Sola Gratia Leads To Soli Deo Gloria - [Ephesians 2:8-10]

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Could there be three better verses in all the Bible for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourself
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It is the gift of God not a result of works Lest no one boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works
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Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them That is sola gratia by grace alone
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And when you believe by grace alone, then it is to God alone be the glory Let's turn our
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Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2 this morning and let's talk about God's great grace
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The riches of God's grace will be displayed in eternity. Therefore salvation must be of God's Grace and nothing we could do.
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I am the Lord. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another especially in the role of salvation
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Salvation cost his son Everything and therefore he is going to receive all the glory in salvation
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We're just deviating from our series because it was I think we had like five people here first service and you know once a year
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I pull up a different sermon because of our Attendance our lack thereof and so I thought you know, let's go back to Ephesians chapter 2
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Steve said to me today pastor Steve He said I can't hear Ephesians chapter 2 enough and I said you got a deal
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Ephesians chapter 2 now Paul in this book
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Ephesians Everything for him is grace If you go to chapter 1 verse 2 grace to you
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If you go to the very end of the book in Ephesians chapter 6 He's got the other book in in chapter 6 verse 24 grace be with all who love our
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Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible and then everywhere in the book is grace
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Even at the beginning chapter 1 if you go there There's this great praise in chapter 1 verses 3 to 14 all about God the father of our
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Lord Jesus Christ receiving blessings Why would God receive blessings? Well, he says in chapter 1 verses 4 through 6 because he chose us unconditional election
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Verse 6 to the praise of his glorious Grace, he also says
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God should be praised for grace because his son redeemed us according to grace Look at verse 7 in him
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Christ. We have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses According to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us
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Everything in this book shouts Great is God's grace now when
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Paul was on the Damascus Road and Jesus Christ interrupted him How long?
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Did Paul wait before he wrote the book of Ephesians in other words? What's the time frame between his
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Damascus Road experience and writing Ephesians? It was around 25 years and you know what I love about Paul in this book
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He hasn't gotten over the fact that God's grace is amazing and wonderful So often in my life,
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I think you know, I remember when I first was a Christian I was fired up for the Lord in an evangelism
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Enthusiastically telling other people. I mean I was on fire and then it's like well, you know what?
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I just kind of grew out of it. Sometimes we think that you know, I just kind of grew out of those first love moments.
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I Was at Ephesus not that many months ago with some of you here and you know the thing about Ephesus now, it's dead
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Completely dead. They're just some buildings there and Jesus did he not say to the church at Ephesus you've abandoned your first love
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It's good to go back to Ephesians to make sure we understand that everything about us is
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Received through grace and when you understand grace, it should lead to Praise God saving based on his good pleasure
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So let me this morning in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 9 and 10 give you 9 reasons you can praise
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God For your salvation. It's all of grace God's grace and God's grace alone 9 reasons
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You can give God the triune God all the glory for your salvation and friends.
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I'm gonna make it super simple We're just gonna walk through these verses One of the things that pastors do when they preach to you is they teach you how to study the
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Bible yourself In other words, the passage is my outline and the outline comes from the passage
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It's going to be super simple. You could go home and recreate this very thing. As a matter of fact,
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I hope you do this is a Magnification of verse 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus you want to know what those are?
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You want to know why it's great salvation by grace alone. Paul is going to give us the reasons now in verses 8 9
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And 10 it's kind of like fireworks in one sense and it's kind of like Paul's Righteous stubbornness.
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I will not move on until I have exhausted the topic of God's grace I don't want anybody to get over it.
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I don't want anybody to say to people who are brand -new Christians Oh, you'll get over that enthusiasm. You'll get over that excitement.
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You'll be boring dull and dry like me later Just wait till you grow up in Christ and you're a
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Christian for 25 years That's not Paul Paul was fired up and that whole first chapter is about how to praise
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God for his salvation the Father choosing the Son redeeming and the Spirit sealing to the day of redemption
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First reason you can give God all the glory for your salvation is found in verse 8 your salvation was something that was done to you
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Salvation is something that's done to you. Very simple today You could all say these same same things most likely but good to be reminded verse 8
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You have been saved Let's start there. Let's start with these key verb this key verb.
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You have been saved This is a perfect passive.
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It means it's something that's been done to you. You didn't save yourself God saved you.
