Salvation is by Faith, Not by Works

What a joy to be with you again today, my wonderful partner and family. I sure love you. I really mean that. I don't just say these words. They're not empty words. I thank the Lord for you. I thank the Lord Jesus for you. And I pray today that the Lord will meet every need in your life.

And you are precious to him. Precious to him. Oh, how he loves you. I've just come back as as you know from Brazil. It was a wonderful time. I got a little food little food poisoning while I was there by the way. So that was not fun at all.

But you know what is so amazing though? It did not affect the meetings. So you know it's not often that I go o overseas and and get food poisoning, but this was a little rough. But every service was powerful. I was so thankful to the Lord that nothing affected the meeting.

Anyways, we've been back the last few days and I want to teach today on something really important. Let's go to Titus chapter 3. You know, I'm so thrilled that the Bible talks about our liberty in Jesus, our freedom in Jesus. that salvation is by faith. It's by faith, not by works.

And in Titus 3 verse 5, it says, "Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Lord, I thank you for your word. To you be the praise, wonderful Jesus.

To you be the glory, wonderful Jesus. To you be the honor, wonderful Jesus. Open our hearts, Lord. Open our eyes, wonderful Holy Spirit, that we might see clearly your word for the glory of our precious, wonderful heavenly father in Jesus name. And God's people said, "Amen." And amen.

You know, in Ephesians 2, I know these are amazing scriptures about the life we live, the life of faith. I'd like you to write them down. Tomorrow is Good Friday. Friday. I want to just remind you of the price the Lord paid for our salvation. Tomorrow I'll be preaching on embracing teach on embracing the cross.

What it means to embrace the cross of Jesus. How precious. Ephesians 2:8 and verse 9, we have this amazing truth. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And then in Acts 15, the church had come together to uh consider a matter of great importance.

The church in Jerusalem at that time was divided over one subject because the Pharisees, the sect of the Pharisees that believed in the Lord were insisting that believing in Jesus was good but not good enough because they were saying, "Listen, you also need to obey the law of Moses."

And so, you know, in Acts 15:11, I'd like to read that and then we'll get into the other parts of Acts 15. But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. So now they came together and the argument really was persuasive because what the believing Pharisees were saying, well Jesus was a Jew.

He he obeyed the law. Did he not say that he did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill the law? So these legalists had become so powerful and their influence was spreading that uh many people were really confused in the early church on which way to go.

Now many believe that these Judaizers despite their zeal were misguided and Paul was one who stood against them. uh and so did Peter. So in Acts 15 beginning at verse 6, we see now what happened here. It says, "And the apostles and and the elders came together for to consider of this matter."

And when there had been much disputing, Peter uh 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, and God would."

And when there had been much disputing, Peter uh Peter rose up and said unto them, he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt you God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. So Peter's account here agrees with Paul. And in Acts 13 verse 38 and 39, we read these amazing words also about the same matter. And this is what Paul himself now is speaking.

So Acts 13 38:39 says these words, "Be it known unto you therefore men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Now this is Paul the apostle ministering the word in Acts 13 and he says something so powerful. He said, "Be it known to you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believed are justified." So Paul now continues later to expound on this and especially in the book of Galatians.

You know, the reason I I I want to to minister on this is because I want to remind you of the freedom the cross brings to us. That the gospel is free and it's by faith. We are justified by faith through Christ Jesus, not by legalistic rules and regulations.

Galatians 1 6-8 says these wonderful words to us. I marvel, now this is Paul talking to the church in Galatia. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ into another gospel which is not another. But there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. These are powerful words. Very, very powerful words. Then in Galatians 2 beginning at verse 15 through 21, listen to what he says here.

You know, please make sure you take these scriptures, you write these scriptures down and so on. It says, "We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, 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." And Paul is speaking as a Jewish man to Jewish believers there in uh through his writings in Galatians at that time and he was talking about when he stood against Peter in Antioch and what he said to him.

So in in Galatians 3 now verse one verse two he says oh foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you. Wow powerful what a powerful question. This only what I learn of you received ye the spirit by the works of of the law or by the hearing of faith.

See, we live a life of faith. All of us, we live a life of faith. Jesus came to fulfill the law. And we who believe in Jesus, not about Jesus, by the way, we believe in Jesus, meaning we trust him with with with our salvation. We trust him for our for our with our literally we give him our life.

We trust him with with our eternity. We say, "Lord, I give you my life. Here's my soul. Lord, I give it to you. Here's my spirit. I give it to you. Here's my whole body, my being. I give it to you to keep." So, we trust him completely.

