WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.560 Let me pray and we'll start that way. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we, all of us, have had an hour less sleep than we might otherwise have had last night. 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:22.460 ! And we also understand that we're on the very edges of our understanding of what you reveal to us here. So we pray, please, that you would help us this evening. 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:35.140 Lord, we want to honour you in the way that we think. We want to be careful to honour your word and to believe it and trust it, even when it says things that we find difficult. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:44.980 We also, Lord, don't want to assume that we can demand you work in a certain way when you have revealed yourself differently. 00:00:44.979 --> 00:01:02.979 Lord, so give us tender and submissive hearts and also just allow us the freedom to disagree with one another, maybe, to come to slightly different conclusions, to submit to you and rightly love one another, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:01:02.979 --> 00:01:03.119 Amen. 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:14.620 Now, I feel I probably need to add a caveat to my advert this morning, which maybe is what brought you here this evening, when I said that I would answer all your questions on free will. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:24.299 I think that the small print to that, which you maybe didn't read, was, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. 00:01:25.759 --> 00:01:28.859 That is false advertising. I'm sorry. 00:01:28.859 --> 00:01:34.640 I'm free to advertise falsely, should I choose to. 00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:39.819 It is a complicated topic, and I am not an academic. 00:01:40.379 --> 00:01:46.960 We might all make mistakes this evening, but we're going to try and think together with our Bibles open and seek the Lord's help as we walk through this. 00:01:47.039 --> 00:01:51.000 So what does free will and freedom of the will mean? 00:01:51.420 --> 00:01:54.379 I think the best place for us to start is to start with Adam. 00:01:54.379 --> 00:02:00.640 Now, we need to start there because Adam in the Bible is in a category of his own. 00:02:01.399 --> 00:02:09.579 If you've been with us through our Romans series, you'll know that Romans 5 treats Adam differently to the rest of humanity after him. 00:02:09.659 --> 00:02:11.240 It's the same in 1 Corinthians 15. 00:02:11.699 --> 00:02:13.579 Jesus is called the second Adam. 00:02:13.579 --> 00:02:20.819 So by definition, Adam is the first Adam, and there is no Adams in between Adam and Jesus. 00:02:20.819 --> 00:02:31.479 And that means that our freedom, the freedom that we have to sin, is not quite like Adam's because he's in a different category to us. 00:02:31.939 --> 00:02:35.139 I want to suggest to you that Adam is in a different category in two ways. 00:02:35.239 --> 00:02:36.459 Firstly, in position. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:42.159 So Adam in the garden is the representative of humanity. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:46.699 In Adam, all of humanity, if you like, are on probation. 00:02:47.579 --> 00:02:52.000 They are under a covenant of works where God says, if you do this, you will live. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:54.719 And if you do this, you will not live. 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.020 Adam is placed in a temple garden. 00:02:58.199 --> 00:02:59.259 He's provided with food. 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:02.639 He's given a job and a helper, and he's given this covenant. 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:05.120 So he is in a unique position. 00:03:05.659 --> 00:03:10.180 All of humanity are on his shoulders in that moment. 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:14.620 The second thing is, though, he's also unique in nature. 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:16.040 He's unique in nature. 00:03:16.580 --> 00:03:25.000 In other words, I want us to see together that Adam has a freedom in Genesis 1, 2, and 3 that you and I no longer have. 00:03:26.180 --> 00:03:33.780 Adam's sin is not quite like our sin today, not only because the consequences for humanity are much more significant, 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:40.539 but also because his sin comes from a slightly different place because there's a slightly different nature. 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:42.479 So Genesis chapter 3. 00:03:42.580 --> 00:03:43.420 It's printed on your handout. 00:03:43.580 --> 00:03:46.400 You can turn to it if you want to, but I'm going to read it to you. 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:52.479 Now, the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:53.979 He said to the woman, 00:03:54.659 --> 00:03:59.699 Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? 00:04:00.419 --> 00:04:01.419 The woman said to the serpent, 00:04:01.579 --> 00:04:03.519 We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:07.620 but God did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, 00:04:07.659 --> 00:04:09.659 and you must not touch it or you will die. 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:13.280 You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman. 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:17.060 For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:19.420 and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:26.240 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:31.199 and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:36.340 She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 00:04:37.139 --> 00:04:43.000 Now, I am going to assume the first thing is that we need to presume that Adam and Eve are together in this, right? 00:04:43.400 --> 00:04:45.980 He was with her, we are told. 00:04:45.980 --> 00:04:51.080 We can spend another evening, if you like, on the distinction between Adam and Eve and the roles of men and women, 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:56.640 but I'm going to do one difficult topic per evening and not all of them in one, right? 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:01.040 The rest of the Bible seems to hold Adam accountable for the sin of Genesis 3. 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:03.700 So when I say Adam, I am meaning Adam and Eve, 00:05:03.819 --> 00:05:07.500 but I'm taking Adam to be in a special category as the first Adam. 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:12.900 Now, with that in mind, I want you to think about what is the very first sin? 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:16.019 What is the first sin in verse 6? 00:05:16.939 --> 00:05:24.560 Now, if you define sin as rule-breaking, transgression, which is how the Bible often defines sin, 00:05:24.899 --> 00:05:27.519 then the first sin is the eating of the fruit. 00:05:28.459 --> 00:05:35.399 But if sin has a root before that, then really the sin behind the sin, if I can put it that way, 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:37.739 is the desire for the fruit. 00:05:37.740 --> 00:05:44.699 Notice that the desire for the fruit is not only that the fruit is good for food, 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:47.400 that, if you like, is a natural desire, isn't it? 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:51.540 When I mean natural, what I mean is that is an okay desire. 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:56.960 That is a human, non-fallen human desire for food. 00:05:57.379 --> 00:06:00.280 But it's not just that the fruit is good for food, is it? 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:04.160 It is that it is also for gaining wisdom. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:10.939 Here, really, the first sin, the sin behind the sin, is the doubting of God's goodness. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:13.580 It's the, is God really good? 00:06:13.640 --> 00:06:15.439 Is he holding back from me? 00:06:16.880 --> 00:06:20.160 It's that desire to seek wisdom outside of knowing God. 00:06:20.260 --> 00:06:23.020 It's the desire for God-like status for themselves. 00:06:23.980 --> 00:06:27.960 Those are the sins behind the sin of eating the forbidden fruit. 00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:33.779 And that sets a really helpful distinction, which is going to be really important for us this evening as we go forward. 00:06:34.239 --> 00:06:37.839 And that is the distinction between desire and action. 00:06:39.979 --> 00:06:44.779 Desire always comes first and then leads to action. 00:06:45.479 --> 00:06:53.959 And Adam, along with Eve, in the garden are in a unique position because they are created with both liberty of desire and liberty of action. 00:06:53.959 --> 00:07:01.939 In other words, what seems to be really important for us to understand in Genesis 3 is that humanity are not under compulsion in Adam. 00:07:02.779 --> 00:07:05.299 Satan is not making them sin. 00:07:05.779 --> 00:07:12.219 He is the occasion of the temptation for which he himself is held accountable because that was wicked in itself. 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:14.500 But he is not forcing them to sin. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:21.259 Rather, he is suggesting to Adam a desire to freely follow. 00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:27.480 And it is that desire which takes seed and then leads to the action. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:35.899 Now, we have to say that this freedom of desire is good in Adam and Eve. 00:07:36.539 --> 00:07:44.879 God did not make Adam and Eve to be obedience machines that would just automatically follow God's instructions. 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:49.639 Instead, he makes man and woman as free agents. 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:51.680 He makes them as independent creatures. 00:07:52.039 --> 00:07:58.300 He gives them a freedom to desire what they will and to work that desire out in whatever way they choose. 00:07:59.339 --> 00:08:00.379 That is good. 00:08:00.599 --> 00:08:03.259 Very good, says God in Genesis. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:09.659 But what happens after the fall is that they lose the freedom of desire. 00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:13.560 Now, you notice that in two ways. 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:17.680 Firstly, you notice it in the relationship between the two of them. 00:08:17.819 --> 00:08:19.899 Look down at verse 7 on your handout. 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:25.399 Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked. 00:08:26.019 --> 00:08:29.740 So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 00:08:30.840 --> 00:08:33.500 Notice the loss of liberty for Adam and Eve. 00:08:33.500 --> 00:08:39.740 They are no longer able to look at one another free from sinful desire. 