Topic
Soteriology
2,239 sermons · All topics
Free Grace Baptist Church - March 20, 2016 AM
Galatians 4:4–5 announces that when the appointed fullness of time arrived, God the Father sent forth his eternal Son — not to become his Son, but as his Son — born of a woman and born under the law. The sermon traces the fourfold structure of the text: the timing of the sending (sovereignly predetermined by God), the fact of the sending (the pre-incarnate Son dispatched from the Father), the condition of the sending (the Son assuming human nature and human legal obligations), and the twofold purpose of the sending (redeeming those under law's condemnation and restoring them to adoptive sonship). Against every religion that offers man a path upward to God, Christianity declares that God came down in the person of the incarnate Son to accomplish what no fallen creature could — perfect obedience to the law's precepts and perfect satisfaction of its penalty — and freely bestows that righteousness on all who believe.
The Defection from the Truth
When the apostle Paul commands Timothy to 'preach the Word' in 2 Timothy 4:2, he immediately supplies the reason: a time is coming when professing Christians will not endure sound doctrine. This sermon expounds 2 Timothy 4:3–5, tracing four sequential steps of doctrinal defection — boredom and apathy toward the truth, heaping up teachers who satisfy itching ears, active turning away from the truth, and final embrace of fables — and sets over against that decline the fourfold call to Timothy: be watchful, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry. The church's responsibility is to receive the truth, recognize its proper mission defined by the marks of the church, and rejoice in the means God has ordained rather than demanding a prescription of its own devising.
Colossians 1:10-14
Paul's prayer in Colossians 1:9–14 reveals what the apostle considered most essential for the people of God: not merely physical welfare, but a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. This study works through the four participial phrases of verses 10–14 — fruitfulness in good works, growth in the knowledge of God, God-wrought patience and long-suffering with joy, and thankfulness — showing how each flows from being filled with the knowledge of God's will. The practical challenge is double: to pray for others in the manner Paul prays, and to examine honestly whether one's own life resembles what Paul prays for.
Free Grace Baptist Church - March 6, 2016 PM
First Peter 2:21-25 sets forth both the description and the result of Christ's redemptive suffering, read against the backdrop of Isaiah 53. The sermon argues that substitutionary atonement — not mere moral example — is the primary ground of the Christian's freedom from sin's penalty and power, and of the believer's recovery to the Shepherd and Overseer of souls. The observance of the Lord's Supper frames and punctuates the exposition, pressing the congregation to meditate upon imputation, the active obedience of Christ, and the sovereign efficacious grace by which straying sheep are returned to the fold.
The Question Concerning Taxes
Matthew 22:15–22 records a trap laid by an unlikely coalition of Pharisees and Herodians who sought to impale Jesus on the horns of a political dilemma: endorse the Roman poll tax and alienate the Jewish populace, or reject it and face a capital charge of sedition. Jesus exposes their hypocrisy, turns their own coin against them, and delivers one of the most compressed and consequential ethical statements in all of Scripture: 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.' The sermon works through the parties, the plan, and the particulars of the question before drawing out the doctrine of two distinct but overlapping spheres of authority — civil and divine — showing that Caesar's jurisdiction is real but bounded, while God's claim on his image-bearers is total and is met only through faith in Christ.
The Suffering Servant
Christ's suffering in 1 Peter 2:21–25 is first and foremost substitutionary atonement, not merely moral example — yet because he bore the sins of his people in his own body on the tree, his conduct under unjust suffering becomes a pattern for servants and all who endure hardship for conscience toward God. Drawing extensively on Isaiah 53, the sermon expounds the sinlessness of Christ as the ground of his perfect sacrifice, the imputation of sin to the sin-bearer, and the definitive freedom from sin's penalty and power that his death secures. The recovery of straying sheep by the chief Shepherd and Overseer is traced to sovereign, efficacious grace — not to any act of the will — calling believers to meditate on these realities as they come to the Lord's Supper.
Of the Church (2LCF 26)
The doctrine of the church, ecclesiology, is inseparable from every other locus of Christian theology: the doctrine of God, Scripture, Christ, and salvation all converge in what the church is and how it is ordered. This session walks through all fifteen paragraphs of 2LCF Chapter 26, tracing a threefold outline — the universal (Catholic) church, Christ as sole head, and the local church — while marking the distinctives of Baptist ecclesiology over against Presbyterian and Episcopalian forms. The governing conviction throughout is that the church is constituted by believers alone, is called and preserved by Christ through Word and Spirit, and is ordered by his appointment for mutual edification, the due administration of ordinances, and the proclamation of the gospel to the world.
