Becoming Better Theologians (part 13)

Bethlehem Bible Church

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January 2, 2011

Becoming Better Theologians (part 14)

00:00: Father we just thank you this morning for the dawning of a new year, for a new opportunity in 2011 to serve you, to learn more about you.
00:13: Father I pray that you would bless our time this morning, and bless our time here today as we look to your word, as we seek to know you better, so that we can worship you better.
00:26: In Christ's name we pray, Amen. Well for those of you who thought this was the ladies discipleship class, you're wrong.
00:35: That's upstairs, it's great to have everybody here this morning. We've been talking about,
00:40: I took a rabbit trail, and if you want to sound erudite when you talk about a rabbit trail you use the word excursus, because that sounds really cool.
00:52: The professor says we're going to introduce an excursus today, it just means a rabbit trail.
00:59: So, talking about why people don't believe, and then we started talking about free will.
01:06: Last week we studied at some length Luke chapter 15, parable of lost sheep, lost coin, lost son, and why the parable of the prodigal son does not teach free will, because that's not the point of the whole passage.
01:30: The passage is introduced in Luke chapter 15 verses 1 and 2, when
01:35: Jesus is basically portrayed by the
01:41: Pharisees, the religious leaders, as being wrong for having fellowship with sinners, with the outcasts of society.
01:51: And it's because they don't understand, these legalists don't understand that God loves repentance.
01:58: He loves repentant sinners. And that was the point of the whole passage.
02:05: We've been looking at the teaching of someone named Dan Corner, and you say, well who's Dan Corner? Good question.
02:10: Dan Corner is one of these internet guys who basically has carved out a niche for himself and says that Calvinism is a different religion, that it is false, and he goes on and on about free will.
02:26: The other thing about Dan Corner though is he also teaches that you can lose your salvation, which is something most people don't like when they talk about free will.
02:36: So in that instance, I have to give him credit for being consistent. Here's the problem.
02:42: Whether it's Dan Corner, whether it's R .C. Sproul, James White, John MacArthur, John Calvin, Billy Graham, whoever it is, and whatever they say, what do we do?
02:56: We just go, well, Billy Graham said it, I believe it, that settles it.
03:05: Pastor Mike said it, I believe it, that settles it. That's never the issue.
03:11: The issue is what did God say, and whether I believe it or not, that settles it.
03:21: Well, this morning I want to look at Romans chapter 6, and we're going to start out by doing something rather unique,
03:29: I think, in the history of Bible study. Something that will revolutionize and rock your world.
03:35: We're going to start at the end of Romans chapter 5. Yeah, scary, isn't it?
03:42: Okay, that probably won't rock your world. But I think it's just kind of important to set this up a little bit.
03:50: In Romans chapter 1, after the greetings, Paul lays out the universal condemnation of mankind, and he goes through and he talks about the condemnation of the
04:05: Jew and the Gentile. Everyone is under condemnation. Chapter 4, he gives the example of Abraham, salvation by faith.
04:15: Chapter 5, talking about God's grace to us while we are sinners. Adam's sin and the impact it has on all of us.
04:24: And so we come to the end of Romans chapter 5, verse 18.
04:34: Again, here we've been talking about Adam or Paul has been. And he says, verse 18,
04:42: And therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
04:53: Now, does that mean that all men are saved? No, we know that from other contexts.
05:00: And we'll know it from this context if we keep reading. For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners.
05:08: So by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. Now, let's just think about that for a minute.
05:17: Who was made sinners by one man's disobedience? Adams. All, but it says the many were made sinners.
05:26: Well, who were the many? All of his descendants.
05:33: All of his descendants. And that's important because look at what the next clause says.
05:39: So by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. Well, some people will say, well, if all were made sinners by the act of Adam, then certainly all were made righteous by the act of Christ.
05:54: That is the final Adam, as Pastor Michael likes to call him. I think that's better than the second
05:59: Adam, the final Adam. Because nobody's going to have to come up after Jesus.
06:04: But what does that mean? The one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. Well, if it was
06:09: Adam's, what did I just say? His descendants.
