So this weekend on Church Center, I asked a question
as I laid out a little bit of a tease about the
message for this morning. What does it mean to
be saved? What does it mean to be saved? Could
you articulate the answer to that question? What
are we saved from? We talk about being saved.
What are we saved from? In the text we're studying
today, we're going to encounter a Greek verb,
sadzo. which means to keep safe, to keep safe,
or to rescue from danger or destruction. Now,
that term saved has become sort of an evangelical
buzzword over the last 50 years, but it really
should be understood in that way. To be saved
is to be rescued from destruction. And that is
the gist of Romans 5, 9, where it says of Jesus,
having been justified by his blood, we shall
be saved from the wrath of God. Through him.
So to be saved is to be delivered from the ultimate
calamity, the wrath of God. That means separation
from God. That means spiritual death. That means
eternal condemnation. And given that definition,
it seems to me that understanding what it means
to be saved has got to be the most important
thing that any human being can possibly study
and come to know about. Because his or her eternal
Destiny is on the line. Now, follow -up question,
how are we saved? So if we know what it means
to be saved, we know what we're saved from, how
are we saved? If you were to go to a coffee house
this week and somebody saw you reading your Bible
on your phone, an unbeliever, and they said,
well, I hear about salvation. How are you saved?
Could you explain it? Could you explain it? Among
other things, the New Testament says regarding
that question, I'll give you a slew of very quick
statements. Jesus said to the woman who came,
remember, poured this perfume on his feet and
wiped his feet with her hair. He said to her,
your faith has saved you. Go in peace. To the
jailer in Philippi, it was said, believe in the
Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Romans 10,
if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved. Peter's Sermon
of Pentecost, whoever will call on the name of
the Lord will be saved. Paul to the Corinthians,
the gospel which I preached to you, which you
received, by which you are also saved, if you
hold fast the word. And Jesus in the Olivet Discourse,
says the one who endures to the end, he will
be saved. So, just to recap, faith saves you,
your belief saves you, confessing Jesus as Lord
saves you, believing in your heart that God raised
him from the dead saves you, calling on the name
of the Lord saves you, holding fast the gospel
that you receive saves you, and enduring in faith
until the end saves you. Sound about right? Now,
what if I told you that the text we're about
to study today doesn't offer any of those ways
that we're saved? Not faith, not belief, not
confessing, not calling, not receiving, not holding
fast, not enduring. That today's text is going
to point us to a completely different way that
you and I are saved, totally apart from anything
that we've done. Does this mean that we have
contradictions in Scripture? We have some work
to do, don't we? Grab your Bibles. We're going
to Titus chapter 3. By the way, we don't have
contradictions. I saw this anxiety that spread
over some of your faces. We'll get there. You
know what they say, never leave them hanging
that much, right? Titus chapter 3, we're looking
at verses 4 through 8 this morning, but let's
go ahead and back up to verse 1. We'll read the
entire passage in context. And as you're turning
there, let me briefly recall where we've been
in this. This really has been an amazing letter
to study, hasn't it? Back in chapter 2, Paul
spent a whole lot of time telling Titus how he
should instruct these various types of believers
in Crete about how they should relate to one
another within the church family. And the goal
of that was to put God's saving power on display
for the world to see, to adorn the truth of the
gospel. through their transformed lives and the
way they live together. Really beautiful, right?
That was chapter two. Then here in chapter three,
Paul begins to instruct Titus to shift his focus
from within the church to looking outside the
walls of the church, to how believers now should
relate to the pagan unbelieving culture that
they live in. And he wrote beginning in verse
one, remind them, that is remind the believers
there in Crete. that they should be subject to
rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be
ready for every good deed, to malign no one,
to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration
for all men. And then in verse 3, he does something
very important as a motivation to treat unbelievers
with dignity and compassion and grace rather
than with frustration and contempt. He reminds
the Christians in Crete of who they used to be
before they met Jesus. And we do this, right?
We look around the culture, we get frustrated,
and we begin to slip into this thing where we
get angry and we hold people in contempt, forgetting
that we were once just like them. And so Paul's
reminding them, look, you were just like this.
Verse 3 says, for we also once were foolish ourselves.
Right? So don't be frustrated at them. Don't
be angry. You were foolish too. We were once
disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts
and pleasures, spending our life in malice and
envy, hateful, hating one another. And basically,
Paul is giving us a general description of all
human beings in their natural state. And he includes
himself in this, right? He says we, meaning himself
and Titus, all of us. Nobody's excluded. At one
point in our lives, we were all marked by these
types of sinful characteristics. Now, it's possible.
We do this a lot when we read the Bibles. We're
like, I'm not that bad. We look at the list and
we go, well, come on. I mean, I wasn't that bad.
