The Doctrine of Salvation

Alright guys, good morning. We are continuing our 12-week rotating Principles of Theology and Doctrine class. We are on week 8. This has gone by a lot quicker than I thought it would. How many of you have been here since the beginning?

You've been through all 8 classes, okay. Only a couple of you. Alright, well, that's why it's a rotating class. So if you are new, or you've missed a few, you'll pick them up again on the next turn. Now, I will say this, this 12 weeks should end the week before Thanksgiving, and then we host Thanksgiving at our church, so you guys who are here will be having Thanksgiving with me.

It's fun. I enjoy it. I spend all Wednesday cooking, and then Thursday morning cooking, and then my family's there with us, and we have Thanksgiving together. We are your family. Yeah, absolutely. Amen.

And then, so that will end this 12-week course, and then I'm not going to pick it up right away, because that will put us at Christmas time. So I'm going to do a few weeks on the more specific to the doctrines of Christ and the virgin birth, and what happened at that particular period.

We're going to look at Matthew. We're going to look at Luke. We're going to compare the texts. So there will be a few weeks in between, and we'll start over again after Christmas. We'll start over with the 12 weeks after Christmas.

The Doctrine of Salvation and What We Are Saved From

So today we're going to look at the doctrine of salvation. We've looked at several doctrines. We've looked at the doctrine of revelation. We've looked at the doctrine of God, theology proper. We've looked at the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

We've looked at the doctrine of man, which is called anthropology. We've looked at the doctrine of sin, hamartiology. And today we're going to look at the doctrine of salvation, and we're going to begin.

I want to just sort of tell you a story, and this is actually not my story. It's a story from a theologian that I respect. Many of you probably know his name. You've heard me mention him before, Dr. R .C. Sproul.

Dr. R .C. Sproul was a theology teacher. He was a university professor and a seminary professor. And he was teaching at Temple University. One day when he was trying to find time to have lunch, you know, trying to find a little private time, you know, when you're a professor, students sort of bombard you with questions.

So he was trying to find a way that he could get away and have a moment's peace. And while he was going towards his lunch area, get away from folks, a man sort of challenged him, stopped him, and said, hey, are you saved?

And Dr. Sproul, without really thinking much about it, said, saved from what? And so that's what we're going to start with today. We're going to start with answering the question, saved from what? Because most of us are familiar with the language, and probably you've had somebody in your life say, are you saved?

Are you saved? You know, you maybe have a Christian friend or a Christian relative, or maybe you grew up in a church where the pastor would ask you, are you saved? Are you saved? And we get so familiar with the language, we get so familiar with the vernacular, we forget sometimes that we don't always understand what we're saved from.

And so to understand the doctrine of salvation, to understand this idea, we have to first understand what we mean when we ask the question, are you saved? Or what are you saved from? The doctrine of salvation is called soteriology.

Soteriology is based on the Greek word sotso, or soter, depending on its use. And the Bible uses this word soter or sotso in several different ways. Do you remember when Peter was on the water with Jesus?

Come on, do you remember? Yes. And Jesus was walking on the water, and Peter got out of the boat and walked to Jesus, and he began to sink. What did he say? Believe. Save me! That's what he said. Peter said, save me!

Now what, what was he talking about there? Save me from drowning. Right? When he said save me, he meant don't let me drown. So in that sense, save regards physical salvation. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, it talks about women and men being different, and it says that women are saved through childbearing.

Now that passage can be a little confusing. But I will tell you what it does not mean. Sometimes it's hard to explain what it does mean, and I don't really have time for that. But I'll tell you what it doesn't mean.

It does not mean a woman is saved eternally simply by having a baby. Like you get saved by believing, but she gets saved by getting pregnant. That ain't how it works. That's not what that means. So that's two different ways that the word saved is used that really have nothing to do with the way we normally use the word.

Right? When Peter's falling in the water, save me Lord, he's talking about saved from drowning. When Peter, or Paul is writing 1 Timothy, and he writes a woman is saved through childbearing, I don't think he's referring to eternal salvation there, and again, if I had time to go into the context, I would explain what I do think he means, but it's not eternal salvation.

