New Life in the Gospel

Okay, very good. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Once again, a great blessing to have you with us, worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to invite you, brethren, to please open up your Bibles to the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians chapter two. Today, we are going to continue with a study that we started a couple of weeks ago. If you remember, I said that we are going to be studying biblical salvation for a few weeks. And we started last week, the week before addressing the statement that biblical salvation requires the biblical gospel. We said that two weeks ago.

If we are going to see biblical salvation, we require the biblical gospel. Today, I want us to consider from Ephesians chapter 2, from verse 1 through 10, this statement, and that is that biblical salvation produces a new life. Every time that we come to the scriptures and that we see the work of the Spirit in Christians, biblical saved Christians are the ones who have new life, are the ones who have received the Spirit of God, and now they have new life together with the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to be addressing verses one through verse 3 primarily, but we're going to be touching on verses 4 through 10 on chapter 2 of the book of Ephesians. Once again, brethren, this is a very important topic in the life not only of the life of the Christian, but also in the context of the Church.

biblical salvation, how a person is saved, who is right with God in a biblical way, according to the Scriptures. We are addressing basically here the question of what is genuine salvation, or what is a genuine Christian? We are going to be coming before the Lord that He will help us, guide us, be with us by His Spirit, that He will give us the freedom to speak and also freedom to receive the words. And then we're going to be reading together the first 10 verses of chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2. Let us come before the Lord and let us pray.

Father, we come before you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Once again, Lord, we give you thanks for the mercy that you have given us on this day, that our days have been extended, Lord. Many times we take for granted that we are alive. Many times, Lord, we take for granted that there is one more day, that there is a morning, that there is something that we can do, Lord. I pray that you will give us a heart that is thankful for the fact that you have extended our days and you have given us life.

But more importantly, Lord, we come before you and we praise you and we give you thanks for the eternal life that you have given us through your son, Jesus Christ. We were dead in our sins and our trespasses, and then you gave us life together with Christ Jesus. You raised us up by the power of your Holy Spirit, and you seated us up to the right of the majesty and high. We praise you, Lord, for the great blessing that you have given us. Many times, Lord, we don't understand and comprehend the fullness of the favor that we have received from above.

So I pray, O Lord, that as we have the Scriptures before us, and as we have this book that is called the Scriptures, the Bible, before us, that you will speak to us by your Holy Spirit. We are so weak. We are so feeble. We are so needy. We so easily get distracted with the things of this world.

Our minds so easily go from one place to another. We are so tempted to despair. We are so tempted to be fearful of the things that are to come. and we need of your power, we need of your strength, and we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. So we pray, O Lord, that as we gather here together, that we might not be doing this as a religious exercise that we do by Providence every Sunday, Lord, but rather that we will have urgent necessity in our hearts to hear your Word and to hear of Christ.

There's people here, multiple people here, but Lord, I pray that You will speak to each one of these souls individually by the power of Your Word and through the Holy Spirit. For those who need consolation, I pray, O Lord, that You will bring consolation. For those who need exhortation, I pray, O Lord, that you will bring exhortation. For those who need encouragement, Lord, I pray that you will grant us encouragement, Lord, that we will not look inside and to our circumstances, but that we will look to the completed and finished work of Jesus Christ. I pray, O Lord, that the words that are going to be preached and the things that are going to be said will not only be carried by the Holy Spirit in freedom, but also that they will correspond to truth and to what your will is for your people.

Bless us now, Lord, as we consider biblical salvation. And as we read these verses that we have in the book of Ephesians, I pray that you will bless the brothers, the sisters, the children, the families, the marriages, and everyone within the sound of my voice. We do pray for the brothers and sisters who are not able to be here with us for different reasons. And we even pray, Lord, that you will extend the grace and blessing that you have for us through your Holy Spirit. Bless us, Lord, I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen. Ephesians chapter two, we're going to be reading, as I said, verses one through ten. Today, we're going to be considering this statement, and that is that biblical salvation produces a new life. And I'm getting my words there from verse four. If you pay attention before I read the whole passage, it says, But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive.

together with Christ. That is that those who are saved, biblical salvation produces a new life. That is a life that is together with Christ Jesus. That's everything that I'm going to be saying here from these verses. We're going to read then verses 1 through 10.

This is the word of the Lord, Ephesians chapter 2. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins. in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the earth, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind, but God being rich in mercy, Because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages, He may show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved, through faith.

And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which, good works, God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Amen. This is the reading of God's Word. Now, brothers and sisters, as I said, we are going to continue our series addressing this idea of biblical salvation.

And the statement that we're going to be addressing today is that biblical salvation produces a new life. The reason why I wanted to address this idea of biblical salvation, not only two weeks ago, but the weeks are ahead, it is because biblical salvation is perhaps the most important question that a person should answer in their lifetime. It does not matter how much money we have, it does not matter how much power we have, it does not matter how many years we're going to be on this earth. If we do not have an answer to the question, what is our condition before the Lord, everything that we could have possibly accumulated in this life is going to pass away. And there is going to be one day in which you and me are going to have to give an answer for the life that we have lived.

