For those watching in Milwaukee or Minneapolis, again, the new number to call is 218-341-8052. If you have a question you want to have posed during our class tonight. Now, we're going through Lordship Salvation, we're on the issue of how they fail to distinguish between justification before God and sanctification in time, and therefore fail to distinguish between imputed righteousness and imparted righteousness, and we're answering the question now, is it possible for a genuine believer to apostatize? Now, usually we say apostatize, but according to the dictionary, And spell check, it's apostatized. Now, I'm going to keep saying apostatized, at least for a while yet, because that's how I've always heard it. But, so if you're wondering about the spelling of the word, that's what it is about. And what it really is speaking about is turning from the truth. Turning from the truth. Does the Bible teach that all genuine believers will persevere in the faith? Will it persevere in the faith? The Bible actually teaches that it's possible for one who is eternally saved by God's grace to do several things. And by the way, this is a list that was compiled by Tom Stegall, excuse me, down in Milwaukee. In a series of articles that he wrote for the Grace Family Journal, talking about this whole issue of perseverance, I hope by God's grace this can be turned into a very helpful booklet sometime in the next few months as Tom makes his way from Milwaukee here to Duluth to become the new Publications Director, the first of this year. And by the way, for those who are watching in Milwaukee, we love you. We appreciate the ministry. We're glad Rick is there to fill in the spots for Tom. We know that this has been difficult in some ways, and yet Tom and we are convinced that this is His will, the Lord's will, I should say, for him. And as a result, trusting that His grace will be sufficient in both cases. Now let's just walk through this for a moment. The Bible actually teaches it's possible for one who's eternally saved by God's grace to commit idolatry and apostasy. By the way, who's 1 Kings 11 about? You know who's 1 Kings 11 about? No? It's a guy that had a lot of wives. Solomon. Solomon. Let's go there for a minute. 1 Kings 11. By the way, was Solomon a believer? Yeah, absolutely. Wrote some of the Bible. Wisest man that ever lived, was given the Holy Spirit, was the king of Israel. Wisest man that ever lived, at least for a while. Then he got real dumb. As a believer, we can get real dumb. In 1 Kings 11, what do we read? Verse 1. But King Solomon loved many foreign women. That's a problem, isn't it? By the way, the old King James had strange women, but it didn't mean they were strange. It means they were foreign. As well as the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. From the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, you shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. And Solomon clung to these in love. Now keep in mind that some of the wives that he had were political in nature in the sense that in signing a peace treaty, you know, you seal the deal and you give, here, I'll give you ten wives, you know, as part of the package. That kind of a thing. But it's also true that he obviously fell in love, quote, if you want to use that expression, he clung to these in love, it says. And the Lord had warned him, and you know, when you think you're wise and God says, don't do something, and you said, well, I'm going to do it anyhow, you're not wise at all. You're really dumb, really foolish, as it were. Verse 3, and he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. 700 wives, 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart, just like God. What did God, we would just take him at his word and not have to learn through the school of hard knocks? Took away his wife, turned away his heart. I always imagine this. It's just hard to think about, isn't it? I mean, I just think of just having one wife. I'm 700. I mean, I've always wondered how this works, you know. Do they have numbers, you know? Tonight, 348. Who's got 348? I mean, how does this work? I'm glad I don't have to figure that out. Verse 4, for it was so when Solomon was old that his wife turned his heart, notice how many times that mentions, after other gods. By the way, what is apostasy? It's turning from the truth. Now, if you turn your heart to other gods, is that apostasy? I mean, it even mentions it several times. Turned his heart, turned his heart. That's apostasy. to other gods. And his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. Now, I did have one Bible teacher who I interacted with this on, say, well, I can't say that he really apostatized, because he never lost faith in the true and living God. Really? So becoming an apolitheist isn't apostasy? When you're a monotheist? See, the question is not, did he apostatize? The question is, to what degree did you apostatize? He clearly did. He moved away from the belief in and practice of the one and true and living God, and he added several gods to the mix. And God isn't there saying, well, you know, it's okay. At least I'm still part of the group. Oh no, as we will see. God takes this very seriously. Verse 5, For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not fully follow the Lord as did his father David. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh and the abomination of Moab on the hill that is east of Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the people of Ammon. He not only followed them, he started building altars and was worshipping them. And by the way, we know, according to 1 Corinthians 10, behind every false worship and idolatry is what? Demons. Demons. He got involved with demonic activity through false worship. Verse 8, and he did likewise for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel. Now what is apostasy? Turn from. What had he done? He had turned from. Not only the teaching, but the Lord God of Israel who had appeared to him twice. and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods, but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, because you have done this and have not kept my covenant and my statute, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servants. Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away the whole kingdom. I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen." Now the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Adab the Edomite. He was a descendant of the king in Edom, for it happened when David was in Edom, and Joab, the commander of the army, had gone up to bury the slain after he had killed every male in Edom, da da da da da, and so forth and so forth. Now, what is the whole point we're after? Was he a believer? Yes. Was he saved then forever? Yes. Did he commit idolatry? Yes. With that idolatry, was there not apostasy, a turning away from the truth? Absolutely. We see number two, that it's possible to believe only for a while. Soil number two, Luke 8 verse 13. We saw already in John 8 verse 31, if you continue in my word, which means you might not continue. John 8, 31. In John 15, is it possible to not abide in Christ? Verse 6, if any man abide not in me, as cast forth as a branch, and as withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, they are burned. And in the context, branches are believers. Here's another one. It's possible to become disqualified in the race of the Christian life. Let's go there for a minute. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Now you must distinguish between the gift and the prize. Entering the race and running the race. Being saved and being rewarded. And in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul says in verse 24, Do you not know that those who run in a race all run? But one receives the what? The prize. Do you get a gift for running in a race or do you get a reward? A prize. Prize. Run, believers, in such a way that you may obtain it. That you may obtain it. Is every believer going to get the prize? No, but you may. You may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is tempered in all things. Now, they do it. They're at Corinth in the Corinthian games to obtain a perishable crown. But we, believers, We do it for an imperishable crown. A crown is a reward. Therefore, I run thus, not with uncertainty. Thus, I fight not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection. Thus, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified." Now, the old King James said, a castaway. So, what do you think people concluded? that you could lose your salvation. Cast away, I don't know what it meant back in 1611, but it sure sounds like someone who gets lost. The Greek word is a dachmos. The word dachminion carries the idea of taking a test for the purpose of passing it. It's used in James 1. If any man It says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the trying of your faith works patience. We're trying as we're testing. The idea is being tested for the purpose of passing. But the implication is when you take a test, you can pass or what? Or you can fail. You can pass or fail. And that's the Word. This is Dakamas with an A in front of it. Adakamas. Disqualified. Failing the test. Not running according to the rules. Being disqualified in the race so that if you're disqualified in the race, you don't get the prize. Not the gift. But as a believer, you can become disqualified in the race of the Christian life. Disqualified from what? Getting a reward. Here's another one. Number six. The Bible teaches that all genuine believers will persevere in the faith. Question, does the Bible teach? No. That it is possible for one who is eternally saved by God's grace to resist God's chasing and correction on to the point of physical death. We just read about it in 1 Timothy 11. And also to stray from the faith. Let's go there for a minute. 