Sunday_Service

Good morning everyone from Hawaii, to all points of the world. Welcome to The Church Ministries 159th Church Service Assembly. We are all glad to welcome you all, all visitors and return bothers and sisters and our members, plus our wonderful staff, it is good to see you all back again and we all welcome you to our Bible Truth Christian Church. We have as always gone through another trials and tribulation week, the devil is out there roaming like a lion seeking someone to devour, and we are standing on the Word of our Gracious God and His promises, we know that some of us are going through great turmoil and we all understand that these actions and tests are supposed to improve our relationship with our Lord and His people. We are to become better Christians, stronger and more patient and more loving through these troubles, we are to learn and live the sufferings of Christ, to become more like Christ and to fully understand what He went through for us. Remember 2000 years ago Christ’s own people let a murderer named Barabbas go free, and lead Pontius Pilate to have our beloved Jesus suffering an endless torture that no man on this planet could have bared, most of you all have seen the Passion and actually have seen what they have done to our Lord and Savior. So the troubles that we have now are supposed to happen, and we are supposed to be hated, just like our Lord. I have realized that this website is a book about my life also plus all the links and services that people can enjoy, we even have a kids section with some links on games and coloring, and kids type education. Each week I tell a bit about myself and how weak I have been, I am not getting any stronger, I am gaining a few pounds, but that is a gift from God, otherwise I would be dead along time ago. 3 years not being able to chew, is rough, I don’t really want to talk about myself this week, but there is one thing as we put these 159 sermons together and add a bit here and a bit there, I still have the first year day by day doctor after doctor, and we all understand that being treated with to much antibiotics can cause cadidiasis, and not treated right away it cane form into systemic cadidiasis which the mold is running through my bloodstream, and my internal organs, plus all the extras I have wrong with me, my brain, my back, my feet, my glands, my body temperature, the intense pain in my mouth, still I have not been diagnosed, for that yet. In other words I am still very sick, and very tired, writing these sermons and getting up and down for hours is just much too hard and for a straight 24 hours, it is just a hard thing to do, and I find it very hard for me to even do. Then I am not right in my head till like Tuesday then Thursday I have to start all over again, planning and writing to the few I have not written to. Plus I do send out a few prayers still and I still try but there seams to be something evil in this office or there is just something evil making me worry about just opening emails, like right now, I don’t even want to open them up but I have to, and I have to maintain communication with everyone. The thing is like the other day I almost had a heart attack because people were trying to steal money from me, it seems everyone on the internet with some deal, there is something always hidden and then your life is all messed up. Thursday night I find out that this company is trying to take abut 100 dollars out of my bank and I still don’t understand where and when they put these words in. It is a long story but I didn’t sleep all night untill I talked to the company, it is unhealthy for me and here I am shaking for two days, because if someone is trying to take money out of your bank and then you have checks written, then they all can bounce, but God saved me from that. It is why do I have to go through this when I am so sick, and people are always trying to hurt a minister, chaplain, or a priest, especially when I live in poverty, and each day I have to try to pay this bill or that bill. It just does not end and a good friend just disappears, and on top of that I already have a broken heart, that has been stepped on over and over, I am in dread now over bills and how far I am behind. If I could only get ahead just a month, then I would not have to keep calling utility companies and making payments. All of this is just a big game of living in poverty, but God has supplied everything I needed, and He always comes to the rescue at the last minute. I constantly look at the ground and find money, and it all adds up. If it wasn’t for family and friends I would starve to death especially during Christmas. My dad and little brother don’t care about me at all, they don’t care about how I am doing , or how sick I am, my dad probably thinks I am faking it, and then he tells my little brother so the whole family does not even care about me. My mother cares but she is not a Christian, and she has no idea about what I do, or the church or being saved. They don’t even send me a card or an email, and last year I sent everyone cards. This year I can’t even afford the stamps. Maybe I should just put this whole website and the whole story of suffering for 3 years, and how I kept the faith, and make it a Christian Story it is already named. “The trials and tribulations and the Test of Faith.”

