1689 London Baptist Confession (part 27)

Father in heaven we come before you this morning thankful for All that you have done for us all that you have promised us all that you are Even now doing in us. By your spirit by your word. Father we would pray for those who are still Traveling here this morning that they would do so safely.

Want to pray for those who are? Unable to be here this morning. Number of viruses and bugs floating around. Lord we would pray for those who are here that you would bless us that you would sanctify us.

That you would show us more and more of who Christ Jesus is and Focus our attention on our great Savior and our great salvation in Christ name we pray amen. Well, we've been talking about sanctification for the last few weeks and.

And Maybe we'll start well. I just want to do this. I want to kind of do a Thought experiment for a moment, and then we'll move a little bit faster. RC Sproul in his book or his Series of books three volumes what we believe gives this illustration.

I want to get your feedback on he says during World War two There's a prison camp and The guard of this prison camp approaches the wife of one of the prisoners and Says I won't kill your husband. I Won't kill your husband if you'll sleep with me.

She does it after the war the husband finds out about it and files for a divorce. Was he justified in doing that. I don't know why but automatically I look at pastor Bob was he justified. What was he justified in filing for divorce he could have shown mercy.

Well delayed response, but it was when he found out about it that he filed for divorce. In other words He didn't he didn't know because he was inside the prison. You know. Wasn't like he was going home to his wife every night, okay?

If the situation was reversed might he have done the same thing. Yeah, where does mercy come in pastor Bob? Pastor Bob said he sounds like a legalist. Sproul then changes the situation he says now supposing Having nothing to do with the war or anything like that.

The wife is working one evening. She's walking home from work. She's accosted assaulted and raped in an alley. With a husband then be justified in divorcing his wife. No, so here's the point. When his life was on the line and She violated her vow to save his life.

He had grounds to divorce her, but when she was Accosted and her life was on the line He didn't have the right to divorce her. Yes okay, only say it again only the person whose life is on the line, okay can decide whether the Sacrifice being made is and I I think you know to get back to what pastor Bob said it really comes down to this there is the letter of the law and Then there's the spirit of the law.

Right is it adultery is? It adultery when Somebody's life is on the line, and I you know I mean you said it you have to you have to weigh it out but I mean I I You know if he if somebody came to the elder board and said you know what my wife's been unfaithful to me.

Oh, well You know are you certain? Oh? Yeah, because when my I was being held hostage and you know they were threatening to kill me, and you know she she then slept with one of my captors and They let me go.

That's really what happened. Yeah, I'd be like without one man. What do you want us to do about that? You know put her out of the church because you know. You want to divorce her because she you know did that and hi?

I? I I really think at that point you have to have a conversation about what what? What the value of? The law is I mean it's it's a little bit tricky. But I think ultimately you have to come down on this side you have to look at it and go okay.

What is the intent of the law the intent of the law is to? Restrain us from evil. Well is what she did evil. Obviously when she was raped that was not evil right she was the victim of a crime, and I would argue the same thing I Mean if you send a ransom to deliver your child from the kidnappers.

Are you you know? Wrongfully giving money to the you know are you? Being a poor steward of your funds. You know what God has entrusted you with. Are you giving in? And I think the answer is what's more valuable and I I Would have a real hard time with that, but he says here was his point.

He says that when he when he talked about this in a class. Everybody in the initial circumstance the prison camp thing was like yes, that guy is justified in Divorcing his wife, and I it gets right back to what pastor Bob said that we have a tendency to Be legalists especially when what's on the line?

What is it in the first case that was on the line? What did that man lose? What's that? Yeah, yeah, I want to know what else is going on exactly right, I mean, I don't know what could be more more difficult for a wife more humiliating more.

You know more heart-rending than that right. To have to make the choice between obeying the vows that you made and knowing that your husband is going to be killed if you don't. So So to then say you know well, I want to divorce my wife because she did that.

Yeah, it does get that what else is going on. You know. Do you really understand the difference between? Justice and mercy. You know. Gratitude I mean hey, yeah, I mean you're you're alive pal. And his point is you know that we that we can get and we do get pretty legalistic.

