More Than Conquerors (Rom. 8:31-39)

More Than Conquerors

(Rom. 8:31-39)

In this passage we have read how that nothing and that no one is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Of all the things that Paul lists, he states that nothing can overcome or defeat the loving and gracious salvation of our Lord. No person or circumstance is able to cause a believer in Christ to lose our salvation in Christ. We read that in all those things that are named and that we might face, the fact is as it says in verse 37 is that we are “more than conquerors” over those things through Christ. Today, we will look at the reasons why we are “more than conquerors” through Christ.

I. 1^st reason - “God is for us” (v.31-32, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?)

The main reason that we should know that our salvation with Christ is secure is that God is for us. Who can overcome God? We know that answer is no one. So if we are God's own then who can take us out of the hand of God? No one (John 10:28-29 - “I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand”. If God is for us then who can be against us? The answer is still the same, no one. Ps. 27:1 declares, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”. God knew before we came into existence that humanity would fall; but in His wondrous love and grace determined that He would save us from our sins. God the Father reached out to us in grace through His Son Jesus Christ, by His suffering and death on the cross and His resurrection, to bring salvation to every person who would receive Christ by faith. What a glorious and miraculous power that God performed in order to just save us. The love, the pain, the suffering, the death and resurrection Christ went through on our behalf (Rom. 5:8 - “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”). Christian doesn't that show, doesn't that reveal this fact that God is for us? When we can get our minds and our hearts wrapped around this glorious truth, it is then we can have that peaceful assurance that we are eternally secure in our saving relationship with Christ. To grasp that we cannot save ourselves, that it is the sole work of Christ in the heart of a man or woman and nothing that we do can save us. It is God that's got us and it's God that keeps us and it's God that will present us on that final and ultimate day (Jude 1:24-25 - “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen”). God's got us; God is for us. In Christ we are forgiven, accepted, kept, and sealed until we are one day glorified. No one and nothing can undo the fact of our salvation in Christ. Only the One who has given us salvation can possibly take that away but that is a foolish thought because it says right here in v. 32 that “He ...did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all”, God will never throw out or turn away any of His children that have been purchased by the blood of Christ. For God to cast away any of His children after He has delivered up His Son as a sacrifice for our sins; He would never turn His back on us after He has cleansed us from sin by Christ's blood and made us righteous and acceptable in His sight. By the death and resurrection of Christ we know and understand that God is for us.

II. 2^nd reason – Christ Intercedes for Us (v. 33-34 - “Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”)

There are many accusers of the faith. Our greatest accuser is Satan and that's what the name Satan means. We can see in the book of Job where Satan accuses Job worshiping God out of selfishness rather than out of reverence and love (Job1:8-12). But we can see for the rest of the book of Job that the testing of Job could not destroy Job's persevering faith in God. There are other passages that show the accusations of the enemy against God's children. The world and Satan will always accuse believers in God. In the book of Zechariah 3:1-5, Satan tries accusing the high priest Joshua of wearing dirty garments while attending in the Tabernacle, it says, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?" Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by”. Although Joshua wore “filthy garments”, that is still living in this sinful body of flesh, he was one of God's redeemed and Satan can bring no accusation against him, Satan was powerless to destroy and discredit God's servant. Now every accusation of this world or by Satan are not always false because we are still not sinless. But even though the accusation is true, the charge made is powerless. If we are Christ's then every sin past, present, and future are forgiven and covered by the blood of Christ. The eternal salvation of Christ destroys all accusations of damnation by the accusers. Our salvation is not determined on our ability or us trying to be perfect (which is impossible) but it is based upon our God who has justified us through the person and work of Jesus Christ (His suffering, death, & resurrection). The accusations against us to condemnation are powerless in the light that Jesus saved us and keeps us because His sacrifice gave us the finished work of salvation. Because Christ provided for our salvation and when He finished that work the Bible says the He “sat down at the right hand of God – (Heb. 10:12)”. Although the work of atonement was finished, Jesus is still at the right hand of the Father ministering intercession for all of us who are redeemed until we have made it to our Heavenly Home (Heb. 7:25 - “He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them”). When we gain a pure understanding of the work Christ did on the cross to save our wretched souls then we can understand what it means to be secure in that salvation. All of us who were vile, sinful, wretched, and ungodly have been shown the love of God through the Father sending His Son to die for us, so how can we who have been saved by that love knowing that God's love is powerful to save, lack the power to keep us saved. If Jesus had the power to deliver us from the bondage of sin, then how can He lack the power to keep us saved? To believe that a Christian can lose his salvation and to deny the security of the believer is to misunderstand the wonderful gift of Christ and misunderstand the wonderful heart of God. It all comes down to ignorance of the biblical meaning of salvation. Be sure of this Christian, Jesus is ever interceding for His children and we are eternally secure in Him.

