What is Necessary for Salvation?

The title today, What is Necessary for Salvation? In discussing a topic from the Bible, you might hear someone say, well, it's not a salvation issue, so I'm not going to worry about it. Or they might say something like, well, I'm going to put that on the shelf for now. On the day of Pentecost, 31 A.D., when 3,000 people were added to the New Testament Church, how much do they really know? None of them had in their possession what we call the New Testament. New Testament, in fact, had not been written at that time. Access to the Scriptures was basically unlimited to the synagogues and to the elite, and only a small portion of the people could read and write. In searching out the Internet with regard to what percentage might be able to read and write, I got figures that range from 3% to maybe 15% of the people could read and write. Yet, let's notice the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 3 in verse 10. 2 Timothy chapter 3 in verse 10. Remember the title, what is necessary for salvation. 2 Timothy chapter 3, and what Paul writes here with regard to salvation to Timothy. Timothy is a prison epistle. Paul was in prison when he wrote this. Timothy was becoming a bit withdrawn and apparently embarrassed by Paul being in prison or whatever he was. But in 2 Timothy chapter 3, and we'll start there with verse 14, but continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom you have learned them, and that from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures, so which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. So Timothy was blessed to be in a family in which he had known the Holy Scriptures from a child. Basically, he would probably have to do that at the synagogue because that's where the the scrolls were at the synagogue, and very few of the common people, even in the wealthy, probably didn't have the scrolls in their home. All scripture is given of inspiration.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness. Now I want to go back to 15 again. From a child you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation. How? How? How? Through faith in Christ Jesus.

So when Timothy was growing up, of course, Jesus had been begotten and was on the scene in the flesh. Now we continue that we see that scripture is given for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished, unto all good works. Even those who knew the scriptures only knew what we call the Old Testament. New Testament had not been written. But yet Paul writes about salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. There were three main learning centers in the days of the Apostles, Jerusalem. And Paul, you know, was there. He was sent to Jerusalem, apparently by his parents, where he was learned in the scripture. He says he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and he sat at the feet of Gomelia, the great teacher of that particular school. Troas in Asia Minor was also a great center of learning, and so was Alexandria. The great Jewish contingent had settled in Alexandria a long time before Jesus came in the flesh. In fact, they had a great learning center there and translated the the Old Testament from the Hebrew into Greek in circa 170-160 BC. So do you remember the account of the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading from the scrolls of Isaiah when he encountered Philip? Let's go now back and look at this where the Ethiopian eunuch encountered Philip, or Philip encountered him. And go back to Acts chapter 8, Acts chapter 8, and look at that.

You know, in the book of Acts, in the first eight chapters, you have quite an amazing story there about deacons. Deacons came on the scene in Acts chapter 6 where they were told to seek out men of good report that we might appoint them to the business of taking care of the needs of the needy and making sure that everyone was taken care of. And out of that seven that were chosen, two were very mighty in word and indeed Stephen, Acts 7, accounts where he was preached his great sermon and then was killed, martyred, and then Acts 8 of Philip after Stephen had been killed, Philip went up into the area of Antioch and preached mightily and a lot of people were convicted by his preaching.

And we'll want to pick it up here in verse 25. And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, that is the apostles after laying hands on and those who had believed through the preaching of Philip and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. And the angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip saying, Arise and go toward the south unto the way that goes down from Jerusalem into Gaza, which is desert.

Why would he tell him to go down there?

And he arose and went and behold a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for to worship and was returning and sitting in his chariot and reading Isaiah the prophet. Of course, Isaiah is filled with messianic prophecies. And I would imagine of those who sought for scrolls of the Old Testament, that Isaiah would be probably the one most sought after.

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join yourself to the chariot. So Philip ran there to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and said, Do you understand what you're reading? And he said, How can I accept some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. And the place of the Scripture where he was reading was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb dumb before his shearer. So opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away.

And who should declare his generation, for his life is taken from the rank. And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I'm asking you, of whom is he speaking? Is he speaking of the prophet himself or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth and he began at the same Scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And so we see that basically on the day of Pentecost, as far as what we would call so much knowledge that was presented to us in the New Testament was not even available. They were not arguing much over law and grace.

