Open your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 8 verses 29 and 30. We're gonna start there tonight. And what I want to preach about tonight is the four, or is, let me back up, four of the parts of redemption. for the parts of redemption. Now, this isn't all there is to do with redemption or what I'm gonna preach on tonight. There are four things in particular that I want to examine that are worked out in those who are saved. Again, this isn't meant to be a complete list, but the reason I wanna look at these four is because when you put these four together, the modern gospel gets these all backwards. And I want us to see from the scriptures what actually occurs and how things occur. Now, the four things I want to talk about are regeneration, repentance, faith, and conversion. The modern gospel will tell you that a person will begin to straighten up their life, and they would call that conversion by going to church and making moral changes in their life. You might hear the term they turn a new leaf, something like that, turn over a new leaf, something like that. And then this person will find faith somewhere within themselves and believe that Jesus died for their sins. They then will become repentant and will make a decision to be born again, regenerated. Now, to many, this sounds right and scriptural. In fact, it's preached that way. And the people who do not study the word of God in depth easily fall for this. They call this being saved. The problem is it's neither right nor scriptural and attempts to make salvation a work of man. It's not. And so I want us to look at these things, and again, as I said, from the scriptures, and let us make a clear statement about what each one of these really is. Before we read any scripture and continue, let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, oh Lord, we thank you for this time together tonight. I just pray, Lord, that you would use this time to open our minds up to your word, to help us to understand it, Lord, to know more about this precious work that is called salvation, this work of which all the glory belongs to you. Lord, just help us to see these things more clearly, and I just thank you, Lord, that it is your work that saves us and not anything we do ourselves. Lord, I just pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen. Now I want to read Romans chapter 8, verses 29 and 30, because this is kind of a big picture, and I want us to see that when you start talking about salvation, Many people focus in on the individual and their part in salvation. Salvation is of God. It is an eternal thing because it was begun before time even began. It's outside of time in that respect. It begins with God and our Lord carries it out and does all the work of salvation himself and makes us come to pass. And that term salvation has been used so generally It is often misused, and we should be careful with it. But let's look at these two verses, verse 29, verse 30. For whom he, and this of course is speaking of God, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." And we were talking in Sunday school class this morning, there is out there some who have come to embrace the doctrines of grace, They call themselves New Calvinists, or they're referred to as that. Many of them come from a Reformed background, which I think is incorrect. I think it's an incorrect way to look at church history. But they have embraced these doctrines of grace, but they don't always understand exactly what it is they have embraced. One of the areas they get really confused about is justification, for instance, that we just read about. Now what I want to talk to you about really comes in there between justification and glorification, and it has to do with the sinner himself who is regenerated by God and what then happens in that person's life. So although this passage doesn't mention those four terms, I use it in order for us to back up and make sure that we're looking at this thing from the big picture, that we see that God is the one who has not only engineered or come up with salvation and what it should be like and what it must be like, he is the one who carries it out and completes it in us, all right? So let us look at these terms now, and we'll begin with regeneration. Again, those who take a modern gospel stance put this last of these four things, arrange it last, and make it so that a person chooses their salvation and chooses to be saved, but that's not how that works. Regeneration is is referred to in the scriptures as being quickened or are born again And it is completely a work of God Where he gives spiritual life instantaneously Through his own power To one whom he has elected for that very thing, okay so he God has has established he is elected he has predestinated and The salvation of a people for his son, and that is an exact number. You and I don't know that number. I'm not sure we'll ever know that number. But God knows it perfectly. Because not one more nor one less of those who have been predestinated for salvation will either not get saved or be saved extra, if you will. There is an exact number. It's that exact number that Jesus died for on the cross. His precious blood covered those sins only. All right? But this act of regeneration is a work of God, often attributed to the Holy Spirit of God bringing this to pass, but there are scriptures that speak of God the Father being involved in this. I really think it's an act of the Trinity. But is most, I think it's easier maybe for us to understand that it is carried out by the Spirit of God in a person. I want you to turn now to John chapter three, where we're gonna read verses three through eight. And this is a portion of our Lord's conversation with Nicodemus, who came to him by night with some questions. And Jesus speaks to him about being born again. And that is what regeneration is, being born again. John chapter three, verse three, is where we'll start. Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. I want you to notice that. If you refer back to that modern gospel again, it's the way they present it, a person sees the kingdom of God and they choose to join it. It don't work that way. You can't see the kingdom of God unless you have first been born again, okay? And he says that there. Nicodemus, verse four, saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? And you see, Nicodemus gets part of this. At least he understands that Jesus is talking about a person Being given life such as what happens to us physically when we are born into this world to our parents. Okay And and he's kind of catching on here. So he asked how can you be born a second time? He's thinking physically here. What Jesus is talking about is something that is spiritual. It is a spiritual birth Jesus answered Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That's that first birth Nicodemus is talking about. And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. This is the second birth that Jesus is talking about. It is a spiritual birth. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. The thing is about this spiritual birth, you don't know when it happens. A person can't really pinpoint a time when it happens in their life. A general time, maybe, yes. A time when you begin to realize things, and you can think, oh, you know, I suddenly wanted to read the Bible, I wanted to go to church, I wanted to do things that I didn't want to do before. You can pinpoint that, but you can't pinpoint an exact day and time, if you will. I've heard preachers preach that if you can't remember the very moment that you asked the Lord to come into your heart, then you're probably not really saved. Have you ever heard that? I have. Often in revivals. Well, that's not scriptural. It's not. When this happens, you don't really know what happens. Okay, it is something done to you, and then over time, sometimes very quickly, sometimes it may take a while, and people are different, but you begin to realize that something has happened to you that has changed you. You have been born again. So the person who is born again plays no part in this work. As we see, scripture refers to it as being born again and likens it to the physical birth of a human being. Just as you did not choose to be born physically, did any of you choose to be born physically? You couldn't, right? Well, it's the same spiritually speaking. You do not choose to be born again spiritually. This is something that happens only to God's elect when he makes it happen. A few more key points about this. First of all, this work is mysterious to us. As I mentioned moments ago, we don't know exactly how it happens, and we don't know when it happens. We soon begin to think differently. We begin to see spiritual things that we didn't see before. We come to understand that something has happened to us, but there will be some time that will pass before we make any kind of response to it. Another thing, this work is permanent. That is, it's eternal. That moment you've been born again, you are eternally saved. You have eternal life. You will be with God forever in heaven. It does not rest then upon anything you do after this, understand what I'm trying to say here, that can stop that or prevent that from happening. If God gives you life, okay, eternal life, you have eternal life. Now, there are some things, as we're gonna talk about in a moment, concerning faith, concerning repentance, that we do as we come to conversion, okay? And so there are those aspects that we get involved, but we are not involved in giving ourselves spiritual life, okay? He does command us to believe. That requires faith. We're gonna talk about this. And we do that. But that is to show works, okay, that prove out, that bear out the fact that we have been born again. There is a reason and purpose for that. So this work is permanent. This work is spiritual. But it's often described in physical terms. I want you to turn to Ezekiel chapter 36. This is one of my favorite Old Testament passages concerning our topic. Ezekiel chapter 36, let's go to verse 26. So this work is spiritual, but it's often described in physical terms so that we can understand it. We understand something about physical birth, okay? And so we can use that to help us understand a little bit about spiritual birth. But let's look and see what happens. Ezekiel 36, verse 26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you in heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them. This is describing God's work in us. Is there anything in there that you see that we do to give ourselves this new spiritual life? Who's doing all the work here? It's God. He's given us a new heart. He's putting a new spirit in us. He is working in us to cause us to walk in his statues. I've heard people argue against the doctrines of grace by saying what we teach and what we believe means that people become robots. No, that's not what happens. But when he gives us that new heart, with that comes a desire to obey him. that we didn't have before, we couldn't have because of our fallen sin nature. But we have it now, and we want to obey Him, and we do obey Him. Albeit not perfectly in this life, because we still have that sin nature we're fighting against. But there is within our spirit, this new spiritual life, a desire, a want to, to obey God and do what He says. If you don't have that, you need to back up and re-look at yourself and maybe you haven't been born again. You need to see that. You need to examine yourself concerning that. So in the list of the four things we're talking about tonight, regeneration not only comes first, it must come first. Faith and repentance and conversion mean nothing and have no power and there's no substance to them if there is not first being new life given to a person. So let us then talk about repentance. We're gonna talk about repentance and then faith. But let me say right from the get-go that you might exercise faith and then repentance. They go together, they work together, and the end result is the fourth thing we're gonna talk about, which is conversion. But we'll look at repentance first. Repentance, by the way, is a gift from God. It's not something someone works up from within themselves. The best we can do is to feel sorry, maybe, that we've