III. 3^rd Reason – Nothing and No One Can Separate Us (v. 35-39 - “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For thy sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”).

Let us look at first set of things that cannot separate us from the “love of God”: tribulation – severe hardship(hard times), distress – extreme stress, persecution – suffering for the sake of Christ, famine – lack of food and hunger, nakedness - destitution, peril – exposed to danger, or sword – assassination. Paul says that will not separate us from the love of God. How does Paul know this? Because he faced all of these things (2 Cor. 11:23-27 - “Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure”), but he still served God because it could not separate him from the love of God. Paul faced persecution and eventually martyrdom, why did Paul face all these things? It was because God loved him first (1 John 4:19 - “We love, because He first loved us”). Any Christian's love for God is the direct result of God so wonderfully loving us first, in the heart of every child of God is the seed of God's love that must grow and blossom into a love for His Lord that will want to sow the seeds of God's love in other people lives. Paul finishes this chapter with the truth that we are “more than conquerors” in Christ in spite of any attempt that this world or Satan tries to throw at us. Let me finish with the last two verses of this passage: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. There is nothing in heaven nor earth, no angel nor demon, no king nor president, no high mountain range nor ocean depths, and no human nor beast that can ever steal my salvation or destroy the love that Christ has for me.

Saved to Sin? No, Saved to Serve! (3 Common Misconceptions of Eternal Security) (Rom. 6:1-2)

Saved to Sin? No, Saved to Serve! (3 Common Misconceptions of Eternal Security)

(Rom. 6:1-2)

Today, we are going to find out what eternal security is not. We are going to look at three common misconceptions of eternal security. Sometimes you have to see what something isn’t to truly understand what it really is.

