Okay, team, why don't we go ahead and make a start of it.
Who knows, maybe we'll be joined by others.
So thank you for taking seats, stage right, or wherever that is.
Well, in our six preceding sessions, we have held up to a focused view,
certain aspects of the saga of God's saving action toward his people.
We've examined its originating source, its fountainhead,
and God's sovereign electing love,
his ancient choice of a bride for the son who would become incarnate.
With the brief of a pathologist, we examine the condition in which we,
the objects of his electing love, are found imprisoned,
fast bound in sin and nature's night,
not only incapable of lending a hand to our rescue,
but actively opposing it.
We shined a spotlight upon that extraordinary declaration,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,
unfolding the meaning of Christ's death as representative and substitutionary.
He stood in the place of his people paying the price of their redemption.
He acted atoningly for each one and everyone united to him as their federal head.
His life for their life, their life in his life.
We put the crosshairs of our attention upon how Christ's atoning rescue was applied individually
to each elect beloved for whom it was paid.
How through the all-overcoming work of the Spirit,
a divine heart transplant was effected,
fashioning a new heart which freely and inexorably embraces the Savior
in joyful faith and heartfelt repentance.
Each beloved receiving the particularized wooing of the divine bridegroom.
Finally, we trace the scriptural testimony that this marriage between the elect beloved
and the divine bridegroom is a union that lasts forever.
For whom God has purposed forever to join together, none can thrust asunder.
Every blood-bought, Spirit-secured saint shall be impregnably preserved
from every vile vicissitude, each satanic stratagem, and all our own fickle infidelities.
For the Son shall lose none of those the Father gave him, nor can he.
For the Son shall be up for you.
For the Son shall be up for you up for you.
final session we want to look back from the summit we have ascended and take in the whole
panorama. Or, changing the metaphor, bring what has been our searching focused analytic
eye settling on certain isolated colors and lines on the canvas to step back and take
in a complete picture and see how all comes together in a single harmonious balanced and
united whole. We do so through seven observations concerning God's saving action toward sinners.
First notice the covenantal character of salvation. The covenantal character of salvation.
One of the most remarkable things the scripture disclosed to us is that the almighty God,
the creator, makes promises. And that these promises are vitally important to our relationship with him.
And while God is neither capricious nor irrational, his personality, his person is unfathomably
mysterious and his purposes unimaginably deep. For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. If we are going to depend on God's future behavior,
it is only based upon his own declaration, his promises to us. And the wonderful reality
is that he has made such promises. And the scripture calls them covenants.
Covenants are at the center of God's saving purpose and execution. As Octavius Winslow writes,
all that God gives to his people, he gives in Christ and he gives it by covenant.
Nothing is bestowed at random. Nothing in disregard of the eternal compact of grace.
To reveal the significance of covenant, engage for a moment in a thought experiment with me.
Say the Logos, God's eternal son, takes on flesh, lays down his life and rises from the dead.
What is the value of that for sinners? Do these divine acts have intrinsic salvific value?
I think we would answer, well, no, or how would we know? There's nothing seemingly intrinsic to them.
No, their value and saving significance for sinful humanity would have to be determined by God.
This intra-Trinitarian determination, which laid the foundation for salvation, called the covenant of redemption,
whereby the Father appointed the Son as the representative of an elect people for whom he would take on flesh
and offer atonement for their sin by his own blood, so purchasing their redemption.
The Son freely assented to this mediatorial role for which he would receive as reward a redeemed people as his bride forever.
It was this compact that determined the efficacy, the value, and the fruit of Christ's mediation.
Quote, the covenant of redemption is the foundation of all of our comforts, writes Richard Sims.
For it is the eternal agreement in which God the Father and God the Son have provided for our salvation.
The unfolding of this fountainhead covenant involved other covenantal arrangements.
The covenant of works was established with Adam, requiring perfect heartfelt obedience,
with life promised as reward, but with death ensuing upon the least breach.
In this, Adam was constituted representative of all humanity,
such that the reward of his success would be imputed to all of his posterity,
as would the penalty of his failure.
The covenant of works set the conditions for the covenant of grace,
whereby for his elect, Christ fulfills the demands of the covenant of works.
Namely, a perfect obedience from the heart to God's law,
imputing to his own the record and with it the reward for his obedience.
Christ also endures for his elect the deadly curse of the covenant of works,
which rightly is their portion as sinners.
That Christ meets the conditions of the covenant of works on behalf of his elect people
makes the arrangement to them a covenant of grace.
