Please turn with me in your Bible second Timothy chapter one. Second Timothy chapter one this morning we considered the comfort and encouragement that God's people have tonight. We're going to look at the plan of salvation. The reason we have that comfort and that encouragement is because God has graciously saved us.

He has called us out of darkness into marvelous light. He has given us so great a salvation. So I thought we'd look at this this evening so that we can indeed rejoice in what our Lord has done in making us members of Zion, in having saved us by His grace and for His glory. Our primary focus this evening will be on 2 Timothy 1, verses 8 and 9.

But I do want to read the chapter so we can see it in its context. This is the last letter that the apostle Paul wrote prior to his death. He speaks of his death in chapter four, verse six. He says, I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day.

And not to me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. So this is the letter written in Paul's 11th hour. We ought to give attention to and heed to the word that he speaks in this particular epistle to his young companion, Timothy. I'll just pick up reading in Second Timothy, chapter one at verse one.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. To Timothy, a beloved son, Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God. who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day.

Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Anesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain.

But when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that day. And you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus. Amen.

Well, let us pray. Blessed God, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for the plan of salvation. We know and acknowledge, Lord God, it was not us who saved ourselves.

We didn't help you, Lord. You saved us, as the text so clearly indicates, and you called us with a holy calling. We give you praise and glory for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We give you praise and glory for the power and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

And we praise you, Father, for your sovereign grace and for election and predestination and all these things the Bible so clearly sets forth. May they encourage us and may they cause us to reflect on the various reasons for our comfort that we have in you. We just pray now that you would forgive us for all of our sins. We pray that you would continually set before us the glory and the majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.

Introduction

Well, here specifically, Paul instructs Timothy not to be ashamed, but to share with him, rather, in the sufferings associated with the gospel. He also gives this wonderful summary statement of the gospel in verses 9 and 10, which we will be studying, and then indicates that this is why he was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. Again, his life is coming to a close. It's as if he is rehearsing or recounting, rather, where he has been, what he is doing, and he is exhorting Timothy to take up the mantle, as it were, to take up the baton and to continue to run with it.

So there's a threefold purpose for him in this particular portion of Scripture. It is to encourage Timothy. It is to remind Timothy. And it is to, in fact, state the glory of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, as we hone in now specifically on verses 9 and 10,

Five Truths About Salvation

I want to make five observations with reference to the plan of salvation. five truths concerning the plan of salvation that I hope, again, will serve to encourage us and remind us that the God of Psalm 46 is the God who has called us and brought us into saving union with Jesus Christ. The first observation is that

The Blessing Stated: God Saves

the blessing is stated initially. He says in verse 9, who has saved us? All glory, all power, all praise, all honor in the plan of salvation goes not to us. It goes to God.

God saved us. He initiated the plan. He executes the plan. He carries out the plan.

And so, as Paul begins to open up this plan, he references the power of God in verse 8, and then he highlights the saving efficacy of God in verse 9. He has saved us.

What God Saves Us From

He has saved us from sin. Matthew 1 and verse 21, you should call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sin. He saves us from the curse of the law in Galatians chapter 3. Christ has become a curse for us so that he might redeem those who are under the curse.

Christ, the Father, saves us from spiritual death. Remember in Ephesians 2, and you being dead in your trespasses and sins, He made us alive together with Him. The Bible sets forth a monergistic view of salvation. That means God alone working.

God alone saving. He has saved us, is what the Apostle says. He saves us from alienation. Remember, we considered that a couple of weeks ago.

We've moved from alienation to reconciliation, according to Colossians chapter 1, verses 21 and 22. We were alienated by God. We were alienated from God. We considered him our enemy, and he likewise considered us his enemy.

But through the gospel, through his saving purpose, through the fact that he has saved us, he has brought us nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. He has saved us from the devil himself. The text or the various places in scripture highlight this reality. We ought to realize that the devil roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

But he is not omnipotent. He is not omniscient. He is not able to trip us up. Colossians 2.15 says that Jesus has disarmed principalities and powers.

He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. At the cross, Jesus bound the devil. In Hebrews chapter 2, setting that forth in verse 14, inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. So he has saved us from sin.

