Current Sermon Series

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The Glory of God’s Righteousness Revealed in Christ 

Romans 1:1-4 

The Gospel Concerning God’s Son: Part 1, Promised Beforehand

Introduction to Paul's letter to the Romans

Messengers of Christmas

For My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation (Luke 2:22-38)

Messengers of Christmas

I Bring You Good News of Great Joy - (Luke 2:1-21)

Messengers of Christmas

You Have Found Favor with God (Luke 1:26-38)

Messengers of Christmas: Good News of Great Joy  

Your Prayer Has Been Heard (Luke 1:5-25) 

https://youtu.be/MWXkzU4FSgw 

ANTICIPATION

At a minimum, the story of Christmas is that God has remembered His people. And that’s what we’re looking at this morning as we turn to the beginning of Luke’s gospel. 

Now, Luke is a masterful writer. Many claim that his writing is the best Greek of the New Testament. But more than that, led by the Holy Spirit, Luke has organized his material and constructed the narrative in such a way, not to merely retell the events, but to draw out the theology and wonder of what God has done to bring salvation to His people.

Even in this single opening narrative of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the text is bursting with anticipation. Here, in just a few short verses, several Old Testament threads converge. And we’ll get to some of them as we work our way through the text. So, I need to put a disclosure up front. I’m going to refer to many other places in Scripture this morning. And likely too quickly for you to turn to each one. But if you have a pen, you can make a little note of the references on your bulletin, so that you can be a good Berean and look at them later.

400 YEARS OF SILENCE

It’s been 400 years of silence. 400 years without a word from the Lord. 400 years since the last prophet Malachi. 

So many prayers, from generation to generation, it must have seemed at times that perhaps, those prayers would go forever unanswered. That just maybe, God had forgotten. But those prayers haven’t fallen on deaf ears. And they are about to be answered — God’s promises fulfilled. That’s what’s taking place in the Christmas story. That’s the point of Luke 1 and 2.

Which takes us to the setting Luke has wonderfully provided for us. Recall, Luke’s purpose was to write an orderly account so that every “lover of God” — that’s what Theophilus means — might have certainty in this most glorious of all messages, the gospel, the Good News of Great Joy that the Savior is finally come.

VERSE 5: In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

To warn you on the front end, I’m going to spend more time here on verse 5 than any other verse, with the possible exception of verse 13. Why? Because we are so familiar with the Christmas story, yet so unfamiliar with many of the details. I don’t mean culturally, like contexts you might draw from extrabiblical sources. I’m mean the details that are in the Bible itself. This single introductory verse is loaded with anticipation that convey far more than the mere names of the participants. 

KING HEROD

First, the fact that Herod is named king of Judea serves as a reminder of Israel and Judah’s failure and current situation. Having recently come out of Jeremiah, we’re reminded of the exile, and how foreigners still reign over God’s people, even after many have returned to the land of promise.

That Herod is on the throne means a king of the lineage of David is not. Herod is not even of the tribe of Judah, or Israel for that matter. Herod is an Idumean, or Edomite. This serves as a reminder that Israel is still awaiting her promised King.

ZECHARIAH:

And then we have Zechariah. Now, the meaning and use of every name is not equally important. But some are extremely important. The name Zechariah means: The Lord has remembered, or Yahweh remembers. And that’s exactly what’s about to be disclosed to this somewhat obscure priest, who just so happened to be chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple. 

Zechariah’s name also recalls the prophet by the same name. It’s the prophet Zechariah who gives us the famous prophecy of the coming Branch, the servant of the Lord, whom Joshua the high priest prefigures. Zechariah prophesies that Joshua the high priest and his companions with him are signs for things to come that will be fulfilled in God’s coming servant. And of course, Joshua is the Hebrew form of Jesus. 

ABIJAH

But we’re not just given Zechariah’s name. He’s a priest of the division of Abijah. King David had divided the sons of Aaron, the descendants of Eleazar and Ithamar, into 24 separate divisions for the priestly temple service. With the coming of the temple that David’s son, Solomon, was to build, David took pains to ensure that, even though he wasn’t allowed to build this house for the Lord, that every preparation would be made for his son. 

In 1 Chronicles 24, Abijah happens to be the 8thdivision out of 24. Now for those familiar with the priesthood and its divisions, as the priests most certainly would have been, they would have been well acquainted with the division that immediately followed Abijah, Zechariah’s division. (And I’m sure, most of your, being the studious Bible scholars your are, know too. In fact, I had a couple individuals who took delight in stumping me with some Bible trivia Wednesday evening, as to what’s the shortest verse in the Old Testament. Well, this answer is also in 1 Chronicles.) The division that immediately followed Abijah is the division of Jeshua, also an earlier form of the name Jesus.

So, Zechariah points to Jesus, the promised Messiah. And Abijah, which means, Yahweh is my Father, also point to Jesus.

ELIZABETH

And then we have Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife from the daughters of Aaron. 

Now, Luke’s masterful writing is meant to clue us in on something. He could have simply listed Elizabeth’s name, but instead, he makes a point to tell us she is of the daughters of Aaron. Now, Elizabeth might be a popular Bible name to us, thanks to Luke’s narrative. But it’s not a common name in Scripture. Think of the name Mary, which can be traced back to Aaron’s sister, Miriam. I mean, at the cross alone John records 3 different Marys. But, in the whole of Scripture, there are only 2 Elizabeths. That’s the one here in Luke who is introduced as a daughter of Aaron. The other is not a daughter of Aaron, but Aaron’s wife, Elisheba, the Hebrew equivalent.

Someone might say. Alright. Big deal. So she’s named after Aaron’s wife. Many are named after their ancestors, especially the more famous ones. So what?

Well, first, Elizabeth’s name, as I pointed out, is not common at all. Second, Elizabeth’s name literally means: My God Sevens, which is the Hebrew way of saying, My God completes. Or we might say, My God keeps oath.

PRIESTLY AND KINGLY LINEAGES

Furthermore, Aaron’s wife’s genealogy ties the priestly and kingly lineages together. Now, even apart from digging into the Old Testament we somewhat know that. John the Baptist is the son of a priest, Zechariah. And John is also a cousin or relative of Jesus. Remember, Mary will visit her cousin Elizabeth after her personal visit with the angel Gabriel.

In addition, Aaron is the first high priest of Israel, which is by no means insignificant. And his wife, Elisheba is from the tribe of … can you guess it? Judah. Exodus 6:23 records that Aaron took as his wife, Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon. 

I just happened to be in Ruth last weekend for my morning quiet time, which put this on my radar. And at the end of Ruth 4 we read about the Lord not leaving Naomi without a Redeemer. And the women of Bethlehem name this child, who is to be renowned in Israel, Obed. And we’re given the generations of Perez who fathered Hezron, who fathered Ram, who fathered, you guessed it, Amminadab, Elisheba’s father, who fathered Nahshon, Elisheba’s brother, who fathered Boaz, who fathered Obed, who fathered Jesse, who fathered King David, from whom the Messiah would come. 

All of this is anticipatory, because the Messiah will be both a kingly and a priestly figure. 

CONCEPTION

One last connection, since this took us to Ruth. We’re reminded at the end of Ruth, that it’s the Lord who opens wombs and gives conception (Ruth 4:13). And that is exactly what the Lord is about to do for Elizabeth and Zechariah. So, no, these connections are not incidental, but are intended to prepare the reader for something truly wonderful, that the Lord Remembers and that this God keeps His oaths — His promises He’s made to His people.

VERSE 6-7:  And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

RIGHTEOUS AND BLAMELESS

Now, that Zechariah and Elizabeth are referred to as righteous and blameless does not mean they are without sin. In fact, we’ll see Zechariah himself wrestle with unbelief. So, they are in need of salvation just like the rest of humanity. The apostle Paul will likewise describe himself as blameless in his observance of the law, and yet wore the name tag, “chief of sinners.” 

Now, without negating human responsibility, let’s not forget that we just finished looking at the Doctrine of Total or Pervasive Depravity. Zechariah and Elizabeth were not immune from the effects of the Fall on their own hearts. We need to acknowledge that their righteousness is part of God’s grace in their lives.

RECONCILING BARRENNESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

But they had no child… This challenges the whole prosperity gospel. But even more than that, it raises the question, does righteousness necessarily equate to material blessedness? Because barrenness is anything but material blessing. The book of Job hits this false idea that the wicked always suffer and never prosper, and the righteous always prosper and never suffer, what might be referred to as the retribution principle. But God’s justice can’t be contained in such simple formulas. It’s true that ultimately, in the overall scheme of things, the wicked will indeed suffer and the righteous will prosper. But that hope is not a guarantee for how things will play out in history in this fallen age. We need to look no further than the sinless Savior to know that suffering meets even the most righteous of all.

Righteousness is not immune to suffering and affliction. One’s righteousness exempts no one from trials. God’s goodness does not mean that He keeps His loved ones from experiencing any sort of suffering. Rather, He keeps His chosen through the suffering.

While our current culture looks on children often as an inconvenience or burden, for most of history, childlessness was one of the greatest curses and burdens one would bear. Today, so many elderly people finish off their years to die alone because they prized independence over family. 

THE SUFFERING OF GOD’S CHOSEN

Well, such was not the case with Zechariah and Elizabeth. Their childlessness was not their own doing. It was the Lord’s — the God who opens and closes wombs. And He does so purposefully and for good. Because for this righteous blameless couple, the Lord had chosen them for something huge. And being chosen by no means entails ease. Consider the Apostle Paul. When Ananias was sent to lay hands on him, he questioned the Lord’s purpose. But what was the Lord’s response? He is my chosen instrument to take My name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. But that’s not all. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. 

Well, that’s what’s going on with our elderly couple here. They were chosen to suffer for the sake of the Lord’s name. But listen loved ones. It would be worth it! And whatever trial and suffering the Lord may have laid on you, I assure you, in Christ, it will be worth it.

VERSE 8-9: Now while [Zechariah] was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 

CHOSEN BY LOT

To the world, being chosen by lot sounds random, as if Zechariah received the luck of the draw. But for those of us who believe God’s Word, we know that the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord (Proverbs 16:33). Nothing rest outside the jurisdiction of God’s sovereignty. 

This same Zechariah chosen by lot to burn incense before the Lord is the same Zechariah, whom he and his wife were chosen by the Lord to endure decades of childlessness. For that was part of God’s lot for them. 

Before you grow envious of another person’s blessings, it may be helpful to remind ourselves that we are not at all envious of their trials. Let me say it again. Being chosen by God is hard … but worth it. 

VERSE 10-13: And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.”

FEAR OF THE HOLY

You’ve likely heard countless times over regarding the first thing an angel says is “fear not” because they are so terrifying. And all of that’s nice. And it often leads to some good chuckles. And we completely miss the point. So, let me ask. What makes these angelic beings, these messengers of God, so terrifying? Or better, what makes them so terrifying to us? Is it simply because they are so different? Because they are other worldly? Because we know so little about them? Perhaps each of these have a small part to play in our fear. But each of those is far from the biblical answer. 

Angels are terrifying to humanity because they stand in the presence of the Holy God, worshiping Him without ceasing. Now, that alone isn’t sufficient for them to strike fear in us. The reason they are such a terror to us is not simply because they stand in the presence of the Holy God and therefore they exude holiness. But we, due to our sin, do not. The issue is that we aren’t holy, as we should be — as we were created to be. So, when we are confronted with holiness — even a reflection of the holiness of God — it strikes terror in us. 

YOUR PRAYER HAS BEEN HEARD

This messenger, that’s what the word angel means, this messenger of the Lord has come to tell Zechariah, “Your prayer has been heard.”

What prayer? Well, many will suggest that it was Zechariah’s prayer for a child. Where do they get that? Well, the answer to Zechariah’s prayer is a son. But given his incredulity regarding Gabriel’s message, it’s doubtful that such a prayer was currently on Zechariah’s lips. Yet, there certainly would have been a long season, decades even, when Zechariah and Elizabeth were praying for just that. And that prayer too has been heard. 

Because of the countless parallels between this account and that of Daniel’s when Gabriel visits him, I think we can glean something of what Zechariah’s prayer would have been. In Daniel chapter 9, Daniel is pleading on behalf of his people, confessing his people’s sin and pleading for mercy. In fact, let me read a bit of Daniel’s prayer, beginning at 9:16.

DANIEL’S PRAYER

O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now, therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake. O Lord, make your face shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

This is a prayer of restoration. A prayer for the removal of the reproach God’s people have born due to their sin. A prayer for God’s presence to once again dwell among His people. And something along those lines would have most likely been Zechariah’s prayer. 

It’s not accidental that Gabriel visited Daniel when he was praying at the time of the evening sacrifice. Now, we’re not told for certain, but it’s very likely that Zechariah was burning incense for the evening sacrifice.

It was because of Daniel’s prayer that Gabriel was sent. “O Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.”

Well, once again, Gabriel is sent in answer to a righteous man’s prayer for his people, to let him know, your prayer has been heard.

For centuries, the faithful in Israel have been awaiting the promises. In fact, the Old Testament ends with the promise of Elijah to come prepare the way of the Lord who will come into His temple. They have been awaiting their Messiah to restore them, to conquer their enemies, to set the captives free, to ease the burdens of the oppressed. 

NOT ALL ALIKE WAITING

Of course, not all Israel alike were hopefully awaiting these promises. We see that in Matthew 2 and the apathy of many in Jerusalem. And even in our passage, Luke records, many were praying outside at the hour of incense. But we’re told that it was upright Zechariah whose prayer had been heard. The “your” in “your prayer has been heard” is singular, not plural. Your prayer, Zechariah, has been heard. 

My family is working through Proverbs in the evenings. This is from Proverbs 15:8. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. Zechariah is presented as upright and blameless. Whereas, throughout Luke’s gospel, we’ll find that many of the religious leaders and priest prayed but were far from being upright. And that may perhaps have included some of this multitude currently outside praying. 

I don’t want to read too much into this other than to say, it’s not those going through religious motions whose prayers are heard, but those who are righteous. Isaiah 59:1-2. Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

But God always listens to the prayers of the righteous. But who are the righteous? Well, biblically speaking, the righteous are those of faith, those genuinely hoping in God’s promised redemption, which is nothing less than full restoration to God Himself that we might enjoy communion with Him. Yet, filling many pews this morning, there are those whose primary prayer is something utterly detached from such restoration and communion. But it’s the Zechariahs of this world, whose prayers are heard. Not those seeking God’s goods apart from God Himself.

PROMISE OF A SON

And yes, the answer to Zechariah’s prayer is indeed a son. Why? Because, even now, after such a long delay, a long seeming silence from God concerning their barrenness, Zechariah, that prayer too has not been overlooked. Your prayer for a son is answered also. O to wait so long, but at last, the time has come. 

VERSE 13b-17: And you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the father to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

YOUR SHALL CALL HIS NAME JOHN

And you shall call his name John. Like the other names in this narrative, John is such a fitting name for this son of promise, this answer to prayer. John too is of Hebrew origin. It means Yahweh has shown favor, or we might say, the Lord is gracious. (Don’t confuse John with Johnathan which means, the Lord gives.) Anyway…

The two Hebrew terms that make up this name are, first, the word for Yahweh, the Lord, and the second is the verb meaning “to be gracious.” But I think it’s helpful to understand this second term we typically translate “gracious.” Properly, it means to bend or stoop in kindness to one who is inferior. Which is exactly what the grace of God is. God stoops and bestows His kindness upon His people who are unable to help themselves.

This is precisely why the proud are unable to receive this grace in any meaningfully acknowledged capacity. Because they detest the idea of one having to stoop down to help them or show them kindness. And so long as they are shackled by their own pride, they cannot rightly receive the grace the Almighty showers upon the just and unjust. O they enjoy the benefits of God’s grace every day. But they refuse to receive it for the grace that it is. 

NAZARITE VOW

Not only is this child’s name significant, but he is to be set apart as a Nazarite. Nazarite simply means devoted. Now, the combination of this child’s name meaning “the Lord is gracious,” along with the fact that he is to be set apart as a Nazarite, is not accidental. For the end of this beautiful vow of devotion to the Lord (in Numbers 6) we receive the priestly blessing with which Aaron and the priesthood was to bless God’s people: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Gracious … that’s the word that makes up John’s name. 

I hope you are seeing how all these names come together, from Zechariah’s, to Elizabeth’s, to the coming son, John. The Lord remembers, the Lord keeps His oath, and the Lord has stooped and shown kindness to His people. This is how Luke begins his gospel.

FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

Furthermore, rather than being filled with wine or strong drink, this child is to be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. For how else could he fulfill such a mission as turning the children of Israel to the Lord their God, making ready for the Lord a people prepared?

Gabriel quotes, in part, the final verses of Malachi, which Jeremy read for us, where this child will be a new Elijah, the forerunner of the Lord.

Now, we don’t have time to compare the ministries of John the Baptist and Elijah, but both are filled with the Spirit, both turned many of Israel back to the Lord, and both were met with hostility. 

In quoting the final lines of the Old Testament, Luke picks up where the Old Testament left off. [What we have here in Luke’s narrative regarding Zechariah and Elizabeth precedes Matthew’s narrative. In fact, the only gospel that goes back further is John’s prologue and the eternal Word.]

Such good news after 400 years of waithing. How excited Zechariah must have been. Well, let’s see.

VERSE 18-20: And Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.

FEAR DOES NOT CONSTITUTE BELIEF

Fear does not always entail belief. Zechariah stood in fear of the holy angelic messenger, who stood in the very presence of God Almighty. But such fear didn’t in itself constitute perfect faith. Remember, the demons shudder in fear, but they’re belief was not one of faith. They don’t trust God or His Word, always suspect of His goodness and love.

Just as Israel demanded signs, from Gideon’s fleece to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, righteous Zechariah is not all that different. In other words, the plague of unbelief is spread far and wide.

ASTONISHED AT UNBELIEF

Now, we don’t want to be too hard on Zechariah, because apart from God’s grace, we undoubtedly would have responded the same in his situation. At the same time, we don’t want to excuse his unbelief. Rather, we should be astonished. And this is why we should be astonished.

First, Zechariah would have known his people’s history. He would certainly recall the birth of Isaac from elderly Sarah and Abraham. He would recall Hannah’s prayer and the birth of Samuel. He would recall Manoah and his wife being visited by an angel and the promise of Samson’s birth, who likewise was to be set apart as a Nazarite.

The fact that Gabriel quoted the last words of prophecy, and that there had been 400 years of silence, and that Zechariah had been praying for this day to come … raises the question: In what way did Zechariah expect God to save His people? By natural means? The condition of God’s people due to sin was anything but natural. If anything, we might say their condition was sub-natural. So, of course, this rescue plan, this deliverance, couldn’t be through natural means. Everything about the gospel is supernatural. 

And then there’s Zechariah trembling before this angelic messenger sent from God. Surely Zechariah had a bigger view of God than to doubt Gabriel’s words. What’s more, the sign Zechariah sought was standing before his eyes! 