The Final Charge to Timothy, Part 1
Paul's final formal charge to the church, delivered through Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1–2, consists of a solemn charge and a specific command: preach the Word. The solemnity of the charge is grounded in the presence of the triune God as divine audience and in the coming judgment of Christ over the living and the dead, which simultaneously weighs on the minister who handles the Word and on the people who will one day stand before God. The command itself, rooted in the image of the herald (Greek kēryx), demands faithful proclamation of the Word — not creative substitutes, not life-coaching, not entertainment — through conviction, rebuke, exhortation, longsuffering, and teaching. The sermon closes with a call for biblical preachers, biblical preaching, and biblical hearers, arguing that the church's abandonment of the pulpit is the root of her contemporary crisis.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Matthew 22:1–14 presents the parable of the wedding feast as a sobering account of divine invitation, human rebellion, and eschatological judgment. The parable unfolds three responses to God's sovereign call — unwillingness, indifference, and violent opposition — each met by the king's patient re-invitation and, ultimately, his righteous wrath. The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 is identified as a visible, covenantal judgment prefiguring the final day when every mouth will be stopped before God. The sermon closes by pressing the imputed righteousness of Christ as the only wedding garment that makes a sinner fit for the feast, and by urging the church to pursue gospel mission with urgency.
2 Samuel 5
2 Samuel 5 presents a 'kingdom collage' — a non-chronological collection of episodes illustrating David's consolidation of rule over all Israel. The chapter traces David's anointing by the northern tribes, his conquest of Jerusalem as both a political and theological watershed (the first mention of Zion), and God's defeat of the Philistines through David as the divine leveler and warrior. Throughout, David functions as a type of Christ: a shepherd-king whose greatness rests entirely on the presence of Yahweh with him, yet whose moral failures point forward to the one perfect shepherd-king, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Free Grace Baptist Church - February 21, 2016 PM
1 Timothy 1:15 — 'This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners' — is expounded as a self-contained creedal summary of the gospel. The sermon moves through three structural heads: the introduction to the creed (its truthfulness and trustworthiness), the creed itself (the person of Christ, the doctrine of the Incarnation, and the certainty of his saving work), and the demonstrable confirmation of the creed in the conversion of Paul as chief of sinners. Hearers are called to rest their assurance not in inward evidences but solely in the finished, effectual work of Christ Jesus, and unbelievers are urged to receive the only Savior who saves to the uttermost.
The Divine Invitation to Eternal Life
Isaiah 55 is a divine summons addressed to sinners without merit or money, calling them to receive the full salvation accomplished by the servant of Yahweh in Isaiah 53. The chapter divides into two movements: an invitation to come to water, wine, and milk — representing a complete and free salvation — and a call to respond in faith and repentance while the Lord may be found. Three reasons ground the call to believe and repent: the incomparable nature of God whose thoughts and ways exceed ours in mercy, the sovereign efficacy of God's word which never returns void, and the promise of eschatological joy, peace, and the reversal of the curse. Believers are exhorted to examine whether they have displaced God with idols, legitimate or otherwise, and unbelievers are pressed with the urgency that the day of access to God will not last forever.
A Sure and Proven Creed
First Timothy 1:15 presents what Charles Spurgeon called 'the whole gospel in one verse' — a faithful saying worthy of all acceptance. This sermon expounds the verse under three headings: the introduction to the creed (its truthfulness and trustworthiness), the creed itself (Christ Jesus as champion, his incarnational coming, and his consummate saving work), and the demonstrable confirmation of the creed in the conversion of the Apostle Paul, the self-declared chief of sinners. Believers are exhorted to ground assurance not in inward experience but solely in the person and finished work of Christ Jesus, the Lord.
Free Grace Baptist Church - February 14, 2016 PM
The Apostle Paul concludes his most confrontational letter with the fullest Trinitarian benediction in the New Testament — the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). This sermon works through each phrase of that blessing, showing why Paul orders the persons of the Trinity as Son, Father, and Spirit: it is only by the grace of Christ that believers may enter into the love of the Father and receive the communion of the Spirit. The benediction is not a reward for good behaviour but a word of gospel pronounced upon an entire fractious congregation, demonstrating that the life of the church must be grounded not in moral resolve but in the being and acts of the Triune God.
Free Grace Baptist Church - February 14, 2016 AM
The Apostle Paul's charge to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:1-2 envisions what this sermon calls 'the long crimson line' — a generational chain of gospel ministry stretching from God's eternal purpose, through the apostles, through faithful ministers, and forward to the next generation until Christ returns. The sermon traces a fivefold pattern: from heaven to Paul to Timothy to faithful men to others who will teach, arguing that this chain is entirely the work of God and not of human initiative. Every member of the church is called to participate — through prayer, identification of gifted men, personal encouragement, and financial support — so that faithful men will be raised up to preach the same pattern of sound words to coming generations.