The books are going to be open. And on that day, the only thing that matters is if we are in Christ Jesus or if we are not. It doesn't matter if we die when we're five years old. It doesn't matter if we die when we're 15, 20, or 100. Every single person will have to come before the Lord to give an account for the life that we have lived, independently of the person or the people that we have met throughout our lives, or the things that we have accomplished.

And that's why it is important that when we ask ourselves this question of what is biblical salvation, that we answer that question from the scriptures and not from the wisdom of men. Why? Because when we go through the scriptures, we realize that the same Paul and the same Lord Jesus Christ says that in the last day there will be many people that will come to speak in the name of the Lord and that they will preach messages that are different to what is contained in the scriptures. That there are going to be people that will preach according to the passions and according to the desires of those who want to hear. That there are going to be people that will tell and preach things that people want to hear, but those messages do not have the power to give eternal life.

That's why two weeks ago the first thing that we addressed and we said that is that biblical salvation requires the biblical gospel. The gospel, the message of Jesus Christ according to the scriptures, is the message, is the means that God has appointed for people to be saved. It is true that God can save someone in Africa, or in South America, or in China, without them hearing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that God has the power to bring life and salvation to that person, but the appointed way that God has ordained for people to be saved is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says in Romans that faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of the Lord.

And that's how faith is initiated, through the word of the Lord. How are they going to hear if there's no one who preaches the word to them? The word or the message of the gospel, it is required for biblical salvation to happen. And it's only the biblical gospel, as we said two weeks ago, the one that brings genuine salvation. That's why we are to be very careful with what we preach, because the message that we are supposed to bring to people is that which is written in the scriptures.

And that message we examined two weeks ago from 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And if you remember there the Apostle Paul says that the gospel is that Jesus Christ came to die for sinners and that he was raised and that he was buried and that he was raised according to the scriptures and that he presented himself to the witnesses so that they will take the Great Commission to the nations. It is that Jesus Christ came to die for sinners. It is true that when a person becomes a Christian, there's blessings that are bestowed upon a person. There's emotional blessings that now I can enjoy, and have peace, and can have freedom, and can have union with my Lord.

But the main reason for which Jesus Christ came to this world was to save sinners. The only begotten Son of the Father, Jesus Christ, came to this world to save sinners. So then that means that if I'm going to be presenting the message of the gospel to people, I want to bring the weight of the Scriptures so that people will know that we are sinners. Not that Christ Jesus came to fix my emotional brokenness or just to fix my relationships, just to fix my marriage or my work relationships or just to fix my emotional brokenness. It is true that when a person genuinely comes to Christ, those things can happen.

But the substance and the heart of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is that Jesus Christ came to die for sinners. So then that means that if a person is genuinely going to come to Jesus Christ, that person is not coming to Christ as someone that is emotionally broken only, or someone that is in need of financial help, or someone that is in need of financial or emotional help, but rather that person is going to come as a sinner in need of forgiveness. because Christ Jesus died upon the cross to pay for our sins. That is the heart of the gospel. And what I said two weeks ago is that to speak about sin is not a popular message because nobody wants to point to you and to myself and to say that we're sinners.

We do not enjoy the fact that we are guilty. We are offended when our sins are exposed. Even when we do something that is wrong and someone catches up you know, doing that, we're caught up, then that means, when we're caught, then that means that we feel offended, we feel estranged within ourselves. Why? Because we do not enjoy being guilty.

But for us to receive the grace and the mercy of forgiveness, we are to know that we are sinners and that we have broken God's commandments. And that's what I want us to focus on today. Biblical salvation produces a new life. And for this new life to be produced, I need to know that I don't have life apart from Christ. For this new life to be given, and for me to understand this new life that I have in Christ Jesus, I need to know that apart from Jesus Christ, that in this connection from Christ Jesus, I'm dead spiritually, and I have nothing.

I need to see my need in order to be able, by God's grace, to see the power of the gospel in saving me. If I believe that I'm righteous and that I'm a victim of this world, and that actually everyone should be on my side, and everyone should please my emotions and my feelings, but they don't, so I'm a victim of the circumstances, I'm emotionally broken, and Jesus Christ comes as this friend who tells me that he loves me and that he gives me everything that I want, then I want this friend. That is not the gospel. Jesus Christ is not the friend that comes to fill your emotional gaps because people have not liked you throughout your life. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

He comes to save sinners. No, He does not come to take righteous people that are just emotionally broken. He comes to save sinners. And when, by the grace of God, a person realizes that they are sinners and that it's only Jesus Christ, the one who can give them eternal life, brothers and sisters, let me submit to you, and this is your own experience through your salvation and what the Lord has done in your life, you have it all. because independently that this life is not going to produce the results that you may want, independently that people will come your way and they may not be what you expect them to be, independently that you may get sick at 40 or 50 and die, independently that you may be weak when you're 50 or 60, independently of the troubles and the difficulties of this life, If you know that your life is hid in Christ, in God, if you know that your name has been written in the book of eternal life, you're going to see all of those things in perspective of the glories of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is what is spiritual maturity.

to learn to see this world through the lenses of the fact that we have been forgiven by God's grace through the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and independently of what comes my way in these 40, 50, 60, 80, 100 years that I have in this earth, God has appointed for me something greater than this 60, 70, 80, or 100 years. And that something greater is eternal life in Christ Jesus. An eternal life that does not start when He comes, but an eternal life that starts when a person, by grace through faith, is united to Jesus Christ. Biblical salvation produces a new life. Biblical salvation, a person that is generally transformed, is transformed in their life, they receive the life of Jesus Christ.

