Salvation through faith. Not salvation by faith. By grace are you saved through faith. Faith is the channel. Section number one. Man was lost through unbelief. Genesis chapter three, verses one to five, remember Satan questioned God by saying, have God said, And then finally, by contradicting God, we said, ye shall not surely die. A, he is the father of lies, John eight forty-four. And B, he is the deceiver, Revelation twenty and ten. In contrast to God who is true, the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, I am the truth. Satan is the father of lies and the deceiver. He is a liar and the father of it, John the forty-four said. Number two, our first parents believed the lie. A, Eve was deceived. First Timothy two, fourteen. And B, Adam chose to sin. Romans five and nineteen. Now both are unbelief. She would not have been deceived if she had remembered that God is true. And Adam would not have sinned if he had chosen to believe God. Evidently he didn't see any other way out of this situation. If he was going to retain his wife, he had to go along with her. He could have trusted God, but he chose to see him. On number three, unbelief is now part of our fallen nature. Second Timothy, three-thirteen, says evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And the whole world... works at this thing of deceiving each other. The government is constantly investigating advertising because it is deceptive and undependable. The problem between husbands and wives because they are not true. They are not honest with each other. The world is filled with this thing. Historically, John five, that is, this is part of our fallen nature historically. And John five, forty-six and forty-seven, the Lord Jesus said, if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. The children of Israel never did believe God. They never believed what God told them through Moses in the Old Testament. And they didn't believe God when he spoke to them through his son in the New Testament. So it's a historical evil. And B, it is by choice. Second Thessalonians two, ten to twelve, says that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. It's a deliberate choice to reject what God says and to believe the lie. Now when the Antichrist comes, according to that same second chapter, the world will be a pushover for his lies because they've already rejected the truth and they will gladly believe the lie. Our Savior said this. He said, I come to you and I come in the name of the Father and I tell you the truth and you don't believe me. But he said another will come in his own name and you will believe him. And this of course will be the Antichrist. So man was lost through unbelief. Now the second section, salvation was through faith before Christ. I want to stress this because there seems to be a strong tendency on the part of people to believe that salvation was some other way before the cross. number one it was never by the works of the law Galatians three nineteen twenty two says the law was added because of transgressions and the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ King James version says to bring us to Christ but but it was the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ the word schoolmaster there is really the the slave who saw that the child got to school. It would be more like our truant officer today. The law forced man to face up to his sinfulness so that when Christ came, there was no longer any reason for the schoolmaster. A, with the moral law came ceremonial law, Exodus twenty. Now the reason I've stressed this is because there are certain groups such as the Seventh-day Adventists who tell you that the ceremonial law has been done away with, but that the moral law is still anything. There was never any such thing as the moral law without the ceremonial law. Never. The twentieth chapter of Exodus gives you the Ten Commandments. Now how does the chapter end? It ends by giving you the specifications for building an altar so that you can offer a sacrifice. The very minute that you present the Ten Commandments, you've got to have an altar and a sacrifice because the commandments condemn them. Nobody was ever saved by keeping the law. B, the commandments were kept in the ark. Exodus forty in verse twenty. The only people who dared to lift the lid and peek into the ark to see that their commandments were struck dead. And yet here people today bring them out and say, this is the way of salvation. Or if they don't say that, they say, this is the standard of living for Christians after they're saved. And both are wrong. The whole book of Hebrews was written to show that the Jews are no longer under the law. And the book of Galatians was written to show that the Gentiles never were. And with two books like that in the Bible, we still got most of the preaching in the churches today emphasizing the law. And see, the blood was always upon the mercy seat. In Leviticus XVI, you have the story of the day of atonement the one day in the year in which the high priest went into the holy of holies he was never to enter in without blood so the blood was always upon the mercy seat salvation was never by the works of the law it was always by sacrifice and by anticipation of the great sacrifice which was to come now number two Faith was required in the Old Testament. And I give some examples of this. A. Second Chronicles twenty and twenty. He said, Believe in the Lord and ye shall be established. If you put your trust in the Lord, if you'll believe in him, you'll be established. Now the opposite of this is stated in Isaiah seven, nine to fourteen. He said, if you will not believe, you shall not be established. It's very much the same as what you have in first John five. He that believeth on the sun is not condemned. Well, that's John three. And he that believeth not is condemned already. First John five says, he that hath the sun hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not lied. So you have in these same statements in the Old Testament, in