Foundations of the Gospel Part 3 – Lawson Perdue

Praise the Lord, friend. I’m so glad that you’re with us today. We are continuing to share today on the foundation of the gospel, and primarily today we’re talking about the revelation of righteousness. The gospel is the revelation of righteousness. And if you have no revelation of righteousness, you have no understanding of the gospel. So open your heart and receive the Word of God. I believe you’re going to be blessed today.

We’re in Romans 1:16 and 17 where Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes it to the Jew first and also to the Greek or to the Gentile. For therein in the gospel, the righteousness of God has been revealed from faith to faith according, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.” Now, when you look at that, we talked first of all about the gospel. What is the gospel? The gospel simply is the good news. It’s the good news of what Jesus already did for you in his death barrel, resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit. Amen. The gospel is the message of Jesus. Amen.

Amen.

The gospel is the message of grace. Grace and the gospel are synonymous. What is grace? And we define grace as God doing for us what we could not do for ourselves in the person of Jesus Christ when he died and rose again. It’s divine favor that by which we’re saved, it’s divine influence, Strong’s defines charis, the Greek word for grace, as the divine influence on the heart and its reflection in the life and divine ability. It’s God doing for us. Paul said, “I am what I am by the grace of God.” Amen.

Amen.

So grace is God doing for us. But you know what? It’s not all grace. He says, “the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.” And that word, “salvation,” is not just talking about eternity, that’s talking about wellbeing, spirit, soul, and body. It’s the Greek word soteria. Strong’s defines it as forgiveness, healing, freedom, peace and provision. Amen. Wholeness, spirit, soul and body. The gospel, the grace of God is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes it. It’s not automatic. You’ve gotta believe it to receive it.

Congregation Amen.

You know what? A lot of you’re getting what you believe in for, you’re hitting it every time. You’re just believing for nothing. Man, I’m believing for more than I’ve ever believed God for before. And listen, if Jesus tarries, I’m gonna have a lot more in this life than I do now. So if I’ve already offended you, stay around, I’ll offend you some more. Praise God. He says, “It’s the power of God to salvation, to everybody who believes it.” He says, “for therein,” in verse 17, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, according, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.” So when we talk about the foundations of the gospel, we talk about grace, we talk about what Jesus has done, and we talk about faith. We’re saved by grace through faith. You receive healing by grace through faith. You receive peace by grace through faith. You receive provision by grace through faith. But he says this in verse 17, “In the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith, from the faith of the Jew to the faith of the Gentile according, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.” Do you know the gospel in one sense of the word, is the revelation of righteousness. It may be more correct to say this, and I’ve got a book out there. It’s called Romans, the Revelation of Righteousness. And it’s my favorite book. Romans is my favorite book of the Bible. I’ve written a book about it. But this book of Romans is the revelation. He says, “In the gospel, the righteousness of God has been revealed.” And if you have no revelation of righteousness, you have no revelation of the gospel. But if you get a revelation of righteousness, it will change your life. Amen. And so what is righteousness? Well, righteousness first of all is right standing with God. Amen. We’re not righteous because of what we do. We’re righteous because of what Jesus has done. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5, and we’re gonna start right here in 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul says this, “Therefore, if any person be in Christ, the same has become a new creation.” All things are passed away and all things have become new and all things are of God. In verse 18, he says, “Who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” When you are born again, when you believe on Jesus, everything in your spirit changes. In your spirit, you are the righteousness of God in Christ. I will show you this in a minute. In your spirit, you are as righteous as Jesus is righteous. Spiritually speaking, you are either 100% a child of God, 100% righteous, or you are 100% lost. You’re 100% a sinner. If you die, you are either going to heaven because you believe Jesus or you’re going to hell because you did not believe Jesus. But your spirit changes. We were singing that song, righteous, holy, sanctified. Amen. Worthy, really living. That’s the righteousness of God, man. That’s what the blooded Jesus did for you. And so he says, “Everything became new. We are brand new creation.” He’s talking about our spiritual condition. “And everything in our spirit is of God who has restored us to right relationship with himself by Jesus and given to us this ministry of reconciliation.” You know what? This is what we’re to tell the world. We’re to tell the world that Jesus already paid for all their sins and all they need to do, right, to get saved is to believe on Jesus. That’s what we’re to tell the world. The ungodly, the Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of sin, of righteousness. That’s the sin of not believing because they believe not. John 16:9. “of righteousness,” Jesus said, “because I go to my father,” he can convicts the world, that Jesus is the righteousness of God. And he made righteousness available when he died and rose again. And judgment, that is that the prince of this world, the devil has already been judged.

