September 13, 2026 - Elder Josh King: "Does man have free will?" - John 8

The title of my message today is Does Man Have Free Will?

Does Man Have Free Will?

I mentioned that I was a little bit out of sorts this morning, and I say that to say that uh, brothers and sisters, please pray for me, and the reason why I asked that is I feel the weightiness of what I'm preaching this morning.

That um I want to be crystal clear this morning and get out of the way.

And what I'm preaching on today is the distinguishing characteristic that shows the difference between what Primitive Baptists believe and what most mainstream churches believe.

And we're going to show you today that so we have been preaching through the quote-unquote catechism, which basically is just a series of questions and answers.

And the I asked a question last Sunday, uh, what is the problem, or I'm or rather, what is wrong with predestination and election?

And I said that kind of in a provocative way because the answer to that is absolutely nothing.

But I want to look at this from the standpoint of somebody who does not believe in predestination election, which is a large majority of mainstream Christian churches in the United States by many faiths and orders.

And again, we're not going to get off in the weeds in that, but so last Sunday we talked about the fact that one of the reasons, or one of the things that is quote unquote wrong with predestination election is that most people don't understand it biblically because it has not been widely and properly taught among mainstream Christianity.

That's the first thing.

The other thing is people simply don't like it.

Because when you say that God is sovereign and that God chose man and man didn't choose God, that is offensive to a lot of people.

And so that's what we preached on last Sunday.

And so today I want to take up the third question or the third quote-unquote problem, as it were, with predestination election, with somebody who doesn't believe it.

It is predestination election conflicts with what most Christians believe concerning free will.

In other words, predestination conflicts with the concept of what most Christians believe is free will.

So what I want to do today first, and please don't misunderstand me, I want to very respectfully, very reverentially, very seriously give you a correct viewpoint of what someone who does not believe in predestination election, how they think about grace and the gospel and salvation.

So I am not making fun.

By the way, I used to be one.

I was a Southern Baptist for years and years.

And so I want to as accurately and as best I can give you a correct understanding of what most mainstream churches believe about man's free will and God's salvation.

So let me start with defining what most people believe free will means.

Free will, as defined by mainstream Christianity, would be the God-given ability of every human being to freely choose or reject Jesus Christ and the offer of salvation.

And that would include people that are absolutely lost.

The second thing or problem that people would have with the concept of free will conflicting with predestination.

People who believe that man actually has free will to be able to choose or reject God, they believe that every person has real power to say yes or no to the gospel and to God.

Okay.

Ultimately hinges on a person's free will decision to believe, repent, and accept Christ.

And again, I am not making fun.

I am trying to accurately represent what I believe most mainstream Christian churches believe today.

They believe that salvation ultimately hinges on a person's free decision to believe, repent, and accept Christ.

Fourth thing.

They believe that God desires all to be saved and has made salvation possible for everyone, but he will not force or override a person's free choice.

And finally, the fifth thing, based on all this, therefore, faith is the one free act the lost sinner contributes, and it is the condition that makes the benefits of the cross apply to him personally.

In other words, so that is why faith is the keystone.

Faith is the most important thing in the modern church's mainstream understanding of how the gospel and salvation works, because they believe that man, a lost individual, chooses to have faith, and so therefore the sinner contributes that faith, and it is the very condition that makes the benefits of the cross apply to him.

In other words, by his faith he is saved.

Okay?

Now, brothers and sisters, I believe that is an accurate description of how most people understand how faith and the gospel and salvation works according to the mainstream church.

Now, my question to you is, is that accurate according to the Bible?

And is that what Trinity Baptists believe?

The answer to that is no, and absolutely no.

Now, by that one statement, I've just offended a whole lot of people.

And I understand that.

I used to be one of them.

This morning, brothers and sisters, I want you to hear me out.

I mean, I know that many of you and most of y'all believe this, but I want you to understand clearly the difference between what primitive Baptists believe and what most mainstream churches believe.

This is the difference.

Most mainstream churches believe that a lost sinner hears the gospel, they believe it, they repent, they accept Christ, and at that point, the very point when they repent and believe and accept Christ, that is the point where they are actually born again and saved and bound for heaven at the point that that personal choice is made based on their belief and repentance.

That is the point.

It's almost like when the person, quote unquote, prays that prayer, that is the lightning strike when that person is actually born again and bound for heaven at that point and that point on.

That is what I believe is an accurate description of what most mainstream churches believe.

But does the Bible teach that?

No, it does not.

So, all right, Brother Josh, you've made some big statements.

What does the Bible teach?

