Heavenly Father, we come to You today, Lord. We come by grace. We know that it's by grace. We know that we've done nothing whatsoever to deserve anything from You except wrath. But by Your grace, Lord, You've called us out of darkness. You've given us new life in Christ. You've given us the gift of faith. Lord, You've given us the blessing to be called sons of God. And Lord, you've set us on the path, the narrow way. And Lord, we look forward to that day when we will be like Christ, when he appears, that we will be glorified with him. Lord, all by grace, how glorious and marvelous is the gospel and your word for us. Lord, help us today to learn and to study and to give you all the glory. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, so I'm gonna start at the beginning, which is before time began. Somebody might not know what Ordo Salutis is. Ordo Salutis is the topic today. It means it's Latin term. It means the order of salvation. Ordo Salutis. It's the order in which the God works in our lives and brings things to pass. There's a certain order for things, and it's really important for us to understand them because works can creep in in many different ways. And it's easy to pervert the gospel. We look around us at all the different churches have fallen in different ways. And if truth is like a single point, then error is all around. There's many more ways to error than there are to be correct. So we should give more diligence to these things and pay careful attention to the scriptures and these things. So I'm gonna start with election. Election, I'm gonna define as the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby before the foundation of the world, who has out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of his own will, chosen from the whole fallen human race, which had fallen through their own fault from the primitive state of righteousness into sin and destruction. He's chosen a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ when he appointed the mediator from whom he appointed the mediator and head of the elect and the foundation of salvation. Christ is that appointed mediator. And Christ is actually the elect of God. As we read in 1 Peter 1, 18 to 20, it says, for as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Here's the point who is verily forewordined before the foundation of the world manifest in these times. Could someone please mute their phone? Thank you. And then election is also not apart from Christ. Everything in salvation is in relation to Christ. And it's interesting to read in Ephesians 1 verses 3 and 4 that we are elect in Christ and we were chosen in Him. And there it says, 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 hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." So we were chosen in Christ, which is amazing. And then in Romans 8, 29, it says, those whom He foreknew, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." Here the foreknowledge is not of what someone will do, but it's a knowledge of their persons, like even like the marriage kind of knowledge, like where Adam knew his wife. It's that kind of personal relational knowledge that God, it could be said foreloved. God loved us before the foundation of the world. and He predestinated us to be conformed. So that's all for election for right now. We'll come back to these things. So all these doctrines interweave with each other and this one whole piece that we need to have all together, one skeleton, as it were. So I'm gonna talk about the fall of Adam, which might not seem like a proper part of the Ordo Salutis, But nevertheless, it's the view that one takes of the fall controls much of what they think of the rest of the order of salvation. And it's very important to have the correct understanding of the fall. Unfortunately, most people either outright reject original sin or they attempt to water down its significance. There was a man named Pelagius who was a British monk and theologian He lived from 354 A.D. to 418 A.D., a long time ago. I won't say that he was a Christian monk or a good theologian, but he was a very well-educated man and was very influential in his day. And he was able to frame his theology in ways that seemed plausible. He was a man deeply concerned about the moral ills of society, but he blamed the doctrines of grace for them. denied the imputation of the guilt of Adam's sin and the inheritance of the fallen nature by virtue of our union with Adam. Scripture teaches that when we're born, we're born in Adam and that we have his fallen nature. And many places in the Bible teach this idea, like Psalm 51, like we go astray from the womb telling lies. That's not Psalm 51, but that's a Psalm anyway. So Pelagius thought that people were born with an upright nature, just like Adam, that we were free from original sin and we had the same moral freedom from birth that Adam had. Pelagius believed that all men were free either to sin or not to sin. Unfortunately for us, Pelagius was vigorously opposed by the great Augustine And his doctrine was condemned by the council of Carthage in the year 418 AD. The main problem with Pelagianism is that it's utterly contrary to scripture. Not just that, but there is a huge problem explaining why everyone sins and everyone dies. If we're all born upright and we all have the freedom to not to sin, then why does everyone sin? And why does everyone die? Especially infants. In Romans 5, 12 to 21, Paul teaches that death came into the world and spread to all men because of the one sin of Adam. And the fact that infants die, we know that the wages of sin is death. So why do infants, if they were born righteous, why would they die? So we have to understand that there is this nature that come that we're born with. which is sinful, and God imputes the guilt of Adam to us, that we're born guilty, we're born alienated, we're born separated from God. The idea of imputation is really strongly expressed there in Romans 5, 12 to 21, and the emphasis on the one is really impossible to miss. In verse 12. Can I ask a question? Of course. We hear this term semi-Pelagian. I'm gonna get to that in a little bit. I'm gonna start with Pelagianism and then work my way up. In verse 12 of Romans 5, it says, As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men, for that all sinned. We all sinned in Adam. We were all in union with him, and his sin is counted as our sin. In verse 18, it says, therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. And in verse 19, it says, for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Impossible to ignore the one man's disobedience there and how it affects the entire human race. Except for