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Salvation · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Today we're going to talk about salvation. A very good topic, right? We all always hear about this wonderful thing called salvation, and I probably shouldn't assume, but I am assuming because everybody in here I recognize every week more than likely has gone through salvation or is saved. So this is somewhat of a review in that sense, but I think it's also good for us as Christians to know
• 0:31
  all about salvation because it's going to help us share the gospel of Jesus Christ to other people. And I think that's the most wonderful and the best key thing about learning about salvation. Because sometimes we go, first of all, we question sometimes if we're saved. We have doubt. Some people do. Sometimes we want to know how we can know we're saved. But the other thing is, if we know and we remember the steps that we went through, then it helps us
• 1:01
  share the gospel with others, and it helps us show them how they can come to salvation. And I think that's an amazing thing. So the objectives of today's topic is going to be to explain that our salvation is the sovereign work of God. It's for us to understand conversion and the evidences of it. And for us to be challenged in our own lives to know that we...
• 1:31
  have truly been saved. So, first of all, has everybody been able to keep up with some of their classwork? I know some have and some have. Some are probably getting to it at the last minute, and that's kind of how I tend to do it sometimes. I get it. We get pretty busy. So if you haven't finished up today's lesson, we're going to go over some of it, but please go back and review it. Some of the verses that came up in the...
• 2:04
  The sermon that was given for today's lesson was really good. It was a good refresher for me and I really enjoyed it. In fact, not only did I listen to today's sermon, but then I ended up listening to another John MacArthur sermon. Just because it kind of led into salvation and talking about God's sovereign grace upon us. So salvation is a sovereign work of God. It's solely God's work.
• 2:38
  Because we as men, as men and women, as people, we have no capacity to save ourselves. Nothing we can do can save us, ever. Our depravity, which we covered last week, is so great that we learned our righteousness is never righteous enough. Our own righteousness is never righteous enough. I was listening, the other thing I listened to today was John MacArthur was on a panel with a rabbi.
• 3:07
  a Muslim imam, a Catholic priest, an atheist, and a New Age spiritualist on a Lurking Live program several years ago, and I listened to that today. And the topic of righteousness came up, and the Catholic priest kept saying that God created an imperfect world. The rabbi and the imam, the Muslim imam, said that
• 3:33
  there's good people in this world and there will be people that are good enough for God to go into heaven. And it's kind of funny because John MacArthur says, and he quoted from the Bible, he talks about how there's nobody righteous enough to get into heaven without and apart from the blood of Jesus Christ. And I just thought it was interesting to see how blind the other religious leaders in that conversation were. It's so interesting to see that because we know the truth and we realize that.
• 4:03
  And to actually hear someone say, well, we're good enough. Or God created an imperfect world. So, you know, yeah, Jesus is the Savior, but we can be good enough. It just, it baffles my mind. And it really shows that through our depravity, we are blind. God allows us to be blind unless we seek him. And it's amazing. So let's look at Romans 3, 10 through 12. I know some of this is going to be a little bit of review.
• 4:36
  If somebody can pull that up and just read it for me. All right, so that actually just illustrates exactly what I was just talking about listening to that podcast today. Nobody is righteous. Nobody understands. No one...
• 5:29
  None who seek God. And I think they're talking about just in man's depravity, naturally men don't want to seek God sometimes. I think God instills within us that longing for Him. But we find people in society who don't seek Him. They want to seek other things. They want to seek atheism. They want to seek New Ageism. They want to turn to the trees or seek other things.
• 5:58
  They don't want to seek after God. They turn aside from Him. And it causes them to be useless. And God says, none. They don't do any good. They think they're good. You know, there are good people out there who don't know God. But their good is nowhere near God's righteous holiness. The fallen nature of unsaved men, they are alienated from God. That's in Colossians 1, 21 and 22.
• 6:35
  If you want to look that up, I'll look up Ephesians 2, 1-5. So, Colossians 1, 21-22. I love that verse because it talks about how before we knew Christ, we were alienated from God, but we're reconciled to Him.
• 7:40
  once we come to know Christ. Ephesians 2, 1-5 says, And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the appearance 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.
• 8:08
  But God being rich in His mercy because of the great love which He had loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. And I love that because we are spiritually dead apart from Christ, but we're spiritually alive in Him. And Romans 5.6 talks about we are helpless to save ourselves. Men are helpless to save themselves. And this will be in a New King James Version, but it says,
• 8:47
  For when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. So He's the one who died for us. He's the one who died for the ungodly. Because of man's depravity, we could never and we would never find God. God seeks man out. Because of that, salvation is the holy work of God. Salvation is the holy work of God. We are not holy enough to find Him. That's why He sent Jesus for us.