First off, I want to point out to you there are four types of people who have been born into this world.

Biblically.

What do you mean, Brother Josh?

In other words, Adam was a unique individual.

Is that not right?

Adam was a human being who was actually formed out of the earth, the dust of the ground.

God took the dust and he formed Adam into a living soul out of the dust of the earth.

Amen?

He was the only human being that was formed in that exact manner.

Well, what about Eve, Brother Josh?

Well, y'all remember that the Lord took a rib from Adam, right?

And made Eve.

So Eve was formed in a unique way, right?

No other human being that has ever been born on the entire planet or made, was made like Adam.

No human being was made like Eve.

They were unique.

They are the original parents.

They are the first parents.

So Adam was formed of the dust of the ground.

Eve was formed out of the rib taken out of Adam's side.

Those two people, two unique individuals, nobody else like them.

The third unique person is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, was conceived of a virgin of the Holy Ghost.

Is that not right?

So Jesus had no physical earthly father.

He did not have an earthly father.

He had an earthly mother.

They carried her in his womb, brought him to term, normal like every other man.

But Jesus Christ did not have an earthly father.

He was conceived of the Holy Ghost.

So those three individuals are unique in every way.

There is not another soul that is like them.

Okay?

Now, you and I fall into the fourth category.

Men and women that had an earthly mother and father.

Amen?

Every other person that has ever been conceived in the history of the entire world had an earthly mother and father.

Just not Adam, just not Eve, and just not Jesus Christ.

Those three individuals were unique, right?

Now, most Christians today, like we mentioned a while ago, one of the quote-unquote problems of predestination election is that people believe that it conflicts with free will, and it does.

Because the free will that I explained to you a while ago is not a biblical concept.

Adam and Eve did absolutely have free will as I described it a while ago.

Like in other words, did Adam and Eve have the spiritual ability to choose and follow God or to be able to deny and sin against God?

Did they have that capacity within themselves?

Absolutely they did, because Adam and Eve were made good and they were made perfect because they were made by the hand of God.

They in their original created estate were not touched or corrupted by sin in their original estate.

Okay?

So they had the ability to, because God told them, hey, I'm, you know, you can eat of all these trees in the garden, but Adam and Eve don't eat of that particular tree.

God just gave them a commandment.

He gave them a law.

He said, look, you can have everything else, but do not eat of that one tree.

It's for another sermon, another day, why he put the tree there.

We're not going to deal with that today.

But the point is, Adam and Eve within them had the ability, had the freedom to be able to choose, you know what?

I'm going to go 10,000 years and never eat of that tree.

They could have done that.

They had the capacity within themselves to do that because they were not bound in their sin.

They didn't have any sin at that point.

They were created perfect.

Well, who else was, you know, by the way, the Bible refers to Adam, the first Adam.

The Bible also calls Jesus Christ the second Adam.

Again, a unique individual that God had a hand directly in creation.

And Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

He's the Son of God.

And it is so very significant that Jesus Christ did not have an earthly Father.

You and I live in a day when people want to just throw quote-unquote doctrine.

And all doctrine is, brothers and sisters, the word doctrine means teachings.

That's all it means.

Well, you and I live in a day where people want to throw the teachings of the Bible out the window and just give me Jesus, and I just want to go to church and sing my songs, you know, and they want to live a very simple Christian life.

There's nothing wrong with simplicity.

But, brothers and sisters, we are not to throw the teachings of the Bible out the window.

In other words, one of the teachings of the Bible that people want to throw out the window is the fact that Jesus Christ was actually born of a virgin.

Brother Josh, are you serious?

You know, you have a college degree.

You know, do you actually believe that Adam was formed out of dust and that Eve was formed out of a rib, and Jesus Christ did not have an earthly father?

Do you actually believe that?

Yes, 100% I believe that.

I believe that is true in every, with all of my belief being, I believe that's absolutely true.

A right-thinking individual who's gone to college, that's impossible.

No, it's not.

God is the creator.

Now, so yes, I believe that.

But many modern mainstream churches want to throw the virgin birth out because that's crazy, that's ludicrous, that's not significant.

It is significant, and it's significant for a reason.

Because the Bible says that we inherit our sin natures through our Father, as in Adam all die.

The sin nature is inherited through the Father.

Well, who was Adam and Eve's technical father?

God.

He was holy, he was pure.

He created them, Adam from dust and Eve from a rib.

So they were not tainted by sin when they were created.

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin.

He did not inherit the sin nature through an earthly father because he didn't have one.

