The following program is recorded content created by the podcast We've been working so hard on getting the CARMS site better and better, it's going to take months. It's such an old site and there's so many things with it that we have to fix because it's just old.
The requirements for search engine this and that have changed and we've got updates and a lot of things. So we're working on that. I hope you'll be patient with us during that time as we work.
It's kind of fun, but it's not. It's all at the same time. Good to see things get changed. At the same time, there's just so much to do. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of fixes.
These little bitty fixes, detailed fixes. Alright, so thanks for announcing what. Let's see, so we don't have anybody waiting. Today's Friday and a lot of times what we do on Friday is just get to the e-mails and hate-mails. I love hate-mail. I don't think we have any anymore.
Let's see, we do. Let me go check because I love hate-mail. Let's see, hate-mail and I've got, let's see.
People are calling me. Okay, I can't really read it. It's just a thing. What's interesting is people, there's all kinds of people. I've been watching YouTube videos of the leftists who are just having meltdowns, shaving their hair, going to the 4B movement and called about that if you want to talk about it, depriving their husbands of this, talking about poisoning men and husbands, these leftist women.
I mean, there's some serious mental really problems that's going on. I'm just saying that because there's a lot of different kinds of people out there. Within Christianity, you're supposed to be patient and kind with others and not raise a non-essential doctor to the level of essentials. I'm reformed in my theology.
Some people take that with such hatred that what they'll do is they'll attack individuals and call them non-Christians of the devil and things like that. And such is the case with some people on Clubhouse and saying, I'm a liar. I teach lies.
I'm working for the devil and things like that. Well, you know what? It happens. I'm just pointing it out.
It's not a big deal. It's just, yeah, you know. And a lot of them want to make the reputation off of my name. They want me to debate them. And so, therefore, if I debate them, see how much credibility they've had. But one of the haters is trying to set up a debate with me on an issue of unconditional election. Is it in the Bible or not?
Is it biblical? That's it. And the guy is trying to reword everything and is not going to do it. You know, we debate this topic or that's it.
Just go away. And another guy wants to debate Mary's intercession. Is it the biblical and ancient? That's the thing. I go, no, I'm not going to do it.
That's two topics. Is it ancient or is it biblical? So I just want to say, no, I'll just debate. Is Mary intercession for us? She's in heaven interceding for us. All this stuff they say to Catholics.
What a load of crud that is. And is it in the Bible? That's what I was saying. You want to debate it.
Is Mary in intercession, Mary in heavenly intercession in the Bible? That's all. And I said, look, if you want to debate that, not interested.
Just go somewhere else. I don't care. I don't want to debate.
Is it ancient? Is it this? Is it that? I'm just not interested in that. So there you go. This is kind of the stuff I'm having to deal with lately.
Lately I'm having to deal with stuff like this because there's some obstreperous individuals who want to serve their idea of truth. Let's get to Carl from Ohio. Hey, Carl, welcome. You're on the air, man. Can you hear me, Mr. Slick? Yes, I can. Yes, I can.
Okay, I'm going to start off by telling them myself, first of all. You know, I was not always in the kingdom, and I gave approval of three abortions. Wait, wait, wait.
I'll make sure I understand. Yes. You gave approval of three abortions? Yeah, that's before I came into the kingdom, yeah. Oh, you were a non-believer when this happened. Now you're staying, okay? Yes, yes. All right. So I didn't really quite get it all, but I'm in the kingdom, totally, and it's just a grievous thing.
And some people don't think that it bothers men. Man, I was at work, and it came up, and it crushed me. I had two clients.
They had to console me I was crying so hard because I love kids, you know, and it was just crazy. But anyway, here's my observation. You know, there's a guy on death row for shaking baby syndrome. Have you heard about him? Not him in particular, but you know I know about this. Yeah.
You can Google it. It's being discussed now whether he should get it or he shouldn't get it, shaking baby syndrome. And to me, it's just one of the highest forms of hypocrisy because you can have a very, very late-term abortion. That kid is alive.
Right. And it's okay. But he's shaking his baby, and he might die for that. I mean, of course we know it's wrong to shake a baby, but it is equally as wrong to take a life of a kid in the womb.
The woman's womb should be the safest place for a kid, but it has become a death chamber now, and it's most fascinating to me. And, yeah, so I just wanted to comment on that. It's just such hypocrisy, I think. But anyway. There are inconsistencies all over the place. Yes, there are.
