>>Hear the words of Job as he proclaimed, "I know that my Redeemer lives and He shall stand at last on the earth." Do you believe that your Redeemer is living and real? And furthermore, do you believe that He is eternal and will stand forever? Good morning, and thank you for joining us this morning for the study of God's living word on this, the Lord's day. And we're glad that you have put your God first and that you have decided to give this time to Him in all that we will do, as we are privileged this morning to sing songs of praise, to study from His precious word, and as well to approach our God's throne in prayer. So at this time, as we start our time together and begin the very reason and purpose we've come together, will you bow with me before His mighty throne in prayer? Our God and Father in heaven, we are thankful so much for another day of life. We're thankful for the great gifts of life and the blessings that we have. And Father, we know that all great blessings come from You and from above, and therefore everything we have physically and spiritually You have provided. And Father, we thank You for Your love and Your continual care, as every day we find how much You love us in all that You do and all You provide and all that You have continued to show us in our lives. And Father, help us as we use this time during the Lord's day that we might offer sacrifices that are proper in Your sight as faithful children, knowing that only such is acceptable and understanding that those who are willing to do this will receive not only blessings today, but eternal reward. And we know these things are only possible through Jesus Christ. And we thank You for that greatest of all gifts. And in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Let's begin immediately with our songs of praise. And at this time, we would like to sing about the fact that we serve a God who is worthy of glory and honor. So won't you do your part in worshiping God at this time and join in with the congregation as we sing together "Unto Thee O Lord."

Our text of the morning thus far has already taught us about our wondrous Redeemer, and we also have sung songs that challenge us to think about how glorious and majestic and wonderful our God is. And really specifically, even knowing what Jesus did in giving His blood that we might be saved. Brethren and friends, there's no doubt the truth found in the Scriptures that our Redeemer is alive. And praise be to God for this magnificent and glorious truth. For without Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He made on the cross and His willingness to die, we would not enjoy redemption and the freedom from sin. So what does the word redeemed actually mean? In the American Heritage Dictionary, it gives us several definitions, and here they are. "To recover ownership by paying a specific sum or to pay off." Another definition, "To turn and receive something in exchange, or to fulfill." Even the idea of being able to convert into cash or to set something free. And then also what is familiar to us is the idea of even some sort of ransom in and of itself. With these ideas in mind, we begin to see and to bring together the idea of what truly redemption all is about. In a religious sense, it is the price paid to recover, pay off, the full debt, and in this case sin, in order that we might be set free through Christ by being those who are restored and rescued in and by the love of God. Finally, we see the idea of being paid for and bought through the concept of the blood of Christ that was shed. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:20. "For you are all bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." There in that book, chapter seven and verse 23, he goes on to add this idea: "You are bought at a price." Therefore, be what? "Those who are not slaves of men but obviously slaves of God." You see in the fact that Jesus paid such a high price of such value, we brethren have been redeemed through the concepts of the blood of Christ from sin, and therefore, through that sacrifice, we are found justified in the sight of God. Just as Paul told the Roman brethren when he said, "And having been set free from sin, we have become slaves of righteousness," in chapter six and verse 18 of that book. So the question is, have you become obedient to the teachings of Christ that you might also be among those who have been redeemed through Jesus Christ? If not, why not obey God's plan today and why not confess His name, repent of your sins, and be washed in the watery grave of baptism, knowing that those who do such are then added by God Himself to the church, and then are among the saved? Have you been redeemed and have you responded to the redemptive offer and plan that God has put and placed in His Word, the Bible? In just a few minutes, it will be time to begin our main study of the day. And as far as our lesson topic today, we'll be continuing our new series entitled, I Say These Things that You May be Saved. The specific lesson of the day will focus on belief saves. So please stay with us this morning. And in just a few minutes, I'll be leading the thoughts from God's Word. But for now let's join together in the second song of the day. The name of the hymn, "Have You Counted the Cost?"