00:08:41.340 --> 00:08:45.799 Selfish sexual desire was now natural to them, if you will. 00:08:47.139 --> 00:08:48.679 Inherent to their new state. 00:08:49.539 --> 00:08:53.820 So the instant that they cement their sinful desire for God-like status in eating the fruit, 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:56.279 they can no longer look at each other purely. 00:08:56.740 --> 00:08:57.860 Comes instantly, doesn't it? 00:08:57.960 --> 00:08:58.620 Like that. 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:02.419 And the other way you see it is in their relationship with God. 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:03.360 Verse 8. 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:09.980 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, 00:09:10.379 --> 00:09:12.840 and they hid from the Lord among the trees of the garden. 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:15.940 Obviously, hiding from God is a hopeless task. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:16.740 Don't ever try it. 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:18.560 But that is their new instinct. 00:09:19.340 --> 00:09:22.259 There is a guilt and a shame to their new sinful nature, 00:09:22.259 --> 00:09:26.580 which means that they instinctively no longer desire to be in God's presence. 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:30.020 They desire the opposite of God's presence. 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:34.220 They desire to hide from God rather than be with God. 00:09:34.800 --> 00:09:37.120 And in a sense, they are right to desire that, aren't they? 00:09:37.160 --> 00:09:41.700 Because God cements them in that by throwing them out of the garden, 00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:44.280 the temple-like garden, and locking the doors behind them, 00:09:44.800 --> 00:09:47.040 setting up the cherubim so that they can't come back. 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:51.720 Now, this is key for us, right? 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:58.200 We are not Adam or Eve because we are not in the same position, right? 00:09:59.019 --> 00:10:01.480 We are not in the perfect temple garden. 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:02.440 We're not born there. 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:03.420 We don't start there. 00:10:03.540 --> 00:10:04.879 Humanity has left there. 00:10:05.680 --> 00:10:08.379 Our position is the same as at the end of Genesis 3, 00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:10.680 where we are excluded from the presence of God, 00:10:11.060 --> 00:10:14.000 where the soil grows weeds, where relationships are rocky, 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:18.180 and we compete for power against one another. 00:10:18.179 --> 00:10:21.719 But we also no longer have, we don't have the same position, 00:10:21.819 --> 00:10:24.159 but remember, we don't also have the same nature. 00:10:25.299 --> 00:10:28.679 Our nature doesn't have the freedom that Adam's had before the fall. 00:10:29.219 --> 00:10:32.019 We are like a post-fall Adam and Eve. 00:10:32.519 --> 00:10:36.439 We no longer have the freedom to desire what is good and pleasing to God. 00:10:37.259 --> 00:10:39.839 That becomes really obvious biblically, doesn't it? 00:10:40.959 --> 00:10:42.139 Cain kills Abel. 00:10:42.139 --> 00:10:51.100 It seems like this desire for rebellion and desire for sinful, selfish power is innate to Cain. 00:10:51.620 --> 00:10:54.699 He doesn't have another Adam-like fall himself. 00:10:54.980 --> 00:10:57.399 It's just that he is born with sinful desire. 00:10:58.419 --> 00:11:00.179 Covetous desire, it seems, isn't it? 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.240 Selfish desire for power and status. 00:11:03.319 --> 00:11:05.460 But you can prove it sociologically as well, can't you? 00:11:05.500 --> 00:11:06.279 We know this. 00:11:06.299 --> 00:11:08.759 You never have to teach a child how to do wrong. 00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:12.500 Somehow children know the word mine. 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:16.700 I mean, no parent teaches the kid the word mine as one of their first words, 00:11:16.779 --> 00:11:18.240 but it seems to be instinctive, doesn't it? 00:11:18.460 --> 00:11:19.600 That's mine. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:20.819 It's mine. 00:11:21.179 --> 00:11:22.139 I want it. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:23.600 Why? 00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:31.700 Well, because we inherit Adam's fallen humanity, not his pre-falled humanity. 00:11:32.860 --> 00:11:34.779 So we are excluded from the garden, 00:11:34.779 --> 00:11:38.500 and we've lost the liberty to please God that Adam once enjoyed. 00:11:39.659 --> 00:11:42.259 The Bible describes that in loads of different ways, okay? 00:11:42.659 --> 00:11:47.299 Ezekiel describes it like having a heart of stone and not a heart of flesh. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:50.419 Jeremiah calls it an uncircumcised heart. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:54.039 Jesus calls it the need to be born again, John 3. 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:57.899 The need to pass from death to life in John 5. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:01.939 Ephesians calls it being dead in our trespasses and sins. 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:04.340 Colossians calls it being dead in our sins. 00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:07.600 Romans calls it the mind governed by the flesh, which is death. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:13.639 And the 1689 Baptist Confession, which we've been looking at together, 00:12:14.100 --> 00:12:16.220 summarizes this in a couple of sentences. 00:12:16.420 --> 00:12:16.980 Here they are. 00:12:16.980 --> 00:12:30.560 Man in the state of innocence, that is, in Adam, had freedom and power to will and to do what is good and well-pleasing to God. 00:12:30.980 --> 00:12:36.800 Yet this condition was unstable so that he could fall from it. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:49.039 And he did. 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:55.539 Now, all of that is quite uncontroversial, if you want to use a... 00:12:55.539 --> 00:12:57.399 I think it's uncontroversial anyway. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:02.379 I mean, it's controversial outside the church, but inside of the church, it's really difficult to argue with that, right? 00:13:02.379 --> 00:13:09.600 See, most evangelical organizations will have a statement of faith, which reads something like the FIC one, which says, 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:18.659 As a result of the fall of our first parents, every aspect of human nature has been corrupted, and all men and women are without spiritual life, guilty sinners and hostile to God. 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:27.200 Every person is therefore under the just judgment of God and needs to be born again, forgiven and reconciled to God in order to know and please him. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:32.580 I mean, that's just essential evangelical Bible faith, isn't it? 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:37.940 That we need to go into the world and tell the gospel, because without the gospel, people are under judgment. 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:39.000 Why are they under judgment? 00:13:39.340 --> 00:13:40.379 Because they are sinful. 00:13:40.520 --> 00:13:41.240 Why are they sinful? 00:13:41.680 --> 00:13:46.100 Because they inherit Adam's guilt and they behave in an Adam-like way. 00:13:50.100 --> 00:13:56.259 The evangelical alliance statement of faith, I think, calls it being corrupted by sin, which is the state that we're all in. 00:13:57.860 --> 00:14:01.879 I don't think that's very controversial, because I think everyone really essentially has to believe that. 00:14:02.220 --> 00:14:04.379 But I don't think it's very well taught, necessarily. 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:07.860 And I don't think the implications of it are very well worked out. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:10.240 And that's what we're going to try and do together this evening. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:14.100 Because it means, if that is our state, right? 00:14:14.160 --> 00:14:19.379 If we are in a post-Adam, post-fall world, where we are corrupted by sin, 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:24.920 then it means that affects what we mean by the word free will. 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:35.639 So, it is helpful, I think, to differentiate between what we might call liberty of indifference and liberty of spontaneity. 00:14:36.579 --> 00:14:39.699 Now, some of you go cold when I say words like this. 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:43.019 I mean, I love it like this, but you might go, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:14:43.459 --> 00:14:45.919 Anyway, let me try and explain what I mean by those things. 00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:54.419 Liberty of indifference would be a version of events where you are completely indifferent to either outcome of a choice that's presented to you. 00:14:54.419 --> 00:14:58.699 I was trying really hard in my study this afternoon to think of examples of this. 00:14:59.199 --> 00:15:02.699 This doesn't work for at least one person in this room, but I think for most of us this would work. 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:07.419 You know, if you're out for a meal or you go to a bar and you order a Diet Coke, 00:15:08.179 --> 00:15:11.439 and then they go, oh, sorry, we don't have Coke. 00:15:11.860 --> 00:15:12.839 Is Diet Pepsi okay? 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:18.120 What they expect you to say then is, or any normal person will say is, 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:21.219 that's absolutely fine because I don't know the difference between the two of them, right? 00:15:21.220 --> 00:15:24.060 Okay, so some of you are saying, because, yeah, I knew that. 00:15:24.800 --> 00:15:26.160 Is there a difference between that? 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:27.060 It's very different. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:31.160 Okay, right. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:32.379 Let me rephrase this. 00:15:32.899 --> 00:15:39.000 Enter into my imaginary universe where I can't tell the difference between Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke. 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:44.460 So if you present me with that choice, I have liberty of indifference. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:50.460 I am completely indifferent to whether I drink Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi because they both taste exactly the same to me, right? 