Congregation Amen.

That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to the world. And we’re to tell people that Jesus has already paid for their sins and all they need to do is believe it to receive it. You know, last night I went to King Supers because I bought these gift cards for our volunteer banquet that’s coming up in December. And our, you know, it’s the steal. We just celebrate people and hallelujah.

Congregation Appreciation dinner.

Appreciation dinner. But I went to buy these and they didn’t give me my four points and I had my four points coupon on there for gas. And listen, I get everything I can. And so I went to talk to this girl and she was back there. And so she just began to tell me, “I don’t drink and I don’t smoke.” I said, “Well, I don’t either. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs.” And then she said, “Well, I do take this marijuana. I got red card for the pain in my back and so on.” And I grew up in the sixties when all these people had blown their brains by smoking too much weed. And you can’t tell me it don’t mess with your brain. It makes you forget things, it mess up. But anyway, you know what I told her? I said, “Well, just don’t smoke too much of it.” And I told her of these people in the sixties, I knew a lot of them. She was a little younger than me, 11 years to be exact. Praise God, she told me. Hallelujah. But anyway, I told her, but you know what I told her? I said, “Jesus loves you.” And you know, she looked back to me and said, “Ditto.” You know, this is what we’re to tell people. We’re to tell ’em Jesus loves them because the only way that you can get free from your sin is believe on Jesus and let Jesus come live his life big in you. And when you understand that it changes how, you don’t get free from your sin by focusing on sin, you get free from your sin by focusing on Jesus. Paul says this in Ephesians 5:8 He said, “You were darkness but you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light.” This is who you were, but now this is who you are. Live like who you are. When you understand who you are, that you are the righteousness of God, it changes how you live your life. He confirms this. He goes on to say, he’s explaining the gospel, the ministry of reconciliation, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The sins of the world have been already paid for. But if they’re gonna receive that, they gotta believe it. He was making the world right with himself, not imputing. That word means to account. Not taking into account their trespasses, their sins, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. We’re to go share the love of Jesus Christ with people. And if they get a real relationship with God and begin to understand what God really did for them and what God you know did for them by grace and who God made them to be, they’ll begin to live better accidentally than they did on purpose before. Now we then as ambassadors for Christ, though God did beseech you by us, we pray to you in Christ’s place, be reconciled to God, get right with God. Jesus already paid for it. You know, I went to the DR years ago and I preached with this missionary that I’ve known for well over 30 years. And this missionary has turned the DR right side up. He works for every kind of, you know, Protestant ministry there is there. But he went there, there were almost no churches and they’ve got nearly a church in every city and every village. But I preached at the largest evangelical church in the DR. And they had multiple locations. But I preached at the main location. And when I preached at this location, I preached on, if you are saved, you are 100% righteous. Your spirit is 100% righteous. You are as righteous as Jesus is righteous. And in your spirit, you’re either 100% righteous or you are 100% a sinner. You’re either saved because you believe Jesus or you’re not saved because you didn’t. And when we got in the van to go home with this group of students and people that were with me on that trip, he looked at me and he said, “100% righteous.” He said, “Nobody preaches that.” And I knew he got it. Friends, I’m so glad that you’ve been with us today. I’ve been sharing on the foundations of the gospel and the gospel will change your life. We have these teachings available and many more free of charge on our website at CharisChristianCenter.com, downloadable audio and downloadable video. So go to that website and check it out. Blessings. But when the Word of God says, in the beginning, God created the heaven and earth. Amen. I believe the Word of God. And the Bible says, “The entrance of the word gives light and gives understanding to the simple.” So I take a simple attitude towards the Word of God. When the Bible says it, that settles it. But he says, listen, this is the message we’re to preach for the world and we’re to tell the world we’re ambassadors for Christ. Be reconciled to God for he has made him. Jesus didn’t ever sin but God made him to be a sin offering for us all that we might be made. Righteousness is not something you do. When you understand your righteous, you’ll begin to live righteous. But you’ve gotta be made righteous first. That we might be made the very righteousness of God in him. Say, I am

