Creflo Dollar - Understanding Faith and The Gospel - Part 3
Let's open your Bibles up to the book of Romans chapter 1, and verse 16, Romans 1, verse 16. We're gonna really focus in on what faith is tonight, and it will contradict maybe some things that you've heard in the past, but it'll be good. First, Romans, Romans chapter 1, and verse 16. We've been talking about faith and the gospel, faith and the gospel. Verse 16 he says this, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek". Now, the Apostle Paul is talking here and he says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel".
Now, the word "gospel" means good news, but we're talking about precision. So, it's talking about good news of Christ. In fact, it's the almost too good to be true news of the finished works of Jesus and what Jesus has accomplished. And so, it's the gospel of Christ Paul says, "I'm not ashamed of". But now, he says something else about the gospel of Christ. He says, "The gospel of Christ is the power of God". So, this gospel is just not a book. He says this gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Now, that word "salvation" does not just talk about born again. It is a word, it's come from a Greek word "sozo," which encompasses not just born again, but your deliverance. It encompasses your preservation. It encompasses your healing, your soundness, and all of the finished works of Jesus Christ.
So, here's what he says, that the gospel of Christ is the power of God that has made available to us all the finished works of Jesus, everything that grace has made available. That's a powerful thing. Your deliverance has been made available. Your healing has been made available. The gospel is the power of God that makes these things available. He says it is available specifically to everyone that believeth. So, he says if you want to have access to all that the gospel has made available, he says, you just simply have to believe or release your faith for that. Now, go on to, let's go to Galatians chapter 1 and verse 6 through 9. And I want to show you that, you know, this is talking about the gospel of Christ. Somebody says the gospel of the kingdom, you know, you can get picky like that, but it's all gonna come back to the gospel of Christ, okay?
Now, notice what he says in Galatians. And notice the phrase, "The grace of Christ, and the gospel of Christ". All these phrases are gonna be coming up to show you this. And this entire book of Galatian, if you've never read it at one time in one sitting, sit down to do it. It will really bless you. All right, look at verse 6 through 9. He says, "I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into," watch this, "the grace of Christ". So, he's talking about the grace of Christ. Now, the question is, is that the gospel? Well, he says, "Unto another gospel: which is not another". He says, "The grace of Christ is the only gospel," he says, "which is not another; but there'll be some that trouble you, and would pervert," watch this, "the gospel of Christ". So, it makes it very clear that the grace of Christ is the gospel of Christ, or the grace of Christ is that good news of Christ.
And so, you go back to Romans chapter 1, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, or I'm not ashamed of the grace of Christ, or I'm not ashamed of the gospel of grace," why? Now, here it is, because grace is the power that will bring unto you, or grace, through the grace of Christ, all things that pertain to your life have been made available. Grace has made everything available for anybody who's alive today. Whatever you need on this earth, if God created you, he's responsible for provision, and he has provided you with grace that has made everything available to your life. I love it, man. Everything that we need is already made available to us. So, it is the power of God unto salvation, unto deliverance, preservation, and all the finished works of Jesus.
Now, one more scripture in review, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, and verse 7 through 10. The Apostle Paul is making us aware that Satan is messing with him. And in verse 7, he says, "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given unto me a thorn in the flesh". Now, what was the thorn in Paul's flesh? It was Satan, "It was a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure". He says, "For this time I besought the Lord three times, or thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me". You know, he's going to God, "God, help me". He's going to go God, "God, get this devil off me". Going to God, "God deliver me from this trouble". Going to God, "I need this". And you know how it is. We've all done that before. But look what God told him. He said, "My grace is sufficient for you".
What was he saying to Paul? The Lord was saying, "Draw from my grace. You're expecting for me to do something for you that I've already done through grace. Draw from grace". Somebody says, "I need to be healed". Healing has already been made available through grace. Draw from the grace. "Oh, I need to be happy". Draw from the grace. "I need provisions". Draw from the grace. I need understanding. Draw from the grace. There's nothing that you will ever go through in your life that is not, has not been made available through the gospel, has not been made available through the grace of God. This is why I believe God literally called me to begin to teach on this.
I know some people thought, "Well, you know, he'll get tired of preaching on it one day". No, if I take a break, that's 'cause the people are acting so foolish, I gotta preach on something else, you know, to try to get them to understand what's going on. But I'm not gonna stop doing this because everything we need is invested in that gospel of grace. Now, the question is, are we going to get invested in that grace? Let me show you this scripture before we move on. And I'll start here, Hebrews 13:9 in the NLT. Hebrews 13:9 in the NLT. This is awesome. Write this down, memorize it. Don't let it depart from yourself. Hebrews 13:9 he says, "So do not be attracted by strange new ideas". There's a lot of that going on right now. There's a lot of strange doctrine, a lot of strange new ideas that are going on right now.
