Introduction
to the precepts of the ceremonial or the moral law. Salvation by works is a criminal doctrine. Salvation by works, whether in whole or in part, is a criminal doctrine. We come to a passage of scripture here in Titus 3, where we see the Apostle Paul vigorously defending the doctrine of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone.
What we're going to look at this morning, hopefully and Lord willing, is four things. First, the one at work in salvation. Secondly, the nature of salvation. Thirdly, the foundation of salvation.
And lastly, and fourthly, the certainty of salvation. Now,
The One at Work in Salvation
first off, notice the text at the point of the one at work in salvation. We see in verse five that salvation is not by works of righteousness, which we have done, But according to His, that is God's mercy, He saved us. Now, as we come to a rehearsal of the one at work in salvation, hopefully you understand that a rehearsal of the simple truths of Christianity is a good thing. We ought never to have minds that want the preacher to move us beyond the ABCs of Christianity to other things.
In other words, we ought not to have the heart that wants the proclaimer of the Gospel to permanently move beyond the blessed doctrines of a triune God, the deity of Christ, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, and say to Him as if, Preacher, would you just give us now the seven trumpets of Revelation? Remember those words of Spurgeon, a man comes to me and asks me to expound upon go into a detailed exposition of the seven trumpets of Revelation, I respond to them or I would want to blow a trumpet in their ear and warn them of the wrath to come. We want to rehearse the blessed ABCs of Christianity because it is in those ABCs that our hearts are warm. It is in those ABCs that Christ, the Redeemer of men, is given to us, set before us. so that we might be wholly resigned unto the joy of being found saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.
So the passage comes to us and it says that we are saved, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. So first off, we want to look at there is a negative statement, not by works of righteousness. Our Bibles are very kind to us. God in his word is very kind to us because he gives us clear language.
Salvation in this case is not by this, but it is by this is not our God kind. Sometimes these nots and buts are given to us in in you were once this way, but you are now this way. And sometimes they're given to us in negatives and positives. In other words, a certain truth of God, most high is not this. but rather it is this, and we have this here.
So first off,
Salvation Is Not by Works
salvation is not by works. The Apostle Paul, as Spurgeon said, takes pain after pain to bring before the recipients of his letters that salvation is all of God or it is nothing. Salvation is from God, first to last, midst and throughout. It is of a triune God who saves without a helper, And you should have a wholesome pride that you stand in the safe confines of a religion that sets forth God and His Christ as the champions of salvation and not men.
Because every other religion, as more than one man has noted in the history of our church, in the history of Christianity, every other religion is a religion that flies the banner of do and live. But Christianity flies that blessed banner. of look and live. Look unto the Lord Jesus Christ, all the ends of the earth, and you shall be saved. Christianity is not like other religions.
It is rather that one that has as at its core Christ Jesus and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Him. John Gill writes now, salvation neither in whole nor in part is by the works of righteousness which we have done. either as causes, conditions, or means. You scan these other religions and you find that their preaching, if it is that, and if it can be called that, and we probably shouldn't call it that, their proclamation, their unfolding of their wretched truths, find at the heart of it man's works, man's deeds. Man is the champion of his own fate.
In our blessed Christianity, we have God and his Christ as the champions. of our faith, the champions of our destiny, the champions of salvation. You look at the sacraments of other religions and they come to the adherence in the form of C4 vests and in the form of a baptism of hatred. Our sacraments come to us and they rehearse what? That God is Lord over salvation, that He alone saves by His Savior and for His glory.
Turn with me to the book of Galatians because If anyone comes to the scriptures, anyone comes to the scriptures and they would want to argue that in some way, to use the language of Gil, whether in whole or in part, salvation is of works. They come to the scriptures and they are dashed to pieces by the clarity of our God and the clarity of his revelation. In the book of Galatians in chapter two, now you might be saying to yourselves, Going back to what we opened with, that what, you know, do we need to rehearse the ABCs of Christianity? Hopefully, as you read the epistles, you understand that we need to rehearse the ABCs of Christianity.