We're so glad you've continued with us this morning as we now return to God's Word and look at another lesson in our new series that really deals with the explanation of Jesus through the Holy Spirit and the New Testament about really the fact that God does save. And really what we're trying to get at here in our overall series, as we saw last week, is not only understanding that God saves and the part that God plays as far as grace, but also the reality of what is required for you and I to do in order that we might accomplish that purpose of salvation. You know, the reality is, is that we are, according to the Scripture, saved by God and the grace of God. Last week, you were able to look together there from Ephesians 2:8. We are saved by grace, and so the fact is, is that it is God's grace that saves us. And the reason being, because we could never do enough or accomplish enough to earn salvation for ourselves or because of our own merit. The fact is is that we have been too bad, we have sinned, we transgressed too often, and therefore we couldn't save ourselves. We need someone to throw out a lifeline or a preserver that might give us the ability to overcome the devastation blow of sin and death. Therefore, it is God who does save by grace. That having been said, I'm afraid that the denominational world often confuses the fact that the reality is, is that God's part is grace and He offers that grace, and it is God alone, in that sense, who can save me because I don't have power over grace, but God does. However, does that say, or does that really mean to say the fact, that then there's nothing required or nothing that I must do to be in that grace? Oh, how silly that would be. If I were to pause for a moment and say, "Well, what about salvation? Do you think you're going to be in heaven if you don't love as God commands that you love?" "Well, sure, you're gonna go to heaven." How silly that would be, wouldn't it? Or to say, "Well, do you really think that you're going to be in heaven if you're a murderer, and that you choose to be a serial killer, and that you never repent of such things?" Well, how silly that would be, because we know that there are standards that the individual must meet in order that they are what God requires to be recipients of the grace. Now, that's why, my friend, if you return to Ephesians 2, and we reiterate what is found there, what it says is that we are saved by grace through faith. There is a part that God plays that is out of our control, and we're not saved by our works because we can't work enough to earn it. But that does not mean, my friend, that we have no responsibility, or no requirements, or no commandments that then would cause us to meet a certain standard as God commands that we remain within grace and the recipients of the blessings and rewards, as well as promises that He speaks of. That's why this morning as we return to the Scriptures and we begin to see the idea of what Jesus said, for instance, in John 8:24. Within that text, He says, "Unless or except you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." He's declaring here, you have to believe. You have to believe that God is in order to be saved. Now, again, I might ask you the question, well, since we're saved by the grace of God, why do we have to believe? It's grace that saves us, therefore belief doesn't play any role. Hope doesn't play any role. Faith doesn't. God's grace is really that which saves us. Well, you see, you and I are educated enough, we're logical enough to understand the part that we play includes belief, because we know without belief, we wouldn't even know God at all and we wouldn't even be able to be within the realm of what God wants to be recipients, again, of the grace that He promises. And that's why within the overall discussion that we are having from our main theme in John 5, we see that Jesus was declaring those things necessary to understand the words that save. I declare these things that you might know, that you might be able to respond, that you might be able to accomplish salvation. Not because we can earn it or do it ourselves, or accomplish enough to ever say, "God, you owe me that," but because we have a part to do and to play in order that also God then might benefit us by the grace which He only can offer us in the sense of salvation. So let's continue, then, this morning to develop the idea of belief. What part does belief play in salvation? Well, we can, again, go to John, but back in chapter three. Verse 16 is a verse that we read all of the time, speaking about the fact that God loved the world so much that He did what? He gave his only begotten Son. But we want to look at the verse before that before we look at chapter three together. And there in verse 15, Jesus actually said before that, whoever believes in Him should not perish and have everlasting life. So the outcome would be, if you believe, then you're not going to perish eternally in hell, but you're going to have eternal life in heaven with God. And so there, again, belief is what? That which saves us. So yes, belief is a part of salvation. The same way grace saves us, belief saves us. They both play a part. God offers grace, which saves us and leads us to salvation. We believe because one of our roles as recipients and those who respond to the love of God is the necessity to believe in what God offers and gives us through His Word. And so therefore, what do we learn? We learn here that one must believe. That's why in John 3:16, it goes on to say that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes." This verse says nothing about grace, but we know that it's grace, again, that saves us. But here, this verse is all about, again, believe. The one who believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. And then verse 17 adds, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." You