When Grace Meets Us at Our Worst | Pastor Joel King

You were justified because you went to church, read your bible, and did what the pastor said. That's not what it says. You were justified because you finally got it together. It's not what it says. You're justified because you began to vote the right way on the right issues. It's not what it says. As a matter of fact, you're justified not by anything of you. It says his. His what? His blood. It was paid with a price. The very death of the son of God. [00:16:23] (32 seconds)  #justifiedByHisBlood

But you have to you have to step out on the bridge. And the bridge, by way, is is the bridge of faith. Christ is savior. Christ is lord. But you have to step out on the bridge. Its grace is not automatic. It's not universal. It must be received by faith, not admired, not study, not assume, not added to your religious, you know, buffet. It must be wholeheartedly, with your will, received. [00:32:09] (33 seconds)  #stepOnFaithBridge

The the Bible actually says that our righteousness, our good deeds are like filthy rags. In other words, we go around cleaning ourselves with rags that are already dirty, which doesn't really make things clean. And we're really proud of ourselves. And I and I when I say us, I mean us. I've told you my story. I was the worst of these. Right? I was washing myself all the time thinking I was so much better, but my rags were dirty. Made me worse. If the issue was deserved, we all deserved to be separated from God. [00:20:14] (33 seconds)  #filthyRagsTruth

He's been trying as hard as he can. It is impossible. He will not make it. He will drown. So he dives in. The lifeguard fights the current. He reaches the man or woman, and he drags them back to shore. Wonderful. But now imagine that the rescued person stands up and says, hey. I appreciate that. Aren't you glad I helped you? Aren't you glad I deserve it? No. The guy stands up. The gal stands up and just says, thank you. I would be dead without you. They know the truth. They were saved by another. [00:33:46] (46 seconds)  #rescuedNotDeserving

Be encouraged. Your salvation is not fragile. It is anchored in the finished work of Christ and the ongoing life of Christ. Now real quickly, I'm just gonna tag this on because it's in the question. Not only are we saved, but all creation that we see, all the world we see will be saved from the effects of sin. Alright? Just really quickly. This is in your notes, by the way, too on the app. Romans eight twenty and twenty one. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope. [00:25:36] (32 seconds)  #anchoredInChristHope

Not at our best moment, but our worst moment. The cross is not God responding to our goodness. It is God overcoming our worst sin, our evilness that we like to pretend doesn't exist, but he knows. And and and some of you, you're, and I say this because, I've been through it a little bit, and I've walked many people through this. There's some of you that your life is sparing out of control, and you don't even know why. And the reason is you have this festering thing that is evil, and you know it's evil that you will not deal with, that you shut yourself off to. [00:14:18] (37 seconds)  #crossForOurWorst

Can you go back there? You might not be able to. I understand. So just poke around that. What this is saying at just the right time you know what the right time for was, god? That moment. That moment. At that moment, at your worst, god said, this is the perfect time to die for Joel. This is the perfect time to lay my life down. Now think about that. If we barely are willing to lay our life down for someone that we love and care about, a good person, a righteous person, at the worst possible time, but that is God. [00:13:33] (45 seconds)  #perfectTimingOfGrace

Heaven and hell is not the division between those who justly deserve to be separated from God and those who aren't. Heaven and hell is the determination, right, between those who have received that free gift that have that are just as worthy of hell. We all belong there, but have received God's gift versus those who've decided they don't need or want the gift. They don't need or want the gift. But we who have put our faith in Christ are shielded, not because we don't deserve, not because we finally got it together, not because our balance sheet finally is our good deeds outweigh our evil deeds. [00:19:25] (49 seconds)  #receivedNotDeserved