06:16: See, I was almost going to do what Dan Corner said and said his ancestors. Well, Adam didn't have any ancestors. So we can rule that one out.
06:22: His descendants, Adam's descendants were all made sinners. Jesus's descendants will all be made righteous.
06:32: Who are Jesus's descendants? Those who believe, those who participate in his death.
06:39: Verse 20. Now the law came in to increase the trespass. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.
06:49: Simply saying, law brings sin to light. Sin is actually multiplied by the law because we see our sin greater.
06:58: And we actually have something to contrast righteousness with. But furthermore, I would say that the unsaved man delights in violating the law.
07:10: But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more. So that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness.
07:16: Leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Sin reigned in death, resulted in death.
07:25: Grace results in eternal life. Okay, chapter 6.
07:36: I'm going to read this all and then we're going to dissect it. What should we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
07:45: By no means. Other translations, I think, say it better. Like heaven forbid.
07:51: Maybe even God forbid. Because that's the concept. How can we who died to sin still live in it?
07:59: Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
08:06: We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
08:14: Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
08:26: We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
08:39: For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
08:48: We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him.
08:56: For the death he died to sin once for all, for the death he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God.
09:11: So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
09:17: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions.
09:24: Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
09:40: For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
09:48: What then? What's the result of this grace? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?
09:57: By no means. Same Greek phrase again. Heaven forbid, God forbid, no way, no how.
10:04: Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness.
10:18: But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
10:34: I'm speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now you present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.
10:50: For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?
11:00: For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification, and its end, eternal life.
11:14: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
11:22: Lord. Now, Dan Corner, Internet theologian, sorry, says this.
11:33: If there has ever been a chapter describing the Christian that has been hated and avoided by the popular religious leaders of our day, it has to be
11:43: Romans 6. I have to say, we're not going to avoid it, and we don't hate it.
11:52: He says in verses 1 and 2, A person must die to sin to get spiritual life.
12:02: This is another way of saying repent or perish. Turn from idols to serve
12:09: God. Love and obey Jesus before all others. Believe on Jesus, etc.
12:16: If a person is not willing to let go of his idols, he cannot be saved and will not be freed from sin addictions by Jesus' blood.
12:25: Even if he prays a prayer, confesses Jesus, gets baptized, joins a congregation, etc.
12:31: He must sincerely, wholeheartedly turn away from his wicked, sinful life. Is that true or false?
12:39: You have to repent in order to be saved. It's true.
12:49: I'm not going to deny that. Well, Dan Korner wins then. No! Leon Morris.
12:59: Let's just talk about the text here a little bit. Leon Morris says this, Evidently, some had argued,
13:05: I mean, where were we? We're back in the beginning of chapter 6. And Paul said,
13:10: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who die to sins still live in it?
13:18: And then he talks about the baptism of Christ. Do we not recognize that we've been baptized into Christ?
13:25: So listen to what Morris says, Evidently, some had argued that since everything depends on grace, Remember the end of chapter 5 and then beginning of chapter 6,
13:34: So shall we sin so that grace may abound all the more? Our part should be to give grace the maximum scope in which to operate.
13:43: In other words, the more you sin, the more grace can abound. If we go on sinning, we provide scope for grace to increase.
13:50: Should this not be the Christian way? He says the NIV perhaps does not quite give the same emphasis as Paul.
13:57: That's a nice way of saying. The NIV drops the ball. His verb is the verb to remain.
14:04: Shall we remain in sin, not the verb to sin? In other words, it's not, shall we sin that grace may increase?
14:11: Shall we remain in sin in a place, in a state of sin?
14:17: Shall we remain that way? Shall that be the course and pattern of our life?
14:23: And that's where Dan Horner gets off. Because he starts talking about perfectionism. You lose your salvation when you sin.
14:31: And therefore, a Christian is no longer sin. In fact, the whole reason Dan Horner came to my attention was a young man
14:39: I was talking to, but it was related to another conversation we had about someone who was similar, who was critiquing my friend
14:45: Tony Miano. Tony got up to do his street preaching, his street evangelism.
