Sovereign
Grace Chapel Home Page
What
the Word of God Teaches
The Total
Depravity of Man
Man is lost, which means that all
people are conceived in sin and born children of wrath, unfit for any
saving good, inclined to evil, dead in their sins; and slaves to sin;
without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit they are neither
willing nor able to return to God, to reform their distorted nature,
or even to dispose themselves to such reform. All this, is reason
why...
" ...the Son of man is
come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke
19:10
The Unconditional Election of the
people of God
Gods choice of
certain individuals to salvation before the foundation of the world
rested solely in His own sovereign will. His choice of particular
sinners was not based on any foreseen response or obedience on their
part, such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith
and repentance to each individual whom He elected. These acts are
the result, not the cause of Gods choice. Election therefore
was not determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act
foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignty elected, He brings through
the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Thus Gods
choice of the sinner, not the sinners choice of Christ, is the
ultimate cause of salvation.
"According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love:" Ehp.1:4
The Effectual or Particular
Atonement of Christ's Death
If you believe that some people will perish and some people will be
saved, then you believe in a limited Atonement of Christ. The question
really at hand, is.... who limits the atonement?
It really comes to one of two ways... either God limits the Atonement,
or man does.
We believe Christ's redeeming work was intended to
save the elect and actually secured salvation for them. His
death was a substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the
place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting away the
sins of His people, Christ's redemption secured everything necessary
for their salvation, including faith which unites them to Him. The
gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for whom
Christ died, thereby guaranteeing their salvation. "And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for
he shall save his people from their sins." Matt.
1:21
Gods Irresistible Grace
All those whom God
has predestinated to life, and those only, are translated from the
power of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. In God's appointed
and accepted time, by his Word and Spirit, he effectually calls out of
that state of sin and death, (in which we are all by nature) ...to
grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds
spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away
their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing
their wills, and, by his almighty power, determining them to that
which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so,
as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.
"Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power,..." Psa.
110:3a
The Perseverance of the Saints
All who were
chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit are
eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty God
and thus persevere to the end. God will lose none of those which He
has given to His Son...
"And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day." John 6:39
"And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand." John
10:28
...It is within the Promise of the New Covenant that we find the Perseverance
of the Saints...
"And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them,
to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they
shall not depart from me."
Jer 32:40
It is by the Power of God and His Promise that we....
" Who are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time". 1
Peter 1:5
And in the End, it shall be revealed, through the
enduring of the saint of God... those who are saved!
"But the one who
endures to the end will be saved." Matt.24:13