Free Grace Baptist Church - February 7, 2016 AM
John 20:30-31 contains the Gospel of John's own purpose statement: these things were written that readers might believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they might have life in his name. The sermon examines two realities arising from this statement — first, that God's revelation is deliberate and purposive, disclosing not everything but precisely what is needed for salvation; second, that this revelation is radically Christ-centered, presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of every Old Testament office (prophet, priest, and king) and the sole source of both present spiritual life and eternal life in the age to come. Hearers are called to move from mere doctrinal apprehension to adoration — from theological affirmation to Thomas's confession, 'My Lord and my God' — and those outside of Christ are warned that rejecting so glorious a Savior is the height of human folly.
The Darkness and the Derelict
Mark 15:33–34 presents two interlocked realities at Calvary: the supernatural darkness over the land and the cry of dereliction from the lips of the Son of God. The darkness is both a portent of coming judgment upon the generation that rejected the Lord of glory and a sign of the terrible deprivation the suffering servant endured as God withdrew from Him. The cry — 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' — is examined under four questions: who is crying, why He cries, what He has done, and for whom, establishing that Christ was made the derelict so that all who believe in Him might never themselves be forsaken by God. The sermon closes with exhortations to fear the judgment if you reject Christ, to rest in the assurance that God will never forsake His people, and to never neglect the ordinances — especially the Lord's Supper — through which that assurance is sealed.
The Christocentric Gospel
John 20:30–31 gives the purpose statement for the entire Gospel of John: that readers would believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they would have life in His name. This sermon examines, first, the deliberate divine design behind gospel revelation — that God superintended the inscripturation of Scripture not to disclose all things, but to set forth with clarity the saving knowledge of Christ — and, second, the Christocentric character of that revelation, tracing how the whole of Scripture, from Moses through John, has Christ as its intended terminus. The sermon closes with a direct call to believe on Christ, warning that rejection of such a glorious Savior issues in eternal condemnation, while faith issues in spiritual life now and eternal life in the age to come.
The Incarnation and True Humanity of Christ
Philippians 2:5–11 anchors a study of the incarnation and true humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Drawing on the Nicene, Constantinopolitan, Chalcedonian, and Athanasian creeds together with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, the study traces three aspects of the incarnation — assumption of human nature, the virgin birth, and the union of two natures in one person — before marshalling seven biblical proofs of Christ's full humanity. The central argument throughout is soteriological: the Son of God must be truly and perfectly man, body and soul, yet without sin, because only such a mediator can make propitiation for guilty sinners and be their faithful high priest.
Sola Scriptura: The Bible Alone
Hebrews 1:1–3 opens with the declaration that God has spoken — a claim the author of Hebrews treats not as background noise but as the controlling fact of redemptive history. This sermon works through six attributes of Scripture drawn from those opening verses: its divine source, its authority, its finality in the Son, its intended beneficiaries, its perspicuity, and its sufficiency for faith and life in the new covenant community. The Reformation's sola scriptura is shown to be not a negative protest but a positive testimony: Scripture alone is God's last, best, and sufficient word, complete in Christ, requiring no supplement from tradition, continuing prophecy, or moralistic self-help.
A Tomb for a Testimony
Why was Jesus buried? The burial of Christ, recorded by all four evangelists and confessed in the Apostles' Creed, is far more than narrative filler between the cross and the empty tomb. This exposition of Luke 23:50–56 argues that the burial of Jesus is a historic apologetic for the Christian faith: it proves the reality of the incarnation, illustrates the full depth of his humiliation, certifies that his atoning death was genuine, and serves as the necessary prerequisite for the bodily resurrection. Because Christ sanctified the grave by lying in it, believers may face death and burial without fear, assured that the penalty for sin has been discharged and that bodily resurrection awaits them as it awaited him.
The Deity of Christ
Who is Jesus Christ, and what does Scripture mean when it confesses that He is God? This Bible study on John 1:14–18 opens a series on Christology by examining the deity of Christ from three angles: its precise meaning, the breadth of its biblical testimony, and the doctrinal affirmations necessary for confessing it rightly. The study moves from definitional clarity—ruling out Arian, adoptionist, and Mormon distortions—through exegetical survey of Christ's self-identification, apostolic statements, Old Testament Yahweh texts applied to Christ, and divine attributes predicated of Him, before concluding with four essential affirmations: His essential identity with the Father, His personal eternal distinction as the eternally begotten Son, His unchanging post-incarnation deity, and the specific role His divine nature plays in assuming, personalizing, and sustaining His human nature.
The Vision of the Unrivaled Majesty, Part 2
Isaiah 6:1–7 confronts the reader with the unrivaled majesty of the triune God and the radical grace that answers the creature's ruin. This exposition completes an earlier morning sermon by examining the third point of the passage: the blessed atonement from the altar of the Lord, in which a seraph carries a live coal from the altar to purge Isaiah's unclean lips. Atonement comes from the Lord alone, through sacrifice alone, and it comforts, confirms, and fits the pardoned sinner for renewed service — a pattern illustrated by David in Psalm 51, Peter in John 21, and codified in the 1689 London Baptist Confession chapter 18. Hearers are called to reflect often on the greatness of God, to refuse self-atonement, to use the means of grace faithfully, and to flee to Christ whenever despair lays them low.