I. It Isn’t “Fire Insurance” (Rom. 6:1-2 - What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?).

I’ve heard so many people say this about eternal security, “I got fire insurance!”; now when that is usually mentioned it is dealing with sin in their life of someone who is a Christian. This idea that it’s ok to sin since I’m a believer and nothing can separate me from salvation in God, it is a dangerous and destructive frame of mind. Eternal security does not give the Christian a license to go out and sin. Paul’s reply to such an idea is “God forbid (may it never be so). How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”, the result of receiving this gracious gift of salvation is a changed life. The Bible says about those who are saved are no longer slaves to sin, Rom. 6:18 says that, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness”; we have changed masters and our spiritual condition has changed. We are no longer in spiritual darkness, we are now in His glorious light. We have been set free from the bondage and slavery of sin and are now free to live and serve and glorify Christ in all that we do. Eternal security gives us blessed assurance and not blessed insurance. The assurance I received when I found out that my salvation is eternally secure and eternally kept in the precious hand of Jesus and the Heavenly Father. When I finally found that out, I then began to understand that all the time I wasted to try and keep myself “saved” can now be used to live more productively for the Kingdom of God by serving Him without fear. Let me give you an example; In 1937, the Golden Gate bridge was built in San Francisco, spanning that great bay. It was a dangerous thing to work on because it rose hundreds of feet above those icy, swirling waters of the San Francisco bay. The workman were afraid for their lives. Some of them fell and drowned; in all 23 people lost their lives in accidental deaths. Management said they had to something about this, so they built a safety net underneath the workers. They spent $100,000 to build this net, and when they built the safety net, they found out it really wasn’t an expense. It was a great saving, because work went 25% faster, and far fewer lives were lost. As a matter of fact, only ten fell and they fell into the net, and of course their lives were saved. Why could these people work with more productivity? Because of their security! They knew the net was there. And that’s the way it is a Christian’s life. I’m not struggling to keep myself safe. I know that I am saved. I’m saved by the grace of God; so I can be productive with grateful service. When we are confident of the future, we can concentrate on the present. So the bottom line is that eternal security gives us blessed assurance and not ‘fire insurance’. We are saved not to sin freely but to serve freely. The life of the believer will show the fruits of salvation. Although we will never be sinless in this body, we can live a life of holiness, a life that desires to live for God, to serve and please Him. (Rom. 6:19,22- I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.; But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life). We are given the ability through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to live lives that are holy. It simply means that we are set apart from the practice of sin and set apart to the practice of righteousness. We have freed from sin to become servants of God because of the person and work of Christ we have new life and eternal life.

II. It Isn’t Cheap Grace (Rom. 5:8-10 - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.)

Just because we believe in eternal security it doesn’t mean we make light of the glorious salvation that was attained by the suffering and death of Christ on that old rugged cross. Belief in eternal security in fact, makes us more aware of the wonderful work of salvation that Jesus has provided for us through His death and resurrection. It keeps us remembering that the work of salvation is only the wonderful work of grace and mercy that it is because He is the only one that can effect the work of grace in our lives. The familiar verse of the work of salvation by faith is found in Eph. 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’; we are taught by this verse that this gift of salvation is in no way something that we can attain by our works or power. God chose to love us and provide the way of salvation through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. By faith we receive the salvation of our souls and the remedy for our sins and eternal life that is only found in God the Son. By the work that Jesus did by suffering and dying on the cross, by having my faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone, there I become a child of God. I was then put into an eternal relationship with God and He is my Father. I am in a relationship that cannot be denied or revoked. For example, I have a daughter and I am her father, that is the truth about our relationship and no matter how much she might want to deny it, the truth is that our relationship cannot be broken irregardless. Now the fellowship between us can be affected in our relationship. But it does change the fact of our relationship. Sin in the life of the believer can affect the fellowship we have with God but not our eternal relationship. Just like the verse we’ve read in Eph. 2:8-10, we see that we are saved by faith in Christ and we are the workmanship of Christ (we are saved and kept saved and completely saved) and we are saved for good works in Christ. If we are busy for the Kingdom of God then a Christian won’t have time for sin in their life.

III. It Isn’t Just Profession, It’s Possession (Luke 6:43-44 - For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. - James 1:22 - But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.)

I am not preaching perfection or trying to get people to question their salvation. I am just looking at the facts of scripture that say my life is supposed to have evidences that I am in Christ. For we are ‘known by his own fruit’ and our lives are changed when we are saved. 2 Co. 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. We sometimes need to ask the hard questions about our Christian walk. Are we doing all we need to do for our Lord Jesus Christ? Do we reflect the glory of God in our lives? Is there evidence in our lives that can convict us of being a Christian? 2 Co. 13:5 “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” Security of the believer brings assurance of your salvation and the test is simply was your faith put in Christ for your salvation and if it was you will see evidences of that salvation. Our lives that are saved and changed by Jesus will reflect that change. A life that seeks to live and desire the things of God is a life that is saved from sin. It is not profession only it is also possession of salvation in Christ.

I hoped this has helped you see what eternal security isn’t so that you can understand better what it really is. And if anyone asks you can explain the wonderfully complete and secure salvation that we have in Jesus Christ.