He has saved us from the curse of the law. He saves us from spiritual death. He saves us from alienation. He saves us from the devil.

And he saves us from damnation or everlasting condemnation or the punishment that is due sinners as a result of their transgression against God. You remember that blessed portion in Romans 8. He says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Is that a blessed thought, a blessed reality?

We can say with the Apostle, O death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? He that believes on the Son has everlasting life. He that does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

But for those who are in the Son, those who have been saved by God's grace, no more wrath. No more curse, no more condemnation, no more judgment. When we stand before the throne on that day of judgment, we will hear that blessed verdict rendered, not guilty. Again, not because of ourselves as we move through this plan, but solely and alone founded upon and grounded in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In summary, what Paul says here in verse 9, who has saved us, jives with the prophets before him and the apostles throughout the text of Scripture, as Jonah says in Jonah 2.9,

Salvation Belongs to God Alone

salvation is of the Lord. You get to the book of Revelation and you see that church triumphant assembled before the throne of God and the Lamb who sits on the throne. What is their refrain? What is their cry?

What is their reason for praise? They say salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb who sits on the throne. I often muse that in heaven there is no more Arminianism. I'm not saying there's not Arminians.

God is gracious. God is merciful. God is kind. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Someone once asked George Whitefield, do you think when you get to heaven you'll see John Wesley? And he said, no, I don't think that I will. So the person thought, ooh, you must not believe that Arminians go to heaven. He said, John Wesley's going to be so close to the throne, I won't be able to see him because of the radiance of the light.

But in heaven, doctrinally, there's no Arminianism. Doctrinally, there's no semi-Pelagianism. No one in heaven is patting themselves on the back and seeking praise for having contributed to their own salvation. In heaven, the doctrine is consistently Reformed theology.

The doctrine is consistently, God is the one who has saved us. Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb who sits on the throne. That's the first observation. The blessing stated, He has saved us.

The Calling Employed: Effectual Call

Notice, secondly, the calling employed. Verse 9, Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. This may be a holy calling because the God who is holy calls us, or it is a call unto holiness. Not because of, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in order to pursue holiness.

But the emphasis, the stress, the accent falls on this idea of having been called. What does Paul refer to in this particular section? The means highlighted here is what we call the effectual call of God. The Bible makes this distinction.

If the theological jargon isn't there, the doctrine most certainly is.

General and Effectual Call Distinguished

The gospel is to be preached to every creature indiscriminately. Jesus says, go and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Whoever does not believe will not be saved.

That is the general call. We go out and we publish the truth concerning Christ. We set forth the reality that He lived, that He died, that He rose again. That, incidentally, is the gospel.

The gospel is not the effect in your life. The gospel is not your holiness. The gospel is not your conformity to Jesus. The Gospel is the record, the historical revealed truth, the propositions concerning Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

We publish that. We preach it. We proclaim it. We write.

We witness. We evangelize. We testify. We pray that the Gospel would run swiftly and be glorified.

We call all men indiscriminately to believe that truth. That Gospel call goes out generally, but there is an effectual call. It is when the Spirit attends. It is when the Spirit moves the heart.

It is when the Spirit constrains belief. Remember that heart song we just sang. Joseph Hart says, all he requires is that you feel your need for him. Then what does he say?

This he gives you. This he gives you. This he gives you. Sinners dead in their trespasses and sins do not feel their need for a Savior.

God must make you alive. God must regenerate. God must breathe new life into you before any of these spiritual verities begin to make sense in your life. Paul highlights here the effectual call of God.

Yes, we pray for the spread of the gospel. We pray for the general call. We ought to pray for the effectual call. God, send your spirit and bring the blessing down from heaven to save sinners from their sins.

The Effectual Call in Romans 8–9

Look at Romans chapter 8 for just a moment. Romans chapter 8, just to highlight this effectual calling from God. This incidentally explains why two people can grow up in the same house, hear the same sermons, read the same books. And one ultimately is a Jacob, and the other is an Esau.

One ultimately is an Isaac, and the other is an Ishmael. It is because of God's effectual call. It is because God regenerates. It is because God gives ears to hear, and eyes to see, and raises dead men from the grave according to His sovereign purposes, which He purposed in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.

