{"id":19143,"date":"2017-03-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-19T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-052\/"},"modified":"2017-03-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-19T05:00:00","slug":"soteriology-052","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-052\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 052"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[89],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19143","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-acts","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 052","sermon_date":"20170319","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4463,"sermon_slides":4464,"sermon_mp3":4474,"sermon_id":"31917950270","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":89,"chapter_and_verse":"11:14","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSoteriology 52, Acts 11:14\n\nMarch 19, 2016\n\nAnd the only thing really left on the agenda is number 8, the final part of our big outline on soteriology which is faulty views of salvation.\u00a0 Now there are some faulty views of salvation that we\u2019ve already introduced earlier in the course, like Lordship salvation and things like that so I\u2019m trying to cover things that we haven\u2019t covered yet or ever introduced.\u00a0 The two faulty views of salvation under Roman numeral VIII are universalism and inclusivism.\u00a0 Universalism we went over last time, right.\u00a0 That\u2019s the belief that in the end everybody will be saved, or Christians.\u00a0 And I tried to show you that there is a few verses that hint that way but that\u2019s not what the whole counsel of God\u2019s Word says.\u00a0 The Bible never says everybody in the end will be saved, which is a tragic thing but that\u2019s just what God is revealing to us in His Word.\n\nUniversalism, probably of the two, is not the most dominant today; the most dominant one that you\u2019re hearing more and more about outside the church and inside the church (tragically) is inclusivism which is not the idea that in the end everybody will be a Christian.\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying is all that\u2019s necessary to be saved is sincerity.\u00a0 Have you ever heard this before?\u00a0 So inclusivism says all sincere seekers will be saved regardless of whether they know the name of Jesus Christ.\n\nSo the issue for inclusivism is are you seeking God to the best you know how in your own tradition.\u00a0 And they like to bring up, and you\u2019ll hear this a lot as a Christian, people will ask you, well what about the person in some remote part of the earth that has never heard the name Jesus Christ?\u00a0 Certainly God would never send that person to hell, would He.\u00a0 And actually we\u2019re going to get into that subject a little bit later.\u00a0 But they like to use that as an example and they always manufacture these hypotheticals, you\u2019re in some deep dark jungle somewhere and there\u2019s no missionary presence and you\u2019re just seeking God the best you know how.\u00a0 I mean, why would God, why would any loving God send that kind of person to hell without adequate information.\u00a0 Have\u00a0 you guys heard this argument?\u00a0 You hear this all the time and I\u2019m going to try to show you today how to think through that.\n\nAnd just like with universalism in the doctrine of inclusivism there\u2019s always Scriptures that seem to teach this.\u00a0 If there weren\u2019t Scriptures that seem to teach it these false doctrines would have zero traction.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why I had you turn to Acts.\u00a0 But before we even get to Acts 10:2 I have several quotes that I used last time to show you how dominant inclusivism is in our society.\n\nThis is the theology that Oprah Winfrey is heavily wrapped up in.\u00a0 This comes from a\u00a0 You tube exchange that you can find very easily on the internet with an audience member.\u00a0 She says, \u201c\u2026one of the mistakes that human beings make is believing that there is only one way\u2026There are many ways\u2026many paths to what you call God. \u2026It doesn\u2019t matter whether she called it \u2018God\u2019 along the way or not\u2026There couldn\u2019t possibly be just one way!\u2026There couldn\u2019t possibly be only one way with millions of people in the world!\u201d \u00a0[www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Lb2RUpMDk34] \u00a0And then she goes to this argument that I introduced a moment ago, \u00a0\u201c\u2026if you are somewhere on the planet and you never hear the name of Jesus\u201d are you telling me you cannot get to heaven.\u201d\u00a0 So that\u2019s the hypothetical that they always use to promote inclusivism.\n\nAnd I want to give you two names of people that I respect, I give you these names not to denigrate their ministries because both individuals have been a blessing to me, the latter individual, my own mother was saved through his ministry.\u00a0 I bring these quotations up just to show you how close inclusivism cuts to home when our guys start to sound like inclusivists it shows you the power of inclusivism.\n\nTony Evans, in a book called Totally Saved<\/em>, says, \u201cIn a class I once taught at Dallas Seminary, I inadvertently asked an exam question on material I had not covered in class.\u00a0 One of the students brought this discrepancy to my attention.\u00a0 To be fair, I had to rescore all of the test papers because I could not hold the students liable for information they had never been given\u2026So the premise is that God will not hold people accountable for a decision they cannot make, based on information they have not received\u2026And people in faraway lands\u201d so where are we going again?\u00a0 Back to the example of the guy in the jungles of Africa that\u2019s never heard of Jesus.\u00a0 \u201cAnd people in faraway lands who have never heard the gospel still have their own sins to answer for.\u00a0 This means we need to talk\u201d now that\u2019s a big buzzword today, when people don\u2019t like something in the Bible they always want to start a dialogue about it, so today in the body of Christ everybody is dialoguing with everybody, Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists in dialogue.