He Saved Us | Titus 3:4-8

So this weekend on Church Center, I asked a question

as I laid out a little bit of a tease about the

message for this morning. What does it mean to

be saved? What does it mean to be saved? Could

you articulate the answer to that question? What

are we saved from? We talk about being saved.

What are we saved from? In the text we're studying

today, we're going to encounter a Greek verb,

sadzo. which means to keep safe, to keep safe,

or to rescue from danger or destruction. Now,

that term saved has become sort of an evangelical

buzzword over the last 50 years, but it really

should be understood in that way. To be saved

is to be rescued from destruction. And that is

the gist of Romans 5, 9, where it says of Jesus,

having been justified by his blood, we shall

be saved from the wrath of God. Through him.

So to be saved is to be delivered from the ultimate

calamity, the wrath of God. That means separation

from God. That means spiritual death. That means

eternal condemnation. And given that definition,

it seems to me that understanding what it means

to be saved has got to be the most important

thing that any human being can possibly study

and come to know about. Because his or her eternal

Destiny is on the line. Now, follow -up question,

how are we saved? So if we know what it means

to be saved, we know what we're saved from, how

are we saved? If you were to go to a coffee house

this week and somebody saw you reading your Bible

on your phone, an unbeliever, and they said,

well, I hear about salvation. How are you saved?

Could you explain it? Could you explain it? Among

other things, the New Testament says regarding

that question, I'll give you a slew of very quick

statements. Jesus said to the woman who came,

remember, poured this perfume on his feet and

wiped his feet with her hair. He said to her,

your faith has saved you. Go in peace. To the

jailer in Philippi, it was said, believe in the

Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Romans 10,

if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord

and believe in your heart that God raised him

from the dead, you will be saved. Peter's Sermon

of Pentecost, whoever will call on the name of

the Lord will be saved. Paul to the Corinthians,

the gospel which I preached to you, which you

received, by which you are also saved, if you

hold fast the word. And Jesus in the Olivet Discourse,

says the one who endures to the end, he will

be saved. So, just to recap, faith saves you,

your belief saves you, confessing Jesus as Lord

saves you, believing in your heart that God raised

him from the dead saves you, calling on the name

of the Lord saves you, holding fast the gospel

that you receive saves you, and enduring in faith

until the end saves you. Sound about right? Now,

what if I told you that the text we're about

to study today doesn't offer any of those ways

that we're saved? Not faith, not belief, not

confessing, not calling, not receiving, not holding

fast, not enduring. That today's text is going

to point us to a completely different way that

you and I are saved, totally apart from anything

that we've done. Does this mean that we have

contradictions in Scripture? We have some work

to do, don't we? Grab your Bibles. We're going

to Titus chapter 3. By the way, we don't have

Titus 3 · chapter mention

contradictions. I saw this anxiety that spread

over some of your faces. We'll get there. You

know what they say, never leave them hanging

that much, right? Titus chapter 3, we're looking

Titus 3 · chapter mention

at verses 4 through 8 this morning, but let's

go ahead and back up to verse 1. We'll read the

entire passage in context. And as you're turning

there, let me briefly recall where we've been

in this. This really has been an amazing letter

to study, hasn't it? Back in chapter 2, Paul

spent a whole lot of time telling Titus how he

should instruct these various types of believers

in Crete about how they should relate to one

another within the church family. And the goal

of that was to put God's saving power on display

for the world to see, to adorn the truth of the

gospel. through their transformed lives and the

way they live together. Really beautiful, right?

That was chapter two. Then here in chapter three,

Paul begins to instruct Titus to shift his focus

from within the church to looking outside the

walls of the church, to how believers now should

relate to the pagan unbelieving culture that

they live in. And he wrote beginning in verse

one, remind them, that is remind the believers

there in Crete. that they should be subject to

rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be

ready for every good deed, to malign no one,

to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration

for all men. And then in verse 3, he does something

very important as a motivation to treat unbelievers

with dignity and compassion and grace rather

than with frustration and contempt. He reminds

the Christians in Crete of who they used to be

before they met Jesus. And we do this, right?

We look around the culture, we get frustrated,

and we begin to slip into this thing where we

get angry and we hold people in contempt, forgetting

that we were once just like them. And so Paul's

reminding them, look, you were just like this.

Verse 3 says, for we also once were foolish ourselves.

Right? So don't be frustrated at them. Don't

be angry. You were foolish too. We were once

disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts

and pleasures, spending our life in malice and

envy, hateful, hating one another. And basically,

Paul is giving us a general description of all

human beings in their natural state. And he includes

himself in this, right? He says we, meaning himself

and Titus, all of us. Nobody's excluded. At one

point in our lives, we were all marked by these

types of sinful characteristics. Now, it's possible.

We do this a lot when we read the Bibles. We're

like, I'm not that bad. We look at the list and

we go, well, come on. I mean, I wasn't that bad.