For it rests not upon what we do or promise to do,
but upon what Christ has done on our behalf.
In the covenant of grace, writes Thomas Boston,
God freely provides a Savior and salvation by him
to poor sinners without respect to their works.
All these covenants God freely established,
determining their stipulations and binding himself
to fulfill those conditions to their purposed fruition.
So covenant is the divine architecture of salvation.
Well does Philip Dauteridge exult,
tis mine, the covenant of his grace and every promise mine,
all sprung from everlasting love and sealed by blood divine.
On my unworthy favored head, its blessings all unite,
blessings more numerous than the stars,
more lasting and more bright.
Notice, secondly,
the harmony,
the harmony of divine action and objective in salvation.
We've traced our salvation to its fountainhead
in the intra-Trinitarian covenant of redemption,
whereby the united Godhead in its eternal counsel
purposed to save a people
and, to fulfill this purpose,
assigned roles for its accomplishment.
The Father,
in particularizing electing love,
chose out of fallen humanity
a people.
These elect were given to the Son,
who would redeem them by dying in their place,
so rescuing them from the claims and curse of the broken law
and imputing to them
his own perfect obedience.
To these blood-bought elect,
the Spirit would apply the redemption
accomplished on the cross
by the Son's substitutionary suffering,
by regenerating them,
sanctifying them,
and finally and infallibly
presenting them spotless and faultless
to the Son
as his glorified bride.
Now,
to recognize this compact within the Trinity
is surely to recognize
in this divine counsel
the unity of purpose
that it entails.
Each of the divine rules
must work harmoniously
to the same end of saving a people.
Whom the Father elects,
the Son redeems,
and the Spirit sanctifies.
All the persons of the Trinity
do act,
writes John Owen,
with the same will,
purpose,
and counsel,
and to the same end.
And notice also,
as Owen observes,
the objects of election,
redemption,
and sanctification
are one and the same.
The Father elects some,
the Son redeems the same,
and the Holy Spirit sanctifies
those very persons
and no other.
Of course,
it must be so.
How could it be conceivably otherwise?
The persons of the Trinity
would never work
at cross purposes
with one another.
It could never be the case
that notwithstanding
who the Father elected
and committed to the Son,
the Son would direct
His atonement
to a different set of people
of His own choosing.
Neither can we imagine
the Spirit also going maverick
and applying Christ's
redeeming benefits
to a differing number still
on His own whim
or independent selection.
This would be absurd
to imagine.
The subjects of election,
redemption,
and sanctification
are not,
as Thomas Goodwin writes,
at random,
each group unrelated
to the other.
No.
All the work of the Trinity
is united
and harmonious.
The election of the Father,
the redemption of the Son,
and the sanctification
of the Spirit,
writes Stephen Chalmers,
Arnach,
are all but one entire work
managed by distinct persons
but designed
for the same subjects.
Now,
this may strike you
as so obvious
that the Trinity
would act harmoniously
that you wonder
why my emphasis,
and I grant you it,
should be superfluous,
but for the fact that a common
construal of Christ's atonement
disaligns the aims and actions
of the Trinity.
if we construe Christ's atonement
as aimed at the salvation
of all,
in the sense of
every single son of Adam
and daughter of Eve,
that puts its intention
out of accord
with the Father's
discriminating election.
Do you see that?
It has the Son
laying down his life
not for those
the Father had given,
rather for a wider set.
It also has the Son
dying for those
the Spirit does not
draw and sanctify.
The whole salvific work
of the Trinity
is mismatched
and discombobulated.
Surely that is implausible
for the unity of purpose
always true of the Trinity.
This construal
of the Good Shepherd
laying down his life
for more than his sheep
also involves the
embarrassment
of rendering
Christ's atonement
unavailing
for the majority
for whom it was intended
supposedly.
If his was
a universal
saving intent,
it failed
of its purpose
to the extent
that hell is populated
by those for whom
Christ died atoningly.
They somehow
slipped through
his saving hands.
they were,
alas,
beyond the reach
of his saving arm.
Fumbling saving arm,
we might add.
Which,
to assert,
states John Owen,
seems to us
blasphemously injurious
to the wisdom,
power,
and perfection
of God,
as likewise
derogatory
to the worth
and value
of the death
of Christ.
Well,
might we ask
an answer
with Spurgeon,
if Jesus died
for all men alike,
then why
is not the Spirit
given to all men alike?
Shall the Father
elect in vain?
Shall the Son
bleed in vain?
