I've titled today's message,
as you can see, All of Grace, and that in keeping with the
truth that all of salvation is by God's version of pure, unadulterated,
sovereign grace. And I hope to show you from the
passage Mark read, and more specifically verses five and six of Romans
11, that God's version of grace, and by that I mean grace as it's
set forth in God's word, is altogether different from that which is
presumed to be, quote, grace and what is called grace by many. And that includes, if not most,
many who profess to be of the, quote, Christian faith. And most
who profess to be Christian, they'll claim that they truly
believe that salvation is by God's grace and not by man's
works. But sadly, for most, the reality
is that their concept of, quote, salvation by grace is not supported
by scripture. And it is at best a cleverly
disguised system of works religion. Many who profess to believe the
Bible Most of the Christian faith, who claim to be Christians, they
do, and so they're familiar with the clear declaration of passages
like Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, where God tells us, for by grace are
you saved through faith. That not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And
yet, as was true of me in years past, their doctrine, their gospel,
their gospel, that is how they think sinners are saved. exposes
that their version of grace is really not grace at all. They
may call it grace. I certainly did in years past
at a time when I was really trusting in salvation by works, unwittingly
but nonetheless. You know, they may sincerely
presume it to be grace. It may be disguised and presented
to them as if it is salvation by grace. But know this, that
whenever One believes that any part of salvation is conditioned
on the center in any way at any stage of salvation. then that
more popular version of what may be called grace has actually
been contaminated by an injection of a work into the mix. And as
we'll see from today's text, these two things, grace and works,
they're mutually exclusive. God declares it to be so. He
says they're polar opposites, as we'll see in verses five and
six. He declares they cannot and they do not coexist by his
definition of salvation by grace and to imagine otherwise. That
is, as if these are somehow mixed to presume as many do that God
has done his part and made it all possible, but now the rest
is left up to you, the sinner. That may be called grace, but
in reality, it's grace in name only, a misnomer, if you would.
And that's true whether it's recognized as such or not. And
my desire today is to drive home this one simple but so vital
distinction, the distinction between the pure, untainted grace,
the grace of God's salvation, and the prevailing but mistaken
concepts of grace that are so prevalent in today's religion.
And I hope to support that with scripture. I'm making some bold
claims here that it's basically concerning a lot of people, a
lot of people we know. And it's a serious matter. To persist in believing a tainted
version, or more accurately, a perversion of grace, that's
not just some mere minor theological difference of opinion. in which
we might consider others as our fellow believers and just choosing,
we just agree to disagree on that. No. You see, it's to remain
lost in unbelief because it's to not know the way, God's way
of salvation. And now, to help support that,
consider this. In Mark 16, 15, Christ gave the
disciples what is called the Great Commission when he said,
go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature.
And he that believeth, believeth what? The gospel, and is baptized
shall be saved. But he that believeth not, believeth
not the gospel, shall be damned. Now the gospel is a very specific
good news concerning how God saves sinners. As I mentioned
earlier, passages such as Ephesians 2 that I read and elsewhere,
they make it clear that God's gospel sets forth that salvation
is by grace and not works. So if your concept of grace is
flawed, so as to actually be depending on some cooperative
work done by the center at some stage of salvation, then I hope
you can see that would amount to unbelief of the gospel, unbelief
of the gospel of God's grace in Christ. And as Christ declared
here in Mark 16, he that believeth not the gospel shall be damned. See, to persist therein is a
serious issue. Now, when we think about a tainted
solution of a food or a medicine, we know we're dealing with something
very dangerous. And our susceptibility to the danger lies in the fact
that it's not as it seems. It's been tainted, it's been
contaminated, but the danger is we're unaware of it. It'd
be like sitting down to eat a good-looking steak, you know, that would satisfy
our taste buds, eat it, and only to discover later that this beef
was tainted, it was contaminated, say, with E. coli bacteria or
something. Well, we're not aware of it.
But if it's been contaminated, that's not at all good for you.
In fact, it's deadly. And I want to suggest and support
it as we go forward, that likewise, most of what is called grace
today has been likewise contaminated and it's deadly to the soul.