And so we see the word sozo, we see the word saved used different ways throughout the Bible, but most of the time when salvation is used, when the word sozo or soter is used, it is used in the spiritual sense, and to begin to understand salvation in the spiritual sense, we must first understand why we need to be saved, and that's why we start with the question saved from what?

Last time we were here, last week, we talked about homartiology. What is homartiology? Come on guys, wake up. What is homartiology? What did we talk about last week? The doctrine of sin. Right? That's what homartia is, the word for sin, homartiology is the doctrine of sin.

What is sin? Missing the mark? We talked about that, but what is the mark? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the standard bearer, that's true. We would also say the law of God, right, because Jesus perfectly kept the law of God, so we said that the confession defines sin as any one of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God.

Anywhere that we miss the mark of God's law, that's sin. And therefore we stand before God guilty of having broken His law, just like if you stood before a judge guilty of breaking the law of the land, you would have a punishment that is due.

We stand before God guilty of breaking His law, every one of us having broken the law, therefore every one of us has a penalty that is due. So letter C on your sheet should say this, and make sure I'm looking at the right one here, no, I'm ahead of myself, letter B, it is not what we are being saved, excuse me, it's not just that we are being saved from sin, but ultimately we are being saved from the wrath of God, is that what it says?

Yes. Yes, okay, I'm making sure I get my own, my outline's a little different than yours, mine has my notes, so. Everybody turn in your Bibles to John 3, verse 36, get down here, John 3, 36, now most of us are familiar with John 3, 16, and everybody likes John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him will not perish but have everlasting life, that's John 3, 16, and everybody loves it.

But most people are very unfamiliar with the context of John 3, especially as Jesus goes on to discuss the condition of man, and listen to what He says in verse 36, it says, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life but the, what?

Wrath of God. The wrath of God remains on him. Notice it says remains, or abides on him. Here's the thing that we have to keep in mind, and this is the thing that is so often missed, it's so commonly misunderstood, you deserve the wrath of God.

You don't deserve it a little bit, you don't deserve it halfway, you deserve the wrath of God in its full measure. People say, I don't like to hear that, I don't believe that, I'm a good person. That's hogwash, you're not a good person, neither am I, neither is your nice old grandma.

All have sinned and fall short of the Lord, don't come back, don't you talk about my grandma, no, what I'm saying, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The Bible says there is none good, no not one, there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after God.

All have turned aside, together they have become worthless, murder is in their hearts, the venom of asps is in their lips, there is no fear of God before their eyes. This is the condemnation of the Apostle Paul upon all men, that all men deserve the wrath of God, not just you who are here at set free, but everybody.

I'm not coming here and saying you're worse, I'm coming here and saying we're all horrible. People say, well what about all the nice people, they're horrible too. I don't like to hear this, I don't care.

Listen to what the text says again, whoever believes in the Son has life, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. God does not apply His wrath to someone who does not deserve it, because God is a good judge.

People ask me all the time, well what if there was a good man, what if there was a good man over in the island somewhere and he's only done good forever, he's never sinned. I say, well he'd go to heaven.

The problem is that man doesn't exist. You've never met a good man, and there's never been a good man. We all have the seed of sin within us, we are all sinners. This is why a lot of times, I'm going to tell you something right now, this is going to be offensive and you can take it and write me a letter and then fold it up and put it in the trash, because I don't care.

When I say stuff that's offensive but true, it's just going to have to be the truth. I ain't saying I don't care about your opinion, but when it comes to the truth, it's the truth. People get all upset.

Recently we had to celebrate Columbus Day. People said, no we shouldn't celebrate Columbus Day, we should celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day. Because Columbus came in and he brought war and terror to this continent.

As if the people who lived here before Columbus came were not already warring and hating each other. There were 85 ,000 ritual killings two years before Columbus ever set foot here. Man is evil, whether you're white or black, you are evil.

And this is why racism is stupid, because what you're saying is that guy because he's black or that guy because he's white is worse than me. No! We all have a heart of stone, whether we're white, black, Native American, whatever.

The Native Americans were killing each other long before we ever came because the heart of man is sick and desperately wicked. So I say that, like I said, I'm not trying to be offensive, it's just the truth.