THE PROBLEM WITH UNBELIEF

Here’s the problem with unbelief. And I’m not referring to how God does or doesn’t regularly operate in the here and now, but rather the unbelief in what God is capable of doing. If God is unable to deliver on this good news delivered to Zechariah, how can He deliver His people out of bondage? If God is unable to give life to a dead womb, how is He supposed to give life to a dead people who are dead in their trespasses and sins. If God can’t bring forth life from a couple who is way beyond the age of childbearing, then forget any notion of resurrection! 

Listen loved ones. Unbelief is a plague. And it’s a plague that must be eradicated — eradicated in our lives and eradicated from God’s people. 

UNTHWARTED

But even with Zecahariah’s unbelief, grace meets us where we fall short. O there are consequences for unbelief. But God’s plan is never thwarted due to us.

Zechariah, this good news is going to take place despite your unbelief. And to prevent any further questions of objections, you will be silenced until these things take place, which will be fulfilled in their time. 

FULFILLED IN ITS TIME

It’s difficult to enumerate the parallels between Luke 1 and the second half of Daniel. Like Zechariah, Daniel was visited by the angel Gabriel as an answer to prayer. Both are met with fear and trembling. Daniel, upon hearing the message, even fell silent, although his wasn’t due to unbelief. And the final word to both Daniel and Zechariah is that the word would indeed be fulfilled in its time. 

Now, if you recall, Gabriel was sent to Daniel as he was praying concerning the conclusion of the seventy years as prophesied by Jeremiah the prophet. But Gabriel comes and gives a new timeframe for something far greater than a physical return from exile — a greater exodus awaited, a prince was coming, and the time decreed was not seventy years but seventy weeks. 

490 YEARS OR 490 DAYS

Now, most often, when we think of Daniel’s seventy weeks, we have been taught to think of them as seventy weeks of years, meaning approximately 490 years from Daniel’s day until the coming of the Messiah. Now, Scripture doesn’t exactly put it that way, but I think that’s right. 

Still, how amazing it is that this same Gabriel who brought the news of seventy weeks to Daniel, shows up approximately seventy literal weeks before the Messiah is presented at the temple. It will be six months into Elizabeth’s pregnancy when Gabriel is sent to a young virgin in Nazareth to announce that she too will bear a son. Do the math. Six months plus nine months is 450 days. And when is Jesus presented at the temple? Luke 2:22. When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses. How long was that? Well, Leviticus 12, for a male child, it was 40 days, for a total of 490 days.

Perhaps is just one of the coincidences from the God who orchestrates all of history. Seventy weeks of years from the time Gabriel visited Daniel, and seventy weeks from his visit with Zechariah.

Last few verses.
VERSE 21-25: And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
 After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

UNABLE TO SHARE THE NEWS

Decades of infertility, how hard that must have been. Now, due to his disbelief, Zechariah will have to endure 9 months unable to speak to anyone about this unbelievably good news. God’s holiness doesn’t mean He doesn’t have a sense of pure good humor.

But Zechariah would speak again, singing the praise of God Most High and His Annointed.

REPROACH REMOVED

And his wife Elizabeth, all those decades of reproach taken away. O Elizabeth will hide herself for 5 months. But it’s doubtful that such is due to any unbelief on her part. Can you imagine those awkward conversations that would have taken place if she hadn’t hidden herself for a few months until it was obvious she was pregnant? “Zechariah, your wife sure is putting on some weight!” And just think how much more spectacular the praise when her neighbors finally saw her, versus the doubt that would have pervaded their minds as they wondered. God works all things perfectly to bring about the greatest praise.

But what Elizabeth … and Zechariah were both about to find out, is that the fullness of their reproach would be taken away, not through this son John, but through the Son who comes after him. As Zechariah will sing: And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins.

You see. We bear reproach, due to our sin. But God sent His Son, so that the reproach of our sin would fall on Him. 

AUDIENCE WITH THE SON

And Elizabeth would enjoy a special audience with the Son who truly takes away her reproach. Six months later, the son in her womb will leap for joy at the presence of the Lord in utero. 

O thank God that He stoops to hear our prayers and show such kindness to us.

A SON, EVERY PRAYER’S ULTIMATE ANSWER

The answer to Zechariah’s prayer was indeed a son. 1) A son for him and Elizabeth. But it’s also 2) a Son for God’s people — God’s own Son. 

I’m not particularly a fan of the so-called sinners prayer — that you say this prayer, confessing you’re a sinner, and then ask Jesus into your heart, and now you’re a Christian — as if there is a precise method or formula to becoming a Christian. If we’re good Bereans, we should be suspect of cultural practices, even among churches, that we don’t find in Scripture. 

But this I can tell you. For many of you are a believer, it’s because somewhere along the way you had come to the end of yourself, the end of your autonomy, the end of your resources. And you realized your utter hopelessness and helplessness if left to yourself. And you cried out — maybe audibly, maybe not — you might not even use the term prayer to describe what took place. But you cried out for help, and the Lord answered. (Now, we just finished our series on the Doctrines of Grace. So we know that even such a cry is wrought by the Spirit, that such prayer is a work of God’s grace in your life too.)

Even now, if you’re a believer, you realize you’re insufficiency. Hence, Spirit wrought prayer is a regular part of your life. 

And like Zechariah and Elizabeth, your prayer has been heard. And the answer to that prayer is a Son. And that’s true, even if you grew up in a Christian household and can’t nail down a precise point of conversion. You know how I know that’s true. Because every prayer of the regenerated heart — both at the beginning of your walk and even now however far along the journey — the answer to all of those prayers is that of a Son. I hope you understand that. 

Now that might seem generic and simple. But think about it. The gift of God’s Son is the answer to every trial in this fallen world. He’s also the answer for every hope in the future. And this Son, Jesus Christ, will continue to be the center of our prayers in the New Creation as we seek to know, trust, and honor God more fully.

Whatever reproach you might bear during this age, whatever barrenness, whatever dark season or valley of the shadow of death you might endure … as believers, our every hope and the answer to all our prayers is a Son, Jesus Christ. He is the answer to our every prayer. And if we lose sight of that, we lose sight of the gospel — this good news of great joy delivered by God’s messengers.

CONCLUSION

Zechariah’s being chosen by lot was not a mere random happenstance. So, when we consider the priesthood of believers, each one specifically chosen by the Lord to offer fragrant offerings to the Lord. That’s what prayer is. In Revelation, those bowls of incense are the prayers of the saints. And God always hears the prayers of His saints. And He acts on those prayers.

When grace breaks in: the barren bear fruit, darkness becomes light, silence shouts with jubilation, the wayward return, good news pierces lamentation, reproach is rolled away, 

The Lord Remembers. He has heard your prayer. And He has given the gift of a son, His Son, as the answer to those prayers and to take away your reproach.

Well, with the coming of the new Elijah anticipates the greater Elisha — God is salvation, which is very similar to Yeshua, the Lord is salvation. To the announcement of his birth we turn next week.

   Preservation of the Saints: Kept by His Love (Ephesians 4:30)

https://youtu.be/BuVrHpROBw4 

The doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints is intended to be a source of comfort and joy, spurring believers on to greater diligence in finishing the race amid forces of hostility. But such is only the case when this doctrine is understood rightly. So, like the other doctrines of grace, we need to press into this one as well, seeing just what Scripture actually says and doesn’t say regarding the perseverance of the saints.

FINISHING THE RACE

It’s actually easier to finish the race when you know you’re going to finish the race. But when it seems like you’re not going to finish, it’s actually easier to give up. That’s why this doctrine is so important. It’s the assurance that the saints will actually finish, while at the same time, reminding them that they are responsible to finish. 

If you’ve ever ran a marathon or half marathon, there’s a point along the way where those only running the half break off from those crazy enough to commit to running the whole thing. 

It’s been several years since I ran the half marathon. And I remember somewhere around the eleven-mile marker I was about at the end of myself. And then I came to the split. And I remember thinking at the time, that if I had to run another 15 miles, I’d probably give up right there at the eleven-mile marker. But just two more miles, well just maybe, I can press on to finish that much.

Jesus warns of the great struggle and deception in store for the days ahead. That if the Lord had not cut those days short, none would be saved, not even the elect. But for the sake of the elect, the Lord has cut short those days. In other words, there are times it might seem that the elect aren’t going to finish the race. But the Lord brings the end of the race forward to ensure that they do. 

This is but one of the promises we have in the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints. The race isn’t promised to be easy, rather the reverse. But in the midst of seemingly insurmountable adversity, the Lord ensures that His chosen ones will indeed finish. 

As important as your running is, your finishing the race depends far more on the God who upholds you than in your feeble strength to hold on to Him. And knowing this is meant to strengthen you to cling to Him all the more and not let go. 

READ:

Ephesians 4:30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 

CONCLUDING THE SERIES

Today we’re concluding our brief series on the Doctrines of Grace, and it looks like we’ve persevered to the end! Yes, we’re on the “P” of our TULIP — PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. Or we might nuance the doctrine with preservation instead of perseverance. THE PRESERVATION OF THE SAINTS. And both aspects, preservation and perseverance are true and important. The Canons of Dort uses both. 

FIFTH MAIN POINT

To summarize this Fifth Main Point of the Canons of Dort: Those who God chose in Christ, He also preserves in faith so that they by faith persevere to the end.

This morning, we’re not going to look at the individual articles. But so you know, the Canons of Dort is an easy and beneficial read, and it’s accessible online. For those of you who might be a little resistant to the Doctrines of Grace, and what is often referred to as “Calvinism”, Dort will likely surprise you in just how nuanced and careful they were in articulating these sensitive doctrines. 

DORT’S DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL

With that said, I feel it’s important to express my stance on these doctrines, that what’s expressed in these 5 points is nothing short of the gospel itself. The Arminian revision took one biblical truth — human responsibility — and used it to cancel out other biblical truths, thus gutting the gospel of any effectiveness, which, in light of our sin nature, is no gospel at all. Indeed, what the Arminians did was remove actual grace from the gospel.

Now, you might not like some of the terms, especially some of the short-hand phrasing, but when understood rightly, what Dort sought to defend was the very gospel every true believer has put their hope and trust in.

A GOSPEL FLOWER

To trace the gospel through the order of T-U-L-I-P: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints.

Humanity, all of humanity, was dead in their sins and trespasses. Sin had pervaded the whole of mankind to where man was helpless to save himself without a supernatural act of God. 

But out of love, God mercifully chose, in Christ, to save some — specific persons — these are the elect. God didn’t have to chose to save any. But in mercy He did. 

And for those He chose to save; He sent His Son to atone specifically and definitely for their sins in particular. While Jesus’ payment was sufficient for all, this payment was made efficient for the elect, guaranteeing their salvation.

As such, those chosen in Christ, were effectually called and made alive in Christ, by the Spirit, through the Word, and sealed by that same Holy Spirit who guarantees their perseverance to the end, so that they do indeed obtain the fullness of their salvation.

That’s the Gospel! Remove any of these, either there’s no need for the gospel or the gospel is turned into an achievable offer that none can attain to, which is no gospel at all. 

EPHESIANS AND ASSURANCE

Now, we’ve walked through this series using Paul’s letter to the Ephesians as our main text. But as we have seen, these doctrines of grace show up throughout Scripture in far more than Ephesians. We could have just as easily chosen one of the gospels or another epistle.

Since we’re in Ephesians, I selected a single verse. Ephesians 4:30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  

Now, we could have chosen many other texts from Ephesians to help capture this doctrine of perseverance, or better, the promise of God’s preservation of His elect.

EPHESIANS 1:13-14

If you turn back to chapter 1, verse 13 also speaks of believers being sealed with the Holy Spirit, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed.The Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it. 

The Spirit is not somewhat a guarantee or a temporary guarantee, or only a guarantee so long as He believes in you, that you’re actually going to reach the end and acquire possession of it. But if it looks like, hey, I’m not so sure Jeremy’s going to make it … well, then the Spirit might let go, and all guarantees are off. Well, if that’s the case, it’s not much of a guarantee. 

Now, someone might argue that the word guarantee is more like a pledge or deposit given as security. And you know, many make deposits on this or that and never follow through with the full purchase. Well, that might be true from a human perspective. But here, we’re talking about the all-knowing, all-powerful God. With God, such a pledge is certain. It’s a guarantee.

EPHESIANS 1:4-5

Furthermore, the entire doctrine of election assumes preservation and perseverance. If we back up to verse 4 of chapter 1, God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless. And verse 5, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. 

Surely Paul doesn’t have in mind that sonship is some temporary status, and that those adopted as sons might one day be orphaned again. Nor should we think those chosen to be holy and blameless would become the exact opposite.

EPHESIANS 2

Or our text from last week. Ephesians 2:4. In love, God made us alive in Christ, raised us with Christ, and seated us with Christ. The picture here is that the fullness of our salvation is as good as complete in the mind and plan of God, which cannot be thwarted. This is Ephesians version of the unbreakable chain found in Romans 8. Those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.(Romans 8:30).

In Ephesians 2, this unbreakable chain is: those whom God made alive in Christ, He also raised with Christ, and those whom He raised with Christ, He also seated with Christ.

Further down, starting at Ephesians 2:19, those once strangers are now citizens, verse 22, built into God’s dwelling, chapter 3 verse 6, heirs. Each of these are true now, and yet the fullness is assumed as well.

EPHESIANS 4:11

In chapter 4, verse 11, we’re given a list of offices given by the Lord. Paul lists: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. What’s the purpose of these offices? Well, 1, to equip the saints for the work of ministry. But even that is added to the ultimate goal, verse 13, to ensure that all attain to the unity of the faith, and grow to maturity in Christ. In other words, so that they reach the fullness of what they are called to be in Christ. 

EPHESIANS 5:27

Chapter 5:27. We looked at this when we looked at Limited Atonement. The Bridegroom intends to present His Bride to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle. Surely, we don’t believe Jesus would ever fail at His mission, do we? 

Or verse 31. Speaking of Christ and the church, Jesus cleaves to His Bride. And when the eternal Son of God cleaves, no one can snatch her from Him.

EPHESIANS 6:18

Finally, chapter 6. We’re given this armor and instructed to wear it precisely so that we will persevere. 

My point is that the seeds of perseverance and preservation run throughout this letter to the Ephesians, and not just this one, but throughout the New Testament.

HAPPY TO AFFIRM

Now, I don’t have to convince most of you regarding this doctrine of perseverance. Of all the doctrines of grace, this is the one most are happy to affirm. What’s utterly surprising is how many want to cling to this doctrine and yet reject one or more of the other four. 

But the doctrine of perseverance is rooted in the other 4. It’s because of our depravity we need God not only to save us but to keep us. It’s because God eternally chose us in Christ, that He will guarantee we won’t only be saved but will finish the race to dwell with Christ forever. The costly price Jesus paid to atone for our sin also secures the fullness of our salvation including our preservation. And the same Holy Spirit that regenerated us and made us alive is the same Spirit that will continue to dwell in us and work in us until that work is complete.

INCONSISTENCY OF HOLDING TO 1 OUT OF 5

The perseverance of the saints is the logical conclusion of the other 4. But do away with the other 4, any doctrine of perseverance is on a pretty flimsy foundation. 

CARICATURES

Where the other doctrines of grace tend to be fraught with distortions and mischaracterizations, the doctrine of perseverance is no different. Part of my role is to push back against misconceptions. In the other 4 points, we sought to marshal the Scriptures against unbelief, showing how Scripture itself affirmed these beautiful truths. 

In this doctrine, we need to push back against the idea of easy believism, that all those who have professed faith will be saved regardless of how they live. But that is not at all the doctrine of perseverance. That’s the doctrine of negligence and licentiousness. Dort wants no part in such distortions. Perseverance means that the saints will persevere. They will not be neglectful of the calling to which they were called, but be diligent in finishing the race.

DANGER OF COMMON SAYINGS: ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED. 

This is why I’m not a fan of the popular sayings: once saved always saved. Or questions like: Can I lose my salvation? That’s not even the right question. 

What does that even mean? Listen, I can’t count how many people who have told me about their son or daughter, their husband or wife, or some other significant somebody in their life who is not currently following Jesus, but they insist that they are saved. What are you basing that on? Well, they used to go to church. They used to sing the songs. They said the sinner’s prayer. They raised their hand, walked the aisle. Well, whoever equated such with being saved. The Bible sure doesn’t. 

And why do I make a big deal about this? Well, I hope you don’t think I’m simply making a big deal about it. This false assurance angers me. And I hope it angers many of you. Because this false assurance suggests to them that their loved ones aren’t in desperate need of the gospel. That they aren’t in desperate need for the Spirit to awaken them to the truth that they may be saved. So long as you think they are saved, you will fail to be a witness to them, and worse, you will fail to pray for their salvation.

Listen, if they aren’t bearing the fruit of salvation, you have no grounds for believing they are saved. None! If they aren’t following Jesus right now, then what they need is the gospel. What they need is for God to grant them repentance. What they need is to be saved.

The question: Can one lose their salvation? Distorts the nature of the doctrine. Rather, the question is: Can one whom the Spirit has worked true faith, ever lose that faith? Can a true believer fail to persevere? 

You see, the one line of questioning provides false assurance and promotes loose living; the other provides true gospel assurance and promotes diligence in living a life representative of the gospel.

REFERS TO TRUE BELIEVERS

The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is that the saints will persevere, not walk away from the faith. This doctrine refers to TRUE BELIEVERS. 

To quote Anthony Hoekema: The doctrine of perseverance does not mean that every churchgoer or even every church member is certain to persevere to the end in his or her faith, or that everyone who has made a public profession of faith is eternally secure, or that all who seem to us to be true believers will never fall away from the faith. Neither does the doctrine mean that everyone who has been incorporated into the covenant of grace as it reveals itself in history is eternally secure, since the Bible clearly teaches that there may be covenant breakers. 

So, what does this doctrine entail? Those who have true faith will neither totally or finally lose that faith. 

PRESERVATION AND PERSEVERANCE – BOTH

Now, it’s important to stress that this doctrine deals with both preservation and perseverance. Dort affirms both. And it’s important that we hold on to both. God preserves, to be sure. But He preserves us to persevere. In other words, God will not permit those to whom He has granted true faith, to ultimately fall away from that faith, but rather preserves their faith so that they endure to the end. They may sadly fall into grievous sin, but their faith will not ultimately fail. (We’ll come back to this.)

RESOLUTE AND REALISTIC

So, back to our text. There’s a resoluteness and a realism involved in this doctrine. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, acknowledges that true believers do at times sin, and sin grievously. Paul doesn’t sugar coat the struggle. The struggle is real, and our failures are real. 

At the same time, true believers are sealed by the Spirit for the day of redemption. It’s true that true believers fall into sin and temptation, but they won’t ultimately fall away. 

Note the resoluteness of God’s unwavering grace, while at the same time the realness that those who have been showered with such grace still at times take that grace for granted and fall into grave sin — grave lapses of faith, lapses of gratitude, lapses of affection for this God who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light, out of bondage to sin to be adopted sons and daughters ­— and thus truly grieve the Holy Spirit.

SEALED FOR THE DAY OF REDEMPTION

So, what does it mean to be sealed by the Spirit? Well, throughout Scripture, we see the idea of a seal used for a variety of things: from letters, to tombs, to individuals. At a minimum, the seal represented identification of ownership or authorization, as well as authenticity, and security. A letter might be sealed with the king’s signet, indicating the authenticity of the letter, that it was indeed from or authorized by the king, and it offered security, knowing so long as the seal was unbroken, it hadn’t been tampered with. 