• 9:32
  To come seek us. So how does God bring one to salvation? How does that process work? What is that all about? You always hear the Catholics. My parents were Catholic. I know a little bit about their faith and these other faiths. They say that we have to do all these things to get saved. In the Catholic faith, you have to be baptized as a baby, sprinkled with water. And then you're supposed to get all the sacraments done and figured out.
• 10:12
  Go to a class. And then you have to go confess your sins weekly to the priest. And you have to say a bunch of Hail Marys and Our Fathers as they call them. And pray these prayers. And then live a good life. And then know that Jesus died for you. Now sometimes I think when they teach it that way, they kind of got it backwards. Because really we should come to know that Christ died for us and He rose again.
• 10:43
  We accept and we believe that. And then the good things we do in life are a result of loving Jesus. I always tell people, I don't do what is right. I don't live with integrity because I have to or because God demands it or because the Ten Commandments say to. I do what is right because I love Jesus and I want to please Him because He saved me from my sin.
• 11:11
  So Romans 8, 29 through 30. And this is going to be in sections 1A, 1. We'll have some of the answers in this. So we're going to go through some of that. But Romans 8, 29 to 30.
• 11:47
  Okay. So this passage is talking about the process and the plan of salvation. It stresses God's sovereignty. And there's going to be five links in this chain. He foreknew, He predestined, He called, He justified, and He glorified. If some of these words are new to you, that's okay. They're going to be new to some people. Some of these words, some of us may have heard,
• 12:22
  Some of us who grew up in a Christian church who have been studying God's word and whatnot have heard of these words and will know a little bit about this. This is going to be kind of a deep understanding of salvation, what we're going through tonight. So, in this passage, what phrase is repeated four times? Verse 29, it says, whom he foreknew, and then he also, whom he, he also.
• 13:19
  Whom he, he also. Whom he, he also. So the phrase that keeps getting repeated is he also. So what does that mean when he's saying he also? In this context, he's linking it together. He's joining it together. Right. So he basically, it's like putting a bunch of commas in there.
• 13:56
  bringing the whole sentence into one, if you want to think of it like that. So, I guess I would ask, what importance does this phrase have? You also? Well, it's He. It's Him. It's Him, exactly. It's Him, and He links it as a chain. He makes it unbreakable. Because of Him. Because it's Him. Once this process has begun, it comes to full completeness. Those that God has called to salvation will respond, and they'll be glorified with Him in heaven. This,
• 14:39
  This is one way we know that we are secure in our salvation. Because we know that He is going to complete us. We know that He's called us. We are in Him. And we are secure in our salvation. And just so you know, we're also going to talk more about that in next week's lesson. And what is the tense of the four actions? What is the tense of the four actions? Is it past tense? Present tense?
• 15:15
  Past tense. Yes. It's important because with it being past tense, it's important because our salvation as a believer was written in eternity past. God already knew how he was going to reconcile the world even back then. God knew before he created how he was going to reconcile the world. God foreknew that men would sin against him. And so he already had the plan in place.
• 15:50
  because he also knew how much he would love us. So who is carrying out each of the four actions in this? It's all God. God is carrying out these actions. And why is this important to us? It's important to us because it has to do with our salvation, but even more so, not just our salvation, but our salvation being a work of God and a work of God alone.
• 16:37
  Repentant faith is the first step that we take in response to God calling us into the faith because it's God's gift. And that's found in 2 Peter 1. Chapter 1, verse 1. 2 Peter 1. In 2 Peter 1.1, and then you can James says, Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, that those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
• 17:35
  So that's stressing that He is calling us. Even our faith is a gift from God. And we'll see that here in a few minutes in Ephesians 2. So God's foreknowledge. 1 Peter 1 and 2. If somebody wants to read that. 1 Peter 1 verses 1 and 2.
• 18:36
  So look at this word foreknowledge. This word comes from the Greek word. I think it's pronounced progenoska. Progenoska, something like that. Is that right? I was going to write it out, but I didn't find it.
• 18:57
  the markers. But this word, prognosko, which is a, this is some Greek, and this is actually, was a little bit of review for me because I took Greek several years ago and this was one of the, one of the phrases that we learned in my class. But it's what's called a cognate of the Greek preposition pro or beforehand. And gnosko, to know in an intimate way. And what I remember from my class is,
• 19:28
  Our teacher talking about how God intimately knew beforehand these things when we discussed this. Sometimes believers and even new believers will think foreknowledge merely means knowing something before it happens, like foretelling the future. Think of a fortune teller. But they'll think of it as God looks at our lives like he's watching a movie and that he knows how it's going to end. But I think it's more than that.
