The Lord’s Work – Part 25
So it is not the ABCs… Instead it is the RBCs: Repent. Believe. Confess.
Rev 5:2 … repent, and do the first works; …
Repent, and do the first works: Believe and Confess. But Repentance is first.
Matthew 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
No Repentance, no Belief.
Repent… and do the first works: Believe and Confess. That is it. That is all there is to salvation. That is all the work… that is all that is required.
But repentance is first. Once you’ve repented, then you can do the works. The simple works of believing on Christ and confessing him out of your mouth.
John 6:28-29 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Believing is a work. It is one of two first works. The other first work, is the work of confession.
Romans 10:8-13 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
RBC – Repent, Believe, Confess.
RBC – Repent, Believe, Call.
Those are Bible words. That is a Bible defined salvation plan.
I think I would even be okay if you wanted to say RBA – Repent, Believe, Ask (151 times in the NT)
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
But you must Repent Scripturally, and Believe Scripturally, and then Confess – send the gospel out of your mouth.
You take the gospel, hear through your ear, hide it down in your heart, and then send it forth out of your mouth.
That is making your first acceptable offering (after the pattern of Abraham).
Those first works bring forth your first fruit.
Those works bring forth good fruit: the words of God out of your mouth (your tree).
I’m not really ready to go there and teach this fully, but its only fair I make sure you have seen this:
Proverbs 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
A tongue… is a tree! Your tongue is a tree, planted in your heart, bringing forth your fruit.
Whatever things are in your heart, good things or evil things, that is what your tree brings forth.
There is a spirit in the heart of man. And when a man talks that spirit comes out. Either the spirit of a man, or the Spirit of God. If any perverseness is there in the words? You’ve got the wrong spirit.
Your tongue brings forth your fruit. Your things. Your tree (tongue) brings forth the things in your heart.
Matthew 12:33-37 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. [What are these good things and evil things? What are these treasures? What are these fruits? What are these things that a mouth brings forth out of a heart, as a tree brings forth FRUIT?] 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
This is THE interpretation, this is THE understanding of this passage.
Its not what you DO that defines what you are, its what you are that defines what you produce.
And its what you produce, what you bring forth, what words you speak, that defines what you are.
Your words are your fruit. And your words (your fruits) are how God judges you – justified or condemned.
I know we are a little off track here – but it is for a reason. We are talking about “good things”. And this is the understanding of true “good things” and evil things. True “good things” are good WORDS, the WORDS of eternal life. A man has never done a true “good thing” until he has brought forth good fruit, good words out of his mouth.
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Your lips bring forth your fruit. If your mouth is a tree of life, it brings forth fruit for others to eat, resulting in them have life in themselves. When you speak with your mouth, when you bring forth your wisdom, you feed others with your fruit.
Proverbs 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
Your words are your fruit. Your words are your finished works.
Your words are your sacrifice. Your words are how you serve God. Your words are how you serve others. Your words give life, or your words give death. LITERALLY!!
Your words are what feeds others. Your words are your own food too. Your words will feed you for eternity.
Proverbs 13:2 A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence.
Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
Proverbs 1:30-31 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
When you take your fruit and sow it in another man’s heart, what do you think it brings forth? Exactly what it is supposed to: It brings forth after its kind!
Isaiah 61:3 … that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
That is what a good tree brings forth: other trees of life. Are you a good tree, or an evil tree?
What are you feeding men with? What is your sacrifice? What are your first fruits? What are your first works to the Lord?
We could go into this deeper, but that should be sufficient to introduce the topic and prove the point.
Man’s things are his fruits. Man’s things are the words of his mouth. The tongue is a tree bringing forth “things”. The words of eternal life are true “good things”.
And… in addition to the mouth being a tree… It is also a well:
Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
The mouth, is a well! Your mouth is a well, dug down deep in your heart, bringing forth your waters.
Whatever sort of things (words, spirit, life (John 6:63), bread, meat, water, fruit) are in your heart, that is the sort that your mouth brings forth: good or evil.
Proverbs 20:5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
This is why we ask those 2 HARD QUESTIONS. We have to draw out their water, their spirit, their fruit, their “things”. Why? Because by their fruits ye shall know them. And your WORDS are your FRUIT.
The words of life proceeding out of your tree (mouth), this PROVES you a tree of life: a good tree.
But perverseness, confusion, or a false gospel, or a mixture of things, proceeding out of your tree (mouth), proves you a tree of death: a corrupt tree.
A sinner’s salvation prayer is good fruit (a “good thing”) proceeding from a good tree.