I am

the righteousness of God in Christ.

In Christ.

I am

I am

as righteous as Jesus is righteous. And it’s not because of what I did,

Congregation And it’s not because of what I did,

it’s because of who I believed. You gotta believe it to receive it.

Congregation Member That’s right.

See, this is what Paul says in Romans 10: 8-10. And he says, summary of everything he said in Romans up to then. He said, “The word is near you even in your heart and in your mouth. That is the word of faith that we preach.” You know, I get criticized for being a word of faith, preacher. Well, I’ve got good company.

Congregation Member That’s right.

And if you don’t preach the word of faith, what are you preaching? The word of doubt and unbelief.

Congregation Member Yes.

He said that if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart, man believes unto righteousness. And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And if you read that in context, what Paul is saying, when you hear the message of Jesus that he died for our sin, he came and lived holy, perfect, and pure died for our sins, went to the grave, conquered the devil. God raised him from the dead. He ascended up into heaven and God made him Lord. If you believe that with your heart, you confess it with your mouth. He said, “For with the heart, man believes unto righteousness.” It’s heart believing and mouth… God bless all my religious friends with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Yeah.

That’s right.

With the heart man believes unto healing, unto health, and with the mouth confession is made unto health. With the heart man believes unto blessing. And with the mouth confession is made unto prosperity. With the heart man believes unto peace, and with…

Come on.

Yeah.

And with the mouth confession is made. See, that’s how you receive from God. Your heart believe, and mouth confess. Because when you believe in your heart, you can’t help say some things with your mouth. So you can say, I got a mouthing pastor. he’s always mouthing righteousness and peace and prosperity and freedom because Jesus is all those things. Jesus is my righteousness. Jesus is my sanctification. Jesus is my peace. Jesus is my provider. Jesus is my healer. Jesus is my deliverer. Jesus is my ever present health in a time of need. And that’s what the Bible says.

Yeah.

That’s right.

I’m sorry.

Don’t be.

Don’t be.

But you know, you gotta believe it to receive it. And then what happens when you believe it? Well number one, you’re placed in right standing with God. We talked about that, right? The gospel is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes it for therein right standing with God is revealed. So number one, you’re placed in right standing with God. But number two, look at this. Well, let’s go over here and look at this in Romans chapter three, first. Lemme see if I can get here Romans three. Start reading in verse 21. Now he says, “The righteousness of God apart from performance, apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, which by the faith of Jesus, unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. Jews and Gentiles, we receive righteousness by faith. For all have sin and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace through the purchase that Jesus made.” Through the redemption we’ve been purchased, we’ve been bought with the price. Whom God sent forth? Jesus, God sent forth to be a payment, a covering. We’ll talk about that word in a minute. “Through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission.” There’s that word, “remission.” The absolute pardon of our sins as if we never committed them that are passed. You say, well that’s the past ones. Yeah, well they’re all passed in the sins of the cross. Because when Jesus died on the cross, one offering for all sin of all time was paid. Every sin from Adam, the beginning of the world, to Armageddon, the end of the world, was paid with one offering at the cross. By one offering has he perfected forever them that are sanctifying through the forbearance of God. In other words, what’s forbearance? You knew they’d do it and you hold up anyway. God knew you’d do it and forgave you anyway.

Congregation Member Hallelujah.