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1. We read in verse 5, now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience and from a sincere faith from which some having strayed, strayed from what? A sincere faith have turned aside to idle talk. Is it possible to stray from a sincere faith? That's exactly what it says. In fact, it's even more, it's not only possible to stray from the faith, but to shipwreck faith. Look at verse 18. This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected concerning the faith, have suffered shipwreck." Now, it's interesting, the word shipwreck obviously is a metaphorical term, right? Now, when you've got a ship and it wrecks, what's the problem? Does the ship still exist? Did it exist to begin with? But now it's wrecked. It's not going to go where it needs to go. In the same way, for them to have their faith shipwrecked means they had to have faith to wreck it. Is it possible to shipwreck faith? Yes. Are these believers? Well, let's see, verse 20. Of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan. By the way, have we seen that phrase already tonight? Who was delivered to Satan before? 1 Corinthians 5, the believer in ongoing sin, remember? So, delivered to Satan is a term for what? Church discipline. By the way, is it possibly grace-oriented and practice church discipline? Well, Paul did it. He goes on to say, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. You know the word learn there is the Greek word padeo. Padeo is where we get the word pedagogy. It's the very word that's used in Hebrews chapter 12. Whom the Lord loves, he chastens. He disciplines. It's the same word. It's used of discipline, not punishment. It's used in reference to a believer. Paul believed these were believers. And he gives us several cues from the passage. So, is it possible to shipwreck faith? Yes. Is it possible to fall away from the faith? Let's go to chapter 4, verse 1. Now, the Spirit expressly says that in the last time some will depart from the faith. giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisies, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the Word of God." Here are some that depart from the faith. Now, one may argue this is in reference to unbelievers, but it's also very possible that he's referring to believers. He's talking to Timothy about this very issue. Fall away from the faith. Here's another one. Deny the faith. Let's go to 1 Timothy 5 and verse 8. But if anyone does not provide for his own and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith. He denied the faith in a very practical way in this sense. Now look at 1 Timothy 5 verse 12 while we're here. We'll start in verse 11. But refuse the younger widows, for when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, having condemnation, because they have cast off their first faith. By the way, is it possible to cast off your first faith? Well, that's what it says there. And besides, they learn to be idle. By the way, is it possible to learn to be idle? How about wandering about from house to house and not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things that they ought not. Therefore, I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity for the adversary to speak improachably, for some have already turned aside after Satan." Turned aside after Satan. Are you talking about unbelievers or believers? And in the context, in what way do you turn aside to Satan? You go back to the world whose Satan is the god of that world system. They cast off initial faith and follow Satan. Here's another one, 1 Timothy 6 verse 9. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil from which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through from many sorrows." Now you can't stray from the faith if you don't have the faith to stray from. So again, this is in reference to a believer who strays from the faith by loving money. Here's another one. Stray from the faith by professing false doctrine. 1 Timothy 6, verses 20 and 21. O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge by professing it, Some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you, Amen. Is it possible to be a believer and stray from the faith? Absolutely. In fact, is it possible to deny Christ and be faithless? Look at 2 Timothy 2. Verse 14. This is a faithful saying for a first class condition. Now let me pause and explain the first class condition to you once again. Now, the first class condition assumes a reality. It assumes a reality because, number one, because it's true, or number two, for the sake of argument. For example, when Jesus said, if your arm offends you, cut it off. Does it mean your arm is offending you right at that moment? Or is it saying, let's assume for the sake of argument your arm is offending you, then cut it off. So you have to keep in mind, first class conditions are written from the standpoint of the writer who assumes a reality because it is true or may assume a reality for the sake of the argument that he's seeking to communicate. Let me illustrate this. Colossians 3.1. If you then be risen with Christ, first class condition. Paul assumes a reality that they're risen with Christ because they are. Now I want you to just see how the use of the first class condition is found four times here in these three verses. Verse 11. First of all, he says, this is a faithful saying, for if we died with him, we shall also live with him. If we died with him, and let's assume you have, what is the promise? We shall also live with him. Question, have all believers died with Christ? Yeah, they all died with Christ. In fact, look at in Colossians 2, verse 20, it says, if we died with Christ, da da da da da. All believers have the promises, we shall also live with Him. That's eternal security. Now, verse 12 gives us two options in our present life. If we endure, and let's assume for the sake of argument that we do endure the persecutions we face, we shall also reign with Him. Now, I believe all believers are overcomers positionally, and some believers are overcomers practically. and that this is not merely reigning with him, but reigning with him in some kind of capacity for enduring trials. If we deny him, and notice we is in reference to who? Paul's writing to who? Timothy, and he's talking about believers here. Is it possible for believers to deny him? Yeah, he assumes that reality for the sake of argument. If we deny him, He also will deny us. What will He deny us? Something related to reigning with Christ. If we are faithless. Is it possible for a believer to be faithless? The word could mean unfaithful. It could mean faithless. If we are faithless, yet He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself, praise the Lord. So is it possible for a believer to deny Christ and be faithless? And this passage says, absolutely. Furthermore, it is possible to have your faith overthrown. One more passage, 2 Timothy 2. We'll begin for our purposes in verse 16, which shun profane and idle babbling, for they will increase to more ungodliness, and their message will spread like cancer or gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort. Let me pause for a minute. Hyman asked, did you read his name before? Have you read it lately? Where did we read that name earlier? Yes, Faith Shipwreck. And affecting others too, right? And he was what? He was church disciplined. Is church discipline how it works? Well, it depends on what standpoint. Does it work in the sense of protecting the sheep? Yeah. Does it work in the sense of causing repentance on the part of the offender? Well, it did in 1 Corinthians 5. That guy did come back. It didn't work here. In fact, this is what I would conclude, for what it's worth. Someone who's involved in sexual immorality has a greater chance of repenting than someone who's involved in false teaching. You just think about it. The person involved in ongoing sexual immorality did repent and come back. The person involved in false teaching, at least at this point, hasn't repented yet. If the hymenaeus is the same hymenaeus, and most teachers think it is. So what has been the effect of these false teachers on these people? We read again in verse verse 18, who have strayed concerning the truth. Is it possible to be a believer and stray concerning the truth? Yes. Saying that the resurrection is already past and they overthrow the faith of some. Is it possible to be a believer and have your faith overthrown? That's what it says there. Now isn't it really freeing to know, if you just interpret the Bible in its normal way and just let it say what it says, this explains a lot of things. It explains that believers can be carnal. In fact, believers can even apostatize. On the other hand, that there's reward in running the race, persevering through the trial, looking to the Lord, and so forth. Scriptures are wonderful. And yet, it's not saying this is necessary for salvation. This is Christian lifestyle. Well, what about the sin unto death? Here's another question. What about the sin unto death? And we're talking about making a distinction between justification and sanctification. Let's look at this passage. If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin, now the first thing I want you to notice, brother, what does that tell you? He's a believer. Secondly, sinning, present