Thou weavest a dream. Within the circle of these words my theology is contained, so far as it refers to the salvation of men. As it has been preached by some it has been exaggerated and made into a bugbear. The substitutionary work which Christ has offered is not a certain proportion of the work to be done, but “it is finished” was the cry of the Saviour ere he died. Use Promo Code "Spurgeon" to get our new Spurgeon Trilogy $15 Off, and the first 50 orders will get Root & Fruit by Steve Lawson & Joel Beeke for free! You cannot get a hold of salvation by grace by any other means than by faith. Spurgeon is truly a champion of the faith and this may be his best work. Should any one assert such a foolish thing, we should be disposed to doubt his sanity; much more may we suspect the spiritual sanity of any man who should venture to affirm that the great temple of the church of God designed and erected itself. Have ye never read the Holy Spirit’s testimony: “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy”? A verification email has been sent to the address you provided. The world’s great preaching is, “Do as well as you can, live a moral life, and God will save you.” The gospel preaching is this: — “Thou art a lost sinner, and thou canst deserve nothing of God but his displeasure; if thou art to be saved, it must be by an act of sovereign grace. I must take the sermon, and so I did, going on with the subject there and then, just where he left off. What sacred force was that which turned you from sin to righteousness? GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Use semicolons to separate groups: 'Gen;Jdg;Psa-Mal' or 'Rom 3-12;Mat 1:15;Mat 5:12-22', There are options set in 'Advanced Options', The Whole Bible Do you attribute this singular renewal to the existence of a something better in you than has been yet discovered in your unconverted neighbour? I suppose it would be too absurd. But shall any one assert that the stones of the edifice were their own architect? Johannine Writings The apostle uses the perfect tense and says, “who hath saved us.” Believers in Christ Jesus are saved. The forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Very carefully let us CONSIDER THE DOCTRINE TAUGHT BY THE APOSTLE IN THIS TEXT. Multiply your phrases, and expand your expositions; but salvation truly traced to its well-head is all contained in the gift unspeakable, the free, unmeasured benison of love. To which class do we belong? To hear this men braved death, and defied the sword. In the controversy, Pelagius objected strenuously to Augustine’s understanding of the fall, of grace, and … there is life for you! But is a man saved before he is called by grace? God has called us with an holy calling. conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy General Epistles If this be the case in our last moments, when the conflict is almost over, much more ought we to feel it to be so while we are in the thick of the fight. Sinner, whoever you may be, wherever you may be, your greatest comfort should be to know that salvation is by grace. Better still is it that this doctrine not only gives the man something to hold but it holds the man. He adds, “it is the gift of God, not as a result of works….” He is at pains to show that the entire process of salvation comes to us apart from anything in us or anything that we do. Minor Prophets Martin Luther said that justification by faith alone is “the article upon which the church stands or falls” (articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae). Sneer who will, the elect of God derive a nobility from the divine choice which no royal patent can outshine. All of Grace is a simple and eloquent presentation of basic salvation through grace alone. Poetical Books He saves in infinite sovereignty of grace. The Saviour completed his work, and in the sense in which Paul uses that expression, “He hath saved us.” This completeness is one peculiarity—we must mark another. Salvation by grace, through faith is not of ourselves in the sense of being the result of our own power. If I can stand before the King and claim that I have done something to win his favour, I am quite willing to come.” But the herald replies, “No: if you are pardoned, you must understand it is entirely and wholly as an act of grace on God’s part. Is not this the old thunderbolt which the great reformer hurled at Rome — “Justified freely by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus”? where would you swearers be? “What is his will that will I follow; what is his word, that will I believe; what is his promise, on that I will live.” It is a blessed habit to teach a man to look up, look up to God in all things. I have honestly read out the doctrine of the text, and nothing more. He will not give to laws of nature or schemes of state the glory due to the Most High, but will have respect unto the unseen Ruler. This is a lesson for the ministry at large. 4. “Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit.” — 1 Samuel i. The carnal mind does not assist the Spirit of God in new creating a man, but altogether regeneration is the work of God the Holy Ghost, and the work of renewal is from his unassisted power. for there is something in that doctrine which touches the heart of the Christian, and gives him food such as his soul loveth, savoury meat, suitable to his heaven-born appetite. Poetical Books Last of all:-, V. "By Grace Are Ye Saved Through Faith; and That Not of Yourselves: It Is the Gift of God.". From the first desire after it to the full reception of it by faith, it is evermore of the Lord alone, and not of ourselves. A preacher and teacher, his sermons have spread all over the world and his many printed works have been treasured classic for decades. I shall handle the text briefly, by way of making a few statements. The New Testament Brethren, to say that we save ourselves is to utter a manifest absurdity. We cannot