What came first the chicken or the egg

The black city, so sane doesn't bother you, that's cause he already got it, killing gotta rise and his enemies be scattered

Boy you're looking at the victim for the lord I give the credit to, gospel affiliated, running the apostle, alliterated creed with the sword

I put ahead of you, how many times will I forgive you times seven, seven hundred and seventy seven times seven, still ignoring what the devil do, stepping on his neck, when the devil come and I catch him with him divine weapons like, bam,

I'm a cool bitch, the word of god like, wrote it in me like a book, bam, with the full flint, real good,

I push bread like shotgun shells By myself,

I fire the other two jokers, no, for real though, Pastor Haps had to do some counseling, and we all know our local hero

Braden is a firefighter, and so this is one of the Thursday nights that he had to go and fight fires.

So y 'all be praying for Pastor Haps, be praying for Pastor Braden. So my name is

Jeff, I am one of the pastors of Covenant Reformed Baptist Church here in Tallahoma, Tennessee.

So if you're ever in our area, we'd love nothing more than to have you come worship our

God and Savior with us. So the last time we were on live was two weeks ago, and there seemed to be a little bit of confusion with the last portion that we talked about with faith and regeneration and stuff like that.

And so I kind of want to come back and revisit that. And then we also received a message from a lady who did not understand our position with faith and how it like our position with faith and regeneration and how that works with human responsibility.

And so we'll look at that at the very end. I see Braden's watching. So what's up,

Pastor Braden? I love you, brother. So let's get started and we'll just see how it goes.

So I've kind of got some things set up different. If you was in my house, you would know that I have a very small study desk, but I have like three big, huge desks that I use to work with, like when

I'm rebinding my Bibles. And so I'm kind of having to because I don't have enough room for my computer, my iPad, my phone, which

I'm watching for messages and to have a Bible. And this microphone keeps me from looking over at the

Bible really well. So it's a struggle. And so I got me a, you know, one of those

TV dinner trays, I guess you would call it just something like you fold up if you're at the couch and you can pull up and eat.

So I got one of those pulled up next to me. Yeah, with my

Bible. So I'm kind of trying to position myself a little different to where I can not to move the mic so much and I can read the scriptures.

So first, we just want to look at another title of it. What came first, the chicken or the egg?

And I feel like that's a lot of times what we're saying whenever we're talking about regeneration and faith.

And so the idea is what came first, regeneration or faith?

Now, there's going to be many who say that faith comes first.

Faith comes before regeneration. But those in my circle and I'm speaking about the reformed circle would say that.

That regeneration precedes faith, that regeneration comes first, that regeneration is what brings about faith.

And so that's my stance and that's what I'm going to attempt to prove.

Over here, so if you ask me what came first, the chicken or the egg? Well, it's the chicken.

All right. What came first, the regeneration or faith? Regeneration.

Now, we are saved. By grace, through our faith, so our, you know, through our faith, we are saved.

But we need to look at how is it that we are able to have this faith?

So before we even read the scriptures, and I probably mentioned this last week,

I want to talk about faith for a minute. So faith is not. I think, in my opinion, there's different levels of faith, right?

So like the faith that it took me to sit in this chair, like it didn't really take a lot of faith, right?

It's a pretty expensive desk chair, you know, the two hundred dollar range.

And, you know, it's got legs that will hold me. I'm not that big of a guy.

It didn't take a lot of faith for me to relax and to get comfortable and sit down in this chair.

As I was bending my knees, you know, just to let it go. Right. Go else on it.

And so. Now, when we say faith, that's not the kind of faith that we're talking about when it comes to Christian belief.

Now, let's say that there wasn't a chair here. Like there was no way that I could prove there was a chair.

And yet I went all Elsa on it and let it go. And, you know, like that's not a faith that we're speaking about with Christianity, because we're telling people that there was a man.

I'm going to try to lay this out as I'm not going to be very theological when

I lay this out. So we're telling people that that that a baby was born around 2000 years ago and that this baby was actually deity.

That that that God entered Earth through the and he embodied this child.

Right. The creator entered creation. The infinite became finite and that this child grew up in this life that he lived as he was growing up.

He lived in perfect obedience to the father and therefore him doing so is how you and I receive righteousness.

