 think that there really needs to be a video that covers everything or as much as you possibly can in a short amount of time about salvation and so therefore we're going to have a video about everything about salvation. Obviously each particular portion won't be as in-depth as it could as if we had one individual video pertaining to one aspect of salvation but we need to see how salvation pieces itself together or should I say it more correctly how God pieces salvation together. Remember there's this big there's this big discussion even misunderstanding about salvation but simply going through scripture and how the plan of salvation is laid out, the need for it, how we get it, how we don't get it, if it's maintained by us, if we can lose it, all those things obviously there's covered in it's covered in scripture. Some people agree this thing about salvation some folks would disagree about that thing that the person agrees with and so let's see if we can kind of delve into the scriptures and uncover exactly what's being stated so what I want to do is I obviously need to start at the very beginning which is dealing with the need for salvation. There's no point or purpose in talking to anybody about salvation if we don't know what the point or purpose of salvation is. Why do we have salvation? Well let's go to the very beginning. In the beginning speaking of Genesis 3 now the serpent was more crafted than any beast of the field that the Lord God had made and he said to the woman indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden and the woman said to the serpent from the trees of the garden we may eat but from the fruit of the trees which is in the midst of the garden God said you shall not eat from it nor touch it and so what was Satan's response that God did not that's not really what he meant and so because we have this serpent there the devil who has in this case deceived her but then also Adam turns in sin now sin has been imputed as a matter of fact the Bible tells us that all of us now have sin because through one man sin into the world well how is that well for a couple reasons one the imputation of sin that Adam committed is also credited to us and so we are by guilty of blood lines association because we inherit a corrupted seed we also are going to die but also we have the ability and even more so the desire to sin obviously the ability was there and we'll deal with that in just a second but we have had sin imputed to us and just in case anyone thinks that it's unfair that someone else's sin should be accounted to me should be imputed to me well have no worries because you also the moment that you get the first opportunity to use sin as well and so your sin bank account is high and it's large because of your own sin that's all of us all of us sin as a matter of fact the Bible tells us about our heart the very thing that controls our sin nature he says this he says the heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick who can understand it we go as according to the Bible astray from the moment we leave the womb we have this desire now the reason why I brought this part up is this in the most pristine setting in the most ideal setting man still sinned how was that possible because God does give mankind the ability to exercise some will now when I say to exercise some will I say it that way because there's this debate about free will or should I say just how free our will is we'll leave that alone for the moment but it's important to know that because God is God and he understands what we were gonna do before we even do it then obviously the sin that was committed in the garden did not catch him off guard but God still loves us while at the same time God is a just guy being a just guy simply means that he is righteous he's he is above reproach there's nothing that we can impugn him with no sin or anything that is just not unbecoming of a God because after all we don't know what a God is or how a God ought to behave the only guy that we know of is the only guy that there is and how he is is how God should be and that is holy just as well as loving and because he's a loving God what enters into the fray his love his desire to reconcile mankind and so if we go back and look at what happens even after the sin we see that God has a desire to reconcile mankind still so it came in the time of course of time and this is Genesis 4 3 that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground what's important about this is that even though mankind has sinned even though they have a desire to want to do wrong what does God do God brings about a way so that man can be reconciled this offering we don't know all the details about the offering however we do know that there is a proper way and an improper way that God even explains to Cain Cain does the wrong thing course Cain is punished and so what does God want to do now we won't deal with the with the result of man becoming even more increasingly wicked and then thereby causing God or moving God to bring about a flood we won't we'll we'll over it we'll go past that particular part let's deal with what happens next because God desires to still have a relationship with mankind because he wants to reconcile us to him then God again who is not taken by surprise because of anything wants to bring us to him God makes a covenant and this particular covenant that he makes unbeknownst to the person he makes it with or says it to it includes all of mankind to some degree what do I mean by that well let's first look at the covenant this is of course the Abrahamic covenant this is one of the more important passages that will ever see now remember in Genesis 3 after their fall God makes a statement as a matter of fact I think it's important that we deal with that statement so let's go back to Genesis and let's go to Genesis 3 15 I'm sorry I should have put this on the screen earlier but Genesis 3 15 and he's speaking to Adam to Eve and the serpent and the more important passage is when he's talking to the serpent about what's going to happen in the future and notice what he says he says and I will put empty between you and the woman between your seat and her seat we have no idea at that time who her seat is and he her seat shall bruise or crush you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel well the Bible doesn't let us know obviously looking forward we know that this is going to be Jesus that's important because God has desired to make Jesus the focal point of our salvation we will get to that in just a little bit but here is where this this covenant kicks in and we start to see how God's plan of salvation begins to unfold and so he says to Abram chapter 12 verse 1 now the Lord said to Abram go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to a land which I will show you and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and so you shall be a blessing now so he's giving him a future though Abraham or Abram at the time does not have anything more than a wife he's got a wife and that's it no children no air however we'll get to that and this air is ultimately going to lead to all of us being saved not just his immediate air but even further down the road and verse 3 he states and I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you and here it is verse 3 the end of verse 3 and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed we know it's all the families because the Hebrew word that's used here is coal which is all or each or every mishpochoke which is the families plural and so God is going to through Abraham through his physical descendants and it's important through his physical descendants as well as spiritually he is going to bless the entire world it does that mean that everyone in the world is going to be blessed and saved because it's no that's why the word coal you need to understand the nuances of it it means all each or every so every type of family that there is so every ethnicity will be saved not just the Jews that part is extremely important but he makes a weird statement we understand that Abraham is going to have this has his covenant with God and notice the the covenant the covenant is what we call an unconditional covenant meaning God does not go to Abraham and plan this out with him God just tells him what he's going to do through Abraham he did not put any conditions on Abraham he did not say that Abraham if you do this or if you do that or if you do this then I will bless you know he states that he's going to do it so this is an unconditional covenant whereby God is the sole person responsible for keeping the tenets of this Abrahamic covenant so God has ordained that this is going to happen if God says it will be well then we can rest assure guys that it will be he is a God of his word whatever he says he means and whatever he means he says now interesting in that as we see God blessing Abraham and he's going to give him a posterity he's going to give him a lineage but he's also going to give his people a land he gives them boundaries he says that he is going to make that nation great his name great Abraham through them and so they will be a great people even though they are smaller people in terms of size and through them that the nations or the families of the world shall be blessed but there's something interesting that is stated that needs to be brought out and it also refers back to Genesis 3 15 the you know the pastor's of where it says hit your her seat and we know the her seat according to Galatians 3 16 is Jesus funny or I shouldn't say funny or interesting pastors that's made after Abraham has a child Isaac and Isaac has a child Jacob Jacob has children where we get the children of Israel these 12 tribes and one of them one of his children his favorite at the time is joseph joseph has a dream ends up get going to you know the story being sold in the slavery in Egypt when they finally make their way into Egypt because of the famine that God causes and