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This is what theologians called called the passivity of redemption. We are passive in redemption
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God is active. We are passive Jesus says on the cross said on the cross it is finished all
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Salvation work is done. We are the recipients of this salvation Think about temporal salvation for Israel When they were brought to the
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Red Sea a mountain on the left a mountain on the right Pharaoh's armies behind them and the
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Red Sea in front of them and God is the one that brought them through He is the one who did everything
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There's no other way of rescue. So God gets all the glory Spurgeon said this verse does not say you shall be saved.
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You may be saved You're partly saved. You're on the way to being saved. You're hopeful of your possible salvation
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You're halfway there. You're out on the limb of being saved. What does the text say? You are
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Saved you have been saved Salvation is not something we do and achieve
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Remember the old slogan salvation isn't do do do it's what that's right.
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It's done done done absolutely God saved it was his initiation his energy out of his love and his mercy and It had to be
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God doing it because look at chapter 2 verse 1 and you were dead in trespasses and sins
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This is a younger group and I was doing a high school retreat or something and somebody said do I believe there are zombies in The Bible yes right here in chapter 2 verse 1 the walking dead
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It's just like a dog I think I've talked about it many times you take a dog to Niagara Falls and the dog cannot
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Appreciate Niagara Falls, even though the the water spills on the dog The dog can hear the roar the dog can see the
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Falls and the dog has no appreciation for Niagara Falls at all If you think dogs can't appreciate
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Niagara Falls, how much less could a cat appreciate Niagara Falls? and We see
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God in his his majesty and in nature and we hear about his salvation in the Bible and we can't appreciate
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What he's done until God saves us till God Makes us alive as Ephesians says
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Romans said that while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly
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God is the one saving we are the recipients of his Salvation God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us.
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God is the mover for if while we were enemies Romans 5 We were reconciled to God through the death of a son much more having been reconciled.
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We shall be saved by his life So when you think about how do I praise God if I contribute a little bit then to my salvation then maybe
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I can Carry some of the praise over into my own life When you get to heaven you will not high -five
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God and say we did it You will not fist bump God and say between the Father the
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Son and the Spirit and my work. We saved ourselves Pretty bread
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Ephesians Revelation chapter 5 the focus of heaven is Jesus Christ for he alone is the
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Savior number two How do we increase our gratitude?
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And praise is remembering our salvation because number one it was done to us number two is by grace
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See this in verse 8 again. It's front -loaded Many times in the Greek the word order will help us with emphasis.
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There's no bold Highlighters, there's no italics. There's no font So what do you do you put something in the front of the sentence and then it gives it gravity and the same thing here
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For by grace Paul could have said you're saved by grace But instead for a word order for emphasis
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He says what by grace you have been saved to highlight it that the cause of salvation was grace
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Say what is grace? I've learned a lot of definitions over the years. Here's an acronym.
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I learned once God's riches at Christ expense grace Unmerited favor you probably learned that one.
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I like Sinclair Ferguson's the best though demerited favor we've earned his
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Chastisement, but he gives us mercy and grace Grace is attributed to princes good one said they are said to be gracious to their subjects
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Whereas subjects cannot be gracious to princes Now God who is an infinite sovereign who might have chosen whether ever to love us or not
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Decided to love us. This is grace My favorite definition is by Minton and he said grace is
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Chorus is the Greek word for grace God's utter generosity unselfish spontaneous
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Reckless generosity Which acts wholly out of loving concern for his people's need?
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Even if they are completely unworthy of his love and help which he offers to them
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We are the ones dead in trespasses and sins yet. God still loves us and as I've said often if you ever think about a makeover whether it's a home makeover or it is a
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Facial kind of makeover a personal makeover They don't pick really beautiful people to give makeovers to and they don't pick beautiful houses
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They don't pick the hearse castle to give a makeover to it why because they as the the
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Makeup artists they as the people who design the house and redo it They show their skill based on working with things that are not that good
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So I wouldn't take it as a compliment if you get asked to do a makeover, but that's another sermon When you go to work and you punch in at The end of that shift you have a wage you've earned that That has nothing to do with grace
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If you run a race and you win you get the prize you get an award for a sales contest.