As believers, we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, indicating the authenticity of our salvation, that our salvation has been authorized by the King Himself, that we belong to Him. And the King’s seal, indicates that we are secure in the King’s decree, that such cannot be tampered with.

Now, it is very possible for a sealed letter to have that seal broken and tampered with. But this isn’t any ordinary signet, this is God’s signet. Who’s going to break this seal?

REVELATION: THE 144,000 SEALED AND THE 7 SEALS

The scroll in Revelation 5 gives us a glimpse as to just how unbreakable this seal is, sealed with a perfect seven seals. A mighty angel proclaimed with a loud voice: Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?

Well, we know the answer. No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was found worthy … but one. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, who was slain like a lamb. 

Now, we don’t have time to go into what all might or might not be written on this scroll. But in between the breaking of the 6th and 7th seal, we’re given an interlude — the sealing of the 144,000, which as you’re likely aware is the symbolic number for the multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language that no one could count. 

Now, it’s not accidental that both the scroll and the 144,000 are sealed. But the idea behind both is the same. At the very least, what’s represented in that scroll is the Lamb’s book of life where the names of this multitude are recorded. And they have been recorded there from before the foundation of the world. But although the names have been sealed on the scroll, the individuals had yet to be sealed in history. That’s why we’re given the portrait in Revelation 7. 

Both the names on the list and the individuals themselves are sealed so that there can be no tampering until the end of the age when all is disclosed, and Jesus himself breaks the seal. And upon opening the 7thseal, every mouth will be stopped, and all of creation will hold its breath in silence.

Let me ask. Will your name be found there? There’s only one way to be sure. Do you have true faith? IF you do, it will display itself in your following Jesus — not for what you can get from Him, but for who He is. (More on that in a minute.)

THOSE WHO BELIEVE ALREADY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE

The whole epistle of 1 John is written so that true believers might have assurance. John says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. Not, so that you may know, one day you will have eternal life. Those who truly believe have eternal life now. They already have eternal life. Now, let me ask. How does one lose eternal life? It’s not eternal if you can lose it. How do you know you have eternal life? You truly believe, and that belief will be evidenced in your life.

TRINITARIAN GRASP

When we consider the unbreakable seal of the Spirit, I hope you realize just how unbreakable the trinitarian grasp is on God’s elect. 

Referring to his sheep, Jesus says, I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. That’s the Son’s hold on us.

Then, we have the Father’s hold: My Father, Jesus says, who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

And then we add to it the unbreakable seal of the Spirit, which no one can break but God alone. Now that’s security!

GRIEVING THE SPIRIT

Yet, even with all this security, this Scripture is clear, and so we affirm, that believers can and do at times fall into grievous sin. Just think of David and Peter as two examples. 

I mentioned last week regarding application that application only comes after doctrine, otherwise, what are we basing our application on. Well, it’s in chapter 4 where Paul begins to give application and exhortation. And this grieving the Spirit falls in the middle of a list of sins that would grieve the Spirit: falsehood, failure to reconcile with your brother, theft, refusing to do honest work that you might have something to share with anyone in need, corrupt and unwholesome talk, bitterness, rage, anger, uproar, slander, and malice. 

These things grieve the Spirit. Such behavior wounds the Spirit who dwells in us as His temple. And such grieving is all the more reprehensible because it is the same Spirit who seals us for the day of redemption!

SERIOUS SIN

Now, I think it’s important to continue with Paul into the beginning of chapter 5. Paul warns against sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talk, crude joking. Now, with this list, Paul says, such people who practice these have no inheritance in the kingdom. Don’t be deceived by empty words. It’s because of these things that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

Now, I think Paul’s point here is that these sins go beyond just grieving the Spirit, and instead bring into question any assurance that such a person even has the Spirit. Such things shouldn’t even be named among you, Paul says. That’s strong! 

Now, let’s back up. What I’m not saying, and what Paul is not saying is that if you’ve committed sins in this second list, you aren’t saved. But it’s a strong warning against living a life with such a disconnect. What you need is for God to grant you repentance and to restore you to Himself. Not some mantra: once saved always saved. So long as you remain in such grievous sin, your fellowship with the Lord is broken, and the joy of your salvation is anything but joy.

Dort reminds us that such monstrous sins greatly offend God, deserve the sentence of death, grieve the Holy Spirit, suspend the exercise of faith, severely wound the conscience, and sometimes, lose the awareness of grace for a time, until after they have returned to the way by genuine repentance, God’s fatherly face shines upon them once again. 

THE TRUE BELIEVERS’ REACTION TO SUCH SIN

It’s because one of the faithful, the man after God’s own heart, King David fell into serious sin, that we have Psalm 51, perhaps the most beautiful Psalm of repentance. O there’s nothing beautiful about David’s sin — or any sin — but there’s everything beautiful about repentance!

David recognized that his sin was foremost against God. Against you and you alone have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. And David recognized that the worst part of his sin was that it harmed his sweet fellowship with the Lord. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

HELPS KEEP US FROM SIN

You want to know something that will help you fight sin? Knowing that our sin grieves the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Yes, we know God is omnipresent, but His presence isn’t always as manifest in our day to day lives. And Jesus, well, he’s seated in heaven. So, there can be this tendency to think that no one’s around when there’s no one around. But if you’re a true believer, the Holy Spirit is not only always around, He’s always in you. 

Think about that when you click on that website or turn on that movie, when you fudge your taxes, when you take advantage of your neighbor or sibling, when you tell that half-truth, when you cling to bitterness, when you put yourself first …

The same Spirit who seals you and keeps you for redemption, He doesn’t check out when you want to live according to the flesh. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

In the same way that we wouldn’t want to grieve a loved one, how much more so this triune God who so loves us! This alone should give rise to perseverance because rather than grieve, our desire should be to please Him.

SYNERGISM

Now, out of these 5 doctrines we’ve looked at, this is the only one that can rightly be referred to as synergistic, meaning both God works and we work. The other 4 are monergistic, meaning one alone works. You see, it is God alone who elects; it is God alone who atones; it is God alone who regenerates. 

Okay, but what about Total Depravity. Well, that’s monergistic too. We alone did that; we alone fell. God didn’t make us fall. 

Now, I affirm that in God’s sovereignty He ordained the Fall, and that He meant if for good. But that’s not the same as saying that God worked the Fall. Rather, He sovereignly permitted mankind to fall of man’s own volition.

But perseverance and preservation is a synergistic doctrine, where God works in us to persevere. But we must be active (that is, work) in this perseverance ourselves. If you fail to persevere you won’t be saved. It’s that simple. Instead, your failure to persevere will only prove to show you were never saved.

APPLICATION: MEANS THROUGH WHICH WE PERSEVERE

As such, we make good use of the means God has given us to persevere. One such means is what we do in here Sunday by Sunday. Remember that list of offices at the beginning of Ephesians 4. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers … They are all Word ministries. The Holy Spirit works through the Word, applying the Word to our lives. Even the faithful believers who walk beside us to encourage and admonish us do so according to and through the Word. 

Now, being immersed in the Word is no guarantee that you will finish the race. But I assure you that there will be no finishing the race if you neglect this Word. The primary means God uses to preserve you and me is His Word. In fact, what sort of faith does one have who doesn’t hold to God’s Word? Certainly not a faith in the One who exalts His name and His Word above all things. Such is not a faith that believes or trusts God. 

God’s Word with its promises and warnings is the primary means He has enlisted for your perseverance. And if you fail to make use of the means He has given you, you will not persevere. And those who fail to persevere are lost — eternally lost. Jesus is clear. It is the one who endures to the end who will be saved. Not the one who began to follow.

THOSE WHO FALL AWAY – 

So, were those who fell away, true believers? Scripture answers that for us as well. 1 John 2:19. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, so that it might become plain that they are not of us.

Scripture records many who begin and turn back. Demas, in love with the world has deserted me. Judas followed Jesus for a time … before he betrayed him. And there were large crowds, who welcomed Jesus, were excited about Jesus, worshiped Jesus for a time, but soon fell away. Why? Well, I would argue, that in every instance, people fall away because they have no taste for God’s Word, even when it comes from the lips of the Incarnate Word. Jesus himself pointed out the reason many were hostile or indifferent to him: it’s because my word finds no place in you.

You see, the sober reality is that many indeed fall away. After feeding the 5,000, John chapter 6 records that those who ate their fill, tracked Jesus down to follow him. But Jesus knew their hearts. They only followed because they ate their fill In other words, the followed Jesus for what He could give them, not for who He was. So, instead of physical food, he offers himself to them. The bread I have for you is my flesh. The drink I have for you is my blood. In other words, I offer you myself. 

And the people received Jesus’ words as a hard saying. And after this, many of his disciples turned back. Many of his disciples. Not many who had an encounter, Many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

Now, if many of Jesus’ disciples fell away and turned back from following Jesus while he walked the earth, while he performed signs and wonders, when they could hear his teaching from his very lips … If many fell away then, we shouldn’t be surprised that many do in our day. Nor should such falling away shake your faith or cause discouragement was we continue to run the race.

TRUE BELIEVERS VS. COUNTERFEITS (NOT OF US)

O the world will take hold of the story of the individuals who have made shipwreck of their faith, as if such provides them an excuse for not believing. But what a folly that is. That’s like saying the existence of counterfeit gold and gems is proof that the genuine doesn’t exist.

But so long as this present age continues, there will be counterfeit Christians in the church. Such should cause us to be all the more diligent to confirm our calling and election, and to strive to finish the race.

TO WHOM WOULD WE GO

And while it’s a sad reality that many fall away, by God’s grace, not all do. The genuine remain; they persevere. 

After many turned back from following Jesus, Jesus asked the twelve; “do you want to go as well?” Simon Peter answered (and I love this!) “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” And Jesus reminds them, Did I not choose you.And if you believe, if Peter’s words are your words, the same is true for you. 

While some fail to persevere, those of true faith, recognize Jesus is the only way. They’ve been made alive to the truth. There is no turning back. O there are times of discouragement along the path. Following Jesus, while simple, it’s hard. And there are times, you might find yourself questioning, “I’m not sure I can finish the race.” And the same God who made you alive to the truth will have you saying with Peter, Lord, to whom shall we go … 

This is one of my swords I pull out regularly, because this race … it’s hard. But where else would we go. The world has nothing to offer … nothing lasting … nothing sure. But Jesus … he is life itself.

PRAYING FOR PETERS (LUKE 22:31-32): FAITH MIGHT NOT ECLIPSE (ἐκλείπω)

But we also know, that Peter, who made this confession, that his walk was far from perfect. If left to himself, he would not have finished the race; and neither would we. (History records Peter’s finishing the race crucified upside down.)

But there was a time, it seemed Peter’s walk with the Lord was over, when he denied his Lord. O but Jesus. I have prayed for you Peter, that your faith may not fail. (That word “fail” is where we get the word, “eclipse.” That your faith may not be eclipsed, that it might not fully disappear.) And when you turned back, strengthen your brothers.

THICKNESS OF THE ICE

But our security is not in our ability to run, but on the God who upholds us and prays for us. 

My wife and I spent a Valentines Day years ago on one of the New York Finger Lakes, Skaneateles Lake. I never experienced such a winter. People were out in the middle of this large lake, walking, ice skating, and even ice fishing. They cut a hole through that thick ice and dropped their line in the water. I don’t know if anyone caught anything or not. If I remember correctly, they even had fires on the lake. Not sure I’d be warming myself by a fire on the ice I’m standing on. Of course, it was something like 20 below zero.

But here’s the thing. It wasn’t our faith in the ice that held us up. It was the thickness of the ice that kept us from plunging into the icy abyss. The same is true of Jesus. It’s not our faith in Jesus that upholds us, it’s Jesus himself, his mighty hand, his powerful word, his efficacious prayers.

JESUS THE BETTER ADAM

You know, it was in the Garden that Adam failed to persevere in righteousness and faith. Instead, his failure to keep the faith, and keep his wife brought the downfall of the entire human race. And ever since, all of humanity has followed in Adam’s step.

PERSEVERED IN THE GARDEN (STRENGTHENED BY AN ANGEL LUKE 22:43)

Well, it was in the Garden where Jesus’ displayed perfect perseverance. You see, it was in the Garden where Jesus’ resolve was ultimately tested. We might ask, what was Jesus’ biggest trial, his greatest temptation? And it was the cross to be sure. But it was an aspect of the cross that took place, not just at Golgotha, but in the Garden. This was the decisive moment with the highest stakes. This is where perseverance met its match.

ULTIMATE TEMPTATION: BETWEEN TWO GODLY DESIRES

Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. I don’t know if we realize the temptation Jesus was enduring at that moment. We have never faced such a trial, such a temptation. Do you realize that for Jesus not to feel this away about not wanting to drink the cup of His Father’s wrath, that would have been sin for Him. It would have been sin for Jesus to be okay with His Father’s smiling face not shining on him. It would have been sin for Jesus to not grieve the idea of the sweet fellowship he had with His Father to be put on hold. It would have been sin for Jesus to be fine with the separation between him and his Father that was about to take place. Remove this cup, Father. Please. But I trust you. I love you. So, not my will, but yours be done.

Jesus was caught between the two godliest choices possible. And such was unbearable. And yet he bore it. In fact, Luke records how an angel strengthened him, so that Jesus might persevere in prayer more earnestly, with his sweat becoming like great drops of blood. And with that, he arose and went to the cross.

And Jesus’ resolve in the Garden is the same resolve He has in keeping us to the end. And if we are to grow in conformity to Christ, we must grow in our resolve to persevere, taking up our cross and following our persevering Savior, recognizing that this race is indeed a marathon, but a marathon in which our great God and Savior brings the end toward us to ensure that we finish.

And we can be sure of this, for all those in Christ, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on at the day of Christ Jesus. You see, He who began a good work in you is not like the man in Luke 14 who began to build and wasn’t able to finish because he failed to count the cost. No. Our God had counted the extreme cost of salvation, that it would take nothing less than the gruesome bloody death of His only Son in our place, and He willingly paid that cost in full on the cross.

Now, surely God’s not going to pay such a cost, and then fail to finish the work. Which is why we have confidence in the unbreakable chain of salvation. Because precisely what follows that beautiful chain: And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified. The assurance that follows this beautiful chain is nothing less than: He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. That’s the iron clad guarantee that God will finish this work. 

And like Father, like Son. What the Father begins, the Father finishes. In the same way, Jesus set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem and to the cross. 

The doctrine of perseverance, when understood biblically, far from producing pride or sloth or neglect, produces humility, fervor, diligence, gratitude, and adoration, so that this race, like keeping the Lord’s commands, is no longer burdensome but a delight.

For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross. For our joy, we will too. We are kept, not by our feeble hold on him, but by his loving hold on us. And that, loved ones, should cause us to cling to him all the more in love.

  Effectual Grace: Effectual Love (Ephesians 2:4-10) 

INTRODUCTION

Basketball season is underway. Now, I’ve never been good at sports especially not those that involved any sort of ball. You put me out there on the court, there’s one thing I can guarantee that won’t happen. I’m not going to slam dunk the ball.

At 5’ 8”, I’m not even going to reach the net, much less the rim. You can toss me all the alley-oops you want. It’s not gonna happen. I have what’s called a physical inability that prevents me from even coming close.

Well, humanity is not out there on some ball court as if life is but a game of little consequence. All of mankind stands before the court of God’s justice, and the verdict before us is death.

Our issue is by no means physical, as if we are to be judged due to some inability God Himself crafted in us, such as not being able to put the ball through the hoop. 

Our issue is a moral and spiritual. We possess every physical ability to perform according to God’s prescribed standard. We all fall short of the glory of God, not because some of us are only 5’ 8” or due to some other physical condition. We fall short of the glory of God simply because we refuse to play or live to His glory.

As such, no alley-oop or assist will suffice in our scoring points or favor before God. As we saw last week, our issue is that we are dead. So dead is our condition, we need, not an assist, but a sovereignly administered resurrection from the dead. 

Which takes us to our text this morning in Ephesians chapter 2, and the doctrine of Effectual Grace. Perhaps, the main point of our passage could be summarized as follows: It is God who makes us alive; it is God who raises us from the dead; it is God who seats us in the heavenly places … in Christ, all on account of His rich mercy, great love, and abundant grace. 

With that said, would you stand with me in honor of God’s Word as I read from Ephesians chapter 2.

TEXT

READ: (Ephesians 2:1-10)

BUT GOD

There are few words as precious to believers than these first two words of verse 4. But God. The significance of these two words cannot be overstated. We were helpless, hopeless, enslaved to sin, followers of the evil one, children of wrath, indeed, we were dead … but God. 

Why does this matter? Because God alone can change our current condition. God alone can reverse the curse. God alone can make us a New Creation, which is exactly what happened when He made us who were dead now alive in Christ. 

RICH IN MERCY

And as beautiful as those two precious words are, far more important than what God did is why God it! Because this God — who indeed is a God of justice — is also a God of mercy. 

I may be wrong, but to the best of my recollection, I don’t recall Scripture ever speaking of God being abundant in justice or rich in justice. O all of God’s ways are just. His justice is perfect. But here, Paul speaks of God’s mercy as overflowing abundance. God’s justice isn’t described in such terms. But His mercy, now that’s something! That’s something that Paul almost seems to sing about. Especially in light of the preceding verses. God is rich in mercy. He’s not lacking in mercy in the least. And this mercy overflows towards His elect. Why? Well, it only gets better.

GREAT LOVE

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us! Like mercy, God’s love is expressed in terms of abundance. In fact, the word “rich” used to describe God’s mercy is built off the word here used to describe the greatness of God’s love. Here, the apostle leaves not doubt that the foundation of our salvation is God’s love for His elect. 

We saw in verse 4 of chapter 1 that love was the foundation for God’s choosing, predestining, electing us. And here in verse 4 of chapter 2, we see this same love is the foundation for His effective grace that makes us alive with Christ. There’s no obligation on God’s part to love us. He loves because it is in His nature to love. And He loves His elect simply because He chooses to.

BECAUSE

The entire gospel flows out of this electing love. God doesn’t love you because Jesus died for you as if the Son now somehow twists the Father’s arm — Father, you see what I did? You have no choice now but to love them. That’s to distort the unity within the Trinity and get the entire gospel wrong. It is because God loves His elect that the Father sent His Son to the cross. The cross was the Father’s plan. And it was planned out of love.

Furthermore, God doesn’t love you because you responded to the gospel. That’s to get the whole story backwards. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. You want to know why you responded to the gospel at all? It’s because God first loved you, and therefore He made us alive together with Christ so that we would respond to the gospel.

Because God loves us, He has united us in His Son. 

EVEN WHILE

And listen, if you’re a believer in here today, (verse 5) He loved you even while you were His enemy, even while you still hated Him, even while we were in hostile rebellion. 

The contrast here is intended to highlight the magnificence of God’s mercy, and love, and finally in verse 7, His grace.

IMMEASURABLE GRACE

Just as mercy and love are spoken of in terms of abundance, here God’s grace is given not just one adjective but two, the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 

This word immeasurable has a literal etymology of throwing something beyond. The riches of God’s grace go beyond anything we are able to measure. 