They were not arguing much over who is the beast. They were stricken in the hearts. They were convicted and they repented. And 3,000 were baptized and they received the Holy Spirit. Interesting to note that the eunuch had access to the Scripture. I think we focus more on the fact he was a eunuch than he was treasurer of this kingdom of Ethiopia. And only a person of high rank would have access to the scrolls outside the synagogues. You remember that the queen of Sheba came up to visit Solomon, and to this day there remains a contingent of Ethiopian Jews.

They call themselves the Philosia Jews. And I'm reading now from Britannica Online. The beginning of the Philosia Jews are obscure and possibly polygenetic, by polygenetic many peoples into the genetic code. The Beta Israel is a term that in their language means the House of Israel.

The Philosias claim descent from Menelik I, traditionally the son of the queen of Sheba, by Solomon. So you know that the queen of Sheba, as recorded in the Bible, came up to visit Solomon to see all of the things that he had accumulated and to learn of his wisdom. But the point here, the main point, is that Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch from the Old Testament. The eunuch stated that he was a believer and he was baptized. The eunuch said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

And in the process of baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch, you read on a little later there, that Philip was snatched away out of the waters and taken to another place. The purpose of this sermon is to help us all understand what is necessary for salvation. So that's just a little introduction there to see that on the day of Pentecost, and even after the day of Pentecost for some time, they didn't have the New Testament. They had the Old Testament and they had those stories and the oral traditions and the things that followed with regard to those who saw Jesus when he came to the various communities that they were living in.

One of the great things that we're going to be doing, of course, in the kingdom of God, we're going to be kings and priests, and one of the main things that priests will be doing is teaching. And more importantly, I suppose, for the here and now, we're exhorted in the here and now to be ready to give answer to every man that asks for the hope of eternal life that abides in us, the hope of being in the kingdom of God and the family of God as a glorious, radiant spirit being. So we ask ourselves this afternoon, and you ask yourselves, what is the most important goal in your life? What is it?

What is the most important goal in your life? Well, I hope it is salvation. I hope it is attaining to the kingdom and family of God. And one of the greatest hurdles that we're facing as a church is a people with regard to preaching the gospel and having new people come into the church is the fact that people have come to the point at this critical time in human history in which they really don't have a burning desire to live forever.

And I hope that each one of us has a burning desire to be in the kingdom of God. People have lost sight of why they were created. Neolism, nothingness, in the common language, it means, I don't care, I'm going to live it up now, or go to the opposite extreme. Life is too painful. Why should I want to live forever? I believe to reach people at this time in human history, we have to go to what I'm going to be talking about today, and each one of us needs to be thoroughly schooled in what is necessary for salvation. Jesus personally warned us not to fall into that state of mind and attitude of, I don't care what difference it may make. Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow we may die.

In Mark 4 and verse 19, Mark 4 and verse 19, In Mark 4 and verse 19, the words of Jesus and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. See the cares of this world. Then in Luke 21, 34, Luke 21 and verse 34, And take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, so that that day come upon you unawares.

Brother in our lives shall have been in vain if we do not attain to the kingdom of God.

No matter how long we may live, some of us may live to be 80, 90, 100. No matter how long we live, it's just less than a flash in the annals of history and eternity. Eternity has no beginning, it has no end. In Romans 2 and verse 7, it's the scripture that comes to my mind quite often, Romans 2 verse 7, To them who by patient continuance and well-doing, continuance and well-doing. You remember the scripture back there in Matthew that says, He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved, ho to the end of the row, or however you want to say it. I would imagine some of you remember the sermon I gave, titled, Ho to the End of the Row. So I get this comment from somebody listening to the sermon, ho to the end of the row. It sounds so southern. That was his comment. But brethren, will you be satisfied with anything less than glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life in the kingdom of God? Will you settle for anything less than that?

