Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. Today I'm going to be preaching
from the book of 1 Peter chapter 1. I dealt with part of this
passage last time concerning sanctification of the Spirit,
but today I'm going to talk to you about these things, born
again and preserved by God. born again and preserved by God. I'll start in the passage that
I majored on last week, in verse 2, where the apostle Peter, speaking
of God's true children, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
true church, and believers, and he calls them elect. In verse
2, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. I dealt with
that last week. I won't go into detail. But just
to let you know, that's God's electing grace. God chose whom
he would save before the foundation of the world. You're not to look
at a passage like that and try to play God. What I mean by that
is you're not to say, well, if that's the case, then I won't
seek the Lord or there's no hope for me. No, you have to understand
how the scripture places these things. There are certain things
that only God knows. And then there are certain things
God reveals to us. I rely heavily upon a passage
in the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 29, 29. which talks about the
secret things belong to God. They're things God has not let
us in on. They're known only to Him. And
I cannot know them because God keeps them secret. And I cannot
act upon them and live by them because to do so is to challenge
God. It's just like you know things,
for example, you mothers and fathers. There are things you
know that you keep from your children because they're not
ready to receive them. and so they cannot act upon and
live by those things you don't tell them until they're ready
to hear them. Now there are things that God
knows that we may never know because God is God and He is
so high above us. But now the secret things belong
to Him but it goes on to say the revealed things belong to
us. Now what God reveals by way of
commandment That's what we're to do. God has a chosen people
and they're going to be saved. Who are they? You're commanded
to seek the Lord in Christ through His Word. That's what he says
here in verse 2. He says, "...elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit…" That was my topic last week. "...being set apart
by God the Holy Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, that's the new birth, where he brings a sinner,
gives a sinner spiritual life, gives that sinner a new heart,
mind, affections, will, gives him eyes to see spiritual eyes.
You see, by nature, we're born dead in trespasses and sins.
Christ said in John 3, you must be born again, or you cannot
see the kingdom of heaven. And the reason is, is because
we fell in Adam. We fell into sin and death. And
as a result, we're naturally born spiritually dead. That is,
without spiritual life. We have physical life, but we
don't have spiritual eyes to see and know and love and believe
the things that glorify and honor God. The natural man, 1 Corinthians
2.14, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned.
And so, this sanctification of the Spirit is the new birth.
You must be born again. You must be given spiritual eyes
to see, spiritual ears to hear. Read Matthew 13, when the Lord
told his disciples, blessed are your eyes for they see, blessed
are your ears for they hear. In Revelation, he constantly
says, he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. Now, if you
reject the things of the Spirit of God, if you reject the truths
of the Bible because they offend you or whatever, you know what
that tells you? You don't have ears to hear or
eyes to see. And listen, I'll go even this
far. It tells you that right now, thus far, you give no evidence
of being one of God's elect, one of God's chosen people. Now
when do you give evidence of being one of God's chosen people?
When you're born again by the Spirit and believe the truth,
believe the gospel under the preaching of the gospel. And
that's what he means there. Then he says, grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Now look at verse three. Now
here's where we come to our topic for today. That is begotten again
and preserved by God. And he says in verse three, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's a term
of worship. When we bless God through Christ,
we don't add anything to God. We just acknowledge God for who
he is as he reveals himself in his word. If God says he's sovereign,
we say blessed be God, amen. If God says he chose a people
before the foundation of the world, we say amen. God, that's
your way. Blessed be God. And so blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's similar
language by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1.3. When he says
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us, that is his people, with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And then he says, which
according to his abundant mercy. Now that word mercy, that's what
we need. We're sinners. And salvation
is a product of the sovereign, abundant, tender mercy of God. I'm at God's mercy. I don't deserve
any blessing from God. I certainly don't deserve salvation. I have not earned any blessing
from God. I certainly have not earned salvation. It's called in the Bible the
sure mercies of David. That is, all who come to Christ
are recipients of the mercy of God. Somebody said that mercy
is God not giving us what we have earned and do deserve, which
is deaths, the wages of sin. And grace is God giving to us
what we have not earned and don't deserve. That is all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. And this mercy and this grace
are all conditioned on the Lord Jesus Christ. Back in the Old
Testament, in the tabernacle, there was the Ark of the Covenant,
that box that was made of chitim wood and overlaid with gold.
That's a picture of Christ, the God-man. God, the gold representing
God, typifying God, and the wood typifying his humanity without
sin. On top of that box was the mercy
seat. The word for mercy seat in the
Old Testament has become equivalent to, as God revealed it, the word
propitiation in the New Testament. which means justice satisfied. God's wrath turned back. How
was that so? How could God not give me what
I deserve, which is His wrath, His judgment, and still be God? The answer is through the mercy
seat, which pictured Christ. Christ is our mercy seat. The
blood was sprinkled over the mercy seat. That means he saved
us by the shedding of his blood. Justice was satisfied. That's
what propitiation is. A justice satisfying sacrifice. And so he's the lamb of God.
So it's his abundant mercy. Now what is this according to
his abundant mercy? Now listen to me. You know most
people, They think salvation is part God and part themselves. God does his part and then you
do your part. Now, as to how much God does
and how much you do, that depends on what denomination you go to.