Notice in Romans 8.28, We know that all things work together for good. To those who love God, to those who are, notice, the called according to his purpose. The effectually called. Those who have by God's grace been saved.

They are the called according to his purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called. Whom He called, these He also justified.

And whom He justified, these He also glorified." We know He's not dealing with the general call. Not every man that hears the gospel, not every man that hears the truth about Christ is effectually called. They're not all justified. They're not all glorified.

Paul is speaking here specifically of that efficacious grace where God lays hold of the sinner. I mean, just think back in your own experience. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. You probably heard sermons.

You probably heard preaching. You probably read scripture. You probably clicked on sermon audio at one point in your life, and it was like a dead letter to you. Why all of a sudden in time and space did it make sense?

Why all of a sudden did it seem real? Why all of a sudden did it seem like a living word from the living God spoken definitively to your heart? It's the power of God. It's the effectual call.

It's a blessing. It's a good thing. We ought to pray to God that he would call sinners by his grace and for his glory. In Romans 9, verse 10, and not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac, for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of works, but him who calls.

Again, the effectual calling of God. Verse 24, even us whom he called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 9, God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Galatians 1, verse 6, the Apostle marvels, verse 6, that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel which is not another. You have to appreciate this theological construct.

The general call is published to all men. The effectual call is for the elect. God calls his people out of darkness into marvelous light. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 24. It's highlighting this effectual calling of God.

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. And then in Ephesians, I'm sorry, in 1 Timothy chapter 6, this is a great one to observe. 1 Timothy chapter 6, notice at verse 11. Let you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. The man of God should be fleeing, following, fighting, and faithful.

Those four F's ought to characterize the man of God. And the notice in verse 12, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Is that a beautiful statement? Timothy was effectually called.

And it was as amazing and as glorious and as magnificent as if Timothy had gone astray in a wicked sort of way. What does Paul say? Timothy was brought up in a religious setting, wasn't he? He had a godly mother.

He had a godly grandmother. That didn't ensure salvation. He needed the effectual call of God. You see, it wasn't just nurture.

It certainly wasn't nature. It's sovereign grace. He was called. We see that call highlighted when a man is in the depths of depravity, at least as far as we ascertain.

You know, when we look at that prodigal out, you know, squandering his father's money, wasting everything on prodigal living, finally lusting after the food that pigs are eating. I mean, just think about that story in light of the Jews and pigs. I mean, come on. Here's this guy coveting what pigs are eating.

It's unclean animal. The effectual call is obvious in that particular instance. It's not always as obvious when a child is raised in a godly context, when he's hearing the scripture, when he's being taught the truth, and he makes that pass from death unto life. It's almost imperceptible, but it's the same effectual calling.

It's the same grace, the same glory, the same power, the same excellence that God the Lord uses to arrest prodigals and bring them back to the fold. The holy calling of God is the means employed in bringing us out of darkness into marvelous light. So we've seen the blessing, the calling.

The Basis: Purpose and Grace, Not Works

Thirdly, notice the basis for our salvation. Paul continues in verse 9, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus. Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. You all know the text, I hope.

I hope. I wish we could, you know, just say, OK, let's shut the live audio stream off, give everybody a piece of paper and a pencil, number two pencil, and write down those texts which highlight that salvation is not according to our works. I really hope everybody would have a few right off the bat. You know, have a couple in your shotgun ready to go.

You should be thinking Ephesians 2. Think about Romans 3. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. No flesh whatsoever by the deeds of the law, by our doing, by our performance, by our working.

You should be thinking Galatians chapter 2 and verse 16. You should be thinking Titus chapter 3. Hopefully you're thinking 2 Timothy chapter 1. Not according to our works.

You see, the Bible highlights this reality, this fact, from beginning to end, that man is totally depraved and man is completely unable to merit God's favor. We cannot save ourselves. Incidentally, that was a soteriological argument that Athanasius leveled for the deity of Jesus Christ. Remember, Athanasius was the strong contender for the deity of Christ, the godhood of Christ.

