God Is Faithful; He Will Do It

1 Thessalonians 5, 23 and 24.

Now may the God of peace himself

sanctify you completely.

And may your whole spirit and soul and body

be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who calls you is faithful.

He will surely do it.

Amen.

I want to open this morning with a question.

If you're a Christian,

do you think when you wake up tomorrow morning,

you'll still be a Christian?

Think about it.

Meditate on that for just a second.

If you're a Christian today,

do you think that tomorrow you still will be?

Now I don't want to make too many assumptions in that question.

I recognize that not everyone here may be a Christian.

I suspect that most of you at least understand yourselves to be.

Why do you believe you will be one tomorrow?

Why do you expect that despite significant doubts,

that I would imagine at least some of you probably wrestle with,

I wonder why you would expect that with significant doubts that you'll still believe tomorrow.

Why do you suppose that the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of sin will not choke out your desire to believe and obey Christ?

And the truth is maybe you don't have much confidence about that.

You're just trying to hang on as tightly as you can.

And I have been there certain points in my life and in my faith

where I didn't know if the next day I actually would wake up and still believe or still want this.

You're just trying to hang on as tightly as I can.

And maybe you're at a place now or maybe you at least can relate to something like that.

There's been a time in your life where you just thought,

I'm just trying to hang on and hope for the best and hope that I can still hang on tomorrow.

But I suspect that if you think yourself a Christian now,

you'll probably go to sleep tonight expecting to wake up tomorrow still being one.

But the question is, why do you think that?

Why would that even happen when there seems to be so much that's working against us?

So much working against us even maybe that's within us?

We even think about Galatians 5 that we just read a moment ago.

We're at war all the time?

Essentially is what Paul is saying there.

There's really only one true answer to the question.

There's only one reason why you'll wake up tomorrow and still be a Christian.

It's not because you have the willpower to keep going when others fall away.

Remember that's what Peter said?

Then Jesus, right before he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane,

he tells the disciples, he says, you're all going to forsake me.

And Peter says, no, Lord.

And he acknowledges the other 11.

He says, those guys may do it.

I'll never do it.

He thought he had the willpower.

He thought that he had all that it took to persevere in and of himself.

And Jesus says, no, actually, you're going to deny me three times before even the alarm clock goes off tomorrow.

Three times.

And, of course, we read our Bibles.

We know that's exactly what happened, isn't it?

It won't be because you've got the willpower to just make it through when other people fall away.

It won't be because you've personally reached a point of no return.

It won't be because you're so spiritually mature that you're so in love with Jesus that you're beyond any temptation to turn back from him.

It won't be for any of those reasons.

If you're a Christian, there's only one reason you'll still be one tomorrow.

And it's because God is faithful to keep you to the very end.

Jesus said it plainly in John 6.

That's actually his mission.

This is the will of him who sent me, Jesus said.

That I should lose nothing of all he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

For this is the will of my Father, Jesus said.

That everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him, that they should have eternal life.

And I will raise him up on the last day.

That's Jesus' mission.

Sent here by the Father to secure salvation for his people.

And he will lose none of them.

But like us, the Thessalonians, if we've studied this letter, they had all kinds of struggles that could have resulted in abandoning the faith.

In fact, there's even a time in the letter, you'll remember back in chapters 2 and 3,

where Paul was concerned that maybe the persecution and the cares of this world they were facing

might have caused them to abandon the faith that they had once professed.

So he sent Timothy, remember, Timothy sent to check on them and secure the gospel witness in the church.

You remember.

Some of them had doubts about the return of Christ, which caused incredible grief and confusion.

Some of them battled with the attractiveness of serious sins that might have easily consumed them.

We read about that in chapter 4.

The cares of this life, the persecution of the Jews and their neighbors

had the potential of shipwrecking a faith that they had at least professed to have.

And yet, despite all of those things, when we get to chapter 5 and we understand the letter as a whole,

they continued to endure.

They were even growing.

They were gaining maturity.

They were gaining faithfulness.

Yeah, they had some sins, but they were progressing through it.

Why?

How?

Paul was convinced that God would secure and sanctify them until Christ's return.

A magnificent, glorious, encouraging truth that he underscores here at the end of the letter.

And it's through this amazing benediction here at the end that I want to just present you once again

with the faithful God who promises to preserve and to purify his people to the very end.

First, I want you to see a prayer of blessing.