tense. Is it possible to be a believer Be involved in ongoing sin? Yeah, it's right there. Right there. By the way, did you know 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sins, we confess as in the present tense. That means that's something you have to do over and over again. What does that imply? That you sin over and over again, right? And you have to keep in mind in 1 John 3, 9, whatsoever is born of God does not practice sin. That's how it's translated. You can't be contradicting these verses that tell us a believer clearly can keep on sinning. A sin which does not lead to death. Now let's define this word, death. What are our options? It doesn't lead to death. It doesn't lead to death. Eternal death? Is that what he's talking about? No, that's impossible, isn't it? It can't be eternal death because we have eternal life. It doesn't lead to death. If you're sinning a sin, does it lead to temporal death? You're out of fellowship? Yeah, absolutely. There's at least four or five, six passages that clearly teach that. I was adding up, one day I was talking to a pastor and he said, can you show me where that word is used in other passages? I gave him five. I didn't even include this one. But this is an if. Which does not lead to death because sinning to sin always leads to temporal death. So what death does this have to be referring to? Physical. Physical death. It doesn't lead to physical death. Now why would He even say that? For this cause many of you are sick and weak and many sleep. So physical death at times is maximum divine discipline. He will ask and He will give Him life for those who commit sin, not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. I do not say that He should pray about that. Now, keep in mind, all unrighteousness is sin, though. And there is a sin not leading to death. Now, what does this basically say? You see a believer who is living in ongoing carnality. What should you do? Should you pray that he dies? Should you pray that God would just take him home? You know, he is such a Baptist. Slay him. Take him home. Is that how we're to pray? No, we're to pray for his restoration to fellowship. That's really what he's saying there, that we need to pray for his restoration to fellowship. That God would give him life. And I understand life in the sense of not physical life, but he already still has that, but in the sense of life, in the sense of fellowship. For those who commit sin, not leading to death, physical death. There is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. So, the sin unto death is usually understood, there is some controversy over this, of a believer who is living in ongoing sin in which God would divinely discipline him by way of physical death, just like Ananias and Sapphira, just like the carnal Corinthians. Now, this raises a question. What about Simon the sorcerer? Was he really saved? And I want you to go with me, if you would, to Acts chapter 8. Now, you can blame my son, Ian, for this diversion here, this question. But it's a good one, because it ties into some other things. It ties into a believer's sinning. It ties into a believer in physical death. Divine discipline and ties in, was he really a believer or not? Remember, one of the problems with Lordship Salvation is they do a lot of eisegesis in passages. Now, they call it exegesis, but it's eisegesis. Because again, too often they don't let the Scripture just speak for themselves. Acts chapter 8, okay? And I want you to turn there because you may want to write some things in your margins or whatever when we're going through this. Now again, this is after the day of Pentecost, and the gospel is spreading, and it spreads to Samaria, partly due to the persecution that happened, verse 4. Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and he preached Christ to them. Now notice here it says they were preaching the word, and here it says they preached Christ. So when you preach the word, what are you doing? Preaching Christ. When we're saying preaching Christ, what is Christ short for? The gospel of Jesus Christ, right? And the multitudes with one accord heated the things spoken by Philip. They heated the things, okay, spoken by Philip. And the word heated here carries the idea that they really took it to heart. hearing and seeing the miracles which He did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame, and there was great joy in that city." By the way, is this not in keeping with what the Lord said would accompany the preaching of the Word and even the ministry of the apostles and those influenced by them? Verse 9, but there was a certain man called Simon who previously practiced sorcery. That's why they call him Simon the sorcerer usually. in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming he was someone great. And he loved it. He was the big kahuna. Verse 10, to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest. They said, this man is the great power of God. And frankly, in his approbation lust, he loved that role. Verse 11, and they heeded him. because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. But when they believed, I want you to look at this word here, they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God. In the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women, they were baptized. Now the word believed here, first of all, the word preached here is the Greek word Ewangelion. What word do we get from this? Ewangelion, or the word gospel. So, he preached the gospel, the good news, the things concerning the Kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women, and they were baptized. And they were baptized because the Scripture says they believed, okay? Now, the word believed here is in Aris, Active, indicative of the stool, which is our normal word for belief. Ares completed action here in the past. Active voice, he chose, and indicative mood, it's a fact. He believed. You know what the Bible says? He believed. And you know what that means? They believed, they should say. They believed. Now what's ironic is if we were to stop right here, Everyone would think they were all saved, right? In fact, did the early church think they were saved? What did they do to them? Baptize them, right? You don't baptize unbelievers. You baptize believers. Now, someone would say, well, it's true. But it's also true you could baptize someone who's not saved. That's true. But in this context, it tells us that they believed. And you know what? I think the Bible's right. I think the Bible is right. What an awesome thing. Then Simon himself also believed. Oh really, he believed. And guess what it is? Aristarchic indicative of Castile. Same word. They believed and Simon believed. And when he was baptized, the same thing happened. He continued with Philip and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. Now, if you're going to take the Samaritans became believers, you have to take the heated two, because the exact same word, same tense, same mood, same voice are used. You can't say, well, one was genuine saving faith and the other was not. The Bible knows of no faith that's not saving faith if it's in the object of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 14. When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet he had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. That's water baptism. But they hadn't been baptized by the Holy Spirit yet. Then they laid hands on them. Who's they here? They laid hands on them. Who's they? Peter and John, apostles, laid hands on them, and they, the Samaritans, received the Holy Spirit. Now, I've explained this before. Why was this the case? And it's because in the transitional nature of the book of Acts, as the gospel went to various people groups, that the Lord at times withheld the Holy Spirit in order for the apostles to arrive on the scene and for the practical unity of the church to be established, lest you have multiple churches in multiple areas, under the apostles' authority sometimes and not under the apostles' authority another time. This is a way to keep it all together. Now, verse 18, And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Now, let me ask you a question. Is he the first believer who's wanted a glamorous display of power? No. But Peter said to him, your money perished with you because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of this your wickedness and pray, God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity." Now, let's look at several phrases here, okay? First of all, we see in verse 20, your money perish with you. Okay? Your money perish with you. Now, question. Can money perish spiritually? Money perishes spiritually. What's the only way it can perish? Physically. Your money perishes with you. Your money perishes physically with you. Spiritually or physically? I would understand it to mean perish physically. So why would he say that? This is Acts 8. What happened in Acts 5? What happened in Acts 5? An absence of fire. What happened in Acts 5, right? Did they perish physically? They did. Question mark? Okay. This is going back a few minutes because apparently the webcast is a little behind. Okay. 2 Timothy 2.12, the question is how do we respond to the word deny as it relates to us? Okay. And it's simply this, that in each context it's if we, if we, if we, if we. Every time. Now, he's not French, okay? He's saying, if and let's assume, if and let's assume, if and let's assume, if and let's assume. If and let's assume because it's true, or if and let's assume for the sake of argument. In each case, he's referring to a believer. Is