[0:00] Well, we're picking up in our study of the confession in paragraph 7, and the hope this morning is to get through paragraph 8.
[0:12] And then, Lord willing, we're going to finish our study of the confession next week by looking at paragraphs 9 and 10. Now, usually we will read the preceding paragraph as just a way of review, but we're not going to do that this morning, because paragraph 7 is something of kind of a dropped into this chapter.
[0:34] I would say it feels almost maybe a little out of order, so it wouldn't help us much to look back at paragraph 6 now, so I'm just going to go ahead and read paragraph 7.
[0:47] In his work of mediation, Christ acts according to both natures, by each nature doing what is appropriate to itself. Even so, because of the unity of the person, that which is appropriate to one nature is sometimes in Scripture attributed to the person under the designation of the other nature.
[1:09] Well, this paragraph begins by reminding us that whatever follows in it is still directly related to the work of Christ as our mediator.
[1:20] So we're going to learn something yet again of his person, but we see that it relates to also his work. We see that connection there, his person and his work, as we consider how Christ is our mediator.
[1:34] Or we could say it like this, whatever we learn of the person of Christ in this paragraph, it relates back to his work as mediator. And do we remember that work as our mediator that we looked at this last week?
[1:48] He satisfied the justice of God. He obtained reconciliation. He purchased an eternal inheritance. All of that he did as the go-between, between us and God.
[2:01] This is our mediator. God's just wrath that was against us. Jesus satisfied. And so now God looks upon us who are in Christ with favor. We were alienated from God.
[2:13] We were his enemies and Jesus reconciled us to God. We were hostile to God. We were far from him. We were on the outside looking in and he brought us near to God.
[2:25] Not just somewhat near, he brought us into the family of God. And we now have an eternal inheritance in his kingdom. So Jesus is the bridge between us and God.
[2:37] That's his work as our mediator. But again, we've seen this before. He has to be a qualified person to do that work of mediation. It's not just anyone who can be the mediator between God and man.
[2:52] It must be one who is both truly God and truly man. It must be one who possesses both a fully divine nature and a fully human nature.
[3:03] In paragraph 7 here, it's drawing our attention back to this relationship between his divine and human nature. The two natures in the one person, Jesus Christ.
[3:15] So we've already studied something of this. Back in paragraphs 2 and 3. But we have more here to learn. Now before we unpack really the single point of this paragraph, I do want to draw our attention to some wording here in paragraph 7.
[3:31] The confession says, Christ acts according to both natures. By each nature doing what is appropriate to itself. So that last phrase there, by each nature doing what is appropriate to itself.
[3:45] I want to make sure that we're clear on something. When I read that, I think that the confession writers are saying that each nature does something. Each nature does what is appropriate to itself.
[3:57] If that's what they're saying, that's not the best wording. If I'm understanding the confession writers correctly, I think that what they're saying there isn't quite true. I think a better wording would be this.
[4:12] Christ acts according to both natures by doing what is appropriate to each nature. Now why this distinction? Why take slight issue with the way the words are said in the confession?
[4:26] Because we need to recognize a really important distinction. People do things, not natures. People act, not natures.
[4:37] So the wording of the confession seems to be saying that the natures of Christ are doing things. The way that we've reworded it though, it's saying the person of Christ does things.
[4:48] John Frame is helpful in distinguishing between a person and a nature. He defines each of them. A nature is a group of attributes. And a person is a being who bears those attributes.
[5:04] So a nature is a group of attributes. And a person is a being who bears those attributes. So it's a person, not a nature. A person who does things with the attributes that he or she possesses.
[5:17] John Frame explains it this way. Attributes don't act. Only the things or persons that possess these attributes act. So for example, it would be odd and inaccurate if I said my human nature ate breakfast this morning.
[5:35] No, I ate breakfast this morning. Colin ate breakfast this morning. Not Colin's human nature. But I ate breakfast because I possess a human nature.
[5:45] And those who possess a human nature, we wake up in the morning needing to eat. We act according to our natures. But it's not our natures that themselves act. So we should not say that the divine nature of Jesus does something.
[6:00] It is simply the person of Jesus who does something. We should not say that it's the human nature of Jesus that does something. No, it is the person of Jesus who does something.
[6:12] But whatever he does, he does according to the two natures that he possesses. Divine nature, human nature. The person of Jesus Christ acts.