Sermons from Galatians - Justified by Faith: The Faith of Abraham (Galatians. 3:6-9)

Justified by Faith: The Faith of Abraham

(Galatians. 3:6-9)

6/7/09

The theme of Galatians might be summed up this way: we are justified by faith in Christ. Because Paul over and over again tells us in Galatians it is by faith we are saved and not by works. We are saved, justified, reconciled and redeemed by faith in Christ alone. There is no religious works, good deeds, or any human effort that can save us. In this passage today we will see from the scriptures how that we are saved through faith in Christ and not through any external works of the flesh. We will see that the Old Testament saints were saved and justified through faith just as the New Testament saints were. Today we will see that we are only justified by faith.

I. Spiritual Children of Abraham (Gal. 3:6-7 – “just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”) – Paul uses Abraham as an example of a relationship with God through faith. The Judaizers were trying to use Abraham as an example that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised, to take this outward sign, to share in the blessings of Abraham. They were in effect saying that unless they were participating in the religious rituals of the Jews then they were not of the “sons of Abraham”, that they did not have a relationship with God and not truly saved. Just what was the promised blessing God made to Abraham? Genesis 12:2-3 – “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” and Gen. 22:18 – “"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”, through the promised seed, Christ, will all peoples, all tribes, all tongues, and nationalities can be blessed. The Bible says in Gen. 15:6 that Abraham “believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness”, this verse is what Paul is quoting to the Galatians 3:6 to refute the false teaching of the Judaizers. Paul was saying that Abraham wasn’t seen as right standing with God because he was circumcised, but that Abraham was justified by his faith in God. It was 14 years after Gen. 15:6 that Abraham was circumcised and that just shows that the external sign of circumcision was not what justified Abraham in the sight of God. Paul in Romans 4:3, 7-10 says this about Abraham being found righteous, 3- “What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."; 7-10- "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!” From the O.T. scriptures Paul shows us that Abraham was found righteous before God because of his faith in God. The Judaizers, like many of the Jews, confused the outward mark of circumcision as a means of salvation. Circumcision was only a sign established by God to identify His chosen people with Him and show their separation from the pagan and idolatrous world around them. Circumcision was only an outward sign and had nothing to do with the spiritual work of salvation and justification. It is almost the same with water baptism is only an outward sign of identification of believers with Christ and not a means of salvation. It only has meaning if you have a salvation relationship with God. The Jews were very proud of that they were the racial offspring of Abraham and because of their physical descent it made them acceptable to God. When the Pharisees made claim that they were the offspring of Abraham to Christ in John 8, He told them that they were of their father the Devil. They had put their trust in the racial heritage and the religious works of Judaism and did not put their faith in God. Jesus put it into perspective just like Paul did, it’s not the result of your physical lineage (family or race or nationality you’re born to) or your religious works, if your faith is not in God then you’re not in the spiritual family of Abraham. Abraham is the spiritual father to anyone who by faith receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that’s what Paul is saying here in Galatians 3:7. Just as Abraham was the example for justification by faith (Rom. 4:3 – "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness”), so we must be like Abraham and believe God by faith to be justified (Rom. 4:5 - But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness).