You know the natural state of man is war. I wrote a research paper years ago. My secular degree, I have biblical degrees but I also have secular degrees. My secular degree is in social science. Social science is basically the study of how societies function and how social structures function and basically just surveys and how to understand this culture from that culture.

It's sort of a pseudoscience, honestly, because it's hard to really declare it an exact science. It's not like math where two plus two always equals four, it just doesn't work that way. Social science is very subjective in a lot of ways.

But one of the things that I wrote on, I wrote on the concept of war and utopia. You know what utopia is? The idea that there could be a place where nobody fights and nobody wars and everybody's good.

Outside of the redemption of Jesus Christ, that ain't gonna happen. And this is one of the quotes from my paper, I said, war is natural, peace is the accident, and peace doesn't last. Because anytime two men want the same thing that both of them cannot have and enjoy at the same time, they become enemies.

I'll say it again, when two men both want the same thing that they both cannot have and enjoy at the same time, they by nature become enemies. And that's how war begins. Whether it's a desire for power, or a desire for property, a desire for authority, or economics, whatever.

And so look around you. Do you see any man in here that is righteous? Not one. Huh? Not one. There's not one. Okay, I thought you said I am one. I was like, alright brother, let's start over. There is none righteous, no not one.

I can't hear you brother, I'll say it again. All have pain, sin and pain so. That's right, that's right. None is righteous, and that's the point. Why do we all deserve the wrath of God? Because we're all sinners.

And you say, well how come God's wrath is so harsh? Think of it like this, this is very important. The amount of punishment due is based on the amount or the worth of the one who was offended. Let me say it again.

The amount of punishment due is based on the worth of the one who was offended. So for instance, if I take a rock, I think I've used this illustration before. If I take a rock and I scratch up a rock, nobody's going to care.

If I take my keys and scratch up a rock, carve my initials in it, nobody's going to care. But if I take my key to your car and I scratch my initials in it, you're going to care. Now if I take my key and I scratch my initials into a Lamborghini, it's going to be even worse.

Because of the value of what's offended. Right? The rock didn't matter at all. Your car matters to you. But a Lamborghini is a lot more expensive than probably any car that any of us could ever own. And that would be a terrible punishment.

Because now I'm attacking something that's worth more. You understand? So now think about God. When we sin against God, we are sinning against He who is the greatest in the universe. We are sinning against the greatest King.

If you sin against the President, the Secret Service... I mean, let's say you went up to the President and took a swipe at him. The Secret Service wouldn't even let you get close enough. They'd smash you down face to the pavement, right?

If you went after a Hollywood actor, somebody of, you know, Tom Hanks or something, his security, boom! They'd be on top of you. Wouldn't even give you the chance to take the swipe. Every time you sin, you are spitting in the face of Almighty God.

Who is much greater than the President, so much greater than Tom Hanks. You understand what I'm saying? The amount of punishment due is based on the worth of the one who is offended. God is infinitely worthy.

Yes, sir?

Well, so you're saying that other lives are worth more than others?

No, no, brother. I was simply saying... I was trying to make an example of... I know what you're saying about against God.

I understand that part, the sin against Donald Trump or whoever. If you sin against anybody, it's still a sin no matter who it is.

No, that's true. I'm not arguing against that. I'm saying your punishment will be different because they have security and all that. You know, if somebody took a swipe at me, nobody's going to care. Because I don't have any recourse, right?

Legally, there won't be much of a fine. If somebody punched me in the face, they'd probably get... I don't know what you get for punching somebody in the face. Six months probation. Oh, yeah, yeah. Somebody might think it's worth it just to punch me in the jaw.

You know, six months, that's fine. But if you punch the president, you're probably going to go to jail for a long time. I'm just talking about the way the law works. I ain't saying it's right. I'm just saying the way the law works.

But when we talk about God, He is infinitely more valuable. Yeah, absolutely. And so that's why the wrath of God is so severe. We forget sometimes who it is we're dealing with. We are dealing with the God who created us.

Adam and Eve spit in the face of their Creator. Think about it like this. Adam and Eve were in the most beautiful and the most voluptuous garden that was ever in history. They had all the food that they wanted.