[6:24] John Frame gives us a couple examples. He says, It was not Jesus' human nature that hungered and suffered pain. Rather, it was Jesus himself, the person, not his nature.
[6:37] We should never say that Jesus' human nature did this or that, or Jesus' divine nature did this or that. Jesus himself was the actor, the one who performed the great works that brought us salvation.
[6:51] You see, he is one person. One person who acts according to both natures that he possesses. And that's an important distinction because we want to keep the one person of Jesus Christ before us this morning.
[7:05] Jesus doesn't have two acting agents that are trapped inside of his body seeking to do different things. No, he possesses two natures, but he is still one person who speaks.
[7:16] He is one person who walks, who heals, who dies, and rises again. It is the person of Jesus Christ that we meet in the gospel accounts in God's word.
[7:27] And he acts according to both natures. So Jesus walked because he possesses a human nature. Jesus walked on water because he possesses a divine nature.
[7:39] But it was still Jesus, the one person, doing all of the things that we read of in the gospel accounts. This really goes back to paragraph two in our confession.
[7:51] Where we learned that... Oh, I meant to get back to that. There. Paragraph two. Where we learned that Jesus' two natures were inseparably joined together in one person without converting one into the other or mixing together to produce a different or blended nature.
[8:11] So they remained distinct from each other, but yet still they are together in one person. And so Frame says this. We may say that Jesus suffered and died on the cross according to his human nature.
[8:26] But what suffered was not a nature but the person of Jesus. And the person of Jesus is nothing less than the second person of the Trinity who has taken to himself a human nature.
[8:38] His experiences as a man are truly his experiences. So one person hung upon that cross, the God-man, who is Jesus Christ. Now with all of that said, let's talk about the main point of this paragraph.
[8:55] It is simply teaching us that in talking about the one person of Jesus Christ, sometimes the Bible uses wording that is associated with his divine nature or that is appropriate to his divine nature to describe something he did according to his human nature and vice versa.
[9:18] Sometimes the Bible uses wording that is associated with his human nature to describe something he did according to his divine nature. If that makes our heads want to explode, let's consider an example.
[9:31] Maybe that will help us. The confession gives us two here. Oops, that's mistyped. Should be Acts 20, 28. We're going to look at that one example.
[9:42] I think it's clear. I think it makes the point. It helps us to understand what paragraph 7 is saying. So Acts 20, verse 28. Paul is speaking to the elders of the Ephesian church and he's giving his farewell address to them.
[9:57] He's exhorting them one final time. And this is something that he says in that exhortation. Acts 20, verse 28. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.
[10:12] Now here it is. To care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood. So we've got to make the grammatical connections here, okay?
[10:24] We see that Paul is saying God obtained the church with his own blood. So if we're grammatically linking it, we're saying God's blood obtained the church.
[10:38] Now if we are speaking very technically, God does not have blood. Men have bodies and men, as those who have bodies, have blood. God has no body because God is spirit and so God has no blood.
[10:53] But Jesus Christ, God who became man, who possesses a divine nature and a human nature, he does have blood according to his human nature.
[11:06] So what is appropriate to the human nature of Christ, his having blood, is attributed in Acts 20, 28 under the designation of the other nature that Christ possesses, the divine nature.
[11:17] When Paul says, the church of God who obtained the church with his own blood. Commenting on this particular verse, R.C. Sproul says, we see reference to God's blood, but this does not mean that Christ perished on the cross according to his divine nature.
[11:37] Since there is a perfect unity between the human nature and the divine nature, anything that can be attributed to either nature can be attributed to the person.
[11:48] And sometimes, we even see attributes of one nature attributed to the one person by way of referring to the other nature. Now maybe we are wondering, why is this paragraph here in the confession?
[12:06] Why is it so important for us to understand this? Maybe you're thinking that the last 15 minutes have felt a little bit academic.
[12:17] Or is it 15? 16. Maybe you're thinking, that was 16 minutes? If you're feeling that way, I did too as I was working through this paragraph.
[12:29] And I found the words of Sinclair Ferguson helpful to keep proper perspective. So maybe they'll be helpful for you as well. He says, it's important because we want to describe our Lord Jesus properly and accurately because we love Him.
[12:47] Then a little later, he says, but remember, what we are really concerned about here is thinking and speaking properly about our beloved Lord, Jesus Christ. If someone wrongly describes someone you love, you don't just shrug your shoulders, do you?
