The story goes of a traveler who was walking alongside the road. Carrying a bag which pretty much all of his possessions. And he was struggling to carry. This weight when a kind stranger pulls up alongside of him. This was years and years ago, so the stranger pulls up with a horse and buggy or a horse and cart. And he looks down and he says, I can see that you're struggling, uh, you know, we have plenty of room on this cart. Why don't you just join me and, and just ride with me to the next town. And so the gentleman says, OK, this is pretty heavy, so he hops in the back of the cart. The kind stranger starts. Going down the road and and when he looks back, he's completely puzzled. Because he sees this traveler sitting on the cart, still carrying the bag. And perplexed, he asked him, he says, why do you still carry the bag? When you're riding in the cart. He said, well, sir, you've already helped me so much I don't want to oppose any further. Think about how foolish that would be to be riding in the cart and still carrying the bag. When the cart has plenty of strength to hold the weight, it'd be similar if you're getting on the airplane. And instead of checking that 50 pound bag, you think, you know what, I'm gonna help these airlines people out, and you just hold it in your lap. That's not a very comfortable ride, is it? But see, here's the truth. So many of us have come into the room today or tuned in online today. And you're carrying a burden. That if we're being honest with ourselves, is too heavy for you to bear. And some of you claim faith in Jesus Christ. And you believe that he has died for your sins. And so you have taken a ride, so to speak. And yet On that cart or on that plane, you still find yourself hanging on holding the weight of a burden that you were never meant to carry. This morning's message is entitled What's so great about Grace? Because my hope and prayer for you today. Is to give you the ability and the encouragement to finally set down that burden that you've been hanging on to for so long. See, we're in a series entitled Brave Faith, studying the second half of the book of Acts. And in week one, we looked at Acts 13 and we shared that our distracted world needs a focused church. Right, we live in a day and age of information, but what we need more than information is transformation. And so as a church, we're gonna focus on planning the gospel, growing in community, multiplying through service. That's why we preach the way we preach. It's why we launch the groups of what we have. It's why we encourage you to serve and offer spiritual gift assessments because we want you to plant, grow and multiply. It's the image of Mission Grove, that no single tree makes a grove, but a grove can start from just one tree. And we want you to flourish in your faith. Then in week two, we looked at Acts chapter 14 and we, we said this, that with Jesus, you're not untouchable, meaning that life is still gonna life. You know what I mean? Have you ever had life, life on you, you know what I'm saying? That's what life does is life sometimes life's a little too much, you know what I mean? And like you come in and you're like, and it's just stuff happens and you think you're gonna put your faith in Jesus and then all the bad things will stop happening. No, in fact, a lot is gonna keep happening, sometimes even more happening to you. But while you're not untouchable with Jesus, you are unstoppable. And that's better. Cause not only does Jesus give you the strength to endure. But also the strength to overcome. And to find victory in whatever battle you're facing. So now we come to Acts chapter 15, and, and there's this theological issue that comes up in the early church that is so intense that they call a council, OK. And they call these council members together and you're gonna see the cast of characters today it's like, whoa, I'm not used to seeing these guys all together, OK, but they all come together to discuss this truth and it's so important that it shapes the early church and I think still shapes our faith today, 2000 years later. And so if you're taking notes, I encourage you to write down this truth. That what you believe. Shapes who you become. What you believe shapes who you become. Why is that? Because who you are. Who you believe God to be who you believe yourself to be. And where you find your identity. In turn, will shape your behaviors, your actions, but it's not just about behaving better. But about becoming the man or woman Goddess called you to be. What you believe shapes who you become. And so to give a little background before we jump into Acts chapter 15, Paul and Barnabas were, uh, from Antioch launched their first missionary movement. Some crazy stuff went down. People were healed. Paul almost gets stoned to death, gets back up, keeps preaching the gospel. They're strengthening souls. They're they're inspiring and seeing people's lives change, but it's not just Jewish people now it's Gentiles and Gentile just simply means not Jewish. And so this is a big deal because in the Old Testament you had a large group of people called out by God. And now that salvation through Jesus Christ really sets up that salvation is available to all people. And so there's this movement happening. But then some men from Judea come down and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second. We have 1000 years here. Or more of teaching of living a certain way. And now you're just letting other people in, like, like we passed the test, we took the test, we studied, right? It's like a group project where you got the one person who didn't do anything and now you're saying they get the