You never need to speak another good thing to prove yourself. The good fruit of a tree of life came out once. The tree produced good fruit. And if a tree bears good fruit,
1 – we know the sort it does produce,
2 – we know the sort it does not produce – it cannot bear evil fruit.
Good things.. are good fruits!
Romans 6:20-22 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? [What things? Just the bad things? No. All carnal things. Good and evil.] for the end of those things is death. [evil fruit always results in sin, and sin when it is finished brings forth, and goes to, death. There was no fruit in the things ] 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Before salvation, you could not bring forth good fruit. Because… You did not have the words of eternal life. You hadn’t yet believed them or spoken them (the first works). So before salvation, you could not have brought forth good fruit unto everlasting life. You were free from it.
You could never give eternal life: you never could do or bring forth a true “good thing”. You didn’t even HAVE “good things”.
None of your “good works” brought forth anything other than evil fruit.
None of your “good works” resulted in anything other than to death.
John 15:4-5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
An OT saint, or any man outside of Christ, or any Christian’s outward man today, cannot produce good things / good fruit. Nothing he can bring forth will result in anything other than death and corruption.
Jude 1:12 …trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
What you brought forth before you got saved was fruit, but not good fruit.
What is a natural man’s fruit? Their fruit is NOTHING.
Matthew 21:19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
Hosea 9:16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
The world brings forth things. The world brings forth fruit. But it is fruit that withers, it is called “no fruit”. Their fruit is called “nothing”.
The world brings forth things, but only in figure, in shadow. Certainly not GOOD things.
The world’s fruit is NO thing.
John 15:5 … for without me ye can do nothing.
In fact… Less than nothing.
Isaiah 40:17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
You didn’t think there was anything less than nothing did you? Well there is. And guess what?!?
You’re IT! YOU are it. YOU are less than nothing. Without Christ, you are less than nothing. You weigh less than nothing. You are lighter than vanity.
Psalms 62:9 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
You are lighter than vanity, emptiness, nothing.
Job 35:7-8 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand? 8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.
Our carnal righteousnesses cannot profit a spiritual God, or a spiritual man. Man has never given God anything by his works. He’s never brought forth good fruit for God. Not since Adam fell. What fruit has man brought forth for God? The Lord rejected Cain’s fruits of the earth.
If you are not saved, a spiritual new creature, you’ve never done one single good work that profited God. Never brought forth one fruit that profited Him. Not one “good thing”. Not one. You’ve done nothing. That is all man’s flesh can bring forth: nothing.
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
The Spirit profits. The words of God profit. But the flesh does not profit.
Nothing that proceeds from your flesh provides any profit.
Consider the parable of the talents and pounds. Men are judged based on what profit they make.
You can’t just give back what He gave you. You need to use it to gain more talent/pounds. God requires an increase. A profit.
Think of the parable of the Sower. You can’t just give back the seed. You must use it to grow a tree and bring forth fruit.
And what is the seed?
Luke 8:11 … The seed is the word of God.
You need to take the word of God, and use it to bring forth an increase, a profit.
You will be judged by how you handled the word of God, and whether you faithfully used HIS words (His fruit) out of HIS mouth, to bring forth a profit, an increase, a fruitful harvest of your own words (your own fruit) out of your own mouth.
John 15:4-5 … for without me ye can do nothing.
John 6:63 … the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Without Jesus Christ, without the true spiritual fruit, you cannot profit God.
You’ve profited him nothing. Less than nothing! You wasted his goods.
All you have to do to be saved is believe, and bring forth the words of eternal life out of your mouth.
That’s all: words. We are saved by WORDS. The only works are believing and speaking those WORDS.
Romans 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
True righteousness does not come from man’s flesh. Man has no ability to work true righteousness.
True righteousness only comes from Jesus Christ. And our works, outside of Jesus Christ, are nothing. Less than nothing to the Lord. Nothing we could work in our flesh could be counted righteous.
Thus, salvation is not by works, but by faith. Only faith in the Word of God can be counted for righteousness. And the only works are believing and confessing the Word of God, by the gospel.
After those (first) works are done, there are NO MORE WORKS.
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: … no more work.
The world is all about actions. Works. The doctrine of the false prophets is always based on WORKS. For them, words alone, are just not enough.
To the false prophets: Words alone are just not enough to be saved, to stay saved, to prove that you are saved. You have to do some MORE WORK!
