Latest / Crosswalk / Confess and Believe — Romans 10:8–14

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Confess and Believe — Romans 10:8–14 · Crosswalk

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Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow
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Him. You're listening to Crosswalk with Pastor
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Steve Winnery. Crosswalk is the radio ministry
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of Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities and it is our aim
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to lead you to the cross through the teaching
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of God's Word. We're in Romans chapter 10, and
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let's start in verse 8. I want you guys all to
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stand and we'll go through and read it together.
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In verse 8 we're in the midst of a thought. It
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says, but what does it say? The word is near
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you, in your mouth and in your heart. That is
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the word of faith which we preach. That if you
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confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
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in your heart that God has raised him from the
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dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one
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believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
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confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture
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says, whoever believes on him will not be put
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to shame. For there's no distinction between
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Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is
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rich to all who call upon him. for whoever calls
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on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then
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shall they call on him in whom they have not
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believed? And how shall they believe in him of
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whom they have not heard? And how shall they
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hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach
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unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful
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are the feet of those who preach the gospel of
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peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.
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But they've not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah
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says, Lord, who has believed our report? So then
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faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word
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of God, but I say they have they not heard Yes,
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indeed their sound has gone out to all the earth
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and their words to the ends of the world But
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I say did Israel not know first Moses says I
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will provoke you to jealousy by those who are
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not a nation I will move you to anger by a foolish
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nation But Isaiah is very bold and says, I was
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found by those who did not seek me. I was made
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manifest to those who did not ask for me. But
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to Israel, he says, all day long I've stretched
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out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.
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I say then, has God cast away his people? Certainly
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not. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of
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Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not
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cast away his people, whom he foreknew. Or do
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you not know what the scripture says of Elijah,
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how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,
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Lord, they've killed your prophets, torn down
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your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek
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my life? But what does the divine response say
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to him? I've reserved for myself 7 ,000 men who
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have not bowed the knee to Baal. And let's stop
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right there. Let's pray. Father, we love you
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and we're so thankful for your word. We're so
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thankful for the things that you've done for
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us. The scripture makes it clear that the reason
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we're here is because of the work of you in our
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hearts in drawing us to Christ. And so Lord,
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we're so thankful for that. Lord, we're thankful
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for the plan of salvation. We're thankful that
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you made a way for us and it's simple and it's
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straightforward. And it's something that anybody
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in the room can grasp. We can all do this. This
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can happen to every single one of us. And Lord,
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you made it that way for a reason. It's because
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you are not willing that any should perish, but
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that all should come to repentance. And so Lord,
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as we're going through and looking at some of
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the things that speak to this end, this whole
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thing with salvation, we pray that you'd open
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up our understanding, that you'd help me to be
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clear, and that you'd bless the time in your
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word. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. and
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you can have a seat. This is where I go through
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and give you the whole outline of Romans. I'm
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not going to do it again, just except to say
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that Romans 1 through 5 basically is all about
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the gospel. It's all about how God reached down
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to the world and specifically had to do a work
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because there's no way of salvation unless he
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had done it. Why is this pointed at my forehead?
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It's because there was a Nephilim up here. Have
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you ever stood next to Lewis? That guy's this
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tall. I sit here and go, hi. Hi Matt, how are
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you? My voice automatically goes two pitches
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higher than... Anyway, back to it. In any case,
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as you're going through the New Testament or
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through the book of Romans, first five chapters
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are basically all about the gospel and how God
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saves us. Chapters six, seven, and eight are
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how you live the life as a Christian. And the
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fact that you're not to do this on your own,
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you're to do it by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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The law is never going to change you. And then
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when you get to chapter 9, 10, and 11, it's all
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about this gospel was given to the Jewish nation.