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You've earned it But when you can't work When you can't run when you can't earn things and you still get something good that's called grace
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You get the gift Anyway, grace of our
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Lord Jesus Christ was on the lips of Paul all the time because he wanted to make sure that the praise went to God alone
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Not for him. Just imagine Paul for a minute in the world of grace The biblical world of grace outside of that world is our world and we're steeped in it a works world
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Everything about us is works. We work we earn we get that's Paul as a
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Pharisee Paul understood that if I do this for God, then he'll do that for me. But that Pharisee ism is basically paganism
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All paganism is this hmm. We've got a problem with fertility problem with famine problem with crops
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If we do something for God, maybe he'll do something for us if we do something for the goddess
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Maybe she'll do something for us But friends Ephesians 2 1 2 3 is true we can't do anything and God Does the work number 3?
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Salvation was done to you. Salvation is by grace number 3 parsing our salvation
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Salvation was only through faith Through faith friends.
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It was not because of faith There's a different Greek word for because if you're saved because of faith now faith becomes a work
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Faith is something you do and your friend didn't do I have a friend is named Scott He has kind of a big
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ZZ top beard and he is not a Christian He's a drunk and whenever I see him at my mom's funeral at his mom's funeral whenever I see him
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He's just a complete drunk. What's the difference between Scott? Our parents were friends.
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Our parents had the same cabin on the lake on the Missouri River I went to the same high school.
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I had my first job with him as a first job What's the difference between Scott and Mike? I Believed I earned my own belief my salvation by my belief.
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No, look at the text by grace. You've been saved Through faith if you have a commitment and a confidence in and a trust in God, it is not because of faith
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Because dead people don't believe it's through faith this non -meritorious non -meritorious
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Instrument of salvation if you're trying to get if I was trying to explain it to a kid and say you've got water here and you want to Get the water over here for irrigation
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Here's a pool of water a a tub of water and I get a PVC pipe and run it down here
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This is a it's just a channel. That's a good illustration of grace
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True or false grace is God's part faith ours.
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I Love preaching to you guys Yes, we believe God doesn't believe for us, but it's a non -meritorious
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Non -work it's through faith not because of faith God votes.
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Yes for you to be saved Satan votes. No and you cast the deciding vote. We've talked about that last week
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God's not tapping his toes up in heaven hoping us hoping for us to open the doors of our hearts so he can save us
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Ian Murray in his book Forgotten Spurgeon Said this for example a booklet which is much circulated in student evangelism at the present time
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Lays down three simple steps to becoming a Christian first personal acknowledgement of sin second personal belief in Christ substitutionary work
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These two are described as preliminary but the third so final that to take it will make me a
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Christian I must come to Christ and claim my personal share in what he did for everybody
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And here's what the booklet says this all -decisive third step rests with me
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Christ waits patiently until I open the door then he will come in once I have done this
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I may immediately Regard myself as a Christian the advice follows tell somebody today what you have done
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If that's true, then how could Romans 11 be true for from him and through him and to him are all
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Things except my faith to him be the glory forever and ever. Amen What's the cause if we have to have the because word you're saved because of faith isn't true.
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It's through faith. What's the cause? What's the big where's the because word? I'll show you where it is verse 4 But God being rich in mercy
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Ephesians 2 for theirs are because you want motive you want motivation You want first cause you want the great mover?
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You want a reason for your salvation because of the great love with which he loved us Even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ and here's this refrain by grace
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You have been Saved raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus There's a word in Ephesians 2 8 that he could have used for because he could have used that word in Ephesians 2 4
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But he didn't so I ask you a question if you're a Christian. Why are you a Christian?
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If you're a Christian, why are you a Christian and the answer is?
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God made you a Christian God save you faith isn't a meritorious work
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It's through faith the channel by which you receive salvation Galatians 2
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Man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus Romans 3 even the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus Romans 3 25 who displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith
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God doesn't do 99 % of the work and you seal the deal by giving God faith that isn't salvation at all
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By grace that's salvation by works because one part works with 99 % of 99 parts of grace
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Make it all works Thomas Hooker said God justifies the believing man not for the worthiness of his belief
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But for the worthiness of him in whom he believes When you're persuaded that Jesus is
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God God has already worked in you to give you that when you say to yourself, you know
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I I deliberately trust my eternal life with Jesus the risen Savior who gave you such a faith
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You didn't come up with that on your own We were children of wrath even as the rest no wonder
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Philippians says it's been granted for you to believe in him No wonder acts 18 says he helped greatly those who had believed through grace
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No wonder 2nd Peter 1 1 says they've received a faith of the same kind as ours
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Baptist said it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee. It's Christ. It's not thy joy in Christ that saves thee.