And you know what? You might be right. And praise
the Lord for his restraining influence. If you
grew up in a good home and maybe you weren't
as depraved as others around you, but Paul's
point stands no matter who you are. Prior to
trusting in Christ, we were all slaves to sin
in our own particular way. Your sin was different
than mine, different than his or hers, but in
some particular way, we were all enslaved to
sin. We were selfish, and we were rebellious,
and we were greedy. We were pursuing ungodly
desires, each of us fulfilling what Paul writes
about in Romans 3, that there is none righteous.
How many? None righteous, not even one. None
who seeks after God. And it's important that
we own that truth about our past. Acknowledge
our past. Otherwise, we'll never come to appreciate
the magnitude of grace that's been lavished upon
us. As we always say, if you don't know the bad
news, you can't fully appreciate the good news
of the gospel. And if you don't understand how
deep your sin was in your past, you're going
to fall short on the thankfulness scale. The
great Martin Lloyd -Jones once wrote this. He
said, in order to measure the love of God, you
have to first go down before you can go up. We
have to be brought up from a dungeon, from a
horrible pit, and unless you know something of
the measure of that depth, you will only be measuring
half the love of God. Those are wise words. So
let's take a look at these six things that Paul
lists here in verse 3. Starting with number one,
we were all once foolish. Now that word in the
original Greek refers to a lack of understanding
or an absence of knowledge or wisdom. Remember,
what does the fool say in his heart? There is
no God. There is no God. I can do as I please.
And why would I need him anyway? I'm in control
of my life. That's what the fool says. He has
no understanding, no wisdom. In Ephesians 4,
it says that in our natural state, human beings
are darkened in their understanding, excluded
from the life of God because of the ignorance
that is in them. And why is that ignorance there?
Because of the hardness of their hearts. We need
to remember that Satan, the God of this world,
has blinded their minds so that they will not
and cannot, that's key, cannot understand the
things of God. And by the way, this is not a
matter of intelligence. It's not a matter of
education. In fact, some of the smartest people
in the world are the most spiritually blind.
This is an issue of foolishness that's brought
about by our natural condition in sin. Number
two, we were all once disobedient. You see it
there in verse three? This was built in the heart
of every one of us because of the fall. We have
a spirit of rebellion. Natural man doesn't acknowledge
God because he doesn't want to. He has no desire
to know God. He has no desire to read God's word.
And so obviously he's not going to obey him.
And why would he? Why would natural man ever
willingly choose to give himself up in order
to obey God? All he cares about in that sinful
condition is pursuing whatever is going to further
his selfish desires. That's who we all once were.
Number three says we were all once deceived.
This describes a person who has no spiritual
or moral anchor. They simply wander the world
in search of fulfilling their next desire. Whatever
they want, whatever they desire, they just wander
going from one impulse to the next. They're easily
led away by the passions of their flesh because
they're spiritually blind. They actually believe
that they can do anything they want and there'll
be no consequences. But they're deceived. Number
four says we were all once enslaved to various
lusts and pleasure. And for the natural man,
this is the driving force of his life, fulfilling
the lusts and pleasures of his flesh. And so
there's so many we couldn't even name them. Pick
your poison. Money, sex, power, comfort, attention,
food and drink. The list is almost endless. All
the lusts and pleasures. And it's important for
us to look back and say, you know, I was once
there. To identify, to own it. Which of those
lusts of the flesh once had a grip on us? What
we didn't realize at the time was this. None
of it was ever going to bring satisfaction. We
thought it would if we just found the next thing,
but every time we got that, then we moved on
to something else or just more of it, and we
never found satisfaction. And the more that natural
man searches for that satisfaction in vain, the
more this sin gets a foothold in his life, it
enslaves him, and it eventually leads to eternal
destruction. And we were all on that path at
one point before Christ saved us. Number five,
we are all ones spending our life in malice and
envy. Malice means having ill will towards others.
And it's born out of self -centeredness. It's
wanting what we want and grabbing it no matter
what the cost is, even the cost of harming others.
Once you're enslaved to lust and pleasures, you
have to have them. And if you don't get them,
you will envy others and you will do what it
takes to do it. to get them. And finally, number
six, we were all once hateful, hating one another.
And so like a stone rolling downhill, this is
the end result of all of those things piling
up. At its core, hate is also rooted in self
-centeredness. It pits us against God. It pits
us against other human beings. And anybody who
disagrees with us, anybody who stands in the
way of us getting our needs met, they become
the target of our personal wrath. We hate them.
And by the way, that can include anyone. That
can include a spouse. That can include your children,
extended family, people at work, people who look
different from you. All kinds of people fit this
description. Anybody can become a target of our
personal wrath. This kind of hater becomes completely
indifferent to anyone else's feelings because
nobody matters but him. Friends, this is what
we once were. Now again, you may say, that doesn't
perfectly describe me, but the point stands.
This is the general description of natural man.
Now before we move on, just a quick reminder
from last Sunday, I gave you two reasons why
I think Paul decided, under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, to put verse three in here,
because he could have just moved on to the positive
stuff, right? But verse three is here, reason
number one, so that you and I aren't surprised
by the level of sin that we encounter out there
in the world. We shouldn't be surprised, Paul
says, because to some extent we were just like
that. So why are we surprised when we see depravity,
right? Second reason, remembering what we once
were helps us to see unbelievers in a new light.
