Today I would like you to turn
in your Bible to the book of Romans. I would encourage all
of you to get your Bible this morning and let's read in the
book of Romans from chapter 9, Romans chapter 9, verse 11 and
following. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, that is,
unto Rebekah, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth." That is, salvation is not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God. Salvations
of the Lord, but of God that showeth mercy. Now here's the
title of the message today. Salvation. Is it by free will
or is it by free grace? How is a sinner saved? By free
will or by free grace? How many times have we all heard
someone say this, God has given us a free will to either choose
Him or to reject Him. Or I've heard people say this,
God has done all He can do, the rest is up to you. I've heard
others say this, make this statement, God wants to save you, but you
won't let Him. But did you know that the Bible
does not teach these things? Read the text again. From verse
16 of Romans 9, God said, Salvation is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Let me give
you some other Scriptures to build the foundation of salvation
by grace. James 1.18 says, Of his own will,
of God's own will, beget he us with the word of truth. John
chapter 1, verse 13, he said, We were born. not of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 16,
15 says, you've not chosen me, but I've chosen you. Now, it's
most obvious to any person, any honest person, that salvation
is all of God's will, God's work, and God's sovereign grace. The Bible does not teach that
salvation is by man's choice, but rather of God's choice. The
Bible does not teach that salvation is by the sinner's will, but
rather by God's sovereign purpose. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. I've heard people say this, well,
man's a free moral agent. Well, they're wrong on all three
counts. Man is neither free, neither
moral, nor is he an agent. All mankind is not free. They're
in bondage to sin. Men love darkness rather than
light. Man is not moral either. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And mankind is certainly not
an agent. We have no ability or power to
redeem ourselves from sin. We're aliens and strangers. Paul
said we're without Christ and without God and without hope.
You see, man is not a free moral agent. He's dead in trespasses
and in sin. Now, why make this an issue? Is it really that important to
believe salvation is all of grace or whether salvation be of works
or free will? Isn't this just theological hair
splitting? Absolutely not. And here's the
reason why. Free willism denies the gospel
of God's saving sovereign grace. And here's how. I'm going to
give you four reasons. Here's the first one. Now you
listen to me. Don't tune me out this morning. You give me a hearing.
Free willism is a denial that God is God. Free willism, the
religion of free willism, says God cannot do what He wants to
unless we choose to let Him. If that's the case, who is God? Him or you? A God that cannot
act without our permission is no God at all and simply an isle
of our imagination. Who would worship a God like
that? The only place where a sinner will worship is at the throne
of a sovereign king. Thank God that the God of the
Bible is God, that He is absolutely sovereign. Psalm 135, verse 6. Whatsoever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven, in the earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
Daniel 4, verse 35. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. He doeth according to His will
in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Isaiah 46, 11, I have spoken it, I bring it to pass, I have
purposed it, I will do it." Sounds like somebody is in charge, doesn't
it? God, my friend, He is God. These
scriptures and many others undeniably teach that God is not in our
hands, we're in His hands. God will have mercy on whom He
will. Our Lord said, the Father had
given me power over all flesh that I should give eternal life
to as many as the Father hath given me. Now, here's the second
reason. Free willism is a denial of what
the Bible says about the sinful state of man. It says in Ephesians
2, 1, you were dead in trespasses and in sin. Men are alive physically
and mentally. But spiritually, before God,
He is described in the Word as being separated from God and
dead in sin. All men are born spiritually
dead. We are born sinners, shaped in
iniquity. We are born with a corrupt nature
and a deceitful heart full of evil. In Adam all died. In Adam all stand guilty before
God. And because of our condition
by nature, dead in sin, Without God, we have no ability to obey
the gospel any more than we have the ability to obey the law.