WHY THE EMPHASIS

Now, why did I take time to emphasize these three extraordinary dispositions of God toward His elect on the front end? We’re looking at Irresistible Grace. And if we’re not careful, our theology can undercut these incredible precious terms and rob them of their richness. 

Because it is these three terms that underscore the great work of God in salvation: verse 5, making us alive in Christ, raising us up with Christ, and seating us with Christ in the heavenly places. 

TULIP

Which brings us to our “I” in TULIP. Irresistible grace, or to be a bit more nuanced, effectual grace. What’s the connection here between our text and the Doctrines of Grace? Well, this whole passage is a work that God must decisively do Himself.

Tracing this flower, we were at one time, totally depraved because of the Fall and our sinful nature. But because God, unconditionally chose a people in Christ, those who sins His Son would atone for on the cross, we are now at the point where this atonement and election must be applied to us in history. 

Where, due to the Fall, we all were at one time, as we looked at last week, dead in our trespasses and sins, and hence, unable to return to God on our own. Effectual grace is the work God must do in us if we are to be saved. In other words, it’s not enough for God to elect or choose us for salvation, nor is it enough for Jesus to die for our sins, if we are going to continue in hostility towards Him. We need God to do the decisive work to overcome our hard hearts, so that we who were once rebellious now genuinely seek to serve Him.

DORT

Dort refers to this as the divine work of conversion or regeneration. Since we’re following the Canons of Dort in this series, you’ll notice that Dort tied the Third and Fourth Main Points together, that of Corruption and Conversion. The reason is because the argument for both of these, that of our corruption or Pervasive Depravity and that of our conversion which will take nothing less than the effectual grace of God, overlap to such an extent that it’s difficult to talk about God’s work in conversion apart from acknowledgment of our corruption. 

THE ARTICLES
And so to summarize the articles, beginning with articles 1-3 from last week: The Fall had corrupted the whole of humanity at the core of our being to where, as spiritually dead men and women, we are unable to return to God on our own. Hence, we need more than divine assistance or cooperating grace. We need a sovereignly administered resurrection from the dead. And so, 

INADEQUACY 

Articles 4 and 5: the light of nature and the law are both inadequate.
Article 4: The light of nature, that is, the truth that can be known about God through creation, makes everyone without excuse, but in our deadness, it is insufficient to bring us to a saving knowledge of God. Rather, we distort the truth.

Article 5: the Law, likewise is just as inadequate, even though the Law is holy, and righteous, and good. The Law, at best, increases our guilt before God, but it provides no remedy for our fallen condition. Rather, because it is weakened by our flesh, it leaves us under the curse. 

THE GOSPEL CALL

Articles 6-9 deal with the call of the gospel.
Article 6: What neither the light of nature nor the law can do, God accomplishes by the power of the Holy Spirit through the message of the gospel. 

Article 7: expresses God’s freedom in revealing the gospel as He sees fit. This is not on the basis of one people being more deserving of hearing the gospel than others, but according to the free good pleasure and undeserved love of God.

Article 8: All who are called through the gospel are called earnestly. The “whosoever” is a sincere invitation, that all who come to Christ will find rest for their souls.

Article 9: Man alone is responsible for his rejection of the gospel. That many do not come is not due to God as if God restrains them from coming. But man is restrained from responding favorably to the gospel because of his sin. Failure to be converted must not be blamed on God or the gospel, but on man.

Articles 10 and 11: Conversion
Article 10: Conversion as the Work God. That some do respond favorably to the gospel must not be credited to human effort as though one distinguishes oneself by free choice from others who received equal or sufficient grace to do the same. Rather, conversion is credited to God alone who effectively calls and grants faith and repentance.

Article 11: The Holy Spirit’s Work in Conversion. Not only does the Spirit ensure that the gospel is proclaimed to the elect and that the darkened minds are enlightened, but the Spirit penetrates the inmost being, opening the closed heart, softening the hard heart, and circumcises the heart that was uncircumcised. God infuses new qualities into the will, making the dead will alive, the evil will good, the unwilling willing, and the stubborn compliant. 

Articles 12 and 13: Regeneration
Article 12: Regeneration is the entirely supernatural work, which the Scriptures refer to as the new creation, the raising from the dead, and making alive, in which God works in us without our help. In other words, this supernatural work is on par with that of creation and resurrection.

Article 13: The way the Spirit works this regeneration cannot be fully understood, but believers rest in knowing that by God’s grace, they do believe with their heart and truly love their Savior.

Last four:
Article 14: The Way God Gives Faith. Faith is a gift from God, not in the sense that it is offered for people to accept, but a gift that is bestowed on them and breathed into them. It is a gift in the sense that God produces in the elect both the will to believe and the belief itself.

Article 15: Responses to God’s Grace. God does not owe grace to anyone. Therefore, those who receive such grace owe and give eternal thanks to God alone, taking no credit in their response to His grace. Those who do not receive this grace, either don’t care or are self-satisfied in their condition. 

Article 16: Regeneration’s Effect:Regeneration does not act in people as if they were anything less than persons. It does not abolish the will nor coerce a reluctant will by force. Rather, regeneration spiritually revives, heals, reforms the will to a ready and sincere obedience. 

Lastly,
Article 17: God’s Use of Means in Regeneration. That regeneration is a supernatural work, such does not rule out the use of the gospel, which God in His great wisdom appointed to be the seed of regeneration and the food for the soul.  

CONCERNS

Where the other Doctrines of Grace have their objections, Irresistible Grace is no different.

Where Unconditional Election is the doctrine most likely to garner the response, “that’s not fair,” and Limited Atonement is the doctrine most frowned upon, as if it somehow diminishes the love of God, and Total Depravity is the most unpopular of these doctrines to discuss, because, well, who enjoys talking about our sin nature. 

And as a side note, I hope you realize that we don’t discuss sin because it’s a pleasure to discuss sin. We bring up the subject of sin every week because it’s necessary. There’s not a book in Scripture that does not address the issue of sin. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a chapter that doesn’t deal with the issue from Gensis 3 on. 

THREE OBJECTIONS

Irresistible Grace is the doctrine most likely to be considered unnecessary. There are a few reasons many reject this doctrine.

OBJECTION 1:

One is that we think humanity, and especially ourselves included, have a little more ability to respond positively to the gospel than we actually have, or more importantly, than Scripture describes us as having. 

Now, in saying that, Scripture does make clear that man is completely responsible for rejecting the gospel. It’s also true that the gospel is genuinely offered as something that people can acquiesce to. But neither of those realities negate what Scripture says regarding man’s need for God to decisively do something to the inner person before one will actually believe the gospel in any saving capacity.

MORAL INABILITY

It’s not that we are physically incapable. Our inability is a moral refusal. It’s not like that of demanding one who is 5’ 8” to slam dunk when he’s physically incapable of doing so. It’s more like Lebron James who can easily place the all in the bucket refusing to do so simply because God asks him to do it, not for Lebron’s glory but God’s.

OBJECTION 2: 

A second objection is that throughout Scripture, we actually see many who resist the grace of God. So, there seems to be a contradiction in terms. Either grace is irresistible or it’s not. 

It’s true that God’s grace is often resisted. This is why Irresistible Graceperhaps isn’t the best phrase, and I prefer Effectual Grace. Or Dutch Reformed Theologian Herman Bavinick prefers invincible orunconquerable grace. In other words, for the elect, to say God’s grace in unconquerable means that His grace won’t ultimately be resisted. 

CONVERSION OF PAUL

Consider the Apostle Paul. There was a time that Paul resisted God’s grace. In Acts 7, just before he is stoned to death, Stephen closes his speech with these words: You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. And such was their resistance to the message of grace that the hearers even stopped their ears! 

And just before their stoning, Luke makes it a point to tell us of a young man who was there that day. Acts 7:58. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul (whom we know as Paul). And as they were stoning Stephen to death, he called out in a load voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

Now, amazingly, Stephen’s prayer is a lot like Jesus’ prayer from the cross. We shouldn’t be surprised then that just as Jesus’ prayer was answered (on the Day of Pentecost when many of those who called out for Jesus’ crucifixion were saved), that Stephen’s prayer was also answered, at the very least, in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.

The Lord Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus. Do you remember Jesus’ words to Paul? Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.And it was true. Paul could only resist for so long. What Paul deserved for who knows how many believers he persecuted was not at all what he received. Instead, he received grace. The blinding brightness of the glory of the Son of God conquered the church’s most hostile human opponent, Saul of Tarsus. 

OBJECTION 3:

The third major objection is perhaps the biggest objection of all. If God’s grace is irresistible doesn’t that make us more like robots than persons? Doesn’t such a view rob man of his own free will? In other words, to avoid compromising man’s free will, this grace should be seen as nothing more than a gentle persuasion rather than anything truly irresistible.

Well, first, it must be said that both Scripture and Dort’s understanding of Scripture is that human beings are indeed persons and not inanimate objects. Because Dort didn’t have robots available as an illustration, in article 16, they made clear that divine grace didn’t act in people as if they were blocks or stones, but as humans.

That said, human beings are not only persons, they are also creatures. In other words, we are both at the same time completely dependent on God and able to make responsible decisions. We are not robots. But neither are we little autonomous gods. 

MONERGISM AND SYNERGISM

Now, I’m going to use two technical terms, but I think it’s important for us to walk through this. The terms are monergistic and synergistic. Or monergism and synergism. Both are built off the Greek word “ergo” to work. Mono means one or alone. So, monergism means that God works alone. Synergism adds the prefix that means together. So, synergism means that both God and man work together.

TWO ERRORS

Now, to avoid two different errors, we believe both. And the Bible teaches both. Both God and believers (not the word believers), both God and believers are involved in the process of salvation. But both are not involved in the whole process of salvation. What parts are both involved in? Faith, repentance, sanctification, perseverance (which we’ll look at next week). In each of these, both God works, and we work. 

But because, in our fallen state, not only would we never respond to the gospel, we’re morally and spiritually incapable of responding, then God Himself must do the decisive first work. 

While we are dead, deaf, blind, we are helpless to participate or contribute. But once the Spirit breathes new resurrected life into us, we are then able to respond in faith. We’re then able to repent of our sin and waywardness. We are able to grow in grace and holiness. We are able to make every effort to strive and finish the race. Of course, we don’t do any of these on our own. But we do — once we are made spiritually alive — actively participate in the process. 

So, the first error is to suggest that when we speak of monergism, that God alone works, that God alone is involved in the whole process of salvation. But that’s not at all what is meant.

SECOND ERROR: THE EXTENT OF SYNERGISM

The second error is that we need something less than effectual grace. Something less than an effectual wake up call. (I think of my mom waking us up for school. It was like an alarm that try as you may, you just couldn’t turn off.) (The call of Lazarus.)

The Arminian position wants to suggest that we are involved in the entire process of salvation, that there is no monergistic work on God’s part, but that the whole process is synergistic. We must cooperate with God for our salvation. 

But how on earth can a dead person participate in making himself alive. Consider Lzararus. What could Lazarus do to raise himself? Well, that was our condition! It’s only after we are made alive that we begin to be involved in the rest of the process. 

DECISIVE FACTOR

So, in light of our fallen condition, who would you say was the decisive person regarding your salvation? Scripture’s answer for this is clear. It wasn’t you. What could you do? 

The decisive factor in your salvation was God alone. God alone worked in you, making you alive (verse 5); applying the promise of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31); giving us a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36); indeed, breathing new life into dead dry bones (as Eli read for us from Ezekiel 37). 

Or as Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3: unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, let me ask: how much involvement did you have in your first birth? In the same way, we are unable to contribute to our new birth.

WHOSE FREE WILL

You see, the problem with most people’s rejection of Reformed Theology, which I would simply argue is biblical theology … and the theology of Paul … and the theology of Jesus … Anyway, the rejection most people have with Reformed Theology is that it, in their mind, is an attack on free will. So, they would rather argue for an unbiblical view of man’s free will at the expense of God’s free will. 

Do you see the issue? Salvation is indeed an act of free will. But not ours! It’s God’s free will. Ours is in bondage due to the Fall … due to our sin. We forfeited our free will when we chose to but into the lie of the snake and exchanged the glory of God for the creature. And outside of Christ, in our fallen nature, we despise God’s free sovereign will, and fight tooth and nail for our own precious autonomy.

DRAWING

But isn’t God’s grace described merely as drawing people to Himself? John 6:44. Jesus says, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And John 12:32. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. 

Many commentators like to suggest that this word draw is merely an attractional wooing. Kind of like my wife knows how to draw my attention. Or when you call a cat, here kitty kitty. But this word draw is much more forceful than a mere wooing. If it’s a wooing, it’s an effectual wooing. It’s a term used for the unsheathing of a sword. You don’t woo a sword from its sheath, you effectively draw it out. It’s also used at the end of John for Peter hauling in the large catch of fish. I assure you, there was no wooing of those fish. If anything, those fish were not cooperating with Peter. They wanted out.

Or a bucket from the well …
The Spirit takes hold of us and drags us out of our watery grave of death — out of the pit — with resurrection power, filling us with resurrection life. 

That’s what the Spirit works in us in baptism. Which is why the primary emphasis in the New Testament regarding baptism is not the physical act but the spiritual. Effectual Grace is a spiritual work accomplished without our help, in which the Spirit makes us who were already dead, placing our death in Christ’s death, and makes us alive in Him.

THE NEED FOR EFFECTUAL GRACE

What you believe in regards to effectual grace will often be determined by what you believe about the state of mankind after the fall. 

If you believe that man, for the most part, is morally and spiritually neutral, then you won’t even feel the need for effectual grace. 

If you believe man is simply morally and spiritually sick, then there’s no need for effectual grace. 

If you hold to the Arminian view, that God gives sufficient prevenient grace to all, and that all man needs is to cooperate with this grace, you won’t feel a need for effectual grace. 

But if what Paul says at the beginning of chapter 2 is true, that mankind isn’t just spiritually or morally sick but dead, and hence unable to respond favorably to the gospel unless God in His sovereignty changes our hearts so that we are spiritually alive, then you will have no problem affirming the need for effectual grace. 

BECAUSE YOU PRAY

And you know how I know that every genuine believer believes the doctrine of Irresistible Grace? Because of how you pray, and specifically, how you pray for the salvation of loved ones. You don’t pray that God would bring them to the point at which they can save themselves. Nor do you pray that God would merely provide them with an opportunity to respond to the gospel, but by no means compromise their free will so that they might be the decisive factor in their salvation. You don’t even pray that God would simply help them believe. If that’s the extent of your prayers, either they are grounded in a rather low view of God or a deficient love for whoever it is you’re praying for. 

When you pray, you pray that God would decisively save them, that He work in them everything necessary, from opening blind eyes, softening hard hearts, making the dead alive. 

J. I. Packer is helpful. When you pray for the unconverted, you pray on the assumption that it is in God’s power and God’s power alone to bring them to faith.

GENESIS 2:5-8

If you’ll turn to Genesis 2, perhaps you’ll see the connection between God’s breathing life into the first man, and God breathing life into our dead condition.

Read Genesis 2:5-8

In Genesis 2, it took a supernatural work for a lump of clay, regardless of how exquisitely shaped, to live … to breathe. 

LIVING CLAY

My family used to do a lot of Sculpey Clay. We’d form and fashion the various colors of polymer clay into Christmas decorations and even chess sets. We even tried Claymation, you know, the stop-motion animation, where you take hundreds of pictures to create a little movie scene, moving the little figurines just the teeniest amount for each shot. 

And while we could move the clay figures and position them how we liked, we could never get the clay to move itself. We could never cause the clay to become animated. Try as we may, we couldn’t make the clay live. 

And yet, here we are, fashioned from the clay of the earth. But we aren’t inanimate clay objects. When the Lord breathed his breath of life into man’s nostrils, we came alive.

Of course, we ate, and so we died. Now, the average person on the street wouldn’t refer to our current status apart from Christ as that of being dead. But that’s exactly how Scripture portrays us. 

EZEKIEL 37

We’re not, as Miricale Max in The Princess Bride would say, “mostly dead.” No. We’re what the Hebrew refers to as dead, dead. On the day you eat to die you will die.

So, we need God to do in us a work every bit as miraculous as when Adam took his first breath and came alive. And that’s exactly what God said He was going to do in Ezekiel 36 and 37. He fills us with His very Spirit, breathing breath into dry dead bones.

MIRACLES

When you think of the greatest miracles in Scripture, what comes to your mind?
Sparing a remnant through God’s worldwide flood of judgment?
Parting the Red Sea in the Exodus, so that God’s people could escape bondage?
Opening the eyes of the blind?
The cleansing of diseases of the flesh, like leprosy?
Casting out demons?
Making the paralytic walk?
Raising Lazarus?
Creation out of nothing?
The Resurrection? (Of course, the real miracle is not so much that God would rise, but that God could die!)

Well, all of these are the miracle of regeneration, the new birth … and each aspect is a work that God alone could do.
It was God who brought us who were children of wrath through the Flood of His just judgment.
It was God who parted those waters and brought us out of bondage to sin.
It was God who opened our blind eyes to see the light of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
It is God who cleanses us of our disease of the flesh, namely sin.
It is God who cast out the demons in our life, who we once followed.
It is God who makes us who were once paralyzed and lame under the weight of sin, to now walk in His ways.
It was God who called us out of the tomb and made us alive together with Christ.
It is God who makes us a new creation.

The church today puts such an emphasis on Spiritual gifts, and the miraculously phenomenal, and we end up being unimpressed with the far greater miracle of New Creation. Listen. If you want to see miracles, come to church on Sunday morning. You’ll see those who were once dead, now alive. 

This work of regeneration is no less a miracle as that of raising the dead, or fashioning man out of lifeless clay, or speaking into existence things that had not existed. You want to see the miraculous, look around the room!

PARALYTIC

I know I brought up the paralytic last week, but I had Josiah read the passage for us this morning because I think it helps capture our inability as concerns regeneration. 

The paralytic could no more bring himself to God than he could walk to Jesus. He could no more restore himself to God than he could restore his own paralyzed legs. He could no more return to the Lord than he could turn over on his mat.

He didn’t bring himself to Jesus. Others did. But even his friends were compelled by something, moved by something outside themselves. They had heard rumors of this gracious miracle worker who not only could heal, but was willing to. They were also moved by love for their friend.

Which is easier to say? Son, your sins are forgiven or rise, take up your mat and go home? Well, we’d probably say the first. It’s certainly easier to announce forgiveness, in the sense that who’s going to prove whether such actually happened or not. 

But in reality, because Jesus isn’t mere talk, I believe the point Jesus is making is that it’s far easier for a paralyzed man to walk than for him to be restored to God by having his sins forgiven.

PRODIGAL

The same was the case with the prodigal. Yes, feeding the pigs, he came to himself. But what moved him to return home? Something compelled him. What? If you pay attention to the account you’ll notice it was his remembrance of his father’s kindness and generosity. And returning, he still had no expectation or intention of being restored as a son. And yet, that’s exactly what his father showered him with … overwhelming grace.

It's easier to return as a hired hand than to be restored as a son. And o how many seek to restore themselves to God as nothing more than hired hands. But God has called you as sons and daughters. He doesn’t need servants. He isn’t served by human hands as if He needed anything. 