And shall the Spirit
strive in vain?
Impossible!
So I,
and I hope we,
can scarcely
disagree with Spurgeon
when he affirms
there is
no discord
in the works
of God.
The Father's purpose,
the Son's atonement,
and the Spirit's work
are one salvation,
moving forward
with one design,
and crowned
with one success.
Amen.
Notice,
thirdly,
salvation is
from first to last
a work of grace.
God's saving action
had its spring
in his own
unconstrained
good pleasure.
No claim of right
could have compelled
God to relieve sinners
from their self-inflicted
ministry.
He would have done
humanity
no wrong
in leaving them
in their damnation
as eternal monuments
to God's justice.
Every mouth
would be stopped
in the judgment
for no appeal
could have had
any ground.
And yet,
it was God's
good pleasure
to show his mercy
to a multitude
of unworthy rebels
and make them
recipients
of his saving favor.
All of grace
in its inception,
God's salvation
is all of grace
in its unfolding.
It proceeds
towards us
not simply
as the
undeserving,
but as the
ill-deserving.
That telling word
in Psalm 106
makes the point.
Nevertheless,
he saved them.
What was true
of us,
the saved of God,
which calls
for this
nevertheless?
Moses raises
the veil
in the previous verse.
We understood
not
implies
we are
uncomprehending.
We remembered
not the multitude
of mercies,
pegs us
as thankless
ingrates.
Provoked him,
we provoked him,
attests we
continually provoke
God to his face.
There we are,
sisters and brothers.
Such is
our profile.
Such are we
whom free
grace saves
and who the
God of all grace
graciously
condescends
to make anew
and to take
into fellowship
eternally.
When there was
nothing to
commend us,
but every
reason for
us to be
cast away,
nevertheless.
Neither do we,
as to our salvation,
contribute a
farthing of merit
to add
of our own.
Neither could we.
For a
mere
hapenny of
merit
would
alloy
grace
and
mingle
free
gift
with
earned
wage.
As Richard
Sims writes,
we bring
nothing to
God
but sin
and misery.
He brings
mercy
and salvation.
All
is grace
from first
to last.
Christ.
So,
it is not
that our
salvation is
even especially
by grace.
It is
exclusively
by grace.
As Spurgeon
pointedly puts
it,
if there be
one stitch
in the garment
of our
righteousness
which we
have put
there ourselves,
it is
hopelessly
rent from
top to
bottom.
Grace
must be
absolute
or it is
no grace
at all.
This
vivid
truth
is
portrayed
by a
reflection
of Spurgeon
upon God's
ordinance
concerning
the stones
of his
altar
in Exodus
20.
If
thou
lift
up
thy
tool
upon
it,
thou
hast
polluted
it.
Spurgeon
writes,
God's
altar
was to
be
built
of
unhewn
stones
that
no trace
of human
skill
or labor
might be
seen
upon it.
The
proud
heart
of man
is very
anxious
to have
a hand
in the
justification
of the
soul
before
God.
Preparations
for Christ
are dreamed
of,
humblings
and repentings
are trusted
in,
good works
are cried
up,
natural
ability
is much
vaunted,
and by
all means
the attempt
is made
to lift
up human
tools
upon
the
divine
altar.
It
were
well,
he
continues,
it
were
well
if
sinners
would
remember
that
so
far
from
perfecting
the
Savior's
work,
their
carnal
confidences
only pollute
and dishonor it.
The Lord
alone
must be
exalted
in the
work of
atonement,
and not
a single
mark of
man's
chisel
or hammer
will be
endured.
There is
an inherent
blasphemy
in seeking
to add
to what
Christ
Jesus
in his
dying
moments
declared
to be
finished,
or to
improve
that
in which
the Lord
Jehovah
finds
perfect
satisfaction.
Our
salvation
commenced
by grace
and
continued
by grace
shall
also
be
completed
by grace.
He
who laid
the
foundation
stone
shall
assuredly
lay
the
final
capstone.
As it
was said
of
Zerubbabel,
the architect
of the
temple,
so it
shall be
with the
true
Zerubbabel,
the Lord
Christ,
the builder
and maker
of the
temple
of his
redeemed
people.
Zechariah
4,
7 says,
and he
shall
bring forth
the top
stone
amidst
shouts
of grace,
grace to
it.
God's
salvation
of his
people
from
first
to
last,
from
foundation
stone
to
capstone
is
all
of
grace.
And
notice
fourthly,
salvation
is as
sure
and
secure
as
God's
almighty
purpose.