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It's Christ It's not even thy faith though. That be the instrument. It is Christ blood and Merit, that's why when you struggle with assurance of salvation
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What do you do? Scurry after assurance. I've got to have assurance. I've got to have assurance Not have an assurance is a bad feeling and that's good that it's a bad feeling
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So, how do you get rid of that feeling if you're really a Christian and you have no assurance of salvation? Well, could there be sin in your life?
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The answer is yes But your focus needs to be not assurance because you'll never catch it the focus needs to be
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I'm gonna look at who Jesus is and then assurance will come all The time people come to me as a pastor and they'll say
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I'm struggling with assurance and nine times out of ten They've made an idol out of getting assurance instead of saying
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I'll forget about assurance. I'll focus on Christ's finished work I tell them read Galatians because Galatians will show you
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Christ plus nothing is salvation and then when you realize that again, then as Spurgeon said the dove of Assurance will sit down on your shoulder when you keep your eyes on Christ number four
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Salvation is not of yourselves Salvation is not of yourselves. This is almost a
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Double saying that he's already said this but he's trying to make it emphatic your salvation is not from you
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The Greek is and this is not of you and this is not of you every aspect of our salvation
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We could say and this is not of you our Kent Hughes tells a funny story There's a frog that fell into a large milk can he kept paddling in turn until it turned into a pad of butter
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And then he jumped out. So it's like self salvation launching pad. How do you save yourself? Salvation by grace through faith not proceeding from yourselves
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Not of yourself Now sometimes it'll be translated and this is not
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Your own doing that's the ESV. What's the this referred to? Does it refer to faith?
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Does it refer to grace? But the way yeah, there you go. Yes, it's salvation by grace through faith
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It's this whole thing this whole concept of salvation by Christ's finished work on Calvary confirmed by the resurrection is not of us
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This refers to faith grace or the entire salvation process the entire salvation process is not from us
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We don't do any self salvation because all our deeds are like filthy rags.
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That's why we say God did it all Jesus paid it all All to him
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I own Number five your salvation is a gift of God a gift from God Kind of parsing our salvation.
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I'm just taking one little segment then the next then the next you could probably guess what my next few points are
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Salvation is a gift from God It's emphatic in the original God and no one else.
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It's not from me. It's from God Salvation not a view of God is the gift is a good way to translate it
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Salvation is the gift. We can't earn it And It's a good gift.
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I don't know does God give any bad gifts I was reading about an American Express survey about Christmas gifts
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Some of you are very kind and give me gifts this particular thing. I still would receive with a thank -you, but in my mind
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I'm not too sure fruitcake it says Christmas gifts found that the fruitcake was chosen most often 31 % from a list of worst holiday gifts
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It even finished ahead of no gift at all That's pretty bad.
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Would you rather get fruitcake or no gift? Sometimes you know if you've got an old cinnamon roll You could always put it in the toaster and put some butter on it or something microwave it make it
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Okay, I don't know if you could toast fruitcake When asked how does to dispose of this bad gift fruitcake?
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30 % said they would hide it in the closet. I wouldn't add you can save it till next year 21 % said they would return it and 19 said they would give it away
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But this gift think about it. I deserve it. Hell I get to go to heaven at the basis of someone else.
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I Didn't earn it. I wasn't there. I wasn't born when my salvation was accomplished
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And neither were you before you were born? Sometimes I talk to my kids and we'll say well we moved to California and Maddie and Gracie.
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You weren't even born yet You didn't even exist and to think in eternity past. I asked you the question when were you saved?
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I hope when anybody asked you the question you give them in the right answer Mike when were you saved?
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Well, you know my salvation is so wonderful. I don't really know what you're talking about So do you mean in eternity past when the
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Father Son and the Spirit in a council of peace got together and decided to? Send the Son to go rescue me that salvation
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Or how about at Calvary? when Jesus died on the cross for my sins and was raised from the dead or how about in 1989 when
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God Regenerated me and applied that salvation. How about now? I'm progressively sanctifying being sanctified
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I'm progressively being saved to use the terminology Paul or when I get glorified whether that's in the
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Czech Republic from nuts are today Or any other day What salvation is it?