A prayer of blessing.

Look with me at verse 23.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely

and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless

at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the last of two major benedictions in the letter.

The first one was in chapter 3, if you just look at it.

Chapter 3, verses 11 to 13.

There's similarities between the two.

Now may our God and Father himself, our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you,

so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father

at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

That sounds very similar to this last one, isn't it?

In the first one, Paul prays for God to establish their hearts blameless in holiness at the coming of the Lord.

And that blessing, it closed a section that was focused on the Thessalonians' persevering faith.

So using similar language here in the second and final benediction in the letter,

Paul prays for their progress in sanctification,

their progress in holy living.

And again, the prayer is for God to purify and to preserve his people until Christ returns.

And it's a fitting conclusion to this section.

But it's also, I think, the climax of the whole letter.

Everything beginning at chapter 1 all the way to this point,

everything has been pushing forward to this idea here at the end.

It contains the final note of certainty that Jesus will return,

which now we can understand to be by far the most prominent theme of the whole letter.

Jesus is coming back.

He's coming back soon.

They were living as if it could be any moment.

As should we.

Listen, all of creation, it is headed toward the climactic moment of Jesus' coming

when he will complete his saving work in his people

and he will bring final judgment on everyone else.

And the issue of preparedness for that moment comes to the surface again here.

And we have to ask, are you ready?

He could come today.

Are you ready?

Are you prepared?

Will he find you believing and pursuing holiness as a result of that faith?

Or will you be judged with the unbelieving who pursue self and sin instead?

Now, Paul's prayer for the Thessalonian Christians was that God would, quote,

sanctify them completely.

Sanctify them completely.

Now, we understand that God will complete this work in us when Christ returns.

But Paul is primarily concerned here with their present sanctification,

not their future glorification.

Now, I'm not going to go into all the differences there.

We understand that's the implication of the text, right?

It is all indeed moving to the end at which time God will glorify his saints.

That is, he will free us entirely from sin and death and disease

and all the things that are promised for us in Revelation 21.

That's coming.

I don't think that's what Paul has primarily in mind here.

I think he's praying specifically for the Thessalonians presently in that moment,

in this life, their sanctification.

We should understand completely here in verse 23 in the sense of thorough, of whole.

We might read it,

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you thoroughly.

May he sanctify you wholly, entirely.

And this becomes even more evident when we get to the second part of the prayer

when Paul refers to spirit, soul, and body.

What's he mean?

What's he saying?

He's praying that until Jesus returns,

their whole being, everything about them,

what they do, how they think,

the nature of their worship,

both in private and in public and in corporate worship,

that all of those things,

that God would make them and keep them blameless.

In other words,

he asked God to make these Christians

thoroughly faithful,

mature,

and holy people

prepared for the Lord's coming.

Listen, holiness of spirit, soul, and body,

of our whole being,

it must be

your earnest desire.

And if you're a Christian,

it will be

your earnest

desire.

We don't understand Paul here to mean

perfect

when he says blameless.

In other places,

in the New Testament,

he says that,

for example,

you're to have elders and pastors

in your church

that are above reproach

and that are

blameless.

He says in another place

to one of the other churches,

referring to himself,

that in his preaching

and in his living before the churches,

he himself was

blameless.

And yet,

we go to a place like

Philippians chapter 3

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

or Romans chapter 7,

Romans 7 · chapter mention

and we find that Paul

at no point

considered himself

to have reached a state

of perfection

or sinlessness.

He understands that

all of us

are awaiting that

at the return of Christ.

So when he says blameless here,

he's not speaking of

a kind of perfection

or a sinlessness.

He's just speaking of holiness,

a characterization

of thorough righteousness

in our whole being.

And if you're a Christian,

part of the work

that God does in you

is he sets this

as your desire.

You want to please him,

you want to love him,

and you want to live

in a way that is worthy

of the call

that he's put on your life.

John makes it plain for us

in 1 John chapter 2

1 John 2:3–5

verses 3 through 5.

He writes,

and by this we know

that we have come to know him.

We are made certain of

and assured of

our salvation

if we keep his commandments.

Whoever says,

I know him,

but does not keep his commandments,

John says,

is a liar.

The truth is not in him,

but whoever keeps his word

in him,

truly the love of God

is perfected.

It is brought to maturity.

It is completed.

It is made whole.

Sounds a lot like

what Paul is saying

in 1 Thessalonians 5.