\u00a0 So you get this dialogue mentality.\u00a0 To me dialogue is what got us into trouble in the first place because the serpent wanted to dialogue with Eve.\u00a0 Think if Eve had turned down the invitation to dialogue, think how different the human race would be today.\u00a0 Anyway, I\u2019ll get off that.\u00a0 \u201cThis means we need to talk \u00a0about the provision God has made for those who cannot believe.\u201d\u00a0 [Tony Evans, Totally Saved: Understanding, Experiencing and Enjoying the Greatness of Your Salvation<\/em> (Chicago: Moody, 2002), 355, 359.]\n\nHere's the spiritual principle at work: When people respond to what they do know of God, He takes personal responsibility for giving them more information about Himself...\u201d\u00a0 Now I agree with that and I\u2019ll show you proof of that from the Bible in just a little bit.\u00a0 \u201cIn the case of a person who never hears the gospel and never knows the name of Jesus, but who responds to the light he has, God, treats that person like an Old Testament saint, if you will. That is, if the person trusts in what God has revealed, God deals with that person based on the knowledge he has, not the information he never received.\u00a0 I call this transdispensationalism....\u201d\u00a0 And here\u2019s really the part of this that is, in my opinion, inclusivism and heretical.\u00a0 He says, \u201cBy this I mean if a person is sincerely\u201d doesn\u2019t this sound like Oprah, I\u2019m not quoting Oprah here, I\u2019m quoting a prominent evangelical teacher.\u00a0 \u201cBy this I mean if a person is sincerely seeking God and desiring to know Him, and is responding to the truth he knows, if there is no missionary or direct manifestation of God, then God judges that person based on his faith in the light he has received.\u00a0 And as in the case of Abraham, God will retro\u00adactively count this person as righteous by applying the death of Christ from the dispensation of grace.\u201d\u00a0 [Tony Evans, Totally Saved: Understanding, Experiencing and Enjoying the Greatness of Your Salvation<\/em> (Chicago: Moody, 2002), 359-361.]\n\nTranslation: you can actually get to heaven without knowing or believing in the name Jesus Christ.\u00a0 That is inclusivism; that\u2019s the doctrine of inclusivism.\n\nAnd this actually, to give you the context, this came out in Tony Evan\u2019s book, Totally Saved,<\/em> towards the end of the book in the first edition.\u00a0 Now when they republished the book in the second edition there was such a human cry over this that they took this excerpt that I just read out.\u00a0 So you won\u2019t find it in the second edition, you\u2019ll find it in the first edition.\u00a0 The problem is when they came out with the second edition they never apologized for this statement, they just acted like he never said it.\u00a0 And so you wonder if that sentence or paragraph would still be in there had there not been some kind of outcry against this.\n\nBut this is Moody Publishers here, this is not a fly-by-night operation, this is one of the standard bearers of evangelicalism. And inclusivism is so strong that it even can come out in books that we would consider household names and household publishers.\n\nNow this is an exchange, you can find this very easily on You tube, with Dr. Billy Graham and the reason I bring him up is again not to denigrate his ministry, obviously millions of people get saved through Billy Graham, my own mother was saved through his ministry.\u00a0 But like Tony Evans Billy Graham spoke a word of unguarded heresy in a conversation with Robert Schuller and here\u2019s the way the conversation went:\n\nNow Dr. Schuller is a product of Norman Vincent Peale.\u00a0 Norman Vincent Peale was, and by the way, well, maybe I shouldn\u2019t get into that, well maybe, okay\u2026 when Donald Trump was running for President of the United States everybody was saying Donald Trump is a Christian, Donald Trump is a Christian, Donald Trump is a Christian.\u00a0 Now I voted for Donald Trump because I was voting against his opponent; you guys understand that, right?\u00a0 But everybody was saying Donald Trump is a Christian and then they asked him, well how did you come to Christ, what\u2019s an influential theologian in your life, Donald Trump quotes Norman Vincent Peale as his spiritual mentor. \u00a0Norman Vincent Peale was all about positive thinking, self-empowerment, these kinds of ideas and they asked the late Walter Martin one time on The Bible Answer Man show, Walter Martin was, I think, one of the greatest apologists Christianity has ever produced, they asked Walter Martin what do you think about Norman Vincent Peale, and Walter Martin\u2019s answer was classic.\u00a0 He says, \u201cPaul is appealing that Peale is appalling.\u201d\u00a0 In other words when you get into the subject of Norman Vincent Peale you\u2019re talking about someone who is completely devoid of biblical truth; it\u2019s all positive empowerment and things of that nature.\n\nSo Schuller, of The Hour of Power, is interviewing Billy Graham, the greatest evangelist probably of the 20th<\/sup> century, maybe the 21st<\/sup> century, on his show.\u00a0 So Schuller asks Billy Graham, \u201cTell me, what is the future of Christianity?\u201d\u00a0 Now look at Billy Graham\u2019s response.\u00a0 \u201cWell, Christianity and being a true believer, you know, I think there's the body of Christ which comes from all the Christian groups around the world, or outside the Christian groups.\u201d\u00a0 Hmmm\u2026 \u201cI think that everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they\u2019re conscious of it or not,\u201d see that,\u00a0 \u00a0they\u2019re members of the body of Christ. \u00a0And I don't think that we're going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time\u2026and that\u2019s what God is doing today. \u00a0He is calling people out of the world for His name.\u201d\u00a0 Here comes inclusivism\u2026 ready?\u00a0 And why \u00a0put quotes up?\u00a0 People get mad at me for it, don\u2019t get mad at me, get mad at the person who said it, I\u2019m just the mailman here.\u00a0 \u201cWhether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world,\u201d oh-oh \u201cthey are members of the body of Christ because they\u2019ve been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus,\u201d see that?