The Christian life..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good brothers and sisters, as we said, we're starting with this new series on the Christian life. The purpose of that series is outlined there in Ephesians chapter four.

So let's just read together Ephesians chapter four, verse 11 through 16. There's a couple of things that we have mentioned in the past, but they're very clearly given in the text. Every time that you think about the unity of the church, there are many other passages, I suppose. But Ephesians chapter 4 speaks of the unity of the church, even Ephesians chapter 2. But Ephesians chapter 4 speaks of the maturity of the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ as we grow up in him and that we are united, meet together.

This is a very glorious chapter. So let's read together from verse 11 through verse 16. It says, And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to keep the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning and craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, verse 15, speaking the truth in love, we, the church, are to grow up in every way into Him that is Christ, who is the head, and he confirms, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joint and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, When each part is working properly, each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. That is the purpose, beloved of Christ, of this series.

that as brothers and sisters, we will be brought to the person of Jesus Christ in truth and in love. We cannot love one another if that love is not established upon truth. And we cannot have truth from above, not in the mind if we do not have love. That is the doctrine of Christ. And the church of the Savior is edified and grows in conformity to Christ when each one of the members of the church, it says, every one of them, each one of the members of the church, not someone, not the elders, not the preachers, not the deacons, not the ones that have been working with the Lord for longer, but each member of the body is united in Christ.

We all grow together in love, in the beloved. This is to be the desire of our heart as a congregation, that we might not be disconnected from the body and that we might just be doing church, attending on a Sunday, attending a Bible study and disconnected from the heart. We should always be connected to one another in our hearts in love. so that we don't need to be in the flesh, in the presence of one another, but we can be together in the Spirit. Remember, that's what Paul says to many of the churches, not being able to be with you in the flesh, but I'm with you in the Spirit, because they were united in love.

That this may be the desire of Cornerstone, of all of these saints, that we may be united in that sense. And this is the purpose of this series, the Christian life. And the way that we're going to do it is that we want to bring unity to our hearts and to our minds, truth and love. From the perspective of the individual life, starting tonight from what biblical salvation and genuine salvation and biblical assurance is the starting point. So the individual life, who you are to be as a Christian in the person of Christ, individually, not in the context of anyone, but you in your heart, in the secret place of your mind and in your heart.

who you are supposed to be as a Christian. So then that we can move into the immediate context of the Christian, which is the family, the family, father and mother and children. Some of you, by the providence of God, you are single or you are divorced or different circumstances, but you are inserted into a family, either of the church, you have family that live with you. So the context of the family, and then we move into the church. We cannot have churches if we don't have biblical Christians.

We cannot have a biblical church if we don't have biblical families. And we cannot have a biblical church if all together are growing in what Ephesians chapter 4 says. So this is the desire of our heart for each one of us, that we will grow in that unity. And now what we're going to do, because this is a Bible study, it's very important, that the way that we approach all of these topics is done in a very efficient way. Namely, that we are not wasting our time, that we're just not simply going through another Bible study and then information is impacting us emotionally for one day or two, perhaps one week, and then it's left behind.

But rather, we need to be diligent in coming together in the understanding of very important matters. We have a list, as our brother said, of 25 different topics that perhaps it might be extended or shortened. But something like this, we want to make the best use of our time in discerning biblically what is the will of the Lord for each one of those topics. So now trying to enhance or to make things easier for us, we are trying just to think about the topics in advance first with brother Bernie. and then think about an outline of what we see in the Scriptures, the topics that we, or how this topic is outlined in the Scripture, and then send that to you so that before you come to the Bible study, you have checked those Bible verses, you have checked those points.

So then what we do here is just simply an exercise, not of surprising you with something that you don't know that is coming, but rather we're just simply going deeper into something that you know we're going to be speaking about. And this is going to help us to have this collective way of learning in which they can be questioned, that can be comments, that can be confirmation. There can be just simply things that will help each other to understand these topics better. Now we have the freedom of doing it that way during a Bible study. Of course, the reverential aspect of the Lord's Day does not allow us to do that because this is the preaching of the word.

And we want to do this in a more teaching way. Now, we're not very good at teaching, as you would have realized. We always end up preaching. So we need your help in thinking these topics through, having questions in your mind, so that we all together can just simply address things of the topics that we're addressing. That's why we're sending those things, those outlines.

This is the structure of the points. So, of course, it is expected. You know, I'm not going to ask you tonight, but perhaps I'm going to ask you next week who has checked it, right? Because we are to be diligent, right? Like I know that perhaps you're sending it on that day.

Some of you may not have the ability to check because you're working or so. So we will try, as the Lord allows, to send it with time. But the important thing is that we send it and that you check it. Otherwise, simply there is no purpose on the things that we're doing, right? So that you in your heart, you're diligent to be a student of the things that we're trying to analyze together and meditate together as a church, so that when we come here, we're making the best of this time and that we're learning, they're asking questions and so on and so on.

That is the purpose of those outlines. So tonight we're going to start with the first one of those 25 or perhaps more or perhaps less Bible studies, which is foundational. We cannot speak about the Christian life if we don't speak about biblical genuine salvation, right? The Christian, in order for him or her to have a Christian life, they have to be Christian to start, right? Otherwise, we can just simply imposing religion onto someone who is dead.

Now, this happens often, but this is not what we want. We want people who are truly alive in the Spirit, understanding what genuine salvation is. And the second aspect of it, which is biblical assurance, you know, because you received. your outline and you have it there. How are we going to address those two things?

Simply, the first thing that I want to present, we want to present to you is why is it important that we as a church and as a community of believers, why is it important that we understand these two things? Genuine salvation and biblical assurance. Why is it important? Always reason, or that question why, is the heart of knowledge. I don't want to speak about that, but you will never understand something properly if you don't understand the reason of that something.