By this we may know

that we are in him.

Whoever says he abides in him

ought to walk in the same way

in which he walked.

But back in 1 Thessalonians 5,

I want you to notice

in verse 23,

in Paul's prayer,

who is doing the sanctifying

and keeping?

Those are the verbs.

Sanctify,

be kept,

but who's the subject?

It's the God of peace himself

that is the subject.

Must we willfully pursue holiness?

Yes.

But our sanctification,

like every other facet

of our salvation,

is ultimately

the work of God's grace.

Our sanctification

flows out of

our justification.

That is,

when God saves us,

he sets us

on this divine,

gracious path

of pursuing purity

and holiness.

It is his work of grace.

He is the acting agent here.

There's no other way

to understand

what Paul's saying.

He asks God

to sanctify them.

He asks God

to keep them.

Why?

Not because he wants

to let them off the hook.

No, because he understands

that fundamentally,

this is a work of grace.

God does this work in us.

This is the testimony

of the scripture.

Ephesians 2 and verse 10,

we read it a moment ago.

For we are his workmanship.

Do you remember the song?

Maybe you sung it as a kid.

He's still working on me

to make me what I ought to be.

It took him just a day

to make the moon and the stars,

the sun and the earth,

Jupiter and Mars.

How loving and faithful

he must be

to still be working on me.

We sing that as kids, right?

Is that not what Paul means?

We are his workmanship.

We're his project.

Created

in Christ Jesus.

That's a reference

to our conversion.

You don't create yourself.

That's a work of grace.

Created in Christ Jesus

for

good works,

holiness,

righteousness,

blamelessness,

which God prepared beforehand

that we should walk in them.

2 Corinthians 3 and verse 18,

and we all

with unveiled face

beholding the glory

of the Lord,

we are being transformed

into the same image.

That is the image of Christ.

We are being transformed

into the same image

from one degree of glory

to another.

What is he saying?

He's saying this is

a progressive work

of grace

that God is doing

in our lives.

He is transforming us.

We might say

in relationship

to our justification

that we have been saved,

but when we think

about our sanctification,

we would change that.

We would say

we are being saved.

Our justification

guarantees

our sanctification

that we are being saved,

which will result

in our glorification

that one day

we will say

we will be saved

at the coming of the Lord.

finally,

it's complete,

it's done.

What is he saying

in 2 Corinthians 3.18?

That right now

we're being transformed.

We are being saved.

We are being transformed

to the image of Christ

from one degree

of glory

to another.

We're making progress.

And then he says

this comes

from the Lord

who is

the Spirit,

the Spirit of God

working in the people

of God

to conform them

to the image

of the Son of God

all for the glory

of God.

Now how does God

accomplish this work?

He sanctifies us

not by anything extravagant.

last weekend

I got to spend

an extended weekend

four or five days

with a group

of other pastors

at Capitol Hill Baptist Church

in Washington, D.C.

in the opening session

Jonathan Lehman

some of you

have been reading

his books

Jonathan Lehman

he said

I want to just

make clear here

what you're going to see

this weekend

and what you're not going to see.

He said

you will not see

this weekend

anything extraordinary.

He said

all you're going to see

this weekend

is an ordinary church

led by ordinary elders

according to the ordinary

means of grace

because that's the way

that the Lord does

his extraordinary work.

You know how

he's going to sanctify you?

It won't be through

anything extraordinary.

He may use

some unusual circumstances

from time to time

but his sanctifying work

by and large

it won't be through

anything extraordinary.

You know what it's going to be through?

An ordinary church

with an ordinary pastor

with ordinary Christians

who love each other

are committed to one another

who are committed

to the ordinary means of grace

the scriptures

prayer

worship

the ordinances

discipleship

that's how he does it.

That's how he does it.

Now if you're not

growing in holiness

if you're not

progressing in sanctification

determination

you know what I mean

it's not wise

to take a small sample

of your life

and try to make

that determination.

It's like baseball

is about to start

we're finishing up

spring training.

One of the phrases

you'll hear over and over

if you care anything

about baseball right now

is this is a small sample size

we have no idea

if this is indicative

of what the season

is going to be like

right?

If you try to evaluate

your Christian life

by taking a small sample size

just a couple weeks

or a couple months

it's probably not going

to be very useful to you.

we're looking at

the trajectory

of our lives right?