He was a strong contender for the doctrine of the Trinity against Arius. Arius denied the deity of Jesus. He said there was a time when the Son was not. There was a time when the Son was not, and God called him into being.

Modern-day Arians are Jehovah's Witnesses. They teach this very heresy. Well, one of Athanasius' arguments, other than exegetical, because the Bible sets it forth clearly, there was a soteriological argument.

Athanasius and the Deity of Christ

He said only God himself could save fallen humanity. You see, if Jesus isn't God, then ultimately a man alone saved his people from their sin. Jesus Christ saves us. Jesus Christ does not do it based on our works, based on our ability, for we are depraved, we're unable to merit God's favor.

The basis of our salvation, not according to our works, just in case you missed all those other passages, but according to his own purpose and grace. I'm excited in our studies in Deuteronomy on Wednesday night. We're going to get to chapter 7 and chapter 9. God is going to tell the nation of Israel very specifically, don't think I chose you because you are more numerous than other nations.

Don't think I chose you because you are more mighty than other nations. Don't think I chose you because you are more righteous than other nations. The point is God chose them according to his purpose and according to his grace. He made a covenant.

He initiated this with Abraham. In Abraham, all the nations, all the families of the earth would be blessed. It is God's prerogative to save whom He'll save. Salvation is of the Lord.

The Bible stresses God's purpose, God's plan, God's result, God's will in the saving of sinners. In Ephesians chapter 1, highlighting the saving work of the triune God, the Father chooses, the Son redeems, the Spirit guarantees and seals. In the midst of this, he says in verse 11 of Ephesians 1, in Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. God's will reigns supreme in the matter of salvation.

As Paul said in Romans 9, 16, it does not depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but on God who shows mercy. Praise the Lord. Though we are depraved, though we are unable, God has purpose to save a great multitude that no man can number. That is the basis for our salvation, not according to our words, but according to his own purpose and grace.

You will not stand on the day of judgment and say, I made a better decision. I signed a card. I walked forward. I sent in my $10.

I got my name written on this particular church roster. I went to Sunday school. There's a lot of people that think that sort of thing. Just going door to door, passing out tracts in life, you'll see this.

You'll meet people that are hinging their everlasting soul on some pretty shaky ground. Oh, yeah, I'm doing OK because my dad taught Sunday school. That's not right. Your dad taught Sunday school and somehow that's going to keep you from the wrath of God for your sin.

You might even say, I taught Sunday school. Teaching Sunday school does not alleviate the problem. The chasm created between God and us as a result of our sin, our rebellion, our transgression, our want of conformity unto and transgression of the law of God. There is no alleviation of that issue except through the work of the Lord Jesus.

He is the blessed peacemaker. He reconciles sinners unto God, and he is the one who saves us by his grace and for his glory.

The Origin: Before Time Began

Notice, fourthly, the origin of the plan of salvation. The origin, notice in verse 9, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. Before time began. This is not an afterthought in the mind of God.

God did not create this world, cease and introduce. panic, react, and then set a plan in motion. Before time began, God orchestrated exactly what He was going to carry out. Now, I know that at this point, people begin to get a little freaked out. They get a little bit of shake.

They get a little bit of, what does that mean in terms of implications? God, by definition, brethren, decrees, orders, carries out, executes, manifests His glory, and does His good pleasure. This ought not to scare us. It ought to encourage us.

We're not an afterthought in the mind of God. Before time began, He chose us in Him. In Ephesians 1-4, Paul says the very same thing. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless.

You cannot deny Sovereign grace. You cannot deny election. You cannot deny predestination. You can try to twist it.

You can try to manipulate it. You can try to say things like I just read a man debating James White said. Not all scripture says what it appears to say. Well, if not all scripture says what it appears to say, how do we ever interpret it?

If it appears to say God is sovereign, why doesn't it mean that? If it appears to say Jesus died on the cross for our sins, why doesn't it mean that? You see, once you open the door on that sort of thinking, you might as well throw the Bible away. This is why people don't look at the Bible as infallible and inerrant and trustworthy and all that it affirms concerning history and science and doctrine and ethics and religious practice or any other topic.

