Share This Episode
Renewing Your Mind R.C. Sproul Logo

Grace in Providence

Renewing Your Mind / R.C. Sproul
The Truth Network Radio
August 30, 2024 12:01 am

Grace in Providence

Renewing Your Mind / R.C. Sproul

On-Demand Podcasts NEW!

This broadcaster has 1850 podcast archives available on-demand.

Broadcaster's Links

Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.


August 30, 2024 12:01 am

God’s electing love for us in eternity meets us in the providence of history. Today, Steven Lawson continues his study of the Lord’s sovereign grace in Romans to hone in on irresistible grace and the perseverance of the saints.

Get Steven Lawson’s two teaching series Foundations of Grace: Old and New Testament on DVD, plus lifetime digital access to both series and their study guides, for your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3537/foundations-of-grace

Meet Today’s Teacher:
 
Steven Lawson is founder and president of OnePassion Ministries in Dallas. He is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow, professor of preaching and dean of D.Min. studies at The Master’s Seminary, and teacher for the Institute for Expository Preaching. He is author of many books, including The Passionate Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Knox: Fearless Faith, and The Moment of Truth.
 
Meet the Host:
 
Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children.

Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

COVERED TOPICS / TAGS (Click to Search)
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

All who are chosen are called, and when they are called, they come. None who are chosen will fail to be called by God to Himself. It's the inseparable welding together of these different links in God's golden chain of salvation. As Paul reminds us in Romans 3, no one seeks for God.

No one does good, not even one. Since no one seeks for God, how is it then that anyone is saved? How is it that if you're a Christian, you now follow God and not the ways of the world? That'll be our topic today on this Friday edition of Renewing Your Mind. Stephen Lawson has been with us all week looking at the fall of humanity and God's gracious and sovereign work of redeeming a people for himself, as revealed in the pages of the New Testament. And it's from his series, Foundations of Grace. And today is the final day to request both the New Testament and Old Testament volumes of that series, 38 messages in total, when you give a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org.

So don't delay, as this offer ends at midnight. Well, finishing this week in the Book of Romans, here's Dr. Lawson on the calling and preserving grace of God. In this session, we want to continue to look at the doctrines of grace in the Book of Romans. And as we begin to dig into some verses, just by way of introduction, I want to remind us that the Book of Romans is the first epistle placed into the canon of Scripture.

It was not the first epistle in the New Testament to be written, but it is intentionally placed here because arguably it is the most important. This was Paul's magnum opus. This was his theological masterpiece. If we are to master any epistle in the New Testament, it has to be the Book of Romans. This is where Paul lays out his theological foundation for our understanding of how salvation works.

Now, we've already looked at total depravity. In this session, I want us to look now at the effectual call, the sovereign call of God and the preserving grace of God. As you have your Bible, turn with me to Romans 1. Romans 1 and verse 6, at the very outset of this book, Paul introduces us to the call of God. In fact, he identifies all true believers as those who are called.

In fact, that's what the word church means, the called out ones, ekklesia. And so here in Romans 1, in the prologue, Paul began talking in verse 1 about the gospel of God, centered in his son, verses 3 and 5. And now as we come to verse 6, we learn that God guarantees the success of all gospel preaching. That God guarantees the success of the fulfillment of the Great Commission. That as the gospel is proclaimed, God will call out his chosen ones to faith in Jesus Christ.

And so in verse 6, we read, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. This call here refers to God's internal call by which he apprehends the one who is called and draws them to faith in Jesus Christ. This call overcomes the resistance of the sinner. We all, like sheep, have gone astray.

Each one of us has turned to his own way. There is none who seeks after God, no, not one. And so when the gospel is preached, the person who is at Christ continues to run away from Christ. And so God must call and apprehend. Now, when I preach the gospel, that's referred to as the external call.

But I can only bring the gospel to your ear. There must be the internal call of God that goes from the ear to the heart and really lays hold of the sinner and draws them to faith in Christ. This call is in reality a summons.

It's even stronger than that. It's a subpoena by which God apprehends the one called. He overcomes the resistance and they become trophies of his grace. This call will never go unanswered.

This call will never be resisted. If you'll come to Romans chapter 8, a text that we looked at in our last session, verses 29 and 30, this text with which you are so familiar. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. Verse 30, and these whom he predestined, here we are, he also called. And these whom he called, he also justified.

And then he will say, he also glorified. The group that God began with in eternity past is the group that God concludes with in eternity future. There are no dropouts along the way.

There are no additions along the way. And the first two take place in eternity past, those whom he foreknew and predestined. The next two take place within time. The last one takes place in eternity future, those who are glorified. Well, within time, he calls and he justifies. And it is the call of God that brings into reality and the life of the one who was chosen in eternity past.

It brings into reality the salvation that Christ has purchased for them upon the cross. This call is so loud. It's not an actual voice that we hear.