That
God is
the
author
and
architect
of our
salvation
is
its
security.
And
what
God
begins
with
purpose
to
complete,
he
invariably
carries
to
completion.
Faithful
is he
who has
called
you.
He
shall
bring
it
to
pass.
1 Thessalonians
524.
If salvation
be in
any sense
a work
of man,
it is
insecure,
hopelessly
so.
For
that which
man does,
man
may
undo.
As
Spurgeon
puts it,
he who
converts
himself
one day
may
unconvert
himself
the next.
he
that
tie
a knot
with
his
own
fingers
can
surely
loosen
that
knot.
But
thankfully,
as Jonah
reminds us
from the
deep,
salvation
belongs
to the
Lord.
Jonah
2.9
How is
this so?
Well,
salvation
is parsed
out within
the Trinity
in the
covenant
of redemption.
And let's
consider the
security of
each part
each one
takes in
hand.
The
Father's
choice,
his choice
of his
own,
will
stand
as his
calling
is
irrevocable.
Romans
11.29
As
Thomas
Watson
writes,
God's
decree
of election
is
unchangeable.
He
will not
blot out
the names
written in
the book
of life.
John
Owen makes
the point
citing the
apostle to
the Romans.
Whom
God
calls,
he
justifies.
Whom
he
justifies,
he
glorifies.
There
is no
such
thing
as a
call
that
does
not
issue
in
glory.
As
Thomas
Goodwin
pithily
states it,
the
perseverance
of the
saints
is
nothing
else
but the
immutability
of God's
decree
taking
effect
in time.
We
really need
to go
no further
to establish
the sure
security
of the
elect,
but let's
move now
from the
Father and
the
immutability
of the
decree,
which secures
our salvation,
to the
Son,
and the
effectiveness
of his
atonement,
which also
secures
salvation.
The
Son,
in his
atonement,
suffers the
wrath imposed
by the
Father as
judgment for
the sins
of his
people,
so
satisfying
the
ransom
to set
them
free.
His
righteous
record is
imputed
to the
elect,
such
that they
are
accepted
in him,
the
beloved.
That
verdict,
spoken over
the Son
in his
baptism,
is thus
ours.
There
remains,
therefore,
no condemnation
for those
who are in
Christ Jesus.
Romans 8.
The
elect,
for whom
Christ bled
as substitute,
are by
his atoning
death,
released
and remitted
from all
their sin.
And in
Christ's
vicarious
righteousness,
imputed
to their
account,
what
possible
charge
could
impugn
their
record
or subvert
their
security.
Here,
we cannot
but lapse
into Pauline
language.
Who
shall bring
a charge
against
God's
elect?
It is
God
who
justifies.
Who
is there
to
condemn?
Romans 8.
33.
Where we
tend to
go wrong
and skew
the biblical
witness
is that
seeking to
magnify the
saving grace
of God
and the
saving power
of Christ,
we declare
that God's
redeeming love
extends to
every person
and assert
that Christ
has died
to save
every last
one.
We propose
that this
is the
magnifying
measure
of God's
saving
grandeur.
But then,
to avoid
universalism,
that is,
God saves
all,
well,
then we
have to
dilute the
efficacy
of the
cross
and depreciate
the effectiveness
of God's
saving
purpose.
For we
must say
that,
after all,
nothing God
has purposed
or nothing
Christ has
done
can save
us unless
we add
something
ourselves.
The decisive
factor,
the ultimate
pivot in the
matter,
is our
self-generated
repentance
and faith.
But,
surely,
this is to
say that
Christ saves
us with
our help.
Or,
in fact,
somewhat
discordantly,
but no
less truly,
we save
ourselves
with Christ's
help.
For,
ultimately,
the issue
would hang
upon us.
The irony
is,
in a
misguided
effort to
magnify God's
saving work,
we've
diminished it.
It cannot
finally and
assuredly save.
The security
of divine
election and
atonement
is dissolved
into human
contingency
with the
frailty and
fragility of
a butterfly's
wing and
the evanescence
of a red
horizon at
sundown.
Ah,
but thankfully,
such is not
our precarious
position in
God's saving
hands.
No,
the Father
has entrusted
the elect
to Christ
to redeem
by laying
down his
life in
ransom for
them.
And as
Jesus assures
us,
in John
6,
37-39,
all that
the Father
gives me
will come
to me,
and whoever
comes to
me,
I will
never cast
out.