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And it's all of God every bit of it He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him
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It's all of God Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them
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At the end there in Galatians and perform them. Here's the book of the law do it all how are you doing?
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Christ redeemed us from the curse of that law having become a curse for us for it stands written
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Curse it is everyone who hangs on a tree. I Think that's a gift one man said a wise lover values
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Not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver Number six your salvation is not the result of works verse 9 not as a result of Works now is there any sense that salvation is by works by Christ works
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We're saved by works. Jesus is perfect works. He's born a born under the law.
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He obeys the law perfectly In summary, he loves God with all his heart soul mind and strength. He loves his neighbors himself
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We get that credit to our account. You have to do this to live But the context here is not our own works
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Not anything we did before salvation saved us and I come from a world where hey,
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I was baptized I know I wasn't really cognizant of the fact that there was some water on my head confront confirmation
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Fasting giving to the poor. I'm good This is not as a result of works deeds of kindness philanthropy religion self -effort
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No It was a gift if it was a gift earlier on it says in Ephesians 2 8, how can it be of works gift works?
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They don't go together Romans 11 6 if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works
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You say how can something so small taint everything else how can a little bit of works taint all that grace
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Sometimes we use this illustration with our kids when when they're when they're playing around with the world and how close can
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I get to the World and and we've said to the kids before and I think how much more for this illustration here.
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It's gross, but you'll you'll understand Kids if we're gonna make brownies how
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Small of a bit of dog manure. Could we put in the brownies and you?
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Would still eat the brownies a cup
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A spoonful a Thimbleful You would say hopefully that ruins the whole thing you guys are sleeping until I just said that I Should have used that on the first service would have woke him up.
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But seriously, how much poison do we? put in The pitcher of water and still drink it it just invades it
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Permeates everything when you add any amount of works to grace it nullifies
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Romans 11 6 all of grace Yeah, Jesus. Here's what it says. I know you died on the cross and everything, but it wasn't good enough
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I have to add this And you know what if we were left to ourselves That's how we thought before we were saved didn't we
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I got to do something You've come all this way and I got to come this way. I got to finish it.
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I've got to seal it I've got a yeah, I have to contribute somehow when my contribution was sin and filthiness.
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That's my contribution Titus 3 now doesn't this make more sense? He saved us
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Not on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness But according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the
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Holy Spirit Romans 4 5 but to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly
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His faith is reckoned as righteousness 2nd Timothy 1 9 who saved us and called us with the holy calling not according to our works friends if you're not a
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Christian and you think you can get to heaven by being good and being a member or being baptized or Catechized or something or going on?
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I thought I got to heaven by going on youth trips down to Mexico and becoming a missionary You don't understand your own sin let alone what works does to grace
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It's by grace alone. You have to repent of that kind of thinking Number seven your salvation should cause you not to boast in yourself
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Salvation should cause you not to boast in yourself It says in verse 9 as you know so that no one
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Should boast on the outside to God be the glory great things.
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He has done and on the inside Pretty pretty pretty savable man pretty good man When it comes to salvation we are boastless
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Can you imagine what would heaven be like if we're all in heaven and a thousand years into praising the
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Lord Jesus Christ worthy of Lamb was slain excuse me And I'd like to have an announcement
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I just want you all to know you're all praising Jesus as a sinner of heaven But I pulled myself out of the my reclaim myself
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Someone else says well, I didn't do it myself Jesus get some glory. I did like 20 % of it
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So that no one would boast if I did do anything to make me a Christian Then I should have some credit.
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I should have some praise. I should have some boast Stott said we will not be able to strut around heaven like peacocks
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Heaven will be filled with the exploits of Christ and the praises of God And I'll be glad I'm pretty much sick of myself
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My dad used to say I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'm sick of me Gernal said the gospel cuts the very comb of pride when thou hast thy best suit on Christian remember who paid for it
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Jesus Christ God's only begotten Son was sacrificed That's why when we said, you know, let's have a testimony
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We had a three testimonies Sunday night in baptism, and it was it was wonderful And I didn't have to do this on Sunday night, but regularly people will give me their testimonies and I'll say well
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You know what? There's a lot of I I I I I believed I decided I repented
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I turned I read I studied I prayed and that's all true because God doesn't do those things for you
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But wouldn't it be better to write your testimony a little bit differently? How about you are the passive one and God is the active one?