• 20:02
  It's a lot deeper, and it means that it's also intimate knowledge of the details of our lives. God knows us all intimately because he's sovereign over our lives. And I think that's even illustrated, and it's not in here, but in Psalms 119 where it talks about how marvelous are thy handiworks. It talks about how we are formed in the inward parts and how we should be excited because he knew us and we are wonderfully made.
• 20:32
  That's just a paraphrase, but I think that just illustrates how God intimately knows us, and He knew us even before we were conceived. God is that sovereign over our lives, and it's more than just knowing what will happen. He knows us even before we were born. Does anyone have any questions so far? I feel like I'm moving kind of fast. Sometimes people try to explain God's choices for us.
• 21:23
  Through His foreknowledge that He looks down the corridor of time and He saw who would believe and who would accept Him. And John MacArthur even stresses this. I don't think that's necessarily biblical. I guess I could see how some people would say, God just kind of looks and says, okay, these people are the ones who are going to believe, so that's it. Right? But I think that what God really wants to do is He wants...
• 21:54
  Everybody to know the gospel of Jesus Christ. And even though he might be able to figure it out and know because of his foreknowledge, we don't know. We don't know who's going to accept and who's going to reject. And we have to decide as Christians how we want to create an opportunity to get so many friends into heaven with us. Because heaven's such a big place. We're going to be there a long time. We're going to want to have a lot of people to fellowship with.
• 22:26
  So, I always say, God may know, God may have called, but it's up to us to share the gospel of Christ so that those people have that opportunity to hear that, to know that. I mean, in his omniscience, he's able to look at the end of history and beyond and know in advance the minutes, the minutest detail, and the most insignificant occurrences. But it is both unbiblical and illogical to argue that truth.
• 22:57
  That the Lord simply looked ahead to see who would believe and chose those particular individuals for salvation. And in reality, he died for us all. So he's really called us all in a sense. Along with him calling the elect, we have to also accept or reject. And I think that this is the point that is trying to get across here. Is that he calls us, but it's on us to accept or reject.
• 23:31
  God would just kind of look at everything and just be like, okay, only just those people are going to be saved and just let it go at that. Salvation would begin with man's faith and it would not make God obligated to grant it. And in such a scheme, God's initiative would have been eliminated and his grace would be basically done away with, evitiated. And that's what John MacArthur says. And I agree with that. The purpose of God in choosing some for salvation.
• 24:05
  Let's look at Ephesians 1, 4-6. Just so you guys know, I love the book of Ephesians. The book of Romans and the book of Ephesians are probably two of my favorite to read through. All of the epistles are awesome. Ephesians 1, 4-6. Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love.
• 25:07
  So the purpose of God is in choosing some for salvation. Who did He choose? He chose us. He chose us. He chose those of us that are saved. He chose us for salvation. Those of us that accept Him. He chose so He may receive praise and glory for His grace. And that's in Ephesians 6. We just heard that. Why did He choose us? Why does He want us to be saved? Ultimately, it comes down to us praising Him and giving Him glory. He chose us for that.
• 25:52
  2 Timothy 1.9 gives us the other reason why. Who has saved us and called us with the holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. So He chose us according, or He chose us so He may receive praise and glory for His grace, but He also chose us according to His purpose. Who are we to argue that that choice is unfair?
• 26:36
  That's what He chose. That's what He wants. But is that not what we want? How many of you love praising God and giving Him glory? We should all love praising God and giving Him glory, right? Remember what we were just doing a few minutes ago in the sanctuary, giving praise to God and giving Him glory? And how many of you go to work tomorrow, will go to work tomorrow feeling better about this week? I can tell you this, I love Wednesday nights because it recharges my week.
• 27:06
  And before I came here to Wednesday nights, it seemed like a long week sometimes from Sunday to Sunday. And I get to come here now, and it's like I get a boost in the middle of the week. It just excites me and it jazzes me up. Because that's a night I get to give praise and glory, and I love it. So what is man's responsibility in salvation? Even though God is sovereign in choosing those who are to be saved,
• 27:40
  Man is still responsible for his sin and rejection of Christ. In other words, those who are responsible to be saved, all who believe in Him, all who accept Him, because it's still our responsibility for our acceptance or rejections. Some might find that these truths can create tension within us, namely in the light of God's sovereign choice for some salvation. I wrote a note in here that says, those not chosen are those who rejected Him.