His his righteousness comes to us and that and that he was put to death on a

Roman cross and that this death that he died was for our sins.

So the life that he lived was a was substitute for us and the death they died was a substitute for us.

But not only did he die, but three days later he came about the grave proving to me who he said he was the great

I am. God Yahweh. OK, and that he walked around after his resurrection for 40 days and that he ascended into heaven and he is seated at the right hand of the father.

That's the message, right? That that someone is to believe someone is to put their faith in.

Someone is to put their faith and trust that the life that Jesus lived, he lived for them and the death that Jesus died was in their place.

All right. Listen, what I just explained is something that I cannot prove.

Right. Like there's I can't say, hey, is right over here.

Let me go. Let me go introduce you to him. Right. It's a message by which we're saved.

Like through this message, you're either saved or you're not. The Bible is very clear that those who believe this in their heart and profess this with their mouth, that he is

Lord and that God raised him from the dead. They shall be saved now. Well, now the

Bible is very clear that every one of us, we have fallen and Adam, we have died with Adam.

That we're born God haters, we shake our fist at God, we're masters of our own universe, right?

He man and. And then there comes a point to where you hear the gospel and you go from not believing, not understanding to believing and nothing could change your mind.

Right. That's a different kind of faith. That's a faith that we are not born with.

This is Christian faith. This is the message that Christians are to proclaim.

If your church isn't proclaiming this message, find another church. If you are a preacher and you're not proclaiming this message, repent, read your

Bible. The message is that Jesus Christ lived the life we could not live, died the death that we should die and that and that people are to believe in him, believe that Jesus is the

Christ, the Messiah that came down from heaven. So how does somebody get that faith?

Now, I want to begin in Ephesians and we'll look at verses eight and nine.

And then we're going to circle back to verse one and kind of do a brief walkthrough.

So when you look at Ephesians chapter eight. I mean, excuse me, chapter two, verse eight says this for by grace, you have been saved through faith.

So the writer is speaking to the church at Ephesus and he is telling them how they were saved for by grace.

Grace is something that you don't deserve for by grace. You have been saved through faith that you are safe through your faith right here.

And this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God.

So the nearest antecedent to the and this is not of your own doing.

It is the gift of God is faith. All right.

You're believing you're trusting this message of what Jesus Christ has done is not of your own doing.

It is the gift of God. You're believing in Jesus Christ is the gift of God.

Like like I don't know what else you want me to say. Like I shouldn't even have to break this down exegetically.

It's plain and it's simple. And yet and yet people say, no,

I when I believe then I'm saved. Well, let's just look at it.

Let's say the nearest antecedent was grace. And this is not of your own doing.

Grace, what you're saved by is not of your own doing. Well, I agree with that, too.

You're not saved by your own. You're not saved by your own doing. You do not beg God to grace you.

But it says for by grace, you have been saved through faith.

And this is the faith here is not of your own doing. This is the gift of God.

Now, let's go back to verse one. But let's see how we were before the grace of God and the faith came.

So in you still the same you that's in verse eight and you were and you have been saved.

Look at verse two. I mean, chapter two, verse one, and you same you same church, same group of people were dead.

And your trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world, following the prince and the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work and the sons of disobedience.

Among whom you once lived in the passions of your flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were at nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

But God being rich in mercy, mercy is you getting what you don't deserve.

But God being rich in mercy, not giving you what you deserve, but because of his own great love in which he loved us, even when we were dead and our trespasses.

Right here, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved.

And right here, listen, and raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places.

And Christ Jesus, when you are saved by grace, the faith.

This speaking right here of the first resurrection, you and I are seated with Christ in the heaven and some kind of a already not yet.

Right. Peter speaks about it when it's talking about the inheritance of our resurrected bodies.

So Paul's not crazy. Verse seven. So that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ.

For right here by grace, you who were dead in your trespasses and sins, walking according to the flesh, the sons of disobedience.

For by grace, you have been saved through faith. Remember, faith is not of your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not a result of works. So no one can boast.

So this faith that you have when I believe that you're given by the grace of God.

It's given to you so that you cannot boast so that you cannot say, yeah, I believed.

I believed. Good for me. I'm a good old boy. All right.