They never were hungry. They never wanted for anything. They were in a comfortable environment. A peaceful environment. There was no hate. There was no jealousy. There was no wickedness. God said, one thing you must not do.

Don't eat of this tree. You can eat of everything else. You'll never go hungry. What'd they do? They spit in the face of God. And people say, I can't imagine how stupid they were by doing that. How could they be so dumb?

I say, how dumb are you? You spit in the face of the same God every time you sin. How dumb am I? Every time I sin, I'm looking the same God in the face and saying, no, I know better than you. And then when I read, the wrath of God abides on me.

Why do I get upset? Well, I don't deserve it. Yes, I do. I don't know. Something feels like it ain't getting through. Guys, the reason why we even care about salvation. The reason why it matters. It's because of what we actually deserve.

We deserve God's punishment. And we are saved from it. That's the key to this. What are you saved from? You might not like to hear this. I'll tell you what you're saved from. You're saved from God. Saved from God, by God, for God.

You are saved from God's wrath, by God's grace, for God's glory. That's it. From His wrath, by His grace, for His glory. So when somebody says, if anybody ever asks you, are you saved? Ask them, saved from what?

I bet you they don't know. A lot of people don't understand it. Now, I feel like I've lost some of you, so let's get back on track. Let's look now, let me get the handout. Alright. On letter C of your handout, you'll notice I've given you three words that I want to define.

Because when we talk about salvation, there are three principles that we need to understand. Get down there and get it. Stop acting up. Number one is the word justification. Number two is the word sanctification.

Number three is the word glorification. Now, I imagine you guys have heard those words before. Yes. Because you've been here. I imagine those are words that Pastor Mark uses, maybe Mark Terrell, maybe some of the other teachers here have used.

Amen? Amen. Alright. Well, again, my class is sometimes simply reinforcing things you already know. So if you already know this, that's fine. But I do want to make sure that you understand what these words mean.

Justification is how a sinful man is made right with a holy God. Justification is how a sinful man is made right with a holy God. Because God's righteousness demands that we have a penalty. Justification is salvation from the penalty of sin.

Now, how are we saved from the penalty of sin? Do you have your handout? That's right. Everybody turn to Romans 3. Romans 3 and go to verse 21. Alright. Verse 21. But now righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made manifest, to which the law and the prophets testify.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time so as to be just and the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus.

That takes us through verse 26. So what does that mean? Salvation. It is salvation. And it is salvation from the penalty of sin. Somebody say something? I was saying being justified. That's right. Being justified.

Being justified. Justified means to be declared righteous. And it is a legal declaration. And the way that God makes that legal declaration is He says, even though you are a sinner, I am going to declare you righteous based upon the work of someone else.

And it's the work of Jesus. And therefore you are justified, you are declared righteous because of the work of Christ. That is salvation from the penalty of sin. Now, that could be all salvation is. Salvation could just be, you are all saved from the penalty of sin, so don't worry about it, just go about your lives, just know this, when you die you are going to be alright.

The penalty has been paid. And that could be all salvation is, but it's not. Salvation could just, and that's the way a lot of people treat it. Think about people who say, I've even heard pastors say this, they'll say come forward, raise your hand, come forward, be baptized, and your sins are washed away, justified, justified never sinned, right?

Some of them use that sort of term, like to be just as if you never sinned, you know, justified. And then, nothing. You're saved, so what? Salvation does not end when you say, I believe in Jesus, walk the aisle, get baptized, whatever.

That's not where it ends. That's where it begins. Right? So justification is the first act of salvation. The second is sanctification. And now I want to use my board, because I want to make a point on this.

No, not right now. Justification is a once for all declaration. It is a once for all declaration of righteousness. You are declared righteous. And I use this example, and I think it's a good one. Let's say you want to get married to a woman.

You came to me and you said, pastor, I want you to marry us. And after a time of counseling, I said, ok, we'll do the marriage. So you come to me with your wife, she walks down the aisle, you all join hands, you hand her a ring.

Sometime during the service, usually at the end, I'll say, by the power vested in me, by the Lord Jesus Christ, and the state of Florida, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride. Up until that moment, you are both single.