Look what Paul writes in Galatians 1.6, Galatians 1.6. I marvel 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 see, the propensity, the possibility, the potentiality, the hearts of even regenerate Christians to be stolen away for a time to errant doctrine demands that the proclaimers of the gospel mount pulpits on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings and bring the congregation back to the ABCs of Christianity. We look here and we see that this, the churches of Galatia, Paul marvels over the fact that they were turning away so soon to a false gospel.
But notice in Galatians 2, we've had occasion to point this out on many occasions. Chapter 2, verse 16, the language that Paul uses and the repetition of that language to stress that fact. that justification is solely and alone a legal declaration of God wherein He declares believers righteous solely and alone upon the righteousness of Christ received by faith alone. Notice what we see in Galatians 2 verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.
Even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified." A man comes to the scriptures and he says, how can I be justified before a holy God? The Bible isn't ambiguous. The Bible isn't vague. Our God is clear in his revelation, not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified, knowing that a man is justified by the works by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by faith in Him.
You see the repetition that Paul goes through here. It's repetition so that the recipients of the message will understand the absolute and colossal folly, the madness of seeking to be saved by the deeds of righteousness, by the works of their own hearts. Absolute madness. They want, Paul wanted the recipients of his letters.
Writers of Holy Writ wanted the recipients of their letters to glory in the fact that salvation is from a triune God who saves without a helper. Salvation is not by works. Generally speaking, we would want to say as well that salvation is not by us. You might say, well, how is that different?
Well, turn to the Gospel of John for a moment. We would want to say that
Salvation Is Not by Us
salvation is not by works, and even larger, salvation is not by us. Even we must say, as we've been studying the doctrine of justification by faith alone, it is not our act of believing that merits for us eternal life. It is Christ's acts alone that merit for us eternal life. When we speak of justification by faith, we're not saying that our act of believing justifies us, but rather by faith we lay hold of the work that does justify us, and that work is Christ's alone.
That work is His perfect and finished work. Notice what we have in the Gospel of John. Again, the clarity of scriptures at the point of works not being of our own, or salvation not being the works of righteousness of our own. Chapter 1, verse 12, But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
You see that glorious truth and central truth. that it is that we are born of God. That is later in our focus this morning when we look at regeneration and renewal. All of that to say, you see, a man can never say, a husband can never say, oh, you know, in that great day my wife's faith will be enough for me. You may never have heard that before, but people have said that before.
You know, if I don't give time to Christianity in my life, God on that Great day, we'll see the faith of my family member, my father, my mother, my wife, my husband, my children, whatever it may be, and he'll wink at my sin and allow me into the Celestial City. What a colossal folly. What insanity. To reject God, to reject His Christ, to reject the overtures in the Gospel of such a salvation, and to say that someone else will save me, but me and my rebellion, unto that final day, can stand strong and yet be covered by the faith of another individual.
Madness and the insanity of man is demonstrated in their various ways of rejecting the gospel of grace. We are not saved by ourselves. It is not of him who runs. It is not of him who wills.
But it is of God who shows mercy. So salvation is negatively not by works of righteousness. But
According to His Mercy He Saved Us
working back now to our texts, if you can Find your way back to Titus 3 in verse 5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. So secondly, we have the positive statement, but according to His mercy, He saved us. Those wonderful B-U-T, buts, of scripture that come to us, bringing us the clarity of what the author is setting before his recipients. but according to His mercy He saved us. Speaking here of God the Father, it's notable to observe that we have in this text triune salvation, don't we?
We have a triune God. We don't have a vague and ambiguous notion of a deity out there, but God who has revealed Himself to us as the only living and true God, And in this divine and infinite being, there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided. And in our text, we have God the Father, demonstrated by the fact that Jesus Christ, the phrase, through Jesus Christ our Savior, is later used. And we have what as well?
We have regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Our Bibles come to us as a revelation of a triune God. Our salvation comes to us as a salvation from a triune God. Father, Son, Holy Ghost, unto the praise of the glorious grace of our great God.
