{"id":19112,"date":"2016-06-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-021\/"},"modified":"2016-06-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-26T05:00:00","slug":"soteriology-021","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-021\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 021"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[107],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19112","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-1-john","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 021","sermon_date":"20160626","sermon_month":"6","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3692,"sermon_slides":3693,"sermon_mp3":3700,"sermon_id":"6261694115","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":107,"chapter_and_verse":"5:13","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSoteriology 21, Job 19:25-26\n\nJune 26, 2016\n\nLet\u2019s open our Bibles to the book of Job, chapter 19, verses 25-26, and we\u2019re continuing our study of the doctrine of salvation as we spend our summer months on the doctrine of eternal security.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a definition we\u2019ve been going by.\u00a0 Eternal security means those who have been genuinely saved by God\u2019s grace through faith alone in Christ alone shall never be in danger of God\u2019s condemnation or a loss of salvation, but God\u2019s grace and power keeps them forever saved and secure.\n\nSo what\u00a0 you\u2019ll discover as you kind of tour the body of Christ is not a lot of people\u2026 well, a lot but maybe half the body of Christ accepts eternal security and half does not.\u00a0 So we\u2019re trying to figure out, is this really true, once saved always saved, or are we on some kind of divine probation, God\u2019s going to rip the carpet out from under us at some point.\u00a0 Is that even a possibility?\n\nWe, in our first class together we kind of laid out some introductory thoughts about the doctrine of eternal security, and what we\u2019re doing now is we\u2019re going through the eternal security arguments, I\u2019ve got, I think about thirteen of them.\u00a0 When you put all of them together I think you have a very strong case of eternal security, but in the second part of the class, not today but down the road I\u2019m going to show you the verses that at first glance seem to contradict eternal security.\u00a0 There\u2019s about forty-seven passages, at least, but we\u2019re not dealing with that today.\n\nHere are the arguments, thirteen of them.\u00a0 We\u2019ve gone through the first four; you might remember them as follows: because self-righteousness did not save us in the first place it is not a basis upon which salvation can be lost.\u00a0 And then we also saw that salvation is not given nor maintained by good works.\u00a0 So those first two points are basically trying to say we got into the relationship with God by His grace, so if we got into a relationship with God by His grace why would He turn around and say okay, you\u2019d better maintain your salvation by good works because people that think you can lose your salvation are always saying you have to stay away from sins X, Y, and Z, whatever those are.\u00a0 They never define them but if you don\u2019t stay away from them then you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 So basically what they\u2019re saying is you\u2019re saved by God\u2019s grace but you\u2019d better keep your salvation by works, which, those first two points are just trying to say that would be an inconsistency.\n\nAnd then one of the points we looked at, number three, is if a believer can lose his eternal life then how can eternal life be what?\u00a0 Eternal!\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t make any sense does it. \u00a0So we went through these passages which indicate that if you receive the gift of life the Bible keeps saying it\u2019s eternal.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s the Greek word, aioni\u014ds<\/em>, which means forever.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually the same word used to describe God.\u00a0 So if eternal life can be lost it really was never eternal to begin with.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 John 3:16 you all know by heart probably, \u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but has eternal life,\u201d that\u2019s the Greek word aioni\u014ds<\/em>.\n\nAnd then we went through this argument, number 4, the Bible\u2019s promises guarantee eternal security.\u00a0 I took you through the strongest verses I know of in the Bible, John 4:14, John 5:24, John 6, John 10, Romans 8, Hebrews 13 and if we take these at face value, and can God lie?\u00a0 No He can\u2019t!\u00a0 If we take these at face value, particularly the John 10 verses, if we take these at face value it\u2019s very clear that once you\u2019re in the hand of God absolutely nothing can take you out.\u00a0 And then last week I wasn\u2019t here but Jim McGowan taught I think birth truths, and that\u2019s sort of the idea, we\u2019ll talk more about these as we get into the class but how can you undo birth truths?\u00a0 I mean, if you\u2019re born can you be unborn?\u00a0 Do you know anybody that\u2019s physically born into the world that can suddenly get unborn?\u00a0 You can\u2019t undo a birth can you?\u00a0 So doesn\u2019t the Scripture talk about our relationship to God as a new birth?\u00a0 So if you can\u2019t undo birth in the physical realm how could you undo birth in the spiritual realm?\u00a0 So hopefully Jim covered some concepts like that last time.\n\nAnd we\u2019re not onto our fifth argument of the reality of eternal security and that fifth argument is this: if eternal security is not a reality then the assurance of salvation is impossible.\u00a0 Now there\u2019s a lot of places, a lot of churches that will teach you eternal security but they\u2019ll say you can\u2019t really know if you have salvation or not.\u00a0 So they\u2019ll basically say if you\u2019re one of the elect you have eternal security, but you really don\u2019t know if you\u2019re one of the elect, because the proof of being one of the elect is are you going to persevere to the end of your life?