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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
August 30, 2009
The Assurance of Salvation
2 Peter 1:10,11 & Selected
Arminianism
This morning we will be talking about the Assurance of Salvation. This is a subject that has been debated within Christianity for centuries, and one of the main reasons is because of the text we will be examining this morning. Turn to 2 Peter 1:10 & 11.
This is the Scripture text upon which those following the Arminian Theological position base their belief that a person that was once saved can later fall from grace and lose that salvation. Among major groups that follow this teaching are the Weslyans, the Methodists, and the Nazarenes. This is an important doctrine to come to grips with and understand which is why we will be spending the time to examine it this morning. Our understanding of our security in Christ reflects on our understanding of salvation and which in turn has a direct effect on how we live our lives. However, at the same time we must be careful not to get so bent out of shape over this issue that we become belligerent toward one another. It would be better to be gracious ourselves and have a sense of humor like the Baptist minister that went to hear the Methodist minister preach on heaven. He shouted to the Baptist, “If you get there before I do, you tell them I’m coming too.” The Baptist shouted back, “I can’t do it. You might fall from grace and not get there and I’d be kicked out of heaven for lying.” My cousin is married to a Methodist minister and we go out of our way to be together when we go down to Mississippi for reunions for we enjoy each other’s company so much. We find ourselves to be co-laborers in God’s kingdom though we have some strong theological disagreements.
2 Peter 1:10 states, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. Based on these two verses, Dutch Theologian Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) taught that believers would have to be nourished and encouraged so that they might remain in a saved state. This was his way of dealing with the age old question about what to think about those who make a profession of faith in Christ and then later do not live a life that matches that profession. His answer was that they were not diligent to make their calling certain and consequently fell from grace and were no longer saved. The problem with this teaching is that it says something about the nature of salvation that I believe is contradictory to what the rest of the Bible teaches. I will get to an exposition of 2 Peter 1:10 in a few minutes, but first met me back up and review the basis of our salvation in Jesus Christ.
The Basis of Salvation
Both Arminians (followers of the teachings of Jacob Arminius, 1560-1609) and Calvinists (followers of the teachings of John Calvin, 1509-1564) will agree on the fundamentals of the faith. This includes such Biblical doctrines as the virgin birth, Old Testament and New Testament miracles, Jesus’ substitutionary atonement and bodily resurrection, the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture; the final destinies of heaven or hell; justification by God’s Grace alone through faith. That faith being that Jesus is God Himself in human flesh just as He claimed, and that He died for our sins as our substitute, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day, and now offers us eternal life.
Why then is there such a difference in understanding eternal security of the believer when there is agreement on so many other theological issues? Essentially it is because Arminius stressed that humans have a free will and John Calvin stressed God’s sovereignty While Arminius was not Pelagian in his view, for he did teach that because of original sin (Adam’s sin), that man’s will is entirely unable, apart from prevenient grace, to do any good thing, yet he also taught that saving grace was not irresistible believing that man could choose against it. Arminianism teaches that Salvation is all the work of God, except that man has a choice which has the logical outworking, especially in interpreting a text like 2 Peter 1:10, that a man could change his mind and later choose against salvation. This was a very practical and logical way to deal with those that were not living up to their profession of faith.
The idea that salvation is by our choice is very popular in America for we are a nation that has historically valued individual choice, through recent elections are moving us rapidly away from that.
As Americans we tend to stand firm against even the thought that we might not be able to choose and hence the current political uproar over the government’s health care proposals. In the environment of this society the doctrine of election has slipped away. However, the question we have to ask is what does the Bible actually teach about our salvation. Is it founded in God’s election or in Decisional Regeneration? Is salvation by our choice or God’s choice?
Let’s start by asking a few questions.
1. What was our spiritual state before Salvation? Answer: Ephesians 2:1f, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins. 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” Romans 6:16,17 adds that we were “slaves to sin.” Now let me ask you two questions. Can a slave choose? Can a dead corpse make a choice? The answer of course is, no. A slave is bound to the will of his master, and a dead corpse can only decompose.
2. If a person who was spiritually dead could choose, would they choose to come to God and Jesus Christ? Answer: Romans 3:10-12, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, Together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way . . . “ John 6:44, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” None seek after God and all have gone astray which is why you can only come to Christ if the Father draws you. The problem is that man is corrupted by sin to the degree that he is spiritually dead and therefore will not choose to come to God unless God directly intervenes. We refer to this as the doctrine of total depravity.
