 If you are a Christian of any persuasion rightly or wrongly, you probably already know that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour, and if not, then you're probably ought to recognise it. This is easily demonstrated from Scripture, just to take a few. Romans 5 verse 8, but God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Galatians 322 says, but the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. Luke 5 verse 32 says, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Non-Christians or Christians who severely lack understanding of the Gospel will say something like one of these statements, like I think I am a good person, or if there is a God, I hope you will see as I have treated people right, or I go to church, I live right, I am kind to my neighbour, I pray every day and I ask God to have mercy on me, I have turned from all my sins and I obey the commandments, or I have built good karma, for example. So in summary, many people think they are a good person, they think that their works can merit them in the sight of God, and they claim to be obedient to commandments such as thou shalt not steal, and love thy neighbour as thyself. But this is contrary to what the Bible actually teaches, so for example, in Romans chapter 3 verses 10 to 12, and this is paraphrasing some of the Psalms, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no not one. Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 20 says, for there is not a just man upon the earth that does good and sins not. Revelation 21.8 says, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and homeongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Now virtually every person has lied before, if we did tell the truth we would admit that we have done stuff worse than lying, let's face it. So scripture is clear that no person can claim to be righteous before God, and the consequences for sins even as small as lying is the lake of fire which we would sometimes colloquially refer to as hell, which the Bible also refers to as hell in other parts. But there is one way to actually escape this judgment of the lake of fire. So here are a few example verses, Romans chapter 5 verse 8, but God commended his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 3 and 4 says, for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and that he rose again third day according to the scriptures. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 21, for he, that is God, hath made him, that is Jesus, to be sin for us, who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Galatians chapter 1 verses 4 says, who, referring to Jesus, gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God, our Father. So if Christ died for our sins according to those passages that we just read, it does raise the question of what must we do to be saved, if anything at all. Acts 16 verse 30, and referring to the prisonkeeper, brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house. Galatians chapter 3 verse 22 says, but the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. John chapter 3 verses 16 to 18, this is one of the most famous passages in the Bible. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned, but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. So the Bible's clear here that if there is something we must do to be saved, it is to believe in Christ to be saved. Now that does raise a question then. Don't most people or released a lot of people believe in Jesus? Because after all, all Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, Protestants, Evangelical, Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons believe in Jesus. Some Jewish sects believe in Jesus, for example Jews for Jesus or Messianic Jews. Muslims and Hindus also believe in Jesus. Some atheists believe that Jesus existed and maybe he was even a good man. So there are a lot of groups that claim to believe in Jesus, but they all believe different things about Jesus. So then, are they all saved? One might wonder. Well the Bible does give us warnings about what it calls another Jesus or another gospel. This comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 2 to 4, but I, referring to Paul, fear unless by any means as the serpent beguiled heath through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit which you have not received, or another gospel which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him. So scripture does warn us that there is such thing as another Jesus and another gospel. So to believe in the true gospel we need to believe in the true Jesus. So regarding this another gospel issue, let's look at some different things by these different religions and denominations here to see what they believe about how to be saved or how to enter into eternal life. So under the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox view, to be saved you must participate in sacrament such as communion and confession etc. In Islam to enter Jannah which is what they would call heaven or paradise, you must believe in Allah and his messenger and do many good deeds and repeat prayers. According to the Jehovah's Witnesses if you were to check out their website they would say to live forever you must learn about God and his son, you must exercise faith and build up a good strong friendship with God. Some branches of evangelicalism and Protestantism even though it's quite broad, will say that you must repent of your sins and surrender your life to Jesus and walk in daily obedience to him to progress towards perfection. Seventh day adventures will say something like when you are saved you will strive to be good and pay close attention that you don't fall away and lose your salvation. According to Mormonism they might say that you must exercise your faith by doing the best you can in your own ability and then you trust in Christ for what you can't do. Eastern religions like Hinduism for example will have very different beliefs but they'll believe something along the lines of how you must build up good karma by the way that you act in this life so that you can be elevated in the next life. Now these religions all have many different instructions for eternal life but they all have one thing in common and that is your works, something that you do, the works that you do to merit your salvation. So on the one hand we saw loads of scriptures about how it's believe, you must believe, it's by faith in Christ but then we have all these other denominations and groups that are saying that it's something you must do, you must play your part somehow like you must turn from your sins or you must pray x amount of times or whatever so it then raises the question are works of ourselves necessary or required to be saved. While the bible refutes this for example in Ephesians chapter 2 8 and 9 it says for by grace are you saved through faith which is what you believe and that not of yourselves so nothing to do with you it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. Romans chapter 11 verse 6 says and if referring to election is by grace then it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace but if it be of works then it is no more grace otherwise work is no more work so we see that if it were by works it's not by grace but Ephesians says it's by grace therefore it must not be of works. Romans