In this sermon, the speaker discusses the concept of redemption through Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins. He emphasizes that God chose to demonstrate his love by sending his son to die in the place of rebels, even though he could have wiped out humanity. The speaker compares this act of love to a parent offering up their beloved child in exchange for a criminal's release. He highlights that every person, regardless of their external appearance, is in a state of rebellion against God and in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Good morning, let's turn to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, I'd like to read to you, beginning in verse 12. Colossians chapter 1, verse 12. Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. And now verse 21. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight. If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Pray with me, would you? Lord, we ask now as we turn to the word of God once again, we pray that You'd speak to us. And Lord, we thank You for the Bible and we thank You, Lord, that it is Your word and it is true. And Lord, help us today to conform to it in our thinking. Lord, so often we think things and we think they're right just because we think them. But Lord, so often our whole thought process is wrong and we need to have our thinking renewed by the truth of Your word. So renew us today in that, Lord. Help us to see our true condition by nature and help us, Lord, to glory in what You've done for us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Now, I read to you verses 12 through 14 and then picked up again in verse 21 going through verse 23. And the reason I did that is because there is a break in the thought in verses 15 through 20. And it could be seen as a parenthetical statement concerning the person of Christ. We don't want to be ultra-technical about it. I mean, it certainly flows in the context, but yet there is a bit of a diversion that Paul takes to talk about Jesus and exactly who He is having brought up the whole subject of redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. And now really here in verse 21 he kind of picks that thought up again after momentarily going off and describing the glorious Savior that we have, Jesus Christ. So, today we want to concentrate our time on verses 21 through 23 primarily talking about where we once were. And that's really what Paul had been speaking to the Colossians about giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light who has taken us out of the kingdom of darkness who has translated us out of the kingdom of darkness delivered us and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. And so this is where we previously were. We were previously under the authority of Satan bound by Him, living under His dominion under His rule and under His reign and personally our condition was this described in verse 21 alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. So, positionally if you will we were in the kingdom of darkness under the authority of Satan practically and personally we were bound by our own sinful condition and so we were alienated the word could be translated estranged we were cut off from the relationship that God intended for us when He created us. When God created man God created man in fellowship with Himself there was a beautiful harmonious relationship that existed between God and His creation man and that of course is the way God desired things to remain but God did put a restriction on man and in putting a restriction God gave man the opportunity to choose to love him and obey him by giving him an alternative and unfortunately man chose the alternative and rebelled against God and so the relationship that once existed was then broken. We are the descendants of that first man Adam and we were born into sin and because of being born into sin we are born in this alienated condition we are born estranged from God separated from Him and we are also separated from Him by choice we choose to follow the inclination of our sinful nature instead of submit to the will of God for our lives but this is where we all have ended up and this is where every person who is presently a Christian used to be and every person who is not a Christian now is presently in this place of alienation in this place of being estranged from God and then Paul goes a step further and he says and you were enemies in your mind by wicked works so not only alienated not only cut off not only separated not merely as a child cut off from a parent but there's something more sinister in it there's this enmity that resides in us naturally toward God and this particular word that's used here that's translated enemy the actual meaning of the word is to hate that is the actual meaning of the Greek word to hate and so this is man's natural condition man's natural condition is one of open hostility to God there is an antagonism and there is an actual hatred on the part of mankind toward God now this is something that is difficult for us to agree with you know there are certain things in scripture that are difficult for us there are many things that are difficult for us but there are some things that are very very difficult I remember talking to a friend one time and he told me the hardest thing for him was to really see himself as a sinner he knew he was he'd recognized that and he'd come to faith but he said you know it was really hard for him when he really sat down and thought through it it was hard for him and of course the problem was he just didn't understand sin and what it actually is versus what it isn't he had a hard time with it because he'd never been out committing murder or robbing banks or dealing drugs or involved in prostitution he was grown up in a fairly decent family so it was really hard for him to see himself as a sinner and that's hard for some people it's even harder