\u00a0 That\u2019s inclusivism, if you\u2019re a sincere seeker you\u2019ll be saved, it really doesn\u2019t matter whether you know the name Jesus or not, \u201cbut they know in their hearts they need something that they don\u2019t have and they turn to the only light that they have and I think they're saved and they\u2019re going to be with us in heaven.\u201d \u00a0[Hl9Aps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hrf60-zHl9A]\n\nNow Schuller, when he got the greatest evangelist of Christianity to say this could hardly control himself on his interview, he was ecstatic.\u00a0 And Schuller says this is fantastic!\u00a0 I\u2019m so THRILLED to hear you say this, there\u2019s a wideness in God\u2019s mercy and it kind of closes with Billy Graham saying yes there is, there\u2019s a wideness in God\u2019s mercy.\u00a0 Now is this what Billy Graham teaches all the time?\u00a0 No. Is this what Tony Evans teaches all the time?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 But it seeped it at some point into their thought pattern and it comes out every once in a while in their public teachings.\n\nSo that is the definition of inclusivism and those are some key examples, whether it\u2019s from Oprah or people that we know within our own circles.\n\nIs there a biblical support for this idea that if you\u2019re a sincere seeker you will be saved, it doesn\u2019t matter if you know the name Jesus?\u00a0 Yes, there is Scriptural support; Scriptures read out of context at first glance.\u00a0 And if there wasn\u2019t some, at least the appearance of Scriptural support these ideas would never captivate the minds of people.\u00a0 So the key verse they use over and over again is Acts 10:2, that\u2019s why I had you turn there, this is the conversion of a man named Cornelius, he was converted by, obviously the Lord but the Lord used Peter to reach this man with the gospel in a place called Caesarea.\u00a0 And this is a description of Cornelius before he believed the gospel, and look at what it says here.\u00a0 \u201cNow there was<\/em> a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, \u00a0<\/sup>a devout<\/u> man and one who feared God<\/u> with all his household<\/u>, and gave many alms<\/u> to the Jewish<\/em> people and prayed to God continually<\/u>.\u201d [NASB, Acts 10:2]\n\nNow this is before the man was touched with the gospel, and your inclusivist looks at this and says look at how he\u2019s described?\u00a0 He\u2019s \u201cdevout,\u201d he \u201cfeared God,\u201d his own household\u201d was in some kind of spiritual discipleship of some kind, he \u201cgave alms to the Jewish people,\u201d he prayed \u201ccontinually.\u201d\u00a0 Now it doesn\u2019t say God listened continually but it does say he prayed continually.\u00a0 Now this is before the man was touched with the gospel or believed the gospel.\u00a0 And so your inclusivist says the way this is described here what the Bible is teaching is if you are a sincere seeker you\u2019re in.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter if you know the name Jesus or not.\u00a0 So that Acts 10:2 becomes probably exhibit A in terms of evidence cited by inclusivists.\n\nSo let\u2019s see if we can think through this biblically.\u00a0 What is the Scriptural refutation to the idea that you don\u2019t need to believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved?\u00a0 Acts 10 is followed by Acts 11.\u00a0 Are you guys with me on that?\u00a0 First comes Acts 10, then comes Acts 11.\u00a0 Look at Acts 11:14. \u00a0[Acts 11:14, \u201c\u2018and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.\u2019\u201d] See, acts 10 is the conversion of Cornelius.\u00a0 The early church leadership which was primarily Jewish, in fact, it was all Jewish, Cornelius is the first Gentile converted in the church age.\u00a0 The early church leadership which was all Jewish was stunned\u2026 you mean a Gentile can actually get saved?\u00a0 So they had a council meeting about this in Acts 11.\u00a0 So Acts 11 is the first Jerusalem Council meeting.\n\nNow they\u2019re going to have another one in Acts 15 related to what do you do with all these saved Gentiles, I mean, do they come under the institutions of Judaism or not?\u00a0 That\u2019s an Acts 15 issue; the Acts 11 issue is is it really true that a Gentile can believe in the name Jesus and be saved?\u00a0 And they\u2019re getting together in Jerusalem to authenticate the legitimacy of Cornelius\u2019 conversion and in the process the story of how Cornelius got saved is retold.\u00a0 And these are the words\u00a0 that God gave to Cornelius before Peter arrived with the gospel, not according to Acts 10 but Acts 11.\n\nAnd look at what it says, \u201cand he\u201d that\u2019s Peter, \u201cwill speak words to you by which you\u201d what? \u201cwill be saved,\u201d see how \u201csaved\u201d is in the future tense, \u201cyou and all your household.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 In other words, when you factor in Acts 10 and Acts 11 together what you discover is yeah, Cornelius was a devout man, he feared God, he gave many alms, he prayed to God continually, but in that condition he was still unsaved because he had not heard the gospel.\u00a0 And I know that because \u201csaved\u201d is in the future tense when the story is retold in Acts 11:14. \u00a0The inclusivist just wants you to look at Acts 10:2 but they don\u2019t\u00a0 want you to look at Acts 10:2 in light of Acts 11:14.\u00a0 See that.\u00a0 So this is true with anybody that promotes a false doctrine, they want to build it on one verse or two verses but your job, when you\u2019re building doctrine, is to look at all the verses, and when you compare Acts 10:2 to Acts 11:14 you see very clearly that Cornelius was not saved before he heard the gospel.\n\nSo that becomes a key piece of Scriptural evidence to refute inclusivism.\u00a0 Some other pieces of evidences to refute inclusivism (and some of these verses you know) would be John 14:6, you remember that verse?\u00a0 Jesus is in the Upper Room, He\u2019s talking to Philip (primarily) in this conversation and it says this: \u201cJesus said to him, \u2018I am the way, and the truth, and the life;\u201d see the definite article in front of \u201cway,\u201d truth\u201d and \u201clife\u201d?