chapter 4 verses 2 and 3 says if Abraham were justified by works he has wear off to glory so he can glory in those works but not before God so he isn't justified by his works before God for what says the scripture Abraham believed God so it was his belief and it was countered onto him for righteousness so it wasn't his own righteousness but it was countered onto him for righteousness through what he believed. Galatians chapter 2 verses 21 says I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness come by the law then Christ is dead in vain aka if righteousness were by our own works or our obedience to the law Christ died for no reason it was pointless to do so. So scripture is clear that salvation is by faith that's believing not by our own works if our own works are required there is no grace and therefore you are believing in what the bible calls another Jesus. If you insist that you must work in righteousness to the law or that is to have works then Christ died for no reason because there is no grace in such a gospel so salvation is not earned by what you can do rather it is given freely because of what's God already gave you and that will be shown in the next slide. You see the bible says that salvation is a free gift so we already read the verse from Ephesians 2 8 to 9 where it said for my grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves why because it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. Romans chapter 6 verse 23 says for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord so once again we see that it is a gift. Romans chapter 8 verses 32 says he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things. John chapter 4 verses 10 says Jesus answered and said on to her if thou knowest the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee give me to drink thou wouldst have asked of him and he would have given thee living water. So a free gift cannot be worked for it cannot be earned it cannot be purchased it cannot have any further conditions to keep it otherwise it's not really a free gift and it has no conditions to work for it after receiving it because it is a free gift. A gift can only be freely accepted or rejected but you can also ask for it if you want to receive it. So verses to show this like Romans chapter 10 verse 13 says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts chapter 2 verse 21 says and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So scripture's perfectly clear salvation is a free gift it's for those that believe and it's as simple as call upon the name of the Lord ask him for that free gift and you shall receive. Once you have accepted that gift and you are now saved and have eternal life Christ gives you some promises that he will hold on to you for example John chapter 10 verse 28 says and I give on to them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand so he's giving you a promise he gives you eternal life you shall never perish ever doesn't say might not perish and no man shall ever pluck you out of his hand. John chapter 5 verse 24 says very very I say on to you hear that here is my word and believe on him that sent me has ever lasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is already is passed from death on to life. Second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 22 says who has also sealed us and given the earnest or a deposit of the spirit in our hearts. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6 says being confident of this very thing that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. So the Bible is promising here Christ will hold on to you he will not let you be plucked from his hand there is no condemnation for those that believe he has sealed you he has deposited the spirit for you and he has begun a good work in you and he will finish that work. Now an objection that people might throw is for example wait a minute what about Christ's warnings about those who will not enter into the kingdom of heaven? There are passages in the Bible that give clear warnings that not every professing Christian will be saved and there are passages that warn about the consequences of sinning and so because of these warnings many people will insist that we cannot just believe in Christ for salvation we have to walk in obedience as well otherwise we are not heeding to these warnings and we can continue living in sin while still being saved potentially. So because this is a short video we cannot go into all of these passages in the gospel summary right now I plan to do other videos that deal with those passages but let's look at one misunderstood passage. So for those who believe that it's not enough to believe or they might even say that you can lose your salvation if you don't continue in faith by doing the work this is one of the go-to passages that they go to and this is Matthew chapter seven between verses 21 to 23 so it says not everyone that says unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that does the will of my father which is in heaven so it's he that does the will that will enter in not everyone who says unto me Lord Lord but we saw earlier it says that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and so we now appear to have two different issues going on here many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name and in your name have cast out devils and in your name have done many wonderful works notice it's not just a few it says many and when it says in that day it's referring to judgment day and then will I profess onto them I never knew you depart from me you that work iniquity so this passage is often used to show that it's not enough to just believe because not everybody who calls out Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven because we need to quote one quote do his will okay so let me show you why this is a wrong way to interpret Matthew chapter seven so in verse 21 when it says not everyone that says to me Lord Lord notice that verse 21 makes no mention of their belief and faith it only claims that they called Jesus Lord so it doesn't say they called upon the name of the Lord just that they called Jesus Lord Jesus then says essentially in order to get into the kingdom of heaven that you must do the will of his father which is in heaven so it does say that one must do the will of the father so this is then taken as a statement to mean that we must have these works of obedience in order to be saved but let me show you with what what the problem with that is in verse 22 this group that's going to say to him Lord Lord they did say have we not prophesied have we not cast out devils have we not done many wonderful works so in verse 22 they unsaved here they don't say did we not believe or did we not trust in you Lord instead what they said is we have done many wonderful works that's what they're confused about they don't understand why Jesus won't let them in when they've done so many wonderful works no mention of their belief no mention of their faith at all no mention of what Christ actually did so the people that did all the works don't get saved but we must do the will of the father so Jesus said you must do the will of the father to enter into heaven but these people did the works which is what people often say that that means but Jesus would still not let them in and