these statements you have the same truth. And see Isaiah fifty-three, one says, Who hath believed our report? And then he proceeds to give in that wonderful fifty-third chapter of Isaiah a preview of the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is so obvious that the rabbis have adopted the policy now of never reading the fifty-third of Isaiah in the synagogue. They always go from fifty-two to fifty-four. Pass over this because they say it causes too many questions and too much problems. It's very apparent, aside from the fact that Philip used it as the basis for his sermon to the eunuch in the eighth of Acts, it's very obvious to anyone who reads it that the fifty-third of Isaiah is about the Lord Jesus and his sufferings. So they were saved before the cross in exactly the same way that we were saved since the cross, except that they looked ahead and we look back. Now, number three, examples of salvation through faith. A, Abel. Hebrews eleven, four. By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than King, it says. Be Abraham. In Genesis fifteen and six, he says, Abraham believed God and was counted unto him for righteousness. And this is quoted in the fourth chapter of Romans in verse three. This is one of the outstanding examples. In fact, this is used as the basis for the argument for salvation by grace through faith in the fourth and fifth chapters of Romans. And see, you have the example of Ruth in Ruth two. Now you have verse fourteen here, and I have twelve in mine. Let me check that, see which one is correct. Anyway, you can find it when you when you turn to the book of Ruth. The verse that I want says, the God of Israel under whose wings thou had come to trust. Well, that is two and twelve. All right. all right on my paper but you wanted to correct that root two and twelve and finally the Hezekiah in second Kings eighteen one to five and here the prophet says to him you trusted in the Lord you clave unto the Lord That word clave means that you clung to him, you held to him. So Hezekiah was a man who was saved by trusting and clinging to the Lord. That means depending entirely upon the Lord. Hezekiah was a good man. Abraham was a good man. Ruth was a good woman. Abel was a good man. They were all saved by faith or through faith and certainly not by their good work. All right, the third section. Salvation must be through faith. One, because it is by grace. Now, Romans eleven and six is a hard verse to memorize, but I certainly advise that you put it on your list and learn this verse of Scripture. If it be by grace, then it is no more worse. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be by works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. What does he mean? He means simply that it has to be one or the other. You can't mix them. You can make an emulsion out of oil and water. People say oil and water won't mix. Well, you can make an emulsion of it, but you can't make an emulsion of grace and works. You've got to decide whether you're going to be saved by grace or by works. And since the Bible plainly says that it's not by works, then it has to be by grace. And because it is by grace, it has to be through faith. Now, A, in Ephesians two H, you have that classic passage, for by grace are ye saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, this is a gift of God, not of work. And B, Romans three twenty-seven tells us that boasting is excluded. The word excluded means put outside in the door shut. There is no room for boasting because salvation is by grace and through faith. Now number two. Another reason why salvation must be through faith. God is pleased only with faith. Hebrews eleven and verse six. Without faith it is impossible to please God. That's why he says in Romans eight and eight, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Because they don't believe God, they can't please him. Nothing else will substitute for this. Nothing else will satisfy God. A. Unbelief makes God out to be a liar. First John five and ten. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar. Even we're insulted when people don't believe us. How much more God is. And B. This is the opposite of this. John three thirty-three tells us that faith certifies God as being true. It says that he that believes God has set to his seal that God is true. Now the figure here is that whenever an important paper, and this has been the custom for centuries, for millennia, You go way back to the history of the Egyptians and you find they did the same thing. Whenever an important paper is drawn up, such as a deed, there is a seal put on this. And the imprint, the imprimatur that's set on that seal indicates that the person who put it there believed this to be authentic. This is what you do when you go to a notary public today. If you get a paper notarized, The notary public is saying, by putting this seal on the paper, that so far as I am able to ascertain, the person who appeared before me is the person named in this paper, and the statements that he has made are true, so far as I am able to determine. He puts that seal on there saying, I believe that this is true. Now that's what he's saying here. He that believes God has set to his seal that God is true. And see, the verse we were just discussing a little bit ago, in Romans fourteen and verse twenty-three, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So God could not be pleased with anything besides faith. Number three, God gives faith as well as grace. There have been many theological discussions over Ephesians two and eight. What is the gift of God? Is it the grace or the faith? For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that now yourselves it is the gift of God. What is the gift of God? Well, it's very simple. They're both the gift of God. The grace that's brought salvation is God's gift. So is the faith. How do we receive this gift? Well, A, it is to every man. Romans twelve and verse three, according to the gifts of faith, according as God has dealt to