In this sermon, the speaker discusses the judgment of God and how it will be without respect of persons. He emphasizes that God's judgment will be according to the law and truth, and all the secrets of men's hearts will be revealed. The speaker clarifies that the difficult verses mentioned at the beginning of the sermon do not teach salvation by works, but rather judgment by works. He also provides an example from Micah chapter 6 verse 8, explaining that while God requires certain actions from humans, it does not mean that they can produce those actions on their own.

Our difficult passage this morning is found in Romans, chapter 2. Romans, chapter 2. And I'll read verse 7. Romans, chapter 2, verse 7. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality eternal life. But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that worketh evil. Of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good. To the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For there is no respect of persons with God. Now, if you were a casual reader of the sacred scriptures and you came across a passage like that, it would be very easy to conclude that salvation is by good works. Wouldn't it? If I were just a casual reader of the scriptures, unenlightened by the spirit of God, I could really base the doctrine on that passage that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. It seems to say that. It really does. And in a way you can sympathize with somebody who goes to the word and sees that and makes that conclusion. The only trouble is that there are 150 passages in the New Testament that say that salvation is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ plus nothing. And one or a few passages of scripture cannot contradict 150. And so what we have to do is go to a passage like this. Examine the gem in its setting. Examine the passage in its context and see what it is really saying. And I must confess to you this morning that this is a passage that has really troubled me over the years. But I think that as we really examine it in its context today, that we'll see exactly what it's saying. First of all, in the broad context, this section is dealing with the lostness of mankind. Paul hasn't come yet to the way of salvation, but he's dealing with the lostness of mankind. In Romans 1, verses 18-32, he's talking about the lostness of the pagans. The lostness of the heathen world. Romans 1, 18-32. And in that passage, he tells us that primitive man was of a high moral order. Quite the contrary of evolution. Paul teaches that primitive man was of a high moral order, but that through the rejection of the knowledge of God, he became debased. It was devolution instead of evolution. Man knew that there was a God. Heathen man knows that there's a God. But it says he does not want to retain God in his knowledge. The Bible is a marvelous commentary on human behavior, and that's absolutely true. He does not want to retain God in his knowledge. And so he gives himself over to idolatry. He worships graven images made like man, and flying things, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. There you have another devolution, don't you? Descending from man to birds to beasts to serpents. And of course the idea is there that man becomes like what he worships. And your view of God really determines the kind of a life you live. Belief determines behavior. And if you think of your God as a four-footed animal, it really doesn't make too much difference what kind of a life you live. And so God's sentence on pagan man, on heathen man is, they are without excuse. Romans chapter 1. People say, what about the heathen who has never heard the gospel? I think that that question is answered in this passage, Romans chapter 1, better than anywhere else in the Bible. God has revealed himself to the heathen in the works of creation and in conscience. If a man lived up to the light that God gave him, God would send him the gospel light. You see that in the case of Cornelius. There was a sense in which Cornelius lived up to the light that God gave him. And his prayers and alms came up as a memorial before God. And God said to Peter, go tell him words whereby he might be saved. I think it was Augustine that said, if a man seeks God, he's already found him. And there's a sense in which that's really true. If a man seeks God, there's a sense in which he has already found it. So Romans chapter 1 says that the heathen, the pagan, is lost. Lost without the knowledge of God. Then in Romans chapter 2, verses 1 through 16, Paul is dealing with a second class of persons. And that is, we call them self-righteous moralists, whether Jews or Gentiles. In this passage, he doesn't distinguish between Jews and Gentiles. He's thinking of people who look down their theological noses at the pagans. And they say, well, thank God we're not like them. In a sense, these people in Romans chapter 2, the first part of the chapter, have the spirit of the Pharisees. They look at these heathen and they say, well, we're not like them. The fact is, they're more sophisticated in their sin. That's the big difference. They're more sophisticated in their sin. But Paul says, look, you look at them and you condemn the things that they do, and yet you do the very same things yourself. And that's really an interesting insight. If I know it's wrong for somebody else to do a certain thing, I know it's wrong for me to do it. That's the condemnation of these people. But we're going to come back to this passage more in a few minutes. Then in chapter 2, verse 17, through chapter 3, verse 8, he takes up the subject of the Jews. The heathen is lost without Christ. The self-righteous moralists are lost without Christ. The Jew is lost without Christ. Oh, you say, but the Jew had the law given to him. I know. That's part of his condemnation. He had the law given to him, but he didn't keep the law. He failed to live up to the privileges that God had given to him. And as a result of that, he caused the name of God to be blasphemed in the rest of the world. The Jew is guilty before God. And then in chapter 3, verses 9 through 18, Paul takes all mankind and shows that all men are lost. Actually, in this chapter, he says that in a sense, God took the Jewish people and tested the Jewish people under law and applied the findings to the whole human race. Just