Focal Point

Host (Male): Today on Focal Point with Pastor Mike Fabarez.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Now when people say why did Jesus come, a lot of us focus on the justification aspect of it. He came to die in our place so that we wouldn't have to go to hell. That's true, but he also came to redeem us from the practice of sin. That's sanctification. And here's the deal: you can't have the first without the second. You cannot be justified and not be prompted by grace to be sanctified.

Host (Male): Sometimes it's tempting to take a passive position on our spiritual walk. Fighting against temptation isn't easy and the benefits aren't always that appealing. But what if holiness wasn't just an option but required?

Today on Focal Point, we'll hear about God's expectations for our life. And to help with what this study is all about, Pastor Mike has written a new booklet called Battling Sin. And if you're a new listener, you can get a free copy today just by going to focalpointradio.org. Well, now here's Pastor Mike with today's message.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: As a lot of you know, last week I, with the help of many of you, moved into our newly purchased home. My family of five, we got them moved into a new place, and it was an eventful weekend, I can tell you that. At one point, an onlooker said that he had never seen so many people help one family move. It was something.

At another point in the morning at my apartment where we were moving out, the crowd had assembled and we had a neighbor from another apartment in our complex come by and mill about our apartment, start taking my stuff, and moving it to his apartment. I am not kidding.

When confronted, he said, "Oh, I just thought it was all just up for grabs." Now, it did look a little like a looting scene, I imagine, but I'm still not buying his story. Our move was a chaotic day, and you know, there are boxes everywhere and our new house is disheveled. I still can't find my box of baseball hats.

There's just a lot of things missing, maybe at my friend's apartment, I'm not sure. But I realized there is a lot of stress related to all of this. But you have to kind of put that aside because if you focus on the sore backs and the pinched fingers and the scattered boxes, you may get discouraged and feel like this isn't worth it.

But you have to step back every now and then in the process and you have to remember why you're doing it. We're moving from this very small apartment to a home because it's a really good thing to do. It would be good to raise our three growing children in more than one little room. It's a good thing. We need a house and we're in a house. So, yeah, it's a little chaotic and a little uncomfortable for a while, but it's well worth it. If you don't have that perspective, you may get discouraged.

In the book of Hebrews, we've been looking at what can be a discouraging topic. Not a lot of churches like to have series about sin and certainly don't want to use the word "fight" in their series title. And I know that there is a sense of negativity about this series that we've found ourselves in the middle of.

But I love the fact that now as we reach verse number 14, for the next four verses, the writer of Hebrews wants to do just that. He wants to step back for a few minutes and just remember why we're doing this. He wants to remind us why we're going through all the uncomfortable experience of exposing sin, looking at our temptations, and resolving to fight and battle sin in our lives. And he gives us all the important reasons why this is a critical thing for us to do.

And so if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn there in a passage that may feel a little like a review of the fundamentals. Like I often say, that Vince Lombardi locker room discussion where he tells these seasoned football players, he pulls out a football and he says, "This, you know, is a football. And that is the goal line." And kind of reminding them of the whole fundamentals of the game.

And so it is in Hebrews chapter 12, verse number 14, that the writer of Hebrews says, "Okay, now let's just remember what this is all about. Let's try and find out again why this is so important." And he puts it this way in verse number 14. He says, "Make every effort to live in peace with all men."

And he says that because the expression of our sanctification or our battle to be godly is usually seen as succeeding or failing often in the realm of our relationships. But then he gets back to the point and he says it succinctly at the end of this first phrase. He says, "And to be holy."

Make every effort to live at peace with all men and to be holy. And then he gives this jarring phrase. Are you ready for this one? I mean, this kind of jars the Sunday school theology that we grew up with. He says, "Without holiness, no one will see the Lord." I mean, if you really understand this in the context, that becomes a pretty huge statement.

Without holiness, we're not even going to see God. So then he says, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See to it that no one is sexually immoral or godless like Esau," that Old Testament twin, the outdoorsman, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.

Then afterward, as you know, the writer of Hebrews says, he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected, and he could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. Here's a sad picture of a guy who should have been blessed, who thought he had the blessing, and because he was governed by his appetites and did what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it, in the end, as an illustration for us, he ends up not receiving the blessing that he should have otherwise received.

This is a tough passage, but it really brings us back to what's at stake. Our discussion for the last four or five weeks has been that we've got to fight sin. We've got to be committed to our process of sanctification. We've got to fight temptation and work at being godly. As a matter of fact, that's the first word translated in three English words in verse number 14: make every effort.