There's a big difference between believing that and believing in. Many people believe that Jesus came, that Jesus died, that Jesus rose from the dead and so on. So does the devil. But when you believe in the Lord, it means you trust him. Abraham believed in God and God declared him righteous.

And that was way before the law ever came. So it's a life of faith. Think about that. Adam lived by faith. The law was not given at that time. Noah lived by faith. Abraham lived by faith. Isaac lived by faith. Jacob lived by faith. The law came many years later to Israel through Moses.

And it says the law was added. It was added to what? It was added to grace. God Almighty revealed grace to Adam. He revealed grace to Noah. He revealed grace to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the law was added to grace because the the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt rejected the message of faith and grace.

They they brought the gods of Egypt out with them and worshiped false gods. So God had to lay the law down. That's why the law was given and the law it says was the our school master to bring us to faith to bring them to faith. So the law is good because it shows you what sin really is.

And that's what Galatians really says. That's why I wrote the whole epistle. So this is important that we we understand that uh in in verse 18 and 19 uh well let me just read it. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

And he explains all that in chapter three what I just said and more. So it's important that we we we understand that faith is what Abraham had and God accepted his faith and give him the promise. So the covenant was given to Abraham in faith not because of the law because he believed God.

Quite simple and that was 430 years before the law ever came. So think about that. Now in Galatians 5, in Galatians 5 it says, "Stand fast." Verse one said, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty will with Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."

So you know he says, look, you know, it's time that you live free from legalism. This truth is repeated so much in scripture that you wonder why so many still today don't see it. Why so many want to go back to bondage? And I think the reason is because so many just uh cannot or maybe do not want to trust God.

Maybe they cannot trust him or they just don't want to trust the Lord. Trusting the Lord is so simple. It's so simple because you know the the idea of selfjustification I think is so deeply ingrained in humanity that that people can't be free from it. It's it's as old as history. people want to uh justify themselves.

Self-justification is deeply in the hearts of of men and women who live in the flesh. You know, and every false religion, every false religion teaches self-justification. Even many Christians today will not accept faith and grace and just faith simple faith that will bring salvation because they have difficulty believing Ephesians 2:8.

They really have difficulty believing a very simple beautiful truth like Ephesians 28. For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Even when the Lord was on earth, remember he faced men who said in John 6, "What shall we do?

How shall we work?" They were look always looking for doing and working. And people are still the same still today. They want to do it. They want to work it. They they they don't trust God to do it. They don't trust God to work it. They want to do something to prove that to themselves that they really are righteous.

I suppose so. in in in John 6:28, then said they unto him, "What shall we do?" People always want to do something for God to help him, I guess, that we might work the works of God. Jesus answered and said on to them, "This is the work of God that you believe."

Simple. If you want to work, believe. Believe on him that he has sent. How simple. So they wanted to do, they wanted to work to win God's favor. And the answer was so simple. Believe on Jesus. Believe on Jesus. This is the work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent.

And we celebrate tomorrow, Good Friday. It's time to celebrate the victory of Calvary. It's time to trust the Lord. Simple trust. Simple faith. Simple faith. And many still refuse to believe that salvation is by grace. They want to add to it. And I think listen and here's what I think is the reason because it was so in Paul's day because of the offense of the cross.

Let me explain that because the offense of the cross is more than many can endure because the cross is a reminder of man's inability to save himself. So they don't want to believe and receive what the cross is about. Tomorrow I want to talk about embracing the cross of Jesus.

The cross demands that we confess. The cross demands that we confess all have sinned. I'll never forget my uncle years ago got angry at me. angry when I was witnessing to him in Canada. And when I said, "God says, you're a sinner," he began cursing me out. He He He became foul.

How dare you call me a sinner. I'm a good man. I I've never done anything wrong. I And he went on and on telling me what a good man is and how horrible God is to send him to hell for it. I said, "Uncle, calm down." I said, "All have sinned."

And he just won't listen to that. Just refused to listen to that. He he he was so angry that I said that. And there's people today that get angry if you say you've sinned. All have sinned. and they get angry at you because they they will they just will reject the demands of the cross because the cross demands that we confess all have sinned that there's none righteous know not one that's what the cross brings you to it brings you to that place to say Lord I've sinned Lord uh uh there's not righteous Lord all righteousness is filter rags.

All my righteousness is filth. That's what the cross does. When you accept the cross, that's what Paul means by the offense of the cross. People are offended when you say, "Well, you're a sinner. Oh, no, I'm not." And they want to fight you. My uncle was really angry.