it possible for a believer to deny the Lord? Absolutely. And what would be the special context when you would be most prone to do that? Under persecution. And what is the context? If we endure, endure what? Persecution, we will reign with Him. If we deny Him under persecution, usually, in the context there, He'll deny us. He'll deny us what? A reward, which, by the way, He talks about earlier in 2 Timothy 2, about the hardworking farmer, He talks about enduring hardship. It's a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man who wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he might please Him who has chosen him to be a soldier, so forth and so on. It's a reward passage. Going back to this now, your money perished with you, physically, because you thought, and wrongly thought, that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God." Is it possible to be saved and your heart not be right? Does a dog bark? Of course it's possible. So therefore, he tells a believer to repent of this, your wickedness. By the way, would you tell an unbeliever to repent of his wickedness in order to be forgiven? Is that what you'd tell him? Or would you tell a believer that though? A believer that, whose heart is not right before the Lord. And you know, sometimes it's such a heart issue. You can put believers, you can encourage them in the Word, you can bring them out to church, but in their heart, if that's not what they really want, they don't respond anyhow. And what he really wanted, he wanted to be back and be in the big kahuna again. And as a result, his heart was not right in the sight of God. And God told him to repent, change his mind about what he was thinking as it relates to your wickedness. And now as a believer, pray God, if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. You say, I don't understand that. I thought 1 John 1.9 says if we confess, we will be forgiven. So why would we pray that it would be forgiven? Now, this is how I would understand it. In the context, Peter has pronounced that what's going to happen to him is the possibility of divine discipline by way of physically perishing. You need to repent and pray that God would forgive you in the sense that he would not divinely discipline you unto death. Which, by the way, again, would be fitting with the context. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness." Do you ever meet anyone poisoned by bitterness? Can you be a believer and be poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity? Hebrews 12, 15 says yes. Then Simon answered and said, Pray to the Lord for me that none of these things which you have spoken may come upon me. Do you see why I understand forgiving you and none of these things come upon me to be the same idea? What things? physical death come upon you. So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages in Samaria. So do you think he's a believer? Give me the reasons why you think he's a believer. Number one, it says what? He believed. Number two, He was baptized. Number three, was he told to believe the Gospel? No, he was told to repent of his wickedness. Number four, was he warned of perishing spiritually? Or was he warned of perishing physically? Physically, like his money. Those are all weighing in. And then he asked other people to pray for him, that God would not discipline him in this way. So I'm convinced Simon's a believer. Why do people have a hard time believing he's a believer though? Because they have Lordship glasses on and they want to think if you're really saved, if you want to do this. And the fact of the matter is this kind of thing happens every week in church. of people wanting to be the big kahuna, wanting prestige, wanting glamour, wanting power, wanting to be viewed a certain way, wanting a position. It happens all the time. It's not that difficult to imagine a believer doing this. Now, in the Bible Knowledge Commentary, which you use with your Gibbs classes as you go through Biblical synthesis, and I'm assuming first-class conditions, some of you are still doing that, that it raises the question about John 2. In fact, the writer of the Bible Now's commentary in this section takes the view that Simon was not a believer. Is it possible to be saved and wrong? Yeah. And then they cross-reference John 2. Now this is a passage that oftentimes people will use as an example of spurious faith, false faith, non-saving faith. How is it possible to have faith in the Lord and not really be saved? Okay? So, again, you can blame my son Ian on this one again. Were those in John 2 really saved? Now, remember, there was the feast at Canaan and Jesus turned the water into wine. There's another festival that comes along there. Now, when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, I want you to read, many believed in His name. Many believed in His name. Now, what does that mean? They believed in His name. Were they saved? Okay, how do we know? They believed and they know He believed. They believed where? In His name. Is that phrase found anywhere else in John? Go to John 1 verse 12. John 1 verse 12. Just one chapter earlier. What does it say? But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in His name." And what does it say in chapter 2? That many believed in His name. So are they children of God? Yeah, that's what the Bible says. And I really believe that when He says believed in His name, it means believed in His name. When they saw the signs which you did, and some will say, oh, that's the problem. They didn't have non-saving faith. They just had miracle faith. They had miracle faith. Now, put a marker here for a moment and go back with me to John 20. We'll be back in a minute. Go to John 20 here. I'm teaching you some things about exegesis tonight here along the way and I'm answering some questions and looking at some passages that we don't usually talk about. but have a very good answer for though. In John chapter 20, verse 30, what does it say? And truly Jesus did many other, what was the word? Many other what? Signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written. These what? Signs are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. By the way, is that His name? Believe in His name? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And that believing you may have life in His name. So these signs are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believe you might have life through His name. So in John chapter 2, many believed in His name. When they saw the signs which He did, isn't that the purpose for the signs? so that people would believe in His name? So we say, oh, that's just miracle faith. You're right! Bingo! You're right. That's exactly what it was designed to do. All these signs were designed to show Jesus Christ is nothing less than God who became a man and the only one who could save you so that you need to put your faith in Him and receive eternal life. And by the way, what were the ultimate climates of the signs? His resurrection from the grave after His death on the cross, the ultimate sign, that He's nothing less than God in human flesh. You say, yeah, well that sounds really good, but what about the rest of the verse and the next verse? And this is where people get hung up. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them. Now the word commit here comes from the same Greek word as believed in. Jesus did not commit Himself to them. Jesus did not entrust Himself to them. Because He knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man. For He knew all men. So while they believed in Him, He did not entrust Himself to them. Now is this saying He didn't believe they were saved? Is that what it's saying? No. It says there, many believed in His name. By the way, how did John know that they believed in Him? have said we believe. Maybe Jesus came along and said, yeah, he believed. But Jesus did not believe in them. Believe in what sense? That they were saved? No, no, in the sense of entrusting himself to them. Let me illustrate for a minute. If someone were to come to Duluth Bible Church and hear the gospel preached here and get saved and they say, you know what, that was a great, I believed in Christ tonight. He said, praise the Lord. He said, you know, in fact, I'm so grateful. I'm willing to babysit your kids. Would you let someone you just met babysit your kids for a day? No. Why not? Don't trust them yet. Don't trust them yet. Does it mean they don't believe? No. Can't trust Him yet. That's what Jesus said here. They believed in Him, but He wasn't willing to entrust Himself to them because they were brand new in the faith. Immature believers. Unreliable, untested, untrustworthy believers yet. But were they believers? And by the way, He knew what was in man. And by the way, what does chapter 3, verse 1 say? He knew what was in man. There was a man. By the name of who? Nicodemus. By the way, did Nicodemus get saved? Was Nicodemus a trustworthy believer when he first got saved? He doesn't come out of the closet for quite a while. Does that mean he didn't believe? No, eventually we see he believed. In fact, go to John 12, verses 42 and 43. Let's go to John 12. Verse 42 and 43. Nevertheless, even among the rulers, by the way, was he a ruler? Many believed in him. What does that mean? It means they believed in him, right? Does it mean they kind of believed in him? They said they believed in him, but they really didn't. No, they believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." You know, there are some people who view that verse and say they weren't really saved. Because if they were really saved, they