Salvation In Three Tenses

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation?

The Bible describes salvation as the work of God that encompasses deliverance from sin, judgment, and eternal separation from Him. Scripture portrays salvation as a broad term that embodies election, redemption, justification, forgiveness, and sanctification among other elements. It reflects God's grace in bringing His elect from the ruins of Adam's fall to the eternal enjoyment of Christ in glory. Notably, salvation is depicted in the context of God's free grace, establishing that it is entirely His work, as stated in Ephesians 2:8-9, which emphasizes that salvation is not of ourselves but a gift from God.

Q: How do we know election is true?

Election is affirmed in scripture as God's sovereign choice of certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. The doctrine of election is rooted in the purpose of God’s grace, which is encapsulated in passages like Ephesians 1:4, where Paul states that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. This suggests that God's plan for salvation was established in eternity, highlighting His sovereignty over our salvation. Importantly, the language of foreknowledge and predestination in Romans 8:29-30 further illustrates this concept, solidifying that salvation is not based on human action or will, but exclusively on God's divine choice and purpose.

Q: Why is justification important for Christians?

Justification is crucial as it declares believers righteous before God, ensuring their acceptance and eternal life through faith in Christ. Justification, as articulated in Romans 5:1, states that being justified by faith grants us peace with God. This doctrine affirms that through Christ's sacrificial death, believers are declared righteous, satisfying the demands of God's justice. The importance lies in the assurance it provides, allowing Christians to rest in the certainty of their salvation and eternal standing before God. Without justification, believers would remain under the condemnation of sin; thus, it is an essential foundation of the Christian faith, ensuring that salvation is a completed work through Christ and not dependent on human merit.

Q: What does the Bible say about justification by faith?

The Bible teaches that justification is by faith alone, apart from works, as a gift of grace from God. Justification by faith is a pivotal teaching in scripture, most prominently expressed in Romans 3:28, which states that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. This signifies that faith itself is the means through which believers receive the righteousness of Christ, not an act that adds to their salvation. The clarity with which Paul articulates this truth serves to contrast the sufficiency of Christ's atonement against the inadequacy of human efforts. Consequently, it emphasizes the grace of God, which is wholly responsible for our salvation and is foundational to understanding the gospel.

Q: Why is the doctrine of predestination important?

Predestination is vital as it underscores God's sovereignty in salvation and assures believers of their secure relationship with Him. The doctrine of predestination reveals God's divine sovereignty and purpose in salvation, indicating that He has chosen certain individuals to be saved before the foundation of the world. As mentioned in Ephesians 1:5, God predestined us for adoption as His children through Jesus Christ. This doctrine not only emphasizes God's gracious initiative in the process of salvation but also assures believers of their security in Christ, as their salvation is anchored in God’s eternal plan rather than their fluctuating actions or decisions. It presents a God who is fully in control, providing comfort and confidence to believers in their journey of faith.