Now, the Bible does tell us specifically that Jesus Christ was tempted in every way that you and I have been.

See, Jesus was almost in a similar position to Adam and Eve.

Except you understand that Adam and Eve were in a paradise.

So our earthly parents were created good, did not have a sin nature, and were put in literally an earthly paradise, and even in the midst of all that perfectness, they sinned against God.

And see, you and I think we're better than they are.

But we're not.

Jesus Christ was the Son of God.

He was born of a virgin without an earthly father.

He didn't inherit a sin nature.

He was tempted in every way, but the Bible says he was without sin.

He is the only one that has ever been 100% obedient to Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's why he is our Savior.

That's why he is our champion.

That's why his blood is proper payment for sin.

It's the only thing that's proper payment.

Now, what about you and I?

Most mainstream churches believe that you and I, men and women born of a mother and father, have free will.

According to the Bible, that's not the case.

What do you mean, Brother Josh?

You and I are not like Adam and Eve.

We were not born without a sin nature.

You and I are not like the Lord Jesus Christ.

We did have an earthly father.

We inherited a nature from him.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, I'm sorry, 1 Corinthians 2 14, for the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned.

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

In other words, what that means is a man in his original born state does not understand the things of the Spirit of God.

Why?

Because they're foolishness to him.

Well, you go all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

The Lord told Adam and Eve, When you eat of that tree, you're going to die.

Well, wait a minute, brother Josh.

They didn't drop dead right there in the grounds of the Garden of Eden.

They didn't die right there.

Yes, they did.

They didn't die physically, they died spiritually.

In other words, they were at that point when they ate of the fruit of the tree, of knowledge of good and evil, they violated God's law and they were spiritually separated from God.

They broke God's commandment.

So they died.

So everybody following them, because Adam was our representative, everybody following them had a mother and a father except for Jesus Christ.

So you and I inherited his sin nature.

And it guarantees that you and I will sin.

Brother Josh, you mean that every human being has ever been born, every little baby, every old person is born into sin?

Yes.

They're already born tainted.

They're already born corrupted.

We have a sin nature within us that guarantees that when we die, I'm sorry, it guarantees when we get to any age, we're going to act out on our sin because we have a sin nature.

And again, as for another sermon, children who are born in infancy, they do go to heaven.

Why is that?

It's by the grace of God, and the Bible teaches that, but that's for another day.

But brothers and sisters, you and I are sinners by choice, by our will, but it's also a result of our Father Adam and our own earthly fathers that you and I have inherited a sin nature.

Now, why do you tell us all that?

Because you and I do not have free will, like Adam and Eve did, to be able to choose God or not choose God.

Our wills are actually bound up in slavery to our own sin.

Now, so turn, if you will, to John chapter 8.

John 8 · chapter mention

John chapter 8.

John 8 · chapter mention

And we're going to get an interaction that transpired between Jesus Christ and some Jews that he was talking about this very thing.

In John chapter 8, we're going to begin reading in verse 33.

John 8 · chapter mention

Let's back up, actually.

Verse 31.

John chapter 8, verse 31.

John 8:31

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed.

Now I want to point out something to you.

Jesus was speaking to a large group of people here.

And in this large group of people, there were some people that believed in him, and there was some that didn't.

And it's going to become self-evident in a minute that there was a group that was among, by the way, the Pharisees were always, and the religious leaders were always following Jesus around, being mixed in with the disciples, trying to find something to accuse him by, to trip him up by.

They did that his whole ministry.

And so there's no difference here.

So Jesus was talking to a group of people, and there were some of the Jews that believed in him, and there were some of the Jews that did not believe in him, and began to argue with him.

So we begin in John 8 31.

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, he was addressing them, If ye continue in my word, then ye are my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

So he was addressing those people that believed, but some of those bystanding Jews that was following his ministry to try tripping him up, then they came with a rebuttal answer to what he just said.

So he just told those that believed in him, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Well then one of those the sinners that was trying to trip him up replied in verse 33, they answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man.

How sayest thou, ye shall be made free?

Stop.

Well, number one, that's not a true statement.

The Jews have been in bondage to the Babylonians and to others in the past.

And so, but this Jew, in a prideful manner, an unbelieving Jew, is he heard what Jesus said, and what Jesus told the believing Jew is that, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Well, this unbelieving Jew didn't like that.

He said, Wait a minute, I am, in other words, this man who disagrees with Christ, he's saying, wait a minute, Jesus, I am a free man.

I'm free to make my own choices.

I'm free to do my own things.

He was disagreeing with Jesus.

And Jesus answered him in verse 34.