done something wrong. But there is no desire within our flesh to turn from sin and to turn to Christ. And true repentance is just that. It is a turning from sin and a turning to Christ. Okay? In Acts chapter 11 verse 18, I'll just read it. You can look it up for yourself at 1118 when they heard these things they held their peace and glorify God what they heard was that that that it's being affirmed before these people here in Acts 11 that the gospel is Indeed going to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. You got to understand for Jews. That was a huge leap of understanding Okay And they realize it here. When they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, then, note this, have God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Repentance, true repentance, is granted to us by God. It is from God. So this action of repentance is a turning away from sin to Christ. Again, I restate this, the only way this can happen is by one first having been regenerated. A person then begins to understand that they are a sinner. That's what happens when you get regenerated. This new mind we have that is given to us with this new spiritual life, this spiritual mind begins to notice something right away. I'll take me and take it in my personal account. I began to notice I was a sinner. I didn't care about that before. I knew something about what sin was. I'd heard Bible stories, things like that. I knew there were right things you do, there were wrong things you do. I knew if I did anything wrong and mom and daddy called me, I got a whooping. I knew those things, right? But there was nothing in me before I was regenerated that caused me any concern whatsoever where God is concerned. Once I was regenerated, I began to realize I have sinned against God. And this is a terrible thing. And I began to realize There's nothing I can do about this for myself. I can't make things right with God. Now, people are at, you know, different levels of understanding and maturity and physically speaking, mentally speaking, and so the depths of which they understand these things will vary. But all share this, we all, anyone who's been regenerated will soon in time begin to realize we've sinned against God and we've got a problem. And we'll realize I need to quit sinning. I need to do what Jesus wants me to do. I need to obey him. And that's what repentance is. It's a heartfelt sorrow and a heartfelt anguish and pain that you have sinned against God. That sinning is wrong and I need to stop that. And I need instead to turn to Christ and follow Christ. That's what repentance is. It's more than simply feeling sorry that you've done something wrong. It is a moving experience. And it changes you. It changes the way you look at things, especially in regards to sin and in regards to obedience to God. So a sinner begins to realize they can't save themselves. And they also begin to realize something else. Because I have sinned against God, and because there is nothing I can do about that for myself, I deserve eternal condemnation. When you come to realize that, that can be quite sobering. That can cause a great emotion to well up within you. But then we hear about Christ. You see, God doesn't leave us alone by ourselves when we're regenerated. He brings it to pass that you're gonna hear the gospel. you're gonna hear the gospel preached. That gospel's gonna begin to cause you to feel like you are figuring some things out. You're gonna hear that you are a sinner and that you have eternal condemnation unless, and this is the good news, unless you turn to Christ. And you understand that instead of you paying the penalty for your sins, Jesus did that for you on the cross. Now again, in these early stages here of new life, the depth at which you understand that will vary. And most certainly, as time goes by, you're gonna learn more and more about that, and you're gonna understand more and more clearly what's happening. But at the time, very simply put, I think even the simplest mind understands that they've done wrong, they cannot fix that wrong, but Jesus has fixed it for us. He died on the cross so that we might be saved. Now that's gonna lead us, of course, to faith. Sometimes faith leads to repentance. You cannot pinpoint this down. Different people arrive differently here, but you either come to repentance in them faith, or faith in repentance, or it's even simultaneously, I think, sometimes. But you come to this conclusion. I need to believe on Christ. So all of this involves a changing of the mind. And we also realize sometimes that any previous religious actions were without or they were apart from God and that they can't save us. Some people will spend a part of their lives relying upon some religious thing that they have done. Church attendance, signing a card, even being baptized. And they depend upon that as their salvation, but that's not how it works. And you begin to realize none of that is going to get me where I need to be. The only way is through Christ and through what he's done for me. It is the realization that only the work of Christ on the cross can save someone. Acts chapter 20 verse 21, I believe Paul is speaking to Agrippa maybe here, but he says, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, it may be Festus, but anyway, repentance toward God. and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he says he preached, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So this takes us to the third thing then, and that is faith. Again, faith and repentance work together to bring about conversion. Just like repentance, we know that faith also is a gift. It doesn't come from down somewhere within us, as some would say. Just reach down inside yourself and you'll find the faith to believe in Christ. You don't find it in yourself. It is a gift to you from God. Now you find it, okay, but understand where it comes from. You see, it's not our faith that is the means to salvation. It is the faith of Christ. that is the means to our salvation. Therefore, it necessarily must be given to us as a gift. I've received a lot of gifts over my span of years, none more precious than