\u00a0 Jesus is very clear that He\u2019s just not one of many options.\u00a0 And if that weren\u2019t clear enough He said, \u201cno one\u201d now who does \u201cno one\u201d mean?\u00a0 It means no one!\u00a0 \u201cNo one comes to the Father but through Me.\u201d\u00a0 I mean Jesus never taught inclusivism, you all are saved if you are a sincere seeker in your own tradition.\u00a0 He says you\u2019ve got to come to the Father through Me.\n\nThis is what makes Christianity hated so frequently in our world.\u00a0 And this is why the Christian church today is under tremendous pressure to give ground here, because gosh, we\u2019d get along so much better with the world if we would just say Jesus is \u201ca<\/strong> way.\u201d\u00a0 But we can\u2019t say that because that\u2019s not what Jesus claimed, He said He is \u201cthe way.\u201d\n\nNow look at Acts 4:12, Acts 4 is in the same book as Acts 10, right?\u00a0 Look at Acts 4:12, this is Peter speaking, and he says this: \u201cAnd there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other\u201d what? \u201cname\u201d see the word \u201cname\u201d there?\u00a0 Apparently believing on the name Jesus is a bid deal because he mentions the \u201cname,\u201d \u201cthere is no other name\u201d it\u2019s the Greek word onoma<\/em>, \u201cthere is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we\u201d what? \u201cmust be saved.\u201d\u00a0 Now you notice in brackets there translated \u201cmust,\u201d dei it\u2019s transliterated in English dei<\/em>, and that word \u201cmust\u201d is a big deal in Luke\/Acts, because Luke wrote Luke and he also wrote a sequel called the book of Acts.\u00a0 And when you start tracing that word through Luke\/Acts what you discover is that word indicates something that 100% absolutely has to transpire.\n\nSo for example, in Luke 4:43, \u201cBut He said to them, \u2018I must\u201d that\u2019s the same Greek word that we have in Acts 4:12, \u201cI must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So just as it was 100% absolutely necessary for Jesus to preach the kingdom of God in His ministry and if He didn\u2019t preach the kingdom of God in his ministry He would have failed the purpose for which He was sent, just as He absolutely 100% had to preach the kingdom of God in his ministry Acts 4:12 is saying a person must absolutely 100% with no wriggle room at all believe in the name of Jesus Christ to be saved.\u00a0 That\u2019s the significance of that word \u201cmust.\u201d\n\nJust to give you another example of the usage of must in Luke and Acts, Jesus, at the end of Luke says this: \u201cNow he said to them, these are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, but all the things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms\u201d here\u2019s our word again, \u201cmust be fulfilled.\u201d\u00a0 [Luke 24:44, \u201cNow He said to them, \u2018These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.\u201d]\u00a0 Christ\u2019s life was lived in such a way that He was a fulfillment of the Old Testament.\u00a0 That had to happen; there is no wriggle room at all, it\u2019s an absolute 100% essential necessity.\u00a0 This is how Luke, when you study this out, uses this word \u201cmust.\u201d\u00a0 So when Luke, who also wrote Acts 4:12 says, \u201cAnd there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved,\u201d he is saying believing in the name of Jesus Christ is non-optional if you want to get to heaven.\u00a0 Sincerity of being a seeker is irrelevant and this is how God set things up.\n\nSo when you have Oprah and prominent evangelicals saying believing in the name of Jesus Christ is not absolutely required that goes directly against the Word of God.\u00a0 And at some point you have to make up your mind who you\u2019re loyal to.\u00a0 A lot of people will attach their loyalty to a popular ministry but what do you do when that popular ministry, that happens to bless a lot of people, happens to deviate at parts or portions of God\u2019s Word?\u00a0 When a ministry departs from God\u2019s Word I depart from that ministry, my loyalty is not to that ministry ultimately.\u00a0 I want to be a team player and all that stuff but my loyalty is to the Word of God.\u00a0 And this is an example where people have to choose, I believe.\n\nSo Acts 4:12, John 14:6, Acts 11:14, these are all verses you can add to your arsenal, to put it that way, that inclusivism is a false doctrine.\n\n1 Timothy 2:5, Paul writes to Timothy and he says \u201cFor there is one God and\u201d how many mediators?\u00a0 \u201cone mediator,\u201d now what\u2019s a mediator?\u00a0 It\u2019s a go-between.\u00a0 There\u2019s not two mediators or three mediators, \u201cthere is one God and one mediator between God and man,\u201d and who is that man?\u00a0 \u201cthe man Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s the thing to understand; only Jesus can qualify to be the mediator.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because to be a mediator you have to have something in common with both parties, don\u2019t you? \u00a0A mediator between who? God and man.\u00a0 Well, how can you be a mediator between God and man unless you\u2019re both God and man.\u00a0 Now how many people do you know out there in the world that are both God and man.\u00a0 Last time I checked there\u2019s only one.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus can only be the mediator between God and man.\n\nThis is the issue that Job raised, I think it\u2019s around chapter 19, Job of course being the oldest book of the Bible.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0 That Job is the earliest book of the Bible?\u00a0 And Job raises this fundamental question, I have no mediator, I\u2019m having all these problems and I want my case represented before God and Job says I need a mediator that\u2019s going to lay hands on me and God.\u00a0 I need a go-between.\u00a0 So Job sets up this issue, where is the mediation, and the rest of the Bible answers that very old question recorded in the oldest book of the Bible.\u00a0 So unless someone is both God and man, other than Christ, only Christ can be the mediator.