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:51.399 So I don't care. 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:58.080 And so in some ways, if you present me with that choice over and over again, it would be kind of random, right? 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:03.639 Because sometimes I'd choose Diet Coke and sometimes I'd choose Diet Pepsi and it would be, you know, just entirely random. 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:04.160 I'm indifferent. 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.180 Now, change it for Marmite, right? 00:16:08.259 --> 00:16:13.360 Which I, again, this might not work either, but you're supposed to either love that or hate that, right? 00:16:15.379 --> 00:16:17.720 And again, I know that doesn't work, but go with it for the sake of argument. 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:30.160 If I present you with Marmite on toast or just like butter on toast, because you either love or hate Marmite, you will always choose the same one because you are not indifferent to the outcome. 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:32.720 You have liberty of spontaneity. 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:41.240 So you could choose to eat the Marmite really fast or you could choose to eat it really slow or you could choose to, you know, eat it now or eat it later or whatever it is. 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:42.320 You cold, Lola? 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:44.440 Or are you leaving? 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:45.200 One of the two. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:45.259 One of the two. 00:16:47.720 --> 00:16:49.700 She's getting ready to leave. 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:53.259 She is indifferent to the outcome of this. 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:58.220 Okay, so you would have liberty of spontaneity, but not liberty of indifference. 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:00.920 Do you understand the distinction between those two? 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:05.000 So in liberty of indifference, I don't really care about the outcome. 00:17:05.500 --> 00:17:15.880 In liberty of spontaneity, I have a pre-decided will or desire, which always determines my choice, right? 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:24.300 So if you present someone with Marmite or butter on toast, they will always choose the same thing because it's conditioned by their heart's desire. 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:26.300 They either love it or they hate it, right? 00:17:27.800 --> 00:17:34.320 Whereas with Coke that tastes exactly the same, they will just drink whichever one because they're indifferent to it. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:41.079 Now, let me try and give you some more concrete examples that don't involve food because that might be even easier. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:42.559 I don't think it's that complicated. 00:17:42.659 --> 00:17:43.939 It works out in important ways. 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:48.539 Basically, this is the doctrine that our lives kind of flow out of our hearts, right? 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:52.079 So the attitude of our hearts shapes the actions that we perform. 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:56.819 Jesus says that out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. 00:17:56.980 --> 00:18:00.699 The writer of the Proverbs says that our hearts are the wellspring of our lives. 00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:04.980 In other words, it is something inside of us that then comes out of us in action. 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:14.539 And so we have a liberty of spontaneity, but our choices are fundamentally shaped by what's going on inside of us, our hearts. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:18.559 John Murray puts it like this in his book, Systematic Theology. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:21.940 He says, two men have the power to earn a livelihood. 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:25.679 One does it by honorable labor, the other resorts to theft. 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:27.740 What explains the difference? 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:34.139 It is not the power of volition or the power of choice or free will, but both are endowed with this. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:40.839 It is apparent that we must go beyond the power of choice and the mere exercise of this power in actual choices. 00:18:41.659 --> 00:18:45.839 That lies at the back of the power and the exercise of its character is the character. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:52.159 And because there is a radical difference of character, volition is exercised in totally different ways. 00:18:52.659 --> 00:18:59.799 The character is the habitus or habit of the person, the whole complex of desires, of motives, of propensions, of principles. 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:03.200 In other words, right? 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:05.940 What we do comes out of who we are. 00:19:06.500 --> 00:19:08.960 Now, and that works in a very simple level, doesn't it? 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:13.839 So one person chooses to get a job and earn their money honorably. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.419 Another decides to be a thief. 00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:21.080 But really, the question for us is not about what you want to do for your career. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:31.080 The question is, when it comes to things of God, when it comes to having faith in God, do we have liberty of indifference or do we have liberty of spontaneity? 00:19:31.820 --> 00:19:39.340 In other words, if you present sinful humanity, post-Adam sinful humanity, with a choice to have faith in Jesus, 00:19:39.339 --> 00:19:46.059 are they totally indifferent to the outcome so that it's almost random whether they choose to believe or not? 00:19:46.459 --> 00:19:52.399 Or do they simply have a liberty of spontaneity so that they will always choose to reject God, 00:19:52.740 --> 00:19:56.019 even though they have the liberty to do that in whatever way they will, 00:19:56.459 --> 00:19:59.959 whether that be through false religion or wild living or whatever it is? 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:06.860 Now, I think you have to say that the evidence of the Bible is that in our sin, we are not indifferent to God. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:08.440 We are hostile to him. 00:20:09.299 --> 00:20:12.759 So when it comes to the things of God, we do not have liberty of indifference. 00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:17.640 You present people with the gospel, it is not a choice that they are indifferent to. 00:20:17.980 --> 00:20:21.019 It is a choice that they have liberty of spontaneity over, 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:24.400 so they could choose to reject him in whatever way they would. 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:30.580 But actually, our hearts are predisposed to reject God and to wander our own ways, 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:33.720 as of all humanity being post-Adam. 00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:37.680 That's Jesus' point, isn't it, to Nicodemus, John 3. 00:20:38.100 --> 00:20:42.240 You cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without being born again. 00:20:43.060 --> 00:20:47.660 Because without being born again, it doesn't matter how many times the kingdom of heaven is offered to you, 00:20:47.660 --> 00:20:52.180 you will never accept it, because you have already rejected it. 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:57.060 Ezekiel's heart of stone needs to be replaced with a heart of flesh. 00:20:57.560 --> 00:21:00.200 The dead man of Ephesians 2 needs to be made alive. 00:21:01.460 --> 00:21:05.080 This, if you know the term, you might have heard of the term total depravity. 00:21:05.320 --> 00:21:06.640 This is this doctrine, isn't it? 00:21:07.820 --> 00:21:11.539 Total depravity is not that everyone is as bad as they could be, right? 00:21:11.580 --> 00:21:12.820 That is not total depravity. 00:21:13.380 --> 00:21:18.440 It is that all of us, without any exception, have fallen in Adam, 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.320 and so we are hostile to God and his ways. 00:21:22.180 --> 00:21:23.220 Total depravity. 00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:23.279 Total depravity. 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:26.720 Every part of us affected by sin. 00:21:26.860 --> 00:21:28.980 Every one of us affected by sin. 00:21:30.100 --> 00:21:31.860 The confession continues like this. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:35.120 Man, by falling into a state of sin, 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:40.740 has completely lost all ability to choose any spiritual good that accompanies salvation. 00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:43.980 Thus natural man, that is man without the spirit, 00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:48.940 is absolutely opposed to spiritual good and dead in sin, 00:21:48.940 --> 00:21:56.079 so that he cannot convert himself by his own strength or prepare himself for conversion. 00:21:57.380 --> 00:22:02.680 Let me pause there and take questions or comments. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:05.279 Anything that's not been clear so far. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:16.980 This is not your only chance for questions, 00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:18.799 so there will be a further chance for questions, 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:22.799 but I just want to check that you're all scanning with me and keeping up. 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:23.299 Yeah. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:25.919 Yeah. 00:22:25.919 --> 00:22:28.079 The very last bit that you said about being born again, 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:29.700 were you saying that it's, 00:22:30.379 --> 00:22:33.619 I think you said that we have to be born again before we can accept it. 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:34.079 Yes. 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:37.399 Not that acceptance is supposed to be born again. 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:37.960 Yes. 00:22:39.180 --> 00:22:39.940 I think that's, 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:43.419 so we're going to come to sort of unpick that a little bit more in a moment, 00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:47.079 but I think that's Jesus' point in John 3, 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:48.919 is that you need to be born again. 