3. Where does faith come from? Answer: Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works; that no one should boast.” We saw this same thought two weeks ago in 2 Peter 1:1. He is writing to those “who have received a faith of the same kinds as ours.” Faith was something given to them, not something they generated within themselves. Your faith comes as a gift of God’s grace. If you could work up your own faith then you would earn salvation through it and it would be of works and no longer be of grace. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace given to one who does not deserve it. Ephesians 2:5 is clear on the matter that it was God who “even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.” It is God that made us alive and gave us our faith to believe and receive the gift of salvation by His grace.
We find then that the basis of salvation is in God and His working and not in us and our decision. We are not free until we come to Christ and He makes us free from the bondage of sin giving us the ability to choose what is right and good. And if salvation is based in God and not us, then the security of that salvation is based in God and not in us.
But if salvation is not based on our choice, then how can God hold us responsible for our sins? Very simply because He has already clearly commanded what He expects from man and warned about the consequences of disobedience. According to Paul’s arguments in Romans 2, God has even written a basic law of right and wrong into man’s conscience which then will accuse them in the day of judgement. It is interesting to note in Revelation 20:12 that the dead before the Great White Throne are judged “from the things written in the books, according to their deeds.”
We know from 2 Peter 3:9 that God does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance, which is why He has commanded all men everywhere to repent from their sins (Acts 17:30). To refuse to repent is disobedience, but that is the natural state of mankind. Have you yet repented? Have you changed your mind from sin, self and Satan to trust and walk in faith with the Savior? If not, have you at least asked godly people to pray to God on your behalf for your salvation?
I also find interesting Jesus’ response in John 6:28-29. The multitudes in Capernaum asked Him what “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” To believe is a work of God and 1 John 3:23 tells us that it is God’s commandment that we believe in the name of His son. To not believe is also disobedience. Even the hope of finding God is predicated on belief with Hebrews 11:6 telling us, “without faith it is impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” That does not mean the faith and belief have to be fully mature, but there does have to be enough to cause the person to seek after God, even if they have to cry out like the man in Mark 9:24, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” Having even the desire to seek after God is evidence that He as work, but are you being faithful to the faith He has given you to seek after Him?
Salvation is all the work of God and all the glory for it goes to Him. There is nothing in us and nothing we can do to deserve or earn salvation. It is totally by God’s grace. But if you are not saved, you alone bear the responsibility because you have rejected what God has already revealed about Himself to you and disobeyed His commandments including those to repent and believe. You will be judged according to your deeds, and according to Isaiah 64:6, your deeds are as “filthy rags” before Him. About the only thing you can decide to do follow the commands of James 4:8-10, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” This is the beginning of the beatitudes in which Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Humble yourself before God agreeing you do not deserve to be saved, but pleading with Him to be gracious and save you from your sins. And because God’s character is merciful, gracious and loving, He will do so for all that believe.
The basis of salvation then is all in God and not in us. Because of that, our eternal security is based in God and not in us. That is why Jesus could say that He would lose none of those the Father gives to Him and no one is able to take them out of His hands (John 6:17-40), and since He loses none, you cannot jump out either.
What then does our text for this morning mean? Turn again to 2 Peter 1 and lets find out.
God’s Provision
The first thing we find in the context of this passage is God’s provision for those who believe. The Apostle Peter is writing to believers scattered throughout what is now northern Turkey. His desire for them is that grace and peace be increased in their lives, and that grace and peace will be increased because God has already provided for them by His own power everything that they need to live a godly life through a personal relationship with Him. By His own glory and excellence, God has also already given to them His precious and magnificent promises so that in being obedient to and following those promises they would become more like Christ. God has already saved them from the corruption that is in the world by its lust, and God calls them to bring in alongside all that He has provided the seven elements we talked about last week.
The Believer’s Diligence to Supply
God wants the believer to be diligent to supply his faith (bring in alongside his faith) seven components of a godly life that would strengthen his faith. These qualities are: 1. Moral excellence which is fulfilling the purpose for which we were both created and saved which is glorifying God. 2. The Knowledge which is the specific knowledge of God, His nature attributes and will. 3. The Self-Control which is the subjecting of oneself to God and being submissive to his will instead of self desire. 4. The Perseverance which is needed to endure patiently the problems that occur because the world is cursed by sin. 5. The Godliness which means to live life completely for God with joy. 6. The Brotherly-kindness which is that commitment and affection which is to exist between believers because of their common relationship to Christ. 7. Love/Agape which is the love which commits and extends its self because it chooses sacrificially to do so in the best interest of the other.