When you don't understand the reason of something, you forget. You are storing it in the what or in the how, in your memory, and then you forget. But it's always very important for us to understand the reason behind it. That's how Scripture works. Scripture gives a command and then an explanation of it.

When you understand the explanation of a doctrine in the reason, in the why, then you are able not to treasure things in your brain, but in your heart, because you understand the explanation and the reason behind it. And once we understand the why of these doctrines, which is namely genuine salvation and biblical assurance, then we move into concepts and into definitions as you have seen it there in your outline. That is what we're going to do. And then we will just simply have some exhortation as the Lord leads or some questions. If there is any type of question, we hope that that is what the Lord leads us into so that we will have greater and better understanding.

Now, so we start with the first aspect. Why is it important that you as an individual and that we as a church understand biblical salvation or genuine salvation and biblical assurance? Why is it important? And then we start with the first one. We start with the first one, which is genuine salvation.

It is important because it's the most important matter of life. It is the most important and you ought to believe it. If you don't truly believe that, then you're not going to understand the value of your salvation and the value of people around you being saved. If you do not understand that the most important thing in life is to have certainty about our eternity, then you're never going to apprehend the value of having eternal life. And you're going to give yourself on to temporary matters that are passing away because in your mind you consider them to be more important.

There's no value in gaining the world if a person is going to lose his or her own soul. There's absolutely no value in obtaining empires and reputation and education and pursuing human endeavors if at the end, the day of your death, you are brought before the presence of Christ and you're cast into hell. There's absolutely no value. And we ought to understand that the most important thing in this life is that we live in light of eternity so that we will not be easily captured by the things of this world. and beloved of Christ, we must believe that not only unto our souls, but for the benefit of the souls of those people around us.

Because if we do not consider that salvation is a very important or the most important thing, then you're going to be a coward. when you are to preach the gospel because you're going to have fear of men. Then when you are to confront a brother or a sister in the things of eternity, you're going to be a coward because you're going to be more concerned about your reputation than about eternal things. When you're to address sin or when you're to address unrighteousness, you're going to be restrained because you want to protect yourself because you consider peace between men or reputation or whatever of greater value than eternal matters. So it's very important that you not only read in the outline that we sent, but that you truly believe that eternity is the most important thing that we have.

We have been given the light of eternity and we are to hold that. But not only that, as you have there in your outline, it's not that we understand that, but also the Bible clearly speaks about the danger of false converts. The Apostle Paul speaks in Corinthians about the pain and the difficulty of false brethren. And the Lord in that day, when he comes, many will say, Lord, Lord, professing Christians. Didn't we do all of these mighty things in your name?

Didn't we do all of these works and cast out devils and prophesy? All of these things in your name, professing Christians. through their entire lives. They were professing the Lord. They were doing things of Christianity.

They were doing even things that other people will recognize as powerful and mighty. Yet on that day is proven and tested and confirmed divinely open. cannot be hidden anymore. It has been hidden from men and from the church and from brothers and sisters, now open before the divinity, before Jesus Christ, that they were false converts. And that is not a possibility.

According to Scripture, this is a reality. It is a reality that is going to be evidenced and confirmed in the end of the time, when the Lord comes and then tests and opens the book to see who is and who is not. but also beloved of Christ that is going to be evidenced through time. Many will fall away. Before the Lord comes and even before they die, many will fall from the faith as the Scripture that we send there in Hebrews chapter 10, that it says, "...

the righteous shall live by faith." But it's the one that endures until the end. It's not the one that sees back or moves and goes back. It is the one that endures and continues until the end. Because the Bible speaks that many professing Christians will fall from the faith.

false converts. I have spoken extensively for months about false teachers, false teachers in whom the manifestation of the Spirit was so clearly seen that they were speaking the words of Christ, that they had understanding of the Scripture, even power to do many things, yet they were false. It is important for us to understand, beloved of Christ, what genuine salvation is, because it's not only the most important matter of life, but because there is a reality, and that reality is this horrendous danger of false conversion. Within the context of the church, we're not speaking about atheists or people who are opposed to the church within the context of the church. So that is why it's important for us to understand genuine salvation.

But now there's something also of equally important, not for the world, for the church, but for the Christian. And that is the second thing that we have there in our topics. And that is biblical assurance. the confirmation that we truly are in the person of Jesus Christ, the certainty that we are in the person of Jesus Christ. We are called, according to the scriptures, as we're going to be seeing tonight, I hope, by God's grace, that the Christian is not only called to have certainty and assurance of salvation, but that that is required for a Christian to bear fruit and to walk in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Four sermons we preach on that in 2 Peter 1 from verse 8 to verse 11, of which you can just simply go and get more details about the power of certainty. But beloved of Jesus Christ, If a Christian does not have biblical assurance of their salvation, they are going to be powerless in their lives, and they will bear no fruit, according to Peter, there in 2 Peter 1, verse 8 through 11. They will be barren. There will be no fruit. They will not produce that because they are not working in conformity or they're not living towards conformity towards the person of Jesus Christ.

It is important that the Christian will have certainty of who they are, not only momentary or temporal, perhaps is a word, temporal certainty of who you are in Christ, but that you will abide in the certainty because knowing that you are in Christ belongs to your faith. But not only that, beloved of Christ, it's also important that we understand that because there is a great danger. So just as there is a danger of those who believe that they are in Christ and they are not, there is a danger for a person to have assurance that they are in Christ that is established upon the flesh. People, Christians, can establish or can obtain certain level of assurance that they are Christians, so that they are in Christ, that it is not confirmed in the Spirit, but rather that it's worked in the flesh. They say, I've been attending church for 20 years.

I prayed a prayer 25 years ago. Or I just simply do all of these things, you know, like I pray in the morning and I pray before I eat food and I do good works. And that people may have assurance of who they are in Christ, not rooted in that which the Bible says that it should be rooted, but rather just simply in themselves. Assurance that is established in the flesh will not produce the fruits and the power that biblical assurance will produce. Because one is work of the flesh and the other one is work of the Spirit.