So let's real quickly go to the gospel of John.

Let's look at chapter six. And don't be throwing no Calvinist card at me because I'm not even talking about Calvinism.

I'm talking about regeneration. Regeneration. Remember earlier

I was talking about. You know, faith being the work of God. And and John chapter six, verse twenty eight.

So Jesus had been had fed the multitude with bread, man, with bread and fish.

A miracle took place. There wasn't enough bread. There wasn't enough fish. Jesus provided he he he stretched the loaves.

He stretched the fish. Like I get it just sometimes it makes me think, you know, like as working in construction.

So I did roofing for twenty five years. We used to mess with the with the newcomers.

I know I was messed with when I first started. But, you know, like go get the shingle stretcher or, you know, something like that.

But but Jesus, you know, he took the portion that they had and he. And he made these these few loaves and I think it was one or two fish.

I haven't I don't feel like going through and reading, reading it. But if you listen to just very little fish and he took it and he was able to feed thousands of people.

And so these men come to him and they say they said to him, verse twenty eight, what must we do to be doing the works of God?

So they see Jesus doing a work of God and they want to be able to do it. They want to be able to do what

Jesus is doing. Jesus answered verse twenty nine.

This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent.

Believing in Jesus Christ is the work of God.

And yet we see in Ephesians chapter two. That this belief, this faith is given to us, it's granted to us.

And I don't have this in my notes, but I know everyone knows it. Go, you know, Romans chapter 10, verse 17.

So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

So how does a person get faith? Faith comes from hearing and hearing the words of Christ.

Paul said to the Galatians, did you receive the spirit by works of the law or by hearing in faith?

Excuse me. So so the way that a person is saved, reconcile

Romans chapter five, verse one, therefore, haven't been justified by faith. We have peace with God.

So. My tension is, well, not that my.

We find out where I'm at. OK, yeah, yeah. So what I'm saying is, is that faith is given to us and faith by faith.

By grace, through faith, we are saved. And it gets me back where I got off track and I need to get back on my notes.

As you can see, I just got a little I don't have much notes. It's just something to carry me through.

All right, now let's go to John chapter three,

John chapter three. I think I think I was listening to Steve Lawson and Steve Lawson was preaching and he said something, which means

Steve Lawson would disagree on what I'm about to talk about. But Steve Lawson was talking about George Whitfield and that a woman asked

George Whitfield, why? Why do you keep saying that you must we must be born again?

And Whitfield replied, because woman, you must be born again. And Steve Lawson's way of saying it, you know, it's really it's really hilarious.

But I was listening to Steve Lawson today on the subject of regeneration. And I come to realize that I do disagree with Steve Lawson on on the subject of regeneration on the new birth.

So so I was listening to a Paul Washer sermon. Y 'all probably heard me tell this story.

Like I talk so much at different places. I don't know what stories I've told where whatever.

But Paul Washer was preaching one time and he said that he was a younger man.

He's just getting, you know, becoming a Christian. I don't know if he's in a ministry yet, but he heard a man preaching on you walking in the spirit.

You must walk in the spirit, walk in the spirit. And Paul said that this gentleman, this preacher, this evangelist just kept saying those words.

You must walk in the spirit. You must walk in the spirit. But he never told him how or what it looked like or or, you know, how is someone to walk in the spirit?

What does it look like for someone to walk in the spirit? So he didn't tell them the the formula.

All he are or what it actually is. He just kept saying to walk in the spirit.

And so Paul approached him and he said, sir, I really liked your sermon, but you never told us how to walk in the spirit.

And the gentleman got pretty upset with Paul. And then Paul said that he had a big old guy behind him. And I don't know if you've ever met

Paul Washer, but he's a big old guy. So I can't imagine how big his guy was.

It was behind him. And so and the guy behind him said, sir, you didn't tell us how.

And he kind of in the story there. And so I want to talk to you about being born again.

But I also want to give but I also want to tell you what I think it is. And and I'm in.

And I'm just coming at it from a covenant theology perspective. And you can disagree with me.

That's fine. But I don't think you'll have a better interpretation. And if anyone wants to debate this issue,

I have a platform. Let's do it. But John, chapter three, and I just want to give it a read through and probably just some brief commentary.

