Four Important Questions

Q: What does the Bible say about God's love and salvation?

The Bible teaches that God's love is specifically towards His elect, whom He foreknew and predestined for salvation. The Scriptures reveal that God's love is not a blanket affection for all humanity but is directed specifically towards His chosen ones. 1 John 4:10 states, 'Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us.' This emphasizes that God's love serves as the foundation of our salvation, particularly for those He has chosen and redeemed. Romans 8:29-31 underscores this truth, indicating that those God foreknew He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, demonstrating the specific and personal nature of His love in the context of salvation.

Q: How do we know that election is true?

Election is affirmed in Scripture, particularly in passages like Ephesians 1:4-5 and Romans 8:29-30, which reveal God's sovereignty in choosing His people. The biblical doctrine of election is crucial to understanding salvation, as it teaches that God has chosen certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4-5 articulates this when it states that God chose us in Him before the creation of the world, predestining us for adoption as His children. Furthermore, Romans 8:29-30 illustrates the golden chain of salvation, stating that those God foreknew, He predestined, called, justified, and glorified. This portrays a clear picture of God's sovereign initiative in salvation, reinforcing the doctrine of election as a biblical truth.

Q: Why is the death of Christ important for salvation?

Christ's death is central to salvation as it serves as the sole atonement for sin, ensuring justification for the elect. The death of Christ is foundational to Christian faith because it represents the ultimate sacrifice that bears the sins of His people. According to Hebrews 9:26, Christ appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This highlights the sufficiency of His atonement. Moreover, in Romans 5:8, we learn that God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This illustrates that His death not only secures the opportunity for salvation but effectively saves those for whom He died. His blood cleanses and justifies all who believe, underlining its necessity and effectiveness in the salvation of the elect.

Q: What role does the Holy Spirit play in salvation?

The Holy Spirit actively regenerates and calls the elect to salvation, enabling them to respond to God's grace. The role of the Holy Spirit in salvation is to regenerate the hearts of the elect, drawing them to faith in Christ and enabling them to respond to God's call. John 6:44 states, 'No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,' emphasizing the necessity of divine initiative in salvation. Additionally, the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of Christ's atoning work to the believer, facilitating their regeneration, conviction of sin, and assurance of salvation. Without this work of the Spirit, individuals would remain in their sinful state, unable to respond to the gospel. Thus, the Holy Spirit’s work is essential in hastening the believer's transformation and bringing them into a saving relationship with Christ.