And you know what? You might be right. And praise

the Lord for his restraining influence. If you

grew up in a good home and maybe you weren't

as depraved as others around you, but Paul's

point stands no matter who you are. Prior to

trusting in Christ, we were all slaves to sin

in our own particular way. Your sin was different

than mine, different than his or hers, but in

some particular way, we were all enslaved to

sin. We were selfish, and we were rebellious,

and we were greedy. We were pursuing ungodly

desires, each of us fulfilling what Paul writes

about in Romans 3, that there is none righteous.

How many? None righteous, not even one. None

who seeks after God. And it's important that

we own that truth about our past. Acknowledge

our past. Otherwise, we'll never come to appreciate

the magnitude of grace that's been lavished upon

us. As we always say, if you don't know the bad

news, you can't fully appreciate the good news

of the gospel. And if you don't understand how

deep your sin was in your past, you're going

to fall short on the thankfulness scale. The

great Martin Lloyd -Jones once wrote this. He

said, in order to measure the love of God, you

have to first go down before you can go up. We

have to be brought up from a dungeon, from a

horrible pit, and unless you know something of

the measure of that depth, you will only be measuring

half the love of God. Those are wise words. So

let's take a look at these six things that Paul

lists here in verse 3. Starting with number one,

we were all once foolish. Now that word in the

original Greek refers to a lack of understanding

or an absence of knowledge or wisdom. Remember,

what does the fool say in his heart? There is

no God. There is no God. I can do as I please.

And why would I need him anyway? I'm in control

of my life. That's what the fool says. He has

no understanding, no wisdom. In Ephesians 4,

it says that in our natural state, human beings

are darkened in their understanding, excluded

from the life of God because of the ignorance

that is in them. And why is that ignorance there?

Because of the hardness of their hearts. We need

to remember that Satan, the God of this world,

has blinded their minds so that they will not

and cannot, that's key, cannot understand the

things of God. And by the way, this is not a

matter of intelligence. It's not a matter of

education. In fact, some of the smartest people

in the world are the most spiritually blind.

This is an issue of foolishness that's brought

about by our natural condition in sin. Number

two, we were all once disobedient. You see it

there in verse three? This was built in the heart

of every one of us because of the fall. We have

a spirit of rebellion. Natural man doesn't acknowledge

God because he doesn't want to. He has no desire

to know God. He has no desire to read God's word.

And so obviously he's not going to obey him.

And why would he? Why would natural man ever

willingly choose to give himself up in order

to obey God? All he cares about in that sinful

condition is pursuing whatever is going to further

his selfish desires. That's who we all once were.

Number three says we were all once deceived.

This describes a person who has no spiritual

or moral anchor. They simply wander the world

in search of fulfilling their next desire. Whatever

they want, whatever they desire, they just wander

going from one impulse to the next. They're easily

led away by the passions of their flesh because

they're spiritually blind. They actually believe

that they can do anything they want and there'll

be no consequences. But they're deceived. Number

four says we were all once enslaved to various

lusts and pleasure. And for the natural man,

this is the driving force of his life, fulfilling

the lusts and pleasures of his flesh. And so

there's so many we couldn't even name them. Pick

your poison. Money, sex, power, comfort, attention,

food and drink. The list is almost endless. All

the lusts and pleasures. And it's important for

us to look back and say, you know, I was once

there. To identify, to own it. Which of those

lusts of the flesh once had a grip on us? What

we didn't realize at the time was this. None

of it was ever going to bring satisfaction. We

thought it would if we just found the next thing,

but every time we got that, then we moved on

to something else or just more of it, and we

never found satisfaction. And the more that natural

man searches for that satisfaction in vain, the

more this sin gets a foothold in his life, it

enslaves him, and it eventually leads to eternal

destruction. And we were all on that path at

one point before Christ saved us. Number five,

we are all ones spending our life in malice and

envy. Malice means having ill will towards others.

And it's born out of self -centeredness. It's

wanting what we want and grabbing it no matter

what the cost is, even the cost of harming others.

Once you're enslaved to lust and pleasures, you

have to have them. And if you don't get them,

you will envy others and you will do what it

takes to do it. to get them. And finally, number

six, we were all once hateful, hating one another.

And so like a stone rolling downhill, this is

the end result of all of those things piling

up. At its core, hate is also rooted in self

-centeredness. It pits us against God. It pits

us against other human beings. And anybody who

disagrees with us, anybody who stands in the

way of us getting our needs met, they become

the target of our personal wrath. We hate them.

And by the way, that can include anyone. That

can include a spouse. That can include your children,

extended family, people at work, people who look

different from you. All kinds of people fit this

description. Anybody can become a target of our

personal wrath. This kind of hater becomes completely

indifferent to anyone else's feelings because

nobody matters but him. Friends, this is what

we once were. Now again, you may say, that doesn't

perfectly describe me, but the point stands.

This is the general description of natural man.