14:56: And he's saying, he's basically screaming at the top of his lungs, which was pretty loud. Men of Nineveh. Well, he was in Laguna Beach.
15:04: But he says, I'm here. It's close. Nineveh, Laguna Beach.
15:10: He says, I'm here because I love you. As much as a sinful man can love other people,
15:18: I'm here to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ to you and the gospel. And this critic of Tony said, well, if you have a sinful heart, if you're a sinner, you should not be preaching the gospel because you can't be saved.
15:36: No one who is of God sins. That's not the point. The point is this practice of sin.
15:42: This remaining in sin. That would be a person who is not saved. Yeah?
16:08: It's a necessary condition of salvation. Right, and that's a great point.
16:16: Charlie asks, go ahead. Good. Yeah, because I was really looking at it from the anthropocentric viewpoint, man -centered view, because this is where we started out.
16:37: But yes, that is correct. Repentance is not, just as faith is not something that we generate on our own.
16:44: We look at 2 Timothy 2. Paul says to Timothy, you know, what do you do for those who are in opposition to you?
16:52: You pray that God might grant them what? Repentance. Repentance is a gift of God.
16:59: Faith is a gift of God. You must be born again in order to experience either one.
17:05: So repentance is something that's commanded, but it's only given to us by the grace of God.
17:11: And that's a difficult concept for us to wrap our heads around. We are commanded to repent, and yet we don't have the ability to repent apart from God.
17:19: Well, that's true. And that's where they have this issue. If we're commanded to repent, well, we must be able to do that.
17:29: So, well, that's it. Where was I? I'm sorry. I just asked that. Right.
17:44: And you don't secure salvation because of repentance, and this is the issue. Because what they do over and over again is they present,
17:54: I mean, they would say it's from the heart, but this idea that we can judge ourselves by the fact, by our absence, by the absence of sin in our lives, by the fact that we have repented, unless this is
18:09: God -generated, it's absolutely worthless. So what has to happen? If we were to put things in order, you must be born again, you must repent, and you must believe.
18:21: Now, can you separate those things? You know, on Thursday, I was born again. On Friday, I repented of my sin.
18:30: And on Saturday, I believed. And on Sunday, I was baptized. No. No. So, and that's what,
18:37: I think that's in part what makes it so difficult. But when you are born again, is there a time gap from when you're born again to the time where you repent and the time you believe?
18:51: I don't think so. I think it's pretty much boom, boom, boom. But I think this is where a lot of the problem is, because they see this command to repent, and they believe that we must have the ability to do that.
19:05: And so repentance maybe precedes regeneration. Repentance precedes being born again.
19:13: And so this is something that we do on our own, and that's just not right. Bruce. I was just going to mention,
19:20: I think Corner's whole viewpoint of verses 1 and 2 are off. It's really showing that we're united with Christ through His death.
19:28: In verse 2, it says, And that's right.
19:39: I mean, this really, those two verses are about showing the union of the believer with Christ. This is what we symbolize in baptism, and he uses that metaphor here in Romans chapter 6 of being buried with Christ and then raised in newness of life.
19:51: And what Corner basically says is, That comes pretty close to salvation by works, if it's not salvation by works, which
20:13: I think it probably is. Corner, looking at verses 3 to 5, says this,
20:22: Christians have been baptized into Christ's death, had their own, had their old selves, their sinful nature, crucified with Him, in verse 6, and now have a new life.
20:35: Crucifying the sinful nature is a must or is a prerequisite for salvation.
20:42: Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. He says,
20:47: Galatians 5 .24. What is it called when...oh,
20:54: yeah. And so what he does, and you're going to find this a lot with false teachers who use the
21:01: Bible or people who misrepresent grace, I'll put it that way, when they walk through the
21:08: Bible. It's really critical, if you're going to talk about Romans chapter 6, to stay in Romans chapter 6 instead of immediately jumping outside to explain what
21:17: Paul's meaning in Romans chapter 6 by going to Galatians chapter 5. But he says,
21:24: Christians have been baptized into Christ's death, true, had their old selves, sinful nature, crucified with Him, true, and now have a new life, true.
21:36: But crucifying the sinful nature is a prerequisite for salvation.