I'm reading today from the book
of Romans, chapter 8. If you'd like to follow in your
Bibles, you open it, please, to Romans, the 8th chapter, and
I'll read verses 28 through 31. Now, my subject is entitled,
Four Important Questions. And I want you to listen carefully
to this message today. It may be what you call controversial,
It may be, to a certain degree, divisive, but I'm going to preach
it. Four important questions. Now,
Romans 8, 29, Paul is writing here to the church at Rome, and
he says, And we know, and we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. For whom He, that is God, for
whom God did foreknow, God also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them God also called. And whom He, God, called, them
He also justified. and whom He justified, them He
also glorified." Now, what shall we say to these things? And Paul
replies, well, if God be for us, if God be for us, if God
foreknew us and predestinated us to be conformed to the image
of His Son and justified us and called us and glorified us in
Christ, if God be on our side, If God be for us, then who can
be against us? Now, most of today's preachers
and churches positively declare four things. Now, you listen
to these four things and you see if I'm not telling the truth.
Most churches and most preachers, all that I hear on television
and radio and other places, declare and agree on these four things. They're all in agreement. on
these four things. Now you listen. First of all,
most all preachers and most all churches declare that God loves
all people the same without exception. Is that not true? Is that not
what most people preach? God Almighty, the eternal God
of heaven and earth, He loves everybody in all the world the
same without exception. He loves everybody And the verse
of Scripture which they use to teach this mainly is John 3,
16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life. That's generally what most everybody
believes and teaches. God Almighty, He loves everybody
the same, Peter and Judas and Mary and Jezebel and everybody
the same, those in heaven, those in hell. God's in love with everybody. The second thing that all of
them, just about all of them, preach and agree on is God Almighty,
the God of heaven and earth, wills or desires or wants the
salvation of everybody without exception. God wills to save
everybody. He wants to save everybody in
this world without exception. And one of the verses they use
for this is God is not willing, that any should perish from second
Peter. And also a verse of scripture
which says over in first Timothy, he said who will have all men
to be saved. And then the third thing that
practically every preacher and every church in all the United
States preach and agree on is Jesus Christ died for everybody.
He died for all men without exception. His blood was shed for all men,
His blood atoned for all our race." And a key verse they use
here is 1 John 2, He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours
only but for the whole world. Seems to indicate that, doesn't
it? That Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross, He died for
everybody, shed His blood for everybody, He atoned for everybody's
sins, He paid everybody's sin debt. And then the fourth thing,
They teach that the Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Living God, here
you have the Father, loves all men, wills the salvation of all
men, Christ died for all men without exception, and the Holy
Spirit strives with and calls all men to salvation without
exception. That the Holy Spirit knocks at
every heart's door, He tries to get everybody to be saved.
He warns and witnesses to and calls all men. If this be true,
I want you to listen. I have four questions for thoughtful
people. I got me a good lawyer listening
to me this morning. I want you to listen and see
if this can be an agreement or a school teacher or somebody
does some thinking and some teaching. You listen carefully to me. Now,
if these things be true, if this be true, what we're hearing preached,
that God Almighty loves everybody the same without exception, that
God Almighty, the Almighty God of heaven and earth, wills and
desires the salvation of every son of Adam, that Christ Jesus
died and shed His blood and paid for the sins of every son of
Adam, every human being, and that the Holy Spirit tries His
best to save everybody, then I have four questions for thoughtful
people, somebody that won't be just led around by the nose or
believe everything that anybody tells them, but will give some
serious thought to these questions that arise from this kind of
theology. Now, this is a brand of theology.
It's an American, Armenian, semi-Pelagian brand of theology. Now, here's
my first question. If these things be true, if God
loves all men the same without exception, if God Almighty loves
every human being the same without exception, Then what does the
love of God have to do with a person's salvation? Absolutely nothing. If God loves
all men the same and all men are not saved, then His love
has no power to save. His love makes no distinction
and His love has no part in our salvation. If He loves Peter
and Judas both the same and Peter went to heaven, Judas went to
hell. His love had nothing to do with either. His love couldn't
prevent the destruction of Judas and couldn't save Peter. His
love had nothing to do with it. If a person goes to heaven, he