Christ, He was born without original sin because He was virgin born. He had no father. no human father, I should say. And so that imputation did not affect him. He was born righteous as Christ, as Adam was born. He is the second Adam, as it says and as it implies in Romans 5 and teaches clearly and says clearly in 1 Corinthians 15. So as can be easily gleaned from the principle of the one and the many in Romans 5, 12 to 21, the denial of the imputation Adam's guilt would require the same denial of the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. If you say, I don't believe in that someone else's life and death can affect me, then that means that Christ can't have anything. His righteousness is separate from you and you'll never be able to participate in it or have it imputed to you. This is very unfortunate for there's no other means of redemption from sin. Even if you are a Pelagian and you sin, that's it, you're done, right? There's no way of recovery. Because you say, well, there's no such thing as imputation. So the only possible means of salvation in Pelagianism is by one's own merit. And unfortunately, this belief is pretty common among people on the street. So if you ask them, press them about original sin, you say, well, do you believe that we're guilty because of what Adam did so long ago? They'll say, no, that's not fair that his sin would affect me or be counted for me." And you say, oh, well, then I guess that means that Christ's righteousness can't affect or be counted for you either. And likewise, there's an official religion, which is Pelagian. Anybody know? Feel free to say if you know. Islam. Islam is officially Pelagian. deny original sin. If you ask him, like, why does everyone die? Then they they're like, I don't know. It doesn't I'm not sure. Like, why is it? Why do infants die? I don't know. It doesn't make they can't explain it. What? What? Every religion besides Christianity, right? Any other religion? Yeah. No, not that I know of. But but most people just ignore the question, but Islam is specifically taking a position that they deny original sin. Other religions like, I don't know, Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons, they would give kind of a lip service to it, I think. Although they would deny it anyway. Judaism? They don't deny that at all, no. So following this, the official condemnation of Pelagianism in 418, then attempts were made to being human nature, being what it is, there were attempts made to find a middle ground between Pelagianism and the doctrines of grace taught by scripture. This is commonly known as semi-Pelagianism. And this eventually has become the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. They teach that the beginning of faith involves a free act of the will. They don't deny God's grace altogether. They give lip service to it. They give with one hand and then take back with the other. For the Council of Trent, it says this, it says, If anyone shall say that since Adam sinned, the free will of man is lost and extinguished, or that it is a thing with a name only, yea, a title without a reality, a figment in fine brought into the church by Satan, let him be anathema. So they anathematized us because we hold to what Scripture clearly says. So while they don't outright deny the doctrine of original sin as Pelagians do, nevertheless, they took a pinch of grace and added it to Pelagianism. And the final analysis is not really that far from what Pelagius taught, though dressed up a little bit with religious garb. So that's semi-Pelagianism is kind of the first mediating position between Pelagianism, which is outright heresy, absolutely contrary to everything in scripture. And then they, so they tried to find some halfway point. And then in the Reformation among Protestants, another mediating position between semi-Pelagianism and the doctrines of grace was put forth by Arminius who taught that the necessity of prevenient grace. Again, they say that they believe in original sin, but then they have this idea of prevenient grace, which they say it's God who initiates the work and that the sinner must respond, which doesn't sound so bad if you paint the words in the right way, but prevenient grace is not regeneration. And Arminianism teaches that the sinner must cooperate with prevenient grace in order to come to God and receive salvation. Did Arminius, he coined the term prevenient grace? Yeah, I think so. Maybe not himself personally, but his followers. Oh, okay. I didn't know it was called Wesley, I thought Wesley. Wesley definitely spoke of it much. So this doctrine agitated the church in the early 1600s. and a group of Arminian theologians known as the Remonstrants brought a complaint to the Synod of Dort in 1618, which they affirmed total depravity, believe it or not, but then they turn right around and deny it with the doctrine of prevenient grace, which in their idea, it raises the dead men to a neutral condition, somewhere between life and death, if that can be There's no such thing, but it raises men to a neutral condition and supposedly enables them to either believe or not believe the gospel and so to come to God for salvation prior to regeneration. Many Armenians can speak in such a way that it almost seems as if they're affirming the doctrines of grace, but when you press them on the order of regeneration and faith, Armenians will always be found to believe that faith comes prior to regeneration. This theology makes God out to be trying to save as many as possible, but failing more often than not and unable to do anything about it, since it places men in the driver's seat. Prevenia Grace raises men to some sort of, there is no such thing as Prevenia Grace, According to them, Provenient Grace raises men to a neutral condition of some sort and then leaves the decision to them. But think about it. What makes one man to differ from another in that case? It's not grace. Armenians can't explain why some are saved and others are not. And I have to say that this turns faith into a work that man must do. This faith is not by grace, but it is a work of man that God gives some help, but it's up to the person to do. In this case, salvation is not of the Lord, but is really of men. And this also is a flat denial of Scripture, such as Romans 9.16, which says, So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy. If the mercy and the grace of God does not make the difference in our lives, then we make it ourselves. That's a work in that case, and even though they would deny that it's a work, but nevertheless, it is a work because it's something that is done in addition to grace, beyond grace, apart from grace. Arminian