We can get really legalistic um. Just a couple more thoughts on That and then we're gonna move on to a saving faith. I mean I could read a Hodge and a number of these guys, but we've we've covered this pretty much and I think again the one thing I would emphasize is just as we think about working on our salvation and fear and trembling the the issues.

Legalism, Mercy, and the Spirit of the Law

Return again and again to legalism and Anti-nomian ism in other words against the law. We're either were people who want rules. Or when we get the idea of what really grace is you know what's the accusation against Christians generally speaking?

Especially from people in cults if you talk to a Mormon About grace and about what salvation really is they come back to you with well if you believe that If you believe that Jesus died for all your sins and therefore you're gonna go to heaven then certainly you will Sin all the more they will think well.

Why is that? Because they're working out what they believe to be their salvation by works and When they see somebody who says well, I don't have to work for my salvation. It's already done for me. Then their response is well, then I guess you're free to do whatever you'd like and that's not what the scripture teaches.

But it's that imbalance. You know that's what leads to cultism and really that's what. If you think about what are the two strains of unbelief? I mean, that's another way to look at it two strains of unbelief are I can do whatever I want because there is no God or Or God is the God of rules and here are the rules that I have to follow and both are incorrect.

Does God give us rules give us laws? Yes. Are we obligated to those laws? Yes, are we going to perfectly obey them? No. So it's neither. We're saved by works or we're saved by Hello or that we're saved we can't be saved by Disobedience or by obedience of ourselves.

It's never about us thoughts or questions about sanctification before we Move on okay. Let's talk about saving faith. Which is I believe chapter 14 of the London Baptist confession of faith that for those of you who are keeping track Let me read the first paragraph of the confession says this the grace of faith whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls is The work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the word by which also and by the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper prayer another means appointed of God is Increased and strengthened and we're not not going to get very far here today, but I want to emphasize a few things.

Right in the beginning saving faith is attributed to grace it says the grace of faith. And when we think about grace what it I It is Essentially the heart of the gospel. Let's open to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians chapter 2 and Sinclair Ferguson defines grace as demerited favor. We hear that often Demerited favor meaning when God looks at us. He doesn't see that we deserve His grace. He sees that we don't deserve it.

That's what makes it grace if we could deserve it Then it would be something like you know instead of merit or instead of grace. We would see the word merits for by merit you have been saved through faith, right?

We don't see that and since I started reading Ephesians 2 8 the Roman Catholic version. Let me just Get back up. Ephesians 2 8 says this for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God. R .c. Sproul says this he says grace is the instrumental power or the means by which we are saved through faith. So, how do we get this faith and we we see here that is a gift of God but Sproul says there's no such thing as Self-generated faith.

When we look at that text right there we see that it is not of our own doing and the let's see, but I'm gonna and this what is the word this a placeholder for the predecessor of that is Faith. Faith is the gift of God the gracious gift of God.

And Paul is clearly saying grace is not of yourselves that would be as Sproul says here. He says that would be a redundancy in other words if Grace were something that you generated or something that came from you.

Then that would be Just it wouldn't make any sense. So it has to be external has to be not of you. But the faith that is granted to us by God is ours. You have to believe. God gives us The gospel he gives us the Word of God.

But ultimately it is a it is incumbent upon every one of us to believe. Nobody can believe for you. Jesus can die for your sins. Jesus can live the perfect life in your place, but he cannot believe for you.

Nobody can believe for you. You have to have your own faith. Right, isn't that true? You have to believe. You have to have faith. No one else's faith can be the basis of your justification. Sproul says this he says faith is not something that you have generated by your own power.

Nor does it originate in your flesh that simple statement? That it's not something you generate on your own. That simple statement is the death blow to all forms of semi Pelagianism which we'll discuss in just a moment.

But this is the primary point that distinguishes reformed theology. The reformers affirm that The faith by which you are justified by which you are united to Christ that is the instrumental cause of your justification.

Did not originate in some activity or decision of your will. In other words, you didn't hear the gospel. And think to yourself, well, that's a good idea or I really like that. I think I'll believe. Rather your faith is a gift to you by God or from God.