Give it your all. Make sure you're going all out in this fight. But the way that he frames it puts it in such a way as to tell us not just that it's a good idea or there's a lot at stake. He really says there's everything at stake. He says you've got to live at peace with all men and to be holy. Pursue that. Go after it. He says because, here it comes, without holiness, no one will see the Lord.

Now, before you go to redefine that or just ignore it or kind of talk your way around it, we need to analyze it and try and find out what exactly he's trying to say. I mean, what does that mean? I mean, that seems so antithetical to a lot of our basic understanding of Christianity.

What he's saying clearly is that whatever this process of sanctification involves, the process is critically important. It's required. As a matter of fact, the ending illustration about Esau says that you've got to do what is right to govern your appetites so that you receive the blessing. That's a big deal. You can't just let your appetites and your impulses rule your life. It's critically important. And the illustration brings us to the concept of salvation and makes us think, "Wow, we'd better fight sin." It's a big deal. It's not optional. It's required.

Jot this down. When it comes to what this passage is saying to us, the first thing we've got to underscore is that an all-out fight with sin is required. Number one: you've got to realize that. That an all-out fight with sin is not an option. An all-out fight with sin, to put it this way, to make every effort to be holy, it's required. You cannot be a Christian and not do this. You cannot be a Christian and not be fighting sin.

And if you say, "Well, that just doesn't sound right because I understand the gospel a little differently, and I went to Sunday school and I know what the Bible says. And the Bible says that our salvation has nothing to do with what we do, and you're telling me that if we don't curtail sin, then we don't get to go to heaven."

Well, number one: I'm not saying that. That's what this passage seems to be saying, and we've got to, before we reject it, we've got to say, "Well, wait a minute. Is this some kind of contradictory truth? Is this somehow antithetical to the concept of grace in the New Testament?"

And I think the next verse makes it clear that there is no contradiction here because the writer of Hebrews makes it clear and ultimately the Holy Spirit who is the author of this text, he makes it clear that grace is all about his theology. He says, "See to it." Look at verse 15. "That no one misses the grace of God."

Okay, so let's start with that and then we'll work backward. When it comes to salvation, let us just reaffirm what the writer of Hebrews understands and what the New Testament teaches: that salvation is by grace. There's no contradiction here. To say that fighting sin is required, that it's not an optional thing for the Christian life, is not to deny that salvation is by grace.

So let's start at the starting point by reaffirming that basic truth. The Bible teaches that if you're going to receive eternal life, you can't earn it. That's what grace is all about. And I know that that's what makes us distinctive as Christians because the rest of the religious systems in this world, including a lot that call themselves Christian, are all about trying to do enough good things to get accepted in the eyes of God.

And we reject that, right? We're evangelical Christians. We believe that the message of the gospel is that we receive it as a gift, that God gives it by grace. And the Bible teaches that, and there's no contradiction in verse 14 to the concept of grace in verse 15. He's concerned that we are in grace, that we have the grace of God.

And just to underscore this from a passage that I know a lot of us learned as kids, I want to turn to the book of Titus, chapter three. Titus chapter three. Paul writes to Titus. He's a pastor in Crete, just off in the middle of the Mediterranean off the shores of Israel, and he tells Titus to remember the basics of the gospel.

He wants him to teach the doctrine of grace, and he spells it out in some of the most clear and unmitigated words in the New Testament. Titus chapter three. Look at verse number four. He says in verse number four of Titus chapter three, he says, "But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us," verse five, "not because of the righteous things we had done."

Doesn't that make us different than all your friends out there who are trying to do enough good things to make God accept them? If you said to them, "Do you are you going to heaven when you die?" they've got the big scale mentality. "Well, I'm trying to do more good things than bad things and God's going to look at the good things I do and hopefully it'll be more than 51% and God'll say, 'Come on in.'"

And we've all learned that God doesn't grade on a curve, that God is not going to let you in because you're more righteous than you are wicked. That's not how it works. You have to exchange all of your good deeds and you need to embrace the righteousness of God. And the Bible calls that salvation and right here as clearly as can be said is that when you're saved, it has nothing to do with what you've done.

He saved us, verse five, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his, what's the word? Mercy. That means you don't deserve it. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior. He's the one who did it. It's based on his work, not your work.

So that, here's the concept of justification, verse seven, having been justified, that means I'm made right, I'm made acceptable to God. Having been justified by his, what's the word? Grace. That's what it's all about. We might become heirs, that means that we're now going to inherit something good, having the hope, which is not finger-crossing hope, that's not New Testament hope, that's the confidence of eternal life.

