Soteriology

Good evening everyone. Welcome to week six and survey of Bible doctrines here at Sovereign Grace Academy. Most of the other weeks of this particular course we have started with a pop quiz however, I'm giving you a Respite from the pop quiz tonight.

Because Last week we had to Take the evening off I had a family emergency which kept me away and I did not feel like it was fair for us to come in sort of blindly into a pop quiz, so Keep in mind we have two more weeks.

So you may see another pop quiz at least once before the end of the semester. And we are getting close to the end. We have tonight which is Soteriology we have next week, which is Ecclesiology or the doctrine of the church and then finally our last week will be Eschatology, which is the doctrine of last things.

Thank you, Bobby. I appreciate that. So that is our that is the rest of the course three Thursdays and then we'll have a about a month break and we come back our next course is going to be apologetics a introduction to Apologetics, which is the defense of the scripture.

Defining Soteriology and the Basic Terms of Salvation

So tonight we're going to be looking at the doctrine of salvation as Was mentioned before class. This is we call this doctrine Soteriology and That that's a word that is generally unfamiliar to most people.

You know, if you hear Christology, you know, it's about Christ if you hear theology, you know, it's about God. But the word the word Soteriology is based on the root word in the Greek. Which is the root is actually so-so.

So in English would be so-so or so tear.

And.

So.

The the word means Salvation or to say So Soteriology is the study of the doctrine of.

Salvation and.

I want to begin tonight by defining some important words which are necessary to understand regarding the doctrine of Salvation, so if you have your notes, I'd like you to put three words on your paper.

We're going to discuss these three words. The first word is justice the second word is mercy and the third word is grace justice mercy and grace. Mr. Jones. Define justice. That's fine. I mean, that's that's okay to write a wrong.

We think of the word when someone says I want justice for something that's and that's usually the way that that is being used. That's certainly one appropriate way. What's another what's another definition?

Payment for a crime. Okay. Okay.

Appropriate outcome, okay. Anybody else? All right, when we think of the word justice. The word justice has a root. What is the root of the word justice? Just right. We think of something that is just.

And we think of something that is.

Right.

Just is Right or more specifically righteous. That which is just is that which is righteous. My son is named justice. But my son's name is not justice J-u-s-t-i-c-e. My son's name is J u s t u s justice because this word means Righteousness and justice I see is the application of Righteousness.

So justice is righteousness. Justice I see is the application of Righteousness. Make sense.

So.

We have all sinned and Fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3 23 tells us that What is sin. We talked about this in a previous class on anthropology in the doctrine of sin, what is sin. Breaking of God's law.

What does the law require when it is broken? Justice it requires the application of Righteousness the application of a righteous punishment right, so justice is receiving what is right in Regard to what you have done.

Receiving the just reward for what you have done. Somebody goes before a judge and they have committed a crime and The judge sets them free Without any punishment. What does the world say? That is unjust.

Or that is an act of injustice. All right. That's how we define justice and injustice. Justice is done when Righteousness is applied. When a righteous punishment is applied to the breaking of the law and when the righteous punishment is not accomplished we say it's unjust it's Injustice and I I'm stressing the point here because our sin rightly deserves God's punishment.

Our sin rightly deserves Justice and the thing the one thing we have to remember about God is he is infinitely just. He is righteousness in fact one of God's attributes. If you ever go back to class One or two I forget which one it is when we discuss the attributes of God.

We talked about the attributes of God of his love we talked about the attributes of God of his of his aseity. Which is his independence and his self-existence and we said one of the other attributes of God is his righteousness.

God is holy and just. The Bible declares that in fact the Bible talks about we should extol his Righteousness we should exalt in his justice. So when we think of salvation We have to first consider the fact that what we are saved from Ultimately and in the final analysis is the justice of God because our sin deserves his.

Justice.

Okay, so the next word is the word Mercy so we have justice is the application of Righteousness or in a sense getting what we deserve you could write that as a shortened. Understanding justice means you get what you deserve mercy.

Well, let me ask what is a word for mercy? What's another word for mercy? You said passion. Compassion. Okay. Compassion is an expression of mercy. Okay. What's another word that comes to mind with mercy?