• 28:20
  And I say that because, and I think he's trying to explain this to me, and this is kind of a hard topic for us as Christians. I mean, some people do exhaustive studies. There's actually denominations based on free will versus not free will. There's even a term called Calvinism and Arminianism over this. And this is tough because some people will say that God strictly chooses.
• 28:49
  And it doesn't matter. Those that are saved are going to be saved. And there's some people that say everybody's chosen after they get saved. And it's totally your choice whatsoever altogether. But I think both go hand in hand. God calls us and we either accept or reject. And if we reject, we're no longer chosen because we were never chosen. How does that make sense? Well, if we reject Christ,
• 29:21
  and we decide we want to go to hell, say, for instance, atheists and other people, Muslims or whoever, rejects Christ, that's a choice they made. So they're no longer going to be called to be part of the elect. They're not called. But we who accept Christ, who look and say, yes, Jesus died for me, as I said earlier, maybe we feel called. We know we're called by Him. We see this.
• 29:51
  We accept Him. We are called. We are His elect. And it's important to, I know this can be confusing, but it's important to understand that God offers us an open call. He talks about that in John 3.16. What does John 3.16 say? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. And then Romans 10 verses 11 through 13.
• 30:23
  And I've got to look it up because if I try to quote it... That's one of those ones I quote, but if I don't start where I'm supposed to, then... Romans 10, verse 11. For the Scripture says, whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So...
• 31:07
  God offers us the open call so that we can call upon Him. We are responsible for our own belief. I just quoted John 3.16, but what does John 3.18 say? Sometimes we just get so caught up in quoting John 3.16 and forget the rest of it. But Jesus says in verse 18, He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in...
• 31:46
  the name of the only begotten Son of God. You know, it's funny. Last week or two weeks ago, I was watching a Netflix series called A.D. And basically, the first show starts out with the crucifixion of Jesus and His trial leading up to His crucifixion. And this show basically carries on from Jesus' crucifixion through His resurrection, through His ascension, and through the beginning ministry of Paul. And also around the time that Peter and the apostles were...
• 32:15
  trying to share the gospel as well and the persecution they faced as a church. And what this kind of illustrates for me, when you think about what some of these religious leaders believe in, especially the Jews, just having seen their rejection for Christ, especially played out, is that they didn't want to believe he was the Son of God. They didn't want to believe he was the Messiah.
• 32:48
  and they would talk to the Jewish leaders about Isaiah, namely Isaiah 53, but how Isaiah foretold all this. And they saw it, they knew it, but none of the Jewish leaders wanted to believe it. In that conversation I listened to today with Larry King and John MacArthur and the rabbi and everyone else, he brought this up, how the rabbi brought up how he doesn't believe Jesus was divine, he was just a great Jewish teacher and a great Jewish leader.
• 33:17
  John MacArthur quoted Isaiah 53 to this rabbi, talking about how everything Jesus went through was the fulfillment of Isaiah 53. And unfortunately, because of Israel's rejection of Christ, he has not finished fulfilling that prophecy, which is yet to come. Thank God, because now we get to be his bride when all of that occurs. That's a little bit of me digressing there. But it just goes to show that
• 33:49
  We are responsible for unbelief and these men are going to be held responsible and accountable for not believing in Jesus as the Savior. Man is also held responsible for not obeying the gospel and that's found in 2 Thessalonians 1, 8 and 9. If somebody wants to pull that one up and read it. Inflating fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer.
• 34:28
  the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His name. Wow, that's pretty tough, isn't it, if you think about it? Everybody knows a little bit about hell. We think of hell as this hot place to be. It's really hot down there. We don't want to go there. But I think the worst part about hell, and it's kind of illustrated in 2 Thessalonians, is that not only is it hot and torturous, but it's a separation from God.
• 35:00
  Everyone who goes to hell is cut off from God. There's no way to reach God. Right now on earth, we have a chance to reach God. Even if we don't know Him, we can reach Him. We can cry out to Him. You hear people all the time crying out to God, even the ones that don't know Him. They try to pray to Him. And He's reachable because He's there waiting for us to call upon Him. But when they get separated from Him,
• 35:25
  He will not be there. And that, to me, will be the worst part about hell. Because that kind of torture, they'll know. They'll know. And they'll know the difference. The Bible also says man is not saved because he's unwilling to come. That's found in Matthew 23, 37, and John 5, 39-40. I'll read the passage in John. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of me.
• 36:13
  But you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. Now this is Jesus talking. He's talking to those who don't want to come to him. And he's probably talking to the Pharisees and to the people. But this was Jesus' own words. Basically saying that you think you're going to have eternal life because you searched the scriptures. But you are not willing to come to me so that you will have life. Jesus is directly telling them.
