Romans chapter 15, the 13th verse,
and I've entitled the message, Believing. It's where Paul said,
the God of hope grant you all joy and peace in believing. Believing. Let's look at Romans chapter
11 and read verses 5 and 6 again. This message is what I thought
about a whole lot over vacation. Whether the Lord's in it, I hope
he is. But it certainly was on my mind and it all developed
to me while I was on vacation. I had that week where I didn't
have to prepare sermons and this was on my mind all that time. So Romans chapter 11, verses
5 and 6, Even so then, at this present
time, there is also a remnant according to the election of
grace. And if by grace, if election
is of grace, if salvation is by grace, then is it no more
of works? Works don't enter into the picture.
Otherwise, Grace is no more grace. If you put work in there in any
level to any degree, grace is no more grace. But if it be of
works, then don't call it grace. It's no more of grace. Otherwise,
work is no more work. Now, I've entitled this message,
How Grace and Works Differ. How grace and works differ. And make no mistake, they do
differ. You cannot believe them both. They're incongruent. They exclude
one another. There is no hybrid gospel where
you believe both. You can't believe 99% grace and
1% works. It's either 100% grace or 100% works. And there is no
in between. You are either saved 100% by
grace or you're saved 100% by works. You're either a grace believer
or you are a works believer. And I dare say that if you ask
the average professing Christian if he believed in salvation by
grace or works, he'd say, oh, I believe grace. I dare say that if you asked
any churchgoer in Lexington, Kentucky this morning, do you
believe in salvation by grace? They would say, yes, I do. The problem is works believers
and grace believers use largely the same vocabulary. They all use works like words
like grace and faith. repentance, and the blood of
Christ, and the atonement, and sanctification, and redemption,
and justification. They all use the same words,
but there is a completely different meaning of those words with the
grace believer and the works believer. A completely different
meaning. What the grace believer means
by grace and what the works believer means by grace are two totally
different things with different meanings. Now, if you believe
any part of your salvation is ultimately dependent upon something
you do. Any part. If you believe your
salvation began with an act of your will when you decided to
let God do something. If you believe that your salvation
in the middle where you, through diligent Bible study and self-denial
and efforts and so on, make yourself more holy. Make yourself less
sinful and more holy. If you believe that at the end
your place in heaven will be determined by what you've done
here on earth, you'll either get a higher reward or you're
going to get some low place dependent upon your personal obedience
here on earth. If you believe in works in any
aspect of your salvation, to any measure, to any degree, you
are a works believer. You do not believe in grace. You may use the word grace. A
lot of people do. But you do not believe grace. Now, Ephesians 2, 8, 9 says,
for by grace are you saved through faith. And that, that faith,
it's not of yourselves, not of works. lest any man should boast
glory before God, claim to themselves what belongs to God only. Now, if you believe every aspect
of your salvation is holy of grace, you really believe that. If God
saved you, it was Him doing the saving in every aspect. None of your salvation is because
you did anything. It's because of what He did. If you believe every aspect of
your salvation is holy of grace, here is where you will begin. Romans 11, 6, you have this understanding,
if by grace. If salvation is by grace, God's
unmerited, unsought for, unasked, unearned favor toward you. You
really believe salvation by grace. If you really believe that, then
there's no more works. But if it be of works, then it's
no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
Now, I believe the man who could tell us most clearly about the
difference between grace and works How grace differs from
works would be the Apostle Paul. Now in Paul, we have a man who
saw both sides. Before God saved him, he thoroughly
believed salvation by works. To this extent, here was his
testimony, touching the righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless. Have you ever met anybody who
could say something like that? Paul thoroughly believed works. And then when God saved him, he said, But God, who is rich
in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace. Now Paul didn't straddle the
fence. At one time he was completely
on the work side. On the other time he was completely
on the grace side, but he never straddled the fence like so many
attempt to do. Let me read a few scriptures
regarding his experience. Turn to Acts chapter 21. Acts chapter 21. Verse 27, And when the seven
days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they
saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands
on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help, this is the man. that teacheth
all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this
place. And further, it brought Greeks
also into the temple, and polluted this holy place. For they had
seen before with him in the city of Trophimus, an Ephesian, whom
they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. And all the
city was moved, and the people ran together, and they took Paul,
and drew him out of the temple, and forthwith the doors were
shut, and as they went about to kill him. Now there was clearly a difference
between what Paul believed and what they believed because they
wanted to kill him. Now look in chapter 22, verse
1. Men, brethren, fathers, hear
ye my defense, which I now make to you. And he preached a sermon
to them. to tell him what it was he believed. And at the end
of this sermon, in verse 22, and they gave him audience unto
this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away
with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should
live. And as they cried out, and cast
off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, they were
going to kill him. And then the Romans delivered him at this
time. They brought him, put him into
prison. And while he was in prison, the
Jews conspired together. Forty men gave a vow saying we
won't eat or drink until we've killed Paul. We'll starve to
death. We'll die of thirst before we'll
let ourselves go without killing Paul. And somebody told him about
this and he told the captain and they moved him. And he's
brought before somebody else in chapter 24. I want us to read
these verses. Chapter 24. And after five days,
this is after he was moved out of there because they knew the
Jews were going to kill him. And after five days, Ananias, the
high priest, descended with the elders and with a certain order
named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. And when he was called forth,
Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, saying that by thee we
enjoy great quietness and with very worthy deeds are done to
this nation by thy providence. Flattery is always used in error.
I mean, look at the way he's flattering this guy. Flattery
is always used in error. We accept it always in all places,
most noble Felix, with all thankfulness, notwithstanding that I be not
further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldst hear us
of thy clemency a few words, for we have found this man, Paul,
a disease, a pestilent fellow, a pest. and a mover of sedition
among all the Jews throughout all the world. This man divides
people. He doesn't bring people together.
He divides them. He causes trouble wherever he
goes. He's not a unifying man. He's a polarizing figure. What
else he says? A ringleader of the sect of the
Nazarenes. He's a cult leader. who also
hath gone about to profane the temple, whom we took and would
have judged according to our law. But the chief captain Lysias
came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of
our hands, commanding his accusers to come unto thee, by examining
of whom thou mayest take knowledge of all these things whereof we
accuse him. And the Jews also assented, saying that these things
were so, we are given agreement. Then Paul, after the governor
had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know
that ye have been many years a judge unto this nation, I do
the more cheerfully answer for myself, because that thou mayest
understand that there are yet but twelve days since I went
up to Jerusalem for to worship, and they neither found me in
the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people,
neither in the synagogues, nor in the city, neither can they
prove the things which they now accuse me of. But this I confess
unto thee, I plead guilty here, after the way which they call
heresy. So worship I the God of my fathers,
believing all things that are written in the law and in the
prophets. Now, understand There was a clear difference. Grace and works can't get along. Grace and works are enemies to
one another. They cannot coexist. They cannot
be at peace. And we see this in the life of
Paul. how Paul was treated because of his stance concerning grace
over works. There was clearly a difference,
and there's just as big a difference today as there was in the days
of Paul. Now, how do grace and works differ? Well, here is the most important
point. Actually, all of them are the
most important point. I wouldn't name any of these as the most
important. They all come together. But here's
the first point. Grace and works differ in that
there is a different God. Same God is not worshiped. You see, the God of works is
not at all like the God of the Bible. First of all, He's not
holy. A God that could accept something
from me or you is not holy. He's not just. He's not righteous. The God of works, unlike the
God of grace, is not sovereign. His will can be thwarted. He can want something and it
doesn't end up happening. That's not the God of the Bible.
