Faith Over Works: Understanding True Salvation

As he and his wife struggled to move him from his wheel chair to his seat another man....a Christian.......I assume he was Christian because of the Freedom...Charlie Kirk hat he was wearing......got up and went and helped the navy vet into his seat in the theater

that work....helping a disabled veteran didn’t save the man in the Charlie Kirk hat if he indeed was saved but it was a fruit....demonstrated his salvation and Christ’s love in action.

What made this even more moving for me was the man in the Charlie Kirk hat was not sitting right behind the vet....he was about 6 to 8 rows behind and to the right the vet. The rows in between were full of abled bodied people who could have helped but refused to help

Now again these are all assumptions based upon observation but I felt a great example of a work because of salvation not someone trying to be saved by that work

Let’s Pray

Get your Bibles out...I encourage you to bring your Bible....feel free to access the Word of God via phone and a Bible app or our CCCnevadamo app which has a Bible built in....that Bible has all sermons tied to specific verses at your fingertips within the app

However I encourage you to bring your physical Bible because then you can make trails

writing scriptures down in the margins so when you come back you have a trail to follow

Let’s dive into scripture this morning shall we?

Romans 4:1-8

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Romans 4:1–8 “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

As is usually the case with God’s Word there is so much happening here in this section of scripture

Much of which we have hit in detail these past few weeks but God repeated it so we must as well

Romans 4:1-3

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Romans 4:1–3 “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”

We see God through Paul again addressing the fact that if we could be righteous in and of ourselves we could brag about it but since we cannot we can only brag upon God

We see again God through Paul addressing the pride of the Jews in being descendents of Abraham

the problem as we have seen is they were seeking salvation through keeping the law not faith in Jesus

they were seeking salvation through works not faith in Jesus

They thought more of being Abraham’s physical descendent than they did of becoming a child of God through faith in Jesus

they missed the point of the cross

God through Paul reminds them again

Abraham was saved by faith which led to works not his works leading to his faith

it is impossible to be saved just by obeying the law

you cannot be saved by works

works are a fruit of salvation

salvation can only be gained by faith in Christ Jesus!!!!!!

Romans 4:4-5

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Romans 4:4–5 “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

I want to spend some time here on these verse this morning

Notice here that the reward for working is not grace but debt

You can only work yourself into a deeper hole

him who believes on Jesus that faith is counted for righteousness

do you want more debt or righteousness

some...maybe even you...struggle when they find out they can only be saved through faith in Jesus

why

because we are human

when one hears faith in Jesus is the only way to be saved then our

flesh

our rebellious nature

begins to think

Is my faith enough?

can my faith be strong enough to save me?

When those thoughts come take them captive because they are not of God!!!!

When you think like that you miss the whole thing

when you think like that you miss the entire point altogether

Salvation belongs to Jesus alone

Only Jesus can save

It is a gift from Him to you

When you believe your faith isn’t enough to be saved you are trying to save yourself

when you believe your faith isn’t enough your salvation is based upon the strength of your faith not the work of Jesus

Romans 10:9-10

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Romans 10:9–10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

I want to spend some time here this morning

I saw a tiktak that goes against this scripture

it was from someone who missed the point....as many....even many in our Christian denomination miss

they believe you cannot be saved without baptism

that baptism is part of salvation

why because they believe works can save

baptism is a work

baptism is obedience

baptism does not save

now this tiktak used scripture

I Peter 3:21

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1 Peter 3:21 “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”

Now on the surface this looks to say that baptism indeed is part of salvation

This is why it is so important to fact check

to discern through the Holy Spirit

To never take one verse and hang a doctrine....theology like salvation on it

Let’s look at this in context

I Peter 3:18-22

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1 Peter 3:18–22 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.”

The like figure....who is that

Noah

how was Noah saved........the flood waters

God through Peter here is reminding us that Noah was saved by God through the waters of the flood and therefore symbolizes baptism not makes it part of salvation itself

Look at the scripture....the answer of a good conscience toward God

does baptism give you a good conscience towards God

no.....only forgiveness through the blood of Jesus does that

only faith in Jesus’ work on the cross and in Jesus Himself can do that

only repentance that leads to salvation can do that

how do I know

how can I be confident that baptism is the first step in obedience and not part of salvation

well for me it is easy

Luke 23:39-43

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Luke 23:39–43 “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

For me this is enough

Jesus just told the thief on the cross with Him that today you will be with Me in paradise

saved

the only way to paradise...heaven is salvation in Jesus

Faith in Jesus

The thief clearly demonstrates his faith in Jesus by his rebuke of the other thief making fun of Jesus

Jesus knew his heart and that in his heart he declared Jesus to be Lord and Savior as Romans 10:9-10 says to do to be saved

Now maybe you need more

God’s got you

Romans 6:3-5

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Romans 6:3–5 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”

Baptism symbolizes dying to self and sin and the world and satan

baptism doesn’t save but points to a new you walking in newness of life of discipleship