as the health department comes out and dips a test tube down into a well and brings up a test tube of water, takes it down to the laboratory, finds that it's polluted, and applies that finding to the whole well. That's what God did with the human race. He tested Israel under the law, and he applied the finding to all mankind. Now, we know that whatsoever things the law says, it says to them that are under the law, the Jews, that every mouth may be stopped, Jew and Gentile, and all the world be brought in guilty before God. And in this passage of scripture, Paul shows that all mankind has been affected by sin, and that sin has affected every part of man's body, too, every part of his being. He gives kind of an x-ray of a human being and shows that sin has affected every part of him. This is what I call total depravity. When I use the expression total depravity, I don't mean that man has committed every sin in the book, that any particular man has committed every sin in the book, but he's capable of it. He's capable of it. And so, in this portion of the word of God that we're studying this morning, beginning in Romans 1, verse 18, through Romans chapter 3, verse 18, Paul has taken up the whole subject of the lostness of mankind. Now, going back to chapter 2, we're dealing with the self-righteous moralist, the one who thinks he's superior to the pagan, to the heathen. And it's interesting how Paul deals with him. He says to him, you do the very things you condemn in the pagan. What do you think it's going to be like when you stand before the judgment of the great white throne? And so, in the verses we're going to look at in detail, you get a preview of the judgment of the great white throne, when all the unsaved dead will stand before the Lord. And in this passage of scripture, Paul gives eight principles of judgment that will apply in that day. Eight principles of judgment. What's it going to be like? No surprises. It's all told us in the word of God. I believe that's true of the judgment seat of Christ, too. I don't think there'll need be any surprises at the judgment seat of Christ. I think the Bible tells us exactly what it's going to be like at that time. That's for Christians. Here we're speaking about unsaved people, and Paul is dealing with the principles of judgment that will apply. Let's go down the list and find eight of them. But I'll begin at the first verse. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the same thing. Here's the moralist looking back in chapter one at the heathen, and thinking he's superior to him, and Paul says, you do the same things as he does, and you will not escape the judgment of God. Principle number one. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practice such things. That's the first principle of judgment. When the Lord Jesus sits on the great white throne, and the wicked dead stand before him, it will be a judgment according to truth. In courts of law, men are called upon to swear to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But really, it's very seldom that all that comes out in a court of law, isn't it? But it will in that day. It's not a solemn thing. There'll be no hiding of the truth. There'll be no veiling of the truth. There'll be no telling of half-truths in that day. The whole story will come out. Nothing is hidden from the sight of him with whom we have to do. Judgment will be according to truth. Then judgment will be according to the accumulation of guilt. Verse five. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. We say that judgment will be according to the accumulation of guilt. It won't be just according to one crime, one offense, but the whole thing. Isn't that interesting phraseology? Thy hard and impenitent heart, treasurest up. What a treasure. What an interesting word to use. Treasurest up to thyself. God is a tremendously good bookkeeper, isn't he? He keeps very, very accurate records. And just think what a terrible thing to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and have the whole story brought out. All that piled up guilt of a human life dragged out into the open, thoroughly exposed in that day. Accumulation of guilt. The third principle of judgment is God's judgment will be righteous. It says treasurest to thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. It's very hard for us to be righteous in our judgment because sin has even perverted our minds. Our minds have been affected by sin. Let me give you an illustration. Years ago at Emmaus it really bothered us, this whole business of correcting exams because if we got the exam of a student who was a straight A student we were prejudiced right away in favor of that student. Don't say that's horrible, you'd be the same yourself. And so we tried to divide the system where every student was assigned a number and we didn't know what the numbers of the students were so that when we got an exam it didn't have a student's name on it. It just had a number on it and we weren't supposed to know who that student was. Trouble was we recognized their handwriting. And we were prejudiced. If we knew that was a straight A student we were prejudiced. We said that actually there was not much we could do about it. Our judgment was not completely righteous. But God's judgment is completely righteous. Not swayed by any of those things, whatever. Then verses 6 through 10, judgment will be according to works. According to works. Verse 6. The reason anyone will be before that judgment throne will be that he has not trusted the Lord Jesus as his savior. That's what will bring him there. But the measure of his judgment will be according to his works. I think that we should all be clear of that, that there will be degrees of punishment in hell just as there will be degrees of reward in heaven. It's not right to think that everybody will suffer the same in hell. It's not right to think that that clean living person in your neighborhood will suffer the same as a Hitler or a Stalin. Because it isn't true. It's rejection of Christ that will bring a person before God at the great white throne. But the measure of their judgment will be according to their works. Very solemn indeed. Number 5, judgment will be according to privilege. Verse 9. Verse 9, it says, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. Of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. Judgment