Each of these qualities is developed through faith, and the believer’s faith is in turn also further developed and strengthened as each of these qualities is cultivated. And as these traits become a characteristic of our lives, then we find that we are more useful to the cause of Christ and are fruitful (verse 8). If these things are not true of us, then we are not useful nor fruitful for Christ and we show ourselves to be blind and myopic (short-sighted) having forgotten all that God has done for us in Christ and instead looking at the world only from our own narrow perspective. It is on the basis of all of this that Peter now goes on in verses 10 & 11 to be diligent to make certain about our calling.
The Believer’s Diligence to make certain
“Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”
Again we have a command, not a request. In view of what he just said, Peter says that we must also be diligent to make sure of our calling and choosing. This diligence (spoudavzw / spoudadzo) has the same root as the word in verse 5. It is earnest effort, exertion of oneself, endeavoring. The idea of “making sure” is to provide a guarantee of your calling and choosing. The word used for God’s calling here (klhsiV / klasis) refers to His effectual calling in salvation which we might refer to as the irrevocable call (Romans 11:29). In fact, it would be better to refer to this calling as a royal command rather than an invitation. The term for “choosing” ejkloghv / Ekloga) is the noun form for “election.” It is to be picked out, selected, and when God chooses, you can be sure that the choice will be carried out! The verb form is used in 1 Corinthians 1:27, 28 of God choosing the foolish things, the weak things, the base things, the things that are despised to be His people in order to glorify Himself and eliminate boasting. His choice is a sure choice.
Peter’s call here is for those who have a faith like his to make even more of an earnest effort to provide a guarantee of their salvation by practicing the seven qualities he mentioned earlier. Why? Because those who are putting into practice those qualities in their lives will not stumble. They will not fall into sin. The word used here for “fall” or “stumble” (ptaivw / ptaio) comes from a Greek word that meant to “strike the foot against a stone” and hence “stumble” or “fall.”
It would be stretching both the meaning of the word and the context of the passage for this to mean that the person falls from saving grace and loses their salvation. If such an idea were meant there were other stronger words that could have been used such as ajfivsthmi / aphistami – “fall away” as in Luke 8:13 or 1 Timothy 4:1 of those that fall away from what they claimed to have believed.
The immediate context of this verse is Peter comparing those who will be useful and fruitful with those who will not be so because they have forgotten their purification from their former sins. It is not that they were not purified, but that they have forgotten they were purified. In addition, this is the same construction is used in Ephesians 5:16 where it says that those who walk in the Spirit cannot fulfill the desires of the flesh. Here, those who are practicing these seven qualities in their lives cannot stumble. They cannot fall into sin. There is no danger here of losing salvation, only of falling into sin if they are not diligent to supply these seven characteristics to their faith.
If what Peter says in verses 5-8 is true, and it is, then there is an assurance of our entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we display the kind of godly character described, then we can be sure that we have been converted and will one day be in heaven. Peter says our entrance will be “abundantly supplied.” The word “supplied” in this verse is the same as used in verse 5. This is being supplied like a rich patron would supply for a high civic event which would be in an over abundant, lavish sense. In fact this phrase was used to describe the welcome given to Olympic winners when they returned home. We are to be earnest to supply these qualities in our lives. God will even more so supply our entrance into heaven as a celebration. In the overall context, it will be these people living godly lives that will have the grace and peace that Peter wishes for them in verse 2.
To summarize:
What Has God Done? – Everything we need.
What Does God Want? – For you to be useful and fruitful
What Do We Lack? – Commitment to obedience, we have myopic faith
What Must We Do? – Be diligent to make these seven qualities a part of our lives. We must do our part in being obedient in faith and trust of the Lord. He will be faithful in His part, and our entrance into heaven will be abundantly supplied
Assurance of Salvation
There are Three Witnesses to the Assurance of Salvation
A. The Changed Life
B. The Inner Witness of the Spirit
C. The Promise of the Word
The first assurance is a changed life which is what Peter speaks of in this passage. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that “if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.” The change in our life bears witness to the change in our hearts that we have been made alive spiritually. The same thing is brought out in 1 John 2:3-6 “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him; the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
However, the question that comes up does not concern a changed life being evidence of salvation, but rather what does the lack of a changed life indicate about the spiritual condition of that individual? What about those who have made a profession of faith and have not exhibited the changed life? Several possibilities exist.
