if God sends somebody to preach this word. This word is the seed. that God uses to give spiritual life to his people. And somebody's got to come preach it to me. And God the Holy Spirit has got to move in power to give me a heart to believe it.

Now where does that leave you and me? It leaves us totally dependent on God, doesn't it? We're completely and totally dependent upon his grace. And I tell you this, I'm thankful to be right there. to be completely dependent on God. That's exactly where I want to be. Because if I'm not completely dependent on Christ, that means I'm dependent on myself. And I don't want no part of that. To be dependent on Christ. To be dependent on His grace.

And that's the grace that He uses to give life in the new birth. All right, back in our text, here's Peter's third point. Sinners are justified by faith. not by our works. Verse nine again, he says, God put no difference between us and them, between the Jew and the Gentile, between those who are circumcised and those who are not circumcised. He purified their hearts by faith.

Whether or not you've been circumcised or not circumcised, whether you obeyed the law or you've not obeyed the law, whether you've tried to keep it and grown up under it, it's no difference. It's no difference. What you've done and what you haven't done contributes nothing to this matter of justification. As Dan told us in his lesson, to be justified means to have no sin.

It means you've been given a pure nature, and that's all of God. It's all of God's grace. Nothing in our flesh we've done or haven't done can ever contribute to that. It's only by faith, by trusting Christ. Look at Romans chapter one. Verse 16, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

It's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. It doesn't matter if you grew up in religion or you grew up as a heathen, it doesn't matter. It's to everyone that believeth, for therein and the gospel of Christ is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it's written, the just. The justified ones, they live by faith. They live by faith, by faith in Christ. Now Peter says here, God purified their hearts by faith. Not by works, but by faith in Christ.

Look at Romans chapter three. Paul spends these first three chapters of the book of Romans showing us that all men are sinners. Doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile. If you grew up under the Mosaic law or you grew up bound down to Baal. Doesn't matter. All men are sinners. Jews are just as guilty as the Gentiles. Someone who grew up under the gospel of God's grace, under the preaching of Christ, is born just as much of a sinner as somebody that never heard the name of Christ. Now to quote Brother Henry, you're better off, you're better off growing up and hearing the gospel every week, aren't you? You're better off, but you're not better. You're not better. That's what Paul spent these old three chapters showing us. He says, he's getting to his conclusion here, verse 20 of Romans chapter three.

Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Now, if I can't be justified by keeping the law, how can I be justified then? I mean, I know if I'm gonna stand before God accepted, I must be justified. I must have no sin. The Holy God can never accept me in my sin. If I can't justify myself by keeping the law, could you please tell me how I can be justified? Can somebody else do that for me?

Verse 21, but now, the righteousness of God without the law, without your obedience to the law, without you keeping the law is manifested, it's made obvious, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, and to all and upon all them that believe, for there's no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Being justified freely, how? By your works, by God's grace, plus you obeying one law.

Being justified freely by his grace. It's by God's grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness. Not my righteousness, not my obedience to the law. We're declaring the righteousness of Christ for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Now where's boasting then? Where's our boasting about everything that we've done for God? Where's our boasting about keeping the law and being more moral than somebody else? Where is boasting then? It's excluded by what law? The law of works? No, if we're trusting our works, we're gonna boast then. Boasting is excluded by the law of faith.

By faith in Jesus Christ. Whether you're Jew or Gentile, we're not saved by anything we do. We're not justified by anything we do. It's by the faithfulness of Christ. By the faithfulness of Christ to do everything that it took to take the sin of his people away and make them so that they're justified, so they have no sin. Paul goes on, verse 28, he says, therefore we conclude, the man is justified by faith without our deeds of the law. Without our deeds of the law. It's all by the faithfulness of Christ and God giving us faith in Christ. Now here's what I know from reading scripture.

Before time began, the father elected a people to save. And he gave those people to his son to save. And the son said, father, I'll save them. I'll do what it takes to redeem these people and justify them and bring them into your presence. And Christ came and did it.

He is faithful to his promise. He was born of a virgin. He lived as a man made under the law, and his life was perfect. Not just outwardly, but inwardly. In every way, he was perfect. He perfectly obeyed the law. And he didn't do that to make himself righteous. God's already righteous.