Verily, verily I say to you, Whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin.

Stop.

So this was Jesus' answer to the man, this unbelieving Jew, who said, you know, I've never been in bondage to any man.

I'm a free man.

Jesus' response to that man was, Verily, very I say unto you, whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin.

What does that mean?

Well, by the way, the word servant here literally means bond slave.

The word servant in the original language means bond slave.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is telling this man that whosoever committeth a sin is a slave to sin.

Like you're in prison to it.

You can't get out of it.

Well, who is that?

Romans chapter 3, verse 23 says, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Romans 3:23

Well, Brother Josh, wouldn't that be everybody?

Yes, you got it.

You get A plus.

Every single human being that has ever lived except for the person of Jesus Christ has sinned against God.

Now Adam and Eve had an opportunity.

They were born, they were made good, right?

They were made good.

And by the way, Jesus was tempted in every way.

He could have chosen to deny God, but he chose not to deny God.

But the problem with you and I is that you and I were born bad.

You and I were born a seed of our father Adam.

And you and I were guaranteed to sin.

And not only that, when you and I became of any age where we could actually make our own earthly choices, you and I actually chose to sin.

So you and I are not only guilty by birth, but you and I are also guilty by our own actions.

So we're guilty on two fronts.

So every single human being that has ever been born, except for the Lord Jesus Christ and Adam and Eve were born into slavery to sin, according to the Bible.

Yep.

And then when you got old enough, we actually acted out on that.

Now, so Jesus is going to, very quickly, Jesus is going to expound on what he just said.

So he says, so he says, the servant, well, let's go back.

Verily, very I say unto you, whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin or the slave of sin.

That's all men, all women.

And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever.

Verse 36, and this is a beautiful verse.

If the capitalist son, that's Jesus Christ, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

So, in other words, man needs an act of freeing from the Savior.

I want you all to see that, right?

In other words, you and I need the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue us out of our bondage.

That is the gospel.

Amen?

That's why I had to go to the cross, okay?

So you and I are not free people, you and I are enslaved people to our own sin.

So Jesus tells this man, I know that you are Abraham's seed.

In other words, you're a Jew by birth.

He said, But you seek to kill me because my word hath no place in you.

Now you understand that Jesus Christ is looking into this man's heart, right?

Because he's the Son of God.

He can see straight to this man's heart.

And this man does not like what Jesus Christ is saying.

Jesus Christ just told this man that he was enslaved to sin, that he was not a free man, and he said, Only if the Son, me, Jesus Christ, sets you free, then you'll be free.

And Jesus told him, He said, I know that you are Abraham's seed.

You know, you're a descendant, a physical descendant of Abraham, but ye seek to kill me because my word hath no place in you.

I speak that which I have seen with my father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

So basically, Jesus just told him.

He said, Look, I came from God.

He said, You Jews claim to be uh descendants of Abraham, and Abraham loved the Lord, but you're not acting like Abraham.

You want to kill me.

And that's not a godly thing.

You literally want to murder me because you disagree with me.

And he said, You are a product of your own father.

They answered, and you uh, I speak that which I have seen with my father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

In other words, Satan is your father.

Sin is your father.

They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father.

Jesus said unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

You'd act like him.

But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God, this did not Abraham.

You're not acting like the godly Abraham.

You're acting like wicked men.

He says in verse 41, Ye do the deeds of your father.

Then said they, We be not born of fornication.

We have one father, even God.

They understood that Jesus was saying that their father was a wicked man.

And he, by the way, he was talking about Satan.

They're a product of Satan, because y'all want to kill me.

Abraham didn't want to kill me.

Jesus said unto them, verse 42, If God were your father, ye would love me.

For I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

Verse, now this is key.

Look at verse 43.

So he told these particular unbelieving Jews that were arguing with him.

He said, Why do ye not understand my speech?

Because y'all understand that this section of scripture we started with started with Jews that believed in him.

You understand, right?

Because they were all standing there together, and some of them believed in him, and then some of them were offended by what he said.

So this section of scripture started with a group of Jews that did believe, and then some of the unbelieving ones overheard, and then they disagreed with Jesus.

And so Jesus said about the unbelieving ones, he says, Why do ye not understand my speech?

Even because ye cannot hear my word.

Wait.

This is the same word that some of the other Jews standing right there around them were hearing, right?

And they believed, they loved it, they rejoiced in it, and then other people standing right there around them, hearing the same thing, hated it.

Two polar opposites.

So Jesus said to one group, Ye heard my word and ye rejoiced in it.