But when that declaration is made, something changes legally. Before God and before the state. Once that declaration is made, you are now in a new legal position. You go from being two singles to one couple.

When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, God declares you righteous in the courtroom of the Almighty. You are from that moment on, at peace with God because of the work of Jesus Christ. You are righteous, not because you are righteous by what you do, but you are declared righteous based upon the work of Christ.

He took your sin, He gives you His goodness, you are declared righteous in the courtroom of God. That's why I say it is a once for all, and by that I mean once for all time, a once for all time declaration of righteousness.

It doesn't have to be repeated. You don't have to keep getting re-justified. See, we are going to talk about that next week, because next week we are going to focus just on justification, and we are going to talk about the Reformation.

See, the issue with the Reformation was that during the Reformation, prior to the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had established a doctrine of indulgence, which meant you had to purchase your justification.

And you could lose it. So you had to buy more. And they had letters that you could purchase. They were called indulgence letters. And they used that money to build up the power and the facilities of the church.

It was an ungodly thing, and that's why the Reformation happened. The Reformers said, no, justification is a declaration of God. Once for all, you have been declared righteous. So that is justification.

Sanctification, and I am going to switch colors, sanctification is different. Sanctification is the ongoing process by which we are conformed to Christ. It is the ongoing process by which we are conformed to Christ.

So justification saves us from the penalty of sin. Sanctification saves us from the power of sin. Because we are daily conformed to the Person of Christ. In fact, Romans 8 says that is what we have been predestined to.

Predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Romans 8 .29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. In fact, that is the most important thing. Not just that you are saved from the penalty of sin, that's good, but you are also saved from the power of sin, so that God conforms you to the image of Christ.

I always say it like this, God picks you up out of the dirt of your sin, and He begins to clean you off. Here is the problem though. The cleaner you get, the more you recognize how dirty you were. It's like the guy who was walking to a dinner party, and as he was walking, he was walking in the night time, and a car went by and splashed water on him.

And it was muddy water, and it got on his suit. And it was so dark, he said, Ah, it's not that bad, I'll keep going. So he walks a little further, and as he gets closer to his destination, there is a street light that he is getting closer to.

And the closer he gets to the street light, the more he recognizes how dirty his clothes are, until finally he is standing under the street light, and he sees himself just covered in muddy water. And I think that's a good illustration of, we come to Christ, we don't really recognize how bad our sin is, and the more we get conformed to Christ, the more we look down and say, Oh boy, how sinful.

I mean, I think about my thoughts sometimes. I think about how could a man of God think the things I think? How could a man of God, which I claim to be, how could a preacher, man of God, have some of the issues that I deal with in my own heart?

I mean, you know, anger, frustration, jealousy. If I can't get an amen out of that, I don't know what I'm going to do. So here's the picture, you may even want to draw it on your sheet. Hold on, there's somebody in there now.

When he comes back out, you can go. Sit back. I always say, justification is one time, one and done. You don't have to be re-justified. If you're justified in Christ, it's declared. But, sanctification, let's say you begin here, and our goal is Christ.

It is a, it's growth. So it's like this. But the problem is, it ain't really like that. The problem is, it looks more like this. We're not... And we'll never be perfectly conformed to Christ, ever. Until the last one.

Everybody see the third one? Notice I said there's three, right? Justification, sanctification is the process. We're being made like Christ. But glorification is when we are given our new bodies. And our new bodies, according to 1 Corinthians 15, will not lust, will not desire sin.

We will have bodies that do not want sin. It'll still be us. And see, that's the thing I don't even understand. Because I don't understand how I can be me, and different. Because I gotta be different.

Right? We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed. In the moment and the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, the dead in Christ shall rise first. And those who are alive together, we caught up with them in the clouds.

It's all right, go ahead. He's fine. He's fine. Yes, sir? We said 1 Corinthians 10, what? 15. That's all about the resurrection. In fact, when we get to our last class, class 12, we're going to look at it more closely because we're going to talk about eschatology.

We're going to talk about what happens when we die. Everybody talks about eschatology, they want to talk about end times, you know, millenniums and all that. And that's important. But the most important part of eschatology is this.