A. They could be ignorant of God’s commands concerning how to live (I Corinthians 3:1-3). They need to be taught and discipled. Remember that the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 is to make disciples by going, baptizing and teaching them to obey His commandments
B. Another possibility is that the person could have become blind and short-sighted and have fallen into sin as discussed here in 2 Peter 1:9. Such people need to both rebuked for their blindness and sin and encouraged by having someone come along side and bear their burden with them as Paul describes in Galatians 6:1,2.
C. Another possibility is that such a person may not be a Christian due to misunderstanding salvation. They may be trusting someone or something other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It could be a different Jesus, a prayer, walking the aisle or some other work. They need to be brought into the knowledge Peter talks about here of a personal relationship with Jesus. A profession of faith does not save anyone. According to what Jesus says in John 15 it is abiding in Him that saves you. It is this type of person that Paul warns in 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves [to see] if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test?” How tragic to think you are a Christian to only find out too late that you were not. You were trusting something other than Jesus, or you had the wrong Jesus.
D. A final possibility is that the person is “not of us” as described in 1 John 2:19 and is an apostate who denies the faith they had once professed.
It is important at this point to give a strong caution. It is not my job or your job to either confirm or deny a person’s salvation based upon the way they live. Salvation is between the individual and God and only God knows the true state of the person. Many people live what appear to be godly lives, but they have not placed their trust in Christ for salvation from sin. Conformity to societal or even family standards is not holiness or righteousness. The opposite can also be true of having a true Christian ensnared by sin and needing help to get out of it.
What do you do when someone who has made a profession of faith yet is living in a sinful manner? Jesus gave us the steps in Matthew 18 of how to bring a brother back. We do not go to them and tell them that they are not saved. We go to them and speak the truth in love pointing out the inconsistency between their talk and their walk and offering to help them get back on track. If they refuse our individual admonition, then we take others with us who seek to establish the truth and will also plead for them to turn back from sin. If the person refuses all of that, then the church is told so that everyone can pray for them and plead with them. If they will not listen to the church, only then is a conclusion reached that there is not enough evidence to back up their claim to be a believer resulting in them being treated as an unbeliever.
The second assurance is the inner witness of the Holy Spirit spoken of in Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” This is subjective, but it is also real. It brings about an inner sense of peace with God and our eternal destiny even in difficult circumstances. I will add that one of the ways the Holy Spirit does bear witness with our spirit is convicting us of sin so that we feel guilty. This would also include His chastening of us as described in Hebrews 12:4-13. Where there is a sense of guilt for sin there is the possibility of repentance. The real danger is for those who are in sin but do not sense any guilt and are not chastened by the Lord.
The primary assurance of salvation is the promise of God’s Word. Salvation is God’s work. It is based on Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. Regeneration comes through the Holy Spirit. All these things we know because God has revealed them to us in the Bible. The questions we must ask our selves are: Do we believe what it says? Have we placed our trust in Christ as it commands? Do we live out that faith subjecting ourselves to being obedient to it?
Here are some of the promises in Scripture concerning salvation:
John 1:12,13 – “But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born out of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 3:16-18 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 5:24 – “Truly, truly, I [Jesus] say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed our of death into life.”
Romans 10:9,10 – “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
1 John 5:10-13 – “The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son. And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Your assurance of Salvation is dependent on these promises of God. You either believe them and trust God to keep them and therefore have the Son, or you do not. Do you have the Son? If you do, you are saved. If you do not, you are not saved, but you can be today by believing God’s promises and placing your faith in Jesus Christ.
Let me close by reading to you that great passage on the assurance that God will keep His promises and therefore we are eternally secure. Romans 8:29-39
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to become] conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; 30 and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God [is] for us, who [is] against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,
“For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I cannot be more secure than that. I hope that is true for you too. If not, then do come and talk with me or one of our church leaders and let us personally help you understand the nature and character of our God so that you can also find rest, peace and security in Him.
Sermon Notes – 8/23/2009
The Assurance of Salvation – 2 Peter 1:10-11
Introduction
Can a person who was once saved fall from God’s grace and __________ their salvation?
Is our salvation dependent upon our diligence to be ______________ or upon God?
The Basis of Salvation
Both Arminians and Calvinists share belief in the ________________ of the faith
The difference arises from the stress that Jacob Arminius placed on man having a “________________”
It is very popular in American to believe that salvation is dependent upon the ____________ of man
Is salvation from sin founded in God’s ______________ or in Decisional Regeneration?