And that is what I want us to consider here from these verses that we have before us. I'm going to focus primarily in pointing to you and to myself. What is the absence? What are we before we receive that life? Because once again, just as we cannot see the brightness of the stars at night, if it's not because of the darkness of night, the stars have not gone anywhere.

They're still there. You cannot see them because of the light of the day. But at night, when the darkness is there, then you can see the brightness of the light of the moon and of the stars that are still there, because the sun is not there. So for us to be able to see the brightness of the message of the gospel and the light that we can have in Christ, we ought to see the darkness of our natural condition apart from Jesus Christ. And I know that this might be a little bit of a difficult and heavy topic to speak about the natural condition of men, but let me submit to you, brethren, that the gospel is greater in joy and in peace given to us when we remember from where we have been taken.

It is so easy for human nature just to get used to the blessings and to the things that we have. We even believe that we deserve them and we want more of them because we deserve them. But it only takes breath and that by the Spirit we'll remember what we actually deserve. and from where we have been taken so that we will understand not only salvation in perspective of that but our day today. Let me submit to you in the onset of this message that what we deserve we have not received.

What we, what you and me deserve, we have not received. Even people who are outside of Christ Jesus right now and are denying the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they have not received what they deserve. And the question is not so much why they have not come to Christ, the question is why they have not received what they deserve. But there's an answer for that. There is going to be one day in which everyone will receive what they deserve.

And brethren, all of us, those who are here present and those who are outside of this venue, receive the wrath of God upon ourselves because of the sins that we have committed against the Lord. And it's only the mercy of the Lord, the one that has given us life. I want us to do a couple of things from this text that we have before us. The first, in order for us to understand that biblical salvation produces life, we need to see the opposite of the life that we receive. And that is going to be the natural condition of man.

First, I want us to consider together the natural condition of men. We're going to be doing that from verses 1-3, and I suppose that this is going to be most of the time that we're going to be spending here. Once we present what is the natural condition of men and women, of course, I'm speaking about humans, I'm not speaking only about the brothers, I'm speaking about humanity, the natural condition of humanity from verse 1 through 3. Then I want us to briefly see the gift of life that we receive through the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in verse 4, but God being rich in mercy with the great love which he loved us, he has made us alive together with Christ.

We're going to see the natural condition of man, and then we're going to see the great blessing that we receive of life. When we study these things and when we consider these things, my dear brother and sister, it is so easy for us to understand or to study this topic in an abstract way. He's not speaking about myself. He's speaking about humanity in a general sense. He's not speaking about me here.

He's speaking about someone else. Certainly he's speaking about those people who openly sin against the Lord and who have a very unrighteous life. But let me submit to you, that from verses 1 through 3, you and me are there, at least when we were before Christ. And if there's anyone within the sound of my voice that is not generally in Christ, then what we are going to be reading here is your present condition before the Lord. So then when a person is baptized, as we're going to be witnessing today, we're not only witnessing the profession of faith of a person, but we're seeing a miracle that has taken place.

that this person that was naturally in a condition of sin has been saved by the grace of the Lord. And I hope that our eyes were opened sufficiently to this glorious reality, that we will see that when many people are asking for miracles and for signs and for people to fall on the ground and to people to have certain manifestations, that the greatest miracle that happens before the Lord Jesus Christ comes is the miracle of salvation. that when a person was dead in their sins or their trespasses, now they are given life through the Lord Jesus Christ. First, we're going to consider the natural condition of men. We're going to be making a few statements there, and then we're going to be speaking about the gift that is given to us.

Let us just read verses 1-3, and then we will speak about this natural condition of men. Let us read together once again verses 1-3. This is the natural condition of humanity apart from Jesus Christ. Verse 1, were dead in their trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom, that is the sons of disobedience, We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Here, very clearly, the natural condition of humanity is that we are spiritually dead.

Actually, that is going to be the main point of the Apostle Paul in these 10 verses. He is going to compare the natural condition of man, that is spiritually dead, with the free gift that God gives us, and that is spiritually alive. We have been made alive together with Christ Jesus. Spiritually And when you actually come and see through the book of Ephesians, which by the way, we're going to be studying in the following term for the Bible studies that we have on Wednesdays. When you come and see the book of Ephesians, then you realize that to be spiritually deaf, it is equal to be disconnected from the Lord.

To be spiritually dead is equal to be disconnected from the Lord. How do we know that? We know that because when the Apostle is presented to be spiritually alive, he's going to be very carefully connected to be spiritually alive, to be in Christ Jesus. Pay attention to verse four. When the Apostle is speaking about to be spiritually alive, he connects this with the idea of being in Christ Jesus.

Verse four, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved but pay attention to six and raised us up with Him, that is Christ, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that the coming ages He may show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. To be spiritually alive is to be spiritually united to Christ Jesus. So we know, also from Ephesians 1, that to be spiritually dead is to be disconnected, in separation from God. That is actually what happened in the garden, you remember? Adam and Eve, they sinned in entering into the world, and the result of what happened in the garden was separation.

