Sunday School | The Doctrine of Salvation - Part 1

We are resuming. We took about a twelve week break on our doctrine survey. So you got to go back in your head and try to remember what the heck were we doing. What was what was three months ago? This is May, so it was like February maybe, significantly colder. And we have been doing for months and months, a kind of a comprehensive survey of Christian doctrine. It's a big, broad theology. We kind of have broken all of Christian theology into 10 major sections. This is just kind of a very classic way to understand Christian doctrine.

And we did—what were the first three that we did? Do you remember?

First three doctrinal: Theology proper, Christology, pneumology. Theology proper—doctrine of the Father. Christology—doctrine of the Son. Pneumatology—doctrine of the Spirit. That's our basic basic. Any Christian theology is always gonna be rooted in the Trinity. So we spent probably three months looking through each of the three persons of the Godhead.

What else did we do? Doctrine of Man. So what's our fancy word for that, Gary?

Gary: Anthropology.

Tim: Anthropology—the study of man. What do we understand? We're made in the image of God, tragically fallen, chased all bunch of implications of that.

What else did we do? Hamartiology, right?

Congregation: Hamartiology.

Tim: Hamartiology, which is a fancy word for what, you guys?

Congregation: Doctrine of sin.

Tim: So you spent some time trying to understand what it means that we're fallen. What is the biblical understanding of sin?

So the Trinity, man, sin. We did one more. Bibliology, right? The study of the scriptures, the doctrine of the scriptures. So that's where we were when we stopped, and what that leads us to, at this point, we're gonna pick it back up on, is the doctrine of salvation.

Soteriology

And what is the fancy way to say the doctrine of salvation?

Congregation: Soteriology.

Tim: Soteriology. Okay. So if you wanna be smart about it, soteriology. Now, talk about soteriology, the doctrine of salvation. This one's big. We could be and will be here probably for a couple of months. There's a lot that we could say. Soteriology, the doctrine of salvation itself breaks down into lots of different subcategories. There's a lot of stuff involved in this.

But I want you to just to begin to think here. Help me try to generate—we'll crowdsource a bit. In the New Testament, where does the New Testament talk about salvation? Where does it talk about that we're being saved, or have been saved, or could be saved? Pick a line. Salvation is from the Jews. Just think there's over a 100 times that the New Testament is gonna use the term salvation, save, saved. I'm curious, which one just kinda scans through your brain. What are we talking about here?

Congregation member: Romans.

Tim: Okay. What—Romans, many times. Can you think of a passage?

Congregation member: I can't, not like you. Not that good. But just all throughout.

Tim: Okay. Yeah. And we're gonna just scan your brain for the word saved or salvation.

Congregation member: Ephesians?

Tim: Ephesians? Who said that? Ephesians—what? This is one of the classics. Ephesians 2:8-9.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. — Ephesians 2:8-9

Right there. That's like a very central one. But somebody over here was saying something though. Gary?

Gary: I was thinking of—it doesn't use the word saved, but it's from John chapter 3 where Jesus says, You must be born again.

Tim: Okay. You must be born again. This is true. Yes, absolutely. And that is related to this. But let's try to find the word salvation or saved in your brain.

Herrick?

Herrick: Matthew 16:25. You try to save your life, you'll lose it. If you try to lose your life...

Tim: Great. So Jesus is talking about kind of the upside down nature of the kingdom. Who will save their life? Who will lose their life?

Keep going here.

Congregation member: Romans 1:16.

Tim: Okay. This is great. How does it go?

Congregation member: I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.

Tim: Right. Romans 1:16 is where Paul really launches into his argument.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. — Romans 1:16

Why? Because it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes. Right? So salvation—this is kind of the thesis. Salvation seems to be a theme in Romans. Very good.

Couple more. Romans 10:9, Massey?

Massey: If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.

Tim: Right.

If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. — Romans 10:9

So this permeates the thing.

Gina?

Gina: Hebrews 2.

Tim: Hebrews 2. Which part?

Gina: The whole chapter.

Acts four twelve. What's this?