then they make their way there oh by the way would Abraham ask how will I know in Genesis 5 I'm sorry in Genesis 15 God says know this that your descendants shall be strangers or in this case enslaved in a foreign land for 400 years before they go into this slavery into this servitude there's a prophecy that's given that doesn't really make sense then but it makes perfect sense now this is Genesis 49 verse 10 Jacob is preparing to die and he's blessing his children he says the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler staff from between his feet what does that mean that has that that makes no sense because there is no king of Israel however there will be as a matter of fact not only will there be a king of Israel there will be a king of all of God's people and he will rule we'll we'll deal with that just a little bit later but because of Israel's hardheadedness because of their wickedness because of their sin God is going to have to deal with that but in dealing with their sin in dealing with their hardheadedness in dealing with their wickedness he's also going to deal with us as well though the bible doesn't spend a lot of time speaking about the Gentiles in the Old Testament it's not as though the Gentiles are an afterthought to God it's not that the Gentiles are subservient or subjected to the rank of Israel that is not the case at all he just spends a lot of detail speaking about Israel why to highlight mankind's sin and mankind's inability to consistently love and follow God and to follow his teachings that's why they're highlighted and through him through their mistakes God is going to bring about redemption not just to Israel but also through the world so after they come out of Egypt and they've got this great wealth God is going to make a covenant with who with Israel and the covenant is specifically made with Israel we call this covenant that Moses gives them either the mosaic covenant or the old covenant or the law there's many different aspects of the law but won't deal with those but there needs to be understood what happens in giving the law God tells Moses what he's going to do in the law in this covenant but this covenant is unlike the Abrahamic covenant however do not forget the Abrahamic covenant the Abrahamic covenant is not done away with well it will never be done away with it as a matter of fact it will be filled and its fulfillment will be brought about because of this covenant every other subsequent covenant is going to look back to the Abrahamic covenant to bring about what God wanted to do when from Genesis 3 15 remember that's the most important thing to think about that his hercy is going to bruise or crush his head the devil that's going to happen ultimately with the devil being defeated sin being defeated and death the last enemy being tossed into the lake of fire but how do we get there well right now we are on the law he's going to give them the law again the difference between this covenant versus the Abrahamic covenant it is a conditional covenant in Exodus 24 3 then Moses excuse me came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words which the Lord has spoken we will do so this is a offer and acceptance it is a bilateral covenant it is a conditional covenant if you do this then i'll bless you however if you don't do what you're supposed to then there will be some problems the problem is they immediately began to break the law they immediately begin to break their word God has told them not to have any other gods any of the idols matter of fact God has told them to put the people out of the land that he's given them to God has told them that they should have even a day where they just cease from all their work and it's just them and God however they do so they can't work but it's a time that set aside where it's just God they violate that they violate that Sabbath but they also violate the Sabbath to the land God has promised to bless their crops to grow and so in such a way to where they'll have enough to where they would give the land a rest for one year and so the growth of their of their first six years will be enough for them to store so for the next two years the seventh year and then the eighth year even when the crops are growing but what do they do they disobey God knows they are going to disobey because he tells him he tells him that you will be taken out of this land before they even make it into the land God tells them I'm going to take you out of the land you will be foreigners in another land but I will bring you back now he makes a statement in in Deuteronomy before they go there in Deuteronomy 1016 this is important he says to them so circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer for the Lord your God is God of gods and the Lord of lords the great and mighty and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take rise and so what is he saying he's saying I want you to get your heart right why because that's the issue remember we read the verse the heart is desperately wicked or some versions the one that I read said desperately sick it's a problem with your heart so he says circumcise your heart get your heart right the problem is they don't seem to be able to do it consistently they don't think they might do it this day make up in their mind their heart they're going to do right today and serve the Lord but what about tomorrow or what about the next week or the next month they seem to continue to fail at that which is why God throughout the time of the Jews and especially doing the law and before the law God would send prophets he would send his leader he would have these miracles he would also in the meantime give them these offerings which brings us to the atonement God has determined that blood is going to be how a debt is paid this is where we need to pay attention to because the reason why anyone will go to hell the reason why you are born earmarked for hell is because you've inherited a sin nature and you will prove that sin nature by committing sins early and often and so because of that there is a debt that's owed against God God says that the soul or the person that sins that person should die why because you have disobeyed a holy God and so the problem is we don't have a way to pay the debt and since the debt requires death and even that death doesn't satisfy so much so that even if we were to die as a result of our sin we still don't we still don't have righteousness accrued to us and we need to understand two words two terms right or righteousness doesn't mean that we're perfect doesn't mean that we do everything the right way it just means that we stand right before God justified or justification means that we are treated as right that we are declared right and treated that way the problem is how in the world can we frail fallen constantly sinning human beings attain that status well the only way it could happen is if the person who is agreed the person who has been sinned against that's God determines that he will look at us in a right fashion in other words that he won't hold a debt over our head well he has determined that the payment for this debt is what is blood problem is our blood isn't sufficient and if even if it were we would have to die for it so what does he do he comes he comes or not comes up or makes up a way he brings about an atonement the word atonement conveys three things the first two brings about the third there's a covering and a canceling that brings about reconciliation there's a covering of sin there's a can't which brings about the cancellation of the debt that brings about reconciliation remember from the very beginning God has wanted us he's wanted us to be reconciled the problem is our heart and so in lieu of us not having a right heart what does he do he gives us a way to where we can for the time being be right before him so let's go to Leviticus chapter 16 and he says first 15 he says then shall the slaughter go of the sin offering which is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of bull now here's a picture God has told this priest to do a couple things one he has to atone for himself as well and he also has to atone for the place as well because everything is just tainted with sin including the land around it including the priest that's going to mediate between the people of Israel or those who come and join in and with God so you've got a high priest that's going to perform this and what he has to do is two things he has to one after he's been atoned for he has to have this sacrificial offering slaughtered and his blood sprinkled over and then God will accept it and then two take the sins of the people and confess those sins over the head of the scapegoat and send the scapegoat out of the way of the people so that therefore the sins are no longer in the camp so let's go back to the passage he says verse verse 16 he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins and thus he shall do for the tent of meaning which abides with them in the midst of their impurities when he that is the high priest or the priest when he goes in to make atonement for in the holy place no one shall be in the tent of the meeting until he comes out that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it and he shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides with his fingers he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrated verse 20 when he finishes atoning for the holy place in the tent of the meeting and the altar he shall offer the live goat that's the scapegoat then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins and they shall lay them on the head of the scapegoat and send it away into the wilderness by the hands of a man who stands in red it's not in this case we have had sin imputed us so in this case sin will be imputed to this scapegoat and so it does work itself out if we obey God the goat shall bear the iniquity itself of all the iniquities to a solitary land and he shall release the goat