There was a separation of men from the Lord, but we don't actually comprehend the seriousness of what it is to be separated naturally from God, because, brothers and sisters, James 1 says that every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above. from the Father of life with whom there's no variation or no shadow of turning. Everything that is good, everything that is righteous, everything that is perfect comes from the Lord. And if we are separated naturally from the Lord, then that means that we cannot have anything good in us because we are not connected to the fountain of life. We are not connected to the fountain of righteousness.

Just as when you plant a plant, in a soil that is not good, that is thorny or that is rocky, that plant is going to produce fruit according to the type of soil in which it is planted. And when you have a plant and you plant it in good soil, and it's going to produce good fruit because of the soil, so we, disconnected from the fountain of life that is God himself, cannot produce anything that is righteous, cannot produce anything that is good, cannot produce anything that is according to the will of the Lord. And what the apostle is telling us here, my dear brother and sister, is that the natural condition of humanity, it is in separation from God, that the Christian is in union with Christ, and that the non-Christian is dead in their sins and their trespasses. And to be disconnected from God does not mean that we are empty, does not mean that the Christian that is connected with Jesus is filled with righteousness, but that the one that is disconnected from Jesus is empty. The one that is disconnected from God is filled with that which is opposite to the things of the Lord.

So if God is the fountain of righteousness, because by nature we are disconnected from the Lord, then we are filled with unrighteousness. If God is the fountain of light, then because of our disconnection from the Lord, then we are filled with darkness. So to be disconnected from the Lord is going to be manifested in a life of sin. And that is what the Apostle says there in verse 1 once again. If you pay attention there to verse 3, it says, To be disconnected spiritually from the Lord, to be dead, it is to be condemned to live a life of slavery to sin.

Actually, the point that the apostle is going to make here is this, that those who are spiritually dead will walk and live in sin, and those who are spiritually alive in Christ Jesus will walk in the good works that God has prepared for them before the foundation of the world. That is the comparison that Paul is making in these 10 verses. So that is that the human nature, by nature, not by choice, just by reason of being conceived in our mother's womb, it is in this connection from the Lord. And that this connection makes me unrighteous in practice. It's not that I'm born and then I choose.

It is that my condition is already separated from the Lord. And this is going to be manifested when I grow up and then I have the power to choose and to decide that I'm going to choose that which is contrary to the Lord, that I'm going to choose that which is sinful, that I'm going to choose according to my passions, that I'm going to put myself as the king of my own life, and that every single relationship that I'm going to have will be for me to be fully satisfied. I'm going to be taken from people, making them believe that I'm giving something to them. Why? Because I'm the king of my own life.

and I want to be enthroned in that life. That is the natural condition of men. And brethren, once again, these words, I'm just saying them, but these are the words that the Apostle mentions. That is the natural condition of humanity. He says in the end of verse 3 that we are children of wrath like the rest of mankind, and he says that this is by nature.

Literally what it means there by nature is according to the set order or according to the set law. What the apostle says is that because we're spiritually dead and we are disconnected from the Lord, we are all in this course of this world by nature. It does not matter how beautiful a baby is when they are conceived in a mother's womb. It does not matter how tender they look when they are born, and their faces so soft and their voices so tender. And then it does not matter how many emotions they produce within ourselves just to see the tenderness of a kid, of a child.

They have been born in a fallen world, and because they have been born and conceived in a fallen world, they are disconnected from the Lord. And because they are disconnected from the Lord, they are sinful in nature, and they are going to grow up to be sinners. We do not sin because of the circumstances around us. We sin because of what is going on inside of us. That is the nature that it is within us.

The only two people that were conceived and outside of this system of fallen nature is first, Adam, and then second, the Lord Jesus Christ. The first Adam, he was conceived sinless, you remember in the garden? He was without sin, and then sin entered into the world through the disobedience of Adam. And the other Adam, the second Adam, or the last Adam, Jesus Christ, is the one that is conceived without sin. Both of them, when you read Luke 1 and Luke 3, you will realize that they are called the sons of God.

Adam was the son of God, and Jesus Christ is the son of God. And when you see how they were conceived, they were conceived of the Spirit. Jesus Christ, Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 1 and 3, he was conceived of the Spirit. The power of the Almighty, of her shadow Virgin Mary, and he was conceived of the Spirit. The reason why Jesus Christ is not sinful, it is not because Mary was sinless, but it was because he was conceived of the Spirit.

It's not the means that gives Jesus or Adam sinlessness, it is the source that gives them sinlessness. That is that Adam was conceived of God, and Jesus Christ was conceived of God. He was of the Spirit. Apart from the first Adam, and apart from the second Adam or the last Adam, Jesus Christ Everyone else is born under the fallen system of this world. All of us are born under the system of Adam.

We belong to Adam and we are described in what we have here. That's why salvation, brethren, is a miracle because we do not have the power to in and of ourselves to undo the deafness that is natural to us. We don't have in and of ourselves the power to undo the corruption that is in and of ourselves. I do not have the power to undo the corruption that is within your heart. It is only Jesus Christ.