wouldn't love the praise of men more than the praise of God. Are you kidding me? Do you know of any believers who love the praise of men more than the praise of God? Have we ever been guilty of that? But what does it say? They believed in Him. And eventually, Nicodemus does come out of the closet and does clearly indicate that he is a believer and is willing now to even stick out his neck for Jesus Christ, which he wasn't willing to do to any degree earlier, though in John 7 there is a reference that he at least raised the question and kind of took a stab at taking some stand for Christ. So were these believers? Absolutely. Absolutely. Again, I warn you, don't tamper with Scripture. If it says they believed in His name, it means they believed in His name. I'm amazed again how people say, yeah, it says he believes in his name, but he really wasn't saved. Are you kidding me? John 1.12 says that if you believe in his name, you've received him and you're a child of God. Furthermore, as we think of Is it possible to be saved and carnal? Is it possible to be justified but not progressively sanctified? What about the unrewarded believer at the beam of seed? Is it possible to be truly saved and yet live a life or have a ministry that's not rewarded when evaluated by Jesus Christ? And the answer is clearly yes. Do you have a choice of wood, hay and straw or gold, silver and precious stone as you think of building upon that foundation? If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he'll receive a reward. Not salvation, but a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss of a reward, but he himself will be saved. Let's have a little Greek lesson again here. Will be saved. Future tense. In the future, passive voice, he doesn't save himself, God saves him. Indicative mood means it is a reality or a fact. It is a guarantee he will be saved, yet so as through fire. In other words, he will in essence have the smell of fire on him because the fire did burn up the wood, hay and stubble, but it never burned up the foundation of Jesus Christ that he had placed his faith upon. So, as we think of the behemoth seed of Christ, it's an issue not of salvation, but of reward. And according to 1 John 2.28, abiding Christ, that when He appears, you may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. Now, if every believer lived a life of ongoing perseverance and godliness, would it not be true that all believers would be rewarded? And yet, what does the Bible say? That some believers will not be rewarded. Number five. We're really cruising here. Really cruising. Yes, question, Mark? Yeah, very good. The question is, when it says they believed in His name, is that to be understood that they didn't believe in Christ plus, but Christ period? And the answer is yes. When you believe in His name, you're believing in who He is and what He's done. And your faith is in Him alone. Alone. Any other questions? Yes, Marty? Yeah, the question is, does that hit on the Crossless Gospel issue? Absolutely. And when Tom Stegall is here in January, we will have a session on the Crossless Gospel and who best to teach it for Tom. Number five, Lordship salvation annihilates absolute assurance of one's salvation by causing the person to look at their inconsistent walk instead of Christ's finished work and the unfailing promises of God to possess the absolute assurance of eternal life. It annihilates absolute assurance. Now, what they will say is, I have assurance I'm saved. They'll have some assurance sometimes, but it's not absolute. Well, I'm assured that I'm saved as long as I live godly. I think I'm one of God's elect. So do you know for sure five years from now, if you die, you're going to go to heaven? Well, I'm pretty sure. See, they can't have 100% assurance. Why? Because if they quit persevering in the faith, it's proof what? They were never saved if they're Calvinist or they would lose it if they're Arminian. Can a believer in Christ be certain and sure that they are saved from the moment he believes and forever? Again, you've seen these verses many times. I'll just briefly go over it. 1 John 5, 11-13, and this is the testimony that God has given us. Eternal life, this life is in His Son. He who has the Son is life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you. Believe in the name of the Son of God. that you may know that you have eternal life. Again, the word know is the word oida. It means to know with certainty, like you know your name. It's in the perfect tense, which means you can know. You can know with certainty, and it's in the indicative mood. It's a fact. You can know it. You don't have to wonder, and it's not an arrogant boast, because it doesn't rely on your works and your faithfulness, but on the faithfulness of God and the finished work of Christ, and thus the promises that He gives. And notice, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. That you have eternal life, you can know that, and this is written that you might continue to believe. What is the implication of that? That you might not. But what's the purpose of it? Assurance is to encourage you to persevere in the faith. To persevere in the faith. Ephesians 2.8, for by grace you have been saved. That's a perfect paraphrastic. What does that mean? You've got a perfect tense verb with a present tense verb connected, as it were, at the hip. This is a very strong way of saying that you're saved forever. But notice, for by grace you have been saved. Does that sound iffy? Does that sound absolute? Absolute. Through faith in that not of yourself, it's the gift of God, not of worthless anyone should boast. 1 John 5.20, which by the way is on the gravestone of Pastor Leonard Radke. And we know, and that's oida again, perfect active indicative, that the Son of God has come. We know that. and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true and we are in Him who is true. Does it sound iffy? Does he have absolute assurance? We are in Him who is true and His Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and this is eternal life. That's something again we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt. That we are in Him and that we know Him. We know Him and we're in Him. In fact, it is impossible to know Jesus Christ and not be in Him in this present dispensation. And this, Jesus Christ, is the true God and this is eternal life. So if you know Him and you're in Him, you have what? Eternal life and you can know that. 1 John 3, 1-3. I hope you're jotting these verses down. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved now, we are the children of God. That sounds pretty sure, isn't it? Does it say we might be the children of God? No, we are the children of God. And it's not been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is, and everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is purified. Can you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are a child of God? Absolutely. In order to be a child of God, what do you need to do? John 1.12, receive Him, how? Through faith in His name. Now notice these verses. I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiving you for His name's sake. Does that sound pretty sure? There's the promise of God. And notice, why are we forgiven? For His name's sake. That assurance that our sins are forgiven are based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ, His person and His work. And this is the promise that He has promised us, even eternal life. So notice, the basis of assurance is His person and work, and we've got the promises of God. So Paul could say, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." And notice, in Christ Jesus reminds us of what? Our position, right? So we're in Christ and nothing can separate God's love from Christ and nothing can separate God's special love for us because we are in His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Does he sound pretty confident that he's saved? Absolute assurance. What does the base of assurance primarily rest on? The finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross and the unfailing promises of God again. I do not frustrate the grace of God for righteousness come by the law. Christ is dead and vain. Everything we have is based upon the finished work of Christ. Not on our works, not on our walk, on His finished work, not on our faithfulness. Once this depends on us, in any way we've injected uncertainty into the plan. What do the adherents of Lordship Salvation teach regarding assurance? No 100% assurance is possible until death. And that you should look at your root behavior instead of your fruit, excuse me, behavior instead of the root belief in Christ for assurance of salvation. Now, the Evangelical Theological Society held their national conference in San Diego in November of 1989. There were 500 leading evangelical Bible scholars and theologians in attendance. One of the speakers, Dr. Robert Wilkin, Bob Wilkin, executive director of the Grace Evangelical Society, presented a paper on repentance, which, by the way, he has since repented of. He was followed by a Lordship Salvation Advocate speaking on the same subject from a different perspective. Afterward, the two men had the following conversation. He said, Lordship Salvation, as you know, Bob, we basically believe the same thing. Dr. Wilkin, I don't think so. We wouldn't answer the same question, what must I do to be saved in the same way? The Lordship of Salvation insists, well, wouldn't we both say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Dr. Wilkin, yes, but we wouldn't mean the same thing. For