Becoming Better Theologians (part 12)

Father in heaven we thank you this morning as we reflect on The fun we've had over the last few days being with family opening presence father

Just asked this morning as we gather that you would Turn our hearts Fully toward you that we might be here with hearts of worship

Anticipating even what you would do in the hearts of your people today Father would you bless our time this morning as we turn to your word and bless?

Everything that happens here this morning whether it be in the classrooms Or in our worship service father.

I pray that all would go in accordance with your will in Christ name. We pray amen

Well, we we began last week our Excursus on free will why are we doing this excursus on free will well because I freely chose

To do it. That's that's why yeah we began talking about The hardening of the reprobate why people don't believe in other words, and then we looked at a few free will verses last week

Romans 10 9 Revelation 3 20 We talked about what are all these theologians have in common and it was amazing that they're all condemned because they were

Considered to be false teachers and this list included of course Ray Comfort John MacArthur John Calvin Billy Graham Dave Hunt and James White why because they all agreed on one thing and that was eternal security

And this man says Dan corner says that it's very clear according to scripture that you can lose your salvation

And so we began looking and I would invite you to open your Bibles to Luke 15 we're going to Spend a bit more time here before we move on this morning

Luke 15 talking about the parable the prodigal son and a parable that we Know well, or think we know well,

I think the the problem often is We have this tendency to import tradition

Into the parables and so we make more of them than we ought to How is it possible to make more of something like a parable than we ought to do?

Think of it as an allegory we take that one for one correspondence and in this case.

Mr. Corner did that? let me just read the the parable first and again looking at the context beginning of Chapter 15

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering near to him to Jesus and the

Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying this man Receives sinners and eats with them

I think pastor Mike said the other day the other night whenever it was everything just kind of runs together after a while but he said that and this is right each one of these three parables in Luke 15 has as its overarching theme this idea that we those who profess to be

Christians or those who profess to be of God should rejoice when Someone comes to faith and so he gives three parables in succession and it is

Lost sheep lost coin lost son or lost sons and in every one of these instances.

The theme is lost found rejoice Shepherd loses a sheep goes and finds it returns home rejoices over his sheep that he's found old woman was a coin finds it rejoices and Here the parable of prodigal son a father loses his son

Who is then found and there's rejoicing? Let me read it verse 11

And he said there was a man who had two sons and the younger of them said to his father father

Give me the share of property that is coming to me. And again that is akin to saying dad

Please die and give me my money. I mean it it's to wish him dead This is the biggest insult a son can throw in the face of his father in that culture

Give me the share of property that is coming to me and he divided his property between them in other words, the father does that not many days later the younger son gathered all that he had and Took a journey into a far country and there he squandered his property in reckless living

And when he had spent everything a severe famine arose in the country and he began to be in need so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs and He was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate and no one gave him anything

So the picture is this is a son who wished his father's dead receives

Without breaking it all down if there were two kids, he would receive one third of the total estate Runs off squanders it all winds up working for Gentiles Which as Jesus had a

Jewish audience would be appalling to them and Then he even has a stoop so low as to feed pigs which are considered dirty filthy animals under the

Old Testament law verse 17 But when he came to himself, he said how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread

But I'd perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him father

I have sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son treat me as one of your hired servants and He arose and came to his father but while he was still a long way off his father saw him and felt compassion and Ran and embraced him and kissed him and the son said to him

Father I have sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son but the father said to his servants bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it and Let us eat and celebrate

For this my son was dead and is alive again He was lost and is found and they began to celebrate

Now his older son was in the field This is the one who had two -thirds of the estate by the way His older son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house he heard music and dancing and He called one of the servants and asked them or asked him what these things meant

And he said to him your brother has come home and your father has killed the fattened calf Because he has received him back safe and sound

Lost found rejoice Verse 28. This is what the older son did exactly what the

Pharisees and scribes were doing, but he was angry and Refused to go in his father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father.