will be according to privilege. Those who were most privileged will stand most responsible before God. It's really a tremendous responsibility to be brought up in a country like the United States where you can turn the radio on, television on, hear the gospel, go down to the local drugstore, buy a copy of the Bible. I say it's a tremendous responsibility to be brought up in a country like this. No other country in the world quite like it. It's all going to be brought out in that day. What a solemn thing to be brought up in a Christian home. To hear the gospel from one's earliest days and go out into outer darkness. It will all be taken into account. The Jews were first in privilege. They'll be first in responsibility as well. To them were given the oracles of God. The Bible is a Jewish book in a way. The writers of the Bible were predominantly Jewish. The Messiah came into the world, a Jew. Israel will be specially responsible for this according to privilege. Then verse 11, judgment will be without respect of persons. Without respect of persons. In one of his books, Dobson points out that he speaks of beauty as the golden coin of human worth. He says that, for instance, a good-looking child in elementary school has it over the other children. I believe that's true. We had a fellow come to our training program in California and his English was absolutely abominable. I said to him, how did you ever get through high school? He said, by smiling at the teacher. Did you know that was true? It was really true. He had a winsome smile. Still does. It got him through high school. It wasn't exactly a kindness because he later wanted to go to the mission field and learn another language and if he had learned English, it would have been a great help. But God's judgment will be without respect of persons. Then God's judgment will be according to the law. According to the law, verses 12 through 15. Let's read that. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law. That's the Gentiles. Gentiles have sinned without law. The law wasn't given to the Gentiles. The Ten Commandments were never given to the Gentiles. As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law. And as many as have sinned in the law, that means under law, shall be judged by the law. That's the Jews. For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. Now that's stating an ideal. And we're going to go over that a little more in detail as we go on. So let me stop there and say that's just stating an ideal. It's not stating an actual fact, a reality of life. For when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves which show the work of the law written in their hearts, the conscience also bearing the witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. Now what does that all say? Well, it's the first of all that Jewish people, unsaved Jewish people standing before the judgment of the great white throne will be judged by the law that God gave, the Mosaic law. You say, what about the Gentiles? Well, the law wasn't given to the Gentiles, but the works of the law are written in the hearts of Gentiles. What does that mean? Well, it means that even if the law was never given to Gentiles, they know it's wrong to commit murder, don't they? They know, for instance, it would be wrong for you to murder them. Well, then they know by the same reasoning that it's wrong for them to murder you. They don't like it when somebody steals from them. They have the work of the law written in their hearts, not the law, the works of the law written in their hearts, and they'll be judged by that. It's amazing, isn't it? How God has implanted this knowledge in the human heart. To the Jews, it will be the law of Moses, and to the Gentiles, it'll be the law of conscience. And then the eighth principle of judgment we find in verse 16, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. Just think of it. All the secrets of men's hearts are going to be dragged out in that day. You know, it has to be this way. You stop to think of it. Because there are a lot of things that go unrequited in life, a lot of wrongs that are never righted in this life, and a righteous God has to bring it all into judgment in the coming day. Now, why have I labored these eight points, eight principles of the judgment of God? Because the difficult verses I brought up at the beginning of the hour do not teach salvation by works. They teach judgment by works. That's a big difference. Those verses do not teach salvation by works. They teach judgment by works. They do not teach salvation by law-keeping. They teach judgment by law-keeping. It isn't until later in chapter 3 that the Apostle Paul comes to the way of salvation. Supposing a man appears before God and he's judged by his works. The question will be asked, did you meet the conditions of verses 7 and 10? Well, let's look at the conditions. Do you know that verse 7 actually requires perfection and continued perfection? See, people don't read the Bible carefully. They skim, they scan, but they don't read it carefully. And I want to tell you this morning that verse 7 demands perfection. And it demands continued perfection all of life. It really does. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing imagine an unsaved man standing before God and saying, that's the story of my life. He'd be condemned because he'd be lying. Notice the opposite. Is it unto them that are contentious and obey not the truth? What does that mean, obey not the truth? The truth is the gospel. They never obeyed the gospel. They never trusted the sinner's Savior. They never came the blood-sprinkled way and received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I tell you, it would be a very solemn thing to stand before God and plead verse 7 as your way of salvation or verse 10, glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good. Because the Bible says there's none that does good. No, not one. No one can meet these conditions. They require continued perfection. Maybe it would help you if I say this, verses 7 and 10 tell you what God requires, but they don't tell you what man produces. Those verses tell you what God requires, but they don't tell you what man produces because man is not characterized by those things. Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. Those are heavy words. Did you get them? Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. If unsaved people are judged by their works, they'll have nothing to show as evidence. Because Isaiah reminds us that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. That means that all the very best that we could produce as righteousness is nothing better than filthy rags in the sight of God. Then as we pointed out the other day, good works don't actually begin until a person is saved. It's impossible for an unsaved person to produce good works in the sight of God. He might produce things that seem to be good works in his own eyes or in the eyes of his neighbors, but as far as God is concerned, good works only begin when you come to Calvary. We read that, didn't we, the other day in John chapter 6, where the Jews came to Jesus and said, what good work must we do that we might work the works of God? And he said, this is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. I think the deepest heresy that has ever entered the human mind is the heresy that somehow or other man gets to heaven by his works. If you took a little tabulation of the people walking along the streets of Lake Geneva today, go up to them and ask them, what kind of people go to heaven? I'm sure that over 9 out of 10 would say good people go to heaven. I'm sure of that. And it's really a heresy from the pit of hell. Good people don't go to heaven. Why? Because there are no good people. The only type of people who go to heaven are sinners saved by the grace of God. But good works do begin when a person is saved. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. If men are judged by the law, then all men are condemned. Remember we said that one of the principles of judgment was law. If men are judged by the law, either by the law of Moses or by the law of conscience, then all men are condemned. Why? Because the law tells them what to do, but it doesn't give them the power to do it. Man simply does not have the power to keep the law of God. And you know the scriptures are so clear on this subject that no one can ever be saved by law keeping. God never gave the law as a step ladder to heaven. God never intended that a single person would ever be saved by keeping the law. By the law is the knowledge of sin, not of salvation. God gave the law to reveal sin. The law is a straight edge, it's a straight line, and it shows us how crooked we are. I say to you, what's a crooked line? You say, one that isn't straight. That's right. So God gave us a straight line, and I stand up to it, and I see how crooked and deformed I am. That's why God gave the law. And if the Jewish people had responded correctly to the law, they would have said, if that's what God requires, I'm lost, and I need a savior. They would have fled to the arms of Jesus. Instead of that, they tucked the law under their arm and said, thank God, we are the people to whom the law was given. God could never send us to hell. They never made a bigger mistake. By the law is the knowledge of sin. Acts chapter 13, 39. And by him, all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. That's wonderful, isn't it? By the Lord Jesus, by his wonderful person and work, we're justified from all things which we could not be justified by the law of Moses. Galatians 2, 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law. And I always like Galatians 2, 21. It says, for of righteousness, he says, I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Tuck that verse away in your mind. It's beautiful. What it really is saying is that if man could be saved by law keeping, then the Lord Jesus threw his life away at the cross of Calvary. If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. And then Galatians chapter 3, in verse 11, but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident for the just shall live by faith. This is the consistent testimony of the word of God. It's not by what we do, but by what the Lord Jesus did for us at the cross of Calvary. And so I say this morning that man's basic condemnation is that he has not received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. John 3, 18. John chapter 3, verse 18. Here it is spelled out in a few choice words. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. His basic condemnation is that he hath not believed. His works will determine the degree of his punishment. I said to you that this difficult passage that we are considering this morning tells what God requires, but not what man produces. I'd like to give you another illustration of that while we're on it. Micah chapter 6, in verse 8. And the reason I do this is that this verse is a favorite of the liberals and of the modernists. Micah chapter 6, verse 8. It says, He hath showed the old man what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. And I hear the liberals quoting this verse all the time in their appeal for social activism and all the rest. He hath showed the old man what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. And I say, yes, that's exactly true. That's what God requires, but it isn't what man produces. Liberals are no liberals. Now the good news is that the principles of judgment that we've gone over in Romans chapter 2 do not apply to the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have nothing to do with one who is a believer. Say, how can you say such a thing? John chapter 5, verse 24. John chapter 5, verse 24. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but is passed from death unto life. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Isn't it a wonderful thing to know that my sins were all judged at the cross of Calvary? That judgment is passed. I can say death and judgment are behind me. Grace and glory lie before all the billows rolled o'er Jesus. There they spent their utmost power. There is no condemnation. There's no hell for me. The torment and the fire in my eyes will never cease. Great. Why? Because Jesus bore the penalty on the cross of Calvary and God does not payment quite twice demand. First at my bleeding surety's hand and then again at mine. Isn't that good news? That we can read Romans chapter 2 and all these eight principles of judgment and say they have nothing to do with me. My Savior's obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view. It's a wonderful thing. So what started out to be a very difficult portion of Scripture ends up by not being so difficult at all. Now there are one or two other verses that I should just mention to you in this same connection. You might like to make a note of them if you are taking notes. Verses that might seem to teach salvation by works. John chapter 5 verses 28 and 29. John 5, 28 says, Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. And if a cultist came to you and tried to use verse 29 to teach salvation by good works what would you say? You'd say well the verse is absolutely true just the way it stands. In God's sight the only people who have ever done good are those who have put their faith in him. That's where goodness begins as far as God is concerned. This verse looks to the whole tenor of a person's life and sees those who are saved as those who have done good and those who are unsaved as those who have done evil. And then the other passage that I'll just mention in closing is Matthew 19 verses 16 through 22. The story of the rich young ruler. Matthew chapter 19 and verse 16. This is a puzzle to some people. It says verse 16. Matthew chapter 19. Behold one came and said unto him good master what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life? He said unto him why callest thou me good? There is none good but one that is God but if thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments. Sounds like salvation by law keeping doesn't it? He said unto him which? Jesus said thou shalt do no murder thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness honor thy father and thy mother and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Notice he left that to the Lord. The young man said unto him all these things have I kept from my youth up what lack I yet? Jesus said to him if thou wouldst be perfect go and sell what thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. When the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful for he had great possession. Let's go over it just briefly. Good master what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? He wanted to do something good he wanted to do something meritorious. Let me just pause to say faith is not a meritorious work and man can't pat himself on the back because he has faith in the Lord to believe his creator is the most sane, reasonable, rational, sensible thing a man can do can't take credit for it. Man is a fool not to believe God. This man wanted to do some work to inherit eternal life you don't work to inherit eternal life. Jesus tested him he said why do you call me good? There's only one who's good and that's God. Wonderful chance for that fellow to say I know that's why I called you good because you are God but he flunked the test he flunked that first test. That's what he should have said. I called you good because you are God but he didn't. Then Jesus said if thou wilt enter into light keep the commandments he said what's he saying? Is he contradicting 150 verses in the New Testament? No he's not at all. He's using the commandments to reveal sin and we should do that too. We should use the 10 commandments to reveal sin. Billy Graham does that in one of his books he goes over the commandments not as a way of life the way of condemnation you have to be lost before you can ever be saved. All men are lost but they don't all admit it. If thou wilt enter into light keep the commandments he said which one? And Jesus went over the commandments that deal especially with our relationship with our neighbor. I've kept all these from my youth up. He thought he passed the test and Jesus said really? You really love your neighbor as yourself do you? Go sell all that you have give to the poor and come follow me. You'll have treasure in heaven. He went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. What did it prove? It proved he didn't love his neighbor as himself. He was condemned by the law. I like to remind myself when I read this passage that Jesus didn't say go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shall have treasure in heaven. He didn't put a period there. Don't forget the last words come follow me. The poor young fellow he didn't really realize what Jesus was saying. When Jesus said come follow me that was the guarantee for all his needs. It would have been goofy for him just to go and sell all that he had and give to the poor. If you leave out those last words. But when Jesus says to you come follow me I'll tell you he pays for what he orders. He really does. And nobody can ever come and follow the Lord Jesus without having his needs supplied. The same as he said in Matthew 6, 33 but seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness a kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. And so Jesus used he wasn't teaching the law as a way of salvation but he was using the law to expose that young fellow to show that he hadn't kept the law. And that young fellow should have said Lord Jesus if that's what the law says if that's what the law requires look I'm a lost soul don't I need to be saved? And he should have flung himself at the feet of the Lord Jesus and said Lord save me and so that he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. I hope this passage in Romans 2 especially will never be a problem to you again. Just remember this it doesn't teach salvation by works it teaches judgment by works. It doesn't teach salvation by law keeping it teaches judgment by law keeping. And it isn't until later in chapter 3 that Paul brings out the good news a man is justified by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Shall we pray? Father we do thank you today for your precious holy word and we thank you for its consistent testimony and although at times we confess we come to verses plucked out of context that seem to contradict other passages we thank you that when examined closely we see there's a marvelous unity in your word and no contradiction at all. Help us Lord to be faithful in studying the word so that when we meet those who use the scriptures to contradict you that we'll be able to point out the fallacy of their stand and help us all to receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save our souls not only save them from hell but save them from damage in this life. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.