Most people look upon religion
as an outward service, the belief of a certain creed
or set of doctrines, the performance of certain rituals, ceremonies,
and duties. They look upon God as a being
who is to be feared, dreaded, One whose wrath by some means
or the other must be propitiated, but not as one to be known, loved,
and cheerfully obeyed. This was a big problem of course. Many there who professed faith
in Christ seemed to look upon Christianity as a system of doctrine,
a system of worship, a system of rituals, not a way of life. They retained their old pagan
notions concerning religion, what they believed in theory,
what they talked about on Sunday, didn't really affect how they
lived. And that's true of most people in this day who profess
faith in Christ. Now you listen to me. God help
you listen to me. You'll notice the opening article
in your bulletin, the very top of the bulletin. Nobody, nobody
will ever try to convince a lost sinner they're saved, except
another lost sinner. Nobody. I hear folks out there,
where you going? He or she begin to doubt their
salvation. Probably have reason to. What do you do about that? Let them go on doubting until
God does something for them. Stir up the doubt. Stir it up. And I'm going to tell you something. If what you call faith is just
an act, you remember. If it's just an incident in your
life. If it's just an event you point back to, I don't care what
you point back to this morning or to your childhood. If what
you call faith is just something you said, something you experienced,
something you did. You not only have a reason to die for your
salvation, you ain't got any. That's not faith. That's not
faith. That's religion. It's religious
exercise. It's religious penance. It's
religious deeds. But it's not faith. Faith in
Jesus Christ is not an act. It's an attitude. It's not an
event in life. It's a way of life. The Corinthians,
like many in our day, did not understand this. They just didn't
get it because they were willfully ignorant. like most in our day.
This epistle to the Corinthians, this first epistle, is so instructive
in so many things that they were filled with preacher envy. They
liked this preacher and didn't like the other one. This group,
you could tell who was preaching on Sunday morning by who went
to church. They had a lot of preacher envy.
Strife and debate and petty little groups. This group would get
together and they wouldn't have anything to do with this group, and this
group would get together and they wouldn't have anything to do with that group. And Paul lays
that thing plainly before us in chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then
in chapter 5, he deals with this incestuous man, this man who
had taken his father's wife and lived with her like a brute beast,
just shacked up with her, no commitment, no responsibility,
no honoring of God, no commitment to God, just satisfying lust. Then in chapter 6 it talks about
folks going to law with each other, going to court, suing
each other. And you sold me that lawn mower and it's supposed
to last 10 years, it only lasted 9 years and 9 months. I'm going
to get you. Going to law with each other. Voluntarily associating
themselves with infidels. Walking in the manner of their
life with infidels. You can't help that. You buy
gas from an infidel. You buy your groceries from an
infidel. But you don't have to sit down and have it handed to
you all the time. You don't have to go on vacation with him. You
don't have to court his influence. And in chapter 7, there was a
problem with marriage. Lots of problems. Paul deals
with the whole range of things. Some folks said, now, if you
want to be holy, don't get married. Don't get married. Boy, it's
a sinful thing to get married. Paul said that's nuts. That's
Paganism. That's Paganism. Other folks,
religious folks, can do insane things. They can do absolutely
insane things in the name of religion. Other folks, they recognize
that this thing of marriage, they said, this is bad. Boy,
man and woman ought not, ought never sleep together. That's
causing heaven. Carnal thoughts. We live in a carnal flesh. We
live in a carnal world. And so they were saying, now
even though you're married, if you really want to be spiritual,
don't sleep with your wives. Ladies, you really want to be
spiritual, don't sleep with your husband. Paul said, that's nuts. That's insane. That's insane.
Well, then others would say, well, you get married and you're
not happy, you can always get out. That's the attitude folks
enter into marriage with all the time. I'm not happy. I'm not happy. If you've got sensitive ears,
go home. What in the hell has your happiness got to do with
anything? Happy. I'm not happy. Whoever told you
the world revolves around you being happy? Whoever told you
the world spins on your happiness? I'm not happy. We're not compatible
anymore. Let me tell you something. I've
had 30 years of delightful compatibility, nearly 31. But if I had to live
the next 50 and not be compatible with that dead lady right there,
we'd still stay together, one way or the other, because I'd
whole lot rather live and be incompatible with her than incompatible
with God Almighty. Ain't gonna happen. Ain't gonna
happen. And then folks say, well, all right, you can't get divorced
for any reason. And then a fellow's married to a woman and she leaves
him. A man's married to a woman. A woman's married to a man and
he leaves her. Well, that old man, that woman,
they're stuck. Oh, no. Oh, no. I had a situation
exactly like this come up several years ago. A man who was a dear,
dear friend of mine, preacher, preached truth. Got to running
around with his wife, and I knew it. Matter of fact, I think I
was the only one who knew it, and I confronted him. He was
as close to me as any human being has ever been. I love it, still
do. I love it. I confronted him with his problem,
and I said, you've got to get this straightened out. Are you
going to sacrifice your wife, your children, The church you
pastor, the gospel of God's grace, our relationship, the glory of
God, your everlasting soul on the altar of your lust. He wasn't
here. I sat down in his office in his
home with his wife, sitting beside him, across the room from him.