That's why the proclamation of the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ should clearly present what is the condition of men according to the scriptures and what is the only solution that we have in the person of Jesus Christ. Because if we are going to add to that, that we are disconnected from the Lord and that we are sinners, actively sinners, walking in walks of unrighteousness, if we add to what we have here, then we see that those who are by nature disconnected from the Lord have the spirit of Satan working within them. It doesn't get any better. It gets worse. Pay attention to what he says in verse 2.

following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work inside of the sons of disobedience, among whom, that is, the sons of disobedience in which the spirit of this world was working, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. It does not get any better. It gets worse, brethren. The condition of humanity is such that through the sin that entered through Adam in the garden, all the cosmos has been corrupted. And every person that is born under this system of corruption is naturally partaker of that system of corruption.

There's no homeschooling that is going to remove that from our kids. There's no program that is going to remove that from our kids. There is no system, there's no country in which we can move and live that is going to take that away from our kids or from our people. The only one who is able to provide the miracle of life is God Himself. So then when a person, or when a church, or when a professing Christian proclaims a message that is different to that problem and to that solution, we are not providing the solution for the real problem that we have.

When we downgrade the gospel to, you're emotionally broken, or you can come and have money and have people, or your relationships are going to be fixed, or you will be rich and you will have prosperity. But when we reduce down the message of the gospel, are you lacking joy? Are you lacking peace? Are you lacking, you know, all of these emotions? And we reduce the message of the gospel down to that, then we are appealing to the emotions of a person that is dead.

And the Bible tells us that the emotions of those who are dead are according to the system of this world. Imagine someone wanting to appease the emotions of those who are dead in their sins and their trespasses at the expense of submitting of what is written in the scriptures. That's why for the church in first Corinthians and all the churches in the first century, the message of the gospel is not only foolishness, but the apostle also says that it's offensive to the flesh, because the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ exposes who we really are, so that we are able to see that Jesus Christ has loved us and that he has given himself up for us upon the cross. So then he's not only my friend and appendix to my life that I bring out of my pocket every time that I'm in need or every time that I don't feel very well, but Jesus Christ now is the savior and he's my rescuer. It is the one who guides my life.

That is the condition of the human. But there's a very important question and I have a little bit of time, so let me just ask this question. How is this natural condition of fallenness, how is this natural condition of being sinners manifested in the world? Because when you read these verses one, two, three, and when you read things such as verse three, we all once live in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and we're by nature children of wrath. I don't know if this happens to you, but it happens to me, that when I read all of those difficult words, I imagine Sodom and Gomorrah.

I imagine parties, and I imagine sexual activity, and I imagine all of these sinful practices openly happening in the world. That is what I imagine when I read those very difficult words. But when I actually go and see to the world, I don't see that happening in every single place. There's actually some people who are not Christians, who deny Christ, who seem to live actually good life. There are certain people actually that seem to have a better or godlier life than many Christians.

Actually, when I look to the world, yes, I do see corruption, I do see unrighteousness, and I do see all of those types of things, but I also see that there are many people that are not Christians who, according to my standard, It will be very difficult for me to put them into this category of what I'm reading here from verses one through three. So how is this condition of men manifested? Is this that it's going to be Sodom and Gomorrah and there's going to be parties and all of this and righteousness happening in the world? How is this going to be manifested? Well, the Bible tells us that it's manifested in many different ways.

Actually, to be a sinner is to be a breaker of the law. So whoever breaks the law of the Lord is a sinner. But there is something more foundational to the heart of the person in which the unrighteousness of this world is going to be manifested. And that is going to be summarized in only one word, and that word is faithlessness. The corruption of this world is primarily manifested in faithlessness in the heart.

I'm taking this from Romans chapter 14. You remember this passage here. If you come with me to Romans chapter 14, In Romans chapter 14, the apostle is going to give us insight into the sinful behavior that can happen even within the context of the church, but here we have insight into what sinful behavior can actually be in general. Romans chapter 14. If you remember, the Apostle Paul is addressing the problems that were happening in the context of the Roman Church.

There were some people that were observing the Sabbath, and there were some people that were eating certain foods. And then the Apostle is going to come to try to mediate and to fix this problem that was happening in the Roman Church, and he's going to tell them basically this. That the solution to the problem is not to focus on that which is external, whether you observe the day or don't observe the day, or you eat the food or don't eat the food. But the solution to the thing is your heart. That if you eat the food as unto the Lord, or that you don't eat the food as unto the Lord.

that you do the things that you do or that you don't as unto the Lord. That is that the intention of the action is that which is most important before the Lord. Why? Because you can do the right thing externally, and if you don't have the right intention internally, then that which you do externally is going to lack the substance. Why?

Because God can see the intention of your heart. So the conclusion to which the Apostle is going to arrive is this, that thou which is not coming from faith is sin. That thou which I do, whatever I do, that is not coming from faith is going to be sinful in nature. Let us just read from verse 20 until verse 23, where the Apostle is going to give us that insight. It says in verse 20, do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God.

Everything is indeed clean. but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves, but whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats if he eats, because the eating is not from faith."