in the wilderness now this is going to also be magnified in a better sense when Jesus Christ comes and he takes the role of every last one of these people well i say people the priest as well as a scapegoat as well as a sacrificial offering Jesus is going to be a better sacrifice he's going to be a better scapegoat remember John says look the Lamb of God who comes and takes away the sins of the world and then three he takes the place of the priest though in this case he didn't have to have his sins atoned for because he knows no sin then let's let's continue let's go down to verse 29 notice what he says he says this shall be a permanent statute for you interestingly enough how is it a permanent statue when this particular way of doing so is going to end we'll deal with that just a little bit later and he tells the time and the money says in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month you shall humble your humble your souls and do not and do no work whether the native or the alien who sold your money so the people that are there they don't just show up just to show up they also regard themselves as lowly they humble or flick their souls they do not eat they fast they do no work and they regard themselves as lowly this is what he's speaking of there similarly when we deal with our salvation it's the same way because before we come to Christ or before we are saved we must we must first acknowledge that we are sinful and we need a redeemer similarly here they have to come in with the same sort of attitude bow down and repent in heart if they do not then none of this will be applied to them let's continue verse 31 I'm sorry verse 30 for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord remember the point that I made earlier you will be in right standing or cleanse before the Lord that's the only one that matters it never matters how someone else sees you it matters only how God sees you if Bob thinks that Mary is just or Bob thinks that Mary is right or Bob thinks that Mary is justified it doesn't matter it is God who justifies it's God who you must stand before in right standing not perfect not clean from any not not perfect or absolve from any sin but cleanse of your sin remember what does this do it covers and cancels it covers the sin so that the Lord does not see the sin it cancels the debt very important guys remember this it cancels the debt and thereby you can be reconciled to God in this case the priest can go before the people but later on we will be able to go before the Lord on our own without needing a man to do so for us and notice what he says he says you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord it is it is to be a Sabbath a solemn rest for you that you may humble your souls it is a permanent statue so the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as a priest in his father's place shall make atonement he shall thus put on the linen garments the holy garments matter of fact let me just drop down I don't want to go over the whole thing verse 34 now you shall have this as a permanent statute to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins how often once every year and the and just as the Lord had commanded Moses so he did so let's get a picture of this God has commanded this to take place every year once a year and so they will stand right before the Lord in a just dance how long for one year but there is this yearly reminder of their sin and they've got to go through this year after year after year and oh by the way in case or of course they will when they sin God is also giving them the opportunity to get other offerings matter of fact not just sin offerings and the sin offering is adjusted even according to your income some people don't have the ability to give a bull or goat some people have to give a pigeon or you can give a grain offering there are different types of offerings some just for thanksgiving Lord I love you so much so you have the ability to do that God has made a way for mankind for his people to be reconciled to him as well as to also honor him and so God has made it that atonement would be made by following this now I want you all to understand the importance of this because God has not changed one iota he's going to use the exact same elements of high priest he's going to use a scapegoat to take away sins and he's going to use a sacrificial offering to shed his blood only this time rather than being good for one year it will be eternal which is why he says that this statue will be perpetual only thing is that Jesus will take this and it's done one time but now I want you to understand the point of this if God says that all that's required is you do this then if you do this and God accepts it could God come back and say no I've changed my mind on second thought the offering that you gave me was not sufficient God will not do that God is not like us he's not a man like us he's not a man like us that we should lie so God will not lie if he says this is what what is required for the debt to be paid then once the debt is paid the debt is paid and you stand before him righteously how long in in this case for one year God is going to make a statement though I'm going to highlight it we're going to come back to this in just a little bit I've covered this before this is Leviticus 1711 he says for the life of the flesh is in the blood which is why he's requiring blood to be paid and I've given to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls for it is the blood by reason of life that makes atonement so he's stating here that this blood is what I'm asking you to pay for to pay for what the debt that's owed if this payment is made because again God you determine what the payment is going to be the payment is made God accepted well then guess what there is no debt that's owed at that moment however because it has to be done year after year after year it's going to happen again now the problem is though Israel even in doing so they have made God jealous what have they done they have gone after other idols and so God has stated that he's a jealous God you can have no other guys before him so what does he say he says of them because you have made me jealous in Deuteronomy 32 16 they made him jealous with strange guys with abominations they provoked him to anger and so now God is upset God is jealous so what is God's remedy for that he stated in verse 21 he says they have made me jealous with what is not God they have provoked me to anger with their idols so what does God say I will make them who's them Israel I will make Israel the Jews jealous I will make them jealous with those who are not a people people people who are not an actual nation like Israel I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation well we know because we've got the rest of the bible to read that he is going to do so with Gentiles he's going to cause the Gentiles to he's going to use them to provoke the Jews to anger cause them to be jealous and it is going to happen now what's interesting is how is that going to happen how is he going to how is he going to do that because the problem with the Jews is the same problem that we have with the Gentiles so it's got to be God who is going to have to give a work God is going to have to do something it is possible according to scripture so far that we've read even in the New Testament we're going to see that mankind can't make up his mind to do right the problem is mankind can't make up his mind to be consistent at doing right he will not consistently do right he might do right for a day he might only do right for an hour he might do right for a few days for a week but he does not have it in him to consistently do right he does not have the ability to consistently keep believing and I'm using this term keep believing for a reason we'll get to that but so what does God state even though he stated that you need to circumcise your heart God is going to tell us in the future how he is going to do so well as a matter of fact though we read in in Deuteronomy 10 he tells them to circumcise their heart well what does God come back and do he says in Deuteronomy 36 he says more over the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your I'm sorry so that you may live we're going to hear this theme throughout the scriptures what must happen you must love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your mind with all your soul with everything in you well how's it going to happen well he tells them to circumcise their heart and by proxy tells us the same thing our heart needs to be fixed so what does he say he's going to do with them he's going to circumcise their heart in order for them to do so now that takes us to John 3 God has to do a work in order to keep us in order to keep us doing what we're supposed to do in order to save us because otherwise our heart won't let us do right so he's got to fix our heart he has a conversation Jesus does in John chapter 3 very famous chapter in John 3 after Nicodemus comes in he says truly truly verse 3 I say that unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God so what has happened first there's a chronology to this first you must be born again well this word born again guys and let's put on the screen I want you guys to make sure that you see this that the word born again is of is two words ganete anothin it can have one of two meanings one meaning for ganete anothin could be born again a second time so the anothin could be again another time or it is to be born from above well Nicodemus believes that he that that Jesus is referring to a second time again Jesus corrects him no Nicodemus not a second time to be born from above this being born from above is the Lord's work this is being born from the spirit we're gonna see that in second as a matter of fact verse 4 because Nicodemus is confused he says how can a man be born when he's old how can he enter a second time into his mother's room so again Nicodemus is