Do Not Become Stuck In The Mud Of Salvation By Works, While Ignoring Faith

Do not become stuck in the mud of

salvation by works, while ignoring faith.

That's our message. The text is taken

from Galatians

3. Are you sure you know how salvation is

obtained? Well there are many who believe

salvation is earned by works. Others

believe it is by grace through faith in

Jesus Christ

alone. Then some others say it is by a

combination of faith and

works. There are so many who've been

duped into believing salvation can be

obtained simply by being a member of a

particular

denomination. And they say that all who

are not a part of that denomination are

doomed. Yet Jesus Christ made the way to

salvation crystal clear to all in John

3:5, when He told

Nicodemus, except a man be born of water

and of the spirit he cannot enter

into the kingdom of

God. How will you circumvent

this? If a spiritual rebirth was not the

way to salvation Christ would not have

said this to

Nicodemus. When we with a genuine heart

repent of our sins we are born of the

spirit. You can be certain that if the

heart of a man is not right in the sight

of God in the first place there can be

no rebirth by water, nor by the the

spirit. The Lord God made this clear

through Samuel His faithful Prophet

thousands of years ago when He said that

man looks at the outward appearance but

God looks at the heart, according to 1st

Samuel 16:7. Therefore the Lord has not

left it

up to a church or an organization to

decide or determine whether someone

should enter His kingdom. He Himself

scans our hearts, and this is why the

Apostle Paul admonishes us to work out

our own salvation with fear and

trembling, according to Philippians 2:12.

In other words do not take it

lightly. Your salvation is not

necessarily a slam dunk. Father we give

you thanks and praise for Your love and

mercy. We pray Your blessing on this

message today. Send it forth under the

anointing of your Holy Spirit. That those

listening may be transformed to right

thinking. We thank You and Praise You In

Jesus Holy name,

amen. In Galatians 3 the Apostle Paul

told the Galatians that they were

foolish and bewitched to go back to

believing that they can earn their

salvation by the works of the law, by

doing certain

things. He begins the chapter by saying

to them that right before your eyes

Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among

you as

crucified. And yes, Satan uses false

teachers to bewitch, to deceive

well-meaning people of God and lead them

astray and some lose their soul as a

result of this. In the case of the

Galatians they had the reports of

first hand witnesses who clearly

explained how Christ had been crucified

to pay off the debt of our sin, and gave

them the free gift of salvation.

And when the Galatians heard this news

initially, they repented of their sins

and joyfully accepted Jesus Christ as

Lord and Savior, and began a new life in

him. But it was not long before those

Jews of the circumcision who were

bogged

down in Salvation by works, deceived them

into walking In the flesh again by

adhering to the teachings of Judaism.

Being careful to be

circumcised. Being careful not to eat

certain things things, while following

the other dead rituals of the

law. The Achilles heel of the law is that

unless you keep every command of the law

you have broken

all. Well here it is in Deuteronomy 27

and 26 where it says, cursed is the one

who does not confirm all the words of

this law by observing them. And all the

people shall say

amen. Anyone my friend friend who does

not fulfill or perform all of the law is

cursed. This truth was reconfirmed by

James 2:10 where he said, whoever keeps

the whole law but stumbles at just one

point is guilty of breaking all of it.