So again, second, we have this positive statement, but according to His mercy, He saved us. Very simply, rehearsing an ABC of Christianity, salvation is of the Lord. Oh, preacher, let's move beyond those oft repeated phrases and contents of sermons, and let's move on to something else, something deeper. Open up to us the bowls of wrath and the seven trumpets of revelation.
There is a wholesome place to touch upon those texts of scripture. God has revealed to us that language, those things. But there is blessed and wholesome repetition to this observation. that salvation is of the Lord. Hopefully, I've been told that I'm not the prettiest looking thing to look at when preaching or discussing.
I had a man down, and this is what I'm getting at, I had a man down in Mansfield say to me, you missed your calling as a cage fighter. And what I'm getting at is I have this bald head, I have these pointy eyebrows that my kids often say, you know, are you mad at me or something? No, it's just my eyebrows. I tend to have this mean-looking face.
I apologize. Don't have the nicest smile. You know, I'm 6'2", 260-pound guy gripping a pulpit and speaking about the Bible and Jesus Christ. But hopefully you understand hiding behind this cage-fighter face is a heart that loves our Jesus.
A heart that loves our truth. A heart that sometimes does issue forth in a smile. A heart that as a pastor wants you to be bombarded by the wholesome repetition that salvation is not by the works of the law but according to His mercy He saved us. Because that steals away any human boasting and it puts boasting in its proper place.
Let he who glories Glory in this, that he understands and knows me, God says. That he understands and knows the triune God and the Christ of the Christian's profession. Salvation is of the Lord. Psalm 3, 8 speaks clearly to this.
But turn to the book of Revelation, chapter 7, because we see the gathered assembly there. We see the angels. We see the four living creatures rendering doxology to God and rehearsing This very thing, salvation is of the Lord. Notice what we find in Revelation 7, beginning at verse 9.
After these things, I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to the Lord who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, Amen. Blessing and honor, excuse me, blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
You see, those seraphim, flew before the glory of the pre-incarnate Christ, covering with two wings their eyes, covering with two wings their feet, and flying with the other two, and singing out day and night, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory, did not do that with anything rising up in them of the contribution of men in the economy of salvation. Would not there be a verse in the hymn book of the angelic host that included man? Were there, in whole or in part, any contribution on his part to the scheme of salvation? But no, they fly day and night singing glory to God in the highest.
In fact, Spurgeon on that passage in Luke 2.14 writes, the angels sang glory to God in the highest. They believe in no doctrine which uncrowns Christ and puts the crown upon the head of mortals. They believe in no system of faith which makes salvation dependent upon the creature and which really gives the creature the praise. For what is it less than for a man to save himself? if the whole dependence of salvation rests upon his own free will.
No, my brethren, they may be some preachers that delight to preach a doctrine that magnifies man, but in their gospel, angels have no delight. The only glad tidings that made the angels sing are those that put God first, God last, God midst, and God without end in the salvation of his creatures. and put the crown holy and alone upon the head of him that saves without a helper. Glory to God in the highest is the angel's song. Pastor Butler read from James 3 and the fact that teachers will incur a stricter judgment on that day.
Those with the responsibility of unfolding, revealing, opening up the word of the living and true God. Very, very heavy, very serious responsibility. Woe to that one who calls himself a preacher, opens up a doctrine that man can, whether in whole or in part, be saved by his works of righteousness. Woe to that man.
On that great day, shepherding a flock, bringing to bear some perverted gospel that we can merit our own salvation, giving them reason to boast, giving them reason to pat themselves on the back, giving them reason to tighten their tie, to polish their shoes and walk into a church and have this air of pride because they've done their deed. They've done their work. They've been living a polished Christian life, not outwardly but inwardly, clapping, giving themselves a standing ovation. Woe to the preacher who fosters that sort of disposition on the part of the congregation.
Rather, we come to you, preachers come to you, and we say that there is nothing in us wherewith we can boast. There is nothing in us that we can set before God and say, Lord God, accept me by virtue of this and that and the other thing. Yes, even Christ. Yes, even the Lord Jesus Christ.