Look these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command yet You never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends, but with this son of yours

Who has devoured your property with prostitutes? You killed the fatted calf for him and he said to him son

You are always with me and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this brother

For this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found

And again that divergence of thought the Pharisees and the scribes now these

Prostitutes and sinners were Considered lower than pigs. I mean they were just terrible people in the minds of these people of the

Pharisees and scribes These legalists who would like the older brother say look we've done all that you've required for all these years

You've never done anything for us and yet you go off and eat with these sinful people

They had a completely wrong view of things So we began discussing that last week and I want to reread part of what

Dan corner said about verses 11 and 12 Even though it would be detrimental for the father to give the youngest son his share of the property to go astray

The father still did God honors man's free will and choice to do right or wrong

And I thought about that and in this context Think about this

Did God honor The free will of the sheep in the parable of lost sheep by letting that lost sheep go and be lost

Did God honor the free will of the coin by allowing that coin to be lost did he

So and the answer obviously is no So then why does Dan corner say that the father honored man's free will in?

The parable of the prodigal son Because it fits what he believes

He would never say the and again if a parable has and it does always one maybe two main teaching points you have to look at the situation and there's usually an introduction by the writer as to why

Jesus gave a parable at a particular point or Jesus as with the parable of the soils will explain the full meaning of the parable in this case.

The context is clear And it has nothing to do with free will and everything to do with the attitude that those who actually love

God Have about the salvation of others. We love to see that happen and it doesn't care it we don't care and we ought not to care how how much in disrepute or dishonor a

Person might be in fact the more horrible they are if God saves them the more We should rejoice so that whole idea of free will being involved here

That he came to a census Does that indicate he had free will well no more than?

When you come to know the truth about Christ that indicates that of your own free will you chose to see the truth?

When in reality or in Scripture, which is reality? We would read that God quickens you

God opens your heart God causes you to be born again, and we would never see the the concept of Choosing of our own free will

Thoughts or questions about that right

Peggy points rightly that it's not Since it doesn't explain or it would be impossible for a sheep to be saved or a coin to be saved.

This isn't about How we get saved. This is just about the the

I'll say the emotional gamut that the way that we ought to look at things The way that we had to look at salvation of other people and It's not about how that takes place.

It's about the response to it Pam yeah

Pam points out that there are people in different conditions of losses. I mean certainly if we were to search through all the parables

We would see different pictures of people who are lost even the wheat in the tares where there are lost people who come to church every week and grow up right next to the weeds and So yeah, it's absolutely

Okay, moving on. Let's look at verse 17 again in Luke 15, but I just thought you know,

I mean it is just To import what we don't want to do is import our

Understanding of the text on the text and say that's the way it needs to be. That's not exegesis.

That's is a Jesus That's forcing something onto the text And in verse 17

But when he came to himself, he said how many of my father's etc, etc, etc And this is corner again when he woke up so to speak from the delusion

He had been in he realized the father's hired hands had food to eat that he didn't have

And he says people in sin and away from God are in a deluded spiritual state or they would

Or they would desire to be in God's presence Again, that's just not accurate

They're not in a delusion or they would desire it they are Dead in their sins and trespasses and enemies of God.

So that's where where we were as of last week verse 19 Corner says this it says in the text

I am no longer worthy to be called your son treat me as one of your hired servants corner says Now when he came to his senses after being brought very low

He was willing to turn from sin admit he had sinned and obediently served the father that is repentance

Exemplified even though the word repent is not found in this teaching Note, he needed to repent and I bolded this in my notes.

He needed this is corner. He needed to repent to become alive again Thoughts on that.

What's that? Not the right order That's what he assumes corner assumes good point

John. He assumes that The prodigal son was saved lost his salvation and Then got saved again now leaving that aside for a moment as problematic

To say the least What about the back to this idea if he needed to repent to become alive again you caught the again part

He needs to repent to become alive Charlie, okay, he needs to repent to become alive

Again, what would we say to become alive if we're talking in spiritual terms?

We would be saying We're born again to begin born again. So John 3

Jesus says you must repent to be born again Yeah, I mean you must be you know, you must choose to be born again.