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name given to men by which we must be saved. — Acts 4:12

Peter's famous profession of faith. He actually says it twice in that single verse text about saved and talks about salvation. It's all over the place. Salvation is found in no one else. For there's no other name given to men whereby we must be saved. It's everywhere.

We have a few more examples. Titus:

The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. — Titus (paraphrased)

It's all over the place. And Gina found Hebrews two:

How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? — Hebrews 2:3

Excellent. Second Corinthians two:

We are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved, and those who are perishing. — 2 Corinthians 2 (paraphrased)

Ephesians one:

You're included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. — Ephesians 1 (paraphrased)

Over and over and over again, the Bible's going to talk about this.

What Does "Saved" Actually Mean?

Now, forget Christianity. Forget religion. What does the word saved mean? What does salvation mean? This is one of those terms that has become religiousified, and then you forget what it actually means. So what does it mean to save? What is salvation? Give me a synonym.

Rescue is a great term. Spared from death—right? So to be saved is to be spared. You're in some terrible danger. If you were drowning at the beach and the lifeguard saved you, it would mean you don't die.

Now, we can sometimes turn "save" from a verb into an adjective, and that's really unhelpful. When it ceases to be some actual idea that I am being rescued, and instead I've just taken on the category of "that which is saved," we've moved from an actual event to just this kind of religious trapping that's really unhelpful. And there are contexts in American history where you might ask somebody, "Are you saved?" They're like, "You washed in the blood?" And it just doesn't help anybody. Because we're not really talking about anything that's actually accessible or meaningful.

So throughout this entire conversation, when we're talking about salvation, we're talking about rescue. You won't get rescued if you don't perceive that you're in danger. This is why Jesus said, "It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Because healthy people don't take medication. They don't attend to things. And so the doctrine of salvation is deeply interested in some idea of our rescue.

The Three Tenses of Salvation

If we were to make a big survey of how the Bible talks about this—and there's over a hundred times the Bible talks about salvation—one thing I would want you to notice is that sometimes the verb tense of these passages about salvation and being saved are in the past tense. But then sometimes there's a cluster that are in the present tense. And then sometimes our salvation is actually set in the future. So it's actually important to know that we have been saved, and we are being saved, and we will be saved.

Let me give you some samples of those. Ephesians two eight and nine:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. — Ephesians 2:8-9

Past tense. It's a completed event. It's already done. Or Titus three:

He saved us, not because of righteous things that we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit. — Titus 3 (paraphrased)

Ephesians and Titus are framing it as a completed event. But it's not always like that. Luke nineteen nine, Jesus says:

Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. — Luke 19:9

It's a thing that's happening in a lifetime. And in First Peter one nine:

You are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your soul. — 1 Peter 1:9

It wasn't just in the past, but it's happening. You're being saved even as we speak. Right now, it's in effect. But it's not over. Hebrews nine says:

Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. And he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. — Hebrews 9 (paraphrased)

So yes, you were saved. Yes, he's actively working on you now. But really, what we're waiting for, what we're longing for is his return. And when he comes, he's bringing salvation. You have been saved, you're being saved, you will be saved.

First Peter one says this, that you, through faith, are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. — 1 Peter 1

Past tense. Future tense. And I want to draw you a picture, and it's going to be really ugly. Okay? So let's see. Here's how I want you to think about this. Here's what I'm going to draw for you. Everything that I write in English is just symbolic representation. You wouldn't be able to read it if it was big, but you sure can't read it if it's small. Alright?

So, this is going to represent Righteousness on your vertical axis, and time is your horizontal axis. Okay? So you begin your life down here, wicked. Just, you're a sinner. Go back to our anthropology. Go back to the doctrine of sin. This is how your life begins.

But by the mercy and grace of God, at a moment in time, you surrendered your life to Christ. And when you did, the most extraordinary thing happened. All of your badness, all of your sin was credited—maybe we should say debited—to Christ. He took upon himself the blame for everything you've ever done. And he took the credit of all of his perfections, all of his excellence, all the supremacy and the humility with which he loves the Father. And it was all credited to you. And at a moment in time, your righteousness shot straight up, and it remains like that forever. Justification. Your righteousness—you have a foreign righteousness.