Forgiveness, that's good. What's another word comes to mind? I have a specific legal term in mind Pardon. Very good. Very good. So when we think of mercy We think of a pardon for instance when the One of the things that is granted to the president of the United States is the power of the presidential pardon.

He can look at a man who is guilty of having committed a crime and who is serving a just Sentence for that crime and the president can by virtue of his office extend mercy and provide a presidential pardon.

When a man is on death row He can receive a stay of execution. Governor calls and says we're not going to execute him. We're going to extend Mercy or even if it's only for a time, even if it's only for an additional 24 hours.

They're still looking for a piece of evidence or additional 24 hours. They're still running through some form of appeal. We're going to extend mercy. Right and so what we have to understand about mercy is Mercy is not a category of justice.

Mercy is the withholding of.

Justice.

So justice is getting what we deserve. Mercy is the withholding of what we deserve. So the category changes. The category goes from justice to. And understand what I'm about to say is very particular and how I'm going to say it.

Non-justice, okay mercy is Non-justice, it's not injustice or unjustice. It's non-justice meaning. It's the holding back of.

Justice.

Okay, that's an important. Mercy is not a category of justice. It's a category of non-justice. It's holding back.

Justice.

Now the third of The three words which I think must be understood as we begin to talk about salvation. It's the category of grace. Now you probably have all because I know you've all been in church and many of you have Biblical language sort of in in your mind.

You probably all have a definition for grace. So for a moment, if anybody would like to share what would be a definition of grace that you have heard or maybe you've expressed. Unmerited favor. Okay, Bobby.

Okay, you're jumping ahead of me a little bit because that is that goes along. What we've talked about right. If justice is getting what we deserve and Mercy is not getting what we deserve Grace is receiving something.

We don't deserve. It's a gift and Like you said because it's not deserved. We would call it unmerited. That's where the term you use Frank. Unmerited means it's undeserved.

So.

When we talk about salvation We deserve Justice we deserve God's wrath. God Withholds his wrath and we'll talk about why in a moment, but but just for now just expressing that he withholds his justice and Instead he gives to us Grace, he gives a gift that we do not deserve.

The word grace the word charis does mean a gift. Gift yes, sir. In Greek, it would well in English with ch ari s ch ari s. But it's actually the Greek Ch ari s if you have your well, you probably don't even have to turn there, but if you want to turn their Ephesians 2 8 expresses salvation is by grace through faith and That is not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God not of works. Lest anyone may boast. What's interesting about that phrase is The word grace is defined in the passage for by grace. Are you saved through faith and that not of yourself it?

Grace is the gift of God. Grace that is defined as a gift and so we would say Justice is Getting what you deserve and that is application of righteousness. Mercy is holding back what you deserve. You deserve wrath.

You don't receive wrath. That's mercy, by the way. Everybody alive today Whether they are saved or unsaved Live their life under the mercy of God back in the Time of Jonathan Edwards He preached a sermon entitled sinners in the hands of an angry God and Many people today particularly in the Academy the colleges and universities Will look at sinners in the hand of an angry God as an example of the madness of Jonathan Edwards.

Because he was so Seemingly violent and his expression of God's Anger and wrath at sin. He compares man to a spider over a fire who's only being upheld by the Tenuous web which at any moment could break and the fire would consume the spider and man is like that Basically being held out of the wrath of God by the hand of God and people say oh what?

Madness to look at God that way what madness to look at a God that way, but again, what is the reason for? Edwards is expression. It's to express that God has a justice a fiery wrath against sin and The only thing Jonathan Edwards was trying to explain the only thing that's keeping you out of the fire of God's wrath.

It's his mercy. The only thing that keeps you awake and alive and even alive as you sleep at night. And the only reason you are not falling into the pit of hell at this very moment is the mere mercy of God.

You do not deserve grace. And you do not deserve Even his mercy, but he gives it freely. This is what bothers me when I when I talk to people who do not believe in God or when I'm talking to unbelievers.

And I I just have to I have to remind myself not to just to just to just holler out. You are living under the mercy of God and yet you deny that he even exists. You are sitting right now under the mercy of God and the only reason your heart remains.