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 This is why this issue of getting to God without Christ is a big deal.\n\nAnd here\u2019s another one that I like to use, Galatians 2:21, and this is something most people don\u2019t think about when they say there are many paths to God.\u00a0 Paul writes and he says, \u201cI do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law,\u201d now Paul is dealing with legalists, legalists generally think they can either be justified or sanctified without the power of God and faith in God and they have some kind of path towards it in the law.\u00a0 That\u2019s who Paul is arguing with here in the book of Galatians, and Paul makes this statement, \u201cI do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died\u201d what? \u201cneedlessly.\u201d\u00a0 If righteous can be attained through another path, other than believing on the name of the Lord, if you can get there through Buddha, if you can get there through Islam, as long as you\u2019re a sincere seeker, if\u00a0 you can get there through legalism by obeying Law, if that other path is open then why did Christ die?\u00a0 It\u2019s not necessary.\n\nAnd essentially what inclusivists are saying is gee Jesus, I really appreciate everything You went through for me and I really appreciate You being beaten to a millimeter of\u00a0 Your life,\u00a0 I appreciate the 39 lashes on Your back, I appreciate the nail marks in Your hands and feet, I appreciate the spear that was thrust into Your side, I appreciate the fact that You were told to carry the cross and the ordeal that You went through, and I appreciate Your death and I also appreciate Your resur\u00adrection.\u00a0 But you know what, it\u2019s not really necessary that You did all that because righteous\u00adness can be attained another way.\u00a0 Now talk about an insult to God.\u00a0 That is an abject blasphemous thing to say, there\u2019s another way, because it makes the sufferings of Christ nice but not absolutely essential.\n\nAnd this is the whole point of Christ\u2019s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He was going to, in just a few hours, be the bearer of the world\u2019s sin.\u00a0 And remember what Jesus prayed.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember the exact words but if it\u2019s Your will let this cup pass from Me.\u00a0 [Matthew 26:39, \u201cAnd He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, \u2018My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.\u2019\u201d] In other words, is there another way, I think, is what Jesus is asking in regard to Gethsemane.\n\nWell, the bottom line is there is no other way.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus went through what He went through.\u00a0 But exclusivists come along and say you know, at the end of the day there was another way.\u00a0 So the more the church starts to sound exclusivist, the more they imitate the world and sound inclusivist the more it\u2019s an attack on the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 So I believe Galatians 2:21 is also a refutation to inclusivism.\n\nAnother verse that I think refutes inclusivism is in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:13-14 which says, \u201cEnter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. [14] For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.\u201d\u00a0 So the five lane wide freeway is the path to destruction.\u00a0 The little access road on the side is the way that leads to life in this imagery.\u00a0 So Jesus talked about two gates, didn\u2019t He?\u00a0 He talked about a gate that was wide and He contrasted it with a gate that was small.\u00a0 He talked about a path that was broad and He talked about another path that\u2019s narrow.\u00a0 He talked about the travelers on one road which were many; He talked about the travelers on another road which are few.\u00a0 And he\u2019s contrasting the world\u2019s way to salvation versus Christ\u2019s way to salvation and this whole statement here would make no sense if all that matters is sincerity without knowing the name Jesus Christ.\n\nSo what is the definition of inclusivism?\u00a0 All sincere seekers will be saved regardless of whether they know the name Jesus Christ.\u00a0 What is the Scriptural support for inclusivism?\u00a0 It is Acts 10:2.\u00a0 [Acts 10:2, \u201cNow there was<\/em> a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, \u00a0<\/sup>a devout<\/u> man and one who feared God<\/u> with all his household<\/u>, and gave many alms<\/u> to the Jewish<\/em> people and prayed to God continually<\/u>.\u201d]\n\nWhat is the Scriptural refutation for inclusivism?\u00a0 Acts 11:14, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5 and Galatians 2:21.\u00a0 [\u201cActs 11:14, \u201c\u2018and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.\u2019\u201d John 14:6, \u201cJesus said to him, \u2018I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.\u201d Acts 4:12, \u201cAnd there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.\u201d 1 Timothy 2:5, \u201cFor there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,\u201d and Galatians 2:21, \u201cI do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.\u201d]\n\nBut that begs the question everybody is using to promote inclusivism.\u00a0 The issue they always raise is what about that person in some part of the world, they usually like the 10\/40 window which is an area of the world that missionaries, for whatever reason, haven\u2019t been able to penetrate yet with the gospel.\u00a0 What about a person that\u2019s sincere and wants to know God but doesn\u2019t have the knowledge necessary to be saved?\u00a0 Are\u00a0 you telling me God is going to send that person to hell.\u00a0 And when that question comes up I like to point out that that question has two incorrect premises.\u00a0 The first incorrect premise is that God has never revealed Himself to the world.\u00a0 I\u2019ll show you in a second why that\u2019s not true.\u00a0 God has spoken to everybody.\u00a0 And the second incorrect premise is that mankind is searching for God: Oh God, just give me enough information and I\u2019ll convert.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the human heart at all.