And I believe that one of the greatest weaknesses in all our lives is our failure to obey Matthew 6, 33. Maybe a better word would be failure to take heed, seek you first the kingdom of God. That is the top priority of life. Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. We tend to let trials, troubles, and distractions of this life throw us off track, and the Scripture warns us not to be weary with well-doing.

Satan hates you. He hates me. He hates all of humankind. And he would like to see you thrown off course and destroyed. So what is the first and most important essential in the process of salvation? Now my sermons are basically didactic with one point to some degree hinging on another point, and then you build off of that sort of like a simple syllogism.

I try to go to the beginning source, and from there build the story or the lesson. You know, the story of the Bible begins with the first verse of the Bible. Do you realize how important the first verse in the Bible is? If just all of humankind really believed the first verse in the Bible. What a different world this would be. In the beginning, God created the implication from nothing, as it says in Hebrews 11, that which we see was made from that which is not seen. God created the heavens, Shammim. The Bible speaks to three heavens. The atmosphere that we breathe and live in, then space, and then God's throne, third heaven. God created the heavens and the earth.

Do we realize how big that is? As big as the universe, does the universe have borders, boundaries? We read about the expanding universe and so on. So the Bible begins with one of the greatest truths of all time. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The plan of salvation began in past eternity when only two God beings existed. It's difficult to wrap your mind around that. Try to think about that. You visualize a time in which only two beings existed.

God, the one who became the Father, and the Word, the one who became Jesus Christ.

The plan of God revolves around what I believe are the seven greatest questions of all time. I shall wear these out to the day I die.

Who and the first one is, does God exist? Does God exist? Well, Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God. And of course, there is an element with regard to believing that God exists, an element of faith. And Hebrews 11.6 goes with that. He who would come to God must, first of all, believe that he is. So that the beginning point of salvation is, you've got to believe that God exists. How are you going to have salvation if you don't believe that God exists? If you talk about immortality, eternal life, how are you going to have it? When you die, who's going to bring you back to life? If you're going to be brought back to life, who's going to do it? And how's it going to be done? So the first great question, does God exist? He who would come to God must, first of all, believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

And then the next is, who is God? God is our Father.

He is the Creator. And God created the universe and us through Jesus Christ. There are many scriptures I could turn to, but we are familiar with those. What is God? God is Spirit. His purpose is to bring sons and daughters to glory in his family. The corollary to that is, who is man? Man is made in the image of God. What is man? Man is made of the dust to the ground. But with faculties akin to God, he can think, he can reason. And what is his purpose? The reason why God created us in first place is to be in his family. These elements are rooted in God's essential being. That is what he is all about to a large degree. The greatest quality and characteristic of God. The greatest quality, maybe we should pluralize it, but the greatest quality and characteristic of God and Christ is that they are love. Quality, characteristic. God is love. 1 John 4.8, 1 John 4.16. God is love. And as we have heard so often, love is outgoing concern for others, and love not shared is self-love. God and Christ wanted to share their very being what they are. Well, what are they? They are uncreated, co-eternal.

Now we are created, but we can be partakers of the eternal spirit. The very essence of God is eternal, and you have within you the very essence of God. God and Christ wanted to share their being in a family setting. How could they reproduce spirit-borne beings? Oh, they could create spirit beings, and they did create spirit beings, the angelic realm, and they are helpers for those who are heirs of salvation.

It was decided that it could be accomplished through a begettle and birth process, with the word being made flesh, dying for the sins of the world. So believers could become spirit-begotten and born sons of God. John 1, please turn there, John chapter 1. In John chapter 1, we see their existence, identity, and relationship. But we want to start here in verse 12. God loved all of the creation, and he loved all of the creation, and he loved all of the creation.

But there is another birth, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, born of God. We can be born of God, and the Word was made flesh, dwelt among us. We beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So before anything existed except those two beings, the plan of salvation was developed. Birth, begettle, and then birth, begettle and birth, begettle and birth. As we shall see, the plan of salvation is of love and of grace. We really understand the role of grace. In 1 Peter, let's turn there to verse 1, we see how ancient the plan of salvation really is. Let's read 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1, 1 1 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb, without blemish, without spot, who was verily foreordained. Progudoscope means to know beforehand. He was known before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him to believe in God, that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God.