You must repent before it No, you must be born again. And again, I would encourage anyone

Who's struggling with this issue? Just read John 3 and to consider what Jesus is teaching

Is he teaching man's free will or is he teaching the Holy Spirit's free will? I think it's the

Holy Spirit's free will verse 20 and Luke 15

Corner says this here is a wonderfully amazing truth about God and his eager willingness to receive a repentant backslider back home is

Because of God's compassion that he does this That's absolutely true Notice also that before the product who could say even say he sinned and wanted to be made a hired hand

The father took him back. I mean was the father ready to receive the

Prodigal son before he said anything. Absolutely The prodigal was in deliberate sin for perhaps many years

But the father was glad to have him back a changed person from when he left Also, this is the only time the father has ever pictured as running.

He also has shown here to kiss the prodigal listen Again here's the problem.

The problem is making this one -for -one correspondence What is shocking to Jewish ears about this parable

I mean there are many shocking things One is just how low this guy went the prodigal you could not get any lower than he was, you know in a

Gentile country Working for Gentiles feeding pigs, you know living in the muck and the mire all that But then for him to come home

To the father and for the father to run out to him. It isn't a picture of God running toward the sinner again

Don't make more out of it than it is here. God doesn't run towards the lost coin or the lost sheep it is a picture of shock because in that culture a father a person of honor would never run and So the the picture they would have is of this

Rebellious Sinful person to be shunned and here's the father the person of honor

Running to greet the sinner that would be shocking to them Why would anybody do that and it would be shocking to them because they don't understand repentance

They don't understand what it means to be born again. They don't understand Salvation the way

God understands salvation. They don't rejoice They've got it all wrong.

They are the older brother But corner, you know again pictures the father as God one for one correspondence

Verse 24 the prodigal is no longer spiritually dead and lost but now spiritually alive again

There is rejoicing what a soul gets saved Again, no, he says again sin through the wild living

He indulged in had brought the prodigal to be or to a spiritually dead and lost condition

Which clearly shows that sin had or can accurately be compared to deadly poison

Even though the prodigal was dead spiritually. He could still choose to act wisely and repent which preceded him becoming live alive again

Even though he's spiritually dead. Well, let's let's just look at that for a minute if you

Can if it were possible to choose to be born again? Would that be a spiritual decision?

Obviously, yes, so again even by his own words Even though he was dead spiritually he could choose to make spiritual decisions.

I Don't even I don't even know where that comes from again just from Overinterpreting the parable verse 25 the older brother gets getting angry to the point of not celebrating against the father's will

Shows how people can unjustly get upset over the mercy shown to the one who repents true The turnaround of the brother was no longer

Being spiritually dead and lost but now spiritually alive was the reason they were celebrating true The older brother should have been thrilled like the father and rejoiced all true

Verse 32 in order for the prodigal to become spiritually alive again Shows that he was first spiritually alive before he departed from the presence of the father to be with prostitutes

Then it was through sin that he became spiritually lost and dead which was reversed through sincere repentance

Yes, he believes you can lose your salvation. I mean It's so much reminds.

What does that sound like? Well, let me ask you this. Have you ever heard of a religion where you could be considered saved?

then lose your repentance or lose your salvation and then by virtue of a

Prayer or something like that be forgiven and brought back into a state of grace I mean, it's

I couldn't I couldn't make it any easier than that. It sounds like I mean to me It sounds like Roman Catholicism Yeah, it really is

Pam brings up a good point because really what it says is God loves me as much as I obey him

He's going to save me as much as I obey him and if I fail to obey him if I disobey him then

I'm out of his good graces, but I get back in his good graces by By being good it's really salvation by being good he goes

He goes on to say corner does about Calvinism that whole theological System is based on man having no free will in his salvation

Salvation according to a Calvinist is given only to the ones God sovereignly elects to salvation I'm gonna say that read that one again salvation according to a

Calvinist is given only to the ones God sovereignly elects to salvation Okay, so what's the flip side of that it's given to everyone but there has to be a but otherwise everyone would go to heaven

Those who it's only up to those who choose Now listen, he goes on such people the elect cannot refuse that salvation because of irresistible grace

I but What he's trying to say though is again God elects some

God Can he forces his will on people which I I mean, it's just terminology

I don't really care for because what happens is God Awakens us to our situation.

