Saved By Grace, Working By Love

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

The Bible teaches that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by works or adherence to the law. The Apostle Paul clearly emphasizes in Galatians that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16). He stresses that trying to earn salvation through adherence to the law leads to falling from grace, as righteousness cannot be obtained through our actions but only through faith (Galatians 5:4). This underscores the centrality of God's grace in our salvation and the futility of works-based righteousness.

Q: Why is faith important for Christians?

Faith is essential for Christians as it is the means by which we are justified and reconciled to God. For Christians, faith is the sole means of justification before God. Paul states in Romans that a person is justified by faith, not by the works of the law (Romans 3:28). This faith is not just mere belief but an active reliance on the sacrifice of Christ and a trust in His righteousness. It's through this faith that we receive the grace of God, which enables transformation and genuine works of love in our lives, demonstrating the authenticity of our faith (Galatians 5:6).

Q: How do works relate to salvation in sovereign grace theology?

In sovereign grace theology, works are a response to salvation, not a means to attain it. In the framework of sovereign grace, true works are the result of genuine faith and salvation. Paul asserts that believers are saved by grace through faith, and this faith will produce works of love (Ephesians 2:8-10). Thus, while we are not saved by our works, the presence of good works in a believer's life is a vital evidence of the transformative power of God's grace. This ensures that while we do not rely on works for salvation, our lives will inevitably reflect the grace that has saved us through acts of love and service to others (Galatians 5:13-14).

Q: What is the role of the law in the life of a believer?

The law serves to show us our need for Christ, but believers are not bound by it for justification. The law of the Old Testament plays a significant role in revealing sin and pointing us to the necessity of a Savior. Paul argues that believers are not justified by the law, which can only condemn (Galatians 3:10-11). Instead, believers are called to live in the freedom of grace, fulfilling the law of Christ, which is rooted in love (Galatians 5:14). While the moral principles of the law still guide believers, they are not a means of earning favor with God but rather an expression of the love that flows from a heart transformed by grace.