Why did he come? Why was he faithful to obey the law in every jot and every tittle? so he could give his righteousness to you, to his people. Did you deserve that? Did you deserve the son of God humiliating himself to appear in the weak human flesh to make you righteous? No, you know better than that. That's grace. That's grace. Did you help the Lord Jesus? Obey the law? Did you help strengthen him to do the work that he came to do?

No, no. And we weren't around, but if we had been, we'd have deserted him just as much as all the apostles did. He did that for you by his grace. And then he took the sin of all of his people into his body upon the tree. As Dan told us, he was made sin for his people. He never committed a sin, but he was made guilty of all of that sin, and he paid the price. He suffered hell for his people to pay the penalty for that sin, and by his precious blood, to wash all of that sin away. And he did that for a sinful people. Now come on, did you deserve Christ the Son of God suffering like that for you, no. Then salvation's by grace, isn't it? It's by grace. And here's the fourth thing that grace does. Believers are free from the law.

Verse 10 back in Acts chapter 15 says, now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? You men ought to know the burden of the law. We couldn't keep it. Our fathers, our grandfathers, all the fathers from back to Abraham, none of them could keep it. Our father, Adam, couldn't keep one law. I mean, he couldn't even keep, he couldn't stay away from that tree. As soon as God told him, don't eat of it, that's all he wanted to do is eat of that tree.

Anybody, now you listen to me, anybody who gives you anything to do, in order to be saved, or something to do in order to prove that you're salvation, something that you can do outwardly in the flesh to prove you've been saved, they're your enemy. They're not your friend, and you run away from them. What they're doing is putting you back under the bondage of the law, just like Paul told the Galatian believers. Now, I'll repeat myself a little bit here about the law.

The purpose of God giving the law was not to give sinful men something that they could do, in order to justify themselves or save themselves or make themselves more savable. The only reason God gave the law is to be a mirror to us, to show us how sinful that we are. That's the whole purpose of the law, to show us our sin and to drive us to Christ, the only one who can justify us and beg him for mercy.

So the law of God, again, has nothing to say to a believer. No threats of punishment or promise of reward can motivate a believer, not if you love Christ, not if you trust Christ. You don't fear about those punishments of law. Christ is punished for you. You're not looking for rewards in heaven.

Christ is our exceeding great reward, the same way it was for Abraham, it's true of us. Our reward is Christ our Savior. Every time the word rewards, plural, is used in scripture, It's always false religion, always. When scriptures talk to a believer, the only word it uses is reward, singular. Christ is our exceeding great reward. And Christ took the law out of the way so that we'd be justified and run to him.

I tell you again, don't look to the law. Don't look to the law to see how you're doing. If you do that, you're gonna be miserable. Saul of Tarsus said, I was alive without the law once. Before I knew what the law meant, I was alive, I thought I was pretty good. And then God showed me what the law really said and I died. The law's, it's just gonna do nothing but just depress you to no end.

Look to Christ. Come to Christ, look to him. Oh, in him is salvation. In Him is justification. In Him is peace with God. In Him is forgiveness with your sin. Look to Christ and believe Him and love Him. And instead of looking to the law to find out what you should do, look for ways to show your love. Show your love for Christ. Show your love for one another. That'll do you so much better than obedience to any command of the law. Now this is just evident. If Christ has made us free from the law, we're free from this burden of the law, then salvation has to be by grace, doesn't it? Has to be. And then last, and this is very important, salvation is by God's grace alone, alone. Verse 11, but we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they.

And I love the way that Peter says this. He doesn't say they're going to be saved same way us good Jews are. He said, we'll be saved the same way those vile Gentiles are, because we're just as vile. We're just as sinful as they are. We're going to be saved by grace, by grace.

You know, I don't think there's anything sweeter to the believer than hearing of grace, hearing of grace. God giving me what I do not deserve. And if you look at Romans chapter 11, Paul makes this so obvious. Salvation is all of grace. It has to be all of works or all of grace and all works can get the job done. So salvation has to be all of grace. Romans 11 verse six.