\u00a0 So they\u2019re teaching eternal security but at the same time they\u2019re denying what we would call the assurance of salvation which is the idea that the Christian can know that they have eternal security.\u00a0 So we don\u2019t just teach eternal security here, we also teach the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 We teach the idea that once saved always saved.\u00a0 And beyond that we teach the idea that you can actually know that you have this salvation.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a guessing game.\n\nSo let me take you through some passages that I believe teach the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 And the key point is if the Bible was denying eternal security there\u2019s no way we could ever know we\u2019re going to heaven.\u00a0 But the Bible over and over again wants the child of God to understand that they\u2019re on their way to heaven if they have trusted in Christ.\u00a0\u00a0 So the oldest book of the Bible, Job 19:25-26, notice what it says, and Job had a lot of problems, didn\u2019t he?\u00a0 So he might have thought gosh, in the midst of all of these problems I guess I\u2019m not going to heaven.\u00a0 But notice what he says there in Job 19:25-26, \u00a0\u201cAs for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.\u201d\u00a0 So that\u2019s the doctrine of the Second Coming in the oldest book of the Bible.\u00a0 And then he says, [26] \u201cEven after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;\u201d\u00a0 so Job says even if you destroy this body it\u2019s going to be resurrected one day and I\u2019m going to see God.\u00a0\u00a0 Now he said that in the midst of all of affirmatives and difficulties.\u00a0 So this is very clearly a man that had the assurance of salvation because there doesn\u2019t seem to be any real question mark in his mind about it.\n\nTake a look at one book to the right, Psalm 23, and who wrote Psalm 23?\u00a0 David.\u00a0 Did David have problems?\u00a0 Yeah, and he committed murder, committed adultery, and what does he say in Psalm 23:6, \u201cSurely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD\u201d for how long? \u201cforever.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So there\u2019s both Job and David that seem to have settled in their hearts this assurance of salvation, I\u2019ll be in the house of the Lord forever.\n\nNow if you go into the New Testament, John 5:24, you have a very strong passage on the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 I use this passage a lot because it\u2019s probably one of the strongest and this is God\u2019s promise to you: \u201cTruly, truly,\u201d which is the word amen which means it is certain, he says it twice, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word,\u201d and then it gives the single condition necessary to become a Christian, which is to believe in Christ, which we\u2019ve defined earlier in the course as trusting in Him, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has\u201d that\u2019s present tense, \u201ceternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has crossed\u201d or \u201chas passed\u201d now passed is in the perfect tense which indicates a onetime action in the past with ongoing results, so it\u2019s not like we\u2019re passing out of death into life, we\u2019ve already passed \u201cout of death into life\u201d the moment we trusted in Christ.\u00a0 So, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has\u201d present tense, \u201ceternal life, and does not come into condemnation, but has\u201d you can translate it this way, \u201chas already crossed out of death into life.\u201d\n\nSo\u00a0 you read that and you don\u2019t see any real ambiguity of your eternal destiny if you\u2019ve placed your faith in Christ.\u00a0 Now the problem with us is we evaluate our lives by our works so frequently instead of living our lives on the promises of God.\u00a0 And so you can either spend your life upset because of your shortcomings, which we all have, or you can trust God\u2019s promises.\u00a0 And I would suggest that when you read John 5:24 it promises not just eternal security, but it promises the believer that they can know that they are going to heaven.\n\nNotice just one chapter to the right, John 6:47, another very strong assurance of salvation passage. John 6:47, Jesus again is speaking, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has\u201d present tense, \u201ceternal life.\u201d\u00a0 So trusting in Christ there\u2019s a promise from God that you are given the gift of life and notice the word \u201ceternal\u201d again.\u00a0 It\u2019s life which can never be taken away.\n\nPaul, in the book of Acts, take a look at Acts 16:30-31, this is how Paul shared the gospel.\u00a0 What does Paul say there, Acts 16:30-31, this is the Philippian jailor, remember the story in Philippi where there\u2019s an earthquake, the jail is opened, all the prisoners escaped except for Paul and Silas, and they stay in the prison and the jailor is about ready to commit suicide.\u00a0 Why is he ready to commit suicide?\u00a0 Because you\u2019re as good as dead if prisoners escaped on your watch.\u00a0 And he sees something supernatural in Paul and Silas because first of all, before the earthquake happened they had been flogged and what were they doing all night long?\u00a0 Remember?\u00a0 Praising the Lord!\u00a0 That\u2019s kind of unusual isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 There must be something special about these guys.\n\nAnd then when they have a chance to escape they don\u2019t take it.\u00a0 So what does the jailor say, it says,\u00a0 \u201cand after he brought them out, he said, \u2018Sirs, what must I do to be saved?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s life\u2019s most important question, right.\u00a0 And what does Paul say,\u00a0 [31] \u201cThey said,\u201d be really sorry for you sins and fill out this card\u2026 NO, they didn\u2019t do that, \u201cthey said, \u2018Believe\u2019\u201d that\u2019s a single condition for salvation, \u201cBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,\u201d then it goes on, it says, \u201cyou and your household,\u201d and sort of the implication is that they would go back into their households, at least the Philippian jailor would, and would share the faith with his immediate family and they could be saved too.