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Reaching forth...

By God's grace, still presenting the same old message from the same old Book...

The doctrines of grace are precious to me. Particular redemption, divine unconditional election and predestination are important to me. Important to me, as well, is the preaching of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is completely compatible with belief in unconditional election and predestination, and preaching the gospel is completely compatible with particular redemption. I believe God the Father elected certain ones, and gave those to God the Son, and that the Son died for every one of those, and I believe further, God the Holy Spirit regenerates those alone the Son died for. Not one the Father gave to the Son shall be lost, and it is said of those, God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish.

Yes, I believe preaching the gospel is important, and these things I believe do not discourage the preaching of the gospel.

Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Faith, our believing, is accomplished in us by the operation of God.

John 6:28-29 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

Based on my understanding of Scripture, there is a fear that not all men experience. The word of God reveals God's wrath, by the Spirit working, showing man he deserves, and is likely to receive the reward for sin, hell. God may convict one person different than another regarding a particular section of the Scriptures. When one finds themselves in such a condition, they might cry out, What must I do?; Woe is me; Lord be merciful to me a sinner; or as the thief on the cross that just before had been mocking Him, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. By our being taught of God, and not all are taught of God in an effectual way but only the elect, so the elect in time to a certain extent will experience this fear, and they will be drawn to Christ, and will come to Christ (John 3:7; Col 2:12; John 6:37, 45). This does not preclude preaching Christ with passion, but rather is an encouragement to preach (2 Cor 5:11).

John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

2 Corinthians 5:11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

As for the keeper of the prison:

Acts 16:27-28 27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

There we see temporal salvation, IMO.

Acts 16:29-31 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Here we see eternal salvation.

While man must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (John 16:30-31; Acts 16:30-31), my belief is the Bible presents Christ as the savior by grace, with faith and works resulting in, and not causal to salvation. Jesus saves! We are saved by grace alone, but grace is not alone for with it is faith, and with faith is works (Rom 6; Heb 8:10; Tit 2:14; Matt 1:21; Mic 7:19; Rom 5:20).

Must we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be delivered from the penalty of sin? Yes, we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and as for justification by faith, as it was said previous, “The doctrine of justification by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone is totally compatible with salvation by God's grace alone. This is seen in Romans 4:16; 5:1-2; and Ephesians 2:8.”

It is my understanding, faith or belief is not a condition to be met that we gain eternal salvation, but faith is an evidence of eternal salvation and without faith there is no eternal salvation. We must have faith. God is the author of eternal salvation (Heb 5:9), and it is said God is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2; Isa 26:12). God begins a good work in us, and finishes it (Phil 1:6; Rom 8:29-30).

Repentance and faith is manifest with those that are saved. Repentance has its fruits, and faith is not alone but has evidence (James 2:17-26). Without repentance there is no faith. Regarding our faith, regeneration should be considered I think. The question of how a person is regenerated is something many wonder about, but still we know we are regenerated, by the Spirit.

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

The Spirit is said to bring forth faith (Gal 5:22-25). We are the recipients of that faith and therefore we believe. We therefore have faith and are saved (Rom 4:16; 5:1-2; and Eph 2:8). As for our receiving the Spirit, consider Galatians 3:2-5, and in my opinion the hearing of faith is synonymous with receiving the Spirit (John 6:63). Based on God’s good pleasure, one person may be convicted different than another regarding a particular section of Scripture.

Galatians 3:2-5 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

God begins a work, and finishes it. We see in time the accomplishment of what God has done. If God has chosen us, we will repent and have faith. If we repent and have faith, we will be glorified. We wait for the redemption of the body (Rom 8:23), but it is sure for He who has a begun a good work in you will complete it (Heb 12:2; 1 Cor 1:9). This salvation is not accomplished because of what we do, but what we do is accomplished because of Him that works in us (Mic 7:19; Matt 1:21; Phil 1:6; Phil 2:13; 1 Thess 2:13). There is false evidence some rely on (Matt 7:19-27). For those that are saved, the Scripture speaks of He which hath begun a good work, and in time we see that unfolding. We are called into the grace of Christ by the gospel (Gal 1:6; John 6:45; 2 Thess 2:14; Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 1:18), and after that one day we will be glorified. Therefore it is left to preach repentance and faith, for faith cometh by hearing.

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Romans 8:29-30 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Ephesians 1:4-14 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Here is a quote from C. H. Spurgeon:

Whoever believes God's truth, and believes on Jesus Christ, is elect. I frequently meet with poor souls, who are fretting and worrying themselves about this thought-"How, if I should not be elect!" "Oh, sir," they say, "I know I put my trust in Jesus; I know I believe in his name and trust in his blood; but how if I should not be elect?" Poor dear creature! you do not know much about the gospel, or you would never talk so, for he that believes is elect. Those who are elect, are elect unto sanctification and unto faith; and if you have faith you are one of God's elect; you may know it and ought to know it, for it is an absolute certainty. If you, as a sinner, look to Jesus Christ this morning, and say-

"Nothing in my hands I bring, 
Simply to thy cross I cling,"

you are elect. I am not afraid of election frightening poor saints or sinners. There are many divines who tell the enquirer "election has nothing to do with you." That is very bad, because the poor soul is not to be silenced like that. If you could silence him so, it might be well, but he will think of it, he can't help it. Say' to him then, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you are elect. If you will cast yourself on Jesus, you are elect, I tell you-the chief of sinners-this morning, I tell you in his name, if you will come to God without any works of your own, cast yourself on the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ; if you will come now and trust in him, you are elect-you were loved of God from before the foundation of the world, for you could not do that unless God had given you the power, and had chosen you to do it. Now you are safe and secure if you do but come and cast yourself on Jesus Christ, and wish to be saved and to be loved by him. But think not that any man will be saved without faith and without holiness. Do not conceive, my hearers, that some decree, passed in the dark ages of eternity, will save your souls, unless you believe in Christ. Do not sit down and fancy that you are to be saved without faith and holiness. That is a most abominable and accursed heresy, and has ruined thousands. Lay not election as a pillow for you to sleep on, or you may be ruined. God forbid that I should be sewing pillows under armholes that you may rest comfortably in your sins. Sinner! there is nothing in the Bible to palliate your sins. But if thou art condemned O man! if thou art lost O woman! thou wilt not find in this Bible one drop to cool thy tongue, or one doctrine to palliate thy guilt; your damnation will be entirely your own fault, and your sin will richly merit it, because ye believe not ye are condemned. "Ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep." Ye wilt not come to me that ye might have life." Do not fancy that election excuses sin-do not dream of it- do not rock yourself in sweet complacency in the thought of your irresponsibility. You are responsible. We must give you both things. We must have divine sovereignty, and we must have man's responsibility. We must have election, but we must ply your hearts, we must send God's truth at you; we must speak to you, and remind you of this, that while it is written, "In me is thy help;" yet it is also written, "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself."

A message of comfort from the Scriptures,
that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Come and hear, all ye that fear God,
and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
Psalms 66:16

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