confused first five Jesus says truly truly I say to you unless one is born of water and spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God so what does Jesus do instead of this time saying being born again ganete anothin he's saying being born of water and spirit so now he's introduced a second way to say being born again then he's going to introduce a third way to say it verse six bat which is born of flesh is flesh bat which is born of spirit is spirit do not be amazed that I said to you you must be born again so he says being born again he says being born of water and and and spirit and then he also says being born of spirit three ways to say the same thing those things have to happen in order for a person to become saved now understand the term born again does not mean you're saved being born again is your heart being regenerated the word that's used in Titus 3 where it says we were saved by the Washington Regeneration the word regeneration is is palan and then genomized so again born it's the same phrase that Jesus making here in order to be saved before you actually can profess this faith and keep this believing you have to have your heart change why because what was the problem with the Jews as well as everybody else that's ever lived their heart this this desperately wicked heart is the issue and what does Jesus say about this he says that do not do not be amazed that I said to you that you must be born again the wind and notice the analogy the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from and where it is going so just like the wind we don't know where it's coming from or where it's going the same is true of those who are born of the spirit and notice the phrase here the same is true of pas everyone so all those that are born of the spirit now in this case he Jesus is Jewish he's speaking to a Jewish man Nicodemus who's of the Pharisees but he's using he's using all inclusive word pas all we're going to see this even more so where does Jesus get this term from because in verse 9 Nicodemus is confused how can this these things be Jesus said are you a teacher of Israel and you don't understand these things because he should have known this Israel has been told this before Nicodemus is not either hasn't been reading or studying or has forgotten about this or maybe simply didn't understand what was read where does this come from well remember he said that he is going to circumcise their hearts God makes this statement this is God working in man so that he could be saved but not only there also in Ezekiel 11 19 he says and I will give them this is Israel I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh why that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them then they will be my people and I shall be their gods but when is this going to happen this is remember this is going to happen after he's made them jealous with these other people with a foolish people with a foolish nation of people who are not as people now there are going to be some that become his people even before then but overall as a nation it's going to take place after he has been working with these Gentiles keep that in mind and so what is it going to do give them a new heart so they can walk and stop doing what they were doing in the past sinning being disobedient but not only in Ezekiel 11 19 he also makes the same statement in Ezekiel 36 25 he says then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean and I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols moreover I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you so now notice what he's saying he's using two elements water and spirit the same two elements that's used in John 3 you must be born of water and spirit be born of the spirit be born water of spirit he used the same elements that God is speaking up in Ezekiel 36 25 and 26 he says I moreover I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a new heart here's the important part let's know what he says he says I will put my spirit what's his spirit who's his spirit the Holy Spirit I will put my spirit within you and look what he says I will cause you to walk in my statues this is not bidding you or from you making it possible this word cause is from a Hebrew word a sigh which means to do to make to cause so the spirit being in you is going to cause you to walk how long to keep walking and to never turn as a matter of fact in Jeremiah 32 notice what he says about the same instance being brought up in Jeremiah 32 he says and I will give them one heart which is the problem that we have the problem with mankind is a bad heart I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me always for their own good and for the good of their children after them look what he says verse 42 is the clicker he says I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good and I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me that is wonderful because he stated that when I put my spirit in them not only will I not turn away from them they the people who I put my spirit in they will not ever turn away from me and so if we go back to John 3 famous passage Jesus is going to be able to lead into an important statement that he's going to make we all know this statement he says here in John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life now we want to go ahead and peel back and look at this deeply like we've done in the past in this way so God is going to show how he loves the world what is he talking about in this way the same way the same people grumble against Moses and God God fashions cause these serpents to bite them and they would get sick some of them even died and then he had Moses the fashionist serpent on a pole and anyone who looked on it and believe in it they would get healed and so in this way if the son of man is lifted up then all of those who believe in him will have everlasting life so he says so in this same way this word that's used here is the Greek word huto so in this way so this is how God is going to show his love how so he is going to give his only his monogamy his only son the only one of his kind his son he gave why did he do so why did the Lord do so not because he loved the world he did so so that all of and this word says Hina pasta pistol wine in order that all of the ones hot pistol wine this term is the those that are believing in him you can always see this term or this participle the ing when the bible talks about us as believers most often he's going to talk about us as believing in a in a continual state of believing we enter into this one time a continual state of believing why because our hearts have now been regenerated causing us to keep believing because what did he say in Ezekiel 36 as well as Jeremiah that this spirit in us will cause us to walk and to keep his statues to keep his commands keep his ways now somebody might say well wait a minute Cory isn't that uh that was described only for the Jews and not the Gentiles well if those were the only passages you might say so but it's not the only passages let's go to John chapter one verse 12 he says but as many this word hasoi which is everybody whoever but as many that received him he gave the right to become children of God even to those even to those even to those who believe in this word this is guys this is a participle as well even to those who are believing that's us who were born this important who have been born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God now once you focus on this last portion of this he says but of those being born but of God being born this word and this word right here eginate the son which is those that have been born so everyone that's been born of God what did Jesus say later in John 3 those that are saved are saved because they have been born again who does the born againing to us it's not us i know it's bad English but who makes us to be born again this is God how do we know because Peter says the exact same thing he says in 1 Peter 1 3 blessed be the God in the file of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again who causes us to be born again God does God causes us to be born again it's not us it's not your intelligence it's not your heart the fact that it made sense to you and you said you know what i want to keep believing i want to believe well it's possible guys it is possible for a person to hear the gospel and it makes sense and believe even though they don't have the Holy Spirit it's possible because we've seen that however it is impossible for them to hear the gospel and believe and to keep believing which is why the bible describes a christian as someone who is believing you can believe for the moment but what is going to keep you believing there there is nothing coming out of heaven there's no prophet leading you there are no signs like we saw in the Old Testament and we don't have the yearly offerings we don't have the sacrificial offerings that they do so when they mess up we don't have that anymore all we have is a one-time professional faith off of a one-time offering from our one savior and we'll talk about this one savior just a little bit but people can't have the way to intellectually believe how do we know because jesus says so we talked about the parable of the seed and the sowers in Luke chapter 8 so let's go there again now the parable is this after he explained the parable they were confused he says those beside the road are those who have heard then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart so i guess it is possible that the devil can come and take the word from your heart how does he do so well because the devil as the word says he's the god of this world there are people that can come in your way they can frustrate you they can irritate you they can get you to operate in your flesh as we've heard before and then what do you do you go after the things of the flesh he can't literally stick his hand in your heart and pull out a belief he didn't have