Our spiritual eternal salvation
is frequently portrayed in the scriptures by the physical deliverances
of God's elect from the hands of their enemies. One very familiar
picture of redemption and salvation is the deliverance of Israel
out of the bondage of Egypt. How that God, by the sacrifice
of the Paschal Lamb, passed through Egypt and delivered his children
from the death of judgment, the judgment of death that was upon
the land, and then brought them out across the Red Sea with his
mighty hand, and drowned the armies of Pharaoh in the sea.
There's young David out in the field of conflict, fighting the
giant Goliath, and he slays Goliath in the name of the Lord. That
too is a picture of deliverance by the hand of God, of our salvation
by his grace. David's deliverance from Saul.
The deliverance of the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, out of the fiery furnace. The deliverance of Daniel
from the lion's den. All of these things are pictures
of our eternal salvation by Jesus Christ. And in 2 Corinthians
chapter 1, Verses 9 and 10, the Apostle Paul describes how that
God at different times had delivered him from death at the hands of
his persecutors. He is clearly talking in this
passage about God's intervention to deliver him from physical
death, from physical danger, and from certain death. But he
seems to have in his mind's eye a far greater deliverance. He
seems to have in his mind's eye the deliverance of God's elect
from eternal death under the curse of God's holy law. As we
read the text, I want you to notice that Paul, while he is
speaking of his own experience, he does not use the singular
pronouns, I and me, but he uses the plural pronouns, us and we. And so he's speaking something
beyond just what he had himself experienced. He's talking about,
I'm certain, not only his deliverance, but the deliverance of all of
God's elect by the grace of God, our eternal salvation in Christ
Jesus. So as we read the text, try,
if you can, to read this text as though it's something that
you, as a believer, are expressing, a testimony of your own experience
of God's free grace. In verse 9, Paul says, We had
the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God, which raiseth the dead, who delivered us from so
great a death, and doth deliver, in whom we trust that he will
yet deliver us. Now, the title of my message
this evening is Salvation in three tenses. As I was preparing
the message today, I couldn't help thinking, Bob, of the conversations
we've often had concerning this matter of salvation. When is
a man saved? When is a person saved? Well,
when our children begin to learn grammar in the early days of
their education, the first principle thing they are taught in learning
is to observe carefully the tenses of verbs within sentences. You
see, the meaning of the sentence is hidden in the tense of the
verb. And when we come to learn the
ABCs of salvation, we too must pay close attention to the tenses. We are to recall the past, observe
the present, and with faith and confidence in our God, anticipate
the future. Whenever we think or speak of
salvation, we should always remember that salvation is a very broad
term. It comprehends many, many things. Now, this is the great inclusive
word of the gospel. The hard shells often mistake
and run into error here. For they think that salvation
includes only that which is in the past and has nothing to do
with the present or even of the future. And the fundamentalists
seem to think that salvation has nothing to do with the past
but only with the present. Both are in error. Salvation
gathers together all the acts and blessings of God in grace
and redemption and lumps them in one word. This word salvation
includes election, redemption, justification, forgiveness, regeneration,
calling, sanctification, preservation, and glorification. All are included
in that word salvation. The term salvation, as it's used
in the word of God, includes everything that is required to
bring a sinful, condemned, hopeless man from the ruins of Adam's
fall into the blessed, glorious enjoyment of Christ himself in
his glory in heaven forever. That's what salvation refers
to. And I know this. Whatever is involved in this
glorious thing that we call salvation, it is altogether the work of
God alone. Whenever you talk about salvation,
whenever you say this is essential for salvation, whether you're
talking about our being redeemed, or our being justified, whether
you're talking about our being sanctified, or our being born
again, or our being preserved unto eternal life, or even our
believing the gospel, whenever you talk about something being
essential and necessary for salvation, don't you dare attribute that
to man in any degree. It's God's work, and God's work
alone. Salvation, Jonah said, is of
the Lord. Now, it's not possible that man
could save himself, or even that man could contribute anything
toward the accomplishment of salvation, because we had the
sentence of death in ourselves. Now, as we read that passage
in verse 9, we are told that we were all born under the sentence,
under the curse of death. We were born in spiritual death
under the curse of the law. We all became sinners. We all
died spiritually by the sin and fall of our father Adam. So that
when Adam sinned, we sinned. When Adam died, we died. When
Adam was brought under the curse of God, we were brought under
the curse of God. Now that's the way God arranged
it. The book of God says so. For as by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. We became sinners. Now listen
carefully. We became sinners by something
done by somebody else, all together, without ourselves, before we
were born. We became sinners by that act
of Adam whereby he lifted up his fist in the face of God Almighty
and said, step aside, I'm taking over. And when he did, we died. When he did, we were cursed.
When he did, we became sinners in the sight of God's holy law. Because Adam was our representative.
Adam was our federal head. Adam was our substitute, if you
will. We lived in Adam in the garden
and we died in Adam in the garden. And as the sons of Adam and the
daughters of Adam, we all come forth from the womb speaking
lies because we have the nature of Adam imparted to us by natural
generation. We were born under the sentence
of death. The law declared that as sinners
we must die. Though we were alive physically,
we were all by nature dead spiritually. Living in the world, we were
mortal creatures whose pure end is the grave. And we are all
by nature condemned by a guilty conscience as well. A guilty
conscience which answers to the law of God written upon our hearts
condemns us. We are all subject to eternal
death without hope, without Christ, without God. So that we have
been convinced by that which we've experienced, by the conviction
of God, as well as by the consciences that God has planted within us,
that unless God himself intervenes to save us, we must surely die