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:50.039 So, 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:51.820 in order to have faith. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:53.519 So, 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:54.740 repentance and faith, 00:22:54.840 --> 00:22:57.320 those are kind of the two sides of the same thing, 00:22:57.560 --> 00:22:57.740 right? 00:22:57.860 --> 00:22:58.039 So, 00:22:58.360 --> 00:23:00.460 faith is trusting in God, 00:23:00.580 --> 00:23:02.600 repentance is turning from trusting in ourselves, 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:02.900 yeah? 00:23:02.980 --> 00:23:03.080 So, 00:23:03.120 --> 00:23:03.920 they're the same thing. 00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:12.940 Repentance and faith are not possible for someone who is in Adam and completely fallen. 00:23:13.560 --> 00:23:14.160 And so, 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:15.580 we need to be made new. 00:23:16.539 --> 00:23:18.900 And what's the first thing that a new thing is? 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:25.100 What a newborn Christian baby does is they repent of their sin and they turn to God. 00:23:28.580 --> 00:23:28.980 Yeah. 00:23:31.240 --> 00:23:31.640 Now, 00:23:31.700 --> 00:23:34.360 we're going to unpick that because there are some different views about how that works, 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:37.320 and those are going to come through in the next little bit. 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:37.480 So, 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:39.259 we can maybe suspend some questions on that. 00:23:39.259 --> 00:23:41.839 We don't know Genesis 6, 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:42.559 right? 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:43.779 It says gaining wisdom. 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:48.920 I'm sure my proverbs and ephesia 6, 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:50.680 so proverbs is God's wisdom, 00:23:51.339 --> 00:23:54.000 and ephesia 6 is human's wisdom. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:54.900 So, 00:23:54.900 --> 00:23:55.339 okay. 00:23:55.339 --> 00:23:55.619 So, 00:23:55.619 --> 00:23:57.779 thoughts on that? 00:23:59.259 --> 00:23:59.619 So, 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:02.339 yeah, 00:24:03.180 --> 00:24:03.400 I mean, 00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:04.539 proverbs, 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:06.380 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:06.700 So, 00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:07.339 the doorway, 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:08.640 so, 00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:09.819 proverbs is not 00:24:09.819 --> 00:24:12.359 bolt on wisdom 00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:13.740 for 00:24:13.740 --> 00:24:14.799 anybody 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:16.400 who doesn't trust the Lord, 00:24:16.539 --> 00:24:16.819 right? 00:24:17.419 --> 00:24:17.720 I mean, 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:18.159 in some ways, 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:19.559 some of the things there will help you, 00:24:19.919 --> 00:24:20.939 like keep your mouth closed, 00:24:21.019 --> 00:24:21.839 don't say too much, 00:24:22.019 --> 00:24:22.159 right? 00:24:22.159 --> 00:24:23.419 That's helpful for everybody to know. 00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:25.159 But, 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:25.539 in a way, 00:24:25.659 --> 00:24:29.419 you're not going to be any better off with proverbs wisdom without going through the doorway, 00:24:29.579 --> 00:24:31.240 which is the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:33.119 I don't think, 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:34.859 I think the book of Ecclesiastes is in the Bible, 00:24:34.899 --> 00:24:35.559 because I think it's, 00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:36.619 I think it's godly wisdom. 00:24:37.619 --> 00:24:37.939 Yeah. 00:24:39.159 --> 00:24:39.480 So, 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:41.139 but that's, 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:42.720 that's slightly tangential. 00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:42.960 So, 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:43.359 we might, 00:24:43.639 --> 00:24:46.000 we might have that conversation later, 00:24:46.159 --> 00:24:46.439 but yeah. 00:24:46.819 --> 00:24:47.019 Yeah. 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:49.240 Let's, 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:50.019 let's keep moving. 00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:51.179 I'll go on to these options, 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:51.879 and then you can, 00:24:52.179 --> 00:24:53.539 then you can ask questions about it. 00:24:53.619 --> 00:24:53.799 So, 00:24:54.379 --> 00:24:55.179 if we say, 00:24:55.980 --> 00:24:58.399 so that the doctrine of total depravity is, 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:01.740 is essentially agreed upon by most Christians, 00:25:01.919 --> 00:25:02.079 right? 00:25:02.119 --> 00:25:02.259 So, 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:03.899 the idea that, 00:25:04.679 --> 00:25:05.419 in Adam, 00:25:06.019 --> 00:25:09.279 all of us are in sin, 00:25:09.339 --> 00:25:12.139 in every part of our lives is affected by sin, 00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:14.460 and that we need God to work, 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:14.700 right? 00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:15.200 That is, 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:16.399 that is uncontroverted. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:16.960 It's very controversial. 00:25:17.560 --> 00:25:19.460 There are three options about how it might work, 00:25:19.540 --> 00:25:19.740 okay? 00:25:20.080 --> 00:25:20.620 Number one, 00:25:20.680 --> 00:25:21.820 which I don't think anyone says this, 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.360 but just for the sake of thoroughness. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:29.060 Option one might be that people demand the spirit to make them alive, 00:25:29.320 --> 00:25:29.580 right? 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:30.420 So, 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:31.040 in this scenario, 00:25:31.140 --> 00:25:31.700 a person says, 00:25:31.800 --> 00:25:31.880 well, 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:32.920 I want to follow Jesus. 00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:34.700 I know I can't follow Jesus in my own strength, 00:25:34.760 --> 00:25:39.780 so I'm going to demand that God gives me the spirit in order to make me able to follow him. 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:44.120 Asking for the Lord to do what they wouldn't be able to do for themselves. 00:25:44.440 --> 00:25:44.820 In a sense, 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:45.620 that sounds plausible, 00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:46.000 doesn't it? 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:47.780 It maintains dignity and responsibility, 00:25:47.779 --> 00:25:49.879 because if you don't ask for the spirit, 00:25:49.980 --> 00:25:50.879 you won't receive it, 00:25:51.339 --> 00:25:52.799 and so you will receive him, 00:25:53.259 --> 00:25:56.160 and so you won't be able to follow the Lord. 00:25:56.639 --> 00:25:58.079 The problem is that Jesus says the opposite. 00:25:58.339 --> 00:25:58.579 Let's, 00:25:58.639 --> 00:26:00.539 let's go to the John three quote there. 00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:02.119 Jesus answered, 00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:03.659 very truly I tell you, 00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:07.500 no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the spirit. 00:26:08.159 --> 00:26:10.039 Flesh gives birth to flesh, 00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:12.539 but the spirit gives birth to spirit. 00:26:13.159 --> 00:26:15.279 You should not be surprised at my saying, 00:26:15.379 --> 00:26:16.480 you must be born again. 00:26:17.019 --> 00:26:17.980 The wind, 00:26:18.819 --> 00:26:19.220 spirit, 00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:20.819 blows wherever it pleases. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:21.680 You hear it sound, 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:23.240 but you cannot tell where it comes from. 00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:25.579 So it is with everyone born of the spirit. 00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:27.859 It seems, 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:28.299 doesn't it, 00:26:28.299 --> 00:26:31.099 that the spirit does not go where he is demanded, 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.220 but where he has decided to go. 00:26:33.819 --> 00:26:34.839 So I don't think that works. 00:26:35.700 --> 00:26:40.659 Option two could be that the spirit operates on every individual without exception 00:26:40.659 --> 00:26:43.879 to give everybody the liberty to respond to the gospel. 00:26:45.099 --> 00:26:48.619 Here the idea is that God the spirit works on all of humanity 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:52.899 to enable them to respond to the gospel when and if they hear it. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:57.240 So this work of the spirit doesn't guarantee that people will become Christians 00:26:57.240 --> 00:26:58.180 when they hear the gospel. 00:26:58.299 --> 00:27:02.259 But it enables them to respond to the gospel should they wish to. 00:27:03.159 --> 00:27:06.259 This is the bedrock of Arminian theology. 00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:08.259 If you've not heard of that term, 00:27:08.359 --> 00:27:08.779 don't worry. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:13.419 Arminius was an opponent of Calvin back in the 17th century. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:17.759 And Arminius' followers proposed five oppositions to Calvin. 00:27:18.819 --> 00:27:19.899 So they agreed, 00:27:20.579 --> 00:27:23.000 Calvin and Arminius agreed on total depravity, 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:26.079 that we needed a work of God in order to be saved. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:30.099 But Arminius said that God's spirit works on everybody. 00:27:31.380 --> 00:27:32.759 And to support that view, 00:27:32.900 --> 00:27:35.940 he would use scriptures like John 1, 9. 00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:38.660 The true light that gives light to everyone 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:40.539 was coming into the world, 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:42.559 gives light to everyone. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:44.720 Or John 12, 32. 00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:46.980 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, 00:27:47.099 --> 00:27:49.799 will draw all people to myself. 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:52.539 Or Titus 2, verse 11. 00:27:53.059 --> 00:27:55.220 For the grace of God has appeared that offers, 00:27:55.319 --> 00:27:56.319 or I think probably better, 00:27:56.460 --> 00:27:59.419 brings salvation to all people. 00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:03.100 Now, that might seem quite neat, right? 00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:05.800 Because that then gives us this opportunity 00:28:05.800 --> 00:28:07.880 of people being held morally responsible 00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:11.920 for not choosing to follow Jesus, right? 00:28:11.940 --> 00:28:12.620 Because they have, 00:28:12.800 --> 00:28:15.539 everybody that you meet has been enabled 00:28:15.539 --> 00:28:17.740 by a thing that they call prevenient grace, 00:28:17.820 --> 00:28:19.039 that is grace for everybody, 00:28:20.120 --> 00:28:22.120 being enabled to respond to the gospel 00:28:22.120 --> 00:28:23.259 should they choose to. 00:28:26.060 --> 00:28:28.480 But there are some obvious problems with it. 00:28:29.420 --> 00:28:33.120 Firstly, is that the word all in the Bible 00:28:33.120 --> 00:28:34.120 doesn't always, 00:28:34.259 --> 00:28:36.000 and probably doesn't even often mean 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:37.440 all without exception. 00:28:39.019 --> 00:28:41.740 It's probably better to understand the word all 00:28:41.740 --> 00:28:44.140 in the Bible as all without distinction. 00:28:44.820 --> 00:28:47.360 That is, that all those who are saved 00:28:47.360 --> 00:28:49.519 are saved by the grace of God 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:51.560 that has appeared in Jesus Christ. 00:28:52.320 --> 00:28:53.660 Now, that's not just semantics. 00:28:54.140 --> 00:28:57.519 Paul in Romans is careful to qualify his alls like that. 00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:01.220 But it's not just the alls. 00:29:01.220 --> 00:29:02.900 There's also a logical problem 00:29:02.900 --> 00:29:04.960 with this doctrine of prevenient grace. 00:29:05.960 --> 00:29:07.079 Prevenient grace like that, 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:09.440 the idea that the spirit enables everybody 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:10.379 should they choose to, 00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:11.379 to respond to the gospel, 00:29:11.859 --> 00:29:13.859 essentially means that salvation 00:29:13.859 --> 00:29:16.019 is left up to personal choice. 00:29:17.299 --> 00:29:19.779 Removing God essentially from the equation 00:29:19.779 --> 00:29:22.259 so that theoretically at least, 00:29:22.500 --> 00:29:23.940 heaven could be empty. 00:29:23.940 --> 00:29:26.740 Because everybody might choose 00:29:26.740 --> 00:29:28.759 not to respond to the gospel. 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:32.920 And if heaven could be empty, 00:29:33.960 --> 00:29:36.240 Jesus could die for no reason, 00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:38.580 for the salvation of nobody. 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:40.720 If Jesus' death on the cross 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:42.920 was simply to make salvation possible 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:44.880 for those who would choose it, 00:29:45.559 --> 00:29:47.080 then it is possible 00:29:47.080 --> 00:29:49.620 for him to have died for no reason 00:29:49.619 --> 00:29:52.079 because nobody chose to make use 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:53.339 of his death on the cross. 00:29:54.279 --> 00:29:55.639 And if you could imagine 00:29:55.639 --> 00:29:57.579 that you have the spectacle 00:29:57.579 --> 00:29:59.379 of God the Son in human flesh 00:29:59.379 --> 00:30:01.699 on the cross for no reason, 00:30:02.379 --> 00:30:04.059 that seems to be the very opposite 00:30:04.059 --> 00:30:06.059 of the reason that Christ is motivated 00:30:06.059 --> 00:30:06.839 to go to the cross, 00:30:06.919 --> 00:30:09.679 which is for the joy set before him, 00:30:10.139 --> 00:30:12.079 which is the joy of being with his people. 00:30:12.579 --> 00:30:13.679 Or in John 10, 00:30:13.739 --> 00:30:15.659 where Jesus says he lays down his life 00:30:15.660 --> 00:30:16.440 for the sheep. 00:30:17.620 --> 00:30:19.960 It's like in Romans chapter 8, 00:30:20.080 --> 00:30:22.040 where it is along with him 00:30:22.040 --> 00:30:24.420 God graciously gives us all things. 00:30:24.980 --> 00:30:27.140 So Christ is given for us. 00:30:27.500 --> 00:30:28.460 It seems all the time 00:30:28.460 --> 00:30:30.259 when Jesus talks about his death on the cross, 00:30:30.320 --> 00:30:31.540 or the New Testament talks about 00:30:31.540 --> 00:30:32.340 his death on the cross, 00:30:32.660 --> 00:30:34.400 it's not to make salvation 00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:35.980 theoretically possible, 00:30:36.340 --> 00:30:37.300 but he dies on the cross 00:30:37.300 --> 00:30:39.200 to achieve salvation. 00:30:40.800 --> 00:30:42.019 And so we look at him on the cross 00:30:42.019 --> 00:30:42.259 and go, 00:30:42.259 --> 00:30:44.379 it was my sin that held him there 00:30:44.379 --> 00:30:45.920 until it was accomplished. 00:30:46.059 --> 00:30:46.920 His dying breath 00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:48.440 has brought me life. 00:30:51.460 --> 00:30:53.480 So that leaves us with option three. 00:30:55.460 --> 00:30:56.480 Option three 00:30:56.480 --> 00:30:59.059 is God chooses to give the spirit 00:30:59.059 --> 00:31:01.599 to those God has chosen to save. 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:05.759 This is how the 1689 Baptist Confession puts it. 00:31:06.379 --> 00:31:08.279 When God converts sinners 00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:10.759 and transforms them into the state of grace, 00:31:10.759 --> 00:31:13.859 he frees them from their natural bondage to sin 00:31:13.859 --> 00:31:16.480 and by his grace alone 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:19.519 enables them to will and to do freely 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:21.819 what is spiritually good, 00:31:22.379 --> 00:31:23.259 repenting and believing. 00:31:24.259 --> 00:31:25.759 Yet because of their remaining corruption, 00:31:26.059 --> 00:31:27.140 they do not perfectly 00:31:27.140 --> 00:31:29.960 or exclusively will what is good, 00:31:30.220 --> 00:31:31.859 but also what is evil. 00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:34.500 We're not completely rid 00:31:34.500 --> 00:31:35.859 of our old sinful natures 00:31:35.859 --> 00:31:37.180 even after conversion. 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:40.480 Now, the confession says that 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:41.340 with good reason. 00:31:42.060 --> 00:31:43.400 That's how Paul describes 00:31:43.400 --> 00:31:45.440 the order of salvation in Romans 8. 00:31:46.220 --> 00:31:47.779 And we know that in all things, 00:31:47.860 --> 00:31:49.080 God works for the good of those 00:31:49.080 --> 00:31:49.680 who love him, 00:31:49.720 --> 00:31:51.620 who've been called according to his purpose. 00:31:52.140 --> 00:31:53.560 For those God foreknew, 00:31:54.120 --> 00:31:56.360 he also predestined to be conformed 00:31:56.360 --> 00:31:57.500 to the image of his son, 00:31:57.920 --> 00:31:59.180 that he might be the firstborn 00:31:59.180 --> 00:32:00.880 among many brothers and sisters. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:04.280 And those he predestined, 00:32:04.380 --> 00:32:05.220 he also called. 00:32:05.320 --> 00:32:05.960 Those he called, 00:32:06.060 --> 00:32:06.980 he also justified. 00:32:07.220 --> 00:32:08.040 Those he justified, 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:09.280 he also glorified. 00:32:10.280 --> 00:32:11.360 It's helpful to remember 00:32:11.360 --> 00:32:12.700 that knowledge in the Bible 00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:15.900 is not simply knowing facts, 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:16.980 but it is relational. 00:32:17.580 --> 00:32:19.020 So when God foreknows 00:32:19.020 --> 00:32:20.100 those he predestined, 00:32:20.180 --> 00:32:21.280 it is that he enters 00:32:21.280 --> 00:32:23.020 into relationship with them. 00:32:23.600 --> 00:32:25.480 He is relationally knowing them. 00:32:25.540 --> 00:32:27.480 So it's not just that he is aware 00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:28.560 of what will happen, 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:30.720 but that actually his knowledge 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:32.440 is it happening. 00:32:33.159 --> 00:32:33.919 So those he foreknew, 00:32:34.019 --> 00:32:35.119 he also predestined 00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:35.839 to be conformed 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:36.639 to the image of his son, 00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:38.139 that he might be the firstborn 00:32:38.139 --> 00:32:39.379 among many brothers and sisters. 00:32:40.059 --> 00:32:41.220 It seems like God 00:32:41.220 --> 00:32:42.279 in eternity past 00:32:42.279 --> 00:32:45.759 wants Jesus to have many siblings, 00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:47.220 spiritual siblings, 00:32:47.339 --> 00:32:48.759 alongside him in glory, 00:32:49.299 --> 00:32:51.720 and so chose to send him 00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:53.019 in order for that to happen. 00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:55.359 It's how the work of the Spirit 00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:56.799 is described in Ephesians. 00:32:56.799 --> 00:33:00.039 But because of his great love for us, 00:33:00.460 --> 00:33:01.899 God who is rich in mercy 00:33:01.899 --> 00:33:03.539 made us alive with Christ 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:06.299 even when we were dead 00:33:06.299 --> 00:33:07.859 in transgressions. 00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:10.240 So it's not that we have faith 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:11.259 and then we receive, 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:12.980 but actually that we receive 00:33:12.980 --> 00:33:13.899 and so then we are able 00:33:13.899 --> 00:33:14.500 to have faith. 00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:16.039 It's by grace you have been saved. 00:33:16.519 --> 00:33:17.980 And God raised us up with Christ 00:33:17.980 --> 00:33:19.159 and seated us with him 00:33:19.159 --> 00:33:19.960 in the heavenly realms 00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:20.680 in Christ Jesus 00:33:20.680 --> 00:33:22.319 in order that in the coming ages 00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:23.440 he might show 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:24.899 the incomparable riches 00:33:24.900 --> 00:33:25.980 of his grace expressed 00:33:25.980 --> 00:33:27.060 in kindness to us 00:33:27.060 --> 00:33:27.880 in Christ Jesus. 