same grade. That's not fair. Now they would take things a little bit far. I say that because what they were actually saying is that one of the signs of Abraham in the Old Testament was circumcision, which we're not gonna jump into, there's kids in the room, but they were saying that in order to be saved, you had, uh, these people had to go be circumcised. That's That's a crazy thing, OK, to think about they're like, wait, wait a second, wait a second. You can't just put the weight of all the rules and regulations over 600 commands and everything in here on these new believers. So, yeah, we can. If we had to do it, they have to do it. It's not fair. That's a very human thing to say, isn't it? It's not fair. Well, here's the reality is that grace isn't fair. But it's not fair in your direction, cause we all would fit under. The last hour workers or the the Gentile population of those receiving this free gift of grace and so they would gather together and it's almost like the Avengers assemble if you will, because in this one chapter you see Paul, you see Barnabas, you see John Mark, you see Peter, you see James the half brother of Jesus who's now leading. The church in Jerusalem, you see these apostles, it's, it's between 48 and 50 AD. It's so about 15 years-ish after the resurrection. OK, so think back to like 2010 if you will from present day, it's not that long ago, back when we had DVDs, right? Um, it's so like it's not that long ago and so they gather together to consider what's going on. So because this is a theological issue that would shape the church for the next 2000 years, I'm gonna share a lot of verses today. If you have the Church Center app, uh, you can get all of these verses and things there too, because, uh, because I want you to see it's not just my opinion here that we're gonna walk through scripture together, but if you don't have the Church Center app, just write down on that connect card that you want my notes on this and I'll send them to you, OK? So just. Because I want you to have these, and I want you to set up here and for those that love the theological, the heady intellectual conversations, you're gonna love today. And for those that don't love those things, look, I'm gonna simplify all of that down into three simple ideas, OK? So we're gonna try to help both sides here, right? So let's jump into it. This, the stakes are set. The early churches says, wait a second, what does it mean to put your faith in Jesus? Kind of a big question. The Avengers all assemble, Peter, Paul, Barnabas, James, the apostles, disciples, everyone's together in one spot and having this discussion. Here we go, verse 6. And the apostles and elders gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, Brothers, you know that in the early days, God made a choice among you that by my mouth, the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and belief. So he's making reference to when he shared at Cornelius's house in Acts 11, so that's connected here. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us. And he made no distinction between us and them having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? In other words, why are you trying to enforce 600 commandments on people that we ourselves weren't able to keep? And then the key verse in this chapter is verse 11, it says, but we believe. That we will be saved through grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. This is a big phrase, by the way, because he does not say they will be saved like us. He actually puts the onus the other way. He says, actually, we will be saved like them. In other words, saying that the only way someone is saved. is by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus alone. Now that's a common phrase in the Protestant sector of faith these days, really, especially since the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. But it comes from this concept right here in Acts 15:11 in the council of the disciples in 48 to 50 AD when they gathered, no, no, no, no, salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus alone. That an actual truth in religion and relationship with God, we must be saved as they are saved. Through Jesus, he continues on. And the assembly fell silent. That's a big statement. And they listened to Barnabas and Paul. Oh, Paul's turn to step up to the plate, and they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. And after they finished speaking, James replied, Oh, can you picture like, think, you know how they have those like benefit concerts where it's like artists, artists, artists, artists. Like you got, like, can you imagine being in the room? You got Peter, you got Paul, right? You got James. They have like they're all like boom, boom boom. And like I, and then you got like Steve, like the random person. No, just kidding, like you trying to follow, right? And so all these guys are getting up like the greatest hits, if you will, like the, the, the, the leaders of the first church are standing up, Peter, Paul, James. And so James replied, brothers, listen to me. Simon is related to referring to Peter how God first visited the Gentiles to take them from the people, from a people for his name. And with this, the words of the prophet agree just as it is written, and here he quotes Amos, and he quotes Amos chapter 9 verses 11 and 12. So now we add the Old Testament prophets into the mix too. So after this I will return and I will rebuild the tent of David. Oh, now he's making reference to David's making an appearance in this study as well. He says, I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen. Oh, I love this phrase, and I will rebuild its ruins. Oh. You could almost entitled the message uh revival from ruins, OK. Like what happened in the past didn't work. Says, and I will restore it. Verse 17, and the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord. And all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from old. Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God. But we should write them to abstain from the things that are polluted by idols and from sexual morality, and from what has been strangled and, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues. So he does offer some encouragement. He says, no, you're gonna be saved by grace. We do encourage them to do X, Y, and Z. We're gonna explain why that's important. And so they come together. The Avengers assemble, all the leaders gather together and say, salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus alone. So I want to share 3 components with you. There's the truth, and there's error 1 and error 2 on either side. First thing here is the truth. This is the belief, the core belief of Christianity, is that Jesus is the gospel. Jesus is the gospel. That's it. In other words, your life is defined by your relationship with God. The biggest question you can ask in your life is who is Jesus? Can you honestly say that Jesus is Lord and Savior in your life? That is what you believed in. That is what you put your trust in. That it's only through Jesus you can be saved. Jesus is God and he is savior. Where does this come from? Well, about this time is actually when he, uh, Paul is actually gonna go on and write to the church in in Galatia, and so it's actually references this meeting in Galatians. And so here in Galatians 16 and 7, he says, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him because the Galatians were trying to do the same thing that the Judeans were trying to do in Acts 15. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one, but that some of you who trouble, there's some of who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. He goes on to say, if anybody preaches anything other than Jesus. It's not the gospel. Jesus himself is described this way in John 1:17. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Randy Elkcorn, the author and pastor, described it this way that grace and truth are two wings of a bird. Right, if you don't have both. OK, if you don't have both, you just got a one winged bird flapping around in a circle. You're not flying at that point, OK? So the law came through Moses, but Jesus brings with him grace and truth. And when you miss one, you get to the two errors that we're gonna talk about in just a moment. But for right now let's continue talking through what is the gospel. Matthew 5:17, sermon on the mountain. Jesus says, do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. In other words, there's still value there. So I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. In other words, the Old Testament actually points to me. Now there's a really rich passage here. You might have heard the verse, uh, Romans 3:23 for all of sin and fall short of the glory of God before if you've read that or someone shared that with you one time to say, hey, we're sinners. But if you look at the context of the passage, it's actually even more powerful. Starting in verse 20, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight to be to justification really means to be declared right, to be set free, basically. To sense through the law comes the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. So that the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. So there is no distinction, says for all have sinned and falls short of the glory of God. And are justified by His grace. There's that word again, as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation, that's a fancy word for payment, by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, and here's the key phrase here, so that he might be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Read one more verse and we're gonna explain this to you, um, further. Romans 5:1-2 says, therefore, since we have been justified, set free, declared free, declared clear of guilt and sin here by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's another great definition of justification to have peace with God. OK. So through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace, you see that word again, in which we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. So The reason this is important is because it's not like God is just saying, hey, grace, grace, grace, here you go, here you go. Like when somebody sneezes and you go, God bless you, right? Like he didn't just hand it out. Because if a judge is just, right, if somebody is on trial and stands before a judge, if he is a good judge, he can't just go and you're free, this one doesn't matter. So then how do you handle, how do you wrestle with the fact that you have somebody who broke the law, someone who is a sinner, someone who deserves punishment, and God wants to set them free. This is the beauty of the cross, because Jesus comes in and actually takes your penalty and my penalty. And so he pays it, so your debt has been paid. So that the judge is both just and the justifier. See, God's grace actually cost him everything. It's free to you, but it wasn't free to him. Grace by definition is God's unmerited favor. In other words, receiving something that you don't deserve. And it costs Jesus his life. So it's just not willy-nilly like, oh yeah, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. No, it mattered. But it mattered so much that Jesus says, I will take the