For I
have come
down from
heaven,
not to do
my own
will,
but the
will of
him who
sent me,
the Father.
And this
is the
will of
him who
sent me,
the Father,
that I
should lose
nothing of
all that
he has
given me,
but raise
it up on
the last
day.
These
are the
hands our
salvation
is in.
No one,
no one,
says Jesus,
will snatch
them out of
my hand.
my Father
who has
given them
to me
is greater
than all,
and no
one is
able to
snatch
them out
of the
Father's
hand.
John 10,
28-29.
This
promise of
Jesus is
fulfilled by
one final
divine
handoff
for the
closing play
of salvation,
where the
Spirit
closes us
with Christ,
as the
Puritans
love to
put it,
uniting
us to
the Savior,
in whom
are all
the blood-bought
benefits of
his vicarious
life and
death.
That sweet
exchange of
our sinfulness
for his
righteousness.
New
spiritual life
imparted and
effectually
nurtured till
it is
consummated in
glory.
As we
have said,
if God
lays the
first
foundation
stone,
he shall
assuredly
lay the
crowning
capstone.
As
William
Cooper penned,
dear dying
lamb,
thy precious
blood shall
never lose
its power
till all
the ransomed
church of
God be
saved to
sin no
more.
Or as
Francis Ridley
Havergal
reassures,
if any
doubt could
conceivably
remain,
O sorrowing
sinner,
well he
knew,
ere time
began what
he would
do.
Then rest
thy hope
within the
veil.
His
covenant
mercies
shall not
fail.
O doubting
one,
eternal
three are
pledged in
faithfulness
for thee.
Claim
every promise
sweet and
sure by
covenant
oath of
God
secure.
And
notice
fifthly,
our
salvation,
in our
salvation,
all glory
goes to
God.
Who
made us?
God.
Who
remade
us?
God.
Why?
To what
purpose did
he make
and remake
us?
Well,
the well
catechized
will rightly
answer,
for his
own glory.
Psalm 106
expresses the
grand end
of our
salvation this
way.
He saved
them for
his
namesake.
Psalm 106,
8.
What does
that mean?
It means
he saved
us to
show his
name.
That is,
give a
revelation of
what he is
like,
his nature,
and his
attributes.
He saves
us to
display his
glory and
excellency.
And while
God shows
us something
of himself
in his
creation,
the sun,
moon,
and stars,
and scattered
flowers over
the green and
laughing earth,
he shows
himself most
excellently
on the
platform of
salvation.
The phrase is
Spurgeon's,
who continues,
it was,
so to speak,
the balcony
on which God
stepped to
show himself.
The balcony
of salvation.
Here,
he manifests
himself by
saving souls.
Here it is
seen in
sparkling
luminescence,
his love,
justice,
power,
faithfulness,
in a word,
glory.
As Burroughs,
Jeremiah Burroughs
observes,
the Lord takes
delight in
no work like
this work.
This is
the masterpiece
of God
and his
glory.
And the
reason why
salvation can
not simply
be an
excellent
display of
his glory,
but also
an exclusive
display of
his glory,
is because,
as John
Owen puts
it,
the whole
work of
our redemption
in its
contrivance,
constitution,
and accomplishment
is of God
and not of
ourselves,
and therefore
all the
glory of
it belong
solely unto
him.
Stephen
Charnock
echoes
this truth.
God
is the
author
of all
the good
in salvation,
and man
is only
the subject
of it.
He finds
us dead
and gives
us life,
finds us
enemies
and makes
us friends.
All is
from God,
nothing
from ourselves.
Tavius
Winslow
heartily
resonates.
Christ
is all
in the
great work
of salvation.
He began
it,
he carries
it on,
and he
will
complete it.
Not a
particle
of the
glory
belongs
to the
sinner.
And how
could it
be otherwise?
What
possible
rightful
glory could
be siphoned
off to
us
sinners?
As Watson
rightly
reminds us,
we bring
nothing to
our salvation
but the
sin that
made it
necessary.
No.
We are
on solid,
and should
we say
hallowed
ground,
in affirming
the crown
of glory
and salvation
fits no
other brow
than God's
alone.
He
alone,
to him
alone,
belongs
all
adoration
and all
acclaim.
And does
this not
express
the impulse
of your
redeemed
heart
to say
with the
psalmist,
not to
us,
not to
us,
but to
your name
be glory.
Psalm 115.
1.
And notice
finally,
or sixthly,
God is
all
sovereign
in salvation.
This is
simply a
specific
application
of God's
sovereignty
in all
things.
