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True Theology Part 2 of 2

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• Let's open our Bibles to the book of Romans, chapter 11, verse 36. And Lord willing, I will take up where I left off last week. We have been looking at a message which I entitled "True Theology." And I think you'll see today why I titled it that. But our main text is Romans 11:36. And although I've been giving you some history, I shall still give you a little history today, but then there'll be far more scriptural text today as well. So look in Romans 11:36. The Scripture says, "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen." So you remember I showed you: "of Him"—that is originally; "through Him"—that is providentially; and "to Him"—that is ultimately—are all things. So God, then, is the sovereign. He is the most important and most holy being in the entire universe. We were looking last week at the terms Calvinism and Arminianism. And it is important for you to remember that these two terms refer to far more than mere men.

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• And of course, you'll remember I pointed out how Calvin really had nothing to do with the term Calvinism or with the five points. And Arminius never had really anything to do with Arminianism. Calvin was dead long before Arminius really came on the scene, because Arminius was only four years old when Calvin died. And then after Arminius died, then the Remonstrants came along the scene with the Remonstrance of 1610. But the important point I want you to understand is that these two terms, Calvinism and Arminianism, are kind of like the handle of a pot. I told you last week that the handle may be inseparably connected to the pot, but they're not the same thing. The handle is just a convenient way to pick up the pot. And so these two terms, Calvinism and Arminianism, are just simply convenient terms in order to pick up a system or a body of thought or a theology. And the distinction between Calvinism and Arminianism is far more than just mere emphasis; it is that of content.

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• Because one centers upon God and His relationship to man, and the other centers upon man and his relationship to God. So one is God-centered and the other is man-centered.

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• Now, the truth is, it is only grace that opens our eyes to see that God is all and in all. And the truth of the matter is, by nature, each of us is born an Arminian. We always place ourselves first and consider that there is nothing more important or greater than man. It was George Whitefield who said, "We are all born Arminians. It is grace that turns us into Calvinists." Well, it's certainly grace, because grace teaches us to understand that God is the greatest of all beings and that all things were made for Him, for His honor and for His glory. In fact, Revelation 4:11 says this: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." So everything that ever came into existence has only come into existence at the pleasure of God and for His honor and His glory. It's grace that enables us to understand Proverbs 16:4 when the Bible says, "The Lord hath made all things for Himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."

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• It is grace that teaches us that no man deserves anything from God except justice. And anything we get from God other than justice is grace and mercy. It is grace that teaches us that we're dead in trespasses and in sins and that we're totally and completely unable and incapable of doing anything that pleases God. That's why the Bible says in Romans 8, "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

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• The only thing that you and I can do by nature is sin. And each of us has done plenty of that before our conversion, and unhappily we've even done some of it after our conversion. So it's grace then that opens our eyes and teaches us that God is all and in all.

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• Now, remember I told you that the Arminians in the 1600s were also called Remonstrants. And the word "Remonstrants" actually refers to a protester. And the Arminians, or the Remonstrants, were protesting against the Belgic Confession of Faith and against the teachings of Calvin in the Reformed churches throughout Europe, and especially in Holland. J.I. Packer analyzed the system of thought that has been embodied in Arminianism or in the Remonstrance, and here's what he says. Listen very carefully. "The theology which it contained, known to history as Arminianism, stemmed from two philosophical principles."

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• "First, that divine sovereignty is not compatible with human freedom, nor therefore with human responsibility. Second, that ability limits obligation. From these principles, the Arminians drew two deductions. First, that since the Bible regards faith as a free and responsible act, it cannot be caused by God, but is exercised independently of Him. Second, that since the Bible regards faith as obligatory on the part of all who hear the gospel, ability to believe must be universal. Hence they maintain that Scripture must be interpreted as teaching the following positions. Number one, man is never so completely corrupted by sin that he cannot savingly believe the gospel when it is put before him. Or number two, he is never so completely controlled by God that he cannot reject it. Number three, God's election of those who shall be saved is prompted by His foreseeing that they will of their own accord believe. Number four, Christ's death did not ensure the salvation of anyone, for it did not secure the gift to anyone. There is no such gift. What it did was rather create a possibility of salvation for everyone if they believe."