The other group, he says, The reason why you don't understand is because ye cannot hear my word.

Well, what does that mean?

This is the result of Adam's fall and their own sin.

What do you mean, Brother Josh?

Adam died in the Garden of Eden, did he not?

Not physically, spiritually.

So when Jesus started talking about deep spiritual things with these unbelieving Jews who had been raised up in the scriptures their whole life, their whole culture and world revolved around the Old Testament Bible, right?

But when Jesus started talking about spiritual things, I don't believe you and I don't understand you.

That's what they told him.

And Jesus said, the reason why you don't believe me and you don't understand me is because you cannot hear my word.

It's called spiritual deafness, brothers and sisters.

They were not made alive by the Spirit of God.

In other words, the things that Jesus was saying were foolishness to them.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but in us who believe it is a power of God.

So to one group, the preaching of the cross, the gospel, is good news.

It's beautiful, it's wonderful.

But to the unbeliever, to the lost soul, to them it is not only foolishness, but it oftentimes is offensive to them.

Two polar opposites.

And in this passage of scripture, you see both.

So Jesus goes on and explains what just happened.

And he tells them in verse 44, ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do.

It's guaranteed.

He was a murderer from the beginning, that's Satan, and abode not in the truth, but because there is no truth in him, when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.

So Jesus is saying, look, your father Satan, whom you believe in, and the Jews would deny that all day long.

Hey, Abraham's our father, we believe in God.

They're ignorant, brothers and sisters.

They don't know.

You see that?

They're spiritually blind.

They died in Adam.

That's the spiritual death.

That's the spiritual separation from God.

Their religion was all about doing things.

It was all about physical things, all the sacraments and all the things that they were doing.

But they didn't understand the deeper spiritual meaning of that.

And look what Jesus said in verse 45.

And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Now that's important.

Why is that important?

The one thing that is not tolerated in the fallen world today is absolute truth.

So if I got up here in the pulpit and said that there is only one way to heaven, and it's Jesus Christ.

All other religions are there's only two religions in the world.

Christianity, the truth, and then every other flavor of religion that ever has been, that is some concoction of man, some invention of somebody, that's some perversion.

There's only two religions.

Christianity, the truth, and then everything else.

There is only one single way to heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me.

One road, one path through one individual, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no other way to heaven.

That is a very offensive and inflammatory statement to everybody that doesn't believe in Christ.

Amen?

Is that not right?

Because I just told the Buddhist that you're going to die and go to hell.

I just told the Muslim that you're going to die and go to hell.

I just told the believer in paganism or Wiccan or whatever.

Fill in the blank, it doesn't matter.

There is one way to heaven through the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's it, no other way.

And see, by very nature, the truth becomes offensive to those who don't believe the truth.

Because, see, Satan is a liar and the father of it.

So therefore, one group of the Jews who were believers, they rejoiced in what Jesus said.

Yes, we believe you're a Messiah.

You believe you're the Savior.

You know, we love what you're saying.

And then these other religious Jews, and you understand, these were very religious men who understood the scriptures and they hated Christ.

They wanted to kill him over what he just said.

And by the way, Jesus Christ also told his disciples, he said, if they hated me, they will also hate you.

Brothers and sisters, when you are a believer in the absolute truth of the Bible and absolute salvation through Jesus Christ, the world does not like that.

The world does not agree with you.

The world says you and I are wrong.

Why?

Because we're telling them that they're wrong.

Again, we're not trying to be offensive, we're just making a stance on the truth.

Now, so Jesus told them, he says, because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

He says, verse 46, which of you convicteth me of sin?

And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

I want you to understand.

Jesus is telling these men, the reason why you don't believe me is this, verse 47.

He that is of God heareth God's words.

See, some of those Jews did hear Christ.

Their heart had been made soft by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore they received the spiritual word of God because they weren't lost dead men anymore.

But he tells these unbelieving Jews, ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Now you realize that we're in John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

Flip over a couple chapters and look, I'm sorry, in the book of John, flip over a couple chapters and look at John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

Again, same author, same continuous line of thought.

And Jesus is telling us the same thing again in John chapter 10 that he just got through telling us.

John 10 · chapter mention

So we begin.

So first off, we begin in verse 22, John 10, 22.

And it was at Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.

Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt if thou be the Christ?

Tell us plainly.

So you understand that again, here is an interaction with a group of unbelieving Jews, because Jesus has already proved to them time after time after time that he is the Messiah, that he is a savior.

How?

By all the miracles that he's already done.

He's already proved that he is the Savior, he is the Messiah, but then these people keep coming again and again and again.