The
amplified
assertion
of our
first study.
God works
all things
after the
counsel of
his will,
Ephesians
1.
And our
salvation
is no
exception.
God is
the source,
the means,
and the
end of
everything
that is,
both in
nature and
in grace.
For
from him
and through
him and
to him
are all
things,
affirms the
apostle in
Romans 11.
36.
The
sovereignty
of God,
writes
Samuel
Rutherford,
layeth the
key of
salvation
upon
Christ's
shoulder
and leaves
no share
of it
to the
creature.
I should
have read
that softly
because that's
from his
letters.
And Samuel
Rutherford's
letters are
so gentle.
Winslow,
Octavius
Winslow,
is of the
same conviction.
The
sovereign
grace of
God lies
at the
foundation of
our salvation.
From his
own free
and eternal
love it
sprang,
and by
that same
love it
is carried
on.
Denial
of God's
sovereignty,
apart from
being a
hopeless
cross-current
to the
whole stream
of Scripture,
miscasts
the Almighty
in relation
to the
sinner
and
misconstrues
Christ's
gracious
gospel
invitations.
within this
throng
framework,
Christ's
appeals
take on
the character
quote,
not as
expressions
of the
tender
patience
of a
mighty
sovereign,
writes
Packer,
but as
the pathetic
pleadings of
impotent
desire.
And so
the
enthroned
Lord is
suddenly
metamorphosed
into a
weak,
futile
figure
tapping
forlornly
at the
door of
the human
heart,
which he
is powerless
to open.
This is from
the introduction
to John
Owens,
the death
of death
and death
of Christ.
If you
ever want
to read
anything
that is
unbelievably
clarifying
about
salvation
other than
Scripture,
that is
the essay
to read.
J.I.
Packer's
introduction
to John
Owens,
the death
of death
and the
death
of Christ.
Yeah.
It's
difficult
to suppress
the suspicion
that this
common
denial
of God's
sovereignty
has its
inveterate
appeal
in part
because it
reinforces
the supposition
of our
sinful
hearts
which are
flattered
to entertain
and loathed
to abandon.
The presupposition
that we
are the
masters of
our destiny,
that in
our own
hand lies
the scepter
of our
fate.
Simply to
state this
boldly is,
I trust,
sufficient
for its
dismissal.
It is
a conviction
not
seaworthy
and wrecked
on the
Gibraltar
of the
Lord
Christ
as the
author
and
completer
of our
faith.
Hebrews
12.
2.
In our
sober
moments of
insight and
self-knowledge,
do we not
resonate
with the
testimony of
Spurgeon?
I believe
the doctrine
of election
because I
am quite
sure that
if God
had not
chosen me,
I should
never have
chosen him.
And I
am sure
he chose
me before
I was
born,
or else
he would
never have
chosen me
afterwards.
And if
this seems
undeniably
true to
you,
be of
good cheer,
for it
is solid
testimony
that his
sovereign
grace has
been savingly
at work
in you.
But let
us conclude
and with
this
epitome
as to
the doctrines
of grace,
I called
it seven,
finally.
Very
simple
summary,
the whole
time together.
God
saves
sinners.
And I
want in
conclusion
to accent
that middle
term,
saves,
with the
claim that
God
actually
saves
sinners,
for he
is,
as Isaiah
exalts,
mighty to
save.
Isaiah
63,
1.
God
does not
cast up
some
construction
for the
possibility
of salvation.
Christ
carries
each
of his
elect
fully
across
the river
of judgment,
safely
onto the
shores
of salvation.
He
does not
build
a pontoon
platform
which
stretches
just
far
enough
across
the river
that those
of
inclination
motivation,
skill and
energy
may just
leap
by some
spiritual
or moral
athleticism
the remaining
distance or so
and so
with God's
aid
save
themselves.
No.
God
saves
sinners.
God's
election
of particular
sinners
is an
election
to
salvation.
election.
Some
would have
us regard
God's
election
as the
election
of no
one in
particular
but rather
an election
of a
duly
qualified
class of
people
that is
those who
will of
their own
accord
believe in
Jesus.
Who
that in
fact will
be,
well,
God's
foreknowledge
can
identify
on the
basis of
their
contingent
choice
for Christ
then God's
election
of those
self-identified
simply
acknowledges
their own
selection.
Notice
that on
this
construal
God's
election
does not
determine,
in fact,
it doesn't
influence
in the
slightest
who
is chosen.
this
election,
if it
be fair
to even
grant
such a
notion
the name
election,
saves
no one.