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• "Five, it rests with believers to keep themselves in a state of grace by keeping up their faith. Those who fail here and fall away are lost. Thus, Arminianism made man's salvation dependent ultimately upon man himself, saving faith being viewed throughout as man's own work and because his own, not God's work in him." And of course, when these positions, these five points, were presented to the Synod of Dort—and I told you what happened last week to the Arminians—the Arminians were kicked out because they refused to even acknowledge their own writings. And then the Synod of Dort considered these five points and thus not only refuted them and rejected them, but set forth what we know as the five points in answer to the five points of the Arminians. Thus the Synod of Dort came out with this in the year 1619, years after Calvin was dead and a few years after Arminius died as well. Now, one scholar writes this concerning the Synod. He said, "The Synod has given a very close examination to the five points which had been advanced by the Remonstrants, and had compared the teaching advanced in them with the testimony of Scripture."

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• "Failing to reconcile that teaching with the Word of God, which they had definitely declared could alone be accepted by them as the rule of faith, they had unanimously rejected them." Now, the Synod unanimously rejected the five points of the Arminians. They felt, however, that a mere rejection was not sufficient. It remained for them to set forth the true Calvinistic teaching in relationship to those matters which had been called into question. This they proceeded to do, embodying the Calvinist position in five chapters, which ever since has been known as the five points of Calvinism. So remember, the five points relate only to soteriology.

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• That is the doctrine of salvation. And the reason those five points were there is because the Arminians presented five points and the Synod of Dort was just simply answering those five points and then setting forth what Scripture really taught. Now, before I get started with the message today in showing you the scriptural position and what I'm going to call true theology, I want to give you very quickly the conclusions of the Synod of Dort, because the Arminians wanted to set the Synod and anybody who believed the Reformed faith in a very bad light.

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• They were extremely uncharitable and were casting dispersions upon the truth. And so, as I told you last week, they were finally ultimately kicked out of the Synod because of their rebellion and their stubbornness and their refusal to cooperate. And so here, in just four or five paragraphs, are the conclusions of the Synod of Dort. Now I want you to listen to what the Synod said. "And so this is clear, simple and straightforward explanation of the Orthodox teaching on the five articles in dispute in the Netherlands, as well as the rejection of the errors by which the Dutch churches have for some time been disturbed. The explanation and rejection the Synod declares to be derived from God's Word and in agreement with the confessions of the Reformed Churches."

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• "Hence, it clearly appears that those of whom could hardly expect it have shown no truth, equity, and charity at all in wishing to make the public believe." Now, they're going to set forth what the Arminians wanted everybody to believe. "The teaching of the Reformed churches on predestination and on the points associated with it by its very nature and tendency draws the mind of the people away from all godliness and religion, is an opiate of the flesh and the devil, and is a stronghold of Satan wherein he lies in wait for all people, wounds most of them, and fatally pierces many of them with the errors of both despair and self-assurance. That this teaching"—that is Arminianism—"makes God the author of sin"—or that's what the Arminians are saying about the Calvinists—"that this teaching makes God the author of sin, unjust, a tyrant, and a hypocrite, and is nothing but a refurbished Stoicism, Manichaeism, Libertinism, and Mohammedanism. That this teaching"—that is Calvinism—"makes people carnally self-assured, since it persuades them that nothing endangers the salvation of the chosen, no matter how they live, so that they may commit the most outrageous crimes with self-assurance, and that on the other hand, nothing is of use to the reprobate for salvation, even if"

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• "they've truly performed all the works of the saints." They're still wanting the public to believe this, "that this teaching means that God predestinated and created by the bare and unqualified choice of His will, without the least regard or consideration of any sin, the greatest part of the world to eternal condemnation, that in the same manner in which election is a source and cause of faith and good works, reprobation is the cause of unbelief and ungodliness, that many infant children of believers are snatched in their innocence from their mother's breast and cruelly cast into hell, so that neither the blood of Christ nor the baptism or the prayers of the church at their baptism can"

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• "be of any use to them and very many other slanderous accusations of this kind which Reformed churches not only disavow, but even denounce with their whole heart. Therefore, this Synod of Dort in the name of the Lord pleads with all who devoutly call on the name of our Savior Jesus Christ to form their judgment about the faith of the Reformed churches, not on the basis of the false accusations gathered from here or there, or even on the basis of the personal statements of a number of ancient and modern authorities—statements which are also often either quoted out of context or misquoted and twisted to convey a different meaning—but on the basis of the church's own official confessions and of the present explanation of the Orthodox teaching which has been endorsed by the unanimous consent of the members of the whole Synod, one and all. Moreover, the Synod earnestly warns the false accusers themselves to consider how heavy a judgment God awaits for those who give false testimony against so many churches and their confessions, trouble the consciences of the weak, and seek to prejudice the minds of many against the fellowship of true believers."