00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:29.720 For it is by grace 00:33:29.720 --> 00:33:30.600 you have been saved 00:33:30.600 --> 00:33:31.740 through faith. 00:33:32.100 --> 00:33:32.600 And this, 00:33:32.700 --> 00:33:33.300 it's in the faith, 00:33:33.420 --> 00:33:34.460 is not from yourselves, 00:33:35.080 --> 00:33:36.160 it's the gift of God, 00:33:36.600 --> 00:33:37.360 not by works 00:33:37.360 --> 00:33:38.480 so that no one can boast. 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:40.720 It's how Ezekiel sees 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:41.440 the dry bones 00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:42.019 coming together 00:33:42.019 --> 00:33:42.940 in Ezekiel 37, 00:33:43.060 --> 00:33:43.280 isn't it? 00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:44.500 Prophesy to the breath, 00:33:44.980 --> 00:33:46.140 prophesy son of man 00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:46.680 and say to it, 00:33:46.759 --> 00:33:48.140 this is what the sovereign Lord says, 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:49.019 come breath 00:33:49.019 --> 00:33:50.000 from the four winds 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:51.720 and breathe into these slain 00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:52.620 that they may live. 00:33:52.619 --> 00:33:54.000 So I prophesied 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:54.819 as he commanded me 00:33:54.819 --> 00:33:55.899 and breath entered them 00:33:55.899 --> 00:33:56.879 and they came to life 00:33:56.879 --> 00:33:57.779 and stood on their feet 00:33:57.779 --> 00:33:58.719 a vast army. 00:34:00.399 --> 00:34:02.079 Now I want to suggest to you 00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:03.359 that option three, 00:34:03.659 --> 00:34:04.759 which is what is put forward 00:34:04.759 --> 00:34:05.479 by the confessions, 00:34:05.639 --> 00:34:06.479 actually answers 00:34:06.479 --> 00:34:08.880 a lot of our really challenging questions 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:09.679 about salvation. 00:34:10.779 --> 00:34:11.500 The question, 00:34:12.659 --> 00:34:14.299 if option three is right, 00:34:14.980 --> 00:34:16.440 is not so much 00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:18.440 why does God 00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:20.079 condemn to hell 00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:22.319 those who don't follow him, 00:34:22.619 --> 00:34:24.880 that's sealed in Adam, 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:25.440 isn't it? 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:28.199 It's more the question is, 00:34:28.500 --> 00:34:30.039 isn't it remarkable 00:34:30.039 --> 00:34:32.599 that God by his spirit 00:34:32.599 --> 00:34:34.599 enters into dead people 00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:36.819 to make them willingly 00:34:36.819 --> 00:34:39.559 long for planting new desires 00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:40.299 in their hearts 00:34:40.299 --> 00:34:41.639 to follow and trust 00:34:41.639 --> 00:34:42.480 and love the Lord Jesus, 00:34:43.239 --> 00:34:45.440 to do what we would not otherwise do? 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:47.700 You know, 00:34:47.700 --> 00:34:49.619 all of us in Adam 00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:50.179 have fallen. 00:34:50.300 --> 00:34:51.059 The opportunity 00:34:51.059 --> 00:34:52.980 to choose to follow God 00:34:52.980 --> 00:34:54.820 has passed in Adam 00:34:54.820 --> 00:34:57.860 and all of us 00:34:57.860 --> 00:34:58.960 are dead to God 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:00.500 and unable to respond to him 00:35:00.500 --> 00:35:01.720 and so condemnation 00:35:01.720 --> 00:35:03.000 is always fair. 00:35:03.320 --> 00:35:04.039 It would be fair 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:05.179 for all of us. 00:35:06.019 --> 00:35:06.659 The injustice 00:35:06.659 --> 00:35:07.760 is not 00:35:07.760 --> 00:35:08.440 condemnation. 00:35:09.780 --> 00:35:10.500 The injustice, 00:35:10.720 --> 00:35:11.740 if there is any injustice, 00:35:11.900 --> 00:35:12.820 is salvation. 00:35:12.820 --> 00:35:15.580 Why God in love 00:35:15.580 --> 00:35:16.840 would choose to save any. 00:35:17.700 --> 00:35:18.800 And once we've understood that 00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:20.180 and understood that God does that 00:35:20.180 --> 00:35:22.140 and that he's done that for us, 00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:24.100 then don't we long 00:35:24.100 --> 00:35:24.820 that he would do that 00:35:24.820 --> 00:35:25.700 for others. 00:35:25.960 --> 00:35:27.440 People don't carry a label, 00:35:27.580 --> 00:35:27.800 do they? 00:35:28.200 --> 00:35:29.039 This person 00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:31.300 is going to be given 00:35:31.300 --> 00:35:32.680 new life by the spirit, 00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:33.640 so preach to them. 00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:35.360 Instead, we're told, 00:35:36.059 --> 00:35:37.120 go into all the nations 00:35:37.120 --> 00:35:37.980 and preach the gospel 00:35:37.980 --> 00:35:39.199 and allow God 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:40.340 to do his work 00:35:40.340 --> 00:35:42.159 and expecting him 00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:43.079 to save 00:35:43.079 --> 00:35:44.599 because he is able 00:35:44.599 --> 00:35:45.280 to save. 00:35:45.900 --> 00:35:46.500 And so preaching 00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:47.659 is not futile. 00:35:47.800 --> 00:35:48.579 Sharing the gospel 00:35:48.579 --> 00:35:49.780 is not futile. 00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:51.300 Like Paul was told 00:35:51.300 --> 00:35:52.659 when he was in Corinth, 00:35:52.900 --> 00:35:53.360 stay there 00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:54.679 because I've got many people 00:35:54.679 --> 00:35:55.500 in that city, 00:35:55.780 --> 00:35:56.300 says the Lord 00:35:56.300 --> 00:35:57.280 to him. 00:35:58.300 --> 00:35:59.099 So we don't know 00:35:59.099 --> 00:35:59.960 who's going to be saved, 00:36:00.500 --> 00:36:01.260 but we do know 00:36:01.260 --> 00:36:02.559 that God will find them 00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:04.019 as we tell them 00:36:04.019 --> 00:36:05.280 the gospel. 00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:08.800 questions now 00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:10.540 and comments, 00:36:12.860 --> 00:36:13.500 observations, 00:36:14.980 --> 00:36:15.560 thoughts? 00:36:18.200 --> 00:36:18.720 Yes. 00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:19.920 I think, 00:36:20.160 --> 00:36:21.660 this might be 00:36:21.660 --> 00:36:22.080 a question, 00:36:22.200 --> 00:36:22.519 but I think 00:36:22.519 --> 00:36:23.019 I'm just struggling 00:36:23.019 --> 00:36:24.240 to see how any of that 00:36:24.240 --> 00:36:25.400 amounts to it 00:36:25.400 --> 00:36:27.140 being a form 00:36:27.140 --> 00:36:27.680 of liberty 00:36:27.680 --> 00:36:28.580 or spontaneity 00:36:28.580 --> 00:36:29.019 or a form 00:36:29.019 --> 00:36:29.960 of free will 00:36:29.960 --> 00:36:31.920 if what you're saying 00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:34.120 is certain people 00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:35.179 have the spirit 00:36:35.179 --> 00:36:35.759 come upon them 00:36:35.759 --> 00:36:36.139 or the spirit 00:36:36.139 --> 00:36:36.880 comes upon them, 00:36:37.539 --> 00:36:38.239 that's then 00:36:38.239 --> 00:36:39.259 salvation comes. 00:36:39.659 --> 00:36:40.539 It's only certain people 00:36:40.539 --> 00:36:41.179 and they don't choose 00:36:41.179 --> 00:36:42.859 which people it will be. 00:36:43.239 --> 00:36:44.019 But once they're chosen, 00:36:44.500 --> 00:36:44.960 that's that, 00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:45.420 they're saved, 00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:46.079 they won't be in heaven. 00:36:46.519 --> 00:36:47.299 And other people, 00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:48.799 the spirit doesn't come 00:36:48.799 --> 00:36:49.039 on them, 00:36:49.079 --> 00:36:49.659 they can't choose, 00:36:49.759 --> 00:36:50.420 they won't be in heaven. 00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:53.539 How is that even 00:36:53.539 --> 00:36:54.940 liberty of spontaneity? 00:36:54.940 --> 00:36:55.980 So, 00:36:56.139 --> 00:36:56.860 what I mean, 00:36:57.059 --> 00:36:57.519 because, 00:36:58.019 --> 00:36:58.280 so, 00:36:58.500 --> 00:36:59.519 liberty of spontaneity 00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:01.099 is the liberty 00:37:01.099 --> 00:37:02.059 to respond 00:37:02.059 --> 00:37:04.900 according to my desires 00:37:04.900 --> 00:37:06.579 in whatever way 00:37:06.579 --> 00:37:07.079 I choose, 00:37:07.179 --> 00:37:07.380 right? 00:37:08.280 --> 00:37:08.880 And so, 00:37:08.940 --> 00:37:09.460 what's happening 00:37:09.460 --> 00:37:10.179 in new birth 00:37:10.179 --> 00:37:11.039 is that God 00:37:11.039 --> 00:37:11.800 by his spirit 00:37:11.800 --> 00:37:12.400 has given me 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:13.240 a whole new heart 00:37:13.240 --> 00:37:13.940 with a whole new set 00:37:13.940 --> 00:37:14.380 of desires. 00:37:15.820 --> 00:37:16.260 So, 00:37:16.900 --> 00:37:18.400 I am free 00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:19.340 to respond 00:37:19.340 --> 00:37:20.099 in unbelief 00:37:20.099 --> 00:37:20.820 in whatever way 00:37:20.820 --> 00:37:21.720 I choose to respond 00:37:21.720 --> 00:37:22.300 in unbelief, 00:37:22.300 --> 00:37:23.320 but my unbelief 00:37:23.320 --> 00:37:24.200 is pre-programmed 00:37:24.200 --> 00:37:24.580 into me 00:37:24.580 --> 00:37:25.180 in Adam. 00:37:25.740 --> 00:37:25.840 Yeah. 00:37:26.280 --> 00:37:26.700 So, 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:27.800 I might choose 00:37:27.800 --> 00:37:29.080 not to 00:37:29.080 --> 00:37:30.460 listen to the gospel 00:37:30.460 --> 00:37:31.260 by becoming 00:37:31.260 --> 00:37:32.539 a very religious Christian 00:37:32.539 --> 00:37:34.120 who thinks 00:37:34.120 --> 00:37:34.580 that I 00:37:34.580 --> 00:37:35.840 am going to be 00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:36.440 saved by God 00:37:36.440 --> 00:37:37.160 because I've done 00:37:37.160 --> 00:37:39.039 lots of great works. 00:37:40.280 --> 00:37:41.220 That's a liberty 00:37:41.220 --> 00:37:42.060 of spontaneity. 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:42.539 I, 00:37:42.600 --> 00:37:44.000 I might choose 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:44.640 to rebel against 00:37:44.640 --> 00:37:44.940 the gospel 00:37:44.940 --> 00:37:46.260 by wild living. 