It Is Finished, But I'm Not

I'd like for you to read with me a very familiar verse because of what it contains. It's John 19 and verse 30. John 19 and verse 30. You'll recognize it. Whether you turn to it and read it or you hear me read it, you'll certainly recognize it. You'd ring a bell. Christ is hanging on the stake. He's breathing his last breath. It says, When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, and here's the statement that I think everybody knows and recognizes, just three words, It is finished.

And I don't think he said it as strong maybe as I just did because he was breathing his last. He's weakened, you know, he's weakened until the point of death. It is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up the Spirit. He died. So right up front, let me give you the first half of the title. This is not the whole title. This is the first half of it. It is finished. Comma, because that's half of the title.

But let's focus on that for a moment. It is finished. What was finished? What was finished? What was he referencing? Well, what was finished and what he was referencing was the work that God had sent him to do. John 4, 34. Jesus says this to his disciples there in John 4, 34. Jesus said to them, My meat, my sustainment, is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. So he makes a point. I am about doing the will of him that sent me and finishing his work. Now, let's go to a little bit later date. Let's go to John 17 and verse 4.

His last night as a flesh and blood human being on this planet, because by the next night he's going to be in the tomb, dead and in the tomb. And so on his final night as flesh and blood, as he's praying to the Father in John 17 and verse 4, and you can connect this with the verse we just read, he says, I have glorified you on the earth. Notice how he puts this. I have finished the work which you gave me to do. I finished it. Now, sometimes God speaks of those things that are not, that are going to be as though they were.

He knows he's accomplished everything that he had to do. He's now ready to literally complete something. It will start this night, this very night, it's going to start. And when he breathes his last breath the next afternoon on the stake, and he says it is finished, he's referencing all one and the same of a certain specific work that he was given to do. What was that work? What was the heart and core of that work?

What was the prime accomplishment? Now, you could make a list of a number of things that Christ accomplished. But there was a heart and core. There was a central work. There was a prime accomplishment. And it's simply this, a once and for all time eternal sacrifice for sin. When he breathed his last breath, and he says it is finished, he was referencing that. That a once and for all time eternal sacrifice for sin was made. Go with me to 1 John 2, 1 John 2, and verse 2. In 1 John 2 and verse 2, it says, And he is the propitiation or the stand-in or the substitute for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

And then backing up to verse 1, 1 John 2, My little children, these things I write to you that you sin not. And then let's just back it up into chapter 1.

Let's back it up into chapter 1 here, verses 7 through 9. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood that went into the soil and on the rocks, a lot of it, before they ever got him up on the stake, and it ran down that stake, and that the final amount of the fluid, the blood and fluid, that flowed out when the spear went into his side, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. The truth's not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And of course, if we say that we've not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

So a once and for all time eternal sacrifice for sin. Now, along with that, notice Hebrews 10, verse 12. Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10 and verse 12 says this, and again, notice how specifically it's worded. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.

You know what that means? One sacrifice for sins forever? Here's what it means. What if God decides to have more planets? What if he decides to have more mortal life that he's going to give the opportunity to come into eternal life? What if he should decide? I don't know what God's going to do in the future in those regards.

That's up to God. But let's just say that God were to create planets like earth and some of the galaxies and people them and give them an opportunity for eternal life. Christ is not going to have to go visit every planet and die as a sacrifice for sin on each of those planets. Because once and for all time on planet earth, during this age, he came and he died. And that sacrifice for sins forever has been made. Chapter 7 here, verse 27.

7, 27. It says, who needs not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice? You know, the high priests, they had to first offer sacrifice for their own sins and then for the people, as it goes on to say here. For this, he did once when he offered up himself. So it just comes down simply to this. Now there's an opportunity, yes. Now there's an opening, yes, into eternity. A way has been made possible. And two very important scriptures along this line that I'm just going to reference.

They're John 14, 6, if you want to write them down, John 14 and verse 6. And John 11, verse 25. John 11, verse 25. When you put those two together, one is where he's talking to Philip and the disciples and the other one is talking to, I don't remember if it was Martha or Mary, it's one of the two sisters. But you put the two together, it simply states that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, the life and the resurrection. So he finished his work. His work of providing a sacrifice for sin so there would be an opportunity, there would be an opening, there would be an end to eternity.

That's what he was referencing. Jesus finished his work, the hardcore central part without which none of the rest would matter. Without which no other plans, no other works could ever come to fruition. Brethren, we, we, me, you, we, haven't finished ours.