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It was given through the Jewish nation. Jesus
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is Jewish. Why aren't the Jews in mass following
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it? Because there are Jews, obviously, that are
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following it. All the apostles are Jewish. And
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many of the people in the churches are Jewish
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at this time. What happened with these guys and
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in chapter 9 the first point that Paul makes
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is just because you are from the nation of Israel
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Doesn't make you the Israel of God. There's a
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phrase that's used in Galatians 6 16 That's talking
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about the real people of Israel and I've been
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making the point as we've gone through and talked
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about that Just because you come to Calvary Chapel
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doesn't make you a Christian. This is a place
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where Christians can be found This is a place
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where Christians congregate, right? But walking
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in the building does not make you a Christian
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any more than walking into McDonald's makes you
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a Big Mac. And again, this is a place where Christians
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are found. And he goes through and he talks about
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the whole idea of election. And it's defended
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and it's defined. And he makes the point that
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God's election is based on mercy not works. And
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election is just the fact that God looked down
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through the ages and he picked you and he saw
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you and he wanted you. And you're not here by
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accident. Your salvation is on purpose. You're
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not part of a bigger group that God had to bring
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in. And you're just a faceless person in a mass
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of people. You're somebody that God looked down
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through the ages and he saw you and he wanted
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you. That's what the doctrine of election is
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for you guys, so that you know that you belong.
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A lot of times I don't feel like I belong. There
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are people around me at all times. A lot of the
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guys on my staff were raised in Christian homes.
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I was not. And so I still, a lot of times, feel
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like I'm on the outside. This is all gravy to
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me, is what I'm telling you. The fact that I
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get to come here is gravy. The fact that you
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guys accept me, that's gravy. The fact that I'm
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up front, that's crazy gravy. That's like gravy
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with pineapple or something in it. There's something
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wrong with that. That's my feeling, and that
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was my feeling as far as... When I first got
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saved, do I really belong? Am I really somebody
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that God wanted, or did He have to take me because
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I said yes? And He's like, okay, let wintery
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come in. He said, yeah, okay. And you find out
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through the doctrine of election, that's not
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true. God purposely chose you. So God's election
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is based on mercy and not on His works. God's
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election is something that's sovereign. That,
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again, in chapter nine, When he's talking about
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the children that are born to Isaac and Rebecca
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He says that the purpose of God verse 11 according
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to election might stand not of works But of him
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who calls and then later on down in the passage
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he talks about verse 18 Therefore he has mercy
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or not not that's not the one verse 16 So then
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it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs
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but of God who shows mercy And so he shows that
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election is something that is sovereign to God.
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He gets to make choices and he does exactly that.
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And then at the end of the chapter, he talks
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about the fact that God's election is open to
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the Gentiles also. And he makes the point that
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many Gentiles receive Christ. The Gentiles as
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a people, many receive Christ. And he makes the
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point that Israel as a people, many rejected
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Jesus and rejected the gospel. So it's not all
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the Jews rejected the gospel. It's not all the
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Gentiles got saved many of the Gentiles got saved
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many of the Jews rejected and Again, it goes
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back to the point. He wraps that whole thing
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up. He basically when he's doing election He's
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just going God and then when he talks about what
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happened to the Jews he goes, it's the Jews They
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did it they rejected they turned away. It was
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because of pride and that's how he ends the chapter.
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He doesn't say that the Jews didn't come in because
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they're reprobate or that God didn't choose them.
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He didn't say that it's because God chose them
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to go to hell. What he says is they refused to
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come and they specifically refused to come because
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of pride. That in verses 31 and 32. He talks
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about pursuing the law of righteousness. They've
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not attained to the law of righteousness. Why?
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Because they did not seek it by faith but as
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it were by the works of the law and they stumbled
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at the stumbling stone which is Christ crucified.
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When you get to chapter 10 in verse 3, it says,
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for they being ignorant of God's righteousness
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and seeking to establish their own righteousness
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have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
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And so they end up, because of their pride and
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because of their ignorance, their incomplete
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knowledge, they end up getting into a works trip.
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And they think that what they're doing is they're
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approaching God and that they are reaching out
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to God for salvation. Therefore that's why they
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are saved and so they're going to church effectively
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synagogue is a work and that's exactly the same
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thing with many people who come to church if
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you're here this morning and you're here because
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you want to impress God on some level and you're
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sitting there going God will accept me if I go
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to his house and I spend time with them that
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kind of thing I'll become a good person and that's
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how I'm going to get to heaven. That is not what
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the Bible says. This is not a place for your
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works It's a place for your worship. We come
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to church because we love the Lord because of
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what he's done for us and we offer him up our
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worship. That's why we're here, not for works.