So we are dealing with very important matters, beloved of Christ. Very important matters. Genuine salvation and biblical assurance. So now we're just simply going to move to understand the meaning, the concept, the definition. And I want us just simply to discuss in our mind to understand this.

And I'm going to try to point your minds and your heart to very important points that it's not only that you understand those concepts, But truly, by God's grace and in faith, you understand what I want to share with you tonight. I think you're going to be moved from if you're lacking assurance by God's grace and in Christ, you can be moved into understanding better your Christian life and having that life of walking in power of the Spirit and bearing much fruit. Let's start with the first one. We're speaking about genuine salvation, genuine salvation. And I don't want to focus so much on what is not, as you can see there in your outline, that that is the first thing that we ought to do here, define what is not.

But rather, I want to focus more on what it is. But the reason why Preachers in the old times will start a sermon preaching in the negative and explaining what is not. It's because usually the flesh will try to make a definition of a biblical concept, and then you simply apprehend it as a truth. So the heart has to be pierced and saying that is not true. So then when the heart has been pierced and has been convicted by the spirit that that is not true, then we can present the truth of what it is together, of course, truth and then pointing by the spirit of what is not.

So the first thing that I wanted just to see here in those points that you have there of what genuine salvation is not is basically summarizing this. Biblical salvation is not what is rooted in you. Genuine salvation is never rooted in you. So it is not that you prayed a prayer. It is not that you had a Christian life.

It is not that you have borne fruit. Borne is the word? That you have borne fruit. It's not that you have lived a Christian life. It's nothing that is rooted in you is what genuine salvation is.

This is very important because many people will take Romans chapter 10 and that verse that was given to you and say, You know, if you confess with your mouth, and then if you just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, then you're saved. Truly, that is the Word of God, and that is true. But when the person has just simply uttered a prayer with their mouth, and there has not been heart transformation, then they can be easily having faith in a prayer that they prayed 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 years ago when they are dead in their trespasses. Salvation is not taking a person through a praying, a prayer, or just reciting certain words when their hearts are utterly disconnected from the realities that they are saying. Salvation is not that a person moves him or herself into a religious life, even for prolonged periods of time, even their whole life in which they do Christian things and they are okay with them.

But as we're going to see, salvation is something greater. So let's just go to Ephesians chapter 2. In Ephesians chapter 2 there, we will see what genuine salvation is. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2.

Glorious chapter. I suppose that every chapter in the scripture is glorious But you know for the purposes of what we're saying tonight. This is very important Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 and through 10 Beloved of Christ, we're not wasting our time, right? We are here just to read a scripture and to read and to perceive and to receive everything by faith it says in the beginning of this scripture and you were dead in your trespasses and You were dead in your trespasses. The gospel beloved of Christ.

Salvation is a matter of life and death. Humanity, everyone is dead in their trespasses. And they are utterly unable to move themselves into life. They cannot give themselves life. They cannot move themselves into a state that only God can give.

It says, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the curse of this world, following the prince of the power of the earth, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." Whose wrath is that, beloved of Christ? God's wrath. And that is the natural state of men.

You see the word there, nature? It says that by nature, children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. What is salvation? Salvation is a matter of death and life. Salvation is a matter of the changing of the nature of humanity.

It continues in verse 4. But God, the divine intervention, when death that cannot be rescued, when death that has no solution, when wrath has no promise of peace, when humanity is left without hope. Divine intervention, the only way, the only escape to this condemnation. But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love in which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, speaking to the church, made us alive. And it was not only life that was given.

Salvation is not life. Salvation is not the problem to death. Salvation is not that you were dead and now you're alive. Salvation is that the life that you have is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Adam's life is nothing.

Who wants to go back to garden? This is an error. Every time that you hear that is an error. Salvation is not restoring things back to the garden. The garden compared to Christ is death.

That is the point of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. When you compare the life that Adam had even before sin, that life, that vulnerable life in which sin was a possibility and death was just in front of them, was not life. Because the life that the Christian has together with the person of Jesus Christ is the life of God. Angels, angels could fall. Humanity fell.

All creatures, apart from the sustaining grace of God, will rebel immediately before the Lord. Why? Because there's one thing that God cannot do, and that is create another God. God, every time that He creates, creates a creature, and that creature, by virtue of their nature, will always be amazed before the glory of the creator and not able to submit in perfection to the standard of righteousness that is imposed upon them. The only way that the creature can abide eternally in eternal peace with this glorious creator is if the creator himself comes down to the creature and unites with them in such a way that these creatures will be in him to spend the rest of eternity.

And that is the glorious story of redemption that we have in the person of Jesus Christ, that we have been made alive together with the person of Jesus Christ. And then he says, of course, by grace, you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places. in Christ Jesus. I don't want to dwell there, but just simply pay attention to verse six, that the race that's up is already in a past tense. It's something that has taken place and seated us with him in the heavenly places also is something that has taken place.

We were made a little bit lower than the angels. They were exalted above us. But when Jesus Christ walked enthroned at the right hand of the Father, in Him humanity was enthroned. All humanity in the church, exalted above all creatures, having this glorious place of fellowship with God, that not even the angels, not the angels that not even have sinned against God will have. The redeemed will have a song in heaven, a song that can only be uttered from the redeemed heart of the church, a song and praises that can come only from a heart that is seated at the right hand of God in Christ, yet is humbled by the love that has been manifested to this church that was walking away from God, but now has been rescued by the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse seven, so that in the coming ages he may show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. And then the verse that we know, for by grace through faith he has been saved. And this is not of your doing, this is the gift of God. Glorious salvation, beloved of Christ. And I don't want to speak any more of that because this This is what we know that salvation is by grace through faith.