Revelation 13, 8 says that Jesus Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. If you turn back now to 2 Timothy 1, I love the way that this is presented in 2 Timothy 1. We'll begin in verse 8 with regard to the fact that this plan was developed before anything was created. In fact, it was before time began, as we shall see. 1 Timothy 1, verse 8 Be not you therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, Paul in prison writing to Timothy, nor of me his prisoner, but be you partaker of the affliction of the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us within holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.

We'll say a lot more about grace, grace, charis and the Greek, meaning divine favor, which was given us in Christ Jesus before time began. The Greek word translated world is kronos. It means time, before time began. The plan began to be fulfilled when the word was begotten in the flesh and then born as a glorious, radiant spirit being, the first born from the dead, as it says in Revelation 1.5. Jesus Christ is the first born from the dead. In Romans chapter 1 verses 3 and 4, it says that he became the Son of God through the resurrection from the dead. With us, it begins with the gospel being preached. Jesus commissioned the church to preach the gospel of the world. We have a lot of people. We have lots of people now who are what you would call freelancers. They're just out there, and they go to various peace sites, and they attend various congregations, and they talk to people, and they move about, and so on. But how can you do a work? Did God call us to do a work to preach the gospel to the world? Jesus Christ says in Matthew 16.8 that I will build my church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I quote all the verse, and I say unto you that you are Peter, Petros, little rock, but upon this rock, Peter, a big rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The church is commissioned. Matthew 28 verses 19 and 20. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. Literally, the translation would be more like, go ye therefore and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you, always, even to the end of the age.

The church has been commissioned to do a work.

Now, remember what I said. We try to systematize, very difficult to systematize, the things in the Bible so that one flows from another because the Bible is not written that way, and you try to put it together so that you really can understand it and grasp it, and there are some key markers. To me, one of the key markers of all markers is a verse I quote in nearly every sermon. That's John 6.63.

Okay, you're commissioned to go preach the gospel to the world.

Now, just random people freelancing on their own cannot really do that. Though there may be times in which the church sends out people to preach the gospel and go different places, Jesus Christ sent out the 70 two by two, and they went from city to city.

In John 6.63, Jesus equates the Word of God with the Spirit of God. I mean, that sounds so simple, but it's so important. It is the Spirit that quickens and makes a life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak, they are spirit, and they are life. The Spirit of God, working in concert with the Word of God, convicts a person. Now, if you turn forward there to John 16, you go to John 16, verse 7.

Some of the truths that are here and some of the benchmarks that are just so vital can slip right by us, and we tend to gloss over things and become as the churches of the world. It's what I call reduction theology. Reduce it to the simplest point, just believe in Jesus, and everything's all right. That's all there is to it. In John 16, verse 7, nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, if I don't go away, the comforter, which is identified in John 14, 26, as the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send it unto you. And when it is come, it will reprove, Elencho, convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Now, how does it convict? How does the Spirit convict? The Spirit works in concert with the Word of God, and here we have once again the church coming back into view. Look at Romans 10, verse 14. Romans 10, verse 14.

How shall they call on Him, whom they have not believed? Well, there's the Holy Spirit just out there striking down people without them hearing the Word of God. No. On occasion, Paul was stricken down on the road to Damascus, but Paul knew the Old Testament as well as probably anybody that ever lived. But they had denied Messiah until he was stricken down. How then shall they call on Him, in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him, in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, and shall they be sent?

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah said, Lord, who has believed our report. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing, how? By the Word of God. So the Word of God and the Spirit of God working in concert convicts a person of sin. There are no shortcuts to that. No shortcuts whatsoever. Now God the Father is directly involved in a person being convicted.