that but he will do things to cause you to stop believing why is that important because the only people that he can do that to are those who don't have the spirit in them if you have the holy spirit and he can't do anything how do we know because greater is he that's in you that than he that's in the world notice what he keeps saying he says those on the rocky soil of those who when they hear receive the word with joy and they have no firm root they believe look what he says they believe for a little while notice this word is not the parable of believing these aren't people who are believing they believe and since for a little while and in time of temptation they fall away fall away from the tenets of the faith now by the way these seeds i'm sorry let's continue in this way the seed which fell among the thorns these are those are the ones they have heard and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to maturity now here's the good seed the but i'm sorry here's the seed that falls on good soil verse 15 but the seed in the good soil and we've got to figure out what the good soil is the seed is the word of god so people hear the word of god and they make a decision but these people who make a decision are those who have this the word planet in good soil these are the ones who have heard the word with an honest and good heart and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance where does this honest and good heart come from we just been discussing it the honest and good heart comes from above comes from god comes from the lord him regenerating our heart so after your heart being generated there's nothing on the inside to compel you to keep believing then you won't keep believing i want to look i want to direct you to a particular passage this is in romans nine notice what it says in romans nine in romans nine i'm sorry three nine he says what then are we better than they not at all for we have already charged that both jews and greek are all under sense we're all in the same boat as it is written look what it says there is none righteous nobody's right not even one there is none who understands and look what it says there is none who seek for god now a person can on their own and i want you to hear this you can seek the lord but it not be the seeking that he's speaking of why because notice what he says though there is there is none who seeks the lord and this is the word uh excuse me like zaitone this is the participle there is none that keeps seeking so there is none that is seeking there is none that's in a state of constantly seeking why the constantly seeking person is the same as a constantly believing person the constantly following person that person must have the holy spirit to have regenerated their heart to have changed their heart and this is an act that is outside of you notice what he says notice what he says uh in john three he says that just like the wind blows we don't know where it's coming from and where it's going so it is of everyone that's born again so in order and let's just get this straight guys to be born peter says being born again is what god costs god costs us to be born again god says in the old testament that he's going to circumcise our hearts god says that he will that he will put his spirit in notice if we were to go back in fact let's do so if we go back to ezekiel 36 i want you to notice the uh first person pronouns that are used the eyes that are used in this case i is doing it and then someone is having it done to them in verse 25 let's go back to it he says then i who's the eye that's god i will sprinkle clean water on you notice the elements being born of water in spirit i will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean i will cleanse you from your filthiness and from all your idols not you i will give you a new heart i told you to circumcise your heart but you can't do it and so what does god say in new diamond 36 i will do so he says i will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and i will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh not you i will put my spirit within you and i will cause you and by the way this isn't in Hebrew is i will cause you to walk in my statues and you will be careful to observe my ordinances this is god saying that i will do this not you you don't have the ability if you could you would but you didn't because you can't and so therefore god is going to work this now that leads us into a sticky subject that people sometimes might not want to deal with but it's there but it is there that is in Ephesians one three because we're looking at god doing the work in us notice what it says in Ephesians three and one three blessed be the god and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us who blessed us Jesus the Lord Jesus Christ with every spiritual blessing and they have many places just as he he chose us and because the us is the the direct object he chose us to be in him the indirect object in him is Jesus so we were chosen to be in him and it's not a collective there is no way grammatically to take this to mean that he chose some people generic people with no name on it no timestamp nothing nothing on it no he chose us and it's clear who the us is and where did he choose us to be in christ and when did he do so he chose us to be in him before the foundation of the world why that we would be holy and blame us before him in love he predestined us to the adoption of his son through Jesus Christ so who's the us those who have been saved and being and are being conformed to the adoption of his son or as roman says conformed to the image of his son he did so when before the foundation of the world and so because of that because of the way it's written the greek or the english the direct object is us the indirect objects is is jesus who we were chosen to be in that is god doing his work that's not us we can do our best to try to do our work the problem is it never works it never works when we do our work our works fail our righteousness is like filthy rags and so because of that it leads into another touchy subject it lets you know because again paul tells us in roman 15 that we are learning because what was written we can learn our lesson because of them what's the lesson that you and i don't have the ability to do right on our own there's nothing good about us there's nothing right it's about us we don't consistently seek it takes the lore so what does that mean because he has designed to regenerate our hearts because he has purposed in his heart to choose us to be in him what does that necessarily mean that means that once it's done it is done we'll talk about our responsibility as we go on later but notice what he says and i want to deal with this as a matter of fact let's go to john 10 in john 10 one of the more defining chapters in terms of salvation or even the ability to lose salvation is john chapter 10 he says verse 2 but he who enters the door is the shepherd of the sheep and so he's going to use the analogy of us being a sheep which he uses often why because sheep are maybe the dumbest creatures ever known to man probably not but maybe sheep follow after whatever however they will follow after whoever their shepherd is and so we have a shepherd look what he says verse 3 to him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice the sheep are hearing his voice akuwe his voice and he calls his own sheep this word taidiab means they are his sheep find a shepherd with sheep you can go and call the sheep the sheep will hear you they hear the sound but they don't hear you they don't understand they don't recognize you and so therefore they won't come but the moment that the shepherd starts speaking the sheep perk up they look up and they come running and so he says the same thing about us he calls us his own verse 4 again when he puts forth all his own sheep he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him so what do sheep do sheep hear him and sheep follow him he's giving a description of what sheep do sheep hear and she follow why do sheep follow the Greek word this user is hati because or Dacian because they know him they know the voice of him sheep follow their shepherd because they know their shepherd's voice and one of the more defining or definitive passage to say that we will never walk away or lose our salvation is verse 5 he says a stranger they simply will not follow but will flee from him why because they don't know the stranger's voice here's why this is important here's why this is definitive in the greek let's just pause for a second in the greek we've covered before there are two ways to say it is impossible for something to happen in every in every language you can say something is impossible to happen just like i just did in english in english i can say it is impossible for this to happen well how would i ever say that it's impossible in the greek that this can happen is there a way to say it's impossible for it to happen in the greek well sure there is every greek grammarian every person that just has a cursory study of greek knows that there's at least a way to say this is impossible the question is does he say it's impossible here he absolutely does if you have what's called a double negation in front of either a subjunctive or a future active indicative i'll explain those with what those are in a second but if you have this double negation in front of those two one of the two that's how you say in greek it is literally impossible for it to happen a subjunctive and we'll look at an example in a second is a word of possibility of potentiality in other words may but if you put a double negation in front of the main then you'll say it is impossible for it to possibly happen it can never possibly happen or in this case a double negation in front of a future active indicative meaning saying that something will happen but i put a double negation in front of it it means to know not ever ever ever will happen and so