II. Gospel to Abraham (Galatian 3:8-9, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”) Let’s look at verse 8, it says that the Gospel was preached by God unto Abraham. That’s an unusual statement that Abraham heard the gospel. You see when God revealed Himself to Abraham, He revealed to Abraham the complete fulfillment of that promised blessing, Jesus Christ. For we see that in Gal. 3:16 it says, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” God revealed Christ, the crucified Savior, to Abraham and he believed God. If that is hard to believe then let’s look at the very words of Christ in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”. You see the O.T. saints and the N.T. saints all had to put their faith in Christ. The promise God made in His covenant to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and one can only be a partaker of those promised blessings by putting their faith in the One who fulfilled the covenant. If you look at Heb. 11 you will see that all the O.T. saints put their faith in Christ, 11:4- By faith Abel, 11: 5- By faith Enoch, 11: 7- By faith Noah, 11: 8- By faith Abraham, 11: 20- By faith Isaac, 11: 21- By faith Jacob, 11:22- By faith Joseph, 11: 23- By faith Moses, etc., we see all these O.T. saints were justified by faith, Heb. 11: 6 sums it up nicely- “But without faith it is impossible to please him (God)”. It doesn’t matter which side of the cross we are on even if it’s before or after Christ came to earth, salvation is found only in the Cross of Calvary. Even though the O.T. saints might not have known the specifics about Jesus, there was enough revealed to them to put their faith in the future sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The O.T. covenant looked forward to the cross while the N.T. covenant proceeds from the cross. Their faith pointed to the cross while ours points back to the cross. It was said of the O.T. saints in Heb. 11:13, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises (fulfillment in their lifetime), but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them (believed what God revealed and promised in Christ), and embraced them(faith in Christ produced salvation)”, this verse speaks of their faith in the promise of Christ’s work of salvation and because of this they were justified. We who are under the New Covenant it is said of us in Eph. 2:8-9, “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”. We are saved, justified, reconciled, and redeemed only through faith in Christ alone. Whether it is from the perspective of looking forward to the cross or whether looking back to the cross, the only thing that matters is that there is the finished work of Christ on the cross. The shed blood of Jesus Christ covers both sides of the Cross. That is what saves us and nothing else.

By looking at the accomplished work of Christ on the cross we that no matter if it was Abraham by faith looking forward in anticipation of Christ or all of us looking back in faith to the Cross, it doesn’t matter where we are at but that we by faith believed in the only One who can save us. Because of Christ being the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and Abraham believing and putting his faith in God for the future fulfillment by his obedience to the command and word of God we can share in the same spiritual blessing with Abraham. That blessing is a personal relationship with God through Christ. And just like Abraham, we are justified by faith.

Sermons from Galatians - Truth Positive (Galatians 3:1-5)

Truth Positive

(Gal. 3:1-5)

May 31, 2009

Paul continues the defensive argument of the gospel message to the Galatians.  Here in Chapter 3, Paul’s reaction is still of bewilderment why they would leave the truth of the Gospel for the Judaizers’ false teachings of religious works.  Today we’ll look at how Paul deals with their abandonment of the truth by him asking key rhetorical questions to make them remember the truths he had taught them.   

I.  Crystal Clear Picture of Christ (Gal 3:1 - “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?")

A. “O foolish Galatians”- Paul begins speaking to the Galatians with a strong statement, “ You foolish Galatians”, it sounds as if he is claiming these believers have a mental deficit of some sort, but that is not the case.  The problem was not a mental deficiency but a mental laziness, they had been careless with the truth of the Word of God.  They failed to test these teachers with God’s Word.  Paul wasn’t calling them stupid, he was letting them know that they were not applying the true Gospel teaching they had received from him, that they had stopped even believing it, that’s why they had fallen for the Judaizers’ lies.  So, the problem was not just mental, it was spiritual.  It created in them a lack of faith and severely hindered their judgment in regards to God’s truth.  A good example of this is the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, when the resurrected Christ walked with them, they did not know who He was, and because of their lack of faith and knowledge about Him in the scriptures and He began to explain the scriptures about him- Lk. 24:25-27- “Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”  Although they had spent three years with Him, they failed to understand that Christ had to die for their sins and rise from the dead.  Jesus used the same word for foolish in Greek that Paul used for mental carelessness and laziness.  If they had sufficiently studied and believed the prophecies in scripture they would known that Christ’s death was not the end, that He would rise again from the dead.  They believed the modern and popular teachings of some rabbis and not the truths of the word of God.  It seems that the popular false teachings of the Judaizers were also taken for face value instead of believing God’s word.  They had so foolishly fallen for the false teachings of the Judaizers’ legalism that they quit believing and utilizing the Gospel truths that Paul had faithfully taught them.  These were Christians that had failed in staying faithful to and applying in their lives God’s Word of Truth. They  willfully and sinfully neglected these God-given resources found in God’s Word and were foolishly caught into their web of lies.  