\u00a0 So it\u2019s not really teaching household salvation, you know, if I\u2019m saved my house gets saved automatically.\u00a0 You know, God doesn\u2019t have any grandkids, right.\u00a0 Everybody has to have their own faith in Christ.\n\nBut it\u2019s interesting to me the way, first of all Paul, how he shares the gospel, how uncomplicated it is; he offers a single condition necessary to be saved and then he says once you believe in Christ you will be saved.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say maybe you\u2019re saved, maybe you\u2019re not, we\u2019ll just have to wait till you get to the end of your life and make sure you\u2019ve got enough good works to prove you\u2019re saved.\u00a0 All that teaching about waiting to the end of your life to see whether you\u2019re saved, you don\u2019t find that at all in the Bible.\u00a0 Paul just makes a simple statement that you\u2019re saved and he gives this Philippian jailor the impression that he could know he\u2019s saved.\n\nNow you go over into Paul in the book of Romans and it\u2019s filled with this whole concept of the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 Let me give you a few verses out of the Pauline letters.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, Romans 5:2, \u201cthrough whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.\u201d\u00a0 Now the key word to underline there, if you\u2019re an underliner in your Bible, is the word \u201chope.\u201d\u00a0 Now when we use the word \u201chope\u201d it\u2019s very different than how biblical writers use the word \u201chope.\u201d\u00a0 Like we say I hope I get that job, that promotion, I hope my house sells, I hope the economy picks up, I hope this works out in my life, I hope that works out in my life and we kind of use this word as kind of an uncertainty, maybe it\u2019s going to happen, maybe it\u2019s not going to happen.\n\nWe use the word \u201chope\u201d as sort of cautiously optimistic but that is not how the Greek New Testament uses the word \u201chope.\u201d\u00a0 The word \u201chope\u201d in the Greek New Testament is elpis<\/em>, which is not how we use the word \u201chope\u201d in English.\u00a0 The Greek uses the word \u201chope\u201d this way:\u00a0 it\u2019s not an anxious wishing or uncertainty but rather it\u2019s confident assurance of something yet future.\u00a0 So this is not an \u201cI hope so\u201d mentality but rather it\u2019s an \u201cI know so\u201d mentality.\u00a0 So many times when we look at the word \u201chope\u201d in the Bible we substitute our own English word into it but that\u2019s not how the Greek uses the word.\u00a0 So when Paul talks about the hope of glory he\u2019s not saying maybe I\u2019m going to get it and maybe I\u2019m not; he\u2019s talking about something that is a confident assurance of something yet future.\u00a0\u00a0 So what the Bible gives us is, if we\u00a0 understand it correctly, is this confident assurance.\n\nLet me give you some more passages that reveal this word \u201chope\u201d and as I go through these just notice how the word \u201chope\u201d keeps showing up over and over and over again.\u00a0 Romans 8, notice verses 23-24, \u201cAnd not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.\u201d All speaking of future glory with God.\u00a0 And then notice verse 24, \u201cFor in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?\u00a0 So it\u2019s true that it all hasn\u2019t been revealed to us at the present time but we can have, because it keeps using this word \u201chope,\u201d confident assurance that we\u2019re going to get it.\n\nNotice the book of Colossians for just a minute, Colossians 1:27, just go to Romans, then 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and you\u2019ll run into Galatians and just remember Go Eat Popcorn, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians Colossians.\u00a0 Or if you don\u2019t like that acronym, G<\/u>od\u2019s E<\/u>lectric P<\/u>ower C<\/u>ompany; G<\/u>alatians, E<\/u>phesians, P<\/u>hilippians, C<\/u>olossians.\u00a0 That way when the pastor says turn to this or that you\u2019re the first person to find it and everybody thinks you\u2019re the most spiritual person in the room.\n\nNotice Colossians 1:27, it says, \u201cto whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.\u201d\u00a0 Now \u201cglory\u201d is the final phase of our salvation and notice how it\u2019s always prefaced, not always but most of the time, with this word \u201chope\u201d which is a confident assurance.\u00a0 If you\u2019re living your life not really sure if you\u2019re going to heaven or not then you\u2019re living beneath your privileges.\n\nNotice Titus 2:13, I don\u2019t know if I have any tricky pneumonic to find Titus but you just keep going to the right, you\u2019ll hit the T\u2019s, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, then you run into Titus and then you\u2019ll go to Titus 2:13 which is a passage we use to define the rapture quite a bit.\u00a0 It says, \u201cLooking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 So what are you looking for today?\u00a0 The world system to clean up its problems?\u00a0 That\u2019s not what I\u2019m looking for, I\u2019m looking for the return of Jesus.\u00a0 And notice how it defines the return of Christ as the blessed hope, Jesus is coming back whether I acknowledge it or not, He\u2019s coming to rescue us out of the world.\u00a0 We can rest in that with confident assurance.\n\nBacking up, take a look at 2 Corinthians 5:8, just a couple of books after Romans and tell me, as you read this was Paul confident in his salvation?\u00a0 What does he say?\u00a0 You probably know this verse by heart, it says, 2 Corinthians 5:8, \u201cwe are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 So Paul says if I die I die, but if I die I\u2019ll go directly into the presence of the Lord.\u00a0 It really doesn\u2019t sound like a guy here that had a lot of nagging doubts about whether he was saved.\n\nAnother passage on that note, notice Philippians 1:20-23, Paul says, \u201caccording to my earnest expectation and hope,\u201d there\u2019s our magic word, \u201cthat I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.\u201d\u00a0 And here\u2019s verse 21, \u201cFor to me, to live is Christ and to die is\u201d what? \u201cgain.