theology really appeals to the flesh. It pumps us up. It gives us some idea that we have some ability in ourselves. Our wills are not quite as bad as what the Scriptures seem to say. And these things can easily fool the unwary and the untaught. As Paul wrote, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. As Pelagianism is just outright heresy, but then semi-Pelagianism is a pinch of grace into Pelagianism, and Arminianism is like grace with a pinch of Pelagianism. And nevertheless, a little leaven does leaven the whole lump. It turns the doctrines of grace into a poisonous stew. And we say with the men of old, oh man of God, there is death in the pot. That's the second Kings 440. The main reason that such an endless war has been waged against God, against the doctrines of grace, with all the force of intellect and cleverness that men can muster, is that this doctrine is altogether offensive to the natural man. As the Scripture says, a natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. And neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. We must be regenerate in order to understand these things even. As Ephesians 2.1 makes clear, the natural man is dead in his trespasses and sins. He can no more seek after God than could Lazarus rise from the dead and come out of the tomb on his own. It makes no sense to to talk about Lazarus being brought to some intermediate condition where he was neither dead nor alive in order to ask him if he wanted to be resurrected. Oh, ravenous grace is nowhere taught in Scripture. And when analyzed, it's completely ridiculous. The natural man simply cannot have faith. Let's look at Romans 8, verses 7 and 8. I'm gonna combine these two verses to make a little argument In Romans 8, 7 and 8, it says, because the carnal mind is enmity against God or is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. And in Hebrews 11, 6, it says, without faith, it is impossible to please Him. And so scripture tells us what we might find offensive, that God chooses some for salvation among the fallen mass of mankind. Because how could it be otherwise? If we're in the flesh, we can't have faith. And we need faith in order to be saved. And there's no intermediate position or state between death and life. You're either dead or alive. That's it. Yeah. Sorry to ask so many questions, but would people who believe in creation and grace would they also believe in eternal security or would they not? Never. No, they don't. Because it leads me to my question. I didn't think they did. So how do you define people then today that are a large part of evangelicalism and the non-denominational movement mostly that believe in eternal security? They would say that men are born in Adam's sin. And so Where does that leave them? They really wouldn't technically believe in pervading grace, nor semi-Pelagianism, nor Pelagianism, but yet they're in this category of Arminianism that's kind of, I don't know how to define it. Well, I would have to call them inconsistent, first of all, and wishful thinking on their part. Like it's maybe it's sometimes we have a, by grace, a blessed inconsistency, right? The Scriptures clearly teach that we can't lose our salvation. So they say, oh yeah, we can't lose our salvation. But I came to Christ of my own free will. But if you can come to Christ by your own free will, then you can leave Christ by your own free will too. But they have some ways around that. I do know some Armenians who hold to that combined position. They think that once you come to Christ and then He keeps you, so they lose their free will at that point. So you lose your free will when you come to Christ, which is contrary to Scripture. We finally are free when we come to Christ. Right. Right. So those positions have been made dominant in the church through a lot of through Dallas Theological Seminary. Yeah, they're explicitly dispensational and Arminian and antinomian as well. This view of grace that is none of the historic But I think the doctrine that really brings it out is the doctrine of inability. Because some people will say they believe in total depravity, but when you go to inability, that's when they say no. They're just synonymous, though. Total depravity is inability, or else it's nothing at all. So as I just said, scripture tells us this and we might find it offensive that God chooses some for salvation among the fallen mass of mankind and He passes by others. It's His free choice. As it says again in Romans 9, 21, is hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump? Fallen humanity is a single lump of clay. We're all the same, all fallen to make one vessel unto honor and another vessel unto dishonor. We don't like that. Like we want to have We want to be the captains of our own fate. We don't want God to say, I've determined you unto eternal life or I've decided to pass by these people. But God is sovereign and that's just it. We have to humble ourselves before the scripture. And so we move on to consider the effectual call, which is by God's free and sovereign grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in man, who is altogether passive therein, until being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, is thereby made willing to answer the call and to freely embrace the grace conveyed in it." I'm gonna go over time for sure. Calling, the Bible teaches only two kinds of call from the gospel to man, the common and the effectual. There is no natural call uttered by the voice of natural or general revelation. There's nothing in the stars that would lead you to salvation. Though the light of nature clearly reveals that there is a God that provides, that light provides no conception of how to approach Him or even that He is approachable, sufficient to condemn, but not anyway to save. So it's only through the Word of the Gospel that we can understand how God can be approached. And His absolute holiness precludes any approach apart from Christ. He Himself has stated, clearly His words can express it, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me. So the common call is what we do all the time. We go out and we speak of Christ of the lost. Although God does not at all intend the salvation of the non-elect, yet He deals with the greatest truth and seriousness when He calls them. and nor can any charge of mockery or deceit be brought against Him. All that are called by the Gospels, says the Synod of Dort, are seriously called, for God seriously and truly shows in His Word what is acceptable to Him, and also seriously promises rest for their souls and eternal life to all that come to Him by faith." Some verses, Isaiah 55.1, this is just about the general