And this is just a statement that I want us to pay attention to. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Whatever is not originated in faith in the eyes of God, that is what is going to be considered to be sinful. It is true that when I see this world, I'm going to see people that they seem to be righteous, that they seem to be godly, that they might seem to have even a better morally life than the ones that many Christians can have. It is true that there may be certain people that they deny Christ Jesus, but they have committed themselves to good morals and to good ethics, and then they live their lives, even perhaps under Christian principles, while they deny the Lord Jesus Christ.

But the truth is this. I do not need to see with my human eyes acts of unrighteousness to which I feel offended or that I don't want to see. It is only for me to know that a person denies the Lord Jesus Christ in their heart, for me to know that before the eyes of the Lord, whatever that person does is going to be considered sinful. This teaches us something very important, and that is that the things that we do are not measured for the externality of the things that we do, but the things that we do are measured in the eyes of the Lord for the intention and the spiritual substance of that which is going on in the heart. And the only way that we can please the Lord is by having faith in Him through the Lord Jesus Christ.

It says in Hebrews 11 verse 6 that without faith it is impossible to please the Lord. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ in the heart, it is only by knowing that God sent His Son to die upon the cross, it is by acknowledging the only true God, it is by acknowledging the only true living God, that I can be connected to him and be recipient of his righteousness, and the outflow of that will be that in his grace and in his mercy he will allow me to act according to the faith that he has given me. Righteousness is only found in Christ, not in the act itself. You might be given to the poor, but if the reason why you're given to the poor, it is not because of Jesus Christ and what God has done and has revealed in the scriptures. If we are not doing the good work with the intention of faith assigned to the Lord, then that good work that might be seen in the eyes of men is not a good work in the eyes of God.

For whether we eat or drink, we are to do everything for? the glory of the Lord. 1 Corinthians, right? Whether we eat or drink, we are to do everything for the glory of the Lord. This teaches us that the situation of humanity is not one of actions and deeds, but the situation of humanity and the problem of humanity is one of the heart.

in addressing the heart. Addressing that which is very deep to the life of the person can only be done through a spiritual means, and that is the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it is important that we understand that our deeds, our actions, are measured not so much in the externality of them, but in the heart for many reasons. First, because we understand that righteousness is only spiritual, and it's in the heart. But second, because if we want to pursue righteousness, We are not to pursue the right thing to do.

We are to pursue the person that tells us what is the right thing to do. There is a difference between having a problem with a lying mouth and wanting to pursue to have a mouth that tells always the truth. If you're pursuing and you're telling yourself, I want to tell the truth, I want to tell the truth, I want to tell the truth, then you're going to find yourself sometimes telling the truth and not lying. But that is different to pursuing the one who is truth. Pursuing the one Jesus Christ who came to this world to die upon the cross for liars like me.

It is different to pursue the Savior Jesus Christ who is the substance of truth and in him is not life. When I pursue him, then in him I'm going to find the power for me to speak the truth. And that victory that he gives me in pursuing him is more spiritually grounded and is going to give me victory over that sin because I'm pursuing him. This is the fight of the good fight that Paul was speaking to Timothy. If you come with me to first Timothy chapter six, it's very interesting how the apostle in instructing Timothy in his pursuit of righteousness is going to refer to this as the good fight of the faith, the good fight of the faith.

We are not to pursue things because the thinking of themselves, we are to pursue the giver of these things. It says in 1 Timothy chapter six, you may remember that within the context of the church there at Ephesus, there were some false teachers. And these false teachers were, you know, like they loved money and they loved, you know, many other unrighteous things. And then Paul is going to tell Timothy that he's not to pursue those ungodly ways. So it says in verse six, chapter six, verse six, it says, But godliness, Paul to Timothy, but godliness with contentment is great gain, speaking about money.

For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

But this is what I want you to pay attention to, the instruction that Paul now gives to Timothy in verse 11. But as for you, O men of God, But as for you, O men of God, flee these things." Right? Flee the desire to have money. Flee all of these physical, material things.

And why would we think that Paul is going to stop there? Just flee from those sins. But instead of saying just flee from those things that are unrighteous, Paul is going to tell Timothy to pursue something else. And then he says, And then he calls this fight the good fight of the faith. take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

What Paul says to Timothy, that is, that in his fight for all of these temptations that are present in life, the temptations that many false teachers have fall into, the temptations of money, that he's to flee those temptations, that he's to flee those, but as he's fleeing from those, he's to pursue righteousness, that he's to pursue godliness. faith, and love. The pursuer of those things is one person, and that person is Jesus Christ. Righteousness, and love, and faith, they are not abstract things that exist in this connection from Jesus. When we pursue Jesus, in Him our faith is strengthened, and in the strengthening of our faith, we're not only able to flee from the temptations of this world, but we're able to walk according to the commandments of the Lord.

This happens only when the person has received life that comes from above. Apart from the Holy Spirit operating this in our hearts, brothers and sisters, the natural condition of men is one, that we are separated from God, and hence we are spiritually dead. Because of this disconnection that we have with God, we have our hearts filled with unrighteousness, and this is going to be manifested in sin. This is the natural condition of men. We are following the course of this world.

the prince of the power of the earth, that is Satan, and the life of the natural person, it is not only going to be disconnected from God, but it's going to be a faithless life. Disconnected from God. That's why salvation is by Faith, because it is when faith comes to the heart of a person, then this person's eyes are open to see God, who I am, what the gospel represents, and new life is given. The natural condition of man is faithlessness. So even though we might be tempted to see with our eyes that people are doing good things, the problem is not in the things that they do or don't do externally.