ZACCHAEUS

And what about Zaccheaus? He wanted to see Jesus, what all the fuss was about. But it was Jesus who called Zacchaeus down from the tree. 

It’s far easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for rich Zacchaeus to be received into the kingdom. But God! But Jesus! 

It wasn’t so much that Zaccheaus climbed a tree to find Jesus, but that Jesus climbed the tree to find Zaccheaus. As Jesus himself says, For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. 

In fact, Jesus calls Zaccheus down from the tree that the sinless Son might go up the tree in Zacchaeus’ place … in my place … in your place. It was Zacchaeus’ death Jesus died in order to bring about new life in Zacchaeus. And the same is true for you and me.

NEW CREATION

As believers, we aren’t just saved, we are New. And we’re not new in the sense that we’ve gotten a new hairdo or a new style of dress. We don’t in any way recreate ourselves. We are new because of something done in us … something that were entirely unable to contribute to. We are, verse 10, His workmanship.

APPLICATION

So, what’s the application in all of these doctrines? The church at large tends to be far more concerned with practical application, just tell me what to do, than that of doctrine. And so, we have a lot off people who are 1) outwardly doing and going through the motions of the Christian life with little to no heart transformation. Or 2) just as problematic, we’re teaching people to do what they are utterly incapable of doing outside of Christ and failing to proclaim to them the doctrinal power of the gospel that makes them alive to do so.

But if you’ll notice, that’s not at all the approach of the New Testament. But it has certainly become the standard fare of most church diets.

So “what are we to do?” Well, that’s not even the right question here. It’s, what are we to be? Be the New Creation, the New Workmanship God has created you to be in Christ Jesus. But this is something you and I are incapable of in ourselves. 

But God, rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. That’s the message that will transform your entire being. And as His workmanship, then, and only then can we work that which is pleasing to Him.

https://youtu.be/sv1WJp007Mo

  Pervasive Depravity and the Sinless Savior (Ephesians 2:1-3)

What’s wrong with the world? And more importantly, what’s wrong with us? This is what the Third Main Point in the Canons of Dort seeks to address. And as unpopular as the subject might be, it shows forth the glory of the gospel most vividly. Join me as we delve into the doctrine of Pervasive Depravity and the Sinless Savior.

HUMANITY’S GREATEST THREAT

If you were to go out these doors after service and walk in whatever direction until you ran into someone and asked them what’s humanity’s greatest threat? Or what’s the biggest problem in the world right now? Whether at the park, or the grocery store, you could even ask online. How many answers do you think you’d get? Here’s a brief list of some of the most popular:

Government, current leadership (they may even mention an individual’s name), war, healthcare, fitness, diet, world hunger, water supply, economy, climate change, communicable and noncommunicable diseases, global poverty, inequality, disinformation, religion, widespread debt crisis, pandemic, deforestation, employment, pollution, supply chain collapse, aging population, and the one I found most interesting, alien invasion. 

Is there anything you might add to this list? Well, I would agree with this entire list. And we could add many more to it. What’s our greatest problem? The government. Absolutely. But not Democrats or Republicans. It’s that we’ve rejected the governance of God and have sought to do what is right in our own eyes. It’s the current leadership, but not anyone who might be in public office. It’s the current leadership of the prince of the power of the air whom the whole world follows. And just to put the blame where it rightly belongs, if we want to put a name to it, it’s that supposedly autonomous individual you look at in the mirror.

Humanity’s greatest threat is war. Not in Ukraine, or the Middle East, or in Sudan. It’s the war we’ve waged against the omnipotent Creator.

What’s our greatest problem? It’s healthcare; we’re spiritually unwell. It’s fitness; we focus more on bodily training than on godliness. It’s our diets; we feast on everything but the Bread of Life. It’s world hunger; the whole world is spiritually starved because there’s a famine of the Word of God. And there’s a water crisis; we’ve hewed out broken cisterns for ourselves and have forsaken the fount of Living Water. 

Our greatest problem is financial; we’ve valued that which is of little value and devalued the One of infinite worth. We have an unemployment problem; mankind refuses to employ himself in service to his Creator. It’s the worldwide economy that has brought about global poverty; the whole world is spiritually bankrupt. We have a widespread debt crisis; each of us owe a debt none of us can afford.

What threatens humanity? Communicable and noncommunicable diseases; our disease of sin is both infectious and genetic. We’re in a global pandemic, the most severe longest lasting pandemic in history. 

Disinformation: fake news has infected us since the Garden. There’s a supply chain collapse; the supply chain of wisdom has been cut off by our own doing. And we could even through A.I. into the mix, though perhaps it’s not so much artificial intelligence as it is superficial, for we have forsaken true wisdom in forsaking the fear of the Lord.

You don’t think climate change poses a threat to humanity? Listen, we’ve grown cold towards the God who is love. And Paul states that the love of many will continue to grow cold.

And what about alien invasion: we’ve become foreign to our Maker. 

And there’s death. Death didn’t actually make the list. I even typed in death as the greatest problem, and Google wanted to inform me that death is not a problem but a natural part of the human experience. But that’s not at all true. Death is an unnatural part of human experience. There’s nothing natural about death. 

Now, I’m sure you are all wise enough to figure out what I just did. You see, I would lump the whole of this list together as one and the same problem. Now Google wanted to inform me that there is not one single biggest problem in the world. There is not one single greatest threat to humanity. 

But if you’re in here, you know exactly what it is. It’s sin.
And if you’re out there, wherever you are in the world, everyone knows that’s our biggest problem.

DOCTRINES OF GRACE

We’re continuing our series on the Doctrines of Grace, and following the Canons of Dort, we’re on the 3rd main point. You’ll notice that Dort placed the 3rd and 4th main points together and for good reason (which we’ll look at next week). Today we’re focusing on the 3rdmain point, what Dort refers to as Human Corruption. 

To trace where we’ve been so far following the order of Dort:
It all begins with God’s sovereign election in eternity past, choosing a people for His own possession to live holy and blameless before Him in love.
… with the climax of God’s plan being the definite redemption of His elect, sinners saved by the blood of the eternal Son of God who rescues and redeems His bride so that she might be holy without spot or blemish — indeed, a pure virgin bride.

But this glorious plan of God’s, which we call the gospel, comes to us in history, in a corrupted condition that is anything but holy and blameless, anything but spotless and without blemish, anything but pure. Indeed, we were as far from God as we could possibly be … o not physically … but spiritually. So far were we from God that Scripture’s verdict is that we were dead … dead to God, dead to the true and living God.

Perhaps this sounds like an exaggeration to most. I come across individuals all the time who tell me, “I’ve always believed in God.” Well, I’m not denying that they mean something by that, and we’ll address this precise issue in a moment. 

ARTICLES 1-3

But first, I want to summarize the first 3 articles in Dort’s 3rd Main Point. 

Article 1: The Effect of the Fall on Human Nature
Man was originally created in the image and likeness of God — holy and upright — with a true and right knowledge of his Creator. But at the Serpent’s instigation, and by his own free will, man deprived himself of this beautiful gift, most importantly, true and right knowledge of God. And hence, man had plunged himself into spiritual darkness, affecting his every faculty.

Article 2: The Spread of Corruption
Man, then, brought forth children of the same corrupt nature as himself.

Article 3: Total Inability
As such, all are conceived in sin and under wrath, incapable of any saving good, so that apart from the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit, we are neither willing nor able to return to the God who made us.

TULIP

This condition is what’s often referred to as Total Depravity. It’s the “T” in TULIP: Or to be a little more nuanced, Pervasive Depravity, because this depraved nature pervades the whole of our being.

UNPOPULAR

While Unconditional Election is the point most likely to garner the response, “That’s not fair,” and Limited Atonement is the most frowned upon and rejected of the 5 points, the most unpopular is this one, our Total Depravity. Do you see what we’re up against in trying to articulate these Biblical themes? In the fallen mind, as we trace these doctrines in the Canons of Dort, we go from unfair to frowned upon, to outright unpopular.

No one wants to hear about our sin nature and how utterly pervasive it is. And sadly, because of that, it is the least addressed doctrine in the modern church. And why is this a problem? Well, 1) it is one of the most prominent and highlighted doctrines in all of Scripture. In fact, it is the problem the whole of Scripture seeks to address and resolve. 2) only in understanding our fallen condition will we acquiesce to our need for a Savior and see the gospel for the glorious plan that it is. 

SALVATION FROM WHAT

O how often the entire gospel is gutted because it is promoted merely as an addition to an otherwise decent life. There are pastors who seek to avoid the topic of sin at all costs. My question for them is this: what good news could you possibly have to share with your congregation? The gospel is good news only because it deals with our greatest problem, indeed, the greatest threat to all humanity. Every other problem we might list stems from this and this alone. 

D. A. Carson is helpful: There can be no agreement on what salvation is unless there is agreement as to what salvation rescues us from. 

Listen. when we remove or minimize the doctrine of sin, the only salvation we have to offer is something infinitely inferior to the salvation Jesus came to bring. How can we even begin to make sense of the cross if we remove or minimize our sinful condition — that it took the suffering and death of the eternal Son of God on a bloody gruesome cross to rescue us. 

So, with that, let’s delve into our text and see just what our condition was that required such a rescue.

READ: Ephesians 2:1-3
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

TO SAINTS, NOT TO THE WORLD

The first thing that needs to be addressed as we look at this doctrine of Total Depravity, and especially as concerns our text, is that, if you turn back a page to chapter 1, you’ll see that Paul is writing to the saints, specifically, to the saints who are in Ephesus. Of course, we can certainly apply that to the church universal. But the point is, Paul isn’t writing to the world; he isn’t writing to unbelievers; he’s writing to the elect, those chosen and predestined by God for adoption to be holy. That’s what the word “saints” means: those who are holy.

Why does this matter? Because the condition Paul is describing in verse 1 of chapter 2 is not so much a description of the world, although it is. But Paul’s point is to describe your condition … my condition … that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Yes, end of verse 3, this is the state of the rest of mankind. But more importantly, this was us. This is the state we were rescued from.

KNOWING OURSELVES RIGHTLY

It's important that we don’t lose sight of where we came from … who we once were … or the gospel will quickly lose any effective transforming power in your life. The gospel will lose its abundant sweetness that leads us to live to the praise of the glory of His grace (1:12).

I mentioned this book before, by Dave Harvey, When Sinners Say I Do. And one of the first points Harvey seeks to drive home is our awareness of our fallen condition from which we were rescued, and that we haven’t arrived at full sanctification just yet. 

INHERENTLY GOOD?

So many professing Christians are deceived in thinking they are inherently good people. But Scripture says the opposite. And so long as you think you are inherently good, you will be a slave to your own self-righteousness. You’ll never know freedom in Christ apart from knowing and being honest about your fallen condition. Indeed, you can’t truly know Christ. You might know things about him, but so long as you are in denial of who you are apart from Him, you don’t know Him. 

1 John 1 makes this clear. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us… If we say we have not sinned, we make God out to be a liar, and His word is not in us. 

DEAD

So, just how bad was our condition? Verse 1. You and I were dead. Dead, how? Dead to God. Look down at Ephesians 2 verse 12. Remember that you wee at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, [now listen] having no hope and without God in the world.

We were dead in the sense that we were without God. 

PRACTICAL ATHEISM

Now, while I believe Scripture is clear that there is no genuine atheist, in the sense that everyone knows; that’s Romans 1 — there’s also a sense in which everyone, every unbeliever prior to the Spirit awakening them and making them alive to God, every human being is an atheist in a practical sense, living as if there were no God, at least not the true Creator to whom they will give an account. Instead, they merely know gods of their own making … that are no gods at all.

Because I assure you, every time you and I sin, we are living as if the God who is isn’t. And this would include our every sinful thoughts and desires, not just our outward actions.

PSALM 14

In other words, we were all the fool of Psalm 14, living as if there was no God. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” But the psalmist doesn’t stop there. He makes clear that this is a universal condition. They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They all have turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

ALWAYS BELIEVED IN GOD

So back to the issue for those who would say, “I’ve always believed in God.” Most would claim to have always believed in God in a general sense. But believing in God in a general sense is 1) not actually believing in the one true God at all, 2) it is unable to benefit anyone in the arenas of life that matter most, and 3) it makes one no better than the demons or perhaps even worse, because they at least believe and tremble.

NO DESIRE FOR COMMUNION

The issue is not so much belief in an intellectual sense, but belief in a moral and spiritual sense. 

Everyone knows! But the fact that we tend to live as practical atheists shows the issue is that we have no taste for God, no desire for communion with God. We see that clearly in Psalm 14:2. There are none who genuinely seek after God. 

Fallen man prefers everything over God … preferring the gifts over the Giver … delighting more in the things created than in the Creator.

DISORDERED AFFECTIONS

How did these disordered affections come about? (Because they very much are disordered affections.)

Well, not to go back to the Garden for the Garden’s sake, but because it’s the event that makes sense of our entire fallen human condition.

To put it simply, we were deceived. That’s what took place in the Garden. The serpent tempted the woman and the man who was with her, leading them to question the goodness of God.

Remember article 1. Man was originally endowed with a true and right knowledge of God, including a knowledge of God’s goodness. Well, the Fall corrupted that true and right knowledge. I mean, how can God be good if He withholds good gifts?

Hence, what has become desirable is no longer this Good God who has given the man and woman every good thing, who is Himself the perfection of good. But what has become desirable are the supposedly good gifts He has withheld. And ever since, mankind has been filled with disordered affections. Do you see how crafty and subtle the serpent is?

The unspoken logic goes like this: If God’s design is such and such, and God has proven Himself unfit as regards goodness because He has withheld good things, then obviously His design can’t be all that good either, and must therefore be modified according to what we deem is right.

CULTURAL EXAMPLES

Our culture demonstrates this well. What do you mean marriage is intended to be only between one man and one woman for a lifetime? If such is God’s design, He must obviously be doing the same thing He did in the Garden … withholding something good from us.

Or, I’m a woman trapped in a man’s body. So, we’ll scream, “Oppression!” How dare God and those who follow Him deny me of what I know to be good and right for me.

Why is there such an emphasis on sexual sin? Because it so clearly exposes these disordered affections. That’s why Paul uses it Romans 1.

But this disordering and distortion of God’s good design has been taking place since the Fall. There’s nothing entirely new under the sun. The very next chapter of Genesis after the Fall records how Lamech took two wives. Why? Because God’s design of cleaving to one wasn’t good enough in his eyes. 

And so rings the cadence: I’m unhappy with my marriage, so I’ll end it. I’m unhappy with my body, so I’ll change it. I’m unhappy with my provisions, so I’ll take what isn’t mine. I’m unhappy with what so and so said or did, so I’ll take his life. I’m unhappy that someone else’s circumstances seem better than mine, so I’ll advocate for us all to have it the same. Which of course we know ultimately leads to bringing everyone down, not lifting anyone up. 

EVERYTHING NECESSARY

Our disordered affections demand more, better, and different than what God has given. But here’s the thing. God has given everyone, every physical good they need in order to do what they were created for, and that is to glorify Him. 

Everyone has the physical ability to glorify God. What we lack is the moral ability (that’s article 3). Or to put it more clearly, fallen humanity lacks the desire to glorify God.

THREE DEFINITIONS

Scripture uses three primary terms to describe the sinful nature of our fallen bent: transgression, iniquity, and sin. In fact, all three of these terms can be found in King David’s psalm of repentance, Psalm 51:1-2. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 

These 3 terms get to the root of our condition, as they deal with authority, reality, and glory, touching upon humanity’s 3-fold office of prophet-priest-king.

So what do each of these terms mean exactly? 

The Iniquity of False Prophets

Dealing with the office of prophet: Iniquity has to do with reality; it is the twisting, bending, distortion, and perversion of truth. Partaking of the fruit distorted the truth of God’s goodness. It also perverted the truth of their identity as image-bearers, that they could somehow become more like God than they already were. All sin is iniquity in that it bends and twists the truth. Or as Romans 1 say, mankind exchanged the truth about God for a lie and has become a false prophet.

The Sin of Unholy Priests

Dealing with the office of priesthood: Sin has to do with glory; it is missing the mark. It’s one thing to be fashioned in the image of God; it’s an entirely different thing to actually image God. In heeding those voices that were opposed to God, Adam failed to image God. He missed the mark. So, we, when we sin, we are missing the mark, we are falling short of what we were created to be. Romans 3. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, making us unholy priests.

The Transgression of Rebellious Kings

Dealing with the office of kingship: Transgression has to do with authority; it is the crossing of an imposed boundary. When Adam and Eve ate, they transgressed God’s command and rejected His authority. All sin is a transgressing of God’s rightful authority. No one is going to tell me what is off limits. Humanity has become rebellious kings.

IMAGING THE BEAST

Instead of imaging God, God’s image-bearers now image the beast, the serpent. 

Hold on Josh, don’t you think that’s a bit extreme. You don’t really mean to say that we image Satan, do you? Listen. Outside of Christ, that’s exactly what we do! Just as the unholy trinity will come on the scene in Revelation as a pseudo-prophet-priest-king, so has man become a false prophet, and unholy priest, and a rebellious tyrant king.

FOLLOWING THE PRINCE OF THE AIR

Back to our text. Ephesians 2:2. You want to know how you once walked … you want to know how the rest of mankind walks: we followed the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 

Now, my point this morning is not so much to expound the book of Ephesians, as helpful as that would be. But let me say just a few things about the whole — prince of the power of the air. 

WHO IS THIS PRINCE?

First, who is this prince? Paul is describing Satan. Now, this might seem a strange way to describe the ancient serpent but think about it like this. 

1) Satan is a spirit; he’s not flesh and blood. And at the end of this letter, Paul will point out exactly that. Ephesians 6:12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

2) Satan’s work is spiritual; he fills the air with his lies. In other words, we don’t physically see the serpent any more than we physically see his actions. And yet, his works fill this fallen creation, not in an omnipresent sense, but in that his deception is worldwide. So long as we are under heaven, we are vulnerable to his flaming darts of deceit and accusations that soar through the air. Hence, we need to take up the shield of faith as defense against his schemes.

3) Satan is a ruler, not inherently so, but because of two reasons: 

First, Satan has authority because he has followers — the sons of disobedience, which at one time included the whole of mankind. Don’t miss that connection at the end of verse 3. All of mankind once followed the snake, including us. In which you once walked, Paul says. Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh. 

Second, God has granted Satan a degree of authority for a time, for His own good purposes. Don’t ever think Satan acts outside of God’s sovereign rule. There’s but one ultimate authority, and it’s not the snake, regardless of how powerful he may seem to be. 

LIKE THE BEAST

Back to the ways in our depraved state we are like the serpent, whom we all once followed.
Psalm 58:3. The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ears.
Psalm 140:3. They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s, and under their lips is the venom of asps.
John 8:44. Jesus will make clear that those who murder, those who do not hold to the truth, those who lie are children of the serpent.
We even see this idea in Genesis 3. The serpent has offspring. Who are the serpent’s offspring? Well, one way Scripture portrays offspring is that they bear their father’s resemblance. 

NATURAL BENT

Since the Fall, this has been the whole of mankind’s natural bent — not natural because mankind was created with such a bent, but natural by corruption. Verse 3. We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by naturechildren of wrath. 

