Faith, Grace, and the Security of Salvation

"Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God on them which fell severity but toward thee goodness if thou continue in his goodness otherwise thou also shalt be cut off now there is where the problem I say is raised for us in an explicit manner it's implicit in the history here it is explicitly stated and put before us very well then what is the problem we can describe it as being a kind of double problem but essentially of course it's only one but it comes before us here in in a double manner." [00:04:36]

"First of all is not the Apostle suggesting in this paragraph that it is our faith and belief after all that saves us now he appears to be saying that doesn't he he says uh thou wil say then the branches were broken off that I might be grafted in well because of unbelief they were broken off and thou standest by faith there the suggestion seems to be that after all the thing that rarely counts and matters is our faith they are out because they didn't believe we are in because we do believe." [00:05:14]

"How can that be reconciled with what he says here or how can we reconcile what he has told us so clearly and plainly on the matters of assurance and perseverance with this extraordinary statement here in this 22nd verse which is only staying as I say explicitly what we know to be true in the case of the children of Israel speaking generally of them as a nation as an actual fact so the question that is before us is this is this statement not a sheer contradiction of what the Apostle has been teaching about election about assurance and the about perseverance the final perseverance and the safety eternally of the Saints." [00:08:08]

"Nothing is so important as that we should know how to face problems and the method seems to me to be more or less always the same well how do we do it here well the first thing I would suggest is this start with your facts and there they are perfectly plain and clear before you this is a tremendous fact in the story of the children of Israel the Jews now the apostles has put that before us there's no difficulty about that this is a sure fact and it's a fact of history it's no use arguing about that you just accept it you've got to face it and there it is." [00:11:26]

"Never base a Doctrine on an isolated passage now I think you'll all agree with that you have to compare scripture with scripture the scripture is a whole so you start by just saying that here I come across something I mustn't base my whole Doctrine on this matter on an isolated statement always take the whole of scripture scripture with scripture then secondly you can lay it down as a general principle that the scripture does not contradict itself the scripture is the word of God not the not words of men the word of God." [00:20:56]

"The Apostle has gone out of his way to show that the only manner in which you can understand the history of the Jews and the whole of the way of Salvation is to see that it is according to the election of Grace there's no other explanation and he's given us positive and negative arguments he's put it in such a clear manner that when an objector comes forward he says to him nay but oh man who art thou that repliest against God shall the thing form say to him that formed it why hast Thou made me thus has not the Potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel un honor and another un dishonor and so on." [00:24:36]

"If our ultimate salvation our ultimate arrival in glory depended on our faithfulness well then certain things follow inevitably and here they are if that were so the credit would ultimately have to be given to us if it is our faith and our persistence that arrive brings us eventually into the glory Everlasting it is no longer the goodness of God that does it it is us you may say the goodness of God gave you a a chance or a start but after all the thing that decides whether a man arrives in heaven or not is what he does." [00:29:22]

"Is it not abundantly clear that not one of us would ever arrive in heaven that none would ever be glorified is there anyone here who would like to claim that he or she is in a given position as a Christian this moment because of what you've done the moment you examine it from the standpoint of experience we all must recognize it at once we all fail we all go astray we all fall into sin and none of us would have any hope of arriving at glory if it depended upon us I mean this even those who were regenerate even those of us who are born again even those of us who have the gift of faith if it were left to us we should all fail." [00:31:50]

"Our Salvation does not depend upon us at any point it is entirely in him and of him very well then now there are some of these arguments that we draw out very well say somebody you've stated all that before we you've worked it out as the apostle but still I'm in this difficulty how are you going to reconcile all that with what you've got before you there in this 11th chapter and especially in this explicit form in verse 22 and what about the similar parallel statements I suggest to you that the answers can be put in some such form as this and here it seems to me is a most important and helpful matter for us." [00:34:47]

"All these passages which seem to be putting it on us putting the owners on us and suspending our ultimate glorification upon us and our faithfulness and persistence all these passages are invariably addressed only to the visible church only to the sphere of profession now let me expound that what is the whole Central argument of this chapter isn't it this we've seen it so often let me bring it back to your minds the leading theme of this chapter is after all the two israels now we've had to deal with it in expounding the teaching concerning the Olive Tree and so on that's the point that is stood out isn't it that there is an external Israel there is a kind of inner Israel." [00:36:09]

"These remarks in other words apply as I say only to the visible Church they apply only in general to the nation of Israel and to the Gentiles speaking generally well now it's exactly the same you it's the only explanation of those other passages that I quoted you the one for instance in Matthew 8 where we said saw that our Lord issued that warning you remember to his listeners at that time Matthew 8:12 but the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into outer Darkness now that simply means Israel after the flesh that's not the elect it's only true of them it's not the true spiritual Seed of Abraham his whole argument is that they're always in but it's these others and it's the same with Luke 13:28 and so on there is no statement anywhere in the scripture that the elect can fall or that the elect will ever be cut out." [00:39:04]

"The only people who are ever frightened by a statement such as this are true Christian people nobody else the whole trouble with these others who think they're Christians temporary Believers temporary professors call them what you like the trouble with them is that they're always self-satisfied they're perfectly happy nothing ever disturbs them at all and they can read through the warnings of the scripture nothing troubles them everything is all right show me a man who's Disturbed and somewhat alarmed by these statements and I will show you a Christian or let me put it as I often have to put it in my Vestry and as every Minister often has to put it when a man comes to me and tells me that he thinks he's guilty of the blasphemy or the sin against the Holy Ghost I always tell such a person well if there's one man in the world of whom I am absolutely certain he's not guilty of that it's you if you're worried that you're guilty of that sin against the Holy Ghost you're giving me proof that you're not guilty of it." [00:44:37]