It's inconsistent. And, yeah, and it does have abortions for men, particularly those who become Christians have a great deal of difficulty afterwards. Yeah. Oh, yeah. There's only by the grace of God, he's taken away my guilt, my shame for it.
But you know what? It still haunts me because I have a daughter, a lover to death, and I actually called her and told her about it. You know, I said, Ray, don't ever have an abortion because it will haunt you. And I told her what happened to me.
She knows all about my past life, you know, and it's just a grievous thing to do. I mean, I just think about the woman's womb as supposed to be the very safest place for a baby, and it's a death chamber now. It's the most likely place where a baby will be killed. It's there. Anywhere.
And, I don't know, it's just an observation. But anyway, you have a great day. Thank you. Yeah, you too, man. You too. I appreciate that. All right, God bless.
Okay. Yeah, you know, he's right. You know, the mom, the mom's supposed to be the provider, the nurturer. And what they've become, so many, a lot of Christian moms are great. You know, not all women are like this, but unfortunately there's been a great increase with the idea of women who they want to have fun and then kill because it's inconvenient.
What happens to them? And this is a really bad thing. It's just an issue of the lack of godliness, the lack of goodness in women like that. I remember the first time I heard about that one woman years and years and years ago, and she just came up with the news again.
I still remember it. When she drove her children into a vehicle, put them in a vehicle and drove them into the lake and drowned them and then blamed a black guy for it. She's a white girl and then blamed a black guy and all this stuff. And they found out she did it. And I was so stunned that a mother would do that to her own children, a mother.
And it really had a profound effect on me because I could, what? I could understand how men, because men are not moms, they're not nurturing like that. And not that it makes it okay, but if a guy would have done it, it's horrible. But when a woman does it, it's even worse. I remember that.
It just shook me up. And now it's commonplace for moms to kill their babies. And they're okay with it. It's the rise of the demonic. People call abortion the sacrament of Satan. And, you know, it's the killing of the unborn for the pleasure and the purpose and the service and the convenience of another.
That's what it is. People say, well, no, it's not a human. Well, you know, I immediately asked the question, you know, and so there's a lot of questions I could ask. And one of them might say, well, if it's not a human, then can you transfer it in the womb of a dog? Is that okay?
And if it is, really, it's okay for you to do that. And the questions, you know, they get good answers. It's a good question.
I get interesting answers from it. And I'll say, well, when does it become human? And they don't know. Well, if you don't know when it becomes human, then you shouldn't risk killing it, should you? Well, it's not human. Well, how do you know it's not human? How do you know it's not human? And then I say, what's your standard that you have that is not human? Well, it has to be breathing.
Really? So if someone's not breathing and not human, is that what it is? What about someone like my wife when she had open-heart surgery? And they, I don't know all the procedures and all the things, but I know that her heart was stopped.
And I assume her breathing was stopped as well because they had to get in there and, you know, do stuff. And during that time when she didn't have a beating heart and wasn't breathing, a machine was doing it for her, was she no longer human? Oh, no, she was human. Once you're a human, it's okay. Once you start breathing and you're a human, all this arbitrary idiocy. And I've had them say during the birth process is when your nature changes and become human. I say, what? So two minutes earlier, the baby's in the womb and it's not human.
And then two minutes after it gets born, then it's suddenly human. I've had people say, yeah, that's right. How do you even discuss stuff like this with people?
Because it's so stupid and they're so brainwashed and so hard in their own minds, hearts, that they believe this stuff, the insanity of such idiocy. But hey, you know what? I want to just say this, that I'm familiar with the issue more ways than one. And for those of you, particularly women who have an abortion, I want you to know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the cure, the cure for your heart, the cure for your soul, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who's God in flesh. He's the one who can cleanse you of all of your sin.
He's the one who can remove all of that. You have to turn to him because he's God in flesh. And he'll take you as you are, but he won't leave you as you are. He loves you more than you know. And just fall into his arms and confess your sin. Confess it. And ask him to forgive you and to wipe it away.
And he will because he's good. He's the king. He's the Lord. And you can find forgiveness in him. I know you can. I know.