They're doubting him, they're questioning him, they're not agreeing with him.

And so they just point blank asking, tell us if you are the Messiah, the one that is meant, the Christ, the one that is mentioned in the Old Testament.

That's what they ask in verse 25.

Jesus answered them.

He said, I told you, and ye believe not.

In other words, I've already told you, I've already proved it to you.

And he says this, the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

All the works that Christ has already done.

No man has done.

Who has made a lame man walk or a blind man see?

Or who's turned water to wine?

Nobody's done any of those things.

And he did them to God's glory, not to his own.

He's promoted the Father, not himself.

He was the most humble man that's ever walked the earth.

The point is, Jesus said, Look, I've already shown you who I am.

And my works they bear witness of me.

Verse 26.

And look what he tells them.

But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.

As I said unto you, My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.

I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

My father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand.

I and my father is one.

But verse 27, Jesus told them why they didn't believe.

That is not what he said.

Instead, what Jesus said, Oh, verse 26, I'm sorry.

Jesus said, But ye believe not because ye are not one of my sheep.

See, in this passage of scripture, he also said that I am the good shepherd, I give it my life for the sheep.

Well, then we read in Matthew that there's sheep and then there's goats.

Well, Brother Josh, now you're getting off in the weeds.

You're saying that there are actually people in this world that Jesus Christ did not die to save?

Yes, that's correct.

He left them in their original sin state and he did not save them.

Again, we're gonna deal with that at another time because today we're dealing with free will.

I want to close this morning.

Y'all turn, if you will, to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

I hope to bring all this together for you.

So the problem that you and I have been talking about is the problem that people who do not believe in predestination election, they have a problem that they don't believe that it supports free will and it doesn't.

I want to go, we're gonna be in Ephesians 2, but I want to read for y'all a definition that uh I found very interesting.

Uh the Baptists split in 1832.

That's what's referred to as the Black Rock Address.

So before 1832, Baptists were called, like particular Baptists, that was in England and other places.

But before 1832, Baptists were basically all in agreement.

And they agreed with historical Christianity.

And in 1832, there was a split among Baptists.

You had what was referred to as the old school Baptist, which is what we profess to be as primitive Baptist.

We embraced that name, primitive or original Baptist.

And then you had what was referred to as the progressive or modern missionary Baptist.

Well, what's the difference?

In other words, what's the difference between those two groups?

Well, one group believed in historical Christianity that God chose man.

Man did not choose God, they believed in predestination election.

And then the progressive group believed in what's called Arminianism, that actually man gets to choose God.

God doesn't choose man.

But I want to take you to a definition that was written in 1828.

That was written before the Baptist split, and this was not written by a Baptist.

This was actually written by Noah Webster.

Noah Webster was a congregationalist.

He was one of the contemporaries with our founding fathers, and he was one of the men who wrote the first, one of the first English dictionaries that was used extensively by the colonials and our founding fathers.

So this definition predates when the Baptist split.

And so this, uh, y'all might be familiar with the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

This was the predecessor to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

This was the one who started it all, Noah Webster.

And his definition of regeneration in 1828 was this.

And I'm quoting this verbatim.

By the way, in those old dictionaries, they had no problem with quoting scripture.

That was a thing that they did.

Okay?

By the way, culture has changed a lot, right?

In a few hundred years.

So this is Noah Webster, 1828 dictionary, not a primitive Baptist, not even a Baptist.

His definition of the word regeneration.

The first is a physical definition reproduction.

The act of producing anew.

That was his first definition.

Second definition, quote, in theology, new birth by the grace of God.

That change by which the will and natural enmity of man, the word enmity means hatred.

That is an old word.

It means hatred.

So his definition says in theology, the new birth by the grace of God, that change by which the will and natural hatred of man to God and his law are subdued.

And a principle of supreme love to God and his law, or holy affections, are implanted in the heart.

That was Noah's Webster's definition of regeneration or the new birth, or a person being born again.

What part of that had to do with man's free will?

Actually, nothing.

In other words, he's saying that man didn't have free will.

Instead, man's this is the new birth, is a change by the grace of God, by which man's natural will, which is actually hatred against God, is subdued and changed and implanted in the man.

That's how the new birth happens.

I'm going to summarize this for time's sake because I got like three minutes left.

In John chapter 3, the discussion that Jesus had with Nicodemus, when Nicodemus, the one of the highest ranking rulers of the Pharisees, came to Jesus by night, and he asked him, you know, uh, I got to turn over there.

John 3 · chapter mention

I don't want to mess it up.