Verse one. Now, a man. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named

Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him now right here where it's talking about by night.

I personally don't believe it's talking about him sneaking around. I just think it's telling us, you know, what part of the day it is.

It's the beginning of a new day. The days at that time were evening first, then then morning.

I mean, from evening to evening was one day. And so when he said he came to him at night, this could be talking about speaking of a new day.

I don't believe there's something secret going on here. All right.

Where was a rabbi? We know that you are a teacher from God for no one can do the signs.

That you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

So right here, Nicodemus. Who came to him by night, said

Rabbi calls him Rabbi. We know that you are a teacher that comes from God.

For no one can do the signs unless. That you do unless God is with him.

Now, I believe Jesus response here is is him saying, no, you don't know that I'm a teacher from God.

And you can't know unless you're born again. Listen, Nicodemus, this man came to Jesus by night.

Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher. Come from God for no one can do these signs unless.

You do unless God is with him. Jesus answer. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

He is saying, no, you don't know unless you're born again. You don't know.

Only those who are born again know that I'm a teacher from God.

You don't know Nicodemus. Notice what he says. Unless you're born again, you cannot see this is with your eyes.

The kingdom of God. Now, if you're now, if you can conjure faith in order to be saved, that means that you can see the kingdom of God before you're born again.

Oh, that doesn't make any sense. That doesn't make any sense at all. Now, so I'm coming at this from a perspective, again, from a covenant theology perspective.

So I believe in order to enter the new covenant.

One must have faith in Jesus Christ. So the entrance into the new covenant is faith.

Right. And so and I believe as a reformed Baptist, that the sign of the new covenant is baptism.

You enter your you enter the new covenant by faith.

And the sign is baptism. Right. I think most reformed, even

Presbyterians, would believe. But I think there would be some nuances here and there.

Now, the kingdom, the kingdom is. It's not the covenant, but it's like, you know, it's like my right hand and left hand holding hands.

Right. Because you cannot see the covenant. Even when you're born again, you cannot see the covenant.

Right. But you are a part of the kingdom. So. So how how did old covenant people enter the covenant?

They were born. How did they enter the kingdom? They were born.

Right. Now, after they were born, after they have entered the covenant, entered the kingdom, they received a sign.

Circumcision. So old covenant, earthly kingdom.

People were born into the covenant, into the kingdom.

New covenant. Kingdom of heaven.

People, kingdom of God. People enter the new covenant.

By being born again. Jimmy, I'll try to answer that sign a little later.

Let me get this done. I mean, I'll try to answer that question a little later. I didn't mean to say sign. So same thing's taking place.

Oh, covenant. Earthly kingdom people. They entered the covenant at birth.

They entered the kingdom at birth. Then they received the sign.

The male child would receive a sign. New covenant. In order to enter the new covenant, in order to enter the king, to even see that there is a kingdom to enter.

First, you have to be born again. Now, in order to enter this kingdom,

I think you have to be given faith. So I believe that grace is a forensic transaction.

So this is what I believe. When it says you're saved by grace, you are given forensic transaction.

You are given a forensic transaction. And I believe that faith is an ethical transformation.

This is something that you don't have, and now you do. And so I believe, and I'm going to continue reading in just a second.

I'm just going to give you a little layover. So I believe that when a person is born again, they are given faith.

Like there's nothing mystical about it.

You go from not believing to believing. Here in the gospel, you know, faith comes by hearing.

Hearing the word of God. You are saved by grace. You're being saved is the regeneration.

Grace. Grace is the regeneration. You are saved by grace.

Regeneration through faith. And that is not of yourself. That through this regeneration,

God gives you what you don't deserve. Faith. And by this faith, we enter the kingdom of God.

All right, so let's, with that in mind, let's go back and read it again. And we'll continue to read.

Now a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, this man came to Jesus by night and said,

Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher. Come from God, for no one can do the signs that you do.

The signs that you do, unless God is with him. Remember, Jesus is telling him here in verse three.

No, you don't know. Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see that is with your eyes, the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Notice this, Nicodemus knew what it meant to be born. He knew what it meant to be in the kingdom of God.

Why? Because Nicodemus is an earthly. He's a part of the earthly kingdom people.