21:43: I must crucify my own free will, my sinful nature, in order to be saved.
21:49: I really hope not. That's a good question.
21:56: How can you crucify yourself, and that's a great question, actually. When he, even
22:02: Korner, would acknowledge that spiritual death is the place of the unbeliever, he would just say that you go from...I
22:08: mean, it is fascinating to read these guys, because you go from, the Christian life is like this, spiritually dead, spiritually alive, spiritually dead, spiritually alive, spiritually dead, spiritually alive, and you determine whether you're going to be spiritually dead or spiritually alive.
22:25: Leon Morris says this, Paul turns to baptism, which is perhaps surprising, but it helps to make his point emphatically.
22:33: It points the alternative to what he has just been saying. If his readers do not understand what it means to die to sin, then they do not understand what baptism means.
22:42: And baptism comes right at the beginning of the Christian life. So, if we are buried with Christ and raised to newness of life with him, then we are dead to our old life.
22:57: His question implies that this is something Roman Christians would be expected to know. Since Paul had not come to Rome, he plainly regards this as knowledge common to all
23:06: Christians. Moving on to verse 12, Dan Korner says this, Sin is personified and clearly shown to want to reign or control even people who were truly saved.
23:19: It is therefore the Christian's choice and responsibility, not God's, to stop sin from reigning in his corruptible body he now has.
23:34: I think that's okay. I mean, if you just understand it this way, we have the responsibility of what? To not let sin reign, because now we have a say in the matter.
23:43: We're no longer slaves of sin, and we'll see that. Again, the
23:48: Christian life is shown to be a fight against sin. Putting off sin, putting on righteousness, that's sanctification.
23:59: But listen to this, the false teachers who say sin is no longer the issue since Calvary, miss a major part of the
24:05: New Testament and dangerously distort grace. But that goes with tickling ears and deceiving people for the sake of popularity, money, and avoiding persecution.
24:15: I mean, I have no words for that. Leon Morris says this, because I want to get to the end of this.
24:30: The real crushers are towards the end of this chapter. Leon Morris says this, a new life in Christ has consequences in the same way, the phrase there points to similarity.
24:43: It leads to the classic be what you are situation, or perhaps do not or don't be what you are not.
24:50: In other words, you're a Christian, live as if you are a Christian. You are not a
24:55: Christian, and we wouldn't expect you to live like a Christian, but believers must act in a certain way.
25:05: He notes that count is a favorite Pauline word. It's an accounting term.
25:13: It conveys the idea of reckoning or calculating. Perhaps here regard or recognize would help us in any way.
25:20: Is that, and so my question, is that ear tickling? Mr. Dan Corner says a Christian loses his salvation when he sins, and that his free will is demonstrated in Romans 6.
25:30: He claims Calvinists avoid this chapter, and now we get to the real guts of it.
25:38: Chapter 6 verses 17 and following, and I'm just going to reread that, and we're going to stop and talk about it from time to time here.
25:47: But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart.
25:54: Now, I just have to stop there. But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart.
26:03: Shouldn't Paul have said, but thanks to you guys and your faithfulness, you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart.
26:11: What was he thinking, thanking God for that? Let's read that again. But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart.
26:21: Now, let's keep reading here. To the standard of teaching to which you were committed. Now, that's the first time that we see what at the end of that verse?
26:31: A passivity. It's that standard of teaching to which you were committed, and it is passive, by the way.
26:39: What does that mean? It means that someone taught them these things. It's not about their free will.
26:46: It's about they were taught these things and obeyed. But listen.
26:52: Verse 18. And having been set free from sin. Passive. Not having determined that you would repent of your own free will and set yourself free from sin.
27:07: Having been set free from sin. Having become slaves of righteousness. That part is not passive, by the way.
27:14: I'm speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members imperative as slaves to your body.
27:31: As slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
27:39: Before your salvation, not only did you have no obligation in terms of...
27:45: Well, let's back up here a little bit. When you were enslaved by sin, you could not obey. You were free in regard to righteousness.
27:52: There was nothing pulling you that way. You have one bent, let's say, this direction, because it is the left hand, which is obviously the sinful hand.