Galatia. And Paul had gone away,
different ones had come and preached. The years had passed. And some false preachers. And this is a plague that has
been a burden on the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, on the
people of God for many years. In fact, Peter said there were
false prophets among Israel. False prophets among Israel,
even as there shall be false preachers among you who bring
in damnable heresies. And not only does the church
suffer under many false preachers and false teachers, but verse
2, Peter said this, and many follow their pernicious, lascivious
ways. And that's sad, but in Galatia
here, these false preachers had crept in and led people away
from the gospel of God's sovereign, free grace in Christ Jesus. And these false preachers and
false teachers were insisting that in order to be saved, insisting
that in order to be saved, that a person had to be circumcised
or do other things, keep Sabbath days, certain Levitical laws,
ceremonies, the tithe, and the Old Testament diet. In fact,
it became so serious, it became so serious that even The Apostle
Peter contributed to this sort of thing. And Paul had to rebuke the Apostle
Peter to his face. Had to rebuke him. And Barnabas,
Paul's sidekick, Barnabas, was influenced by this thing. They said, yes, you believe on
Christ, but in order to be saved, you've got to do some other things.
You've got to keep the Sabbath, you've got to be circumcised,
you've got to follow the old Levitical ways and laws and rules. Turn to Galatians 2. Let me show
you this. This became a serious matter
in Galatians 2, verse 11. But when Peter was come to Antioch,
Paul said, I withstood him to the face because he was to be
blamed. But before that certain came from James, or, now what
he's saying here, before these representatives, these fellas
came from Jerusalem, James was a pastor in Jerusalem, and these
fellas came down from Jerusalem here to Antioch, and before they
came, listen, Peter did eat with the Gentiles. He sat at the table
with the Gentiles and ate with the Gentiles. The Gentiles weren't
circumcised. Gentiles weren't brought up under
the law, and the Gentiles didn't follow the Levitical laws. The
Gentiles were pagan heathens who'd come to know Christ. And
Peter ate with them and sat with them and fellowshiped with them,
but when these fellows came from Jerusalem, Peter withdrew and
separated himself from these Gentiles, fearing these men which
were the circumcised. And the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him. It created a problem here. In
so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
You get the picture here. Here they're fellowshipping,
getting along fine, and here's the Gentiles and the Jews and
the people brought up without law and in law, and they'd come
to know Christ, and they were fellowshiping, and these legalists
came down. Pharisaical legalist is what
they were. Ceremonialist and circumcisers,
I guess. They came down and Peter didn't
want to offend them and be caught with these Gentiles. So he left
the Gentiles and he kept on snowballing. And Barnabas was led away. In
verse 14, Paul said, When I saw that they walked not uprightly
according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before
them all, right in the presence of all these people, Now if you,
being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not
as do the Jews, you live, you don't keep a Sabbath day, and
you don't give that strict ten percent, and you don't follow
the diet, the particular diet, and you don't preach circumcision,
why do you compel these Gentiles to live like Jews? We who are Jews by nature and
not heathen of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man's not justified
by the works of the law, that's not the way a man is saved. But
by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we Jews, Paul himself was
a Pharisee one day, we have believed in Jesus Christ. We have believed
in Jesus Christ. We have received the Son of God.
We rested in Him. that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by
the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Period. Paul in Romans chapter 3 said,
this is my conclusion, that a man is justified by faith, faith
alone, that just shall live by faith, not by law, not by the
works of the law. That's my conclusion. Now verse
17, if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also
have found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin, God
forbid, if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make
myself a transgressor. Now you go on down to verse 21,
listen to what he says. Watch how powerful this is. I do not frustrate, confuse,
distort the grace of God. If righteousness come by law,
if that's how a man's righteous before God, by keeping the law,
by going back and picking up these ceremonies and holy days
and touch not, taste not, handle not, and diets and tithes and
all these things, if that's the way I'm justified, then Jesus
Christ died in vain. If that's the way acceptance
with God is attained, by keeping the law, That cross that you
read about a while ago is in vain. And then chapter 3, listen. Here's his conclusion. Oh, foolish
Galatians. Foolish people to be drawn into
such a thing as this. Peter was foolish. Barnabas was
foolish. Oh, how foolish to be drawn into
something like this. To leave Christ and go back to
Moses. What an ungodly thing to do.