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• "Finally, this Synod urges all ministers in the gospel of Christ to deal with this teaching in a godly and reverent manner in the academic institutions as well as in the churches, to do so both in their speaking and writing with a view to the glory of God's name, holiness of life, and the comfort of anxious souls, to think and also to speak with Scripture according to the analogy of faith, and finally to refrain from all those ways of speaking which go beyond the bounds set for us by the genuine sense of the Holy Scriptures and which could give impertinent sophists a justification to scoff at the teachings of the Reformed churches, or even to bring false accusations against it. May God's Son, Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of God and gives gifts to men, sanctify us in the truth, lead to the truth those who err, silence the mouth of those who lay false accusations against sound teaching, and equip faithful ministers of His Word with a spirit of wisdom and discretion that all they say may be to the glory of God and the building up of the hearers."

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• Amen. Now, I thought that was an excellent conclusion, but I want you to note something. They are admonishing not only pastors, ministers, but all believers to speak with Scripture according to the analogy of faith. I want to explain that term. The analogy of faith is just simply the teaching of the whole Word of God. So if I read a verse here and I say to myself, "Ah, this verse teaches such and such," and I go around saying, "Well, this is what the Bible teaches. Look in this verse right here."

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• What have I not done? I have not consulted what Scripture as a whole teaches. In other words, I must interpret this verse in light of the totality of the teaching of the Word of God. I cannot take one verse and take it out of context or make it mean something that the rest of Scripture does not teach. And you're going to find that most errors of individuals who hold erroneous doctrine are based upon this one simple context. They will take a verse out of context, or they will take that verse and say, "Well, this verse teaches this," and they have absolutely no regard to what the Bible teaches as a whole. And so what the Synod of Dort is saying is this: we want everything based upon the Word of God. And we want it based upon the total teaching of the Word of God. Now, I want to show you the crux of what has been going on since the 1600s; it is still going on today. Here's the crux. Here's the real issue between Calvinism and Arminianism.

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• Okay? I can sum it up in one sentence, really. Or let me go back. I want to sum it up in a question. Does God save sinners? Or does God help sinners save themselves? I'm going to show you the Calvinistic position, which is the Bible position, and I'm going to break it down into three words, and I'm going to show it to you from the Scripture. Here are the three words: God saves sinners. God saves sinners.

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• Now let me start with the very first word: God. When I use the word God, I mean the triune God. I mean the one true and the living God who has revealed Himself in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is one God, but that one God has revealed Himself in three distinct persons, and each person is involved in salvation. I'm going to show you a little bit later, without the three persons, we would not have any salvation. Now, when I begin to try to discuss to you the Trinity, or the triune God—that God is one God, but He's revealed Himself in three persons—I'm going to tell you right now, I cannot explain it. I can give you illustration after illustration, but to explain or define God is to limit God. You cannot limit the limitless God. You cannot limit the infinite God. You cannot explain God. If you could explain God, you would be greater than God. But I will tell you what the Scripture teaches.

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• I want to read to you the Athanasian Creed. I'm not going to read all of it. But to me, this is one of the most beautiful creeds and one of the most easily understood. Athanasius lived in the fourth century. And back in the 4th century they were fighting heresy even then. And so he came up with this creed. The word "Catholic" is going to be used several times. Please understand this. When Athanasius uses the word "Catholic," he is not talking about the Roman Catholic Church. The word "Catholic" by itself just means universal. That's all he's using the word here. Here is the Athanasian Creed. Listen carefully because he's talking about the Trinity, but yet he's talking about the three in one. He says, "Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic"—or the universal—"faith."

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• "Which faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic faith is this: that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, and the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal. And also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Spirit Almighty. Yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, yet there are not three Gods, but one God."

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• "So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord, yet there are not three lords but one Lord. For we are compelled by the Christian verity"—the Christian truth—"to acknowledge each person by himself to be both God and Lord. So we are also forbidden by the Catholic"—or universal—"religion to say that there are three gods or three lords. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made, not created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. There is one Father, not three Fathers. One Son, not three Sons. One Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in the Trinity, none is before or after another. None is greater or less than the other. But all three persons are co-eternal together and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the unity in Trinity and the Trinity in unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved must think thus of the Trinity."