He did something for me, but I have done this. I have done that. I have done the other thing. One of the worst interpretation, well, the worst, a bad interpretation of that Matthew 7 passage.
Jesus says, depart from me for I never knew you. Those were coming to him saying, Jesus, we've cast out demons in your name, done many mighty miracles and works in your name. You see, the problem is Pastor Butler proclaimed in his sermon on that more than once. The problem there is not that they didn't do enough to merit entrance into the celestial city, but rather, They're arguing for entrance based upon their own works.
Look what I've done. Jesus, judge of heaven and earth. Look what I've done. Have I not done this?
Have I not done that? Depart from me, you wicked, into the lake of fire reserved for the devil and his angels. You see, it's when we come, when we naked come to the Savior, when we come nothing, with nothing in our hands, but rather clinging, to that blessed and bloody cross, when we come leaning solely and alone upon the saving work of Jesus Christ and say, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. That's what Jesus wants his audience to understand.
It's not you, it's me. It's not the law of God by which you are saved, but my perfection of obedience to it and my bearing of the laws, curse and demands for you. salvation, not by the works of the law, not by works of righteousness, but according to his mercy he saved us. And ought not we sing of the mercy of God with fallible and sometimes tuneless tongues until that great day when we sing with perfect tongues of the mercy of God forever and ever. Moving back to Titus chapter 3, back to Titus chapter 3 because we want to look now, and actually before we move on to the nature of salvation,
Application: Boasting Excluded, God Glorified
let's consider two things here by way of application for our first point, the one at work in salvation. Firstly, having a right view of salvation eliminates boasting in ourselves. Doesn't it? Having a right view of salvation eliminates boasting in ourselves.
Where then is boasting, the Apostle Paul writes, it's excluded. God forbid that we should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Having a right view of salvation eliminates boasting in ourselves. There may be some out there who enjoy boasting in themselves, but I fear you are, of course, doing it with an unregenerate heart.
We don't come before the bar of divine justice, before the justice and holiness of a perfect God, before the infinite solemnity of His law, the gravity and severity of that law, before a Savior who saves us from that law's curse and boasts in our own righteousness and in our own works. We heap dung upon that God. We heap dung upon His holiness and justice. We heap dung upon that law and upon that savior.
Having a right view of salvation secondly promotes boasting in God. Isn't that what we're supposed to do? Boast in our God? Let not the rich man glory in his riches.
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the strong man glory in his strength, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me. What follows after that is language of the eternal loving kindness and mercy of God and the forgiveness of sins. We rejoice in our God, we boast in Him, giving no quarter to boasting in the flesh.
What is it to boast in our own deeds, but to sew supplemental and dung-stained fabric upon the perfect robes of righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ? What a high crime against our perfect Christ to say that His robes washed in the crimson of His own blood and placed upon us as our righteousness must be supplemented by a patchwork of our own deeds. Spurgeon was right. Salvation by works, a criminal doctrine.
The Nature of Salvation
Moving on then to the nature of salvation, notice what we find in our text again. reading beginning in verse five, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
Regeneration and Renewal
The nature of salvation first is seen in regeneration. Now, kids, if you're out there and you've heard this term a lot, regeneration, what does that mean? Is this just a big word that preachers like to use, you know, to toss around their theological weight? It's a word in our Bibles, isn't it?
Through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration simply means, in the words of Christ, to be born again, to be made alive again, or to be brought forth again. And it underscores the nature of salvation being what we have already touched upon, of the Lord alone. Because we must be made alive, being dead in trespasses and sins, we must be regenerated, that is, we must be made alive, we must be brought forth again by grace, by sovereign, free, amazing, and victorious grace.
This washing of regeneration is not, of course, baptism. This isn't literal water. This isn't the ordinance or sacrament of baptism that is in view, that we must be baptized in water before we are or to be saved. But rather, this washing of regeneration speaks to the operation of the Holy Spirit, ineffectual calling, whereby God makes us, moves us, translates us from being dead in our trespasses and sins to being alive in Christ by his grace alone. and for His glory alone.
