12. Jeff Rice | The Calvinism of Jesus | Open Air Theology Conference 2024

John 3:21 and the Claim That Regeneration Precedes Faith

The text that I'm going to be jumping off from is John chapter 3, verse 21, John chapter.

3, verse 21.

The subject that I have been given is the Calvinism of Jesus, the Calvinism of Jesus. And my proposition is this. This is what I aim to prove to you today, is that regeneration precedes faith. Ladies and gentlemen, Calvinism is simple.

First John chapter 6, verse 16 tells us that God dwells in unapproachable light. This, speaking of the trinity of God. And if you want to ask me to explain to you or to show you how Jesus is God, this text is where I would take you.

That God dwells in unapproachable light. Jesus tells us in John 6, verse 14, verse 6, that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can come to the Father except through Him. He is the way to the Father.

He is the truth. What you believe about Jesus matters. And in Him is life. He is the only way to the Father. Jesus also says in John 6, verse 14, that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws.

Him.

If God dwells in unapproachable light, if we cannot get to the Father outside of Jesus, but we cannot get to Jesus unless we're drawn by the Father, how do we get to God? The answer is found in John 6, verse 37.

Jesus speaking all that the Father gives me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. To my non-Calvinist friends who are in here today, I want you to know that I came to Christ.

I came to Christ. Everyone who is in Christ has come to Jesus. However, our coming to Jesus relies upon our being given to Jesus by the Father. The Father has not given you to the Son.

Ladies and gentlemen, you will not.

I also want to make mention that Calvinism doesn't teach that there are people who want to be in Christ, but cannot be in Christ.

Let's read this text that I want to leap from.

We'll read it and then we'll come back to it later. John chapter 3, verse 21. Whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God or by God, depending on your translation.

Amen.

The Finished Work of Christ and the Covenant of Redemption

What is that work? What is that work that has been carried out in or by God? What I aim to show today is that faith is the work carried out in or by God. The faith that saves is not an experiential faith, meaning it's not a learned faith.

The faith that saves is a gift given to us by God. For someone to believe that they in and of themselves or with the help of the Holy Spirit have the ability to conjure up this faith is wrong. And it shows their lack of understanding concerning faith.

Amen.

Jesus in his conversation with Nicodemus disregards his first birth as concerning the kingdom of God. And he does so by pointing to him a greater birth, a birth from above. I plan to show this by asking three questions.

First question. How is a person saved? Second question. What is faith? Third question.

Regeneration.

How is a person saved?

What is faith?

And what is regeneration? And as we transition, Calvinism stands or falls on three simple words. Regeneration precedes faith. Calvinism is false. And Calvinism falls on its sword. It's like the old Japanese samurai.

He's been defeated. Pulls out his smaller sword and falls upon it. Ladies and gentlemen, what I'm presenting to you today is false. Every one of us who has spoken is false. A person is saved. A person is saved by the finished work of Jesus Christ.

And by that I'm speaking about his active and passive obedience. The active obedience of Jesus living the life that we could not live. Him keeping the covenant. Him keeping the law. As Raymond pointed out to us earlier.

That there is a covenant of works by which you and I are doomed. Because we could not keep it. The active obedience of Christ by which we are saved is him keeping that law. Thank you, Lord. Who in here grew up in public school like myself?

Then you should understand what I'm about to tell you. When your teacher was unable to come to school. Whether she was sick or on vacation. They sent a teacher to teach in her place. And that teacher was called a substitute.

That teacher taught in the place of your teacher. The passive obedience of Jesus Christ comes because you and I have broken God's law. Every one of us are liars and thieves and adulterers. We're not obedient to our parents.

We see people with possession. And we want it so bad we wish that they did not own them. And we did. We were not obedient to our parents. Needless to say. And we do not love God with all of our heart.

With all of our soul. With all of our mind. And with all of our strength. The passive obedience is Christ taking our place.

His active obedience.

He did love us. His father. With all of his heart. With all of his soul.

With all of his mind. And with all of his strength.

And his neighbor and his himself.

And because we could not.

He had to become our substitute. And in this passive obedience is sacrifice in our place.

Yes.

You and I deserve the full wrath of God. As Jesus was on that cross. The mercy of God and the wrath of God met.