We were dead in our trespasses and through the person of Jesus Christ, we have been rescued to have life that is not only life, but is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what salvation is. But beloved of Christ, as you can see in the next point, what I want to present to you is the most important thing that I want to share with you. And that is how we are going to understand this genuineness of this salvation. And we're going to do it by analyzing the experience of salvation.

And I hope that those words might be understood by your heads, by your minds. The experience of salvation. What is a genuine experience of salvation? What happens once a person has been genuinely saved according to what Scripture says? What has taken place in the life of that particular soul, in the heart of that particular man or woman, when they have been genuinely saved?

and we're going to analyze that as I said here the experience but now you can see something very important that this experience of salvation is divided from two different perspectives you see there in your outlines from the perspective of God and from the perspective of the person or in the heart of the person now beloved of Christ The definition of the concept that we're going to be speaking about is not as important as you understanding this aspect of your salvation. What happens before God once a person is saved? And what is the experience that happens in the heart or in the soul of the person? Because if you distinguish between those two things, you're not only going to understand genuine salvation better, but you're going to be able to obtain biblical assurance by the workings of the Spirit according to what is written in a more biblical way. what I'm saying.

And again, this is very important. That's why I repeat that the most important thing that I want to communicate to you is not only these concepts, justification and adoption, all of these things that we're going to analyze now. But what you need to understand is where they belong or where do they happen or what is their point in their experience? You know, theologians through history, they have tried to define something on the core, the order of salvation. And that is, what are the elements of genuine salvation?

And they, you know, sometimes they even have conflicts between them about defining the order of the salvation, what happens from eternity past to eternity future, and they have conflicts between them. That is not important now. We don't want to analyze what happens first and what happens after, but rather what we need to understand or what we desire to understand or what I desire to communicate to you is that you understand which where each one of these doctrines that we're going to briefly analyze are rooted and established so that in your practical life you will be able to differentiate between your personal experience and your position before God that does not depend on your personal experience, on your emotions. So this is going to be the most important distinction. One is going to be something that is objective, that happens before God, and the other is going to be, in a sense, it's also objective, of course, but it's going to be more experiential, something that happens in the heart or in the soul of the person.

You understand what I'm saying, beloved of Christ? Two things. The first thing, that which happens before God, and the second thing is that which happens in the heart of the person. Understanding that distinction, trust me, is going to empower your understanding of biblical salvation, and it's going to empower your life. So let me just start with that which happens, or that which is before God, okay?

Now, when I say, because I have, your faces is like of uncertainty of the things that I'm saying. And when I see faces of uncertainty, I cannot move with freedom. So you need to let me know if you, you know, like if you, like if there's something not clear. Before God, I mean about un-status, un-status. Think about this.

I am an Australian citizen, even though I was born in Colombia. My status in this country is of an Australian citizen. This is my status, it's just there. It doesn't matter that sometimes I love this country, and sometimes I don't love this country as much, or sometimes that I want to be in this country, or sometimes that I don't want to be in this country. It doesn't happen by just giving an example.

It does no matter what my emotional disposition towards this country is. My status of an Australian citizen is there independently of my subjective experience. This is the type of distinction that I want to present to you here when I say something that happens before God and something that happens in the heart. Does that make it a little bit more clear? Okay, very good.

So let's just start with that what happens before God. And the first thing is that we have there is justification. We are justified before God. And this is, you see the definition that we put there? It's a legal and unchanging status of innocent in Christ before God.

These are the two important words that you need to understand about justification. It is that it's legal, and that is unchanging. It is a status that is legal and that is unchanging. My status as an Australian citizen is a legal status, but I think that that status could change. I could, I think, quit, perhaps is the word, or give up to my Australian citizenship, right?

I could just simply, I want to be Colombian again. I'm a Colombian, but I don't want to be Australian anymore. So I could give up this status. The legal status that the genuine believer has before the Lord is not only legal, but it's unchanging. So even if the person, for some reason, desires or feels like they don't want to be with Him anymore, which I don't think that it will happen, But this not even the desire of the person will be able to change the status.

Why? Because that status is established upon the legal accomplishments of the person of Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 4. So let's just go Romans chapter 4 there, please. Verse 23.

Brothers and sisters, I don't know how to express how important it is that you put these things in your mind. You know, like, I have read books this thick on this matter. The two words that I'm going to give you are the only thing that a Christian needs to understand. As simple as that. But it's not only to understand, it's just to receive by faith justification.

is a legal and unchanging status of innocent in Christ before God. Pay attention that I put there always in Christ, because he's always in union with Christ. Now we're going to Romans chapter four, verse 23. Romans chapter 4 verse 23. Now it's speaking of the example of Abraham and the imputation of God's righteousness to Abraham by faith.

And then it says in verse 23, but the words it was accounted or counted to him were not written for his sake alone, speaking of Abraham. but for ours also. He will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. And then he says, therefore, so it says Christ Jesus died and he was resurrected. So the life of Christ, the resurrection of Christ was for our justification.

He says, therefore, Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. When I said legal and unchanging, that statement is what represents everything that I said. The Christian has been justified by faith. Is the Christian being justified in the present continuous sense, brothers and sisters? No, the Christian has been, in the past perfect sense, has been already justified by and through the person of Jesus Christ.

That is, when the person had faith, the righteousness of Jesus Christ was given to that person, and that person immediately became innocent. The verdict, verdict is the word, right? Verdict of a person being innocent does not happen in the heart of the person. It happens in heaven, in the divine court, innocent. So in a sense, in a sense, the Christian does not experience justification because it's a legal matter that happens in the divine court.

You never experience your justification. Now, of course, justification comes from other matters that empower your faith and your love towards the Lord Jesus Christ because of what he did. But your legal status is outside of you. And in that sense, he's subjective or objective. Objective does not depend on your experience.