• 36:47
  you're not going to have eternal life because you're not coming to me. John 5, verses 39 through 40. God's sovereignty and man's responsibility are seen side by side. If you look at Luke 22, 22, and this is the story of Judas, God determined that Judas would betray Christ, and yet Judas was still held responsible. Now, did God make Judas betray him? I don't think so. Did God, you know, say, he's going to do it, and then that means Judas did it?
• 37:28
  No, Judas was still responsible for his action because he chose to do that. I think if that wasn't in Judas' heart, Jesus wouldn't have told him, you're going to betray me. I think someone else would have betrayed him. Someone else would have ultimately betrayed him. Someone else would have put that in motion. But that was Judas' choice and he made that decision. So he was still held responsible for betraying Jesus.
• 38:02
  And I still think Judas is paying for that choice, and I'm sure he's not happy about that decision right now. So 2 Peter 3.9, what I love about the study that we've been doing is that it makes me jump all over the Bible, and it gives me a lot of places to study. And I don't know, when you guys study, do you ever find yourself reading more than just what you're supposed to? Because I do. I get so caught up, I get distracted. It takes me probably an hour longer, two hours longer sometimes.
• 39:04
  To do what I planned on doing. Exactly. 2 Peter 3.9 says, Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling. And someone else, if you want to read it out of the ESV, it might be a little different. But on the contrary, blessing knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit the blessing. Oh, you know what? 2 Peter, I'm sorry. I read the wrong.
• 39:43
  I accidentally read 1 Peter. All right, 2 Peter 3.9 says, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So from eternity past, God's word invariably has accomplished his divine goal.
• 40:11
  which has always included his loving and gracious desire that no human being would perish, that all would come to repentance. So that's what God's always wanted for us. He's always wanted us to come to repentance. I think that's evident just in how he set up the way the nation of Israel were to do sacrifices in relation to their sin. That was evident when Adam and Eve sinned and he slaughtered animals to cover their naked bodies.
• 40:39
  Because God was showing them that in order to absolve sin, a life must be taken. And that's what he was trying to show them. And it led up to, ultimately, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Savior, whose life was taken. This wondrous truth is balanced to the great emphasis Paul has been placing on God's sovereignty. And that's found in Romans 9, 6-26. This is a quote of John MacArthur.
• 41:11
  Although the two truths seem mutually exclusive in our finite minds, God's sovereign choice of every person who is saved is in his infinite mind perfectly consistent with his promise that whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. So God's implementing and culminating his plan of salvation. And this will be found in sections 1B and 1C of your book. Section, is it I? Maybe it's I.
• 41:52
  Yeah, section 1, B and C. Thanks, Lance. So God carries out His plan of salvation, and we're going to look at some steps for that. These steps involve God's initiative. God initiates, God implements, and God culminates His plan. So Romans 8, 29 through 30 talks about God calls one to salvation. John 6, 44 talks about God draws one to Himself.
• 42:33
  He draws us to Himself. And John 16, 8 and 9 talks about the Holy Spirit convicts one of sin. The Holy Spirit comes and convicts us. 2 Timothy 2.25 and Acts 11.18 talk about God grants us repentance. God gives one the faith to believe. That's 2 Peter 1.1, Philippians 1.29, Ephesians 2.8 and 9.
• 43:16
  I can tell you Ephesians 2.8 and 9 off the top of my head. For by grace you are saved through faith, and not of yourself. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. I've known that verse for a long time. And what I love about that verse is it really talks about how we are saved through faith. Faith in God, but also faith from God. We are saved through faith.
• 43:48
  It's not anything we do. It's not any of our works. Because we would boast about it if we did. And I think that's so important to understand that. Romans 4.25 and Romans 5.1 talks about God justifies the believer. And I was reading Romans today. It's funny. I memorized Romans 5.1 many years ago. But when I did my study on Romans not too long ago,
• 44:30
  It really illustrated for me how the two chapters really connect together. I think they only split it up, so they had a spot to just split it up. But Romans 4.25, and this is the New King James, says, Who has delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. Therefore, having justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 44:55
  I'm going to go on. Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. So, God justifies us through that faith. He justifies the believer. And the Holy Spirit washes and regenerates us. That's found in Titus 3.5. And then Romans 8.30, Philippians 3.20 and 21 talks about how God promises to glorify us. He promises to glorify.
• 45:30
  Every aspect of a person's salvation is the work of God. That's what these verses are illustrating. We can't do this ourselves. None of it is done on our own. The only thing that we do is we believe, we have faith, we accept. But the actual act of saving us, justifying us, all of that is all through God. See, our only part in this whole process is to respond to God's calling. That's all. We just have to respond to Him.