Terrible thing! What a stupid thing to do! Those
people never found any peace under the law. They never found
any peace or joy or rest or hope or salvation under the law. I
can see a man leaving Moses and going to Christ. I can't see
a man leaving Christ and going to Moses. Who hath bewitched you? Who hath
Deceived you that you should not obey the truth before whose
eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth Crucified among you
this only would I learn of you tell me Did you receive the Holy
Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? How'd
God save you? By the law or by faith how'd
God save you? How'd God save you me? How do we receive the
Holy Spirit? How will we regenerate it? How
will we call? How will we redeem? How will
we sanctify it? How will we justify it? How will
we accept it in the beloved? By the law or by faith? Well,
then, verse 3, are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit that
you are now perfected by the flesh? Oh, my! All right. So Paul cries out
this, we're justified by faith, faith alone. But lest, lest any
should be deceived into thinking that the believer has no works.
You know when we stand before a congregation we say that we're
not under the law of the Sabbath. We're not under the law of certain
diets. We're not under the law of the
time. Not at all. We're not under the law of certain
holy days. We're not under that Old Testament, Levitical law. We're not under those things.
Well, how do you get people to serve God? How do you get people
to work? If you don't go back and pick up these things, how
do you get people to do what they ought to do? And that's
what Paul deals with now in chapter 5 and chapter 6. A person be
deceived into thinking that because a man is saved by grace, he has
no works. He has no fruit. He has no service
before God. Well, chapter 5. Now, I want
you to watch this. Paul says in chapter 5, now you
stand fast therefore in the liberty of Christ, the liberty wherewith
Christ has made you free from the law, free from the ceremonial
law, free from all these enforced duties and so forth prescribed
by Moses. They've all been fulfilled anyway.
And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Don't come
back under that system. Don't let anybody bring you back
under that system of rules and regulations and duties and days. Behold, verse 2, our Paul is
saying to you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit
you nothing. In other words, all of that system,
all of that system is identified under one word, circumcision.
When Paul says, if you be circumcised, he's saying, if you pay a strict
time, if you keep a seventh day, if you do these things prescribed
by Moses, it all comes under one word, circumcision. Day of
the circumcision. Isn't that right? It all comes
under that one word, circumcision. Now, if you do any of these things,
then Christ profits you nothing. Verse 3, For I testify again
to every man that is circumcised, he's a debtor to do the whole
lot. In other words, if we start doing certain things to be accepted
of God, if we start following certain rules and laws and ceremonies
to be accepted of God, then we've got to do the whole law. We can't
do just part of it. It's got to be all Christ or
all law. It's got to be all faith or all work. It's got to be all
grace or all labor. It can't be part. It can't be
a mixture. Now, verse 4. Christ is become
of no effect unto you, whosoever of you who are justified by the
law. You've fallen from the grace
of God, you've fallen from the gospel of grace, you've departed
from the gospel of grace. For we, now watch this, we through
the Spirit of God wait for the hope of righteousness by faith,
by faith alone. It is faith that gives hope to
righteousness. It is faith that gives us the
hope of righteousness. It is faith in Christ who is
our righteousness. But now watch the next line.
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth in anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which works. This faith in Christ gives us
the hope of righteousness. What kind of faith is it? It's
a faith that works. How does it work? Listen, by
love. Believers work, not by law, by
love. Believers serve God, not because
they have to, because they want to. Believers know that faith that
does not work is not saving faith. You see that? Verse 5 says, We
wait, we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. But it is a faith that works,
and it's a faith that works by love. That's it. Now, I'll tell
you what I've found through the years. Now, you listen to me. I've found this, that religious
people who talk the most about works, about Sabbath days and
ceremonies and touch not, taste not, handle not, and legalism,
and all of these things, the ones that talk the most about
works, usually don't have any. That's exactly right. They have
activity, but not works. They have a lot of activity,
they have a lot of organizations, they have a lot of meetings,
they have a lot of conferences, but not true works. Not true
fruit. No, they don't. I found that
out. And I found out this, that religious people who bind heavy
burdens on the necks of other people usually do little of what they
require of others. I found that out. I found out
that these people that are always binding some kind of burden on
the neck of others about how they're to live, and how they're
to walk, and how they're to do, and how faithful they're to be,