He so inclines our will that we choose him willingly not I Mean I I don't believe he drags us kicking and screaming to salvation why because Once we once we understand our plight once we see the remedy for the first time ever we don't say, you know what

I You know what? God? No. Thanks. I'd rather stay here face your wrath eternally then go for that antidote

Jesus Christ We don't do that That's an excellent illustration a dead person.

You just died of a heart attack The emergency team shows up. They've got the paddles out the dead person goes wait.

I don't want to be brought back But wait a minute you're dead no, no, well, you know,

I'm dead but I can still physically if you're dead you're dead and Then once you're brought back to life, you don't say you know what

I wish you guys said well, maybe you would but Spiritually, you wouldn't say I wish you God I wish you hadn't put the paddles on me because you're overjoyed at the fact that he would save you

Corner goes on. They alone are the ones Jesus died for Jesus did not die for all people according to them.

The elect cannot lose their salvation now. Listen to this. This is The elect cannot lose their salvation regardless of how vile they afterwards act

No sin of omission or commission can possibly imperil that salvation If anyone says to you salvation is by grace alone.

Let him be anathema That's the Council of Trent and I think Dan corner would say amen

Salvation is it's by grace alone. But if you don't obey then This is to say that he says basically he would view

Calvinism and lordship as being divergent that Calvinism teaches kind of a

Laissez -faire View of obedience. We don't do that. We say that if God saves you your desire is to obey

That you will not obey perfectly, but you will obey

The examples they cite for such are that you you can sin and still not lose your salvation

David Solomon Peter Which means according to Calvinism a person with salvation a Christian can commit adultery and murder like David Turn his heart to idolatry like Solomon and disown

Jesus three times like Peter yet remain saved Well, I mean

I think about what's the alternative then Peter, you know, I I was thinking about this earlier

What did Paul say to Peter? He went to him and he confronted him and he said because he stood condemned

Because he'd added to the gospel so after Peter preached in Acts and all these things that Peter did on the day of Pentecost and you know in Establishing the church and everything like that Paul comes to him later and says you are condemned because you've added to the gospel

So apparently during that time when Peter added to the gospel he was what? unsaved spiritually dead

Saved lost saved. I guess there should be rejoicing. Well, yeah, he is a very muddy thinker.

No, no question about that, Pam Yeah Yeah, and Pam says that you know, the evidence is that Peter was saved is that he repented when he was confronted

You know Dan corner would say no, he lost his salvation and then he regained it by repenting right

Yes, well, yeah, exactly Peggy asked well, what about somebody who is a

Christian commits adultery doesn't repent Should we think then that maybe that person isn't saved?

Yes, you know parable of soils someone can give great evidence that they are saved and then the worries of life and other things come along and choke that out and They demonstrate that they went out from us why because they were never really of us

So it's hard, I mean When when do you stop hoping that someone is going to be saved or is saved?

I mean, there's no more hope for salvation after death Right, that's it. It's appointed a man wants to die and then to judgment.

So, you know for anyone that you know love care about Until the point where they are dead then you can say well

God can no longer save them. But I mean In many instances,

I think the best approach to that is You know if they've heard the gospel if they've entertained the gospel it's not to say

I know that that person's in heaven But I I know that that person knew the truth and I'll trust

God to do what's right I don't know what was in their heart at the moment. They died and I I Always hope that it's better than what

I think it is. Well, that's a great point

Pam brings up You know David David sin went over a pretty extensive period of time

I mean, you don't commit murder and conceive a child and everything in two days It you know in spite of what you see on TV It usually takes a little bit longer for all these things and and he was in sin for quite a while And he did not repent

Really on his own initiative. How did that come about? Because the Prophet stuck his crooked finger in his face and said you are the man

And that is indication that he was saved all along can believer suppress what they know for a season can they act

According to the flesh and according to their own desires for a season. Yes, they absolutely can how long is that?