[13:02] You try graciously and clearly and maybe even at length to correct their false views. So if we want to be sure that we have an accurate picture of our family members that we love, how much more should we want to have an accurate picture of Christ who we love more than any other person on this earth?
[13:23] We should want that accurate picture for ourselves and we should want that accurate picture for others. So that is what paragraph 7 is helping us to do. If you're anything like me, this is exercising our brains, but it's not a futile exercise.
[13:37] It's with a good end goal to have that more accurate picture according to God's Word of who Jesus is. And as our knowledge for Him grows, our affections for Him should grow too.
[13:52] Our desire to live for Him, to serve Him, to be devoted to Him should grow as well. We know of Him better. We understand more of who He is and that should increase our love and affection for Him.
[14:09] So let's keep growing in our knowing about Jesus and so closely tied to that, let's keep growing in knowing Jesus. And then we serve Him all the more fully with our lives.
[14:20] So that's paragraph 7. And as I said, paragraph 7 feels a bit out of place in this chapter. Feels like maybe it belonged more with paragraphs 2 and 3 where we see something of the person of Jesus Christ described who Jesus is.
[14:37] But this is where the confession writers had it. Confession, there are paragraphs 4, 5, 6, and 8 all have to do with the work of Jesus Christ, what He did and what He is doing.
[14:50] And as we'll see, now that we turn to paragraph 8, paragraph 8 picks up right where paragraph 6 left off. So paragraph 7 was kind of this brief hiatus in the train of thought of this chapter and now we're jumping back in where we left off in paragraph 6.
[15:11] So paragraph 8 talks about who Christ accomplished the eternal plan of God for. It talks about the recipients of the plan. It covers what we had in paragraph 5.
[15:24] Who is it that Christ accomplished the eternal plan of God for? For all those given to Him by the Father. And then we saw in paragraph 6 that all of those given to Him by the Father, they include the elect in every age since the beginning of the world.
[15:41] That means Old Testament saints and New Testament saints alike. So we're picking right up with who Christ accomplished the eternal plan of God for. And we're picking up right where we left off with what Christ accomplished in carrying out that plan.
[15:55] And I think we'll see that as we now look at paragraph 8. To all those for whom Christ has obtained eternal redemption, He certainly and effectually applies and imparts it.
[16:10] He intercedes for them, unites them to Himself by His Spirit and reveals to them in and by His Word the mystery of salvation. He persuades them to believe and obey and governs their hearts by His Word and Spirit.
[16:25] He overcomes all their enemies by His almighty power and wisdom using methods and ways that are perfectly consistent with His wonderful and unsearchable governance. All these things are by free and absolute grace apart from any condition for obtaining it that is foreseen in them.
[16:44] So let's break this down piece by piece. Here's our transition sentence. To all those for whom Christ has obtained eternal redemption, He certainly and effectually applies and imparts it.
[16:57] Meaning, not one of those for whom Christ died will be lost. Not one is left out. Not one is overlooked.
[17:08] All those for whom Christ died, they are saved. They are redeemed. To be redeemed means to be bought back. We were enslaved to sin.
[17:19] We were in the shackles of sin and Christ paid for us. He purchased us out of our slavery to sin. He bought us back. He didn't do it with silver and gold, did He?
[17:33] He did it with His precious blood. Our ransom was paid by His substitutionary sacrificial death. So that's what it means for us to have been redeemed, bought back with the blood of Christ.
[17:48] And, we see the way the confession writers word it, it was an eternal redemption. It's a redemption that lasts for all of eternity. It's not temporary.
[17:59] It's not secured for now, but possibly lost later. It is a forever redemption. And now the confession writers go to great lengths to show just how secure this eternal redemption is.
[18:16] Just how secure we who have been redeemed are. The rest of this paragraph is given over to talking about the sureness of our salvation. We see that in the second part of that first sentence.
[18:30] He certainly and effectually applies and imparts eternal redemption. He effectually and he certainly.
[18:42] So, certainly, meaning that we can be sure of it, right? He will do it. My wife, sometimes, as we're getting ready for bed, will ask me to go down to the freezer in the basement to bring up, say, frozen chicken for dinner the next day to thaw.
