Repentance and Faith Explained (Part 5)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Let's get our Bible and turn to. I guess we'll start in the book of Romans again. The Book of Romans, chapter four as well. Where we will begin, we will look at a number of verses from different places in scripture today on our study of repentance and faith. We've already covered repentance, and we've looked at that in some detail. And now we're looking at faith as it relates to how we give the gospel to people, how we explain the concept of faith. And so we are going to look at. We're going to do a little bit of repetition, a little bit of review from what we covered last time out of romans chapter four. So just by way of review, I'll read. Let's read verse number 20 down to the end of the chapter of Romans, chapter four. The Bible says he, speaking of Abraham, staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. That is, faith was imputed. That means counted to him for righteousness. Now, it was not imputed for his sake alone. And where we ended last week is verse 25 is. So we've been talking about Abraham. Abraham was believed God and his faith was counted for righteousness. Now, that's just a scriptural truth we saw in Genesis 15. We looked at that last week. Now, here's the thing. The question then becomes, why does that matter to me? Why does it matter to me that Abraham believed God and his faith was counted for righteousness? Well, the answer to that is in verse 23, because in verse 23 is where the Lord applies that truth from Genesis 15 to our present circumstance, to our situation, which deals with the gospel. Now, it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom it righteousness shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus, our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. All right, let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the chance to study your word. Lord, we do ask, we request that you would please meet with us through your word. You would meet with us by your spirit especially. We ask that you would be our teacher this morning, that you would help us to understand the scripture, help us to be people that want to be able to use the scripture effectively as we try to give the gospel to others. Lord, just put us in remembrance of the things we need to. Need to be reminded of. And, Lord, for Sister Pam and Sister Beverly and Abby downstairs, please bless them and the children they're teaching. And please just fill them with understanding and help them to give the truth of God plainly and simply so those kids can receive it. Lord, bless them as well. In Jesus name, amen. Okay, so what we want to look at as a review is the first thing I want you to see is number one, if you will, is the source of faith. The source of faith. And that's what we see. We see hints of it here in this passage. So let me point out a few of these in chapter four. And I'll just say the source of faith is the word of God. It is the foundation of faith. It is the basis of faith. It is the third that we believe. Okay, so that's the source of faith. Let me show you this in the passage, okay? In romans four, verse number 18, the Bible says this. Just you. Maybe if you underline your bible, you can underline this just to help you remember who Abraham, now against hope, believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations. Here's the key. According to that which was, so shall thy seed be. So Abraham's faith was originated from the promise that God made to him. So shall thy seed be. Remember, what is that context? Somebody help me this tracking. Yes, ma'am. Well, this is before he had a baby. Remember when? This is Genesis 15, when God said, so shall thy seed be. Anybody you remember? That was when he was looking up at the stars and God said, if you can count the stars, so shall thy seed be. That's what he's talking about. Okay, so it came with a promise from God. Abraham could not have faith without a promise or a word we might say from the Lord that he could lay hold upon. Okay, look at verse number 20. He, Abraham, staggered, not at the promise of God through unbelief. See that there it is the second time. The basis of Abraham's faith, that upon which he laid hold was God's word, his promise to him. Verse 21. Being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Once again in this context, you see that the promise of God, the word of God, is the basis of faith. It is the source of faith. Now, we've already seen this. We're just reviewing a little bit. Romans, chapter ten, if you would look at that very quickly, verse number 14. Romans 1014. The Bible says this. Of course we know verse 13. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, we'll look at that and kind of. We'll consider that in a different light in just a minute. But it goes on to say, after that, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? That's the key. And how shall they hear without a preacher? Okay. A preacher. This is not me. Okay? This is not. It's not referring to me as a preacher. A pastor. That's not what it's talking about. A preacher is just simply one who proclaims any message, okay? That's what a preacher is. And so in this case, the message is the gospel message. Did you know we have a room full of potential women preachers in this room? That's biblical, right? You carry the gospel. You proclaim it. You're a preacher. That's this kind of preacher, obviously. All right. Some of you look kind of uneasy, kind of like you're squirming in here. A woman can preach the gospel. Okay. Okay. A woman can preach the gospel. Okay. Oh, you said something wisely placed, brother Burgess. Verse 15. And how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. Here. Notice that? That's their message of the gospel of peace. And bring glad tidings of good things. Glad tidings of good news. Right? Good news means there's a message. When you watch the news, you want to hear something maybe you haven't heard, you didn't know. That's a message, right? We're getting to the idea of a word, right? Verse 16. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report. Now, Isaiah speaking here, he's referring to his message that God gave to him. God said, isaiah, I want you to say this. And so Isaiah says, thus saith the Lord. And because they did not respond, he said, lord, who hath believed our report, the message that you gave to me, they're not believing the report. The word of God you gave me. In our case, the report that we have is, what is the gospel? And what is the gospel? The gospel is the word of God as it relates to Christ and salvation. And so he says, but notice verse 16, just as we pass. Bye. He says, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith lord, who hath believed our report. So to obey the gospel is to believe the gospel. See that? Now you need to remember that, because that phraseology is abused by cults. Okay, but just. We're not there yet, so I don't want to get ahead of myself, but just remember that we've already covered that in previous times, but just keep that in your mind. So he says, verse 17. Here's the conclusion. So then, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Notice in verse 16, it says, believed our report. Faith in the word of God. That's where verse 17 comes from. That's why it says, so then. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. This is the source of faith. And this is not a. This is not a unique truth. In Romans, chapter ten. I want to get some people to read some verses. Raise your hand if you're willing to read a verse. Sam. John 524. Ben. Acts 15 seven. Ari. Galatians. Three, two. Brother Burgess. Ephesians 113. All right, give you a second to turn there. All right, Sam, read John 524, if you would, for us to hear. [00:10:22] Speaker B: Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me. [00:10:30] Speaker A: Death notice. Heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me. You see the connection between the word of God and faith? Okay. You can't have faith without the word of God. That's our job. How shall they hear without a preacher? That's on us. That's on us. That's kind of scary. There is no faith without God's word. That part of it is ours to fulfill by God's grace. It is our job and duty to make sure that that word goes to everyone. Okay, next. Who's next? Ben? Acts 15 seven. [00:11:13] Speaker B: And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago, God made choice among us, that gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel. [00:11:27] Speaker A: Should hear the word of the gospel and believe. Acts 15 seven. Hear the word of the gospel and believe. All right, next. Brother Ari, this is Galatians three, two. Or by the hearing of faith, see that you hear. So you believe. Okay, brother Burgess. Ephesians 113. [00:12:00] Speaker B: In whom ye also trusted. After that, ye heard the word true, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believe, ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise. [00:12:15] Speaker A: In whom ye also trusted. After that, ye heard the word of truth, right? Is that what it says? The word of the gospel? The word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Yeah. Notice that. Notice the connection between faith and the word. Hearing the word of God is the source. Look at in Romans. We're already in Romans ten. Look at verse number eight. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. The word of faith. The word of faith. What does that mean? That is the word, the message, the truth from God regarding the gospel that we lay hold of to believe. What's interesting, if you read this, we won't do it right now, just for time, but there's a contrast made between a person who believes that they must keep, keep the law of God to be saved and one who believes the, simply believes the gospel message. That's what's being talked about in Romans ten. And the idea is, for those that want to keep the law, there's a lengthy process. There's a lot of. There are many steps to get to that point where you can be saved, if you will. They talk about descending into the deep, ascending into heaven. In other words, there's this long journey that has to be taken. But this says, but by faith, the word you literally, just by faith, lay hold on the word in your heart. It's already there. It's in your mouth, it's in your mind, it's in your heart. And that's the key. How many people do we witness to who already know the words? They already know the verses, they've already heard the message. And the Lord's like this. And I know maybe this isn't exactly what he's saying in Romans ten, but I think it applies because they already have the word in their heart and mind. They just need to lay hold on that truth and trust in Christ. Yes, sir. [00:14:20] Speaker B: This past Wednesday at our service, had a 92 year old man. He's a retired lutheran minister. And at the end of the service, he came up to him, he said, I had never heard that you needed to believe in Jesus Christ. [00:14:41] Speaker A: He said, it's unbelievable. [00:14:44] Speaker B: We were raised in a good christian home and we went to church, tried to live a good life, and we just thought that's just what being a Christian is. And I didn't know that. I needed to literally ask Christ to come to my heart and to