\u201d [22] \u201cIf I am to go on living in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me. For I do not know which to choose! [23] But I am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is much better.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So Paul says you know, if I really had my choice in the matter I\u2019d just rather die and go to be with the Lord, which is far better.\u00a0 But \u201cfor me to live is Christ, to die is gain.\u201d\u00a0 If God wants me to continue on in the body so be it, I\u2019ll continue to be a faithful apostle, I\u2019ll continue to write books of the Bible, I\u2019ll continue to minister to the church.\u00a0 So he says it\u2019s a win-win; if I die I go to a better place, if I don\u2019t die God can keep using me in \u201cfruitful labor.\u201d\n\nSo you read passages like this, you don\u2019t get this idea that the man on his death bed had any real uncertainty as his eternal destiny.\u00a0 What I\u2019m trying to get at is he not only believed in eternal security, that\u2019s one thing, but he believed in the assurance of salvation, that it was a current possession of his.\u00a0 Philippians 3:30-21, \u201cFor our citizenship is\u201d where?\u00a0 \u201cin heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; [21] who will\u201d now he starts talking about his resurrection, and look at how certain he is of his resurrection, \u201cwho will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has given to subject all things to Himself.\u201d\n\nSo he very clearly says I\u2019m a citizen of heaven, no ambiguity there; and then he describes the resurrection of his body in very certain terms.\u00a0 And if I read that right he actually uses the word glory, I thought I saw the word hope in there, might want to double check that, related to His resurrection.\n\nWell, what if you\u2019re in a carnal state, then what?\u00a0 Philippians 4:3, \u201cIndeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women\u201d now it\u2019s not just women who get in a carnal state by the way, but here it\u2019s talking about two women, \u201cI ask that you also help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are\u201d written where? \u201cin the book of life.\u201d\u00a0 Now if you go back to verse 2, he says, \u201cI urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.\u201d\n\nSo what happened here?\u00a0 We have two women that once were allies of Paul, they once stood with Paul in the cause of the gospel and they went back into the sin nature which we have, as Christians, an ability to do, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 I don\u2019t have to go back to the sin nature but it\u2019s always there for me to go back to.\u00a0 Today I sin not because I have to, I sin because I want to.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have to sin anymore because of my position in Christ.\u00a0 But many times I want to sin and so I retreat back to the sin nature and this is what happened to these two women; they went from advocates with Paul to being adversaries of each other because of probably some petty reason that\u2019s not given, but these two women were tearing the church apart, Syntyche and Euodia, I call them Sin-touch\u00e9 and Odious.\u00a0 So this is like a real life pastoral situation and what\u2019s interesting to me about this is when Paul exhorts these women to start behaving properly he never calls into question their salvation.\u00a0 In fact he specifically says in verse 3, at the end of it, that their \u201cnames are in the book of life.\u201d\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say oh-oh, maybe those two aren\u2019t one of the elect, look at how they\u2019re acting.\n\nSo these are all very strong passages on the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 Notice Colossians 3:4, \u201cWhen Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.\u201d\u00a0 So he describes future glory as if it\u2019s obviously going to happen for the believer; no ambiguity whatsoever.\n\nAnd then one more on Paul\u2019s letters, notice 2 Timothy, hopefully by now you guys know something about 2 Timothy, we\u2019ve been studying it for about thirty plus weeks.\u00a0 I\u2019m learning a lot about 2 Timothy too by the way.\u00a0 2 Timothy 1:10, He says, \u201cFor this reason I suffer these things but I am not ashamed,\u201d look at this, \u201cfor I know whom I have believed and I am convinced\u201d see how strong that language is, \u201cthat He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.\u201d\u00a0 Well, what had Paul entrusted to God?\u00a0 His soul.\u00a0 His eternity.\u00a0 And so he says I\u2019m going through a lot of problems in my life; in fact, we know that when he wrote this he was in jail, in prison, a difficult time.\u00a0 But he expresses complete confidence in the assurance of his salvation because it didn\u2019t rest on Paul\u2019s ability to guard his own soul.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 I mean, if it rests on our shoulders then I guess there\u2019s room to be nervous, because I can mess things up, right?\u00a0 So can you.\u00a0 But he trusted completely in the ability of God to guard his soul.\u00a0 So does God ever botch jobs up?\u00a0 No He doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 So Paul had the assurance of his salvation because he put the onus on God\u2019s promises, not his own shoulders.\n\nThen we go to the, what we call the general letters, there\u2019s about eight of them, and let me just give you a few verses out of the general letters.\u00a0 Notice 1 Peter, you want to get to the right of Paul\u2019s letters and you\u2019ll come to Hebrews and James and then 1 Peter 1:3-5, look at what Peter writes.\u00a0 \u201cBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living\u201d what? \u201chope\u201d confident assurance, \u201cthrough the resurrection\u201d that\u2019s future but in this case it\u2019s resurrection \u201cof Jesus Christ\u201d [4] to obtain<\/em> an inheritance which is<\/em> imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, [5] who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.\u201d\n\nNow notice that we are entitled to an inheritance; an inheritance legally is something that\u2019s yours, you just haven\u2019t entered into enjoyment of it yet.