example, if I shared the gospel as I described in my paper, calling a person to trust in Christ alone as the Savior, and I didn't call him to turn from his sins and commit his life to Christ, and he responded by placing his trust in Christ alone, and then he died later that day, Do you believe he would go to heaven or hell? To which the Lord showed salvation and said, oh, he'd go to hell, since you didn't call him to turn from his sins and commit his life to Christ. Dr. Wilkin, then, we aren't saying the same thing. On Saturday morning of the conference, Dr. John MacArthur spoke in a plenary session on faith in the epistle of James. And Dr. Earl Rodmacher, president of Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, responded to Dr. MacArthur's paper, pointing out the weakness of his approach. He stated, for example, that we establish doctrine in clear, not unclear passages, and hence it's wrong to go to James to prove one's doctrines of faith. He also said that while Dr. MacArthur used over 20 different qualifiers for faith in his paper, such as dead faith, authentic faith, nominal faith, intellectual faith, heart faith, real faith, obedient faith, saving faith, sluggish faith, that James used the term 16 times in his letter without once using a modifier. Dr. Rodmacher suggested that Dr. MacArthur's approach to the gospel was a road not back to Wittenberg, but to Rome. That was powerful. After Dr. MacArthur's paper and the responses of Dr. Rodmacher and one other, the audience was permitted to ask questions. Dr. Bob Wilkin was able to ask Dr. MacArthur two questions. Well, considering the light of 2 Corinthians 13, 5, is examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith something that we as believers are to do regularly throughout our lives. Dr. MacArthur said, yes, we are to examine ourselves on an ongoing basis. Of course, this has relevance to assurance. Dr. Wilkins says, well then, can a believer be 100% sure that he has passed the test? To which Dr. MacArthur says, I'm not sure what you mean by 100%. He says, I mean absolutely, positively sure. Dr. MacArthur said, well Puritan writers said that such absolute assurance was not possible. We can have assurance but not absolute certainty. To which Dr. Wilkins said, thank you. So, Dr. MacArthur came out and said that he believed that you cannot have absolute certainty of salvation, which has to apply to him as well. In fact, this is what he said. Now, this is incredible. These are two quotes from different books. When you put them back to back, listen to what's said. I am committed to the biblical truth that salvation is forever. Contemporary Christians have come to refer to this as the doctrine of eternal security. Perhaps the Puritan's terminology is more appropriate. They spoke of the perseverance of the saints. The point is not that God guarantees security to everyone who will say he accepts Christ, but rather that those whose faith is genuine will prove their salvation is secure by persevering to the end in the way of righteousness. So what did he say? Not a matter of just accepting Christ. Now, it's true. You can say you accept Christ, but maybe not really trust in him. I understand that. But what is he saying? If you have genuine faith, you will what? Persevere. And what did the Gertens call that? Perseverance of the saints. So he's saying that's a good thing, right? Good thing. Now listen to what he says in his book, Faith Works. Most of the Puritans thought that believers could not expect assurance until long after conversion and only after a life of extended faithfulness. They tended to make assurance dependent on the believer's ability to live at an almost unattainable level of personal holiness. You mean kind of like total surrender, unconditional? As we might expect, the Puritans' demanding preaching led to a widespread lack of assurance among their flocks." Really? You mean kind of like, those whose faith is genuine will prove their salvation is secure by persevering to the end in the way of righteousness? Did he do anything different than the Puritans? Same problem? You say, really? You think it really resulted in the same problem? Listen to this. And a booklet that I picked up several years ago called The Believer's Assurance, A Practical Guide to Victory Over Doubt. I wonder if you have to write a book like that. Let's see if I can find it. Right here. He said, recently I received the following letter. Dear John. He gets a Dear John letter. Dear John, I've been attending Grace Church for several years. As a result of a growing conviction in my heart, your preaching, and my seeming powerlessness against the temptations which arise in my heart and which I constantly succumb to, my growing doubts have led me to believe that I am not saved. Okay, I want you to stop and evaluate. Why doesn't he think he's saved? Because of what Christ did on the cross? Is it because of the promises of God? Because he's looking where? Looking at himself, looking at his performance, his walk, his failure. How sad it is, John, for me not to be able to enter in because of the sin which clings to me and from which I long to be free. How bizarre for one who has had advanced biblical training and who teaches in Sunday school with heartfelt conviction. I've got an unbeliever teaching Sunday school if this is true. So many times I've determined in my heart to repent, to shake loose my desire to sin, to forsake all for Jesus only to find myself doing the sin I don't want to do and not doing the good I want to do. What does that sound like? All in our own self, as a believer. After my fiancé and I broke up, I memorized Ephesians as part of an all-out effort against sin, only to find myself weaker and more painfully aware of my sinfulness. You know why? I was trying to live by what? By law. more prone to sin than ever before, and grabbing cheap thrills to push back the pain of lost love. This occurs mostly in the heart, John. But that's where it counts, and that's where we live. I sin because I'm a sinner. I'm like a soldier without armor running across the battlefield, getting shot up by fiery darts from the enemy. I couldn't leave the church if I wanted to. I love the people. And I'm enthralled by the gospel of the beautiful Messiah. But I'm a pile of manure on the white marble floor of Christ. a mongrel dog that sneaked in the back door of the king's banquet to lick the crumbs off the floor. And by being close to Christians who are rich in the blessings of Christ, I get some of the overflow and ask you to pray for me as you think best. Now, that is tragic. It's absolutely tragic. Now it's kind of interesting, you know what MacArthur says? The author of that poignant letter, a Christian, one thing that jumps out at me is his desire to do right, which sounds more like Paul in Romans 7 than an unbeliever. And then he says, the pulpit is the creator of anxious hearts, but it's also to give comfort and assurance to those who love Christ. Who's creating the anxious heart here? It's not the pulpit. These things have I written to you, believe on the name of the Son of God, you may know you have eternal life. Does that create anxiety? It creates anxiety though when you take the searchlight of Jesus Christ and the Word of God and you put it on yourself. Now just to show you again how they put the emphasis on you, here's a little booklet called Examine Yourself. You want to examine yourself to see if you're really saved. Are you a Christian? Many people claim to be, point to some event in the past to substantiate their claim. By inviting Jesus to come into your heart, life in the past is not proof that you are genuinely saved. We agree, okay, we agree. 2 Corinthians 13.5, Paul says to the Corinthian church, examine yourself, whether you're in the faith, prove yourself. He wouldn't have said that if some event in the past were obviously the answer. The Bible never verifies one's salvation by the past, but by the present. If there is no evidence of salvation in your life now, you need to face the fact that you may not be a Christian. You need to examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith. How does one do that? Jesus shows us in the Sermon on the Mount. If you want to know if you're a Christian, compare your life with the standard Christ presents in the Sermon on the Mount. So now what have I done? I have just taken everyone's eyes off Jesus Christ, off His finished work, off imputed righteousness, off the promises of God and stuck them right where? On you to compare yourself, how you're living according to the Sermon on the Mount. This is a great way to lose your assurance of your salvation. Now here's a classic. John Piper. Listen to what he says. Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seen and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The Gospel is not a way to get people to heaven. Really? It is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the Gospel. I'd like to be put on that guilt trip. So do you desire God above all things? All the time? You don't? You're not converted. You're not converted. Here's John Gerstner. At least he's honest. He says, thus good works may be said to be a condition for obtaining salvation. He's a Calvinist. in that they inevitably accompany genuine faith. Good works, while a necessary complement of true faith, are never the meritorious grounds of justification of acceptance before God. From the essential truth that no sinner himself can merit salvation, the antinomian, that's you and me, draws the erroneous conclusion that good works need not even accompany faith in the saint. The question is not whether good works are necessary to salvation, but in what way are they necessary? As the inevitable all-working of saving faith, they are necessary for salvation." Well, that was pretty honest, wasn't it? And yet, what does the Bible say? You're saved by grace, not of works. Regarding the parable of the pearl, Matthew 13, 45 and 46. Again, this is the perfect picture of saving faith. Someone who truly believes in Christ does not hedge bets. Knowing the cost of discipleship, the true believer signs up and gives everything for Christ. Really? Did you know you had to give everything for Christ to be saved? Moses counted the cost. He gave up spectacular worldly wealth in order to suffer for Christ's sake. To the Egyptians in Pharaoh's court, it must have seemed that he was trading riches for reproach. But Moses knew that he was really trading Egypt for a heavenly reward. You know why he said reward? Because it says it in the passage. Was Moses doing that to be saved? No. He gave up incredible wealth without a second thought because he understood the priceless value of the Kingdom of Heaven. That is the kind of totally committed response the Lord Jesus calls for. A desire for Him at any cost. Absolute surrender. Kind of like the Corinthians, huh? A full exchange of self for the Savior. It's the only response that will open the gates of the kingdom. It seems through the eyes of this world it is a high price as anyone can pay. But from a kingdom perspective, it is really no sacrifice at all. Now that's not salvation by work. Where are some biblical examples of assurance? We'll just quickly go through these. You say, well, you're really belaboring these points, Pastor. I know. I am. Job. Did Job know he was saved? For I know that my Redeemer lives and He shall stand and last on the earth after my skin is destroyed. This I know, that in my flesh I shall see God. Boy, he mentions it twice and he knows. David, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." It sure sounds like he knows he's saved, doesn't it? The apostles and Jesus said to the Twelve, do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And in the book of John, if you believe in Jesus Christ, what do you have? Eternal life. Martha, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? And she said to him, Yes, Lord, I what? Believe. By the way, can you know that you believe? Or do you have to wait around to see if you've got fruit? Remember, the Calvinist says you've got to wait. In fact, I read one Calvinist who said you've got to wait at least three years. You've got to wait at least three years to make sure you're not a stony ground believer. The Apostle Paul, did he have assurance of salvation? 2 Corinthians 5a, we are confident, yes. Well, please rather to be absent from the body and to be what? Present with the Lord. Philippians 1, 22-24, "...if I live on the flesh, this will mean fruit for my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell, for I am hard pressed between two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better." Did he know he was going to depart and he was going to be with Christ? to the church of God which is according to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus called saints." Notice, Paul had assurance they were saved. He goes on to say, or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? So he calls them saints, he says they are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Notice, Behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised and we shall be changed. Boy, look at his absolute assurance and sense of they're saved. The Thessalonian believers said the same thing. I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus." And he says later, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with Him in the cloud. There's no sense of, I wonder if we're really saved. Here's another one, the Ephesian believers. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. In fact, we could put Ephesians 1, 13, right? In whom you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom having believed, you were a seal. The Philippian believers, Philippians 3, 20 and 21, for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also equally wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus. They had this clear assurance they were citizens of heaven and Christ was coming for them. The Colossian believers, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ is our life, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Again, absolute statement. There's another one, Jewish believers, 1 Peter 1, 3-5, that we have an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. Again, the sense of assurance, absolute assurance. How do secondary evidences of salvation fit into this? They provide subjective indicators of a new birth, a new nature, etc., but do not provide the objective basis for assurance. So what do you mean? Well, having a desire for the things of the Lord can indicate that you have a new life. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, can indicate that you're a child of God. But again, those are subjective things. Can you have assurance the moment you are trusted Christ? You can know beyond the shadow without your saying. You don't have to wait for subjective evidences to occur. Does the Bible teach that all genuine believers will persevere in the faith and godliness until the end of their life? Now I covered this just recently in a message, so I'm going to go through this relatively quickly. And this isn't in your notes, you might want to jot it down though. Remember, in the acrostic of TULIP, the P stands for the Perseverance of the Saints. By the way, it stands for the Preservation of the Saints and the Perseverance of the Saints. And that's why sometimes they'll say, well, I'm a 3.5 Kelvin. I believe in total depravity, unconditional election, irresistible grace, and I believe in the perseverance of the saints, or preservation. So I'm three and a half, they might say. Or four and a half. Three and a quarter. Piper says he's a seven pointer. He's got two lips. Charles Hodge, the only evidence of our election and perseverance is the patient continuance and well-doing, robs you of assurance. Piper and his staff, we mean that the saints will and must persevere in the obedience which comes from faith. Election is unconditional, but glorification is not. There are many warnings in Scripture that those who do not hold fast to Christ can be lost in the end. He continues, nevertheless, we must also on up to the fact that our final salvation is made contingent upon the subsequent obedience which comes from faith. Boy, is that terrible, isn't it? MacArthur said lordship salvation is nothing other than the doctrine of pursuit. Don't believe anyone who says it's easy to become a Christian. Salvation for sinners costs God his own son, it costs God's son his life, and it'll cost you the same thing. If salvation comes from a life lived in obedience and service to Christ, as revealed in the scriptures, it's the fruit of actions, not intentions. The life we live, not the words we speak, determines our eternal destiny. Can you see why you can't have absolute assurance? We can never know that we are elected of God to eternal life except by manifesting in our lives the fruits of election, faith and virtue, knowledge and temperance, patience and godliness, love of brethren. It's idle to seek assurance of election outside of holiness of life. So said Benjamin Warfield, a Calvinist in the past. As a believer, salvation is received not by an act of righteousness, but by an act of faith. So the believer's salvation is maintained not by acts of righteousness, but by a life of faith. His security is never in doubt as long as his faith in Christ is steadfast where he is kept by faith. This is the assemblies of God, Arminian. Believing in Jesus and in the one who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. Therefore, without faith, no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life, but he who endures to the end. That's Roman Catholic. Doesn't sound any different, does it? Because it really isn't any different. To believe is to obey. Ask yourselves what Piper said earlier. Obedience is the inevitable manifestation of true faith. True faith always manifests itself in obedience. John MacArthur. Christ did not die to forgive sinners, we looked at that one. We cannot earn our salvation through good works, but our faith in Christ puts us in a special grace-filled relationship with God, so that our obedience and love combined with our faith will be rewarded with eternal life. The Scriptures repeatedly exhort us to persevere, to hang in there. It is only the one who endures to the end who will be saved. Endurance in faith is the condition for a future salvation. Only those who endure in faith will be saved for eternity. Does that sound any different than the top one? Who's this one by, though? R.C. Sproul. And Sproul will say, he will be so against Catholicism, and yet when it comes out in the wash, it's not any different. Does the Bible teach that all genuine believers will persevere in the faith? Calvinist theology answers, yes, as they teach, if you are truly elect, you will persevere in the faith until the end of your life. Arminian theology answers, no, as they teach, a believer can lose his faith, and in doing so, loses salvation. Both of these view robs the believers in Christ of the absolute assurance of salvation. What does the Bible say? Eternal salvation is not a prize or reward. It's a gift of God's grace because of the crosswork of Jesus