So how can I have confidence of eternal life? I can trust in the work of Christ and not in the good deeds that I do. So salvation has nothing to do with the good deeds that I've done. If I'm a Christian and going to heaven, I've got to be able to say it has nothing to do with my good works. It has everything to do with the work of Christ. That's grace. That's the biblical definition of grace.

And by the way, let me talk about some of your friends or maybe some of you who think, "Well, I kind of believe in that, but it's kind of my good works too." Jot this down if you would: Galatians chapter five, verse two. We don't need to turn there, but sometimes just spend a morning reading the book of Galatians and get it really clear in your mind that if you're trying to embrace the grace of God plus your good works, you will not be saved.

You cannot have it both ways. If you're going to be a Christian, you're a Christian solely on the work of Christ, and it has nothing to do with your good deeds. And Galatians 5:2 deals with the common way to do good works in that day, which in a Jewish context was to go through the ceremonial law. And one of the things was circumcision.

And in chapter five, verse number two, Paul says to the Galatian churches, "If you allow yourselves to be circumcised," which was all to try and gain merit with God, he says, "then Christ is of no value to you." Did you catch that? In other words, if you're trying to earn your salvation, then Christ is of no help to you. And here's the deal: you'll lose. You won't be saved. The only way we can become Christians is to take all of our righteousness and exchange it for the righteousness of Christ. That's the gospel of grace. Right? There's nothing new there. You're going, "Oh, hear that all the time." Well, you may hear that all the time, but most people in the world don't hear that all the time. You realize that, right? They don't get that. That's news to them. But that's what the Christian faith is all about. We're trusting in the good work of Christ.

If you don't trust in the good work of Christ to be saved, that's called, by the way, and this is so important, that's called legalism. Okay? All your non-Christian friends and even some of your quote-unquote Christian friends always misuse that word. Legalism means that I'm trying to do good works to get saved. Does the Bible teach that? No, it's wrong. The error or the heresy is called legalism. Great.

Now, back to Hebrews. Keep your finger in Titus because we'll be back there. But back for a moment to Hebrews chapter 12. Verse number 14 now becomes jarring against the backdrop of grace. Because in our minds, if our salvation has nothing to do with our good works, what's this statement all about that we've got to make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy because without holiness, no one will see the Lord? I don't understand. I thought I get to see the Lord and it has nothing to do with my good deeds. You're absolutely right.

Here's the truth. Real grace fights sin. Okay? If you have embraced real biblical grace, then your life will, by necessity, it will fight sin. That's why our fight against sin is required and non-optional because you cannot be a Christian and have real grace in your life without that grace moving us to fight sin.

Give you an example. Back to Titus. Go to Titus chapter two. Paul has already spelled this out. Though he is going to underscore justification by grace, he's going to make it clear that sanctification is required because of justification. Let's take a look at this. Titus chapter two, verse 11.

Titus 2:11 says, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." All kinds of people. It's not just Jews now, it's Gentiles, it's barbarians, it's Scythians, it's everybody. And it teaches us. When you're saved, right, you have that grace that brings salvation. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. That's what real grace does. It instructs us to fight sin and to live self-controlled and upright and godly lives in this present age.

And we do that while we're waiting for the blessed hope, which is the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us. Here's the purpose of his coming: to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Now, when people say, why did Jesus come, a lot of us focus on the justification aspect of it. He came to die in our place so that we wouldn't have to go to hell. And if we would trust in his life and his death, we would be justified. That's true, but this text says he also came for the purpose of freeing us, that's what redeeming means, from the wicked behaviors that we have and to purify for himself a people that are eager to do good. Are you tracking with that?

Part of his coming was not just to save us from the penalty of sin, that's justification. He came also to redeem us from the practice of sin. That's sanctification. And his purpose in coming was twofold. And here's the deal: you can't have the first without the second. You cannot be justified and not be prompted by grace to be sanctified.

And people to if you're going, well, that's not news to me. You know what? It's news to a lot of churchgoers today. There are people in tons of churches today that are taught this. See if some of this sounds familiar. You can be a Christian and embrace the grace of God and then, you know what, it may or may not change your life.

You may or may not get serious about this thing called obedience. But maybe later in your Christian life, you'll hit this second level and we've got all kinds of names for it depending on what church you go to. We might call it discipleship, right? We might call it getting rededicated to the Lord. We might call it kind of getting to that second level where we really get serious about all this.

Which, by the way, there's some wonderful passages in all that rededication and getting serious about the Lord in 1 Hezekiah and 2 Opinions and 3 Contemplations. Right? It's not in here. Are you tracking with that? It's not here. There is no second level to Christianity. The reality of the Bible is simply this: if you are saved by the grace of God, that grace of God is going to drive you to become holy.