\u00a0 And you know you\u2019re going to get that inheritance because God says right here in His Word that it can\u2019t be defiled or corrupted.\u00a0 \u00a0And then it goes on and it says we are currently being \u201cprotected by the power of God\u201d we don\u2019t protect ourselves, we\u2019re in God\u2019s power so that we will arrive in heaven on schedule to receive that inheritance.\u00a0 And you look at that and that\u2019s a very strong assurance of salvation passage.\n\nTwo books backwards, go back to Hebrews 2:14-15, now this is talking about death, and probably the greatest fear that human beings have always is death, what happens when I die because we really can\u2019t see, without the eyes of faith in God\u2019s word, what happens on the other side of the grave.\u00a0 So death has always been a terrifying prospect to humanity.\u00a0 And notice what the writer of Hebrews says:\u00a0 \u201cTherefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,\u201d now watch this, verse 15, \u201cand might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.\u201d\n\nSo it\u2019s acknowledging that death is a dominant fear of human beings and it\u2019s saying that Jesus has come into the world to free us from the fear of death.\u00a0 And it even says if we\u2019re living with the fear of death we\u2019re in a state of bondage.\u00a0 So if you as a Christian, if we as Christians, are afraid of death we\u2019re living beneath our privileges.\u00a0 Jesus specifically came into the world to liberate us from the slavery or the bondage of the fear of death. \u00a0So that\u2019s a tremendous promise.\n\nA few more, notice 1 John, further to the right there, almost near the book of Revelation, 1 John 3:1-2, \u201cSee how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. [2] Beloved, now we\u00a0 are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be .\u00a0 We know\u201d see the certainty there, \u201cwe know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.\u201d\u00a0 So it\u2019s just a very clear promise that John makes to his readers that we\u2019re going to enter glory; there\u2019s no ambiguity about it at all.\u00a0 And when you enter glory you\u2019re going to be just like Christ in terms of your character.\n\nAnd then one more, this is probably\u2026 probably in the whole Bible, other than John 5:47, 1 John 5:13 is very clear on this subject of the assurance of salvation. Notice what he says: \u201cThese I\u00a0 have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 Now notice this word \u201cwritten,\u201d when something goes into writing it\u2019s objectively true.\u00a0 And then notice that this is a promise to all believers because he says \u201cI have written to you,\u201d plural.\u00a0 So this is not a promise just for the elite, if there is such a thing as the elite in the body of Christ.\u00a0 This is not just a promise for elders and deacons, Sunday School teachers, it\u2019s \u201cto you,\u201d meaning all of God\u2019s people.\n\nAnd then you\u2019ll notice this word \u201cknow,\u201d know is not maybe it\u2019s going to happen, maybe it\u2019s not, maybe it\u2019s going to rain today maybe it\u2019s not; it\u2019s an absolute assurance.\u00a0 And then \u201cbelieve\u2026\u201d believe is the single condition necessary to get saved, as we have said over and over again.\u00a0 And once you believe what\u2019s written to you and to all of us is something you can know and what is it that you can know is that you presently have eternal life.\u00a0 So you don\u2019t live your life based on how you feel, based on what people say about you, based on your own standards, you live your life based on what God says.\u00a0 God cannot lie, He has made you an iron clad promise that if you\u2019ve trusted in His Son you presently possess the gift of life and because it\u2019s eternal it can never be forfeited.\u00a0 So we\u2019re not talking about a maybe so, we\u2019re talking about a know so idea.\n\nSo eternal security is a wonderful thing but even more wonderful than eternal security is the assurance of salvation where it\u2019s actually part of your possession as a child of God, that you know that you have it.\u00a0 A lot of people I talk to believe in eternal security, they just don\u2019t know whether they have it or not.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And that\u2019s not what we\u2019re teaching here, we\u2019re teaching both eternal security and the assurance of salvation.\n\nNow I found some quotes that are both good and bad; let me give you some good quotes first to back this up.\u00a0 This is from Hannah Whitall Smith, written in 1893 and she writes: \u201cIn the first chapter of Numbers we are told that only those Israelites who could \u2018declare their pedigree\u2019 might be numbered among the men of war; and in the second chapter of Ezra no one who could not \u2018find his register\u2019 and \u2018reckon his genealogy,\u2019 was allowed to exercise the office of priest. Any doubts and uncertainties on these points made them \u2018as polluted,\u2019 and consequently unfit to serve.\u201d\u00a0 She gives several verses there from both Numbers and Ezra.\u00a0 [(see Num. 1:2, 17, 18; 2:2; Ezra 2:62, 63).]\u00a0 Then she says this: \u201cI believe the same thing is also true of Christians now. We can neither be numbered among the Lord's soldiers, nor enter into priestly relations with Him, until we also can \u2018declare our pedigree\u2019 as children of God, and \u2018reckon our genealogy\u2019 as being born of Him.\u201d\u00a0 [Every-Day Religion: The Common Sense Teaching of the Bible <\/em>(1893), p. 5]\n\nAnd what she is saying is people that knew where they came from genealogically, who could confidently declare that were qualified to serve God in a special way.\u00a0 And she\u2019s basically drawing the parallel because we\u2019re all priests, Revelation 1:6 says that we are all a kingdom of priests, and for us to really allow God to use us the way He wants to we need to be able to boldly declare who we are as His children.\u00a0 [Revelation 1:6, \u201cand He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father-- to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.