Beating in your chest is the mere command of that God who created you whom you do not. What an amazing reality. So understanding these three Concepts is critical justice. Mercy and grace. I want to read from dr. Sproul.

He said this. It is critical that we understand this because we are prone to thinking that God owes us something. We often believe that if God were really good He would give us a better life in some way, but if we think that God owes us something we're actually thinking about justice.

Because grace is never owed. God is not obligated to give grace to anyone. The classic definition of grace is unmerited favor as Frank said when God behaves in a favorable manner. Towards us even though we have no claim to it by our merit.

That is always grace. The very fact that we are alive Is an act of God's grace. If God were to give us what we deserve right at this moment. None would stand low. Lord if you should count iniquities who could Stand remember that scripture.

Oh Lord if you shall count iniquities. Who could stand? You know blessed as he. Romans 4 blessed as he. Against whom the Lord will not count his sin. That's mercy. So that being the introduction. Let us now look to our outline.

Our outline tonight is simple. We're going to look at three aspects of Soteriology, unfortunately, we are going to over view so broadly that it's almost unfair. But this is what we've had to do every class, but I do hope that you're getting some value out of these things.

I hope that I'm spurring you to think and hopefully the book is Undergirding what we're talking about by the way. So I do not forget I did a special podcast this week for you. If you go to coffee with the Calvinist, there is a podcast on the instrumental cause of salvation it goes along with a lesson in your book and If you would like if you would please go and listen to that in it.

It was yesterday's program. It's called the instrumental cause of salvation. It's available on Facebook YouTube all the different so sermon audio you can go find it. Or just go look up coffee with the Calvinist on Google.

It'll take you right to my page but it the instrumental cause of salvation is going to address a deeper understanding of Sola Fide. But let's our outline for tonight is this first we're going to look at common and special grace.

Then we're going to look at the doctrine of Sola Fide. And I knew we wouldn't get as far as I wanted to that's why I did the podcast to it to add to what we're Going to do then we're going to take our break and when we come back from the break.

We're going to discuss the five points of Calvinism. Yeah in 30 minutes. Don't worry I have a plan.

Huh.

Yikes, that's right. That's right. Yikes. All right on common and special grace. And we use the term common grace. We're using it in this sense. It is common because it is experienced by all and It is grace because it is undeserved.

In a sense, we've already talked about it. The very fact that people's hearts are beating in their chest right now is an example of God's grace. Now some people and this is a Relatively recent argument that's been going on in Theological circles.

If some people would say this is not actually grace. It's mercy.

And.

They would say grace only applies to the elect but God not. Delivering the non elect over to an immediate and fiery wrath is an act of mercy. But not grace and so they would say common mercy not common grace.

I think that they're splitting hairs a little and So I but I just want to mention if you ever hear somebody say well, I don't believe in common grace. Then the response I would give is okay. Do you believe in common mercy?

Okay.

Why do you why do you not want to use the term grace and again? Because their argument is grace only applies to the elect and I disagree. But just in case you ever hear that or happen to come across that in your studies that is a Relatively recent argument that's been going on in some theological circles that grace only applies to Salvific terms.

I disagree but from a theological perspective I think that it's something that's worth a conversation. If somebody disagrees, you know, we could have that conversation.

But.

Ultimately I base The term common grace on several passages of Scripture, but I'll give you two to write down. The first one is Matthew 5 45 Jesus is speaking and he says that God causes his son to rise on the evil and on the good that's the physical son and he sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

The point of that passage that's part of the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5 to 7 the point of that passage Jesus is making is that even unbelievers unrighteous people Receive gifts from God. That's why I call it grace because sunlight is a gift and rain is a gift.

It's used to to to nourish crops and to grow food. Even unbelievers have the benefit of Sun and rain and we can extend that out. Medicine works in an unbeliever's life in the same way. It works in a believer's life.

You know if you have a headache and you take aspirin and it helps your headache and an unbeliever takes aspirin. It might help their headache too. It's what I'm saying is there are certain gifts and I do think medicine is a gift from God.

I think it's a tool that God uses and and and we could look at a many gifts, you know good food and art and and music and all of these good gifts that God has given our universally enjoyed. Therefore I would say there are examples of common grace because they're gifts from God that we didn't deserve.