every man. Every human being is capable of believing God. It's merely a matter of getting the evidence together. And so B, Romans ten, seventeen tells us that it comes through the word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So it is through the word. And C, this very wonderful section at the close of Hebrews six, tells us that his truth and solemn oath inspire faith. Now the passage there tells us that by two immutable things, His truth and solemn oath inspire faith. By two immutable things. One is that God has made a solemn oath, and the other one is that God can't lie. Now these are the two immutable things. There are people who might not lie, but they won't make your promise. There are people who will make your promises, but they lie. But God never lies and God has made a solemn promise. So these two immutable things, he says, are to us an anchor for the soul, which enters to that within the veil. I think this is one of the most wonderful passages and certainly is inspiring a faith. It produces faith in your heart if you just read what God has to say. So God gives the faith as well as the grace. Now section four, the assurance of salvation is through faith. One, this is impossible through feelings. Your feelings are like the thermometer. They go up and down with the weather. Number two, no man, nor, quote, church, unquote, has authority to give assurance. No man can tell you that you're right with God. No church can tell you that you're right with God. Number three, God's word gives assurance. Numbers twenty-three and nineteen is a verse which we used to teach our children at the children's home when I was there. God is not a man that he should lie. Half he said, and shall he not do it? Or half he spoken? and shall they not make it good? I think this is important for us to get hold of. Because of who God is and because of what God has said, we can have assurance. Now, I'd like to point out six ways by which this assurance is given to us. A. By divine righteousness imputed. Isaiah thirty-two says the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance. How do we get assurance? We get it by divine righteousness. Romans five and one, therefore being justified or made righteous by faith we have peace with God. So the first way in which we have assurance is by God's divine righteousness. And B, it is by the resurrection of Christ. Acts seventeen and thirty-one, whereof he has given assurance to all men in that he has raised him from the dead. The resurrection of Christ gives assurance. Next time you sing that hymn, Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine, try to remember these six ways in which we are given assurance. Now see, by understanding of God's purposes, Colossians two and two. your hearts are comforted, he says, and we have the riches of full assurance of understanding. God tells us what his purposes are, and we believe him, and we have assurance. And D, by expectation of Christ's return, in Hebrews six, the full assurance of hope to the end. And E, by confidence that the veil is rents, Hebrews ten. We have boldness to enter in with a true heart and full assurance of faith. Because God has torn the veil in two and has told us that we're welcome, we have confidence, we have assurance. And finally, by continuing in the word, second Timothy three, fourteen, continue thou on the things that thou hast learned and been assured of, which the Holy Scriptures have taught you, he said to Timothy. This is how we have assurance. And it's all through God's word. Now some people don't have assurance because they haven't believed God initially. They've never really trusted Christ. That's the first thing you want to discover when you're trying to help someone get assurance. And then if you feel reasonably certain that they have accepted the Lord Jesus, then get to the Word, because it's only through the Word of God that we can have lasting assurance. And last of all, salvation through faith includes many blessings. Now, because I think diagrammatically... My mind is geared this way. I vision. I picture things in my mind. I think of salvation as the rim of the wheel. That takes in the whole thing. And then I think of the hub of that wheel as being substitution. That's the simplest part of salvation. And then I think of the different spokes of that wheel as standing for various things. Let me give you some of these. One, we know substitution by faith. Vincent's license too bloody, the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. So he says, the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. We love and gave himself for him. So we understand substitution by faith. We understand forgiveness through faith. And for me, we know redemption. to faith. Galatians three. Christ is redeemed as from the curse of the law. And then he goes on to say that this is true faith that we've entered into this. And four, we know reconciliation through faith. Colossians chapter one, twenty one to twenty three. Yet now that the reconciles and goes on to say, continue in faith and the hope of the gospel. And five, we have justification by faith. Romans three, twenty-eight, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Sixth, we have adoption through faith. Galatians three, twenty-six, through the seventh verse of the fourth chapter. There he tells us that we are sons of God by faith, that we are redeemed, that we have received the adoption of sons, and that the Holy Spirit enables us to cry, Abba Father. So we grasp the truth of adoption. These are all part of salvation, and there are many more that we're not touching here. And the last one that I'll give you is glorification. We know glorification by faith. Romans eight, several verses there in that chapter tell us that the sufferings of this present time are not to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. And whom he justified, then he also glorified. So we anticipate the final salvation, which is the glorification of the body, redemption of the body when we true faith.