We didn’t begin corrupt. God made man upright, but man corrupted himself. Ecclesiastes 7:29. God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

UNIVERSAL

And this natural bent toward sin, toward evil is a universal condition. Like the rest of mankind. Genesis 6:5. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That was before the flood. What about after. Genesis 8:21 makes clear that man’s corrupted nature hadn’t changed. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.

And despite God’s kindness, and forbearance, and patience, which was intended to lead man to repentance, instead, the wickedness of man only increased. Ecclesiastes 8:11. Because the sentence against evil works is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

ONE CORRUPT HEART

The heart in these passages is singular, even though it’s speaking of the whole of mankind. The Puritan theologian Stephen Charnock is helpful. It’s as if there were but one common heartbeat in all mankind, one common bent, one pulse, one joint consent towards wickedness, without any sense of God’s authority on earth. It’s as if one corrupt heart acted in every man in the world.

THE SPREAD

Now, we get it. Adam and Eve sinned, so their nature was corrupted. But what does that have to do with ours? Why is our nature like theirs after the Fall, rather than before the Fall? Well, I don’t think God gives us Genesis 1 only to demonstrate that He is the Creator, which of course it does. But Genesis 1 is packed with theology. Recall what is said regarding things that reproduce, whether plants or birds or fish or beasts. They all reproduced according to kind. Genesis 1:12. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And we see the same with God’s other creatures. 

So, when we turn to Genesis 5 we read that Adam fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. Or as article 2 of the Canons of Dort puts it. Mankind brought forth children of the same nature as themselves, that is, being corrupt, they brought forth corrupt children … not by way of imitation, but by way of propagation of their perverted nature.

DESPCRIPTORS OF SIN

Of course, there are many other descriptors of our depraved condition other than the terms sin, transgression, and iniquity: mankind is described as wicked, evil, rebellious, unfaithful, adulteress, ignorant, wandering, foreign, unclean, defiled, impure, unrighteous, lawless, disobedient, trespassers, who have breached the covenant and been disloyal to his Creator. 

On top of this, the examples in Scripture abound. Don’t fall into the word-concept fallacy that just because one of these descriptors aren’t used that Scripture isn’t teaching us about man’s fallen corrupted nature.

TOTAL DEPRAVITY

When we speak of total depravity, however, the point is not that mankind is as corrupt as he could possibly be. Rather, this corruption has spread to every facet of our lives, our nature, it’s pervasive, leaving no area of our being untouched. In other words, this doctrine of Total Depravity is not so much about sin’s intensiveness as it is its extensiveness. 

It may seem a bit shocking, but Hitler could have been more corrupt than he was. He could have committed more atrocities than he did. It’s by God’s grace that his evil was restrained to the degree it was.

But the same is also true for you and me. It is only by God’s gracious loving restraint that we have not committed more evil than we have.

It’s equally true that sinners do many things that we would rightly call good in a worldly sense. You don’t have to be a believer to mow your neighbor’s yard when he’s out of town, or to speak kindly, or to seek another’s welfare, or to give good gifts. Jesus makes this point. If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

WORSHIP

But here’s the thing. And here’s why the Bible can in one sense call such acts from unbelievers as good, and at the same time make it clear that outside of Christ no one does good, not even one. Why? Because the unbeliever does none of those so-called good deeds as an act of worship to the one true God. 

All of life flows from worship. We’ve covered this before. Everything you and I do is an act of worship. Don’t ever think Sunday morning service is supposed to be worship, but after you leave here, you’re just moving on with the rest of your unworshipful life. O you might no longer be worshiping the Lord, but you’re worshiping something. 

And that’s our greatest problem. The problem of sin, our greatest evil is not what we do, it’s whom we love and serve. So, Paul says in Romans 1, we have chosen to worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator. 

THE HEART

You see, the issue is not that we are sinners because we sin, but that we sin because we are sinners. And our sin nature flows from the core of our being — our hearts. 

Turn with me to Mark 7. Sherif already read this passage for us at the beginning of service. Mark 7:15. Jesus says, “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And his disciples ask Jesus to explain this to them, and he does so with a slight rebuke on the front end. Are you also without understanding?In other words, this is something they should understand. In fact, I would argue, from Scripture’s perspective, this is something everyone should understand, and everyone inherently knows, but suppresses.

Verse 18. Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him since it enters not his heart but his stomach and is expelled. But … what comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.

Did you see what Jesus did? What goes in cannot defile anyone because it is expelled through the stomach as excrement. It’s what comes out of the heart that’s the problem. Why? Because it’s more polluted and unclean than excrement. 

REALITY OF HELL

And if you’re not yet convinced of how bad our condition of sin is, all we need to consider is the reality of hell. And I’ll just quote John Piper because he says it so well. 

“The reality of hell is God’s clear indictment of the infiniteness of our guilt. If our corruption were not deserving of an eternal punishment, God would be unjust to threaten us with a punishment so severe as eternal torment.” 

WELLBEING

And guess what. Jesus spoke about the judgment of hell more than anyone. Compassionate Jesus, meek and mild, warned about the reality of hell a lot. And he did so, so that people needn’t go there. He spoke like that often because he cares about people’s eternal wellbeing. 

That’s why he announces to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, before he restores the paralytic’s ability to walk. Because if he’s not going to walk in paths of righteousness, if his feet are going to allow him to wander even further from the Lord in his affections and service, he’s better off never walking again. 

If your eye wanders gouge it out! If your hand strays cut it off! You’re better off without them if they draw your affections further from the Lord.

But there’s one thing Jesus cares about more than my wellbeing or your wellbeing, and that’s the honor of his Father. And for many, that alone rubs them wrong. They despise Jesus for putting his Father’s honor above their wellbeing. Well, loved ones, that alone makes the point. Our problem, our condition, is that we are so self-centered that we have no taste for this holy, holy, holy God.

SINLESS SAVIOR

That’s our condition. And that’s the environment our sinless Savior entered in order to rescue us from this awful condition.

Because of our sin, every one of us, every person who has ever walked this earth, was under the condemnation of death … all but one … Jesus. Why? Because Jesus was the only human ever to be without sin. 

This matters immensely to our understanding of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. 

How pervasive was our sin issue? Well, Genesis 5, where we’re given the list of Adam’s offspring, we read: and then he died, and then he died, and then he died. Or Romans 5. All men died. Death came to all men, because all sinned. But not Jesus!

NO CLAIM ON ME

Remember what Jesus says at the end of John 14 in the middle of the upper room discourse. Jesus is getting ready to head out to the Garden. And he tells his disciples, I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. 

The prince of this world was coming. The prince of the power of the air, Satan himself, was coming. Coming for what? To have Jesus betrayed by one of his own. To have Jesus condemned by his own people. To have Jesus publicly shamed and humiliated on the cross. To have Jesus put to death.

But Jesus very clearly says that Satan has no claim on him. What does that mean? Well, we know that as the divine Son of God, that the true authority in this scene is not the snake but Jesus. As God Himself, Satan answers to the Son, not the Son to the serpent. But is that the fullness of what Jesus means?

POWER OF DEATH

Even as a man, Satan has no power over Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is free of sin. Hebrews 2:14 tells us that Jesus partook of flesh and blood, in other words, came as a man, so that through death, he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.

What does it mean that the devil had the power of death? Satan had the power of death not in an authoritative sense, and certainly not in a divine sense. But in tempting mankind to sin, his evil scheme placed all of humanity under the judicial sentence of death. How? Because God cannot lie. God must be faithful to His decrees. “On the day you eat you shall surely die.” Death ensued that day … spiritual death for sure, but also the guarantee of physical death. And because all sin, all are under this same condemnation of death.

And Satan continued to have power in the sense of accusation, because it’s true, all of humanity, according to God’s edict, deserves death. Hear the serpent before the Judge in his accusatory tone: God, I’m just calling you to uphold your justice.

THE ONE UNJUST DEATH

But Jesus never sinned. For Jesus to be put to death, to die an unjust death, he removed the power of death from the devil’s hand. Satan had no power over Jesus as a man because Jesus was sinless and undeserving of death. Satan had no accusation he could throw at Jesus. And yet, he still had Jesus betrayed and condemned and put to death on false charges and false accusations. And by Jesus dying a death that wasn’t his to die, he removed the power of death from the serpent’s hand.

3 DEFINITIONS REVISTED

Remember our 3 definitions: transgression: that of crossing a boundary; iniquity: bending or twisting; and sin: missing the mark? You know how Jesus conquered the one who held the power of death? The Son of God crossed the impossibleboundary, taking on flesh and blood in order that God could do the impossible — die. Our King was mocked as a fraud as he bore a phony crown of twistedthorns, a symbol of our twisted kingship. And for the first time in history, death had missed its mark in the death of the one sinless man to ever walk this earth.

THE THIEF

Or as the thief on the cross would say. I’m rightly condemned to die. Me and the rest of humanity are merely getting what we deserve. But this man, Jesus, has done nothing wrong.

THE BAPTISM

Why was John the Baptist hesitant to baptize Jesus. Because you can’t baptize someone with a baptism of repentance if they have nothing to repent of. But that’s exactly why God had John baptizing people in the Jordan. Listen, the portrait wouldn’t work if John was sprinkling people on the riverbank.

The gospels record that all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan. They came to him in droves. And they entered that water with the filth of their sins, to have them, at least in a symbolic sense, washed off into the Jordan. 

So, when Jesus enters the this sin-polluted river, without any sin of his own to be cleansed from, it’s as though the whole of the world’s sins have washed over sinless Jesus ­— the sinless Son of God immersed into our sin-filled atmosphere.

And he goes and carries them to the cross. Throughout his ministry, he touched the unclean, and the sinner, and even the dead. Taking all their sin and uncleanness and deadness upon himself in order to carry it all to the cross, to die a death that wasn’t his to die. It was our death he died.

THE CHARACTER OF GOD

You want to taste and see that the Lord is good. This is where you do it — you do so here at the cross. 

O there are so many beautiful gifts God has given us. But realize, not everybody’s circumstances are even remotely the same. But this one — this one here — is available to all. O the wonderful cross.

You see, God truly withholds no good thing. If the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for man to eat from, He would not have withheld it from Adam and Eve. But it wasn’t good for them. 

So, if you ever question God’s goodness, just go to what is my absolute favorite verse in the whole of Scripture — o there are many that compete, but this one tops the chart. It’s Romans 8:32. He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all, how we He not also with him graciously give us all things. 

WITHHOLDS NO GOOD THING

He gives us every good thing. He’s given us the greatest good imaginable in giving us His Son. What good would He possibly withhold if He’s given us this! If it hasn’t been given to you at this time, it’s not what you need most right now. He’s a good and loving Father. And so the cross dispels any question of God’s goodness, His goodness toward us, that He Himself is our greatest good. And that’s exactly what He gave us when He gave us His Son.

He withheld the tree. But He didn’t withhold His Son on the tree. O taste and see just how good He is. This alone is the only freedom from our bondage to sin, because it’s the only thing that will correct our distorted view of God’s good character … for us. 

O our condition is that we are still sinners. But we are sinners redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb. 

When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look and see Him there, who made an end to all my sin.
because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free,
for God the just is satisfied, to look on Him and pardon me.

Now, the enemy who had no claim on the sinless Savior, has no claim on you or me. Jesus died our death. Now we need Him to make us who were dead alive. That’s next week. Let us pray.

     Definite Atonement: The Saving Efficacy of Christ’s Death (Ephesians 5:25-27) 

INTRODUCTION: https://youtu.be/Wdf3ikssdVk 

It all starts with election. God’s sovereign decree … His plan … His choosing. But God's decree of election actually includes not only who He would save … but how He would effectively save them.

Last week, we began walking through the Doctrines of Grace, commonly known as Calvinism or TULIP.
And for those of you who might not be as familiar, I probably went way too fast on some of these.
So, as a refresher, TULIP stands for:
T-total depravity, U-unconditional election, L-limited atonement,
I-irresistible grace, P-perseverance of the saints.

This week we’re on the “L” – limited atonement.
But as mentioned last week, the terms in TULIP are prone to misunderstanding and distortion.

So, I prefer the terms on the right: Pervasive Depravity, Sovereign Election, Definite Atonement, Effectual Grace, Preservation of the Saints
It doesn’t sound as nice as TULIP, but the nuance is helpful. 

AFFIRMING TULIP

Now, while I don’t prefer TULIP, let me be clear, if understood in their original intent, I affirm all of them, including this “L” which is where most people get hung up. Many will happily affirm the other four points. But if there’s a place people are going to exit the train, it’s here … with the idea that the infinite value of Jesus’ Atonement for sin could somehow be limited. 

EVERYONE LIMITS ATONEMENT

But here’s the thing. Unless you’re a universalist, meaning you believe every human being will be saved without exception, that everybody is going to heaven regardless of what they believe, regardless of how good or evil they might have been, everybody believes in limited atonement. Every evangelical limits the atonement of Christ in some way. The question is whether they seek to limit Christ’s death to its effectiveness or its intent. 

The Arminian position limits the effectiveness of Christ’s death to actually save in that it merely provides an opportunity of salvation for all, but actually secures salvation for no one. 

The Calvinist sees the atonement as limited in its intent but not limited in its effectiveness. In other words, Jesus’ death on the cross actually accomplishes the salvation of the elect for whom He died.

If I lost you. Don’t worry. We’ll be coming back to this train station again, so that if you are one of those who have hopped off, by the end, hopefully you’ll be more inclined to hop back on.

DORDRECHT AND GOUDA

Last week, we began with Sovereign Election. Today, we’re looking at Definite Atonement. And I know. Some of you are thinking, "That’s not the order at all." (Haley – slide.) But it was the order that those who defended these doctrines used at the Synod of Dort. 

And I know, Dort’s such a weird name. Well, that’s not the half of it. Dort is short for Dordrecht. Thank you, whoever shortened that. But at least it wasn’t Gouda, where the Remonstrance — the opponents of Reformed theology — held their gathering to debate these issues. The whole thing seems a bit cheesy to me. But I guess all man-centered theology is. There’s nothing Gouda about it.

ELECTION AS THE FOUNTAINHEAD

The order here is important. Sovereign Election is the fountainhead. God chooses a people in Christ to be holy and blameless before Him. The idea here is not simply image bearers but perfected image bearers … perfected in Christ. That was the plan from the beginning.  But the second logical step is, how?

Now, when I say, “second,” I’m not at all detaching the First Main Point from the Second. These go hand in hand as part of a unified single plan and decision in the mind of God. But it’s a little difficult to begin with Definite Atonement if there’s no one for whom Jesus was to die. You see the connection. 

GLORY OF GLORIES

At the same time, we shouldn’t think of God’s electing a people, apart from how. He intended to make them holy and blameless. Jesus was always at the center of God’s plan of redemption. 

And this second point – The Saving Efficacy of Christ’s Death – is the most amazing of all five doctrines. Of course, the other five serve to underpin just how amazing this doctrine is. But let me assure you, this is the glory of glories.

READ: (Ephesians 5:25-27)
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

AT EASE

Now to set you, husbands, at ease … this morning … this isn’t a message particular to how we as husbands are to love our wives. We can address that another time. What I want to focus on is Jesus’ love for the church … a love which he acted upon by laying down his life … specifically for her as for a Bride.

GARDEN

At the center of salvation is union … union with Christ. Union is marriage talk that goes all the way back to Genesis 2 and the Garden. It’s helpful if we recognize Adam as a type of “son of God.” I get that from Luke 3:38.

One of the things the historical account of the first man and woman is intended to convey is that it is God, the Father, who gives the woman to the man as a gift. And a beautiful gift at that.

But while Adam delighted in the woman, he certainly didn’t seek to win her in any way. Rather, he took God’s gift of her for granted and let another suitor creep in and defile her by robbing her affection from the One who gave her life.

HOSEA

Jesus, the true Son, won’t just be given a Bride. He himself will be sent to secure her affections by paying for her redemption … or to borrow from Hosea, redeeming her from her waywardness. 

Hosea 2:19. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. 

(Remember, to know, often when used in Scripture, carries an intimacy in the meaning. So, when the Lord speaks of betrothal, we are to hear the intimate connotations in the words, and you shall know the Lord.)

GOD LOVES EVERYONE THE SAME?

Now, I recall years ago, early in my walk, I was in a class where it was taught that God loves everyone the same. And I questioned whether that is truly the case. Not that God doesn’t have a beneficent will toward all His image bearers, but that there is a special love that God has, that Jesus has for His Bride that he does not have for others. 

Well, it sent the class into an uproar. What an outrageous thing to say. That God has a special love for some that He doesn’t have for others. And I used this text as what I thought and still think to be the prime example.

ISSUE FOR HUSBANDS

Husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Now, if Jesus loves everyone the same, then we as husbands have some serious issues to work through. And I assure you, our wives aren’t going to be okay with us trying to work this out practically. 

As a husband and follower of Christ, I’m to have a general love, a beneficent love for all women. But I have a special love for my Bride that will necessarily work itself out differently.

If a husband goes out and shows the same love to other women as he does his Bride, we call that adultery. And Jesus Christ is no adulterer. I hope you see how important it is that we get these doctrines right, which is why we’re taking time to look at each one specifically. 

THEOLOGICAL GROUNDINGS

You see how absurd our theological understandings can become when we stop grounding our doctrine in Scripture. 

Yet today, this is the common understanding within much of the church. Certainly, on the surface, it sounds more godly to say that Jesus loves everyone the same. But the first question we need to ask ourselves: “Is it biblical?” And I assure you, if it’s not biblical, it’s definitely not more godly. 

These ideas arise from men and women who seek to be more righteous than God, but it’s simply a righteousness in their own eyes. And if we’re not careful, it will taint how we read the Bible, if people are even reading their Bibles.

TO SANCTIFY HER

Verse 26. Jesus loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her … that is, make her holy. Or verse 27. So that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 

Do you see how this ties into what we looked at last week in chapter 1, verse 4. God elected a people in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Christ died for the church that she might be holy and without blemish.

Sovereign Election and Definite Atonement go hand in hand. We were elected, chosen in Christ to be holy, not because we were holy. Christ loved and gave himself up for the church that he might sanctify her, make her holy. He didn’t die for her because she was holy, any more than God elected a people because they were holy. 

INDISCRIMINATE BRIDEGROOM?

Now consider a husband choosing a wife. It’s not that the Bridegroom stretches out his arms and calls out, “whoever would be my Bride, come.” Now, certainly, that’s the offer of salvation. The offer is completely indiscriminate to all. 

But get this. The offer of salvation is not the entirety of salvation, nor is it the whole of what Jesus came to do. He also came to secure a Bride.

MARRY ME

When I asked Jenny to marry me after a month of dating, it wasn’t an indiscriminate offer to any who would be willing to marry me. I set my affections upon her. I wanted her. I chose her. And … she initially refused … to give me an answer either way … for a full seven days.

Now, I didn’t simply throw in the towel and seek another bride. I pursued her. I wanted her. I wanted to win her affections. (Now, there’s more to that story … but not less.)

PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE

When speaking of the marriage union, we know that from the beginning, all the way back in Genesis 2, that the purpose of marriage was to point to something more glorious than the physical reality of marriage between a man and his wife. 