You know, taking sound bath, what's a sound? You need some soap and water if you're gonna take a bath. Sound bath? You're gonna need more than sound to get rid of that. Lot of strange, he says don't get it, don't be attracted to those strange new ideas. He said, "Your strength comes from God's grace, not from rules about food, which don't help those who follow them". And now here specifically he was talking about rules about food. But what he's saying is that your strength comes from God's grace. You need strength, it comes from God's grace. Your strength doesn't come by being attracted to these strange new ideas. Your strength comes from God's grace, praise God. And he says, and then not from rules, but from God's grace. Read this in the... go to the King James on this as well.
Hebrews 13 and 9, I like the way the King James reads it because he says, "Be not carried about with divers strange doctrines," or different doctrines or teachings. "It is good, it's a good thing that the heart be established with grace". It's a good thing for your heart to be established with grace. That's what God wants us focused on. Your strength and everything about what God called you to do is gonna be a matter of your heart being focused and leveled in on this grace. Now, let's go to Galatians chapter 2, verse 16 in the NLT. And then we'll go to Romans 5:1 through 2 in the King James. And then I'm going to reevaluate how we have defined faith because without faith, we can't take hold of what grace has made.
Now, how many... hopefully, I have successfully done my job tonight to show you that everything that pertains to life and godliness, in fact, that's a scripture, 2 Peter chapter 1 and 3. Everything that pertains to life and godliness has already been made available. And so, it's all in grace. It's all in grace. The gospel of grace is the power of God. It's the ability, it's God's ability that has made everything for your life available only for those who will, what? Who will believe.
All right, now watch this. Verse 16, "Yet we know that a person is made right with God". That's a great question, how's a person made right with God? You know, I can't imagine how tradition would answer that, but the scripture says, "I know that a person is made right with God," how? "By faith in Jesus Christ". Well, I know a person is healed, how? By faith. I know a person has wisdom, how? By faith. Whatever a person has that he got it from grace, he has it because his faith got it. You understand what I'm saying? He said you know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, by faith in Jesus Christ, by faith in Jesus Christ, by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. That's awesome.
Listen, because all of us grew up in churches where it says, no, you had to obey the law. "This is not gonna happen until you obey the law. That ain't happening until you obey that law. This is not gonna be manifest until you obey the law. No, your problem is is you won't obey the law". And that's just not how that works. He says, "And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God". He says we believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be made right with God. We're made right with God when we believe in Christ Jesus. You're not made right with God because of all of your works and good things that you do. I mean, God appreciates it when you do good things, but it's like you're not, that's not gonna make you right with God. That's not how that happens. You're made right with God because of your belief in Jesus Christ, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ.
Watch this, he says, not because we have obeyed his law. "Oh, you gotta keep all 615 of the laws, 13 of the laws or God ain't gonna bless you. Oh, I tell you what, you gotta keep all the Ten Commandments or God's not gonna bless you". It's every religion in the world requires you to do something in order to get God to do something for you, and that was not supposed to be the case. I hesitate to even use the word "Christianity" cause it's been so flawed. But that never was supposed to be the case with believers, people who believe in Jesus Christ. He says, now watch this last piece, "For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law".
Look there, no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. So, all of you who are struggling so to try to obey the law so you can prove to God just how awesome you are, it won't work. Listen, if you go, listen, you die, you go to the gates of heaven. And the angels say, "Well, why should I let you in"? And then you just, you know, those little scrolls? And you just roll yours out, it just go all the way down the aisle, you know? "You ought to let me in because look at all the stuff I did. Lord, I obeyed your Word. Lord, I worked for you, Lord. I fed the poor. Thank you, Jesus. I came to church every Sunday morning. I tithed, I alms, I first fruited. I did all of that in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I prayed an hour a day, Shaka Zulu, I did all of those things, surely that's enough to let me in". And you know what the angel gonna say? Access denied because that's not how you get in here with that. And then they, I don't know.
Do y'all remember the Sandman on the little "Showtime at the Apollo"? How many of you, some of y'all are looking like, who? Sandman used to come out there with a... he used to have a hook, and then he just kind of just started dancing out there and pushing you off the stage, you know? But that's how it's gonna be with those people who come to the gate, they're just gonna be removed. And then the next guy is gonna come up and someone say, "Where's his scroll"? He say, "I ain't got no scroll". He says, "Where's the list of your work"? "I don't need them". "What are all the things you did for the Lord"? "I believed it". "You did what"? "I believed in Jesus Christ". They say, "Come on in". That's how you get in. "Come on in".