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• And what heresy has done down through the years is either try to confound the persons or divide the substance or divide the essence, which is absolutely impossible. Now, when a Calvinist says "God," he is referring to the triune God as revealed in Scripture: one God in three persons. And you're going to see later how important this absolutely is. So, God—the one true and the living God who has revealed Himself in Scripture in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is what we mean when we use the word "God." Let me come to the second word: saves. God saves sinners. The word "saves" simply means this: that God actually saves.

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• He does not make us savable and leave everything then to man. No, God actually saves. Our Lord declared in Luke 9:56, "For the Son of Man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." He said in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Note: He came to seek and to save, not make savable, not offer salvation, but He came to seek and to save that which was lost. So God actually saves.

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• By the way, if I were to ask you, why is our Lord's earthly name Jesus? Jesus in the Greek, Yahashua or Yeshua in the Hebrew. Why is His name Jesus? Yahashua or Yeshua means "salvation is of the Lord" or "God saves." Jesus literally means "God saves." Are you listening? Jesus and Joshua are basically the same name. It means "God saves." Matthew 1:21, listen carefully, talking about Mary: "And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus." Why?

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• Look at the next part: "For He shall save His people from their sins." Why is He called Joshua? Why is He called Jesus? Which means Savior or Salvation is of God. Because He shall actually save His people from their sins. There's a big difference between saving and simply making someone savable or putting someone in a position of being savable or offering salvation. In fact, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1.

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• And notice if you would please verses 12 and 13. Colossians 1, beginning there with verse 12. Look what the Bible says that the Father has done for us. Colossians 1:12, Scripture says, "Giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." Now I want you to note, verse 12 says we need to thank the Father because He's made us meet or acceptable to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

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• Well, how did He do that? Well, watch verse 13: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." He actually took us from one kingdom and put us into another kingdom. He actually delivered us. He actually saved us. God saves sinners. So the Bible is saying here that God powerfully and mercifully removed us from the kingdom of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. God did not just simply open a door and say, "All right, the door is open, walk through it of your own will." If God had done that, every sinner would have slammed the door shut as fast as he could and turned and run the other way as fast as he could run. Why? Because man by nature hates God.

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• That's what Romans 8 says. Carnal man is enmity against God. The carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So if God had just simply made it possible, no man would have been saved. All you have to do is read Romans chapter 3. "There is none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh God."

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• "They're all going out of the way. They're all unprofitable." If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 10, reading Mark chapter 10 should make it obvious to us as to why our Lord must actually save. The passage in the context is in the context of the rich young ruler that walked away from Christ because of his great riches. Look in Mark chapter 10, beginning there with verse 23. Look what the Scripture says. "And Jesus looked round about"—this is after the rich young ruler had walked away—"and Jesus looked round about and said unto His disciples, 'How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.' And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and saith unto them, 'Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.'" Now let me ask you, is there anyone in this room that can take a camel and put him through the eye of a needle?

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• Nah, you know better than that. Now watch this. He said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Verse 26: "And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved?'" I want you to note the question deals with salvation. "Who then can be saved?" Verse 27: "And Jesus, looking upon them, saith, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.'"

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• Now what did our Lord just get out of His mouth? "With men it is impossible." I was preaching one time in Louisiana, and I was showing how a man was absolutely totally depraved, unable to do anything. And after service, one woman came up to me and she said, "Pastor Weaver, you just make it so hard for someone to be saved." I looked at her and I said, "Well, I apologize."

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• You should have seen her face. I said, "I apologize. I did not make it hard for a sinner to be saved. I meant to make it impossible. Because with man, it is impossible. You cannot save yourself. God must save you." If you'll look in Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Notice if you would verse 2. Hebrews 12:2. Look what the Scripture says. Hebrews 12:2: "Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." But note, if you would, Jesus Christ is here designated as the author and the finisher of our faith. In other words, Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega.

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• He's the beginning and the end and He's everything in between. We are totally and completely dependent upon Him. Sinners do not save themselves in any measure at all, or by any stretch of the imagination, because salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be honor and glory forever. Amen. God actually saves. Listen carefully. God saves sinners.

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• Now to me, this is absolutely amazing. And it's a wonderful truth that our Lord saves sinners. In Luke 5:32, our Lord declares, listen carefully, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." If you ever stop to think, it's sinners that need saving. It's sinners that need deliverance. Over and over, the self-righteous Pharisees mocked our Lord with these words. They said in Luke 15:2, "This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them." Wow! In Matthew 11:19, they accused Christ of being the friend of publicans and sinners. I don't know about you, but I'm thankful that our Lord was and still is the friend of sinners. And I'm thankful that He still associates with sinners. Accordingly, according to Luke 15:1, it's sinners who will listen to Him. The Bible says there, "Then drew near Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him." Notice if you would, the self-righteous hypocrites and the Pharisees would have nothing to do with them.