forever under the wrath of God. If we are delivered from this
sentence of death, our salvation must be altogether the work of
God's almighty grace from beginning to end. And this is the whole
doctrine that Paul deals with in Ephesians 1 and 2. For by
grace are you saved through faith, and that's not of yourself. The
grace is not of yourself. The faith is not of yourselves,
and the salvation is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Now, having been saved from this
sentence of death, we are taught, Paul says here, that we should
not trust in ourselves. All men, by nature, trust in
themselves. That's natural man. All men by
nature trust in themselves. They trust in themselves that
they can appease God. They trust in themselves that
they can satisfy God's holiness. They trust in themselves that
they can make up for their sins. They trust in themselves that
they can make it to glory. They trust in themselves that
when they meet God, they'll be able, by their own merits, to
stand before Him. That's the way of natural man.
But those who are born of God's grace have learned not to trust
in themselves. We are taught plainly that it
is God alone who begins the work, God alone who carries on the
work, and God alone who shall bring the work of salvation to
its glorious consummation. Now I want you to see, and I
want you to rejoice in this fact. Our salvation, our salvation
is our present and eternal safety and preservation from all danger. It is our safety and preservation
from all danger by the power and grace of God himself. It is our deliverance from sin
and hell and our final enjoyment of God in heaven through the
merits and the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The salvation
of the Lord is not a single act, but rather it is a display of
infinite love and almighty grace in three stages, the past, the
present, and the future. In all three stages, it is the
work of God alone, who delivered us from so great a death, and
doth deliver, in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.
Now, I'm going to make three plain, simple statements, and
show you from the Word of God that they are true. And if God
will enable me to speak with the liberty and the wisdom and
the direction of His Spirit, by the power of His grace, I've
got a word that'll do your heart to it. First, I want to show
you, I'm speaking now concerning you who are born again of God's
grace. You who have experienced the
grace of God in Christ. You who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. You who come to Christ by faith. You who are in Him. I want you
to see that we have been saved. Finality. We have been saved. In one definite sense, salvation
is an act of God in the past. It is an accomplished fact. It
is something that has been done already. If this day you and
I are in the grace of God, if this day we trust Christ, if
we have a good hope of eternal life, it is because we have been
saved. Turn over to 2 Timothy 1 and
verse 9. 2 Timothy 1 and verse 9. And
we're going to be looking at several passages of scripture,
and if you find it difficult to turn to the passages and follow
the message too, then just drop them down. But I want you to
read them and see this is what God says. The Apostle Paul states
this fact very clearly and very emphatically. God's people have
been saved. 2 Timothy 1.9. God, who hath
saved us, do you see it? It's in the past tense. Who hath
saved us and called us, that's in the past as well. With an
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace. Now how far past was it? How
far back do you go? How far back is it in history
when God saved us and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace,
look at it, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Now that's where you get to the
start. You go back to the time before anything was, and you
get to the time when God hath saved us. In this verse, Paul
is telling us that salvation is a work entirely wrought of
God, without any assistance from man. It is a work already accomplished,
perfect and complete in Christ Jesus. It was done according
to God's own purpose and grace, and given us in Christ before
the world began, as he stood before God as our covenant head
and our representative." Now clearly, it is using covenant
language to describe this salvation. Just as we sinned in Adam, and
God punished our sin in Adam by inflicting death upon us in
Adam, Adam was our representative. We weren't there. I wasn't born
yet. He wasn't born yet. None of us
were. Adam and Eve alone stood before God. And Adam was the
representative of Eve, just like he was of us. And when Adam sent
the representative, the covenant head of that old covenant, we
stand in Adam. And we died in Adam. But long
before Adam sent. There was a substitute, a representative,
a covenant head, one who would come in God's time as the God-man. And that one stood before God,
even God's own Son. And in Him, we were given eternal
life before the world was made. He stood as our representative.
But we weren't born yet. We hadn't done anything yet.
We hadn't experienced anything yet. God's purpose stood in Him
before the world was, and He's our Savior even before we fell,
even before Adam transgressed the law. Now, we have been saved,
then, by the purpose of God. Now, what I'm saying is this.
In the mind and purpose of God, His people have been saved from
eternity. Just as Christ was the Lamb of
God, slain from the foundation of the world, so God's elect,
considered in Christ, were saved from the foundation of the world."
Say, when I ask a preacher, that's just a minute, detailed point
of logic and theology. You can't show us that from the
Word of God. Oh, let's see. Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter
8. This is not the language of Don
Fortner. It is not the language of John
Calvin. It is not the language of Spurgeon,
Gill, Bunyan, or any other man. This is the language of Holy
Scripture written by the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of
God the Holy Spirit, and he speaks of our salvation as being something
that is accomplished once and for all with finality, with certainty,
with completion before the world began. Romans chapter 8, verse
28. We know, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to God's purpose. Now Paul's going to
tell us what God's purpose is. For whom he did foreknow. I won't take time to expound
the word. It means those whom he loved
beforehand. He foreordained them because
he foreloved them. The word is used in another sense
in Genesis chapter 4. The scripture says Adam knew
his wife Eve. That means he knew her as he
knew no one else by an experience of love. He acquired a loving
knowledge of her by that which he experienced, by the love which
he expressed to her. The word is used in another term,
or another sense, in Matthew chapter 7. Our Lord Jesus speaks
of the day of judgment, and he says, There will be those on