Oh my. And he he he didn't want to listen to it. And no, he did not make heaven either. He refused the gospel all together. altogether. Yet my dad received it like this. It's really amazing that in a family you see one brother like my dad accepting Jesus as savior in a split second when he heard me preach yet some of my family think we're all crazy to believe it because they don't want to be told you're a sinner.

They don't want to be told you're not a righteous person. They don't want to be told all your righteousness is filled to eggs. They get really angry at you. So Isaac Watts wrote an amazing song. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died, my riches gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride.

That's what the cross does. Ain't it beautiful that Isaac Watts would write that him? When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died, my riches gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride. And today people don't want to hear it.

Accepting Jesus as savior requires the surrender. the surrender of all competence in self and in our in in what we think uh goodness is that we're so good you know like my uncle I'm so good I'm so good why would God send me to hell because I'm so good no no look accepting Jesus as savior requires the full surrender of all confidence in self.

Somebody once said, "We are saved not through our attainment but through his atonement." We are saved not through our attainment but through his atonement. Yeah. It's not something you we've done. It's what he did. So, so don't seek to establish your own righteousness because if you do, you'll you'll fail to receive God's righteousness, which is through simple faith.

Anyone who tries to establish your own righteousness, you'll never find God's righteousness, which is by faith. So, so the refusal, the refusal of a legal selfrighteous spirit is the first step to true salvation. So when you refuse that legal self-righteous spirit, when you say no to it, that's the first step to real salvation.

And this must be done or the gospel cannot be accepted. You have to say to that legal spirit to that self no you refuse it. So Paul said he who works refuses grace. He who works or refuses to be saved by by grace because they want to work it.

A mother appeared before a general one day. And by the way, that was true story. A mother appeared before the general one day. Her son slept at his post. And sleeping at your post uh would be punished severely. And so uh she came to the to the general to plead for her son's life because he found that he was found asleep at his post.

And she said, "Sir, I beg you." She she was imploring him. I I beg you, have mercy on my son. The general said, "But your your your soldier's son deserves to die." "Sir," answered the mother, "I ask for mercy, not justice. I ask for mercy, not justice." So when we come to the cross, don't ask for justice because God's justice has been declared through the cross.

God's justice has been declared. Jesus paid was punished for our disobedience and rebellion. He died in ourstead. He died in our place. He took upon himself our sin, our disobedience, our rebellion. And all he asked us is to believe. The Bible says the sinner must die. You know, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God, the gift of God is life eternal through Christ.

Wow. So today, come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. He He He paid for the for the sins in your life. For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23, "But the gift of God is the eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." This is justice. He He paid.

It's done. We come and ask for mercy. I want to finish with First John chapter 4 verse 9 and 10. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation or substitution for our sins.

He he became our substitute on the cross. If you don't know him, just give him your life today. He loves you. Oh, how he loves you. You know, when you found a love of Jesus like I have years ago, change your life. Change your life. He who is forgiven much loveth much people.

He loves you. Just say, "Dear Jesus, I give you my life. forgive my sins, Lord, for I know you are the son of God. I believe with all my heart you came to earth and died on a cross. I believe with all of my heart you shed your blood for my salvation.

You shed your blood, Lord, for me, for my sins. You died on that cross for me. You took my penalty and my guilt. Our Lord God, you rose from the dead. Thank you, Lord, for your power and your love and your life. I believe with all of my heart you rose from from the dead and you're alive forever.

I give you my life right now, dear Jesus. I surrender. I surrender. Take my life as it is. Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee. Take my moments and my days. Let that flow. Let my life flow in ceaselessness. Praise for you. I give you praise dear Jesus.

Praise. Thank you today for listening. Thank you for watching. Share this with your friends who need to know the love of God. A blessed Good Friday and a blessed Easter. to all of you. I'll see you tomorrow and I'll be ministering the word again tomorrow and praying with you and I'm believing God for healing in your body tomorrow.

I'll see you then. It's time to give. It's time to say thank you to the Lord. And so it says, "Give it shall be given unto you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall man give to your bosom that support the Lord's work. The gospel must be preached around the world.

Of course, I'm getting ready now to to go back to Africa coming up in May. Then it's going to get real busy after that. Been busy, but I'm have a little break because I don't like to keep going overseas. You know, I do it every 60 days. So, just come back.

I'm going to slow down in April and do things here at home. May I'm back overseas. So it's time to give. It's time to love because our giving is loving too. You know, let's do it for the Lord. The information is on the screen. Asking many of you to become partners with the ministry.

The information is there for you. You just go to our website. Much love. I'll see you tomorrow. And thank you. Really, I mean it. Thank you for being my wonderful fan. See you tomorrow. Bye-bye. These are the last days. If you are a Christian, you must stay alert.

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