And I said to her, I said, what he's wanting to do, he wants
to make life so miserable for you that you'll leave him so
he can stay here and pastor this church. And everybody said, well, he
would justify. I said, stay with him until he
leaves you. He's going to. And he did. Christmas Day, took
her and her kids home, took off with that gal. Every time I think
about it, I think, man, he's got her now. He's got her now. And I suspect that's what he
thinks every time he looks at her. I know the woman. He's got
her now. Well, what about this lady? The brother or sister's not in
bondage in such cases. Don't you ever leave your husband
or wife. Don't you do it. Don't you do it. But you don't
understand our circumstances. Maybe not, but I understand this
book. I understand this book. Don't you do it. Say, well, we
can't get along. If you know God, you can get
along. Isn't that right? If you know God, you can get
along. If you know God, you not only can get along, you will.
You will. I'm not always the sweetest fella
in the world. You might not believe that. But God's people love me. And we figure out a way to get
along. We get along. Believers do. And if you don't,
somebody doesn't know God. That's just as plain as it can
be. That's a plain nose on your face.
Believers get along with one another. The brother or sister is not
in bondage in such cases. That means, according to Romans
chapter 7 verse 1, verses 1 through 4, you just treat them like a
dead man, treat them like a dead woman, doesn't exist, doesn't
exist. Then this Corinthian church had
a problem with, they'd come to the Lord's table, and then they'd
just get falling down drunk. They didn't just have bread and
wine at the Lord's table, they had a party, and they'd get drunk,
and so Paul had to correct that. In our texts, in verse 9, Paul
warns all such religious professors of their fatal mistake. He here
assures us that no immoral man or woman No one, no one who willfully
follows a life of ungodliness and sin knows God. They're just
not saved. They're just not saved. He writes
in such a manner as to indicate that this is such a self-evident
truth that only the willfully ignorant will fail to see it.
Look at it now. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God. Be not deceived. Isn't it amazing, Ron, he uses
those words? One of Paul's most strong phrases
to warn us, be not deceived. Find it again in chapter 15,
verse 33, don't be conceived. Evil communications corrupt good
morals. Always do. Always do. Evil company
always has a corrupting influence on uprightness. Never, never
does uprightness have a good influence on evil company. Never. Never. The only way you can get
along with folks who hate God is to compromise your principles.
They're not going to. They haven't got any. They're
not going to be. The only way you can get along
is to compromise what you know is right. Be not deceived. Evil
communications corrupt good morals. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall
he also reap. Here Paul says, know you not
that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be
not deceived. Now this is his doctrine. That
person, that man, that woman, whose religion, whose profession
of faith, does not involve real conversion, a real turning of
heart and life by the power of God to the living God, simply
does not know God. Those who say let us sin that
may grace may abound are lost. They're just as lost as if they
worship the stuff in Africa. They have no real heart knowledge
of the gospel. Be certain that you understand
the teaching of Holy Scripture in this matter. There's no reason
for confusion here. The Word of God is plain and
clear. Let me make four statements and
I'm going to wrap this up. We are saved by grace alone without
works. Now Paul says that so many times,
anybody who doesn't understand it is willfully ignorant of it.
Look what he says. Therefore by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified. Therefore we conclude a man is
justified by faith without the works of the law. A man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith or faithfulness
of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith, the faithfulness
of Christ, and not by the works of the law. Look at Ephesians
chapter 2, Ephesians 2, verse 8. Men are so adept at mixing law
and grace. They are so anxious to mix works
and grace, so anxious to mix what they do with what God does.
If we possibly can, if we possibly can, you and me, we're gonna
stick our finger in this thing somewhere. If we can find out
some way, any way at all, doesn't matter how big or how little,
if we can find out some way to do it, to get our hands in this
business of salvation, say, now, there, that, That's what I did. You're going to do it. I promise
you. It doesn't matter whether it's baptism, church membership,
Bible reading, reformation, doesn't matter. You're going to get your
works in there somewhere. And therefore the Apostle Paul,
writing by inspiration, almost every time he declares salvation
by the grace of God. When he says we're saved by grace,
he says if you're so blind, if you're so absolutely ignorant,
if you're so absolutely senseless with regard to spiritual things
that you don't understand what I'm saying, not by works. He
just backs it up every time. Here in Ephesians 2a. For by
grace are you saved through faith. And that, now circle the word
that, it refers back to the whole phrase preceding it, grace, salvation,
and faith. And that, not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. Not of works, because if it was,
you'd brag on it. You'd pop your suspenders and
strut like a peacock. You'd say, boy, look what I did,
make myself different from you. I know salvation by grace, but
I had to make my decision. I know salvation by grace, but
you know, I've lived differently ever since God saved me. Salvation
by grace, but we've got to keep making ourselves better all the
time. Not of works, lest any man should boast. Number two.