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• They wanted nothing to do with Christ. But sinners would listen to Him. He came not to call the righteous.

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• Now you and I both know that there are none righteous, but there are many individuals who arrogantly and pharisaically think themselves so. But He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Who is a sinner? Those who are guilty and vile and wicked, they're law-breaking, they're trespassers, they're rebellious, they're sinful, they're depraved. Those are the ones that our Lord came to seek and to save. He didn't come for the self-righteous. He didn't come for the arrogant. No. He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

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• If you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 5. Romans 5. Look if you would please at verses 6 through 8. Romans 5, beginning there at verse 6. The Scripture says, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Who did Christ die for? The ungodly. He died for sinners. He did not die for the self-righteous.

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• So if you're a sinner, you need to be encouraged. You're the one that our Lord came to seek and to save. I don't care how wicked, I don't care how vile, I don't care what you've done, what you haven't done. If you're a sinner, if you're ungodly, hey, you're in the category that our Lord came to seek and to save. God saves sinners.

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• Now, what I want you to do is this. I want you to turn to the book of Ephesians chapter 1. Okay? And I want you to help me preach this sermon. So I want you to look in Ephesians chapter 1, because I want you to see that God actually saves sinners. I want us to read, first of all, Ephesians 1 verses 1 through 14. Lord willing, I'm going to come back in a month or so, I don't know how long, and I want to preach seven or eight messages from this text.

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• I will tell you that in the Greek, this is the longest sentence in the Greek Testament. Although you will find a period in your King James Bibles, actually the sentence begins and does not end until you get to verse 14. Okay? So, I want you to look and then I'm going to come back and let you help me, okay? Because you're going to see here the work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

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• "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace"—talking about Christ now—"wherein He abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance."

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• "Being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory."

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• Now, I want you to help me pick out the work of the Father. I will show you the verse. Look in verse 4. In fact, go back to verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father." So we're talking about God the Father. In verse 4, what has God done for us? "According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." So what did God do? God chose us. Okay? Skip down to verse 5. Here's the second thing the Father did: "Having predestinated us." So He chose us. He predestinated us. Look in verse 6.

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• "To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." So according to verse 6, He's made us acceptable. By the way, let me just put this to you in passing. I want you to think about this. One of the things that I really try to emphasize, and I get upset with sometimes a lot of people witnessing—and I know they mean well—but they will look at a sinner and they will say, "Will you accept Christ?" That is bad terminology.

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• What you should be asking is this: "Would you receive Christ as He is fully and freely offered in the gospel?" You say, "What's the difference?" Well, here's the difference. The word "accepted" here literally means to be made gracious. When God saves a sinner, He has to take that sinner and make him gracious and beautiful. That's what this word means. God the Father does not have to make Jesus Christ gracious and beautiful. He already is. So we need to receive Him as He is fully and freely offered in the gospel. He makes us accepted. Okay. So here we have the work of the Father. The Father has chosen us. The Father has predestinated us. The Father has made us accepted. Look in verse 7.

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• What has the Son done for us? Okay. Verse 7: "In whom we have redemption." He has redeemed us. Look in verse 8: "Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence." And what I'm going to do is I'm going to summarize that. He educated us. He abounded toward us in wisdom and prudence. He educated us. Okay? What else did the Son do for us in verse 11?

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• "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance." So, the Son then has redeemed us. He's educated us. We have obtained an inheritance in Him.

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• Now, what has the Spirit done? Well, go to verse 12. He says, "That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." What did He do in verse 12 and the first part of 13? He quickened us. So the Spirit quickened us and enabled us to believe. That's the same word that's used in Ephesians 2:1: "And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." The word "quickened" means to be made alive. So He quickened us and enabled us to trust in Him. Look in the latter part of verse 13. Here's the second thing the Holy Spirit did: "In whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." So the Spirit not only quickened us, He sealed us. Then if you look in verse 14: "Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory."

