Wow, today was an awesome sermon! Of course I say that every Sunday, but it truly was! I used to hate the idea of TULIP, Calvinism, election, etc. I have studied it more and more since I came to Cornerstone, and did eventually conclude (by the grace of God), that election was biblical. After the sermon today I have no question in my mind. My pastor preached on Rom. 3:27-31. He is preaching expositorily through the book of Romans. Here is what I learned:
I always knew that works could not merit our salvation. I mean, I've read where the bible says that it's by faith alone. Today, however, be it the way my pastor explained things, God opening my eyes, or focusing intently (I think it's all 3), I truly understood more deeply what the bible says when it says "by faith alone, through grace alone".
For so long, I thought that the way to salvation was to live a good life. Wrong, found that out a few years ago when, as Is. 64:6 says, "all my good works are like filthy rags." I still never reconciled the fact that asking someone to accept Jesus into their heart and make the choice to be saved is actually a work on their part to merit salvation. Someone who does this, recalls the date they prayed that prayer as the assurance for their salvation (unbiblical--if you find it let me know). In a sense, that is boasting in a work they did to choose God and be saved. I believe Rom. 3:27-31 opposes that idea completely.
When someone gets saved/justified, God is the one who does it. Not man. Earlier in Romans it says there are "none who are good." I've also read that "none seek the Lord." How is it then, that man can make a decision to pray a prayer and accept Christ on his own free will? If none seeks God, then how is that possible? It's only possible, because God draws the person He has chosen, regenerates him, "replaces his heart of stone with a heart of flesh", and gives him the ability to then seek God with the immediate/natural response being repentance and faith. There are NO works that precede justification. However, even though man's works have nothing to do with his justification, justification has everything to do with obeying the law. Christ said that we will know the brethren by their fruits. Our fruits are our evidence of conversion. You cannot just nullify the law, because we are saved by faith (v. 31). James makes that clear, "faith without works is dead." It's a faith that works.
I think that's all I'll post right now. It's so much to think about. I love how God's word is alive and relevant for today! I love how God has opened my eyes and grown me in knowledge. If you knew me in college, you knew I was ignorant of scripture. I couldn't even tell you what justification meant. I'm still nowhere where I need to be, but I've learned so much over the last 2 years. I just keep praying God will reveal His word to me as I strive to understand it more. Thanks for reading! Feel free to post your thoughts! I'll be posting more on a book later!