Now before we move on, just a quick reminder

from last Sunday, I gave you two reasons why

I think Paul decided, under the inspiration of

the Holy Spirit, to put verse three in here,

because he could have just moved on to the positive

stuff, right? But verse three is here, reason

number one, so that you and I aren't surprised

by the level of sin that we encounter out there

in the world. We shouldn't be surprised, Paul

says, because to some extent we were just like

that. So why are we surprised when we see depravity,

right? Second reason, remembering what we once

were helps us to see unbelievers in a new light.

Rather than us hating them, rather than us judging

them, rather than us being frustrated or angry

at them, Our own sordid past allows us to see

them with compassion and grace because we now

know why they act out and we know what they need.

We know that they're spiritually blind and dead

in their sins just like we once were. So as we

look at them, we can say, I get it. I get it.

That used to be me, but no more. And then we

can proceed to share the gospel with them so

that they might find the same thing that we found

in Christ. Does that make sense? So verse three

is really important to own before we move on

to the good news of verse four. So let's take

a look at our text, verses four through eight.

By the way, this is one of the most doctrinally

rich passages in the entire New Testament, but

it all starts with this one little beautiful

word, right? This one little contrast in the

English language, the word is what? But, right?

You and I were once foolish, right? disobedient,

deceived, enslaved by sin, filled with malice,

envy, and hate. But, verse 4, when the kindness

of God, our Savior, and his love for mankind

appeared, he saved us. Stop there. He saved us.

Now, that word in the Greek for appeared is important,

epiphano, and it refers to something that is

revealed. It refers to something that is made

visible. So obviously Paul is referring here

to the coming of Jesus. We get, by the way, we

get our English word epiphany from this. Something

that is made manifest. So he's talking about

the coming of the Messiah. And he's giving a

nod here to the incarnation and to the life,

death, and resurrection of Christ. And you see

in this verse that his coming was rooted in two

things. Look in there, two things. God's kindness.

And God's love. Christates and philanthropia

in the Greek. And friends, as we look at this,

God's kindness and God's love, it should amaze

us. Sometimes we get so used to hearing the gospel

that we don't stand back long enough to really

look at this. That the eternal creator of the

universe, the one who holds the galaxies in place,

cared enough to look down upon the creatures

that he made in his image and show us kindness.

Why is it that we just take that for granted?

That he showed us kindness. In fact, so kind,

so kind that he would lay aside his glory, that

he would take on our nature as a man, that he

would suffer and die in our place in order to

rescue us from eternal destruction. That's how

kind. That is amazing. That is the kindness beyond

measure. The second word, philanthropia, is exactly

what you might think. In English, when we talk

about doing philanthropy, we're talking about

showing love for humanity, right? Well, theologically,

it's similar. This word refers to God's great

love for humanity. And once again, a love that

is so strong that he's willing to send his one

and only son into the world to suffer and die,

to identify with us, and to represent us both

in life and in death. That is incredible love

for humanity. So that is God's heart. That is

what we learn here in this passage. God's heart

is inclined toward the good of mankind. You might

even say God is the greatest of all philanthropists

that have ever lived. So if you're sitting here

this morning having been saved from the penalty

of sin, rescued from eternal destruction, it's

because God willingly chose to make himself known,

to reveal himself to you out of his kindness.

And his love. And we can't just glide by that

truth without stopping and marveling at it. His

kindness and his love. Now back to verse 5. It

says, he saved us. Who saved us? Well, God our

Savior saved us. On what basis did he save us?

Paul gives us both a negative and a positive

answer. What's the basis for him saving us? negatively,

not on the basis of deeds, which we've done in

righteousness, and positively, according to his

mercy. Got to know both of those. So, back to

what I said earlier. Here's a description of

how we're saved, right? What's missing? Any mention

of our faith? Any mention of our belief, any

mention of our calling on his name or our confessing

Jesus as Lord. And if I can just add some fuel

to the fire, there's no mention here of us praying

a sinner's prayer. No mention of us responding

to an altar call. No mention of us being baptized

or participating in any religious ritual or ceremony.

It simply says God saved us and nothing else

appears to be involved. but God. Let's finish

the passage, and then we'll try to answer what's

happening here. Let's read through verse seven.

It says, he saved us, again, according to his

mercy, by what? By the washing of regeneration

and renewing by the Holy Spirit, verse six, whom

he poured out upon us richly or abundantly through

Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified

by his grace, we would be made heirs according

to the hope of eternal life. Now, most of that

we're going to look at more carefully next Sunday.

This is really part one of a two -part message.

And we're going to look at the controversial

reference there to washing. Because a whole bunch

of people look at washing and what's the first

thing they think about? Baptism. So we're gonna

talk about that. We're gonna talk about, is that

what's being talked about here? And what is the

connection between baptism and salvation? So

you gotta come back for part two. Got it? Good.

Now, before we plow ahead, let's stop for a second,

take a deep breath, and let's zoom out on this

passage. And I want you to see if you can identify

who is doing all the work in this passage. Let's

see, out of his kindness and love, The Savior

appeared, revealing himself to us. So that's

God doing the work. Being motivated by his mercy,

God saved us. That's God doing the work. He washed

us through the regeneration of the heart. That's

God. He poured out his spirit, renewing us. That's

God. By his sovereign grace, he justified us.