He made a promise that he would save every person who responds to the gospel by faith. And Where would we see that promise? That God will Save every person who believes for God so loved the world. Hint John 3 16, right?

I don't want you to turn there because we're gonna go back to Ephesians in a minute. But when we read that or when we think about John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that.

What? Whoever believes whosoever believes right. So believing is a Requirement for salvation you have to believe True. Those who do not have faith will not be justified. Faith determines whether you are redeemed or not.

And so all of a sudden we sound like Pelagians now. Sproul says this he says the semi Pelagians say that salvation is of grace. Everybody has to say that it's of grace. Why. Because that's what the Bible says.

So, how do they get around this idea of to use a term sovereign grace in other words that It is entirely salvation is entirely of God. When they look at Ephesians 2 8, how does somebody get around that being entirely of God?

They try. They redefine grace because it if you listen to it. If you say for by grace, you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God. What's the obvious reply to that?

If you're a semi Pelagian in other words If you're an Arminian if you believe that you have something to do with your salvation. How can you explain having something to do with your salvation in light of Ephesians 2 8?

Okay, that that would be one thing that they would say right? It was my faith. You have to receive the gift, right? Yeah yes, and they'll often say that too that the pronoun this is a substitute for salvation and not for faith itself.

What's that? Right right. Pastor Bob says it's the grammatical justification because both salvation and this are neuter. You know the problem the problem with that. Well, we'll get to the problem with that in here in a minute.

Oh. That's why I got off because I went back to that page. Semi Pelagians say that salvation is of grace. Grace assists us and that nobody can really come to faith unless God Offers to help. However, they further say that there is an Unaffected part of the soul where this offer of saving grace can be accepted or rejected.

What we call or what have you heard called that? The unaffected part of Us that can accept or reject the gospel free will. There or sometimes it's called the island of righteousness. You know that there's some part of us that's Unaffected by sin and and it's that part that here's the gospel and chooses to believe.

So they say that whoever accepts that grace and Exercises faith is saved but rejecting grace leads to damnation. Now, let's look at Ephesians 2 8 in context. We'll start back in verse 1. And would somebody read that please just verses 1 through 8.

Erickson is that a hand or your ear scratching? Okay, thank you. Okay. Thank you. So Sproul says the Apostles teaching that what God does in his grace is to supply the necessary condition. Listen, he supplies the necessary condition that he requires for salvation and that Condition is faith as we talked about in John 3 16.

You can't be saved unless you have faith. We can't generate that faith on our own. Why. Because we're dead in our sins and trespasses. So God has to supply the grace To regenerate us. He has to give us the grace so that we will believe.

And When I was typing this up, I underscored the word that Sproul uses here that what God does in his grace. That I underscored that does why because grace is an Action taken by God grace is not an object that we obtain.

It is an action taken by God action that Excuse me is not required of him. There's no what he had there's no obligation on him to Act on our behalf other than this what is the sole obligation of God? Why is it that he grants grace to people?

Erickson well, I mean he certainly justified in sending sinners to hell, right? That's true. I Don't know that I would say that that's his obligation. But why is it that he? Let me get back to my question here.

Does he have any obligation in terms of grace and before you say no? Thank you. He has an obligation to himself, right? Because before the foundation of the world he chose a people to save for himself so if he doesn't grant them then grace in time if He doesn't act in time on what he Covenanted father son and spirit before time began.

Then he's ultimately not going to bring about his purpose, which we would find out in Ephesians chapter 1 is To do what I'll get to you in a moment. Mr. Goddard Why does he save people? For his glory, in fact, we'll go to Ephesians one in a minute first, mr. Nathan.

Well, it's interesting because if we if we look at at that verse Who's he actually talking to and what does he actually say. I Mean he made it he made a promise to Satan and it wasn't kind of like hey Satan tell you what I'm gonna do for you.