The problem is a problem of the heart. And if we do not preach a message, brothers and sisters, that address the matters of the heart, how would people know? If we reduce down the message of the gospel to external things, to emotional things, to practical things, to good morals and good practice, if we reduce the message of Christianity to external practices, we are not addressing the issues of the heart. And if we are not addressing the issues of the heart, you know what the problem is? Perhaps we might have many people following us.

But when those people come to the end of the days and they are presented before the Lord, there is a great chance that they will say, Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do mighty works in your names? And the Lord will say to them, depart from me, ye workers of inequity. But Lord, we went to church every Sunday.

But Lord, we did all of these mighty works in your name. Many times depart from me, you workers of inequity. Why? Because those who will enter into the kingdom of heaven are those who do the will of the Father. And the will of the Father is that they will believe in the one whom the Father sent.

Faith, faithfulness in the heart, is that which gives me entrance into the eternal life that is found only in Christ Jesus. apart from faith that is begotten by the word of the Lord, then the person is in the natural condition of death, a spiritual death. That's why the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes So brother and sister, when we see the baptism of a brother or a sister, even though we are seeing with our eyes an external thing that is happening, someone going into the water and coming out of the water, what has taken place in the life of that person is that that person has been inserted into the life of Jesus Christ, buried with Jesus Christ, Romans chapter 6, Colossians chapter 2. And that person has been resurrected in union with Jesus Christ. That person was dead.

And now this person is alive. That person was disconnected from God, and now this person is in Christ Jesus. That person was guilty before the Lord. Now this person has been forgiven. This person was a slave to the system of this world.

This person now is free in Christ Jesus. This person was dead. Now this person is alive, and not because this person was good, not because this person committed good or did good works, not because of the church that this person attends, not because of the things that this person knows, but purely because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that is what a passage says, and with this I finish. If you return to verse 4 of chapter 2, It says a beautiful, powerful, but we were dead in our sins and our trespasses.

We were disconnected from the Lord. We were carrying out the desires of our flesh. We were sinners and we were in enmity with the Lord, but he says in verse four, but God being rich in mercy, Ephesians 2, verse 4, But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. It says, but God. It does not say, but men.

Why? Because men are not able to give life to the one that is dead. It says, but God. It does not say, but the church. Why?

Because the church is not able to give life to the one that is dead. It says, but God, not the government. Why? Because the government is not able to give life to the one that is dead. It is only God the one that is able to give life to the one that is dead.

And that's why the mission of the church is not to do things, it is to bring the truth of God that is contained in the scriptures to bear fruit and to be into the hearts of people. Why? Because it is the message of God, the one that produces fruit in the heart of the sinner. It is God the one who gives life. And the way that he gives life, it is not just simply by plugging you into an eternal source of life.

It's not like you were dead, like a robot, and now you are connected into a power point that is eternally going to provide to you energy to keep you going for the rest of eternity. No. Eternal life is not life only, it is the life of Jesus Christ, because we're told there in verse 5 that it's together with Christ Jesus. The way that we are rescued from our natural death, earthly death, it is by being translated into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, in which we receive the life of Jesus himself. To be a Christian, to be biblically saved, it is to have received the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's why to be a Christian, Paul says in Romans chapter 9, it is to be, Romans chapter 8, it is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Because if I have the life of Christ in me, then that which is going to be produced within me is Christ Jesus himself. The Christian is not saved to become a better version of themselves. The Christian is not saved to become a better citizen. The Christian is not saved to become a better friend or a better brother.

We do become those things. But the center of the message of the gospel is that we were spiritually dead in our sins and our trespasses. And when the grace of the Lord manifested for us, God saved us and gave us the life of his son. And that is a miracle, a transformation that takes place in the heart. And from that moment, that person is going to initiate a path of conformity to Jesus Christ.

All of that is by grace through faith alone. not by works that nobody will boast, the Apostle says here. Why? Because there's no work of men that can revive the one that is death. There is no accumulation of good works that we can bring from all generations and all peoples and accumulate all of these good deeds that we have done, Lord.

Perhaps all of this accumulation of good deeds will bring salvation to this soul. There's no good work that can bring salvation to a person only the grace of the Lord and the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And once a person has received the transforming grace of God, then the works that God prepared beforehand, verse 10, are the ones in which we are going to walk. The spiritually dead that is disconnected from the Lord, verse 1 through 3, has unrighteousness in them, and they walk and live in sin. That is their natural condition.

But when the grace of God is manifested, and they are rescued from death into life, now this person receives the life of Jesus Christ, and before eternity began, God had appointed good works in which this person was going to walk. The good works are not the result of the goodness of the person. The good works are the result of the grace, eternal grace of God that was appointed for those who were going to be in Jesus Christ. So good works are going to be a sign that the person has been a recipient of the grace of the Lord. We have in verse 10 or in verse 8, for by grace you have been saved through faith.