we have that in verse five a stranger and then look to the right a stranger here we have the double negation umay and then akaluza saying this is a future active indicative meaning it is it never ever ever it will not ever ever happen or will ever ever follow in the future because it's the future active indicative is talking about following in the future following who following a strange voice any of the voice that is not jesus they will never ever ever follow that voice but what does he say they will flee from that voice they will flee from that voice so when they hear a strange voice islam hinduism buddhism atheism i want to stop believing in christ whatever this strange voice is they simply will not follow it but run away and he's not just speaking of the jews jesus goes on to say in verse 16 he says i have other sheep which are not at this fold and look what he says i must bring them and they will he says they will hear my voice so even the gentiles he says they will hear my voice they absolutely will hear his voice and if they hear his voice according to what he said earlier they will follow after him he says for this and they will become one flock with one shepherd because they will know his voice as well this is very important guys so now we've got an active agent that is god through the holy spirit working in us causing us to hear and causing us to follow and saying that we will never follow after anything else as a matter of fact we will turn away if anything else comes our way and then notice what he says what he says about sheep in chapter in chapter 10 still verse 26 as he's speaking to these jews he says of them but you do not believe me why because you are not my sheep now if you are his sheep he says my sheep hear my voice well we've been told that sheep hear his voice his sheep are are going to keep hearing his voice and i know them and they follow me so what is he what does he reiterate about sheep us that we hear him we follow him we know him he knows them and what does he say and i give them eternal life i give them life going into the ages and look what he says and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand so they'll never be snatched out of his hand my father who has given them to me this part is important we'll cover this in second who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my hand now let's go back to verse 28 i said the other surefire way to make something impossible is a double negation in front of a subjunctive so what do we have here we have a double negation in verse 28 the second clause and they will never perish so what do we have let's put it on the screen look on the right umay apalontai this apalontai is a subjunctive meaning they may perish but if you put before that this umay no not ever perish he is literally saying it is impossible for them to perish even in the future the possibility is eliminated so Jesus himself makes this statement makes this case it is impossible for you to not be or to lose or to perish in the future as a matter of fact just as strong is what is what he says in verse 29 my father who has given them to me is greater than all so who gave us as sheep to be um his sheep the father did the father gave the son i mean gave us the son as a matter of fact let's go to john chapter six verse 37 start there he says all that the father has given to me ha didosen which all the father's given to me so who gave us to the son the father this why we have this picture of the bride that's us the son is the groom and the father has given away the bride to the groom he's what does he say all that that that have been given to him whoever that happens to be what does he say will come this is a future they absolutely will come those that were given will come and he's not speaking about just the disciples guys he says all that that he that he's given will come and no one who comes to me i will certainly not cast out i by the way the same term issues here who may and then ekbalo a double negation so it is impossible those that come will ever ever ever be cast out he says verse 38 for i have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me this is the will this is important him who sent me that all that he has given every last one of them that he will lose none he will not lose any of them so what is he stated that if you have been given to the son you will not be lost so only those that's been given are those that have been given all of those that have been given will never be lost and he makes a statement in verse 44 that i think is vitally important i'm sorry not 44 uh 47 he states truly truly i say to you that he who believes in this word here is the present active parcel of the believing ones the the ones that are believing he says that person has ek zoane onion which is they have life when this present active tense so if you are believing if you believe today when do you have life according to this passage right now and your life starts now going forward into eternity there's no way to get around that now jesus makes a statement we talked about it before that if you've been given to him you were given to him from by the father from very from early on from the very beginning and how this happens is your heart has been regenerated now he makes a very very emphatic statement and i want you to see what jesus is going to say jesus in in john 1930 says this he says on the cross he says it is finished and he uses this greek term the telestei which is a perfect tense it is a completed action from the past what is finished that's a good question i'm glad you asked so i want to go back just a little bit to leviticus 17 remember we are dealing with this atonement and we're trying to make sure a debt is paid the only way you can have salvation is to be right in right standing before the lord the only way to be in right standing before the lord to be justified declared justified by god is that the debt that you owe has been paid how was that debt paid well by blood notice what he says though in leviticus 1711 we covered this before let's look at it again for the life of the flesh is in the blood and i have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls this point right here i have given we've covered before he's got these two words that i have given to you on the altar one is ani which is right here and then not that team not that team means i have given in he will greet you don't have to have a part the pronoun in front of it inside the verb itself you can it can carry the tense it can carry the the number it can carry the voice in the mood so i have given is literally embedded in the not that team is i have given but then he also says i i i have given that's an interesting way of putting it so god says i i have given what does that mean in hebrew that means i myself have given and in this case it means that i myself am giving the offering i'm providing the offering how is that the case well we'll deal with that into a second but god is stating that i myself am going to supply the blood we'll come back to that in a second but the point of the blood is to do what to pay the debt well what does he say Jesus says it is finished what does that mean in greek in that day when there was something old and a debt was finished the last thing that's going to be stamped on that bill of sales on that deed is to tell us that i mean there's no more debt that's old nothing else is old so no one can come back and say this person owes a debt jesus knows exactly what he's saying which is why he makes that statement and what is finished it's he's referring to something not on the cross but something from the past what in the past this what he said in leviticus relating to the atonement specifically leviticus 1711 as well as if you want to be real serious about it or to be honest about it even going back as far as genesis three this debt has been paid how do we know because paul says so in colossians 214 he says having cancelled out the certificate of debt what debt this sin debt that we have having cancelled out the the debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us he has taken it out of the way how so having nailed it to the cross so the debt that we had is on the cross that is if you believe that is if you believe now that being the case notice if you do believe notice what he says emphatically also in revelation three five he says he who overcomes and we'll do this he who overcomes in a second will thus be clothed in white garment and i will not erase or blot his name out from the book of life but notice his purpose this right here says who made xylipso which is i will never ever ever double negation of a future active indicative that's him saying it's impossible for them to be blotted out now some are going to say well only if they overcome this is not saying if you overcome he says hodney cone this is a participle so he's declaring these that are overcoming the overcoming ones they will never ever be blotted out well how can i make sure that i'm one of the overcoming ones well we're told who the overcoming ones are in first john chapter five notice what he says whoever believes by the way it's pos hot pistol wine so the believing ones um that jesus is the christ notice what it says they are born you can they tied they are born of god what did jesus say in in in john three you must be born of god born of the spirit john one twelve if you are born of god you're good if you're born of god you are not going to lose so those who are remember paul paul peter says that god caused us to be born of him so all of us who are born of god and those who are loving pos hot agapone those who are loving the father loves the child born of him and by this we know that we love the children of god when we love god and observes commandments for this is the love of god that we keep this commandments and we're going to be keeping this the word is te roman so we're going to be keeping his commandments and his commandments are