I'll be as quick as I can.

And y'all will also notice that Matthew chapter, I'm sorry, that John chapter 3 is also that passage of scripture.

John 3 · chapter mention

Where John chapter 3, verse 16 is found.

John 3:16

So this is giving you the context of John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

John 3, 1.

There was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, that came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do the miracles that thou doest except God be with him.

By the way, the other Pharisees did not hold his same opinion.

We believe that Nicodemus was becoming a believer, that the Lord was transforming him.

We believe later on the New Testament that he helped bury the Lord Jesus Christ.

So therefore we believe that he did become a believer.

So this is the Lord's beginning works in the life of Nicodemus.

But Nicodemus came to him by night.

Why?

Because he was ashamed, because he didn't want the other Pharisees to know that he was talking to this man.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Well, what is the kingdom of God?

The kingdom of God is the rule and reign of Christ and the life of a believer here and now.

It is the things of the Spirit of God.

That's just what we've been talking about.

Whether in John chapter 8, and again, you realize we're still in the same gospel right here.

John 8 · chapter mention

In John chapter 8, when Jesus was talking to a group of Jews, and one group believed in him, and another group didn't.

John 8 · chapter mention

Jesus says, unless you've been born again, you can't see and understand spiritual things.

You have a blindness on you.

See that?

And that is the same blindness that happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

And that's the blindness that you and I inherited from our earthly father Adam and then our physical father.

Okay?

Spiritual blindness.

And Jesus tells Nicodemus, unless ye have been born again, ye can't see God operating in this world.

You can't see Christ in this world.

That's why the gospel is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who believe, it's the power of God.

To those who have been made spiritually alive, the gospel makes sense.

But to those who are spiritually dead and blind, it makes no sense at all.

That's why Jesus says you must be born again first.

And so I told y'all that I was going to tell you what is the main difference between printed Baptist and all of the faiths or modern Christianity.

It's the order.

Other faiths and orders believe that a lost, dead sinner, in the condition of his lost and deadness, just up and decides one day, I think I'm going to choose God and accept God.

And at that very point, when that lost sinner, who cannot see or understand spiritual things, accepts God, then God, almost like a lightning bolt, strikes him and borns him again.

And then that is the point when God sheds grace in his life and saves him, and he's bound for heaven.

Primitive Baptists disagree with that.

And the Bible disagrees with that.

Instead, you know what the Bible says?

That that lost, unregenerate sinner who doesn't know anything about God, that God must born him again, whenever God decides.

And by the way, in John chapter 3, that's what we read.

John 3 · chapter mention

Jesus told Nicodemus, Ye must be born again that you might see the kingdom of God.

And then he says, Verily, very saying then thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.

The wind bloweth where it listeth.

Thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whether it goeth?

So is everyone that is born of spirit.

What all does that mean?

The two illustrations that Jesus gave about a person's salvation, one was birth and one was the wind.

Brothers and sisters, do y'all have any control whatsoever over your physical, natural, earthly birth?

None.

Do you and I have any control over winds and the hurricanes?

Do you and I have any control over that?

None whatsoever.

God controls both of those things.

So Nicodemus, who was a very well-educated religious man, just as soon as Jesus got this out of his mouth, Nicodemus said in verse 9, Nicodemus answered and said unto them, How can these things be?

Because Nicodemus understood what Jesus was saying.

He said, Look, salvation is not in your hands.

It's out of your control.

In other words, God does it.

The spirit, the wind bloweth where it lists.

Thou hearest the sound thereof, canst not tell whence it cometh or whether it goeth, so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.

The main difference between what the Bible teaches and what mainstream Christianity teaches is this is the Bible says that God must first do a spiritual operation in a man's life and born him again from above, so that he now has spiritual glasses and a mind to understand and a heart to partake of the things of the Lord.

Before that, his heart is hard, it's stony.

He doesn't want anything to do with God.

His heart is actually enmity or hatred against God.

He didn't want anything to do with God.

That's just like Paul.

Paul was on the Damascus road to go kill Christians.

He wasn't seeking to follow Christ, he was seeking to kill Christians.

Brother, well, the apostle Paul was born again in a unique way.

No, he wasn't.

The apostle Paul was born again like every other believer.

A man who was opposed to God.

God directly intervened in his life, chose to burn him again, and then drop the scales off his eyes, and now he can see and understand spiritual things.

But what came first?

Did the lost individual choose to have faith, and then grace follows that?

No.

God's saving grace, being born again, came first.

God applied that to the individual.

He implanted the new birth, the new spirit in him.