Amen.

And the mercy that Jesus deserved because he kept the law. Comes to us. And the wrath that we deserve for breaking that law fell on him. If a person is saved, they're saved because of what was done for them in Christ.

In God. My dear brother Brayden was speaking to you earlier about the covenants. I too am speaking to you in covenant language. I hold to what's called the covenant of redemption. The triune covenant that God made between the trinity.

That God the Father purposed to save the people. And in doing so he sends his son Jesus Christ. To accomplish that purpose through his life, death, burial and resurrection and ascension.

Thank you Lord.

And the Holy Spirit applies the purpose through the message of Christ. Ladies and gentlemen, salvation means to be saved. And to be saved means to be rescued.

Yes.

I want you to picture a house on fire. I want you to imagine that there's people inside this house. And if they're not rescued, they're going to die by the flame. I want you to imagine the first responders pull up.

Police officers, paramedics and firefighters. And the police officer gets on his, I guess they still call it a bullhorn, I'm not sure. And he says to the people who are in the flame. Attention, the first responders are out here.

Now we need you to exit the house. And lie down on the ground. And we will put you in the ambulance and take you to receive medical aid. So that the firefighters can put out the fire. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm best friends with a firefighter.

And let me tell you what Braden would do. He would kick in the door and remove you. Salvation is the firefighter kicking in the door and removing you from the flame. Salvation is God the Father sending.

God the Son as our substitute. First John tells us that Jesus is our propitiation. That Jesus is our payment for wrongdoing. That's what it means in layman's terms. It's to appease something that you owe.

It's a payment for wrongdoing.

Now my daughter's here.

She hates when I give this analogy. But my daughter a year or two ago got a soccer ball and a net. If she was able to, if she had the ability, her leg power strong enough to kick that soccer ball. And miss the net and bust out my neighbor's window.

She would owe a debt that she could not pay. She just turned 13. I won't be able to use this analogy when she gets a job. But I have a lot more kids. Pass it down. I don't know how much a window costs these days.

Nor how much it would be to hire someone to put it in. But it's a payment that she cannot pay. So me being dead, he has to reach into my pocket and pull out the propitiation, the payment for her wrongdoing.

We broke God's laws. God has paid our fine. And he has paid our fine by sending Jesus Christ as payment for our wrongdoing. Second question. What is faith? Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 says this. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith is the act of trusting in what we know to be true. Every one of us uses the act of faith, the act of trusting in what we know to be true. This is what I was talking about earlier about a learned faith.

Imagine when you're learning to drive a car. When you get into your vehicle, when you're driving your car, how do you know that when you hit the brakes, your vehicle is going to come to a complete stop?

Let me tell you how you know. Because you grew up being driven around. And with your eyes, you saw that when your mom or dad or grandmother or step parents, whoever it was that raised you, was coming to a red light stop sign or whatever it may be.

When they hit the brakes, the vehicle came to a stop. And so you know by learned faith, something that you've experienced, that when you're driving and you come to a red light stop sign or wherever it may be, when you ease in on the brakes, you're going to come to a complete stop.

Now there's many examples that I can give you about experienced faith. But the faith that it takes to be saved is not something we have experienced. It's not something we've learned in order to have. Saving faith is not logical.

It's logical to believe that there's a God. Creation declares the glory of God. In the same way that this building that we're in is evidence of the builder, creation gives to us evidence that there is a God.

It's logical to believe that there is a God. However, it is not logical to believe that God entered into time, became flesh to accomplish the purpose of redemption, that is to save a people. The faith that it takes to be saved is theological.

It's believing in something we did not see but know to be true. In order to be saved, one must believe that God the Father sent to us his son. We must believe in the incarnation, life, death, burial, resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ.

We must believe that the second person of the Trinity entered into time, the creator entered into creation, the infinite became finite. We must believe that he lived the life that you and I could not live.

And in his death, he took the punishment that we deserve.

And he was buried.

And on the third day, he rose again. Then over 40 days later, he ascended into heaven to be with the Father. And he sits at the right hand of the throne. And he's ruling and reigning. He's putting all of his enemies under his feet.

And I know this because I was an enemy. You were an enemy in hearing Christ. And you, just like me, have been put to school. You and I haven't experienced any of those things I just mentioned of what it takes to be saved.