You see, the God of works is an idol. He's no different than
a totem pole. He's powerless, not worthy of
worship. He's not even real. It's a false
God. If I believe in works, I believe
in an idol of God that's not real. The God of grace is the true and living God who
is absolutely, immutably sovereign, whose will must be done, and
He saves in a way that magnifies every single one of His attributes. Now that's so important. The
God of grace, every attribute, His justice, His sovereignty,
His love, His holiness, His immutability, His wisdom, every attribute that
God has been pleased to reveal concerning Himself, Himself is
magnified in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the
God of the Bible. The God of grace is the true
and the living God. Now, I was thinking about this.
Creation. What a mighty work when God created
the universe. But you know it would be easy
for God to create a thousand more universes or a million more
universes. All he's got to do is will it.
Whatever he wills come to pass. It was easy for God to create.
But salvation? There wasn't anything easy about
that. He had to give up his son for somebody like me or you to
be saved. Nothing easy about that. How
costly it was for God. The difference between grace
and works? A different God. The difference between grace
and works is a different view of Holy Scripture. Look what
Paul says in verse 14, but this I confess unto thee, that after
the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers,
believing, what? All things which are written
in the law and in the prophets. The works believer. does not
believe all things that are written. And when confronted with what
is written, he will ward it off with this. That's just your interpretation. That's just your interpretation.
Anything they don't agree with that the Bible says, well, that's
just your interpretation. They don't believe all things
that are written. If they did, they'd believe grace.
If they did, they'd believe electing grace, and predestinating grace,
and redeeming grace, and regenerating grace, saving grace. If they
did, they'd believe what the grace believer does. But they
do not believe all things that are written. They may say, I
believe the Bible is the Word of God. I believe it's all inspired. That means nothing if you don't
believe what it says. The grace believer believes all
things. that are written. It's dishonest to say you believe
the Bible is the word of God and yet reject anything that's
clearly taught. A grace believer believes what
the Bible declares. Now to understand this, the gospel
is about this book. This is God's revelation of himself. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and a grace believer believes everything that's written. He bows to all God says. Whether he can comprehend it
or not, he believes it all, and he bows to it all. And what I
really think of God himself is seen in how I respond to his
A grace believer believes all that is written. Now the difference
between grace and works is seen in this thing of worship. And did you notice what Paul
said? But this I confess unto thee,
that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the
God of my fathers. Not, this is what I believe,
and this is what I stand for, and this is the doctrine I believe.
This is how I worship. This isn't just an issue of getting
your doctrine correct and straightened out. This is an issue of worship. Now, you've heard me say this.
You'll only worship a sovereign God. Now, if you're a works believer,
you believe, you can get God to respond to you by the things
you do. You think you can manipulate God, and you think you can cause
God to do what you want Him to do. Now, a God that you can manipulate
is a God you'll never worship. The only God you'll worship is
the God in whose hands you are, and He can do with you whatever
he is pleased to do. He can save you or he can pass
you by. And whatever he does is right. Let me show you an example of
worship. Turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 15. We're going to be
looking at this in Bible study in a few weeks. 2 Samuel chapter
15. Now David is a man who knew something
about worship. He was a man after God's own
heart. Look what David says, this is
after he's fleeing from Absalom and we read in verse 25 of 2
Samuel chapter 15, And the king, David, said unto Zadok, carry
back the ark of God into the city. They carried it out following
David. David said, bring it back to
Jerusalem. There it's where it belongs. If I shall find favor
in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again. Now that word
favor is grace. Same word, but Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. If I find favor in the eyes of
the Lord, he'll bring me again and show me both it, the ark,
and his habitation. But if he thus say, I have no
delight in thee, behold, here am I. Let him do to me as seemeth
good unto him." Now that is worship. If He gives me grace, thank God. If He looks at me and says, I
have no delight in Him, let Him do what seemeth Him good. Now that's worship. A God you
can control, which is the works of God. He's got God in His back
pocket. You can get Him to do whatever
He wants. You can get Him to respond to it. No worship, none at all. It's only the grace believer
that worships God. And that leads us to the fourth
difference. Turn back to our text in Acts
chapter 24. Paul says in verse 14, But this
I confess unto thee, that after the way The way, which they call
heresy, so worship I the God of my father. Grace and works
differ in that there is a different way. A different way. Now, a way is the distance traveled from
point A to point B. Easy enough. A way is the way
from point A to point B. The Lord said in John chapter
14 verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father But
by me. What is the way to the Father? Christ didn't say, I'll show
you the way. He said, I am the way. He didn't say no man cometh to
the Father but beside me or even behind me or in front of me.