\u201d]\n\nSo the\u00a0 more you buy into this doctrine of the assurance of salvation, the more your mind is not divided on the subject, the more you can focus on what God has you to do and you\u2019re not double-minded as the book of James says, then the more God can use you in a strategic way.\u00a0 As long as\u00a0 you\u2019re bobbing back and forth, am I saved, am I not, she loves me, she loves me not sort of mindset, the more you, in a certain sense, disqualify yourself, not from heaven but from being used by God strategically.\u00a0 That\u2019s her point and I think it\u2019s a great point that she makes.\n\nYou say well, these are really strange doctrines you\u2019re teaching, I\u2019ve never heard anything like this before\u2026 what I want to communicate to you is that what I am saying used to be normal teaching.\u00a0 This used to be mainstream and it\u2019s not hard to figure that out when you look at Dallas Seminary\u2019s doctrinal statement, Article XI.\u00a0 Dallas Seminary was started in the 1920\u2019s, and those that started the school started it very clearly with the belief in the assurance of salvation.\n\nAnd the statement says this:\u00a0 \u201cWe believe it is the privilege, not only of some, but of all<\/u>,\u201d so every child of God has this privilege.\u00a0 \u201cWe believe it is the privilege, not only of some but of all<\/u> by the Spirit through faith who are born again in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured<\/u> of their salvation\u201d see, it\u2019s not\u2026 this statement is not just making a point about eternal security, it\u2019s making a point of the assurance of salvation, can be \u201cassured<\/u> of their salvation\u201d when?\u00a0 Well, you\u2019ve got to wait to the end of your life to see if you\u2019ve done enough good works to prove you\u2019re one of the elect.\u00a0 NO, it doesn\u2019t say that, does it.? \u00a0\u201c\u2026to be assured<\/u> of their salvation\u201d when, from the very day<\/u> they take Him to be their Savior\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Now how in the world could you be confident in the assurance of your salvation, because it goes on and it says, \u201cthat this assurance is not<\/u> founded upon any fancied discovery of their own worthiness<\/u> or fitness.\u201d\n\nIf the only thing I had to work on was my own performance I would not think I\u2019m saved a lot of the time.\u00a0 I had a good day yesterday, I guess I\u2019m saved that day, the prior day I didn\u2019t have such a good day, I guess I\u2019m not saved.\u00a0 And you see, that\u2019s the problem, people are looking intro\u00adspectively at themselves all the time, and they\u2019re not looking at the promises of God.\u00a0 So this assurance of salvation is not based on any worthiness or fitness of their own, \u201cbut wholly upon the testimony of God in His\u201d what? \u201c Word<\/u>,\u201d remember John says \u201cthese things are written,\u201d this is objectively true, and God cannot lie.\u00a0 That\u2019s how the statement can come out and boldly declare what we would call the assurance of salvation.\n\nBut a lot of people, they\u2019re living this way: I\u2019ve got faith, I need to see works to prove I\u2019m saved.\u00a0 And if that\u2019s your mindset how do you ever know if you\u2019ve done enough good works?\u00a0 I mean, what\u2019s the limit?\u00a0 How many old ladies do I have to help across the street?\u00a0 Three, five, seven, twenty?\u00a0 How many sermons do I have to preach?\u00a0 And that\u2019s what bothers me, is people that focus on themselves, these works they\u2019re supposed to do to prove they\u2019re saved are never objectively quantified so you spend your whole life wondering if you\u2019ve done enough to prove that you\u2019re saved.\n\nAnd the Puritans, and this can be documented historically, the people that founded America, who wanted to make America a city on a shining hill, who founded the Ivy League Schools, you know, God used those people in a strategic way but you start getting into their writings and a lot of them did not know if they were Christians or not.\u00a0 A lot of them were pleading for God on their death beds for mercy.\u00a0 Now you read through the Bible, is that what Paul is doing as he\u2019s getting ready to die\u2026\u00a0 pleading for God\u2019s mercy on his death bed?\u00a0 NO, he says I am confident in whom I have believed.\u00a0 And the Reformed movement, I read the Dallas Seminary doctrinal statement, the Reformed movement, it\u2019s almost their Bible, is the Westminster Confession of faith, I believe this was done in 1647, and when you get into Reformed circles, heavy Calvinistic circles you do not tamper with the Westminster Confession;.that is the equivalent of tampering with the Bible.\n\nAnd what I want you to see is chapter 17, Article III, compare what they say about the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 Now some of this is in Old English, it says:\u00a0 \u201cThis infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith,\u201d so they are denying the assurance of salvation; they are not denying eternal security, what they are denying is the idea that you can know you have eternal security.\u00a0 And it goes on, it says, \u201cbut that a true believer will wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he be a partaker of it.\u201d\u00a0 And what it\u2019s saying is you really can\u2019t know if you\u2019re going to heaven or not because if you\u2019re one the elect you have to bear fruit and you really can\u2019t know that until most of your life has transpired.\u00a0 That\u2019s why a lot of the Puritans on their death beds were given this very nebulous standard and they were pleading for God\u2019s mercy.\u00a0 And it\u2019s sad when you think about it because they were hoodwinked into living beneath what God had promised them.\n\nHere\u2019s Theodore Beza, he is one of the key guys in the Protestant Reformation, and I criticize these Protestant Reformers very carefully because a lot of them were killed for what they did in terms of breaking away from Roman Catholicism.\u00a0 And what you have to understand about Luther and Calvin and these luminaries in\u00a0 the Reformed movement is they were Catholics, they came out of Roman Catholicism.\u00a0 And to assert that they just made a clean break is just na\u00efve.\u00a0 They came out of it and they reformed the church in certain areas but they kept a lot of Roman Catholicism in place.