believe that Christ came to do what the sinners might have done themselves. You turned to Christ, and believed in his name: these were your own acts and deeds. I shall not dwell on this; it is not exactly the object of this morning’s discourse to bring out in full the great mystery of electing love, but I will not for a moment keep back the truth. As well might you hope to see with your ear, or taste with your eye, or hear with your nose, as to believe by feeling: it is the wrong organ. I am so much at home with these glorious truths that I could not feel any difficulty in taking from my grandfather the thread of his discourse, and joining my thread to it, so as to continue without a break. Sproul walks us through the five solas of the Reformation.. It must be therefore by grace. IF we would influence thoughtful persons it must be by solid arguments. But he would not agree to that. Cookie Notice: Like sensible people, they had begun their worship, and had proceeded as far as the sermon. SOVEREIGN GRACE AND MAN ¶S RESPONSIBILITY NO. "If by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. A Present Salvation Must Be Through Grace. But what did bring them together in the dead of night amidst the glare of lightning, and the roll of thunder— what brought them together? In fact, the nearer men come to heaven, and the more prepared they are for it, the more simply is their trust in the merit of the Lord Jesus, and the more intensely do they abhor all trust in themselves. here is a complete salvation for you! Salvation is in its entirety a gift from God. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select a Beginning Point He gives in this verse—this parenthetical verse as some call it, but which seems to me to be fully in the current of the passage—he gives in this verse a brief summary of the gospel showing the great prominence which it gives to the grace of God, with the design of maintaining Timothy in the boldness of his testimony for Christ. I have been setting forth the source and fountain-head of salvation; and I am now showing them the channel of it, through faith. On justification the WCF 11:1 states, Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth: not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone… Man stands shivering outside, a condemned criminal, and God sitting upon the throne, sends the herald to tell him that he is willing to receive sinners and to pardon them. “He hath trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with him,” and the redemption of his people shall give glory unto himself only. I know it is so in my own case; and I believe the same rule holds good in the rest of believers. Shall it be asserted that those who were once dead have spiritually quickened themselves? All undone and ruined! Do you suppose they would ever have come together to hear that poor milk-and-water theology of this age, or to receive the lukewarm milk and water of our modern anti-Calvinists? But what is the use of it? -------------------- If you did claim salvation of a sort, yet I am sure it would not be in your minds salvation by grace. When the apostle Paul was desirous to influence his son in the faith, Timothy, who was a diligent and earnest student and a man of gifts as well as of grace, he did not attempt to affect him by mere appeals to his feelings, but felt that the most effectual way to act upon him was to remind him of solid doctrinal truth which he knew him to have believed. I. It is put among the relics of the past. Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year. The apostle says, "Ye are saved." You will have to confess if ever you are saved, my dear hearer, that you never deserved one single blessing from the God of grace; you will have to give all the glory to his holy name if ever you get to heaven. Thou spinnest cobwebs. Good!" Those who have lived the most holy and useful lives invariably look to free grace in their final moments. Upon this I will not linger, but pass on to note the next point. Pentateuch Major Prophets Salvation in the present tense must be by the free favour of God. He will not cast you out. 9, 10. But we praise God for salvation because it is not the payment of debt, but the gift of grace. Pauline Epistles GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation. We now go a step further:-. Is it not by the Holy Spirit’s breath that we live in the spiritual life? Masses for the repose of the soul indicate the incompleteness of the salvation Rome has to offer. This would have been a very difficult system to work, while the object of it was perfect; but in our case it would not work at all. Not in his own experience, not as far as the work of the Holy Spirit goes, but he is saved in God’s purpose, in Christ’s redemption, and in his relationship to his covenant Head; and he is saved, moreover, in this respect, that the work of his salvation is done, and he has only to receive it as a finished work. -------------------- Why man, if it were by merit, what would become of you? Now you take it up, and go on." Poetical Books “What the Lord saith to me that will I do,” is the believer’s language. So the text tells us it is his own purpose and grace. -------------------- Well may it be so, since Papal salvation is by works, and even if salvation by good works were possible, no man can Salvation is so purely, so absolutely a gift of God, that nothing can be more free. He denies that salvation is even so much as in part due to our works, for if it be by work then he declares it is not of grace, otherwise grace is no more grace; and if it be of grace it is not of works, otherwise work is no more work. The Ephesians had been given to curious arts and works of divination. I do not doubt but that a far greater power for usefulness lies concealed within the doctrines of grace than some men have ever dreamed of. Charles Haddon Spurgeon January 1, 1970 GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point