call. "'Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. They come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. And the great commission is that go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." And in Matthew 22.14, it says, "...many are called, but few are chosen." And then finally in Revelation 22.17, Similar to Isaiah 55, it says, and the spirit and the bride say, come, and let him that hears say, come, and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. This common call is ineffective apart from regeneration, because as we read in 2 Corinthians 4, 3 and 4, the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not. lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." So the gospel message comes on the outside. It goes to the ears of people, but it doesn't penetrate into the heart because their eyes are, their minds are blinded, as it says. Nevertheless, some of those, I'm not going to contradict what I just said, but I'm going to put a caveat. Nevertheless, some of those called externally do respond positively to the gospel. as we read in the parable of the sower, that some, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. They believe it, but having no root in themselves, endure only for a time. When affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake, they fall away." It's Matthew 13, 20, 21. Yes, sure, there's a response of belief, but it's a superficial form of belief, which it may have the appearance of saving faith, And even for a long time, someone may continue like that. Our churches are full of people like that. That is until something comes along which reveals the true nature of the heart. Persecution, as it says, or some temptation. And it shows that the self-love that they have is greater than the love for Christ. So the effectual call then. So while there is an external call that goes out indiscriminately, whosoever will, That call is in itself ineffective as it comes to those who are spiritually dead with profoundly deaf ears, unless it's accompanied by the quickening work of the Holy Spirit in the heart. In this sense of the word call, it's always effective every time. As we read in Romans 8.30, 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." So everyone who is called in this sense is justified, which means they come to faith. In the golden chain of salvation, as it's called, all those who are justified, all those who are called are justified. Not one falls through the cracks. And this call comes to those who are elect in Christ. It is a particular call, as Jesus said in John 10, 3, He calleth His own sheep by name, As he called Lazarus by name, Lazarus come out. The work of the Holy Spirit in the effectual call is to form Christ in the heart. This is regeneration. And this is the first aspect of our union with Christ. It's Christ in us, the hope of glory. Colossians 1.27, for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts. to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Corinthians 4, 6. The effectual call is effectual because along with the external call comes the internal call, which provides the change of heart needed to respond to the call. That is, the effectual call includes regeneration, as Jesus called to Lazarus by name to come forth from the tomb, included the giving of life to his dead body, the restoration of life to His dead body to enable Him to respond to the call. That is sovereign, irresistible grace, and it's a picture of regeneration. So regeneration, what is that? Regeneration is spoken of in many different ways in the Bible, such a central doctrine and so mysterious in a way that tainted in different ways. Ezekiel calls it a taking away the stony heart and giving a heart of flesh and giving a new heart and putting within us a new spirit. That's Ezekiel 11, 19 and 36, 26. John calls it being born again in John 3, 3 and 6, born of God in John 1, 13 and 1 John 3, 9, born of the spirit, also in the passage in John 3. He calls it a passing from death to life in John 5, 24, 1 John 3, 14. In many places spoken of as a quickening, it is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. John 6, 63, Paul wrote that you, he has quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. In Ephesians 2, And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him." Colossians 2.13. Paul speaks of it as being alive from the dead in Romans 6. He speaks it of being a new creature. Old things have passed away and all things become new. 2 Corinthians 5.17. He calls it the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit in Titus 3.5. He calls it the circumcision without hands. This is a reference in the Old and the New Testament in Deuteronomy 36 and Colossians 2.11. It's a circumcision without hands. It's not the bodily circumcision that Abraham was commanded, but it's a spiritual circumcision of the heart. And baptism likewise is a picture of regeneration. It's not something that we do and are regenerating. Many people believe in baptismal regeneration, the Catholics and all different kinds of Pentecostals. They believe that by baptism you're born again, but baptism is just a picture of regeneration. It's given to those who already believe in Christ and are therefore born again. It's just to show the power and it's God's work. And all these various ways speak of regeneration and make it clear that regeneration is the unilateral, work of God, we have about as much choice in the matter as does a baby when it's born into the world, which is exactly none. We contribute exactly nothing to regeneration and do precisely nothing to prepare ourselves for it, any more than we did something to prepare ourselves for our natural birth. Again, it's the Spirit who quickens, the flesh profits nothing, nothing. and all those whom God hath predestined to eternal life, and those only, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call by His Word and Spirit out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away the heart of stone, giving them a heart of flesh, renewing their wills, and by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Christ. And yet they come most freely, being made willing by His grace. This passing from death to life is by the sovereign power of the Holy Spirit, and it is an instantaneous change. Just as there are no intermediate stages between death and life, A person is either alive or dead, even if they're sick or in a coma, they're still alive. And when you're dead, you're dead. There's nothing you can do except rot. You can't do anything. So it's an instantaneous change. It cannot be opposed or aided. Our wills can't fight against God in regeneration, and neither can we help Him in any way, nor would we even consider it. It is effectual because it's a sovereign work of the Spirit directly in the heart of the person. God alone can do this work. We can't do it to anyone else or not to ourselves, but it is the absolute essential requirement of salvation. Without it, there's only the flesh, which cannot have saving faith and which may have just the appearance of saving faith, temporal faith, as it were. So now we're gonna talk about conversion, which follows regeneration. Conversion, the first step of conversion, I will call conviction. Conviction may be at or before regeneration, and conviction is not necessarily part of the effectual call since other people can be convicted of their sins and yet not ever come to Christ, not ever be born again. But conviction is essential to the effectual call because there's no way to understand your situation before God as being in sin and unrighteous. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. In John 16, 8 and 9, it says, but when He has come, He will reprove or convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment of sin because they believe not on Me. Conviction does not always lead to conversion because conviction of unrenewed souls leads them to fight against God and duty, not because He is misconceived, but because He is in some sense, for once, rightly conceived. There is, of course, distortion of mental view concerning Him as long as sin reigns. But conviction causes men to fear and hate because a sinful soul now begins to see God with less error. as sovereign, holy, and just, and wrathful. The conviction is a necessary part of true conversion because conversion requires both turning from sin and turning to Christ. In Acts 2.37 it says, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. And they said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said unto them, Repent. et cetera, et cetera. So repentance unto life is the first thing that happens following regeneration. Repentance and faith. I'm going to go way over. I have to split this up. Okay, so repentance unto life is an evangelical grace by which a sinner comes to recognize the filthiness and odiousness of his sins. grieves over his sin as utterly contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God, and flees to Christ for forgiveness and salvation. We covered this not long ago. Mark covered this in 2 Corinthians 7. So now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrow to repentance. For you were made sorry after a godly manner, that you might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Repentance is viewed as turning from the vanity of sin to the living God in Acts 14, 15, and is also represented as putting off and putting on, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3, that you put off concerning the former conversation and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." And in Colossians 3, 8 to 10 also, it's impossible to separate repentance under life and saving faith because they are opposite sides of the same coin. Jesus always united them in his preaching saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Mark 1, 15. No one truly repents unto life who does not turn to Christ in faith, and no one truly turns to Christ in saving faith who does not repent unto life. There is the sorrow of the world, which is a form of repentance, but the apostles said it works death, because it's the turning from one sin to a different sin. People sometimes feel sorry for something that they are doing and stop doing it for some other reason than because it's offensive to God. rather maybe because it harms their reputation or their business or their relationships with people. A true repentance always turns to Christ for forgiveness. The other side of the coin is saving faith. Saving faith includes knowledge, assent and trust. It's not easy to define exactly what must be known and believed in saving faith, but saving faith always involves the gospel. as God is pleased to make it effective to us. In James 1.18, it says, "...of His own will He begat us by the word of truth." And in 1 Peter 1.23, it says, "...we're born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God." The Word of God is instrumental in our conversion and our regeneration that the Holy Spirit implants it as a seed in our heart. Saving Faith not only believes the word of truth of the gospel, but keeps it and brings forth fruit with patience, as we read in Luke's version of the parable of the sower. It says, on the good ground, the good ground are those which in an honest and good heart, that is only by regeneration, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." Luke 8, 15. Saving faith is not merely belief in the gospel, but it puts wholehearted trust in Christ and rests in that trust. Saving faith abides in Christ. It places every aspect of one's life, this life and eternal life in His hands and it rests in that. John 14, it says, abide in me. as I in you, and there is no other way to bring forth fruit with patience apart from abiding in Christ. Saving faith cannot exist apart from repentance unto life. The debate over lordship salvation, quote unquote, in the 1980s was initiated by those who thought that they could have genuine saving faith while remaining in their sins. Those who adopted this position were generally dispensationalists, who affirmed that salvation is absolutely free from any conditions and that the law has absolutely nothing to do with the Christian. This is a position known as antinomianism, which means against the law. And it's a fundamental misunderstanding of grace, of saving faith and object Christ. While it's absolutely true that salvation is by grace alone, faith alone and is totally free, It must be understood that the saving grace of the gospel always includes repentance. In Acts 11, 18, it says, When they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Believing in a Christ that is a Savior, who is a Savior but not Lord, is to believe in a false Christ. He came to save His people from their sins. and not to save them and allow them to continue to wallow in their sins. True saving faith must begin in regeneration and not be merely a human decision. The Christ in whom we must believe is both Lord and Christ, Acts 2.36. It's impossible to have Him as Savior without having Him as Lord. And anyone who thinks otherwise is the continuing unrepentance is simply fooling themselves. In 1 John 2.4, it says, He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. And again, in 1 John 3.9, it says, whoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. That means he cannot continue in sin. Not that we don't