but by me. Now the only way that can be
understood, the only way I can get to the
Father is if I'm in Christ and I come by Him. No other way to
the Father. I come by Him. This is talking
about those united to Christ, those in Him. When He comes to
the Father, I come to the Father because I am in Him. That's where salvation is. It's
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way I can come to
the Father is if I am in Him so that when He comes to the
Father, I come to the Father. He said, no man comes to the
Father but by Me. Listen, I don't come to the Father
pleading, oh, I'm coming with Him. No, my only way of getting
into the Father's presence is being in Him. When He ascended
back into glory after having achieved salvation, He came into
the Father's presence, and you know who else came into the Father's
presence? Everybody He represented. Now, any way other than this
way is a wrong way. This is the way that excludes
and negates all other ways. Is it any wonder that Paul said,
oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him? The only way I can get into the
Father's presence is if I'm in Christ and He brings me into
His presence. And I know that as sure as I'm
alive right now. Any other way, the way of salvation
by works, it won't get you there. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. The grace believer and the works
believer have a radically different view as to what took place in
eternity. What do I mean by that? Well,
the works believer believes that God planned salvation and he
made provision for people to be saved if. You know a word that's not in
the scripture? God's got a wonderful plan for
your life. God's plan of salvation. That's not in the Bible. That's
made up by lost religionists. In eternity, God didn't plan
salvation. The grace believer knows that. He accomplished salvation. You see, my salvation, the salvation
of every grace believer was accomplished in eternity before they were
ever born. Whom he did foreknow, whom he did know beforehand,
love beforehand, them he also did predestinate. to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called, whom He called, them He also justified,
whom He justified, them He also what? Glorified. Already done. The works were
finished, the writer to the Hebrews said in Hebrews 4.3, from the
foundation of the world. 2 Timothy 1, 9 says, He saved
us and He called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Big difference,
isn't there? Works believer, he thinks God
made a plan. Grace believers believe God did
everything in salvation in the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. And how I love it that way. That's
what makes my salvation secure. I love what that one lady said
to Spurgeon. She said, I know God must have
saved me before I was ever born because if he waited till after
I was born he wouldn't have loved me. That's so. That's so. Thank God for what he did in
eternity. The grace believer believes that the infinite, eternal
God, not bound by space or time, the one who declares the end
from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not
yet done, saying, ìMy counsel shall stand and I will do all
my pleasure.î The grace believer and the works believer have a
different belief regarding what took place in the Garden of Eden. Real briefly, the works believer
believes that when Adam fell, he hurt himself. He became sinful. He wasn't what he was. but he retained some ability.
They don't believe in what we call total depravity and total
inability. He still retained his will. While
he's sinful, he can cooperate with God's grace by accepting
what God did for him and accepting Jesus as a personal Savior. And
God's grace will work on that, with that, and make him a Christian,
which is nothing less than a complete denial of what total depravity
is in the first place. The grace believer believes that
when Adam fell, he became dead in sins, totally depraved and
totally unable to do anything toward his salvation. There is
none righteous. No, not one. There is none that
understands. There is none that seeketh after
God. They've all become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. Now what does somebody like that
need? Grace. Grace. The grace believer believes
what happened in the garden that Adam became
dead. The difference between the grace
believer and the works believer is what they think took place
on the cross. Now this is just as important.