B. “Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?”-  Paul continues with the questioning by asking, “who has lured you away from the foundational truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”.  Bewitch here gives the idea of being lead away by flattery or emotional persuasion.  What it means is that they were enticed by the feeling of fleshly pleasing religious works righteousness.  They ‘felt’ there was something else besides faith alone in Christ. They ‘felt’ that something was missing and they had to add to their salvation to make it complete, that faith alone was not enough.  False religious works always appeal directly to the flesh and want you to forsake using your mind to accurately handle the Word of Truth, “2 Tim. 2:15 - “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”.  What was the truth they were “bewitched” from?  The truth was of the Person and work of Jesus Christ, which means that faith alone in the fact that only Jesus Christ can save us and that He saved us through the death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. That’s the truth of the gospel and Paul is saying to them, “remember, Christ was clearly and truthfully preached and taught to you and salvation was clearly seen as being accomplished for us by Christ alone”.  This tells us they were faithfully taught the word of God by Paul and the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ was believed, received, and by faith salvation was wrought out in their hearts by the Holy Spirit of God.  Instead of residing and abiding and staying in that glorious truth they chose to believe a lie.  One thing I learned from my instructor in the study of Cults is that it is always easier to believe a lie than the truth.  This lie caused them to deny the absolute saving power of Jesus Christ and it dishonored His atoning death on the cross.  It is always the truth of the Cross that “sets us free”.

II. Faith Alone (Gal. 3:2-4 - “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain; if indeed it was in vain?") -  Here Paul asks some more rhetorical questions.  These were questions they should have asked of themselves from the beginning these false teachers began to assert themselves into this body of believers.  To answer the first question, to receive the Spirit of God you must be saved by faith in Christ (Acts 2:38 - “Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”).  We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit when we receive Christ by faith.  There are many so-called Christian groups who claim that salvation is earned by religious works and faith like those who believe in baptismal regeneration.  That means they falsely believe that one is saved or “regenerated” only when one is baptized (hard-line Churches of Christ, Catholics, Oneness cults [UPC, Apostolic] etc.).  But the false teachers ignore more than 60 times in the New Testament where it explicitly states that our eternal salvation in Christ is through faith and/or repentance alone with no mention of water baptism or any other religious works associated.  Well, Paul goes on to say, you have begun by the truth of Gospel, you were saved because of the truth of the Gospel, are you now believing that it is by your legalistic works, by your own effort, you are now trying to keep yourselves saved?  They had begun in the truth and the joy of grace but now are grudgingly trying to maintain their salvation.  They went from freedom to bondage.  If we cannot save ourselves then we cannot keep ourselves saved.

   

III. Power Encounter (Gal. 3:5- “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”) - Paul was appealing not only from a standpoint of the scriptural revelation of Gospel truth but he was also appealing to the genuine experience of the gospel of grace.  The greatest miracle, the greatest demonstration of the power of God ever seen is salvation of a sinful man.  Paul was saying to them, if you remember the day your were saved by putting your faith in Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you’ll remember it was not done by you being baptized, or you joining a church, or receiving communion, or any kind of good deeds or religious works.  It was done by the power of God alone, through the Person and work of Jesus Christ alone, and through faith alone in Christ alone.  It was because you heard the powerful Gospel message, the Spirit of God convicted your heart, and your were given the saving faith needed to receive Christ as Lord (Rom. 10:17- So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God) and not the human works righteousness that was powerless to save you from sin (2 Tim. 3:5 - “…having a form of godliness but denying its power").  