So I say all of this by way of introduction to help encourage
us each to examine ourselves. It should make it incumbent upon
us to seriously evaluate whether or not what we believe concerning
salvation, our version of grace, is it consistent with what the
Bible teaches concerning God's grace and salvation, or might
it actually be a perversion, and therefore not really salvation
by grace at all. I'm certainly glad that at some
point God brought me to see my mistaken views in his regenerating
and saving grace. Romans 11 speaks of God's election,
the passage Mark read there, of his choosing a people before
the foundation of the world in Christ, a people whose salvation
is accomplished for them. based solely on the merits of
the person and work of God the Son, Jesus Christ, as their substitute
and their surety who bore their sin debt. And although the context
of Romans 11 is dealing with the fact that God's election
is an election of and by grace, I think it's worthwhile to be
reminded from scripture that all of salvation, from start
to finish, is likewise owing to God's grace, his unmerited,
undeserved favor. So the distinctions that we're
going to consider in Romans 11 concerning the grace of God in
his election or his choosing of a people, they are also to
be applied to God's grace in every aspect or stage of salvation. It truly is all of grace. Now
you don't have to turn to these passages, but let me briefly
review a few scriptures that drive this home. That all of
salvation is by this same uncontaminated, pure grace of God. And as you
listen to these verses, and I know many of these passages are very
familiar to a lot of you, but as you listen to them, listen
for the language of grace. And that in contrast to that
which would contaminate grace, the language of salvation by
works. And know this, in each of these scriptures that I'll
be reading to you, know that the Greek word that's translated
as grace, it's the exact same word, showing we're talking about
the same concept of grace in every aspect of salvation. First,
we see it in election from our text today. In our text, beginning
in verse 5 of Romans 11, it says, even so then at this present
time, Also, there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. And then he begins verse six,
saying, and if by grace, he's established in verse five, it
is by grace. And now, given that it is by
grace, we're gonna look at what conclusions he draws. We see
our justification, secondly, that is that legal forensic determination
by which God declares a sinner righteous and accepted, not guilty. You see, it too is provided by
grace. Romans 3 verse 24, being justified
how freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. And Titus 3, 7, that being justified
by his grace, we should be made heirs. You don't earn an inheritance,
do you? Heirs according to the hope of
eternal life. our redemption and forgiveness
of sins, based on our standing, being united to Christ, they
according to grace, as we read in Ephesians 1, beginning in
verse 5, having predestinated us into the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, look according to the good pleasure
of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
in his grace he hath made us accepted in the beloved Jesus
Christ, in whom we have redemption through his blood." We've been
balked. The forgiveness of sins. A remission
has been made, and that according to what? To the riches of His
grace. Our calling, our conversion,
we see is by grace. In 2 Timothy 1-9, it speaks of
God who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works. but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given, given us in Christ Jesus before you
were ever born, before the world began. Our walk is said to be
by grace. Paul said this of himself in
1 Corinthians 15, 10. He said, but by the grace of
God, I am what I am. And his grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. See, we don't even deserve credit
or earn anything by our walk of faith, for that walk, too,
is exclusively owing to God's grace. We're his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good work in Ephesians 2.10,
I believe it says. And you know, we only persevere
in the faith, especially during difficult times and trials. You
know, and all that's owing to God's preserving grace. You know,
we can go through enough difficult times, but we would forsake him,
but he won't let us go. He says, I'll never forsake you.
And then finally, final glorification in heaven itself. That's attributed
directly to the God of all grace. In 1 Peter 5, 10, it says this,
but the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while,
make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. So the
summary is this. Hope you can see there, every
stage of salvation is by grace, and you know, The classic passage
we always refer to that I read earlier, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9,
it says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. You know, we often emphasize
that it's the gift of God, and we say that, see, even that faith
is a gift of God. And that's true, because faith
is part of salvation. But as Mark has pointed out in
sermons in the past, the original construction of the sentence
here would suggest that it, all of salvation, is the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And of course,