Rather than us hating them, rather than us judging
them, rather than us being frustrated or angry
at them, Our own sordid past allows us to see
them with compassion and grace because we now
know why they act out and we know what they need.
We know that they're spiritually blind and dead
in their sins just like we once were. So as we
look at them, we can say, I get it. I get it.
That used to be me, but no more. And then we
can proceed to share the gospel with them so
that they might find the same thing that we found
in Christ. Does that make sense? So verse three
is really important to own before we move on
to the good news of verse four. So let's take
a look at our text, verses four through eight.
By the way, this is one of the most doctrinally
rich passages in the entire New Testament, but
it all starts with this one little beautiful
word, right? This one little contrast in the
English language, the word is what? But, right?
You and I were once foolish, right? disobedient,
deceived, enslaved by sin, filled with malice,
envy, and hate. But, verse 4, when the kindness
of God, our Savior, and his love for mankind
appeared, he saved us. Stop there. He saved us.
Now, that word in the Greek for appeared is important,
epiphano, and it refers to something that is
revealed. It refers to something that is made
visible. So obviously Paul is referring here
to the coming of Jesus. We get, by the way, we
get our English word epiphany from this. Something
that is made manifest. So he's talking about
the coming of the Messiah. And he's giving a
nod here to the incarnation and to the life,
death, and resurrection of Christ. And you see
in this verse that his coming was rooted in two
things. Look in there, two things. God's kindness.
And God's love. Christates and philanthropia
in the Greek. And friends, as we look at this,
God's kindness and God's love, it should amaze
us. Sometimes we get so used to hearing the gospel
that we don't stand back long enough to really
look at this. That the eternal creator of the
universe, the one who holds the galaxies in place,
cared enough to look down upon the creatures
that he made in his image and show us kindness.
Why is it that we just take that for granted?
That he showed us kindness. In fact, so kind,
so kind that he would lay aside his glory, that
he would take on our nature as a man, that he
would suffer and die in our place in order to
rescue us from eternal destruction. That's how
kind. That is amazing. That is the kindness beyond
measure. The second word, philanthropia, is exactly
what you might think. In English, when we talk
about doing philanthropy, we're talking about
showing love for humanity, right? Well, theologically,
it's similar. This word refers to God's great
love for humanity. And once again, a love that
is so strong that he's willing to send his one
and only son into the world to suffer and die,
to identify with us, and to represent us both
in life and in death. That is incredible love
for humanity. So that is God's heart. That is
what we learn here in this passage. God's heart
is inclined toward the good of mankind. You might
even say God is the greatest of all philanthropists
that have ever lived. So if you're sitting here
this morning having been saved from the penalty
of sin, rescued from eternal destruction, it's
because God willingly chose to make himself known,
to reveal himself to you out of his kindness.
And his love. And we can't just glide by that
truth without stopping and marveling at it. His
kindness and his love. Now back to verse 5. It
says, he saved us. Who saved us? Well, God our
Savior saved us. On what basis did he save us?
Paul gives us both a negative and a positive
answer. What's the basis for him saving us? negatively,
not on the basis of deeds, which we've done in
righteousness, and positively, according to his
mercy. Got to know both of those. So, back to
what I said earlier. Here's a description of
how we're saved, right? What's missing? Any mention
of our faith? Any mention of our belief, any
mention of our calling on his name or our confessing
Jesus as Lord. And if I can just add some fuel
to the fire, there's no mention here of us praying
a sinner's prayer. No mention of us responding
to an altar call. No mention of us being baptized
or participating in any religious ritual or ceremony.
It simply says God saved us and nothing else
appears to be involved. but God. Let's finish
the passage, and then we'll try to answer what's
happening here. Let's read through verse seven.
It says, he saved us, again, according to his
mercy, by what? By the washing of regeneration
and renewing by the Holy Spirit, verse six, whom
he poured out upon us richly or abundantly through
Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified
by his grace, we would be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. Now, most of that
we're going to look at more carefully next Sunday.
This is really part one of a two -part message.
And we're going to look at the controversial
reference there to washing. Because a whole bunch
of people look at washing and what's the first
thing they think about? Baptism. So we're gonna
talk about that. We're gonna talk about, is that
what's being talked about here? And what is the
connection between baptism and salvation? So
you gotta come back for part two. Got it? Good.
Now, before we plow ahead, let's stop for a second,
take a deep breath, and let's zoom out on this
passage. And I want you to see if you can identify
who is doing all the work in this passage. Let's
see, out of his kindness and love, The Savior
appeared, revealing himself to us. So that's
God doing the work. Being motivated by his mercy,
God saved us. That's God doing the work. He washed
us through the regeneration of the heart. That's
God. He poured out his spirit, renewing us. That's
God. By his sovereign grace, he justified us.