And it is no accident that you're sitting here today, because God the Father had a hand in it. We'll look at John 6, verse 44, which probably we should quote. John 6 and verse 44. John 6 44, No man can come to me except the Father which sent me, draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. No man can come except the Father, draw him. Now I love the way this is worded in James 1, verse 17, because it personalizes it so much with regard to each one of us having God the Father being directly involved in our lives. This is James 1 17, Every good gift, every perfect gift comes from above, comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no bearable, neither shadow of turning, of his own will, begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creation. So God the Father, directly involved in your calling, and the fact that you're sitting here this afternoon, it's no accident that you're sitting here. So working hand in glove with the Father in the salvation process, of course, is Jesus Christ. You cannot know the Father apart from the Son. You can't know the Son apart from the Father. And we covered that recently, but we'll look at Luke 10 verse 21. Luke 10 and verse 21. Brother, my goal here is in the few remaining times that I have upon this earth to found you in the Word of God so that you cannot be moved. Now, one of the saddest things for all of us who labored in the Word at Ambassador University College and in the Church of God is that we taught, we preached faithfully in the Word of God day in day out. I did 10 years, rest in Louisiana. We drove virtually every Sabbath about 160 miles, rest in Louisiana, 10 years.

Preach the same things basically you hear every Sabbath here. And when the big test comes, half gone, half gone or more.

Grounded and founded in the Word of God. In Luke chapter 10 verse 21.

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hid these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them unto babes. What does it mean by babes? Those who have an open mind who will humble themselves to the point that they can understand what life is all about. All things are deliberate to me of my Father, and no man knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and to whom the Son will reveal him. And he turned him unto his disciples and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see. I mean, it's a sacred privilege to see the things which you see. And, brother, let us never take it for granted. All of the above introduces another great key in the salvation process, and that is grace. The Greek word for grace is charis, and that word appears several times in the New Testament.

I think I have it written down here how many times and how it's translated.

It appears 156 times in the New Testament. It's translated as grace 130 times. Favor six times, thanks four times. Think, not plural, just think four times. And think worthy. I believe that's three times. So, what is grace? How would you define grace?

Grace is not an active power, per se, in that some people tend to confuse grace with the Spirit of God. We have read several scriptures already about the Spirit of God convicting people in the Spirit of God and the Word of God working in concert to convict one, and it is the Spirit of God that begets us to a new life, but it is through God's love and grace that He created us in the first place. As we mentioned early on, when they planned out the plan of salvation because of God's love, He favored us and developed this great plan of salvation, which is of grace. Divide favor. We didn't do anything to earn it. Not one thing. It's there. It's there, and He's making it available to some. Eventually, every person.

I would define grace somewhat like this, and it's very difficult to cover anything like this as broad as it is. Grace is an active reflection of God's love, care, and concern for His creation. An active reflection of His care and concern for His creation, but yet that within itself is not really adequate. But you can think of within those parameters, it says, not even a sparrow falls to the ground unless he's aware of. So that's love, care, and concern for His creation. The hairs on your head are numbered. How about that one? God extends grace, His divine favor, which means He provides the way to attain unto salvation. But we must live a life of faith. Grace in and of itself, because that favor is there, doesn't carry you across the finish line, but it makes it the wherewithal to cross the finish line available.

Salvation is of grace and is a gift, but it has conditions.

What scripture would immediately pop into your mind with regard to that? Well, to me it would be Acts 2.38. The day of Pentecost, Peter preached his sermon, verse 37 says, and they were pricked in their heart and said, men and brethren, what shall we do?

And Peter's response was, repent and believe in Jesus Christ, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Not a complete quote, but in Peter there are elements there. It is more repentance and involves, of course, which we will cover. Repentance, of course, involves having exercise and faith in the sacrifice of Christ.

So salvation is of grace. It is a gift, but the gift has conditions. Furthermore, through grace, God's divine favor, he fights many of our battles. For us, oftentimes, behind the scenes.

We don't even know that he is doing what he is doing. And there are two types of grace, I guess you could say, that there's unmerited grace, which God provides with his plan of salvation and all the things that go with that. And then we are commanded to grow in grace and knowledge. So if you grow in grace and knowledge, that would mean that there's something that you do in order to bring about that growth, which essentially is to live by faith, believe him, and do what he says. A great scripture, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, let's turn there, 1 Corinthians 15 verse 10. And all of us should be able to say this many times after some of the great trials that we have been through, whether it be in the church or otherwise. You look at 1 Corinthians 15 verse 10.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me, God's divine favor. But even with God's divine favor, Paul suffered a whole lot in his ministry. He was beaten. He was stripped. Of course, you've read all the trials and difficulties that Paul went through.