Justification vs. Other Religions

So we continued from Romans one sixteen.

In the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed, to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. — Romans 1:16-18

That is what makes Christianity unlike anything in the world. Every religious system, in some way, shape or form, is about a righteousness from you to God. Look at what a good boy I am. Look at how I have followed the five pillars of Islam. Look at how I have lived consistent with the eight principles of Buddhism. Look at how I have obeyed the laws of Judaism. It is a righteousness from you to God, and it never works. It can't work, because we're not righteous people.

And in Christianity, what we have—our doctrine of salvation—is rooted in another doctrine that we call justification. That God, at a moment in time, credits you with his righteousness. It's not from you to him, it's from him to you. And he has declared you to be righteous.

Sanctification: The Work in Progress

But something else started at that moment. Our doctrine of salvation is not just the declared righteousness of God. At this moment, when you became a Christian, something else started. It's been inconsistent. There have been down moments. But there is this endless progression up. Right? What do we call that? Sanctification.

So he declared you righteous, credited you with the perfections of Christ, and he begins this process of causing you to be, for all the world to see, what he's already said you are. And it's working. This is actually happening in your life. You are becoming—we use the word sanctify, and that's exactly right. But sanctify is just a fancy word for what? Work in progress. It is a work in progress. Getting better.

If something has been sanctified, it is holy. What he is doing more and more is he's setting you apart. He is making you holy. He is separating you from all the things that have beset you for all of your days. And if you stop and you just consider: What do you love today? What did you love when you were a college student? How do you spend your money today? How did you used to spend your money? How do you treat people? How quick are you to hold your tongue? What you should see is this progress up and to the right. We love charts that go up and to the right.

There are corrections, though. Are there not? There are moments where the thing slides back down, or you've got bad days. Sometimes you have bad weeks. If you start to have a bad year, then we're going to wonder, truthfully. There's a point at which we'd be like, are you in the game? But there is an upward trend.

So we are justified, we are sanctified. These are both part of the doctrine of salvation. Problem is, you're going to die before we cross the top. No one in this world is ever going to be fully sanctified in this age. And if you ever meet somebody who claims that they haven't sinned since 1989, they're lying. That's just—they're sinning in that very second. It's not the way it works.

But we are going to die. So this right here—this yellow thing—that is your conversion. That's when the process begins. That's when your justification sets in.

That's when your sanctification gets to work. And there's going to be another line right here. And that's where you die. And subsequent to your death, these lines are going to converge. And you will be glorified. So we'd probably say glorification if I was being more consistent.

These three primary doctrines—glorification, justification, sanctification—is what we mean when we're talking about soteriology. The doctrine of salvation is seeking to answer the questions: How are we justified? By what means could an unrighteous person be made righteous? It's seeking to ask the question, well, does it work? Does it matter? Does it actually happen in this world? And the answer is yes. Bit by bit, we are being sanctified. And then it also seeks to answer the question, well, but how does the story end? And the story will end in our ultimate glorification. But not for a while.

So when I say soteriology, when I say the doctrine of salvation, you're thinking what three terms? Justification. Sanctification. Glorification.

Now, I've got a fourth one. Joe just came up with this—old bad self tification. It's tongue in cheek, but there's real truth to it. The idea is that the Holy Spirit is trying to refine us and work on the things that we won't let go of. But because of our old bad self, he's trying to work through us, and because we won't let go of certain things, there's this ongoing battle.

When you became a Christian, the Spirit of God moved into your life, and he now embodies you, but he doesn't always fill you. Sometimes he settles to the bottom of the glass. Paul describes it as your sinful nature and the Spirit of God at war. There's a war waging in you, and sometimes we succumb to that war.

What Are We Saved From and Saved To?

Here's what I want you to think about: What are we saved from, and what are we saved to?