So now for the full title. It is finished, but I'm not. I'm not. You're not. Christ finished his work. We have to finish ours. Ours is still to be finished. We've had a wonderful feast season. We've got a long stretch between now and the beginning of the annual holiday cycle again in this next spring.

And you probably have awarenesses and plans, I do, of what you want to accomplish. Some of them are physical goals, which is fine. We need those too. And some of them are spiritual goals. And some of what your goals are are related to your spiritual work. I'd like you to follow me in a relatively quick series of scriptures, a certain series, under the heading that ours is still to be finished.

I said Christ finished his work. We have to finish ours. Ours is still to be finished. So under that heading, let's look at a quick series. Matthew 24.13. Let's start with Matthew 24.13. I cut my teeth on this one as a young man long ago. Matthew 24.13. But he, in the Olivet prophecy here where Christ is talking to his disciples, he says, That he or she that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. The end hasn't come. I'll just focus on me. The end hasn't come for me. Either the end of this age will come with me still standing alive on my feet to be changed when that time comes, or the end of my life will come if this age goes beyond my lifetime.

But either way, whether you're speaking of my personal lifeline or the lifeline of the age that we live in, the end hasn't come. And it's very clear and very plain and out of Christ's own mouth where he says, He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. We have to endure. Romans 2.7. Romans 2.7. It says, To them who by patient continuance in well-doing, patient continuance, like a double emphasis in well-doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. If you are seeking for glory and honor and immortality, which is what eternal life is composed of, then you patiently continue.

You have to patiently continue. Hebrews 3, verses 6 and 14. Hebrews 3, verses 6 and 14. Verse 6. But Christ, as a son over his own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast, the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. And the end, and there's no better way to put it than to say the end means either the end of your life or the end of the age, whichever comes first. How do we get around that?

We can't. Verse 14. For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. You have to hang on. Chapter 10 here, Hebrews 10, verses 35 and 36. Hebrews 10, verses 35 and 36.

It says, Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward, for you have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God you might receive the promise.

Think about those two verses just for a moment. They're talking about you can't let go. You can't let go. We can't let go. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward, for you have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God. This was my fifty-fifth feast of tabernacles. And I never missed one. Now I don't say that boasting. That's not my point. My point is, so what if I don't keep, if I'm alive and don't keep the fifty-sixth one that comes up next year for me?

See the point is, I can't say, well I kept fifty-five. I just don't think, I mean I've kept enough of them. I just don't really think I need to anymore. But I just, I'm not even going to be concerned with what the dates are. I'm just going to let it pass, let it slide. Now I'm going to let something else slide, and something else slide.

Cast not away. You have need of patience that after. So what? God can send me, so what? You kept fifty-five feasts. So what? That's only good if you keep on. It's not good if you don't keep on.

You can't let go. Galatians 6-9. Galatians 6-9. Paul said, wrote to them, Galatians 6-9, and let us not be weary in well-doing. Now let's talk about being weary. When I did the 250-260 miles on Atonement, and then we got up real early the next morning, and we drove over 600 miles straight to Panama City Beach, because I had to be up and rolling on wheels by 7.30 the next morning. Just click, click, click. Let me tell you, I was thankful there was no Bible study Friday night. This is the Sabbath before the Feast of Tabernacles, because I was fried by 9 and 10 o'clock.

Angela and I both agreed, let's just go in and snack in and go to bed. You can get tired, very tired and very weary physically, and sometimes emotionally and otherwise. And sometimes the safest thing you can do and the greatest act of love you can do for anybody and everybody is just call it quits and go to bed and get out of the way.

That's okay. And sometimes that's exactly what a person needs to do. But you know what? You can't afford to get weary in well-doing. Let us not be weary in well-doing. For in due season we shall reap if we faint not. That is, if we don't quit, you can't quit. Okay, let's look at Paul's words in his letter to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9 verses 24 through 27. 1 Corinthians 9 verses 24 through 27. He says, and of course they do, Corinth, you know, Greece, races, Olympics, gymnasiums, all of that.

He says, don't you know that they which run in a race run all but one receives the prize? And of course in physical races, that's the way it is. And he uses that to make a point. But he says, so run that you may obtain. And he says, every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things.

Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. I mean, the disciplines they will put themselves through to get this corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. Now notice what Paul says in this letter. He says, I therefore so run, not as uncertainly, so fight I, not as one that beats the air. Verse 27, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, why? Lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, oh, did you hear about Paul?

What? He's so sad. He's fallen away. He's given up all that he's preached. He's just turned his back on God. He's quit on God. Oh, that is too bad. He says, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. You have to keep on keeping on. And then in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5, he gives a tall order. He says, casting down imaginations or reasonings and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. You've got to reach in there and deal with your thoughts and deal with your thinking. And of course, again, when you do, you have God's support, but you've got to choose to do that.

You've got to take action and bringing into captivity or under control every thought to the obedience of Christ. You have to bring your very thoughts under control. Let's go almost to the end of the Bible in this brief series, Revelation 21.7, Revelation 21 and verse 7. We're almost to the last page of the Bible. We're in kind of a summation state. And once again, what we've read so far is emphasized here, Revelation 21.7, He that overcomes, she that overcomes shall inherit all things. And I will be His God, or I will be her God.

And He shall be my Son, or put it into feminine gender, she shall be my daughter. And then finally in this quick series, Jude 3. Jude 3. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, because the salvation issues haven't changed. They were the same for the disciples, the apostles, as they are for us. They're the same for us as they were for them.

The common salvation. It was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you do what? You should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. You have to contend for the faith you've been given. Our work is not yet finished. That series of scriptures alone shows that. You have to endure. You have to patiently continue. You have to hang on. You can't let go. You can't quit. You have to keep on keeping on. You have to bring your very thoughts under control.

You have to overcome. You have to contend for the faith that you've been given. Now this is going somewhere. And it's going somewhere that hits right into the heart of a false doctrine that so many people live by these days. Too many people live by. And I'll get to that. But our work is not finished. We have to have works. A living faith requires such. A dead faith doesn't. But a living faith does require works.

If you go with me to the book of James here, I will give credit where credit is due. You take Martin Luther. He protested. He's one of the fathers of the, and in many cases considered the father of the Protestant movement. He protested. So I give credit where credit is due. But he did not protest far enough. And what he did protest, by no means, covers the basis. But here was a man, a priest, very intelligent.

What do you do when you have a certain part of the Bible? You look at your Bible and there's a certain part of it that you just don't like? You just stay out of there, right? You say, I don't like that part of the Bible. I wish God hadn't put that in. I just stay out of it. Well, we don't do that, do we? We look at the Bible and we take it for what it says.

Whether it fits our human nature, it doesn't. Whether it's user-friendly or not. Martin Luther looked at the book of James and called it a book of straw. It's not gold. It's not silver. There's no gold or silver nuggets there. It's not part of God's treasure chest. It's just straw. And straw, you can do all kinds of things with straw. It's not very valuable, is it? And there are quite a few uses, not all of them honorable, that straw can be put to. Anybody that's ever had a farm knows that.

He didn't like it because of James, Chapter 2 in particular. It said, we have to have works. A living faith requires them. James 2, Verse 26. James said this. Now, this is the oldest of the half brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. This is the oldest of the children that Joseph and Mary had. He grew up with Christ. Verse 26 of Chapter 2, For as the body without the breath, as it should be rendered, is dead, you let somebody close off your mouth and your nose, it doesn't take but just a matter of minutes and very few at that, and you're dead.

And he picked this example because it's undeniable. So faith without works is dead also. Verse 17. Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone, or again, as it can be rendered, being by itself. Verse 14. What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith? And how not works, can faith save him? No, because it's a dead faith.

A living faith requires works. And what does God require? Does he require a dead faith or a living faith? He requires a living faith. I'm not going to turn to that famous scripture, Hebrews 11 and verse 6. But Hebrews 11 and verse 6, that's the one that says, But without faith, it's impossible.

Without faith, it's impossible to please God. You can't please God without faith. And there's two things in that faith that have to be there for us to please God. One is we've got to believe that he exists, which is one of the easiest things in the world to prove. Anybody can prove God's existence. Anybody, if they really want to be open-minded. There's no avoiding the existence of God. Now somebody might say, Well, I have no idea what he's up to or what he's doing, but I know he's there.

But the second part, especially, is the one that would tie in with works, living faith, and all. And that is, you must believe that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. And it does say, Diligently seek Him. Since a living faith requires works, and since God requires a living faith, then He requires works. That's what Ephesians 2.10 is about. Ephesians 2. And verse 10, when it says, When it says, For we are His workmanship, In Christ Jesus unto good works, Which God has before ordained, or prepared, That we should walk in them.