[18:58] And she'll ask me to do it maybe as she's already gone upstairs. She'll call down and as I'm filling my water bottle, she's saying, can you be sure to get that chicken out of the freezer? And I say, yes. And then I get back to filling my water bottle and then I realize that the water needs to get replaced also so I fill up the water container and I put it back in the fridge and then I get upstairs.
[19:16] No, then it hits me. I forgot to get your chicken. I did not certainly do what she had asked. I had the best of intentions. I wasn't trying to let her down but at the end of the day, I did not do what I said I would do.
[19:30] Not so with Christ. He obtains eternal redemption for us and He certainly applies and imparts it to us. He does it every time with every person given to Him by the Father.
[19:43] Certainly. And the confession says effectually He does it. Effectually meaning that He won't fail in applying it. I have also gone down to the basement to get that chicken for my wife and come back up with ground beef.
[19:59] I went. I did it. I certainly went to the basement to get that chicken but I did not effectually, effectively do it. I came up with that ground beef.
[20:11] It was an attempt but it was a failed attempt. Not so with Christ. He certainly applies and imparts eternal redemption and He succeeds in doing it.
[20:23] He doesn't mistakenly bring up the ground beef instead of chicken and is not our salvation of far greater worth than what we're going to have for dinner the next night. He succeeds every single time.
[20:35] And so there's a confidence that we ought to have. A confidence in our Savior. He will make sure that His chosen people, those who were given to Him by the Father will be saved.
[20:49] So then the question is how does He do that? How does He ensure that we are saved? How does this imparting and applying of eternal redemption, what does it look like?
[21:03] Well that's what the rest of the paragraph unpacks for us and it does it in great detail. We're going to see here five ways that Christ imparts and applies His eternal redemption to us.
[21:16] First we see He intercedes for us. Listen to Romans 8 beginning in verse 31. What then shall we say to these things?
[21:28] If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?
[21:40] Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised?
[21:53] Who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us? So we see Christ's redeeming work there. His death His resurrection and that redeeming work is then coupled with His interceding work His present work at the right hand of God.
[22:14] No one can bring a charge against God's elect. No one can bring a charge against those given to the Son by the Father. No charges will stick. How can we be so certain of that?
[22:26] Because Christ speaks on our behalf. He's our intercessor. Or there's another word that we could say. He is our mediator. Speaking to God on our behalf.
[22:39] These people have been bought with My blood. I've obtained their eternal redemption and no one can separate them from My love. So those verses in Romans 8 are making it abundantly clear.
[22:52] Our salvation is secure. And it's secure because of Christ. And it's secure because of His work as our mediator. He intercedes for us.
[23:04] But not just that. As good as that is Him speaking for us. But even better He also unites us to Himself. The confession says that He unites them to Himself by His Spirit.
[23:20] That's the second way that eternal redemption is certainly and effectually applied and imparted to us. He unites us to Himself by His Spirit. Now the confession writers are talking about our union with Christ.
[23:36] You won't find the phrase union with Christ anywhere in your Bible. but you will find two words all over the New Testament. In Christ.
[23:46] Or in Him. Romans 6.11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6.23 For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[24:06] And if you think well maybe it's only Paul that talks this way. 1 Peter 5.14 Peace to all of you who are in Christ. Who are in Christ.
[24:18] So what does that mean? To be in Christ. It means that we are spiritually joined to Him. To be united to Christ means that we are in saving relationship to Christ.
[24:31] And because we are in Him all of the spiritual benefits and blessings that He possesses that He deserves those benefits and blessings are also given to us.
[24:43] We are in Him. And so we receive them as well. Dutch theologian Herman Bawink says this The union between Christ and the church is as close as that between the vine and the branches between bridegroom and bride husband and wife cornerstone and building.
[25:06] So there's this sense of an abiding fellowship. There's this sense of a close intimate inseparable relationship. Bawink speaks of the vine and the branches.
[25:18] That's a pretty clear reference to John 15. John 15 is a wonderful passage about our union with Christ. Jesus Himself says I am the true vine and my Father is the vine dresser.
[25:30] Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
[25:44] Abide in me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine neither can you unless you abide in me.
[25:55] I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him He it is that bears much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing.
[26:06] So Christ has united us to Himself. He's brought us into this close relationship with Him. We are in Him. We are in Christ. Ephesians 1 is another passage that lays out in great detail what this union with Christ entails.