\u00a0 And when people ask this question they typically build it on two false assumptions and I want to kind of reorient our thinking and show you why these two assumptions are wrong.\n\nFirst of all, the idea that God has never revealed Himself is to misunderstand the difference between general revelation and special revelation.\u00a0 What is general revelation?\u00a0 Things where God has already spoken, like nature and conscience.\u00a0 What is special revelation?\u00a0 It\u2019s something more specific, like the incarnation of Christ, the Scripture itself and miracles.\u00a0 General revelation is available to the whole world; special revelation is available to some.\u00a0 What does general revelation do?\u00a0 It makes one accountable to search for truth.\u00a0 God expects the whole world to search for Him because He has already revealed Himself in general revelation.\u00a0\u00a0 Special revelation, by contrast, is the specific information a person needs to enter into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.\u00a0 General revelation is typically in non-written form, it\u2019s a message from God but it\u2019s not necessarily written.\u00a0 Special revelation, like the Bible, is typically in written form, linguistic form.\u00a0 General revelation is considered natural, it doesn\u2019t really require a miracle of any kind to receive it.\u00a0 Special revelation, whether you talk about the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the recording of the Bible, is something that is supernatural and miraculous.\u00a0 And what is the expectation of God?\u00a0 God expects people to respond to general revelation and to search for Him.\n\nNow everything that I know about God, God is not willing that any should perish, all these types of verses, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:5.\u00a0\u00a0 [2 Peter 3:9, \u201cThe Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.\u201d\u00a0 1 Timothy 2:5, \u201cFor there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 If a person is responding correctly to general revelation I honestly believe this, from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, that God moves heaven and earth to get a person the special revelation that they need to be saved.\u00a0 God can do it through a missionary but you know God is a pretty big God; God doesn\u2019t need missionaries either, He can do it through a vision, He could do it through a dream.\n\nAnd I have two examples of this, you have in Acts 8 the Ethiopian eunuch who was unsaved, traveling to Jerusalem and what was his Old Testament (that was the only testament at that point) open to?\u00a0 Isaiah 53.\u00a0 This is a guy searching for God; he doesn\u2019t have all of the pieces yet but he is responding to the information that he has.\u00a0 And through a series of events God has Philip, the deacon, stand near the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch and he sees the Ethiopian eunuch reading Isaiah 53 and Philip says do you know what you\u2019re reading?\u00a0 And what was the response of the Ethiopian eunuch?\u00a0 How can I know unless I have a teacher.\u00a0 So Philip goes into the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch and explains to him who Isaiah 53 is speaking of.\u00a0 The Ethiopian eunuch gets saved; the Ethiopian eunuch is baptized, the Ethiopian eunuch goes back to Ethiopia and that\u2019s how Christian got into Ethiopia.\u00a0 So here\u2019s a seeker that\u2019s honest and God sends the appropriate information.\u00a0 See that?\n\nThe same thing happens in Acts 10 with Cornelius, I gave you the quote earlier that Cornelius was fearing God, seeking God, praying.\u00a0 In other words, he knows God exists, he knows God has spoken, he\u2019s searching for truth, he doesn\u2019t have all the information yet and who does God send along the path of Cornelius?\u00a0 He sends him who?\u00a0 Peter, Acts 10.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how the first Gentile got saved.\u00a0 Do you see the pattern of God here when you look at these two chapters?\u00a0 You get someone that responds to the message God has given and searches for truth and God sends the appropriate information necessary to be saved.\n\nSo under this rubric the idea that God has never spoken is completely wrong; God has spoken to everybody, not necessarily through special revelation but through what?\u00a0 General revelation.\u00a0 God has spoken to every person through conscience.\u00a0 Paul says in Romans 2:14-15, \u201cFor when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, [15] in that they show the work of the Law written in their\u201d what? \u201chearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.\u201d\n\nEvery culture on planet earth knows that murder is wrong.\u00a0 Now many times they chose to reject what conscience has revealed but instinctively they know it\u2019s wrong.\u00a0 Every culture on planet earth knows that rape is wrong.\u00a0 And every single day of people\u2019s lives they do things which vindicate their conscience because they live consistently with it, or they do things to violate their conscience because they\u2019re accused by their conscience.\u00a0 Now where did this conscience come from?\u00a0 Everybody knows this and they may never even have read the Bible.\u00a0 They may not even know the Ten Commandments but the Ten Commandments are instinctively knowable because of this issue called conscience.\u00a0 So God has revealed Himself through general revelation in something call conscience.\u00a0 And since their thoughts alternatively accuse and defend them they know instinctively that they are guilty before a holy God.\u00a0 That renders them accountable to search for truth, that knowledge of guilt.\u00a0 And if you want to test this out take two of your kids at home or two of your grandkids and say to kid one, if you mow the lawn I\u2019ll take you to Denny\u2019s. And you say to kid two, if you mow the lawn I\u2019ll take you to Disneyworld.\u00a0 What\u2019s kid one going to say?\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s not fair!\u201d\u00a0 Well, where did you get the idea that everything was supposed to be fair?\u00a0 Who taught you that?\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s the work of conscience.