What We Believe The Doctrines of Grace Irresistible

What We Believe… The Doctrines of Grace Irresistible Grace The Guarantee of God’s Salvation John 3: 1 -8

John 3: 1 -4 1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him. ” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. ” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he? ”

John 3: 5 -7 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again. '

we are all THEOLOGIANS

John 3: 3; 5; 7 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. ” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again. '

Total Depravity — Not that people are as bad as they can be – but rather that they are as bad off as can be in that nothing a person does is good enough to earn his standing before the holy God.

Romans 3: 10 -12 10 "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE. "

Unconditional Election — God elected some sinners to salvation of His own free will independent of anything the sinners would or would not do.

Our Salvation – God’s Glory Ephesians 1: 5 -6 - “according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ” Ephesians 1: 9 - “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him. ” Ephesians 1: 12 - “to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. ” Ephesians 1: 14 - “with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. ”

Romans 9: 11, 16 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls… 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

John 3: 3; 5; 7 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. ” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again. '

John 1: 12 -13 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 Peter 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

Ephesians 2: 4 -5 “ 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…”

Limited Atonement — Christ died for a particular and specific group of people, chosen by God, to save them from the penalty of their sins.

Ezekiel 36: 25 -27 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

Irresistible Grace — The Holy Spirit irresistibly draws all the elect to Christ by grace through faith.

Irresistible Grace I. Built upon the promise of the “New Covenant” purchased by the blood of Christ (Jeremiah 31: 31 -34) II. Built upon the promise that the Spirit of God will do for us what we could not do for ourselves (Ezekiel 36: 25 -27)

Irresistible Grace III. Built upon the promise that faith and repentance are gifts from God; not generated in man (Ephesians 2: 8 -9; Philippians 1: 29) Ephesians 2: 8 -9 --- 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast… Philippians 1: 29 -- For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake…

Irresistible Grace IV. Built upon the promise that all whom the Father draws to Christ will come to Christ. (John 6: 37 -44) 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out… 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

Irresistible Grace V. Built upon the promise that redemption is Christ is an act of “re”-creation (2 Corinthians 4: 3 -6) 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness, ” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

The Canons of Dort (1618) The fact that [some] who are called through the ministry of the gospel do come and are brought to conversion must not be credited to man…. No, it must be credited to God: just as from eternity He chose His own in Christ, so within time He effectively calls them, grants them faith and repentance, and, having rescued them from the dominion of darkness, brings them into the kingdom of His Son.

The Canons of Dort (1618) Moreover, when God carries out this good pleasure in His chosen ones, or works true conversion in them, He not only sees to it that the gospel is proclaimed to them outwardly, and enlightens their minds powerfully by the Holy Spirit so that they may rightly understand discern the things of the Spirit of God, but, by the effective operation of the same regenerating Spirit, He also penetrates into the inmost being of man, opens the closed heart, softens the hard heart, and circumcises the heart that is uncircumcised. He infuses new qualities into the will, making the dead will alive, the evil one good, the unwilling one willing, and the stubborn one compliant.

Charles Wesley (1738) Long my imprisoned spirit lay Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

The Canons of Dort (1618) “…[T]hose who receive so much grace, beyond and in spite of all they deserve, ought to acknowledge it with humble and thankful hearts. ” “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. ” ~Jesus (John 3: 3)