It's much louder than that. It is the power of God that brings the one who is chosen into the kingdom of God. This is God's doing. He will say more about this in Romans chapter 9, but to bring this to your attention again, I want you to note how inseparably bound together, God's sovereign choice and his effectual call are coupled together. In Romans 9 verse 11, we read, For though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to his choice would stand, not because of works, but because of him who calls. All who are chosen are called, and when they are called, they come. None who are chosen will fail to be called by God to himself. It's the inseparable welding together of these different links in God's golden chain of salvation. In fact, we see the same again in verse 23 and 24 of Romans 9. And he did so to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom he also called, not only from among Jews, only from among Gentiles. Here in this chapter that is all about God's sovereign election, we read in verse 24 that he also calls those who are chosen.

This is wonderful. This is the binding together of God's sovereign purposes. They cannot fail. They cannot falter.

They cannot fail to come to pass. Let me say it again. All whom he chose in eternity past will be called within time. Now, we were all chosen at one moment in eternity past. We are called at individual times according to God's providence in our life. Some of you were called many years ago. Some of you have been called very recently. Some of you were called in church. Some of you were called at home.

Some of you were called at a conference or at a camp. The timing will change. The place will change. But it is the inevitable bringing home to our hearts the gospel of Christ and the granting of saving repentance and faith to believe in this gospel.

Well, that is his effectual call. Now, we would ask the question, will those who are called and come into the kingdom, will they always stay in the kingdom? Will any exit the kingdom who have entered the kingdom? And the answer to that is no, that God will preserve by his grace all whom he calls, and they are just as certain for heaven the moment they believe as though they have already been there 10,000 years. So, I'm going to have you look one more time at Romans 8, verse 29 and 30.

I'm sure you already have it memorized, but for sure you'll have it memorized now. This is as wonderful as it can be for us to study this. So those whom he foreknew and predestined, that was an eternity past, verse 29, he also called and justified, that is within time. These he also glorified, that is an eternity future. Now, would you please note the verb tense for glorified? It doesn't say will be glorified.

It's actually an aorist tense verb that is translated as a past tense verb, and this is very intentional on the part of the Apostle Paul. And it indicates that this is so certain, our future glorification, it is as though it has already come to pass. It is as though the reality has already transpired in our lives, and Ephesians does tell us we're already seated with Christ in heavenly places. This is the truth of the eternal security of the believer. Now, some people call it once saved, always saved, once called, always called, and always kept by the Lord. And the perseverance of the saints goes even further, that not only are we eternally secure in Christ, but the one who is called will pursue holiness, and there will be a change in their life, and they will bear the fruit of repentance, and they will grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. They will persevere in the faith. This is such a wonderful truth. We see it again as long as we're here in Romans 8, and why leave Romans 8?

This is a wonderful place to be. Beginning in verse 35, Paul reinforces what he has just told us. He said, who will separate us from the love of Christ? And to be separated from the love of Christ is in reality to be separated from Christ himself. So, can a believer ever be separated from Christ? Can a believer ever become an unbeliever? Can a believer ever fall away from their confession of Christ?

And the answer is no. Now, you may know someone who once committed their life to Christ, or supposedly committed their life to Christ, prayed a prayer, joined a church, and then we never see them again, and someone would say, well, see, they lost their salvation. No, they were never saved to begin with. The faith that thistles before the finish had a flaw from the first, okay? That was a bogus faith that they had. It wasn't a genuine, real, saving faith that God gives to those whom he calls. Well, here in verse 35, we see the impossibility of any believer ever being separated from Christ, or being separated from the love of Christ. So, he asks this question, who will separate us from the love of Christ? Well, tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword.

And as he pulls together that list, he tries to think of every force that could be brought to bear upon a human soul that would cause that faith to crack and to disintegrate. Persecution, famine, sword, being led to a martyr's stake. So, he says in verse 36, just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long.

We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. So, he reinforces the possibility, even the probability, that we will suffer much affliction in this world. I mean, Paul does say, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

There's a promise to put on your refrigerator. We will be persecuted in this world. Will it ever separate us from Christ? Well, notice what he says in verse 37, but in all these things, we, and the we refers to all believers. It refers to all who are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified. We overwhelmingly conquer, not just that we conquer, but that we are given all sufficient grace that sustains us in those moments when we are, our medal is put into the fire. We overwhelmingly conquer through Him, not through us, through Him who loved us. And it's also worth noting that there's only one verse in the Bible in the New Testament where it says Jesus loves us right now.

It's always in the past tense. Looking back to the cross as the greatest demonstration of Christ's love for us, and here we see that again. So now verse 38, for I am convinced, and you and I need to be convinced of this as well. This needs to be an anchor for our soul.

We're not just dogmatic about this, we're bulldogmatic about this, okay? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, that pretty much covers the field, doesn't it? For neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, that refers to not just the visible world in which we live, that refers to the invisible world of angels and demons. For things present, nor things to come, that pretty much covers the field, doesn't it? Nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor any other created thing. And that last little addition there, any other created thing, that's just open-ended.