cannot say, I'm here because God loved me. For there are people
in hell whom God loved. And how do you know that you
won't go to hell? You say God loves you. Well, if God loves
everybody in hell, you may wind up there too. So if God loves
everybody the same, then what does the love of God have to
do with the salvation of a sinner? Nothing. And let me ask you this,
secondly, if God wills, if Almighty God wills and desires the salvation
of all men, that's what He wills, then what does the will of God
have to do with one's salvation? Absolutely nothing. If the Almighty
God wants to save a person and wills to save a person and wishes
to save a person, yet that person is not saved, then the will of
God has no power. God's will has no authority.
God's will has no part in salvation. There's no need to pray, Thy
will be done, because it's not going to be done. There's no
need to ask God, Thy will be done. What's the use praying
that? His will will not be done. He willed to save people in hell
and couldn't get the job done. So His will has nothing to do
with salvation at all. Because He willed to save them
and couldn't. That's what I hear preachers say, God wants to save
you, He wills to save you, but you won't let Him. Then the power
is in the creature, not in His God. Now the third question,
and listen to it. If Jesus Christ died on the cross
to save all men, without exception, and His blood Jesus Christ actually,
in fact, shed his blood for the sins of all men. Then I ask you,
what does the death of Christ, what does the blood of Christ
have to do with a man's salvation? Absolutely nothing. God loved
him and God willed to save him and Christ died for him and he
still perished. Then what does it have to do
with our salvation? If men perish, for whom Christ died, then His
death has no power to save. If men go to hell for whom Christ
shed His blood, then His blood has no power to cleanse, no power
to sanctify, and no power to justify. And the people in heaven
who are singing that song unto Him who loved us, what are you
singing that for? These people in hell whom He
loved, they tell me. Why are you giving glory to Him
who loved you? unto him who loved us, and washed
us from our sins in his own blood." That's foolishness, because he
loved everybody, and his blood was shed for everybody, and he
died for everybody, and he willed to save everybody, but he couldn't
save them, so God failed. God failed. According to today's
theology, he washed people in hell from their sins, just exactly
as he washed people in heaven, and that was all to no avail.
My friend, this is confusing. And you have people who say that
preachers confuse them. Of course they confuse them.
They preach one thing out this side of their mouth and one thing
out the other side. They say God's almighty and then
they say He can't do what He wills to do. They say Christ
died for our sin, turn right around and say He died for everybody's
sin. God loves this man, God loves Jacob, and He loves Esau
too. That's not what Scripture says. Here's the fourth question. Now listen to me. Question number
four, if the Holy Spirit strives with all men and calls all men
and tries to save all men without exception, then what does the
Holy Spirit has to do with salvation? People say they're regenerated
by the Spirit and called by the Spirit, baptized with the Holy
Spirit. Why? Absolutely nothing because
He tries to do that for everybody and they won't let Him. If God
convicts all, the Spirit convicts all, regenerates all and calls
all, then salvation is not by the Holy Spirit or by the power
of the Holy Spirit. It's by the will and works and
merit of the sinner. Now, that's true. If God loves
all the same without exception, if God wills the salvation of
all men without exception, if Christ died for all men without
exception, If the Holy Ghost calls all men without exception,
then the Holy Trinity has no power to save, no real part in
the salvation of sinners, and the scripture which says salvation
is of the Lord is just not so. Salvation is of man. That's what's
being preached. The scripture which declares
the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth us from all sin,
that's not so. It may cleanse you and it may
not cleanse you. It all depends on what you do about it. You
see how inconsistent this is? This type of preaching is totally
inconsistent with the scriptures, with logic, and with reason,
and with justice. It's no wonder that most people
are confused and many people won't even go to church because
the preaching is so inconsistent. Now, I'm going to declare unto
you what the scripture says about the love of God. What the Scripture
says about the will of God, what the Scripture says about the
blood of Christ, and what the Scripture says about the power,
the irresistible, invincible power of God's Holy Spirit. Now, the love of God is the very
foundation of our salvation. The Scripture says herein is
love. Not that we love God, He loved us. John is writing to
the church. John is writing to believers.
John's not writing to pagans and heathens and unbelievers
and the whole world. He's writing to the church. And
he said here in his love, not that we love God, he loved us.
And he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. We
love him because he first loved us. Our love is a response to
his love. He said, I have drawn you with
an everlasting love. But the love of God, my friend,