He is a Hebrew. He is an Israelite. He is a Jew. He is under the old covenant.

He entered the first kingdom by being born. Jesus is telling him that that's not good enough in order to enter the new covenant, the covenant of grace, this new kingdom, this new covenant.

You must be born again. Nicodemus is saying, what do you want me to do, jump back into my mom and come back out?

And notice what Jesus says. Now, I know a lot of people, they take this as as to talking about baptism.

But actually, I think it has more to do with what is taking place in Ezekiel 36,

I believe. And we'll go there in a minute.

Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

So. You know, the water here could be.

I'm just I'm not saying that I'm settled here, but there's several things that the water could be.

I know where I lean to. I lean to a natural birth. So because I lean to a natural birth, because it's coming off of the heels of him saying that.

Do I go back into my mother's womb? So this excuse me. So this could be the earthly, an earthly birth.

And then he speaks about a spiritual birth. The Bible always has this comparisons of the earthly versus the heavenly.

Right. Like, let me pull up my last message that I did. They pull it up real fast.

Yeah, right here. So the earthly kingdom, people, the Jews, the heavenly kingdom, people, the church.

Oh, covenant, earthly new covenant, heavenly, earthly sanctuary. Speaking about the temple, heavenly sanctuary.

Speaking about the temple that's in heaven. Adam, earthly Christ, heavenly. Our natural bodies are earthly.

Our resurrected bodies will are heavenly. And the Bible does this over and over and over.

Like I could have a bigger list than that. For anyone asking questions,

I can't get to your questions just yet. I will try to at the end. I will do my best. And if we have to carry on to next week, we will do so.

But I have to get through these notes first.

All right. So. And Ezekiel, it talks about. It talks about removing the heart of stone.

That God removes the heart of stone, gives you a heart of flesh, sprinkles you with clean water.

And then he puts his spirit in you to obey his law. And so as reformed believers, reformed thinkers, we believe that this is talking about regeneration, that he removes our heart of stone, that he gives us a heart of flesh, that he sprinkles us with clean water.

So that could be what the water is talking about and that he puts his spirit within us. So that's an interpretation.

And I do think that that it goes along with regeneration. I just I just because of the context of Nicodemus speaking about going into his mother's womb for a second time,

I believe that the water here is speaking about a natural birth. But then those are spiritual birth, the natural birth.

You know him speaking about Nicodemus entering into the old covenant. He entered the covenant by birth.

And then it says in the spirit, unless you are born again from water and the spirit, meaning that you have to be born by birth and by the spirit.

So in order for Nicodemus to know that Jesus is a teacher from God, not only would he have been born by natural means, which he was, but he would also have to be born by spiritual means and that is given faith to believe.

Right here, it says that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Think earthly, that which is born of the spirit, a spirit heavenly.

Do not marvel that I said this to you. You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes.

So the word wind and spirit here is the same word. So it's kind of like playing a play on words where it wishes.

And you hear the sound, but you do not know where it comes from. You don't know where it comes from or where it goes.

So it is with everyone who was born of the spirit. Nicodemus said to them, how can these things be?

Jesus answered him. Are you a teacher of Israel? And yet you do not understand these things.

Truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we bear witness of what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

No one has ascended into heaven except the one who has descended from heaven.

The son of man right here. Listen to this. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, this is the earthly.

So must the son of man be lifted up the heavenly, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

So. He tells you right then what it looks like. To to see and to enter the kingdom of God, it's that you have eternal life and it's those who believe in him.

So. What I believe the Bible teaches on.

Regeneration, I believe that, you know, regeneration is how it's grace.

This is God giving you something that you don't deserve. You didn't do anything to receive it. He gives it to you.

You're saved by grace in that grace. You are given faith.

That you that the faith you're given, I mean, that this regeneration is us being born again and given faith.

We are new creations in him. Now we are still. Saint and sinner, right?

We're we're we're sin and saints, but we're a new creation because we're no longer sinner.

All right. We're not fully saying we're not fully sinner, but we're kind of a a mixed bag of cookies.

All right. So that's just kind of the my mind of thinking, right?

You're saved by grace through faith. This is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God. Regeneration proceeds faith.

You must be born again unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom. So unless unless you have been born again, given grace to believe, you cannot see the kingdom.