You look at

the trajectory

of your life

an extended amount

of time

and you say

yeah there's not really

a lot of progress

happening there

in a spiritual sense.

There's only two

explanations for that.

The first one

is that you're just

not a Christian.

Our justification

guarantees our

sanctification

in some form.

Now God does his work

differently in everybody.

We're all

at different places.

We're all

working according

to God's working

in our lives right?

We understand that.

When you look

at the trajectory

of your Christian life

and there's no

real sanctifying work

sanctifying progress

happening it could

just be you're

just not a Christian.

You've never really

been born again

by the Spirit of God.

Maybe you've made

some religious

affirmations.

affirmations.

Maybe you have

identified in some

way with Christianity

but Jesus is neither

your Savior

nor is he your Lord

in any genuine

sense of that.

The other explanation

is that you are

a Christian

who has neglected

the ordinary means

of grace.

If that's the way

that God works

and you have

neglected

those means

why would you

ever expect

to notice

any significant

work being done

in your life?

Maybe you've

stopped praying

and meditating

on God's word

in any real

meaningful way.

Yeah you bless

your food

but come on.

I mean real

prayer.

Real communion

with God.

Yeah you bring

your Bible

to church.

Or actually

meditating

in the scriptures.

Opening yourselves

to them day

by day

week by week.

Perhaps you've

neglected

to regularly

gather

or at least

meaningfully

engage

in the gatherings

of the church

for worship.

Maybe it's that

your relationships

with other Christians

are either

non-existent

or there's

really no

difference

in their

nature

between

your

relationship

with other

Christians

and your

relationships

with non-Christians.

How can you

expect God

to do a

thorough

work

in your

life

when you

do not

avail yourself

to his

means?

So Paul's

prayer of

blessing

is that God

will thoroughly

sanctify the

Thessalonians

in preparation

in preparation

for Christ's

return.

And we

should also

pray this

for one

another.

And we

should pursue

that work

through the

ordinary means

of grace.

So we have

a prayer of

blessing.

Second,

we have a

promise of

blessing.

A promise

of blessing.

Look with me

again at

verse 24.

Paul's

prayer and

encouragement

is all

anchored

here.

It's all

anchored

here.

Many of

our prayers

do not

come with

any certainty.

We can

ask of

God,

we trust

in God,

but we

also trust

that God

will do

his work

his way

in our

lives.

There's

some prayers

we pray.

We don't

know how

God's

going to

work.

We just

entrust

those things

to him.

But there

are some

prayers we

can be

absolutely

certain God

will answer

and this

is one

of them.

The basic

framework of

the promise

is simple.

He is

faithful.

He will

do it.

He is

faithful.

He will

do it.

Who is

he?

The God

of peace.

What is

it that

he's

doing?

Or

that he

promises

to do?

Sanctify

you

completely.

Keep

you

blameless.

The promise

is significant.

God

will

complete

his

saving

work.

Again

and again

the scriptures

testify to

this.

We know

it commonly

from

Philippians

1.6.

I am

persuaded

that he

who has

begun

a good

work

in you

will

bring

it

to

completion

at the

day

of

Jesus

Christ.

Even

more,

the promise

is predicated

not simply

on God's

power

but

particularly

on God's

character.

Do you

see it?

Look at the

verse.

He is

powerful.

faithful.

He will

do it.

That's not

what Paul

says.

He is

faithful.

He will

do it.

The fact

that God

can save

us

comes with

no special

guarantee

that he

will.

However,

his

perfect

faithfulness

means his

people have

no reason

to doubt

the promise

or fear

Christ's

judgment.

So Paul

adds a

modifier

to express

the certainty

that should

comfort us.

He doesn't

just say

he will

do it.

He says

he will

surely

do it.

It's

certain.

Our

final

salvation,

our

progress

until that

time

is 100%

guaranteed

by God's

perfect

record

of

faithfulness.

He's

never

broken

a promise.

He has

fulfilled

them all.

He will

fulfill

this one.

Paul

says,

trust him

Thessalonians.

Trust him

Cornelius.

Trust him

Christians.

He's

faithful.

He'll

do it.

But there's

another

modifier

here we have

to take

into account.

God is

perfectly

faithful to

fulfill his

promise.

But who

is the

promise for?

Who can

claim the

promise?

It is for

those,

Paul says,

whom

God

calls.

He

who calls

you

is faithful.

He will

surely

do it

for you.