Such,
we insist,
is a far
cry from
the scriptural
meaning of
election
which
actually
chooses
the elect
for salvation,
ensuring
that their
salvation
will be
divinely
accomplished.
Similarly
flawed,
is the
thrawn
construal
of the
Son's
redemptive
work,
which
presents
Christ's
cross as
removing an
obstacle that
stands in the
way of God's
offering forgiveness
to sinners,
the unsatisfied
claims of
justice.
Christ's
atonement
allows God
to freely
offer forgiveness
to any and
all who might
accept it.
death.
But notice
that such
a redemption
doesn't
actually
redeem
anyone.
It simply
makes redemption
a possibility.
Any,
all,
or none
may avail
themselves of
should they
so choose.
Christ's
death
does not
secure
the salvation
of anyone.
It simply
creates the
opportunity.
This
contrasts
starkly
with seeing
Christ's
cross
as his
substitutionary
endurance
of the
penalty for
sin in the
place of his
own elect
by which
God is
reconciled
to those
in whose
place
Christ
stood.
Forever
removing
their
liability
to
punishment
by paying
it for
them.
Here
is a
redemption
that
actually
redeems.
A
cross
that
actually
saves.
And
similarly
with the
Spirit.
It is
proposed
that we
understand
the Spirit's
drawing of
sinners
simply to
consist
in a
bare
bestowal
of an
understanding
of God's
saving work
and its
summons.
Aha!
I get it!
So that's
what God
is up to
in Christ.
And that
is what I'm
invited to
believe and
put my
trust in.
A bare
understanding.
But again,
such
suasion,
as it is
called,
does not.
Neither
is even
permitted to
itself
ensure
that anyone
will ever
make the
response
of faith.
It is
a drawing
that might
not succeed
in drawing
at all.
Its
effect
is up
for grabs
for its
effectiveness
pivots
entirely upon
how its
subject is
inclined to
respond,
if at
all.
The
Spirit's
work here
may well
be utterly
ineffectual
and in
vain to
secure the
divine
purpose.
But this
vision is
alien to the
scriptural
picture of
the Spirit's
working
effectually
upon the
flint-hearted
elect
sinner,
removing her
brininess
through a
transplant of
a pliant
heart,
which rejoices
to embrace
the Savior
in faith
and repentance.
Here,
we have a
drawing that
actually draws
with infallible
all-overcoming
efficacy,
a drawing
that actually,
not potentially,
saves.
As Packer
writes,
Christ did
not win
hypothetical
salvation for
hypothetical
believers,
a mere
possibility of
salvation for
any who
might possibly
believe,
but a real
salvation for
his own
chosen people.
His precious
blood really
does save.
Its saving
power does not
depend on
faith being
added to
it.
Its saving
power is
such that
faith flows
from it.
The cross
secured the
full salvation
of all for
whom Christ
died.
Oh,
sisters and
brothers,
let us not
dilute,
or should I
say dissolve,
the gospel
into some
conception in
which God
elects
nobody in
particular.
Christ died
for nobody
in particular.
The Spirit
quickens nobody
in particular.
In short,
that God the
Trinity,
in their
saving purpose,
in fact,
cannot secure
the salvation
of anyone,
but must
make do
with nothing
more than
fond wishes
for the
salvation of
a people,
and that for
all the
Trinity can
do,
the Son
might have
died,
and none
be saved
at all.
Christ might
have laid
down his
life,
yet be
jilted at
the altar.
No bride
for him.
If this
be the
case,
well,
perhaps we
should regard
Isaiah's
title of
God as
mighty to
save,
as the
inflation of
fond hopefulness,
or mere
hyperbole.
Ah, no.
Sisters and
brothers,
will we not
affirm together,
as for me
and my
house,
we will
cherish the
name,
the Lord
mighty to
save,
and trust
in its
glorious
truthfulness
as the
description
of the
divine
protagonist
at the
heart of
the doctrines
of grace,
so precious
to the
people of
God
across the
ages,
and indeed
shall be
worlds
without end.
So we
conclude
with the
full-hearted
affirmation,
shall we
not,
God
saves
sinners
and
fittingly
respond
with the
awe and
wonder of
the
apostle,
oh,
the depths
of the
riches
of the
wisdom
and
knowledge
of God.
Amen
and
amen.
Well,
friends,
miraculously,
we have a
little bit of
time,
and I'm
happy to
entertain
any
questions
or comments
or
outbursts
of praise
and
Thanksgiving.