I think for a lot of people to understand themselves or to see themselves as ones who hate God now I myself even struggle with this was that really my condition before? now I kind of thought I was just indifferent toward God never really thought of myself as actually hating God actively hating Him I thought of myself as more of you know kind of a neutral person kind of indifferent you know not so interested but you know maybe under the right circumstances I would listen and respond favorably to conversation about God but to actually come to grips with this this statement of scripture that I in my previous condition was a hater of God is something that I really wrestled through but yet indeed the scriptures teach this that we in our natural state are haters of God listen to what Jesus said on this subject in John chapter 3 verse 20 he said for everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds should be exposed John chapter 7 verse 7 the world cannot hate you Jesus said to his brothers but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil John chapter 15 verse 18 if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you John chapter 15 verses 23 through 25 he who hates me hates my father also if I had not done among them the works which no one else did they would have no sin but now they have seen and also hated both me and my father but this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law they hated me without a cause so you see the scriptures do teach this that we before our conversion are in a place of active hostility toward God we hate God that is the nature of the human being because of what sin has done we have a hatred toward God Romans 5.10 refers once again to us as being God's enemies as Paul is referring to here in Colossians chapter 1 for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son Romans 8.7 because the carnal mind the natural mind man in his natural condition is enmity against God the carnal mind is enmity against God so this is a truth about ourselves every one of us this is a truth about all people outside of Jesus Christ today far from being innocent victims of the devil there is the active hostility on the part of every person outside of Christ toward God all men are in that same situation of actually hating God now it doesn't appear that way externally does it? there are a lot of people that you would not draw that conclusion from by observing them and there are people who would definitely argue with you if you were to make a statement about them to that effect but nevertheless that's what the Bible says and if you probe deep enough you'll discover that what the Bible says is true take for example the person who is religious in a general sense there are people who are religious there's no particulars about it there's no specifics just religious in a general sense they believe in God they allow for belief in God they're not atheistic or agnostic they allow for belief in God and they might even have some sort of a place of worship that they attend maybe they attend a synagogue or a church of some sort or maybe they go to some sort of a meeting that is to them a worship service and they pray on occasion they're not adverse to those things they're not opposed to those things so here is a person who is generally religious and if you were to say to a person like this well you know actually you are a hater of God they would say oh no I love God I really love God you don't understand I worship God I pray I believe that there's a God you cannot tell me I'm a hater of God I actually love God but you see as you begin to probe what you find is this that the person like that the God they love is a God that they've invented for themselves it's not the God of the Bible but it's a God that they've invented a God that in their own minds they have developed thinking you know if I was God I would be like this and I wouldn't be like that and that's who their God becomes and they truly do love that God they're really just loving a projection of themselves but you see when you begin to talk to them about the real God when you say things like well did your God was he involved in the writing of the Bible oh well you know not necessarily he might have you know had a part in it but did your God require a sacrifice for sin oh no no no no none of that stuff no we're not talking about that that's all you know that's barbaric would your God ever send people to hell oh of course oh never no no no that's not my God no my God let me tell you what my God's like you know they basically describe themselves so you see they don't love God they love a God that they've invented and when you begin to probe and then you point out to them who the true and the living God is without any blink of an eye they'll say oh no I don't love that God no no if that's God then hey I don't want to have anything to do with him they say see right there they're showing what was not so obvious on the surface but they're showing that hatred that they have toward God they hate the true God they hate the God of the Bible and the things that he says and the things that he stands for you see this when people are taken with an illness or some kind of a tragedy strikes their life and they have kind of an outward display of religion you know again that general religious mentality but yet when they're stricken by an illness or some sort of a tragedy the first thing they do is they begin to blame God they begin to challenge God they begin to mock God or to blaspheme him why did God allow this oh if there's a God I'll curse him to his face for allowing some thing like this to happen you see what's happening is the true nature of man is coming out under these circumstances think of the moralist a person who is a good person externally a person who compared with other men is maybe excelled in the moral realm they're not into any vices or any kind of cheating