I've experienced it. I've experienced that great forgiveness of Christ. He is so merciful and he is so good. And we just ask that all who are listening, if you've had abortions, if men or women have been involved with that, turn your hearts to Christ. You're not worthy to go to him.
None of us are. But that's why you go to him. Because his arms are open. Instead of the death that you may have brought upon another for your convenience, his own death was for your salvation. It's a completely different action and motive. Because what he did was selfless so that you could be with him and just trust him.
Ask him. Hey, we have a break and if you want to call me, we have nobody waiting, 877-207-2276. We'll be right back. Alright everyone, welcome back to the show. It's right after the first segment so about 20 after the hour if you want to call me.
The number is 877-207-2276. Let's get to Glenn from Richmond, Virginia. Glenn, welcome. You're on the air. Yes. Hello. Hello. Hello.
Hello. Yes. Can you hear me? Yes, I hear you.
Yes, I do. I hear you fine. Alright. My question was, if Jesus didn't sin, why was he baptized? He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness, as the Bible says, as he says in Matthew 3.15. Now, I hope, and I'll explain more, but you don't teach that baptism is necessary to give your sins forgiven now, do you?
Well, I know that there's a scripture in the Bible that says that when Paul was, Ananias told Paul to be baptized to wash your sins away. Okay. Well, let's tell you what, let's do this.
Let's talk about this issue of why he was baptized, alright, and to wash away the sins, Acts 2.16, we'll talk about that, alright, and we'll get to this, and hopefully we'll get you kind of understanding a better understanding of baptism, okay? Alright. Okay. Sound good?
Alright. So, Jesus was baptized in order to fulfill righteousness. This means he's referring to the Old Testament law, because he came to fulfill the law, and he said, permitted is time, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. That's Matthew 3.15. So, fulfill means the Old Testament. So, the question then becomes, what is it in the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled?
Well, I've written an article on this, did the research and found stuff. It turns out that Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. That's Hebrews 6.20 and 7.25, that Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. In the Old Testament, in order for a man to enter into the priesthood, he had to be 30 years of age and older, which Jesus was 30, had to have oil applied to him, that represents the Holy Spirit, he had to have a blessing given to him, my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased, and he had to be sprinkled with water. That's the Old Testament law.
That's Numbers 8.6. So, Jesus was washed with water, according to the law, and you go to Exodus 29 for that in Leviticus 8. And if he was anointed with oil, that's Exodus 29, Leviticus 8 again. And this is what happened with him in his baptism. So, he was baptized in order to enter into the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek to fulfill the requirements of Old Testament law.
That's why he was baptized. Okay? All right? Okay. Now... So... Is... Okay, go ahead. So, is baptism necessary for salvation? And no, it's not. What you've been told is stuff that's misleading.
Okay? Now, in Acts 22, 16, why are you delayed? Get up and be baptized, wash away your sins, calling on his name. The phrase, calling on his name, is found in the Old Testament in different forms. To call upon the name of Yahweh. To call upon the name of Jehovah. To...
I was... I called on the name of Yahweh. It means prayer, adoration, appeal to. And so, he says, wash away your sins, calling on his name. Now, he says, get baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name. And the way your sins are removed is by calling on the name of Christ, not by getting dunked in water or having water sprinkled on you.
Water doesn't do that. Okay? Okay. So, what's the purpose of... So, you're saying... So, you're just saying it's just... What is it, like, public confession that you're just being baptized?
Or is it baptism for the... Baptism is a covenant... Right. Yeah, okay. Go ahead. It's a covenant sign.
Alright? So, if we go to Roman... No, Colossians 2, 12. Let's do... No, verse 11. And in him, that's Jesus, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism. So, Paul is saying that the circumcision of Christ upon your heart is baptism. Now, circumcision is a covenant sign. In the Old Testament, it was a sign of the covenant. So, people were circumcised as a participation in the covenant, but it doesn't mean they were saved. It means that they were doing what they had to do as far as the relationship goes with the covenant requirements. Unfortunately, the people who hold to baptism necessary for salvation, they have no clue about covenant and covenant signs. They're clueless, which is why they get all this wrong.
I'm going more... So, baptism isn't a covenant sign? Yeah, baptism is. It's a covenant sign. So, the baptism is... Circumcision is a covenant sign as well, right?