That's God. In doing so, he made us heirs in

the life to come. That also is a work of God.

So who's the author of salvation? Who's the initiator

of salvation? Who's the accomplisher of salvation?

Who's the finisher of salvation? Only God. He

is the one who has rescued us from destruction.

And again, that only gets enhanced by looking

back at verse three and remembering who we once

were. What kind of people did God save? Messed

up people like you and me. What kind of people

did God show mercy to? People who were foolish

and disobedient and filled with malice and filled

with envy and hate. We deserve condemnation and

wrath and God would have been perfectly just

to pass right by us and punish us eternally for

all of the sins in our life. To pass us by. to

let us continue rushing headlong into eternal

judgment, but he didn't. He saved us. Are you

getting the picture of how thankful we should

be on this Sunday morning? He saved us. What

verses four through seven is stressing is that

our salvation didn't depend on anything in us,

not any merit that we had earned before God.

Not any inherent goodness in us. Not even our

response to the offer of the gospel. None of

it contributed to our salvation. Friends, listen,

this is God changing in us what we couldn't change

ourselves. That is so important to understand.

Apart from his sovereign intervention in our

lives, not one of us would have believed, not

one of us would have even inclined ourselves

towards God. And not one of us would have been

saved. That's the point of this passage. Now,

I am not discounting the fact that we need to

put our faith in Christ or that we need to follow

Jesus as Lord. We'll come back to that thought

because that is true and that is real. But here

in verse 5, make sure you see this. The basis

for our salvation doesn't involve anything that

we do. In fact, not even deeds done in righteousness.

Did you see the language? That means even the

best things that we do from a pure heart, not

even those things contribute to our salvation.

Not even our deeds done in righteousness. And

by the way, that makes biblical Christianity

unique among all world religions. You have to

know this. Biblical Christianity is the only

religion in this world that doesn't say obey

a bunch of rules, a whole set of rules, add that

to what? somebody else has done for you, and

mix it all together, and that's how you're saved.

Even certain branches of Christendom are going

to tell you, well, Jesus' sacrifice gets you

part of the way, but it's not sufficient. You've

got to add a whole bunch of things to it. if

you want to be saved. So you've got to belong

to a particular church, and you've got to participate

in these sacraments, and you've got to go through

these rituals, you've got to say these prayers,

you've got to help the poor and feed the homeless,

et cetera, et cetera. And even if people do those

things from a well -meaning heart, according

to Scripture, they will not in any way add to

the basis for your salvation. The basis will

always remain the same. It's God's grace. His

kindness, his love, and his mercy. And guys,

Paul goes to great pains throughout the New Testament

to tell us this. Titus 3 is just one example,

but it's everywhere. I'm gonna give you a bunch

of them. We've already looked at this passage

from Romans 4, where Paul says, now to the one

who works, his wage is not credited as a favor,

but as what is due him. But to the one who does

not work, but believes in him who justifies the

ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Talk about turning the religious world upside

down. Look at that verse. Later in Romans 9,

when speaking about Jacob and Esau, he says this,

for though the twins were not yet born, had not

done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose

according to his would stand not because of works

and because of him who calls. It was said to

Rebecca, the older will serve the younger. Right?

It's not according to works. It's according to

what God has said. To Timothy, Paul writes this.

God has saved us and called us with a holy calling,

not according to our works, but according to

his own purpose. And grace, which was granted

us in Christ Jesus. When? From all eternity.

Romans 3 says this. Where then is boasting? If

our works don't add to it and it's all God, where

is boasting? It's excluded. For we maintain that

a man is justified by faith apart from the works

of the law. And the passage that stands out the

most. Again, Paul from Ephesians 2, for by grace

you have been saved through faith and that not

of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not as a result

of works so that no one may boast. This is just

a small sampling, you guys, of what is clear

in the New Testament about the basis for our

salvation. Now, in both of those last two passages,

you see the issue of boasting. And this is a

huge theme in the New Testament that we need

to be aware of. Guys, we are not to be a boastful

people. Not in front of other human beings, but

definitely not before God. How dare we even try

to boast before an all -perfect, almighty God?

Remember, Paul asked the question, hey, what

do you have that you didn't receive from God?

And the answer is nothing. So how can we boast?