So if you have been forgiven and one day you wake up in the morning and you feel that you are not forgiven, that you sinned and you did something wrong, do your feelings change your legal status before the Lord? No, because it's legal and it's unchanging. And the glorious thing of the gospel is that once a person by grace through faith has been saved, the righteousness and justified state of that person upon that moment is equal even after they have been glorified in heaven. Think about that. So we have the fullness of the justification that we will ever have.

You will never be more justified or less justified of what a Christian is, because it's a legal and unchanging status that is in the person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the apostle can say, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter 2 said that we were children of wrath. The wrath of God is not upon the children of God anymore because Jesus Christ received it all. And now the righteousness of Christ has been given to that person.

And now the discipline of the Lord is towards them when they do something according to Hebrew chapter 12, because He loves them. And the discipline is a manifestation of it. But legal wrath of God is never Never against those who have been justified. It will be illegal from God to have a legal wrath against the one that is just, against the one that is innocent. And He is always just and perfect.

Understand that, right? Now we move on to a second status. This one was legal and unchanging, right? The second status is a relational status. It's not legal, it's relational, and it's equally unchanging, and that is what is called adoption.

And that we find in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3 to 6, if you go there with your Bibles. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3 to 6. So it says, Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him, that is in Christ, right in him, in union with Christ. And we were in union with Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless, right? This is the purpose that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love, some other translation, we remove the period from there and incorporate it into the next verse. So before Him in love, and then he says, verse five, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the price of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the beloved. I just want you to pay attention to that verse. Adoption is a status, right? You are a son or you're like children of God.

Sons in the son. I think that's the word that we put there. Relational and unchanging status of son in the son before God. We are children of God in union with Christ, and the sonship of the Son is in us because of Him. And that's why we can be the children of God.

But now I want you to see upon what adoption rests, according to verse 5 and 6. It says that adoption rests initially in the predestination of God. It says He predestined us for adoption. the status of sons of God is established first of all in the decree of God before the foundation of the world and it says that predestination rests not only upon being predestined but in the life again of Jesus Christ he says through Jesus Christ and not only that but he adds that this is according to the purpose of his will and then in verse six The purpose of all of this is that to the praise of his glorious grace, in other words, to the reputation of God. The glory of the grace of God, it is worshiped, and it is recognized in the adoption of those whom he has saved.

And those whom he has saved were predestined before the foundation of the world. It's through the life of the person of Jesus Christ, and this is according to the will. Question, can it change? He will never change because for it to change, he has to go against the decree of predestination, against the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, against the will of God. And it will bring, what is the opposite?

Dishonor to the grace of God. Eternal status. It does not matter what I was just telling Brother Bernie last night. It does not matter what Sophie does to me. It does not matter what I do to her.

Even if for some reason in 10 or 15 years, we don't want to be with each other anymore for some sinful reason. It does not matter if she truly desires me to not to be her father. Even if for some sinful reason, I desire not to be her father. She is going to be my daughter in the flesh until the end of her days. And I'm going to be her father until the end of my days.

If that is the case in the flesh, how much more secure will be the status of sons to the Lord, to God that is established upon His glorious decree when His will is always towards His children? Relational status. and unchanging status. Now, this one is more experience than justification, because through the Spirit of God, we claim, Abba, Father, right? But also through the Spirit of God, we claim, Lord, have mercy upon this sinner.

I know that I'm forgiven, but have mercy upon this sinner. So all of these statuses that happen in heaven, of course, will be manifested by the Spirit in certain level of experiences. But your experience will never change these statuses because they are Eternal, immutable, exactly. He is always the Father. Now, we move on to the next one, and this thing is going longer than what I thought it was going to go.

But I suppose that is okay. Now, let me now focus on what is going to happen in the heart of the person. And this is now important, because this is what happens upon conversion in the soul of the person. If you do not have these things, you will not have Salvation, okay? If you do not have these things, you will not have salvation.

Now, there's other elements for salvation that we don't have here. We have election, predestination, union with Christ, some other things. But these things that we have here are the important ones that we need to understand. Now, that which happens in the heart. So, the moment that we were saved, remember your salvation.

Remember the day of your salvation when the Lord came to rescue you. This happened in your soul when you were saved. This is according to the scriptures. It says in the heart first one regeneration according to your notes there. And this is the definition that we gave is the experience of the new life.

So come with me to first Peter chapter one first Peter chapter one, please. 1st Peter chapter 1, it says in verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy, very similar to Ephesians chapter 1, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable and defiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you by God's power, being guarded through faith for our salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Regeneration is what we commonly know as the change of heart. A Christian cannot be saved if the heart of stone that they had, according to this Ezekiel 36 passage, has been changed into a heart of flesh. And please note that it's impossible for a person to move themselves into being born again, because Peter says that it was caused by God, according to His abundant mercy, that they have been born again, just as our children do not participate at all in their conception and in their birth.

It is the will of their, of course, the Lord through their parents. In the same sense, that person who is begotten of God through Jesus Christ has nothing to do in their birth when they are born again. That is the only way that a person can see the kingdom of God if they are born again. And this, beloved of Christ, is an experience that takes place in the heart, right? because we were dead in our trespasses.

And now you are alive in the person of Jesus Christ. Now there is a change, right? There is a change. Now, the change is not going to be the same for everyone. The change is not going to be as dramatic as for everyone.

But when you look back in your life, There has to be a life that you live before regeneration and a life that is lived after regeneration. This has to happen. If you are going to see your life and your life is exactly the same through the time and there's no change in your heart, beloved of Christ, we will have to diminish the scriptures and go against what is written to call that a genuine salvation. 1 John chapter 3 verse 9 and 10, it says that those who have been born of God have the seed of God dwelling in them. And by this we know the sons of the devil or the sons of Satan and the sons of God, those who do righteousness.