And if by grace, then It's no more of works. If salvation of grace, there's no work can enter into it. But if it be works, then it's no more grace. If salvation is by works, then you can't just keep one law. You got to keep them all and no grace can be in there whatsoever. Otherwise work is no more work. Salvation is all of grace and none of our works contribute to it. None.

Salvation comes from God's delivering grace. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Salvation is God's justifying grace, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. God's grace is saving grace, will completely and utterly save all of God's elect. By grace are you saved, through faith. That not of yourselves, it's the gift of God.

Salvation had its beginning in God's electing grace. Look up just one verse there in Romans 11, verse five. Even so then, at this present time also, there's a remnant, and it's according to the election of grace. You know why this remnant's gathered together right here? God elected a people into salvation. That's the only reason.

God's grace is calling grace. Paul said, when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me. He called me by his grace. Now, if saving grace is all of God giving me what I do not deserve, then there is no room for my works. And that's got to be one of the best things a sinner has ever heard. I have no good works. to offer to God, to recommend me to him.

But if salvation is by grace, then even this sinner, even these sinners can be saved. It's all of grace. And one more verse, let's look over here at verse 12, back in our text. What Peter finished that, that put an end, Peter's message here, preaching Christ, put an end to all this debate and all this discussion, didn't it?

All the multitude kept silence. And they gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. And I know Paul and Barnabas weren't talking about healing a crippled man or any other kind of miracles, physical miracles that the Lord enabled them to do. You know the miracle that they talked about that thrilled the souls of all the believers there? It's a miracle of salvation by grace. Isn't that something, that God would send his gospel to the Gentiles and save them by his grace. And if God's gonna save us, we're gonna be saved same way they are.

You just think of the worst, what a whore. Well, I guess I gotta say it now, because you're wondering what. Think of the worst sinner that you know. Did yourself just run through your head or somebody else? I mean, isn't that a self-righteous thing to say? God, by his grace, saved the worst sinners he could find. That was true in this day at the first Bible conference. Bless your heart.

He's still doing it today. He's still doing it today by the preaching of the very same gospel. And I'm gonna end this message the same way Dan ended his lesson. You come to Christ. You look to Christ. There's salvation in Him because of the grace of God. All right, let's bow together.

Father, how can we even attempt to take our sinful lips and try to express our thanksgiving our awe and our praise and our worship for your saving grace. How we thank you. Salvation is by grace, by your sovereign, free, saving grace through the redemption that is in Christ our Savior. Oh, how we thank you.

And Father, I beg that you would be pleased to be gracious to us this morning. If there's one here this morning that has not yet believed on you, that has not yet been called out by your grace, Father, that you'd call them right now, that you'd call them to Christ by your mercy and by your grace. And Father, for those of us who have believed on you because of your grace to us, Father, keep being merciful, keep being gracious, keep your hand of grace upon us, that one day in your time, you'll present us faultless before your throne. Father, we thank you.

It's in Christ's name. For his sake and his glory, we pray. Amen. All right, Sean. Brandon, I'm going to change this last song to 205. If you would, please turn in your hymnal to song number 205. And we'll sing Once For All. stay in place. Okay. Yeah.

Free from the law, happy condition, Jesus hath bled and there is remission. Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Grace hath redeemed us once for all. Once for all, Lord, sinner receiving. Once for all, Lord, it. Cling to the cross, the burden will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once for all. Now are we free, there's no condemnation. Jesus provides a perfect salvation. Come unto me, oh, hear His sweet call. Come and He saves us once for all.

Once for all, O sinner, receive it. Once for all, O brother, believe it. Cling to the cross, the burden will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once for all. Children of God, O glorious calling, surely His grace will keep us from falling. Passing from death to life at His call, Blessed salvation, once for all. Once for all, O sinner, receive it. Once for all, O brother, believe it. Leaning to the cross, the burden will fall. Christ hath redeemed us once for all.

The Message of the First Conference

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about salvation by grace versus law?

How do we know grace is sufficient for salvation?

Why is recognizing the difference between grace and works important for Christians?

How does the law relate to salvation for believers?

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The Message of the First Conference

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about salvation by grace versus law?

How do we know grace is sufficient for salvation?

Why is recognizing the difference between grace and works important for Christians?

How does the law relate to salvation for believers?

Sermon Transcript

About Frank Tate

Comments

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