Salvation comes by believing Christ. Salvation is received
by believing Christ. But dead men, sinners, cannot
believe the gospel unless God intervenes and does something
for the sinner. What He cannot do for Himself,
God must do. God must give us life that we
might believe. Unless God intervenes, a sinner
will never believe because he's dead in sin. A sinner believes
because God has given him life. He does not believe to receive
life. He believes because God has given
him life in Christ. Now, here's the Scripture, 1
John 5, verse 1, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God. You see, my friend, freewillism
is a denial that salvation is of the Lord. Paul said this in
2 Timothy, 1, 9, God who saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ before the
world began. Free willism is a denial that
salvation is of the Lord. Here's the third point. Free
willism is a denial of the effectual blood atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Freewillism says Jesus Christ
died to make salvation a possibility for all if they will make a decision
to make the blood atonement of Christ effectual for them. Now,
in that scheme of salvation, who really makes the blood effectual?
Come on now, be honest. The sinner or Christ? If you're
honest, you'll have to say the sinner makes the blood of Christ
effectual. My friend, the truth of the gospel
is that the Lord Jesus Christ stood as a surety of God's elect. That's what it says in Hebrews
7, 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better covenant
established upon better promises. When Christ made sufficient payment
for the sin of God's people, when Christ satisfied God's justice,
the Lord Jesus Christ there at Calvary actually obtained and
secured eternal redemption for His chosen people." You listen
to what it says. The Scripture says in Hebrews
9.12, Christ is our great High Priest, not with the blood of
bulls and goats, but with His own blood He entered in once
into the holy place, and He obtained eternal redemption for His people. None for whom He died will ever
perish. Matthew 1.21 declares, Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sin." God's justice cannot punish those
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died. That's why Paul said, there
is therefore now in Christ no condemnation to those who are
in Him. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
actually secured and obtained completely, 100% eternal redemption
for all those for whom Christ died. And He died for His chosen,
He died for His elect, He died for His church. Free willism
is a denial of the effectual blood atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now here's the fourth reason,
in closing. Free willism is a denial of the
true meaning of faith. Of faith. Paul said, For by grace
are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is
a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Free
willism makes faith a decision you make, rather than the gift
of God. Those who have been taken up
in this decisionism, in walking an aisle and making a decision
and praying through and all these things, will always look back
to some experience of the past as a ground of assurance, rather
than looking to Christ alone who is salvation. Faith that's
God-given trusts a person, not a decision. Faith that's God-given
looks to Christ alone, not an experience. Salvation, my friend,
listen to me, will you? Salvation is not in an experience. Forget it. Don't look to it.
Don't trust in it. Don't have any confidence in
anything in the flesh. Salvation is in a person, not
in an experience. That's why Paul said, we rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. The truth is, we
don't choose to believe. We believe because we have no
choice. The sheep of Christ are drawn
and driven to the Lord Jesus Christ because they have no option. All other doors are closed. You
remember what our Lord said to those apostles, His disciples
in John chapter 6, when the multitude of the crowd walked away from
Him and He turned to His twelve and said, Will you also go away?
And Peter answered and said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life. We believe and are sure that
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." You see,
Peter had no option. He said, Lord, You have the words,
Your salvation, Your life, I look to You. We believe and are sure
that Thou art the Christ of God, the Son of the living God. You
see, all the doors were closed. Peter was driven and drawn to
the Lord Jesus Christ. David put it this way, Blessed
is the man whom Thou choosest. and causes to approach unto God. When God in saving mercy is pleased
to regenerate a dead sinner and grant them faith, they willingly
embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 110 verse 3 says, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of God's power. The absolute worst
thing that could possibly happen to any of us would be for God
to simply leave us to our own depraved, fallen, fickle will. Listen to me. Man's will is always
selfward and downward, never Godward and upward. Man's free
will is like free running water. It always seeks the lowest course. Thank God, my friend, I say thank
God that salvation is by His free, unchanging, eternal and
sovereign grace Not by my free will, not by my works. It's not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy He saved us. Now let's read that text again
in Romans 9, 16. You see what Paul is saying here?
He said, So then, salvation is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. If you would
like a copy of this message, Salvation by free will or by
free grace. I'd love to hear from you. You
write to me. You write to me and I'll send you a copy. If
you would like a copy of this message, absolutely free. My
address is Zebulon Baptist Church, 6088 Zebulon Highway, Pikeville,
Kentucky, 41501.