\n\nAnd that\u2019s why when\u00a0 you get to the trial of the Nazi\u2019s, for their war crimes in Nuremburg trials the Nazi\u2019s, many of them used the excuse well, we were just following orders, all we were doing is following orders and that didn\u2019t fly.\u00a0 You\u2019re still guilty because you should have known the truth because of something called what? \u00a0Conscience.\u00a0 The whole Nuremburg trial wouldn\u2019t make any sense if there wasn\u2019t a belief in something preexisting called conscience.\u00a0 So this idea that God has never spoken is incorrect.\u00a0 See that?\n\nNow look at Romans 1:18 and following.\u00a0 God has not only spoken through conscience He\u2019s spoken through creation, which says, \u201cFor the wrath of God is\u201d what? \u201crevealed\u201d that\u2019s the Greek word apokalopsis,<\/em> which is the same word used in the book of Revelation, which means an un-veiling.\u00a0 What does this mean?\u00a0 God has spoken!\u00a0 \u201cFor the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, [19] because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. [20] For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen,\u201d see that? \u201cbeing understood through that which He has made, so that men \u00a0are without\u201d what? \u201cexcuse.\u201d\n\nGod expects people to respond to this, it\u2019s an obvious revelation of God in creation. I mean, how do you explain the fact that no two fingerprints of the seven billion people on planet earth are exactly alike?\u00a0 How do you explain the fact that when you examine snowflakes under a microscope no two snowflakes\u2026 think of all of the snowflakes that have ever fallen, no two snowflakes are exactly alike.\u00a0 How do you explain the fact that as I am speaking here in our heliocentric solar system that the earth is orbiting around the sun at just the right length away from the sun so that we don\u2019t freeze to death (although it sometimes feels like we\u2019re freezing to death with our air conditioning issues), and we\u2019re not so close to the sun that we burn to death.\u00a0 How do you explain the fact that we orbit around the sun at exactly the right length to sustain life?\u00a0 That\u2019s inexplicable unless you have in your mind the idea of a designer.\n\nSo as far as God is concerned people are without excuse.\u00a0 This idea that God has never spoken, He\u2019s spoken to everybody through conscience and through creation.\u00a0 Now in the Psalms, I think this is a psalm of David, David says, [Psalm 19:1] \u201cThe heavens are telling the glory of God, the expanse is declaring the work of His hands.\u00a0 [2] Day to day it pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.\u201d\u00a0 You say well I don\u2019t watch Christian TV or I don\u2019t listen to Christian radio. Well, it doesn\u2019t matter, God is sending you the same message many times, just through creation.\u00a0 Every single day of your life there\u2019s a message, God is speaking over and over again.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter whether you now the name of Christ or not, in any part of the world, you don\u2019t even have to be an American to experience this.\u00a0 There is no speech nor\u2026 in other words, God around the clock is preaching sermons through general revelation.\u00a0 There is no speech nor are there words where their voice is not heard, even in a 1040 window, their line has gone out through all the earth, their utterances to the end of the world and He has placed a tent for the sun.\n\nNow that\u2019s premise number 1 that\u2019s wrong\u2014God has never spoken.\u00a0 Premise number two that\u2019s incorrect is people want the truth.\u00a0 The general disposition of sinful man is not to search for God the way God expects and desires but it so suppress His voice, thus Paul says, \u201cFor the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who\u201d what?\u00a0 What do they do with the truth of God?\u00a0 Suppress it.\n\nPaul goes on and he says this in Romans 1:21 and following, \u201cFor even though they knew God,\u201d now how do they know God?\u00a0 They know God because of general revelation.\u00a0 When you\u2019re Richard Dawkins and you\u2019re fiercest atheist stand before God\u00a0 in judgment they\u2019re not going to say I never knew You were there because the Bible says they already know God; they just choose to suppress what\u2019s obvious.\u00a0 Every human being knows that\u2019s God, that\u2019s what your Bible teaches.\n\nVerse 21, \u201cFor even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. [22] Professing to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.\u201d\u00a0 This is why Paul in Romans 3:11 says, \u201cTHERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cSEEKS FOR GOD;\u201d\n\nSo the image that these inclusivist draw of this poor guy in the 1040 window that wants to know the truth is an unbiblical image.\u00a0 (A) God has already revealed Himself to that person, and (B) that person doesn\u2019t want what God says.\u00a0 So you send a missionary to that person and it really wouldn\u2019t do any good, would it?\u00a0 What were Adam and Eve doing after the fall?\u00a0 Hiding, they weren\u2019t searching for God, they weren\u2019t seeking God, they were hiding from God.\u00a0 They hid themselves.\n\nSo the reality of the situation is humanity is not seeking for God at all.\u00a0 This is why John 3:19-21 says, \u201cThis is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. [20] For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.\u00a0 [21] But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.\u201d\n\nSo Jesus, the Light of the world shows up and the world said what?\u00a0 Yeahhhhh! [Andy claps] He\u2019s here!\u00a0 It\u2019s the opposite, they didn\u2019t like the Light because Light by definition does what?\u00a0 It exposes.\u00a0 And yet if you reject general revelation what in the world would you do with special revelation?\u00a0 You would reject that too, wouldn\u2019t you.\u00a0 And yet special revelation is what is necessary for salvation because salvation is found in no other name under heaven.\u00a0 [Acts 4:12, \u201cAnd there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.\u201d]\u00a0 You need special revelation to be saved; general revelation is not enough.