say. [00:15:00] Speaker A: To me, it was there. It was in your mind, in your heart, in your mouth, it was already there. You want to cross land and sea to get right with God, it's already there. You just haven't laid hold on it, right. You just haven't trusted Christ. That's all. That's it. It's designed to be that simple. Right? Titus one, three says this, and this is our responsibility. In this, the source of faith is the word of God. But in due times hath manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our savior. Again, this is not talking about the preacher of a church. This is God has chosen to manifest his word to those that do not know it. Through you guys, we folk preaching, proclaiming, letting people know those truths about the gospel, that's our job. So here's what we have to understand. Number one, for these reasons, we must proclaim the message of the gospel to people. It's our duty. If they do not have it, they cannot believe. Number two, and listen, you say, well, but they already know it, okay? And there's truth in that. We just talked about that. So maybe, maybe at that point, what our urge, what our, what we need to remind them of is they need to lay hold on it and trust in what God has said. Right? Number two, we must also not only proclaim it, but we must also do our very best to ensure that they understand the gospel. That's why we're doing this school of evangelism, because we have to understand it plainly, clearly 100 times, to be able to explain it to them clearly one time. So it's not just a matter of just saying words. We talked about that before, but it's a matter of explaining it so that they can lay hold on the truth. Because there can be no faith without the word of God. But even once someone has the word of God, they can't believe and lay hold upon it until they understand it intellectually. That's first. That's not the same as faith, but it is required. You have to at least understand what we're talking about here. All right, so that's the source of faith. Now why is this important? Because the word of God is the source or that thing upon which we believe. People talk about faith in our pop culture and our modern culture. They just say things like these little nebulous, kind of undefined, nice little quaint sayings like, well, just have faith. Just have faith. Biblical faith is not that. It's not a feeling that you have, well, just have faith and you feel better about the situation. That's all that is. It's just happy talk. Biblical faith has a source, the word of God and an object that which it is looking to, right? So it's not just a matter of just have faith, but the content. And what do you actually believe is irrelevant. That is not accurate. That is not accurate. Any other source, any other source of faith besides the word of God leads to a false faith or faith in something that will fail. So listen, I know we talk about we're saved by faith, and that is true. We're going to see that in scripture. But that is only if the basis of our faith is right. If our faith is resting in something other than God's word, God's promise, it will fail 100% of the time. It is vain faith. So it's not just faith, it's the basis of the faith. It's like a building without a foundation. It is our faith. Biblical faith is that which is founded upon the promise of God. And his ability to perform that promise. Promise. Any other faith is vain. So therefore, the idea that what a person believes is less important than the fact that they believe it is irrelevant. It doesn't matter that people say it doesn't matter what you believe, just as long as you believe it sincerely. Oh, I beg to differ. If the basis of your faith is wrong, it will fail. It will fail because it's not about how hard you believe it. You can believe it with all your heart. People in this world can have faith in whatever they trust in. More than we have faith. More than we have faith. There are people that believe in molecule to man, evolution. They have great faith. Whenever there's a question, they just say, oh well, it could happen in millions of years. That's all. Just throw millions of years in there. Magic. It happens. They have great faith. Probably greater faith in the scholars and scientists and intellectuals than we have. They have great faith. But if that upon which you are trusting is false, it's useless. It's totally vain. Regardless of the sincerity of that faith. It's just believing falsehood. This is why the basis and the source of our faith is so important. Listen, if it's not what God said, our hope is vain, right? That's why all this is so important. There are many, many people that think that because they got dunked in water, they're good. They're not. You know why? Because that's the wrong source. That's not correct according to the scripture. All right, second thing, the object of our faith. The object of our faith. Let's go back to John, chapter one. Let's start there. I just want to run through these very, very quickly. I don't want to spend too much time here because I want to show you. So we talk about the source, which is where the message comes from. But when we talk about the object of faith, what are we believing in? All right, what are we believing in? What is the biblical answer when a person, again, we're talking about giving the gospel in the matter of salvation, because there's faith in other objects of faith in scripture as well. Not just in the matter of salvation, but other things as well. So in the matter of salvation, what are we believing? What is the object of our faith? Is this. What are we looking toward? Because by default, the object of our faith is ourself. So what does God tell us our object should be? John 112. Look what it says. But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Believing on Christ's name. Okay, be careful here. Because it says, but as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Sometimes we look at that word receive, and we assume that's talking about the prayer. No, no, no. It says it. The receiving of Christ is the faith. The prayer is not the faith. The calling upon the Lord is not the faith. The faith has to be present or the call is useless. In this verse, what is the receiving? Even to them that believe on his name, trust in Christ. You see that there's an. I hope we get to it today, but there's an important point in that. But anyway, let's keep going. John, chapter three. So we believe on his name. John 316. You know it. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, that's his only begotten son. John, chapter five. Look at that. We're just kind of going straight through. John. John five, verse number 24. Sam already read it. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. See it? So the object of our faith is him that he that sent Christ. That's the Father, right? And you say, well, hold on, I thought you believed in Jesus. Hang on, hang on. John twelve. Look at John twelve. Verse number 44. Jesus cried and said, john 1244. He that believeth on me believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. It is impossible to believe in God without believing in. Remember, believing in, believing on. No difference. Same thing. It means to put one's trust in. So to believe in Christ or to believe in God. To trust in God apart from Christ, that is not a thing. That is not a thing that exists in this world. Okay, just. We just have to click. That's what Jesus said in John twelve. Acts 16. If you'll turn there real quick. You know these verses? I'm just reminding you of them. Acts 16, verse number 31. The philippian jailer comes out and they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The object of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans three. Now this is where it gets a little bit interesting. Romans, chapter three. This is going to be a little different than ones we've seen. Verse 25 or verse 24 for context. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom Christ Jesus God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith. What does it say? Faith in his blood. Well, that's different. We've seen faith in the father. We've seen faith in the son. We've seen faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We've seen now faith in his blood. Romans 424. We've seen it already this morning, but we'll read it again. John 424. But for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Last one is Titus. Don't lose your place in Romans because we're coming right back. But look at Titus, chapter three. Titus three, verse number eight. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will, that thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. See that? We'll say, I believe in God, but I don't know about Jesus. Not a thing. God rejects your faith. May I say it again? I believe in God, but not Jesus. Okay. You are still on the way to hell. There's only one way to God. There's only one valid kind of faith in God, and that is the kind that passes through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. He is the way, you know. John 14. Six. So going back to Romans. So why does it say so many different things that are object of our faith? We believe in Christ the Father. We have. Romans 325 says, through faith in his blood. Listen, we're talking about the same thing, the same gospel message. Jesus is the subject of the gospel. For he died upon the cross for sinners. He shed his blood on the cross for sinners. The father was the one that sent him to do that, John 316. And his blood was the work done, the sacrifice made. So all of those things, you can't separate them. They're all together. To believe in God, to believe in the Father, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe in his blood. We're all talking about the same thing. Repent and believe the gospel. That's another way to put it. That's what we're talking about. Look at romans three. Three, verse number 28. Now notice this. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without deeds of the law. Notice that. Justified. Made righteous by faith. Chapter five, verse one. Look at what it says. Therefore, being justified by faith. Got that? Justified by faith. Look at chapter five, verse nine. Much more then being now, justified by his blood. Well, that's different. Is it our faith or is it his blood? Well, there's one more. Romans three, verse number 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So we have, justified by faith, justified by his blood, justified by his grace. Which is it? The same guy wrote them both within like two chapters. Right. So which is it? All of the above? D. Right? Or in this case, yeah, that would be D, A, B, C, D. Here's the thing. This is, you can just kind of roll it all up into one truth. This is the object of our faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel message. He came to die for sinners. He shed his blood for sinners, and we are trusting him. The father who sent him and his blood. You see what I'm saying? It's all together. The grace that sent him, all of it together. All of it together. This is the object of our faith. All right, I think I want to jump ahead. I have the location of our faith coming up next, but I want to jump ahead to something. Look at James two. James, chapter two. The object of our faith is so important, you have to get that in your mind. We have to know