Right. In the Old Testament, but we don't need to get circumcised of flesh anymore, we're circumcised of heart. The baptism relates to the issue of entrance into the covenant. The participation of the covenant elements is the communion supper. So, baptism is a sign and a seal of the covenant. And so, if you were to look at, for example, Romans 4-11, and Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith, which he had while uncircumcised. So, I'm not saying that baptism one-to-one equates this way, but since Paul said that in Romans 4-11 and in Colossians 2, 11 and 12, he relates circumcision and baptism, then what I do is I just continue with that relationship and say, well, circumcision is the New Testament equivalent found in baptism. It doesn't save you. It's not the thing that cleanses of your sins, because we're justified by faith, Romans 5-1, Romans 3-28, Romans 4-5.
If we're justified or made right before God by getting dunked in water, having water sprinkled or poured on us, then we're saved by a ceremony and not by faith in Christ. Okay? I hear you. Yeah, I'm still here. Do you hear me?
Yeah, I can hear you. People go to Acts 2-38, for example. Peter said to them, repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And they say, see, that you get baptized for the forgiveness of your sins.
That's what they say. That's what it means that you get baptized and that's how you get forgiveness of sins. I say, really, is that what it is? Because I say, is this a formula for salvation?
And I say, of course it is. And I say, then why is faith not in there? If it's a formula for salvation, why is faith not mentioned? It cannot be a formula if there's no issue of faith in Christ.
So what else is going on? And it says you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. What is the gift of the Holy Spirit? People say, well, it means salvation.
That's not what it's saying. Because the context is the movement of the Holy Spirit in the charismatic sense. They're speaking in tongues in the upper room. The Spirit of God is poured out upon them, Acts 2, 17 and 18. And then when we get back to the break, I'll show you the Spirit, the gift of the Spirit, where it's explained what it is in the Scriptures.
And it's not salvation. Okay, so hold on, okay? Hey, folks, we've got a break right there. We've got some music. Please stay tuned if you want.
And we'll teach more on baptism. We'll be right back after these messages. Give me a call. 877-207-2276. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, everybody, welcome back to the show.
We have two open lines, 877-207-2276. Let's get back on with Glenn. Are you still there? I'm still here. Can you hear me? All right.
Yes, I can. All right, so Acts 2, 38 is a very well-known verse among the people who say you've got to be baptized to be saved, even though it doesn't have the word faith in it. So it can't be a formula.
So what's going on? It says if you get baptized, then you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So what they're saying is baptism must come before the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Well, when you go to Acts 10, 44 through 48, this is what it says. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. That's what the gift of the Holy Spirit is. The charismatic gifts, just moving, speaking in tongues, glorified in tongues.
Yeah. Then Peter answered, surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, to receive the Holy Spirit, just as we did, can't he? So here, they get baptized after the receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, but in Acts 2, 38, they get baptized before receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. So Acts 2, 38 can't be a formula for salvation because it would contradict the method or the order of Acts 10, 44 through 48.
Okay? You follow me? So, yes, so, what is eternal life, where do you get the eternal life from? You get it from Christ. Jesus says in John 10, 27, my sheep hear my voice and I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish. So eternal life is never perishing, Jesus equates eternal life with never perishing. You don't get it by baptism, you get it by faith in Christ. In fact, God's the one who grants that we have faith, Philippians 1, 29, and Jesus says this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent, that's John 6, 28. So, and then Jesus says, you can't come to me unless it's granted to you from the Father, John 6, 65.
So God grants that they come to Christ, he grants that they have faith, the faith is in Christ, and they get justified, they are made right before God. That's what the Bible says, I can quote you the verses for that as well. Okay? Gotcha. All right.
Okay. That's good, good, good explanation. All right, don't let anybody tell you, don't let anybody tell you that you have to be baptized in order to be saved, or that baptism washes away your sins. Now here's another one, okay, this is another verse that they go to a lot, 1 Peter 3, 21. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you, and they'll say, see Matt, see, you contradict the Bible, Matt, because it says baptism now saves you, and I say, well, did you read the whole thing?
Did you read the context? Because it says, corresponding to that. Corresponding to what? Corresponding to what came before. It says in verse 20, who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you.
Corresponding to what? Is it the ark? Is it the water? Is it the faithful act of the eight people entering into the ark?