Nov 4 2021
The Lord’s Work – Part 25
Downloadable Word document:
The Lord’s Work – Part 25
The Lord’s Work – Part 25
So it is not the ABCs… Instead it is the RBCs: Repent. Believe. Confess.
Rev 5:2 … repent, and do the first works; …
Repent, and do the first works: Believe and Confess. But Repentance is first.
Matthew 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
No Repentance, no Belief.
Repent… and do the first works: Believe and Confess. That is it. That is all there is to salvation. That is all the work… that is all that is required.
But repentance is first. Once you’ve repented, then you can do the works. The simple works of believing on Christ and confessing him out of your mouth.
John 6:28-29 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Believing is a work. It is one of two first works. The other first work, is the work of confession.
Romans 10:8-13 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
RBC – Repent, Believe, Confess.
RBC – Repent, Believe, Call.
Those are Bible words. That is a Bible defined salvation plan.
I think I would even be okay if you wanted to say RBA – Repent, Believe, Ask (151 times in the NT)
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
But you must Repent Scripturally, and Believe Scripturally, and then Confess – send the gospel out of your mouth.
You take the gospel, hear through your ear, hide it down in your heart, and then send it forth out of your mouth.
That is making your first acceptable offering (after the pattern of Abraham).
Those first works bring forth your first fruit.
Those works bring forth good fruit: the words of God out of your mouth (your tree).
I’m not really ready to go there and teach this fully, but its only fair I make sure you have seen this:
Proverbs 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
A tongue… is a tree! Your tongue is a tree, planted in your heart, bringing forth your fruit.
Whatever things are in your heart, good things or evil things, that is what your tree brings forth.
There is a spirit in the heart of man. And when a man talks that spirit comes out. Either the spirit of a man, or the Spirit of God. If any perverseness is there in the words? You’ve got the wrong spirit.
Your tongue brings forth your fruit. Your things. Your tree (tongue) brings forth the things in your heart.
Matthew 12:33-37 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. [What are these good things and evil things? What are these treasures? What are these fruits? What are these things that a mouth brings forth out of a heart, as a tree brings forth FRUIT?] 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
This is THE interpretation, this is THE understanding of this passage.
Its not what you DO that defines what you are, its what you are that defines what you produce.
And its what you produce, what you bring forth, what words you speak, that defines what you are.
Your words are your fruit. And your words (your fruits) are how God judges you – justified or condemned.
I know we are a little off track here – but it is for a reason. We are talking about “good things”. And this is the understanding of true “good things” and evil things. True “good things” are good WORDS, the WORDS of eternal life. A man has never done a true “good thing” until he has brought forth good fruit, good words out of his mouth.
Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Your lips bring forth your fruit. If your mouth is a tree of life, it brings forth fruit for others to eat, resulting in them have life in themselves. When you speak with your mouth, when you bring forth your wisdom, you feed others with your fruit.
Proverbs 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
Your words are your fruit. Your words are your finished works.
Your words are your sacrifice. Your words are how you serve God. Your words are how you serve others. Your words give life, or your words give death. LITERALLY!!
Your words are what feeds others. Your words are your own food too. Your words will feed you for eternity.
Proverbs 13:2 A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence.
Proverbs 14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
Proverbs 1:30-31 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
When you take your fruit and sow it in another man’s heart, what do you think it brings forth? Exactly what it is supposed to: It brings forth after its kind!
Isaiah 61:3 … that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
That is what a good tree brings forth: other trees of life. Are you a good tree, or an evil tree?
What are you feeding men with? What is your sacrifice? What are your first fruits? What are your first works to the Lord?
We could go into this deeper, but that should be sufficient to introduce the topic and prove the point.
Man’s things are his fruits. Man’s things are the words of his mouth. The tongue is a tree bringing forth “things”. The words of eternal life are true “good things”.
And… in addition to the mouth being a tree… It is also a well:
Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
The mouth, is a well! Your mouth is a well, dug down deep in your heart, bringing forth your waters.
Whatever sort of things (words, spirit, life (John 6:63), bread, meat, water, fruit) are in your heart, that is the sort that your mouth brings forth: good or evil.
Proverbs 20:5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
This is why we ask those 2 HARD QUESTIONS. We have to draw out their water, their spirit, their fruit, their “things”. Why? Because by their fruits ye shall know them. And your WORDS are your FRUIT.
The words of life proceeding out of your tree (mouth), this PROVES you a tree of life: a good tree.
But perverseness, confusion, or a false gospel, or a mixture of things, proceeding out of your tree (mouth), proves you a tree of death: a corrupt tree.