Some might say, well, God does 50% of it and you do 50%. Some
may say that God does 99% of it. and then you do 1%. I've heard
preachers say that God has done all he could do. Now the rest
is up to you. No, now let me tell you something.
I wanna tell you something about that statement. If God does all
that he can do for me, then I'm a saved person. He's able to save to the uttermost
then that come unto God by him. That's what Christ did. Hebrews
10, 14, by one offering, he hath what? Perfected forever them
that are sanctified, them who are set apart for him, those
who God gave to him. He said, all that the Father
giveth to me shall come and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out, and this is the will of him that sent me, that
of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise
it up again at the last day. Well, let me tell you something,
folks. Salvation is not God doing his part and you doing your part.
Salvation is God doing it all. Now, we who are saved are recipients
of what God has done, and that includes His abundant mercy in
the new birth. The new birth is not because
of what you decided. There are preachers who'll tell
you, well, you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and then you're
born again. That is a lie. You can't believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ until you're born again. And I'll show
you that, but look here in 1 Peter 1 and verse 3. He says, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy, hath begotten us again. That's born again,
begotten again, unto a lively hope, a living hope. By nature,
we're spiritually dead. In ourselves, we have no living
hope. All we have is death. But if
we're born again by the Spirit, that's where the Spirit imparts
life. Spiritual life that wasn't there
before, literally raises us from the dead spiritually, gives us
a new heart, a new spirit, new eyes, new ears. If any man be
in Christ, he's a new creature, a new creation, you see. And
it's by, listen, it's not by your free will choice. No, you
won't choose God of your own free will. Not this God. Now
you might choose a God of your imagination, a God who's like
you. Me too, until we're born again. But it's a living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The life
that the Holy Spirit imparts in the new birth. being begotten
again, born again, is not life that you already have, that some
preachers say you've got a spark of goodness and we just have
to fan it into a flame. No. Because of the resurrection life
of Christ, God the Holy Spirit comes and raises his people from
the dead spiritually in the new birth. Regeneration, it's called,
conversion. And that's what happens. Life
that we didn't have. And it's under the preaching
of the gospel. James 1.18 says, we're begotten
again by the word of truth. That's the word empowered by
the spirit. Now let me show you this. This
is not of man, but it's totally of God. Look over at John chapter
one. It's talking about Christ here,
the living word of God. And it says in verse 11, He came
unto His own, and His own received Him not. Now there, when He came
into the world, it says they didn't receive Him. That's a
good description of all of us by nature, if left to ourselves. But look at verse 12. But as
many as received Him, there were some who received Him. What is
it to receive Him? Well, it's to believe in him,
it's to trust him, it's to rest in him, it's to follow him for
all salvation. So he says, but as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name. Now, first of all, understand
that word power is not talking about ability. There's another
word for power in the New Testament that means ability. You'll find
that word, for example, in Romans 1.16, where Paul says, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God. All right, it's the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first
and the Greek also. That word power in Romans 1.16
is the, we get our English word dynamite. It's, some pronounce
it dunamis, some dinamis, but we get our word dynamite from
that. It's an explosion. And it speaks
of God's ability to make that gospel unto a saving word to
his people. And it says, for therein is the
righteousness of God revealed. But here the word power doesn't
mean ability or it doesn't mean dynamite. It is the right. or the privilege. And what he's
saying is that the only ones who have the right or the privilege
to call themselves sons of God spiritually, sinners saved by
grace, are those who have received him, received Christ and believe
on his name. You see, if you don't know Christ
as he's revealed in the word of God, in this scripture, if
you don't know the gospel, and believe Christ as he's revealed
in the gospel as the Lord our righteousness. You don't have
any biblical right or privilege to call yourself a spiritual
child of God. In fact, the scripture says you're
a child of the devil. That's what Christ told the Pharisees.
So those who received him, believe in him, rest in him, follow him
for all salvation, for all forgiveness, for all righteousness, they're
the only ones who have the right or the privilege to call themselves
children of God. And then look at verse 13 of
John one, which were born not of blood. That is not of natural
generation. Somebody said, well, this is
particularly applied to the Jews. They claimed that because they
were physically in the line of Abraham that they were children
of God. No, it's not of blood. You sons
and daughters out there, if your mother, your father were believers,
that is no guarantee that you'll be a believer. It doesn't come
through the bloodline, through the pedigree. He says, which
were not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh. Now, I believe
that that's talking about the works of the flesh. You're not
born by the works of the flesh. You can't work your way into
the new birth. It's an act of God. And then
he says, nor of the will of the flesh, or nor the will of man
rather. In other words, it's not because
you made a decision or you decided to follow Jesus. That's not why
you're born again. If you truly decide to follow
this Christ, it's because you have been born again. And so
how are you born again? He says, not of the blood, nor
the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Born
of God. Just like Christ said over in
John chapter three, you must be born again or you cannot see
or enter the kingdom of heaven. You see, there's two things that
we need in order to be right with God. First of all, we need
to be justified. And God has justified all His
people on one ground, and that's the righteousness, the merits
of the obedience and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's His
righteousness imputed. That's why the gospel is the
revelation of the righteousness of God. In Romans chapter 9 and
10, He speaks of the Jews which followed after righteousness.