But yet are universally enjoyed so we would call that common grace. Psalm 145 9 is a very important passage. It says the Lord is good to all and His mercy is over all that he has made now notice it uses mercy.

An important word that's again common grace common mercy. But it does say he's good to all. God doesn't have to be good to anyone and yet there is a certain aspect of his of His beneficence which is enjoyed by all his goodness.

His love is enjoyed in one sense by all and one thing I always like to point out is even though we call it common grace. It's only common in the sense that it's intended for the whole human race. It's certainly uncommon in the sense that it is Amazing we shouldn't we shouldn't deny the amazing nature of it when we use the word common.

We simply mean universal. It's enjoyed by all. We're not saying it's common in the sense that it's Like a like a common tool or a common person or say with this it's it's still extraordinary grace. Yes.

That's right all good things come from God with whom there's no shadow of turning absolutely that's James right James. Yeah, but it is I don't remember that I don't remember the street sign and an address but I know it's I know that the neighborhood.

Yeah.

Yeah, all good gifts come from above. I want to read from Donald Gray Barnhouse. He says this. Speaking of unbelievers. You are not a believer in Christ and yet you're still out of hell. That is the grace of God.

You're not in hell, but you are on earth in good health and prosperity. That is the common grace of God. The vast majority of those who read these words are living in comfortable homes or apartments. That's common grace.

You're not fleeing as refugees along the highways of a country desolated by war. That's common grace. You come home from your job and your child runs to meet you in good health and spirits. That's common grace.

You're able to put your hand in your pocket and give a child a quarter or a half dollar for his allowance. That is common grace that you have in abundance. You go into your house and you sit down for a good meal.

That is common grace on the day that you read these words. There are more than a billion and a half members of the human race who will go to sleep without Enough to satisfy their hunger. And the fact that you have enough is common grace.

You do not deserve it and if you think that you do deserve anything at all from God beyond the wrath with Which you have so richly earned you merely show your ignorance of spiritual principles. Powerful paragraph.

And by the way, I have it here. I didn't even think my in my notes. It's John James 117 every good gift comes from above. It was just I just didn't look far enough down. Is James 117? Every good and perfect gift is from above coming from the Father of heavenly lights.

Reformed scholar Lewis Burkhoff said this common grace curbs the destructive power of sin. Maintains in a measure the moral order of the universe thus making an orderly life possible. Distributes in varying degrees gifts and talents among men.

Promotes the developments of science and art and showers untold blessings upon the children of men. This is common grace we look around and we see even unbelievers producing Beautiful pieces of art unbelievers producing amazing medicine and advancements and technology.

This is common grace. They do all of this as image bearers of God in spite of their image. In spite of the one whom they're imaging. Because they don't believe in him and yet they're expressing the very image in which they were created so that's common grace.

But now let's look at special grace because when we talk about the two types of grace common grace is that which is both understood and enjoyed by all. But special grace is enjoyed only by the elect or if you want to be less Calvinistic in your language because that rubs your Grubs you the wrong way.

You could say it's only enjoyed by believers. Understand this when the when the Calvinist uses the word elect that is a biblical word. But it's also just another word for those who believe. So shouldn't bother us to use that word.

God has a universal grace which involves all people but we must also understand that he has a special grace a Special love relationship for those with whom he is in a covenant relationship. I will ask you this.

I think I can't imagine you not answering it. The way that I think but maybe you think differently. Do you think that God? demonstrated the same form of Love and grace to Moses as he did Pharaoh. Not at all.

I In fact, we're going to look at Romans 9 in a moment, but just without even having to go to Romans 9. It's just in our minds God says to Moses I Will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will show compassion to whom I show compassion.

He says that very thing in regard what? Yeah, so the idea that that God has an obligation to give the same mercy.

To.

Two different individuals would deny Romans 9 13 where it says very specifically Jacob have I loved And he saw have I hated. Now let's for a moment discuss that very Well very often misunderstood passage.

I'll never forget a Conversation and maybe you've heard me say this before but in Many years ago I was having a conversation and the man said Well, I believe God loves everyone Absolutely equally. I believe there God loves everyone.