is in Christ Jesus. And His love is upon those given
to Christ and those in Christ and those who believe His Word,
His sheep, His elect, His church, His jewels, His brethren. He
called them by many names. In fact, in Matthew 7, He tells
about the judgment and He says that He's going to say to many
people, I never knew you. How could He love somebody He
doesn't know? I never knew you. I never loved you. I never set
my affection upon you. You were never mine." That's
what the Scripture... John 3, 36, listen to this. He
that believeth on the Son, he hath everlasting life. And he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the what? The
wrath of God abideth on him. We don't ever hear that mentioned,
the wrath of God. Is there no wrath with God? Then
how do you account for the flood? Is there no wrath with God? Then
how do you account for the destruction of Sodom? Was that an act of
love? That's an act of judgment and
wrath. If there's no wrath with God,
how do you account for the Gomorrah, Sodom and Gomorrah? How do you
account for the destruction of the Amalekites and Jericho and
all these heathen cities as Israel ran them over and conquered them
and destroyed every living thing? That's judgment from an angry
God. Jacob have a love. Jacob was
in the covenant. Jacob was in Christ. Jacob was
his elect. Jacob have a love. Esau, God
said, I've hated. Psalm 5-5 says, God hateth all
workers of iniquity. Psalm 7-11 says, God's angry
with the wicked every day. So he that believeth on the Son,
he hath life and love and peace and he that believeth not the
Son, the wrath of God." Don't tell people God Almighty loved
Jezebel. He condemned her to everlasting
destruction. Don't tell people God Almighty
loves unbelievers. He loves those in Christ. That's
where His love is. Romans 8, 38 and 39 says, Nothing
can separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ
our Lord. Now, that's just true. There's
no one in hell whom God loves. What kind of love is that? If
you look at me and say, God loves you, but you're going to hell,
I'd just assume He didn't love me then, because that's a strange
expression of love. If one of your children asked
for bread, would you give him a stone? If one of them asked
for meat, would you give him a scorpion? Well, if you being
evil know how to give good gifts to your own whom you love, I
shall not the Heavenly Father give good things to them whom
He loves." God's love's in Christ. And all whom He loves will be
in glory. Whom He did foreknow, He did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom
He predestinated, He called. Whom He called, He justified.
Whom He justified, He glorified. All right, the love of God's
the foundation of our salvation. The will of God is the cause
of our salvation. The will of God. Moses said,
Lord, show me your glory. And God said, Moses, this is
my glory, my goodness. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. I tell you, if God wills a man's
salvation, that man will be saved. God willed the salvation of Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. God willed Abraham to come out of idolatry, and
he came out. Our Lord Jesus Christ willed
Zacchaeus to come out of that tree. He came down of his own
will. Begat he us with the word of
truth. I'll tell you, if salvation were
left to your will, you'd never be saved, or my will, or anybody
else's will, because the will of man is in bondage to sin.
Our Lord said, You will not come to me that you might have life.
It's not of him that willeth, it's not of him that runneth,
it's of God that showeth mercy. God rules in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of this earth and giveth it to whomsoever
he will. He worketh all things, Paul said
in Ephesians 1, two or three times he said this. He worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. I tell you, there can't be but
one sovereign will, one free will, one dominating will in
this universe, and that's God's will. And He'll make us willing
in the day of His power. No man can come to me, Christ
said, except my Father which sent me draw him. In John chapter
1, it says, we who receive Christ, we were born not of the will
of the flesh, not of the will of man, we were born of God.
Listen to the shepherd, other sheep I have which are not of
this fold. Them I must bring, and they shall hear my voice,
and they shall be one fold and one shepherd. How's this gonna
be? God willed it. God willed it. As many as were
ordained eternal life believe. Our Lord Jesus Christ said in
John 6, 37, all that my Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out for I came
down from heaven not to do mine own will as the mediator as the
Messiah as the Christ I came to do the will of my father that
sent me and this is my father's will that of all which he had
given me I'll lose nothing but raise it up at the last day this
is my father's will you mean to tell me that God WILLS, THE
SALVATION OF EVERY HUMAN BEING. I'LL TELL YOU IF HE DOES, THEN
THERE'S UNIVERSAL SALVATION, THEN EVERYBODY'S GONNA BE IN
HEAVEN. GOD'S WILL SHALL BE DONE. I GUARANTEE YOU THAT. HE WILL
HAVE HIS WAY. HIS WILL SHALL, THY WILL BE DONE. THAT'S WHAT OUR LORD TAUGHT US
TO PRAY. IF YOU ASK ANYTHING HE SAID ACCORDING TO GOD'S WILL,
IT SHALL BE DONE. The love of God is the foundation
of our salvation. The will of God is the cause
of our salvation. The blood of Christ, it was not
shed in vain. He did not fail. He'll see the