Eschatology is the study of the end. And guess what? You all got an end coming. And it may be sooner than you think. We all have a personal eschatology. We all have a personal end. I could die on my way home today.

I could die right now. You know, if my heart were to stop working, I'd be before Jesus. And you'd be having to carry out a very heavy carcass. No, I mean, yeah. It's the truth. So... No, you can't play.

So, anyway. So, glorification is the salvation from the presence of sin. Right? So, the simple way to say, justification is saved from the penalty of sin. Once for all. I no longer... It was Romans 8, 1.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Right? Penalty is gone. Condemnation is gone. But, we then have... Saved from the power of sin. Is it empty now? Alright, go ahead.

Go back. Close the door when you go in there. I always have to wonder what people... Because I do record these and post these because people like to hear the lessons. You know, there are some people that are actually taking this class that aren't here.

I always have to wonder if they wonder why I'm telling people to go to the bathroom. It's my son. Alright, so. Saved from the presence of sin. I'm sorry. Saved from the penalty of sin. That's number one.

That's justification. Saved from the power of sin. That's number two. That's sanctification. And that is an ongoing struggle. Saved from the presence of sin is glorification. And that will happen... Well, when we die, we'll be separate from the body.

We'll be with the Lord. But that's not the ultimate end. The ultimate end is the resurrection that comes at the end of the age where we will receive a new body and live on a new earth. You're not going to live in heaven, y 'all.

You're going to live in the new earth. That's another thing. People always talk about heaven. Well, heaven is the abode of God. We will be given a new earth and a new body. We're not going to be sitting on a cloud strumming a harp like you see in the movies.

Darn! I honestly think that the new earth is going to be a lot like Eden. A lot like what God originally created for us.

Yes, sir. It sounds like you're talking a little Catholic now. Because my family is Catholic.

And they believe in like a new world. Not like heaven kind of thing.

Well, whether or not I'm agreeing with them, what I'm talking about is Revelation 21. And then I saw a new heaven and a new earth coming down, right? Or a new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. I believe that we will have bodies and that we will have a new world to live in.

And if you want to call that heaven, I call it the new Jerusalem or the celestial city, whatever. Those are languages that are used. But ultimately, we know this. It's a place where there's no sin. It's a place where there's no separation from God.

This is all Revelation 21, right? There's no sin. There's no separation from God. There's no crying, mourning, or weeping. Because it's a place of perpetual joy. It's a place we can't even imagine. Because we live here in sin, we can't even imagine it.

So what it's going to be like, I don't know. But I know it's going to be a lot better than this place. Alright. So, last on these three things, and then we're going to move to our second part. And I'll go through that kind of quick because I've spent more time on this than I thought I would.

Last thing. Justification is something, if you are a believer, justification is something that has already happened. Sanctification is something that is happening. And glorification is something that will happen.

So if we think of it in terms of the already and the not yet. You're already justified. You are being sanctified. You will be glorified. So, you haven't been glorified yet. You are being sanctified. But if you are a believer, you've been justified.

This is why Paul can say, my favorite verse of the Bible, and I know I say that with a lot of verses, but this one truly, truly, truly, if I were on a desert island and somebody says you can only have one book, it would be the Bible.

If I could only have one book of the Bible, I don't know, maybe Hebrews. But if I could only have one verse, scrawled on the wall of my cave. Whatever. Romans 5 .1. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God.

Having been justified, past tense, we have, present tense, peace with God. That's the most important verse when it comes to my salvation. Because I've been justified, I have peace with God. Romans 5 .1.

Romans 5 .1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Anytime, if I was ever at a church, and they said, you're a pastor, stand up and preach. That would be the verse I'd preach.

If I didn't have any time to prepare, if I didn't have any notes with me, if I didn't have anything, if I didn't know I was going to preach, somebody said, stand up and preach. Everybody open your Bibles to Romans 5 .1.

So if you don't know it, learn it. That's an important verse. Alright. So now we're going to look at the atonement. We're going to finish out, again, this is the doctrine of salvation. The doctrine of salvation is more than just justification, sanctification, glorification.