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I'm not doing anything to impress my Lord. I'm
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doing these things because he is my Lord and
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I love him, right? And that's the motivation
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for all the things that happen in a Christian's
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life. A Christian does these things naturally.
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It's a dolphin in water. Dolphins swim in water,
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they eat in water, they do their life in water
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because they're dolphins. They're not trying
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to become a dolphin, they just are a dolphin.
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And it's the same thing with Christians. Christians,
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when you're in the midst of worship, when you're
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in the midst of the things that we do as believers,
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these are natural things. These are an outgrowth
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of the fact that my nature has been changed.
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I'm doing what I'm designed to do because of
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my nature. not because I'm trying to become something.
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See the difference? Total difference. That illustration,
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I always use it for evangelism. There are people
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who are trying to become dolphins. They're putting
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on dolphin suits. They're eating the same things
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that dolphins eat. Raw fish. I eat raw fish like
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a dolphin. Drill a hole in the back of my head
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so I can breathe like a dolphin. I go through
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one step after another step and you're never
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going to be a dolphin. There's not going to be
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any transition. from human to dolphin, unless
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there's a miracle, right? I did that on purpose
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because we live in Washington state. In any case,
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he goes on and again, he talks about the fact
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that the Jews are on a works trip and then in
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verse four, he makes the point that Christ is
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the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
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who believes. Christ is the end of the law. The
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law is not the point. Jesus is the point. The
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law is pointing to the point, and the point is
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in the fulfillment of Christ. All the sacrifices
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are fulfilled in Christ. All the ceremonial laws
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are fulfilled in Christ. Everything that you
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have in the law is pointing forward to Jesus,
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and when Jesus comes, he's the termination of
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that. He's the endpoint of that, and that's what
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the term means. in greek and then he goes on
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in the next section and he talks about the fact
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that this is straightforward this is something
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that's near to you he says don't say into your
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heart who will ascend into heaven like you're
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going to bring down jesus from above or who's
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going to bring jesus up from the dead these are
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things that have already been done we didn't
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reach out to god god reached out to mankind that's
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the difference between christianity and every
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other religion on the planet No matter, even
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the fake Christian religions. When you're talking
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about the cultists, they're on a works trip.
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They're trying to impress God. They're trying
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to get God to pay attention to them and maybe
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they'll be saved because of all the good things
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that they're doing. That's man reaching out to
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God. And what we have in the Bible is God reaching
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out to man because man was incapable of doing
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the things that God, meeting the standard that
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God had for. eternal life. And so God does it
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himself. And that's the reason that Jesus comes
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down. And so you're not going to bring Jesus
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down from heaven. You're not going to bring him
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up from the grave. And what it does say is the
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word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.
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That is the word of faith, which we preach. It's
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straightforward. It's not about words. Jesus
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already came from heaven. I don't have to raise
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him. God already did it. And there's nothing
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I can add to this. And again, that's where salvation
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stands with a believer. He talks about the simplicity
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of salvation. We did this last week too. That
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if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
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and believe in your heart that God has raised
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him from the dead, you will be saved. So confession
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and belief. He switches the order in the next
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verse. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness
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and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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And so he switches the order and lets you know
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that this is something that happens at the same
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time. When you have this relationship with God,
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there are two things that are going on. You're
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confessing that you are following the real Jesus.
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And when he says the real Jesus, you confess
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with your mouth the Lord Jesus. That word Lord
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there is kurios in Greek. It's a word that means
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master. It's a word that means Lord. But in the
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Greek Old Testament, it was used over 6 ,000
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times for the name of God, Yahweh. And so in
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the Greek Old Testament, they didn't translate
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it Yahweh or Jehovah. They translated it Kurios,
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and that's the Old Testament that most Greeks
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were using, most Gentiles were using, and most
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Jews were using at the time. So when Paul calls
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Jesus Kurios, these guys know exactly what he's
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talking about. We talked about that last time.