The first year is already done, and is on the website, but you just have to find the link, what I should do this week is make it more visible so people can read it. And what I will do is take parts of the emails and prayers and letters and put them all together and make it into a book, it is all written all I have to do is piece it all together like a puzzle and it would be a great lesson on faith of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It would not be boring, and if I do die then people have something to remember me by. And what people have done to me and for me. I have lived a life of tears, where you have a best friend and he hurts you and you have done all kinds of things for people, I was even given free guitar lessons to a friend, and he disappeared and broke my heart. I still pray for him and his family, and don’t have any bad feelings towards him at all. You see I understand how the devil works, and how he wants to torment me, and leave me totally alone and not have anyone to hold on to face to face, now I am too weak to write to my friends and family and my brothers and sisters on the internet, plus all the members and my Bishop Directors, I feel terrible over this, it is like I am on the office floor typing, so my back does not bother me, but how long can you sit like that and reach over your head. Just typing I am sorry is a job, but this might be another test. The computers are giving me a hassle one is busted, and one crashes every once in a while for no reason. Plus I need to delete all these emails that are so old, that I read and wrote back to but saved, now I realized I saved too many, like 4,000, so I need a week to just to work on that, that is why this great fear is attacking me, it is like I don’t have any peace. But I wanted to save some, for the book, so I am all confused about where is this fear coming from and why am I being attacked about my feet and back just sitting, I need to have my back straight, not too straight and my feet up. Otherwise my back hurts and my feet swell up like footballs and change color. It is scary just looking down and at times I can’t even put my shoes on, or I will wear slippers, but now they are all ripped on the sides. I just wish I would have a total healing and God would bless me enough to finish the Church/Mission for the poor downtown. Who ever is reading this please pray for me. People like Susan Jones are still keeping me alive, sending me all kinds of cards and music and picture shows, Johan stopped writing, and he probably thinks I just don’t want to write him anymore, there are so many people I need to write to. Jacob and Daisy, Robert and Judith, Scott and Eileen, Bishop Paul and Mercy, Sis Shanna, Pastor Kennedy and Mary, Travis Steel, Rev. Keith Ratclif, Chaplain, Rev. Hugh Keith and family, Marcella has been a Jewel, Mary and Jay, from “His Will Ministry” Debby and Aaron, and my friend Bishop Joaquim and his wife, and Andru Kumar one of my Bishop Directors. Joanna and Randy, the list can go on for hours. I wanted to send out newsletters and announcements for the church. I just don’t have the strength, everyday I do try and some days I do make it past midnight, with prayers and letters, but I also can’t write anymore, I just don’t have the gift I had like before, plus scripture, I new like my ABC’S. So many things have been taken from me. I am in tears right now. How does a man live when he wants so bad to pray and write to people and friends and family and just is too sick to do it. And the weekends I push so hard that my head crashes on the keyboard. And that happens after midnight but sometimes it takes so long to write one letter or a few prayers, I am just too sick, but I am not going to give up, people need to hear from me and the sermons people need to hear and learn. I must give the bread of life to so many others, I must speak the truth, but there are places that I can’t speak what I want to, because it may be so heavy that people just find it so unbelievable so I just don’t bother. There are so many things we are all being lied to about, if I really opened up and used facts and true text people would be in shock, or not believe it in the first place, things I can talk about face to face, but as you see I don’t have anyone to talk to face to face, maybe one or two people, that’s about it. My doctor, Dr . Conner the staff Mary, Pauline and Allen, plus we are still praying for a complete healing for Dr. Conner’s mother Ethel, and the pharmacy people like Shannon, she has been very special, that is all I talk to face to face even Mel, plus Alice and Sherry and Michael. Store people like Barbara, and my Japan girl in the Army Navy store. That is about it. William was my best friend and he disappeared, Willie and Liz, now Liz sits in the car, she does not want to catch what I have, and Willie talks. I am just hurt and lonely, with a broken crushed heart, I will get better and I am going to complete the mission, then I will have the whole town to pray on and talk to. That is still my goal to make The Church Ministries a healing and safe place, where you can take a shower and get clothes and food, I am not giving up, I just want to get the right place, someone could donate to me a building, and get a discount, all I need is to be well enough to get out there, each time I think about going downtown I get uneasy. Maybe if I had teeth I wouldn’t feel so bad. I could smile and be myself. But I am fighting the weakness!! Please pray for me. Please grant me hope and love, and friendship, that is all I need, and to just be out of pain for a day. If any of you all could just walk in my shoes for one day, you all would know how I feel..

What Must I Do to be Saved?

In many parts of the world there is a spiritual hunger and people are asking, "What must I do to be saved?"