That's God. In doing so, he made us heirs in
the life to come. That also is a work of God.
So who's the author of salvation? Who's the initiator
of salvation? Who's the accomplisher of salvation?
Who's the finisher of salvation? Only God. He
is the one who has rescued us from destruction.
And again, that only gets enhanced by looking
back at verse three and remembering who we once
were. What kind of people did God save? Messed
up people like you and me. What kind of people
did God show mercy to? People who were foolish
and disobedient and filled with malice and filled
with envy and hate. We deserve condemnation and
wrath and God would have been perfectly just
to pass right by us and punish us eternally for
all of the sins in our life. To pass us by. to
let us continue rushing headlong into eternal
judgment, but he didn't. He saved us. Are you
getting the picture of how thankful we should
be on this Sunday morning? He saved us. What
verses four through seven is stressing is that
our salvation didn't depend on anything in us,
not any merit that we had earned before God.
Not any inherent goodness in us. Not even our
response to the offer of the gospel. None of
it contributed to our salvation. Friends, listen,
this is God changing in us what we couldn't change
ourselves. That is so important to understand.
Apart from his sovereign intervention in our
lives, not one of us would have believed, not
one of us would have even inclined ourselves
towards God. And not one of us would have been
saved. That's the point of this passage. Now,
I am not discounting the fact that we need to
put our faith in Christ or that we need to follow
Jesus as Lord. We'll come back to that thought
because that is true and that is real. But here
in verse 5, make sure you see this. The basis
for our salvation doesn't involve anything that
we do. In fact, not even deeds done in righteousness.
Did you see the language? That means even the
best things that we do from a pure heart, not
even those things contribute to our salvation.
Not even our deeds done in righteousness. And
by the way, that makes biblical Christianity
unique among all world religions. You have to
know this. Biblical Christianity is the only
religion in this world that doesn't say obey
a bunch of rules, a whole set of rules, add that
to what? somebody else has done for you, and
mix it all together, and that's how you're saved.
Even certain branches of Christendom are going
to tell you, well, Jesus' sacrifice gets you
part of the way, but it's not sufficient. You've
got to add a whole bunch of things to it. if
you want to be saved. So you've got to belong
to a particular church, and you've got to participate
in these sacraments, and you've got to go through
these rituals, you've got to say these prayers,
you've got to help the poor and feed the homeless,
et cetera, et cetera. And even if people do those
things from a well -meaning heart, according
to Scripture, they will not in any way add to
the basis for your salvation. The basis will
always remain the same. It's God's grace. His
kindness, his love, and his mercy. And guys,
Paul goes to great pains throughout the New Testament
to tell us this. Titus 3 is just one example,
but it's everywhere. I'm gonna give you a bunch
of them. We've already looked at this passage
from Romans 4, where Paul says, now to the one
who works, his wage is not credited as a favor,
but as what is due him. But to the one who does
not work, but believes in him who justifies the
ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Talk about turning the religious world upside
down. Look at that verse. Later in Romans 9,
when speaking about Jacob and Esau, he says this,
for though the twins were not yet born, had not
done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose
according to his would stand not because of works
and because of him who calls. It was said to
Rebecca, the older will serve the younger. Right?
It's not according to works. It's according to
what God has said. To Timothy, Paul writes this.
God has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose. And grace, which was granted
us in Christ Jesus. When? From all eternity.
Romans 3 says this. Where then is boasting? If
our works don't add to it and it's all God, where
is boasting? It's excluded. For we maintain that
a man is justified by faith apart from the works
of the law. And the passage that stands out the
most. Again, Paul from Ephesians 2, for by grace
you have been saved through faith and that not
of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not as a result
of works so that no one may boast. This is just
a small sampling, you guys, of what is clear
in the New Testament about the basis for our
salvation. Now, in both of those last two passages,
you see the issue of boasting. And this is a
huge theme in the New Testament that we need
to be aware of. Guys, we are not to be a boastful
people. Not in front of other human beings, but
definitely not before God. How dare we even try
to boast before an all -perfect, almighty God?
Remember, Paul asked the question, hey, what
do you have that you didn't receive from God?
And the answer is nothing. So how can we boast?