28:01: You could only go to your left. You're like the one -handed basketball player. That's all you could do. And if you've never played basketball, sorry, you'll just have to go with it.
28:10: You could only go one direction, and that was left. You could fake right all you wanted, but you were only going to go left. Verse 20.
28:19: For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you were now ashamed?
28:31: Fruit meaning spiritual fruit. What good was coming out of those things which you were now ashamed?
28:37: Obviously none. For the end of those things is death. Verse 22.
28:43: But listen. But now that you have been set free. Didn't he mean now that you were in that trap called sin, and you, with your great might, freed yourself?
28:57: But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God. And by the way, again, that is passive, and it indicates that you were made slaves of God.
29:12: The fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end eternal life. Corner says,
29:21: Romans 6 .22 is another verse most Bible believers do not know exists. I don't know why.
29:30: I mean, what do we have, some kind of Thomas Jefferson Bible where we just kind of cut out what we don't like? It should also be memorized and taught often to others.
29:40: Okay. I don't have any problem with that. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end eternal life.
29:51: Amen. Again, as you're being conformed to the image of Christ, sanctification, it has as its final result eternal life.
30:00: I have no problem with that. It says it too shows the deadly errors in what people have been taught. Verse 22 and 23 go together.
30:08: Okay. Yet they are split apart, even in the Romans Road Gospel presentation.
30:13: Although they both mention eternal life. You know what? If you want to take the time to go through verse 22 on your way to 23, great.
30:20: If you want to read all of Romans chapter 6 to the person you're witnessing to, great.
30:27: Don't have any problem with Romans 6 22. I love that verse.
30:36: And he notes here, verse 23 mentions death and eternal life. They are contrasted with each other.
30:44: A person is in one or the other, depending upon his faith, which is manifested by disobedience or obedience.
30:53: As sin leads to death. Holiness from being a slave to God leads to eternal life.
31:00: Have you ever heard that talk before? That is also the truth that is concealed by splitting part versus 22 and 23.
31:08: We have a real big problem here. You know, John MacArthur apparently didn't read Dan Corner before he wrote his new book called
31:14: Slave. Because MacArthur talks about it. I'm looking forward to reading this book. It just came out. That if you are a
31:21: Christian, you are a slave of Jesus Christ. You are to obey him.
31:27: You belong to him. You've been bought with a price. You are no longer your own. I don't think we're running away from that.
31:37: Martin. Lloyd Jones. Emphasize the importance of have.
31:45: You have your fruit. You have got it. This is true of every Christian. There is no such thing as a
31:51: Christian who does not bear fruit. You cannot be a Christian without bearing fruit. What does that sound like?
32:05: James two sounds like. Sermon on the
32:10: Mount. Matthew chapter seven. Jesus said that every good tree bears good fruit.
32:24: The present possession of fruit gives assurance that the fullness involved in eternal life will be in due course attained.
32:30: When we see our life transformed. When we see the things that we're doing. It is amazing.
32:39: I think the holidays are a great time of the year to do this. It is amazing to just not think about the bills.
32:45: You know the daily grind of life and to just think about where you are now spiritually.
32:51: To think about where you were and to think about left to yourself where you would be.
32:57: And it is amazing to think like that. It's not so amazing if you think. Well left to myself.
33:03: Well I was left to myself. I cinched up my belt. I determined I would follow
33:08: God. I in my own strength. And then God allowed me to be born again.
33:16: Just false. Verse twenty three. The wage of sin is death. Writes Paul transferring his imagery from sin as a slave owner to that of a general paying his soldiers.
33:28: In other words. At the end of the day. Sin says you come to me and you get what's due you and it is spiritual death.
33:37: It is eternity apart from Christ. Sin robs life of its meaning purpose and fulfillment.
33:47: As one man put it. Sin promises life and gives death.
33:53: And I thought that was a great quote. Because what do people say? I want to live life to the fullest. I want to live life now.
33:59: I want to experience all that there is for me here. Then at the end.
34:05: Death. Let's go again to corner corner.