• 46:09
  The only thing that we can do that will have any part in this whole process of salvation is to exercise the faith in what Jesus Christ has done. To exercise that faith. And that's, to me, that is amazing. It's so easy. It's so simple. Sometimes I think it's so easy that people don't even want to believe because they don't understand that. They don't get it. Our salvation should be accompanied by a brokenness over sin. Luke 18, 13 talks about that.
• 46:49
  We confess Christ as our Lord, as Romans 10, 9, and 10 talk about. And this leads us to a true conversion. Sometimes we hear about people who profess to know Christ. I know Jesus. I believe in Him. I know God. But yet you look at their lives, you look at the fruits that they're bearing, and they have... I mean, you would not know that they are Christians if they didn't tell you, I believe in Jesus.
• 47:21
  And sometimes I tell people, you know, you really need to think about if you truly ever confessed Christ. Because it's easy to say, I know God or I know Jesus, I believe Him. But even the devil knows who Jesus is, right? So it's easy to say, I know Him. But if you truly love Him and you truly serve Him and you truly turn your life over to Him, you should be free from that sin. You should be free to join Him. Does that mean we're going to ever and ever sin? No.
• 47:54
  We're still going to sin. We're sinners. And we're still going to reconcile that. But somebody who truly loves Jesus should have a desire not to sin. And when they sin, they'll be broken up about it. They'll have that brokenness over it. And they'll want to repent of that right away and confess that to God, even though they're already forgiven. They want to say, God, I'm sorry. I screwed up just now. But I know people who say, I know Jesus, but they don't care. They will live their lives as sinful as can be.
• 48:24
  And when my friends who are like that talk to me about that, I always tell them this one thing. I park in a garage. Well, actually, I don't park in a garage anymore. I park outside. But I used to park in a garage. And when I parked in the garage, that never made me the car. I was just the person driving the car. In other words, just because you park your, wow, I said your rear end, but I said the butt word. Just because you park your butt in a pew at church don't make you a Christian.
• 48:53
  Just because you sit down in church and say, I know God, that really don't make you a Christian. You have to really look at that. And I always tell them this, have you really truly accepted Christ? Have you really said, Lord, I truly believe that you died for me and you rose again. Will you come into my heart? I want to live for you. Have you told him that? Have you confessed that? And I actually had a friend tell me, no, I know that Jesus is real, but I've never really believed I accepted that.
• 49:22
  And I think that maybe he didn't understand fully, but when I explained it to him, he's like, maybe that's what I'm missing. Because he told me, he said, I never understood what you meant by having a relationship with Jesus. What did you mean by that? And when I explained all that to him, and then he accepted Christ, I led him to the Lord, he understood instantly what I meant by having a relationship because the link was there now. The Holy Spirit was in his heart. And that was amazing.
• 49:55
  So his conversion was amazing. It was amazing for me because now he fully understood. And as time went on, he started living his life for Christ. And I saw the change in him. I saw it. God initiates the calling or the drawing of us to himself, John 6, 44. Think of it as a net. Jesus got the fishermen, Peter.
• 50:27
  the apostles who were fishermen. And I think that's one reason why he chose fishermen, because it was a good way to illustrate. You cast your net over the side, you draw those fish in. You're not going to get all the fish, but you're going to call some of the fish, and the fish will come. And I think that's a good way to look at it. He calls us, and we are drawn by the inward power or the divine impulse of God. He reaches out and he draws men to himself.
• 50:55
  according to His good pleasure. And He does this through the preaching of the Gospel and the reading of His Word and the conviction of sin through the Holy Spirit. So that's why it's incumbent upon us to preach the Word of God. Now, that doesn't mean you should all have to stand up like I am or like Nathan does or Pastor Danny does on Sundays because not everybody wants to get up in front of a group. But every day you can run into people in your life and you can share God with them.
• 51:25
  Sometimes it's overt. Sometimes it's covert. Working in the field as a police officer, I wouldn't always go out and be like, you're going to hell if you don't accept Jesus. Because sometimes that wouldn't draw people in. But I could go out in my line of work and when I'm putting the handcuffs on someone and taking them in the patrol car, I could start asking them questions like, what would you be doing today if I wasn't arresting you? That one question would inevitably...
• 51:53
  find a way for me to work Christ into the conversation. Because they would answer, and they'd talk about how they would be getting arrested, and then I could lead into, you know, I know I'm arresting you and taking away your freedom, but you know, there is one way you can have real freedom. Freedom in your heart. You might get to go to jail today, but in jail you could be more free than you've been in the last ten years of your life. How is that, officer? Well, let me tell you. And some would accept Christ. I've had some accept Christ in that process.