Absolutely equally and I said well in my Bible, it says Jacob. I loved Esau. I hated and he said oh wait hated means loved less. And I said Do you hear yourself talking. Do you hear yourself do you hear what you just said because your first statement is God loves everyone equally and Then when I challenged you with a verse of Scripture that says Jacob, I loved Esau.

I hated you said but wait hated means loved less, but you just said he loves everyone equally we are back To the same problem because whether or not you translate hated as a Vengeful form of vitriol hate or whether you translate hated as simply loving less.

Wherever you fall on that understanding of hatred there is obviously a distinction between the way God loved Jacob and The disposition he had towards Esau. Yes, I Honestly want to be careful going down that road because it's a very that's that's a longer conversation when we talk about the word passions as it's used in the 1689 confession and in the Westminster confession when it says God is without body parts or passions what it refers to is God Changing so what we would say is God loved Jacob.

Eternally he didn't change in his position towards Jacob.

Does that make sense?

So passions in the in the in the 17th century specifically when it when it refers to passions It referred to changing in a in a disposition. God does not change. Yes, God is not emotional in the way that he that he changes up and down his disposition towards Jacob.

This is why he says in Romans 9 That it was before they were born before they had the chance to do anything good or bad. He said Jacob. I have loved Esau. I've hated. Yeah, so so. It's not as if God doesn't love.

It's God's love is perfect and unchanging and. So passions in that sense means change like you and I when we are passionate we move in and out of love. We move, you know. Language is applied to God, but we have to be careful not to over push the analogy to say God is somehow changing.

That's the key to immutability. That he who is perfect is always perfect.

That that helpful good.

All right, so getting back to the question of special grace God has special grace for his elect. Which we find and you can just write the passage down Romans 9 6 through 13 and of course that ends with the verse that we just discussed Jacob.

I loved Esau. I hated. But if you follow it back, I think it's easy to find yourself through the line of Scripture. Seeing it not just with Jacob and Esau. But you can go back one generation further and you can see it with Isaac and Ishmael.

God certainly chose the son of promise Isaac and He did not express the same grace and mercy towards Ishmael now. He did extend a certain form of grace toward Ishmael. When his mother, you know took him away God spoke to her and there was a certain there's a certain sense of mercy given to Hagar the the woman.

There is a certain grace and mercy given but it's not exactly the same and therefore God is able and it and does choose. How and to whom he expresses his mercy and grace. Going back a generation before that?

Well, no, I was just gonna say Abraham. Abraham was Chosen out of all of his family. He was an idolater right along with his family. And yet God chose Abraham who was in a family of idolaters to be the recipient of his covenant.

God chose to enter into a covenant relationship with Abraham that Abraham one didn't ask for and two did not deserve. And it was certainly different than a covenant that he entered. The Abrahamic Covenant is different than any other covenant that he had entered into with anyone up until that point and since Abrahamic covenant is unique from you will come the one who will bless the world.

The Messiah. And we go back to Noah. I mean Noah and his three sons and his three and their wives were the ones they were the only ones who received the benefit of being on the ark. Now one could argue well, they're on the ark because they had faith you mustn't exclude one for the for the sake of the other.

Yes, they had faith. But it is still a grace. God's Willingness to extend his grace I would argue is the very reason for their faith. But even even beyond that is to simply say that grace and faith don't cancel each other out.

They complement one another. God's grace toward Noah and Noah's faith towards God are is Are both true and I mean you walk back through the line Esau or I'm sorry Enoch walked with God. You know and on on up the line walking backwards through history back to the two brothers Abel and Cain.

Why did God choose Cain's offering and not Abel's? I'm sorry the other way around. Why did God choose Abel's offering and not Cain. Hebrews 11 tells us because Abel had faith. But again, why did Abel have faith.

Yeah, it was a gift from God so we we go all the way back and we see God being gracious and All of it. This is a gift.

From God.

And throughout Redemptive history we must understand If anyone has saved it is by a special grace of God which is undeserved and Ultimately sovereign in its distribution. Our church's name. Pretty on the nose if people want to know what we believe.

Sovereign grace. We believe God is sovereign in the Distribution of his grace one because he doesn't have to give grace to anyone and yet he chooses to.