If there are good works that God has defined as to what is good works, And ordered, and appointed, and prepared, And where to walk in them, that means we exercise ourself in them by living them. And what are those works? Very simple. It's not complicated. The works of obedience. Remember when the disciples were...

Peter and the others were called on the carpet, so to speak, by some of the religious leaders, and they told them, Look, we... They're in Acts chapter 5, we have to obey God rather than man when there's a conflict. As in verse 29 of Acts 5, because he goes on to say they're in Acts 5 and verse 32, verse 32, he says, God gives His Spirit to those who obey Him. Well, my belief is, and I'll do this and I'll do that, Because this is the way I see it.

That's fine. It doesn't mean you're going to have God's help. God says, study, know, look, see. I'm the one that defines what is good and what's not. And you seek diligently to know, and you walk in that, Because I give my Spirit to those who obey me. Very clear. Remember what Christ said in Luke 6, 46? And it's interesting, and again, I'm not going to turn there, but in Luke 6, verse 46, He said, why do you call me Lord?

Lord. He mentions it twice. And that word can mean boss, master. Why do you call me Lord, Lord? But you won't do what I tell you. It doesn't make sense. Why call me Lord, Lord, but not do the things I say? And we know that account back in the Old Testament with Samuel and King Saul.

And Samuel was supposed to show up at a certain time, and he hadn't arrived. He was late. Even God's prophets are late sometimes. And the people are kind of melting away, and Saul thinking humanly and carnally, and saying, well, Samuel's not here. I guess I better go ahead and take care of the sacrificing. And just as soon as he got his hand in the cookie jar, as we say, just as soon as he got it going, Samuel shows up. What are you doing, Saul? You know that you're out of line. Well, and all these excuses start coming. And then that strong statement in 1 Samuel 15.22, if you just want to reference 1 Samuel 15.22, where Samuel told Saul, he says, listen, to obey is better than sacrifice.

Now, I said just a few minutes ago, this is going somewhere. And it's going to the heart and core of a certain doctrinal belief that is held by far too many in Christianity today. And that is this, the doctrinal belief that Christ has done it all!

That He has done it all for you! And you don't have to do anything! And if you say, well, we've got to keep the Sabbath, well, you're saying Christ is not sufficient, that it's Christ plus the Sabbath. Or we're not supposed to eat certain things that weren't created for human consumption. Well, you're saying it's Christ plus not eating certain things. Don't you know Christ? He said it is finished.

He has done it all! And if there's anything that you say you have to do, then you're trying to say Christ is not sufficient and it's Christ plus.

How many of you in here are just shacked up together with somebody? If you are, don't raise your hand. Nobody in here is. I mean, I know all of you. None of you are. Every one of you in here that's living with somebody of the opposite sex is married. Right? Right. Well, you mean Christ is not sufficient? You had to also be married plus Christ to be pleasing in God's sight? Why not just move in together? Because if Christ is sufficient, because marriage is a certain ritual, certain ceremony, we understand what it's all about. But you know that you'd be sending the sin of fornication if you moved in with somebody and you're not married to them. Hmm. Oh, taking you and putting you in a watery grave called baptism. Oh, it's Christ plus baptism. Huh, you mean Christ is not sufficient? Why do you need to be baptized? You're saying it's Christ plus baptism. See, it won't hold up to logic. Christ did the work that only Christ can do. It gets a little bit more of that. But that particular doctrinal belief that Christ has done it all, and you don't have to do anything. If you want to, that's okay. That's okay if you want to. Some people, if they need the Sabbath, or they need this, or they need that, or whatever it is they may need, that's fine. But you don't really have to. Christ has done it all. That's false. That's a false doctrine. Now, Jude 4. Jude 4. It is a doctrine that is very extant in Christianity today. I'm not saying everybody buys into it, but I am saying too much of the Christian world does buy into it. And it is a false doctrine, and it is a doctrine that comes under this indictment of Jude 4. For there are certain men, Jude 4, crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men. Notice how this is worded. Ungodly men. God sees people who promote that kind of thing as ungodly. They may be sincere. They may not know any better. But they're still ungodly because that is not godly. Turning the grace, the mercy, the pardon of our God into lasciviousness, which only means turning it into license or allowance to do wrong.