This is announced in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 36. Turn there with me. Let's get our fingers. We should always hopefully have our fingers at the ready.
The preacher is in the pulpit. Open up our Bibles to go to various places because in our Bibles we have consent of hearts. In our Bibles we have efficacy of doctrine. In our Bibles we have heavenliness of the matter.
And we ought to very frequently bounce back and forth to passages in Holy Writ in order to set forth the glory of God in salvation. And notice what we have in Ezekiel 36 and verse 22, speaking with regards to this, not idea, this blessed truth of being regenerated, the washing of regeneration. Notice what the prophet writes, verse 22, chapter 36. Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy namesake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. And the nation shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean.
I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them.
Isn't this the promise of the New Covenant? Isn't this the promise of the announcement in Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34 as well? God, in His sovereignty, in His glory, in His mercy and grace, sends forth His Spirit in His appointed and accepted time to make alive dead sinners, to fill them with His Spirit so that they will walk in His statutes. It is not the walking in His statutes that merits for us this salvation, but rather His saving grace fully and alone, that causes us to walk in His statues.
All of that to say, this language of the washing of regeneration we see, I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean. Not literal water, but figurative water in the form of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, making us dead sinners alive to the praise, the glory of God's grace. Moving back to the book of Titus, If you're able to do that quickly, find yourself back in Titus chapter 3. Again, regeneration.
Jesus uses this language in John 3. You must be born again before you can see the kingdom of God. Peter repeats his master's language in 1 Peter 1 when he says, we've been born again, not by corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. You see, the power and the strength behind salvation, behind regeneration, it's not by a corruptible seed, it's not by an earthen human seed of some sort, but it's of a heavenly and incorruptible seed, the power of God Most High, through the power of the Holy Spirit, causing dead sinners to be regenerated, made alive in Christ Jesus.
Paul uses the language of, though you were dead in your trespasses and sins, Ephesians 2, God, according to His mercy, made you alive in Christ Jesus. By grace, you have been saved." James uses the language. If you'll remember our reading, if you'll remember your own reading in James, we have been brought forth by the Word of Truth, by the will of God. Of His will, He brought us forth by the Word of Truth.
That blessed doctrine of regeneration, again, we ought not to fear words longer than one or two syllables. Those words are in our Bibles. Regeneration. Justification.
Oh, these three-syllable and four-syllable words. Blessed long and deep words. Regeneration. God, in his appointed and accepted time, makes us alive for his glory's sake in Christ Jesus, the Lord.
The Bible here in Titus 3 also uses the language God does in his word of renewing of the Holy Spirit. Now, some come to this portion, this phrase, this portion of the text, and they say perhaps it is something different than this regeneration. Perhaps it is moral reform that follows in progressive sanctification. Romans 6 does speak by the fact that those who are justified are marked by newness of life.
We live and we walk in newness of life. But it is probably a reiteration of the fact of regeneration, bringing forth the operator, if you will, of the Holy Spirit. John Gill writes, or rather it means the same thing, renewal, with regeneration, and is added partly as explanative of the washing of regeneration, showing that that is no other than the new creature, the new man, the new heart, the new spirit, formed in the soul in the effectual calling. and partly to observe that the Holy Ghost is the author of it. Now it is in this way God saves his people, namely by regenerating and renewing them.
And this is the first appearance and discovery of the love of God to them. Hopefully, brethren, an application of this is that you often go back to a rehearsal of, as Spurgeon said, of when God first began with you and when you first began with God. Right. Hopefully you might not be able to pinpoint the month, the week, the day, the hour, the minute, the second.
But hopefully you can recall that time where you knew that you have been brought from the sewer, from the miry pit, from that place of being dead in trespasses and sins to that blessed place by God's grace, being found as a new man with the spirit regenerated, made alive in Christ Jesus. Do you speak fondly or do you, you know, recollect fondly of who you were before God met you by grace and glory? Do you miss the days when you were found to be such a rebel sinner? Probably not.