my left hand, and I will say to them, Depart ye cursed into
everlasting fire, I never knew you. Now, it does not mean he
didn't know who they were. It does not mean he didn't know
what they had done. He knew very well who they were
and what they had done. He created them. He fed them.
He gave them breath, and he took away their breath. It means,
I never loved you. I never loved you. But here Paul
says, concerning those who are called of God, those who love
God, they were for love of God, whom he did foreknow. He also
did predestinate. He predestinated them to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that Christ might be the firstborn,
the chief one, the preeminent one among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, those whom he loved and predestinated
to be conformed to Christ's image, he also called. And whom he called, he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we say then? If God's
for us, who can be against us? If God loved us, predestinated
us, called us, justified us, and glorified us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, whom shall we fear? Of what shall
we be afraid? He's our God. The Apostle is
here using language in the past tense. He's saying before the
world was, we were called. Not personally, but representatively. Justified, not personally, but
representatively. And glorified. Glorified. Now there's not any way you can
get anything out of that except something happened before the
world was. We're glorified right now, Merle. Glorified. Glorified. Just like Christ.
Glorified. With the glory which He had with
the Father before the world was. For we've been glorified with
Him forever and forever. Before the world began, we were
chosen, adopted, and blessed of God. forgiven and accepted
in Christ Jesus perfectly. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at the way he speaks.
Who hath Blessed us It's done. It's done. He blessed us in heavenly. He blessed us with all spiritual
blessing You hear these fathers on television and radio in pulpits
all across the country now the Lord wants to bless you Let the
Lord bless you the Lord wants to bless you won't you let the
Lord bless you he hath blessed us And not only has he blessed
us, he has blessed us with everything he's got to bless with. He's
blessed us with everything he's got. He's blessed us with everything
he can or will give to a man. And he did it in Christ Jesus
before the world began. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, and Paul's going to
tell us about it, according as. Now this is how God blessed us.
This is not by what you do, not by your will, not by some little
decision you make, not by sending your money over to Lynchburg
by a foot of ground. He blessed us according as he
hath chosen us. That's how His blessings come,
according to His elective purpose. As He has chosen us in Christ,
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him, in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein, now look at it, He hath made us accepted
in the beloved." Accepted. Not just acceptable, Harold,
accepted. Accepted in the beloved. In whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin
according to the riches of his grace. Now, this fact of our
eternal salvation by the purpose and decree of God is necessary
for a number of reasons. The nature of God's covenant
demands it. In the mind of God, all things
are present. Now, I know we're getting way
under, above my head and yours too. We're getting out in some
deep, deep water. Let's just kind of tread around
the edges a little bit and you'll get something to bless your soul.
The mind of God is infinitely, infinitely, infinitely beyond
our comprehending, infinitely beyond our grasping God's mind
and God's ways and God's will and God's purpose. But in the
mind of God, He does not see things like we do, this, and
then this, and then this, and then this. And He does not reason
as we do, this, and then this, and then this, and then this.
But God Almighty sees everything at once. He declares the end
from the beginning. What does that mean? I'm God,
there's none else. I declare the end from the beginning.
What does that mean? God, from old eternity, we just
read it, declared how it's going to end up. He declared how it's
going to end up, and then he began it. That's what it means.
The Lord God said, they shall be mine in that day when I make
up my jewels, and he began to do it. He said, they shall be
my sons and daughters, I will be a father to them, and he began
to do it. He said, they shall be my people,
and I will be their God, and he began to do it. He declares
the end from the beginning, and he begins to accomplish the end.
Everything in God's mind is present. It's all at once. And God being
Himself, the omniscient God, the infinite, incomprehensible
God, what He has purposed, He has already accomplished. It's
done. Read the scriptures. He purposed
to slay His Son, and it's done. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He hadn't yet drawn blood from
the veins in the heart of Christ. That happened a long time on
in time. But before the world was, it
was done for God's purposes. Does that make sense, Oscar?
Before the world was. Abraham took his son Isaac up
to Mount Moriah, and he drew out the knife at the command
of God, and he killed that boy! Oh no, Abraham didn't kill him.
Yes, he did. God said he did. God said he
did. He withheld not his only son.
He never drew an drop of blood from the boy's heart, but it
killed him, for in his heart he had killed him. See, see it?
And God from eternity, in his heart, had slain his son and
accepted us into beloved. God always looks upon his people
as being in Christ. We can't, we can't think like
this, I know that, our minds are too puny. But God never has
seen us anyway, but as he sees us, God never has looked upon
us any way but in Christ. He chose His Son, the first elect,
and then chose us in our heads. He chose Christ, and chose us
in Christ Jesus, and He's always looked at it that way. There's
no beginning with this thing of God's purpose. There's no
time when God began to decide to think about redeeming. But
from all eternity, God's purpose was to redeem. And He looked
on us from eternity in His beloved Son. And God's holy character
tells us that it must have been just this way. He must have looked
upon His elect as being accepted, justified, and sanctified in
Christ from eternity. So, you're getting into logic
again, preacher. No, I'm just telling you what
the Word says. Jude, verse 1. The book of Jude, verse 1. Listen.
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them
that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus
Christ, and called. sanctified before they were called,
sanctified by God's purpose, sanctified in God's decree, sanctified
in God's mind, and preserved in the covenant head, Jesus Christ,
until the time when God the Holy Spirit should call them unto