Long ago a jailer asked a religious prisoner that same question. He received a concise answer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved you and your household" (Acts 16:31).

A Jewish lawyer approached the Lord Jesus Christ one day and asked, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" What shall I do to receive my allotment in the inheritance of God? What can I do to obtain God's kind of life?

The lawyer was asking an age-old question about eternal life. Is there a law that will give this kind of life? What can I do to obtain a dynamic, full, vivacious abundant life?

Jesus answered by asking a question, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?" (Luke 10:26).

This highly intelligent religious student replied by quoting two verses from the Old Testament. Luke quotes his response in Luke 10:27. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind. You must not only love your neighbor, but you must love him as yourself.

Jesus responded by saying, "You have answered correctly" (v. 28). Then Jesus quoted Leviticus 18:5, "Do this, and you will live." You gave the right answer; now go and do it.

The religious student who was talking to Jesus became very uneasy with this response and tried to change the subject. Suddenly, he was overwhelmed with conviction that he did not live up to his own interpretation of the law. He realized he was a failure.

Just Do It!

If you would attain to eternal life by keeping the law, then keep the law. Just do it and live.

There is only one problem. Have you ever done it? Have you kept the whole law every day, every hour of your life without ever failing?

MAN'S PROBLEM

The LORD God is holy and righteous. He expects perfect holiness. 99.99% is failure in His holy eyes. James 2:10 says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." We have all gotten an "F" on our spiritual report card. "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us" (1 John 1:10). The Apostle Paul summarized the first two chapters of his indictment to all mankind with these words from the Psalmist, "There is none righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10).

Moreover, the Bible is clear when it says that to be saved by keeping the law requires that a person keep the whole law perfectly, all the time. No exception is allowed. The law must be kept, all of it, without any omission, or failures, or exceptions, all of the time, twenty-four hours a day, all of your life.

Only one person has ever kept the law perfectly. Jesus Christ the Son of God was without sin. He never personally experienced sin. His heavenly Father declared three times, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

No one is saved by law keeping

Romans 3:20 can not be any clearer. "By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His [God's] sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin." Sinful man can not live up to the holy demands of God's law. No one is righteous in the eyes of God.

Again, Paul gives a summary statement when he writes, "There is no distinction; all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (3:22-23).

The purpose of the law was to reveal sin. "Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin" (v. 20). The law brings knowledge and conviction of sin. Paul adds, "I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, 'You shall not covet'" (7:7). In another letter he wrote, "But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin" (Galatians 3:22). It locked us up in prison and threw the key away.

The law was never intended to be a means of salvation for anyone. It's purpose was to point out our weakness and failures and lead us to Christ so we would put our faith in Him to save us.

Everyone has sinned in God's sight. There are no exceptions. All are without merit in His presence. "There is no difference" between the immoral, the self–righteous or the religious person. Why? All have personally sinned because to break the law in even one small point is to "become guilty of all." If you have broken the law, ever so slightly, you have broken the law completely and are guilty. Therefore, all have fallen short of God's expectations.

The apostle Paul has taken pains to define and explain the fact of universal sin in Romans chapters one and two. Our personal sins give evidence to the fact that no one measures up to the righteousness of God. Everyone comes up short without the "glory of God." God's "glory" is the measure of His righteousness. We are lacking in divine righteousness, and are therefore, void of His glory.

Martin Luther said, "Men are altogether without any virtue in which they might glory." All mankind has universally fallen short of God's glory. Man lacks the righteousness that God demands and is qualified as sinful.

God's penalty for unrighteousness

God has revealed His wrath against all sinners. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18). In fact, we are storing up the wrath of God on our part for judgment day (2:5). We can't blame God or anyone else because we are the ones who are guilty. God has given us up to fulfil our sinful pleasures (1:18-32). He has given us up to self-destruction. We are "worthy of death" (1:32). "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). We "are without excuse" (2:1). We are all under sin (3:9, 23; 5:8), and are all guilty before God (3:19). We are accountable to God for our attitudes and actions.

It is a fair statement that we are all "enemies" of God (5:10). Man in his sinful state is hostile to God. He is a rebel at heart.

The "wrath of God" is His settled opposition to all that is evil. "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." It is His very nature to be opposed to all evil. God abhors evil. He hates evil. God is opposed to sin. Sin separates God and man and causes enmity. "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36). However, the good news is that God's holy wrath against sin is satisfied buy the sacrifice of Christ on the sinner's behalf.