And notice, in denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ, let me be very specific. You will hear no preacher get up in a pulpit and say, I deny Jesus Christ. You're not going to hear any preacher get up in any pulpit in his congregation and say, I deny Jesus Christ. If he does, they'll walk out on him. Well, they won't walk out. They'll kick him out. I deny God. They're not going to do that. If he does, he's finished. So what does it mean? Denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let me tell you the Scripture that goes with this.

Titus 1.16 connects with this.

It might have been Jude, as it was, writing this, pinning it, but it was God the Father through Christ, seeing it was written. Titus 1.16, notice what it says, Titus 1 verse 16. They profess that they know God. No preacher is going to say, I deny Jesus Christ. I deny God. They're not going to say that. They're going to profess they know God. Okay, where does the denial come in? It tells you right here. But in works they deny Him. In works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient. When do you say Lord, Lord? Call me Lord, Lord, but you won't do the things which I say. Don't you know what I'd give? God's Spirit is given to those who obey Him. They profess that they know God. Off the lips you can say anything, but God doesn't use only His ear to see what you're saying. He looks to see what you're doing. Being abominable and disobedient and unto every good work reprobate.

And guess what? That kind of doctrine, why is that kind of doctrine so appealing to people? Because it relieves them, it goes against and relieves them of personal responsibility and accountability. Let's go to a Scripture that I looked back in years ago when a great apostasy swept through the church.

I looked at this Scripture and I realized I was promoting this Scripture back when I was in my 20s.

And I found that I and others, we promoted it even stronger.

Philippians 2 and verse 12, Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. Now tell me, brethren, my brothers and sisters, if this doesn't speak to personal responsibility and accountability, what does it speak to? When it says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

That is personal responsibility and accountability on our individual shoulders.

Christ has done it all, but nothing you have to do. Wow! What a cop-out and what a contradiction to this Scripture. See, the bottom line is Jesus Christ's personal work of providing a sacrifice for sin, that's finished.

It's finished almost 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ's personal work of providing an opportunity for salvation is finished. He has provided a way and a means by which salvation may be attained. And without Him having done that, there's no way. Acts 4, 12 says there's no other name under heaven given by which we may have salvation. We all know that, but salvation is not automatic.

It's not automatic. It has to be attained, too.

So many people simply do not connect the dots. So many people do not think it through. Salvation is not automatic. The opportunity has been created by Jesus Christ. He makes it possible. There's a sacrifice for sin. But salvation has to be attained, too. And for those who promote the false doctrine that Christ has done it all, and there's nothing you have to do, guess what I'm going to do? You know who their champion is?

It's the Apostle Paul. If you talk, you go to seminaries, theologians, and you talk with them. The one Apostle that carries more credibility than any of the rest of them is the Apostle Paul. He is their champion. I'm not saying they don't respect Peter and James and the others.

I'm not saying that, but I'm saying the one that stands out to them as the real champion is the Apostle Paul. They say in so many words that he was used to define what Peter and the rest of them didn't get. So I'm going to go to the words of the Apostle Paul, the one they champion, for those who say Christ has done it all and there's nothing you have to do, and I'm going to let him answer.

Actually, he's already been answering. Many of the scriptures that we read in that series were from him. But let's go, well, if you're here in Philippians, just turn over to chapter 3. Chapter 3, here's what he wrote to the Philippians. And he had been a converted man in Christ for, I don't know, what? 20, roughly 20 years or so? 15, 20 years at this point? Notice what he says, verses 11 through 14. Philippians 3 verses 11 through 14. Notice how Paul puts it. And again, in regards to, well, Christ has done it all and there's nothing you have to do.

Verse 11, if by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead. I said salvation is not automatic, it has to be attained to. Not as though I had already attained or arrived, either were already perfect, or that is mature or complete. But I follow after, if that I may apprehend, if that I may have, that for which I also am apprehended of Christ Jesus. He called me because he wants me to have eternal life.

And I want to do what is my personal responsibility on the matter, so that I may have what he is offering me. Brethren, I don't count myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before. Now notice again, verse 14, how he puts it. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The sacrifice is complete. There's nothing lacking in Christ's sacrifice, period.

