Must I Change My Lifestyle To Be Saved?

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Okay, we're asking the question, Can someone be saved by changing their lifestyle?
Possibly the most deceiving false gospel out there is the change of lifestyle gospel.
Claiming that a changed life is what saves you.
They also say it's your changed life that proves you're saved.
They've sort of set themselves up as judge and jury, and if you don't show them evidence of a changed life, then they pronounce you guilty of never being saved in the first place.
To that I say, oh foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you, bewitched you into believing this damnable heresy.
Teaching a lifestyle change for salvation, teaching that a believer can
suffer loss of salvation, teaching that if you were really saved, you wouldn't be doing that, are all damnable heresies contrary to Paul's gospel of the grace of God.
Anything other than salvation by grace through faith in the finished crosswork and resurrection of Christ is a fictitious gospel.
If you want to argue with that, you can argue with the rightly divided word of truth found in your Bible.
In Galatians 1, Paul wrote, Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now listen, listen, if you're not walking in this grace and peace that Paul spoke of here, peace in knowing that your salvation is permanent and secure in Christ, then my friend, you've allowed yourself to be taken in by another gospel other than Paul's.
Okay, verse 4, Who gave himself for our sins.
Now, think a moment.
Come on, how foolish it is for someone who can read and understand 5th
grade King James English, how foolish it would be to walk away from this verse and teach people that they need to do something to get their sins forgiven.
Jesus literally gave himself for the sins that the work-trusters say you need to do something about for your justification.
And what does that do?
That only places you under bondage.
Saying we can be saved by changing our lifestyle is nothing short of corrupt communication.
Some, they live the sort of lifestyle that quite frankly it would be a good thing if they did change, but changing won't save them.
Life style change is not a qualification for salvation.
What must I do to be saved there in Acts chapter 16?
What must I do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Nothing there about a lifestyle change.
There's nothing we can do to earn God's favor because we received it through Christ.
Ephesians 1:13 tells us that if you want to be saved, you trust Christ
by believing the gospel after you've heard the gospel.
And at that very moment, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption.
Where's the lifestyle change?
Oh, it can happen, but it don't save you.
It won't save anyone.
Our morality is incapable of saving us.
Coming to understand this, that our lifestyle doesn't determine our eternal destiny, you know what that does?
That removes a tremendous weight from our shoulders.
Understanding that those things you're struggling with, things you haven't been able to change, understanding that they cannot keep you from a relationship with God.
That's freeing.
That's liberating.
Christ defeated every last one of those things on your behalf when he shed his blood and died for them.
He was then buried and rose on the third day, defeating death, hell, and the grave.
And it's this sort of teaching that is so offensive to the work-trusters. Those who are not only trusting in self-effort for salvation, but pushing that devilish belief onto others.
It's hard to imagine, and this thought crosses my mind frequently, but it's hard to imagine how anyone can claim that they can be saved any other way than relying totally on God's grace.
People say, you know, they give lip service to, "Jesus died on the cross," but yet they make those who struggle with certain sins feel uncomfortable and even unloved when around them.
Whether in a church setting or at a family gathering, it's hypocritical is what it is.
Imagine telling someone that Jesus died for their sins, but then treating them like he didn't.
Those doing this are the embodiment of hypocrisy, displaying outward piety while lacking inner compassion for others.
Work-trusting status-seekers who outwardly try to appear righteous, but inwardly they're full of dead men's bones.
Judging certain sins above others is what they do.
Oh, Uncle Joe sits there full of anger, and there's dad, hateful and bitter.
Grandma, she murders more people with her gossiping tongue than Jeffrey Dahmer.
Oh, but they get a pass.
But let someone whose had a divorce or two, served time in prison, struggles
with addiction, or is a transgender, let them show up at the family function and watch what happens.
The self-righteous narcissists lose their mind.
The whole temperature of the room changes.
Oh, now wait a minute, Jesus didn't die for that now.
2 Corinthians 5:19, the word disagrees with you.
God stopped imputing the world's trespasses.
That's plain.
They don't get that.
They don't get it, but it's plain.
They don't get it.
And if they do, they don't like it.
It's offensive to the grace frustrating work-trusters.
Colossians 2:13, here's one for you, Hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you (How many?) all trespasses.
Nope, they don't believe that.
They don't believe it.
They don't care what the Bible says.
The gospel of grace declares that Christ was punished for all sins.
Therefore, no one today is being punished for the sins that he was already punished for.
That makes no sense.
And everyone, no one excluded, struggles with something.
Whether they're able to admit it or not.