This language

of calling

has been

used two

other times

in the

letter.

Just set

your eyes

on it.

Chapter 2,

verse 12.

12.

We exhorted

each one

of you

and encouraged

you and

charged you

to walk

in a manner

worthy of

God who

calls you

into his

own kingdom

and glory.

Calls you

to

salvation.

The second

time it's

used is in

chapter 4

and verse

7.

God has

not called

us for

impurity

but in

holiness.

So he

calls us

to live

in

holiness.

So this

calling

language,

it refers

to God's

sovereign

call to

salvation

and the

subsequent

sanctification

that comes

along with

it.

He calls

us to

believe,

calls us

into his

kingdom

and glory

and those

whom he

calls into

his kingdom

and glory

he calls

to live

in holiness.

So the

promise is

for those

whom God

calls to

salvation

and the

encouragement

is that he

will be

faithful to

keep

those he

calls

until the

day of

Christ.

To the

very end

he will

keep them.

God

will

be

useful.

How

exactly

are we

to

understand

this

call

to

salvation?

The

Bible

speaks of

it in

at least

two

ways.

I

think

really

only

two

ways.

First

we

understand

there

is

the

general

call

of

salvation.

The

general

call.

Sometimes

the

scriptures

speak of

God's

call

as a

command

for

all

people

to

love

worship

and

obey

him.

He

calls

all

people

everywhere

to

repent.

That's

Acts 17

30 and

31.

He

calls

all

people

everywhere

to

praise

him.

Psalm

67.

Let

the

peoples

praise

you

oh

God.

Let

all

the

peoples

praise

you.

The

psalmist

says.

Not

just the

Jews.

All

the

peoples.

They're

all

called

to

praise.

He

calls

on us

to

trust

Jesus

by

faith.

All

people.

That's

Romans

10

13.

Whosoever

will

call

upon

the

name

of

the

Lord

shall

be

saved.

It's

the

general

call

of

salvation.

It is

implicit

in the

great

commission.

Christians

are to

preach

the

gospel

to

all

people

regardless

of

whether

or not

we

think

or

know

that

they

will

hear

it

and

believe

it.

Implicit

in the

commission

is the

general

call.

God

calls

all

people

everywhere

to

repent

and

praise

and

trust

in

Christ.

It's

the

general

call.

But

it's

not

the

only

way

that

the

Bible

speaks

of

God's

call.

There's

also

what we

call

the

effectual

call.

The

effectual

call

or the

effective

call.

So that

the

scriptures

also

speak of

God's

call to

salvation

as a

mighty

work

of the

Holy

Spirit

that

awakens

a dead

heart

affecting

the

sinner's

response

to

the

general

call

of

the

gospel.

We

see it

in

John

3,

John

6,

2

Corinthians

4,

Ephesians

2,

over and

over.

We see

there is

another

way

that the

apostles

were speaking

of the

call of

God

and they

didn't

understand

that to

be the

general

call

that God

issues to

all people

to repent

and praise

and have

faith.

They're

speaking of

a specific

call like

in 1

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

Thessalonians

chapter 2

and verse

13 that

we read

a moment

ago.

He has

called you

into his

glory.

That is

an effective

call.

It is a

call that

has actually

accomplished

something.

So that

while God

calls everyone

everywhere to

repent and

believe,

his call

comes to

some with

divine

effectiveness

leading to

their genuine

conversion

to Christ.

Now I

just want

to show

you one

passage and

then you

can study

this out

on your

own.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:22–24

chapter 1

verses 22

to 24.

It's on the

screen or you

can turn there.

It's up to

you.

1 Corinthians

1, 22

to 24.

Paul says,

for Jews

demand

signs,

Greeks

seek wisdom

but we

preach

Christ

crucified

which is

a stumbling

block

to the

Jews

and

folly

to the

Gentiles.

He's speaking

categorically

that the

gospel is

being preached,

the call

of God

is being

issued

generally

to all

people,

Jew

and Gentile,

Jew

and Greek.

That's just a

way of saying

everybody.

And Paul

says as

that general

call goes

out,

the Jews

think of it

as a

stumbling

block,

the Gentiles

think of it

as foolishness

but then

there's this

other category.

He says

but to

those

who are

called.

Well I

thought everybody

was called

in the first

part of the

verse.

Yes they

are in the

general sense.