and how they're to give. These folks don't do it. They
don't do it. They're required of others, but
they don't do it. These preachers that require so much of their
followers don't do what they require. And I found this out. People
who talk about salvation by works and the danger of falling from
faith or departing from faith usually do. That's what they
usually do. You watch Channel 61 sometimes.
I've been watching ever since it came on years ago, and they've
got a constant turnover. They've got new preachers and
new programs on there all the time. They don't last. They talk
about works and talking about miracles and talking about falling
from faith and departing from the... And they do! They do. But I found this out. I found
that people who love and trust the free and sovereign grace
of God, who attribute their salvation only to the righteousness and
blood of Christ, that know that God chose them, not for anything
in them, that God saved them by the blood of his son and by
the sacrifice of his beloved, that God called them by his Holy
Spirit, that God granted to them repentance and granted to them
faith, and that God will never let them go, that they're saved
eternally, I found that these people are the most obedient,
the most gracious, the most generous, the most faithful, honest, kind,
loving people I've ever met. They're constantly producing
works. Works of faith and labor of love. They're saved by grace alone,
and they know it. They're saved by grace alone.
And they labor and work by love alone. Paul summed it up over here.
Don't leave Galatians. Just turn to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Here, Paul sums it up right here.
He says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 3, remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, patience
of hope. There's the three things that
he said now about faith, hope, and love. But what are they?
They're work of faith. and a labor of love and a patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. All right, I want you now to
look at chapter 6. I told you I was going here to
chapter 6 tonight, and I want to show you, I want to show you
true works. True works, the true results
of grace, salvation by grace. And it's not in days and duties. It's in heart. It's in disposition. I like that word, a man's disposition. His attitude. One of the old
Puritans called it his mindset. His mindset. That's where works,
true works come from. Not ritualism and religious activity
and rules and regulations. It comes from a mindset. It comes
from a disposition. It comes from an attitude. It
comes from being regenerated. and made a new creature in Christ.
And here it is, I'll give it to you in five points. How a man feels about others. How a man feels about himself.
How a man feels about those who labor in the gospel. How a man
feels about God's providence. And how a man feels about the
cross. It's all right here in chapter 6. The first two verses
tell us how he feels about others. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, you which are spiritual, saved by grace, called by grace,
you restore him. You restore that one, such a
one, found in a fault, fault of doctrine or fault of spirit
or fault of deed. But you restore him in the spirit
of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. And
you bear one another's burdens, weight, faults, infirmities,
and so fulfill the law of Christ. That's the disposition and mindset
of a man saved by grace toward others. That's right. Now, the
family of God are people. This is a family of God. We're
all people. We've been redeemed, we've been
justified, we've been sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ, by
the grace of God, but we're still what? People. And one word characterizes
every one of us. False. That's right. If a man be overtaken in a fault,
if you discover a fault, what do you do? Do you exclude them? Do you avoid them? Do you wound
them? No. He said you restore them.
You recover them. And what's the foundation of
this? The foundation of it is the spirit of meekness and the
spirit of love. The spirit of meekness in verse
1 says, considering yourself, lest you be tempted. And the
spirit of love in verse 2. you fulfill the law of Christ.
What's the law of Christ? It's the law of love. It's called
the royal law. He said, this is my commandment,
that you love one another as I love you. So what is works? This is works. This is works. Not religious activity, not regimented
keeping a day, not finding out what my gross income is so I
can put in the exact amount and so forth and so on. These are
true works. It's a mindset, it's a disposition,
it's an attitude toward others. Bear one another's burdens, bear
one another's faults, infirmities, and so fulfill the law of Christ. That's the law we need to preach,
the law of Christ. And you fulfill it. Don't bring
me a law of circumcision and all these other things that tell
me to fulfill it. This is the law I want to fulfill. The law
of Christ. That works. That works. Alright. What's a man's disposition
or attitude toward himself? Look at verse 3. Well, if a man
thinks himself to be something when he's nothing, he deceives
himself. You know, I know that in Christ
we're sons of God. We're kings and priests. In Christ,
we're called to a high and holy and heavenly calling. In Christ,
we have certain gifts, certain graces. But you know, in ourselves,