93 days And I just say, you know, I should have said like 97 point, you know three four days or something because the point is we don't know and You know those those sorts of matters are in the

Lord's hands, but you know the the church as a body cannot Entertain that for you know an extended period of time has to act but the

Lord knows now Let's see arguments against the sovereignty of God and salvation

I just kind of summarize his Argument against the sovereignty of God because that's what it is.

When you say I don't want Or I want free will for mankind.

What you're really saying is, you know, the sovereignty of God and salvation thing. I I don't really know if I go for it because if he's sovereign then we have no free will on the other hand if you say

Free will is my absolute baseline that cannot be violated. Then. What are you saying?

God's not sovereign salvation and so he points to Some verses here and he says that God wants all men to be saved

And he looks at 1st Peter 3 9 of 1st Timothy 2 for God wants all men to be saved what about that Charlie it

John says true Charlie 1st

Timothy chapter 2 verse 4. Let's just look at that Charlie says if he recalls correctly

And you know, he's getting older Yes, but we're not there yet so stop it stop that that's

That this refers to all people and Becky was trying to jump ahead

All right, first Timothy chapter 2 First of all, then I urge the supplications prayers intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people

Well, who are all people verse 2 for Kings and all who are in high positions

That we may lead this is the purpose You could read it this way so that because it's the same word so that we may lead a

Peaceful and quiet life you pray for government leaders Why because you want the church to be free from trouble a peaceful and quiet life godly and dignified in every way

This is good And it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior to pray for all men

Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth?

Well taking an isolation if we look at first Timothy 2 for we might say well that God wants all people to be saved and Come to the knowledge of the truth, which is true

But why don't all? Come to salvation. Well, let's just keep reading a little bit for there is one

God and there is one mediator between God and men The man Christ Jesus. Well that kind of sets the bar telling us who's going to be saved

If there's only one mediator then those who don't believe in him Won't be mediated for they won't be saved look at verse 6 though who gave himself as a ransom for all

Which is the testimony given at the proper time? Well, if he was a ransom for all people on the earth

What is the ransom when you see a movie and they ransom?

you know somebody out of a kidnapping or a hostage taking situation that person is

Theoretically released So if Jesus Christ is a ransom for all people in other words, he pays the penalty for all people everywhere who have ever lived universalism so there must be some qualifier there to the all and I would argue the qualifier goes back to verse 5 and it just as there is a qualifier in verse 4, but We could debate that ad nauseum at first Peter 3 -9

Yeah, and that would be good too in in First Timothy chapter 2 verse 7 for this.

I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I'm telling the truth I'm not lying a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

So that's just more evidence that Paul is stressing that Salvation is not just for some people not just for the

Jews anymore. It is for the Gentiles also So again kind of expanding on what all means within that context and then first Peter 3 9 2nd

Peter 3 9 I'm gonna fire myself as my typist again 2nd

Peter 3 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness

But as patient toward you not wearing not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance

Now if that is teaching that God doesn't well and again, here's here's the question if God Putting that verse aside for just a moment if God wants all people every single person to get saved then

What must be true? Well, what is true right is that not everyone's getting there so somehow or another

God's will would be getting thwarted stopped halted if God desires all men everywhere to be saved either something's limiting

God or What? Pam right

God wills that we he commands that we keep all of his commandments but we don't how is that possible because God ordained sin

He didn't create sin. He's not the author of sin but if sin were By God's decree to be snuffed out it would be and someday it will be why don't all men come to salvation if God wants that because our

View of God is too human. We just think if it says that God wants something to happen

Therefore it must happen. That is not true when

God decrees when he When he and when he and when he acts on something that comes to pass when

Let's see if God God can desire

As Pam said that men not killed not commit murder. They still commit murder.