34:12: My summation. He attacks a caricature of Calvinism. Saying Calvinists believe that they can sin without consequence.
34:24: I think the Calvinist teachers I know would agree with Tozer. He said this years ago.
34:30: No one would ever dare rise in a meeting and say. I'm a Christian. If he had not surrendered his whole being to God and had taken
34:37: Jesus Christ as Lord as well as his Savior. And had brought himself under obedience to the will of the
34:43: Lord. It was only then that he could say I am saved. Today we let them say that they are saved no matter how imperfect and incomplete the transaction.
34:51: With the proviso that the deeper Christian life can be tacked on at some time in the future.
34:59: Can it be that we really think that we do not owe Jesus our obedience?
35:05: This is bad teaching brethren. Christians obey. They don't obey perfectly.
35:10: As MacArthur says it's the direction of your life not the perfection. But this whole idea that somehow.
35:17: And this is the issue here. That somehow we would be concerned by Romans chapter 6.
35:24: And nothing could be further from the truth. Because we understand that it is God who has made us slaves of obedience.
35:31: Those who would be desiring even to follow Christ. If man or if men generally choose
35:41: God without his interference. If God doesn't get involved in salvation.
35:47: If men choose their own free will. A few questions. First of all and this is one
35:53: I'd love to ask. Why pray for salvation? Why would you ever pray for the salvation of anyone if you believe in free will?
36:04: What would a prayer like that even sound like? God I know you're too nice to impose yourself on anyone.
36:13: But if you could just see fit to somehow. Well I know you don't really want to lead anybody to yourself.
36:19: If you could just kind of lay out some signs. So that my sister -in -law would choose you.
36:26: Or so that so and so down the street would believe in you. I would really appreciate that.
36:35: How about this question? If men choose
36:41: God of their own free will. Why does God get all the glory? Why would we sing anything like to God be the glory.
36:51: Great things he had done. Great things he had taught us. Or no. Great things we have taught ourselves.
36:59: Why would he get the glory? If men have free will.
37:06: How would you preach the gospel to them? How would you share the gospel with them? How would that alter maybe your presentation of the gospel?
37:16: Would it alter it? Dan. I used to carry a burden. Where I felt that I had to make a precise, concise argument.
37:26: And if I wasn't being persuasive enough. It was my fault. That the individual wasn't getting it so to speak.
37:33: So I would carry that. I felt like a bunion. So to present the simple gospel truth.
37:44: I really should have.
37:50: Because I was putting me into it. To just figure out the right way to do it.
37:55: So that I could overcome that person. It complicates things. Daniel says. Because what?
38:01: You think. Well wait a minute. This guy has free will. He's not in rebellion from God.
38:08: Maybe he is. But he just doesn't have enough information. And if I can persuade him. If I am persuasive enough.
38:15: If I am a good enough advocate. On behalf of Christ. I can win this person for the kingdom.
38:22: It's like law and order. You know. And I'm going to convince the jury. The jury is one. And it's all or nothing.
38:29: And I've got to talk him into the kingdom. I've got to convince him. I'm going to walk him down the Roman road. But at the end of the day.
38:36: I'm going to kind of make all the decision points for him. And we're going to get him there. Somehow. And if I don't.
38:42: Then what? I failed. I failed.
38:50: I proclaimed the word of God. But I didn't do so in such a way that it was good enough. Yeah. Well that's exactly right.
39:03: There's also this presumption in that approach. That logic is going to reign supreme.
39:09: That it's going to. You know. We're going to appeal to their logic. And we can appeal all we want to the logic of a dead man.
39:17: And that's just not going to work. Let's look at John chapter 8. Because this whole chapter here reminds me again of the teaching of Jesus.
39:26: I say this sometimes just sort of in passing. But I think as you read the epistles. As you read
39:32: Paul. As you read John. As you read Peter. As you read James. You begin to think that these guys actually learned from Jesus.
39:41: I mean they didn't come up with original thoughts. I don't care what anybody says about the bifurcation between Paul and Jesus. There is no bifurcation.
39:47: There is no different teaching. They taught the same thing. John chapter 8.
39:58: And let's start in chapter 31.