that includes faith. Well, now back to Romans 11,
5. Let me kind of bring you up to speed on the context here.
Consider that earlier in the epistle, Paul had spoken of the
rejection of the Jews and the call of the Gentiles. And perhaps
here foreseeing, you saw how he began the chapter there with
what Mark read, and then perhaps foreseeing that this would stir
up resentment of the unbelieving Jews and might cause them to
misconstrue what he was teaching. So as to think it meant that
all of the Jews had been rejected of God, he begins in chapter
11 to show that, no, there were among the Jews, as well as among
the Gentiles, this election, the Lord's chosen ones. So he's
denying that the whole nation of Israel was being indiscriminately
rejected. Paul's saying, no, there's a
remnant to be saved, and himself being a Jewish believer, was
an example and he's bringing into view in the prayer verses
God's sovereignty in preserving this remnant as we read here
in verse five. Even so then at this present
time also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. In other words, there's an election that's not done away
with by the seeming rejection of Israel in having abolished
their special status under the old covenant. It was abolished
by way of fulfillment, Christ. Christ said, I came not to destroy
the law and the prophets, I came to fulfill it. You see, back
in verse 2, Paul wrote that God hath not cast away his people
which he foreknew. So spiritual Israel, not the
nation, but that is those chosen, typified by that chosen nation
under the old covenant, but those chosen unto eternal life, this
election of grace for whom God had a preconceived love and favor
and regard for, we see that that's the people
that he will not cast away. We see that God chose a people
unto salvation, and he calls that choosing, that election,
an election of grace. And so in verse six, he goes
on to say, having established this by grace, he says, if by
grace, then is it no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works, then is
it no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. And this is where we want to
focus today. Here we have a dichotomy set forth between grace and works. and how God declares there can
be absolutely no mixing of the two. They're mutually exclusive
concepts. They cannot coexist. And if God
graciously shows you the significance of this lesson, if he hasn't
already done so, so that you can see how it would apply to
your own initial natural thoughts, religious thoughts, about how
God saves sinners. Well, if he hasn't already done
so, this can turn your world upside down. You see, our eternal
destiny, heaven or hell, has a direct correlation with our
understanding of the vital distinction between God's grace and any tainted
version. that would be works. It's identified
by some contaminating component of works being mixed in with
it. You know, we see that reflected
as our natural inclination when you consider, like the Philippian
jailer, when we get interested in religion, whenever that was,
first thing we want to know is what must I do to be saved? There's this thing natural to
us all that says, there must be, even if we believe election,
we'll say, what do I have to do to be included in election?
You see, and when Paul and Silas answered and said, I believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, they're telling him, oh, you're mistaken.
There's nothing you can do. You gotta believe on the doing
and dying of Jesus Christ. Well, if I can find my place here,
excuse me. Anyway, as I said, your eternal destiny, heaven
and hell, they have a direct correlation with that understanding.
And we're going to explore this in verse six a little bit more,
but first I want you to look at it in another passage that
will show us how grace and works cannot be mixed. Hold your place
there in Romans 11. Let's look at Romans chapter
four where the discussion is of not Abraham's election, but
Abraham's justification. Beginning in Romans 4-1, we read,
what shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to
the flesh, that which he could do for himself, what hath he
found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it, not the believing, but what Abraham
believed, was counted unto him for righteousness. Now, to him
that worketh, okay, that is, worketh for their salvation,
is the reward, it's not reckoned of grace, but of debt. God would owe you. But to him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
that doesn't sound like anybody that would earn or deserve to
be justified, the ungodly. His faith, again, not his believing
but the object of his faith, is counted for righteousness.
And if we want to answer that, what is it that's being counted
or reckoned or imputed to Abraham, it's clear in verse 6. Even as
David also described it, the blessedness of the man in whom
God imputeth righteousness without works. Saying, blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven. and whose sins are covered, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. He won't charge
him with his sins." Well, I'm waiting for you to see this because
I want you to see that having this thing wrong by mixing grace
and works at any stage of salvation is equally deadly. We can see
here that same polar opposite between grace and works in discussing
Abraham's justification as we see in Paul's discussion of election
in Romans 11. So think with me some about the
characterizations, the descriptions in the verses we've already read
here in Romans 4 as well, that would contrast grace and works. The language of grace speaks
of a free gift, of that which is, see, unmerited by the recipient. It's an unearned thing. We saw
here the language of inheritance, being an heir. The language of
grace is that which says there's no room for boasting in the center.