And then once you're given the grace to believe, your faith is your entrance into the kingdom.

You're saved by grace through faith. So when you put your faith in Christ, you enter the kingdom.

That's the birth, right? All right. Now, a gentleman, a good friend of mine asked a question last week.

I was hoping he'd jump on with me tonight. I sent him the link. I'm sure it's not that he doesn't want to.

He's a busy man, as we all are. But he spoke he he he he spoke about every man has a measure of faith.

So I want to look at that passage real quick. Gentlemen, I'm really trying to answer the questions.

I just got to go in order. OK, so he sent

Romans chapter 12, verse three. I'm a reverse three for first, because I was talking about this subject.

About how we're saved by grace through faith and how faith is the gift. And this is something that we don't conjure up.

He put Romans 12, three, which says. For by the grace given to me,

I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself highly than he ought to think.

But to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Now, he's not on here, so I cannot really, you know, go and, you know, try to figure out what's he talking about?

You know, like like what does he mean with this verse? But I can tell you. I only want to tell you what

I think he means, because I'm not sure, but I want to try to address this first.

First of all, this is Paul writing to the church of Rome and verse one.

He says, I appeal to you, therefore. Brothers, so he is speaking to Christians or, you know, those that are part of the church, he's calling them brothers by the mercy of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice like this is not something that you would say to unbelievers.

Right. This is something that you would say to believers. Holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

So this is us presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God is a is our spiritual worship.

First, do not be conformed to this world. So he's speaking to Christians, telling them to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

That by testing, you may discern what is the will of God. What is good and acceptable and perfect.

Then verse three or by the grace given to me, I say to everyone, this everyone here is not everyone in the world.

It's to the Christians that he that he is addressing in Rome among you, everyone among you, like it's like it's spelled out here, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with a sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned to him.

So even in this faith, this faith is not speaking of salvific faith, but this is speaking of a different kind of faith.

These these people are already saved. And so and so that was kind of my argument there.

I didn't really, you know, have any study. And then I just, you know, two weeks ago,

I just said, I don't believe that this faith is salvific, that it's speaking of something else. And so that's just what

I stand by also, and that it's not speaking about everyone. God has not given everyone a measure of faith.

What is talking about here? I think that this has something to do with our sanctification, more so than our justification.

All right. And so then the woman who asked a question last week, I can't remember her name.

Please forgive me if you're listening. She wrote a message. And so she said that she was she understood what we were speaking about concerning regeneration and faith.

She didn't understand how human responsibility fit into it, which is a good, honest question.

I want to thank you for the question. So I just want to read a verse.

Yeah, I must have swallowed something wrong. Read a verse from John six again.

Verse thirty seven. I like this verse because it gives the human responsibility as well as the divine providence.

It tells us what God has done and what we are to do. Jesus says all that the father gives me.

So we see that we have to be given all that the father gives me will come. And whoever comes to me,

I will never cast out. So I know a lot of reformed people, you know, they kind of.

Well. Let's just say a lot of hyper Calvinist people, they'll kind of David points.

I mean, let's see. Five one. Let me see. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Five. First, five, one about being born again. Yes, absolutely. I think

I used that in my message on Easter. Being born again.

All right. So I was talking about human responsibility. Yeah. OK.

So. So. So I believe the reformed position is that we are saved by grace through faith, that we preach faith and repentance.

So and upon hearing the gospel, I would say that the initial repentance is, is you turning from self -righteousness, the sin of self -righteousness and turning to the righteousness of God in Christ.

Right. So repentance, metanoia changed the way you think you go from not believing to believing.

You go from shaking your fist at God to loving God. And at first, when this really when this really takes place, you don't even know what happened.

You know, man, you know, one minute I didn't believe in the next minute I believe and nothing can change my mind.

At least that's how it was for me. So. So if if faith and repentance is the human responsibility.

Right now. So faith and repentance, I would say, is the same side.

It's one. It's two sides of the same coin. That I also believe that, you know, that, you know, there is the initial faith and the initial repentance.

And then there's that the carrying on in faith and the carrying on in repentance.

Our confession, the 1689, speaks about God faithing us and God repenting us.