life. If we were not justified, sanctified,
accepted in Christ before the world began, the very moment
that Adam sinned, In the very moment that Adam sinned, that
would have been the end. God wipes the slate clean. He
would have destroyed the whole race. There would have been no
hope for anyone. For when Adam had sinned, God
in his law had said, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Why
didn't Adam die physically and eternally on the spot? Because
God had won. in whom he had a chosen seed,
who would be themselves the sons of Adam, whom he had determined
to save, and he kept Adam alive to save his elect. And today
he's still keeping Adam's sons alive only for this purpose,
to save his elect. That's right. That's right. Turn
over to 2nd Timothy, or 2nd Peter rather, chapter 3. 2nd Peter
3 in verse 9. Why on earth is God long-suffering
with the ungodly, the scoffers who mock and say, where is the
promise of his coming? Why does God put up with Arminian
blasphemers and freewill promoters of human dignity and pride? Why
does God put up with those who blaspheme and dishonor his name
in so many ways? Why on earth There's one reason
why. There's one reason why. Because
God has yet, in this race of fallen men, a chosen race, whom
He will save, and He will not allow anything to hinder Him.
2 Peter 3, verse 9. Beloved, verse 8. Peter says,
Be not ignorant of this one thing. God's not in a hurry. One day
with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is
one day. He doesn't get in a hurry. The Lord is not slack concerning
His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering. Now the key is here, to usward. Do you see that? No, He's not
long-suffering with the devil. No, He's not long-suffering with
reprobate men. No, He's not long-suffering with
men who are not the objects of His grace. He's long-suffering
to usward. Not willing that any, who? Now
who would you think? I don't know how many of you
read that blasphemous liar's article in the newspaper the
last three Sundays. And I said blasphemous liar and
deceiver because that's what I mean. He's a blasphemous liar
and deceiver. Deceiving the souls of men and
blaspheming God by his doctrine. He says God's not willing that
any superior, who? Us-ward? That's who he's talking
about. Do you see it in the text? He's
long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any of the us-ward
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God's purpose
is that every soul whom he's purposed to save shall come to
repentance, and Bob Postler, he's gonna do it. He's gonna
do it. That's right. So, well, God wants
everybody to come to repentance. How come he told Moses to step
aside while I still call him? How come he would not accept
Esau when Esau sought a place of repentance with tears? No,
sir, God is not willing that everybody should come to repentance.
He's willing that the us would come to repentance, and he's
created everybody else in order to accomplish his glory in those
people whom he's chosen. That's what the text is saying.
There was a man down in Sodom. Sodom was full of queers. Kind
of like America. And God sent his angels down
to destroy the city. The cause of the hideous evil
of men in that city. And Abraham called on God. He
said, Lord, if there's 50 righteous there, will you destroy the city?
He said, oh no. No, I'll not destroy the righteous with the
wicked. And Abraham said, Lord, I Don't be angry with me, but
I've got to ask you, if there's 40 righteous, will you destroy
the city? And the Lord said, no, I'm not destroy the righteous
with the wicked. And finally, Abraham, he said, Lord, I've
taken it upon myself to speak one more time. If there's 10
righteous in the city, will you destroy it? He said, I'll not
destroy the righteous with the wicked. There was one righteous
man in the city. His name was lost. And God, while
he threatened punishment, while he had decreed punishment, while
he had ordained punishment, while he had sent the angels of destruction
to the city, he would not pour out one ball of fire upon Sodom
until those angels had taken Lot by the hand and drugged him
out of the city. And this is what I'm saying.
God Almighty preserves this world and holds back the outpouring
of his wrath until that day which he has appointed, when he shall
have gathered out the last of his elect, whom before the world
began he saved by his purpose. And when he's done, he's going
to destroy this world. Our Lord said, other sheep I
have which are not of this folk, He did not say, other sheep I
shall have. He did not say, other sheep I
hope maybe I will have. He said, other sheep I have,
who've not even been born yet, and them also I must bring, and
there shall be one foal and one shepherd. The immutability of
God also demands that our salvation by him be eternal. You see, God
never changes. We can't even begin to imagine
what that means. God never changes. He's never
changing. He has no variableness, neither
shadow of turning, not even an indication of change in Him.
He never changes. His attitude never changes. His
purpose never changes. His will never changes. His decree
never changes. His word never changes. His love
never changes. His grace never changes. His
wrath never changes. His relationship with men never
changes. Never. Bob Foster, whatever God's
relationship with you is right now, It has been from eternity
and will be to eternity. You mean there's nothing going
to change that? I mean nothing. I mean nothing. Nothing. But
what do you... I mean nothing! Now don't misunderstand
me. I am not saying that this is
all there is to salvation. I do not suggest by any means
that redemption, regeneration, repentance, faith, and conversion
are not necessary. They are, and I'll show you that
in a little bit. But I do say that in the mind
and purpose and decree of God, His people were as truly saved
before the world began as they shall be when the world ends
and they're gathered with God around His throne in heaven's
glory. We are saved by the purpose of
God in eternity. And with regard to the law and
justice of God, we were saved by the purchase of God at Calvary.
Redemption is the work of Christ. Now, it is a work of God's infinite
love, and it is a work of God's matchless, amazing grace. But
principally, and underscore in your mind, principally, The redemptive
work of Christ was a work of law and justice. Principally. Principally. This generation
doesn't know it. Of course, they don't care. They
don't know that God must be just or He can't justify the ungodly,
and they don't care whether God's just or not. As long as they
get out of hell and get to heaven, that's all that matters. But
I'm telling you principally, the cause of Jesus Christ Principally,
it's more than love, and it's more than grace, and it's more
than mercy. The cross of Jesus Christ declares
the justice of our holy God. Justice. Insofar as the law of
God is concerned, we were saved by that one, almighty, all-sufficient