travail of his soul and be satisfied. The blood of Christ is the one
sacrifice. It is the one sin offering. It
is the one atonement. It is the sole reason for your
justification. Not the blood of Christ plus
your faith. Not the blood of Christ plus
your works. not the blood of Christ plus your decision. It's
the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. And he didn't fail. He accomplished an atonement
that atones. He purchased a redemption that
redeems. He accomplished a salvation that
saves. We're loved in Christ, chosen
in Christ, redeemed in Christ, accepted in Christ, and my friends,
we'll be glorified in Christ. Our Lord did not shed his blood
for those in hell or those who are on their road to hell. He
died like the high priest of old. When the high priest of
old went into the Holy of Holies, there was one ark and one mercy
seat and one atonement, and it was for Israel. And he had on
his breastplate the names of the tribes of Israel. And that
high priest made atonement and sacrifice for God's people. And when Christ went to the cross,
He shed his blood for God's people from every generation, every
tribe, every nation, every tongue, every kindred on the face of
this earth. Where God has a people, the blood
of Christ atones. Down there in Egypt, down there
in Egypt, where was the blood? It was on the door and the lintel
of the people of Israel. And God said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. And everywhere God saw the blood,
that night, dark, terrible night of death, He passed over. And
I'll tell you this, everywhere He sees the blood now, where
the blood of Christ is there by God's grace and there by faith
and there through belief, God will pass over. And where there's
no blood, there's no justification. His blood maketh atonement for
the soul. Why did Christ die on the cross?
Well, He died to enable God to be just and justifier. Why did
Christ die on the cross? Peter said He died for the unjust
that He might bring us to God, literally bring us to God. Well,
when He died, did He bring everybody to God? The scripture says He
died to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Did He put away sin? Well, what? Did He put away sin? He died to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. By Himself, He purged our sins. Did He or didn't He? If He did
that for every human being, then there's universal salvation.
Every human being will be saved. But if He did it for the believer,
for those who rest in Christ, then they're the ones who are
going to be saved. God's love and God's will and Christ's blood
are in perfect harmony. Whom the Father chose, the Son
redeemed, and the Holy Spirit calls. Why did Christ die? He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And everybody for whom He was
made sin, everybody for whom He was made sin will be made
the righteousness of God. Every sin He paid for is paid
for. Every debt He paid is paid. Every
heart He cleansed is cleansed by one offering. He has perfected. My friends, what is perfect?
Perfect is perfect. Perfect has no lack. When by
one offering, He perfected forever them that are sanctified. I lay
down my life, He said, for my sheep. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was laid on Him by His stripes. We are healed. Is that true or
not true? Well, perhaps. Maybe. It's just not certain. Put a
question mark on that man on the cross. Put a question mark
on that blood flowing from his veins. There's a fountain filled
with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Sinners plunge beneath
that flood, lose all. No, they don't. They don't lose
their strength because He did that for everybody. People are
going to hell. for whom he died. You see how inconsistent it is?
Looks like to me everybody just quit church. Just walk off. Just say to preachers, come to
the point where they'll tell the truth and quit lying on God
and tell the truth consistently and scripturally and biblically
and logically and true to the character of God, I'm not going
to listen anymore. I tell you the pleasure of God
shall prosper in you. If God loves you, And God willed
your salvation, and Christ died for you. The Holy Spirit will
call you. And when the Holy Spirit calls you, you'll be willing.
Whom He foreknew, He predestinated to be conformed to the image
of His Son. Whom He predestinated, He called. And whom He called,
He justified. And whom He justified, He'll
glorify. Now, what have we got to say
to these saints? I tell you, if God be for you,
salvation's of the Lord. He cannot be defeated. God be
for you, who can be against you? Now, the title of this message
is four important questions. I challenge you to order this
tape for $2 and listen to it and read the word as you listen.
All right, till next week, may God bless you, everyone.

Four Important Questions

What does the Bible say about God's love and salvation?

How do we know that election is true?

Why is the death of Christ important for salvation?

What role does the Holy Spirit play in salvation?

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Four Important Questions

What does the Bible say about God's love and salvation?

How do we know that election is true?

Why is the death of Christ important for salvation?

What role does the Holy Spirit play in salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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