or anything underhanded they're just you know paragon of virtue and again they might talk glibly about God but when you get down to the real issues and you know you would say to them did you know that before God you're a vile wretched sinner irrevocably lost without a savior oh well I don't want to hear anything about a God like that I don't need that God I'm a good person you see and immediately they begin to spew and vent their true attitude toward God that is also seen in the devoutly religious those who are devout religiously but not devoted to Christ they seem to love God but the minute you tell them that their religion is wrong and that Jesus Christ is the only hope of God or Heaven oh immediately they begin to curse and to swear and I've had that happen to me I used to be employed by people who claimed to love God intensely prayed three times a day facing Mecca had a great love for God but the moment that I would bring up Jesus Christ and the Bible boy they would become hostile they begin to curse and to swear and one time they all gathered around me I thought they were going to pulverize me but oh they loved God but you see once they were told that their religion was not the true religion and that their God was not the true God they became angry and they began to express their their hatred toward the true God and you see you find that also in the religious systems you find in the religious systems an external tolerance for for God if you don't press it too far for example in Islam you find that there is an acknowledgement of Jesus they acknowledge Him as a prophet but the minute you present Jesus to them for who the Bible says that He is there is an open hostility as a matter of fact in Jerusalem there is a a shrine in Jerusalem it's known as the Dome of the Rock shrine and around the dome of this shrine there is written in Arabic that God is not begotten neither does He beget this is a slanderous remark against what we're told in John 3 16 so you see there seems to be a tolerance but there is not a tolerance now you know it's interesting that here in America where we are into tolerance above everything else you know we see a seeming tolerance from these other religious systems toward the true God but yet where those restrictions are removed we see that there is no tolerance at all if you go to the Sudan today you find that the Christians are being mass executions are taking place they're they're being done away with genocide is happening in the Sudan and it's being led by Islam they're persecuting the believers there so you see this is where man really is this is man's true condition this is where his heart's at we have a great example of this in the scriptures you remember the Pharisees the scribes the doctors of the law those religious leaders of the day have you ever noticed how as you read through the New Testament so much of it is taken up with the conflict between Jesus and these men and what was it all about it was all about this one thing when Jesus told them that they were wicked and they needed a savior and they put him to death for that and you know the same thing is true today just what Jesus said in John 7 the world hates me because I testify of it that its deeds are evil that's why Jesus Christ is the one who cannot be spoken of at a graduation ceremony that's why you can't get up in a public school classroom and talk about the virtues of Christianity and the person of Jesus Christ without a lawsuit but you can talk about Mohammed and Allah you can talk about any form of Buddhism you can talk about Hinduism you can talk about all kinds of different isms but you can't talk about Jesus he's the one person that you don't want to bring up in conversation if you want to keep the conversation pleasant isn't that the truth? you bring Jesus Christ into the picture and immediately you have hostility why? because he testifies of the world that its deeds are evil man has an open hatred toward God that's quite often covered under this very smooth surface but it just takes a little bit of probing just a little bit of you know, pushing and boy, I've seen this many times with people who will even agree with you and talk to you about Jesus even and oh yes, Jesus and so on and so forth and then they'll make a statement that's contrary to anything that Jesus ever did or taught and then you'll bring that up and say, well, you know, the Bible says oh, well, don't bring the Bible into it I don't care what the Bible says I don't believe it and you know, you see that there's a hostility to Christ to the word of God this is man's natural condition and that's what Paul is talking about here this is where we're at by nature and the right circumstances will bring it out the right circumstances will bring it out and as I look back over my own life and evaluating it in light of what the scriptures say I must confess yes, I did hate God I used to blame him for every wrong thing that happened in my life used to curse him openly and it was just that sinful nature just that rebellion, that anger and that's where man is at but why does man hate God? well, Jesus said it he said it right there in John 15, 25 they hated me without a cause there's no reason there's absolutely no reason whatsoever there's no cause we have no cause against God all God has ever done is been good to us but mankind has believed Satan mankind has believed the great deceiver that God has somehow withheld something from us or he's not fair to us that he hasn't dealt with us rightly and so forth and we believe it and when things go wrong the devil says God caused that and we believe it and people develop this hatred toward God and they don't even know why you know, you can question people who will go ballistic about Jesus and you say, well, what's the problem? why do you feel this way? well, when I was a kid I wanted this one toy for Christmas and, you know, my brother got it