burden. So you can take my righteousness. OK, love it. Love grace. So why do we even read the Old Testament then? Why does it matter? It's like over half the book, it feels like. Again, don't have time to go through in depth, so I'm gonna share this with you from a theological standpoint. Let me know if you want the notes. We'll go back through, uh, if you want to take a screenshot, you can, it's also available the full notes on the Church Center app, OK? So let me just share with you five purposes of the Old Testament. Number 1. Is that the Old Testament here shows the character of God. By reading the goodness and holiness of God, you see just how holy, how set apart, how pure he truly is. In other religions or like Greek mythology, you actually see like these gods and goddesses and storytelling of pagan gods of how they hate or do this or attack where there is a purity of the God of the universe, the true God. God our Father. So you see the character of God. The second reason of the Old Testament or purpose of the Old Testament, is that you see that God sets apart the people of God. In other words, you see that God designed you for a purpose. He said, hey, the world's gonna live this way, but I want you to live this way. So you see the character of God, you see people set apart for God. Number 3, you see here the revealed sinfulness of man. So when, when the 10 Commandments are given, You then see the reflection of how bad you really are. And Jesus comes onto the scene and actually takes it a step further. He says, you've heard that said to you, do not murder. I say don't hate somebody in your heart. You say don't, you hear, don't commit adultery. So I say don't lust in your heart. So it actually takes these commandments even further. Right? It place, the Old Testament places a mirror up to yourself so that when we look, we see just how sinful we really are. In the same way you go to the doctor, not first to get better, but to be diagnosed with what you have. Right Right, if you have like a lump or a bump or symptoms, right, and the, the person in your life that loves you is gonna say what, go to the doctor. And the person you have one person in the family, well, I don't want to. But why do you go to the doctor? To find out what you have. The Old Testament really helps us find out what we have. Does that make sense? OK. Number 4, the Old Testament shows us it really connects the need of sacrifice to obtain forgiveness. In other words, that forgiveness still involves a payment. Now here there's animal sacrifice and stuff there too, and the reason we don't do that now, why? Because Jesus provided the once and for all sacrifice. OK. See that connection. Last one here is that the Old Testament prepared the way for the coming savior. So you see the character of God, you see the people of God, we see our own sinfulness, we see that there is a payment needed for forgiveness and sacrifice. You see that over and over and over again. We see repeatedly that the people of God fall short and that God remains faithful. Then there's judgment involved, but then there's a remnant or or renewed sense of hope and all throughout the Old Testament, you see the sprinkled message that there is a savior coming. Through the line of David, there is hope coming. There is a king that is coming that is gonna change the world as we know it. There's gonna come a different and better way that's gonna be written not on tablets of stone, but on individual hearts. That's gonna be a blessing for you and for the entire world to hang on, hope is coming. So the whole Old Testament leads up to the coming of Jesus and this message of grace. Because we're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and Jesus alone. So that's belief. Jesus is the gospel. Now when you have Jesus is the gospel, what I find is that there's two common errors. They like grace or truth, but they don't like both. Here's what I mean. Belief error number one, Jesus plus something. They like Jesus, and then they try to add something on top of it. Right? They don't, they think that Jesus maybe is too bland or not spiritual enough. And so they add their own rules and regulations. And so that's really described as legalism. And some of you grew up in an era or in an era or form of religion of legalistic beliefs in a church in a family, in a friend group where you felt like you were just constantly being slapped on the wrist or on the hand, right? That's religion, that's not relationship. It's Jesus plus works. Jesus plus rules, Jesus plus and fill in the blank. So Jesus plus something gives you legalism, and it's not the gospel when your life is defined by following the rules. Couple verses on this. Galatians 2:19-20. Paul writes, for though the through the law, I died to the law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ that is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. So I don't live to follow rules. I live to honor Christ. That's a big difference, OK. Same author writes this to the church in Ephesus. He says in Ephesians 2: starting in verse 7, so that in the coming ages, that God might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in the kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God. Not a result of works that no 1 may boast, for we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. See, some of you grew up in this religious environment. Where you try to add something and here's the thing, here's the scary part, but it's true, OK? If you take Jesus and you take the gospel and or the Bible and you try to add something to it. By definition, you actually get what's called a cult. You add a prophet or you