A sinner’s salvation prayer is good fruit (a “good thing”) proceeding from a good tree.
You never need to speak another good thing to prove yourself. The good fruit of a tree of life came out once. The tree produced good fruit. And if a tree bears good fruit,
1 – we know the sort it does produce,
2 – we know the sort it does not produce – it cannot bear evil fruit.
Good things.. are good fruits!
Romans 6:20-22 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? [What things? Just the bad things? No. All carnal things. Good and evil.] for the end of those things is death. [evil fruit always results in sin, and sin when it is finished brings forth, and goes to, death. There was no fruit in the things ] 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Before salvation, you could not bring forth good fruit. Because… You did not have the words of eternal life. You hadn’t yet believed them or spoken them (the first works). So before salvation, you could not have brought forth good fruit unto everlasting life. You were free from it.
You could never give eternal life: you never could do or bring forth a true “good thing”. You didn’t even HAVE “good things”.
None of your “good works” brought forth anything other than evil fruit.
None of your “good works” resulted in anything other than to death.
John 15:4-5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
An OT saint, or any man outside of Christ, or any Christian’s outward man today, cannot produce good things / good fruit. Nothing he can bring forth will result in anything other than death and corruption.
Jude 1:12 …trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
What you brought forth before you got saved was fruit, but not good fruit.
What is a natural man’s fruit? Their fruit is NOTHING.
Matthew 21:19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
Hosea 9:16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
The world brings forth things. The world brings forth fruit. But it is fruit that withers, it is called “no fruit”. Their fruit is called “nothing”.
The world brings forth things, but only in figure, in shadow. Certainly not GOOD things.
The world’s fruit is NO thing.
John 15:5 … for without me ye can do nothing.
In fact… Less than nothing.
Isaiah 40:17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
You didn’t think there was anything less than nothing did you? Well there is. And guess what?!?
You’re IT! YOU are it. YOU are less than nothing. Without Christ, you are less than nothing. You weigh less than nothing. You are lighter than vanity.
Psalms 62:9 Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
You are lighter than vanity, emptiness, nothing.
Job 35:7-8 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand? 8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.
Our carnal righteousnesses cannot profit a spiritual God, or a spiritual man. Man has never given God anything by his works. He’s never brought forth good fruit for God. Not since Adam fell. What fruit has man brought forth for God? The Lord rejected Cain’s fruits of the earth.
If you are not saved, a spiritual new creature, you’ve never done one single good work that profited God. Never brought forth one fruit that profited Him. Not one “good thing”. Not one. You’ve done nothing. That is all man’s flesh can bring forth: nothing.
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
The Spirit profits. The words of God profit. But the flesh does not profit.
Nothing that proceeds from your flesh provides any profit.
Consider the parable of the talents and pounds. Men are judged based on what profit they make.
You can’t just give back what He gave you. You need to use it to gain more talent/pounds. God requires an increase. A profit.
Think of the parable of the Sower. You can’t just give back the seed. You must use it to grow a tree and bring forth fruit.
And what is the seed?
Luke 8:11 … The seed is the word of God.
You need to take the word of God, and use it to bring forth an increase, a profit.
You will be judged by how you handled the word of God, and whether you faithfully used HIS words (His fruit) out of HIS mouth, to bring forth a profit, an increase, a fruitful harvest of your own words (your own fruit) out of your own mouth.
John 15:4-5 … for without me ye can do nothing.
John 6:63 … the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Without Jesus Christ, without the true spiritual fruit, you cannot profit God.
You’ve profited him nothing. Less than nothing! You wasted his goods.
All you have to do to be saved is believe, and bring forth the words of eternal life out of your mouth.
That’s all: words. We are saved by WORDS. The only works are believing and speaking those WORDS.
Romans 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
True righteousness does not come from man’s flesh. Man has no ability to work true righteousness.
True righteousness only comes from Jesus Christ. And our works, outside of Jesus Christ, are nothing. Less than nothing to the Lord. Nothing we could work in our flesh could be counted righteous.
Thus, salvation is not by works, but by faith. Only faith in the Word of God can be counted for righteousness. And the only works are believing and confessing the Word of God, by the gospel.
After those (first) works are done, there are NO MORE WORKS.
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: … no more work.
The world is all about actions. Works. The doctrine of the false prophets is always based on WORKS. For them, words alone, are just not enough.
To the false prophets: Words alone are just not enough to be saved, to stay saved, to prove that you are saved. You have to do some MORE WORK!
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine, Salvation • 0