40:05: Or verse 31. Sorry. So Jesus said to the
40:10: Jews who had believed in him. I don't even want to speculate on what
40:17: Cornelius says about that. If you abide in my word. You are truly my disciples.
40:23: And you will know the truth. And the truth will set you free. Passive. The truth sets people free.
40:32: Not you will set yourselves free. Verse 33. They answered him.
40:37: We are offspring of Abraham. And have never been a slave to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free?
40:46: Jesus answered them. Truly truly I say to you. Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
40:52: The slave does not remain in the house forever. The son remains forever.
40:58: So if the son sets you free. You will be free indeed. So if you set yourself free.
41:07: These kind of free will notions are never presented by anyone in scripture.
41:14: With regard to salvation. We have a will. We make decisions. We have to repent.
41:20: But we don't repent on our own. And we don't repent before we are born again. Look at verse 36.
41:27: So if the son sets you free. You will be free indeed. 37. I know that you are offspring of Abraham.
41:33: I know what your genetic code is. Yet you seek to kill me. In other words you are not the spiritual offspring of Abraham.
41:40: You don't have the same mindset as Abraham. You seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.
41:48: You're like stone. None of this gets through to you. Verse 38. I speak of what
41:53: I have seen with my father. And you do what you have heard from your father. Wait a minute.
42:00: Our father? What are you talking about? Verse 39. They answered him. Abraham is our father.
42:07: Jesus said to them. If you were Abraham's children. You would be doing the works Abraham did.
42:14: And what were his works? He believed God. And it was reckoned as righteousness. Verse 40. But now you seek to kill me.
42:22: A man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
42:27: There's a little understatement there. You are doing the works your father did.
42:33: They said to him. We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father.
42:40: Even God. Jesus said to them. If God were your father. You would love me.
42:45: For I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord. Not of his own free will.
42:52: Not even Jesus. But he sent me. Why do you not understand what
42:58: I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father. The devil.
43:04: And your will. Your desire. Your passion. Is to do your father's desires.
43:10: He was a murderer from the beginning. And has nothing to do with the truth. Because there is no truth in him.
43:17: When he lies. He speaks out of his own character. For he is a liar and the father of lies.
43:24: Again. All this. Same. Same issue. Similar language.
43:31: Jesus says. You do what your nature dictates. You are just like your spiritual father.
43:38: Satan. And it is only whom the son sets free who is free indeed.
43:45: Now Jesus did have a free will. But he perfectly lined his will up under the father.
43:52: He never disobeyed. He came to do the father's will. We don't have a free will. We are born with a sin nature.
43:58: Jesus had no sin nature. Now I asked some questions regarding the free will side.
44:07: What about the sovereignty side? If God chooses men and causes them to be born again.
44:15: Why not pray for salvation? Because God is able to save.
44:21: God is able to give someone a new heart. Take out their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. He is able to open their eyes.
44:28: He is able to open their hearts. Second question. Why shouldn't God get all the glory?
44:36: Why shouldn't we say to him be the glory? If God is sovereign in salvation.
44:44: Third question. How should you preach the gospel? Do you have to be like Dan?
44:50: You know the courtroom setting. Put the guy up on the stand. Isn't it true?
44:57: Give him the stare down. Bring in all the evidence and all that stuff.
45:04: Surprise witnesses. How should you preach the gospel?
45:10: If God is sovereign in salvation. What do you say then? You preach the gospel with boldness.
45:19: Knowing that it's the truth that God will use to save someone. And not your cleverness.
45:25: What did Paul say in 1 Corinthians chapter 2? He came to them in clever speech.
45:33: Seeking to somehow twist their minds up. No, he just came and told them the truth. So that their faith ultimately would rest on the power of God.
45:42: The word of God. And not on his delivery. Not on his cleverness.
45:53: And I ask the question. What sermon in the Bible could serve as a model for the.
46:00: Well, here let me ask you this. If man of his own free will. Chooses to believe
46:07: God without God's intervention. Without causing us to be born again first. Regenerating us.
46:12: Giving us faith. Giving us repentance. If it really is a free will. Appeal as it were.