And as soon as you think you've arrived, you've conquered all of yours.
You're now beyond and above everyone.
Well, watch out, pride cometh before the fall.
You'd be wise to stay humble, stay compassionate toward others, and what they may be going through.
And 2 Corinthians chapter 10, what does Paul say?
It's not wise to compare ourselves among ourselves.
Stop looking at others.
Stop looking at them from a place of judgment.
And humble, humble yourself.
Thinking you're better because you don't struggle with the same sins they do, that makes me, that makes me think of, well, let's just go there.
Luke 18, this self-righteous lifestyle change another gospel makes me think of a passage over there.
Let's just read it and believe it.
Something hard for many to do today, but let's try it without man's spin zone, without man's private interpretation.
Can we do that?
Luke 18 and verse 10, let's start here,
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. Verse 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
A publican was a tax collector.
They'd often extort money for personal gain.
They weren't very popular.
They were sinners no doubt, but that didn't stop Jesus from associating with them.
Zacchaeus, for example, a man of great wealth.
He was Jericho's chief publican.
If Jesus, if he'd acted like those we have today, these self-righteous grace frustrating work-trusters, he would have never hung out with a Zacchaeus, which means he would have never been able to convert him.
See how that works?
Come down off your high horse.
Get real, be real, be real with others.
Okay, back to the prayer here for this self-righteous Pharisee, verse 12, I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. Verse 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
And watch what Jesus says here: Verse 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, (The publican) for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Whether it's the gospel of the kingdom or the gospel of the grace of God, the self-righteous hypocrites are dung out of luck.
The gospel of our salvation is that even in our most wretched state, Christ demonstrated his magnificent love toward us by dying.
He died for the things we struggle with, sins.
The cross was the ultimate display of his great love for humanity.
But see, some, some, they get a little taste of grace, and then like the Galatians, they do a U-turn and start living according to the flesh again. What did Paul, what did he have to say about them?
Galatians 3:3.
He asked a question.
He said, Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Hmm, watch out for the work-trusters, wearing grace disguises.
They look down on others and pass out harsh judgments.
And this is to distract from their own faults and failures.
When it comes down to it, that's what's going on.
Outwardly, they pretend to have it all together.
But inwardly, their insecurities have made them sad and miserable.
True brotherly love is expressed by us supporting one another, not afraid to reach out and offer support to those newer and perhaps weaker in the faith. But we have grace pharisees out here, so beware.
Sounds oxymoronic, I know, but it's true.
They say grace this, grace that, but when certain people with certain sins are being discussed or come around them, you'll see the ugly Pharisee come out and show his face.
Listen, grace is either unmerited or it's merited.
There's no gray in grace, no middle ground.
If it's unmerited, it's free to all people everywhere and not just who you and your little sect deems worthy.
Mixing grace with your personal standard of good enoughism isn't grace. Telling someone they need to change their lifestyle to be good enough for God, that's not grace.
Saying that a turn from sin is what merits grace is just another lie.
Romans 11:6 will clear that up, And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise, grace is no more grace.
Get it?
For justification, grace and works don't mix.
Any other message, any other one than the one of grace is toxic.
Stay away.
Religion fears grace, you see.
Some avoid teaching it all together.
Others, well, they only teach it in a watered down form, their version,
saying, oh yeah, it's grace, but that's where the trouble, that's where it generally goes off the rails.
Justification is by grace through faith minus the "but."
Leave that out.
This isn't billygoat Christianity.
No room for "but this," "but that."
The gospel of the grace of God is pure, unadulterated, 100% grace, which means unearned, unmerited favor.
The gospel of self-effort only leads to exhaustion.
It's a counterfeit.
It's a counterfeit and it only feeds and fuels pride.
And what does it do?
It'll have you relentlessly working to gain favor during the dispensation of grace when favor is unearned.
Working for something free only leads to burnout, spinning your wheels, getting nowhere.
Our transformation is only achieved through faith in the finished crosswork and the resurrection of our dear Savior Jesus Christ.
That's where, listen, that's where your identity, that's where your hope, and, and rest is found.
If you'll remember the very first book of the Bible, we see the just how important rest is.
In Hebrew, the name Noah, the name Noah meant rest.
His father named him that, knowing that he would finally bring about rest from the curse that God had put on the ground.
And in the sixth chapter over there in the sixth chapter of Genesis, we see Noah rest.
We see that rest found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
He told him how to build the ark and he obeyed.
He constructed the ark, which was the mode of salvation for all who would just enter by faith, enter in and rest.
They couldn't save themselves.
They only needed to obey their gospel by entering in before the flood came and take rest.
