We Are Always Nothing but Evil, and Those Who Try to Be Saved by Their Own Works Remain Sinners [Christian Sermon 24]

Being a sinless righteous person before God — that is, being saved and becoming a child of God — is literally a gift from God.

But what about you?

Are you still a sinner even after believing in Jesus?

Those who try to be saved by their own works are still sinners.

To give us the gift of salvation, Jesus, the Son of God, was baptized to have all the sins of the world transferred to Him.

He carried those sins of the world on our behalf, was judged on the Cross, shed His blood and died for us, and rose again, thereby saving us from all the sins of the world.

Therefore, we must abandon the futile effort to reach salvation through our own deeds and simply believe in and accept the gift of salvation that Jesus has accomplished.

I hope you will accept into your heart by faith this truth: that Jesus blotted out all the sins of the world through His baptism and His blood on the Cross, and accept the love He gave us as the gift of salvation.

Then, you will be saved from sin, become righteous, obtain eternal life, and go to Heaven.

The sermon below is an excerpt from the book “HAVE YOU TRULY BEEN BORN AGAIN OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT? [New Revised Edition]” by Pastor Paul C. Jong of The New Life Mission.


The joyful appearance of a righteous person who has received the great gift of salvation from God—being born again of water and the Spirit—and has had all sins in their heart washed away.

How can a person be saved?

It is possible only when they recognize themselves to be sinners.

There are many who have not been redeemed because they cannot give up their incorrect beliefs and efforts.


God says that those who clench onto the Law are cursed.

Those who believe that they may become righteous gradually as they continue to believe in Jesus and try to live up to the Law are under His curse. They believe in God, but they still think that they have to live according to the Law to be saved.


Dear friend, can we become righteous through our works while we are still alive?

We become righteous only by believing in the Word of Jesus, and only then are we redeemed. Only by having faith in the baptism of Jesus, His blood, and Jesus’ being God, are we redeemed.

That is why God has prepared the law of faith for us as a way to become righteous. The redemption of the water and the Spirit does not lie in the works of people but in the faith in the Word of God. And God delivered us for that faith. That is how God planned it and how He has completed it.


Why were those who believed in Jesus not redeemed?

Because they did not accept the word of the redemption of the water and the Spirit. But we, who are as imperfect as they are, have been redeemed for our faith in the word of God.


“Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left” (Matthew 24:41).


The one who is left is the one who has not been redeemed. Why will one be taken and the other left?


The reason is that one listened and believed in the word of God.

The other one who worked hard to keep the Law was eventually cast down into hell. He was trying to crawl up to God, but God shook him off just like we shake off a bug when it tries to crawl up our leg. If a man tries to crawl up to God by trying to keep the Law, they will surely be thrown into hell.


That is why we have to be redeemed by faith in the water and the Spirit.

‘For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”’ ‘But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith”’ (Galatians 3:10–11, Romans 1:17).


Not believing in the Word of God is a sin before God.

In addition, it is also a sin to lay aside the Word of God according to one’s own standard. We human beings cannot live by His Law because we are all born sinners. And we continue to sin all our lives. We sin a little here, a little there, and everywhere we go. We have to realize that our flesh cannot help but sin.


A human being is like a big pail of manure.

If we try to carry it around, we end up spilling the contents along the way. We are like that. We keep spilling sin everywhere we go. Can you picture it?

Would you still pretend that you were holy? If you could see yourself clearly, you would give up trying in vain to be holy and believe in the water and the blood of Jesus.


We need to cast off our obstinacy and admit that we are sinners before God.

Then, we must return to His Word and discover how He saved them with the water and the Spirit.


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Our The New Life Mission, which distributes Pastor Paul C. Jong’s books for the purpose of spreading the gospel worldwide, operates websites translated into 27 major languages.

Every day, about 20,000 people visit our website, and more than 2,000 of them download over 2,000 e-books and more than 3,000 audiobooks for free.

Just as God’s Word says, “Freely you have received, freely give,” we are sharing the truth of the gospel of water and the Spirit for free through literature. Please trust and visit our website to download e-books, audiobooks, and bilingual books.

https://www.bjnewlife.org/en/


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