They were trying to make themselves righteous, but they failed. Why? Because they sought it not by
faith, that is, by looking to Christ, who is the only righteousness
that a sinner can have. They sought it by works of the
law. But he said in Romans 10, 4, Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believe it. In other words,
those who believe, they'll tell you. Their only righteousness
before God is the imputed righteousness of Christ. I have a book coming
out soon on that, and I'll let you know when it is. It'll be
free of charge if you're interested. But God justifies, that is, He
forgives and makes people right with Him based upon the righteousness
of another, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's our sins, the sins of His
people, imputed to Him so that He laid down His life for their
sins and his righteousness imputed to them. Well, that's what he
says here in verse three. He talks about this living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Why did
Christ arise from the dead? What made that even possible?
It's because when he died for the sins of his people charged
to him, he satisfied law and justice. and brought forth a
righteousness that equals and answers all the demands, all
the requirements, all the stipulations, all the conditions of God's honor
and glory. That's what he did. Sin demands
death. The wages of sin is death. Righteousness
demands life. The gift of God is life through
eternal life. Romans 521, as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So the new birth is the resurrection
life of Christ based on his righteousness. And then the second thing we
need to be saved is we need to be born again. We need to be
sanctified by the Spirit. I said two things, there's three
things. And the third thing we need is to be kept. We won't
keep ourselves. Look at verse 4. to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you or for us, who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. You see, that's how God saves his people. He keeps them.
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that he is able. to keep that which I have
committed unto him against that day. And what have I committed
unto him? My whole salvation. We can't
keep ourselves. And that's why I tell you, these
people who claim to believe the gospel, but who say that you
can be saved and then lose that salvation, they don't believe
the gospel. The gospel shows that salvation
is based on the righteousness of Christ, And out of that righteousness,
there's an inheritance that's incorruptible and undefiled and
reserved, and I have a reservation in heaven, and I'm kept by the
power of God through faith. He keeps me looking to Christ,
resting in Christ, believing in Christ. That's what the scripture
teaches. If you're saved, you will stay
saved. Now people say, well, if I believe
that, I would just sin as much as I want to. Well, that's because
you haven't known the power of God's grace, the power of the
Holy Spirit, who takes up permanent residence within the hearts of
His people through the Word of God, and He keeps them through
faith, continually looking to Christ, continually believing
in Him, continually resting in Him, continually following Christ. And on that way, you'll struggle.
God's people are in a warfare. of the flesh and the spirit.
They are sinners saved by grace, kept by grace. And sometimes
you might look at them in a given moment and you can say, well,
I don't know how that person can be saved. I'll tell you why.
We're up and down in ourselves, but in Christ we have a permanent,
permanent standing with God. perfect righteousness. You see,
the perfection of righteousness can never be found within us. It can only be found in the glorious
person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And looking
unto Him as the author and finisher of our faith, we are kept, as
he says, by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. In other words, when Christ
comes again, it will be revealed, made manifest to the whole universe
who the true people of God always were. That's what final judgment
is all about. It's not a determinative thing
at all. Everything else, it's already been determined. But
it will declare to the whole universe that all who are justified
based upon His righteousness imputed, sanctified by the Spirit
and kept by the power of God, who they are, His sheep, His
elect, His church, His children, His brethren, His bride. All of those are terms that identify
and distinguish the people of God from the world. See, that's
what he does. He has his lost sheep and he
calls them out of the world into the fold and he keeps them in
the fold. Will they mess up? Yes, they
will. We always mess up. Will they ever make it to sinless
perfection in their lifetime? No, no. Listen, when I take my last breath,
I'll be just as much a sinner saved by grace as I always was.
Oh, I'll leave this body and go to be with him. And I'll have
a perfect body one day. I will be sinlessly perfect in
myself in that day, which is called the last time, ready to
be revealed in the last time, when Christ comes again, and
his people are resurrected from the dead, and this corruptible
will put on incorruption. That's when I'll be able to say
I'm perfect within myself, but it still won't be by my works
or my efforts or my deeds. It will only be by the grace
of God. It'll only be through his abundant mercy. God chose
us in his abundant mercy, redeemed us in his abundant mercy. God
gives us life from the dead, this living hope in his abundant
mercy. He keeps us in His abundant mercy,
and He'll bring us to glory in His abundant mercy. And it's
all conditioned on Christ. Do you realize that? That's one
of the things that is so unique about true Christianity, that
all of my salvation is conditioned on Christ, and none of it's conditioned
on me. Now, as a result of my salvation,
and my preservation and my glorification be conditioned on him, I will
respond in faith and repentance and obedience. But that's the
fruit of Christ having fulfilled all the conditions by his obedience
unto death. He is my righteousness. He is
my living hope. He is my preservation. He said
nobody will pluck his people out of his hand. He and his Father
are one. And so that's the living hope. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, Write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. Contact us
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today and may the Lord be with you.