Just like today, you and I can't save ourselves.
We simply need to obey our gospel.
Our rest comes through Jesus Christ in his work, his work on our behalf.
And this bothers, this offends the work-trusters, the lifestyle changers, and those of us willing to, to truth stand on this grace like Paul.
Well, we're said to be the 1 Corinthians 4:13 filth and offscouring of the world.
How dare we preach the grace of God instead of his wrath and punishment?
How dare we?
Just who do we think we are?
Followers of Paul, that's who, 1 Corinthians 11:1.
Once we truly come to know the love of God, come to know his unmatched grace, our outlook on life takes a complete turn for the better.
We not only rest, but we rejoice in the cross of Christ and his resurrection.
We rest in our new identity found in him.
The reason so many never experience, never experience a deep relationship with God is they never get past worrying about their sins and their salvation.
They never do.
They're on the hamster wheel of religion, never entering into that settled state of rest.
And not knowing that you're saved, oh, that's a horrifying place to be.
It's when you finally come to that place of total security in Christ when it's no longer a hope so salvation, but a no so salvation, that's when things start to get really good.
It's important to know that we cannot make ourselves right, but through faith in him, we were made right.
We didn't do it.
But the counterfeit gospel of self-righteousness is more appealing to some
because it allows them to feel better than others.
To place themselves above others.
They claim to believe the red letters of Jesus, yet, when he said, There is none good but one that is God, they don't believe it.
They don't believe it.
They actually think they're good.
Religion warped their thinking.
That's why religion never worked for me.
I knew I could never be good enough for God.
That was no mystery to me.
Like Paul, I felt like the chief of sinners.
But self-righteous people can't admit this.
Somehow they miss the fact that when you submit to trusting in self for salvation with all the rule keeping, you've placed yourself under a yoke of bondage that requires perfection.
The word of God confirms this.
In Galatians chapter 3 verse 10, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
See, the quote, "good folks" down at the corner church, they failed to tell you this.
How that once you signed up for the do-gooder program, you cursed yourself into trying to measure up.
You signed up, but you can't keep up.
And no one else there can either.
They're just good at faking it.
But in reality, dealing with the lack of assurance that comes with the performance gospel, it's like living in a constant storm of uncertainty.
A life of striving to be better than other people is, that's no life at all.
But the grace life, now that's different.
God has an abundance of undeserved unearned love for his children and transforming our mind by embracing his free favor instead of working to try to get it and keep it, that's at the heart of the grace message.
Salvation is instant and permanent upon our trusting him, and it doesn't come with a maintenance plan.
The maintenance plan is what legalism teaches, but it places you under a curse of trying to be better than the others, which only fuels all sorts of anxieties and leads to one disappointment after another.
The ones that are most judgmental of others are the very ones that are in the most pain.
And their judgmental attitude toward people is actually their way of coping with their own struggles, their own shortcomings.
They use projection to deflect from themselves.
Work-trusters claim that if one is truly saved, their lifestyle will exhibit it.
But this saved by your lifestyle gospel, it's very attractive to the self-righteous fruit inspectors.
It gives them a measuring stick, a way to gauge, a way to gauge others to see if they pass or not.
It gives them a sense of authority over other people.
There's multiple problems with this sort of belief.
One being, if salvation, if it's measured on lifestyle change, then how much of a lifestyle change is required?
10%, does that work?
25, 50 perhaps?
Or do we need to exhibit a 100% lifestyle change?
Just when is the change deemed good enough?
This idea of taking the moral high ground to heaven won't end well.
Do you not realize how many, quote, "good people" are going to be in hell?
It'll be jam-packed with good people, seen as morally good, respected in their community.
Smiley-faced, church going, water baptized sin confessors who never, not once in their life, got self out of the way long enough to trust Christ alone.
Trust him apart from all their goodness.
A lifestyle change can most definitely follow conversion, but the work-trustors aren't aware that change is not proof of conversion.
They backload human works into the gospel, causing the believer to measure their salvation by their own human effort, by personal performance.
Here at Truth Time, we try not to prejudge, but rather go where the evidence leads us.
And I can tell you this, we've found no evidence, no evidence whatsoever suggesting that a lifestyle change is a ticket for entering heaven.
So, if you've taken the focus off self and trusted Christ alone, praise God, you're saved.
Stop worrying about it.
Let it go.
Now, developing some lifestyle changes can be a good thing, no doubt, but a lifestyle change cannot save anyone.
Okay, go download the free app, study along with us.
This is TTR, the word of reconciliation, and songs of grace.