Let’s Pray

Please turn to

Romans 9:6-13

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Romans 9:6–13 “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”

Paul comes right out and says it

very straight forward

“For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel”

Just because you are physically part of Israel doesn’t make you saved......set apart

Just because you are physically a Jew doesn’t make you saved

So why does that matter today?

Not all who say they are saved are in fact saved

Many, probably most Jews, felt they had to or could work their way into heaven

that just isn’t the case

Christians are children of promise not works

Before we dive into that you must understand this

God Cannot Lie

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Numbers 23:19

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Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

Everything God says is true

it happens if He says it will happen

and it will not happen if He says it will not happen

That is the truth

whether you accept the truth or not doesn’t stop it from being true

absolute truth

God never changes and His truth never changes

If you cannot believe God cannot lie you cannot be saved

because you don’t believe God is God

you believe He is a little g god not God Almighty

If God is not pure

if God is not just

If God is not holy

If there is any unrighteousness in God then the Bible isn’t true

if the Bible isn’t true then none of this matters

It is true however and all of this does matter

God cannot lie

the Bible is 100% true...absolute....never changing truth and according to God through the Bible Jesus is the only way to heaven

Jesus is the only way to become a child of promise

everything else is works and will never get you into heaven

John 14:6

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John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

No man can be saved except by Jesus

why

He is the way the truth and the life

but He is more than that

John 1:1-5

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John 1:1–5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

Jesus

Jesus is the way

Jesus is the Truth

Jesus is the life

Jesus is the Bible the Word

when you and I...Christians get home to heaven we will have the mind of Christ....The Word...how awesome is that?!?!?!?!

You have to have this truth as foundational...God cannot lie

With that foundation laid lets move to look at what God through Paul was trying to tell us here in Romans 9

Turn to

Galatians 3:7

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Galatians 3:7 “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.”

I start here because you have to understand why genealogy was so important in the Old Testament

to be a Jew an Israelite you had to prove your physical blood line

My bride loves the Golden Girls and there are many nights I fall asleep listening to the Golden Girls

there was an episode where Blanche....a southern belle was trying to get into a club for only true southern belles

to get in she had to present her bloodline

but it turns out Blanche had a major problem

there was a yanky in her blood line

when she announced that in her presentation she was kicked out immediately

rejected

put on the outside of the club

the same was true in Old Testament times

but it was much more serious than a southern belles club

God declared you must be from the bloodline to be a Jew

remember He chose Israel

He set up the rules

that is why in Old Testament genealogy was such a big deal...the so and so begat so and so

the problem was people

the problem is almost always people...us...you and me

Many Israelites made bloodline an idol

they made keeping the law an idol

they made sacrifices idols

you and I are in danger of doing the same thing

if you are here worshipping for any other reason than Jesus and what He did to save you then you need to have God check your heart

Church might be an idol for you

Christians do because Jesus is

you do not do to gain Jesus you do because you have Jesus

What the kinsmen....the Israelites were missing is that they had become children of work therefore lost and not children of promise

Christians are called to be children of promise not works

So instead of being children of promise they lost sight of God because their focus was works

Genesis 21:12

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Genesis 21:12 “And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.”

Isaac was the son of promise

Abraham’s son and through Isaac’s line...the line of David came Jesus

through Jesus we are able to become children of promise not works

Hebrews 11:18

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Hebrews 11:18 “Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:”

Isaac’s seed

when you make Jesus Lord and Savior of your life by following the Holy Spirit’s call to repentance that leads to salvation you are saved and now a spiritual Israelite

I could go much deeper and if you would like that we could get some time together to dive in deeper but for this morning I want to focus on the heart of this scripture

which isn’t about bloodline but you needed some understanding of bloodline to understand the heart of this scripture

Children Of Promise Not Works

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so many today

maybe even your try to earn salvation

try to work your way into heaven

church folk are some of the worst

I was talking with someone the other day who knew I was a pastor and was seeking prayer

i said of course and asked what I could pray for

they were dealing with taking thoughts captive and I asked them if they were a Christian and they said yes sir I go to a church

I said that doesn’t make you a Christian only Jesus can make you a Christian

He must be Lord and Savior

I gave them scripture to look at because as Christians that is where we must go....TRUTH

we don’t go to the truth for a list of dos and donts

we don’t even go to the truth for solutions

you must turn to the Word to see God

His character and the Holy Spirit will lead you and show you how to obey and love God

works based people want something to do

a job to complete

a system to implement

an action to take to earn solutions

take peace for example

works based people seek peace by seeking action something must be done to obtain peace

God says Jesus is peace if you need peace you need Jesus....seek Him and peace will be added unto you

school is back in session and it reminds me that adults are like kids in many ways

take an assignment for example

when we give an assignment in school kids react in one of three ways

these are very few anymore....they get the assignment and understand they are doing the assignment to learn so they take their time and do their best to learn as they complete the assignment

they ignore it and refuse to do it

this is now the majority...they get the assignment and all they care about is getting done

these relate to Christians as well.....very few Christians see Bible study and secret place time as something that should be slow and deep and that they are there to learn who God is not get something done....these are meat Christians or those moving from milk to meat

the lost are like number 2...they hear the Gospel and reject it...refuse to accept Jesus

a majority of Christians are in the 3rd group

get the assignment....Bible study....secret place time...worship...church...service etc....and their only concern is getting it done not seeing who God is in the process

they are works based.....if I do the good work I get in to heaven

if I do the good work I get in good standing with God

God says the opposite

if you are going to heaven...saved....you gladly do the work

if you are in good standing with God you gladly do the work of discovering who He is

Romans 2:28

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Romans 2:28 “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:”

outward works have nothing to do with salvation

you cannot work your way into heaven

you cannot sacrifice you way to heaven

Psalm 51:16-17

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Psalm 51:16–17 “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

David got it...this Psalm was written after God used Nathan to convict David of his sin of adultery and murder with Bathsheba

David got it

he was sorry for the sin but was truly seeking forgiveness and repenting of rejecting God

He knew God’s heart and that God didnt want sacrifices

God wants you

Contrite in Hebrew means to collapse...break

the blood of bulls can never satisfy God

the sacrifice of works can never satisfy God

God wants you

broken

contrite

dead to self and alive in Christ

the problem is we are so arrogant and prideful

i have heard some describe others as an arrogant Christian

I do not believe there is such a thing

if someone lives in arrogance how could they be a christian

salvation is received after repentance....arrogance can never repent

christian we as humans are so full of pride and works and idols

you can struggle with pride as a Christian

the difference is someone living in arrogance means their salvation is based on them

their works

their sacrifices

me

me

me

Christians who struggle with pride know that they are nothing without Jesus

and that it is only Jesus who saves so when pride rears its ugly head they take it to Jesus

Freedom comes from Jesus

He shows you that you can only be saved through Him

which means you can’t screw it up but it also means you can’t earn it

we come to church

enter the secret place

study the Bible

attend Bible studies

serve

love

do all because of Jesus and His love and Him saving us not because we are trying to be saved

where are you?