Throughout recorded history man has tried to build bridges to God by means of good works. All of his bridges have ended in failure.

"What must I do to inherit eternal life?" becomes "How in the world can I do it?" I can't. All that sinful man can do is come and cast himself upon the mercy of God. "God be merciful to me a sinner!"

GOD'S PROVISION

"How can a man become righteous before God?" How righteous do I have to be to be good enough to please God? Am I righteous enough? As we have just seen in the opening chapters of Romans no one is righteous enough to please God. The Bible says there is only one way we can become righteous. God has to provide the righteousness He demands because we can not do it ourselves. God's requirement for obedience is so great that none of us can ever live up to it. We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory. The high cost of spiritual failure is death.

Our attempts to keep the law perfectly ourselves as a means of salvation has been entirely set aside because Another person has rendered this perfect obedience to the law on our behalf. God doesn't leave it to us to satisfy the law, because "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." The Lord Jesus Christ saves us by keeping the law for us. The Lord Jesus has satisfied the law and kept it perfectly.

The good news is that perfect obedience that God requires has been obtained by Jesus Christ. In that sense, we are saved by obedience. "Through the obedience of the One, the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19). The obedience to the Law that God requires setting us right with Him is the work that God Himself accepted in Christ on the cross. We stand right before God because of the perfect obedience that Jesus performed for us.

We can not supplement it, improve on it, or add anything to it. The work of salvation was completely finished once and for all by Jesus on the cross. God receives all sinners who repent and put their trust in Christ to save them. We are justified through faith, and not through any works or obedience on our part.

Even simple faith in Christ's work is not a work we perform. God creates that faith in our hearts.

To believe on Christ is to receive God's free gift of eternal life. You can not do anything to set your heart right with God. God has already done all that needs to be done in the perfect obedience of Christ.

All you can do is receive this salvation, or eternal life, by trusting God's message that you are accepted in Christ alone.

We are saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ. We are not saved by grace through obedience. We are not saved by grace through baptism, or church membership, or speaking in tongues, or any other religious thing. Faith is not something we do as if the emphasis was on a special kind of emotion. We are saved by trusting ourselves to what God has already done for us in Jesus Christ.

The believer can know he is a child of God because he is not resting on any righteousness of his own, but his righteousness is in Jesus Christ. God has put His righteousness to the account of the believer.

God's solution is His own imputed righteousness.

The Bible is clear that no one may gain a right standing before God through good works because sin contaminates all (Romans 3:19-20). When man stands before God he is neither righteous, nor able to perform righteous deeds that will satisfy God. "All our righteousness are like filthy rags" before the LORD God (Isaiah 64:6).

We deceive ourselves when we think we are good enough to please Him. "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). The apostle John was just as clear when he wrote, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us" (1 John 1:10).

God provides a righteousness that pleases Him. It is "apart from the Law" (Romans 3:21). We do not get any help from the law. It only points its finger and says, "You are guilty. You are a failure. You can not live up to my righteous demands." All attempts to live up to the law only proves our repeated failures.

All acceptable righteousness is "apart from" the law. It is "separated from, or without making use of, or without connection to" the law. Man can not be made right with God by good works.

However, God has made it possible for man to be justified in His sight by faith in Jesus Christ (v. 21). "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe . . . " (vv. 21-22). God makes it possible for all people to be declared right before God by faith in Christ.

How does God's righteousness come to me? It is "by faith in Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." Faith is a trusting in Christ, and what He has done on our behalf for our salvation.

Righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ

Is it a cheap righteousness? Definitely not. It is the most expensive righteousness ever conceived. It is pure and holy. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, obtained the righteousness for us through His death for our sins. It is the only kind of righteousness that God will accept. It is a righteous standing before God. It is God's gift to sinful man.

What the law could not do because it was weak God did through His Son Jesus Christ. He did it "apart from the law" (v. 21). It is without making use of the law. We need a righteousness totally outside of ourselves. We can not produce it within ourselves. It is out of our reach.

God imputes His righteousness as a gift to the believer.

Imputed righteousness is God's kind of righteousness and is fully compatible with His holy character. It is "a righteousness of God" –– not man. God originates it; God provides it.