act of the Son of God, whereby he satisfied divine justice as
our substitute. Christ Jesus did not simply make
salvation a possibility. He saved us. He did not simply
make redemption a possibility. He redeemed us. What does the
Scripture say? We won't turn to it. Galatians
3, verse 13. Christ hath, hath redeemed us. It's already done. He hath redeemed us. Out from
under the curse, the penalty of the law. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. He has redeemed us
by being made a curse for us, satisfying the curse of the law.
He died on the tree in our stead. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 12. By his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. Now this is what the scripture
teaches. The word of God plainly asserts that every aspect of
salvation was judicially, legally accomplished by Jesus Christ
as our representative in his life, in his death, and in his
resurrection. For of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption. That according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For what the law
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. He did not simply lay it out
and make it possible for sin to be put away. He did not simply
lay it out and make it possible for His people to be made righteous.
He did not simply lay it out and make it possible for His
people to be redeemed and escape the penalty of the law, but rather
He has redeemed us and justified us and made us righteous. by
his work alone. Alone. Our Lord Jesus said, Lo,
I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me, to
do thy will, O my God. What is the will of God? Read
it for yourself in Hebrews 10. It is the sanctification of his
elect by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ his Son. And the Lord
Jesus Christ, if he came to do the Father's will, has either
perfectly sanctified all of those people for whom he lived and
died, or he is not Jesus Christ, the Son of God. One of the two. They say, Pastor, you make it awful
hard. You draw the line too straight and you make it impossible for
Armenians and free willers and work mongers to ever have any
hope of salvation. I mean to make it hard. I'm not
willing to sacrifice all these people. I would rather sacrifice
the world than the glory of God. And that includes me and you,
Oscar. I mean the world. You take your choice. Either
We line up with men and women who deny the efficacy of Christ's
redeeming blood, and we say, okay, it's possible that maybe
we can say Jesus Christ failed, and his blood's ineffectual,
and his people that he's tried to save won't be saved after
all, and he's going to die in vain, and his will and purpose
and intercession will be meaningless, and thereby rob him of his divine
glory. So we call these folks our brethren.
Are we going to say no? Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
redeemed the people. One of the two. One of the two. Do you mean, pastor, that everybody
who denies the effectual accomplishments of Christ in his atoning sacrifice
are lost? Yes, I mean that. Most certainly. If any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that which you have received, let that man be
damned. That's what Paul said. You mean
that you're right and everybody else is wrong? No! I mean God's
right and everybody else is wrong. God's right and everybody else
is wrong. When Christ Jesus died, He made a full satisfaction to
divine justice. We were reconciled to God by
the death of His Son. We were justified by the blood
of Christ. We were sanctified by the sacrifice
of Christ. Not only did he bear our sins
in his own body on the tree, but he bore them away. He paid
the bill, and when the bill was paid, the debt was cancelled.
He satisfied the claims of justice, and when the law was satisfied,
the law cannot now speak against those for whom Christ died. Having
undertaken the responsibility of our salvation in the covenant
of grace, Our substitute came into this world to save his people
from their sins. And having fully accomplished
that salvation upon the cursed tree, he cried, it is finished. And finished it was. We know
that the work of salvation was finished. The curse of the law
was finished. The wrath of God was finished.
The sins that separated us from God were finished. The salvation
of God's elect, insofar as law and justice is concerned, was
fully finished and satisfied. We know that it was done because
Christ arose from the dead and ascended to the throne of glory,
and we ascended in Him. You read Psalm 2, Hebrews 10. In the covenant of grace, God
made a promise to His sons, He said, He promised him on condition
of his obedience, as the substitute of his people, on condition of
their salvation, he'd give them a throne and glory over all things. Now, either Jesus Christ has
fully finished that work and met those conditions, or he's
not on the throne of glory. But listen to this, thou art
my son. This day have I begotten thee,
sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool.
For he finished the transgression, he made an end of sin, he brought
in an everlasting righteousness, and there is death at the right
hand of the majesty on high, having perfectly fulfilled all
his father's holy will. Nowhere in the Bible is salvation
spoken of as something not yet complete in this judicial sense.
Turn over to Romans chapter 4. I want you to look at this one. Romans chapter 4. Now listen carefully. You can
jot it down if you want to. I'll stick by it. Faith adds
nothing. to the work of Christ. Nothing. Nothing. Faith only receives what Christ
has accomplished. Romans chapter 4 and verse 25. Who was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification, therefore, Now Paul is referring
back in verse 1 to what he has just argued for in verse 25. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is not the faith that justifies us. But it is the finished work
of Christ that justifies us. And faith, receiving that which
Christ has done, receives peace with God. Faith does not justify,
it receives justification. Blood justifies, Bobby. Law's
got to be satisfied, and faith can't satisfy the law. Justice
must be honored, and faith can't honor justice. Only the blood
of Christ can do that. Faith does not reconcile men
to God. Only the blood of Christ does
that. Faith receives the reconciliation which Christ has accomplished.
Faith does not put away sin. Only the blood of Christ can
put away sin. Faith receives the remission
of sin. Faith is not an instrument by
which we save ourselves, but rather it is the channel of God's
blessing and grace through which we receive salvation. I'm talking
about particular effectual redemption. Every soul for whom Jesus Christ
died was, at the time of his death, legally constituted and
declared to be righteous in the sight of God. When God made him
to be sinned by imputing our sins to him, he made us, in the