Everything comes from his gracious hand. That
includes salvation from beginning to end. And
for that reason, when we see our Savior face
to face someday, there will not be a millimeter
of room for us to boast in his presence. Not
a millimeter. So listen, when God saved you,
he put his glory and his grace on display in
your life. Don't you dare try to steal some of
that glory from him. His saving work is meant
to lead people to praise him and glorify him
for his kindness, love, and mercy. Don't you
dare try to divert attention to yourself. Understand
how offensive that is, that you would boast in
any way before God. And know this, the basis
of our salvation is the very same basis on which
we are commanded to treat others. Why do we love
others sacrificially? Why do we exhibit kindness
towards unbelievers? Why do we forgive people
who don't deserve to be forgiven? Because we
reflect the image of our God and our Savior when
we do those things. Because that's what we've
received from Him. Now, having established that,
let's dig into the perceived problem that I've
tried to raise here so far in this message. Back
to the question, how are we saved? How are we
saved? Okay, the problem I pointed out is that
in Scripture we're given two very distinct pictures
of how salvation comes to mankind. The one on
the left, God's sovereignty, is eternal. It takes
place before time and outside of time. The one
on the right is what we refer to as man's responsibility
to respond. That is temporal. That is a response
to the truth of the gospel that occurs within
time and space. Make sense? If we are ever going
to understand how we're saved, what we call soteriology,
which is the doctrine of salvation, we have got
to put together the pieces to the puzzle to merge
these two very distinct pictures of salvation
into one coherent doctrine. That's the task before
us in the rest of the time of this message. Now,
I probably don't have to prove that first principle
to you, that God is sovereign over all things,
especially salvation, because it's written all
over the Bible. We know that the Lord does as
he pleases. The Lord does as he pleases according
to his will. That is the very definition of sovereignty.
When you can do anything you want, that is when
you are sovereign. God is the only sovereign,
non -contingent being that can do that. He is
utterly sovereign over all things. Before creation
came into being, he actively decreed all things
that will come to pass. All things. The things
that have come to pass in the past, the things
that are coming to pass in the present, and all
the things that will come to pass in the future.
He's decreed all of it. Every aspect of his decree
from eternity past is now unfolding in successive
moments within chronological time. That's how
in control he is. He's decreed a single plan
for this world. There's no plan B. And it doesn't
change. What that means is there's no accidents
in this world and nothing surprises God. He knows
every detail from the beginning to the end. In
fact, he sees everything all at one time. As
if it were in the present for him because he's
outside of time. He sees it all. And, by the
way, no purpose of his can be thwarted by any
circumstance or any human being. That's how sovereign
he is. His decree is rooted in his infinite wisdom
and is designed in every detail to bring about
the greatest good, which is the glorification
of himself. That's who he is. And because he's
omnipotent, he has the absolute power and authority
to do it. So when God promises that something
is going to happen, it's going to happen. In
fact, have you ever wondered why is it we can
always count the prophecy will be fulfilled?
Because God's sovereign. If he weren't sovereign,
we can't be sure that prophecy would take place
because human beings are involved, but God is
sovereign. Friends, that's what the Bible tells
us. And even that, I think, is just scratching
the surface. of how vast, how infinite, how sovereign
God is. I mean, that's only the types of things
that we can understand. But again, this is the
being who creates galaxies out of nothing by
speaking. Think about that. We're only scratching
the surface. In the next life, I think we'll
know more, right? I've got questions. I can't
wait to get answers. All right. Now, concerning
the topic for this morning, Guys, listen, the
same overwhelming level of sovereignty also extends
to our salvation. And there are many passages
I could show you to reveal this. Titus 3 is just
one of them. But for example, I could point to
Ephesians 1. This filled with the language, he
chose us. When? Before the foundation of the
world. In love, he predestined us. to adoption
as sons according to what? The kind intention
of his will. He predestined us according to his
purpose, who works how many things? All things
after the counsel of his will, the Trinitarian
counsel. All of that is sovereignty, friends.
Or I could point to Romans 9, where God says,
I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
So then, Salvation does not depend on the man
who wills or the man who runs, but salvation
depends on God who has mercy. And we could keep
going on and on. There's so many passages like
this. By the way, you see some of the same language
in those two passages that you see in Titus 3.
The kind intention of God's will in Ephesians
1 and the mercy of God in Romans 9. The same
concepts we see in Titus 3, consistent all the
way across. We learn from Scripture that we were
once all spiritually dead, that we were children
of wrath, but then God intervened and saved us,
raising us to life. He opened the blind eyes
of our heart. He gave us the gift of faith, and
we learn that God's sovereign grace did all of
that work, all of it. What was impossible for
you and I, God did for us. So we should be grateful.
So that's one side of that ledger, sovereignty.
Let's look at the other side of the salvation
coin. Scripture also tells us that no one will
be saved unless they willingly trust in Christ
for the forgiveness of sins, right? Right? No
one will be saved unless they trust in Christ
for the forgiveness of sins. Otherwise, they
are under the penalty of sin. Acts 16 tells us.
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? It can't be
more clear than this. Paul and Silas reply what?
Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
Good. At the very end of John 3, Jesus himself
says, he who believes in the Son has eternal
life. Earlier in John 1, the apostle writes,
as many as received him, to them he gave the
right to become children of God, even to those
who believe in his name. And again, we already
looked at some verses earlier. Believe, believe,
believe. We're given these action verbs, commanded,
commanded to believe and to receive and to confess
and to call upon and more. So alongside God's
sovereignty over salvation, we're told that man
has a responsibility to take action, to respond
to the offer of the gospel. And man has a real
choice to make. A very real choice to make. Believe
in Jesus or reject him. Every man has that choice.