How does sinful man obtain it? God gives His righteousness to all who believe. God credits the righteousness of Jesus Christ to the account of the believer.

"Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe . . . being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus" (vv. 22, 24).

Zane Hodge reminds us, "Through justification we acquire the very righteousness of God, which is credited to us on the basis of faith alone (Romans 3:21, 22). Through regeneration we acquire the very life of God, which is imparted to us likewise on the basis of faith alone. Therefore, in a moment of time we obtain both perfect acceptance before the bar of God's justice as well as full membership in His family."

In his letter to the Philippian church Paul contrast his attempt through law keeping, which ended in failure, and "that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith" (3:9). If anyone could have attainted a righteousness from keeping the law it was the Jewish rabbi Saul of Tarsus. Clearly, no one has ever received imputed righteousness by fulfilling the law. Imputed righteousness comes by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

The only righteousness that satisfies God's holy demands is imputed righteousness. It is "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe." It is "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (v. 24).

The very God whom we offended has Himself provided the Substitute for us. He has set forth His own Son as the propitiation for our sins. He has born our sin and our guilt. Jesus was at the same time the Sacrifice for our sins and the Great High Priest who offered Himself for the sinner.

Moreover, note carefully that this sacrifice of Christ does not automatically cover everyone. It only applies to the sinner who has faith in Christ.

We are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith" (Romans 3:24-25).

The death of Jesus Christ is the means whereby the wrath of God has been turned back form sinful man. His blood means a sacrificial death has taken place. His life has been poured out as a sacrifice for sin. His shed blood is positive proof that a death has taken place. It is a life given up in the place of another. See Romans 3:25; 8:32; Hebrews 9:12; 10:19; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 John 1:7; Revelation 1:5; 5:5; Matthew 20:28; 1 Corinthians 5:7; John 1:29.

God is the offended person who propitiates Himself by the sacrifice of Christ. D. M. Lloyd-Jones well said, "The very God whom we have offended has Himself provided the way whereby the offence has been dealt with. His anger, His wrath against sin and the sinner, has been satisfied, appeased and He therefore can now thus reconcile man unto Himself."

It is the blood of Jesus that secures everything. He is a "propitiation through faith in His blood." This is the only reason why the apostle Paul can say, "the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." Faith is the means whereby we receive or appropriate the blood atonement of Christ.

God demands a perfect righteousness. Nothing less will be accepted. The very moment sinful man attempts to add one touch to the righteousness of Christ he spoils it. The touch of sinful man contaminates the righteousness of God. Therefore, it must be accepted by faith in Christ and not anything sinful man contributes.

It is by faith alone in Christ alone that the sinner takes refuge in Christ. The "Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe" (Galatians 3:22). "The Law became "our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith" (v. 24). "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (v. 26). You can't get any clearer than Galatians 2:16 where Paul writes, "a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."

Faith is the instrument to appropriate Christ's work and merit. It is based upon the finished work of Christ's death for our sins and resurrection.

Abraham is the superior example Paul chooses to illustrate saving faith. "Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. . . So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. . . Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident; for 'The righteous man shall live by faith'" (Galatians 3:6, 9, 11).

We are justified by faith, or through faith, or upon faith (Romans 1:17; 3:22, 25-28, 30; 4:3, 5, 16, 24; 5:1; Galatians 2:16; 3:8, 9; 5:4, 5; Philippians 3:9).

The individual who has faith is no longer looking at himself, and no longer looking to himself. He no longer looks at anything he once was, or what he is now, or is going to become as the result of his own efforts. He looks entirely to the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work. The Christian believer rests on that alone or salvation.

The object of saving faith is Christ alone.

The apostle Peter declared it is through Jesus Christ who was crucified, whom God raised form the dead, in whom "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

We are not saved by random access faith, but faith that is focused on Christ. Even faith in God does not save us. It is faith in the death of Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose form the dead. God gives eternal life to those who believe in Jesus Christ.

Let's suppose for a moment that you died today and stood before God. What would you say if He asked to you, "Why should I let you into My heaven?" What do you think you would say?

How would you fill in the blank? Christ plus _________ = eternal life. Christ plus good works? Christ plus my virtue? Christ plus my church membership? Christ plus my faithfulness to the church? Christ plus my trying to live a good Christian life? Christ plus what? Christ plus my baptism by immersion? Christ plus speaking in tongues?