\u00a0 That\u2019s why a lot of churches today are\u2026 they call themselves Protestant and Reformed and they are, but they\u2019re Quasi Catholic in some of their beliefs.\u00a0 Many of them are still (bless their hearts) Amillennialists where they don\u2019t believe there\u2019s going to be a future earthly kingdom.\u00a0 Now why wouldn\u2019t they believe that?\u00a0 Well, they rejected what Rome taught in certain areas but they kept intact Roman Catholic eschatology.\u00a0 And so a lot of these guys broke away and they kept intact parts of the Roman Catholic works based system.\n\nSo Theodore Beza says \u201cTherefore, I am elect, is first perceived from sanctification begun in me, that is, by my hating of sin and my loving of righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 [(1519\u20121605)\u00a0 A Little Book of Christian Questions and Responses<\/em>, pp. 96-97]\u00a0 How did Theodore Beza handle assurance of salvation?\u00a0 He\u2019s not flying his plane here based on the compass of the objective truth of God\u2019s word.\u00a0 He\u2019s looking at himself and he\u2019s saying to himself, you know, I\u2019m hating sin and I\u2019m loving righteousness, so I must be one of the elect, so I\u2019m okay.\u00a0 Well, what happens if one week you fall in love with sin, when you go back into sin?\u00a0 Then the assurance of salvation disappears.\u00a0 And this is not what the Scripture teaches, as I\u2019ve tried to argue.\n\nI like to use this quote by John Piper because it\u2019s so outrageous, it\u2019s astounding to me that the body of Christ can even tolerate this it\u2019s so works oriented.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying John Piper doesn\u2019t have some good things to say but the man is steeped in Reform theology and he\u2019s steeped in Calvinism, a brand of it that says that faith is a gift and if you\u2019re truly one of the elect you must bear fruit.\u00a0 \u00a0If that\u2019s your belief then the assurance of salvation disappears.\u00a0 So he writes: \u201cNo Christian can be sure that he is a true believer.\u201d\u00a0 I mean, does that at all harmonize with the verses we went through earlier?\u00a0 \u201cNo Christian can be sure that he is a true believer.\u00a0 Hence, there is an ongoing need to be dedicated to the Lord and to deny ourselves so that we might make it.\u201d [John Piper and Pastoral Staff, TULIP: What We Believe about the Five Points of Calvinism: Position Paper of the Pastoral Staff (Desiring God Ministries, 1997), 25, cited in Dave Hunt, What Love is This?<\/em>, 379.]\n\nAnd I look at a statement like that and I say that\u2019s works salvation right there.\u00a0 Why is that not denounced by Christianity?\u00a0 But that statement passes as normal in many circles.\n\nJohn Mac Arthur, as I\u2019ve said a number of times I like a lot of the things John MacArthur teaches; I\u2019ve read several of his books\u00a0 but on this doctrine of assurance of salvation if you get under the ministry of John MacArthur and you start listening to it regularly, you start reading his stuff and there are people around that I call MacArthurites, it\u2019s almost like you\u2019re challenging the Apostle Paul if you challenge John MacArthur on anything.\u00a0 You get around those people and what you\u2019ll discover is a lot of them don\u2019t have assurance of salvation because this comes through John MacArthur\u2019s ministry constantly.\u00a0 He writes in his book, Saved Without A Doubt<\/em>, [p. 177] which to me is the most mislabeled book ever: \u201cIf a person fails to love and obey the Lord through the trials of life, then there is no evidence that he possesses saving faith.\u201d\u00a0 Wow, so if I go through trials of life and I have any doubts I\u2019m not a Christian\u2026 does not the book of James tell us that we, as brethren, can be like wind tossed to and fro, a wave tossed to and fro by wind?\n\nOf course a Christian can doubt things.\u00a0 Did not Peter doubt things?\u00a0 Did he not deny the Lord three times?\u00a0 Did he not walk out on the water to the Lord and saw the wind and the waves and began to sink?\u00a0 I mean, are we going to say that Peter\u2019s salvation was suddenly erased at that point?\u00a0 He writes, \u201cIf a person fails to love and obey the Lord through the trials of life, then there is no evidence that he possesses saving faith.\u00a0 How many people do you know who came to church for a while, had a little trouble in their lives, and left?\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ve left church four times in my life just because church is a place where you can get hurt by people.\u00a0 Am I going to say I wasn\u2019t saved because I was recovering from my wounds.\u00a0 \u201cAlthough they may have made a profession of faith in Christ, they cannot be identified as those who love Him because their lives are not characterized by enduring obedience.\u201d\n\nWell, what is \u201cenduring obedience?\u201d And how much obedience is necessary?\u00a0 It\u2019s never objectively quantified.\u00a0 So you wonder, do I have enough?\u00a0 And that\u2019s the state people are in.\u00a0 He goes on in his book, The Gospel According to Jesus<\/em> and he says \u201cGenuine assurance comes from seeing the Holy Spirit\u2019s transforming work in one\u2019s life.\u201d\u00a0 So he\u2019s looking not at the promises of God but is God using him.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where his assurance comes from.\n\nJohn Murray says, \u201cThe crucial test of true faith is endurance to the end, abiding in Christ, and continuance in the Word\u2026He cannot abandon himself to sin; he cannot come under the domination of sin; he cannot be guilty of certain kinds of unfaithfulness\u2026Let us appreciate the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints and recognize that we may entertain the faith of our security in Christ only as we persevere in faith and holiness to the end.\u201d\u00a0 [Redemption Accomplished and Applied, pp. 152, 154-55<\/em>]\u00a0 Another example of the denial not of eternal security but of the assurance of salvation.\n\nAnd if you come out of a Roman Catholic background this is largely what you think because what you\u2019re told in Roman Catholicism is you have to believe in Jesus, He does about 90% but you\u2019ve got to do\u00a0 10%.