Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nibert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I've entitled this message, The
Evidential If. In Hebrews 3, verse 6, we read
that Christ was the Son over His own house, whose house are
we if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm unto the
end. Now, what is the evidence that
we are the house of Christ if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast unto the end? In verse 14 of the same
chapter, we read, for we are made partakers of Christ if we
hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. The only
evidence that we are truly partakers of Jesus Christ is if we hold
the beginning of our confidence all the way to the end. Here's
a very similar scripture found in Colossians 1, 22, and 23,
where every believer is said to be holy, unblameable, and
unreprovable in His sight. This is by the work of Christ.
Think of how complete this is. Every believer in God's sight
is holy, unblameable, and unreprovable if we be not moved from the hope
of the gospel. What is the evidence that we're
wholly unblameable and unreprovable in His sight? If we're not moved
from the hope of the gospel, but continue in the faith, grounded
and settled. The evidential if. I remember
hearing someone make this statement. If they arrested people for being
a Christian, would they have enough evidence to convict you? It's a good question. I hope someone does not hear
that question and start trying to measure how good and holy
they are so they can figure out whether or not they're really
saved. If that's what you did, that's
not what I meant. But there is evidence. These evidential ifs. Now, let me make this statement. If this is conditions that need
to be met before I can be a Christian, I won't be a Christian. Conditional. What if these were conditional
ifs? What does conditional mean? Well, it means something can
only take place if some certain conditions are met. For instance,
if I said to you, I will give $100 to you if you are over seven
feet tall. Well, there's a condition that
must first be met. You have to be seven feet tall
before you'll get that $100. I figure there's not that many
seven feet tall people, so I ought to be pretty safe with that.
But what if I said you will not be saved unless you first stop
being proud? If you commit the sin of being
pride, you cannot be saved. You've got to stop having that
pride and arrogancy. Now, that's a condition you must
meet before God will save you. A conditional salvation. Now,
99% of the churches that I know of preach a conditional salvation. You must first do this before
God will save you. You must first accept Jesus Christ
as your personal savior. You must first, as an act of
your free will, decide to believe. You must first repent of your
sins. You must first fill in the blank
before God can save you. That is a conditional salvation.
And my dear friend, that is salvation by works. You know, this notion
that God loves everybody. Jesus Christ died for everybody.
God wants to save everybody, but he can't save us unless we
first fill in the blank, whatever that might be. That is salvation
by works. That's salvation dependent upon
something that we do. Just the idea of free will. It's up to me as to whether or
not I'll be saved. That makes salvation dependent upon your
choice. That is salvation by works. Now let me give you two problems,
insurmountable problems with the conditional salvation. Here's
the first insurmountable problem. Bible doesn't teach that. And
here's the second problem. A man dead in sins cannot meet
any conditions. If I said to a dead man, if you
get up, I'll give you a million dollars, but you got to first
get up. What good would that do? Nothing. He can't get up. A man dead in
sins cannot do the requirements of the gospel. He has to be given
life. So with regard to a conditional
salvation, The Bible doesn't teach it, and men cannot meet
the conditions because they're dead in sins. If you give them
some conditions, they must first meet before God can save them. Now, God's salvation is unconditional. as far as contributions the sinner
has to make before he can be saved. Now there are conditions
that must be met. All of God's attributes have
to be honored. He cannot save in a way that would violate any
of his attributes. All of his attributes must be
exalted. Those conditions must be met. In that sense, salvation
is not unconditional. God's love is not unconditional.
Somebody says, God's love is unconditional. No, it's not.
If God loves you, it's because you're in Christ. It's because
you're lovely in Christ. God's love is drawn to you because
you're in Christ. There's no such thing as unconditional
love. But with regard to any works
we perform, every aspect of God's salvation is completely unconditional. What does unconditional mean?
It means that there are no conditions that must first be met for God
to save the sinner, as far as the sinner doing something. Here's a glorious example of
this. In 2 Samuel 23, verse 5, David's giving his dying words.
He's been alive for 70 years. He's getting ready to die. He's
experienced a lot. He's the sweet psalmist of Israel.
He's the man whom God said was a man after my own heart. What
greater commendation can there be than that? Hear his testimony. Although, 2 Samuel 23, 5, although
my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant. in all things. And sure, this
is all my salvation and all my desire, though he make it not
to grow." Now, those are the words of King David. When he
says, although my house be not so with God, it was true. His
house, as far as his family, was a mess. And God said it would
be. He had murder. He had rape. He
had every bad thing that you could think of going on with
his own children and his own wives. There were all kinds of
problems. And God said it would be that
way. He said, the sword shall never depart from your house.
But there were believers in his house. It couldn't be said unequivocally
that there were no believers in his house. Abigail was. Bathsheba
was. When he's speaking of his house,
he's talking about his person. Quite often in the scriptures,
the body is called the house. The house, the house of my soul.