Right. We read in the scriptures that faith is the gift and that repentance is granted to those who believe.

Now, you know, so so we believe that the human responsibility is faith and repentance.

But we also believe that our responsibility is given to us by the grace of God.

So we do not conjure faith, whether it's justification or sanctification, and we do not conjure repentance, whether it's in justification or in sanctification, that this is what

God gives us. If you are his, he grows you in holiness.

And of course, as as reformed people, we believe that God has given us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, according to First Peter.

And we and as reformed believers, we believe that it's through the church, through the means of grace, that upon hearing the word of God, taking upon ourselves the sacraments, fellowshipping with the saints, that in this

God convicts us and grows us in holiness.

God grants God faiths us. God repents us. I was talking to a buddy of mine and and I was talking to him about which

I know he won't mind me saying. And I won't give his name, but was talking about, you know, confronting people with sin.

And and my answer was, if you're going to a biblical church where the pastor opens the book and teaches, and teaches, you know,

Acts 2 .42, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings, to the breaking of bread, fellowship and prayer.

So if you go to a biblical church where the book is open and the apostles' teachings are taught, where there's fellowship, where there's the breaking of bread, the

Lord's Supper and prayer. And I would also add Colossians 3 .16,

where it talks about speaking to one another in Psalm, hymns, spiritual songs, singing, make melody in your heart. If you're going to a church and these things are taking place week after week after week after week, you won't need someone to confront you of your sin, because the

Holy Spirit will do that. God has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness.

But he does it through corporate worship, through our meeting together. Right. If you devote yourself to the teachings of the apostles, you won't need a man to tell you where you're screwing up.

You'll know. You'll know. But I do hope that you're at a church to where if you're not devoting yourselves and you're screwing up, that the church leadership or the church members will have the courage to come to you and remove the log from their eye and help you with your speck.

I think I've covered everything on my list. I pray that I answered that correctly.

What about church discipline? Yes, I truly believe in church discipline. But again, if you're at a biblical church and they're doing what they're supposed to do and you're devoted to the teachings of the apostle, you will be growing in holiness and you will not have church discipline.

But if you're doing something that requires church discipline, then of course,

I just made that statement, of course, the leaders should put you under church discipline.

But I think that's secondary. I think if you're devoted to the teachings of the apostles, you won't have to be put under church discipline because the

Holy Spirit will convict you. It's when you're not devoted to the teachings of the apostles is whenever you fall into sin.

It's whenever you drift away and that's whenever you deserve church discipline. Now, let me let me go through here and see if there's any.

I think the first question was from Jimmy. I don't know how long

I've been going. OK, 53 minutes. He said by sign, you mean public profession or expression.

Now, you might be talking about where I was speaking on baptism. So I believe that baptism is the sign of the covenant.

And I have a if you if you go back in my YouTube channel, I speak about baptism.

I was going to do a third part. For some reason, I never ended up doing the third part.

I need to get back to that. Please forgive me. But so we so we would see the sign of baptism as as being informational.

Let me read you what our confession says. You might be a part of the 1689 church.

I don't know. Here is the second

London Baptist Confession of Faith. Twenty nine on baptism.

Chapter twenty nine baptism. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ to those baptized.

It is a sign of their fellowship with him in his death and resurrection of their being grafted into him of remission of sins and submitting themselves to God through Jesus Christ to live and to walk in the newness of life.

Those who profess I mean, those who personally profess repentance toward God and faith and the obedience to our

Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of this ordinance. The outward element.

Well, I don't have to keep reading that section one answer the question. So so we see baptism as as information.

So it's it's not a symbol. Excuse me. So it's not a symbol.

Right. OK. It's not it's not like a cross. So crosses a symbol.

Right. It's not a symbol, but it's a sign. Symbols don't carry information.

A sign carries information. So you don't wear your baptism on your neck.

Right. But but your baptism, which is my argument with with with my pedo brothers, like, you know, because I believe that our baptism is a sign that points to points back to the circumcision of Christ.

And the circumcision of Christ is the is Jesus's baptism of his death, burial and resurrection.

Jesus said that I have a baptism to undergo. Oh, how I wished it was Kenlan speaking of his death, burial and resurrection.