add a list of followings or you get this inspiration later down the road or hundreds of years later or 1000 years later, well, the Bible is nice, but let me tell you what God's actually saying, and they describe what's known as progressive revelation. It's Jesus plus something. But what happens then is it's another list of rules and regulations to follow. And so if you ever walk into a room or into a church, and you just constantly feel like you're not enough. That you have to act a certain way, that you have to live a certain way, that you have to say the right things to play your part and you have this struggle. And here's why because you cannot be your own savior so you can never live a good enough life to get to heaven. Why? Because grace is a gift to receive, not an award to achieve. This is why the council in Acts 15 is so transformational to the entire history of the church. Because he's saying it's not about following the rules, it's about having a personal relationship with Jesus who died for you. It's not about trying harder, it's about trusting him. Now, there's some people that will come back and say, yeah, John, but if you just let people live in grace, they're gonna do whatever they want. I'm glad you brought that up. Cause belief error #2. Is Jesus minus something. See Jesus minus something equals what I would call laxity. Or loss a fair, like basically, I can do whatever I want. I can live how I want, Monday through Saturday, come and sing a few songs and say a few prayers on Sunday or confess a few things and I'm good to go. So in other words, what you're saying is, I like Jesus, but I don't, I don't like obedience. I like Jesus, but I don't like what he says about sexuality. And I, and I don't take that lightly, by the way. Like I get well, if you wanna have conversations and I'm happy to have that because I think God designed life for beauty and for meaning and purpose. And so same thing here is I like Jesus, but I don't like To give them my finances. I like Jesus, but I don't want to give him my mindset. I like Jesus, but I don't wanna give him what I'm looking at on my computer or my phone. I like Jesus, but not how I treat people in this case. I like Jesus but not how I go after this. I like Jesus, but I don't really wanna tell the truth all the time. And so they take Jesus, that actually some of the early founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson, actually, what they did was they took the Bible and they just cut out the parts or pages that they didn't like. That's nice, but you know what you have at that moment? Not Christianity. There's a researcher named, um, let me get his name. Yeah, Christian Smith, he came out with a, a book called Soul Searching in 2005. And he described religion in America as this, and it's kind of a fancy name, but I'll break it down. So it's, he described it as moralistic therapeutic deism. Moralistic, like you want what's good for people? Therapeutic, I want self-help. Think about all the self-help section and Barnes and Noble and deism. God created the world and backed off and said, good luck. Isn't that how our culture lives? I think most people actually believe there is a God. But they don't believe that God's really cares about their life, or they like most of what God says and then the parts that they don't like, they just go, uh. But if you take Jesus and you subtract something, you don't get the gospel. And I'm OK if we wrestle with this together, right? This is a safe space to wrestle with the things of God, because some of the things he says are difficult. So yeah, let's break it down. Why do we believe what we believe? Why do we study what we believe? So it says this in Romans 6. It says, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died in sinned still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Since we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Look, if you struggle with the Bible. Welcome to the team. Like I, I've been a Christian the majority of my life. I have a doctorate in ministry, and I still struggle. Like I'll read something like, ah, I don't like that. So just take that wrestle and give it to God and process together and seek Him. And go after it. And let's see what God's word has to say. It says here in Galatians 5:1, for freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. Says, and then a verses, a few verses later, for you are called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. But through love, serve one another. What does that look like? We're not gonna put it on the screen, but the very next section shares what's known as the fruit of the spirit. See, I like the word freedom. But we tend to view freedom as us. What that verse is shared actually use your freedom to bless and serve others. Right. Too many of us, when it comes to it, right, we view religion or relationship of God this way. We've been in a prison cell, locked up by our own choices, the choices of others. God. Breaks open the prison door. And while the door is wide open, we choose to live in our own prison cell. Why? Because it's the only thing we know. How weird would it be if you went walking through a graveyard? And there was a hole dug for a grave and you walked by it and you just saw just an alive person just chilling there, like a tailgate. That would be odd, right? What are you doing? Yeah, I kinda like it here. You know, the walls of the ground are kind of cozy, you know? Like what are you doing? You're alive. OK. He so so many of us have been set free, made alive in Christ, and yet we we find we feel more comfortable in the grave we feel more comfortable in our grave clothes and we feel