Right. It's actually an ob it's a it's a it's a curse. Right. So in that sense, the answer is yes. He has an obligation to do it. But you know why it's a Genesis 3 verse 14 15 he says I will put enmity between you Satan and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring he shall bruise your head talking to Satan and you shall bruise his heel meaning, you know, ultimately where would you rather be bruised on the heel or the head?

The translations I think say crush but. But so his his obligation then would be I would argue not so much to Satan. Not even so much to man, but again to himself to do what he has said. He's going to do so in that sense.

I would agree. Let's let's look at. Is that the essence of your question? Yeah. Yes for my sake for my glory. It's it's amazing when you talk to unbelievers, you know. Some I mean the more ardent atheists will say things like well What kind of God is this who needs to do this or who needs to do that?

And I'm like Well, the truth is he doesn't need to do anything. But when he says he's going to do something he does it why you know. And we'll see why in a in the Ephesians chapter 1 and Just real quickly in verse When he Paul's talking about well I'll just read the whole thing and be easier than and I'll just highlight things in verse 3.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Even as he chose us in him Before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him.

He's just outlining the entire plan of salvation the entire Pre-time plan of God to redeem a people for himself and he tells us why and that's why I want to read this. That we should be holy and blamely blameless before him.

In love verse 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. According to the purpose of his will. To the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved in him.

We have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses. According to the riches of his grace. Which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will.

According to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him. Things in heaven and things on earth in him. We have obtained in Christ. We have obtained an inheritance having been predestined According to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory in Him you also when you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and believed in him. We're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

Lots of action by God. Lots of talk about his will. And Ultimately his glory. It's set forth right there before the foundation of the world before anything existed. God Created a plan and his plan was this.

I The father am going to choose some people to save Jesus. You're going to go and you're going to redeem them. You're going to die for them. You are going to live a perfect life sacrifice yourself. Be raised on the third day Holy Spirit you are going to regenerate people in time.

You're going to be the seal of them. You are going to sanctify them and why this is all going to redound to the glory of God father son and spirit. What we don't see there in Ephesians chapter 1 is any place for Us to do anything but believe and in Ephesians chapter 2 he kind of blows apart.

Well, he blows apart the idea that somehow we generate the faith on our own. We can't. Firstly if we looked at Ephesians chapter 1 again, we'd see the actions of God and We see the purposes of God his glory.

We would not see the actions of mankind. Secondly he starts in Ephesians chapter 2 by talking about our inability. The fact that we're dead in our sins and trespasses. The kind of life we lived. Before we got saved.

Not just dead in our sins and trespasses, but basically slaves to sin. Satan we were just kind of walking around with everybody else doing what everybody else did. And we were objects of the wrath of God says we were children of wrath.

I mean we could go on and on we had Satan as our father all these things and then in Ephesians chapter 2 in verse 4. But God and I've said it before I'll say it to the day I die those are the two most precious words in scripture because here's where we were heading and There was no hope for us.

But God God shifts everything. We're just like everybody else. We're just walking on the big conveyor. Well, we're probably not walking. We're just kind of cruising along on the conveyor belt to help and God just pulls some of us off of that conveyor belt.

He does it. Why. For his glory he transforms us. He makes us people who don't go the way of the world who? Choose him. Not because of anything good in us. But because God it says here in verse 4 being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us.

Notice it doesn't say because of our lovable state. Because we were good people. Because he's already outlined why we weren't good people. Because of the great love with which he loved us before the foundation of the world.

He told us in chapter 1. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, he loved us when we were dead. When we were the walking dead zombies. Made us alive together with Christ. It is him who transformed us by grace.

You have been saved. And raised us up and seed us with Christ in the heavenlies. God has granted us everything pertaining to salvation. Any questions or thoughts about that before I go on because RC Sproul is about to raise some objections here.

He says this idea of the sovereignty of God and salvation. That we are Passive until he Causes us to be brought to spiritual life. We go from spiritual death to spiritual life. By his grace not by anything that we do says this is difficult for some people to accept.