Anything else that could come into your mind, anything else that you could think of. This is an all-inclusive, comprehensive statement of any pressure, any force that would be brought to bear against your soul and your life. Could it ever pry you loose out of the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, here's the answer. Or any other thing, will it be able to separate us from the love of God?

The answer is no. It will never separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is how eternally secure that we are in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Though our body is here on the earth, in reality our future home in heaven that is awaiting us, it is guaranteed that we will arrive there one day. So, this is the eternal security that we have. And if you turn back to Romans 5, I just happen to think of this verse. Romans 5 and verses 1 and 2, we see again something of our eternal security that we have in Christ. In verse 1 of Romans 5, therefore having been justified by faith. Remember we read that in Romans 8 verse 30, those whom he called, he justified. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And this is what justification does. We were previously at war with God. We were at enmity with God. But I'll tell you what's even worse, God was at war with us.

God is angry with the wicked every day, the Bible says. But through the act of justification, we now have peace with God. We now are friends of God. We are sons and daughters of God. We are now accepted in the beloved.

So, for how long will we be in this state of being at peace with God? Well, verse 2 will tell us, through whom, that refers to Jesus Christ, also we have obtained our introduction by faith. Your translation may say access into this grace. And this grace refers to the fullness of every aspect of his saving grace. Notice what he says, in which we stand. We are made to stand in grace. And we will never fall from grace. And we will never be removed from this grace. We are made to stand in this grace, and it is in this grace that forever we will stand.

And he says, we exalt in the hope of the glory of God. The word hope here means a certain expectation of the future. It's not how we so often use the word hope. We say, I hope it doesn't rain this afternoon.

I hope I get what I want on my birthday. I mean, it's a speculative word. But that's not how the Bible uses the word hope. When the Bible uses the word hope, it speaks of a certainty about the future, a present expectation that we have that something in the future will come to pass. That's why the second coming of Christ is referred to as the blessed hope. Well, here this says that we have a certain expectation of the future of something.

And what is that? The hope of the glory of God. That one day we will stand face to face in the very presence of God. We will behold His glory. We will see Christ as He is. And we will be glorified, as Romans 8.30 says. Listen, this is our hope.

This is our sure, certain expectation of the future. And what a glorious thing it is to know that nothing can cause this to fail to come to pass. Now, continue to look just for a second in verse 3, and not only this, but we also exalt in, and Paul now brings to bear tribulations. Well, tribulations cause this future glory to not come to pass.

Well, let's read. We exalt in our tribulations. So, how can we rejoice in our tribulations? James 1, 2 says, consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.

Well, you have to know something. And the next word, knowing. That tribulation brings about perseverance. When we go through times of tribulation, it builds up our spiritual muscles. It brings about an endurance and a steadfastness in our faith. We would be weak in our faith without the tribulation. And then he says, and then perseverance, verse 4, proven character. God is using the tribulation to grow us in Christ's likeness and develop proven character.

And notice the outcome of proven character, hope. We're back to where we started. Nothing can shatter the hope that we have in the future of our standing faultless in the very presence of God in heaven because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. We are held in the grip of His grace, and He will never let us go. It's not a matter of me holding onto Him.

It's a matter of Him holding onto me. As Spurgeon said, Noah fell down many times in the ark, but he never once fell out of the ark. And you and I will fall down in the Christian life many times, but we'll never fall out of the Christian life. We'll never fall away from the Christian life because the Lord is the one who holds us in the grip of His hand. And this speaks again of the preserving grace that Paul wants us to know about. You are just as certain for heaven this moment as though you've already been there 10,000 years, if you're in Jesus Christ right now. That was Stephen Lawson finishing this week on Renewing Your Mind, considering the sovereign and gracious work of God in salvation.

I keep reflecting on Dr. Lawson's quote from Charles Spurgeon, Noah fell down many times in the ark, but he never once fell out of the ark. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind, a listener-supported daily outreach of Ligonier Ministries. If you'd like to help expand the reach of Renewing Your Mind, bringing this kind of trusted teaching to people who have never considered the sovereignty of God before, make a donation at renewingyourmind.org, or when you call us at 800 435 4343. And as our way of saying thank you, we'll send you Dr. Lawson's two-volume series, Foundations of Grace, covering both the Old and New Testaments. In addition to the DVDs, you'll receive lifetime streaming access to both series and both study guides. So give your gift now at renewingyourmind.org or by using the link in the podcast show notes.

This is the final day of this offer, so respond today before it ends at midnight. Here's a preview of what you'll hear on Monday. You can't tell me that in the 20th century all of a sudden God quit giving gifts to His people, and it's just that the secularist has all the talent, and the Christian community is working like mad, but they don't have any talent. And I think what it is is that the secular man is out motivating the Christian person. The Christian person is not motivated to excellence. Be sure to join us Monday here on Renewing Your Mind. .
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-08-30 02:38:37 / 2024-08-30 02:47:16 / 9

Get The Truth Mobile App and Listen to your Favorite Station Anytime