It is none of these. It is faith in Christ's work alone. The moment you add anything thing to the completed work of Christ before, during or after faith in Christ you are saying Christ's work on the Cross was imperfect. Let us be emphatically clear, Christ's work on the cross on our behalf was all-sufficient in the eyes of a righteous God.

Is it my faith that saves me? No, it is not even our faith that saves us. It is believing on Christ that saves us. "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe." If you say that your faith saves you, your faith has become a work, and you have something of which to boast. Faith does not save us. It is through faith in Christ that we are saved. Faith is only the instrument; it is not the cause of our justification. It is the link to the object of saving faith that is Christ and His saving work. Jesus is the righteousness that saves us.

The cause of our justification is the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has done. We must never put anything, not even faith, in that place. Faith is only the channel through which the righteousness of God becomes mine.

"[God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who new no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This righteousness of God is "for all those who believe." God doesn't wait until after we die before deciding whether He is going to save us or not. He doesn't wait until after we have lived this life and then decide whether we have had enough faith, or done enough good works, or were "good enough" to save us. God gives His righteousness to all the very moment they believe on Christ as their Savior. "The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe" (Romans 3:22). It is God's gift by grace through Jesus Christ.

There are no exceptions because we are all sinners (3:23). The immoral, the self–righeous and the devoutly religious person are all saved the same way. The righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ is for all who believe. There is no difference because we all need it. The good news of God's saving grace in Jesus Christ "is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes" (Romans 1:16). God doesn't justify good people, self–righteous or even devoutly religious people. He saves sinners. He justifies people who have fallen short of His glory! He justifies failures.

Paul is not even concerned about the "proof" or genuineness of a believer's salvation. He leaves that up to God. The emphasis in Romans is justification by faith alone. "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3). "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness" (v. 5). "God reckons righteousness apart form works" (v. 6).

Faith rests entirely and exclusively upon the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done. Some anonymous poet has written:

I rest my faith on Him and Him alone

Who died for my transgressions to atone.

Our placing our faith in Christ is like the priest in the Old Testament laying his hands on the head of the sacrificial animal symbolizing the laying the sins of the people on the animal by faith and saying,

I lay my sins on Jesus,

The spotless Lamb of God.

The merit of every work is groundless because faith alone is the means by which a lost sinner receives justification and reconciliation to God. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Good works will naturally follow because God works it in the believer from within his new nature. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (v. 10).

Justification does not mean to make righteous, or good, or holy, or upright. The Holy Spirit begins to do this in regeneration and He carries it on in the work of sanctification. He will perfect it in glorification. However, justification does not refer to this renewing and sanctifying grace of God. Justification is simply a declaration or pronouncement respecting the relation of the person to the law.

We are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (v. 24).

The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, "Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us, and received by faith alone."

God declares the believing sinner that he has been made forever right and acceptable to God. This is the sinner's new position before the LORD God. It has been accomplished by God's grace.

Justification "does not simply mean 'just as if I'd never sinned.' That doesn't go far enough! Neither does it mean that God makes me righteous so that I never sin again. It means to be 'declared righteous.' Justification is God's merciful act, whereby He declares righteous the believing sinner while he is still in his sinning state. He sees us in our need, wallowing around in the swamp of our sin. He sees us looking to Jesus Christ and trusting Him completely by faith, to cleanse us from our sin. And though we come to Him with all of our needs and in all of our darkness, God says to us, 'Declared righteous! Forgiven! Pardoned!'" (Charles R. Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life. p. 238).

Justification is a legal standing with God based upon Christ's death and resurrection and our faith in Him. We are declared to be righteous by God. Therefore, justification is the legal and formal acquittal from guilt by God who is Judge. God pronounces the sinner as righteous, who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Justified" means to declare a person righteous. It is to stand before the bar of God and receive His acquittal based upon faith in Christ alone. Those whom God justifies by faith He freely declares righteous. It is God's gift to the sinner. It is without payment of any kind. It is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. It is free to us because it is by His grace. That does not mean it is cheap. It is the most expensive gift heaven could give. God gave His Son on our behalf. "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross" (1 Peter 2:24). The blood of Jesus is precious blood. It is of great value to God the Father. It is held as of a great price, the most precious thing to God. That blood redeems us. "You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19). Since it is that precious in God's sight why in the world, do I want to add anything to it? Why would I want to demean it by touching it with my sinful hands? Imputed righteousness is free because it is by His grace. But it is not cheap! The Lord has done it all on our behalf because we could not do it ourselves.