In other words, there's no basis for it. It's the language of
imputation, of reckoning, of something being accounted. It's
the charge into one's account, totally independent of any action
on their part, even as to the acquiring of it. It's not something
that is infused or imparted, although, for example, faith
is imparted to all of God's elect in time. But this language of
grace, this imputation, it's not speaking of that which is
put inside of you. It's not something infused. It's
God's consideration, as it applies to the center, of his state in
union with Christ. And that's independent of anything
that's done by that sinner, through that sinner, seen or foreseen
in that sinner. And contrast that with the language
of works, as we just read of Abraham. If it's of works, it'd
be reckoned of debt. God would owe you. You know,
you don't really need God's mercy if all you got to do is do your
part and cut your end of the bargain. That's not mercy. You
don't need it. You just got to do your part. It's earned. You know, it's like if you have
a job and you get paid a salary, wages, that's what you earn,
and yet Romans 6, 23 says what we can earn, sinners, and the
Bible tells us all sin that comes short of the glory of God. What
we can earn, the wages of sin, is death. That's eternal death.
And there in the same verse, we have the dichotomy set forth.
We have the contrast with grace, but the what? Gift of God is
eternal life. It speaks, you know, of language
of work speaks of an obligation due. I mean, I can't tell you
how many times growing up, I would always hear from a pulpit. Oh,
we'd hear a lot about what God has done, what Christ has done
for you to basically make your salvation possible. Now he's
done all this and we, the sermon would come to a crescendo and
here's where we're going. Now, what are you going to do?
Will you do your part? You see, and it's presumed that
thereby God's obligated based on a perversion of his promise
to save, to save by grace. That means all of the conditions,
all of the requirements met by Christ alone. As we read in Galatians
6, 14, God forbid that I should glory anywhere, save except in
the cross of Christ. And there is room to boast if
there's a component of works in your belief about how God
saves. Many of you may be like me. Your
social manners may suggest to you it'd be uncomely. We think
people who brag, that's not too cool. So you might not go around
bragging about, oh, I wish you'd accept Jesus like I did, you
know? But that's not what it means to have room to boast.
It's not whether you do that or not. It's whether there's
a basis for doing it. In other words, it's your thoughts
about how God saves. Would it give you room? Do you
have a right to? See, the glory then would belong
to you. It's an earned reward, as we've read. It's what you've
done to procure salvation for yourself. Well, I thought it'd
be worthwhile today to consider some of the more prevalent perversions
of grace that are embraced by religion. And we'll begin with
the ones that are not very subtle, and then plow down to those that
may seem a little less obvious. First, we have all the religions
in the world. You know, there are, I don't know, how many thousands
of different religions, religious factions, sects, denominations,
and even variations within those throughout the world. But in
reality, there are only two. All of those are a subset of
one of these two, the religion of works or the religion of grace. And it's one or the other. They
can't be mixed. It's the religion of Cain or
the religion of Abel. But the religion of grace. we
find only in true Christianity. For there only do we have that
unadulterated, untainted version of salvation by God's free and
sovereign grace. All other religions, and listen,
this includes most versions of what people call Christianity
today, they believe that they're being blessed or their salvations
ultimately conditioned upon something done by, in, or through the individual
sinner. You know, now many non-Christian
religions of the world, they make no pretense about it. No,
they don't even claim to believe salvation is by grace. They believe
their concept of a deity or higher power will reward them with some
form of paradise or bliss based upon some condition, some work
done by our family. And that's why we have a whole
group of terrorists that go around blowing people up. That's their
ticket to their idea of paradise. Well, let's go a little further
and consider today's popular version of what people call Christianity
that claims to believe in salvation by grace. And here the component
of works that taints grace is probably most easily exposed
by the widely held God dishonoring, but widely held doctrine of universal
redemption. That is to believe that God loves
everybody and Christ died for everyone who ever lived. And
that leaves something then else to be done, doesn't it? Something
else earned, merited by the sinner to be the real difference maker.