• 52:28
  And I always said if my supervisors ever called me on it, I'd be like, hey, they asked a question, they opened the door, I just walked right through. So, eternalizing the gospel message begins with conviction and recognition that the gospel's diagnosis of our spiritual condition is true. A true conversion involves conviction and brokenness over one's sin before a holy God has accompanied by a desire to repent, turn from one's sin, and follow Christ.
• 53:05
  And you guys should have worked through this in sections 2A through 2C. It talks about the nature of a true conviction. Sin, repentance, and faith. So the nature of a true conviction of sin and repentance. True repentance is much more than having bad feelings over one's sin. True repentance involves a change of mind, regret for sin, and ultimately a turning away from sin to God.
• 53:38
  A good way to illustrate this would be when my parents accepted Christ, my dad, I was two years old, so I don't remember much of this, but I can tell you I do remember the alcohol cabinet in our house that my dad had. And my dad had basically a big china cabinet full of every kind of hard liquor you can think of. Jack Daniels, Jose Cuervo, you name it, he had it. In fact, my dad told me one time in 1974, it was about $500 to $800 worth of liquor in that cabinet.
• 54:09
  in their economic terms. And we're talking about a set of parents who didn't have a lot of money and lived in a trailer house and probably made minimum wage for that time, right? But they had probably $800 worth of alcohol in their cabinet. Probably enough money to pay the house payment or the rent that they had. And when they accepted Christ as their Savior at church this one particular Sunday morning, my mom and dad have both.
• 54:37
  talked about, my mom still will talk about it, how they got home and my dad took every single bottle of liquor in that cabinet and corked it, opened it, and poured it all down the drain. Flushed it all out. Got rid of it right there. Right there. And I know, based on pictures and conversations with my dad, he was, in 1974, he was 22, because I was 2, and he was a wild young party man. They had their good times.
• 55:08
  And I know that when he accepted Christ and when my mom accepted Christ, their life changed. And I can tell you, I do not remember them drinking alcohol because I don't remember much about being two years old. But I can tell you this, I have no memory at all of my dad ever having one drink of alcohol, whether it's beer, hard liquor, or NyQuil. My parents would not even put NyQuil in the house while we were growing up.
• 55:35
  My mom would say, NyQuil is alcohol and we will not conform to that because we don't want that. I wish he was here. But to me, when I think of a true conversion, it is exactly that kind of example that my parents set. I wasn't even old enough to remember that, but because I knew it growing up. To me, it meant...
• 56:07
  Truly turning to God. And my parents had my uncles and friends and all these people in their lives who came to Christ but would always backslide, as they used to call it back then. They backslided, turned away from God and all that. And not once out of my life, and Danelle would agree with this, have we ever seen my parents turn away from God ever. They have never turned their back on God. Out of all the hardships in life.
• 56:33
  And to me, that is the biggest example of a true conversion. A true repentance that involves a godly sorrow over sin. I know my parents did that. They had true repentance. And a true repentance that involves a turning to Christ and confessing Him as Lord. My parents did that. My whole life. And I think that sets such a profound stage for us.
• 57:00
  Even when my brothers rebelled, even when I rebelled in my way, it gave us such a firm foundation to live on. And that's why every single one of my parents' children are serving God today and living for Him. Faith means trusting in or clinging to, and I know I'm getting right out of time, so I'm going to kind of hurry through this, and clinging to and embracing Jesus Christ, who is the object of our faith.
• 57:29
  As we will see in section 3 of this lesson, if you've done your lesson. A true faith is marked by good works. And that's found in James 2, verse 19. The result of a true conversion, if you did your homework, was in section 2, letter D. A true conversion results in one being lifted from the burden of being a slave to sin, as in John 8, verse 34, and becoming a slave to righteousness, as in Romans 6, verse 18.
• 58:02
  It is so important to note this, that we are no longer slaves to sin, but we are slaves to righteousness. We are free from sin as Christians. If I ever get to preach a sermon here, that is one of the sermons I might preach on. I have a whole sermon that I've written about Romans chapter 6 and how we are free from sin because we are slaves to righteousness and slaves to God. That is so important. Read Romans chapter 6.
• 58:30
  It doesn't mean that we will never sin. We're still imperfect. We live in imperfect bodies, and we're going to continue to sin. We live in a sinful flesh, and we're always going to struggle with that. However, we do have a new nature, and that's found in Romans chapter 7. And we should, as Christians, never have a desire to sin. And when we do sin, we should have a desire to turn from that sin and turn it back over to God. How do we know that our salvation is valid?