The general

call is going

out to all

of them but

then he uses

calling here

in a different

way.

This is a

different category

but to

those who

are called

whether they're

Jew or Greek

doesn't matter.

Those who

are called

Christ and

Christ crucified

then to

them is

seen as

the power

of God

and the

wisdom of

God.

What is

that?

It's the

call of

God.

Both the

general call

and the

effectual call

represented in

one passage.

The general

call goes out

to all people

but there is

this thing

that God

does,

this work

of grace

that God

does when

his gospel

goes out

that he

transforms

people.

His call

is effective.

The Old

Testament

is said

this way,

the word

of God

goes out

and it

never returns

to him

void.

It always

accomplishes

the purposes

that he

intends for

it.

To be

clear,

God does

not force

anyone

to receive

him,

God does

not force

anyone

to reject

him.

One's

rebellion

against God

and rejection

of the

gospel is

truly their

willful,

volitional

rebellion

and rejection.

God does

not make

them

disbelieve.

The same

is true

for those

who believe.

Their faith

and repentance

are truly

their own.

God doesn't

do the

believing

for you.

He does

not force

you to

believe.

So whether

you believe

or not,

it is truly

an act

of your

will.

But that

being said,

our natural

condition

is so

utterly

sinful

according to

the Bible

that no

one will

ever

turn to

God

apart

from

his

divine

intervention.

Romans

3

quoting

a string

of verses

in the

Old

Testament

says

no one

seeks

for God

God.

No one

on their

own

apart

from

God's

intervention

actually

wants

him.

They

all

hate

him.

They

want

what

they

want.

We

want

what

we

want.

It's

our

rebellion.

And nobody's

just going to

wake up one

day of their

own volition

and decide,

you know

what,

I think

I'm tired

of serving

myself.

I think

I'll serve

someone

else.

Jesus

sounds

pretty

good.

Maybe

I'll

try

that.

It

doesn't

work

like

that.

We're

too

sinful

for

that.

I just

don't

think we

understand

the depth

of our

own

depravity.

It's

not that

we all

do the

worst

possible

sins.

It's

that we're

all

thoroughly

corrupt.

And what

Paul is

praying for

in 1

Thessalonians

5 is

that God

would

reverse

that.

That he

would

take the

thorough

corruption

that is

our

nature

and our

flesh

and that

he will

make it

thoroughly

holy

and righteous

in the

spirit

of God

according

to the

nature

of

Christ.

That's

the

prayer.

We are

not dying

in sin.

We're

dead.

We're

not

drowning

in sin.

We're

drowned.

We're

not awaiting

!

We're

not awaiting

a coming

condemnation.

Jesus

said in

John 3,

if you

do not

believe,

you're

condemned

already.

It's

your

present

circumstance.

Moving

from

death

to

life

requires

a

miracle

from

God

and that

is

precisely

what

conversion

is.

God

does

not

force

anyone

to

believe

but

through

the

preaching

of

the

gospel,

the

general

call,

the

Holy

Spirit

sovereignly

and

admittedly

mysteriously

works

a

miracle

in the

hardened

hearts

of

some

who

hear.

That

is

the

effectual

call

and

when

he

does

this

work

of

regeneration

is the

word

we use.

This

work

of

bringing

a

dead

soul

to

life,

this

work

of

salvation,

calling

that

sinner

to

believe,

it

is

effective.

He

never

loses.

He

doesn't

force us

to

believe

but when

he

awakens

your

heart

you

will.

Paul

says

the

natural

man

is

blind,

he's

blinded

by the

God

of

this

world

but when

God

shines

the

light

of

the

glory

of

Christ

in

their

hearts

it's

as if

God

is

taking

the

blindfold

and

he's

ripped

it

off

of

our

faces

so

then

what

was

in

rebellion

to

God

truly

our

own

rebellion

now

suddenly

is

truly

our

own

faith

and

love

where

once

was a

human

will

and

rebellion

to

God

it

is

now

a

human

will

that

desires

to

love

and

obey

God

this

is

the

work

of

salvation

and

it

is

all

of

grace

it's

all

of

grace

this

promise

in

chapter

5

in

verse

24

this

promise

is

for

those

whom

God

made

his

own

by

grace

before

the

foundations

of

the

world

it

is

for

all

who

are

born

again

by

the

spirit

but

how

can

you

know

if

that's

you

it

sounds

like

we

can't

know

oh

but

you

can