We know that’s the case because it’s right here in Ephesians 5. Verse 31. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and Paul says, I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Jesus came to offer salvation to whosoever. But it’s equally true that he came to redeem his Bride … a particular Bride. And he determined to win her affections, not merely offer her a possible hand in marriage, and then move on to the next, should she not accept.

HOUSEKEEPING

At this point, it's helpful if we do a little theological housekeeping, in seeing what exactly is being expressed by this idea of limited or definite atonement, and what is not.

For that, I want to summarize Dort’s articles on this 2nd main point. 

SUMMARY OF ARTICLES

Article 1: The Punishment Which God's Justice Requires

God’s justice requires that the sins we’ve committed against God’s infinite majesty must be punished accordingly.

The first thing we must note, and this is where Dort begins, is what justice actually is. One reason for so much pushback against the Doctrines of Grace is that we have exalted mercy to the thing that’s required and demanded rather than justice, which is deemed to be optional. 

This backwards view of justice and mercy is so prevalent in our society, and if we’re not careful, it can taint our theology.

But here’s the first thing we need to grasp if we are to understand this doctrine of atonement. God could have chosen to save absolutely no one, and He would have been perfectly just and righteous in doing so. 

And yet, our fallen flesh finds such a God to be abhorrent, as if He owes us — His creatures He created for His purposes, for His glory — as if He owes us mercy. Mercy is optional. Justice is absolutely necessary.

Article 2: The Satisfaction Made by Christ

While justice demands our sins be punished, in His mercy, of His own free choosing, God chose to save some by satisfying justice's demands in His own Son, who was made to be sin and a curse for us, in our place, that he might give satisfaction for us.

Article 3: The Infinite Value of Christ's Death

The death of God’s Son is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world. I hope you got that. It’s not that Jesus’ sacrifice is in any way deficient. His death is more than sufficient for the sins of the whole world … even if those sins and the number of sinners were to be multiplied exponentially. 

The question concerning the limited nature of the atonement is not due to any insufficiency in Christ and His sacrifice.

Article 4: Reasons for This Infinite Value

Dort makes clear that this infinite value and worth of Christ’s satisfaction for sin is wrapped up in both his being a true and perfectly holy man and in his being the only begotten Son of God, of the same eternal and infinite essence with the Father and the Spirit. Jesus had to be both truly God and truly man.

Another reason Christ’s death is of infinite value in atoning for sin is that his death was accompanied by the full experience of God’s anger and cursewhich we by our sins had fully deserved. 

Jesus received no less penalty because he was righteous or because he was God’s only Son. In order to sufficiently pay for our sins, Jesus had to suffer the fullness of his Father’s wrath that we deserve.

Article 5: The Mandate to Proclaim the Gospel to All

Note that Dort wants to make clear that the limited or particular nature of the atonement does not negate the mandate to proclaim the gospel to all without differentiation or discrimination, to all nations and people to whom God in his good pleasure sends the gospel.

Article 6: Unbelief as Man's Responsibility

That many are called through gospel proclamation and do not repent or believe is not because Christ’s sacrifice was in any way deficient or insufficient, but because the individuals themselves are at fault.

Article 7: Faith as God's Gift

But all who genuinely believe and thus saved receive this favor from God’s grace alone ­— which he owes no one — given to them in Christ from eternity.

Article 8: The Saving Effectiveness of Christ's Death

Now for the meat. And these next two were our Tenets of the Gospel this morning. The question addressed here is not regarding the atoning sufficiency of Jesus’ death, but God’s intention. 

It was God’s will, His intention, that Christ’s sacrifice should effectively redeem from every people, tribe, nation, and language, all those and only those who were chosen from eternity to salvation and given to him by the Father. Justifying faith, like all other saving gifts of the Holy Spirit, was acquired by Jesus’ death.

In other words, Jesus’ sacrifice didn’t merely provide a possibility of salvation; it ensured the salvation of those chosen before the foundation of the world. 

Article 9: The Fulfillment of God's Plan

Lastly, article 9, grounds this plan in God’s eternal love … not for every individual, but for His chosen ones, whom though chosen in eternity, are gathered into one, all in their own time, that they might steadfastly love, persistently worship — both here and in all eternity — praises her Savior who laid down his life as a bridegroom for a bride.

In other words, this doctrine of definite atonement, in that Jesus doesn’t merely secure the possibility of atonement for an undetermined people but definitely secures actual atonement for the elect — His Bride — should lead to doxology. 

SUSPICION OF GOD’S CHARACTER

What it should not do is lead to suspicion of God’s character (as if to suggest that God could be more righteous or more merciful than He already perfectly is). 

ANGST

It shouldn’t lead to angst, causing you to worry whether you’re one of the elect or not. The “whosoever” is not negated by this doctrine but upheld. If you genuinely repent and believe, then this should be a glorious anchor for your soul, that Christ’s death not only paid for your sins, he secured your entire redemption, including your faith, your good works, and your perseverance. 

HOSTILITY

And it certainly shouldn’t cause hostility … at least not among believers. O many of the Jews grumbled and refused to believe. But Jesus made clear, John 10:26, that such was because they were not among his sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 

You want to know if you’re among Christ’s sheep. It’s simple. Do you listen to his voice? Do you follow him? If so, you can be confident that he laid down his life for you.

UNIVERSAL TEXTS

But someone might respond: What about all those texts that say Jesus died for all? Well, there are certainly many that seem to express not only the universal offer of salvation but also that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.

TENSION REMAINS

So, does this doctrine of definite atonement contradict these Scriptures? Well, to circle back to a point I tried to make in passing last week, this is where we want to affirm all that the Bible says, without removing tension for tension’s sake. So, when Scripture says, in 1 John 2:2, that Jesus is the propitiation — or atoning sacrifice — for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world, we better affirm that, right alongside the texts that say Jesus laid down his life for the sheep. Even if we can’t work out all the details, we must affirm both and understand that there is no contradiction between these.

NO THEOLOGICAL CONTRADICTIONS

But I would ask, exegetically, what is meant by each text? Is Jesus an atoning sacrifice for both in the same way? Is that a necessary conclusion? Many will pit James and Paul against each other concerning whether we are justified by faith alone or by faith plus works. We’re not going to work that out this morning, but if you know the context, you know that James and Paul are not contradicting each other. They are both addressing different issues.

1 JOHN 2:2

So, we'd better be slow in quickly negating one Scripture for another. Does 1 John 2:2, in its use of the whole world, mean every individual without exception? It might. But it might also mean that John is writing to a particular group or community, or even to multiple churches. Stating that Jesus is the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice not just for our sins, that is, the recipients of his letter, but also for the sins of the whole world, could just as easily entail that John is referring to the elect, not only near but far. 

This certainly coincides with Acts 2:39. The promise of all the benefits of salvation is for you and for your children and for all who are far off. All who are far off could just as easily carry the same universalism. But Peter immediately qualifies the "you, and your children, and all who are far off" with this statement: everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.

So, it’s not a stretch to read 1 John 2:2 in that same sense.

2 PETER 3:9

Let’s look at one more. 2 Peter 3:9. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Now, this could simply be expressing God’s beneficent will to all of mankind, every individual without exception. And I have no problem with that translation. But that’s not necessarily what the text is saying. Rather, God is patient with whom? To you, to those Peter is writing to, not wishing any should perish. Any of whom? Well, exegetically, based on the context, the nearest antecedent is — you — those Peter is writing to. Not wishing any of you should perish, but that all … all of who? … all of you should reach repentance.

UNIVERSAL OFFER, SPECIFIC INTENT

So, while there is a universal offer of the gospel, I’m not convinced that there’s a text that in any way contradicts that Jesus came and laid down his life as a Bridegroom for his Bride (Ephesians 5), as a Shepherd for his sheep (John 10), as a Master for his friends (John 15), to save his people from their sins (Matthew 1), and we could go on. 

Here’s what it comes down to: Christ saves a specific particular people who had no claim on his love, his mercy, his grace, but were equally deserving of God’s just wrath. They come to faith, not because they manufactured such in themselves, but because it was a gift purchased by the same precious blood that covers their sin. 

If you’ve responded favorably to the gospel, praise God! Don’t pat yourself on the back. (O, the services I’ve attended that have been so man-centered and self-congratulating.) Every good thing, including faith, is a gift bought by Jesus’ blood.

OFFICES OF CHRIST

Jesus purchased more than the opportunity for you to be saved. He purchased the elect — the fullness of them. Let’s not separate Christ as sacrifice from his role as our Great High Priest who mediates a better covenant, the Prophet who washes us with the water of His Word, and the King who is sovereign over even the hearts of men and women.

If Moses’ intercession (or King David's or Abraham’s) can turn God’s temporal wrath away, how much more can the eternal Son turn away God’s eternal wrath?

But one might ask: Why not all? We'd best ask: Why any?

GOD MOST GLORIFIED

God is not most glorified in simply making salvation a possibility, but in actually achieving and securing salvation for his elect. To reduce the atonement to merely providing a way is to 1) gut God’s glory to truly save, and 2) to steal a slice of that glory for those who of themselves made use of God’s merely provided means. 

But get this. We don’t praise God for providing us with an opportunity. We praise him for truly rescuing and redeeming. 

BELITTLING THE TRINITY

In fact, I would argue that God is not glorified when the Son of God’s death is reduced to a mere opportunity. That belittles the work and person of Christ. 

And it’s helpful to see that the whole Godhead is involved. To reduce salvation to merely potential or hypothetical actually belittles the entire Godhead.

INTERCESSION

Turn to Romans 8.

Romans 8:27. The Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Do you think that it’s even remotely possible that the Holy Spirit’s intercession isn’t entirely effectual?

What about the Son’s intercession? Romans 8:34. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Can you imagine the Father hearing the Son’s prayers for the elect, and the Father saying, “No.”

And just who is the Son interceding for? Verse 33. God’s elect. You see, between the Spirit’s perfect intercession according to the will of God in verse 27 and the Son’s perfect intercession in verse 34, we have the Father’s expressed will. Verse 32. He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 

What are all things? Every aspect of our salvation, from beginning to end. And just to be clear, who is the “all” that the Father gave His Son for? Verse 31, those whom God is for. Well, who’s that? Verse 30. Those He predestined — chosen.

ONE ACCORD

Do you see the challenge here? The entire Trinity is of one accord, working to the same end. The Son intercedes according to the Father’s will, and the Spirit intercedes according to the Father’s and the Son’s will. 

And you know what the Father’s will was? It was to crush the Son. Isaiah 53. It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief. He shall make many righteous because he shall bear their iniquities. He bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors. 

TO THE UTTERMOST

For Jesus to die as a substitution for all necessarily entails salvation for all. Otherwise, if not all are saved, then we have a contradiction. Why? Because Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant, the new covenant. He is the Great High Priest who doesn’t simply make salvation a possibility. Hebrews 7:25 says, He is able (or better, He is mighty) to save to the uttermost those who come near to God through him.

LIMITING THE EFFECTIVENESS

Limiting the atonement’s effectiveness by making it extend indiscriminately to all in the same way makes the atonement, at best, a hypothetical possibility, in that some might be saved, or worse, if left to us to finish the work by our own mustered faith, none might be saved.

God forbid that Jesus’ infinite payment could hypothetically secure nothing at all — that the sinless eternal Son would step down from His glorious abode where he dwelt in perfect unstained bliss with His Father and enter our sin-drenched world to die a gruesome death on a tree which He Himself fashioned at the hands of those He created — and effectively secure nothing.

God forbid that the Father would send His only Son into that and effectively accomplish salvation for no one but merely present such rebels with the potential to be saved.

God forbid that the Spirit would lead the Son into all temptation and suffer knowing that it could possibly secure salvation for no one at all. 

Listen, while they’d never own such as their position, that’s what’s at stake. And that is precisely what Dort rejected — the idea that God the Father appointed His Son to death on the cross without a fixed and definite plan to save anyone by name. Because the conclusion of such man-centered theology, where the human will is the decisive factor, is that it was therefore possible that all, or even none, might be saved.

DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY?

Jesus isn’t merely a door of opportunity through which sheep and goats alike might enter. Jesus is the door of the sheep. But he is also the shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, not for the goats. And he goes out and finds and brings back every last one so that not a single sheep from his flock is missing. 

NO KEEP OUT SIGN

This doesn’t negate the free offer of salvation to all. Whosoever — arms fully extended for all who will come — and no one who truly desires to come will ever be held back by God’s hand. Sinners, of their own volition, keep themselves back. So rather than any suggestion that God stiff-arms people from coming, it’s man who stiff-arms God. No, Thank You!

EFFECASIOUSLY DRAWN

But many do come. And those who come do so because the cross didn’t merely open a door but efficaciously drew us up and through that door — overwhelming us by the infinitely precious blood that was smeared upon the post and lintel — that provided refuge from the destruction we of ourselves had earned. O, what mercy and grace. O what a Savior.

He died as King for His people. He was the head that bore a crown of thorns for the redemption of His body. He bore the curse of Adam, coming as the last Adam for a new humanity. And yes, He came as a Husband who paid for our adulteries, the adulteries of the faithless Bride to restore her purity. 

MARRIAGE

The story of history begins with marriage. And it ends with marriage. How foundational. Jesus’ atonement for the sins of His Bride, washing her in His blood, makes her a new, pure virgin Bride. Because the Atonement does more than simply pay for sins. It makes her a new creation, where the two can truly be naked and unashamed, not naked in a physical sense, but naked in that theirs nothing to hide, because all her sin has been covered. Now, true and perfect intimacy, union, indeed communion can take place.

CONCLUSION

As much as some push against the idea of limited atonement, there’s really no such thing as unlimited atonement. On the premise that some do indeed eternally perish, we are stuck with one of two alternatives: Either Jesus’ atonement is limited in its effectiveness, meaning Jesus didn’t actually purchase a Bride, so much as He made it hypothetically possible for her to have her sins forgiven, and then we can discuss marriage. Or the atonement is limited in its intention, in that Jesus died to actually redeem His Bride, which he does. We know he does, because we have the end of the story.

   Sovereign Election: The Loving Choice of a Personal God (Ephesians 1:3-14)  

https://youtu.be/WHNatOxNKfI

INTRODUCTION: Ephesians 1:3-14

Okay. We’re starting a new series on the doctrines of grace.
Why this series? What happened to Romans?

Initially planned on one message to coincide with Reformation Day. But that’s a lot to squeeze in a single message … even a long one … and would likely leave far more questions than answers.

Also, with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, last year we didn’t exactly do a Christmas series. So, I didn’t want to get through the first half of chapter 1 of Romans and stop.

Besides, what better Thanksgiving series than praise and thanks for the doctrines that sit at the core of our salvation.

So, as of now, we’re planning to begin Romans the first of January. And what we cover in this short series is going to come up everywhere in Romans. This will allow us to trace these 5 major doctrines ahead of time, so that when we get to Romans, we can focus more on the specific text and not have to cover these doctrines in as much detail, but in summary form.

Now, there’s a chance that more than a few of us in here have struggled with these doctrines we’re about to cover, and some of you might have a few hangups or misunderstandings even now. My hope is to clear up some confusion as to what these doctrines entail and what they don’t. It’s also to challenge us, challenge our hearts, as we are all still in need of greater sanctification — me probably more than most. Lastly, these doctrines are intended as an encouragement for the church. 

In fact, I would argue, these doctrines of grace strike at the heart of the gospel, that salvation is from God from first to last.

These messages will be slightly different from our normal exposition of the text. Although we will look directly at the text, we will really be focusing on the doctrines themselves.

READ: Ephesians 1:3-14

SOVEREIGN ELECTION

This morning, we’re specifically looking at the doctrine of sovereign election or predestination, or by its more familiar name due to the acronym TULIP, unconditional election. 

Why start here? 

TULIP

Well, TULIP (hence the slide for this series), for those of you who might not be familiar, stands for: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. 

While the acronym TULIP is helpful as a memory device, it didn’t come about until the 20thcentury, with the earliest known use in 1913, but it wasn’t popularized until the 1960s. I prefer other titles for each of these doctrines, because the ones in TULIP are prone to mischaracterizations and distortions. The titles I prefer, which you’ll find in Wednesday’s upcoming bulletin for our Reformation Celebration are:
Pervasive Depravity
Sovereign Election
Definite Atonement
Effectual Grace
and Preservation of the Saints.

But that doesn’t make for a very memorable acronym. In fact, I can’t even pronounce it: PSDEP. An extra vowel would be nice. 

ORDER IN TIME

Nevertheless, this order — whether TULIP or PSDEP — depravity, election, atonement, grace, and preservation, it captures the order of salvation in time. In fact, I would argue, these doctrines of grace are one of the best ways to define the gospel.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TULIP

In our fallen state, mankind had become so pervasively depraved, corrupt in all his ways that he wanted nothing to do with the God who created him. 

Yet God, in His mercy, sovereignly elected to save a specific people for Himself due to nothing found in the individuals themselves, but according to His own sovereign choice.

He saved them, not merely by offering a potential payment for the sins so that we might become redeemable, but  by actually redeeming His elect, atoning for our sin with the infinitely precious blood of His only Son, Jesus Christ. 

Because no one would ever choose this Holy God, God triumphs over our resisting hearts by His effectual grace, by setting before us something infinitely more desirable than the fleeting pleasures of sin, the glories of His grace to us in Jesus Christ.

But a salvation that only gets us part of the way is not much of a salvation, especially because so long as we reside in our fallen flesh, we would never reach the end. Therefore, God doesn’t just provide the means for our salvation, or get us going on the road to salvation, He saves His people completely, from beginning to end by preserving and sustaining us every step of the way.

Anything less, doesn’t make for much of a gospel. We remove anyone of these elements, we have merely an offer of salvation that is either unnecessary or worse, unobtainable, which is no gospel at all.

But glance down to verse 11. This mercy isn’t merely unobtainable; it has been obtained for us in Christ. How? In our having been predestined.

CALVINISM

Now, these Doctrines of Grace, also known as Calvinism, although I don’t overly use that term, while they are some of the most beautiful doctrines in all of Scripture, they are not cherished by all. If there’s any doctrine that people associate with Calvinism, it’s this doctrine of predestination, which is simply divine election.

PREDESTINATION

There are few doctrines and themes as unpopular among unbelievers and professing Christians both as that of predestination. But we’ve got to address it. It’s in the Bible. We just saw it in verse 11. And it’s in verse 5. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons. That adoption is one of many aspects of our salvation. In other words, God’s predestining some as sons, means God has predestined some for salvation.

Now, the Greek word simply means “to determine beforehand” or “predetermine.” Determine before what? Well, if we back up a verse to verse 4, it says God predetermined before the foundation of the world. 

Now, what was happening before the foundation of the world? Not us. We weren’t happening. We were doing nothing either good or bad. We were doing nothing at all. And yet, even then, God predetermined to choose us in Christ. It’s very important to realize that the word doesn’t mean post-determined. It’s not post-destination. But that’s what opponents will argue. It’s only after God foresees one’s response to the gospel that He determines anything regarding them. That’s not what the text says. But we’ll get to that.

REJECTION

Many reject these doctrines. And in large measure, that’s due primarily to two things:
1) a misunderstanding or caricature view of the doctrines
2) a rejection of God’s sovereignty in exchange for human autonomy.