It's a real choice made within time and space,
and we are told that that choice has very real
consequences, both in this life and in the life
to come. So here's the bottom line, guys. We
are not robots. When we talk about sovereignty,
sometimes people go, well, then that must mean
we're robots. That is not the way Scripture...
describes it. We are not robots. We are responsible
creatures who make moral choices each and every
day, including decisions to either believe or
disbelieve. And by the way, this is so interesting.
There are times in scripture where both of these
principles of sovereignty and human responsibility,
they literally sit side by side. Here's sovereignty.
Here's man's responsibility. And the authors
of Scripture don't excuse it away. They don't
try to explain it. They just say, these are two
truths that you should believe. For example,
in John 6, we have these statements. It says,
this is the work of God, that you believe in
him whom he has sent. Everyone who beholds the
Son and believes in him will have eternal life.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has
eternal life. All of those are about man's actions,
but mixed into all those verses are also these
verses. All that the Father gives me, Jesus says,
will come to me, sovereignty. No one can come
to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.
No one can come to me unless it's been granted
him from the Father. So they're literally interspersed
in this very small section of John 6. We have
both of those principles. It's fascinating. Perhaps
the most obvious example of this comes from Philippians
2, where both principles are literally tied together
in the same sentence. Work out your salvation
with fear and trembling. That's man's responsibility.
For it's God who works in you both to will and
to work for his good pleasure. That's his sovereignty.
Now, here's the thing. Let's go back to this.
When you look at those two things side by side,
it's critical to know that we're looking at two
things that are not equal in power. God's sovereign
decree in eternity past and my choice within
time and space do not carry the same weight or
the same power, not even close. I'm not even
in the ballpark. We'll come back to that in a
second. But imagine for a moment if we get out
of balance on these two principles. Imagine if
I decide, well, I really want to prefer to focus
on my choice as the reason I'm saved. And I'm
just going to ignore all these grand statements
about God's sovereignty. What do I end up with?
A man -centered gospel. One where the choice
of man is the decisive factor. And where we say,
well, you know what God's role in that is? He
just rubber stamps whatever choice I make. Right?
And sadly, what that would mean is when we get
to heaven, guess what? We have every reason to
boast because my salvation depended on my choice.
God just rubber stamped what I chose. So we violate
this incredibly important principle that we're
not to boast. We could boast. We could say, I
was so spiritual that I made the decision to
believe in Jesus. I was so smart. I was so wise.
I made the right call and therefore I can spend
the rest of eternity thanking Jesus that he just
affirmed my choice. That doesn't sound right,
does it? Does that not like go, nah, I don't
like it. You shouldn't like it. That's heresy.
Now, what about the other extreme? What if I
choose to focus just on God's sovereignty and
ignore all the passages that tell us that we
need to respond to the call of the gospel? What
then do I end up with? A deterministic gospel.
One where we are pre -programmed robots who have
no real choice at all. That is a gospel that
is emptied of love and affection. So we don't
want to err on either side of the ledger here.
We want to affirm everything that Scripture teaches.
And then what we want to do is sort of bring
all of that together systematically and put the
puzzle pieces together so that we can have a
greater understanding of how God saves us. And
by the way, this isn't the only thing in Scripture
where we do this. We have the Trinity. Right?
That isn't systematically explained to us, but
what do we do? We go out and we find all these
verses that talk about one God, but three persons
who are called God, and we put the puzzle together,
and we come up with a coherent doctrine of the
Trinity. We do the same thing with the two natures
of Christ. Very difficult to understand. But
we need to be able to do this with this particular
subject as well. We take all the verses that
talk about salvation, we collate them into a
systematic way, and we say this is how the puzzle
fits together. So that's what we want to finish
with today. How do those pieces fit together
when it comes to salvation? Can we merge those
two things into one coherent doctrine of soteriology?
We can. Like the Trinity, we can. Like the natures
of Christ, we can. But let me say this as well.
Like the Trinity, we should leave some room for
mystery because our thinking is so puny compared
to the limitless mind of God. So we always have
to be careful. We love certainty in the time
and place we live in. We want everything to be
certain. But here we have a mystery, how these
things fit together. And frankly, our comprehension
of, Concepts like, can you describe eternity
past before anything was? Can you understand
the space -time continuum, how God operates outside
of time? Our brains aren't big enough to even
grasp the fullness of this concept. So what we
need to do is understand that these two truths
are presented to us in Scripture as able to coexist
with each other. They're able to coexist together.
So both are true at the same time and that God
knows how they co -inhere perfectly. Do you trust
that? Because the logic is we start with the
scriptures infallible, right? It's true. God
presents two truths as truth. And then we have
a choice now to say, I want it to be more certain
than that. And he says, no, there's a mystery
to this. There's a mystery to this. Yes, we can,
we can, we can. discover some things. We can
come to some conclusions, but there is mystery
to this. So my advice is while we're on this
side of heaven, the best approach to this subject
is to just believe both principles and to hold
them in tension and embrace the mystery. Can
we do that? Now, let me come back to something
I just mentioned. While we affirm both principles,
the two are not equal things. Why do I say that?