Therefore those under the law are still

under the curse. But those who are under

Christ have been set free from the curse

of the law and whom the Lord sets free

is free indeed. Some have left

Christianity though and gone back to

Judaism. Some have left the freedom of

life in Christ and gone after

denominations that teach salvation based

on works. And this does not make

sense. Galatians

3:11 and Romans 1:17, both make it crystal

clear to us that no one is justified by

the law in the sight of God. In other

words, no one can be saved by following

the law. 2 Corinthians 5:7 Habakkuk 2:4

and

Hebrews 10:38 all tell us that no man is

justified by the law in the sight of God,

because the just shall live by faith, and

all true born again believers in Christ

live by faith. The Apostle Paul is one

who is very qualified to have a

meaningful discussion about salvation by

works, versus salvation by grace, because

from his youth he had perfected the

pursuit of salvation by the works of the

law. Having been brought up in Judaism

and having been taught by Gamaliel, a

renowned

teacher of the Jewish law, he became a

notable expert in the law himself. Not

only was he an expert in the law but he

was zealous for the law and pursued all

those who followed Christ. Attempting to

force them to turn away from Christ and

return to salvation by the Jewish

law. And this meant abandoning salvation

by grace through faith and picking up

salvation through

works. In the past he had railed

violently against any who had been

walking in the spirit of the one true

God, and no longer holding true to the

fleshly teachings of the law. But Paul

had a radical transformation as we all

are aware, when the Lord Jesus Christ

appeared to him on the road to Damascus

and asked as him why was he persecuting

him by railing against those who

believed that salvation came through

Jesus

Christ. When Jesus met the woman of

Samaria at Jacob's well even she had tried

to draw him into a discussion of

salvation by

works. Here's how it played out according

to John 4, she proceeded to tell Christ

that the Samaritans believed that the

correct mountain upon which worship of

the one true God should be conducted was

Mount Gerizim, located in Samaria, and not

Mount Zion which was in Jerusalem. In

other words she was saying the Jews were

lost because they were worshiping at the

wrong mountain. And Jesus Christ set us

straight explaining that first of all

salvation came through the Jewish people

and not through the

Samaritans. This area is called Nablus

today and those of Samaria were claiming

that was the original sanctuary in use

at the time of Joshua. They believed this

place now called Nablus was the place

where Abraham offered his son Isaac as a

sacrifice. Today it is located in the

West Bank and presently under

Palestinian Authority. It is also the

location of recent fighting between

Israel and

Hamas. But on that day Christ made a

great announcement when He said to the

woman. Woman believe Me the hour is

coming

when you will neither on this mountain

nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. You

worship what you do not know. We Jewish

people worship what we know, for

salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is

coming and now is when the true

worshippers will worship the Father in

spirit and truth. For the father is

seeking such to worship Him. God is a

spirit and those who worship Him must

worship Him in spirit and

truth. While there are millions of Jews

in the world today, there are less than a

thousand Samaritans still around

apparently, according to at least one

source. In this instance we see quite

plainly where someone is saying to

Christ Himself. If you do not worship in

the place where we worship then you are

lost. Likewise those sent by the devil to

the Galatians were telling the Galatians

that they were lost because they were

not following the laws of Judaism. And

Jesus Christ was telling the woman at

the well that He was the Eternal

fountain that gives the water of Life

which quenches the thirsty soul. For He

said to her whoever drinks of the water

that I shall give him shall never thirst

but the water that I shall give him will

become in him a fountain of water

springing up into everlasting life. And

He was saying to all who would believe,

that merely following the law will not

lead them to this fountain of living

water who is the Holy Spirit. He was

telling her that while salvation came

through the Jewish people. The new

season

that was coming and which had now

already come through Him. Was a season

in

which the people of the world would

worship the Heavenly Father in spirit

and in truth, which is the only way to

have pure and true

worship. And He said that the Father is

looking for people to worship Him

in this manner. Not just Jewish people

but people everywhere. People who will

truthfully declare their sinfulness,

repent of their sins and receive God's

Holy

Spirit. And thereafter their worship

would be pure ,it would be holy, because

they've been cleansed by the blood of

the Lamb who is Jesus Christ our Lord.

And only in this way are we able to

worship God in spirit and in

truth. But let us turn again

to the discussion that the Apostle Paul

was having with the Galatians, who drank

from this fountain of life. Who through

the Spirit of the Living God had become

a fountain of water, springing up in

their hearts into everlasting life. But

were now returning to walking according

to the law, instead of continuing to walk

and worship God in spirit and in

truth. In Galatians 3:5 he asked them

whether the Lord had used His spirit-led

servant

to work miracles among them and to bring

healing to some of them by the works of

the

law or was it by believing confidently

in the message of faith. For there's no

evidence of miraculous things, miraculous

works happening by simply following the

law at any time in the history of the

world. There's no evidence of fiery

revival bursting forth from those who

simply followed the law.

He then takes the discussion all the way

back to Abraham, the father of all

nations, who lived 2,000 years before His

coming, according to Genesis

15-6. He said the word of God declared

that Abraham believed the Lord when He

told him that his descendants shall be

like the stars in the heavens. And

because Abraham believed this would

happen it was credited to him as

righteousness.

At the time when Abraham was alive the

law was not yet given to Moses, who did

not come along until 430 years later. Yet

we know that Abraham became justified

and righteous for the word of God

declares that he was clothed in

righteousness because he simply believed

God's word. And so today we can be saved

and will be counted as righteous by

simply believing the promises of God

through His Son Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:9 then tells us that those

who believe in salvation through faith

are therefore blessed along with

faithful Abraham and righteous like

him. So how do we put a cap on this

teaching? How do we conclude this

without

discussing the worth and value of works

in the life of the Christian

believer? Well the Apostle Paul in

Galatians 6:9 encourages us not to grow

weary in well-doing?

Telling us and assuring us that in due

time we will reap a harvest if we do not

give up? So clearly this tells us that

works play a role in the life of every

believer in

Christ? For in another place we are told

whatever work we do for the Lord do it

with our entire

being. And do it unto the Lord and not to

be seen by men. So yes there is a very

important part to be played by the works

we do. I will leave you with a great

exaltation, passed on to us by the

Apostle Paul. One of the hardest workers

in the entire history of Christianity,

where he said therefore my beloved

brethren be steadfast, be immovable,

always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Knowing that your labor is not in vain

in the Lord. Yes my

friend be abounding always in the work

of the Lord. Born again believers must

busy themselves in the work of the Lord.

Make your moments, make your minutes,

your

hours, your weeks, your months and your

years count by serving your God, serving

your fellow man in the Kingdom of the

Most High God, until Christ returns with

your reward for faithful work in His

kingdom. But you are saved by grace, it is

a free gift. God bless and keep you in

Jesus name, amen.

You've been listening to this message

and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ

as your Lord and personal Savior. We want

to give you an opportunity to make that

commitment

today. Please engage your heart and say

this prayer after

me. Father I am a

sinner. I'm sorry for all my

sins. Dear Lord I crave your forgiveness.

Please forgive me. Thank you Lord for your

forgiveness. Today I invite Jesus Christ

into my heart. Dear Lord Jesus

make my heart your

home. I give you the key to my heart

because I now belong to you

forever. Please give me the Holy Spirit

to lead me into all

truth. Thank you Lord for saving my soul,

amen. Welcome friend, there are many

here

awaiting the return of the Good Master.

We feel His return is near. In the

meantime we encourage you to become

water baptized as quickly as

possible. Begin reading the word of God

every day, it is your daily food. Begin in

the Book of John, and then go to Matthew,

Mark and Luke reading, audibly as often

as possible. Pray daily, of course attend

at your local church. And one glad

morning the Savior will come and receive

us all unto Himself, and we shall indeed

forever be with the Lord. God bless and

keep you in Jesus mighty name, amen.