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I was going the wrong way, but God intervened. I was slaved to sin, but God rescued me
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I was doing these things. Yes, I was doing all the sinful things, but God alone be the glory If somebody ever asked your testimony,
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I hope the first word out of your lips is God Here's what God did in my life Jesus Jesus says to that demoniac who he's cast the demons out you go tell them what
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God has done in your life We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing greatness of the power of God Power may be of God and not ourselves
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That is interesting. One man said your halo only has to slip a few inches to become a noose
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Regarding pride The human body is very sensitive pat a man on his back and his head swells
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Was interesting he who sings his own praises is always a soloist Don't brag.
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It's not the whistle that pulls the train Make sure it's God's trumpet you were blowing
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Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for our when you sing your own praise.
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You always get the tune too high And the Lord said to Gideon the people who are with you are too many for me to give to Midian into their hands
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Give meeting into their hands lest Israel become boastful saying My own power has delivered if Abraham was justified by works he has something to boast about but not before God Romans 4
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Consider your calling brethren that there were not many wise according to flesh not many mighty not many noble But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise
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That no man should boast before the Lord if you want to boast in the
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Lord, please do Paul said the same thing It never be that I should boast except in the cross of our
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Lord Jesus Christ Through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world number eight salvation was the work of God and so two
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Is your good deeds? Salvation was the work of God and even your good deeds after you're saved our
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God's work look at verse 10. Isn't this wonderful? He just doesn't save us and let us meander around For we are his workmanship
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For we are his workmanship. He's the one that did them that did this his workmanship
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Let's look at this first and then figure out what it means Poema is the Greek word. It's where we get our word poem
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We're like God's poem his Handiwork his workmanship a thing literally of his making and the emphasis on his he's the one who has done it
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He's the one that has made us. What did he make? It says here created in Christ Jesus for good works so God not only saves us, but he
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Creates good works for us ahead of time that we might walk in them
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You know it to be true even Subjectively when you think how could how could that all be arranged?
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I met this person than another and I preached the gospel and this happened and that happened and everything else and it's just like God Had everything arranged before my very eyes.
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That's what he's talking about here created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in him
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Now turn if you would to 2nd Corinthians 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 we're going to talk about a little bit more
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This idea that God does the work and he should get the credit and then we're going to wrap this up 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 4 verses 1 to 6 I get asked the question all the time. Do you believe in evolution?
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Do you believe in theistic evolution? The answer is no why? because One takes more faith than the other
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Because The law of irreducible minimums prohibits evolution
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That is to say the mousetrap needs certain pieces And if you've got someone who's got blood and if it's any thinner
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You cut the person they die and bleed to death if it's any thicker it can't be pumped through blood Those all may be true, but I believe in God creationism
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Physically because I'm an Augustinian Strike that I believe in I don't believe in evolution because I believe in Pauline doctrine of salvation
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I don't believe in physical evolution because I believe what Jesus taught about salvation
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What are you talking about? How do these go together? Where's the symmetry? What's the what's this?
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Where's the similarity? Let's find out 2nd Corinthians 4
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Therefore verse 1 having this ministry Paul says by the mercy of God. We do not lose heart
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But we have renounced disgraceful underhanded ways We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's Word But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God And even if our gospel is veiled it is veiled only to those who are perishing
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In their case The God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers
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To keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God?
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For what we proclaim is not ourselves But Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Christ's sake and now here it comes together
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For God who said let light shine out of darkness When did God say that when did
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God say let there be light in? Genesis didn't he?