They want to know how God can require something of people. They cannot perform. How can he command you to believe? When you're dead in your sins and trespasses. How could he do that? When you give the gospel of somebody is it wrong for you to say these are the things that Jesus has done believe.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that wrong? And Yet when you tell them to believe when you tell them that they must believe in order to go to heaven to be more importantly I guess. To be saved from hell.

I mean if you just think The moment somebody dies at that moment. They're either going to be You know ushered into the glorious presence of their Lord and Savior forever and ever and ever or they're going to stand before him in judgments.

There's no second chance. There's no anything else and when you think it's either heaven or hell. The idea of going to hell to face the wrath of God forever his undiminished unbridled unchecked wrath.

Forever and ever that's a pretty horrifying thought. So if you command somebody to believe you're not doing anything wrong, but you're telling people to do something that they cannot do of their own volition.

They cannot just simply choose or will to believe and this was the source of debate. Going back to Augustine and going back to Pelagius. They had a great debate over this Pelagius, you know, we get after him and his brother semi on.

I just always like that RC says that all the time on many occasions but plagiarists at the root of it he had a really a righteous Problem here was this problem. He looked around at the church in the 5th century.

And what did he see? Most of the people who called themselves Christians were doing what they were living like the world in fact even churchmen pastors. Were just Scandalous in the way that they behaved.

Well, why would that be? When he looked at it, here's what he decided he decided is because they had too low of you of the law too high of you of grace and They were lazy. They were lazy. They were anti-nomian.

They were they it it was like when they got baptized as babies whenever they got baptized that then they could go on and live however, they wanted and it Pelagius his solution was this. You people have to try harder.

Right. You're not you're not living up to what you're supposed to live up to. He wanted to see more activity more righteousness and Augustine prayed this he said Oh Lord grant what you command. Which is a good prayer right we want the Lord to grant what he commands and then command whatever you will.

Pelagius's problem. He said why should we ask God to give us grace to do something that he commands us to do. Certainly if God commands us to do something we are able to do that. That was his attitude.

So if the Bible says Be perfect even as your father in heaven is perfect. Pelagius Read that and said well, then we can be perfect. Because God wouldn't give us a command if we couldn't do it. It's obviously faulty.

Thinking but why would Pelagius assume that if God commands something that we have the capacity to do it. Erickson, okay our propensity to want things to be fair. I think that's really on the right track.

Here's the the major failing of Pelagius's thinking. He didn't accept the doctrine of Original sin. Pelagius had the idea that Adams fall affected Adam. That we are born morally neutral. That we have no leanings towards God or towards Satan or towards sin that we are able to Do everything that the Bible commands us to do that.

We're able to be righteous that we're able to be holy. So because we have the capacity within us. Then we have no excuse to not do it. R .c. Sproul in his book. He gives this example. He says here's another way of looking this at this situation.

Setting aside for the moment the errors of Pelagius he says God goes to a man. He says you know what man. I would like you to mow my lawn this afternoon. Here's it's a big lawn, but here's the tractor.

Here's the fuel everything works. Everything's fine, and I have to warn you. There's one little trick about this lawn over here in this section. There's a pit and if you fall into that pit you're not going to be able to get out.

But other than that if you just avoid that pit Everything is gonna be fine, so I'll see you later. Soon as God leaves the man says, huh, I'm gonna go check out that pit. Goes over looks in it and jumps in.

Few hours later God shows back up. Well, it's not mode calls out for the man. It says where are you? I'm over here in this pit. God says what do you have how come you haven't mowed the lawn. A man says well.

How am I supposed to mow the lawn when I'm in this pit that is the Pelagian situation? He thinks he has the capacity to mow the lawn. But the truth is he obviously can't mow the lawn because he's in that pit and then Pelagius is like no I'm not in this pit.

I can do whatever I want. I Have free will. Augustine says no. Nobody has free will because Adam jumped into that pit and By virtue of us being in Adam as Romans 5 tells us we are all in that pit. We can't get out by ourselves.

We don't have the capacity to do that free will. I Say this fairly frequently. I'll say it again. You know who are the people in the Bible who have free will. Who has free will in the Bible? People human beings.