Christ, received through faith alone in Christ alone. Crowns or rewards are available to faithful believers who run and finish the race by faith, but they are not guaranteed to all believers and can be lost if some believers do not run or finish well. Everyone understand that real clearly? Remember, Jesus Christ paid a debt, but He did it in all so that we could receive the gift of salvation. We didn't receive. The Bible clearly teaches eternal security, teaches the difference between the prize and the gift. The race for the prize is only for believers. The crown and view, Paul at the end of his life says, I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith, now there is in store for me, not the gift, but the crown of righteousness. So the Lord, the righteous judge will award me, award me, award me on that day. Does the Bible teach that all genuine believers will persevere in the faith? Well, what about loss? who lived in ongoing carnality. Solomon, who died worshiping false deities. King Saul, who committed suicide. Those Corinthian believers that God divinely disciplined to heaven via death. Demas, who forsook Paul, having loved this present world. What about them? What about Alexander and Hymenaeus, whose faith was made shipwrecked? What about a soiled-to believer? What about the believers at Ephesus, who would not endure self-induction, but would return to fables? Which, by the way, I read MacArthur said he thought they were believers. What about the warning passages in Hebrews directed towards believers? John MacArthur says, this is what he says about Lot. Yet the Inspired New Testament writer tells us, Lot was oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men for by what he saw and heard that righteous man while living among them felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds, 2 Peter 2.8. He hated sin and desired righteousness. He had respect for holy angels, evidence of his fear of God. He obeyed God by not looking back at Sodom when God's judgment rained down. Can I pause for a minute? What did he do before he didn't look back at Sodom? First of all, what did he do to the homosexuals at the door? Offered his daughters. Secondly, what did the angels have to do to get him out of town? Boy, that sure sounds like the guy was just really... I mean, come on, John! Don't skip and emphasize what you want. Look at the whole picture. Lot was certainly not carnal in the sense that he lacked spiritual desires. Though he lived in a wicked place, he was not wicked himself. Really? His soul was tormented, vexed, grieved, tortured with severe pain at the sight of the evil all around him. Evidently, his conscience did not become seared. He felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with the evil deeds of those around him. Though he lived in Sodom, he never became Sodomite, oh, that's really nice. I mean, that's got to prove a lot. He offered his daughters and eventually slept with them. Those who use them as an illustration of someone who was saved but utterly carnal miss the point of 2 Peter 2. Well, the point of 2 Peter 2.8 isn't to prove that carnal believers go to heaven. That's not the point. But it clearly indicates Lot was saved, and as we look at his life, as we address this very issue, obviously, McCarthy's view of true salvation and Lot are very problematic. Robert? Well, the purpose of the verse is simply to prove that God delivers the righteous. Yeah, I think it was. I think as he lived his life, because he was a believer, did he have a new nature? Did he also have a sin nature? He was living a very worldly life and he was tormented on the inside by what he saw, but I think he was tormented as well by his own conscience and so forth. By the way, can you be saved and have your soul tormented? Absolutely. Not because he was so tormented, because how I'm living my life is in godliness. I kind of think he thought he was godly though, don't you? Because what did he do? He compared himself with what? The Sodomites instead of with God's Word. I'm still green. Yeah, go green. Maybe at 10 o'clock it just turns off, Sanders. Does the Bible teach that all genuine believers will persevere in the faith? Does God desire believers to persevere in the faith? Answer? Yes. Does God reward those believers who persevere in the faith? Answer? Yes. Does God guarantee that all believers will persevere in the faith? No. Desired but not guaranteed, resulting in a loss of reward, but never the loss of eternal salvation. Okay? We're good again, Sanders? Did you confess your sins? Okay, very good. Now, I have a question for you. In our next session, are you supposed to take a test? OK, so we're going to delay that another session so you can enjoy Christmas. Amen. And we haven't finished Lordship. We will finish it next time. You say, well, how are we going to get these other things in yet? I don't know. We'll just pray. Now, and the reason I'm belaboring these points is because I want you to really know this well. And when we get into Calvinism, it's going to tie right into this. And maybe we can move a little faster with Calvinism. But the reason you have to know this, this is where the battle's at today, right here. The battle's at in the Gospel. And the battle's at specifically in Calvinism and Lordship as far as the predominant view in evangelical Christianity. This is where the battle's at as far as doctrine is concerned. And if you break down in this area and you start to cave in, compromise, get confused, it will affect your understanding of multiple things. So I really want you to be clear on this and know how to defend it well. Not just say, well, Lordship, Salvation, I don't believe in it. Really, so what is it you don't believe in and why? Can you support it? And can you deal with verses when people come to you and say, well, what does 2 Corinthians 13, 5 say? Examine yourself whether you're in the faith. What does it say in Matthew 24, 14? They that endure to the end of the same shall be saved. What about, you know, and you need to know those verses. You need to be able to address them. And again, they're going to tie right into Calvinism too. And so Lord willing, we'll finish Lordship next time. And then maybe the time after, we'll look at Crossless Gospel and then go on to Calvinism. Now, let me just say this as well. Previously in the schedule, we talked about taking a test on a certain night. I think what I'll probably do is have you take your tests at home, so that we can just spend the whole night studying the next thing, and maybe that way we'll make up some of the difference. Can I trust you? You may believe in me, but that doesn't mean I believe in you, remember? And if Jesus could do that, I would. Yes. This will clearly prove whether you're saved or not. Yes. But that's only if we really know. But all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him in whom we have to do. Yes, Robert? Yeah, that's true. Or if you did cheat at all, you probably will cheat on this too. So, yeah. But can you really be saved and cheat? You know, that is the question. Yeah. I think we're capable of anything in the catalog. Okay, now this might have been a review, but it's been extensive. The reason I'm also covering it like I am is I'm planning, Lord willing, on the next Grace Family Journal to pick up my series on Lordship. And this is helping me get all ready for that. And Lord willing, in the next maybe six months, I'd like to come up with a book, a hundred pages or less, on the whole issue of Lordship salvation. on a popular level that explains it and also interacts with it and gives some of the problem passages. Because there's nothing written out there that I know of in book form that can just deal with it like that. You know, Charlie Bing's book is good, but it's thick and it's somewhat technical. Something that's far more user-friendly for the average Joe, but also interacts with it for the pastor that's out there as well, I think would be of real help. And furthermore, if you don't quote them enough, people are saying, well, that's not what they believe. You're taking them out of context. But you know what? When you quote them 150 times, there's no way they can get around it. What can you say? It's the way it is. OK. So let's pray. Our Father, thank you for another night at Gibbs and for interacting on these subjects. Thank you that If we believe not yet you always abide faithful. You cannot deny yourself. We're so grateful for that and that we can have absolute assurance of our salvation because it has been provided outside of us in spite of us through the finished work of your son upon the cross guaranteed by your unfailing promises which when we put our faith in Christ assure us that we have eternal life and we can never be lost. We thank You for that. We pray for those that are in the bondage of Lordship Salvation. Father, we know in some cases they are saved, in other cases they are lost. Sometimes only You know the difference. And we pray, Father, for their deliverance as they might see Jesus Christ afresh. You see how it's just faith alone and Christ alone, period. It's not a matter of faith plus perseverance, faith plus godliness, faith plus fruitfulness, but faith alone in Christ who is to work. And Father, I pray that out of gratitude for your grace, we might be motivated to live for you and for your Son and enable to do so and to truly understand the place of Christ's Lordship in our life as we think of Romans 6 and Romans 8. And so, Father, I thank you for this time together now, and I trust that your Word is not returned void. For it's in Jesus' name we pray.