Everything comes from his gracious hand. That

includes salvation from beginning to end. And

for that reason, when we see our Savior face

to face someday, there will not be a millimeter

of room for us to boast in his presence. Not

a millimeter. So listen, when God saved you,

he put his glory and his grace on display in

your life. Don't you dare try to steal some of

that glory from him. His saving work is meant

to lead people to praise him and glorify him

for his kindness, love, and mercy. Don't you

dare try to divert attention to yourself. Understand

how offensive that is, that you would boast in

any way before God. And know this, the basis

of our salvation is the very same basis on which

we are commanded to treat others. Why do we love

others sacrificially? Why do we exhibit kindness

towards unbelievers? Why do we forgive people

who don't deserve to be forgiven? Because we

reflect the image of our God and our Savior when

we do those things. Because that's what we've

received from Him. Now, having established that,

let's dig into the perceived problem that I've

tried to raise here so far in this message. Back

to the question, how are we saved? How are we

saved? Okay, the problem I pointed out is that

in Scripture we're given two very distinct pictures

of how salvation comes to mankind. The one on

the left, God's sovereignty, is eternal. It takes

place before time and outside of time. The one

on the right is what we refer to as man's responsibility

to respond. That is temporal. That is a response

to the truth of the gospel that occurs within

time and space. Make sense? If we are ever going

to understand how we're saved, what we call soteriology,

which is the doctrine of salvation, we have got

to put together the pieces to the puzzle to merge

these two very distinct pictures of salvation

into one coherent doctrine. That's the task before

us in the rest of the time of this message. Now,

I probably don't have to prove that first principle

to you, that God is sovereign over all things,

especially salvation, because it's written all

over the Bible. We know that the Lord does as

he pleases. The Lord does as he pleases according

to his will. That is the very definition of sovereignty.

When you can do anything you want, that is when

you are sovereign. God is the only sovereign,

non -contingent being that can do that. He is

utterly sovereign over all things. Before creation

came into being, he actively decreed all things

that will come to pass. All things. The things

that have come to pass in the past, the things

that are coming to pass in the present, and all

the things that will come to pass in the future.

He's decreed all of it. Every aspect of his decree

from eternity past is now unfolding in successive

moments within chronological time. That's how

in control he is. He's decreed a single plan

for this world. There's no plan B. And it doesn't

change. What that means is there's no accidents

in this world and nothing surprises God. He knows

every detail from the beginning to the end. In

fact, he sees everything all at one time. As

if it were in the present for him because he's

outside of time. He sees it all. And, by the

way, no purpose of his can be thwarted by any

circumstance or any human being. That's how sovereign

he is. His decree is rooted in his infinite wisdom

and is designed in every detail to bring about

the greatest good, which is the glorification

of himself. That's who he is. And because he's

omnipotent, he has the absolute power and authority

to do it. So when God promises that something

is going to happen, it's going to happen. In

fact, have you ever wondered why is it we can

always count the prophecy will be fulfilled?

Because God's sovereign. If he weren't sovereign,

we can't be sure that prophecy would take place

because human beings are involved, but God is

sovereign. Friends, that's what the Bible tells

us. And even that, I think, is just scratching

the surface. of how vast, how infinite, how sovereign

God is. I mean, that's only the types of things

that we can understand. But again, this is the

being who creates galaxies out of nothing by

speaking. Think about that. We're only scratching

the surface. In the next life, I think we'll

know more, right? I've got questions. I can't

wait to get answers. All right. Now, concerning

the topic for this morning, Guys, listen, the

same overwhelming level of sovereignty also extends

to our salvation. And there are many passages

I could show you to reveal this. Titus 3 is just

one of them. But for example, I could point to

Ephesians 1. This filled with the language, he

chose us. When? Before the foundation of the

world. In love, he predestined us. to adoption

as sons according to what? The kind intention

of his will. He predestined us according to his

purpose, who works how many things? All things

after the counsel of his will, the Trinitarian

counsel. All of that is sovereignty, friends.

Or I could point to Romans 9, where God says,

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I

will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

So then, Salvation does not depend on the man

who wills or the man who runs, but salvation

depends on God who has mercy. And we could keep

going on and on. There's so many passages like

this. By the way, you see some of the same language

in those two passages that you see in Titus 3.

The kind intention of God's will in Ephesians

1 and the mercy of God in Romans 9. The same

concepts we see in Titus 3, consistent all the

way across. We learn from Scripture that we were

once all spiritually dead, that we were children

of wrath, but then God intervened and saved us,

raising us to life. He opened the blind eyes

of our heart. He gave us the gift of faith, and

we learn that God's sovereign grace did all of

that work, all of it. What was impossible for

you and I, God did for us. So we should be grateful.

So that's one side of that ledger, sovereignty.

Let's look at the other side of the salvation

coin. Scripture also tells us that no one will

be saved unless they willingly trust in Christ

for the forgiveness of sins, right? Right? No

one will be saved unless they trust in Christ

for the forgiveness of sins. Otherwise, they

are under the penalty of sin. Acts 16 tells us.

Sirs, what must I do to be saved? It can't be

more clear than this. Paul and Silas reply what?

Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

Good. At the very end of John 3, Jesus himself

says, he who believes in the Son has eternal

life. Earlier in John 1, the apostle writes,

as many as received him, to them he gave the

right to become children of God, even to those

who believe in his name. And again, we already

looked at some verses earlier. Believe, believe,

believe. We're given these action verbs, commanded,

commanded to believe and to receive and to confess

and to call upon and more. So alongside God's

sovereignty over salvation, we're told that man

has a responsibility to take action, to respond

to the offer of the gospel. And man has a real

choice to make. A very real choice to make. Believe

in Jesus or reject him. Every man has that choice.