We begin to introduce doubt. We begin to listen to the devil, who introduced us in the garden to Eve. Has God truly said, or has God indeed said? We begin to give space to that, and then we come up with statements like, well, it doesn't mean what it appears to say.

Can't interpret the scripture that way. You can't make heads or tails out of anything. The origin of the plan of salvation, which grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. The sphere is in Christ.

All spiritual blessing comes in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Trace through Ephesians 1 sometime and notice that phrase over and over and over again. In Christ He chose us. predestinated us unto adoption as sons in Christ. Everything is in Christ.

We don't stand apart from Christ. We are saved. We have refuge. We have protection.

We have solace in Christ and in him alone. The time before the foundation of the world. Let's just look at a few passages to further illustrate this. John 17 and verse 24, Jesus' high priestly prayer, Father, I desire that they also, whom you gave me, may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me, for you love me before the foundation of the world.

Romans, chapter 16. Romans, chapter 16.

The Pactum Salutis

It's all part of what we call the pactum salutis, or the covenant of redemption, or the counsel of peace. The fact that the Father gave a people to the Son to save them from their sins. Romans 16, now to him who is able to establish you, according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest, and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith, to God alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

The Father gave a people to the Son. The Son, in time and history, comes to redeem them. The Son does His work in accordance with that blessed pact made with the Father in history past.

The Execution: Christ's Appearing

And then notice, fifthly, the execution of the plan. But now has been revealed. See, that's the ordo salutis. Actum salutis refers to the eternal covenant or the council or the covenant of redemption.

The ordo salutis, you've probably heard that before, the order of salvation. You might call that the historia salutis, how it's fleshed out. You see, God makes a decree to save a people from their sins. God purposes in terms of election and sovereign grace and predestination.

God has purpose. Again, it's not something willy-nilly. This isn't an afterthought. This isn't plan B.

God doesn't panic. He doesn't react. He doesn't say, what am I going to do now? God, before time began, selected a people to save them from their sins, ordained Jesus Christ as the covenant head and mediator to come and rescue them.

And that initiates that blessed reality, the application of salvation. Notice, before time began, verse 9, and now verse 10, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. It is the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension which has secured the salvation of all those whom the Father chose and called. It is the work of Christ.

It is the execution of His mission and His ministry in His doing and dying and rising, which brings those promises of God to bear upon the elect of God. It's a great plan, isn't it? It's an amazing plan, a beautiful plan. I don't know why anybody has a problem with this plan.

I've often wondered practically, why are there Arminians? Why are there Pelagians? I mean, why won't you love this? Why don't you care to see how just beautifully orchestrated this whole thing is?

There's no margin for error. It's triune. It's God the Father electing. It's God the Son redeeming.

It's God the Spirit applying. There's no margin for error. It's foolproof, we might say. We can't even mess it up.

We can't even mess it up. God executes His decree. The works of creation and providence. Creation and providence serve the greater redemptive purposes of God to save His people from their sins.

The redemptive plan of God is hinged upon and accomplished in the doing, dying, and rising. of Jesus Christ, our Lord. So in two brief verses, Paul sets forth for us the plan of salvation, the glory of the gospel. This is why Psalm 46 is a reality for you and I. It's not because of our works, not because of our ingenuity, not because we placed ourselves in this scheme, but because God called us with a holy calling, because Jesus came into this world to live and die and rise again.

It is based on that fact, based on that fact alone, that we can say God is our refuge. God is a present help in times of trouble. God is there in the midst of the fire for his people because he has purposed to save them from their sins.

Application: Triune Roles in Salvation

Well, in this short span, we see first the supremacy of God in salvation. It's not you. You didn't save yourself. When you come to sing hymns on Sunday, it's not because of your accomplishments.

Notice the hymns are designed to bring glory to God, not you. You don't sing in these hymns, Oh, thank you, Father, that I saved myself. Thank you, Father, that I put myself under the holy calling. Thank you, Father, that I placed myself in your divine prerogative.

No, we give praise to God. We imitate the church triumphant who says salvation belongs to our God and to the land that sits on the throne. We see, secondly, the glory of Christ in accomplishment. the glory of Christ and accomplishment, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. You have life, you have immortality, you have blessed privilege, you have the security of heaven for you based on the doing and the dying and the rising of Jesus Christ.