Galatians 3:27

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Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Again not being saved but the act of telling the world you belong to Christ Jesus....putting Him on....just like putting on a shirt or a coat

Colossians 2:12

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Colossians 2:12 “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”

Baptism is a physical act symbolizing a spiritual reality

When you get baptized you are telling the world I BELIEVE IN JESUS

I AM ALL IN WITH JESUS I AM CHASING JESUS I AM DEAD TO MYSELF DEAD TO THE WORLD DEAD TO SIN DEAD TO SATAN I WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE

Again it shows the result of salvation not salvation itself

Back to this morning

Many say my faith is not big enough

My faith is not strong enough

I am not enough

now all of that is true except the enough part

Jesus doesn’t need you to have big, strong faith because it is all about Him not all about you

your faith just must be there

Luke 17:6

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Luke 17:6 “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”

Mustard seeds are very tiny....why did Jesus use that example

to prove to you that it only takes a very small amount of faith to be saved

Just as the tiny mustard seed grows into a very large....tree like bush....so too through obedience and discipleship through the Holy Spirit can your faith grow in Jesus

Do you need huge faith to be saved...absolutely not

just a tiny seed will be grown into great faith by God through the Holy Spirit

Stand on God’s Truth!

Romans 4:6-8

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Romans 4:6–8 “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

Here is one reason faith is so much greater than works

Blessed

God through Paul mentions David

Psalm 32 is quoted here in Romans

Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 go together because they were both written in the aftermath of Bathsheba and Uriah

Adultery

Cover up

lies

deceit

murder

all on David’s part

David wrote these Psalms after God confronted Him through the prophet Nathan and David had sought forgiveness through repentance

Psalm 32:1-2

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Psalm 32:1–2 “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile.”

Blessed

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comes from a Hebrew noun meaning happiness...how happy

Transgression

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comes form a Hebrew noun meaning revolt...rebellion....trespass

Sin

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comes from a Hebrew noun meaning offence...a sacrifice for it...sin offering required

Happy

extremely happy is a man whose revolt and rebellion is forgiven and a sin offering is made in his place

That is what is being said here

Through faith in Jesus and His blood your sin will not be imputed unto you because of His blood shed for you on the cross....sin offering....

You are blessed and must be happy

happy you deserve death because of your revolt and rebellion but get forgiveness and life through the sin offering Jesus paid on the cross

God goes further

II Corinthians 5:19

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2 Corinthians 5:19 “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

Reconciling

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comes from a Greek verb meaning change mutually

God reconciled us to Himself through Jesus

It is a mutual change because you realize through the power of the Holy Spirit that you are or were a sinner who deserves death and hell and eternal separation from God because of your sin

you realize through the Holy Spirit that you cannot pay for that sin

You realize through the Holy Spirit Jesus paid for that sin on the cross and freely offers you forgiveness

all that is required is you place your faith in Jesus Christ as your salvation

God reconciled us to Himself through Jesus

Now those of us who have been reconciled have the word...ministry....of reconciliation to those around us

Church this is so important and I believe one of the things that we must truly stand upon in order to grow our congregation

I believe there are two major things standing between us and growth

1 Kids ministry....it is hard maybe impossible to truly minister to broken adults without someone called to minister to their broken kids as well.....kids ministry is tough especially to who God has called us to serve and reach.......be prayerful about that because we must be prepared to handle kids in order to minister to those we have been called to minister to

2 Ministers of reconciliation.......men and women truly living out their salvation in real time....doing real works.....loving real people.....giving real testimonies......bringing people to church to meet Jesus and family!

II Corinthians 5:20-21

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2 Corinthians 5:20–21 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

God made the way

Jesus...perfect and holy....God among us...became sin in the flesh in order to die for that sin....paying the price for that sin...in order to reconcile us to God through His blood

Once we accept Jesus’ gift of forgiveness and salvation we are reconciled back to God and are now in fact His ambassadors for Christ

Ambassador

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comes from a Greek verb act as a representative

Once saved you become God’s ambassador to the world

you are to act as HIS representative

that is why you die to you because you are now His

What draws people to Jesus....a changed you!

why

because they realize through the Holy Spirit that the Gospel is 100% real

that is why testimony is so powerful

it shows how the Holy Spirit changed you from the inside out

it shows sin really has no more power over the saved

church this requires work

church this requires honesty

church this requires you to be open and venerable with people

church this requires that you handle things God’s way not your way

when someone wrongs you....go to them....talk with them....seek to forgive them and reconciliation

when you wrong someone....go to them...talk with them....seek forgiveness and reconciliation

when you have the opportunity to live like the world or live like Jesus......you must live like Jesus

this matters so very much

I want you to understand something

you are a representative

there is no getting around that

if you are a sinner...lost....rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you are a representative of sin and death and hell and satan

if you are saved....through faith in Christ Jesus you are a representative of love and grace and heaven and Jesus!!!!!!

Who are you repping this morning

who does your life and thoughts and words say you are repping this morning?

Whose ambassador are you this morning?

Invitation

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