Then that person has belief, has faith.

And by the way, that's the exact same order that's found in Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not as a result of works, lest any man should boast.

Y'all tell me, is it any is it any wonder that the order of that is grace first, then faith?

Brothers and sisters, being born again or being regenerated, a work of God, a sovereign work of God, precedes somebody believing in God.

And I'm out of time, and I hadn't said half what I wanted to say, but we're gonna have to be quiet.

I want to leave you with this, though.

Let's just say in any given church, anywhere in America or across the world for that matter, on any given Sunday, let's say the truth of the Bible is preached, okay?

Let's say there's a hundred people in the congregation.

And let's say there's one person in that congregation that feels burdened, that hears what the preacher actually says.

And he he feels burdened.

He feels the weightiness of his own sin.

And he feels like he needs Christ and he wants Christ and he knows that he's a sinner.

And so, therefore, at the time at the end of the service, they have an altar call, and that person comes up and they say, Preacher, look, I feel myself to be a sinner.

And I heard what you said today.

And I want to be saved, I want to follow Christ.

I don't want to do wrong anymore.

And then that person, that preacher sits down with him and they pray a prayer.

That person that particular day joins a church and gets saved, okay?

That's modern methodology.

Well, I want to attempt very quickly to explain to you what just happened.

If that person did that in genuine and in truth, like they were sincere, what really happened?

What really happened is God had already born again that person in the pew before they ever got out of pew.

Amen?

God had already, with the Holy Spirit, implanted the spiritual mind that we lost in Adam, and we lost from our earthly Father.

God implanted the spiritual heart and mind and soul of that person to where they could understand the preacher.

So now for the first time, when the preacher is preaching, the gospel is not foolishness anymore.

It's not offensive anymore.

Like the two groups of Jews that we talked about earlier.

Now the gospel is sweet.

It's a beautiful call.

Beautiful are those who come preaching the gospel.

It's beautiful now.

I want it, I want to hear it, I want to follow Christ.

Why is that?

Because that person is no longer spiritually blind.

That person is no longer spiritually deaf.

That person has already been born again.

God's grace has sovereignly been applied in that person's soul.

Now, now that person properly responded.

Yes, they heard the gospel and now they want to follow Christ.

Amen.

And I praise that decision.

I'm thankful for that decision, but I want you to understand it's not their very act of walking an aisle and praying a prayer that saved them to heaven in a mortal glory.

They were already saved to heaven in a mortal glory before they ever got out of the seat if they actually heard.

Now, should they get out of the seat and join the church and want to follow Christ?

Yes, 100%.

That's our discipleship.

That's timely salvation.

That's walking with the Lord, that's following Christ.

But that act that they did did not save them to heaven.

God saved them to heaven.

Faith, I'm sorry, grace precedes faith.

Faith is a fruit, according to Galatians chapter 5, that is birthed in the life of somebody who's born again.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

So the very difference between what primitive Baptists believe and the Bible teaches and what most mainstream churches believe is they just flip the order.

They say that the law center has faith, and then God gives them the grace, and then we go be obedient.

No.

The Bible says God gives you the grace, then you have faith, then we go be obedient.

That's the proper order.

That's the difference.

That's the difference.

We learned earlier, and I know I'm out of time.

We learned earlier that we were enslaved to sin.

Ephesians 2 actually says that we were dead in our trespasses and sins.

So those Jews that were arguing with Jesus on the day that the other Jews were rejoicing in Jesus, they were the walking dead.

What do you mean, Brother Josh?

They were spiritually dead, and their ears and their heart was hard.

They were physically alive men, but they were walking around spiritually dead.

And that's why Christ's words offended them.

Christ's truth offended them.

Because they were spiritually dead.

Brothers and sisters, until God makes us alive in Christ, you and I cannot hear the gospel.

You and I don't want the gospel.

We actually hate it.

But after God has done a work in your life, then the gospel becomes sweeter than honey to our lips.

We rejoice in it.

We want it.

So, brothers and sisters, if you feel burdened about your sin, if you feel that you know Christ, then praise the Lord.

And you should be obedient and join the church and try to follow him better.

We should do that.

But I want you to know God did all the saving work.

By grace, you are saved through faith.

And the grace came first.

And faith is not the work of a sinner, faith is the gift of God.

It'll actually say that in the verse.

Man doesn't contribute faith to save himself.

God gives us the faith after he saves us.

To God be the glory.

I'm gonna ask Brother Don if he would come up and help us close in a word of song.

The church doors are always open if you desire tonight with a membership of our church.