Never forget that. The glory of Christ is manifest in the gospel. Thirdly, we see the power of the Spirit in securing these things. See that a bit more fully in Ephesians chapter 1.

You may turn there for just a moment. Again, after Paul celebrates the work of the Father in salvation, the Son in salvation, he then turns his attention to the Spirit. We already read verse eleven, let's just read it again. In him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory.

In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. A beautiful thing. He feels that it is the spirit himself who seals us. And then he goes on to say, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory.

The spirit is the guarantee. The spirit secures us. The spirit keeps us. The spirit does not allow us to perish.

Father, son and Holy Spirit working to save his people from their sins. One man wrote an introduction to John Owen's famous work, The Death of Death and the Death of Christ. It's a work on particular atonement, which that man who wrote the preface or the introductory essay says no one's answered it to this day. I mean, it's been in existence for 400 years.

Let the Armenians destroy Owen's argument. They haven't. They can't. They haven't.

But in this introductory essay, the author says, He's using what Spurgeon called a nickname for the gospel, Calvinism. This man uses that term. He says, for of Calvinism, there is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology. You've traditionally heard of the five points of Calvinism, total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints, preservation by God.

We might throw a P in there. Give it two Ps there. Perseverance and preservation. We persevere because God preserves.

That's right. Five points of Calvinism. But this man is just sort of honing in and making this statement. For up Calvinism, there is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology.

Doctrine of salvation. The point that God saves sinners. That's what we need to know, right? He says, God, the triune Jehovah, father, son and spirit, three persons working together in sovereign wisdom, power and love to achieve the salvation of a chosen people.

The father electing the son, fulfilling the father's will by redeeming the spirit, executing the purpose of father and son by renewing saves. does everything, first to last, that is involved in bringing man from death in sin to life in glory, plans, achieves and communicates redemption, calls and keeps, justifies, sanctifies, glorifies sinners, men as God finds them, guilty, vile, helpless, powerless, blind, unable to lift a finger to do God's will or better their spiritual lives. And I ask the question, why would anybody choose Arminianism or Pelagianism? Do you want a gospel where God saves sinners? Not sinners save sinners.

We mess everything up. Sometimes it's hard to get out of bed on time, isn't it? Sometimes you might forget to carry the one and mess your whole checkbook up. Sometimes you forget your PIN number at the store.

Do you really want to be responsible for your eternal salvation? Who wouldn't want that basic proposition to be true? God says sinners. Isn't this essentially what the apostle says in Romans five, eight, God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Salvation from first to last. is of the Lord. 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. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. Our Father, we give you praise and glory that you save sinners. We give you praise and glory that the prophet Jonah said, salvation is of the Lord. We give you praise and glory that you have included us in this wondrous plan.

And God, for those in this room that do not know you, we pray that they would believe the gospel, they would believe concerning Christ and Him crucified and Him resurrected, that they would look unto Him and know the joy of everlasting life. We pray this gospel would be proclaimed, that it would be published to every creature under heaven, and that, God, you would be well pleased to save a great multitude which no man can number, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. God, truly, get glory in the salvation of souls. And Lord, please watch over us in this coming week.

Continue to cause us to reflect upon Psalm 46 and on 2 Timothy 1. May these things encourage us. May they build us up. May they strengthen us for the tasks that you have ahead for us in this coming week.

We just pray these things now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Scripture References

• Deuteronomy 7; 9
• Psalm 46
• Jonah 2:9
• Matthew 1:21
• John 17:24
• Romans 3:20; 5:8; 8:1; 8:28-30; 8:38-39; 9:10; 9:16; 9:24; 16:25-27
• 1 Corinthians 1:9
• Galatians 1:6; 2:16; 3:13
• Ephesians 1:4; 1:11-14; 2:1; 2:8-9
• Colossians 1:21-22; 2:15
• 1 Thessalonians 5:24
• 1 Timothy 6:11-12
• 2 Timothy 1:8-10; 4:6
• Titus 3:5
• Hebrews 2:14