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• So the Holy Spirit then is our earnest. Okay. Now, everybody knows what an earnest is, I hope. So if I come up to Clay and I say, "I want to buy your truck. How much you want for it?" He says, "I want $5,000." I said, "Okay, I'll buy it, but I've got to go get the money." He said, "Well, give me some earnest money. Give me $500."

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• And that way I know you're coming back. Do you realize the Holy Spirit is our earnest? We know that our Lord is returning back for us, for He's given us the earnest of His Spirit.

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• Now, let me show you what we've just done. Hand me that board, Alice. I want you to watch this. I'm just trying to show you that God saves sinners. We picked out from the Scripture the work of the Father, and the work of the Son, and the work of the Spirit. It's the Father who chose us, who predestinated us, who made us acceptable. It was the Son who redeemed us, who educated us, who obtained for us an inheritance. It's the Spirit who quickened us, who sealed us, and who is our earnest. Now, I told you that God saves sinners. We looked at the Scriptures, we saw this is what the Father did, this is what the Son did, this is what the Holy Spirit did.

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• Now, instead of reading these horizontally, I want you to read them vertically. Those that the Father chose, the Son redeemed, the Spirit quickened. Those that the Father predestinated, the Son educated, and the Spirit sealed. Those that the Father made acceptable, the Son obtained an inheritance for them, and the Holy Spirit is our earnest of our salvation. Salvation is the work of the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you deny the Trinity, you deny salvation. Salvation is the work of God alone. God saves sinners. Jonah was correct when he said in Jonah 2:9 that "salvation is of the Lord."

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• You say, "But wait a minute, pastor, I know that the Scripture shows that, but you've got to understand that I believed." Yes? I know you believed, but here's the question: From whence did your faith originate? Did it originate with you, or did it come from God? "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." You say, "But wait a minute, Brother Weaver, I repented!" I know that you repented. But from whence did repentance come? Did it come from you or did it come from God? The Bible tells us that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, that He might give repentance. Acts 11:18: "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." And 2 Timothy 2:24-26: "If God peradventure will give them repentance." Repentance is the gift of God. You say, "But wait a minute, Brother Weaver. I not only believed, I not only repented, when I came to Christ, I was willing to come to Christ."

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• I know you were. But the question is, who made you willing? And why is it that you were unwilling to come to Christ for so long, and then all of a sudden you were willing to come to Christ? Do you realize the Bible says in Philippians 2:13, "It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure." You see, faith is God's gift. But when I believe, I'm exercising the gift that God gave me. Repentance is God's gift. And when I turn from my sins, I'm exercising the gift that God gave me. When I willingly come to Christ, I know that I have been drawn of the Father, because "no man can come unto Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him."

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• In other words, I acknowledge that salvation is of the Lord. My faith is of God. My repentance is of God. My willingness is of God. Everything I am, everything I have, came from Him. Our Lord said in John 15:5, "Without Me you can do"—how much?—"nothing." Charles Spurgeon wrote this or said this. He said, "When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself. And though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me."

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• "I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this. I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths in my own soul, when they were, as John Bunyan said, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can now recollect how I felt I had grown all of a sudden from a babe into a man, that I'd made progress in scriptural knowledge, though having found once for all the clue to the truth of God, I saw that God was the bottom of it all, and that He was the author of my faith, and so the whole doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed into this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, 'I ascribe my change wholly to God.'"

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• And then Spurgeon said this, "I will go as far as Martin Luther when he says, 'If any man ascribes anything of salvation, even the very least of it, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he's not learned Jesus Christ rightly.'" Those who understand that salvation is of the Lord will honor the Lord the most. Why? Because we realize that He alone is salvation.

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• It's like Peter said in Acts 4:12, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." It is Jesus Christ and Him alone. He has done it all. God saves sinners. Yes, we respond. Yes, we believe. Yes, we repent. Yes, we come willingly. But it's God who gives us that faith and gives us that repentance and makes us willing to come to Him.

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• For without Him, we can do nothing. And when we get to glory by the grace of God, we will not be saying, "I'm so glad I made a decision." We will be saying, "I'm so glad that God saves sinners." Because salvation is of God. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You. We acknowledge Your mercy, Your love, and Your grace, and Your goodness and kindness. And Lord, we want to confess again that salvation is of the Lord. Thank You, Father, for sending Jesus Christ. Thank You for His suffering and sacrifice and substitution. Thank You for the Holy Spirit of God who convicts us and enlightens us. Thank You, Father. And we acknowledge salvation is of the Lord. And we give Thee all the honor and all the glory through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T13:48:02Z