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You're talking about the real Jesus, not one
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that you made up. And so there are people who
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say things like, I believe that Jesus is the
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Son of God, but I don't believe that he's God
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himself. Let's talk about that for a second.
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I didn't do this for service. So this is a bonus
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for you. So, Son of God, okay, what does that
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mean? So I've got a son, his name's Nathan, and
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he's bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. You
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know what he is? According to his nature, he's
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human. So I'm a human, I had a human. I didn't
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have the human, my wife had the human. I don't
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want to take that away from her, it was horrifying.
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But anyway, my wife had the human. But he's descended
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from me, and so because he's descended from me,
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he is human. This is the problem that the Jews
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had with Jesus calling himself the Son of God.
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Because if a horse has a son, it's a... If a
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cat has a son, it's a demon. If a dog has a son,
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it's a dog, a saintly animal. And I like cats
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too. I always pick on cats, but actually I like
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them. And if a human has a son, it's a... And
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if God has a son, what is it? And that's the
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deal. And so you can't say that Jesus is the
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son of God and then say in that same breath that
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he's not God. That is not the way that this works.
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That's not what the Bible is trying to communicate.
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And then there's passages that flat out call
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him the creator, flat out call him God. And we
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went into those passages. You have to follow
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the real Jesus. You have to have a real relationship
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with the real Jesus. And again, it's not something
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that you get to make up. I always use the illustration
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of there's a surfer on the beach in Southern
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California. I have a relationship with him and
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he says surfing is the way to salvation and his
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name is Jesus. That's obviously not the Jesus
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of the Bible. And the fact that you tack the
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name Jesus on a guy like that does not mean that
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you're talking about having a personal relationship
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with the Jesus of the Bible. And it's the same
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thing that the cults do. It's the same thing
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that many people do when they get to the Bible.
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Sure, I have a relationship with Jesus. And you
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go, yeah, who is he? And then you start talking
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about it. It has no resemblance to the Jesus
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of the Bible. You are not following the real
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one. And so you have to confess. You have to
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say the same things that the Father says about
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Christ. You have to say the same things that
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the Bible says about Christ. Otherwise, he's
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not the real guy. The Bible says this, and this
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is a verse I use all the time when I'm talking
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to you guys about this, Jesus said, this is eternal
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life, that they may know thee, the only true
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God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Know
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means to know experientially. It means to know
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the real guy. And so knowing God, knowing Jesus.
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The real guy is what eternal life is wrapped
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up in and you know You guys when you go through
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the new testament and you look up the terms you
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can do this look up the term eternal life It
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is always connected with an ongoing relationship
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with the real jesus always And it's ongoing.
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It's not something that you did when you were
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12 It's you are doing it in the present tense
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having this relationship with god with jesus
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and so You have to confess with your mouth the
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Lord Jesus, believe in your heart that God has
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raised him from the dead. And so confession of
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the real Christ and believing in the resurrection
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from the dead. And at this point, I could go
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through a whole argument on the fact that Christ
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rose from the dead. And here's the proofs of
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that. And I can do that, but I'm not going to.
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You guys are adults. You can do that on your
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own. You can look things up. There are witnesses
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to the resurrection, over 500 at one time. It
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cannot be a hallucination. not with 500 people.
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When you're looking at the things that Jesus
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did, he does all the things that real people
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do. And so he changes his environment. You can
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see him. You can hear him. They could have smelled
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him. I don't know what a resurrected person smells
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like, but they could have smelled him at that
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point. Probably smells much better than you or
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me. In any case, all of those things, he changed
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his environment. He ate a piece of fish. He ate
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a piece of, there are tooth marks after the fact.
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And so all of those things are evidences that
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there was a real guy there doing that. And on
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top of it, all the apostles die, and they die
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specifically because they will not deny that
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Jesus rose from the dead. And so there's all
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kinds of good, this is good, reasonable stuff.