the twin gifts of repentance and faith. What they mean becomes even more special as time goes by. These twin gifts are so very special. We know from Ephesians chapter two, verse eight, for by grace are you saved through faith. And that, not of yourselves, that is that faith, it is the gift of God. Faith then becomes the trust one has in their heart in Christ crucified as the way of deliverance from sin's guilt and condemnation. That guilt and condemnation is what weighs heavy on a person when they become aware that they have sinned against God, that hell is the eternal penalty for that sin, and that they need Christ. Oftentimes people refer to that as coming under conviction, okay? We experience that, that weight of guilt. And through faith, that guilt is taken away. Through faith, that condemnation, we realize is done, it's gone, it's no more to be found. A person sees Christ as their substitute sacrifice for sin, and as their only hope for salvation. This person believes with their heart, and they say, Romans chapter 10, turn to this, Romans chapter 10, verses nine and 10. Romans 10, verses nine and 10. It says there that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. You know, there's out there in this modern gospel something called the sinner's prayer. I've looked the Bible over, I've read it through numerous times. I've never found the sinner's prayer in the scriptures. Instead, what I find is what we just read. You believe in your heart that Jesus has saved you. That he has paid that price. That he is your substitute sacrifice. You believe in Christ. And in that, you realize salvation. Again, salvation is a work of God, not of us. Faith is not a work that saves us. Faith is a work that shows that God has regenerated us and is that means by which we come to express faith and trust in Christ as our Savior. Something we need to do and must do as we understand it from the scriptures. These twin gifts of faith and repentance are given to those who are born again for them to exercise in the working of conversion in their person. So let's talk last now about conversion. What is conversion? This is that point where a person makes a profession of faith in the Lord. They tell a congregation that they believe on Christ, that they believe they've been born again, and often ask for baptism and are brought into the church through baptism as we teach it. And so all of this is conversion. But simply put, conversion is the outward display in a person's life of what has happened in them internally, spiritually speaking, due to regeneration. This person will demonstrate works meet for faith and repentance. Acts 2620, but again, this is Paul speaking in defense of himself and in defense of preaching the gospel. He said, but show first in them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all the coast of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance. These works meet for repentance occur in that initial conversion that a person experiences when they commit their life to Christ. We know that James teaches us that faith without works is dead. A person who has been regenerated and brought to conversion will demonstrate works that prove that their faith is real. God doesn't need to see this. He knows. We need to see this in ourselves. Others need to see this in us. As we accept people into our membership as a part of our congregation, we need to see in them works meek for repentance, works that prove out faith, works that show that they have experienced that initial conversion so that they might come into our fellowship fully. Because such a person's mind and heart have been changed through the giving of spiritual life, They will think and act very differently than they ever did before. This person turns from sin and turns to God. This person becomes a true disciple and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, one last truth about these four things. Regeneration, being quickened, being born again, is a one time work of God. in a person whom he has elected to salvation. You don't have to be born again and again and again and again. One time, he gives to you spiritual life. And that spiritual life cannot be lost. It cannot be taken away. It is eternal. Repentance, faith, and conversion all have an initial, there's an initial experience of these things in a person's life who has been regenerated. They have that, by initial, I mean they have that first experience with it, where they first profess faith in Christ as their Savior. But faith doesn't end there. We continue to express faith throughout the rest of our lives. We have that initial experience that has to do with the fact that we are now disciples and followers of Christ, but then we express faith throughout our lives. Repentance, it's not a one-time only thing. There is that initial experience of repentance, the first time one turns from sin to Christ, but as you and I well know, we're gonna sin throughout the course of our lives, and there will be times where we need to demonstrate repentance again, right? Conversion is an initial experience, but I believe that people experience other conversion times throughout their life where maybe they've really gotten off track, and they have gotten their lives back together again, if you will, usually due to the chastisement of the Lord, and they come back, and that marks a major change in their life, a major change in direction in their life. And so I believe that you can have conversion experience such as that throughout the course of your life here. So I note that because of those three, well, those three things, faith, repentance, and conversion, you experience initially, and then you continue to experience multiple times throughout the course of your life. Regeneration, again, one time only. Once you've been born again, you don't have to ever be born again again. It is everlasting. It is eternal. I just closed tonight with this question. Have you experienced these four things in your life? You need to answer that question. And you need to go to God about that question. and make sure of it between you and he. Let's be dismissive prayer. Brother Dan, would you?