With a regenerate heart, you don't miss those days at all, do you? These texts call, they prick our hearts, hopefully, drag you back in a wholesome way to that place where God first began with you. Blessed regeneration, blessed renewal by the Holy Spirit, blessed act of victorious grace where we're no longer the enemies of Jesus, but friends of our Redeemer. It's seen in regeneration, it's seen in renewal, and notice seen in the text,
Justification by Grace
it's also comprehended in justification, the nature of salvation, Notice what we read here, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The blessed doctrine of justification. Never fear. Fear is not the best word, but never walk away from those times where you can solemnly and joyfully reflect upon these doctrines that have more than one or two syllables, even the one or two syllables.
You know what I mean. People hear these words like justification, which again is a biblical word, and those opposed to doctrine and those opposed to what we're so used to hear, a deep reflection upon those things gloriously revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. Oh, give us not the big words and just let us bask in the effervescent petals of an ethereal and mysterious love. Silly, silly desire.
We should, with regenerate hearts, desire after, long for the meat of God's word. Give us these big words. Define them, please, preacher. Give us these big words so that we might glory in our God, our triune God, and in the Christ, our Savior, the Redeemer of men.
Justification. Justification is an act of God's free grace. wherein he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. Our justification comes not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy and grace, he has justified us, that is, declared us righteous by virtue of the finished and perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ, his righteousness imputed to us, received by faith alone, imputed What does that mean, preacher? Credited to us, accounted to us, given to us.
It is not our righteousness, but rather it is imputed. Christ is given to us, accredited to us, accredited to us. It's not an as-if righteousness. It is a true and real righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, given to us and laid hold of by faith alone.
Glorious gospel. If you don't know what these words are, again, hopefully the preacher brings them up and defines them, but if you come across some words and some phrases as the preacher goes on, as the preacher teaches in the morning hour, wherever it may be, the Bible study, open up a book. Oh, I don't know what that means. I'm now gonna depart to ignorance.
Open up a book, ask the preacher, ask someone, what's this word? What's this idea? What's this truth getting at? Have your mind satisfied, your heart glory, the truth, God most high, the nature of salvation, regeneration, renewal, justification.
And just a brief application here. We need to have a right view of the seriousness of sin so that we might proper relish in the glory of salvation. You see, if we have a wrong view of sin, we have this idea that there may be some way by which we might justify ourselves and and gain salvation. By the merit of our own deeds, that is looking at sin with some rose-tinted glasses, isn't it?
Sin's not as bad as it is. Perhaps God will, you know... You see, the doctrine of regeneration, the modern doctrine of that, by pulpits that do not, that are not alit by flames of righteousness, is motivation. You know, motivation replaces regeneration.
People aren't dead in their trespasses and sins. They don't need regeneration. They're just a little maimed. They just need a little nudge.
They just need to be motivated. They're just lazy and perhaps a little slothly in their daily movements in this lower world, and they just need a gentle push by a limp-wristed preacher. There is no doctrine of motivation in the scheme of salvation by a God of infinite justice. There is a doctrine of regeneration.
Sin is so bad that we need the victorious grace of the triune God to reach down into that sewer of our hearts and make us alive in Christ Jesus. By grace, you have been saved. The foundation of salvation as we move to a close here. Thirdly, the foundation of our salvation.
Notice what the text says here. through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. That is the foundation of our salvation, isn't it? Jesus Christ, our Savior. You know, a rehearsal of Ephesians 1, 3 to 14 isn't a rehearsal of some Pauline, cold, dogmatic, apologetic for Calvinism.
It is that, not cold, but it is an apologetic for Calvinism. But it's doxology. Paul is worshiping God the Father for the perfect work of Father, Son and Holy Ghost in the salvation of sinners. And what is the phrase that is so oft repeated in him, in Christ, in the beloved?
We don't find the glory of our salvation in us, in our works of righteousness. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope. This is 1 Peter 1 now. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.