Now, right believing will produce right doing. I'm not by any means saying that you can believe in Jesus and live like a hellion. No, when you believe right, you're gonna live right. But if you believe wrong, you're gonna live wrong. Are you listening to me? All right, so now watch this, and then I'll be ready to preach the sermon tonight. Romans 5, verse 1 through 2. Let's read this. Yeah, this is good. Let's read it in the King James, Romans 5, verses 1 through 2. He says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God". Peace is wholeness, nothing missing and nothing broken. So, when you've been justified by faith, you have wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken in your life with God, and you get it through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Watch this, "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace. We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God". He is literally inviting you to be a partaker of God and his glory. And he says, "I am granting all who believe access". Look at this in the NLT. It's a powerful thing, ladies and gentlemen. I have access to the manifestations and the glory of God. I have access to all that grace has created. I have access to all wholeness. I have access to everything that pertains to life. I have access. You know, if you have access to get into a gate, you know the code, but you just won't put it in, how many of you know you gonna sit outside all... you're not gonna be able to get in because you won't use what has given you access.
Listen to this, "Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us". Verse 2, "Because our faith, because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege". My faith brings me into a place of privileges that I don't deserve, privileges that I did not earn, privileges that I did not work for. He said, "Because of my faith in Jesus Christ, he's brought us into a place of undeserved privilege".
So, every privilege you have as a Christian, you didn't deserve it. But God got it to you anyway because of your faith in him, that's so good. He brought us to a place of undeserved privilege where we now stand. I now stand, you and I stand in this place of undeserved privilege. So, if I'm standing in this place of undeserved privilege, why am I sweating so much trying to position myself to be able to deserve what he already said I'm not gonna deserve? I will walk in what I don't deserve. I will have what I don't deserve. I'll get healed and not deserve it. I'll be delivered and not deserve it. I'll prosper and not deserve it. But I guarantee you when I'm walking in all of that kind of glory, I can't help but to give him the glory, I can't help but to give him the praise because he has brought me to a place of undeserved privilege. I stand, I stand in this place. I'm privileged, but it wasn't because of what I did.
So, listen to me, any good that you experience from this moment forward, don't you dare take no credit. You lift your hands up and say, "Thank you, Lord, for bringing me to this place of un"... Man, I tell you, that's about to mess me up. Undeserved privileges, I didn't deserve it, but you did it anyway. I was in a ditch, but you brought me up out of that ditch, hallelujah. I didn't have nothing in my mouth, but you filled my mouth with new things, hallelujah. My God, I didn't know where the money was gonna come from, but you made a way out of no way, Lord. I was trying to figure out where I could find me some joy, and the joy of the Lord showed up. It is nothing in my life that I would dare go before angels in heaven and say, "You gotta let me in 'cause of what I did". No, no, you gotta let me in because I stand boldly in that place of undeserved privilege. I'm about to shout. It just reminds me of how great thou art. It just reminds me of how great thou art.
Some of you say, "Well, I don't need God like that". Here's what you need to do. I'm sure you gonna mess up probably before you go to bed or say something stupid or something, right, okay? Because that was stupid what I just... the only thing you should say is that, "Lord, dang, look at what I did. Well, I wasn't lyin'. I need you. See, Lord, I still need you. I failed again. See, Lord, I still need you". See, the thing about God though, as long as you're still needing him, every time he show up because you need him, he increases you and he makes you better. You gotta understand God's working on you. The Bible says he's doing a work on the inside of you. The Lord has taken away your old want to's and given you some new want to's. And then he's gonna give you the power to be able to carry it out.
See, God ain't sitting there just to catch you every time you fall. But glory to God, every time you get up from a spot, you will now take with you from that spot the wisdom. See, every issue, every issue you have, every issue you run into has wisdom attached to it. So, once you arrive at this place where you're smarter and stuff that used to get you ain't gonna get you no more and stuff that used to happen ain't gonna... once you get to that place right now, please remind yourself it was God. The Old Testament say, "Like an eagle stirring in the nest". I believe God is stirring in some of y'all nest tonight. I believe that God's doing a work right now on the inside of you and what you got to do is don't get yourself, don't beat yourself up. Don't beat yourself down. Don't talk about how bad you are. "Oh, Jesus, I feel bad".
Here's one of the things God got me. I had a romance with my past after I buried it. Can I get a witness in here? And the Lord have to say, "Boy, get out that cemetery. What you doing in that cemetery? I thought we agreed you wasn't gonna go back in that cemetery". I said, "I'm just thinkin," you know, thinking. And here's one of the things I began to realize, man, is that when God does something for you and you say you really believe in him and trust him, you gotta really believe him and trust him that that's in the past and that's gone. And if you really have confidence in his grace, leave that place. Don't demonstrate to God that you really don't trust him. "I trust you with this, this, and this, but I don't trust you to be the deliverer from your past and your condemnation, deliverer from your pain and your hurt, deliverer from your regret". For you to stay back there is for you to say to God, "I don't believe that you really have delivered me".