Although this house be not so with God, David was aware of
his sin. Every breath he took, he realized
was sin. He said, my sin is ever before
me. He said, I was shaping an iniquity
and sin did my mother conceive me. He knew something about his
sin. And he knew because of that there
wasn't any condition he could meet if it was up to him meeting
some kind of condition before God could do anything for him.
But listen to his words. Although my house be not so with
God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant. Now, this is a unilateral covenant. He didn't say, I'll do this if
you do that. He said, I will do this and you shall do that.
This is a unilateral covenant. It's not dependent upon David
meeting some condition. It's God saying he would do it.
And it's an everlasting covenant. It was made before time began,
before David had any good works or bad works. Like Romans 9,
11 says, 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."
This covenant is ordered in all things. And sure, there's no
way I can be anything but saved if God's entered in covenant
to save me. And this is all my salvation, David says. It's not
99% of it. It's all of it. This everlasting
covenant he made with me. ordered in all things. And it's
all my desire. I don't want anything else. And
then he ends with this statement, though he make it not to grow.
What does that mean? This salvation is so sure, so complete, that
it knows no growth. It's perfect, it's infinite,
it's glorious, it's not gonna grow. Now this is not talking
about growth and grace. This is talking about growing
in acceptance with God, or God to come to love you more, or
you to be more holy in God's sight. This salvation cannot
grow because we're complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
is of the Lord. Every aspect of God's salvation
is unconditional. I want to read a verse of scripture
from Romans 11, beginning in verse 5. Even so then, Paul says,
at this present time, there is a remnant, a small number of
believers, according to the election of grace. Now somebody says,
why just a remnant? Because God said it. You have
to ask him about that. And he said it in his word and
I love it. You know, the Lord did say, many shall go in at
the wide gate that leads to destruction and few go in at the straight
gate. That was true then, it's true
now. God's people upon the earth have always been a minority,
a remnant, but it's a remnant according to the election of
grace. Oh, I love that term, the election of grace. And if
by grace, verse six, then it's no more of works, otherwise grace
is no more grace, but if it be of works, then it's no more of
grace, otherwise work is no more work. Let me read it like this,
and it's saying the same thing. If by grace, then it's no more
of conditions. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of conditions, some
condition you must first meet, then it's no more grace. Otherwise,
work is no more work. Otherwise, condition is no more
condition. Now, grace is unconditional. By grace are you saved. Not by grace will you be saved
if you, fill in the blank, by grace you are saved. Through faith, and that faith,
it's not of yourselves. It's not you meeting some kind
of condition in order for you to have faith. That faith itself
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Election,
God's choice of His people before time began is unconditional election. He didn't look to see if you
met the conditions as to whether or not He could save you. Unconditional
election. Let me quote that scripture again. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand. The forgiveness
of sins is unconditional. You do not do something in order
to get the forgiveness of sins. When you're forgiven, you find
out you've been forgiven. There wasn't some work you performed.
See, salvation begins with the forgiveness of sins. It doesn't
end with the forgiveness of sins. If you do this, this, and this,
then you'll be forgiven. No, it begins with the complete,
free, full forgiveness of sins. Justification is unconditional. You don't do something in order
to become justified. God justifies you for Christ's
sake. Repentance. is his gift. Repentance
is not some work you perform in order to get him to respond
to you. Then hath to the Gentiles God granted repentance unto life. It's the gift of God. Our perseverance
is us persevering by being kept by the power of God through faith
into salvation. Our growth is growth in grace. Paul put it this way in Philippians
2, 12 and 13, work out your own salvation. with fear and trembling,
for it's God that worketh in you, both to will and to do His
good pleasure." Now, if there's one single condition I had to
meet in order for me to be saved, If there's something I had to
do before God could do something for me, if there were one single
sin I had to get the victory over before God would show me
mercy, I would have no hope of being saved. And whether you
know it or not, you would neither. Thank God, salvation is unconditional. The scripture says all the promises
of God in him are yea and amen to the glory of God by us. Let me give you one scripture
that will emphasize this. Psalm 106, beginning in verse
six, the psalmist says, we have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. And that's quite a confession
of sin. He doesn't try to make it less
than it is. He said, we've sinned with our
fathers. We've committed iniquity. We've done wickedly. Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the
multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even
the Red Sea. They were an ungrateful people.
They were a forgetting people. They were provoking people. Now
listen to this verse. Nevertheless, in spite of how
wicked they were, Nevertheless, He saved them for His name's
sake. Not because they met some condition,
but He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His
mighty power known. God doesn't have to have a reason
in you to save you. He does it for his name's sake. Salvation is unconditional. Question, does that kind of thinking
lead to fatalism and indifference? Does this lead to apathy? Does
this lead to sin? After all, our sins can't prevent
us from being saved. God doesn't need a reason in
us to be saved so we can sin all we want. Let us sin that
grace may abound. Is this an excuse for indifference
and licentiousness? After all, our sins don't matter.