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And God does not expect you to check your brain
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in at the door when you become a Christian. And
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so when you're talking about the resurrection
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of Christ, there's no way that you can get that
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story and get the reactions that you have from
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the early Christians and from the apostles and
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that story not be exactly what took place. Otherwise,
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you would have had defectors left and right amongst
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the apostles themselves. And again, you don't
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have that. So reasonable faith. And so I have
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to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. I have
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to confess him as my Lord. And with the heart
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one believes unto righteousness and with the
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mouth confession is made unto salvation. And
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then it says, verse 11, for the scripture says,
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whoever believes on him will not be put to shame.
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When you look at verses nine through 14, you
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have a picture of man's free will. So in chapter
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nine, we were talking about the sovereignty of
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God, we were talking about the election and choice
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of God. But when you get to chapter 10, and he's
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talking about why has Israel not received Jesus
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as Messiah, he is talking about man's free will
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here. And that's exactly the same. situation
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that you have, no matter where you go through
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in the Bible, when you have election mentioned
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or taught on, you have the free will of man taught
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on in exactly the same passage. Always. Even
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in Ephesians 1. I love Ephesians 1. It's a great
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passage, goes through and talks about what the
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Father has done, goes through and talks about
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what the Son has done, goes through and talks
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about what the Holy Spirit's done, and it goes
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through and talks about what we have done. And
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when I'm talking to Calvinists, these are guys
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who believe that salvation has nothing to do
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with people, that God just chooses and it doesn't
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matter what you do. When you're talking about
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hardcore Calvinists, when I'm talking to one
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of my Calvinist brothers, they are Christians,
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when I talk to them, I'll take them to Ephesians
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and I'll show them all the passages that talk
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about the fact that we trusted in Christ, that
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we believed in Christ, that we exercised faith
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in Christ. and they've never seen them. And it's
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because they've got freewill blinders on, basically.
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I can't see those in the passage. And again,
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you have exactly the same thing here. In chapter
22:43
9, we're here because of the choice of God. In
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chapter 10, when it talks about people not being
22:49
there, it's because they did not exercise their
22:52
free will in trusting in Christ. And that is
22:55
the problem. Belief in this passage is little
22:58
when it says believe in your heart. It's not
23:00
talking about exercising your affections It's
23:04
not talking about you got to be absolutely in
23:06
love with Jesus Believing in your heart and it's
23:09
not just talking about your intellect It's talking
23:12
about an intellectual belief that has a result.
23:15
It's a moving of your will Basically and so free
23:20
will is involved in salvation And God flat out
23:24
says it in this passage. Here's another thing
23:27
that you have. There are passages, when you come
23:30
at the Bible with a doctrinal position, and I'm
23:33
not saying that any doctrinal position is wrong
23:36
or every doctrinal position is wrong, but when
23:38
you come at the Bible with a doctrinal position
23:41
and you start running into verses that contradict
23:43
your doctrine and you start changing the verses
23:47
instead of changing the doctrine, you are absolutely
23:51
wrong. Because God wrote this stuff. The Bible
23:56
says that every word of God is inspired. It's
24:00
the Athnustos. It's God -breathed. You've been
24:05
listening to Crosswalk with Pastor Steve Winnery.
24:07
Crosswalk is the radio ministry of Calvary Chapel
24:10
Tri -Cities in Kinoent, Washington. If you're
24:12
wanting to know more about what it means to follow
24:14
Christ, then please contact our church office
24:16
by phone at 509 -736 -2086. You can also look
24:21
us up online at calvary -tricities .org. Calvary
24:26
Chapel Tri -Cities is offering two in -person
24:29
training courses for those seeking to serve in
24:31
missions or ministry. The School of Missions
24:33
starts with 12 weeks of classroom -style learning
24:36
and local outreach in the Tri -Cities, Washington,
24:38
followed by a 10 -week cross -cultural mission
24:41
outreach. The School of Ministry, this course
24:43
is 18 weeks of in -person learning environment
24:46
followed by a four -week mission trip. Find out
24:48
more at calvarytrainingcenternw .com.