All right.

So.

That's the difference between common and special grace. You guys have any questions about that? Okay? Let's move now to the doctrine of Sola Fide because we We know that salvation is by grace alone. But it is also through faith alone.

Salvation is not something that we receive without knowing it. Because salvation is something we receive By faith, therefore we know it. It's not something that I don't think somebody can be saved. Well, let me let me back that up.

I think somebody can be saved and experience doubt. But I don't think somebody can be saved and not know it at all. They have to know they've believed, you know, they have to believe and salvation accompanies faith and so.

The idea that someone can be saved and ignorant Would be difficult because the Bible says how will you believe and what you've not heard and how will you hear unless someone? Preaches and and faith comes by hearing right?

And so we have to believe to be saved and.

So.

The doctrine of Sola Fide is simply this doctrine that we are justified by faith alone in Christ alone and now we are getting back to our first three words. Because when we talk about the doctrine of Sola Fide, I want to hope this will be clear.

Salvation is a giant concept. Which includes many subsets of concepts one of which is justification and some people confuse salvation and justification. But salvation includes not only justification, but also sanctification and glorification.

We are saved from sin the power from the from the from the penalty of sin. That's justification. We're saved from the power of sin that's sanctification and ultimately we will be saved from the presence of sin that's glorification.

So that's inclusive of salvation.

But.

Justification regards the word justice, right? Because God is not going to save us in a way that is.

Unjust.

God is not going to save us in a way that is unjust because he is infinitely just. He is infinitely holy and therefore his salvation will be just. And this is why Christ came because in coming he through living a perfect life and dying a substitutionary death Is able to receive from God what we deserve on our behalf.

His active obedience. His life lived in perfect obedience to the law. Becomes our life. When I stand before God, I don't stand with my life as my merit. I stand with Christ's life as my merit. Nothing in my hand.

I bring only to the cross. I cling right? This is what we sing the the the life of Christ is my merit and The death of Christ is my satisfaction. It satisfies the wrath of God. That's what we call the active and passive obedience of Christ active and living out the law and passive and receiving in himself the penalty for our sin and.

So.

God is not unjust. But he takes the justice that I deserve and He places it on a substitute which is not unjust. Because the substitute is willing. The substitute came to do that very thing to take that punishment I Deserved and to live the life that I didn't live that I couldn't live and so Christ is.

The.

One who the Bible says in Romans chapter 4 Makes it to where God can be both just and the justifier of those who have faith in Christ. Why you ever heard that. For you remember that phrase from Romans 4 God is just and the justifier.

See the what that saying is God is righteous and The one who declares us righteous He doesn't give up his righteousness in declaring us, right? Here's how God would be unrighteous. If God looked at you in your sin, and he said Daisy as much sin as you have I'm gonna close my eyes to it I'm gonna turn a blind eye to your sin, and I'm just gonna call you just that would be a lie.

Because you're not just you're a sinner. I am too. You are a sinner who deserves God's wrath and if he were to turn a blind eye to you, that would be injustice. But by God looking at you through Christ Who was perfect?

He's no longer unjust but he's perfectly just because Christ has taken in himself the penalty you deserved and You have received his righteousness. Thereby God remains perfectly. Just see this is why I can say to the Muslim your God is unjust.

Because the Muslim God Allah receives his people.

By.

Forgiveness without a substitute. He simply overlooks their sin. That's the hope of every Muslim that Allah will simply overlook my sin. And if that is the case Allah is unjust. He has turned a blind eye to sin.

The God of the Bible has never turned a blind eye to sin. His forgiveness is always based on the work of a substitute throughout the whole Old Testament. What do we see? Sacrifice. After sacrifice. After sacrifice.

For what. For the sins of my people. You had the scapegoat. They would pray over the scapegoat and they would send him out into the wilderness. What for to expiate. To carry the sin away. And then they took the next and they Sacrificed it and they sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat.

Why to propitiate. To satisfy wrath. So you have expiation the carrying away of sin. You have propitiation the satisfaction Of wrath. This is both in the two goats in Christ pictures both because one the Bible says he carries our sin.

He takes our sin from us. Castes as far as the east is from the west. But he also pays the penalty for it.