Let's start with justification. Looking at this through the lens of the doctrine of justification, what are you being saved from? How does the Bible talk about this? From sin. From death. Sin and death. Let me work on sin. I want to divide sin into two different categories—two different aspects of how sin impacts us and brings death.

You are saved in justification chiefly from the penalty of sin. That's incredibly important. Can we make a case for that in the scriptures?

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. — John 3:16

If you understand that the punishment of sin is perishing, then we're being rescued from that, which really goes to what was said about death. Instead, we're granted eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 6:23

The wages of sin is death, but we're not gonna give you what you've earned. Instead, we're gonna give you the gift of God, which is eternal life.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. — 2 Corinthians 5:21

There is this judicial exchange that is taking place. In the beginning of Luke, John the Baptist says that Jesus's job is to give people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sin. When we talk about forgiving sin, we're excusing you, exonerating you from the penalty of sin.

Justification is principally about the idea that you are no longer held accountable for all your wrongdoing. If you have any self-consciousness at all, that is so lavish, so extraordinary. To be excused from the accountability for all of your wrongdoing—I mean, what do you want more than that if you have any awareness of your own life?

So we're free in justification. We're freed from the penalty of sin.

Sanctification, though, takes a different twist on it. We're not saved from the penalty of our sin; we're saved from the power of sin. Because sin does not just leave us in debt. It is a terrible and enslaving master.

Slips passage this morning, right, when he talks about, "You're of your father the devil," and what do you do when your father is the devil, Dave? You listen to him. You do what he wants you to do. We could go to Romans 6 again, right, because:

Anyone who sins is a slave to sin — Romans 6

Sanctification is in part of our rescue. We're not just being rescued from the penalty of sin, we're being rescued from the power of sin so that we no longer need to obey it. Now, as we sit here right now, I want you to think of your life in two categories. You can think of your old life, when maybe it was screamingly obvious to you that you had to do what your sin nature declared. Do you remember that? But you might also think of your present life, where you don't have to, but it seems like you do. And so you do, right? Can you feel these in your life?

Heroin addicts are free to do heroin, and they can't not until they are set free. But then, those of us that have been set free from any number of things might find ourselves walking back into that slavery. The process of sanctification, you could think of it chiefly as God setting you free from the power of sin, so that you no longer need to obey its desires and thoughts. Okay?

So we're set free from the penalty of sin. We're set free from the power of sin. And then the third—or the last question is, what are we being not just saved from, but what are we being saved to? And how do you think the New Testament speaks about this? What are we being saved to? Presence. The presence of God. Yes, very good. From the presence of sin and to the presence of God.

So if sin was your master, if sin is the thing that is wrecking you, if sin crouches at your door desiring to master you, and you're being set free from that, what we're being invited to is intimacy, relationship, connection with the Lord, right? He is the gospel. He is the prize of the gospel. This is not just—sometimes we'll talk about the gospel as if it's a mathematical problem. "Hey, you know, you owed a million dollars and now you're out of debt." But it's not just that now you're free to go live independently.

The problem—the primary, the overarching problem of our sinfulness—is that it's a barrier to intimacy with God. You were made for relationship with him, but you can't have it because your sin is screwing everything up. And once the problem gets solved, once you're no longer under the penalty of sin, and as you're undergoing the process of being set free from the power of sin, what you get is him, right? Think about it in your relationships. If your wife is mad at you because of some stupid thing you did, and she forgives you, the prize is not that you're no longer under her anger. The prize is that you get her. She's the prize. She's the thing you want back. It's to have their intimacy restored with her. And it is the same with the Lord, right? He frees us from the penalty of sin, he frees us from the power of sin, and he frees us to be back in relationship with himself, right?

There's another aspect to this too. We're being saved to the image—we're image bearers. That image was marred, and that image will fully be restored. So we become what we were always intended to be when we were in sin.

When Kelly is saying, it's not just that we're being restored to be in intimacy with God, but we're actually being restored to his image. You could look at everything in the gospel. We could do an entire session on what it means that we were made in his image, how the image was lost, how Jesus was made into our image, so that we'd be made into his, all of this stuff. But I would take what you're saying about the fact that we're being restored into his image. What that means is that you're not just saved from sin, and you're not just saved from his power and penalty, and you're not just saved to intimacy with the Father, but you're being saved to holiness, right?