46:21: What sermon. I want you guys with your collective Bible brain power here. What sermon of the
46:27: Bible. Appeals to man's free will. What sermon. What New Testament message.
46:32: Does Paul or Peter or Jesus or John the Baptist ever give. That you would say well.
46:37: That was carefully crafted to appeal to a man's free will. I can't think of one.
46:49: On the other hand if I said. What sermon is carefully crafted. Based and based on the sovereignty of God.
46:57: I can think of a lot. Yeah, why didn't why didn't
47:09: Jesus say that. Choose to follow me. He talked about Judas being the son of perdition.
47:21: Why did he say Judas. I know because I'm omniscient.
47:28: I know that you haven't believed yet. But because I don't want to impose myself on you. I really would like to see you repent before the end.
47:35: I want to see you turn. Don't go and go quickly. I just want to talk to you for a couple minutes. Talk you out of this decision that you've made.
47:45: I mean I'm still off for verses on free will. I just don't see them. And again don't get me wrong.
47:52: We make choices. It's clear that we make choices. It's clear that we are commanded to repent.
47:58: It's clear that we are commanded to follow Christ. It's clear that we're commanded to sanctify ourselves.
48:06: To participate in the process of sanctification. None of those things are an argument for free will.
48:12: Charlie. I was just thinking Cornish sounds so good.
49:08: Well let's just boil that all down. Dan Cornish says that you can lose your salvation. Charlie rightly says listen.
49:14: You can only lose your salvation if somehow it was accomplished in your justification.
49:19: If it were accomplished by you. We live under as he said the umbrella of Christ's righteousness.
49:27: Under which we are saved and we are justified and we are being sanctified. If we are dependent upon Jesus maybe to get us up to normal.
49:35: To even to just kind of erase the work of Adam. And then we have to kind of get from ground zero.
49:43: As it were all the way up to heaven by virtue of our works. We're not going to get there. We have
49:50: Christ's perfect righteousness. And we have his redemption from sin. Or the redemption of sin granted to us through him.
49:59: So we get both. And this whole idea that somehow we would be the arbiter or the determiner of these things.
50:07: Is just spurious. It's dubious. It's false. You know
50:13: I mentioned what free will gospel presentation. I mean we could talk about the sovereign
50:19: God in so many different ways. Even as we look at Acts 2 or Acts 4.
50:25: Where it talks about God by his sovereign plan. Sending his son Jesus Christ to be crucified on the cross.
50:31: Predetermined plan of God. It's interesting too what is noted after that.
50:39: You know as many as were being saved or X number were added to the church. God's sovereignty, his work is proclaimed and people repent.
50:49: In Acts 17, Mars Hill. Paul again did not appeal to this broadly religious group.
50:56: And say you know what? You guys believe in all these different gods. Let me tell you about a God that you can just kind of bring into that constellation of gods.
51:04: And he would be a good one to choose. If you're in the marketplace for a God. Jesus is.
51:11: It's just not that way. It's not that way. There's one God, one way.
51:18: And it's preached over and over again. The sovereignty of God and salvation. Not the free will of man in salvation.
51:26: Okay. Enough excursus. Let's close in prayer. Father in heaven.
51:39: Those of us who know you here this morning. As we even start this new year and we think back on all that you have brought us through.
51:47: All that you have saved us from. All that you have promised us. All that you have said that is ours in Christ.
51:55: Because of Christ. Because of his work. Father, we just praise you for those things. Lord, for those, for any here who don't know you this morning.
52:08: Who believe in some way that they can on the last day justify themselves before you.
52:15: Because they were good. Because they did do good things. Because they sought to appease you or to be good people in their own sight.
52:26: Father, I just pray that you would lay bare the emptiness of such a thought.
52:32: That no one before you can say, God, I'm good enough.
52:38: I've done enough. Father, we thank you for your son
52:46: Jesus Christ. Who lived a sinless life. On our behalf.
52:54: That we might be found righteous. Died a substitutionary death. That we might have every stain of sin removed.
53:04: Lord, we thank you for your finished work. We trust in that work. And we pray that you would continue to sanctify us by the work of your spirit.