The Vision of the Unrivaled Majesty, Part 1
Isaiah 6:1–7 presents a vision of the pre-incarnate Son of God seated on a throne, high and lifted up, attended by seraphim whose sixfold wings signal both the unapproachable holiness of God and the modesty proper to creatures before their Creator. The sermon works through three headings — the vision of the unrivaled majesty, the appropriate response of the son of Amoz, and (deferred to the evening service) the blessed atonement from the altar — arguing that God's holiness is not merely ethical sinlessness but the awful ontological contrast between the divine being and all created existence. The congregation is exhorted to come before God in worship with the sobriety and reverence that such a vision demands, and the unconverted are called to flee to Christ before that same glory becomes the ground of their condemnation.
An Introduction to Christology
What does it mean to study Christ, and why does it matter above every other theological discipline? This introductory Christology study, anchored in John 20:24–31, argues that the doctrine of Christ is not one branch among many but the integrating center of all Christian theology — the terminus of the Old Testament's canonical trajectory, the non-negotiable content of apostolic proclamation, the sole ground of salvation, and the pattern for the believer's practical life. Hearers are called to fill their minds with precise Christological knowledge so that their hearts may be both warmed in worship and guarded against the errors that have always threatened the church's confession of Christ's full deity, full humanity, and undivided person.
The Usefulness of Scripture
Paul's claim in 2 Timothy 3:16–17 that all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable is examined across four categories of usefulness — doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness — before turning to Scripture's specific function in completing and thoroughly equipping the man of God for every good work. The sermon challenges the anti-doctrinal sentiment prevalent in contemporary evangelicalism, arguing that indifference to biblical doctrine is indifference to God himself. Ministers in particular are shown to be completed not by leadership models or charismatic gifts but by deep saturation in the word of God. The hearer is called to approach Scripture not as a duty to discharge but as a daily feast — mining its treasures with diligence and gratitude.
The Parable of the Vineyard, Part 2
Matthew 21:40–46 brings the Parable of the Vineyard to its sobering conclusion: Jesus draws three implications from the parable — the witness of the Old Testament (Psalm 118), the transfer of the kingdom from ethnic Israel to the church composed of Jew and Gentile, and the promise of crushing judgment on all who reject the Messiah. The sermon argues that this transfer of the kingdom is not replacement theology but fulfillment in Christ, the true Israel, in whom all the promises of God find their terminus. The patience of God that runs through the parable is not inexhaustible, and the only refuge from the coming judgment is faith in the Christ who was rejected, crucified, and vindicated as the chief cornerstone.
Free Grace Baptist Church - January 10, 2016 PM
Philippians 3:1–11 presents a threefold encouragement: a charge to rejoice in Christ, a reminder of the spiritual bankruptcy of all fleshly credentials, and a declaration of the surpassing spiritual wealth found in Christ's righteousness alone. The sermon exposes the Judaizing error of mingling works with justification, showing that Paul's own exemplary religious pedigree counted as rubbish when set against the righteousness received through faith in Christ. Justification gives the believer a title to heaven; sanctification, powered by the resurrection, conforms the believer progressively to Christ's image until glorification completes it. The hearer is called to rejoice as a Kingdom citizen, walking in the righteousness not their own that Christ has secured.
Rejoicing in Christ's Righteousness
Philippians 3:1–11 presents Paul's charge to rejoice in Christ's righteousness rather than in any credential of the flesh. The sermon exposes the Judaizing error of mixing works with justification, demonstrates that every fleshly advantage Paul possessed was counted as rubbish compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ, and traces the spiritual wealth found in Christ through justification, sanctification, and the hope of glorification. Hearers are called to rejoice in an alien righteousness received by faith alone, to beware of any teaching that smuggles works into salvation, and to walk as kingdom citizens whose passport is Christ's righteousness imputed to them.
The Parable of the Vineyard, Part 1
Matthew 21:33–39 presents the Parable of the Vineyard, in which Christ identifies himself as the Son sent by the divine Landowner to a covenant people who have repeatedly rejected and killed God's prophets. Drawing on Isaiah 5, Psalm 80, and a range of Old Testament and New Testament texts, the sermon establishes that Israel's religious leaders had filled up the measure of their covenant guilt, and that their rejection of the Son would culminate in the judgment executed upon Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The sermon argues that God's extraordinary patience toward covenant-breakers — patience that extended across centuries of prophetic witness — is designed to provoke repentance, and calls hearers to receive rather than resist the servants of God and to flee to Christ while the call of the gospel stands.