so why is that well this can be examined with this can be compared with John chapter 6 so in John chapter 6 it says in verse 40 and this is the will of him that sent to me that everyone which sees the Son and believes on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day so this is obviously not from Matthew chapter 7 where we read the other passage but Matthew chapter 7 doesn't actually specifically define what doing the will of the father entails whereas John actually does interpret that in chapter 6 that it's to believe on him and therefore have everlasting life and earlier in the same chapter he said something very similar between verses 27 to 29 he said labor not for the meat which perishes but for that meat which endures into everlasting life which the Son of Man shall give unto you for him has the Father God the Father sealed then said they on to him what shall we do that we might work the works of God and this is in the context of everlasting life Jesus answered and said on to them this is the work of God for everlasting life that you believe on him whom he has sent so scripture is clear we cannot do any works to get into it to get eternal life to be saved if there is any doing or any working at all it always comes back to believing on him and having eternal life so continuing in Matthew chapter 7 in verse 23 Jesus will profess on to them I never knew you depart from me and then he calls them you that work iniquity workers of iniquity so notice that Jesus says I never knew you he did not say I don't know you well enough because you didn't obey my will all of the time he also didn't say I used to know you but then you lost your salvation and I don't know you anymore he just says I never knew you and even though they bragged about their works and doing the works they still come under the category of workers of iniquity so once Jesus knows you you are saved and passed from death on to life if you add your own obedience and your own turning from sins as a requirement for salvation you come under the category of a worker of iniquity no matter how obedient you claim that you are so then that raises the issue of what happens if I sin after I believe because if all I have to do is believe I don't have to work for my eternal life and it has nothing to do with my obedience it does raise the question can I continue in sin then or what will happen if I do sin so regarding the issue of can I carry on sinning after I believe well Paul sets up a premise in chapter 5 verse 20 that moreover the law entered that the offense might abound but where sin abounded grace did much more abound so wherever our sin has abounded God's grace has abounded more but then should we continue in sin then well Paul answers this point in Romans chapter 6 verses 1 and 2 where he says what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid or may it never be how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein so scripture is clear that we should not use grace as an excuse to carry on sinning but nevertheless because we have and we do sin grace does indeed abound so if we are commanded not to live no longer therein it raises the question of do true believers still sin well Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray in Luke chapter 11 and he says and he said on to them when you pray say our father which is in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done as in heaven so in earth then he says in verse 3 give us day by day our daily bread and then following on from this and forgive us our sins for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil so Jesus teaches us here how to pray giving us a model for the type of things that we should be praying for so note that this prayer is for something that is a daily need which implies that it's a daily prayer and Jesus also tells us to ask for our sins to be forgiven and to lead us not into temptation he wouldn't need to tell us to do these things if we didn't sin but then it does raise the question of what will God do to us if we do sin and that's something that a lot of Christians struggle to come to terms with and so those that believe in a workspace salvation or think that you can lose salvation one of the doctrines that they fail to grasp and understand properly is the chastisement of believers and this refers to how God punishes believers differently from how he punishes unbelievers so we can set up a premise here in John chapter 1 verse 12 that but as many as received him to them gave he the power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name so the implication is that when you believe you become the son of God and so then what happens here then well Hebrews 12 explains the chastisement of believers it says in between verses six to ten it says for whom the Lord loves he chasens and scourges every son whom he receives if you endure chasening God deals with you as with sons for what son is he whom the father chasens not but if you be without chastisement where of all our partakers then are you bastards and not sons furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection onto the father of spirits and live for verily for a few days they verily for a few days chasing us after their own pleasure but he for our prophet that we might be partakers of his holiness so you may notice that in the world many wicked people do wicked things and they do not appear to get chastised by God or rather at least on this earth it looks like they get away with it but we know that they will be tormented in hell for those sins but believers are already passed from death on to life they will not go to hell so they must be chastised in this life and so it is through our chastisement from our heavenly father that we can partake in his holiness so if you believe and you carry on sinning and you deliberately carry on sinning God deals with you as a son he chastises you and this could be applied in many different ways he will punish you on this earth you could end up in prison you could end up being run over by a boss for example that's just some of the ways that God could chastise you and so here are some good verses that show the chastisement of believers while still showing us that God is faithful nonetheless despite ourselves so 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 14 says I will be his referring to David's father and he shall be my son if he commits iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men and so these stripes of men and the rod of men refers to an earthly chastisement there a very similar reading in Psalm 89 between verses 30 to 34 says if his David's children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes nevertheless so despite that my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail my covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that has gone out from my lips the bible is clear that God will chasten our sins but he will not forsake us he will not go against what he said he will not take his covenant away well what was his covenant it's that whoever believes in him shall not perish but will have everlasting life God cannot go against what he himself said and this is because salvation is not dependent on our faithfulness and obedience it is dependent on Christ's faithfulness and obedience so we must trust in him and not trust in ourselves