Why? Because the one who have been born again has received the life of Christ and there is a transformation. So I look back to my life. And I was a slave to sexual immorality for years, since I was five years old. And the Lord, when he gives eternal life to the heart of a person, then there is a transformation.

It's going to look different for saint to saint. But when you look back, there is regeneration. There is a new heart. We cannot negotiate on that. People through in the church, through time, they have negotiated on this just for the sake of having people sit in the chairs.

And they have reduced salvation just to prayer prayer. And you continue to live your life as a devil, even in your heart, secretly in your heart. You can continue to live your life, hating God and not desiring the things of God, even in your heart. You can continue as long as you're seated there in the chairs. And salvation has been diminished just to church life and then just to profess Christianity with their mouth.

And when there is nothing that is taking place in the heart of that person, beloved of Christ, I don't want to have to give an account because when I was supposed to tell you, I did not say what the scripture says. Regenerations, born again. We were dead in our trespasses. Now we are alive in Christ. We enjoy the things of the world and the sin of this world and our sin.

We were living in it and we decide we were carried by it. Now we have the life of Christ and that moves us into the second point. I had the second verse there in Romans, but I don't want this to go very long because I really want your minds in the flesh just to be attentive so that we can discuss these things in Romans chapter six. Remember that it says that the resurrected life of the Lord Jesus Christ is the life that now we have in him. But it's just that, that we have a new life.

Now, let me just take to the second point, which is conversion. Every person, and pay attention to this one, please. Every person who has been genuinely saved will be converted, of course. And conversion is manifested in the life of the person in two elements that we have there in the notes. What are those two elements?

Repentance and? Faith. A person who has been truly given a new life, who has been born again, will have an immediate natural response, which is the response of repentance and faith. I have just given you a very deep theological statement. Pay attention again to what I have just said.

A person who has been truly born again from above, will have a natural and immediate response in repentance and faith. That is that repentance and faith are the natural response of a heart that has been rescued, a heart that has been given life. That means that the dead person cannot have repentance and the dead person cannot have faith. For a person to be repented before God and to have faith in the Lord, they need to be given a new heart. The Lord has to come and intervene and transform that person so immediately that person will respond in repentance and in faith.

That is the proclamation of the gospel of the Lord, according to Mark in chapter one, right? The verse that you have there. Beloved of Christ, remember this. This is the way that I remember this doctrine of repentance and faith. Before your salvation, your relationship to God was one of hate.

You didn't want to know anything about God. And your relationship to sin was of love. You loved your sin. But when the Lord comes and gives you a new heart and you are transformed, those two relationships are transformed. and they are manifested in repentance and in faith.

So you repent of the sin that you love because the God that now you know and at the same time you respond to him in faith because you know that he's the only one who can forgive you for the sins that deserve his punishment upon you. And they are the size of a coin, of a glorious virtue that comes from above. This is not works. This is just the natural response of the already work of God in the heart of a person. Repentance is not a work.

It's the natural response of a heart that has been illuminated. If the eyes of the one that is blind are open, then the natural thing that he will do is see. And he does not see because he moved himself from being blind, but because someone came and gave him life or sight. Right? In the same sense, repentance and faith is a natural response of the person who was dead, but now has the life of Christ in them.

Eyes are open, repent of sins before God and also have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then that person is captured. Captured by the love of God has been captured already before the foundation of the world because we were chosen in him But now in time and in the experience that now that person is captured capture into the bosom of the Lord just to be taken with him and Then we start the life of the Christian and then you have that point of sanctification, right? Sanctification now, let me just simply give you a point here and then we just move into that sanctification There are three types of sanctification in the scriptures three types of sanctification Does anyone know what difference? This is progressing sanctification, which is the second here.

Does anyone know what is the other types of sanctification? What is this? Very good. That is the 1st type of sanctification. That was the 2nd or 3rd sermon that I preach in 1st Peter, like the 3rd sermon that we preach ever in 1st Peter.

It's called definite sanctification. It is the setting apart, sanctify once for all, positionally before the Lord. We're not speaking about that. We're speaking about progressive sanctification, and we're not speaking about consummated sanctification, which is when glory comes, and then sin is removed, and then we are consummated as saints. We are saints in the full sense of that word.

We're speaking now, beloved of Christ, as progressive sanctification. What is progressive sanctification? Please go to Romans chapter 8. Wow, this is just going so long. Brother, you think that?

Yeah. Okay. Yes. Okay. Very good.

So I think that that will be the best thing for us to do is that we do a biblical assurance for next week. Right? Because now we're going very long. And the idea is that we actually get all of these things and that we address that. Okay.

And this will give me a little bit, perhaps more time just to address these things. Now, sanctification. Actually, this is such an important thing that I'm just going to take perhaps 10 or 15 minutes. I think this is a very important thing that is going to empower your Christian life. Just pay attention for you for this Christian.

So what is progressive sanctification? According to Romans chapter 8, verse 29 and 30, just simply conformity to Christ, right? It says, For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he may be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified.

And those whom he justified, he also glorified. But he says in verse 29, For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. So what is sanctification? Sanctification is death to self, right? Because we still have us.

We're still here. So we need to die to self. And then the life of Christ has to be continually increasing and increasing and increasing, namely conformity to the person of Jesus Christ. This is utterly important. Well, it is.

It is not impossible because we're going to we shall bear the image of the sun according to 1st Corinthians chapter 15. Right? Yeah. In in in and of ourselves is completely impossible to have the image of the sun, of course. But now, beloved of Christ, let me just bring your attention to this very important doctrinal and practical matter.

And it's actually found in the end of the notes there. And this is related about sanctification. If you go to something that we call active righteousness, if you've seen the end of your notes, active righteousness, I'm going to give you now something that is very important for the Christian life. Okay? Christians through the ages have debated sometimes sinfully, to our shame.