Because without God sovereignly moving upon us,
we would not and could not respond. So his sovereignty
is the controlling factor in our soteriology.
It is logically prior to our response. And our
response is 100 % dependent on the sovereignty
piece. So they're not equal in power or authority.
We have to know that. And that brings me to Professor
Jeff's class for the morning. Because I'm going
to share with you something that, again, you
might want to take a picture of this, but this
is something that you would get taught in a basic
theology class in seminary so that you can understand
the logical order of events when it comes to
salvation. How are we saved? I'm going to show
you what Reformed theologians have believed and
taught for about 500 years in terms of the logical
order of salvation. It's called the Ordo Salutis,
Latin for the order of salvation. Are you ready?
I feel like I need theme music for Professor
Jeff's class. I won't go too much in detail on
this, but you should understand what this means.
It all starts in eternity past, right? Ephesians
1 said it very clearly. Election. Election takes
place in eternity past before the foundations
of the world. God foreknew his elect. He foreloved
them. He predestined them. to be conformed to
the image of his son. Even before Genesis 1 -1,
he did this. It starts there. Second, we have
redemption. This is the appearing that we read
about in Titus 3 -4, which take place in human
history. Jesus comes to earth. He takes on flesh.
He dies on the cross to pay the ransom for our
sin. That is redemption. We are a redeemed people
because of what Jesus did on the cross. Amen?
Third, the universal gospel call. This is the
gospel offer that goes out to the ends of the
earth, available to everyone who hears. The universal
call of the gospel. But then there is a sort
of a subcategory to that we call the effectual
gospel call. That is when the Spirit of God draws
the attention of His elect toward the Savior.
This is a work that is done in the heart of man.
preparing him for what comes next. When we read
in scripture about drawing or calling, it's the
spirit of God beginning a work in the inner man
to allow us to incline ourselves towards God
and respond. Okay, the effectual gospel call.
The next step is regeneration. This has to happen
before we're saved. This is what brings a man
from spiritual death to spiritual life. It's
a very changing of our nature. It makes us alive.
It brings with us new affections that now enable
us to turn towards God and be saved. Our heart
gets regenerated. We become alive, spiritual
life, finally. Then comes where we fit in. Look,
I even put stars next to it. Conversion. Here's
where we fit in. This is our response to the
gospel. This is where we... Repent of our sins
and believe where we trust in Jesus Christ as
Savior and Lord. More on that in a second. Next
is justification. This is what we call the forensic
or the legal declaration that God makes. You
are righteous in my sight, he says, because Christ's
righteousness has been imputed to us. God the
Father sees us through his Son, and we are declared
forever righteous. That's the exciting one, right?
We're justified. Then we have adoption, which
is sort of a subcategory of justification. We
are instantly declared to be God's children,
co -heirs with Christ. And then we have sanctification.
This is where most of us are at. Even this morning,
as children of God in the process of spiritual
maturing during our years on the earth, we now
cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit within
us, growing in grace, growing in spiritual matters,
and growing in holiness. We're being sanctified.
And finally, the last stage is glorification.
The completion of God's promise to us. Remember,
he said, I will complete the work I've started
to conform you to the image of my son. Guess
what? That is coming. He will someday absolutely
perfect us, body and soul. I can't wait. I'm
getting closer. My wife just laughed. That's
great. But I'm getting closer. It's exciting.
Now, notice every step in this logical order
comes from God. Even the one piece where we do
have an action step. It's a real action step.
Our conversion, but according to scripture, even
our ability to turn to God, our ability to repent,
our ability to put our faith in him, it's all
a gift that God gives us that would not have
been possible if he didn't first make us alive.
If he didn't first clear up our spiritual blindness,
it all comes from him. Now, let me draw your
attention back. to our call to worship passage
from this morning in Romans 8. It is a condensed
version of that. Let me put it on the screen.
A condensed version. We know that God, what?
Causes. He is the cause of all of it. He causes
all things. How many things? All things to work
together for good to those who love God, to those
who are called according to what? His purpose
or his decree. Do you see the sovereignty already?
For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined.
To what? To be conformed to the image of his
son. That is election. So that he would be the
firstborn among many brethren. We see adoption
there. Those he predestined, he also called.
That is the inward call of the gospel, the effectual
call. And those that he called, he also justified.
And those that he justified, he also glorified.
So we literally have an ordo salutis condensed
right there in Romans 8. And I want you to notice
the absolute certainty in that passage. Do you
see it? He causes all things to happen according
to his plan and purpose. So it will happen. If
he foreknows you. He will conform you to the
image of a son. If he predestined you, he will
effectually call you. If he called you, he will
justify you. He will save you. And if he justifies
you, someday he will ultimately glorify you.