As far as salvation goes, He can save us unconditionally.
Is that The response? It's not the response of the
believer. It may be, indeed, the response
of the unbeliever, but it's not the response of the believer.
Thy people shall be willing volunteers in the day of thy power. What is the evidence of someone
being willing? or volunteers his people because
they're willing in the day of his power. Now, I want to give
you some scriptures that speak of this evidential if. In Matthew 6, verses 14 and 15,
after the Lord had taught us how to pray, our Father which
art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. Now, the Lord only made
one comment about this prayer. Here it is. If you forgive, you'll
be forgiven. If you don't forgive, you will
not be forgiven. And those were the words of the
Lord. If I refuse in my heart to forgive,
I will not be forgiven. Now, people agonize over that. What's the Lord say? If you refuse
to forgive, you will not be forgiven. If you forgive, you will be forgiven. Now, does that mean my forgiveness
is dependent upon me forgiving somebody? No, it doesn't. It means this, if I am forgiven,
here's the evidence, I will forgive. If I refuse to forgive, I know
nothing of the forgiveness of God. In John chapter 17, verse
seven, or John chapter seven, verse 17, the Lord said, if any
man will do his will, There's that if, that evidential if.
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God. Now, if anyone in their heart
desires to do God's will, that's their desire. Their prayer is,
thy will be done. Take my will and make it thine.
It shall be no longer mine. I want my will to be conformed
to his will. I want him to get rid of my will
and make my will his will. That's my great desire. If any
man will do his will, he'll know the doctrine. whether it be of
God. Now, if I believe false doctrine,
it's because I chose to believe false doctrine and it has something
to do with an unwillingness on my part to do his will. Now, if I believe that which
God doesn't say in his word, it's because of my own perverse
unwillingness to do his will. A sinful motive is always behind
the belief of that which is not true. Now, if you believe what's
true, you believe it because it's true. If you believe what's
false, you choose to believe that which is false. And it has
something to do with an unwillingness to do His will. What is the evidence
of believing the truth? Well, underneath it, there's
a new heart, a new spirit, that there's a willingness to do His
will. John 8, verse 31, the Lord said,
if you continue in my word, Then are you my disciples indeed. Now the only way we're true disciples,
here's the evidence that we're true disciples. Here's the evidence
that God has done something for me. If I continue in his word. That is the evidential if. The Lord said, I am the door
by me. If any man enter, he shall be
saved. Now what is the evidence that
God has saved me? I enter only by the door. I don't come some other way.
The only way I come into God's presence is Christ alone. I don't
plead anything else. I look to Christ only. He's my
only way to the Father. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. No man comes to the Father, but
by me, I come only by him. And that's the evidence that
God has saved me. John 11, 40, we read where Jesus
saith unto her, speaking to Martha, says I not unto thee that if
thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God. Now, the only way you'll see
the glory of God is if you believe. The evidence of having seen the
glory of God is believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In John chapter 15, verse 14,
the Lord said, you are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command
you. There's the evidential if. We're
His friends if we do what He commands. Now listen to this,
1 John 3.23, this is His commandment, that we believe on the name of
His Son, Jesus Christ, and we love one another as He gave us
commandment. Now listen to me, I do believe
on the name of His Son. I believe His name is God. Every attribute of God is behind
His name. I'm relying on His name. When
it says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. I'm calling upon His name. I'm calling upon His attributes.
Lord, save me by Your will. Save me by a sovereign act. Save
me by Your justice. Save me by Your grace. Save me
by Your power. Save me by Your wisdom. I believe
on His name, and oh, anybody who loves Him, who loves His
salvation, I love them. Now, that is the evidence that
I really am one of His friends. I'm doing what He commands. Romans 10, 9 says, If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, thou shalt be saved. And
believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. Well, what is the evidence that I'm saved?
I really believe He's Lord. And I am completely relying that
God raised him from the dead, and that's all God requires of
me. Paul said, if you be circumcised,
Christ shall profit you nothing. Now, if I believe in conditions,
you need to be circumcised, you need to do this, you need to
do that, you can forget Christ. He will profit you nothing. Colossians 1.13 says, if any
man be forbearing and forgiving, if any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so do also ye. How'd Christ forgive
you? Freely. If he has, you're to
forgive your brother just like that. Now, there are many others
in the scripture. Obviously, I don't have time
to deal with them all. But these are evidential ifs. Salvation
is completely unconditional. And the evidence that He has
unconditionally saved you is by me and you demonstrating these
evidential ifs. But here's something I want to
end with. I love this. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Those are the words of Christ.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that
cometh to me for mercy, for grace, I will, in no wise, for no reason,
cast out. What a promise of grace. May the Lord enable me and you
to have these evidential ifs seen in coming to Christ as our
all in salvation. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to todd.neilert at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
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