How a Christian is sanctified progressively. How a Christian is sanctified progressively. How the image of Jesus Christ is conformed in us. Okay? So there are two sides to that.

Some people, and this is happens very often in the reform camp, very, very often, which is an imbalance imbalance is that they would say that you need to mortify sin and the instrument to mortify sin is the law. So they say the law has a use and the use of the law is to bring the ethics of the Christian so that by knowing that which is seen through the law, then you will mortify sin because you know what sin is. And this is one side of sanctification. There's another side that says the only thing that you need to do is to put your eyes in the person of Jesus Christ and to desire to be like the person of Jesus Christ. The law?

We're not under the law. We're not under the law. You need to place your eyes in the person of Jesus Christ. And by desiring to be like Him, then you're going to be sanctified. What is the truth of Scripture?

The truth of Scripture is both, but understanding their priority. This is what I'm going to try to do now. The saint, according to scripture, is sanctified as we are conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. So actively speaking, sanctification is going to Christ. It is going to the person of Jesus Christ, is to be conformed to the person of Jesus Christ.

It is that Christ will be in us and be transformed us continually and ongoingly. But there is still something in us that is called remaining sin, and that sin needs to be brought to conviction. When you remember the work of the spirit that says that the spirit of God has come to convict off seen. Correct. So then the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we sin, will naturally and immediately convict us of our sin, which is a transgression of the law by the law that now has been written in our hearts and pointed directly in repentance towards the person of Jesus Christ.

So the law still has a role in our lives in the sense that through the law, we understand and are convicted of sin when we are convicted by the Holy Spirit. But the substance of sanctification, beloved, is that we move actively towards the person of Jesus Christ. It is that we know Him, that we abide in Him, that we want to be with Him, that we want His love to be in our hearts, that we want to walk as He walked. 1 John. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

He himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the world. And by this we know that we are in him if we keep his commandments. He who says, I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. And by this we know that we are in him.

He who says that abides in him ought himself also to walk as he walked. Forgiveness of our sins from the righteous Jesus Christ, who is the propitiation. He doesn't say He was the propitiation of our sins. He says He's the advocate that is at the right hand of the Father. He is the advocate.

He is the righteous. And He is the propitiation for our sins. Every time that we sin, we have Jesus Christ that is forgiving us, interceding for us. We are forgiven. And He is the one that empowers us to abide in Him.

Sanctification, beloved of Christ. You will never be sanctified by the law. Never be sanctified by the law. You will utterly be sanctified by the person of Jesus Christ. You don't want to be a follower.

Understand this, the righteousness of the law does not give us the status of innocent sons. It is the righteousness of Christ. It is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that makes us innocent before God and makes us His children. So it is the righteousness of Christ, the one that is to be pursued. He has imputed his legal righteousness, so we are innocent.

And now we are to pursue the righteousness of Christ in us practically. That is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, your status of innocent does not depend on your personal experience. Your status of son or daughter or children of God does not depend on your personal experience and your emotions because these are legal and relational status that aren't changing before the Lord and it will remain like this. But if you have been truly saved by grace, you have a new heart.

You have a new heart that has been given to you. You have come before the Lord in true repentance and faith, and you are progressively walking in the image of being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Being this the most important question that a soul can answer, that is the duty of everyone within the sound of my voice to actually ask themselves, is this a reality in my heart? Has this taken place? Have the books of heaven been opened and I have been found innocent in the person of Jesus Christ?

Do I know that I'm a son or a daughter or whether we're children of God in Him? Have I been partaker of the life of Christ through regeneration by the power of the gospel? Has my heart been changed in ways in which I desire Christ and His life and who He is? Do I live life of continuous repentance coming before the Lord, desiring to be like Him? It might continue to work towards the person of Jesus Christ.

And truly, this is what I desired in my heart, so that the love of God will be perfected in him, in me, or in you. The most important thing that I so can ask, beloved of Christ. You know, we don't want to spend our lives just being like people from Matthew chapter seven, right? Lord, Lord, Lord. But the Lord gave his people assurance, and he does that by the Holy Spirit.

Because not even our understanding can give us certainty of all of these matters as we will see it next week. Lord willing, it is the spirit of God, the one that speaks to our hearts of that glorious reality. But he does speak to our hearts of that glorious reality. So we have to come before him and ask that he will give us discernment and give us the truth. And I think that we will leave it like this.

Amen. I don't know if any of you have any type of questions or any type of comments, or even those of you who are online. It doesn't have to be a question. You can make any comment about the Bible study. You can always let us know because I know that we are sometimes a little bit shy.

Yeah, that's actually a very important point. You know, because when we speak about assurance next week, I don't want to go very long. But, you know, if you mix your understanding of sanctification with your understanding of justification, you will find yourself questioning your legal status before God because of your sometimes difficulty in growing in conformity to Jesus Christ. So then you question your legal status, which is oneself and internal and unchanging. because of your struggles in your sanctification.

So when you sin and when you are not overcoming a particular sin, if you mix those two categories, then you are going to feel not only that you're sinning and convicted as you should be convicted, but then you feel that you have been kind of like removed from the presence of God, like you know, like that you are not with Him. And the certainty of our belonging to Christ is not established upon this doctrine, right? It is established upon the gospel of Christ that we know that by being forgiven in Him, we are legally with Him. Like, there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God in the person of Christ Jesus. But usually when a person comes with problems of assurance and then just doubt in their salvation, it's usually first of all because they're in sin.

And when they're in sin, then they're going to be convicted by the Spirit, right? Because of their sin and conviction of sin and sin that has not been dealt with properly before the Lord will bring doubts because there's not going to be faith where there is sin. And then that doubt with a wrong understanding of justification and sanctification will make that person question. where is their legal status. Now, people, we are not called to give a person assurance of where they belong or not even to, you know, like not to play with assurance.