instead and, you know, somehow that was God's fault you know, God didn't tell Santa that that's what he wanted you know I mean, it's absurd, right? but that's about as absurd as some of people's reasonings for their hatred against God it's just meaning, it's stupid but nevertheless, they do it that's the sin in the human heart and Satan comes along and he he stirs it up he mixes it all up and, you know, today we're living in such a frivolous society you know, you see people with their their little bumper stickers that have a cross with a you know, a band through it no cross you have music groups like Bad Religion and, you know, I just heard today of a group that's playing in San Diego this week I Hate God E-Y-E I Hate God and you look at you know, you ask these kids you know, why do you hate God? well, because, you know well, I don't know I just hate him and they don't know why they listen to some other you know, musical group or something who said something about hating God they go, oh, that's cool you know, it's rebellion I'm gonna do it it's so sad it's just a sad and a tragic thing but this is the condition of man man hates God without a cause and you who were alienated and enemies haters of God in your mind it's all there in the thought process enemies in your mind alienated by wicked works as a man thinks so he is the Bible says and so those hateful thoughts toward God that hostility against him and his laws it eventually will show itself in every person's life you know, it's so interesting how we can be blind to our own faults and how we can be blind to the faults of others we just don't want to see anything bad in them you know, parents a lot of times are like that with their children you know, no, not my child no, my child would never do that you know, the child is just a blatant delinquent no, no, no, not my little Jimmy no, no, no he's been a good boy you know he's going to prison for murder no, no, but he's a good boy you know, it's amazing how blind we can be to our own condition to the condition of other people it amazes me as I kind of shared with you last time it amazes me how these philosophers and these thinkers and these people you know, they've been put on a pedestal and their lives have been portrayed as this glorious, wonderful philanthropic just lover of humanity and oh, you know and then you study their lives and you find this guy was a creep he was an absolute wretch he was a miserable person to be around and yet, you know, they're put forth as people that we ought to model ourselves after and so forth you see, the wicked works always follow they always follow they are the natural byproduct of the true condition of man and although a person might hide it to some degree and although it might not be seen by the general populace whenever you're alone with them oh, you know you see it all you know, the wives of some of these men who were seen publicly as the pillars of virtue and then later the wife comes forth and says, oh no he was unfaithful to me on numerous occasions and used to drink and you know, beat me oh my, oh no, no erase that don't put that in the biography and they don't want to believe that but this is the true condition of man every man every man in his natural state is a hater of God and involved in wicked works whether we know of it or not the Bible tells us that some men's sins are open they're very noticeable you don't even have to search hey, that guy's a sinner, man it's written all over his face but the sins of others they follow afterward some men's sins are open preceding them to judgment the sins of others well, they come afterward there are going to be people who people say, well, I didn't think they were a sinner see, because you had limited understanding and information you couldn't see it all but later on, you'll see it oh, now I see but you see, those who were closest to them of course, they saw it so this is where we were and this is where multitudes of people are presently but yet now, he has reconciled this is the most astounding thing, I think in all of this whole gospel is that the one offended is the one who provided the atonement it's the one who was offended it wasn't the offender it wasn't the offender finally, one day said oh, you know this is wrong I shouldn't be this way I've offended God what a horrible thing that I've done I'm going to go back and apologize and ask for forgiveness that's not the way it happened man remained in his hostility against God but the one who was offended provided for the offender that's what Paul said there in Romans chapter 5, verse 10 when we were enemies we were reconciled to God to the death of his son this is the amazing demonstration of God's love for for one who is being rebelled against to step forward and say I want peace and I'm going to make a peace offering a peace offering that is priceless I'm going to give my son in order to make peace with you this is unthinkable it's unbelievable it's something that you could never dream up in a million billion years this is what God did we started the war so to speak but God said I'm going to make peace I'm going to offer you peace and I'm going to do it by giving my son up to die in your place you see that's the marvel of the gospel God did not have to do any of these things God could have rightfully just said I'm finished with these rebels it's over and he could have wiped out the world and every trace of man to never be remembered again and either started fresh or not even bothered to start so that was a bad idea I'm not going to do that again and gone on contentedly God could have easily done that but he did not do that instead he chooses to demonstrate his love by sending his son to die in the place of rebels an act of love that we cannot really fully understand it's just it's beyond our ability to conceive of but we can kind of relate to it in some ways if you think about you being in a position