And if your life is not becoming more holy, then you are not justified. Therefore, the writer of Hebrews can say, "Without holiness, no one will see the Lord." And that's not imputed holiness. That's the practice of holiness. Well, I thought we didn't earn our salvation by our good deeds. We don't. See, but if we have been given the grace of God, it transforms our life and he produces in us a people that are eager to do what is good.

Verse 15, we might as well read that if you're still in Titus 2 because it'd be a good thing for us to not be ashamed of this doctrine. He says, "These things then," he says, "you are to teach, encourage, rebuke with all authority, and do not let anyone despise you." Man, I'm called a heretic. People take my CDs and pass them out as examples of heresy because I teach the doctrine that if you are justified, you will necessarily then be called by God to be sanctified.

Okay? And that's not Wesleyan perfectionism. I'm not saying you're going to be perfect, but I'm going to say that you're going to become more and more and more and more like Christ. And that's not something that's an option for the Christian. God is going to produce in you a changing life.

"Well, my uncle Jim, he accepted the Lord," whatever that means, okay, look that one up, by the way, "in when he was young and now, you know, he just kind of lives for himself and he doesn't go to church and he doesn't read his Bible, but I know I'm going to see him in heaven because he accepted the Lord," whatever that means, "when he was like 12."

You know what Jim's life is when you say that? Jim's life is a contradiction. Okay? Here let me put it in these phrases: he claims to be a follower of Christ, he just doesn't happen to be following Christ. And if you say, "Well, that's stupid," there are entire seminaries built on that one doctrine: that you can be a follower of Christ and not have to follow Christ. It's a contradiction.

Esau's life was a contradiction. If you're the child of blessing, and I know he's an illustration here, you cannot live by your impulses. If you're a child of blessing, a son of the blessing, you ought to act like a son of the blessing. But instead, he's willing to trade his inheritance rights for a bowl of stew.

And the Bible says his life is a contradiction and the illustration for us is driven home by the fact that when it came for time to see if he was going to get the blessing, he didn't get the blessing. Jesus said not everybody who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven. Remember that? Many will come to me on that day, Matthew chapter seven says, and say, "Didn't I do this? Didn't I do that?" and he'll say, "Depart from me, I never knew you. You who practice lawlessness, wickedness, sin."

He says, "I don't care what you did do. Here's what you didn't do: you didn't fight sin in your life. And you know what? That proved that your justification was a fantasy. It wasn't real." Let's put it this way: serious efforts at sanctification prove the reality of your justification. That's what the Bible is teaching here.

Host (Male): Genuine grace produces genuine fruit. An important reminder from Pastor Mike Fabarez today on Focal Point. And today's message is titled "Recalling Why This is So Important." To revisit or share any of these daily lessons, just go to focalpointradio.org or through the free Focal Point app.

And don't forget Ask Pastor Mike Live is on the air every Tuesday through Thursday at 1:00 PM Central and anyone listening is welcome to call in. You can also watch and catch up anytime on the Mike Fabarez channel on YouTube. Everything you need to join or listen is at askpastormike.live.

There's a book on our shelf this month that Pastor Mike thinks belongs on yours too. Making a Difference: Impacting Culture and Society as a Christian by R.C. Sproul. For any believer who's wondered what their faith is actually supposed to look like once they leave church on Sunday, Sproul offers real, practical direction.

His central point: a Christian's influence on the world around them isn't separate from their walk with Christ. It's part of the very same calling. Ask for Sproul's book Making a Difference when you give a generous gift to Focal Point today. Call 888-320-5885 or give online at focalpointradio.org. Or mail your gift to Focal Point, Post Office Box 2850, Laguna Hills, California 92654.

A one-time gift helps today. A Focal Point partner is someone who decides to keep helping automatically every month after that. It's a small shift in how you give, but it's the difference between funding a single broadcast and funding the future of this ministry, enabling us to plan and even expand our reach so that more listeners can hear solid scripture-based teaching.

Become a partner today by signing up online at focalpointradio.org or by calling 888-320-5885. Is God required to grant the very things you're praying for? And if Christ already wiped your record clean, why does the Bible still promise a reckoning? Well, Pastor Mike Fabarez sits with two callers questioning prayer, a father's drinking, and the judgment believers still face in the next edition of Ask Pastor Mike Live, Friday on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Hey there, Pastor Mike here. We're almost out of time but before we go, I wanted to personally invite you to contact us here. Let us know how we can be praying for you. Head on over to focalpointradio.org and click the contact page or send me a note on Facebook, facebook.com/pastormike or x.com/pastormike. Can't wait to hear from you.

Host (Male): Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.