So once again, the Greek word is charis, and it means divine favor. Now, I'm reading from Strong's. This should give you an idea of what's out there. The first definition that Strong's gives of grace is, that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, grace of speech. Well, you can be a graceful person and bring those elements into another person's life, I suppose you could say. The next definition, good will, loving kindness, favor. Next, the merciful kindness by which God exerting his holy influence upon souls turns them to Christ. Actually, it is what the word of God and the Holy Spirit convicts us. And as I said, some people confuse the Holy Spirit with grace.

So God has given us grace, a great plan of salvation. He's made it possible for us to live a life of faith and to be in the kingdom of God. So we have mentioned faith here several times, and faith is one of the essential elements of the salvation process. Faith is a gift of the Spirit and a fruit of the Spirit, and faith begins when we are convicted by God. What do I mean by that? We hear the word of God preach. Say it does something to our mind. We hear it, oh, that's the truth. I've been waiting for this. I need to do something about this. And so we move, and we begin to search, and we begin to obey, and we begin to do what it says to do in the Word of God. Sort of like a tennis game or volleyball, the ball is served over into your court. You're supposed to return it. God has served the ball over into your court. You're supposed to return it. You're supposed to obey. And so God begins then as you respond to Him to increase your faith. Faith is the only gift that is listed in 1 Corinthians 12 of the Spirit that is both a gift of the Spirit and a fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians chapter 6, faith is listed as a gift of the Spirit. So if you respond to God when He lays that weight on your mind and you live in faith and act in faith, you produce spiritual fruit, a fruit of the Spirit.

In the religious world, there's one main scripture here that I hope we could understand. We want to go there to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 and verse 8. Ephesians 2 and verse 8.

The religious world tends to think of some of these elements of salvation in isolation.

The nominal religious world reads the first phrase of Ephesians 2.8, By grace are you saved. Boom! Period. By grace are you saved.

You could say that it's true, but it continues.

By grace are you saved. How? By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. Some people get confused there with that not of yourselves, thinking that God gives you the faith to be saved. If that were the case, then why doesn't He give it to everybody and everybody would be saved. So through by your grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of a God. So let's examine. By grace are you saved.

We'll see here that saved is a verb and neuter. Gift is a noun and neuter. Thus it modifies saved. It cannot modify faith since the Greek word for faith, pistis, is feminine. So by grace are you saved. It is the gift of God and you are saved through faith and that requires active involvement on our part. I hope we understand that. Now some people read, for example, in the old King James, there was an evangelist that I went, he's no longer alive, look at Galatians chapter 2, that we went back into a long time with regard to this. New King James corrects this in Galatians chapter 2. And sometimes I've noticed that some of our ministers might say this, knowing this is Galatians 2 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith. And see the old King James, that's translated up. Now the correct translation is in, faith in, Christ Jesus. That we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no man be justified. Now how do we show for sure? Well, Paul follows up on this immediately because Christ perfectly obeyed. That doesn't mean we perfectly obey. That is automatically imputed to us. But if we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves, and we ourselves are also found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin, God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. So once again in verse 8 in Ephesians 2, saved is a verb and neuter. Gift is a noun neuter. It modifies saved. Yes, salvation is a gift. It has conditions. And we are saved through faith, which requires our active participation. If that were not true, why would we preach about doing anything? Because Christ would have done it all. He perfectly obeyed and he imputed to us. So what's the big deal? Another great element in the salvation process is hope. Let's go now to Romans 8 and verse 24. See, if you read some of these verses in isolation, we just read here that if you just put a period after by grace or you saved and put a period there, you would close the book and say, okay, that's all you have to do. Now we look at Romans chapter 8 and verse 24, and we'll see a similar statement made by something else. Romans 8 verse 24. For we are saved by hope.