I heard one I think Adam. Okay, would we agree Adam before the fall free will. Who else? Jesus. Okay, anybody else? Eve did as well very good. So those are the three people with free will everybody else.

Let's go ahead and look at Romans 5. I think I think it's pretty obvious. I mean if we look at Ephesians 2 which we did we saw that we're dead in our sins and trespasses. We don't come out any better if we look at Romans 5 verse 12 therefore just as sin came into the world through one man that has to say obviously Adam and Death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

We're all spiritually dead because of our federal head our representative Adam. He plunged us all into that pit and we're all in that pit incapable of mowing the lawn incapable of keeping the law incapable of pleasing God.

Because of original sin, okay, so how about if I change that a little bit? Charlie's asking you know is does God give the commands as he? Bring these or does he speak in the in the Bible really basically as if We're pre we're all pre fall Adam.

And I think the answer is yes in this sense and and let me just kind of frame it this way. Does God's chip does his standard change? Because Adam sinned and the answer is no right. His standard is still perfection.

So the answer your question is yes, he still has his standards. He still talks to us as if we have the capacity to do those things even though he knows we don't so and another way of saying this is You know we are Responsible even though we are not Capable right we're not we can't do these things, but we're morally responsible and You know to some that would lead us to a certain hopelessness right, and I think it did for Pelagius.

Well wait a minute if what you're saying Augustin is We can't obey the law of God. We can't attain his righteous standard. Then what hope is there for us? Which should be the point right? I mean especially Pelagius was thinking rightly if he was correct about our Status and our will and what we can do.

What should have happened at that point is Pelagius should have said oh? I get it. I've been wrong all along. You know I need the grace of God, but he didn't do that because God didn't regenerate him.

Saving faith, which is what we're talking about ultimately is a gift of God if God does not regenerate us. If he doesn't give us faith if he doesn't cause us to be born again all these things that the Bible says about us being dead in our sins and trespasses of Us being in Adam of us being spiritually dead as Romans 5 said.

Those prevent us from believing those prevent us from seeing Christ for who he is for Loving him for Worshiping him. For believe you know just basic faith. We can't do it on our own. We have no capacity to do that other thoughts or questions because we have to close.

Yeah, Bob says we we bridle with that we chafe at that. We don't like the idea because we just think well if unbelievers could Understand or if they really understood the gospel they would believe and you know maybe on Judgment Day There would be somebody who said well if I was elected if I you know Had even heard this gospel.

I would have believed and the answer is no you would not have. Why? Because you're spiritually dead. There's nothing in you that would cause you to choose God. You're going to reject him constantly because you're a child of wrath.

You are a son of the devil as Jesus would call the Pharisees. All these things are true of us apart from God. Causing us to be born again as it says in 1st Peter chapter 1. Giving us life as it says in Ephesians 2 we can go on and on and on John 3 3 you know you must be born again.

All these things are true. Because we do not have a free will we do not have the capacity on our own To choose God and in fact we would constantly reject him. We would be like all these people you know people say well if I only saw Jesus if I could only listen to Jesus.

If God would just come to me and prove to me that he was real. Well. We know that's not true because God came to mankind and what did mankind do. What's that? They not only stiff-armed him. They killed him.

They shouldn't crucify him crucify him they listen to what he said they rejected his message. They stiff-armed him and then they killed him. That's the testimony. That's the story of mankind. Not neutrality towards God not open-mindedness towards God, but a hatred of him.

I just heard I'll just close with this. I just heard this morning that In the UK they're trying to ban Franklin Graham from coming because he's a divisive Person and he'll speak ill of homosexuality and Islam.

What's a Christian supposed to do? Right, but this is how far we come in our society. We're a country like England nominally in the world of Christendom. Basics like Islam and Homosexual marriage are things that we cannot talk about.

Because that's hateful. That's the world we live in. Let's pray father. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the gospel. Thank you for the truth of it. Thank you that you redeem sinners people who left to their own devices.

Would never choose you. But you don't leave us to that. And you don't just make grace available. It's not prevenient grace. It's efficacious grace grace that actually works in us and changes us and Causes us to go from being your enemy to being your children.