[26:24] Just reading verse 3 this is what Ephesians 1 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.
[26:39] So those who are in Christ receive the benefits of being in that union. We receive the blessings that belong to Christ. So as our mediator Christ unites Himself to us and He does it the confession says by the Spirit.
[26:56] So now we see God the Holy Spirit also plays a crucial role in our salvation. Now obviously chapter 8 is about Jesus Christ primarily. It is called Christ the mediator.
[27:07] But God the Holy Spirit is also actively involved in our salvation. It's the Holy Spirit that Jesus Himself said that He would send. He said this in His final meal to His disciples.
[27:20] On the night of His betrayal Jesus shared three different times that He would send the Holy Spirit to them. He said that He must return to the Father but then when He did He would not leave them alone but He would send the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is involved in this work of salvation.
[27:40] John Calvin has referred to the Spirit as the bond of communion between Christ and us as His people. Now it's not the Spirit who obtains our eternal redemption.
[27:52] That's the work of the Son on the cross. But then the Son sends the Holy Spirit and it is the Holy Spirit who then directly applies the eternal redemption.
[28:04] That's salvation to us. Or you could say that He communicates salvation to us. Now that might sound a little bit vague. That might sound a little bit general.
[28:16] What do we mean by applying or communicating salvation? How is it that Christ unites us to Himself by the Holy Spirit? So let's talk more concretely.
[28:27] And that is exactly what the confession writers do. What follows here in the paragraph is this concrete explanation of what Christ does by His Spirit to apply salvation to us.
[28:40] So we see, first, He reveals to them in and by His Word the mystery of salvation. So this is the third way that Christ certainly and effectually applies and imparts eternal redemption to us.
[28:55] He reveals to us in and by His Word the mystery of salvation. And again, Christ does this by His Spirit. It's the Spirit who works in very personal ways in our inner being.
[29:11] He opens the eyes of our hearts to see and to understand this mystery of salvation, this mystery that is given to us where? In the Word. So it's not a mystery that's kept hidden.
[29:24] It's not a mystery that is shrouded in secrecy. It is a mystery that has been revealed. And that's what the confession says. The mystery of salvation is revealed to us.
[29:35] And it is the Holy Spirit that makes this mystery of salvation known to us. He gives us the eyes to see that we are sinners. We are sinners in need of a Savior.
[29:47] Christ is the Savior that we need who died to obtain an eternal redemption. This is revealed to us in the Word and it is the Spirit who is working in our hearts that we might see clearly these spiritual realities.
[30:03] Anyone can read the Bible. But without the Spirit, we will reject what it says. We will deny the truth and we will embrace a lie.
[30:14] We must have the Spirit. Ephesians 1.17 calls Him the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation. Ephesians 1 goes on to speak of Him as the one who enlightens the eyes of our hearts so that we might see clearly that salvation that God has revealed in His Word.
[30:35] The same truth is taught in 1 Corinthians 2.12-13. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
[30:49] And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit. Interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. But it's not just that we see this mystery of salvation.
[31:05] It's not even just that we understand it to be true, but we must be persuaded to believe and to obey. We need our hearts to be governed, the confession says.
[31:18] We need to be prevailed upon. And again, who does this? The Holy Spirit does this work. Having been sent by the exalted Christ, He gives us eyes to see, and then He gives us hearts to believe and to embrace salvation, to live in obedience to God as He's revealed Himself in His Word.
[31:37] So the Word is to govern our lives. The Word is to rule over our lives. And who is it that works in our hearts that we might submit to God's Word?
[31:48] It's the Spirit. So He has such personal involvement in our lives. This is the application of salvation. He is personally working in us. And it's Christ through the Spirit then applying salvation to us individually.
[32:02] It's the Spirit who gives us faith. It's the Spirit who causes us to believe. Without the Spirit, we are walking in spiritual blindness.
[32:13] We are wandering aimlessly. We have no desire for the truth of God's Word. We have no understanding even of the truth of God's Word. We need the Spirit to work in our hearts to bring about faith, to bring about obedience to the truth.
[32:28] So Christ persuades us. And He does it by His Word, the confession says. But who gives us a right understanding of His Word? It's the Holy Spirit.