This is a work of the Holy Spirit. But the work of the Spirit or the heart of the person will be the one that testifies to that particular person what their condition is. But generally speaking, as perhaps we will speak next week, most problems of assurance of salvation is because a person is not walking as they should walk. And then they're in sin, sometimes unrepentant sin. And this will bring conviction.

And then when there's conviction of sin, then it will be, you know, not only the flesh, but even Satan sometimes, you know, like you will just try just to make you think that you are like you don't belong to God or anything like that. So we never need to mix those two things. That is the big error of the Catholic Church, that they conflate those two categories. So then your legal status depends on the at-working of your works through your life. And then they depend on each other.

Well, you know, like the Bible speaks of these two being one as a reality to happen, having been justified by faith. And the other one that it is that you are being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you're a saint, but you're called to be a saint, that you have died, but you're called to die to your sin. And so it's a progressive work. Yeah. So I don't know, brothers and sisters, any of you.

I'd just like to make a comment, if I may. Can you hear me okay? Yes, we can hear you. Talking about justification and the importance of it, it's a legal declaration in the courts of heaven. When you think about it, this is really tied up with the character of God, is it not?

Yeah. In a sense, sister, every aspect of our salvation is in the character of God, because the foundational reality that sustains all of these is union with Christ. So, so Ephesians chapter one says that blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ, even as he chose us before the foundation of the world in the beloved. So we were united in Christ before the foundation of the world. And every spiritual blessing that the Christian received is rooted in union with Christ.

This unity in Christ is eternal in the past and is going to be consummated in the future. So in a sense, every aspect of our salvation is rooted in the character of God. And from the divine perspective, everything has been accomplished. It's only that from our human perspective, we are still working out things through time. We are being sanctified and we are being conformed.

and we will arrive to that point. But those whom God has already captured, they are in Him and they are rooted in God. So in a sense, just as we are justified, we are in God, you know, and that's why some people in the 17th century had some problems with saying that we are saints already because, you know, we're already saints. And if you see them, you're not. You're not a Christian.

So, you know, understanding the already not yet aspect of many of the components of our salvation. Yes, yes. Yeah, well, praise God. I mean, it's just that I can remember when I when I after I was born again and understood, you know, really the truth about just. We do.

Amen. Thank you. Any other comment? just as if I have never seen. I've never heard that before.

It's actually more than that, brother. Yeah. But justification is not as if a person would have kept the law of God. Justification is the righteousness of Christ imputed to that person. And the righteousness of Christ is not only the righteousness that he obtained under the law, but it's actually a righteousness that he completed the work that was given to him before the foundation of the world, according to Titus chapter 1.

And according to 2 Peter chapter 1, we have received the righteousness of God. That's why, by virtue of this legal status with Christ, we obtained a union that is relational, that is more powerful than any other union. So we have a status that is greater than the angels that have not sinned and have a justified state, let's say, in that sense. But just because the righteousness that we receive is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, who humiliated himself, humble himself, humble himself, condescended, kept the law, kept the requirements, kept the promise of eternal life given to him before the ages began. All of this righteousness of Christ, which is the righteousness of God, is the one that is imputed and given to us.

Hence, Peter calls us partakers of the divine nature, not in the sense that we become gods, but we have a union with him that is rooted in Christ that cannot be broken. So it is greater than, you know, like not just as if I had seen before. That's why when we are consummated in heaven, the glory is not that sin is no more. The glory is that righteousness dwells, and that is the righteousness of Christ. That is, you know, Christ himself.

We will speak about that brother next week, Lord willing. because, you know, we didn't have enough time just to go through the whole thing. But yeah, basically, you know, like assurance is a testimony of the spirit. According to Romans chapter eight, it is a fruit of the spirit is faith that is confirmed. So it is a testimony of God is speaking to your spirit that your Children of God on earth with Christ.

So assurance of salvation is not a personal accomplishment by living a good life or by having even faith in your faith. But it is a divine blessing of God. that corroborates, is the word there, it confirms to you through the Spirit, there are children of God. But as I said to you in the men's meeting, we have a relationship with the Spirit, right? We have a relationship to this, a living relationship to the Spirit, that we can grieve the Spirit, that we can speak about that next week.

And faith. I keep thinking of Nineveh when Jonah preached to Nineveh. They repented and they believed in God and returned from their wicked ways. All 120,000 of them. And that's supernatural.

Supernatural, correct. With repentance and faith, it's very important to understand that it's the natural response of a regenerated heart. There is an error and even a heresy out there that says that a person can be regenerated at a certain point and then live their life as regenerated Christians without faith or without repentance. And they call this the drawing of the spirit. So this is heresy and this is an error.

So sometimes people confuse the drawing of the Father unto salvation, like Cornelius in chapter 10 in Acts, that he was being drawn. because of the good deeds and the prayers, I think it says, or alms. So some people say that a person can be regenerated at some point, that is the work of the spirit. And then after that, that person, let's say time after months or years after that, that there could be repentance and faith. This is an error and this is heresy.

New life always comes with repentance and faith. These are the natural responses of a regenerated heart. Because faith is the legal instrument by which the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us Romans chapter 5 verse 1 says having been justified by Faith so it's got the one that justifies but the human instrument given is faith. So once a new heart is given then Justification has to take place immediately and that happens by faith Which is a human instrument if you want by which the righteousness of Christ is imputed or given to the soul Okay I think. Almighty and so powerful.

I mean, if He does a work in someone's heart, you are going to see the effect of that, aren't you? Correct, yeah. It's just a miracle. It's from above. It's just a sovereign work of God in a person's heart.

And so you will see results. You must. Yeah. And so regeneration and conversion, you know, like we think in time, but they are immediate, you know, like a person is regenerated and the person is like faith and regeneration takes priority. Of course, you need to have a new heart.