sin, obviously, We do sin, but we don't continue in a lifestyle of sin or in any unrepentant sin that we know about. We may have sin that we're not even aware of, but the Lord will bring them to our attention, and then we will repent of them if we are born again. It's clear. That is, once again, true saving faith must flow from regeneration. Otherwise, it's a superficial kind of faith, which does not necessarily include repentance unto life. True saving faith is bound up with repentance unto life, because both flow from the same fountain of life, which springs up in the soul by the grace of God. Then the act of saving faith unite... Now we're going to talk about justification. Saving faith unites us with Christ. brought into existence by the work of the Holy Spirit and planting Christ in the heart by the Word of God. And saving faith flees to Christ. It runs into the strong tower and stays there forever. Saving faith is the effect of regeneration, which is Christ in the heart. And Christ in us gives us the ability to believe and the desire to believe in Christ. And there is no other way to truly believe in Him. This twofold relationship of Christ in us and us in Christ, this constitutes our union with Him. We are in union with Christ by faith. We are accounted as righteous by the very righteousness of Christ, which He hammered out during His earthly ministry. He earned eternal life by His own perfect obedience. And therefore, justification is not a legal fiction or contrary to fact declaration. We are actually righteous in God's eyes because we are in union with the Righteous One who bore the full penalty for our guilt on the cross and who lived an absolutely sinless and perfectly righteous life, which God demonstrated by raising Him from the dead. If He had been a sinner, He would still be in the grave like everyone else. But by means of union with Christ, God can justify the ungodly and yet remain perfectly just." It's amazing. In Romans 3.26, it says, "...to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Justification by grace alone, through faith alone, is the article by which the church stands or falls. It is by grace, because saving faith is the product of regeneration. And this faith joins us with Christ, who is our righteousness. In 1 Corinthians 1.30, it says, But of Him we are in Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. It's of Him that we're in Christ, not of our own free will, as it's used in Arminian or Pelagian or semi Pelagian circles, but our free will is made free by Christ in us and Which finally we're free from sin in John 8. It says if the Sun shall make you free then you will be free indeed So that's a short a short section on justification and now I make it we're gonna move on to adoption which I don't hear Too many sermons or discussions about adoption, but it's a very critical doctrine. In contrary to the idea of liberal theology or theologians, people are not children of God by nature. In contrary to the thinking of many Christians, we're not children of God by regeneration. Though we are born of God, there is still the need for our adoption to be counted as children of God. John 1.12-13 separates these two. And there it says, "...but as many received Him, to them gave He the power or the right to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on His name, which were born before they believed, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." So we're born and then become children of God by adoption. And the Son of God is the only begotten of the Father. So we can't be children of God by being born again, or we would be, or He wouldn't be the only begotten. We would be also begotten of the Father and therefore Son. But we can only be children of God through union with Christ. We are, in Ephesians 1, it says we're predestined, predestinated unto adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. And that comes about by our being in Christ by grace. and therefore accepted in the Beloved." That's a blurb on adoption. Now, the sealing of the Holy Spirit is another part of the Ordo Salutis. The sealing of the Spirit is sometimes confused with regeneration. But we must be very careful to distinguish the two, because Scripture clearly places the sealing after believing. In Ephesians 1.13, it says, "...in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." So if sealing were the same as regeneration, it would follow faith, but it's not the same. After you believe, then you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Armenians typically confuse regeneration and dwelling or sealing by the Spirit because they really, really need a verse that teaches regeneration following and depending on free will of man. But this is not one, and there are none. By way of analogy, when a man purchases a house, which is a real fixer-upper, all broken down inside, moldy and uninhabitable, He's first going to renovate the interior to some extent to bring it into a habitable condition before He moves in with His family. Likewise, regeneration and sealing are different works of the Spirit. In the first, He makes the house indwellable by planting Christ in the heart. And in the second, He indwells. In 2 Corinthians 1.22, it says, "...who hath also sealed us and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." So that's sealing. Then I'm gonna talk about the topic of progressive sanctification. Wow, surprising. Sanctification can be thought of as the process of the outworking of the new life, which was implanted in us in a seed form at regeneration. Like we read in 1 Peter, it's a seed. And in James, that seed is planted in us, which gives us new life. But while we are counted as perfectly righteous by God, by the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, we are not in ourselves perfectly righteous by either regeneration or by justification. We're still sin. We must be accepted by God as perfectly righteous in Christ and adopted before progressive sanctification can even begin. Otherwise, our motive is not gratitude and love, but fear of damnation. And fear is no ground of sanctification. In 1st John 4, 18, it says, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. While sanctification is progressive, it's not a work that we do. We don't begin the Christian life by grace through faith. and then leave that aside while we sanctify ourselves through our efforts to keep the law. On the other hand, we don't let go and let God as if sanctification was entirely the work of God, as is regeneration. On the contrary, we are called to be active in our sanctification, and yet sanctification is by grace through faith and continues the process of conversion. We must continue to repent of our sins and believe the gospel of free grace. There is mystery in this, as Paul commanded the Philippians to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, but he doesn't leave it there. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure." So there is this sense of working together or synergism, as we say, In Romans 8, 13, it says, "...for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." We are not passive in this. It says, "...ye through do mortify," and yet it is by the Spirit. It's through the Spirit we mortify the deeds of the flesh. There are many who attempt to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the flesh, and they end up going from bad to worse. They work very hard to stop sinning and either fail outright and fall into the same sin over and over, or perhaps even worse, succeed and become proud of themselves for their success. These are the ones who say, keep to yourself, do not come near me for I am too holy for you. But God says, these are a smoke in my nostrils. A fire that burns all the day. That's Isaiah 65, 6. In 1st John 5, 4 it says, But whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Progressive sanctification is the outworking of regeneration in the soul, which always results in repentance unto life and saving faith. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. By grace, we turn from them through faith. We are wholly dependent on the Holy Spirit to accomplish this in us. And yet we cannot simply let go and let God do the work independently of us. Progressive sanctification is synergistic. It is the work of the Holy Spirit through our wills as we confess our sins and believe that Christ has paid it all and that we are accepted in Him. The gratitude and love which justification and adoption by free grace generate in us is the absolutely essential engine of sanctification because as Jesus said, if you love me, then you will keep my commandments. In 1st John 5-3 it says, "...for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous." The converse holds as well. If we are not keeping His commandments, then it's because of a lack of love for Him. We naturally love the world and the things of the world, but believing the gospel must generate love in the heart. This is, I think, the main topic of 1st John. It's that cycle of sanctification is through believing the gospel. That's how it begins, and that's how it continues. And if we don't have the love of Christ in our heart, then there must be a lack of understanding of the gospel or a lack of genuine belief in the gospel. In either case, the solution is never to try harder to keep the commandments, but to repent of our lack of love for Christ. The problem must always be dealt with in the heart before the will can be affected. The solution is to come to a deeper realization of what Christ has done for us for the salvation of sinners and our own wickedness, which is willing to ignore Him and turn from Him to continue in unrepentant sin. This is the battle of a lifetime. There are no shortcuts and there is no easy way to victory. It says there in Matthew 7.14, straight is the gate and narrow is the way, which leads to life. So that's progressive sanctification, a small, a small mini study on that. And now I'm just going to move on to the final stage or step in the order of solutions, which is glorification. And fortunately, if we don't have much time, there isn't much to be said about glorification. only a little, as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him." That doesn't tell us much except that it will be more glorious than we can comprehend at this point. In 1 John 3, verses 2 and 3, it says, Beloved, now we are sons of God. and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, and for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure." So we will just end with this, which ties everything together, the certainty of glorification for the elect. Back to Romans 8.30, the golden chain of salvation. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called, them He also justified. And whom He justified, them also He glorified." It's put in the past tense because it's so certain that it's going to happen. Not one will fall through the cracks, not one will be lost. And yet it's God's work at every stage here, the predestination, the calling, the justification, and glorification. So as it says in 2 Peter 1.10, let us be diligent to make our calling and election sure. Everything is in Christ. Our election is in Christ. Our calling is in Christ. Our justification is in Christ. And our glorification is in Christ. To Him be the glory now and always. Amen. Amen. Yeah, maybe we could. Simplify, simplify the five links in chain. Sure. Election. And then calling and then justification, sanctification, glorification. Yep. You got you have sub points in between those just just to help people get a grasp of it. Those are the five main points in the Golden Chain of Salvation, or in the Ordo Salutis, which is election, effectual call, justification, sanctification, glorification. Those, I think, are pretty easy to remember. PASTOR BARRY ANDERSON Romans 830 has all except for sanctification, which is interesting. But all the things listed there in Romans 830 are God's work, God predestinates. We didn't do anything. God called us. We didn't do anything. God justifies us. We didn't do anything that aid our justification and glorify. But sanctification is a synergistic work. And plus, there may be like a battlefield conversion or like the thief on the cross. I mean, what kind of progressive sanctification did the thief on the cross experience? So sanctification is critical as long as we're in this life. We have to continue in abiding in Christ. And as it says in 1 John 3, purifying ourselves and continue to repent of our sin and turning to Christ and believing the gospel. This is the engine that produces love in us. And the love produces obedience. So yeah, that's then I think the way you, I was going to say you, introduced it with the fall of Adam although you went to election then the total depravity, but I think the whole Chain is introduced by total depravity by understanding the fall of man in Adam That's where everyone goes astray and told of gravity they even our minions will say they believe in it but then they then they undermine it with the very next thing they say and So the scripture makes it the work of God. We're fallen, we're dead in our sins, we can't please God, we hate God before we're regenerate. Even though people go to church, if they're unregenerate, they still hate God. It's hard to understand exactly, but there's that apathy. Hatred