The power of the Gospel is found in the powerful work of salvation in our powerful Lord Jesus Christ.  The gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” and it is found only through faith in Christ alone.  

 

Sermons from Acts: Into All the World.

“Into All the World”
(Acts 1:8)

Last time, I posted about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the significance of the unique event of the coming of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The verse here in Acts 1:8 is a command by Christ to the Church corporately and individually; that we are empowered and commanded to go and be witnesses to all peoples. Today, we are going to see that the Gospel message is for all people, regardless of race, age, or position in life.

I. A New Dispensation (Acts 1:8; Matt. 10:5-7)
The book of Acts is a book of transition; a transition from Jew to Gentile, from Judaism to Christianity, from Judea to the uttermost parts of the earth, from law to grace. Think of those early Christians there in Jerusalem that have just entered into this new dispensation of grace. They have in their lives been living under the old covenant ways of worship by bringing and offering animal sacrifices for the atonement of their sins and they now know Jesus and by faith received Him as Savior for their sins (once for all).
Things have changed, what was once important or considered ritually clean or unclean are not in effect anymore. For example, Acts 1:8, what we have read, is significantly different than what we read in Mt. 10:5-7, “5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand”; now this is a lot different than what Jesus commands in Acts 1:8 (…ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth). This is a big difference, the disciples were told not to go to the Samaritans and Gentiles and preach the Kingdom of God, only to the Jew, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But like I said the book of Acts is the official history of the transition from Old Covenant into New Covenant, from the chosen nation of Israel to the Church. The command given in this new dispensation of the Holy Spirit and the grace of Jesus is that the Gospel (good news) of the salvation in Jesus is not only for the Jews (Jerusalem and Judea) but also for Samaria (shunned half-breed Jews) and uttermost parts of the earth (the godless, pagan Gentiles). The house of Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah and now the chosen people of God would be from all peoples, tribes, and tongues. The early church and the apostles obeyed this command for Christ, even in spite of their previous prejudices. We see that they did become witness to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and all the world to all people.
II. Jerusalem and Judea (Acts 2:38-41; Acts 4:4)
(2:14- But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem)
Last week, we saw that in Acts 2:14-37 that Peter (awkward, bumbling, stumbling, Christ denying), now filled with the Spirit standing before a great crowd proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We see that the Jewish pilgrims being convicted by the Holy Ghost and asking them would they should do to be saved. Acts 2:38-41 says, “38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls”; what an amazing work of God that day to the people of Israel, 3,000 were saved and baptized in water and became part of the Church, the body of Christ.
Peter and John in Acts 3, were used by God to heal a lame man at the gate Beautiful but the greatest miracle done by God that day was after Peter preached to this great crowd around them and over 5,000 people were saved by the grace of God and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:4- 4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand; 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). The gospel witness of the apostles and the early church there in Jerusalem and Judea (Israel) was a strong and vibrant church not only proclaiming but showing the love of Christ. But it just didn’t stay in Judea. A great persecution began against the Church by the Jewish religious leaders there in Jerusalem and great men of God like Stephen were killed. This persecution did not put out the fire of Christianity but only made it spread outside of Jerusalem into other areas of Judea and into Samaria and other Gentile countries (Acts 8:3,4- 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hauling men and women committed them to prison. 4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word).
III. Samaria (Acts 8:5-17) and Uttermost Parts (Gentiles: Acts 10)