Guys, there's no question in that text of what
will take place. It's not open. God has promised
it. He will bring it to pass. This is one of
the beauties of understanding a reformed view
of salvation. If God has marked you out for salvation,
if in time and space he has saved you, you cannot
run away. You cannot be lost because he's already
declared that you will be all of these things,
ultimately glorified. So we have great assurance
of salvation, amen? Whew, okay, end of class.
I could say so much more about this, but I'm
not going to. Let me finish with just a couple
more things because I know you guys have been
patient. Five benefits, real fast. Benefits of
knowing everything we've talked about this for.
Why should we care about how we're saved? Number
one, it'll produce in you an overwhelming sense
of thankfulness. It will. For all that God has
done for you in Christ. Number two, it'll produce
in you the appropriate amount of wonder and worship
for the Lord. You will worship more passionately
if you understand how you've been saved. Number
three, it will motivate you to devote your life
to Christ with more zeal because you'll see what
he's done for you. You're gonna wanna serve him
more and you're gonna wanna serve others who
know him here in your church family. Number four,
it'll cause you to refocus your energy and attention
on evangelism because now you know. that he will
decisively save when you go out there faithfully
and share your testimony. He will do that work.
Our evangelism is guaranteed. Did you know that?
Not in every case, but it's guaranteed because
God will save whom he will save. It doesn't even
matter if you do a good job of sharing. God can
still use you as a vessel to share the truth.
And lastly, it'll remind you that you have a
stunning, miraculous testimony to share. If you
can understand how you were saved, if you can
articulate that to people, I was once blind,
but now I see. I was once dead, but then I was
made alive. I was once disobedient, but now I
live to please my Savior. If you can share how
this happened in your life, you've got a miraculous
testimony. Amen? Finally, look at verse 8 in
Titus 3. We're going to come back and look more
at this next week. But look, I want to get you
back as we close into the flow of this letter.
Paul finishes this beautiful doctrine about salvation.
And then verse 8, he says, this is a trustworthy
statement. Everything I've just told you about
salvation is trustworthy. And he says, Titus,
concerning these things, I want you to speak
confidently. By extension, that is an instruction
to us in the church today. I want you to insist
on these things, Titus. Jeff, Adam, elders, I
want you to keep teaching these things. Do it
confidently. Whenever the church gathers, remind
people of these things. Why do they need to hear
it? Paul says, so that those who have believed
will be careful to engage in good deeds. Now,
isn't that interesting? Big discussion about
faith now connected to going out and doing good
deeds. Right? We've got both sides of this controversial
topic about faith and works. He says, look, Paul's
back to his concern that he had in chapter 2
about the church's witness in a pagan culture.
And he says, well, how can we build this platform
so that we can preach and teach about the wonders
of salvation? And the answer back then is the
same answer as today, by seeking the good of
others, by doing good works that benefit our
community, benefit the culture that we live in,
to show unbelievers the goodness and grace and
transforming power of knowing Christ. That's
how. So we don't study doctrines in a vacuum
just to go, wow, what a doctrine. Now we don't
have to, we can just sit there and stare at it.
No, God says, it's a beautiful doctrine. Now,
let it affect your life. Go out and do these
things. Show God's glory. Show God's grace to
the unbelievers in Santa Clarita. Because now
you know how you've been saved. Are you understanding
what I'm talking about here? In order to do that,
friends, remember these two things. What were
you once? What were you? And number two, what
has God done to rescue you from that? That is
your testimony. And then go out and say, you
know what? Because I've experienced this, because
I've been given this gift, I want others to have
it. And if God is gracious, he will use you and
I as vessels of mercy to bring others into the
kingdom. What an amazing thing that God, that
he invites us into that process. He not only
saves us, but then he says, I want you to be
a vessel of mercy to call my elect into the kingdom.
You guys, don't let this just drift by. Take
a serious look at this passage. This week, pray
through it. Thank the Lord Jesus Christ for all
he's done for you. Amen? I'll stop ranting now.
Let's pray. Father, it's so overwhelming to step
back and to see what you've done for us. It just,
it jars our emotions to look carefully at what
you've declared in scripture, how foolish we
once were, how selfish, how greedy, how rebellious,
and that you didn't love us because we were lovable.
You loved us just because we were lovable. straight
out of your kindness and mercy. Lord, maybe that's
the one thing that we should all walk out of
with here this morning is to recognize that simple
truth, the grace that you've shown us, the kindness,
the mercy, the love. And God, I'm grateful this
morning that you've showed us how you saved us.
You've showed us exactly how sovereign you are.
You've also showed us our part in this. to take
the gift of faith that you've given us and to
repent and believe and to keep on believing,
Lord, as you hold us in the palm of your hand.
So, Lord, seal these truths in our hearts. Help
us to grow more and more in our understanding
of what you've done for us so that we might be
more thankful, so that we might worship better.
All of this, Lord, is because of you, because
of your goodness, because of your grace. And
so, Lord, be glorified in our hearts and minds
this morning. Even now, as we respond in singing,
be glorified in us. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for
our time together this morning. It's in your
name we pray.