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| The lion hath roared, who will not fear?, The Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy. |
What I Believe About Salvation by FREE Grace ALONE
SL: The Triune God is indeed sovereign, and in the matter of eternal salvation, He alone must and shall save His elect without human aid. Why? Man is totally depraved and totally unable to do anything with respect to eternal salvation. Eternal life must be sovereignly birthed in him while he is still spiritually dead. Eternal Life must be birthed in him before he can perform any spiritual act. SPIRITUAL LIFE MUST PRECEDE ANY SPIRITUAL ACT. Please remember this most basic and fundamental principle. There are ‘standard reformed position’ folks who believe that spiritual abilities and activities are possible without spiritual life. They are convinced that one believes in order to have eternal life. How believing without prior spiritual life is possible is beyond my simple mind!
God alone freely and sovereignly predestined His elect unto eternal life and salvation in Jesus Christ, without human aid or cooperation. Why? Here are the reasons for such biblical assertion.
God alone effectually calls each of His elect to grace and salvation at His approved and appointed time without human aid. God effectually calls to eternal life those who are by nature in the state of sin and death. The elect in such condition cannot possibly aid God in calling them to eternal life. An elect in a state of sin and death cannot possibly aid God in bringing him to righteousness and life.
God alone justifies each of His elect without human aid.
God justifies His elect, based solely upon the righteousness and blood of Jesus Christ, while they are ungodly. And God justified the elect when they were still enemies. What can the elect in the state of sin and death, in ungodliness and enmity against God, do to aid God in justifying him? Can he believe? Is an elect in such a state capable of exercising faith? An elect in such a state can’t possibly aid God in removing the just condemnation upon him or in securing his justification. Faith is the fruit of justification – because it is the just that shall live by faith.
God alone regenerates each of His elect without human aid.
Regeneration is making alive, making alive the spiritually dead with spiritual and eternal life. Regeneration is bestowing life to spiritually dead elect. Regeneration is not giving ability to believe, as some are apt to claim. Ability to believe is the result of the spiritual and eternal life already bestowed. It is irrational to speak of spiritual abilities or acts without the prior bestowal of spiritual life. What does a spiritually dead sinner do to aid God in bestowing him life that is spiritual and eternal? “Regeneration is a creative, a hyper-physical operation of the Holy Spirit, by which man is brought from a condition of spiritual death into a condition of spiritual life” [Berkhof]. An elect is supernaturally born to be a son of God.
God alone adopts each of His elect without human aid.
Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God. What does an elect do to assist in his adoption by God? Someone said, faith and repentance. But that is to put the cart before the horse. The grace of faith and repentance are worked by the Holy Spirit in those who are adopted into the family of God. Spiritual gifts are worked in those who are adopted. “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” Gal 4:6. Their believing and repenting proves that they are adopted children of God because only such have the gifts of faith and repentance to exercise.
God alone has appointed the preaching of the gospel as the means to call to faith in Christ those whom He has effectually called, justified, regenerated and adopted, i.e., those who have been bestowed eternal life, that they may enter into the blessings of salvation in this life [1689.20.4]. When God effectually calls His elect out of that state of sin and death to grace and salvation, they are already bestowed eternal salvation by God’s free and sovereign grace. Possession of eternal life is indeed possession of eternal salvation. Therefore preaching and believing DO NOT aid to secure their eternal salvation. Believing and repenting DO NOT aid in securing eternal salvation. They are evidences of eternal salvation already bestowed by free grace. The effectual call to eternal life enables an elect to answer to the gospel call unto conversion, to believe in the gospel for their hope and joy, comfort and assurance in this life before their final glorification. Only one effectually called unto eternal life is capable to perform the spiritual act of believing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Those whom God has bestowed eternal life, and are brought to faith by the gospel, are commanded to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling through the grace of God working in them. Their own salvation they have to work out for themselves by God’s grace is ENTIRELY different from the eternal salvation that has been bestowed upon them by free grace at effectual calling. This is not aiding God in their eternal salvation. This is working out their timely/temporal salvation in this life. This is entering into the enjoyment of the temporal blessings of salvation God has promised for us in this life as we make our journey to our eternal home. So, eternal salvation from God’s wrath upon our sin is entirely by God’s free and sovereign work. Temporal salvation for the life here and now from this perverse and wicked generation, is by the believers working out for themselves through God’s grace working in them, Ph 2:12-13. Believers will save themselves from this perverse generation by observing all that Christ has commanded them, Mt 28:20. Living in obedience to Christ will save them from much temporal miseries. “Save yourselves from this untoward generation.” Acts 2:40. The apostle didn’t say, “Save yourselves from hell”!!!
God alone shall glorify each and every of His elect without human aid. “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Rom 8:30. If the elect did not aid God in their election or their effectual calling or their justification before God, what would they do to aid God in their glorification? Is it their faith or obedience or services or theological exactness or etc.? All these are good and necessary for our temporal salvation – i.e., our earthly happiness, spiritual well-being and usefulness depend on these graces. It is entirely by His electing love for His own, that He shall eternally glorify each of His elect, regardless of the degree of temporal salvation experienced and enjoyed in this short and brief life.
Eternal salvation is indeed all of grace, from beginning to end. There is no place for human aid. There is no need for human aid. Human response and co-operation are only the effects and evidences of eternal salvation ALREADY bestowed by free sovereign grace.
Let us understand fully that salvation is indeed by grace. To many, ‘salvation by grace’ is just a religious shibboleth. They reject the obvious truth of free grace.