What was our spiritual state ____________ Salvation? – Ephesians 2:1f Romans 6:16-17
If a person who was spiritually dead could choose, _______they choose to come to God and Jesus Christ?
Romans 3:10-12 Isaiah 53:6 John 6:44 The doctrine of total ____________
Where does __________ come from? – Ephesians 2:8-9 2 Peter 1:1
Salvation is a gift of God’s grace given to one who does not _____________ it. Ephesians 2:5
We are not free until Christ makes us free from sin’s bondage enabling us to _______what is right & good
If salvation is not based on our choice, then can __________ hold us responsible for our sins?
Romans 2 Revelation 20:12 2 Peter 3:9 cf. Acts 17:30 John 628-29 cf. 1 John 3:23
Hope is predicated upon __________ – Hebrews 11:6 Mark 9:24
While salvation is totally by God’s grace, if you are not saved, _______________ bear the responsibility
You cannot achieve ____________(Isa. 64:6), but you can repent (James 4:8-10) and be ________(Matt. 5:3)
We can have eternal security because our salvation is based in __________ and not in us.
God’s Provision (2 Peter 1:1-4)
By His own power, God has already provided _____________ that they need to live a godly life
His precious & magnificent ________lead us to become like Christ & keep us from the world’s corruption
The Believer’s Diligence to Supply (2 Peter 1:5-9)
The believer is to supply his ______________ with seven components of a godly life
Each of these qualities is developed through __________, and each strengthens one another and faith
These seven characteristics ensure the believer will ____________ and fruitful in the cause of Christ
The Believer’s Diligence to make certain (2 Peter 1:10-11)
Diligence (spoudavzw / spoudadzo) is ___________________ , exertion of oneself, endeavoring.
“making sure” is to provide a _____________________ of your calling and choosing
Calling (klhvsiV / klasis) refers to His _________calling in salvation – the irrevocable call (Romans 11:29)
“Choosing” (ejkloghV / Ekloga) is “___________” – to be picked out, selected. – 1 Corinthians 1:27, 28
Make earnest effort to provide a guarantee of __________________ by practicing these seven qualities
So that you will not “fall” or “________________” (ptaivw / ptaio) – “strike the foot against a stone”
Peter is comparing those who are useful & fruitful with those who are _____& forgotten their purification
Those with these qualities will be _______________ supplied assurance of entering heaven
Assurance of Salvation
The first assurance to salvation is a __________life – 2 Peter 1:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 2:3-6
A lack of change could be from ___________& immaturity in walking with Christ – 1 Corinthians 3:1-3
A lack could be from being blind, short-sighted and __________into sin – 2 Peter 1:9; Galatians 6:1-2
A lack could be from ________________________ salvation – wrong Jesus, etc. – 2 Corinthians 13:5
A lack could be because they are ________________ – 1 John 2:19
We follow Matthew_______________ with those who profess Christ but live in sin
The second assurance is the ___________________ within us – Romans 8:16
The primary assurance comes from the ______________ of God in His word
John 1:12,13 John 3:16-18 John 5:24 Romans 10:9,10 1 John 5:10-13
Your assurance of Salvation is dependent on the promises of __________ – Romans 8:29-39
KIDS CORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – 1) Write down all the verses mentioned. 2) Talk with your parents about how you can know if you are going to heaven to be with Jesus eternally
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. What do both Arminians and Calvinsts believe in common? What are the major differences in the two theological systems? Explain the basis of salvation from sin and its consequences. Use Scripture references to back up your answer to each of the following questions: What is the state of man prior to salvation? If a person who was spiritually dead could choose, would they choose to come to God and Jesus Christ? Where does faith come from? If salvation is not based on man’s choice, on what basis does God hold him accountable for his sin? What is God’s desire toward the unsaved? What will be the basis of God’s judgment? What is the doctrine of total depravity? What should an unsaved person do to seek God? What has God already provided the believer? What is the believer’s part? What is the believer to be diligent to make certain in 2 Peter 1:10-11 and what are the benefits of doing this? Who is Peter comparing in this context? What are the three sources of assurance of salvation? What are the possibilities if a person professes faith yet lives in sin? How should we respond to those who profess Christ yet sin? What should we not do? How does assurance from the Holy Spirit work? What is the primary source of assurance? What are some of God’s promises that assure salvation? How can a person know if they are a true Christian or not? Can anything separate us from God?
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