isn't always like an overt opposition, it's sometimes an apathy. They go to church, they sing a hymn, then they go home. But they don't read their Bible during the week, they don't pray. They go to church because their neighbors go to church or because their wife or whatever goes to church and they feel that they should do it. But it's a drudgery perhaps. But the joy of the Christian is to be in the Lord's house. And we don't put our Bibles and let them collect dust in the middle of the week. We open them every day and we read every day. It's not that it's a religious effort on our part, but it's a desire in our hearts that we want to pray. We want these things because it's God who works in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So any questions from anyone online? Nothing? I think Luther had it exactly right when he made the will the central point of depravity. If you see that today, how many will say that even total depravity is a lie, man's will is still free. That's the central point. that our will is in bondage to our nature, which is in bondage to men. And until we come to that realization, we're not going to see the beauty of salvation. One second. Can you hear me? Go ahead. Yeah, I can hear. Go ahead. Actually, I can't hear you. Sorry, I can't make out what you're saying. This sounds like static. Who is that? Sorry, I can't understand. Let me just reply to what Mark just said because I think it's an important point. Our will Our will is controlled. In the Scripture, the heart is viewed as the dispositional complex, as John Murray calls it. The will is part of the heart. In Genesis 6, it says that God saw that... hold on, let me just look it up real quick. Sorry, turning. Yes, it's fine. Ah. Nope, that's not the right verse, sorry. Anyway, oh, it's in Hebrews 4. Close enough. Hebrews. OK. Well, Joe. Oh Bob. Yeah, question is, like experientially, how do you determine or how do you think the Holy Spirit shows us whether we're really following in the flesh or in the spirit? Well, how the Holy Spirit tells us whether we're in the flesh or in the spirit? Yeah. Well, there's many things. In 1 John, there's quite a few verses that you know you've passed from death to life if you love the brethren, right? Like if you say like, well, I'm a believer, but I never go to church. Like, do you really love the brethren in that case? Like if you love them, wouldn't you want to be with them, them? So if you don't love the brethren, then how can you say that you're passed from death to life or born again? And likewise, you know, if you don't pray, if you're a non-praying person, Why would you think that you're born again? Like if you don't desire to be in fellowship with God and to be open your heart before Him and to praise Him. You know, if you don't sing with joy, if you have like a, if it's a drudgery to go to church and to read your Bible, you read, you have a Bible reading plan, but you read your verses and then you put it away. Never think about it, never meditate on these things. Like, I don't know, you have to question yourself. We should examine ourselves to see whether we're in the faith or not. And there's these telltale signs that should trouble us if we don't have them. If I'm angry with someone or if I hate a brother for no good reason, then that should make me afraid that I'm not understanding something correctly or that I'm maybe outside. I could say a lot more, but I don't think we have much more time. people about love, right? But the loving of the brethren and then loving God are the two identifiers of what John writes today. So the temperature of my heart, of the Christian heart, has been turned to love God supremely. And wouldn't that be the primary indicator? And then all of those trickle down from that, all the other needs that he's given us. And first, John, it says if you're So if you're continuing in unrepentant sin, you're not born again, right? You love your sin more than you love God. That's a clear sign. Okay, I'm gonna wrap up. I just wanna say one thing, what Mark said, that the will is key. And I think that we should think of really the heart is key because in Hebrews 4, 12, It talks about the Word of God being quick and powerful, and it says it's a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. So the heart has both thoughts, emotions. We think of the heart as having emotions, but in the Scripture, the heart has thoughts and intents, and our choices, our wills are determined by our nature. And our heart is if we love the world, then we'll follow after the things of the world. If we love ourselves more than we love our neighbor, then we'll do things for ourselves and nothing for our neighbor. And likewise, so it's a complex matter, it's a difficult thing, but the will is, I don't know, I view it as an aspect of the heart. I don't know if that's helpful or harmful, but it can't be harmful in Scripture. They say that the will is the slave to the desires, which would be similar. Yeah, that's what Jonathan Edwards talks about, the freedom of the will. Like a carrion buzzard, they may have free wills, but they will only eat a dead body. They will wait for the thing to die before they'll eat it. That's their nature. And our own nature, if we're depraved, our nature is to turn from God and to suppress the knowledge of God. If we're born again, our desire is to speak of Christ. I think maybe that's what Bob was trying to get me to say. Speaking of Christ, if He's in your heart, then He should be on your lips. That's my opinion. Okay, I'm gonna have to close now. Mark is getting anxious to go. Okay, let's pray. Holy God and our Heavenly Father, what a joy it is to consider these things. Lord, help us to humble ourselves before the Scriptures when they teach us that it's all of grace. Help us to understand more deeply what it means, all of grace. Not that we did this and that You did that in response. It's not that, Lord. You are sovereign over our hearts, and You give new life to those whom You wish. And Lord, we do thank You and praise You that You've given new life to us. We love You because You first loved us, and we can only praise You and thank You. It's a glorious, glorious truth, these doctrines of grace. We praise You and thank You for them and ask that Christ would be glorified in our lives. Help us to turn from sin. Lord, give us new life if anyone lacks it. Form Christ in us and work Him out in our lives that we would be conformed to His image, that when He appears, we wouldn't be ashamed, that we would be like Him and see Him as He is and be ever with the Lord. In whose name we pray, Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank the Lord.