burning look what he says for whatever or it really says pun tie get your name on those that have been born of god those that have been born so all of the ones that have been born which is all of us that have been born again all of us christians if you've been born of god look what he says of god you overcome the world you are overcomers of the world so if you want to know if your name will be blotted out all you have to do is be an overcomer how to become an overcomer as long as you're believing how do you know you're believing you have been caused to believe by god because notice what it says what overcomes the world our faith hey pistes hey mom our faith that's our belief our believing is what causes us to be overcomers being born again does that who causes us to be born again that is the lord who does that and notice what he says because of that number 524 truly truly i say to you that he who hears my voice or my words by the way this is the the one that's hearing my voice and here's that word again the pistol on this person is believing the high pistol on that's us in him who sent me he has eternal life he has life when right now and look what he says does not come into judgment does not come into judgment this person will not or says A's creed creed saying into judgment uke ekkatai which is he is into judgment he will not come into judgment he will not come but uh made of a bacon which is it's a perfect tense he has already in the past passed from death to life meaning this person will never see that death obviously it's a spiritual death you will never see that death who are these people these are the believers who have had their hearts regenerated by God to come back and say that anyone who has had their hearts regenerated and has been given to the lord uh will also be lost when Jesus says he will not lose one would be almost not almost I think would be an offense to what God has stated it will be an offense and say God you're not clear on what you're saying God I can't know God has stated that he will not lose any one now the interesting thing about that is when I read Leviticus 1711 God has determined to get involved in in salvation God has determined this notice what he says uh he says let's put on the screen he says for the life of the flesh let's go over to the end is in the blood and I have given this is I need not that team so I have given so God has stated that I am giving the blood I myself but that didn't make any sense God since you don't have blood well yes he does when he makes his statement therefore when he comes to the world he says sacrifices and offerings you have not desires all those offerings and sacrifices you require that you ask for that's not really what you were looking for when he really desired was a body you have prepared for me so God so this body is prepared for Jesus to literally come and give his blood what blood the very same blood that God requires as a debt to be paid so once the debt is paid and we have faith what happens when we have faith in what the debt that was paid on our behalf is given God is not going to then turn back and say well the debt that was paid is is not sufficient well the debt the blood of Christ is not sufficient of course it is oh by the way it's literally what you required God notice that and he says instead of you circumcising your heart in doing so I'm going to get involved and I'm going to circumcise your heart and then we saw in Ezekiel 36 I'm going to in doing so cause you to walk in your I mean in God's teachings oh by the way this very same God who is he well the Bible lets us know because we need to understand that this is literally God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit at work declare and set forth your case this is Isaiah 42 21 declare and set forth your case indeed let them consult together who has announced this from the old who has long since declared it is it not I the Lord and look what he states he says and there is no other God besides me a righteous God and a savior there is none except so who's God God obviously well who's a savior God is as well notice what he says here in Isaiah 43 11 he says I even I am the Lord and there is no savior beside me why is that important because God is the Lord as he says in Deuteronomy 4 the Lord is God and so he states also that he that God is the Lord the Lord is God and God is the Lord if A equals B then B also equals A but in this case we're gonna have A equals B B equals C so C equals A who's the C that's Jesus Jesus is the Lord because we only have one Lord and notice what he says in Romans 9 if a person wants to be saved what must they do the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus as Lord there's only one Lord and believe in your heart that God erased from the dead you will be saved no no no Cory that's not true that we can't say that Jesus is the Lord he might be a Lord he's Lord but not the Lord well if we keep reading notice what he says verse 11 for the scripture says whoever believes in him that is Jesus though as Lord will not be disappointed for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all so there's only one Lord the same Lord of the Jews is the same Lord of the of the Greeks who believe abounding and riches for all who call on him for whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved so it is imperative salvation is a result of you placing your faith in what the Lord has done the Lord has been active in your salvation again we've covered the visions one one uh three four and five but notice what he says in verse 13 he says in him you also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation having also believed and by the way this is the this is a participle so after also having been believing I'm trying to make it as clear in the English after also having becoming one of the believed ones the message of truth the gospel of your salvation having also believed you were past tense sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given who's who's the who that was given the Holy Spirit was given as given as a pleasure promise of our inheritance with a view to redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory and this pledge guys this word is the Greek word for our bond this is a earnest money deposit it's like when you go to a hotel or you rent a car you put the money down the down payment to secure it what's being secured your salvation and who is literally the down payment the Holy Spirit the Bible tells us Paul says also in Ephesians 4 don't grieve the Holy Spirit and what does he say who we have been sealed for until the day of redemption so we've been sealed with the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit will never leave us he's been one there to regenerate our hearts and then upon our professional faith we are also baptized in him so he's also as the Lord says causing us causing us to walk in his statute why this is literally God at work this is God at work in us and so if you don't believe also imperative this is what salvation is placing your faith in Jesus as Lord that necessarily means placing your faith that Jesus is God Jesus makes his bold statement and he didn't equivocate he didn't stutter he said therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins and that I am he unless you believe uh Garme Pistus Pistus Este I'm sorry I wish that word Pistus Este Hati Ego Eme unless you believe that I am I'm I am if you don't believe that he's the I am the very same I am from Exodus 3 then you cannot be saved you place your faith that it's the Lord who took on flesh and died for our sins which is why he says before Abraham was I am and the Jews understood exactly what he was saying that he was calling himself God as a matter of fact Philippians 2 5 says that that we should have the same attitude that he has nothing we're God but he says who although he existed has been existed this word hypercone which is he has been existing long before his earthly incarnation in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped so he is God and his equality with God is not a big deal to him because he is God but what did he do he emptied himself of what well I would have to say to some degree his glory to what degree how much the Bible didn't tell us but he is clearly God that has come down to work on our path to save us unlike any other religion that we have to do for him to be saved no he does for us and we believe we place our faith in that why is that important because it's faith that's saved it's always been faith that's saved in Hebrews 11 now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not to see for by it men of old gain approval you have to have faith faith like who Abraham Isaac Jacob able E not it with faith even before the law even before the cross it's faith in God that saves now we've got this atonement that God has given us to place our faith in that saves us faith in without it it is as the Bible says verse 6 without faith it is impossible to please God without it you cannot please when you cannot be saved without faith so let's be clear what saves us is faith when we say that we have to stop sinning to be saved well then you're going to be a very unsafe person because you don't have the ability to stop sinning does God want you to stop sinning absolutely so what is he going to give you to help you in that regard the Holy Spirit you are going to sin let me make this clear because some people get this confused you are going to sin but you don't have to sin the very last sin that you committed you didn't have to however the good news is that if you do sin there is an advocate on your behalf if there's a person who is practicing sin and this this relates to our walk in the Lord after we have placed our faith in Christ are you going to sin well it's going to depend on a couple of things one if you are indeed saved or if you're not there are two people on the planet that sin the unsaved and the saved what differentiates those