Yes?
So on a
personal
and
kind of
practical
fleshing
of
hell,
how...
Oh,
alas,
I have
to be
practical.
How in
your life
following
Jesus,
what have
been some
junctures
and what
have been
some things
that have
helped
you
in living
a
seriously
devoted
life,
like life
towards
holiness
of living,
but also
one that
walks in
the fuel
of grace?
Like,
how,
what has
helped you
receive
God's
grace
and an
effective
salvation
for you?
Yeah,
yeah.
Yeah,
a very
helpful
question,
and I
think
maybe I'll
elucidate
that somewhat
by contrast.
If,
if indeed
I feel
like in
any way
my salvation
is going
to pivot
upon my
various
contributions,
my zeal,
my diligence,
am I waking
up every
single morning
and making
sure that I
have my
quiet time,
these sorts
of things,
there's just
an undertone
of anxiety
and insecurity
about this.
There's kind
of a fear
and an
anxiousness
that's going
to accompany
all of those
very good
things.
But if
instead,
in contrast
to that,
I am
overwhelmed
with fresh
visions
of these
truths
that we
have examined,
that God
has saved
me,
and that
that is
done and
it is
secure as
his purpose,
it is secure
as his
atoning death,
it is secure
as his
infallible
application
by his
spirit,
then there
rightly so,
and I would
say inevitably
so,
wells up
a sense
of gratitude
that is
so energizing
that you
enter into
these same
disciplines
that you
might do
otherwise
out of a
bubbling joy
and an
alacrity
in that
security.
So I,
just like
that?
And an
hour later,
gone.
Yep,
there we go.
But then we
need to read.
So,
you know,
we just,
if we know
God's love
to us is
unconditional,
that will
really energize
us.
When I was a
little boy,
I played
soccer.
My dad was
a great
soccer player.
He would
always,
when we
would play,
he would
always pick
me first,
even though I
was a little
tyke and
couldn't really
help him win
the game,
and he was
really competitive,
so that was
a real loss
to him,
but he just
picked me
first.
I can still
hear his
words.
I choose
my son.
He's my
first choice.
So I'd go
out there
and I'd
play soccer,
and I wasn't
playing to gain
his approval
all along.
I was playing
out of it.
I knew I
had it.
And that
made me,
just,
it gave me
a joy that
made me run
and run as
fast as my
little legs
could carry
me.
And I loved
the game,
and I knew
that if I
swung at the
ball and
missed and
fell on my
fanny,
he accepted
me still.
I wasn't
playing for
his acceptance.
I was
playing out
of it.
And that
made me a
good player,
and it made
me a joyful
player.
And I've
known from
other of my
soccer mates
that there
are other
dynamics.
I've seen
guys playing
for the
hopeful,
elusive favor
of their
father that
pivoted upon
each successive
performance,
and they were
unhappy.
As joy-inducing
as the game
of soccer is,
they were
unhappy,
and they
became less
skilled players
in the
anxiety that
gnaws at
you.
So that's
just one way
where it's a
different dynamic.
Not playing
for God's
approval,
but from
it.
But from
it.
Yeah.
Thanks for
forcing me to
get, at
least wander
into the
suburbs of
practicality.
right?
Yeah.
Any other
questions or
comments?
Okay, team.
Well, thank you
so much for a
fun session
together, and
thanks again
to Tyler
for running
along with
us.
And let me
thank the
Lord for
us.
Father, how
wonderful it
is that
these things
could be
true.
If we
thought that
somehow we
had concocted
them, we
would be
suspicious that
surely that is
just a vain
hope.
But you have
declared these
things with
such clarity
and such
vividness in
your word,
that then your
spirit has
taken and
applied to
our hearts
such that
we see
their
sparkling,
gleaming
truth and
reality before
us.
You have
won our
hearts.
Lord, may
we indeed
embrace these
things in our
heart, and
may they
buoy us
with a
joy unspeakable
like a
gurgling
stream.
And may
they affect
as they
surely will
for this
electing love
unites us
with Christ.
In our
union with
Christ, we
are born
anew, and
you have
placed your
spirit and
you regenerated
us in our
person, so
we will
indeed respond
with a
dynamic that
grows out of
a renewed
nature that
will begin to
reflect the
image of
Christ in
us.
So you
will have a
beautiful,
glorified
bride.
May it be
so, Lord,
for your
glory and
our great
delight.
Worlds
without end.
Amen.
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