eyes of his law, righteous by imputing his righteousness to
us, all together outside of ourselves. How do we become righteous? Let
me try to tell you one more time. God help everybody here to hear
me. We become righteous, all together,
apart from and outside of ourselves. All together. All together. You
remember how we became sinners? Huh? Oh yeah. Little Johnny became a sinner
when he got to be six years old and went to the grocery store
and sold a Snickers bar. No, that's not when it happened.
That's not when it happened. Little Johnny got to be a sinner
when he was back yonder in our Father Adam's and lifted up his
hands against the Holy God and said, I'll take over. That's
when he got to be a sinner. How does a man get to be righteous?
Oh, Little Johnny gets to be righteous when he got to be six
years old, or seven, or twenty, or a hundred, and walked down
the church aisle and said, I believe in Jesus. Now do you really think
that's going to make a man righteous? Huh? No. We are made righteous by
that transaction that took place between God the Father and God
the Son 2,000 years ago, when God the Son both satisfied the
claims of justice and offered unto God as a man perfect righteousness. And that righteousness is idolatry.
It's been imputed to us. We are made righteous in exactly
the same way that Christ was made to be sin. Our Lord never
committed a sin. He never had any acquaintance
with sin. He never had anything sinful
in him or about him. But as a substitute, in the eyes
of the law, he was made sin. God imputed sin to him. That's clear, isn't it, Bobby?
That's exactly how you and I get to be righteous. Not because
of anything good in us. There's nothing good in us. I
wish we'd learned that. There's not a good thing about
us. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight of a
holy God. I mean, there's not a good thought,
a good word, a good deed, a good imagination. Nothing good in
man that's good before God. Nothing. Nothing. And we don't
have any possibility of doing good. Yes, we have faith. We were talking about it last
night. But even that faith is mixed with sin and unbelief and
unrighteousness. Yes, we pray, but even our prayers are selfish.
Yes, we repent, but even our repentance must be repented of.
Yes, we weep, but even our tears must be wept over. We have nothing
good to offer God. We don't have any possibility
of doing anything good and righteous before God. Our hearts are evil. So how on earth do we make righteous?
God takes the holy garment of his son's perfect righteousness,
and he says, here it is, this is yours. He puts it on us, he
clothes us with it, and he makes us righteous. Righteous. And he'll never change his mind. And we have been faded experimentally
by the power of God in regeneration. Ephesians 2, you hath he quickened
who were dead. This too is necessary. You must
be born again. You must be born again. But it
says, well, if you believe in election, in particular redemption
or limited atonement, then you have no motive for evangelism.
Oh, you're mistaken. I know that God Almighty has
a people in this world whom he's chosen. And Christ has redeemed
them. And I'm determined, God helping
me to spend my life looking for them. To preach the gospel to
them. And if God will enable me to
say it in the power of His Spirit, I want to declare, you must be
born again. And if God speaks, they're going
to be born again. They're going to be born again.
The day will rise when God speaks. Happens down there. May be tonight. May be tonight. We were dead
and Christ called us to life. Try that sometime, will you?
Give it a shot. Any of you little Arminian babblers
who might listen to this tape? Go out to the cemetery and try
to call a dead man to life. Just give it a shot. Exercise
your almighty free will. Come on, make your great decision
for God. Come on. Now let's see a dead
man walk. Let's see it happen. And yet
men tell us that men by their free will raised themselves from
death to life. What fool would believe such
a thing? None who's familiar with this book. We were raised from death to
life by the call of God. That's the only way it happened. We were under the dominion of
sin, and we couldn't change it. Iron fetters held us in strong bondage, shackles
around our feet. Leg irons holding us in the bondage
of sin, and we could not break ourselves free. But Christ Jesus
came in proclaiming liberty to the captives, and he opened the
prison door, and he set the prisoner free. We were under the curse
of the law. But Christ Jesus came with a
bill of parts signed and sealed from God himself. And the Bill
of Pardon declares there's no crime to hold this man. We were
in bondage to Satan, under his power and dominion, but Christ
came. And he spoiled the strong man's
house by his invincible grace, and took up his abode in our
hearts, and he never means to leave. This is the meaning of
Paul's words, who hath delivered us. He's delivered us from the
sentence of death, from the death of sin and even from the despair
of legal conviction. He's delivered us by the purpose
of God, by the purchase of God, and by the power of God. But
secondly, I just, just touch it, I can't preach on it. We are also saved in the present tense. We're being
saved. We're being saved. Turn over
to Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 1. Verse 6. Being confident of this very
thing. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now
Mark, if he's begun a good work in you, it's going to last. He's going to perform it until
he brings it to perfection. Turn over to chapter 2, verse
13. Paul tells us, work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in
you. Notice the present tense. It
is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. God is saving us by his preserving grace. He preserves
his grace in our hearts. And he preserves our hearts in
his grace. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. Had God saved us and left us
James Leagues to ourselves for one minute, nobody here would
last. We'd be damned quicker than you
could bat an eye. But he didn't do it. He saved
us. And he said, I'll keep you. I'll
keep you, I'll hold you in my right hand, and I will not let
you go. God's graciously saving us by
the inward work of his Spirit in our hearts, causing us to
grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. And God is saving
us by his secret providential care. You know, he knows exactly what
we need. He knows just how much bitterness we need and just how
much sweetness. And He gives it to us. He knows just how much good we
need and just how much evil, and He gives it to us. Thank
God. Thank God. You ever discipline
your children, and you wonder, am I, am I giving
her too much? to spoil her and ruin her. And on the other side, you wonder,
am I being too severe to discourage her and dishearten her? Boy,
that's a tough line. That's a tough call. That's a
tough call. God Almighty knows just what