Imagine with me, if you will, that resurrection was something that we experienced. Out of those several things that I named, resurrection seemed to be the most plausible. Because they're all kind of like low outrangers, right?

If we're honest. Imagine that.

Imagine if one of our friends were to die. And you came and said, man, I can't believe Bob died yesterday. I said, oh brother, he'll be back in two days. Ladies and gentlemen, if you believe that, oceanfront property in Arizona is the most logical out of everything that I just handed you.

On the premise of logic of understanding. If being saved by Jesus requires a response such as repentance and faith. We need to turn from logical thinking on our own to God. And we cannot respond in repentance and faith.

We cannot because that message is foolishness. We'll read verse 18 to verse 23. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. Before Christ were we perishing. The word of the cross is folly.

But to us who are being saved. Speaking of those who are saved and are experiencing sanctification.

It is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. And the discernment of the discerning.

I will thwart.

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom.

It pleased God through the folly of what we preach. To save those who believe. For the Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ's crucible. A stumbling block to the Jews.

And speaking with atheists who are Darwinian evolutionists.

We have to show them that their beliefs are non-scientific. Not logical. In order for something to be scientific it would have to be proven by observation. They cannot go back billions of years to prove evolution.

And you and I do not have a time machine to travel back to the first century to the time of Christ. Nor do we have to see Christ prior to his incarnation. We cannot prove by observation. Christianity has to do with theology.

God's word.

Is this God's word? Amen.

Dead in Sin, Made Alive by Grace

On the theory of libertarian free will.

If being saved by Jesus requires a response such as repentance of faith. Meaning to turn from being dead in our sins. To being in life in Christ. Then we cannot respond to repentance of faith. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2.

I'm going to read verses 1 through 5. And you were dead in the 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 in the sons of disobedience.

Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh. Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. And were by nature children of wrath like the rest of nature. But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us.

Even when we were dead in our trespasses. Made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved.

Thank you Lord.

Our deadness has to do with our following. The spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience. That is the devil. Jesus in John 8 makes a declaration. Which I think is one of the clearest parts in scripture.

Pointing himself to be God. At this time in John 8. They're celebrating what's called the Feast of Booths. And I believe that as they're taking down. What seem to be these large torches. These menorahs right.

That has this fire. They would light these huge candles that would light up most Jerusalem. If you were able to fly over by plane at that time and see this. It would probably be the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

And I believe that as they're taking down these torches.

These menorahs.

These huge lights.

They would light these lights.

To remember the time in the wilderness. As their fathers were following the bright cloud by day. And the fire by night. And it was a way to remember what happened in the past. Ladies and gentlemen. That cloud. That fire.

Was a representation of God. And as they're taking these lights down. After they had this glorious time together. Jesus says in verse 12.

I am the light of the world.

That whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.

Ladies and gentlemen.

It was told that as that cloud by day or that fire by night began to move. They would have to move with it. What would happen at that time in the wilderness. If that cloud by day or that fire by night was to move.

And you stood still. You would be in darkness. Jesus proclaiming himself to be God. Saying I am the light of the world. And whoever follows me.

Will never walk in darkness.

Those that are following the devil. Are walking in darkness. In 2 Timothy chapter 2. Paul reveals to us. How a person is made a light in Christ. Paul tells us. It is by God granting repentance.

Listen.

Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin. You do not repent. You cannot have faith. And if you say you have faith.

You have repentance.

You are a light.

Repentance. Here.

Leads to the knowledge of truth. But you may ask. Why does God need to grant repentance?

The answer is.

Because we were in the snare of the devil. After being captured by him. To do his will. We are following after the devil. We are in his trap. We need to be made a light. Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 2.

We are going to read verse 24 through 26. In this I want to. Give a little bit of context. He is speaking to a worker. Who is approved by God. He is speaking to those that go out. And they do the heavy lifting.

In evangelism. He says. The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome. But kind to everyone. Able to teach. Patiently enduring evil.

Church.

We have a lot to learn from this verse. Correcting his opponents with gentleness.

We have a lot to learn.

God may perhaps. Grant them repentance. Grant them repentance. Grant them repentance. My broken record. Grant them repentance. Leading to a knowledge of truth. And they may come to their own senses. And escape from the snare of the devil.