we're nothing. It says, if a man thinks himself
to be something, when he's nothing, he's nothing. Paul said that. Paul said, now listen to this.
Paul said, I'm not one whit behind the chief apostle, not one whit
behind Peter, James, or John, though I be nothing. I am nothing. He said again, though I preach
the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. I be nothing, I have
nothing. And then our Lord Jesus Christ
said, without me you can do nothing. That pretty well sums it up,
doesn't it? Let me show you what Paul said about us in 1 Corinthians,
chapter 1. This is interesting. 1 Corinthians,
chapter 1, verse 27. Turn over there a moment. 1 Corinthians,
chapter 1, verse 27. Listen to what he calls us here.
Listen to what he calls us. Verse 27. God had chosen the
foolish things of the world. God had chosen the weak. Underline
these. Foolish, weak. Down in verse
28, the base things of the world. Things which are underscored
as despised, that's God chosen. And things which are not, nothing.
That's us, nothing. Now, here, let me ask this question. Why would a believer ever think
that he's something? Why would he ever think that
he's something when God lifts the beggar from the dunghill?
We read about the dust that sets us on the throne. Everything
we are, He made us, everything we have, He gave us, everything
we know, He taught us. Why would we ever, ever, ever
think ourselves to be something? It's just one time and one reason. That is when we compare ourselves
with somebody else. That's the only time. That is
if a brother be overtaken in a fault, And we look at him and
say, I wouldn't do that. I thank you, Lord, I'm not like
other men. The Pharisee thought himself
to be something and he based it entirely on comparing himself
with someone else. I'm not like the public. So that's
the only reason why, but he says in verse 4, but let every man
prove his own work. In other words, you examine yourselves
in the light of His holiness, not somebody else's. Of His perfection,
not somebody's imperfection. And when we examine ourselves
in the light of His holiness and His perfection, we'll never
think ourselves to be something. And I'll tell you this, he says
here, if we do find some measure of grace within us, then we'll
have rejoicing in ourselves alone, not in another, not rejoicing
over another, not rejoicing because we have more gifts than another
or more grace than another. But if we can find a little bit
of grace, we can rejoice that God's been good to us. All right,
that's works. That's real, genuine works. Now,
here's another, verse 6. I showed you here, Paul gave
us a man's feelings toward others. Bear one another's faults and
infirmities. Secondly, a man's feelings toward
himself. I'm nothing. I am what I am by
the grace of God. Now a man's feelings toward those
who preach the Word. Listen to verse 6. Let him that
is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth an all
good thing. Now this says that if you have pastors and elders
and missionaries and teachers who sincerely teach you in the
word, let a man that's taught in the word. It's not talking
about religious entertainers. This is not talking about religious
organizers. This is talking about religious
promoters. If you have been taught in the
Word. Isn't that what this says? Taught
in the Word of God. Schooled in grace. Then you communicate
unto Him that taught you in all good things. In other
words, if you have pastors and missionaries and teachers who
sincerely study the Word of God, teach the Word of God, preach
the Word of God, minister the Word of God to you and to others,
then support them. Take care of them. Take care
of their material needs. Let me show you this over in
1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. And this church knows this and
has been an example in this in every way. But we're going to
look at it. In 1 Corinthians 9, verse 7, Paul says, who goes
to war at his own charge? 1 Corinthians 9, 7. In other words, soldiers don't
pay their way over to Saudi Arabia to fight. The government sends
them. Who plants a vineyard and doesn't eat the fruit thereof?
Who feeds a flock and does not have the milk of the flock? Now,
say I these things as a man, or saith not the law of the same
thing, the Old Testament law? It is written in the law of Moses,
I shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox that tradeth out the
corn. Does God take care of the oxen? He it altogether for our
sakes. For our sakes, no doubt, this
is written, that he that ploweth should plow in hope. He that
thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown
to you and preached to you and taught you spiritual things,
is it a great thing if we reap your carnal things? Down here in verse 13 he says,
Do you not know that they which minister about holy things back
in the temple in the days of the prophets live of the things
of the temple, and they which wait at the altars are partakers
with the altar, even so hath the Lord ordained that they that
preach the gospel should live of the gospel." I know there
are a lot of con men and I know there are a lot of false preachers,
and we're going to have to try the spirits. We're going to have
to be very careful about feeling responsibility and obligation
to support men who are not deserving of support. But where a man is
a true preacher of the gospel and teaches you in the word of