If thou wilt have it, there it is, complete. We say, "nothing is freer than a gift". You are all guilty and condemned, and the great King pardons whom he wills from among you. Christ receiveth sinners, God has elected sinners; he has elected some of the blackest of sinners—why not you? It is true he was still in prison, but he was not legally there, and no sooner did he know that the debt was paid, and that receipt was pleaded before proper authorities, than the man obtained his liberty. The Gospels Why, first then, it is clear from the connection that it has a tendency to embolden the man who receives it. Pauline Epistles This was the doctrine on which the brave old Ironsides fed; the men who, when they rode to battle with the war-cry of “The Lord of hosts!” made the cavaliers fly before them like chaff before the wind. Johannine Writings Salvation must be by grace. If he saves you now through faith, you are saved-so saved that you shall never perish, neither shall any pluck you out of his hand. Not so; he calls them to that holiness; that holiness is not a cause but an effect; it is not the motive of his purpose, but the result of his purpose. It is written, “which was given us in Christ Jesus.” We ask to have mercy from the well-head of grace, but we ask not even to make the bucket in which it is to be brought to us; Christ is to be the sacred vessel in which the grace of God is to be presented to our thirsty lips. Oh that you would yield to the first! Suppose the man to be very poor. Who but the Holy Spirit first gives us power to understand the gospel? It was a happy exercise to me to take my share in bearing witness to truths of such vital importance, which are so deeply impressed upon my heart. The New Testament of affection, to the members of Grace Christian Assembly. THE special cause of Hannah’s sorrow arose from the institution of polygamy, which, although it was tolerated under the old law, is always exhibited to us in practical action as a …, The Agreement of Salvation by Grace With Walking in Good Works “No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” “Whosoever cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,” is a great and precious general text, but it is quite consistent with the rest of the same verse — “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” Our text tells us that our salvation is “according to his own purpose.” It is a strange thing that men should be so angry against the purpose of God. -------------------- What do you suppose people used to meet in woods for in persecuting times, meet by thousands outside the town of Antwerp, and such-like places on the Continent, in jeopardy of their lives? He may preach the gospel better than I can, but he cannot preach a better gospel; can you, Charles?" It is a grand truth: would God ye all knew its mighty power! Lastly, this precious truth is full of comfort to the sinner, and that is why I love it. It is acknowledged to be true, for it is confessed in most creeds; it is in the Church of England articles, it is in the confessions of all sorts of Protestant Christians, except those who are avowedly Arminian, but how little is it ever preached! I rejoice also to remember that those of my family who were ministers of Christ before me preached this doctrine, and none other. Prophets Well, but he is still in prison. He will never take it back again; and if he does not take it from you, who can? Why surely there it sits at the foot of the cross and sings, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Is it not grace and grace alone? (wpe), 2 Timothy 1:9, The Agreement of Salvation By Grace With Walking in Good Works. Faith receives the statement of God concerning His way of gracious pardon, and thus it brings salvation to the man believing; but feeling, warming under passionate appeals, yielding itself deliriously to a hope which it dares not examine, whirling round and round in a sort of dervish dance of excitement which has become necessary for its own sustaining, is all on a stir, like the troubled sea which cannot rest. From its boilings and ragings, feeling is apt to drop to lukewarmness, despondency, despair and all the kindred evils. 6. This debate took place principally between the British monk Pelagius and the great theologian of the first millennium, Augustine of Hippo. that salvation could not be of ourselves, when I had my coat-tail pulled, and my well-beloved grandsire took his turn again. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point The apostle did not, however, overlook the work of the Son. Will you have it?” and naturally every man says, “No, I will not be saved in that style.” Well, then, soul, remember that thou wilt never be saved at all, for God’s way is salvation by grace. You cannot get a hold of salvation by grace by any other means than by faith. “Glorious old dogmatism, when wilt thou come back again to earth? Our first life is always a wandering away from God, and our new life of return to God is always a work of undeserved mercy, wrought upon those who greatly need, but never deserve it. Why, there are some who preach the doctrine of election as though it were a line of sharp pikes to keep a sinner from coming to Christ, as though it were a sharp, glittering halbert to be pushed into the breast of a coming sinner to keep him from mercy. You really liberated him as soon as you paid his debts by 357 people on Pinterest country town in church. `` not of our salvation ) and ragings, feeling is apt to drop to lukewarmness, despondency despair... Into the world to redeem those who have lived the most Holy and useful lives invariably to. Condemned, and salvation by grace by any other means than by alone... Says he, “ what matters it salvation by grace. '' '' '' '' '' '' ''. Good endeavours said he, of course, I answered, `` Christ Jesus are saved. '' '' ''! 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