In Ephesians 1 verse 6, the Holy Spirit tells us that our standing
before And our acceptance with God is entirely, entirely, entirely
in Jesus Christ alone. He tells us that we were blessed
of God with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus before the world began. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him, in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, wherein he hath made us accepted
into beloved." That means neither our good works
nor our sins have any effect on our standing before God. Oh, what good news. Neither our
righteousness nor our corruptions have any standing before God
Almighty. None at all. None at all. We're
accepted in the beloved. In the beloved. I'm not accepted
of God because of what I used to do. I'm not rejected because
of what I used to do. I'm not accepted of God because
of what I do now or because I'm not rejected because of what
I do now. I'm not, I'm not embraced by God Almighty because I have
now managed to put away this, that, and everything. I started
behaving better than I used to. No, no, no, no. I'm standing
before God as Christ alone. Only Jesus Christ. It doesn't
vary. Our acceptance with God Almighty
in Jesus Christ is an eternal, immutable, indissolvable acceptance. It never varies. Sometimes I feel it pretty good. And by God sometimes, Lindsay, I feel I can't possibly speak
to him or him speak to me. But my acceptance never varies. were accepted in Jesus Christ
on the basis of his obedience, his blood, his intercession,
his prevailing power, because he has obeyed and satisfied the
law of God for us. Number three, look in Romans
chapter six. All who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ are completely free from the
law in him. All of it. As Paul states it, this freedom
from the law does not promote sin and licentiousness, but just
the opposite. It promotes godliness and devotion. Look at verse 14. Now remember
the subject matter. Paul is dealing with a believer
reckoning himself right before God. He's dealing with a matter
of righteousness before God. He's telling us, Rob, to live
right. That's what Romans 6 is all about.
He says, in your baptism, when you confess Christ in baptism,
you lifted your hands to God Almighty before this assembly
and said, I'm healed. I'll walk with him in the newness
of life. Now, that's what Paul's talking about here in Romans
chapter 6. How are we going to get folks to do that? Yeah, let's
make up some rules. Let's take them back to Sinai.
Let's see how we do it. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, for you're not under the law but under grace. What? Shall we continue in sin? Shall
we sin because we're not under the law but under grace? God forbid! God forbid! The believer is free from the
law's curse condemnation, rituals, ceremonies, rules, covenants,
everything. The believer's life is not motivated,
ruled, or governed by the law of Moses in any way. And our
lives are not subject to the laws and rituals and customs
and traditions of human religion. I hold the religion of this world
in absolute contempt. I'm not about to honor it. I'm
not about to The religious world says you got to do this, got
to do that. I'm just inclined to do the opposite. I'm not about
on it. We must not allow ourselves to
be subjected to the rules and principles and traditions and
customs of men who don't know God and imagine that by their
works they make themselves acceptable to God. I will by the grace of
God defend to my death the liberty of every believer to live in
this in all things with regard to revelation by the rule of
this book. So that's not enough. Yeah, it
is. In all things indifferent by
your own conscience and your love for Christ. That's right. That's right. Reckon, reckon whether or not
a believer ought to. I had an article a while back.
I hope you read it and kept it. I've been asked that question
so many times, I've asked it all the time, wherever I go.
Should a believer? Should a believer? You know what I've never, never
yet heard? I've never yet heard anybody
ask that question with regard to themselves. Never. It's always Larry looking at
Bobby saying, I ain't so sure about him. It's always, it's always Bobby
looking at Larry saying, I want some, I want some ammunition
now. I go out and say, Brother Don said you weren't supposed
to do that. In all matters of indifference,
it's between you and God. In all matters of revelation,
this book, the whole book. In all matters of doctrine, in
all matters of life. Somebody said to my wife one
time, years ago, she got a little offended by it, a little hurt
by it. I might have popped him if I'd
been around, but he said, you don't look like a preacher's
wife. She came and said to me, I said, well, thank God you don't.
I wouldn't have married you if you did. No. Because folks have
an idea. You know, a preacher's wife is
supposed to be homely as a mud fence. They've got an idea. You're not supposed to dress
a certain way. You're not supposed to wear your hair a certain way. You're
not supposed to, you know, you're just supposed to look like the
kind of wives preachers have who look at other people's wives. Number four. Any professed believer, any professed
believer who lives in willful violation of and in willful rebellion
to the law and word and will of God revealed in his word is
lost. You and me too. Did you hear what I said? Any professed believer who lives
in willful violation of and rebellion to the law and will and word
of God revealed right here in this word is lost. So pastor, how can you say that?