It's one sacrifice for sins forever. That's Hebrews 10 and 12. We read that. He was referencing that when he says it is finished. See, the sacrifice is complete, but the application isn't. The application is not. It's made for the whole world. John 3.16. Who doesn't know John 3.16 and verse 17? It's made for the whole world. It's not like God intends to exclude most of the world. And that's part of the beauty of the Holy Days because they show God's plan of salvation as it's laid out in the steps and stages of it.

And by going through those steps and stages, you see how the whole world is going to have opportunity for application of that someday. But it applies individually, based on the individual meeting certain conditions. When out of that crowd, certain ones said, men and brethren, what must we do on the day of Pentecost and Acts 2? You know, there's a whole multitude there, and Peter and others are preaching, and some of them responded and said, men and brethren, what must we do? Of course, it's interesting. There's a whole bunch that didn't say, what must we do? They didn't choose to do anything except resist at that time. You can't tell me the sacrifice of Christ applied to the ones that said, oh, they're just drunk, you know.

They're, you know, mocked them and all. You can't tell me His applied. Will it apply someday? Yes. When they meet the conditions that Peter told the ones who said, what must we do? And he told them what the condition was. It's this there in chapter 2, verse 38. And the very first word out of his mouth to him was repent.

That means quit walking the way you're walking, quit going the way you're going, quit thinking the way you're thinking. You take and look at everything you're doing and what is against God and not in line with God, you reverse it. Get in step with God. Good works that we should walk in them. Look to see what God expects of you. It's your personal responsibility and accountability to do that.

And where you need to change your way of doing and thinking and operating, you do it. Repent. That was the very first word. And, of course, we did read over in 1 John 1 and 2 about that it continues. When we come to Christ, I mean, it's got to continue a lifetime. When we come to Christ, when we take on His sacrifice, our work isn't finished.

It's just beginning. It's beginning in earnest. I was baptized at 18. That was a few years ago from 64. When I came up out of that watery grave, if the minister who had baptized me said, You're forgiven your sins, you're cleansed in Christ, but boy, do you have your work cut out for you. I'd have said, Yes, sir. I know I'm cleansed.

I know I'm forgiven. Believe me, sir, better than you know. I know I've got my work cut out for me as far as what I've got to do with God's help and support. See, when I came up out of that watery grave at age 18, I knew I was cleansed. I knew I was forgiven.

But Galatians 4.19 did not apply to me. It did apply, yes, but not in any sense of it being fulfilled. That's the Scripture where Paul says, I labor like in childbirth until Christ be formed in you. There was a portion of Christ and the Father in me, but they hadn't been formed in me. That takes time. Ephesians 4.15, about growing up into Him and all things, had not occurred. Was some of it there? Yes. But had I grown up into Him and all things? No. But it was beginning and earnest. When we come to Christ, when we take on His sacrifice, a new creation has begun.

That's what's referenced in 2 Corinthians 5.17. 2 Corinthians 5.17. A new creation has begun. But it's got to grow. It's got to develop. It's got to increase. There is work to do. There's a work to be done. When 2 human life-sales come together at conception, a brand new blueprint of a brand new human being is established right then. You only have a tiny, tiny, tiny, but initially you just have 2 cells that have come together.

And then very quickly you have a little clump of cells. That's what you've got. But in that little clump of cells, and you can take it back to the 2 life-sales that come together and form together, at that instant there is a blueprint of that little baby. A blueprint that says it's a boy or a girl. A blueprint as it's going to be blind and blue eyed, brunette, dark eyes, basic height, basic...

That's set. That's all established at the instant of conception. But you don't have that new life at the point ready to be born. But it is a new life. But it's not ready...there's a lot...it's got to have on a healthy basis, it's got to have 9 months of growing and developing and increasing. There is a work, so to speak, to do in the womb. When somebody tells you, brethren, Christ has done it all. You don't have to do anything. He's done it all for you. Recognize it for what it is.

It is false doctrine. Totally, biblically, contrary. Don't fall for it. Don't fall prey to it. It is a deception. A major deception. And it drives so much of a Christianity around us that's going to pay a huge price in the years that's coming in this nation. It denies the reality of your responsibility. It denies the reality of your responsibility and accountability.

It is true. There is a work that has been begun in us. Yes, we know that. Notice Philippians 1.6. Philippians 1.6. Paul wanted to give them confidence. Paul wanted to give them confidence. Verse 6 says, Be incompetent brethren, be incompetent of this very thing that He which has begun a good work in you, it began in you by the Father through Christ, through their Spirit.