of having a dearly beloved child and just think about this for a moment okay here you are you have a wonderful child that you love desperately and here's a prison over here down the road and it's full of the most vile criminals that you could imagine and the judge says now I will release these criminals if you will give up your child for them you give up your child and I'll release these criminals what do you think I'll tell you what I think leave the criminals in jail I don't want them to be released at the cost of my child I'm not into that kind of an exchange but even going beyond that I will release them there's no guarantee that they're going to ever change a few might some you know some will some will respond some will come to you and say you know thank you so much I can't believe what you did what can I do for you a handful do that the majority of them are actually going to go back out and continue to commit crimes they're going to go out and just become more hardened in their criminal activity and they'll end up back in prison again someday but if you offer up your child right here in exchange for them I'll release them I'll let them go no deal I wouldn't I wouldn't even have to think about it would you you see in a small way that's what God did here we are this planet full of rebels and God gives up his son and a handful because God coaxed them brought them to the realization of their condition said you're right I have been wrong and I'm sorry what can I do that conversion we've come to Christ some have but the vast majority of the prisoners whose life Christ was given for go on in their rebellion go on in their hatred go on in their crusade against God you see it's an amazing thing what God did amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me that's really what it is and that's what Paul is marveling at here and that's what he's reminding the Colossians of and that's what we need to be reminded of this is where we were yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death God made this way of reconciliation and now he's taken us to the other extreme completely we were at the one extreme hopelessly lost this is the condition of man naturally hopelessly lost rebels against God haters of God we're as far away from God as you could possibly get and now we've been brought to the other extreme of being as close to God as you can possibly get we have been reconciled to God in order to be presented as holy blameless and above reproach in his sight this is the incredible thing that God has done this thing we call the new birth you know the problem with man is that man is focused on reformation but you see reformation is incapable of doing what needs to be done that's why every program that men come up with whether it be religious in the sense that there is some sort of a deity connected to it or it's just a strictly humanistic kind of a program they're all doomed to fail because they're all centering on this one thing of reformation but what the Bible teaches is that man is beyond the need for reformation reformation is not going to help you you need regeneration you need an entirely new start you see the old material is so corrupted it's beyond repair it cannot be fixed Jeremiah the Lord spoke through him and said that the heart is deceitful above all thing curably wicked it's incurably wicked there's no reformation in the world that can bring about what needs to take place we need regeneration we need something entirely new and that's what God has done through Christ he's offered us regeneration he's offered us a new life the Lord said to the prophet Ezekiel and I will give them a new heart see that's what we needed and that's what God provided and that's what we rejoice in and we glory in and that's what we thank him for today God has given us a new heart he's given us an entirely new life we were once his enemies alienated from him performing wicked deeds living in our sinful lifestyles and now because of this work that he's done in us he is able to present us holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight this is why we ought to daily praise the Lord this is it right here and the reason we don't daily praise the Lord is because we don't understand the extent of what God's done for us we just don't understand it even as Christians we get to a point where we kind of just think well of course God saved me why not I was saveable and there are many people that actually think that you know I hear people say all the time and I'm not putting them down I mean it's you know and I understand it especially from a young Christian when I hear older supposedly mature Christians say I'm a little worried but you know I hear people say you know God just he just looked down you know he saw that spark he just knew he just saw that in me saw that good thing said yeah that's I want that one they'll be good good to have on my team you know I can again I can understand that from a young Christian but it's wrong but when people who are supposed to be mature in the faith are saying things like that now this is where we have a problem no God didn't look down and see any spark of anything except a spark of wickedness vileness and it was pity that he took upon us it was mercy that he had for us and so now he's brought us from this place of being alienated being enemies he's reconciled us to present us to present us before himself basically holy blameless and above reproach in his sight if indeed you continue in the faith so now listen closely there is a condition attached to all of this here God has taken us from this place of being hopeless helpless in hatred of him he said mercy on us he's forgiven us he's brought us into this new standing and one day he will present us to himself holy sanctified blameless without anything against us above reproach completely but this is the condition if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard so see here's the condition for the ultimate presentation before God as holy blameless and above reproach the condition is to be remaining in the faith to be steadfast in the faith you see outside of Jesus Christ I have nothing but condemnation outside of Jesus Christ I'm a rebel who hates God and the wrath of God is waiting for me there's the mercy of God that's available to me to bring me to repentance but if I reject that then nothing awaits me but the wrath of God but if I'm in Christ then I'm secure I'm free I have no worries I have no fears about that I have absolute confidence that I will be holy blameless and above reproach in his sight because that's how Jesus is he's holy blameless and above reproach and I'm accepted in the beloved as Paul said in a somewhat parallel passage there in Ephesians chapter 1 I'm accepted in the beloved but what if I'm not in Christ well if I'm not in Christ and I'm in trouble and you see if I fail to continue in the faith then I fail to continue in Christ some people ask the question is it possible to lose your salvation and there are people who will say dogmatically oh no not at all and they'll give you a list of scriptures why you can't other people will say dogmatically oh yes it is possible and they'll give you a list of scriptures why you can lose your salvation now I have come to the conviction over the years that the best thing to do when you're studying the scriptures is to let them speak for themselves and when you come to a passage that's a little bit difficult one that you don't particularly like what it says the best thing to do is just let it say what it says and trust God for the rest now I've read many commentators and most of them more or less explain away verse 23 because they come from the position that you can't lose your salvation so they essentially explain it away they kind of take the punch out of it you know they'll tell you well you know if you what he's talking about here is losing a reward or something like that all kinds of different theories but I just want to let the scripture speak for themselves what does it say it says that we'll be wholly blameless and above reproach in his sight if we continue in the faith well what if I don't continue in the faith well then you won't be wholly blameless and above reproach in his sight but wait we that's not possible well maybe not but maybe so you see there are plenty of scriptures that seem to clearly imply that if you're saved you'll always be saved but then there are scriptures that seem to clearly imply that you better continue in the faith I think the question probably is not so much whether you can have your salvation and lose it or not but the question probably centers more around what is salvation exactly you see according to the Bible salvation is nothing less than continuing on with Jesus Christ permanently that's what salvation is if your salvation is anything less than permanently continuing with Jesus Christ then it's it's really not a salvation according to the Bible so the Colossians here have begun to follow Jesus Christ Paul is just letting them know that they must continue to do that if they're going to experience that final and ultimate blessing of being presented before God wholly and blameless and above reproach what if they discontinue well some say well then they lost their salvation others say well they proved that they never had it at all this is the thing that we need to know there is no salvation apart from Christ to reject him to move away from him to stop following him any confidence in a salvation that doesn't have Jesus at the forefront of it is is a false sense of security and we need to be totally freed from that we must follow the Lord we must continue to walk with him it doesn't matter what we did 10 years ago 15 years ago 5 years ago 2 years ago and over the many years that I've been in the ministry now I've had numerous people tell me well you know I'm saved haven't been to church in 15 years but I know I'm saved well how do you know well because I accepted Christ at a Billy Graham crusade they might say or something like that but you see that isn't valid that doesn't make for any kind of security whatsoever that's not salvation salvation is this that you are not moved away from the hope of the gospel but you're there you're you're continuing you're grounded you're steadfast you're remaining in it that's where we all need to be and that's where the security is know this that there is absolutely no security outside of Christ and there's no security while you're in sin there's one thing the Bible tells you while you're in sin get out of it it's all it tells you doesn't say oh it's okay and you know you might lose a reward but you'll still get to heaven the Bible doesn't say that now certain theologians have said that there's actually one theologian who's gone to the extreme of trying to make a distinction between inheriting the kingdom and entering the kingdom because there's a list of things that were warned about in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 for example in regard to inheriting the kingdom they who do these things don't you know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God and they list the adulterers and the fornicators and the idolaters and the homosexuals and the thieves and the covetous and you know the drunkards and on and on and on and so I think very clearly and very plainly what Paul is warning about is the fact that these people who are living these lifestyles are not going to go to heaven but one theologian says oh no no it says inherit what he's talking about is having a position of priority they're not going to have a position of priority in heaven they're going to of course be there because they accepted the Lord but they're not going to have any position in the kingdom so he tries to make a distinction between inheriting the kingdom and