God, then you communicate to him that teacheth in all good
things. Now verse 7 and 8, let's look
at this. And these verses have been misused
and abused, and you hear preachers all the time, they'll say, Whatsoever man soweth, that shall
he reap. These verses are dealing with
giving. They're dealing with liberality.
They're dealing with generosity. That's what they're dealing with.
We're on the subject here in verse 6. Let him that's taught
in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good
things. Support the ministry. Support the gospel. Give to those
who teach. And verse 7 says, Don't be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever
man soweth, whatsoever man giveth, whatsoever man throws out, whatsoever
man shares, that shall he also reap. This is taken from a farmer
that he's got a field out here, an acreage. If he sows sparingly,
he's going to reap sparingly. He goes down the corn row and
he puts one grain of corn, he skips ten or twelve feet and
puts another grain of corn, skips ten or twelve feet, that's how
many corn stalks he's going to have. But if he sows it close
and sows it generously and sows it abundantly, he's going to
reap abundantly. That's what he's talking about. That's exactly if we use what
God has given us. to bless and help others. God
will prosper us so that we can give more. Read the next verse
there. He that soweth to the flesh shall
of the flesh reap corruption. In other words, the Lord has
given to all of us. We are blessed people. We are
prosperous people. We are, compared to the rest
of the world, wealthy people. We have an abundance of just
about everything. Now, if we take what God's put
in our hands and use it strictly on our flesh, in other words,
sowing to the flesh, we shall of the flesh reap corruption.
In other words, if everything I have, I spend it on clothes
and I spend it on cars and I spend it on myself and I spend it on
entertainment and I spend it on this flesh, in other words,
pampering this flesh, and satisfying this flesh, and gratifying this
flesh, and meeting all the status symbols of the flesh, and I use
it in this way, what's going to happen to it? It's going to
rot. The clothes are going to wear out, the cars are going
to wear out, we eat the big dinners, you know, and burp them up, and
they over with, you know, and it's gone. It's like that, there's
a black lady and her husband were at the carnival, And they
came to a merry-go-round. He said, I always wanted to ride
one of them things. She said, well, you got a nickel? He said,
I got a nickel. She said, get on. He gave the
man the nickel, and he got on. He went around. The music, what
do you call those things that play, boop, boop, boop, boop,
boop, boop, boop, you know. And he went around. He went around.
And the thing came around and stopped. She's still standing
there with her pocketbook over her arm, you know. And he went
around. Finally, he come back, right
back where he was, and got off. And he stood there and looked
at her. She said, you satisfied? He said, yeah. She said, you
spent your nickel and you ain't been nowhere. You got off right
where you got off. And that's exactly what he's
saying here. You spent everything God gave me. I spent everything
He gave me on a ride. Round and round and round. And
I got off right where I got off. This old body's old and stooped
and bent. And I need to spend something
on it, don't I? But it's too late. But I've used it, and of
the flesh I reap one thing, corruption. But, he that soweth through the
Spirit, the gospel, blessing others,
helping others, giving to the kingdom of God, it's as great
as the kingdom of God. That's right. Lay not up for
yourselves treasures on this earth, where rust, moth and rust
doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal. Lay up for
yourselves treasures in the kingdom. Give to God's kingdom. Give to
us. Help us. Help us. It doesn't matter. I got a little
note in the bulletin today. There are preachers, young preachers
out there, young struggling churches out there. They need a little
help. that you get bulletins from these
preachers. Have you ever thought to send them something to help
them with their bulletins? You hear about them getting on the
radio, send them something to help them on the radio, to help them along
their way, to encourage them along the way. That's the kingdom
of God. That's the kingdom of God. I
tell you, the more you give God, the more He'll give you to give
Him. Turn to 2 Corinthians 9. Let me show you something. I
found this to be true. I found this to be true. I found
this to be true. And I'll tell you this, in case
somebody's visiting here tonight, I don't know, but I'm one of
the only preachers in town that don't believe in tithing. But
the New Testament doesn't teach it. It does not teach it. A believer is not under the law
of the tithe. It's not in the New Testament.
Nowhere. Nowhere. No such. It says in 2 Corinthians
9 verse 7, Every man according as he purposes in his heart,
so let him give. That kills your time. If I owe
10% to this church every month, I'm not going to be purposing
in my heart anything. I don't have any purpose to purpose.
That's right. No such. I don't have any purpose.
I don't determine what I give. But I'll tell you, a believer
does. He's under not law but love. He gives because he wants
to, not because he has to. He gives not because it's required
of him. He gives because he wants to,