I don't know why I said these are all of infinite importance. You see the works believer believes
that on the cross Christ made salvation possible. He made provision
for salvation. If you just do your part, you'll
be saved. He's made your salvation possible. He's made provision. You see, when He was on the cross,
God treated Him as if He were guilty so that you might not
be treated as though you're guilty if you accept Him, if you do
something for Him. Now, a grace believer doesn't
live anything like that. Not at all. Turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. Verse 21. Here's what we believe happened
on the cross. We don't much understand it,
but we believe it. You know, the more I see this, the more
mystified I am by it. For He, the Sovereign, the only
One who could do this, God the Father, for He hath made Him
the Savior, the Son of God, to be sin for us who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now here's what
took place on the cross. The only one who could do this,
the sovereign, the only one who had the ability and the power
and the authority to do this. He made him the one who knew
no sin. What a description of Christ.
He knew no sin. Oh, me and you are real familiar
with sin, aren't we? We breathe it. It's as natural to us as
breathing. But he knew no sin. He never sinned. He perfectly obeyed God. He knew no sin. And the Father
in His sovereignty made him to be sin. You want to know what
sin is? You look at him bleeding on Calvary's
tree. That's what sin is. That's what
sin is. Him dying under the wrath of
God. He bare our sins in his own body
on the tree. God made him to be sin. My sin, the sins of all the elect,
were transferred to him and became his. And he died for them. He was guilty before God. that we, everybody he died for,
might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's what took place
on the cross. Two more things briefly. There
is an insurmountable difference between what the grace believer
believes and what the works believer believes with regard to what
happens in a sinner's heart when God saves them. Now the works
believer believes that God by His grace causes you to be different. God by His grace enables you
to do things that you'd never do without His grace. And you
become better and better by grace, by the use of means. You overcome
this sin, this sin, this sin. You become more and more holy
and less and less sinful. Now, that's a denial of total
depravity in the first place. Grace believer doesn't believe
anything like that. You see, a grace believer knows that in
his flesh he hadn't changed a bit. Now, I believe that I've been
saved over 40 years. And do I feel like my flesh has
become any better at all or changed any? If I said it was, I'd be lying
to you. And anybody that makes that claim,
you know what they're doing? They're lying. That's it. Lying. Well, what makes you think
you're saved then if you haven't changed? Oh, now listen to me.
While my flesh hadn't changed, God has put something in there
that was not there before. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. I've got a heart, a clean heart, a pure heart,
and he's the one who recognizes the sinfulness of the flesh.
You know, if somebody doesn't have two natures, they can't
recognize the sinfulness of the old nature. That's why they don't
have a holy nature. They don't have a new nature. But a believer
is given a new heart. It's called regeneration. It's
being born again, born of the Spirit. That's the heart that
believes, that repents, that loves. You see, works doesn't save. Grace does. Here's my last point. And I reckon I might say this
is the most important point. I think I could say this. Here's the difference between
grace and works. Works ultimately gives man the
glory. Grace gives God the glory. Works is plagiarism. It's men trying to take credit
for what only God does. Grace gives God all the glory. There is a difference between
grace and works, different God, different view of the scriptures,
different worship, different way, different view of what took
place in eternity, of what took place in the garden, of what
took place on the cross, on what takes place in a sinner's heart
when God saves him, and who gets the glory. I ask you, are you a works believer? Grace believer. By grace, This sinner saved by
grace talking to you is a grace believer. May everybody in this
room, by the grace of God, be enabled to be grace believers. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name that we might be saved by your
grace. Lord, save us. Lord, save us. If you don't save us, we won't
be saved. And we ask that you'd save us. Save us by your grace. Lord, enable us truly to be grace
believers, followers of thy dear Son. Bless this message for your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
Matt, you got a closing hymn? One Ten. One Ten. We'll stand and sing
together. One Ten. Alas, and did my Savior
bleed. Alas, and did my Saviour plea
And did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I? Was it for crimes that I have
done he groaned upon the tree. Amazing pity, grace unknown,
and love