In Christ Jesus, he is the foundation for our salvation. This ought to bring us to the reality that it is Christ alone who saves. Spurgeon writes this on Christ and what he has done. My soul hangs for time and eternity.
And if your soul also hangs there, it will be saved as surely as mine shall be. And if you are lost trusting in Christ, I will be lost with you and will go to hell with you. I must do so, for I have nothing else to rely upon but the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lived, died, and was buried, rose again, went to heaven, and still lives and pleads for sinners at the right hand of God. You're never, never in a bad place when you are resting solely and alone by faith upon such a blessed Savior and such a perfect work of salvation.
Spurgeon is absolutely right. The foundation of our salvation is Jesus Christ and the exclusivity of Jesus Christ, that means nothing else. Kids, exclusivity, there's another big word. Preacher, define that for me.
It means nothing else applies here. Salvation exclusively of Jesus Christ. Exclusivity of Jesus Christ for our Christian perseverance and assurance. When we sin, as with regenerate hearts, when we stumble and fall, when we sin, We have that remaining corruption.
So when we are not doing as we ought, when we are not worshiping as we ought, when we are not dwelling upon Christ as we ought, when we, with langer and coldness of our hearts, wander away a bit from reflections, recollections of such a Savior, what do we do? Well, start working. Start doing deeds of righteousness so that I might feel better about myself. so that God will accept me. If he accepts you through Jesus Christ in salvation and for his glory at the beginning of your walk with Christ, later on when you stumble and fall, is it because you're great and because you have reformed yourself?
No, look, just like you did in the beginning, look and live, look and walk. You stumble and you fall. When we sin, we have an advocate with God our own deeds and our own merits. Now, when we sin, we have an advocate with God, the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous and just one.
We fly immediately to that fount of salvation, Jesus Christ, the Lord.
The Certainty of Salvation
The certainty of salvation, our last and final point. Very briefly notice what the text says in verse seven, that having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Salvation is certain is the last point, the certainty of salvation. The certainty of our salvation is brought out beautifully by our confession, and I don't know it by heart, maybe I should, but in chapter 17, if you want to look at the blessed certainty of salvation, chapter 17 and paragraph 2, our perseverance depends not upon our own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the merit and intercessory work of Jesus Christ, our Mediator, upon the sealing and guaranteeing of the Holy Spirit, and the perfection of the covenant of grace.
You see, our certainty of salvation depends not upon works of righteousness, which we have done, but on the perfect and final work of the Triune God, by His grace, for His glory, executed in time and in history by the perfect work of the Savior applied in time and history by the Holy Spirit to our souls and kept unto that great day by his grace and again for his glory. The certainty of salvation been justified by grace that we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. We have that inheritance reserved for us in heaven.
Application to Believers
Christian, if you're here this morning, listen to some preaching for 53 minutes. Hopefully, in some small way, your hearts are warmed by someone who missed his calling as a cage fighter, but is now a preacher of the living and true God and who rejoices in that. Hopefully you rejoice in such a salvation by such a God. I've said this often, I know you don't have to smile outwardly.
The preacher's eyes, cat, you know, look, lands upon various faces in the audience. You don't have to smile outwardly. hopefully you have a regenerate heart, a renewed heart, hopefully inwardly hid behind a straight mouth, not a frowning mouth, a straight mouth, rejoicing in our Christ, rejoicing in our God, rejoicing in the gospel of free and sovereign grace. Let these truths arouse in you the stuff to daily have your hearts warmed and secured in Christ Jesus, the foundation of all salvation. So you go into this upcoming work and hopefully live for his glory, daily reflect upon the perfection of his work.
Call to the Unbeliever
Now you're out there this morning and you're an unbeliever. You stay with me for a moment. You don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You've said perhaps in your own hearts this morning, yeah, I got to go to church.
Yeah, I'll go to church. I don't believe in this Christ. I don't know this God. Maybe your parents forced you to come.