Amen. To declare, God sent Jesus to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness that he might be just, and the justifier of him who believes on Jesus. Justified just like we never sin. The only way that God could play fair is base everything on Jesus. And whoever believes on Jesus is made 100%, I’m talking about your spiritual condition, 100% righteous. And whoever doesn’t believe on Jesus in their spirit is 100% a sinner. 100% lost. That’s the gospel. So you’re either born of God and if you die, you’re going to heaven because you believed on Jesus. Or you’re not born of God, and if you die, you’re not going to heaven because you didn’t believe on Jesus. It’s the righteousness of Jesus. He says, “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law?” Can any of us boast? No. Boasting is excluded. I don’t drink and I don’t smoke and I don’t cuss. Oh, just a little bit. I was actually preaching on this. And listen, my tongue got a whole lot better when I got a revelation of grace. But I was preaching this in Chicago and I actually said, “Well, I don’t cuss much anymore, but I think about cussing every week ’cause I got a whole church full of people.” This lady’s like, oh my God, he thinks about cussing every week. Who died and made you God? Where is boasting then? It’s excluded. Hallelujah. See, you might be like Pastor Lawson, six inches tall in the realm of righteousness. Or like Andrew Wommack, six feet tall in the realm of righteousness. But Jesus is about 27 million miles tall in the realm of righteousness. And you know where you’d go without believing on Jesus?

Hell.

Hell. H-E-double hockey sticks. My boys told me that’s a preacher’s way of cussing. Okay. Where’s boasting then? It’s excluded. Because of what law. He says, the law of works? No, not by the law of works. Because it doesn’t matter if you’re a little sinner, right? A little bit sinful or a whole bunch sinful. The fact is you’re a sinner and you’re lost and you need God’s grace. And you know what? There’s probably things that you’re doing where you miss God, where you don’t even realize it. And if I wanted to take the law and beat you up, if you’re trying to be self-righteous, I could do it. Listen, I know all about it. And before I got a revelation of grace, I used the word like a hammer and I was trying to beat people in submission. But since I got a revelation of grace, I used the Bible like a mirror. And what I want people to do is look into the mirror of the Word and see Jesus and just let Jesus live his life great big in them because it’s really not you at all, it’s just Jesus. So boasting has been excluded because it’s really not about us, it’s about him. And then he says in Romans 4, “What happened when we believed on Jesus?” Number one, we were made righteous. We were placed in right standing, but number two, we’re blessed. Look at Romans 4. He talks about three words, counted, reckoned and imputed. And those words are all this term. He talks about Abraham and he talks about David. And Abraham is an example of faith. And I believe God uses Abraham as an example of faith because he really needed faith. ‘Cause anybody that would tell a foreign king, his wife was his sister when he is like 90, really needs some help in the faith room. And I believe that God uses David as an example of grace because David really needed grace. And by the way, they’re both in the faith hall of fame. And I could understand Abraham being there, but when I read David in Hebrews 11, I’m like, God, what have you done? And so I’m praying and I’m asking God, and God says, “You know David’s greatest act of faith?” And I’m smart, I say, “No.” He said, “David’s greatest act of faith was overcoming his own personal failure to walk in a relationship with God.” But he uses these three words. These three words, counted, imputed, reckon. They all mean come from this Greek word “logizomai” it’s an accounting term. And it means to reckon, to count, to calculate. It means to judge or purpose or determine to deem. God deemed us righteous and God placed us in the account of the righteous when we believed on Jesus. Friend, I’m so glad that you stayed with us today. We’ve been talking about the foundation of the gospel and specifically the revelation of righteousness and how we receive righteousness by faith in God. You receive it by faith, but then once you receive righteousness, it becomes the foundation for receiving all of the promises of God and the blessings of God in your life. We have many more teachings like this on our website at CharisChristianCenter.com. They’re downloadable audio downloadable video, absolutely free of charge and a syllabus too, so you can get that. Also, come to church at Charis Christian Center on YouTube or CharisChristianCenter.com.

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