more comfortable in the prison cell that we've been living in our whole lives when Christ died to set you free. To live in a way. That finds meaning and purpose and joy. Yes, God died to set you free for all eternity, but he died for you to experience him right now. 2 Corinthians 3:17 and 18 says, Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of God are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. So justification is to be declared free. Sanctification is a fancy word to mean growing or maturing in your faith, to be made freer, to be made right, to become more like Jesus. And that process walks you through the entirety of your life. Can you hear what I've, here's what I've come to know. Grace is free. But love is costly. Grace is free, but love is costly. Love always costs you something. Even if you're not church and you're like, I just came because I was forced or my neighbor coworker kept inviting. We know this to be true, don't we? Cause if you love your spouse. It costs you something. But you don't, a healthy marriage and a healthy marriage, you don't approach marriage like. I got to help them today. I mean, there's some days we're like that, let's be honest. Like not everything is like a Valentine's Hallmark commercial, right. But when we're at our best, what do we do? We love, we serve, we give, we clean, we help, we purchase, why? Because we love somebody, not for somebody's love. Does that make sense? And that's the beauty of the gospel. Because what you believe shapes who you become. And so as believers who have received forgiveness and love and grace, we have the opportunity to take whatever burden we've been carrying for a week, a year, maybe our entire life and to and to set it down and say God take this. I know I've messed up, but you paid for my mess up. God forgive me, you're forgiven. You're afraid. So like when you walk outside and you feel the warmth. Of the sunlight after feeling freezing. The the lightness you feel in your hands when you've put down that weight that you've been struggling. Because you don't have to be good enough. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to be open and to receive God's grace. And when you do that. What happens is when you come before you want, you want to repent, you want to turn from your sin. Why? Because you don't wanna live and how you were living. You don't want what was hurting. You don't want what was awful. Why? Because you want that relationship with God, so you repent from your sins. Jesus says in John 14:15 that if you love me, you, you'll obey my commands. It does not say that if you obey my commands, then you will love me. We don't like obedience. Because we think it's about us. In reality it's about him. In honoring the ways he wants us to live because he wants you to be free. Jesus is the gospel. We are saved By grace alone, through faith alone. Jesus Christ alone. When we try to add to that, we get legalism. And we say, uh uh uh uh you're not good enough, you're not good enough, and we start judging and pointing right here. Let's not be those people. But then when you take Jesus, and like, I don't like what he said about this topic. You get laxity, and you say, ah, I'm gonna live however I want to live. When in reality Christ died to set you free, but that freedom. Is then to turn to serve and love others. That's why I think at the end of the council by the way. James said, hey, we're gonna live. Sexually pure, we're gonna, we're we're not gonna. We, we don't want to be a stumbling block to others, and for them food to idols and other things were stumbling blocks. So we, we don't, we, we don't want to stumble for people because we want to share the gospel and make it pure. And we're not living this way to be saved, we're living this way because we're saved, and that's a big difference. So let me ask you two questions and we'll be done. Number one, what do you believe about Jesus? Do you believe the gospel? We're gonna be a chance to receive him in just a minute. Do you believe that salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone and Jesus alone? Are you trying to add something to it? Are you trying to take something away? Jesus plus something or Jesus minus something doesn't give you Jesus. It leaves you feeling short. The second question then is, if you believe this, let me ask you, who are you becoming? If you believe in the grace of Jesus and it's transforming your life, then will you become a person of grace to the people in your lives. What you believe shapes who you become. My prayer is that we become more and more like Jesus until we meet him someday. Will you pray with me? Dear God, for those who don't know you, God, I pray. That we can admit our shortcomings, that we can repent and turn from our sins. This does not work with reality and that God, we cannot make it to heaven on our own. And God, we believe in Your Son Jesus that you came and died on the cross as payment for our sins. And that when you rose again, you gave us access to eternity. And Lord, we believe in you as Lord and Savior. We put our faith and trust in you. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for taking our burdens, allowing us to set it down into your grace. That you can carry a weight that we were never meant to carry. God, we commit our lives to you. And may we become more and more like you each and every day. We're not perfect, but we pray to a God who is so we thank you for that and we thank you for your grace and our lives be defined by it. We believe in you. So that you can give us the freedom to become more like you each and every day. We love you God in your sons and we pray amen.