It's a real choice made within time and space,

and we are told that that choice has very real

consequences, both in this life and in the life

to come. So here's the bottom line, guys. We

are not robots. When we talk about sovereignty,

sometimes people go, well, then that must mean

we're robots. That is not the way Scripture...

describes it. We are not robots. We are responsible

creatures who make moral choices each and every

day, including decisions to either believe or

disbelieve. And by the way, this is so interesting.

There are times in scripture where both of these

principles of sovereignty and human responsibility,

they literally sit side by side. Here's sovereignty.

Here's man's responsibility. And the authors

of Scripture don't excuse it away. They don't

try to explain it. They just say, these are two

truths that you should believe. For example,

in John 6, we have these statements. It says,

this is the work of God, that you believe in

him whom he has sent. Everyone who beholds the

Son and believes in him will have eternal life.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has

eternal life. All of those are about man's actions,

but mixed into all those verses are also these

verses. All that the Father gives me, Jesus says,

will come to me, sovereignty. No one can come

to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.

No one can come to me unless it's been granted

him from the Father. So they're literally interspersed

in this very small section of John 6. We have

both of those principles. It's fascinating. Perhaps

the most obvious example of this comes from Philippians

2, where both principles are literally tied together

in the same sentence. Work out your salvation

with fear and trembling. That's man's responsibility.

For it's God who works in you both to will and

to work for his good pleasure. That's his sovereignty.

Now, here's the thing. Let's go back to this.

When you look at those two things side by side,

it's critical to know that we're looking at two

things that are not equal in power. God's sovereign

decree in eternity past and my choice within

time and space do not carry the same weight or

the same power, not even close. I'm not even

in the ballpark. We'll come back to that in a

second. But imagine for a moment if we get out

of balance on these two principles. Imagine if

I decide, well, I really want to prefer to focus

on my choice as the reason I'm saved. And I'm

just going to ignore all these grand statements

about God's sovereignty. What do I end up with?

A man -centered gospel. One where the choice

of man is the decisive factor. And where we say,

well, you know what God's role in that is? He

just rubber stamps whatever choice I make. Right?

And sadly, what that would mean is when we get

to heaven, guess what? We have every reason to

boast because my salvation depended on my choice.

God just rubber stamped what I chose. So we violate

this incredibly important principle that we're

not to boast. We could boast. We could say, I

was so spiritual that I made the decision to

believe in Jesus. I was so smart. I was so wise.

I made the right call and therefore I can spend

the rest of eternity thanking Jesus that he just

affirmed my choice. That doesn't sound right,

does it? Does that not like go, nah, I don't

like it. You shouldn't like it. That's heresy.

Now, what about the other extreme? What if I

choose to focus just on God's sovereignty and

ignore all the passages that tell us that we

need to respond to the call of the gospel? What

then do I end up with? A deterministic gospel.

One where we are pre -programmed robots who have

no real choice at all. That is a gospel that

is emptied of love and affection. So we don't

want to err on either side of the ledger here.

We want to affirm everything that Scripture teaches.

And then what we want to do is sort of bring

all of that together systematically and put the

puzzle pieces together so that we can have a

greater understanding of how God saves us. And

by the way, this isn't the only thing in Scripture

where we do this. We have the Trinity. Right?

That isn't systematically explained to us, but

what do we do? We go out and we find all these

verses that talk about one God, but three persons

who are called God, and we put the puzzle together,

and we come up with a coherent doctrine of the

Trinity. We do the same thing with the two natures

of Christ. Very difficult to understand. But

we need to be able to do this with this particular

subject as well. We take all the verses that

talk about salvation, we collate them into a

systematic way, and we say this is how the puzzle

fits together. So that's what we want to finish

with today. How do those pieces fit together

when it comes to salvation? Can we merge those

two things into one coherent doctrine of soteriology?

We can. Like the Trinity, we can. Like the natures

of Christ, we can. But let me say this as well.

Like the Trinity, we should leave some room for

mystery because our thinking is so puny compared

to the limitless mind of God. So we always have

to be careful. We love certainty in the time

and place we live in. We want everything to be

certain. But here we have a mystery, how these

things fit together. And frankly, our comprehension

of, Concepts like, can you describe eternity

past before anything was? Can you understand

the space -time continuum, how God operates outside

of time? Our brains aren't big enough to even

grasp the fullness of this concept. So what we

need to do is understand that these two truths

are presented to us in Scripture as able to coexist

with each other. They're able to coexist together.

So both are true at the same time and that God

knows how they co -inhere perfectly. Do you trust

that? Because the logic is we start with the

scriptures infallible, right? It's true. God

presents two truths as truth. And then we have

a choice now to say, I want it to be more certain

than that. And he says, no, there's a mystery

to this. There's a mystery to this. Yes, we can,

we can, we can. discover some things. We can

come to some conclusions, but there is mystery

to this. So my advice is while we're on this

side of heaven, the best approach to this subject

is to just believe both principles and to hold

them in tension and embrace the mystery. Can

we do that? Now, let me come back to something

I just mentioned. While we affirm both principles,

the two are not equal things. Why do I say that?