And so when you and I are baptized, Romans chapter six, when you and I are baptized, we're baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So are being put under the water is a sign that points back to what

Jesus did for us. So it's a sign that points to the gospel. And so our sign, everything in the

Christian faith points to Jesus Christ. Just a quick answer.

Let me see. Because when the gospel is preached right now,

I'm just reading stuff. He might have answered his own questions.

Why do few go from not believing to believe in? I think of myself with this in mind.

I come to why me? Yeah, me too, brother.

Me too. Man, I just think it'd be just a little bit of information about me, man.

I know I probably don't do this, but I'm an ex -game banging pimp, right?

Like I was kidnapped when I was 11. I got put into a I got beat into a gang when

I was 14. By 15, I was, you know, I was pimping out my cousins to make money.

I was just a scandal, man. And, you know, 9 -11, when the towers fell,

I read the Bible for the first time. I began to read the Bible and even then, man,

I used to smoke weed and read the Bible at the same time. I mean, I'd be having house parties, you know, people running around my house doing crazy stuff.

And I'd be chilling in the chair reading the Bible. My very first Bible smelled just like weed.

And and just that process of reading the Bible, studying it. And then

I heard Ray Comfort preach the gospel. And God saved me and, you know, he changed me.

Now, it definitely wasn't an overnight thing for me. It was it was it was definitely a, you know, iron sharpening iron.

Like, you know, I was definitely one of the sheep that would run away every chance I got. And God had to break my leg and throw me over his shoulder.

But it just it, you know. And I look back all at my friends and the people that I grew up with, my brother.

You know, me and my brother used to read the Bible together. A couple of my friends, we used to read the Bible together. And and none of them know

God. None of them are Christians. Well, I received a text message,

I don't know, probably a couple of months ago. From a from my from a friend's wife.

So a friend that I grew up with, his wife messaged me. My friend doesn't have my friend that I grew up with.

He doesn't have Facebook or anything like that. But she wanted me to know that that my friend, my homeboy that I grew up with, who would have been the last person.

And my thought, because he used to make fun of me playing around, you know, you know, poke fun at me for reading the

Bible while we were partying. And but she contacted me and told me that he came to faith in Jesus Christ.

And so as far as I know, he's the only one out of all the one out of all the people

I grew up with. So I know there's another friend of mine who supposedly came to faith, but has walked away from the faith.

So he has professed with his mouth, but he did not believe in his heart. But I think

I've answered any questions that have come through.

I'll try not to take any more of your time. But if you have any questions on and I'll just do a little quick recap.

We are saved by grace through faith.

This is not of our own doing. Speaking about the faith. All right. When the Bible tells us that we must be born again, this is talking about being born from above.

You did not go to your mom and dad and some strange vision and tell them to hook up so they can have you.

Right. No, this is something that they decided to do to have you. God births us in order to enter the old covenant.

You had to be born. Right. And when you entered the old covenant by birth, you were entering the old covenant kingdom people.

The new covenant is the new covenant kingdom people. Oh, covenant

Jews, new covenant Christians, in order to be a Christian, enter the new covenant to be a part of the kingdom people.

You must be born again. Right. How has that happened?

Born again means that you have been regenerated. You have been given grace to be leave.

Right. You must be born again. You must believe those anyone who looks to Jesus Christ and believes in him.

Yeah, me too, man. Anyways, I'll get off here. I love every one of y 'all.

I say I got two angry faces. You know, you can't win them all,

I guess. But I think that I I I went through that.

And again, listen, I'm I'm someone that you can reach out to. You know, if you want to talk, if you want to come on here and have a conversation, if you know, if you agree with me, you just want to come on here and have a conversation.

Great. If you disagree with me and you want to come on here and express your disagreement. Look, man, you're welcome to come on here as long as you can be a gentleman and have a conversation.

You're welcome to come on here and express your opinion and we can talk about it. I definitely don't want to make anyone mad, but I believe that that's how it is.

You cannot be saved and pat yourself on the back. Like faith is not something you conjure up.

And faith and repentance is what is the human responsibility. And the Bible teaches that faith is the gift and repentance is granted.

Anyways, I love everybody. If anyone wants to come on and chat with me, contact me.

Other than that, hallelujah. Hollowback. Let's see.