Begun. Notice the wording. Begun a good work in you. We'll perform it to the day of Jesus Christ. He's not saying you don't have a part in it. Why is He wording it like this? He wants them to know and be confident. Look, you don't have to worry about God backing out on you. You don't have to worry about looking at God's back. You don't have to worry about God just maybe throwing up His hands and saying, I'm through with so-and-so, folding His arms, turning around, walking away.

Now, we might walk away. We might fade away. We might be the ones that quit on it or put a hold on it. God's not going to. And so He's wanting them to understand that and to be confident. But a good work that's begun in you. But I want you to think about something. People say, well, why do you have to have algebra in high school? Why do people have to take math?

You know, math is...the core of math is logic. Math is a logic course, is really what it gets down to. It's for analyzing and thinking. It is to stimulate logic. Some people cannot think logically. I mean, if you didn't do well in math, you can't think logically. But it is a logic-type thing, and it trains people in logic. But anyhow, the way this is worded, by the very way that it's worded, it shows that it is not a finished work in us, doesn't it?

And if it is a work to be finished, and the margin here actually says for perform, it actually renders finish. If it is a work to be finished, then the statement of 1930, which says it is finished, cannot apply to this, can it? Think of simple logic. Then it cannot apply to this. That's just plain simple logic, otherwise it's a contradiction.

It's true that God is very involved in this work that He's initiated. And it's true without Him, our efforts would come to naught. We couldn't accomplish anything. We couldn't do anything. It's true that He's very involved. Notice verse 13 of chapter 2. Verse 13 of chapter 2, For it is God which works in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. That's true, and that is preceded by what we read previously, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, and you put it together, it's just simply saying, you do what is within your power to do.

You exercise personal responsibility in your obedience to me, and you have my full support to work in you and help you. You're not on your own. But God could say to us, I can't do it for you. I can't do for you what you must do for yourself. But if you'll do what you have to do, then I will be there also with you and support you. See, there was a time when there was no sacrifice for sin. It did not exist. You go back, we have to think linearly. We don't inhabit eternity like God does.

We have to think linearly. And so, as you look back in time, so to speak, there was a time, you go back there long enough ago, there was a time when there was no sacrifice for sin. It just did not exist. And there was a time when such a sacrifice was planned.

When it was planned. And then there was a time when such was carried out and completed. And that's why Christ, with His last breath, said, it is finished. That sacrifice for sin, for all time, eternity, ages upon ages without end, it was a done deal at that time. And that is what John 19.30 is referring to, and that's what Christ is referring to with that final statement. Salvation was not finished there, but a way for salvation was.

And there is a, that is a very sharp distinction between the two. A sacrifice for sin was now available. Forgiveness and cleansing was now attainable. Eternal life was now possible. When a person comes to Christ and is baptized into Him, that person takes on that sacrifice. And as a result, that person is forgiven and they are cleansed.

And at that point, through the giving of the Holy Spirit, a new creation can and does begin in them. A new life and that person's being and make-up, like a new life in a pregnant woman. And there is now a work to be done. It is not finished. It has only begun. And in that unfinished work, the person plays a crucial and significant role, a role that they have to finish. A work that their hands have to be involved in. And if they finish that part of the work that lies in their hands, then in due time they can accurately echo the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 4-7.

I want to read those words. 2 Timothy 4 and verse 7. And why can I say these things? Because it's the Bible. Paul said here, notice how he worded it. He says, I have fought a good fight. He talks about fighting. He says, I have fought a good fight.

I have not fought a losing fight. I have not fought a poor fight. I fought a good fight. Action on his part, personal responsibility. He says, I have finished, I have finished my course. He says, I have kept the faith. He's not denying God's help in all of it. He's acknowledging that he had a role that God expected of him, and that he's attended to that role.

I have fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept the faith. I finished my work. I finished my role, my part, my work in God's salvation. Therefore, as a result, verse 8, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but to all of them also that love his appearing. Christ, with his last breath, could say, it is finished.

And there came a time with Paul when the blade was above his neck. Roman citizens generally were beheaded. He was a Roman citizen. He wasn't crucified. And there was a time when a blade, whether it was a sword or something else, axe, hovered above his head, and he knew he was about to fall. And he was about to have, and at some point there, he had his last breath. And he could say, it is finished. I am finished.

It is a wonderful comfort and confidence to know. With our last breath and thought, it is finished. I am finished.