Because the Lord has done all the work on our behalf He can therefore pronounce righteous all who believe on Him. The moment you place your faith in Christ as your savior He declares you righteous. He pronounces the believing sinner "not guilty!" If God therefore pronounces the believing sinner acquitted up front then this imputed righteousness had noting to do with works before, during or after that moment of faith in Christ for salvation. God justifies us freely through faith the very moment we believe on Christ.

No condemnation!

The result of this imputed righteousness is peace with God. "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). We have been "reconciled to God" (v. 10). Since we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son, "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (8:1). Moreover, our justification can not possibly be a partial justification. It is complete. We stand righteous in the sight of God. God always does a perfect job. I don't need to add anything to it––no works, no baptism, no church membership, no obedience. You can not improve on what God has finished. God did everything that He required to give us a right standing in His sight. Since there is "now no condemnation," there is absolute justification. This is the believer's new standing before God. No wonder there is "peace with God." We are reconciled to God. We are no longer enemies with God (5:10). We are no longer at war with Him. We have His peace.

One perfect person stands between God and us. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). He reconciles us to God by His death. The wrath of God has forever been removed. We no longer stand in fear of His judgment. He has acquitted and forgiven us of all sin forever.

The apostle Paul can ask the most difficult question, "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies" (Romans 8:33). Who can bring a charge against the believer? What prosecuting attorney can make it stick? No one. Not even Satan himself. God has already declared us acquitted. Is He going to go against His word? Of course not, all our sins are under the blood of Jesus. Every one of them. Christ died and rose again to cover every sin a Christian commits. He is eternally acquitted and justified. God imputes the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believer.

Our future glorification

F. F. Bruce helps us see where God is going with us in the future. Our future is certain because "the difference between sanctification and glory is one of degree only, not one of kind. Sanctification is progressive conformity to the image of Christ here and now (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3:10); glory is perfect conformity to the image of Christ there and then. Sanctification is glory begun; glory is sanctification completed."

You can have eternal life right now.

Let's suppose for a moment that I died tonight and stood before the LORD God who is the Supreme Judge of the Universe. No doubt He would ask me, why should I let you into my heaven? You are a guilty sinner. How do you plead?"

My response would be, "I plead guilty, Your Honor."

My advocate, Jesus Christ, who is standing there beside me speaks up for me. He says, "Your Honor. It is true that I am a grievous sinner. I am guilty. He deserves eternal punishment for his sinfulness. However, Father, I died for him on the cross and rose from the dead. I have put His faith and trust in Me and all that I have done for Him on the Cross. He is a believer. I died for him, and he has accepted Me as his substitute."

The Lord God turns to me and says, "Is that true?"

I will respond to Him, "Yes sir! That is the truth. I am claiming the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone to cleanse me of all my sins. I have put my faith in Jesus to save me for all eternity. This is what You have promised in Your word. Jesus said, 'For God so loved the world (and this includes anyone), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'"

The Lord God responds: "Acquitted! By order of this court, I demand that you be set free. The price has been paid by My Son."

The truth is we all "fall short" in our effort to attain a relationship with the holy God. We need someone to rescue us and set us free. That person has to be a substitute for us because sin requires the death penalty. We need someone who is holy and just in the eyes of the LORD God. Only Jesus Christ can satisfy the holy eyes of God. God in His rich mercy toward us sinners provided someone as our substitute. The moment you believe that Jesus died for your sins, you receive an absolutely free gift. All of your sins are completely forgiven and you are eternally justified. God imputes His perfect righteousness to your account. What you need is God's kind of righteousness, not self–righteousness. He credits your spiritual account with His perfect righteousness.

All that is required of you this day to receive the free gift of eternal life is believe on Christ as your personal Savior. Only by believing can a person appropriate the gift of God. Ask Him to save you right now. Believe on Him and you shall be saved.

To believe on Jesus Christ is to be aware of the truth that Christ died for your sins and to accept that truth and commit yourself to it. There is the element of trust, committal, obedience and abandonment to what you believe.

In faith we receive and rest upon Christ alone for salvation. Faith is to trust in a person, the person of Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the lost. Faith is not something that merits favor with God. The essence of faith is to bring the lost sinner, dead in his trespasses and sins into direct personal contact with the Savior, Jesus Christ. It is not faith that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. Faith unites us to Christ. Christ saves us. If you will believe on Him you shall be saved today.