entering the kingdom but no such distinction can be made really entering and inheriting are synonyms he's talking about the same thing he's just using different terminology you see again so many people have a false sense of assurance a false sense of security they're trusting in something that isn't the real thing to get them to heaven and they're living in sin and they're saying oh but you know it's okay I have hope I have confidence but once again let me remind you the only thing the bible tells you when you're in sin is to repent of it and to get out of it it never gives you any cushion whatsoever oh it's okay God understands you know find me a passage that says God understands you in your sin and he's going to just overlook that there is no such thing Jesus came to take away our sin he came to deliver us from the power of sin and he does so as we continue in the faith now someone says oh but what if I don't continue I have no security I'm a nervous wreck what if I lose my salvation do you want to lose your salvation of course not then you won't don't worry about it you see God is able to keep you see that's the glorious balance in this whole thing it's not up to you it's up to the Lord you have one there's one thing you need to do and that's just be willing it's as simple as that it's not something you have to do it's something you just merely need to be willing to do God will do for you he's able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before his presence with exceeding joy isn't that a comfort to know so when you come across a verse like this you don't need to panic what if I don't continue in the faith oh gosh no you can just say by the grace of God I will continue in the faith he's able he can make me do it he's got the power but you see if I determine that I'm not going to continue in the faith God is not going to force me against my will he'll try to persuade me not to make that decision I'm sure of that so this is the condition the promise that which we anticipate is to be presented holy blameless and above reproach in his sight the condition is to continue in the faith continue to walk with the Lord that's where your security lies that's where you can rest and be assured abiding in the vine there you are you're just abiding in Christ and as you're abiding in him he takes care of all of those things and one final word in closing Paul says concerning this gospel which they heard which we have heard he said which was preached to every creature under heaven the gospel preached to every creature under heaven Paul is not saying that by the time he wrote this epistle that every human being had heard the gospel it's not what he's saying replace preached with proclaimed which was proclaimed to every creature under heaven that might help you understand what he's saying a little better what he's saying is simply this the gospel is for everyone this message has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven it's not just for a certain ethnic group it wasn't just a Jewish thing it wasn't just a middle eastern thing it's not just the religion of the western hemisphere as certain academics would say today no this message is for everyone the gospel was proclaimed to every creature under heaven every person needs the gospel of Jesus Christ every person needs Jesus Christ because every person is in the condition that we looked at in verse 21 alienated and enemies living in rebellion against God regardless of what they look like externally they've got the outward veneer and those who don't know the word of God they look on and they say oh but such a good person oh what a wonderful person oh they believe in God they're so oh you can't say that about them you see we have to draw our conclusions again on what the word of God says and what God says about us all is that we are rebels but he the one who was offended provided reconciliation through Jesus Christ and so the great act of love God sent his son to die for us and to rise again from the dead and as we put our faith and trust in him he gives us that new heart that he told us about that we needed nothing less than that will do and he promises a standing before him we stand today in Christ and we'll stand before him on that final day holy blameless and above reproach if indeed you continue in the faith let's pray Lord we thank you for this great and wonderful gospel Lord this glorious news of what you've done for us and Lord I pray you'd forgive me for taking for granted what you've done so often for failing to realize how hopelessly lost I was and how Lord my condition was beyond reformation and yet Lord in your great mercy even though you had been offended you made those steps to make peace and Lord we thank you for that today and we just receive all that you have and we thank you for all that you did Lord we pray for any that are still in that place of enmity towards you living according to the flesh in rebellion and hating you Lord we pray that even though they might not have seen that or thought that before today maybe they thought that they were just kind of a passive person or indifferent or neutral Lord may they know there's no such thing and may they see Lord that you've made a way of reconciliation and may they lay down their weapons and humble themselves before you Lord work in hearts fill us Lord with a heart of thanksgiving keep us steadfast in the faith we thank you that you're able to do that Lord you are able to keep us from falling and we rest in that we rejoice in that we thank you in Jesus name Amen If you need prayer this morning there are men and women up front who would love to pray with you and if you'd like to receive Christ today if you'd like to make peace with God He's offered you peace but you must you must take that step now if you'd like to do that these people up front would love to pray with you to that end God bless you and give you a great week