Transcription
Okay. When I was 50, I So, seven years ago, almost eight years ago, I told my wife, I go, I was reading First John 4, and it talks about how perfect love casts out all fear. And if you have fear, your love hasn't been perfected. And I said, I'm still a little bit insecure in my relationship with God. I'm 50 years old. I've been preaching since I was 22, whatever, and I'm still only 90 something% sure I'm going to heaven. There's a part of me that's going. My love hasn't been perfected. I've spent my whole life like almost trying to prove to God that I love him. I will do this. I'll sacrifice anything. I don't need any money. I don't need any of this. You know, it was all cuz I love Jesus. And I do. And but it was like this. I want to prove that he's Lord of my life. I want to prove it to him. I want to prove it to myself. I mean, it goes all the way back to college in seminary. When I first understood the lordship of Christ and lordship salvation, I thought, man, I don't know if he's Lord in my life. Why did I lust this week? Why am I struggling so much? He must not be Lord. And you know, we were just taught to, you know, judge others. I don't know if that guy's saved. I don't know if that guy's saved. I don't know if I'm saved. Judge yourself. And you just get in this pattern.
And And so a lot of stuff I did for years. I mean, I I believe I was a believer loved by God. I just didn't know it. I'm still like I'm trying to earn his love somehow. And and I realized it was so easy for me all those years to say, "I love God. I love God. I'm going do these crazy things for God." But is much harder to go, he is crazy about me. I am so loved by him. I don't know if it was my upbringing, schooling, whatever, but I was 90% sure that he loved me. And I remember just telling my wife, I can't live like this anymore. I'm going to just tell the church, gather them together for my birthday, and all I'm going to ask is that they pray that this is the year all insecurities gone. And I'm sure that he loves me.
And as I've been talking about that recently, it has blown my mind how many believers wrestle with this. How many pastors wrestle with this? I just did a pastor's thing two weeks ago. I said, "How many of you are only like 80% sure that you are loved by Jesus?" And I would say 70 to 80% stood up of pastors. And it just broke my heart. I'm like, the enemy has so messed us. I mean, can you imagine if your kids were only 80% sure you love them? That's crazy to think about. And now you imagine God, the perfect father, and he has a church full of kids that aren't sure that he loves them and they're loved by him. They're like 80% and, you know, partially I don't know. I don't know if I've done enough. I I I I I might be going to hell because I don't know if he's Lord of every area of my life. And like if if our chief aim is to glorify him and to enjoy him, how do you enjoy a God that you're kind of sure he loves you rather than this is supposed to be the foundation? We're so like we're we can be sitting here doing that. If we weren't doing this podcast, I could just sit here and know that almighty God is looking down at his son and going, "Oh, I can't wait till he gets up here. I desire him. That was not me."
M and I I have a fear uh maybe fear is not the right word a concern that because I was like that for so many years then those who follow me it's going to come across however you are as a parent you know as a person is going to come out to your kids and in the same way who I am as a pastor it's going to impact my congregation. Kind of like when Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew, I think it's 23:15 or 16, he says to the Pharisees, you you go over land and sea to make a convert, but once they convert, you make them twice the son of hell you are. Mhm. And I think gosh, if I was that insecure, then in my teaching, I probably made other people insecure. Mhm. If I was so focused on my actions rather than his, then I probably helped lead a generation that's focused on their actions rather than his. Yeah. And I got to rectify that. I've got to teach that. I got to help people really understand how much God loves them. M
I mean I mean just let me ask you like if I could stand before his throne because right now there's a holy God in heaven. Yeah. Glory like we can't even understand. We can't even look at him we would die. Mhm. And 100 million angels just the sound of one angel makes the ground shake. 100 million just screaming out his and if I could come before that almighty God right now and if I were to say to him, God, what do you feel towards LRA right now? What do you think he'd say? Well, I I like you am always well like your 50-year-old self in battling that I know the truth, right? I know what Zephaniah 3:17 says that he delights. He sings over me. I know that. But knowing that and believing that and trusting that are like two different things. Yeah. And so I think it's I'm I'm so glad you're saying this. Yeah. Because it's it's a reality that I think even if someone can say they know, they don't believe. Yeah. I I I believe without a shadow of a doubt my mom loves me. There's nothing you could say about that. I I know 100% sure. Yeah, that's my point. 100% sure. Yeah. I want to know. Yes. That God feels that way. And that's See, it's crazy. And and imagine how he feels. That's a That's tough. like LRA, you know. Yeah. Doesn't know that I love. He's not sure. Francis, he doesn't Yeah. You know, like I know that you and I don't question his holiness or his power or his knowledge. Like you don't you don't dare go, I think I know more than him. Yeah. Or I think I can do things he can't do. Yeah. But there's a part of you that's like, I'm more confident in my love for my kids than in his love for me. So why is it that when it comes to his love, we treat it different when he says, "I am love."