00:37:47.180 --> 00:37:47.420 See, 00:37:47.560 --> 00:37:48.280 it's like the older 00:37:48.280 --> 00:37:48.900 and younger brother 00:37:48.900 --> 00:37:50.000 in the parable 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:50.580 of the lost son, 00:37:50.660 --> 00:37:50.920 isn't it? 00:37:51.560 --> 00:37:51.880 You can, 00:37:51.880 --> 00:37:52.660 you're free 00:37:52.660 --> 00:37:53.059 to choose 00:37:53.059 --> 00:37:53.539 to be an older 00:37:53.539 --> 00:37:54.240 or a younger brother, 00:37:55.039 --> 00:37:56.340 but what you can't do 00:37:56.340 --> 00:37:57.500 in your own strength 00:37:57.500 --> 00:37:59.820 is come to Christ. 00:38:00.420 --> 00:38:01.119 You need God 00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:01.780 to do that work 00:38:01.780 --> 00:38:02.240 in you. 00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:03.800 And when he does 00:38:03.800 --> 00:38:04.860 that work in you, 00:38:05.340 --> 00:38:06.200 you are free 00:38:06.200 --> 00:38:07.260 to respond to the gospel 00:38:07.260 --> 00:38:08.019 and to love him 00:38:08.019 --> 00:38:08.780 and to follow him. 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:10.019 And in a way, 00:38:10.539 --> 00:38:11.559 that will work its way out 00:38:11.559 --> 00:38:12.539 in all sorts of different ways 00:38:12.539 --> 00:38:13.180 for each individual 00:38:13.180 --> 00:38:13.539 as well, 00:38:13.579 --> 00:38:13.860 won't it? 00:38:13.900 --> 00:38:14.740 How that actually happens. 00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:15.579 It could be just like 00:38:15.579 --> 00:38:16.360 really fast. 00:38:16.740 --> 00:38:17.340 It could be 00:38:17.340 --> 00:38:18.559 over a period of time 00:38:18.559 --> 00:38:19.480 as you kind of 00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:20.940 slowly dawns on you 00:38:20.940 --> 00:38:21.640 what the gospel is. 00:38:21.639 --> 00:38:22.179 It might be because 00:38:22.179 --> 00:38:22.539 you're raised 00:38:22.539 --> 00:38:23.339 in a Christian home. 00:38:23.759 --> 00:38:24.339 It might be because 00:38:24.339 --> 00:38:27.039 you have a Christian housemate 00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:27.759 who shares the gospel 00:38:27.759 --> 00:38:28.519 with you every number of years. 00:38:28.940 --> 00:38:29.059 Yeah. 00:38:29.579 --> 00:38:30.659 But what it means 00:38:30.659 --> 00:38:32.679 in our responses to God 00:38:32.679 --> 00:38:35.559 are in our desires 00:38:35.559 --> 00:38:36.500 rather than 00:38:36.500 --> 00:38:38.500 just in our choices. 00:38:38.980 --> 00:38:39.719 Does that make sense? 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:40.159 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:48.779 yeah except but if that's already god's plan you know you're raising a christian home 00:38:48.779 --> 00:38:56.879 and then god chooses to give the spirit to you yeah and then once the spirit comes we will respond 00:38:56.879 --> 00:39:04.859 yeah i guess i'm just where's the liberty in the other than the finer details is there actually 00:39:04.860 --> 00:39:15.180 any liberty in that so um is there any liberty in it oh can i repeat the question for zoom i just 00:39:15.180 --> 00:39:21.079 thought you were i thought you were just waving because you were excited the question is where 00:39:21.079 --> 00:39:28.059 is there any liberty if if we're dependent on the spirit to give us new arts so 00:39:28.059 --> 00:39:36.699 so in a sense there's no liberty but in another sense is it it feels like it right because 00:39:36.699 --> 00:39:44.360 when i hear the gospel i freely respond to it but the reason i freely respond to the gospel 00:39:44.360 --> 00:39:48.579 is because god has done a work in my heart to enable me to really respond to it 00:39:48.579 --> 00:39:54.719 so how many times you can how many times you present like food to a to a dead person they're 00:39:54.719 --> 00:39:58.399 just not going to they're not going to take it are they and eat it doesn't matter how many times 00:39:58.399 --> 00:40:04.439 you do it but once that person's made alive they reach out and grab it from you why do they reach 00:40:04.439 --> 00:40:09.219 out and grab well they want it and so they choose to take it from you but the only reason they choose 00:40:09.219 --> 00:40:17.719 to take it from you is because they've been brought to life and so it in a way it's freedom but yes it's 00:40:17.719 --> 00:40:22.299 not entire liberty is it because we're we're not indifferent to to god yeah 00:40:22.300 --> 00:40:37.580 yes so okay going back to the food analogy who made you love i hate it adam yeah we all fell in adam 00:40:37.580 --> 00:40:44.539 and so uh and and that's just what you see isn't it consistently after adam you see that humanity is 00:40:44.539 --> 00:40:51.320 not taught rebellion anymore they're not tempted by satan anymore in the sense of to fall in the same 00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:59.960 way it is innate to them cain kills abel um it it the kind of decline is is steady and consistent 00:40:59.960 --> 00:41:05.880 maybe the marmire 00:41:05.880 --> 00:41:16.680 yeah yeah yeah so we have all inherited adam's sin so we all by nature hate the lord 00:41:16.679 --> 00:41:24.199 except that god by his spirit has opened the eyes and hearts of his people to respond 00:41:24.199 --> 00:41:26.519 and made some of his like mama 00:41:26.519 --> 00:41:29.799 correct 00:41:29.799 --> 00:41:37.079 so there is not free will in the terms of the idea that i am completely indifferent to anything yeah 00:41:37.079 --> 00:41:49.079 i think so yes because either either you have absolute freedom or 00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:53.880 your freedom is determined by the heart that you have 00:41:53.880 --> 00:41:57.400 so if we're made in his image 00:42:00.280 --> 00:42:00.440 yeah 00:42:03.240 --> 00:42:06.360 all of us are made in his image but his image is broken in all of us isn't it 00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:08.519 image is marred in all of us 00:42:08.519 --> 00:42:21.159 so um 00:42:22.039 --> 00:42:25.719 uh and i'm going to struggle to repeat the questions for zoom because they're coming at me so fast 00:42:25.719 --> 00:42:33.159 and i just can't capture martina's turn of phrase either so 00:42:38.199 --> 00:42:38.599 yeah yeah 00:42:40.519 --> 00:42:42.279 god go on just say it again and i'll repeat it 00:42:45.399 --> 00:42:51.239 if um naturally we all dislike marmite yeah because of adam yeah 00:42:51.239 --> 00:42:54.519 but you're saying god makes us like marmite right 00:42:54.519 --> 00:42:57.879 some of us like marmite i'm saying 00:42:59.000 --> 00:43:01.799 well i didn't ask him to make me like the marmite yeah 00:43:01.799 --> 00:43:05.079 so he yes and then some of us just whenever there's the point 00:43:06.039 --> 00:43:06.919 what's the point in what 00:43:06.919 --> 00:43:11.799 who is he gonna make you like the marmite if he only makes us like yeah 00:43:11.800 --> 00:43:21.320 nothing of ourselves so yes so uh if god alone makes us love him and want to follow him 00:43:21.960 --> 00:43:25.720 what's the point when you say the point the point in preaching the gospel or the point in 00:43:30.039 --> 00:43:35.000 why are we talking about free will at all um because i think well because i think it's used 00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:40.600 often in a way that probably isn't used in the bible and so i think free will i'm wanting 00:43:40.599 --> 00:43:46.519 to say that there is we are we freely respond to the gospel but we only do it because we've been 00:43:46.519 --> 00:43:52.920 given a new heart that wants to respond by that it's like so being a christ like it's like christian 00:43:52.920 --> 00:43:59.880 living isn't it christian living comes out of a new heart that loves the lord yeah christian living is 00:43:59.880 --> 00:44:07.079 not trying to train our old heart to do the best it can because our old heart is selfish and it even 00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:12.519 does good things selfishly even goes to church going oh look at me i'm going to church right 00:44:13.079 --> 00:44:19.880 so what we need is a new heart that actually loves the lord and so the confession goes on to say about 00:44:19.880 --> 00:44:27.639 how actually um the freedom that god gives us in our new hearts enables us um to live to please him 00:44:28.279 --> 00:44:33.480 doesn't it so uh i think that's point four isn't it when god converts sinners and transforms them into 00:44:33.480 --> 00:44:38.199 the state of grace he frees them from their natural bondage to sin and by his grace alone enables them 00:44:38.199 --> 00:44:43.320 to will and do freely what is spiritually good i really want to go to church i really want to follow 00:44:43.320 --> 00:44:48.840 the lord i really want to turn from my sin i really want to be taking up my cross and following christ i 00:44:48.840 --> 00:44:55.000 really want to give generously i really want to teach my children the gospel i really want to go where god 00:44:55.000 --> 00:45:06.039 sends me you know that is god doing all of that didn't i have to say yes is the question i'm just 00:45:06.039 --> 00:45:13.000 going to nail that for the zoom yes i do have to say yes but the ability to say yes has to come from a 00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:20.440 new heart do i have a choice to say no when i'm given a new heart no 00:45:20.440 --> 00:45:29.639 but why did he give you the new heart because he because he chose to i let me just go if 00:45:29.639 --> 00:45:33.159 amy had a question as well is this in the same line or he yeah go for it 00:45:39.159 --> 00:45:39.400 yes 00:45:39.400 --> 00:45:56.760 okay no but so should we pray thank you sorry should we hit when we show in the gospel should 00:45:56.760 --> 00:46:00.760 we before someone prays a prayer of repentance should we pray that they have the spirit to do it 00:46:00.760 --> 00:46:08.920 no in a way because their desire to pray a prayer of repentance genuinely comes from the spirit we 00:46:08.920 --> 00:46:14.760 should absolutely be praying before we share the gospel with our friends lord please go ahead of me 00:46:14.760 --> 00:46:21.320 please open their eyes to the gospel please make them want to know about jesus and please as i share 00:46:21.320 --> 00:46:27.560 the gospel with them call them to yourself irresistibly in a way that they can't refuse so that they might 00:46:27.559 --> 00:46:33.159 come and follow you freely and joyfully but i know that you can only you can do that lord i can't 00:46:33.159 --> 00:46:35.320 i can't do that um yeah 00:46:44.279 --> 00:46:49.559 yeah so is the freedom in uh point four different to the freedom in the garden 00:46:50.759 --> 00:46:57.480 well yes it is in a way different isn't it because it's it's it's better than because it is not unstable 00:46:58.440 --> 00:47:06.759 the freedom in the garden was unstable because adam could choose to not follow the lord 00:47:08.039 --> 00:47:13.079 but in eternity which is actually point five which i didn't include because i thought it'd go on too 00:47:13.079 --> 00:47:19.799 long and i have anyway so only in the state of glory is the will made perfectly and unchangeably free 00:47:19.800 --> 00:47:29.080 toward good alone so what it means is when we are in glory we will not be free to choose to disobey god 00:47:29.079 --> 00:47:39.559 praise the lord yeah yeah 00:47:39.559 --> 00:47:51.159 go on 00:47:51.159 --> 00:47:51.960 yeah 00:47:51.960 --> 00:48:04.960 You have the freedom and responsibility to live out that part, live out from that part. 00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:07.960 Don't live that freedom in that. 00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:13.960 You don't have the freedom of your chosen one, choose to support this, and you can just say yes, 00:48:13.960 --> 00:48:17.960 and choose to walk the steps directly in that. 00:48:17.960 --> 00:48:22.960 We have freedom and that's what we're doing at the moment. 