what we're talking about when we say it, because the cults have the false teachers. Not just cults. Mainline religion as well, has totally corrupted this truth. Okay? And here's the way they do it. James, chapter two, verse 20. But wilt thou know a vain man, that faith without works is dead? See, faith is not enough. Faith is not enough. Now please, please follow me, because this is hard for me to explain in the final summary. All false doctrine as it relates to this subject requires a certain level of a certain things you must do in order to be finally saved. Baptism, various sacraments, good works, whatever, right? All false doctrine has that. But what they do is they take those works that they require and they say, see, faith without works is dead. So if you don't do these things in addition to believing, then you're not saved. So basically they make faith kind of the caboose the main thing is the works. Yeah, yeah. You believe, yeah, yeah. But you got to do these things or else you're not saved. But when you press them on it, like the idea of communion, the sacrament of communion, which we don't call it a sacrament, but you know what I'm saying? Or whatever sacrament there might be or whatever works or system that there might be, baptism or whatever, it's always wrapped in language of faith. It's always wrapped in language of faith. And you say, but I thought you have to believe in Christ. Oh, yeah. But if you believe, then faith without works is dead. So you have to do this thing, otherwise you don't have real faith. So they take works, which is the real thing they're trying to get to, and they wrap it in words of faith. And so when you say, well, I believe a person saved by grace through faith, they say, oh, yeah, we believe that too. And we're like, uh, they've disarmed us. You know how? Because they're using the jargon. But all it is is works wrapped in a thin veneer of faith. That's it. Now here's why that's wrong. The cults and the false religions only care about the works. It is the works that they prescribe. If you don't do the works, then you can't be saved. That's why the thief on the cross is such a problem to them. Them, because he did no works. And when they say, well, he is an exception because, you know, he didn't have the chance. He was dying on the cross. But if the works are required, they're required, right? Faith is then relegated to a secondary, almost unneeded trifle. Because remember, we haven't gotten to this yet, but faith is something that's in the heart. You can't see it. So who cares about that? Are you doing the thing we tell you to do? It is the works they are looking for. It is the works they have prescribed. But now here's the kind of clincher, and we're going to be done after I make this point. What the false religions do, what they're actually doing, is not requiring you to believe in Christ in the gospel. They were requiring you to believe in the works. But they're saying you're believing in Christ by believing in the works. The church of Christ, which they believe in baptismal salvation, demonstrates this very well. It is not enough. I've talked to one, I've talked to a person in the church of Christ in the past. I've talked to them and they say, well, you got to believe and be baptized. Okay, I believe in Christ and I've been baptized. Is that good enough? They say, oh, no, you have to believe that the blood is in the water. The blood of Jesus is in the water. So you see, it wasn't enough that I believed in Christ and had been baptized. I had to actually believe the works saved me. Well, if you're believing the works save you, you're not believing in Christ, are you? See how they switch? It's a bait and switch. Oh, believing Christ. But to believe in Christ means to believe in Christ, to rest one's faith in Jesus. You can't say I'm believing in Christ, but my faith is resting on this thing that I've done. You see how tricky that is? You can hear the satanic hiss as he describes this difference. Believing God and believing in good works under the term believing in God. And listen, this also includes the sinner's prayer. Be careful. This also includes what's termed the sinner's prayer. Praying the prayer. If we think that praying the prayer that is our salvation, we are grossly mistaken. You either believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or you're still on the road to hell. The prayer doesn't save you now. It might be a result of your faith, as romans ten describes. That's why we have to be careful that we describe it aright. And the dirty secret about the cults and the false religions is it is not just the initial works, baptism, sacraments, or good works or whatever that they require. They call it believing, but it actually works. You have to trust in those things, no matter what you call it, but the dirty secret about it. It is not just those things that kind of get you in. It's then a whole lifetime of works that their religion prescribes. And if you doubt me, you just ask someone that believes it. You ask Mormonism, what do you have to do to finally be saved? Well, you got to keep all the laws of mormonism all the way until you die. You know, he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Totally ripped out of the scripture, out of its context, but so it's not just one thing you do to get in. It's a whole host of things you got to do for the rest of your life. Listen. And it's all called believe. See how tricky that is, how deceptive that is? I'll summarize like this, and we're done. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ means he alone is the object of your faith, your faith is resting in him and his blood. Period. Let's pray.