Well, what does that mean? it means that God in his capacity as God Has determined that some sins will go forward

Could he stop it? Yes, but he doesn't and in this case he doesn't He doesn't desire all men to be saved in the sense that he brings them to salvation he desires all men to be saved in the sense that he receives no joy from the death of The wicked if there's joy in heaven

When even one repents there is not joy in heaven when they refuse to repent

Mmm Yeah, the whole passage about destroying the wicked is written to believers, you know

And I mean even even in verse 9 if you just look at verse 9 it says That he's not willing that any of you will who's he writing?

Believers I mean so the whole you know is patient toward you not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance

So this doesn't this doesn't carry with it the idea of God saving the whole world

God controls the wills. This is argument against the sovereignty of God and salvation again. God controls the wills of all creation

This is fascinating Animals stars water land plants, but he has given man free will

Yeah, it's kind of like and I'll make a movie reference and you have to figure out again, you know

God is only mostly sovereign only mostly sovereign according to this thought because he's given man his free will

I just don't see that anywhere Yeah, Charlie.

Mm -hmm. Yeah, Charlie's Charlie talked about the three wills

Let me see if I could review all that The legislative will you know that God?

Sets out the law for us tells us this, you know, you shall not do this. You shall do this

Shall not do this you shall do this But that all he's also Decreed his declarative will not

I don't really think his decorative will is right Decretive will yeah, I'll go for that that he has decreed things to even the own that the transgression against his own

Legislative will and also he talks about I almost want to call it an emotive will but but that there is a sense in which

God takes no pleasure out of the death of the wicked so all those things are true and to just kind of Be too simple about it is to ignore the more profound truth again

God doesn't just he isn't just like us, you know, God doesn't he isn't like some petulant sorry brooding teenage girl

Or I could say petulant brooding teenage boy, you know who only has one emotion one thought at a time

God is exercising all of his Attributes simultaneously not, you know

He can love and hate be angry and all these things all at the same time and we don't really grasp that See He gives several examples that are all pretty bad about Alleged free will but it's notable to me that when he talks about free will

What what is almost always I mean there were a couple of exceptions there 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 9 1st

Timothy Chapter 2 verse 4. What do you think the most common element through most of the free will?

Arguments in terms of verses are and we kind of saw a little bit of it in Luke 15 What do you think they the most passionately make their free will?

arguments from I'm gonna give you a hint. They're not generally speaking through the

Pauline epistles or through the Petrine Epistles or through the Johannine that's just you know shows on what seminary there

They're through narratives. They say look somebody made a choice Making a choice is not the same as free will

We make choices Nobody denies that you choose who you're going to marry

You choose what you're gonna eat for breakfast in the morning unless there's only one thing in the house You choose what kind of coffee you're going to drink

You make choices You decide whether to go see you know a

Disney movie or something else You decide whether you're gonna have popcorn or candy you'd make all kinds of decisions you make moral decisions what you cannot do

As a spiritually dead person as someone who does not know Christ is to say you know what

I'm going to love Christ I'm going to independently put off by sin nature and I'm going to follow

Christ and then God chooses to make you born again That is not what

Scripture teaches again and again and again It says you must be born again.

God caused you to be born again Passage after passage that talks about God's sovereignty and salvation not about God's passivity that God, you know, it's just a

God of love who just kind of freely throws out these bouquets of roses

Sends you chocolates hopes that someday you'll come to your senses as you lay there in your spiritual casket

You'll someday go. Hey, look at that stack of chocolates. God keeps sending me. Maybe I'll have one You wouldn't do it and It is a sincere effort.