A. Samaritans- Acts 8:5 says, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them”; after the persecution starts and Stephen is killed. God extended the message of salvation to Israel first and the Jewish people rejected the truth. Sure, there was some that had came to salvation and there was the Jerusalem church but the message of salvation delivered to the Jewish religious leaders by Stephen was rejected by them and they killed Stephen because of the message. So God began to shut the door on Jerusalem and so began the spread of the Gospel because of it (‘they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word’). So, we see Phillip going to Samaria; Samaria was north of Jerusalem. Now the Jews had nothing to do with the Samaritans because they had intermarried with Gentiles and were considered to be outcasts and half-breeds. To them a Samaritan thought so little of being a Jew that they had intermarried with the gentile and had polluted his racial identity. There was bad blood between the two and the Samaritans even had a rival place of worship to the temple in Jerusalem (remember Jesus and the Samaritan woman’s question). Now Phillip is there and he is preaching the word of God and the Bible says they believed in Jesus and was saved and baptized in water (Acts 8: 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women). But there is something unusual that happens (Acts 8:14-17, “14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.) Remember, this was a time of transition and beginning of the Church. There was an interval between the Samaritan salvation and the coming of the Holy Spirit. They did not receive the Spirit until the apostles Peter and John laid hands on them. Why did this happen? There were two reasons, first, the it was for the apostles, who were Jewish born, to see that God had saved the Samaritans because they witnessed the Holy Spirit coming upon the Samaritans with their own eyes and that they understood they were part of the Body of Christ just like the Jewish believers were. Secondly, this showed the Samaritans the authority of the Apostles and that they were part of the same Church and it would give no reason for them to try and start a rival Christian group, and continue the age old rivalry and hatred that would have a Jewish church competing against a Samaritan church. So, God waited until the Jewish apostles Peter and John, the most significant ones, showed up, and then He demonstrated that these truly had been converted, and they were being baptized by the Holy Spirit into the same body as the Jews were in; the same Body of Christ, the same Church. It was also important that the Apostles were present so that the Samaritans would understand the power and authority of the Apostles, for they needed to be subject to the Apostles’ doctrines. That why the giving of the Spirit was delayed, to show that the Gospel was also for the Samaritans as well as the Jews, that they were as saved and had the same Holy Spirit, to be accepted and loved as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It can be best described by Eph. 2:12-14, “12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us”; for those who are saved by Jesus, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and the only walls of separation between us are the ones we put up.
B. Gentiles (Acts 10)- we see in Acts 10 we read of a Gentile named Cornelius who becomes the first Gentile convert. We all know the story, that Peter receives a vision from God bout all the ritually unclean animals that they cannot eat are shown to Peter and God commands Him to eat and Peter refuses by saying, Acts 10:14,15- “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean”, but God rebukes Him by saying (the NASB says it best), “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy”; God simply says that He is no respecter of persons. After the vision three men come to the house where Peter is and explained to him they were sent by Cornelius and that Peter was supposed to go and teach Cornelius about God. Because of this vision God had given him, he went to this Gentiles house. I imagine Peter had to swallow what was left of that Jewish pride that had already been dented by the Samaritans’ salvation. To a Jew, getting near a Gentile was a serious matter; they couldn’t eat a meal prepared by Gentile or a utensil or go into a Gentile house. If they had entered a foreign country and came back to Jerusalem they would shake the dirt off their sandals so the dirt wouldn’t be carried into Holy Land. But because of the God revealing this vision to Peter and Peter remembering the words of Jesus in Acts 1:8; he goes into the house of Cornelius and preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. The result: Acts 10: 44-47- “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord”. Here we see the result of preaching the Gospel, lives are saved. The whole household of Cornelius was saved and God gives a sign to Peter and the ‘circumcised’ (the Jewish Christians with Peter) that they are saved, they spoke in other languages. This sign was for them to show that the Gentiles were now saved and got the same thing as the Samaritans got and that they got and we got (Acts 11: 15,17-18, "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. 16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life...). In Christ, we are all one saved and baptized in the Spirit and the Body of Christ (Gal. 3: 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus).
I am so glad that the grace and salvation is given freely to all who believe on His name. Regardless of color, race, age, or social standing we can receive this free gift of salvation by faith in Christ. Be you, Jew, Samaritan, or Gentile, we are all in need of Jesus.