We read over there, for we are saved by grace. You see, you can't view these things in isolation do you get the point. You have to put all of it together. Now hope is a wonderful thing.

For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope for what a man sees. What does he yet hope for? For if we hope for that, we see not. Then do we with patience wait for it. And how do we wait for it? We wait for it in faith and in hope. Now hope is defined in 1 Thessalonians 5, 8. If you'll turn there, you'll see 1 Thessalonians 5, 8. And hope is defined in 1 Thessalonians 5, 8.

One of the things that we continually emphasize, that ambassador and the classes that we taught was to keep the big picture burning brightly in your mind, which that is a part of hope. What's out there? I hope for that. In 1 Thessalonians 5, 8. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, a helmet. What do you do with a helmet? You put it on, it permeates the head. For a helmet, the hope of salvation. What lies out there? What is a head?

Hope is the helmet of salvation. It's a vital part of the armor of God. Helmet covers the head.

It protects the head from injury. The head is the seat of thinking. And as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. So the thought, the hope that is out there, the thought is the kingdom of God is just the head. The hope of eternal life in the kingdom of God. That's what should permeate our being. So in practical terms, the helmet of salvation means to keep that big picture burning brightly in our minds. Big picture of the kingdom of God. It means to focus on the purpose of human existence. Any hope is in God. My hope is in God and Christ, who have promised eternal life. God, who cannot lie, has promised. So it really doesn't matter in the long run what happens here and now I am bound for the promised land. But with these elements in place, we still need the intercessory work of our high priest, Jesus Christ the righteous, our high priest, Jesus Christ, who sits on the right hand of the Father, whoever lives to make intercession for us. Notice Hebrews 7, in verse 25.

In Hebrews 7, verse 25, we see here that Jesus Christ, and this ties in with the Scripture in Romans 5, verse 10, that we are saved by his life, that the resurrected Christ. Remember we read from John 5, 7, if I go not away, I will not send the Spirit to you. I have to go away in order to send the Holy Spirit to you. And if I go away, the comforter will come to you, and you have that comforter with you. And then in Romans 5, and we're going to go there in just a moment, we see that we are saved by his life. And so we look at this Hebrews 7, in verse 25, which is such a comforting scripture, in Hebrews 7, verse 25, wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives, seeing he ever lives, to make intercession for us.

So let's examine the relationship between some of these key elements of salvation. As we have noted, we tend to think of some of these elements in isolation. Don't just, you know, you can read, we're saved by grace, period. Or we can, we're saved by hope, period. Or you have to put all of that together. And obviously, faith plays a great role in it. The logical fallacy of saying that faith is not of ourselves, like in Ephesians 2.8, is that if God did not give saving faith to everyone, it would be his fault. Remember, the simplest definition of faith is to believe God and do what he says. So we must exercise faith through obedience. Faith without obedience is dead. So let's notice the relationship between grace and faith with regard to justification. And I hope we get this. Now, Titus 3 verse 7. In Titus 3 and verse 7, I think it's Timothy, Titus. What do you think? In Titus, Titus 3 and verse 7, that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Now, if you just read that verse in isolation, you'd say, well, we're justified by grace. God's divine favor. Now we go back to Romans chapter 3. We put it together and we understand that grace makes it possible for us to enter into a relationship with the God in Christ through repentance and faith. This is wonderful, the beauty of the plan of God, but it is intricately woven together. And the sermon today is somewhat convoluted, you might say in a sense, but it gives you the understanding of how people can read one verse in isolation and it throws them off track. You have to put the whole tapestry together in Romans 3 verse 24. Being justified by his grace, how? Through the redemption, the buying back power that is in Christ Jesus. See, the grace made it possible that is for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Whom God has set forth to be a perpetuation, that is, he went in our place through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. See, we have to be active participants. To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, he kept his word, he provided a Messiah, he provided the means by love and grace that he might be just in the justifier of him which believes in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law of works? No, but by the law of faith, and faith is inextricably linked to obedience. Verse 31, do we then make void the law through faith? God, forget, no way, no how.

