Faith Not Works: Why God's Way Eliminates Pride

Good morning. I pray you all had a very wonderful Christmas with friends and family and most importantly focused on Jesus!

He is what it is all about and if He is not what it is all about we got it wrong

Thank you to Barb and Monte for doing Hymn Sunday.....we do hymn Sunday the last Sunday of every month

We also do a worship night the last Sunday of every month so we will worship tonight starting at 6 pm followed by a fellowship dinner with the theme New Year’s Snacks

Jamie and Tony if they are over their sickness will be here on New Year’s Eve for fellowship and games and food etc. See them for details

Melody and i will be out of town celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary which is on Tuesday of this week

Let’s Pray

Today we are continuing with our series in Romans and are ready for Romans 3:27-31 so get you Bibles out and begin turning there. Again if you have not grabbed a notes sheet please feel free to do so now

If you access the Bible through your phone or device please get it out

Our app CCCnevadamo has a Bible feature on it as well so you can feel free to use it

There are also Bibles in the pews...KJV and NLT...no reason to not have a Bible in front of you this morning

The past couple of weeks and the next couple of weeks have been one thought

Romans 2:17 through the end of Chapter 4 is one continuous thought and trying to break that up has been very hard in deed. God has been faithful however and has shown me what to bring to you each week and I trust Him to continue that as He is always faithful and will never leave nor forsake us

I thought about trying to go through the end of chapter 4 today however I felt it was way to much information to try to digest in one setting

Romans 3:27-31

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Romans 3:27–31 “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”

We find ourselves looking again at faith doing the saving and not ourselves or our works

Paul starts off today’s scripture by boldly and clearly stating that there is no room for boasting

that there is no room for pride

that you and I have nothing to do with being saved

It is through true faith in Christ Jesus alone that saves us

This morning I want to look at why

why saved by faith and not by works...I believe this scripture points to 4 reasons we are saved by faith and not by works

1. Faith Eliminates our pride

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Listen if you or I could save ourselves Jesus would not have had to come to earth....live a perfect life....be rejected by the very creation He came to save....be beaten beyond recognition and become your sin and my sin on the cross and willingly dying for that sin

None of that would have been necessary if you or I could save ourselves

We cannot save ourselves however.....we looked at why in depth last week...you can find that message along with all message on our website cccnevadmo.org or our app found wherever you get your apps

Jesus it the one and only way to heaven and salvation

there are no other ways

the world wants you to believe you can save yourself

the world wants you to believe you can pull yourself up by the bootstraps and make something out of yourself therefore saving yourself

WRONG

those are lies of satan designed to bring you to hell

Jesus is the only way to salvation and that is accessed through faith in Him

Why faith

because it eliminates us

it eliminates our pride

God speaks about this elsewhere in the Bible

Ephesians 2:8-10

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Ephesians 2:8–10 “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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Pretty clear

Saved by grace through faith

not of yourselves

Pastor josh why is this a big deal?

because so many of you....myself included....are wasting so much time trying to save ourselves

we are out doing but not because God is good and we are seeking out the works He ordained for us to do

no we are out doing trying to earn

earn God’s love

earn salvation

earn position in heaven

earn respect of spouse or pastor or elders or church

you are doing good but for wrong reasons and therefore it is useless

Romans 4:2

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Romans 4:2 “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.”

We will cover this in detail next week but look at what God is saying

Abraham was not justified by works because if he was justified by works he could brag on himself.....that is what whereof to glory means

If Abraham...the father of many nations could not save himself by works you and I are doomed if we try to save ourselves by works

Am i saying that you should not do works....Nope and neither is God......remember Ephesians we just read

You and I are God’s workmanship....saved in Christ Jesus unto good works

Being saved........having Faith in Jesus that He is who He says He is and He did what He said He did.....opens the door for us to do the works God has ordained us to walk in

remember walk in means lifestyle

hath before ordained comes from a Greek verb meaning fit up in advance, prepare in advance

God has prepared in advance works you are to walk in......the way you are to live now that you are saved

James 2:14-26

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James 2:14–26 “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

Your faith will always produce works

Faith is dead without works.....not doing works to gain faith but doing works because of your faith

Abraham was going to kill his only son Isaac....why because He had faith God would either raise Him from the dead or give Abraham another son......He fully believed and had faith in God

Rahab put her life and the lives of her family on the line to help the messengers.....why not to earn faith....you don’t earn faith in those moments you reveal faith in those moments

Faith will always produce works

if you say you have faith but do not have works.......works that God hath before ordained that you are to walk in.....you do not have faith

Faith leads one to repentance that leads to salvation

When you have true faith you have works

you don’t have to go find them....God ordained them for you to do.......go and do what God lays on your heart as that is the works you are to walk in