• 59:04
  Salvation is never void of true faith, love, and hope. True faith will always be marked by good works and will be tested by trials. You know you're saved if you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You accepted Him. You're a good person in your heart because you allowed the love of God to come inside you. The Holy Spirit lives within you. And because of that, you will do good things. You may not always be perfect. Sometimes you'll get angry and grumpy.
• 59:32
  Olivia Katayu, she's been grumpy with me a few times. I mean, I'm sorry, I've been grumpy with her a few times this week. But one of us are grumpy with each other. You guys will think we're so cute because even when we get angry at each other, we're like, I'm so angry, but I love you so much. We do that. Do we not argue like that, babe? We had an argument not too long ago, and I'm like, but I love you so much, and I just want you here.
• 1:00:03
  And she showed up, so I was happy. It ended the argument. So true love will always manifest with good deeds towards others, and then true hope will endure to the end. We have that hope in Christ. We know that we're going to be with Him. We're going to be with our loved ones to the end. Romans 8, 29-30 is a good illustration of this. Knowing the truth of our salvation and knowing that we are secured, we are protected by the power of God.
• 1:00:36
  God will finish what he began in us, Philippians 1.6. 1 John 5.13 talks about us knowing that we have eternal life and nothing can separate us from God, Romans 8.38 and 39. Our salvation is not ours to lose. God predestined us to be saved. He's called us and drawn us to him. He has convicted us of our sin.
• 1:01:03
  He's given us the faith to believe. He has granted us repentance. He's justified us. He's sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise. That will be in the next lesson, and there's going to probably be a verse that I love that you will discuss out of that, how we are sealed until the day of redemption. God has made us a new creation, and he promises to glorify every single one of us. We will be resurrected. We will be glorified, and we will not have these sinful bodies one day.
• 1:01:35
  As true believers, we will never lose our salvation. So, finish, just right on time. I would like to say this. Being a Christian is an amazing and a wonderful thing, as you all know. And I've learned that it doesn't absolve me from hardship in life. It doesn't absolve me from stress, and it doesn't absolve me from worry. Sometimes I have to ask God to forgive me, because sometimes I worry over things that I ought not to worry. Today was a good example. I'm going through job transition right now.
• 1:02:14
  And by the end of this month, I'll no longer be employed as a police officer in Brighton. And when I was getting ready to meet with one of my supervisors today to turn in some equipment, I kind of got a little despairing and like, oh, Lord, now what? What am I called to do or am I going to be? And, you know, in my human, sinful mind, I was just like, oh, woe is me, right?
• 1:02:44
  This is horrible. I'm going to miss this job. I love sharing my faith with people. I love serving the community. What am I going to do now? I'm just at home doing nothing. Ten minutes after I meet with my sergeant and I leave and I'm going down the road, I get a call from the Adams County Sheriff's Office and their human resources manager wanted to let me know that they have my application and that they're getting ready to start the process to hire me. So I had to say, God,
• 1:03:14
  I am so sorry. I should have listened. I keep listening. I don't listen. I know he's laid it on my heart to apply for the job at Adams County. I've had a conversation with the sheriff. He's pretty much told me he wants to hire me. And sometimes we get so impatient because we don't hear anything that we want to take it all on ourselves. And I have to remember, let go and let God.
• 1:03:45
  because I am His, and He will take care of me, and He will take care of my family. And that's the biggest thing to remember as a Christian. And when you talk to people about your faith, share that kind of stuff with them, so that they know, and that they know the change He truly made in your life. Don't ever let anyone call you a hypocrite for being a Christian. And when they do, just say, you know what, you're right. I am a sinner, but I am a sinner saved by grace, by God's grace, through faith that I have in Him.
• 1:04:18
  Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I just thank You, Lord, for Your mercy and Your grace. I just thank You, Lord, for how You loved us so much that You would die for us, that You would die on a cross so that we might be saved, Lord God, that You called us. You elected us, Lord, and even though not everybody on this earth like You would like, I'm sure, would be saved, God, You still did it, knowing that even if just one of us would heed the call, one of us would come to You.
• 1:04:48
  you still would have done it, Lord God. And I just thank you that you died so that we can be renewed in you through the life that you give, through the blood that you shed, and the resurrection that you have. And God, I just ask that you'll be with us as a group. Be with us for the rest of this week. Be with Lance and Nathan. I don't know if they're teaching Sunday, but if they are, help them be prepared for Nathan next week, Lord, as we go into the next lesson. And I just ask, Lord, that you'll bless everyone here.
• 1:05:19
  Help us to have a good week. In Jesus' name, Amen.