Is it the whole segment of all that's being talked about? Because it says, corresponding to that, baptism now saves you. The ark is what saved Noah. It wasn't the water that killed people, because this is why Peter goes on to say, corresponding to that, baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He's tying it to the resurrection, and he's saying the baptism is not the removal of dirt from the flesh, he's referring to the water, that's what water does. It's not the issue of the water, but an appeal to God.
So he's relating true baptism with Noah, related to the water, but they entered by faith, and they're believing in, it says Noah trusted God, we trust in the resurrection of Christ. Peter's giving a detailed kind of an analysis as he relates several concepts very quickly, and people have twisted it into, for their own destruction, okay? Okay, so I've got one more, if this is okay. Sure.
If you, so Jesus says he has the gift, I mean he has the power to forgive your sins, and to give you eternal life. Yes. Okay.
Alright. He has the power. You want to know why? Whether forgiveness or sin, why is that?
You want to know why? Because he's God in flesh, he's God in flesh, the second person of the Trinity, he became one of us. Yeah, I believe that. Good. I believe that. And he never sinned.
Yeah. Yeah, I've seen that in the beginning, isn't that in like, when he was talking to Abraham, wasn't he, wasn't that guy talking to Abraham? Oh, yeah, that was the, well, we call it the pre-incarnate Christ, because Jesus didn't come into existence until when he was, you know, conceived in the womb.
That's the union of the divine and the human. But the pre-incarnate Christ, the word, yeah, that was him in the Old Testament, yep. Yeah, because then they say, then they say, before Abraham was I am?
Yes, John 8, 58, Jesus says, before Abraham was I am, and they picked up stone to throw at him. Right, and they wanted to stone him for saying that, right? That's right.
Because he was making himself, they said they weren't stoning him for doing good work, they were stoning him for, they wanted to stone him for being equal to God or making himself God. Right, and that's John 10, 30 through 34. That's correct, mm-hmm. Yes. Okay. Yeah. All right, just making sure we're lining up, because that's what I believe from the beginning that, you know, he was, you know, that, well, you know, always that Jesus was God.
Yes, he is, he still is, he still is God in flesh, Jesus still is a man, and he always will be. Okay. Absolutely. All right, I thank you, I appreciate you. Okay, well, God bless. You have the best rest of your day.
You too, brother, you too, God bless. Bye. All right.
All right, now, let's get to Kay from North Carolina, Kay, welcome, you're on the air. All right, thank you. My question is, I was getting my hair cut on election day, and they were talking about, you know, President Trump and everything, and they mentioned somebody who produces supposedly non-fiction Christian movies called Trey Smith got in a nutshell, and I was just, I tried to look him up, and I couldn't get very much information, so I was just wondering who he is, and if you think he produces things that are really true.
I wish I could give you a good answer, but I don't know. Maybe Charlie, he studies, a friend of mine, he's listening, maybe he's studied him. I haven't studied him.
So if, Charlie, you have, you call up, and then you can give us the information, but I don't know. Basically, he discusses the accuracy and the biblical reliability, that's good. He uses archeological evidence and historicity, that's good. He does videos on intelligent design, that's good, believes in the prophecies, so there's a lot of good stuff that comes from what he's saying, but he doesn't talk, there's supposedly some controversial things, but when something's controversial, doesn't mean it's good or bad, because we could say something controversial, and the left would go bananas and say, it's controversial, you know, like, boys should be in boys' bathrooms and girls should be in girls' bathrooms. See how controversial you are? You know, like, go away, you know? So what's going on? Well, she was just talking about numbers, how he had this prophecy about Trump fulfilling some kind of numbers and things, and so it just kind of, he said he uses a lot of math and he's just brilliant, and I just, I don't know, so I just wanted to check, but there's hardly anything, like, when I look it up online, I can't find very much, so I just thought maybe, yeah, just wanted to see what you thought.
Well, maybe people have done some research on him, they can let me know, they can call up. I don't know if he's going to do prophecies, and I believe that prophecies are still possible, but whenever people start making prophecies, I'm very concerned, you know, and let's just see. Well, they have to be correct 100% of the time, right? That's right.
I mean, they have to come true 100% of the time, they need true prophecy, so. That's right. All right. Let's see, yeah. Well, I'll keep listening, and if I hear anything else, that'd be great. Okay. All right.