And that's what we're looking for. What's the real difference
maker in our salvation, in being saved? You see, if you got a
group of people going to heaven and a group of people who shall
perish, and Jesus Christ died for all of them, then his cross
work didn't make the difference. That leaves something else to
be done by or in or through the other party, and that's something
else's works. And that in turn, so you would presume to obligate
God to reward the sinner based on that response of faith, their
free will decision, their perseverance. As Jim said this morning, you
kind of fill in the blank, whatever that difference maker's presumed
to be. See, if Christ didn't accomplish everything that was
necessary to save a sinner, if anything remains to be done in
the way of a response that procures salvation for you, now I'm not
denying the necessity, absolute necessity of faith, but if that
response procures your salvation or plays a part, then no, that's
a work and God won't have it because he's not gonna share
his glory. I know I'm probably repeating myself often, but we
see the dichotomy, I believe, in verse 6 of Romans 11, where
he's saying these things don't exist together. They're opposites. And so with that in mind, look
at that again in verse 6. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace. Otherwise,
work is no more work. You know, on the surface it looks
like Paul's just kind of repeating himself as he reverses the concept
here, but, you know, I don't believe that there's anything
in the scripture that's here by accident. I believe it's all
the inspired word of God. And I believe what we see here
is an emphasis that would suggest we would do well to apply this
scrutiny in examining our concept of salvation by grace. And I
know personally that that's worth doing, because I was one of those
that that in spiritual blindness thought for sure I believe salvation
by grace only to discover by God's grace that no, I had mixed
in some work of my hand that wasn't grace at all. You know, you can, so I believe
what he's encouraging here is let's dig in here. Let's see
if we can find some component of what we think. It works, and
if we do in accordance with verse six, let's quit calling it works. Now you may refuse to accept
that, but you'd only be fooling yourself, and that with eternal
consequences to persist therein. It's like this, and this is what
I would have said. I feel good about talking about
all these other people's false religion, because I know what
it was like. I was there. I'd say I knew salvation was
all grace, and I maintained that for quite a few years. But you
see, if it had been true, I should not have been able to find any
component of works in my doctrinal beliefs of how God saves sinners
in my, quote, gospel. And I would have said, if you
had confronted me with this message, I'd say, well, wait a minute,
I know I believe salvation is by works. Ephesians 2.8.9, they
were my favorite verses. I know it's a walking contradiction
to this side of God-given faith, but it wasn't. It wasn't to me,
and it wasn't that I was that stupid. It's not stupidity. It requires the God-given eyes
of faith. Well, Paul here, he's flipping
this a little bit. And he's saying, well, let's
don't just assume that what you believe is grace. Let's see if
there's a component of works that could be found therein. And so remember the terminology
that we looked at of works in particular. And let's see if
we can identify that. You see, if it's there, it's
not grace at all. It's no more of grace, as Paul
says. And if we discover that, and
God's gracious to us in so discovering, we're going to do one of two
things. We either have to admit in the Bible, I just don't believe
that part of the Bible, or either we have to say, or he will bring
us to repentance from dead works. That's what the Bible calls those
works that we're presuming to contribute to our salvation,
and they're dead. You see, they're dead because
to presume such that any work would be a cause of my salvation,
which is a denial of grace, to believe that any work that proceeds
from me, you see, is to assume that I made the difference. And I couldn't see that work,
I'm telling you. In my blindness, I couldn't see it. But Paul here's
encouraging us to look for it. We identify it. It should lead
to repentance from dead works, as I said. And you know, they're
dead not only in that they expose that the person who clings, who's
persisting in that, is still in unbelief, spiritually dead,
just as we all start out. And it's dead works because the
end thereof, to persist in that, to the end of this life, leads
to eternal death. So that's why this is so important. Now, as we move forward, we know
that there are some among what is called Christianity who do
reject the more popular notion of universal atonement. They
know that God didn't love everybody. Christ didn't die for everybody.