You're out there, you're weary, you're tired, you're looking in other directions, you're glancing at the watch, you're turning your head back to see when this preacher's going to finish preaching so I can go home and do whatever. You need to know what rests behind the truths that we just read this morning, is a God infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His justice and holiness, who cannot look upon your sin with a favorable eye, who does not wink at your sin and turn the other way, but rather observes the wickedness of men in the earth, and his justice and holiness is hot, and his wrath is heavy. And there will be a day of recompense coming. You might not think it comes.
You work very hard to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. There is no vacation for an atheist. Oh, he might be able to go to the beaches of Hawaii, but each and every day he suppresses in a full-time job, the truth of God, His righteousness and His glory. You may be rejecting the God of hot justice, but there will be a day of recompense coming where it will be too late.
Where it will be too late. It's been appointed for men to die once and then the judgment. Let that not bounce off your ears, but go inside and steal away the calm and the peace that you have forced upon your heart in trying to suppress the truth. Let it horrify you that there is a day coming of judgment and justice.
Let's move forward to a hypothetical future. You die having daily, having Sunday in and Sunday out rejected this gospel, rejected this Christ. You die and you enter in not to an eternity of bliss in the celestial city, but an eternity of horrible darkness, fiery torment. The only banner that flies in hell is an eternal Ichabod.
There is no glory of God here. There is the justice and the holiness of God in the heat of the fire and in the blackest darkness. And you see another banner as well, actually. Damned for all eternity.
Speaks to your soul. It horrifies you. You can't turn your head back and look at a clock because there is no clock on the walls of hell. There is no end.
It's an eternal blackness, an eternal darkness. What's so ugly about this Savior who is the foundation of our salvation? Fly to Him. Go to Him.
Don't be stolen away by the forms of idolatrous things in this lower world. The female form catches your eye, and your lustful heart latches onto that, onto a fiery hell. The form of a man. feeds the lust of your heart, and you latch on to that unto a fiery hell. No God can tell me not to fornicate.
The form of other things catch your eye and latch on to your heart and steal you away unto a fiery torment for eternity. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Lean not upon anything but the Lord Jesus Christ. Owning Him as your Savior, rejoicing in Him, He is the beautiful of the most beautiful.
All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Yet those who have come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Lord, by grace, through faith, they need not have horror of heart. They're not pricked to find a horror in their future. But the blessed bliss of everlasting life in heaven, in the celestial city, with Christ, where they will sing with the angels, salvation is of the Lord.
Blessing and honor and glory be unto our God, unto the Lamb, forever and ever. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you do not have a future of horror, but a future of everlasting life being found as an heir of it. Let's close in prayer.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the Savior. We sing the praises of his grace and of his glory. We thank you for his finished work, for his perfect work of salvation. We thank you, Lord God, that you have called those in this congregation, the saints of Christ, that you've called us out of darkness into marvelous light.
You've called us from deadness and sin to life and light in Christ Jesus. By grace, we have been saved. We pray that you would help us to reflect always upon the perfection of salvation. It does not come from us, but rather from God alone, that our salvation is by grace through faith in such a blessed Savior.
We do pray, God, for those here this morning outside of Christ in unbelief, that they would not rest and stay and dangle, having not believed, but rather they would believe by your grace and for your glory, that you would cause them to rejoice in the Savior, to no longer find their greatest companion, the lower pleasures of sin in this world, but rather that they would find as their blessed companion, a risen and exalted Christ. Having been perfect in his work unto you, the Father, having been crucified upon Calvary's tree, he rose again with great victory and now sits ascended at your right hand. Might we all, because it is possible only with you, might we all leave this place singing the praises of our great God, the glory of his name. Be with us, Lord God, now as we go.
Might we live in this lower world unto your glory, unto your praise, bringing no reproach upon your word of the gospel, knowing that we've been saved. by such a gospel and by such amazing grace. We pray in Christ Jesus' name, amen. Why don't we sing, if we can, Julie, if we can stand and sing the doxology together, if you'll stand with me. It's Roman numeral 16, I believe, in your Trinity hymnal, but let's stand together and sing the doxology. ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise him, all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Praise him above the heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ 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