including those that think they're saved and are not well let's go to now Paul makes a statement he says that i have this confidence that God who began a good work in you he who began to get working you he will perfect it this word is a gripper for tell us to complete it he will complete it he will keep completing it perfecting it when until the day of Christ so Paul makes it clear that if you are his you will make it to the finish line so to speak but there's an issue of sinning if you are one of those who are practicing sinning he says no one born of God practice sins or is doing the sin because his seed abides in him but wait a second i seem to i seem to sin i seem to sin maybe more than i want to and i've been living for 40 years for 50 years i've been saved for 70 years and there's this one or two or five sins that i i've been trying to get past look i've prayed about and so forth and they show up every now and then how many times do i have to sin for to be considered practicing sin well the bible doesn't give you a magic number that if you do it 10 times or 40 times or how much time in between is it considered practicing sin what we do know is what's not practicing sin here's what i mean if a person has a particular sin and they're struggling with it how does that person categorize as someone who practices sin well it depends on what his desires are what i mean by that let's go to paul paul makes a statement and he's going to use that very same word practice he says for i know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh for the willing is present in me but the doing of the good is not i want to do the right stuff but doing the wrong stuff it is what i keep doing he says for the good that i want to do i do not do but look what paul says but i practice the very evil that i do not want to do wait a second isn't practicing a person that's practicing sin isn't that person not safe does that mean that paul is not safe no paul is safe paul is going to indicate the difference between those that are practicing and those that are just doing it here's what i mean by that verse 20 he says but if i am doing the very thing i do not want to do i am no longer the one doing it but sin which wasn't me so paul is distinguishing with his will i do this i don't want to my desire is to not sin and though i might sin again i don't have to but if i succumb to it this may be maybe it's a it's a stronghold but my desire is not to do that the person who might be struggling with let's say homosexuality if this person is practicing a practicing homosexuality and wants to be a homosexual that person is the one that's described in 1st John 3 but this person that is struggling with homosexuality and does not desire to be a homosexual that's the person that's akin to what paul is talking about that's the person who is not desiring to do so and he still has his stronghold the person with the drug addiction that particular person does not want to be a drug addict he's struggling now for whatever reason maybe god is is lingering in moving that away because maybe god is using that particular addiction as he is growing in christ that someone else can identify with that and ends up following him hey i have been struggling with drugs you've been struggling with drugs you're further along than me what's happening well it's the love of christ that is that's in me that's moving me away and so what should we do as a believer well james says this he says that we should therefore submit to god resist the devil he will flee draw near to god and he will draw near to you so the goal the point is to as a believer to draw closer to god how do we do so how do we draw closer to god how do we resist the devil well by reading as a matter of fact interestingly enough there's there plenty of surveys that show that if a person reads their bible regularly i mean four or five six times a week regularly didn't go into how often how long they are reading but they read the bible regularly if they are regular attenders of church and if they regularly pray not just for your over your food or when you go into bed but just regularly pray those people tend to not have some of the same social ills we have that we see in america or everywhere else in the world such as problems with homosexuality problems with addiction problem with suicide problem with you name it these people tend to be better off in life well that makes sense because jesus says i've come to give you life and life abundantly not to have a bunch of stuff but i i want to give you life uh in the abundant fashion to where you live in me amen and so you do so by drawing close to him now when you do sin because a repented person is even going to sin when you sin if you are repenting it's going to bother you to repent means not that i've stopped the sinning to repent means i've stopped the desire for sin my mind towards sin has changed i hate it i do not regard it the same way i have changed my mind that's where we get this word from metanoia from my mind has been changed against sin i don't like it even when i sin i matter of fact i don't even like your sin i don't like any sin and so because of that even when it bothers me but because god is your father when you do sin what is he going to do well the bible tells us that because he is um our our father and we're his children he says and you have in this is chapter 12 of Hebrews and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as son my son do not regard lightly the discipline of the lord nor faint when you are reproved by him for those whom the lord loves he disciplines he scourges every son whom he receives so if he's your father he is going to discipline you but cori how do i know if the discipline i'm getting is from god or from the world from the devil simple your heart is going to verify this how so because when you're getting a spanking when you're getting disciplined you are instinctively going to call out to him you're going to seek him versus somewhere else so implicitly in the spirit that's in you going to guide you towards going back to him and so that everyone bible says that not everyone who says me lord lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven look what he says many verse 22 will say to me on that day lord did we not prophesy on your name and cast out the all these wonderful things in your name and he says i will declare them i never knew you you who practice lawlessness so those of you who are practicing it with no regard for it now there are those who might do it engage in because sometimes you can't always tell between the person who is saved and unsaved based on the sin there are going to be times let's be honest they're going they're going to be some folks that fight me but those are the folks that might believe a little bit too much about themselves there are those that think that they are at a level of non-sending then whether they really are they fooled themselves or think that they have made it because if anyone thinks these stands take heed lest you too fall but there are going to be times where the believer might sin more noticeably than the unbeliever and we might say that person is not saved but that true believer his heart is grieved by it and his desire is not to do that these people jesus would say i never knew you and that means he's not saying i used to know you i never knew you not for a day not for an hour not for a month no i never knew you and so that is guys what salvation is there's a walk afterwards there's responsibility if you do sin there's going to be consequences even for the believer in sin because the father wants to correct you when he's correcting you when you're going through when the father's dealing with you is for one or two reasons either to kill you or to correct you if you're his if you're his child he wants to correct you and so this is why we can make this statement that if you are believing in him if you are the high pistol one the ones that are living life as believing you shall never die spiritually and you will fulfill the dictates of him perfectly no there's no one that is perfect there's no one that is sinless if anyone says that he doesn't sin he is a liar one of the more important discussions is how do you place your faith in him how do you know you've placed your faith in him how do you know you've placed your faith in him it just simply means to trust and when you trust something you trust implicitly there is no denying there's no equivocation internally now no one else can know this but you and god how do i know and here's my example i've used this example a million times and i'll use a million more times in this chair i trust that with my tired legs my bones are sore my feet are aching if i could just find a chair to sit in here's a chair to sit in i trust and believe that this chair will support me and give me rest jesus says coming to me all ye who labor and are having laid and i will give you rest this chair is right there to give me some rest so what do i do i not only just verbally state that i trust that this chair could hold me no i don't just verbally say that i actually show it how do i show that i have faith in this chair by sitting in it and when i sit in the chair i don't question the stability of this chair i don't question whether this chair can hold me if i did if i were uncertain if i was a bit unsure of this chair holding me you know what i would do i would get a good firm wide base i would get a grip on this desk just in case the legs of this chair went out from under me but i haven't done that what i've done this day is i've kind of leaned back in it moved around and so forth and began typing in work and i've i've begun to work while in this salvation which is what paul says in regard to our salvation work that's what he says some verse they work out your salvation in regard to my salvation work which is what i'm doing and so that's how i could know that i trust him that i actually have faith in him