And they know that each and every one for whom he died, they shall
be saved. Well, some among them embrace
what they call, quote, justification by faith, end quotes. A lot of the old reformers did
that. And I'm not painting these all
with the same broad brush, because I know that can mean a lot of
different things to different folks. But I fear, and I've read
some that I can tell by that they mean that the believing
sinner appropriates God's justification unto himself by their act of
faith. And thereby they treat it as
a cause of their justification, rather than the effect, being
the blood bought gift of faith, see? And that may be subtle,
but if it's presumed, here's the way to figure it out. Is
it the real difference maker? in your salvation and not Christ
alone, well then that too would be works. That's faith in faith. That's not faith in Christ. Here
Romans 11 says, if it be of works, if that component exists, that
which proceeds from you to make the difference, it's no more
of grace. So genuine God-given faith excludes
itself as playing any, and listen, causal role. that's key underlying
causal in your mind's eye, in the salvation of a sinner. Grace
is absolutely necessary, but God's grace looks to salvation
by grace, which means in Christ alone. Others I've heard who
would say this, they'll say, oh, I know that faith is a gift
of God, but you know, the sinner has to make the decision to unwrap
it. Others will put it this way.
I've heard some who I believe preach the gospel, and I'm hoping
perhaps they just misspoke when they said this, but they would
talk much about salvation condition on Christ alone, and then when
talking to someone, they'd say, well, God can't do the believing
for you, which leads them to say, oh, okay, I gotta do my
part after all, okay? You see, God's word tells us
that none of us by nature We won't salvation God's way. We
won't unwrap it, not of our own volition. Read Romans 3 when
you get home. We won't come to faith in the
true and living God of our own volition, as Psalm 110.3 teaches. We won't do that unless and until
God makes us willing. by his grace in the day of his
power. And the good news is God will
definitely do that for all of his elect. Christ said, all that
you've given me, the election of grace, they shall come to
me. And he says, I'll no wise cast them out. Well, finally,
let's drill down just a little further as it relates to the
context of Romans 11, in which Paul is specifically there talking
about the election of grace. You know, quite a few years back,
I recall being surprised to learn that some who come to see the
biblical truth of particular redemption, that all for whom
Christ died, they're going to be saved. They still somehow,
there are some that still somehow find a way to, in a subtle way,
but nonetheless, no less cling to a form of works religion.
That is salvation, ultimately conditioned on them, the sinner.
Now, the reality, as I hope to show you, is they really do believe
salvation by works, but in spiritual blindness, like my previous spiritual
blindness, they may sincerely think they believe in salvation
by grace. And it's more easily deceptive
to them because the things they think about redemption, the things
they think about regeneration and conversion, may be very consistent
with grace. So how do they contaminate? They
push it all the way back, the component all the way back to
eternity past, to God's choosing of a people in Christ to be saved.
Now, I'm a student of the Bible. I know many will argue with you
about election, but they can't deny the Bible teaches that.
They would be more honest if they said, I just don't believe
that part of the Bible. But it teaches, Ephesians 1,
that God, before the foundation of the world, chose a people
unto salvation in Christ. And he gave them to Christ as
their surety, to pay their sin debt, to establish in time at
the cross of Calvary everything that was required, a perfect,
justice-satisfying righteousness. That's his perfect obedience
unto death by Christ, a suitable, sinless substitute, the God-man
mediator. whereby God, so he could save
sinners, consistent with who he is, is both a just God, who
doesn't just overlook sins, but for whom the penalty of sins
were extracted in their substitute, Jesus Christ. And so he can be
both a just God and still be a merciful, loving Savior. So among these who may have rightly
discerned that parts of their salvation, including their very
regeneration and conversion, whereby God gives them life,
And if he has, we'll see right how he justifies us. But they
presume that to be by grace, and that would be true. Where
does that natural mind go to control his own destiny? You
know, especially they're convinced of Christ's vicarious work on
the cross, his particular redemption. Those redeeming those who are
part of this election of grace. Well, as I say, you can't go
back any further than eternity past. So, as you've heard Bill
say before, they developed what is called a telescope of time
type of theory. They wouldn't necessarily call
it that. But that's what it amounts to regarding how God chose his
people. In essence, the thinking's like
this. God who foreknows all things, he looked down through time.