Now, some will ague against these doctrines of grace, and in particularly, this doctrine of election, as a theodicy, that is, seeking to defend God, and in particularly His goodness. Because if God chooses some, and not others, based solely from His divine prerogative as God and not based on anything in the individual, then that makes God a moral monster. The argument is that for God to be good, He must offer the exact same grace to all and leave it up to the free choices of men and women to receive that grace. 

But here’s the dilemma. No one, not one person in all of history would receive God’s grace on that basis. In other words, if God left it up to man, no one would be saved.

MY EXPERIENCE

Now, like baptism, I have revisited this issue often, especially early on as a believer. And honestly, it was the hardest doctrine for me to come to terms with. O how my prideful flesh despised this doctrine. 

But thankfully, the Lord humbled me to submit, not to my own finite rationalization and wisdom, or even the best philosophical arguments of men, but to His inerrant Word.

SCRIPTURE VERSUS PHILOSOPHY

You see, everyone who is educated on this issue knows that Scripture is on the side of the Calvinist. The theme of God’s absolute sovereignty and His divine providence pervades all of Scripture. It’s difficult to find a chapter where if it’s not explicitly expressed, it’s at least assumed. 

Only through philosophical reasoning, not that Arminians (we’ll get to that) don’t have their proof texts — but only through philosophical reasoning can opponents reach the conclusion that man’s will trumps God’s sovereignty. It is impossible to glean that from Scripture alone. And as Sherif has so helpfully taught, even this morning, our authority isn’t in the finite fallible interpretations of men, but in Scripture alone.

Yes, man has a will, and that will is not forced on him. But understand, it is God who sovereignly gives man over to his fallen will, permitting man to continue in his fallen ways. And in His immense kindness and mercy, it is this same sovereign God who restrains our corruption, and even better, renews our very hearts and our ways. 

Now, you don’t have to agree with these doctrines necessarily to be saved. None of us are saved by our doctrine and having it all figured out. Praise the Lord. But I assure you, if you are saved, you are saved solely by God’s sovereign grace alone. The only thing you and I bring to the table is our own sin.

CANONS OF DORT

So, why start here? Why start with sovereign election and not total or pervasive depravity?

Well, for one, we just came out of a two-year long series in Jeremiah, if you haven’t picked up on the fact that humanity is depraved, either I have utterly failed you over these past two years, or you’ve been sleeping during service! But don’t worry. We’ll get there!

But more importantly, we start here because this is where the Canons of Dort start. And they do so for a reason.

To give you a brief background, all of our creeds and confessions have come about primarily to address and ward off errors and heresies that have arisen within the church. And we see that example in Scripture itself. 

Many of the epistles were originally written for the same reason, because some error or heresy had arisen within the church. Unless you are circumcised, you cannot be save. That’s a heresy that’s addressed in the letters of Paul. 

What about Jesus’ humanity? Many were teaching that Jesus wasn’t truly man. Well, we have some letters that address that. In fact, so strong were the condemnation of these heresies that John, in his second epistle, says that anyone who brings such a heresy denying that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, don’t even receive such a person into your house or give him any greeting for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Well, the Canons of Dort are no different. They didn’t seek to lay out TULIP or give us the Five Points of Calvinism. 

ARMINIUS

What happened is that a student of Calvin’s successor, named Jacob Arminius came to question some of the teachings of Calvin and reformed theology, and specifically Article 16 of the Belgic Confession on the doctrine of election. 

Let me read this article of the reformed confession that Arminius so disagreed with:
 We believe that — all Adam’s descendants having thus fallen into perdition and ruin by the sin of the first man — God showed himself to be as he is: merciful and just.
 He is merciful in withdrawing and saving from this ruin those whom he, in his eternal and unchangeable counsel, has elected and chosen in Jesus Christ our Lord by his pure goodness, without any consideration of their works.
 He is just in leaving others in their ruin and fall into which they plunged themselves. 

JUSTICE AND GRACE

Now, notice something about the way this is stated. God never unjustly condemns the ungodly. Rather, He leaves them in their ruin and fall (now listen) into which they plunged themselves. We call that justice.

But notice, those chosen were worthy of the same condemnation, but in His own eternal and unchangeable counsel, God chose to save some. They did absolutely nothing to merit this salvation. It was a free gift of God. We call that grace.

What’s amazing is not that God left some in their own ruin and misery. What’s amazing is that He chose to save any! To get that wrong is to get grace wrong.

FIVE POINTS OF DISAGREEMENT

Well, Arminius and his followers, the Arminians (see the connection), rejected this sovereign election and they set forth 5 points, five articles of their rejection, which begin … you guessed it … with election. The other four build off this main disagreement, where they suggested that God doesn’t elect particular persons but specifically those who will believe and persevere. In other words, election is not based on God’s choice but on man’s belief and perseverance. I hope you see how vast the gulf is between these two positions.

In other words, the only thing they suggest predestined is meant to convey is what might happen in history not due to any sovereign choice on God’s part, but that God simply makes salvation possible. You know what this proposes don’t you. Man is the ultimate determiners, the sovereign of his own destiny. But do you realize what you’re claiming at that point? That the reason you’re in here this morning worshiping Jesus, and not out there sleeping in or doing whatever else is because you were somehow wiser or more worthy. There was something about you, that they lacked. Talk about promoting pride.

CHOSEN TO BE

But we see the exact opposite in our text. For example, verse 4. He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. The text doesn’t say God chose us because He foresaw that you would be holy and blameless. It says that God’s calling, God’s choosing is what brings about our holiness and blamelessness, not that our holiness brings about God’s choice. 

The only reason why we have the five points of Calvinism is because they are a response to those who rejected God’s Sovereign Election. 

So the Canons of Dort also begin with Election. 

ELECTION AT THE CENTER

Which brings us, again to the question: Why start here? When covering the Doctrines of Grace, why begin with Election? Why did Dort begin with Election?

Well, in part, as a response, yes. But more importantly, election is the central issue. It’s here at election, that God’s absolute sovereignty over all things, including the hearts and wills of men, is set forth and shown forth ­— and it excites praise in the hearts of those who have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). And it arouses hostility in all fallen flesh that is bent inward on itself. 

THE FIRST SIN

In fact, that’s the very first sin. It’s always helpful to go back to the Garden to understand what happened, what took place. You do realize what happened in the Garden. The Fall was a rejection of God’s sovereignty, and specifically God’s sovereign choice to set one tree among all the others as off limits.

When the Serpent deceived the woman, it was an undermining of God’s sovereignty. 

When the woman ate, it was a declaration that she’d be the sovereign of her own life, determining good and evil for herself. 

And when Adam accepted the fruit from his wife’s hand, he decided he could determine what voices were authoritative in his life — he could listen to the voice of the Sovereign Lord or the voice of his wife. He chose to listen to the creature rather than the Creator, a creature who was just like him, created … created to display the glory of God.

REJECTING GOD’S SOVEREIGN CHOICE

In other words, there’s a sense in which all three of these creatures, the Serpent, the woman, and the man rejected God’s sovereign choice as KING to declare this one tree off limits — this tree of the knowledge of good and evil — this one tree that served to express just who was the ultimate sovereign of this Garden. 

And by partaking of the fruit they were instructed not to partake of, they declared that God is not worthy to choose. We reject God’s sovereign choice — we reject God’s sovereign decree. What a monster and oppressor to rule over us in such a way. We’ll choose. We’ll be the ultimate decision makers in our life. And that’s the dispassion, the disease, the depravity that had infected all of humanity.

AFTER SIN

And yet, even after such rejection … grace abounded. Adam and Eve didn’t die that day. They were clothed. Their sin was covered. It’s a portrait of atonement, which literally means covering. O it was an insufficient covering to reconcile them to the one they had betrayed and rejected. But it was a picture of a better atonement to come. 

But what took place in that Garden, that depravity now pervades every son and daughter of Adam. God’s sovereign right to chose is the one thing our sin nature hates more than everything else. 

BEGININNG OF A PLAN

There’s another reason why we start with election. Not only does it get to the heart of the issue, not only is it the central doctrine that fallen man has rejected for millennia, it is also the beginning of God’s plan of salvation.

While TULIP traces the order of salvation in time, the Canons of Dort trace the logical order of salvation. Election – Atonement – Depravity – Grace – Perseverance.

BEFORE CREATION

This takes us back, not to the Garden, but before creation. It takes us back to God’s eternal plan and purpose to create a people as His own treasured possession and for Him to be theirs. God’s eternal decree of election is a decree of love. 

Look at Ephesians 1:3-6 again. (Now, before I read these verses, it’s helpful to know that verses 3-14 are one long sentence for that apostle Paul. I’m often accused of long sentences. And in my academic papers, my average sentence is upwards of 30 words. Now, before I began writing anything academically, I had been reading my Bible for almost 7 years. I really believe part of my writing style comes from spending a lot of time in the Apostle Paul. I know, some of you are thinking, you should have spent more time with John! I’m trying! Well, this single sentence of Paul is over 200 words in the Greek!)

Verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him (WHEN?) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. Many translations begin a new sentence with “in love.” And that’s a perfectly good translation. But what’s important to grasp is that there is no break. 

Backing up to verse 4, let me try and capture the flow. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him, in love, having predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

IN LOVE

Now, that little phrase “in love” can go either at the end of verse 4, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love — in that the perfection of believers consists in love, in love towards God. You want to know what holiness and blamelessness looks like, it’s the one who loves the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Every good work will flow from that and that alone. This is Calvin’s preferred placement of the phrase. 

At the same time, Calvin, along with others, recognize that it could also go just as well with the beginning of verse 5 — that it was “in love” that God predestined us for adoption as sons. 

A GOD WHO IS PERSONAL

Now, while God is absolutely sovereign and has the right and prerogative to do as He sees fit with that which is His, meaning all of creation, including us, it’s important to note that God is not some impersonal deity. 

Remember, this God Himself is a community, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But more than that! While God works all things according to the counsel of His will (verse 11), we must remember that this God also stoops and reaches His hands into the dust and into the womb forming and fashioning humanity in His likeness, breathing his own very breath into humanity’s nostrils. 

He numbers the hairs on our head, and writes down every day he has formed for us in His book. He knows our every need before we even think to ask. 

Do you still think the doctrine of election is impersonal and cold? This personal Creator gives us life and being. He is the only entity that can satisfy our soul. He is the source of full joy and lasting pleasure. 

Therefore, this God stands in opposition to any who would hinder the ultimate good of his creatures, causing them to stumble. And defamation of His name and distortion of His decrees is the ultimate hinderance and cause of stumbling because it blinds the heart from seeing the truth of that which is most precious. 

None of these things would matter to an impersonal God.

ETERNAL ROOTS OF LOVE

So, while God has predestined some who were once enemies of God to love Him, God himself also elects, chooses, predestines us for adoption in love to be brought into this family as sons and daughters — children of God.

And when did this love begin? Well, verse 4, before the foundation of the world. Election has eternal roots.

In fact, there’s a word that comes up that is helpful for this conversation, and that’s the word “foreknow” or “foreknew.” Romans 8:29. And those He foreknew He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. 

Foreknew means to know beforehand. But in what sense? Does it mean that God looked down the corridors of time and saw what would happen? While God does know the end from the beginning, that’s not the meaning of this word, especially in this context. 

This is why I prefer more literal word-for-word translations because they help you understand how the same words are used elsewhere. The word know shows up very early in Scripture. It is used concerning the intimacy between a husband and a wife. Adam knew Eve. 

Perhaps even more helpful is Amos 3:2. Speaking of Israel, the Lord says, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Now does that mean God was ignorant of the other families and nations which He created? Not at all. But there was an intimacy, and affection in His knowledge of Israel.

So what does foreknew mean in the biblical sense? It means God set His affections on His people beforehand.

TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE

This divine election has its roots in eternity past in God’s loving eternal decree, and its goal, its end, is the praise of the glory of His grace. The counsel of God’s own will is the beginning. The praise of His glory is the end.

Notice 3 times, this phrase, to the praise of His glory. First in verse 6. To the praise of His glorious grace, or better, to the praise of the glory of His grace. Then we have a shorter version in verse 12 and 14 which simply read, to the praise of His glory. 

Now I don’t believe grace is intended to be excluded, but rather Paul is writing in a sort of short hand. He doesn’t need to spell out the entire phrase each time he brings it up. The reader knows exactly what the praise is for. It’s for the glory of God’s grace. It’s all grace. None of it earned or merited. And therefore God alone receives the glory.

THE END

Verse 4. The glory of God is the final end of our sanctification. Verse 5. The glory of God is the final end of our adoption. Verse 6. The glory of God is the final end of all the blessings we enjoy in Christ. Verse7. The glory of God is the final end of our redemption and forgiveness of sins. Verse 11. The glory of God is the final end of our obtaining an inheritance, which is none other than Christ. And the glory of God is the final end of our being sealed by the Holy Spirit. 

The glory of God is the final end of the gospel, why the Spirit enlightened the eyes of our hearts to hear and believe the gospel. (Verse 13 and 17).

PRAISE

Now, notice, however, that it doesn’t simply say to the glory of God, but to the praise of His glory. Why does that matter? Well, of course, God is worthy of our praise. But get this. He doesn’t need our praise. Our praise does nothing for Him. It’s for us. Praise is one of God’s good gifts to the worshiper. Because only in praise is our joy complete. And this loving God delights in our ultimate joy. 

As C. S. Lewis so helpfully points out: praise is the consummation of joy. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.

Of course God delights in our praise, because its only in our praise of Him for the glory of His grace that our joy reaches its consummation.

UNFAIR

The only reason I can think of as to why anyone would read their Bibles and then reject this doctrine that is so plainly spelled out in Ephesians, and John’s gospel, and the rest of Scripture, is either, 1) they have loved ones who are far from Christ or they themselves are far from Christ, and they know it. And this doctrine smacks hard. Because it’s much easier to accuse this doctrine as unfair …

That God must be unfair if this is the case, because we’d rather see God as impotent to save than in His divine judgment passing over certain people leaving them in their sins. Because when God determines to save someone, there is no thwarting His plan. (Job 42:2). 

And that’s Job after enduring such suffering, questioning God’s purposes to the point that he feels he needs to argue his case before the Judge of all the earth, even while he recognizes God’s sovereign hand is ultimately behind his suffering. 

What’s behind this concern, and I get it, follows a reasoning that neither the Canons of Dort or any or our Reformed Confessions expresses, nor does Scripture, and that is in predestining some for salvation, then God must also be predestining some specifically for hell. 

This is where careful nuance is important, with Dort took very seriously, because this is where most hangups take place. God never chooses a particular people to condemnation in the way He chooses people to salvation. He chooses to save some rather than rescuing none. 

THIEVES OF GLORY

The other reason many tend to reject predestination is to rob some of the glory, some of the praise that is due God alone. We so often have way too high a view of man, and too low a view of God.

FATALISM

Now, let’s avoid a couple of errors. This doctrine doesn’t teach fatalism. If this doctrine causes you to respond, “well, I guess it doesn’t matter how I live then, everything’s already determined. I might as well live it up and not concern myself with any of it.” 

If that’s you, let me warn you that such a response will only prove yourself not to be among the elect. Working through John Bunyan’s Grace Abounding for the Chief of Sinners, that was Bunyan’s initial reaction. I’m already condemned. God’s chosen those He will. If I’m condemned already, it might as well not be for a few small trivial sins. 

HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY

Listen, the doctrine of election is not a rejection of human responsibility. Human responsibility is not at odds with God’s sovereignty. And just because in your finite mind you can’t work it out, don’t think God hasn’t.   

We're going to look at that closely when we get to the doctrine of human depravity. But for now, understand. God's stiff arms no one out of his Kingdom. God's stiff arms, no one from coming to him. In fact, He does just the reverse. He stretched out his arms … on a gnarly piece of splintery wood, inviting anyone who would ... to come. Whosoever.

The sad reality is that unless God does something in our dead hearts, no one will. So, in His abundant mercy, He efficaciously draws some. But never think for a moment that God coerces fallen man against his will. God compels no one to continue in their sin.

PASS BY

The Canons of Dort capture this well. God doesn’t force sin upon man, He leaves them in it by passing them by, on the basis of His entirely free, most just, irreproachable, and unchangeable good pleasure. He chooses to leave them in the misery of their sin, which by their own fault, they have plunged themselves into. 

Or think about it like this. God elects some to salvation on the basis of His eternal grace. He condemns others on the basis of the works they have done in the body. In other words, there’s an asymmetry built into the doctrine of election. God predestines some to mercy. Others He simply leaves under judgment.

WHY NOT SAVE ALL

We recoil at this, because we fail to see grace as just that, grace. But God owes us sinners nothing but condemnation. He certainly doesn’t owe us mercy. Rather than being appalled that God doesn’t choose to save everyone, though He certainly could, we should be in awe and praise that He should choose to save any at all, and all the more so when this salvation involved the death of His own Son to make such redemption even possible. And I do mean that exactly that, that the death of the Son of God was absolutely necessary to save the likes of any of us. (But that’s next week.)

EMPOWERMENT

So, the doctrine of election, rather than one of fatalism, is a doctrine of empowerment. 2 Peter, chapter 1. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence … Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election.

We’ll confirm one or the other. Either we’ll confirm our rejection of God’s grace and sovereignty, or we’ll confirm our election, that God graciously chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. In both God will be glorified. But listen loved ones. Only one will benefit you and me.

CHRIST

One last point before we wrap up. Our election should never be considered apart from Christ. God’s sovereign election was never contemplated apart from the person and work of Christ. God’s Son stands in the middle of each of these Doctrines of Grace. We see this plainly in our text:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
He has blessed us in Christ … with every spiritual blessing
In love he predestined us for adoptions to himself as sons through Jesus Christ
We have redemption and forgiveness through the blood of Christ
He lavishes upon us the riches of his grace only in our union with Christ
made known the mystery of his will which was set forth in Christ
unites all things in Christ
we obtain an inheritance in Christ

Our hope in Christ is to be to the praise of His glory
 

SALVATION BEGINS

So, why begin with election? Because it’s where salvation begins. It’s where our salvation began.

Salvation began in eternity past, in the personal all-wise counsel of the Sovereign Lord who chose us in Christ …
 and He chose to purchase us definitively by securing oru redemption at the highest possible price, the blood of His Son …
 And He chose to exalt us from the lowest possible place, the depths of our depravity where we were utterly helpless, indeed, we were dead in our trespasses and sin…
 So, he chose to save us who could not in anyway save ourselves, which required a supernatural work, a supernatural call, making us who were dead, alive through grace…
 And what God has chosen and determined to do, He will see to it that it is indeed accomplished.

He who began a good work in you will most certainly bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

This is where every person who has been or will ever be saved, it’s where their salvation began … in the eternal will of the Triune God — the Father choosing and predestinating, the Son redeeming and securing, and the Spirit sealing and guaranteeing … our salvation … all to the praise of the glory of His grace. 

In fact, I would argue, that’s the main point … the ultimate end of each of the five Doctrines of Grace: the praise of the glory of His grace given to us in Christ. We still have much more to cover … Let us pray.

https://youtu.be/WHNatOxNKfI