\u00a0 General revelation, the way it functions is it gives you the accountability to search for truth but that in and of itself doesn\u2019t save; you need something additional.\u00a0 You need the Scripture, and that\u2019s why Paul writes to Timothy \u201cand that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.\u201d [2 Timothy 3:15]\n\nYou can\u2019t get saved by looking at rocks and trees; rocks and trees and the solar system and the universe and studying biology shows you oh my gosh, there\u2019s something bigger than me out here, I\u2019d better get right with that person.\u00a0 And I know I need to get right with them because He\u2019s already put His laws where?\u00a0 In my heart, which sometimes I obey and other times I violate which tells me that this being that created everything I\u2019m guilty before.\u00a0 So God says aha, you got those two clues, now search for truth.\u00a0 Be intellectually honest, don\u2019t suppress what you have, search for truth.\u00a0 And as in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch Philip shows up.\u00a0 As in the case of Cornelius, Peter shows up, and God gives you the Scripture which you need so as to be saved.\u00a0 See how this works?\n\nRomans 10:17 says, \u201cSo faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 You have to have special revelation to be saved.\u00a0 You remember the story of the rich man that went + into hell and he said you know, I\u2019ve got five brothers that are on the same course of life that I\u2019m on, in unbelief, and I want you to go back there and I want you to spread the gospel to them, or actually rise from the dead, I think he\u2019s talking to Abraham here, isn\u2019t he? So they can believe.\u00a0 Remember Abraham\u2019s response? \u00a0\u201cfor I have five brothers-- in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.\u2019\u00a0 [29] But Abraham said, \u2018They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.\u2019\u00a0 [30] But he said, \u2018No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 They need a miracle.\u00a0 [31] \u201cBut he said to him, \u2018If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe revelation of God in Scripture is complete and yet if a person is not responding to the light of general revelation why should God even send them a missionary; they are going to reject that too.\u00a0 And if they\u2019re not responding to this what\u2019s a miracle going to do?\u00a0 \u00a0One of the great myths out there is miracles create faith.\u00a0 If miracles created faith how do you explain the wilderness wanderings of the Exodus generation that had so many miracles they couldn\u2019t even keep track of them all and yet they couldn\u2019t trust God to enter Canaan.\u00a0 Miracles do not create faith; the preached Word of God in a cultivated heart produces faith.\u00a0 What does Paul say? \u201cFaith comes hearing and hearing by the\u201d miracle of Christ\u2026 it doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cby the word of Christ.\u201d\n\nSo this inclusivist mindset that (A) God has never spoken and (B) human beings in general just need more information, both premises are wrong and yet that\u2019s the primary paradigm that people use to construct inclusivist theology.\n\nNow why would I care about this?\u00a0 Because theology is like dominoes in a row;\u00a0 you knock over a single domino and the rest will fall quickly.\u00a0 And if you go soft or unbiblical on the idea that faith in Christ alone saves then you just have thrown a wet blanket over missionary activity.\u00a0 I mean if we\u2019re all saved by sincerity why go to the trouble to get the gospel to the 1040 window, assuming there are even seekers of God in the 1040 window.\u00a0 There\u2019s no need to put up the money, there\u2019s no need to put up the sweat to do that, there\u2019s no need to learn another language or two or three languages to get the Bible translated accurately.\u00a0 And so if the church becomes inclusivist and I\u2019ve shown you some key voices in the church that seem to be opening up to this idea then you\u2019ve just demolished the whole incentive for world evangelization.\n\nAnyway, that\u2019s inclusivism, its definition, its scriptural support, its scriptural refutation and the two incorrect premises that it\u2019s built on, which concludes our soteriology class.\u00a0 Which means you guys have to take a final exam, which I have distributed to you, you have five minutes to compete it\u2026 no, I\u2019m just kidding.\u00a0 Just take it home and have fun with it, there\u2019s obviously no grades on it.\u00a0 We might kick you out of Sugar Land Bible Church if\u00a0 you don\u2019t get a C\u2026 NO, I\u2019m kidding.\u00a0 No grades, it\u2019s just for your own edification.\u00a0 This has been 52 weeks of teaching so that the test will force you to go back into the cobwebs and remember some of the things we talked about.\u00a0 And we\u2019re actually going to go over the final next Sunday morning.\u00a0 So it\u2019s there as a learning device for you, not to create fear and that kind of thing.\n\nI\u2019m one minute over so I\u2019m just going to go ahead and close in prayer and when we go over the test next week there\u2019s going to be plenty of opportunity for Q & A.\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 So enjoy the test, have fun with it, use it as a study tool and it\u2019s just there to kind of touch your memory a little bit and help you remember some of the things we talked about.\u00a0 The questions are very straightforward, they are all things we\u2019ve gone over and of course you have all of the archives and everything that you can go back and review.\n\nFather, we thank You for today and we thank\u00a0 You for sound doctrine.\u00a0 We thank You for the provision that You allowed to be accomplished in our place, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And I pray You\u2019ll make us good students of this great doctrine of soteriology.\u00a0 Thank You for leading us through this class, getting us through it. We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We lift these things up in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.","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