we need, and He gives it to us, always, always. You see, He's
saving us from the unseen dangers of life. Sometimes it lets us see a little
bit. I experienced a little bit of that
Sunday morning. Car comes flying around the curve as Charlotte
Murrell coming out of the driveway. Well, you saw it that time. Boy,
the Lord, he took care of us. He's just telling you I've been
doing it all along. You don't always see it. Oh, the unseen dangers. But more
than physical dangers, the spiritual dangers. He saves us from the
subtle temptations and assaults of Satan. There's no temptation
taking you, such as is common to man. And God will, with his
temptation, make a way to escape, if he may be able to fail. Here's
God's grace. Oscar, when you're weak and would
fall, God doesn't allow you to have the opportunity to fall. And when he gives you the strength
of his grace to overcome temptation, he brings temptation your way. And when he does allow you to
fall, it is only that you may look to him and he lifts you
up. Reckon God could have prevented
David's horrible sin? Why, sure he could. Sure he could. Why didn't he? Somehow there's
something in there good for David and for the glory of God. That's
all. He's saving us from the damning
errors of false religion. We were talking about this last
night. Hubert Marsh was over at the house. We all, everybody here, everybody
here, we have the natural religion of all men in our heart by nature. Every one of us trusts himself
by nature. Every one of us. We get to feeling cold and indifferent.
And somehow or another we start looking for ourselves. Looking
to ourselves for some means by which we can find some basis
of assurance and peace with God. And when our hearts are cold,
now you answer for yourself. I know I'm telling the truth.
When our hearts are cold, and this book is a sealed book to
us in heaven's writing. We despair. We despair of being
God's elect. We despair of being the children
of God. But then when we feel close to
the Lord and we read the Bible with eagerness and we pray with
earnestness, And we seem to have great liberty in worshiping God
and singing his praise, and it seems that things are such that
our hearts are in tune with the things of the Spirit of God.
Then we have confidence and assurance that we belong to Christ. Do we not trust in ourselves? Yeah, by nature we do. But thank God he won't let us
rest in our cells. I find myself experiencing just
what I'm talking to you about. Oh, the glorious joy and satisfaction
of turning to God and saying, These things, the good and the
bad, have nothing to do with my acceptance of you, but I trust
Jesus Christ alone. That's it. That's it. I trust
him. I trust him. God is graciously saving us from
our own inbred sin and corruption in nature. from the care of this
world, and from that terrible danger, the greatest of all,
trust himself. And one last thing, we shall
be saved. I know whom I have believed, and I know that he's able and
that he will keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. Now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed. 22 years ago, God saved me. He saved me. And he's been saving me now for
22 years. Some of it I can tell you about. Some of it I can't, and some
of it I want. But he's been saving me for 22
years. He's kept me in the way of faith.
And I have every reason, every reason, to confidently expect
him to keep me in the faith until he brings me to his glorious
presence. Is that presumption? I say it
without the least measure of self-confidence. Before God I have no confidence
in the flesh, no. There's nothing on this earth
I would not do if God just lift his finger in any direction for
a moment. Nothing. There's nothing on this
earth I haven't done in here. Nothing. I have no confidence
in the flesh. Well, how can you be so confident?
I have a God who said I'll never leave you nor forsake you. I have a Savior who's been my
Savior from eternity, and He said, I'll keep you, and I'll
not let you go. I have confidence in Him. You
see, there was nothing in us good
which caused God to begin His work of grace, was there? Anybody here? First experience
God's grace to cause something good in them? Oh no. There was nothing but evil in
them. And if all the corruption that was in us then did not cause
God not to save us, all the corruption that's still in us will not keep
Him from saving us. And there's never been anything
taken by surprise. The Lord knew when he chose you, when he chose you, he knew everything
you would do, everything you'd see, everything you'd think,
Every evil thing he knew. He knew it. And yet he loved us, notwithstanding
all. He chose us, notwithstanding
all. And he knew it when he chose
us. You don't really think that him knowing it now is going to
cause him to reject us, do you? Pastor, what are you saying?
Are you saying that nothing shall ever separate us from the love
of God that's in Christ Jesus? No, Paul said it. Are you saying
that God will never entreat any sin to us? No, David said it.
David said it. That's right. Are you saying,
preacher, That God will never, under any circumstances, for
any reason, for any cause, forsake any of His own? Yes! That's what
I'm saying! God said that. He said, I will never, no never,
no never, no never leave this. You know what He said? That's what He said. That's what He said. And God's as good as His word.
Children of God, rest your soul in the substitute. Rest your
soul in the goodness and grace of God in Christ Jesus. I will bless the Lord at all
times. Why shouldn't I? His praise will be continually
in my mouth. When I feel my heart is as dead
as stone, and as cold as steel, and as hard as steel itself. when I feel that I have no goodness
at all and nothing but sin, when I feel that I cannot possibly
read this book or call upon God in prayer, when I feel nothing
but corruption within and corruption without, yet still will I bless
His name always. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth, for He's forgiven me of all my sins. He has saved me. He is saving
me, and I trust that He will yet save me. And what He's done
for me, children of God, He's done for you. And what He's done
for us, He can and will do for all who call upon His name. God help you then to trust Him. Amen.

Salvation In Three Tenses

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know election is true?

Why is justification important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about justification by faith?

Why is the doctrine of predestination important?

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Salvation In Three Tenses

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know election is true?

Why is justification important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about justification by faith?

Why is the doctrine of predestination important?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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