[32:40] He gives us a right understanding. He gives us a willingness to turn in humble faith and to believe what God's Word says. So that's the work of applying redemption to us. It is by the Holy Spirit who comes that we might have saving faith, who comes to us that we might continue in that faith, that we might persevere in that faith, that we might continue to the end.
[33:02] So we persevere. But we also see that we are preserved in our persevering. We are kept. We are guarded until the end. And this is the fifth and final way that salvation is applied to us.
[33:17] He overcomes all their enemies by His almighty power and wisdom. So Christ, by His Spirit, is doing this now.
[33:28] He is conquering our enemies. He is enabling us to fight against temptation to sin, to put sin to death, to live lives seeking and pursuing righteousness.
[33:40] So our very sanctification is a demonstration of Christ's power at work in our lives. Presently, the darkness is beaten back as we are walking in the light.
[33:53] That's a work that Christ is doing by His Spirit right now. Overcoming our enemies. And He will finish that job. He will finish it fully and finally when He returns to make all things new.
[34:07] The two Scripture references that are given to us here, Psalm 110, 1 Corinthians 15, they're both reminding us of that final future day. Psalm 110 says, The Lord says to my Lord, meaning God the Father says to God the Son, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
[34:30] 1 Corinthians 15, speaking of that same future day, For Christ must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
[34:43] So what Christ, by the Holy Spirit, is presently doing in our lives, Christ, by the Holy Spirit, will do in complete fashion at His return. No enemy of His, who is then an enemy of ours, will stand.
[34:56] He will overcome them, every single one of them. And now the last part of this paragraph that we need to unpack together. The confession anticipates a question that many people ask.
[35:12] Perhaps the question has rattled around in our brains at some time, perhaps even this morning. what is our role in all of this? Is there some way in which we can take even just a little bit of credit for our salvation?
[35:29] And the answer the confession is giving, according to what God's Word says, is no. Jesus Christ sees to it that eternal redemption is applied and imparted to us without us contributing something to it in order to earn it.
[35:49] So what does the confession say He does? He uses methods and ways that are perfectly consistent with His wonderful and unsearchable governance. All these things are by free and absolute grace, apart from any condition for obtaining it that is foreseen in them.
[36:10] That's a mouthful. What is that saying? It is saying that He doesn't look into the future to see who will believe and then He imparts salvation to them.
[36:21] That's what that last phrase there in that paragraph is getting at. He doesn't foresee anything in us that makes us somehow deserving or more qualified than another to obtain salvation.
[36:33] He gives it freely and absolutely by grace. So God doesn't look down the corridor of time to see who will believe.
[36:43] He doesn't foresee faith in us and then grant us salvation. He chooses by His good pleasure to save whomever He wills. And whomever He wills to save, whomever He wills to apply eternal redemption to, He certainly and effectually does.
[37:04] Now we might be thinking, but wait, what about all of the commands in Scripture? Yes, we must repent and believe. Yes, we are called to do that.
[37:15] We are responsible for doing that. We are given explicit commands to do that in God's Word and so we must. But when you pull back the curtain on our hearts, who is it that's at work in us to bring about faith and repentance, who gets the credit for even our willingness to believe.
[37:42] It's God who is governing our hearts. If He can turn the heart of a king like a stream of water whichever way He pleases, how much more little old me?
[37:54] How much more you? He's not hoping. He's not offering redemption and then standing back and waiting to see who will accept. No, God is actively at work to save all of those chosen by Him and He doesn't fail to save any of them.
[38:15] That is an incredibly comforting thought. He loses none. He certainly and effectually saves because our salvation depends on Him. It's all of grace.
[38:28] Now for some, that has led to perhaps an ivory tower way of thinking. Well, I have the answer. I understand how He saves. No, that should humble us. That should keep us low saying, who am I that God would choose me and save me?
[38:45] And I want to then tell others of this salvation. I want to tell others of this great God who is worthy of exaltation. Look at Him who freely and absolutely of His grace saves sinners such as us.
[39:00] So you see Ephesians 1.8 is given in the confession as one of two verses as biblical support for what they're saying. I just want to close our time together by reading not just verse 8 but verses 3-10 of Ephesians 1 because this passage it exalts God and it reminds us of just how astounding His grace is.
[39:23] 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 before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
[39:43] In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of His will to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.
[39:57] In Him we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will according to His purpose which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in Him things in heaven and things on earth.
[40:23] Amen. What a gracious God. We are dismissed.