I think on the part of many to defend God from this idea that God is not somehow

Equally loving to all people what we ought to be thankful is that God isn't equally

Wrathful towards all people that he chooses to show grace that he chooses to dispense mercy

Let's look at Matthew 7 13 and 14, I'm gonna close with just a couple more thoughts here and this is a passage

We know well, you know back before the no -co days pastor Mike had the narrow gate ministries

I Just remember watching one of those Videotapes Mike used to shoot these for those of you don't know him or don't know these videos

He used to shoot him. It was in a garage and Mike would have a shirt and tie and jacket on And cutoffs

Because the camera only showed from the waist up So he's in the garage one day preaching away and he goes, you know about heaven and hell and here comes a police siren

By the house he goes you hear that siren. That's for you craziness

Matthew 7 13 and 14 narrow gate ministries, though Don't ask me what all that has to do with this it's just fun to think about narrow gate ministries

I always think about that video enter by the narrow gate. This is at the towards the end of the Sermon on the

Mount Enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction

For those who enter by it are many For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few

So corner says of that passage similarly Jesus commands in this passage

Jesus commands all to get saved That is enter through the narrow gate Then we read that many will not enter the narrow gate

But instead the wide gate to destruction even though it is God's will for them to be saved again

Is that passage descriptive or prescriptive? It is both it does say enter.

There's a command there enter by the narrow gates But he says many will not enter it. Why is it because they choose not to we don't see that I would submit to you.

They won't enter the narrow gate because their natural state is to be on the wide path the wide gate

Takes a supernatural act of God to put them through the narrow gate He says here we'll close with this.

Maybe we could think about it this holiday week here says the

Calvinistic concepts of total depravity and original sin are not scriptural

Babies and little children are alive spiritually As he justified that he says here all babies who die go into the presence of God and not hell

Unlike what Calvinism teaches that's amazing because just a few weeks ago in our course on Calvinism on Thursday night

I said exactly the opposite. I believe that all babies who die go immediately into the presence of God not into hell

And I'd like to think when it comes to Calvinistic soteriology, I like to think of myself as a

Calvinist and then he says After saying that total depravity and original sin are not scriptural listen to this.

There is an age of accountability which is implied in Scripture It doesn't define what that is.

He just says there is an age of accountability Does anybody know the verse that talks about the age of accountability? seeing none

And then he goes on Now tell me what kind of argumentation this is

Augustine originated the doctrine of original sin Which allegedly refers to the adverse spiritual effect

Adams disobedience had on his ancestors And I put in there sick

Because who would Adams ancestors be who are your ancestors

Yeah, the people who went before you so Adams ancestors. I don't know who those people are. He needs a proofreader that Dan corner

Which allegedly refers to the spiritual effect Adams disobedience had on his ancestors the whole human race except Mary That's what

Augustine taught and he says he says about Original sin, but my question is did

Augustine originate the doctrine of original sin? No, definitely not.

I mean who originally the doctrine of original sin Paul stated in Romans, correct?

Anybody before that? David talked about it anybody before David I Would have to go back to Genesis chapter 3 why because God pronounced it upon Adam and Eve He talked about how life was going to be made more difficult how we were all going to suffer

What's interesting here is when he talks about total depravity doesn't I I mean, we'll we'll talk more about this we have just a bit more to do on this and we'll do this next week, but I I would be delighted.

In fact next week. We're gonna get into Romans 6, which he presents He says about Romans 6 just kind of wet your whistle a little bit

He says about Romans 6 that it is the passage of Scripture that most supports free will teaching and yet all

Calvinists avoid it like the plague because they can't deal with it And I'm like, I can't wait to talk about Romans 6 because I think it is anything but a free will

Passage and so we'll talk about that next week Let's close in prayer father

We're thankful this morning that you are sovereign and salvation that you have compassion on your children that you so work in our lives

Not that you help those who help themselves That you push along those who are heading toward you that you take 99 steps towards us

If we take one toward you, but that you take us

Who would have nothing to do with you who hate you who would have if we could have?

Put your son on the cross ourselves You take those who were rebels and you so change our hearts and our minds that we love you you take us and Change us from being outcasts to being

Your dear children in Whom you are working? To conform us into the image of your only begotten

Son father Would you keep us focused on these things on gospel principles on the truth that you rule and you reign and you love?

Lord, I would pray for each of us in this coming year As we think about New Year's resolutions that you would give us

The desire to see friends and family come to Christ that we might rejoice

That we might have those moments where we are thrilled just as you are

With those who come to faith Father I pray that for your blessing on the rest of that our service this morning in Christ's name.