Not reply to her, she was like, what do you think about him, I'm like, I don't know. All right, well, thanks so much. Okay, well, thank you. All right, okay, God bless. All right. Okay.
Yeah, I don't know anything about that guy specifically, I've not had to research him, you know, there's a thousand things for me to do, maybe a thousand and three or four, so he's not up high on the list, but I started doing stuff on individuals when they start coming up all the time, and people are telling me, and then I go, okay, I'll study it, but that's the first time I've really had to deal with that issue. Hey, there's the music, if you want to call me, 877-207-2276, we'll be right back after these messages. All right, everybody, welcome back to the show. Now, the previous caller about baptism, I know that this baptism issue is pretty intense in a lot of people, and a lot of individuals think, mistakenly, think that when you get baptized, that's when your sins are forgiven, and that's not true. We are not forgiven by our faith and a ceremony. We're not forgiven by anything we've done, by our faith in Christ and our baptism, or and Eucharist, or and keeping certain commandments. If you were to say that salvation for yourself is obtained by you believing in you doing something, then what you're saying is the sufficiency of the cross and faith in what he did alone is not enough, and this is why it is so dangerous to say Jesus and something to be saved, that is dangerous. Now, it doesn't mean that if you thought that baptism was part of salvation, it doesn't mean you're not a Christian, it doesn't mean that you were ignorant and didn't know the truth and you've been misled. The thing to do is renounce the idea that baptism is a requirement for salvation.
False religions require this. True faith is what God grants us, that's Philippians 1.29. And the Bible says in Romans 5, 1, having therefore been justified by faith, justification is a legal, proper standing before God according to that law. When you go to Romans 4, verse 1, what then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. That's Romans 4, 3. This is important. This is basic stuff in the Christian faith.
This is basic. It says Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now, that's Genesis 15, 6 he's quoting. So what was credited as righteousness? Belief. People say, well, yes, but he had to do stuff later. Yeah, he had to do stuff later, but that's not what justified him. It says Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now, notice what's going on here.
It's in the past tense. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. I ask people, what was credited as righteousness? And they have to say his belief in God. Great.
Now, see, let's go on. Now, to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favorable one, but what is due? And then this is a critical verse, verse 5 of Romans 4. But to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.
And notice the present tense. So in verse 3, it was Abraham believed, past tense, God believed God, and it was credited past tense to him as righteousness. But in verse 5, his present tense, but to the one who does not work but believes. It's the same thing.
He's talking about Abraham. There's no works. It's belief. To the one who does not work but believe, it's faith alone. If you have an apple and an orange in a bag, you take the apple out, the orange is alone. It's by itself. If you have faith in works, right there on the table, you take one away, the other one's by itself.
It's alone. To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. What is credited as righteousness? It's faith. So I ask people, what does the Bible say is credited as righteousness? Oh, baptism, sacraments, the Eucharist, blah, blah, blah. I say, what does the Bible say? Well, Matt, you understand. I go, what does it say? You don't understand it.
What does it say? God, the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. What is credited as righteousness? It's faith.
All right. So then the question follows, are you justified by faith when you have faith? Some people like to say you're justified by faith when you get baptized.
They'll say, see, that's how it works, man. If you have faith when you get baptized, it's when you're justified. Oh, so then you weren't justified by faith when you have faith then, were you? Because you had faith in Christ, you weren't justified. You had to get baptized and that's when faith now becomes justifying, when you get baptized?
So it's not justification by faith alone in Christ alone, is it? You see, so many people try and twist God's word. They try and make it say things that are not true.
Let me tell you, this is important. This is what John 10 says, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. Now, we know that the devil is the thief. He wants to destroy people and he is the father of lies.
That's who Satan is, the father of lies. What is the truth that the Bible's telling us? The truth is that we are justified by faith. Paul clearly says that, having therefore been justified by faith, Romans 5.1. How then is baptism the thing that saves you?
How is baptism that ceremony, how is it that it is what justifies you? What they're doing is preaching a false gospel. They're preaching a false gospel when they add a work, when they add a ceremony, when they add a requirement that you have to perform in order to be forgiven. That's a false gospel.
This is serious stuff. What we need to do is preach the true gospel. The true gospel is that Jesus Christ is God in flesh, second verse of the Trinity. He became a man, John 1.1 and verse 14. He was made for a little while more than the angels, Hebrews 2.9. He was made under the law, Galatians 4.4. He fulfilled the law perfectly, 1 Peter 2.22, because he never sinned. He went to the cross and bore our sin in his body on the cross, 1 Peter 2.24.