Because without God sovereignly moving upon us,

we would not and could not respond. So his sovereignty

is the controlling factor in our soteriology.

It is logically prior to our response. And our

response is 100 % dependent on the sovereignty

piece. So they're not equal in power or authority.

We have to know that. And that brings me to Professor

Jeff's class for the morning. Because I'm going

to share with you something that, again, you

might want to take a picture of this, but this

is something that you would get taught in a basic

theology class in seminary so that you can understand

the logical order of events when it comes to

salvation. How are we saved? I'm going to show

you what Reformed theologians have believed and

taught for about 500 years in terms of the logical

order of salvation. It's called the Ordo Salutis,

Latin for the order of salvation. Are you ready?

I feel like I need theme music for Professor

Jeff's class. I won't go too much in detail on

this, but you should understand what this means.

It all starts in eternity past, right? Ephesians

1 said it very clearly. Election. Election takes

place in eternity past before the foundations

of the world. God foreknew his elect. He foreloved

them. He predestined them. to be conformed to

the image of his son. Even before Genesis 1 -1,

he did this. It starts there. Second, we have

redemption. This is the appearing that we read

about in Titus 3 -4, which take place in human

history. Jesus comes to earth. He takes on flesh.

He dies on the cross to pay the ransom for our

sin. That is redemption. We are a redeemed people

because of what Jesus did on the cross. Amen?

Third, the universal gospel call. This is the

gospel offer that goes out to the ends of the

earth, available to everyone who hears. The universal

call of the gospel. But then there is a sort

of a subcategory to that we call the effectual

gospel call. That is when the Spirit of God draws

the attention of His elect toward the Savior.

This is a work that is done in the heart of man.

preparing him for what comes next. When we read

in scripture about drawing or calling, it's the

spirit of God beginning a work in the inner man

to allow us to incline ourselves towards God

and respond. Okay, the effectual gospel call.

The next step is regeneration. This has to happen

before we're saved. This is what brings a man

from spiritual death to spiritual life. It's

a very changing of our nature. It makes us alive.

It brings with us new affections that now enable

us to turn towards God and be saved. Our heart

gets regenerated. We become alive, spiritual

life, finally. Then comes where we fit in. Look,

I even put stars next to it. Conversion. Here's

where we fit in. This is our response to the

gospel. This is where we... Repent of our sins

and believe where we trust in Jesus Christ as

Savior and Lord. More on that in a second. Next

is justification. This is what we call the forensic

or the legal declaration that God makes. You

are righteous in my sight, he says, because Christ's

righteousness has been imputed to us. God the

Father sees us through his Son, and we are declared

forever righteous. That's the exciting one, right?

We're justified. Then we have adoption, which

is sort of a subcategory of justification. We

are instantly declared to be God's children,

co -heirs with Christ. And then we have sanctification.

This is where most of us are at. Even this morning,

as children of God in the process of spiritual

maturing during our years on the earth, we now

cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit within

us, growing in grace, growing in spiritual matters,

and growing in holiness. We're being sanctified.

And finally, the last stage is glorification.

The completion of God's promise to us. Remember,

he said, I will complete the work I've started

to conform you to the image of my son. Guess

what? That is coming. He will someday absolutely

perfect us, body and soul. I can't wait. I'm

getting closer. My wife just laughed. That's

great. But I'm getting closer. It's exciting.

Now, notice every step in this logical order

comes from God. Even the one piece where we do

have an action step. It's a real action step.

Our conversion, but according to scripture, even

our ability to turn to God, our ability to repent,

our ability to put our faith in him, it's all

a gift that God gives us that would not have

been possible if he didn't first make us alive.

If he didn't first clear up our spiritual blindness,

it all comes from him. Now, let me draw your

attention back. to our call to worship passage

from this morning in Romans 8. It is a condensed

version of that. Let me put it on the screen.

A condensed version. We know that God, what?

Causes. He is the cause of all of it. He causes

all things. How many things? All things to work

together for good to those who love God, to those

who are called according to what? His purpose

or his decree. Do you see the sovereignty already?

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined.

To what? To be conformed to the image of his

son. That is election. So that he would be the

firstborn among many brethren. We see adoption

there. Those he predestined, he also called.

That is the inward call of the gospel, the effectual

call. And those that he called, he also justified.

And those that he justified, he also glorified.

So we literally have an ordo salutis condensed

right there in Romans 8. And I want you to notice

the absolute certainty in that passage. Do you

see it? He causes all things to happen according

to his plan and purpose. So it will happen. If

he foreknows you. He will conform you to the

image of a son. If he predestined you, he will

effectually call you. If he called you, he will

justify you. He will save you. And if he justifies

you, someday he will ultimately glorify you.