I believe God has laid some big works on some of you both to be carried out on your own but also through CCC.....be prayerful that in His time it is revealed to you and all of us to go

There is no room for you

there is no room for me

there is no room for pride

Salvation by faith eliminates your pride!

another reason we are saved by faith not works is

2. Faith Exalts What God Has Done

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If you could be saved by works instead of faith you could exalt what YOU have done not what God has done

I want to again work on our vocabulary

I know kids school is on Christmas break and here I am expanding your vocabulary but this is important

How many times have we said i got this

or have you tried to encourage someone by saying “you got this”

the intention is great......pray and follow God and then you got this is almost always what is meant by that phrase however that is not what is said

what if someone is new to the faith or what if the lost hear that...you got this

it will mislead the babes in Christ and the lost

it will lead them away from Jesus

You and I aint got nothing

When we say we have it we are truly exalting ourselves and not God almighty

God has it in me.........God has it in you....change how we speak because how we speak shows and/or begins to determine how we think and how we think determines what we believe and what we believe determines our faith and our faith determines our behavior

words are a HUGE deal

say I got this long enough and you will believe it and therefore have faith in you and exalt you instead of God and by doing that you reject God and His Truth

Luke 8:38-39

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Luke 8:38–39 “Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.”

Jesus cast out devils....demons.....this man was possessed

demon possession is all around us....

Christians cannot be possessed but they can be oppressed

You and I as true Christians should be casting out demons and setting people free from oppression every day in the name and power of Jesus

This man was possessed

Jesus drove the demons out and now the guy wants to go with and follow Jesus

pretty good idea I would think......i would hope that would be my response to being delivered

wait that must be our response to being delivered.....become a disciple....however we can’t physically follow Jesus just yet....the day is coming but not today

now in this case Jesus said no.....it is not time to physically follow me because I want you to go home and tell everyone of what God did in you

You see if the man could have saved himself....delivered himself....there would be no room to praise and exalt God for what He did

you and I are to praise God for what He did in our lives......if you have faith this morning and are saved then you have been delivered

you have been set free

you have been redeemed

you have had remission for your sins

now stop sitting on your rear ends and go exalt God for it

this man took it everywhere......he published it throughout the whole city

published comes from a Greek verb meaning proclaim and preach

are you proclaiming what God has done in your life to the whole city

are you preaching what God has done in your life to the whole city

are you exalting God to the whole city because of the things He has done

the 3rd reason we are saved by faith and not works is

3. We Can’t Keep The Law

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Again this is something we have spent a lot of time on and I encourage you to go back and rewatch or watch for the first time on our website or app

The law was never intended to save us

in fact the law was given to point us to Jesus who was better

it was given to teach us there was a better way

Galatians 3:23-25

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Galatians 3:23–25 “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”

The old testament saints were under the law because faith had not come

who was faith

Jesus

The law was the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ

to teach us that there is a better way

if it wasnt for God’s grace and Christ’s redeeming, forgiving blood we would be doomed

why

James 2:10

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James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

You and I are guilty of it all

if you break one little bit of the law you are guilty of breaking it all

everyone of us have sinned

everyone of us still sins

everyone of us will sin again in the future

again not sinners saved by grace

no if you are still a sinner you are not saved

II Corinthians 5:17

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2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

I touched on this last week but wanted to do it again this week with the scripture

you are no longer a sinner if you are saved

you are a saint who had, is, and will sin

absolutely

but you cannot be a sinner because you are a new creature in Christ Jesus

you were guilty of not living up to the law and deserved death and punishment....sinner.....but in Christ you receive redemption and remission of sin....saved...Christian....saint

I pray you see it because it is so important

it is not just words it is who you are

The final reason why we are saved by faith not works is

4. Faith Establishes And Sustains Your Relationship With God

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This is huge

We looked last week at how God tore the curtain in the temple separating the holy of holies from the people

signifying that Jesus’ sacrifice was enough and acceptable and now through Jesus we have direct access to God the Father

You cannot be a sinner and a child of God

that is why you cannot be a sinner saved by grace

because if you are saved by grace you are a child of God

John 1:12

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John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

you are a son or daughter of God if you are saved

You have all the rights and privileges that go along with being a child

inheritance....heaven

presence...Holy Spirit

kinship...relationship with Jesus

and access.....prayer and secret place....studying your Bible

talking to God and God talking to you

however if you try works and not faith you cannot please God

Hebrews 11:6

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Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

without faith you cannot please God

impossible to please Him

take God at His Word.......you cannot please God without faith

so why are you trying to do it through works?????????

Do you see it

I pray that if you are legalistic

I pray that if you are oppressed

I pray if you are burdened by works that you will lay that down right here right now at the foot of the cross

Jesus is waiting....wont you meet Him this morning.

invitation

softly and tenderly Jesus is calling