The Doctrines of Grace (Part Eight)

The Doctrines of Grace

(Part Eight)

Dr. Jay Worth Allen

There are men who acknowledge the sovereign rule of God over material activity, who, with their next breath, will object to God’s sovereignty in spiritual matters. But their quarrel is with God, not me - I am not seeking to convince them. God is sovereign and He does what He pleases.

When God places His sovereign call and grace upon a fallen and corrupted sinner, God will not be disappointed. God will effectively give life to that sinner and draw that sinner to Himself with Irresistible Grace. And will Preserve that saint to Himself, forever.

But we need to be clear on the nature of the Gospel itself. The Gospel is God’s good news concerning Christ, not concerning sinners: “Paul . . . separated unto the Gospel of God . . . concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 1:1-3). The Gospel is God’s “witness” to the perfection of His Son.

The Gospel is not an “offer” to be tossed around by Evangelical Peddlers. The Gospel is no mere invitation, but a proclamation concerning Christ; true, whether men believe it or not. The Gospel is brief: “By grace you are saved through faith; and not of yourselves, it is a gift of God - not of works that any man might boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9). God simply announces the terms upon which men may be saved and, indiscriminately, all are commanded to fulfill them. The righteousness of God is all that God demands and approves. That righteousness is ultimately found in Christ Jesus, Himself, who fully met every requirement of the law in our stead. Christ Jesus is “made unto us . . . righteousness.”

We have an opinion that “new birth” is forgiveness of sin. But it’s not! We are “born again” because we have been forgiven, not in order to be forgiven. God, through the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, has washed us from our sins, and as a result of that washing, that forgiveness, He gave to us the gift of the person of the Holy Spirit - whereby we are “regenerated,” or as Peter says; whereby we are “born again.” “Not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God.” “Not through the vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.” A “vain activity,” Peter says, because it is by faith in Christ Jesus - in His completed work on the cross, whereby we have already experienced forgiveness of sin - and as a result of our faith, we experience the “new birth.”

God’s Salvation is given through Irresistible Grace. By His sovereign operations upon and within, He “compels” His elect to come to Christ. And none can resist! “For who has resisted His will? . . . What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction . . . that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared to glory, even us, whom He has called, not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles” (Romans 9: 19-24). God’s grace is Irresistible.

Our Redemption is God’s gift, which can never be lost. We are Eternally Secure. Those in whom the Father has placed His eternal love, those, for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross to Redeem, those who the Holy Spirit draws with Irresistible Grace will finally, unconditionally, without a doubt, most assuredly wind up in heaven. Those of whom the Father has chosen, “before the foundation of the world;” those who have been brought into “a new and living hope,” are without the slightest chance of ever going to Hell. Our salvation is Preserved in God, “kept by the power of the Spirit until the day of redemption.”

One of the most powerful Biblical arguments for Perseverance, or Eternal Security of the saint, is found in the words, “eternal life” or “everlasting life.” “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life” (John 3:16).

“He who believes in the Son has Everlasting Life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36 AV).

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me, has Everlasting Life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24 AV).

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that Eternal Life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13 AV).

If you will notice, the tense of all the verbs indicate present, current possession of “Eternal Life.” Not that we might receive it in the future, but we have it now, in the present. It is current possession. We, the believing ones, have “Eternal Life” now!

These Doctrines of Grace - Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace and Perseverance of the saints - are written for those who bow to the authority of God’s Holy Writ. They are but a small piece of God’s theological pie, yet, they are an extremely important slice, which most accurately reflects the teaching of the scriptures concerning the nature of God’s sovereignty in the Redemption of His saints. It was on account of offenses that Christ died (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24). He was raised and exalted at the right hand of God because of the fact that His saints are justified by His blood (Romans 5:9,16). His resurrection is proof our sins are forever gone (Romans 4:25).

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 24).

Be glory forever, Amen.

(See chapter 7, “The Counsel Of His Own Will” in: A Brief History of Redemption by Dr. Jay Worth Allen.)

The Doctrines of Grace (Part Eight)
Published: 26 February 2011 on Freed In Christ! blogsite.
Published: 17 February 2011 in the FAITH Column of The County Journal.

Link goes to A Brief History of Redemption

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