After being captured by him. To do his will. To be dead in sins. This is explained to us here. To be dead in sins. Is to be captured by the devil.

To do his will.

This means.

To be dead in sins. And to be saved. Is to be made alive.

In Christ.

To be made.

Alive.

In Christ.

My kids.

Do not clean their rooms.

Unless I. Make them. Do your kids? Because I tell you what. If you know something I don't. Whether you're a non-Calvinist or a Calvinist. Please let me know.

Because mine won't.

I'm talking. Especially to my daughters. When I'm coming. I'm lifting the legs as high as I can. To step over stuff. She will not clean her room. Unless daddy says clean your room. If I just say it lightly.

She doesn't pay attention. I have to give her the daddy eyes. And lower the voice. And grit the teeth.

Clean your room.

What's your problem?

I have to make her.

It's true. Now what we experience.

In our being rescued.

Is our believing.

If I was to tell you my testimony. And how I came to Christ. It would be a whole bunch of what.

Of what I did.

Right.

X gang banging pimp. Just being honest.

9 -11 happened.

The planes flew into the tower. Someone said this is in the bible. I got kicked out of school at the age of 15.

For gang violence.

I never did school work.

Never in my life did homework. I struggled with dyslexia. Couldn't read a wick.

Picked up a bible that day.

Read 3 or 4. Skip 10 words. 3 or 4 words and skip 10.

Every day I picked up that bible.

And started reading.

For too long I could read 4 and skip 9.

Read 5 and skip 8.

I learned how to read.

By reading the bible.

In 2005 I heard Ray Comfort. Preaching in the open air.

I saw myself naked before the lord. Knowing that I needed to be clothed in righteousness.

He only provided one garment.

Jesus Christ.

I repented. I believed. I came to Christ. Third question. What is regeneration? Regeneration is.

Listen.

The baptism of the holy spirit. John the baptist.

Spoke about this.

I see you Pharisees and Sadducees.

Coming down to the waters of Judah. Brutal vipers.

Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. We have Abraham as our father. God is able to raise up. Children of Abraham from stones. Ladies and gentlemen you are the stones.

Amen.

He spoke about 3 baptisms there. One of them was a baptism of the holy spirit. That is regeneration. Amen.

The New Birth, the Holy Spirit, and the Order of Salvation

Regeneration.

Which takes place through the hearing of the gospel. Romans chapter 10 verse 17.

Faith comes from hearing. Faith comes from hearing. Faith comes from hearing. And hearing through the word of Christ. The gospel. You cannot have faith and not know the gospel. You need to hear and know the gospel.

In order to have faith. So faith comes from hearing.

And hearing through the word of Christ.

Galatians chapter 3 verse 2. This is Paul asking a rhetorical question. He says let me ask you only this.

Did you receive the spirit by works of the law?

Or by hearing in faith?

How do we get the faith?

By hearing the message of Christ. How do we get the holy spirit?

By hearing in faith.

Faith is given to us through hearing the message about Christ. Someone proclaiming to you the gospel. The message of Jesus Christ.

And the holy spirit applying to you the purpose.

Remember God's purpose to save a people. In time he sent his son to accomplish the purpose through his life, death, burial and resurrection. When we preach this message the holy spirit applies the purpose.

The holy spirit is given to us not by works of the law. But by hearing in faith. The message of Jesus Christ must be preached in order for someone to have faith. And faith comes, listen, before the holy spirit.

And to my Calvinist friends, I hope your non-Calvinist friends know that you believe that. Because what I see online doesn't reflect that. Since getting back into the ministry, I've noticed that when it comes to theology, it is like driving down a one-way road highway.

It's snowing. There is no street lights. The lights on my car are no longer working. It's a curvy road. And I'm doing my best to keep the vehicle on the road. There's always two ditches that you can fall in.

With any theology of the Christian faith, you're on the road. And if you gear from one side to the other, you are in heresy. If not heresy, then orthodoxy. Whatever that word is, I can't even think of it right now.

That's why I should write everything I say, right? It's not orthodoxy. In order to stay on the road of orthodoxy, we have to have things keeping us on the road. Such as if you're going bowling, right?