And he saw which sinners would believe, or in a more subtle
way, maybe he would at least there be more receptive to receiving
this gift that's presumed to be offered to all that God would
give them. Now God commands all to come
to faith, okay? But the gift of God are reserved
for his elect, the gift of faith. You see, so here they conclude
that what they may call an immutable, that means unchanging God, an
omniscient, all-knowing God, would actually change a little
bit. He would react to the sinner,
to what he foresaw. He actually wasn't quite all-knowing
because he had to learn something new in order to decide whether
to include him in the election of grace. You see, This would be a choosing not
based on the good pleasure of his own will, as we read in Ephesians
1. It wouldn't be based, as we read in Romans 9, on the God's
choosing whom he will have mercy on. I'll have mercy, he said,
on whom I will. No, this would be because of
something you name it, your receptivity, you're being less obstinate,
you're being more zealous, whatever it is, something he foresaw in
the center to prompt him to include them in his election of grace.
Now, do you hear the contradiction in that center? You see, the
problem with that, that's not an election of grace. That would
be an election of works. That's just a more subtle way
of retaining control over your own eternal destiny. And you
know, it's natural to us. I don't know about you, but when
I first heard the gospel, I didn't like this idea. Wait a minute.
What you're saying, I can't do anything about it. That's right.
I need mercy, but it'll drive you to your knees. And if God
ever does that, to plead for mercy in Christ, good news is
you won't do that unless you got it. And that's wonderful
news. Well, As verse six teaches us,
since it's an election of grace, that means there's no component
of works, and if there is, it's not grace. So if the rest of
your salvation, all your doctrine's right on regeneration, conversion,
on redemption, and all that, but you think it's all given
to you because of something God foresaw in you, then I beg you
to think about that, because that means You're saved because
you deserve to have been chosen by God. See, it's a choice you
merited. You earned it. You deserved it.
Do you hear the operative word? You. And that, listen, this is
the evil of it. It puts all the work of Christ
in a subordinate role. to that real difference maker,
that ultimate determining factor. In fact, it means that you place
in rivalry that which he foresaw in you or that which you do if
you blatantly believe in salvation by work. You're putting in rivalry
with what it actually took. It took the doing and dying of
the Savior. If you can find something done
in you, even if it's some quality about you that distinguishes
distinguishes you from those whom God doesn't save. Now let
me be clear, we know God does make a difference. He gives us
a new heart. There are distinctions among
those who are saved. But if you presume that there's
a distinction in you that causes you to be saved, whereby you
acquire salvation for yourself, then whatever that is, that merits
something from God by your way of thinking, and that works.
whether you deny it or not. And if that's your viewpoint,
hear God again saying, reconsider if it be of works. If that component
exists anywhere, it's no more of grace. Well, we know, I hope
from these examples, that the mixing of grace and works can
be subtle and not naturally obvious to us. In fact, scripture says
it's really impossible for the most discerning among us to apprehend
and embrace this distinction, not because of the intellectual
ability or inability to do so, but we're born spiritually dead,
spiritually blind. We don't have spiritual eyes.
We don't have the spiritual faculties of life. It takes a miracle of
grace. We have to be given eyes to see.
As Christ taught his disciples in Matthew 13, So it's not that
it's so complicated. It doesn't require some great
mental acuity or intelligence. It requires life. We really need
God's mercy, don't we? Spiritual life. We must be born
again from above. See, the light has to be turned
on for us in order to dispel the darkness of our natural lack
of spiritual discernment. The good news is God does. He
turns that light on for all of the election of grace, for all
those for whom Christ died. And he tells us he's pleased
to do so by the God-ordained means of the preached gospel
of God's glorious grace. So heed his command. Believe
his gospel of grace, wherein his righteousness is revealed.
You see, that's the merit of what Christ's finished work. It really was finished when Christ
said, it is finished on the cross. And that alone, that satisfaction
to God's justice he rendered, and that God is freely imputed
to all those for whom that saving Christ's work was rendered, You
see, by that blood-bought gift of faith, we're brought to look
to Christ alone for all salvation. That means we reject any notion
that would mix in a component of works that proceeds from us. So I pray God this morning will
give somebody you who hears this message the eyes to see his marvelous,
pure, free, and unmixed saving grace. Because as I hope you've
seen in God's Word today, grace mixed with works is not grace
at all. And salvation truly is all of grace. Thank you.