Just as I am without one plea

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot,

To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God I come.

You can also find a short summary of these key ideas, so click on A Free gift for You.

Dear Heavenly Father, Father we welcome you into our hearts this Sunday, we need Your guidance today, some of us are broken and perplexed and we have been under great amounts of attacks and stress, and we call upon Your Name Lord daily and consistently, we reach out to You in truth, and we need that simple serenity of love to return our way. Please hold us all Lord, please teach us Your Word through Your Scriptures and lead us to understand Your precepts. Father we believe in Your Son Jesus and we all know He is in our hearts, please open all of our minds this day and give us the mind of Christ. We want to give You the worship which You so much deserve, we want to do more than we can as a church, and we want to love You the way You love us. We don’t want to be just a lukewarm church we want to be on fire for You. We have so many faults within these bodies of flesh. We try to overcome our carnal minds and make them pure by Your grace, we all have been facing all different trials, and we are trying to make You proud of us by the way we have been handling these day to day conflicts and troubles. I know I am falling short, and I am asking You for forgiveness, I am trying to be a good Shepard and I need Your Spirit in me to please You, all I want to do is make You contented, I have been getting foolish and hurt through all these trials, and some of these trials are coming directly from evil. Sometimes I go back and study all the situations and I shake my head, how much can a man of God take, when evil is out to destroy me and this church and I continue to focus on this church for others to be saved, get educated, learn a bit of discipleship, and learn the warnings of the falling end times. I am always concentrating on how to make this church at one with Christ. I ask and plead please help this church, help this church bring glory to You, we understand that we are all human, and humans make mistakes and sometimes we just miss the mark. Father please grant us all peace, strength, and aid each and every one of us to follow Your lead, we need Your Holy Spirit to come upon us all and to anoint us all, we all need that special touch of Your Love in this fallen world and surroundings, we can’t do anything without You, You are everything to us. We need You, we can’t go on with just our own hopes we need Your hopes and Your direction, we seem to be all struggling to find the victory we need to find the joy and refreshment to lead us to Your heart. Please talk to us all through Your Word, and this teaching today, we need to stand before You and worship You in pure Spirit, we need to release all the evil of the world out of us, and to just hold on to You and the anointing we get from You. Father, help us to rise above all this evil and compounding sufferings so we can worship in joy and happiness, instead of sadness and tears. Jesus has done so much for us already we need to give back to You both our truth from within our deepest parts of our souls. That is why our opening prayer today is one of mercy, and it so important to us to please and worship You, and we need to ask You to assist us, we need Your faith Father, we are weak and simple humans, please be with us this day to bring joy to the earth and the heavens. In Jesus Name, Amen

Blessed are you who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matt. 5:10-12 NASB

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.

"If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

"Remember the word that I said to you, ' A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. John 15:18-20 NASB

Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

"The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'

“‘An enemy did this,' he replied.

"The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' “Matt. 13:24-30 NIV

Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. Matt. 13:36-43 NIV

The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:

"Though seeing, they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

”‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

For this people's heart has become calloused;

they hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. Matt. 13:10-17 NIV

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 2Pet. 5:8 NIV

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 1John 2:18 NIV

For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Jude 1:4 NIV

For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 2Thes. 2:7 NIV

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. 2Cor.11:13-15 NIV

I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ, and are turning to a different gospel not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to change the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him! As we have said before, I now say again: if anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him! Gal. 1:6-9 HCSB

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:44 NASB

I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was making it grow and [He] gave the increase.

So neither he who plants is anything nor he who waters, but [only] God Who makes it grow and become greater.

He who plants and he who waters are equal (one in aim, of the same importance and esteem), yet each shall receive his own reward (wages), according to his own labor.

For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; you are God's garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, [you are] God's building. 1Cor. 3:6-9 AMP

The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. 2Pet. 3:9 NLT

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 2Tim. 4:4 KJV

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. Matt. 5:13 NIV

For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false 2Thes. 2:11 NASB

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16 NIV

And he said, "Yes, go. But tell my people this: `You will hear my words, but you will not understand. You will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning.' Harden the hearts of these people. Close their ears, and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn to me for healing." Isa. 6:9-10 NLT