If I take my children bowling, I want to bow with them because they have the little blow of things. And I can always knock my pins down. There is no go-to balls. As we're studying these scriptures, we need something to keep us on the road.

And that's why us who hold to orthodox Christianity, we use the creeds and we use the confessions as we're studying. And I mentioned this yesterday during the Q &A. My foundation of understanding the Bible is covenant theology.

And I gave you a little example, like about a cup. But let's say the phone. If I let my hands go, what happens to the phone?

It falls.

Now if I let my hand go, what happens to the phone?

It stays in its place.

Without a foundation upon which you read the Bible, you're going to go off into a ditch. In order to have the Holy Spirit, one must respond in faith when they hear the gospel. And as someone who does the work of an evangelist, I can tell you that most people walk away from the message that is preached without being given the gift of faith.

Turn with me to Ephesians 2.

Look at verses 8 and 9.

For by grace you have been saved. Rescued. For by grace you have been rescued. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing. What's not of my own doing? What's the nearest and the dearest?

Faith.

Faith is not your own doing. It is the gift of God.

Not a result of works so that no one may boast.

You get it by hearing.

Those two verses alone should take away any notion that we have that in and of ourselves we have the ability to believe. We do respond, just not in faith. Turn with me to Titus chapter 3. So we can see this word, regeneration.

Titus chapter 3, let's read verses 4 and 5. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us. Not by works done in righteousness, law keeping, but according to His own mercy.

By the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. My dear friends, mercy is God not giving to us what we deserve. And what we deserve is the wrath of God. We broke God's law. We committed treason against the King.

We deserve punishment. And if you think that you don't, maybe you haven't even been given the gift of faith. Turn with me to John 3. We'll just be here for a moment and we'll go somewhere else. But I promise we'll get to that verse.

And as we walk through this, I want to show how Jesus will take the earthly to explain the heavenly. In verses 1 through 5, we're going to see natural birth versus spiritual birth. The Old Covenant versus the New Covenant.

The Old Covenant had an earthly kingdom people, the physical descendants of Abraham. Entrance into the Old Covenant earthly people was by natural birth. When a Jewish family had a child, that child entered into the Old Covenant kingdom people.

The New Covenant. The New Covenant has a heavenly kingdom people, the spiritual descendants of Abraham.

Galatians chapter 3.

Entrance into the New Covenant heavenly kingdom people is spiritual birth. It's baptism of the Holy Spirit. You must be born again. Nicodemus entered the Old Covenant earthly kingdom people, the physical descendants of Abraham, by natural birth.

You and I are to enter the New Covenant kingdom people by spiritual birth. Let's read John chapter 3 verses 1 through 5. There was 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.

No one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. This is with your eyes. You do not even know that God has a kingdom unless you're born again.

You have no clue. You're following the spirit that is at work and the sons of disobedience. You're following the devil because you're trapped in his snare.

You don't even know.

You can't see it unless you're born again. Nicodemus said to him, how can these things be? 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 one is born of water and the spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

Unless you're born again, you cannot see.

Unless you're born again, you cannot enter. And I would say that you and I enter this kingdom by faith. We enter the kingdom by faith. The new birth, right?

By faith.

And we're going to see how that works out. The water here in verse 5 is the same water in Titus chapter 3, verse 5. And that is how we are saved. Titus 3 again, verses 4 through 5. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared.

When did God our Savior appear? 2 ,000 years ago. He appeared in the incarnation. Lived the life that we could not live. Took upon himself the punishment that we deserve. Was buried and rose again on the third day.

When he appeared, he saved us. He rescued us.

Not because of works done by us in righteousness, in law keeping.

But according to his own mercy.

By the washing of regeneration, the renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Lord.

Mercy is God not giving to us what we deserve. Jesus in John here is pointing us to Ezekiel chapter 36. This is why we see him be so harsh with Nicodemus. Him being a teacher of the law?

And you don't know this?

Turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 36. What saddens me is to know that there's people who think that this is something future. But I don't know what they do with X too. In Ezekiel chapter 36, verses 25 through 27.

We will see what regeneration looks like.

Let's read Ezekiel 36, 25 through 27.

God speaking.

I will sprinkle clean water on you. And you shall be clean from all your uncleanness. And from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you.