Yes, we established the law. How is the law established through faith? It is because if the law were not in effect, there would be no need for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to pay for sin. The wages of sin is death. If that were not the case, then there would be no need for Jesus Christ. But since the law is in effect, and we are sinners, and the wages of sin is death, we have to have Jesus Christ to pay for the sins. And therefore, we establish the law by that very fact that we have to exercise that faith. That faith, justification, justification is of grace through the redemption that is in Christ. Grace makes it possible for one to be justified through faith in the sacrifice of Christ. So repentance and faith are inextricably linked together. Grace makes it possible. And out of active repentance and obedience in faith, it comes to fruition. Just as we read from Galatians 2, we seek to be justified by faith and do not repent. It's in vain. So let's ask the question, do Christians who are under grace sin? Do Christians who are under or who have the Holy Spirit, do they sin?

Any way you want to say it, God in us, Christ in us, Holy Spirit in us, saved by grace, saved by hope, none of these prevent sin. 1 John 1.8 says, if any man says that he is without sin, he's a liar. So all have sinned. And even after we're converted and receive the Holy Spirit, we sin. And God, grace makes it possible that we can have our sins remitted even after we are baptized. And faith is a causative action in the part of the believer. As we've already noted, faith is a gift of the Spirit. As God convicts us, we begin to obey. As we obey, we produce fruit. As a gift of the Spirit, the Spirit and the Lord of God convicts us of sin. And then our response to it produces the fruit. 2. Can one be justified by grace apart from repentance? Answer, no. 3. Can one be justified by faith apart from grace? No. You would not even have the opportunity to repent if it were not for the grace of God, providing the means whereby you can attain unto salvation. So, brethren, I hope that you will take these things to heart, that you yourself will try to systematize. And I am quite sure that you've studied the Bible some during the week, and that you would take sermon notes, and you would try to systematize yourself to make sure that you understand it. And if you don't understand it, ask. Don't ask this. I seldom have a question asked by anyone concerning the Bible from the congregation here. Now, I have people out in Hinterland who write oftentimes those questions you just soon get. But anyhow, in summary, because of God's love and grace, His divine favor, because of God's love and grace, His divine favor, He and the Word developed and established the great plan of salvation. I want us to turn to Romans chapter 4.

Verse 1, What shall we say then, that Abraham, our Father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he has whereof to glory, but not before God. For what says in Scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted or laid to his account, it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.

And so, Abraham believed God and did what he said. That's the simplest definition of faith. Now you look at verse 16. Now I'm going to read this from the Revised Standard Version. Mainly I paraphrase out of the King James in preaching, teaching kind of thing.

But this puts it best. Let's read it, first of all, from the King James. What are we trying to show? Trying to show the relationship of faith and grace, and how that grace makes it possible. That is, the whole plan is of grace. Then we have to exercise faith and do our part. Therefore, it is of faith that it might be by grace. It is of faith that it might be by grace. See, the faith part would not even come into action if the plan and everything there was not present. To the end, the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but that which is also of the faith of Abraham, who is the Father of all. Now, in Galatians 3, you remember it says, if you be in Christ, whether you're Jew, Gentile, male, female, bond-free, if you be in Christ, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Now, reading from the Revised Standard Version, for this reason it depends on faith in order that the promise may rest on grace.

See, the faith would not even that part of it and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents to the law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the Father of us all. And as I mentioned in Galatians 3, that if you be in Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So, brethren, I hope that we will take these things, we will read them, we will study them, and we'll be able, we'll be prepared, we'll be ahead of the game, as it says, that we will know what is necessary for salvation. Remember, the Day of Pentecost, they didn't have the New Testament, they didn't have it. 3,000 souls were added. Now, let's look, we'll close with this of what lies ahead. Matthew 25, 21. Matthew 25, 21. Two verses here. Matthew 25, 21.

His Lord said unto him, Well done, you good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things. I will make you the ruler over many things, enter you into the joy of your Lord. Verse 23. His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things, enter you into the joy of your Lord.