he loves to. That's right. Purpose is in his
heart. Go on. Not grudgingly. Not of necessity. No time. For God loveth a hilarious
giver. Now watch this. And God is able. to make all grace abound toward
you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound in every good work." What's that saying? It's just
saying this, that a fellow needs some help, I give it to him.
Why? It says you can't spare that.
I can too, because God's going to give it to me. God will bless you and prosper
you so you can give. That's right. But now he's not
going to fix it all in a little bundle over here and you make
sure I've got it before I give. I'm going to give and he's going
to supply. I'm going to help. Reach out. And there's so many
ways that we can help. So many ways. All right, I've
got to hurry. We're always in a hurry, aren't
we? I'm not going anywhere. Our attitude, these are works.
These are works. Works of faith and labor of love.
It's genuine. It's my attitude toward you,
my attitude toward myself, my mindset, my disposition toward
those that put, toward the kingdom of God. Now watch this, my attitude
toward God's providence and my laboring, and I have to remind
myself of this constantly, and you do too, verse 9, and let
us not be weary in well-doing. Why do we need that? Why do we
need that caution? Well, I'll tell you. When we try to do well and to
help others and support the preaching of the gospel, and to support
the kingdom of God and help other people, sometimes us folks aren't
as grateful as we ought to be. Just not as grateful. Folks just
aren't as grateful. You've experienced that. I have.
I've been ungrateful and I've had dealings with people who
are ungrateful. And there's some preachers who are the world's
worst. They're just not grateful. I've sent large, this church
has sent large gifts to missionaries and preachers and never hear
from them. Not even a thank you note. I mean, big gifts. Not even a thank you note. And
then folks disappoint you. They disappoint you. They fail.
They drop and get out of the ministry. They quit. Churches
fold up. All these things. And then folks
criticize us. and find fault with us. And then people leave the gospel.
And we see so little results. There are just a lot of things
that happen when you... That's the reason he says in
verse 9, don't quit, don't be weary in well-doing, don't give
up, because you don't see the results here. Immediately, because
someone's ungrateful, or unkind, or critical, or indifferent,
or you're just going to quit. No, don't do that. For in due
season, what's due season? It's his season. His time. You're going to reap. You're
going to reap if you don't quit. If you don't faint, you don't
quit. That's right. Here's what to
do. You see, when we are helping
others and giving to others and helping the ministry, we're doing
it for the glory of God. God looks on the heart. God sees
our hearts. He sees our intent. He sees our
motive. And He'll bless you in His good
time. He will. So he says in verse
9 or 10, so as you have opportunity, you do good unto all men, especially
those of the household of faith, especially take care of them.
All right, I'm going to sum this up now with our attitude toward
the cross. Paul's chief purpose in this
epistle is to expose the false teachers, and he says He closes
this book with verse 12. As many as desire to make a show
in the flesh, that's these false teachers. They want to make a
show in the flesh. They want to be seen of men. They constrain
you to be circumcised and follow the Levitical law to do all these
things. They constrain you to do these
things only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross
of Christ. For neither they themselves who
are circumcised keep the law. These fellas that tell you to
keep the law, they don't keep the law. But they desire to have
you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Look how
many followers I've got. Look how many disciples I've
got. Look how many people I command
and corral and exercise power over. They do what I say. That's
right, they glory in the flesh. But God forbid, that I should
glory. Paul had a lot of things in which
he could have gloried. He's the only man I read about
in this book that went to the third heaven. He's the only man
in this book I read about who, after Christ died and arose again,
that Christ appeared to him in a special advent, event. He's the only man God called
to be the first apostle to the Gentiles. But he came down to
all this, and we talk about glorying in the flesh, he said, that's
what these fellas do, they glory in your flesh. You're nothing
but statistics and numbers to them. But he said, God forbid
that I should glory the same in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's my glory, in His cross.

Saved By Grace, Working By Love

What does the Bible say about salvation by grace?

Why is faith important for Christians?

How do works relate to salvation in sovereign grace theology?

What is the role of the law in the life of a believer?

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Saved By Grace, Working By Love

What does the Bible say about salvation by grace?

Why is faith important for Christians?

How do works relate to salvation in sovereign grace theology?

What is the role of the law in the life of a believer?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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