He died with those sins. Galatians 2.14 says that Jesus, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees, which was hostile to us, he took it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. It's at the cross that the work of God is accomplished. What some people do in their arrogance, in their foolishness, is they say that the sacrifice of Christ is made active by what you do.
You've got to think about this. When the high priest would go in on Yom Kippur in the Old Testament times, and he would go behind the veil in the temple, and he would take blood, and he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, and he'd back out. That was a propitiatory sacrifice. The propitiatory sacrifice removed wrath.
It doesn't make it possible to be removed. This is the thing that people have to understand. That which is a propitiatory sacrifice accomplishes what it was intended to do. It's done by the doing of it, ex opera operata in Latin. It is done by the doing.
That's it. When Jesus was crucified on the cross, he was a propitiatory sacrifice. That's 1 John 2. That means that he accomplished what he was going to accomplish on the cross.
It's already powerful. You don't have to activate it for yourself by what you do. That's the arrogance of people because they won't say it this way, but that's what they intend. You know, when I believed, when I got baptized, when I confessed my sins, I activated the power of God to cleanse my soul. I did that through my ceremonies, through my intention.
That's foolishness. I exaggerated to make the point, but the thing here is that we have to understand that salvation is the gift of God, Romans 6.23. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It's a charismatic gift also.
The word gift there is charisma, and it's a gift of God. So it's something activated by God, something done by God, but what the devil wants people to do, he wants them to, in their wisdom, in their understanding, he wants them to walk proudly and say, well, I was wise enough to pick Jesus. I was smart enough to pick Jesus. I was the one who got baptized, and I was the one who took the sacraments, and I'm the one who goes to the church, and I go through the ceremonies, and that's how come I know I'm okay because I got faith in him, and look at all the other stuff I've done. You see, that's the foolishness of a false gospel. The true gospel is simple. You see, you and I have sinned. I certainly have.
I'm almost 68, and man, I'll tell you. I look back on my life, wow, so many regrets, so many things that were shameful, so many things sinful, and I mean sinful, and yet Christ died, and as it says in Colossians 2, 14, he canceled that sin debt on the cross, the canceling of the sin that's not made active by what I do, but by what Christ did. I'm justified by faith. I don't activate the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ by my deciding to believe in him or my getting baptized.
No. God's the one who activates the faith in us. He grants that we have faith, Philippians 1, 29.
As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed, Acts 13, 48. Jesus says this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent, John 6, 28, 29, excuse me, so you see, God grants that we have faith because we've been appointed to eternal life, and the faith is in Christ Jesus, and Jesus says in John 6, 65, you cannot come to me unless it's granted to you from the Father, so you see, if you've come to Christ, it's because God granted it to you as well as granting you the faith. Don't take credit for what God does in you.
Well, you're supposed to believe, and you do, but lean on God as the one who gives you that gift. Lean on him and give him all the glories, the one who in his great mercy had decided not to judge you and in his great grace decided to save you. See, we are not made right before God by our sincerity and our ceremony. Neither sincerity or ceremony is what saves us, the faith in Christ, the faith that God grants, Philippians 1, 29, John 6, 29. This way, God gets all the glory, but what the devil wants is even in the Christian church to get people to think that his sacrifice is only potential and that you make it real by your appropriating it to yourself in a ceremony or the wisdom of your own heart and mind.
Oh, man, that's good. So trust in Christ and him alone, and praise him even for the act of your believing and your repentance, which he grants, 2 Timothy 2, 25. And come to Christ and trust in him alone, not in Christ and a ceremony, not in Christ and your sincerity, not in Christ and anything, but Christ alone. Trust in what he did. God had flesh on that cross for the frequency of your sins.
Receive him, trust in him. There's the music. We're out of time. May the Lord bless you, and by his grace, ladies and gentlemen, we'll be back on there tomorrow. I mean, not tomorrow, Monday, because today's Friday. And I hope you have a great weekend. May the Lord bless you. We'll talk to you then. God bless you. Bye. Another program powered by the Truth Network.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-11-17 16:51:07 / 2024-11-17 17:09:39 / 19