The moment an individual believes on Christ, trusting him alone, they are sealed with the spirit unto the day of redemption. Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. With that being said, the outward manifestation of this indwelling is dependent upon the individual's cooperation and free will choice to walk in the new man. Galatians 5:16 says, "This I say then, notice this, walk in the spirit." Implying what? a conscious choice on the believer's part to do so. And what is the result? Ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, proponents of this false teaching consistently fail to quantify the amount or quality of works necessary whereby we can determine the validity of our salvation, whether or not our salvation is genuine. How many works? How much change? What level of obedience is sufficient? And most importantly, who determines this subjective standard? A religious person who claims Christ as savior, who calls Jesus Lord, who's not trusting in Jesus Christ alone, they can do good works, read the Bible, pray on a daily basis, they can go to church. That doesn't make their faith genuine. I'll say that again. That does not make their faith genuine. And this is why it's detrimental to encourage people to examine their works, their performance, their behavior in order to prove the validity of their salvation. You will never experience a perfect assurance when the basis of your assurance is imperfection. I'll say that again. This is imperative to understand. You will never experience a perfect assurance when the basis of your assurance is imperfection. Your works, your behavior, your lifestyle, your performance. An individual can do good works without trusting in those works to save them, keep them saved, or prove their salvation. Think about it this way. What if I said to my child, "You don't have to do good works to be my son or stay my son, but if you are really my son, if your sunship is genuine, then you'll have works. And if you don't, that just proves that you're not really my son." Friend, what is the obvious implication? Works are necessary. We cannot confuse what must I do to be saved with what should I do now that I am saved. Conflating service with salvation creates confusion. Don't miss that. When you conflate and confuse service, disciplehip with salvation, you create confusion of which God is not the author. And look, preacher, you can proclaim the freess of salvation and the high cost of disciplehip without mixing the two. Do not confuse the two. Do not conflate the two. Service, disciplehip, it's daily. Salvation, it's a one-time event. This will cost you. Salvation's a free gift of God. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Matthew chapter 7, starting off in verse 21, the Bible says, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven." Many will say to me in that day, notice this, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works. Now, if you approached these people on the street and put forth the question, do you believe in Jesus? Undoubtedly, they would respond, yes, of course. They called him Lord. They prophesied in his name. They cast out devils and did many wonderful what? Works in the name of Jesus. But wait a minute. Did that prove their faith genuine? Did that prove the validity of their salvation? No. Look at verse 23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. They called him Lord. They preached in his name. They did many wonderful works. But my friend, that did not prove their faith was genuine. That did not prove the validity of their salvation. He says, "I never knew you." Why? Because they never did the will of the father. Which according to Jesus in John 6:40 is to believe on the son. Jesus said, "And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day." My friend, works do not save us. Works do not keep us saved, and works do not prove our salvation. I don't know I'm saved because I read the Bible, and I do. I don't know I'm saved because I pray and I do. I don't know I'm saved because I witness and I do. I don't know I'm saved because I go to church and I do. I'm not basing the assurance of my eternal salvation on the subjective experience of sinful man. I'm deriving my assurance from the objective testimony of God's word. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. If you are not 100% certain that you're going to heaven when you die, I encourage you, my friend, to watch the video in the description below. How to be saved from hell, the only way to heaven. And be safe today. God bless.