Guys, there's no question in that text of what

will take place. It's not open. God has promised

it. He will bring it to pass. This is one of

the beauties of understanding a reformed view

of salvation. If God has marked you out for salvation,

if in time and space he has saved you, you cannot

run away. You cannot be lost because he's already

declared that you will be all of these things,

ultimately glorified. So we have great assurance

of salvation, amen? Whew, okay, end of class.

I could say so much more about this, but I'm

not going to. Let me finish with just a couple

more things because I know you guys have been

patient. Five benefits, real fast. Benefits of

knowing everything we've talked about this for.

Why should we care about how we're saved? Number

one, it'll produce in you an overwhelming sense

of thankfulness. It will. For all that God has

done for you in Christ. Number two, it'll produce

in you the appropriate amount of wonder and worship

for the Lord. You will worship more passionately

if you understand how you've been saved. Number

three, it will motivate you to devote your life

to Christ with more zeal because you'll see what

he's done for you. You're gonna wanna serve him

more and you're gonna wanna serve others who

know him here in your church family. Number four,

it'll cause you to refocus your energy and attention

on evangelism because now you know. that he will

decisively save when you go out there faithfully

and share your testimony. He will do that work.

Our evangelism is guaranteed. Did you know that?

Not in every case, but it's guaranteed because

God will save whom he will save. It doesn't even

matter if you do a good job of sharing. God can

still use you as a vessel to share the truth.

And lastly, it'll remind you that you have a

stunning, miraculous testimony to share. If you

can understand how you were saved, if you can

articulate that to people, I was once blind,

but now I see. I was once dead, but then I was

made alive. I was once disobedient, but now I

live to please my Savior. If you can share how

this happened in your life, you've got a miraculous

testimony. Amen? Finally, look at verse 8 in

Titus 3. We're going to come back and look more

at this next week. But look, I want to get you

back as we close into the flow of this letter.

Paul finishes this beautiful doctrine about salvation.

And then verse 8, he says, this is a trustworthy

statement. Everything I've just told you about

salvation is trustworthy. And he says, Titus,

concerning these things, I want you to speak

confidently. By extension, that is an instruction

to us in the church today. I want you to insist

on these things, Titus. Jeff, Adam, elders, I

want you to keep teaching these things. Do it

confidently. Whenever the church gathers, remind

people of these things. Why do they need to hear

it? Paul says, so that those who have believed

will be careful to engage in good deeds. Now,

isn't that interesting? Big discussion about

faith now connected to going out and doing good

deeds. Right? We've got both sides of this controversial

topic about faith and works. He says, look, Paul's

back to his concern that he had in chapter 2

about the church's witness in a pagan culture.

And he says, well, how can we build this platform

so that we can preach and teach about the wonders

of salvation? And the answer back then is the

same answer as today, by seeking the good of

others, by doing good works that benefit our

community, benefit the culture that we live in,

to show unbelievers the goodness and grace and

transforming power of knowing Christ. That's

how. So we don't study doctrines in a vacuum

just to go, wow, what a doctrine. Now we don't

have to, we can just sit there and stare at it.

No, God says, it's a beautiful doctrine. Now,

let it affect your life. Go out and do these

things. Show God's glory. Show God's grace to

the unbelievers in Santa Clarita. Because now

you know how you've been saved. Are you understanding

what I'm talking about here? In order to do that,

friends, remember these two things. What were

you once? What were you? And number two, what

has God done to rescue you from that? That is

your testimony. And then go out and say, you

know what? Because I've experienced this, because

I've been given this gift, I want others to have

it. And if God is gracious, he will use you and

I as vessels of mercy to bring others into the

kingdom. What an amazing thing that God, that

he invites us into that process. He not only

saves us, but then he says, I want you to be

a vessel of mercy to call my elect into the kingdom.

You guys, don't let this just drift by. Take

a serious look at this passage. This week, pray

through it. Thank the Lord Jesus Christ for all

he's done for you. Amen? I'll stop ranting now.

Let's pray. Father, it's so overwhelming to step

back and to see what you've done for us. It just,

it jars our emotions to look carefully at what

you've declared in scripture, how foolish we

once were, how selfish, how greedy, how rebellious,

and that you didn't love us because we were lovable.

You loved us just because we were lovable. straight

out of your kindness and mercy. Lord, maybe that's

the one thing that we should all walk out of

with here this morning is to recognize that simple

truth, the grace that you've shown us, the kindness,

the mercy, the love. And God, I'm grateful this

morning that you've showed us how you saved us.

You've showed us exactly how sovereign you are.

You've also showed us our part in this. to take

the gift of faith that you've given us and to

repent and believe and to keep on believing,

Lord, as you hold us in the palm of your hand.

So, Lord, seal these truths in our hearts. Help

us to grow more and more in our understanding

of what you've done for us so that we might be

more thankful, so that we might worship better.

All of this, Lord, is because of you, because

of your goodness, because of your grace. And

so, Lord, be glorified in our hearts and minds

this morning. Even now, as we respond in singing,

be glorified in us. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for

our time together this morning. It's in your

name we pray.