00:48:22.960 --> 00:48:27.960 Okay, so yes, so do we have freedom? What's our freedom like as Christians? 00:48:27.960 --> 00:48:33.960 So I think it's important to say, isn't it, our new hearts that are given to us by the Spirit are, 00:48:33.960 --> 00:48:35.960 it's like the foretaste of glory, isn't it? 00:48:35.960 --> 00:48:38.960 When Jesus comes back, or if you die before he comes back, 00:48:38.960 --> 00:48:42.960 the only thing that will not need to be transformed when Jesus returns 00:48:42.960 --> 00:48:44.960 is the new heart that he has already given you by the Spirit, 00:48:44.960 --> 00:48:48.960 because that is already new creation in you, yeah? 00:48:48.960 --> 00:48:52.960 You are a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. 00:48:52.960 --> 00:48:57.960 So the new creation you can only desire to do what is right and please the Lord. 00:48:57.960 --> 00:49:02.960 The problem that we have is that we live in the overlap of the ages, don't we? 00:49:02.960 --> 00:49:08.960 So we have this new nature, but we also still have an old nature with us until we die or meet the Lord. 00:49:08.960 --> 00:49:19.960 And so we are in this battle and we are empowered by the Spirit in the battle to live for Christ and for his glory. 00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:28.960 And we do have freedom in that, don't we? Yeah, freedom to choose to follow Christ and obey him rather than sin as Christians. 00:49:28.960 --> 00:49:33.960 But it is a battle because our wills are pulled in two different directions. 00:49:33.960 --> 00:49:45.960 Okay, Zane's got one question and then we might end there and then you can, people can be free to go and you can ask me more questions if you want to stay. 00:49:45.960 --> 00:49:47.960 Does that make sense? Yes. 00:49:47.960 --> 00:49:50.960 I don't know if it's going to make sense. 00:49:50.960 --> 00:49:54.960 Lots of things I've said didn't make sense, so you're free, so come on. 00:49:54.960 --> 00:49:56.960 I'm talking about my own members. 00:49:56.960 --> 00:49:57.960 Yeah. 00:49:57.960 --> 00:49:58.960 I'm articulating what I want to ask. 00:49:58.960 --> 00:50:12.960 So, if ultimately, what create, if what allows free will, or ultimately, film and peace will, I don't know about, like, he allows the room to wear it basically for us. 00:50:12.960 --> 00:50:15.960 How free is Oliver? 00:50:15.960 --> 00:50:16.960 Yeah. 00:50:16.960 --> 00:50:19.960 And then you're going to have one say make sense, doesn't it? 00:50:19.960 --> 00:50:20.960 Say the first bit again. 00:50:20.960 --> 00:50:21.960 If God... 00:50:21.960 --> 00:50:27.960 If God allows everyone to wear it then, allows us to... 00:50:27.960 --> 00:50:29.960 He gives us... 00:50:29.960 --> 00:50:32.960 Yeah. 00:50:32.960 --> 00:50:38.960 How ultimately free is our work because ultimately he's doing that... 00:50:38.960 --> 00:50:39.960 Yeah. 00:50:39.960 --> 00:50:40.960 How... 00:50:40.960 --> 00:50:53.960 Our will is the vehicle for his ultimate will. 00:50:53.960 --> 00:50:55.960 So, how free are our actions? 00:50:55.960 --> 00:50:56.960 Yeah. 00:50:56.960 --> 00:51:11.960 You and I live in a world where every molecule is held together and sustained only by the power of a sovereign God, who has chosen in his kindness to govern this world with so-called laws of nature. 00:51:11.960 --> 00:51:13.960 They're not laws of nature, are they? 00:51:13.960 --> 00:51:15.960 They're laws of the creator, right? 00:51:15.960 --> 00:51:18.960 And so, even the very... 00:51:18.960 --> 00:51:29.960 Even the very breath that I have before I'm a Christian, where I breathe out murderous threats towards Christ, crucify him, crucify him. 00:51:30.960 --> 00:51:31.960 Those... 00:51:31.960 --> 00:51:37.960 The ability to do that is only given and sustained by God in his sovereign power. 00:51:37.960 --> 00:51:38.960 Yeah. 00:51:38.960 --> 00:51:39.960 I... 00:51:39.960 --> 00:51:42.960 In those moments, I am freely shouting that out. 00:51:42.960 --> 00:51:45.960 That's a free expression of my sinful desire, right? 00:51:45.960 --> 00:52:00.960 But it's done and given in a world where God rules and reigns, which is an incredible act of grace and mercy on his part to all people, but then that he even sustains the lives of those who hate him. 00:52:00.960 --> 00:52:02.960 Is that freedom? 00:52:02.960 --> 00:52:03.960 Is that freedom? 00:52:03.960 --> 00:52:04.960 I don't know. 00:52:04.960 --> 00:52:06.960 It depends what you mean by freedom. 00:52:06.960 --> 00:52:08.960 It is a kind of freedom. 00:52:08.960 --> 00:52:12.960 But it is not, you know, total liberty. 00:52:12.960 --> 00:52:15.960 You know, it's like a fish can't choose to walk on land, right? 00:52:15.960 --> 00:52:18.960 Because it's given the conditions of its freedom. 00:52:18.960 --> 00:52:19.960 So, so for us. 00:52:19.960 --> 00:52:20.960 Yeah. 00:52:20.960 --> 00:52:23.960 That's a single question. 00:52:23.960 --> 00:52:29.960 I just feel like it's really important that we see this as the basis for our assurance. 00:52:29.960 --> 00:52:34.960 Because if God chose us to believe in another one, we must believe in it because he gave it to us in the first place. 00:52:34.960 --> 00:52:35.960 Yes. 00:52:35.960 --> 00:52:37.960 So this is the basis of our assurance. 00:52:37.960 --> 00:52:41.960 There's a whole theological grid that goes together with all of these things. 00:52:41.960 --> 00:52:48.960 So if you, if you believe in preventive grace that God enables anybody who would like to, to choose the gospel, you also think that people can resist God's will. 00:52:48.960 --> 00:52:50.960 That also comes with other things, doesn't it? 00:52:50.960 --> 00:52:56.960 It also robs you of assurance because it means that you could choose to not respond to the gospel one day and you'd lose your salvation. 00:52:56.960 --> 00:52:57.960 Right. 00:52:57.960 --> 00:52:59.960 Which is what I think gets in lots of Christians in a mess. 00:52:59.960 --> 00:53:00.960 Yeah. 00:53:00.960 --> 00:53:08.960 Whereas if you believe that God has to give you a new heart in order to respond to the gospel, that also means that your new heart can't be taken away from you. 00:53:08.960 --> 00:53:12.960 So that means that you will have an eternal security. 00:53:12.960 --> 00:53:21.960 The problem comes when you want to say, I want everybody to be free to choose the gospel, but I also want to know that I'll be held by God until the very end. 00:53:21.960 --> 00:53:24.960 You can't have those, but you can let you've got it. 00:53:24.960 --> 00:53:25.960 You got to one or the other. 00:53:25.960 --> 00:53:26.960 Yeah. 00:53:26.960 --> 00:53:28.960 Go on. 00:53:28.960 --> 00:53:29.960 Yes. 00:53:29.960 --> 00:53:31.960 I just wanted to make a comment that might not be very helpful. 00:53:31.960 --> 00:53:32.960 It helps me. 00:53:32.960 --> 00:53:42.960 Once we discuss more of this, there are things that we are lacking in because we do not fully understand. 00:53:42.960 --> 00:53:43.960 Yes. 00:53:43.960 --> 00:53:44.960 Yes. 00:53:44.960 --> 00:53:54.960 But what we do is that God in his grace has given us faith so that we can be, or has made us alive in Christ and we are now his children. 00:53:54.960 --> 00:53:55.960 Yeah. 00:53:55.960 --> 00:54:06.960 And so for us as Christians, it's that joy and thankfulness and gratitude and grace and honour to God for what he's done for us. 00:54:06.960 --> 00:54:10.960 And it's for us then to have we had all of this. 00:54:10.960 --> 00:54:16.960 We don't know who the Lord is going to say, but to go out and to share his views with others. 00:54:16.960 --> 00:54:17.960 So that- 00:54:17.960 --> 00:54:19.960 Just remember, I've got to summarise this for Zoom. 00:54:19.960 --> 00:54:22.960 By the spirit. 00:54:22.960 --> 00:54:24.960 You know, the spirit is the one who's going to do the work. 00:54:24.960 --> 00:54:26.960 So I think for me, I'm all of this. 00:54:26.960 --> 00:54:28.960 There are things I just don't quite know. 00:54:28.960 --> 00:54:29.960 Sure. 00:54:29.960 --> 00:54:30.960 Yes. 00:54:30.960 --> 00:54:32.960 But praise him because he saved me. 00:54:32.960 --> 00:54:40.960 And so therefore, for me, it's to pass them on to others and to just go and do that, rather than us trying to find all the God-ups eyes. 00:54:40.960 --> 00:54:41.960 Yeah. 00:54:41.960 --> 00:54:54.960 So in summary, for Zoom, there is mystery in this, but there's also joy in that God has saved us and also calls us to go and share the gospel with others. 00:54:54.960 --> 00:54:55.960 Yeah. 00:54:55.960 --> 00:54:56.960 Great. 00:54:56.960 --> 00:55:04.960 Why don't we, as we finish, if you turn your Bibles to page 1139, let's read the doxology together from the end of Romans 11. 00:55:04.960 --> 00:55:10.960 Romans 11, verse 33, 1139. 00:55:10.960 --> 00:55:12.960 We've been here a few times today. 00:55:12.960 --> 00:55:14.960 It's a good place to end. 00:55:14.960 --> 00:55:17.960 I don't want to suggest to you that I have all the answers. 00:55:17.960 --> 00:55:20.960 I don't want you to go away with that thought. 00:55:20.960 --> 00:55:29.960 My, my lecture at university at seminary used to say, if your theology makes you bigger and God smaller, it's wrong. 00:55:29.960 --> 00:55:30.960 Right? 00:55:30.960 --> 00:55:33.960 If your theology makes God bigger and you smaller, it's probably right. 00:55:33.960 --> 00:55:34.960 Okay. 00:55:34.960 --> 00:55:36.960 That's not a bad rule of thumb, is it? 00:55:36.960 --> 00:55:37.960 Verse 33. 00:55:37.960 --> 00:55:38.960 Let's read this aloud together. 00:55:38.960 --> 00:55:43.960 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. 00:55:43.960 --> 00:55:48.960 How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. 00:55:48.960 --> 00:55:51.960 Who has known the mind of the Lord? 00:55:51.960 --> 00:55:53.960 Or who has been his counselor? 00:55:53.960 --> 00:55:58.960 Who has ever given to God that God should repay them? 00:55:58.960 --> 00:56:03.960 For from him and through him and for him are all things. 00:56:03.960 --> 00:56:05.960 To him be the glory forever. 00:56:05.960 --> 00:56:06.960 Amen. 00:56:06.960 --> 00:56:07.960 Amen. 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:08.960 00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:10.960 desde desde desde 00:56:10.960 --> 00:56:40.940 Thank you.