Because the book does. Your profession of faith is a
false profession. Your experience is a delusion.
Your religion is nothing but a pretentious show of hypocrisy,
a cloak for your sin, a cloak which is an attempt to ease and
soothe your conscience. It's a willful delusion of yourself. This is what our text says. Know
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. The word unrighteous here is
used, a strong word that refers to those who are unjust, those
who violate the principles of justice in their dealings with
their fellow men. And by the pen of the Apostle
Paul, God Almighty here excommunicates from his church all who while
professing faith in Christ live in open sin and unrighteousness. You see, without perfect righteousness,
no one will enter into glory. This is what the book says. There
shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither
whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie. He that's unjust,
let him be unjust still. He that's filthy, let him be
filthy still. Only holy men will inhabit the holy land. Only righteous
folks will inherit the kingdom of righteousness. And that righteousness
which is required by God is a perfect righteousness. And you can only
get it two ways. Two ways. And you must get it
both ways. It comes to you by imputation. Remember what Scripture says
about Abraham? Romans chapter 4 verse 7. Abraham believed God
and it was imputed to him for righteousness. Not his believing
God. No. But the one he believed.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived on this earth in perfect
righteousness as the sinner's substitute. And he died under
the wrath of God Almighty when our sins were imputed to him.
And he, by his obedience to God, brought in an everlasting righteousness. And by his death, put away the
sins that were put to him, imputed to him. When he was made a sinner,
Paul, God Almighty, rewarded him for his sin which was imputed
to him. It was his. It was his. Became
his by imputation. Though he knew no sin, though
he had no sin, God made him to be sin. And God killed him because
he was made to be sin. And that's the only way justice
could ever be satisfied. was in the sacrifice of God's
battle and song. That's the only way righteousness
could ever be brought in. If you're ever made righteous,
Bill Rawlings, you and I stand before God Almighty righteous.
It will be without anything we've ever done. It will be without
any works of our own. It'll be by imputation. It'll
be God Almighty putting it to our account. God Almighty writing
down in the record book of heaven where he keeps books by which
all men shall be judged and he says concerning Don Fortner,
righteous! Perfectly righteous. And if I
don't have that, I ain't got any because I can't perform it. But you gotta have this righteousness
another way. You gotta be righteous. It's got to be imparted to us,
Merle. Believers are men and women to whom God has, in justification,
imputed righteousness. And they are men and women to
whom God has, in regeneration and sanctification, imparted
righteousness. He's given them a righteous nature.
Made us to be partakers of the divine nature. Created a holy
thing in us that was not there before. He didn't come in and
renew the old thing. He made something He put something
righteous in us. That holy thing which is born
of God. Therefore, listen to the book. What does it say? If
any man be in Christ, he's what? He's what? A new creature. A new creature. A new creature. He lives by new principles. He's
motivated by new motives. He lives for new reasons. He
lives for a new purpose. He's been laid a whole way out.
By God Almighty. And he lives that way. Now wait a minute, preacher.
You tell us all the time everything we do is sin. Yeah, it is. You tell
us all the time we're corrupt and vile. We are. I don't have
to tell you that. I just keep reminding you of it. But the
believer no longer lives under the dominion of his lust. We're kings. That's what the
book says everybody. We're kings. Not we're going
to be kings, we're kings. Right now. Oh man, I've seen
crowns on your head. Kings rule over the realm for
which they're responsible. And the believer is a man, a
woman, whose life is ruled by the grace of God reigning within
him, Christ in you, the hope of glory. I used to live over
in this dark, dark dungeon, black, hideous place. And I loved it. I loved it. It was a stinkin'
cesspool, but I loved it. Because it was just like me.
I made the cesspool. It was a plow weeds through everywhere,
and I delighted to work in it. My master was the Prince of Darkness,
and I loved him being my master. I loved it. I lived with iron shackles on
my hands, and leg irons on my legs. and a chain dragging my
heart to hell. And I loved it. I never knew
anything different. And one day, the prince of life
and might stepped in here and broke the
shackles and tore apart the bars that were holding me captive
and brought me over into the kingdom of life. and made me
an heir and a son in the kingdom of light. Oh, I loved it. I can't tell you how I hate that
dungeon. I can't tell you how I hate that
former master. I can't tell you how I hate what
I am by nature. Every little bit, that's Apollyon, that fiend of hell,
slips up on me. He says, don't come over here,
don't come over here, I need a little help. And I have grabbed
my tools in my hand and I'm running as quick as I can to jump over
his wall, go right back into his cesspool and weed his ugly
garden. And I get right up on top of
the wall, pitch and jump over. And I hear my master say, you've
been made free from sin. You're gonna serve him. Oh, God, don't let that happen. Have you been made free? Be not
deceived. The unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God. Amen.