\u00a0 And what\u2019s your 10%?\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to pay, pray and obey.\u00a0 So how do you know if you\u2019ve payed enough, prayed enough, or obeyed enough?\u00a0 This comes out of the New York Times and it summarizing Roman Catholic teaching.\u00a0 It says, \u201cChurch teaching is that I don't know, at any given moment, what my eternal future will be\u2026I can hope, pray, do my very best \u2013 but I still don't know. \u00a0Pope John II doesn't absolutely know that he will go to heaven, nor does mother Theresa of Calcutta, unless either has had a special divine revelation.\u201d\u00a0 [Cardinal John O\u2019Connor of NY quoted in Samuel Howe Verhovek, Cardinal Defends a Jailed Bishop Who Warned Cuomo on Abortion, <\/em>New York Times, February 1, 1990.]\n\nIs that not a denial of the assurance of salvation.\u00a0 And then my buddy, Arthur Pink, I love Arthur Pink, he wrote some great stuff.\u00a0 And he says this, \u201cReaders, if there is a reserve in your obedience, you are on your way to hell.\u201d\u00a0 [A. W. Pink, Practical Christianity<\/em>, p. 16.]\u00a0 Boy, that really gives me a lot of assurance of salvation.\u00a0 Arthur, you didn\u2019t say that, did you?\u00a0\u00a0 And he did.\n\nNow real quickly what do you do with subjective experiences.\u00a0 What do you do with a baby who has a birth certificate, that\u2019s how we know the baby is alive, but aren\u2019t there subjective experiences that go along with birth?\u00a0\u00a0 Crying, growing, hunger, and those kind of things.\u00a0 So as a Christian you know that you\u2019re a child of God based on the authority of God\u2019s Word but aren\u2019t there subjective experiences we have?\u00a0 Hunger for His Word, hunger for fellowship with God\u2019s people, a love of righteousness, a hatred for sin.\u00a0 What Lewis Sperry Chafer calls those is secondary experiences.\n\nSo he says, \u201cThere is a normal Christian experience. There are new and blessed emotions and desires.\u201d\u00a0 Now I remember when I got saved I had a desire to read the Bible; I never had that before.\u00a0 So that was sort of an evidence that I was truly a Christian.\u00a0 So there are these secondary experiences that we have.\u00a0 He says, \u201cThere is normal Christian experience.\u00a0 There are new and blessed emotions and desires. \u00a0Old things do pass away; and behold all things do become new; but all such experiences are but\u00a0 secondary evidences<\/u><\/em>, as to the fact of salvation, in that they grow out of that positive\u00a0 repose of faith which is the primary evidence.\u201d\u00a0 [Lewis Sperry Chafer, Salvation: A Clear Doctrinal Analysis<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977), 60. Italics added]\n\nSee that?\u00a0 As to the fact of salvation is that they grow out of that positive reproes of faith which is the primary evidence.\u00a0 What is your primary evidence that you\u2019re saved?\u00a0 The promises of God that we went through earlier.\u00a0 What about other things that we have?\u00a0 A desire to pray, a desire to be with God\u2019s people.\u00a0 Chafer very carefully categorizes those as secondary evidences.\u00a0 And the reason they\u2019re secondary is if you move into carnality those things can disappear, just like in the physical world you can have birth defects, can\u2019t you?\u00a0 You can have a physical birth but there are complications that can happen in the life of a newborn child that hamper the growing process.\n\nSo in the same way we, as Christians (and this is why Paul condemns carnality) can move back into carnality and if you move back into carnality what happens to those secondary evidences?\u00a0 They can be squelched, can\u2019t they?\u00a0 So Paul writes, \u201cAnd I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people<\/em> but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. [2] I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it,<\/em> and even now you are still not able; [3] for you are still carnal. For where there are<\/em> envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere<\/em> men?\u201d(NKJV)\u00a0 So that\u2019s why Chafer is very clear to distinguish between primary evidences and secondary evidences.\u00a0 Primary evidence comes from the objective truth of God\u2019s Word that your salvation is sure.\u00a0 Certainly there are secondary evidences but you need to count those as subsumed under the larger category of God\u2019s promises because those subjective experiences can be hampered\u00a0 through carnality.\n\nSo the bottom line: Joseph Dillow has a good statement here, this is where we\u2019re finished, he says: \u201c\u201cNowhere in the Bible is a Christian asked to examine either his faith or his life to find out if he is a Christian. He is told only to look outside of himself to Christ alone for his assurance<\/u> that he is a Christian. The Christian is, however, often told to examine his walk of faith<\/em> and life to see if he is walking in fellowship and in conformity to God's commands.\u201d\u00a0 [Joseph Dillow, Final Destiny: The Future Reign of the Servant Kings<\/em> (Monument, CO: Panyim, 2012), 454.]\n\nSo I realize that this was sort of a hard-hitting study and many of you may be struggling with this idea of assurance of salvation.\u00a0 I guess I would just leave you with this parting remark that the key thing in the assurance of salvation is to live your life not looking at yourself but looking at what God has promised you to do.\u00a0 And secondary evidences which can come and go should not be\u00a0 your primary testimony that salvation is something that you can be assured of.\u00a0 As long as\u00a0 you keep placing the onus on God\u2019s promises and what God has purposed to do then the assurance of salvation is yours.\u00a0 But once our eyes get off of God and His promises and onto ourselves then it\u2019s very easy for us to start to myth the assurance of salvation and live beneath our privileges.\u00a0 So I\u2019m sorry I went a little long there, I wanted to get those quotes in because I thought they were important.\u00a0 So at this time we will stop and we could open it up for some questions for a couple of minutes, if there are any.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t