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There's darkness and God says let there be light and there was what? light Created by God his action his doing the darkness didn't cooperate with the light
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Darkness didn't say God you're creating all this and and we will have faith in what you've said
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And your your job is is creating light and our job is to believe that I mean it is Monarchistically light, how does
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Jesus make breakfast after the disciples when the disciples see him on the beach after the resurrection? How does
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Jesus make breakfast? Breakfast breakfast he just says it
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How does God make light? powerfully By God alone supernatural work, and you know what the exact same thing happens when it comes to salvation by the way
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If you've got an unsaved loved one You better be praising God that this is the case because if you leave the unsaved loved one to their own
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Devices to get saved they'll never get saved never You got kids in your family you want them to be saved you better be glad for monergistic salvation
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So let's read it again for God who said let light shine out of the darkness And now he compares the physical
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Genesis 1 monergistic Creation to new creation that is salvation has shown in our hearts our dark hearts our black hearts
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To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ Why do
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I believe? Evolution is faulty for many reasons, but mainly because I believe salvation is all the work of God and Because when
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God says to a person who's an unbeliever let there be light guess what? And there's nothing they can do about it because their nature will have been changed and then instead of hating
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God They'll now love him if I had to just wait for people. I just I hope all my kids are saved
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I hope my neighbors are saved. I hope all these people at church are saved I hope the unbelieving spouses of the people that tend to the church here are saved
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What's going to happen to them? And you know what? I just hope it's in them one day to someday receive the
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Lord and they'll see their own sins on their Own, I mean the list could go on and on what mercy is that?
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How about this? This is the way you pray by the way, don't you pray 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6 God what?
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Save my loved ones God make them a Christian God. You're gonna have to do the work
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Here's a good prayer. If you've got little kids if you've got Spouses if you've got anybody in your life who needs to be saved
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God Would you shine the light of the glorious gospel into their hearts and make him a Christian let there be light.
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I Saw the light not at like on the Damascus Road where there was a visible light for Paul But if you're a
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Christian you saw it too because one day you were enslaved to sin enslaved to darkness Doing all your own thing and then one day it's like I'm now a
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Christian you responded to the gospel with faith and repentance and Adoration Ironside was talking about a new convert who gave his testimony to church service
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Oh, he was happy this new convert smile on his face join his heart.
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I've been delivered from a life of sin Giving God all the glory this young man didn't say anything of his own merits or he didn't say he deserved
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Blessings of redemption at all, but there was a legalistic guy there and he was in charge
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He didn't appreciate salvations by grace alone through faith alone. No human works. It's a gift of God that no one should boast
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Said of the young man you seem to indicate that God did everything when he saved you didn't you do your part before God did his?
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The new Christian according to Ironside jumped to his feet and said oh, yes, I did For more than 30 years
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I ran away from God as fast as my sins could carry me that was my part
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But God took me out God ran me down God saved me
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That was his part. That's why it says in Acts and the
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Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being what? saved
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Can't save yourself I'm surprised when people read
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John 1 12, but they forget 13, but as many as received him to them He gave the right to become children of God even to those who believe in his name.
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Is that a true Bible verse? Yes, you have to believe But your belief isn't the cause of your salvation
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It's the consequence verse 13 who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of If you're a
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Christian God made you to be a Christian if you're going to heaven God did all the work trying to think of another verse that's very
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Often quoted and it's a beautiful verse every verse is a beautiful verse every verse is a great verse
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Sometimes we forget to say it is God and God alone who saves
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See if I can find the verse that's going to be the part of the tough part at that time
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Jesus declared I thank you father Lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and Reveal them to little children.
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Yes father for such was your gracious will All things have been handed over to be my my father and no one knows the son except the father and no one knows
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The father listen up except the son and anyone to whom the son
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Chooses to reveal him who knows God only those to whom the son
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Chooses to reveal him and then Jesus gives the verse that we know Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden
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God's sovereignty Man's response to the gospel. What about you say?
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Well, I have a lot of hard trials in my life physical issues financial issues Yeah, but you've been saved by grace through faith
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Grace alone through faith alone Shouldn't you be praising
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God for your weakness and praising God for his strength? Let's pray father in heaven
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We are very thankful today that you are a God of grace and grace alone and therefore you get all the credit for our salvation
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Paul knew it. He might have been circumcised the right day. He might have been a Hebrew. He might have been a
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Pharisee But he put no confidence in the flesh father I pray that if there are those here today that think they're going to heaven because of their birth their heredity their religion
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They're being good their education I pray that you would stop such thinking grant them repentance and grant them eternal life and Father for the
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Christians who are here today Would you give us joy not just at this season, but all seasons knowing?
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Left to ourselves we'd be persecutors of the church like Paul left to ourselves We'd think communion might save us left to ourselves.
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We think baptism would surely do the trick But father we want to focus on heaven's focus