And this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God. not a result of works, so that no one may boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." As I said two weeks ago, are good works required for salvation? They are not.

but they are present in a biblical salvation. Why? Because God has appointed this the way to be for people to be saved. When the grace of the Lord is operating in a person, it is going to be manifested generally. Why am I so passionate about this?

I'm passionate about this for a very simple verse that I pointed to you last week, and with this I finish. Come with me to 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse of 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy 4, the reason why I am so insistent about this is because of this, brethren. 2 Timothy 4, verse 1, I charge you in the presence of God, 2 Timothy 4, verse 1, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. Why? Verse 3. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching.

By having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. Just two things, and with this I finish. Please pay attention that the sound teaching is meant to be endured. You see there verse three? For the time is coming when people will not endure.

sound teaching, is that they will not be able to put themselves under sound teaching. And the idea here is that the soundness of the teaching of the Word of God is going to be offensive to our flesh, because once again, we don't like to be pointed out to the fact that we're sinners or that we're broken. We want to be right, we want to be followed, we want to be okay, and we want to be accepted. This is the natural condition of men. But the word of the Lord is a two-edged sword that comes to separate and divide, to expose.

And the exposing of what it is inside, we might take it as, oh, I don't like that. But actually, this is a grace of the Lord. Because when a person sees what they did not see before, now they know what the problem is. But if a person is blind and they remain blind, They might be ignorant of the problem, but that is not going to remove the problem, as it happens in life. If I have a problem with my wife, I'm not going to put my head under the pillow and thinking that this is going to remove the problem away.

The problem is going to continue there, because the problem needs to be solved. And then that means that we don't like the confrontation of the Word of God to our hearts. So then that means that sound teaching is to endure. But sound teaching is the one that purifies, brethren. Sound teaching is the one that points us to Christ Jesus.

And if we don't endure sound teaching, you know what our flesh is going to lead us to do? To accumulate unto ourselves teachers, to suit our own passions, and turn away from listening to truth and wander off into myths. And the passions of humanity have been described in Ephesians chapter 2. Remember? Verse 1 through 3?

The passions, the broken, fallen passions of humanity. If we act according to our own passions, we're not acting according to the will of the Lord. Biblical salvation requires the biblical gospel. And biblical salvation, brethren, produces a new life. Why?

Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. And salvation is by no means difficult. It is by no means difficult. What it does is a miracle that cannot be done by human effort, but by no means salvation is difficult. Salvation is this, that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

And if there's anyone among us who, knowing that they are sinners, that they would describe their inefficiencies after 2, verses 1 through 3, that they were dead in their sins, that they're dead in their sins and their trespasses, the only solution to their problem is, now that they come to this church, now that they do certain religious things, that they will repent of their sins, and place their faith in Jesus Christ, knowing that he came to die to take upon himself the wrath that we deserve, so that by trusting in him, I'm not recipient of the hell that I deserve, but rather I'm recipient of the mercy that only comes through Jesus Christ. And in that way, I am forgiven of my sins. Am I going to be benefited emotionally out of this? Of course I will receive the fruit of the spirit of joy and peace, but my problem is not my emotional brokenness. My problem is not that I don't have enough money.

My problem is not that I don't have properties. My problem is not prosperity or lack of it. My problem is that I'm a sinner. And the only one who can solve the problem of the sinner is Jesus Christ by his grace. This is the glorious message of the gospel.

And this is the glorious message of peace. That it does not matter what happens in our life in these 56 or 100 years that we have. If our names are written in the book of the Lamb of God, brethren, we have it all. We have it all. And in Him we can rest.

He will take us. He will teach us. And through His Word, He will strengthen us. And when we're broken, He will lift us up. And then when we are down, He will be the one that comes with His Word and gives us direction.

If we have been begotten from above, The Father will complete the work that he has started in us. And that is the consolation that we have. That even when I failed to the uttermost of the ground, even when I failed in the most horrible way, if I'm in the hands of the Lord, he will bring completion to the work that he has started. And in that, brethren, there is peace and there is much rest. to him be all the glory because he's the one who came to this world to die upon the cross to set sinners free amen amen let us pray father we give you thanks for the message of the gospel and for the goodness of your word I pray, O Lord, that you will bless us, Lord, with the truths that we have read and the things that we have considered in the scriptures.

You are so good to us, Lord, and you're so merciful to us, Lord. And many times we don't fully comprehend, don't understand your ways. We are so easily deviated. We are so easily distracted, Lord. We praise you, Lord, for what you have done.

And now we are going to witness the baptism of Halle, Lord. We praise you and we give you thanks for what you've done for her and what you have done for us. Lord, I pray that you will help us, Lord, to remember the day of our salvation as we hear and as we see the testimony of our sister and as we visibly see the union that she has now with Christ Jesus into going into the watery grave and being resurrected by the same power that resurrected the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray that as we witness this, you will strengthen us in our faith, that you will fill us with joy, that you will point us to Christ. We give you thanks.

Lord, for the life of Hallie and of her family, Lord, and everything that you've done in her. We pray, Lord, that as we celebrate this moment with her, that you will receive all the glory and that you will be exalted about everything and everyone. We praise you and we give you thanks, and it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.