see salvation? The salvation offered from God, and that which God gives by grace. But then our opportunity, our privilege, the blessing we have to believe in God. No wonder Jesus also then said in Mark 16, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved." What do we see here is a part of the equation? Belief and baptism. I was in Africa years ago, and a brother got up and he was saying, "Well, let me explain what we mean here." And he actually says, "Can I explain this in my own words?" I said, "Sure." And he says, "If you take the number one, two, three, and four, and you add those together, it equals 10." And then he said, "So in order to equal 10, the sum of 10, you have to have all four of those numbers within the equation, one, two, three, and four. If you remove any of those numbers, do you still have 10?" Obviously, the answer is no. So I would begin to ask the question, so do I have to have God's grace to be saved? Certainly. Do I have to have belief to be saved? Certainly, because we know here he that believes will be saved. But it also says he that believes and is baptized. Do I have to have baptism to be saved? Certainly. Do I have to repent to be saved? Certainly. All things that we'll be discussing in this series. But the point being is that there are many things involved in meeting the standards and requirements of God so that he that believes and is baptized shall be saved, and in the opposite will not be condemned in any way. And so, as the one who believes, what are some things that we must understand about belief? I'd like to look just quickly at three things. One is found there in Romans 10:9. When we read about the confession that is made with the mouth there in the Lord Jesus Christ, it adds this, that "we must confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus and believe with all of your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead." You see, belief is about that which comes from the heart, that I've heard the message and I believe that message with all of my heart so that I might confess that message and then live the life as is required by God. Now turn over with me, if you will, to 1 Corinthians 1. Here, as Paul speaks to the Corinthian church, notice what he says about the wisdom of God compared to the wisdom of the world. In verse 21 it says, "For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." Well, it doesn't say anything about grace here. It doesn't say anything about a lot of requirements, like repentance, but we know someone's got to do those things as we're heading toward and accomplishing salvation. And yet, what does he say here? He says it is the message that was preached, the message that was preached that led someone to believe unto salvation. No wonder Paul in Romans 1:16 said that the gospel is the power of God unto what? Salvation. Can you be saved without the gospel or the knowledge of the gospel, when the gospel says it's the power of God under salvation? And can you believe in it without knowing it, my friend? You see, again, the need that we have to understand the significance of the message, the significance of the heart, and as well as what we learned there in James 2. In James 2, the writer here continues to use this idea of belief and faith, and he actually asks the question there in chapter two and verse 14. And he says, "Do you believe without works?" And then he says, "Can faith save you?" It's actually written like that in the original. One is belief and one is faith. He says, "You may believe, but then if you believe, can faith save you without works?" And then he drops down to verse 17 and he says, "Thus, faith by itself does not save without works." Why? It's dead. So belief requires something to make it what? To make it faith. And that's the description here. And what is that that is required? Action. No wonder we have the great faith chapter. By faith, Noah built the arc. By faith, so on and so forth. You see, again, the privilege, the opportunity that we have to show God that we love Him by obeying His commandments and by faith, accomplishing faith by proving our belief in action. Therefore, knowing as we have learned that we are only recipients of salvation from God in connection to God's part by the grace that He has offered in and through His Son, Jesus Christ. O, praise be to God that God offers salvation, that God offers salvation by His grace. And thanks be to God that we can believe and obey unto salvation, knowing that in doing such, we'll not only be blessed as the faithful of God today, but blessed eternally His children in heaven.

May I again take this opportunity to thank you for joining us this day, and I hope our time together has been uplifting and an encouragement to us all. But let's remember that we come together every first day of the week at 7:30 to give this time to God and to worship Him before his very throne. But for now let me ask you if you have any questions or comments about today's lesson. Maybe you'd like a free transcript or a free CD or DVD of the program. Or possibly we could assist you with free Bible materials or free Bible correspondence courses. No matter what your need is, please feel free to contact us at the following address. The Living Word, 2540 North Kansas Expressway, Springfield, Missouri, 65803. Many of these items are also available on our website. That address, thelivingwordprogram.com. Or if you prefer, you may call us at 417-869-2284. How blessed we are to have the Bible so that we might know the will of God and thus know what we need to believe in order to do those things acceptable in His sight. So the question this morning is, have we believed on the Christ? And furthermore, have we responded to that belief by obeying His laws and precepts? Why not choose today to believe in God and to prove it through obedience?