God has saved us and called us to a holy life — 2 Timothy 1

The prize, the treasure, what we win in this, is that we get to become no longer sinners. And I don't know if that is as sweet to you as it will one day be.

But the fact that when all things are restored and we bear that image again, and our sinful nature is finally done away with, and you are living life and you're no longer inherently selfish, when you're no longer fighting the inclination to deceive people in order to get what you want, when you're no longer jealous at everyone else's happiness, when you are finally what he made you to be in the first place, you will find that to be an enormous treasure.

You're saved from the penalty of sin. You're saved from the power of sin—justification, sanctification. And you are being saved to an intimacy with him. You're being not only sanctified, but one day you will be glorified when he restores all things.

So when we talk about this, we're gonna unpack this stuff for weeks and weeks and weeks, but I want you to have that big frame. We have been saved, we're being saved, we will be saved. Salvation is justification, it is sanctification, it is glorification. We're being saved from the penalty of sin and the power of sin. We're being saved to holiness. We're being saved to intimacy with God.

Salvation in Scripture

Let me demonstrate some of this from the scripture. We talk about being saved from the penalty of sin. I actually read that to you.

I am not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. For in the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed. — Romans 1:16

This is baseline for all of it. But listen to how Second Corinthians talks about the power of sin:

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. — 2 Corinthians 7:10

An essential aspect of our salvation is we don't want to sin anymore. It's not merely, "Hey, great news. I got a get out of jail free card. I'm free from the penalty of sin, so let's party." Rather, it is saying, "Listen, I no longer have to do those things I didn't really want to do." When Paul says, "I don't understand what I do. The good I wanna do, I don't do. The thing I don't wanna do, I do," sanctification is the process whereby that stuff gets released.

The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. — Titus 2:11-12

We're being saved through our sanctification to a holiness. And then this relationship with God—

God has saved us and he's called us to a holy life. — 2 Timothy 1:9

He is doing the work in our lives so that we no longer follow sin. And we are justified, free from the penalty. We are sanctified, becoming free from its power, and we one day will be glorified.

Got that big framework? We're gonna kind of look at a lot of things through that lens over the next couple of months.

Now, Kelly, I can now entertain your question about restoration and how it's different from glorification. So generally speaking, I would think of restoration as what is happening to the world, whereas glorification is what is happening to us.

If you have your Bible, go to Romans 8 and I'll show you how these things are braided. Go to verse 18.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. — Romans 8:18

This is glorification. Things are difficult, things are hard, we're broken, we get cancer, we have relationships break, life is hard. It's like, I know, it's all terrible. People get mad at us when we talk about Jesus, but I'm just telling you, it's gonna be infinitesimal relative. The payoff is gonna be so much greater. So stay on the course.

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. — Romans 8:19

What that means is that when we are suddenly stripped out of our death suits, these bodies of death and decay, and we have a redeemed body, when we are fully actualized in all that he's given for us, like the trees are gonna laugh about it. The world is gonna be in joy, not only to see us, but because the world itself will be set free.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay, and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. — Romans 8:20-21

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit groan inwardly, as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope, we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. — Romans 8

What we're expecting here is not just that when Jesus comes back, that we get raised from the dead, but when Jesus comes back and we get raised from the dead, and our adoption is complete, and we are glorified—our very flesh that is given to rebellion will be transformed. We will be changed, we will be made to be like him. As that is happening to us, which I think of as glorification, the universe itself is also going to be restored. This world—we can't even begin to imagine a world without death, because everything in our world is subject to decay. But someday, it will not be so.

We will be here on this planet. There will be continuities between this world and the world to come, but there will be profound discontinuities as well. And everything sad is going to come untrue. Creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay.

So, have I answered the question, or did I gyp you at all? Is that more you want to say about that?

Summary and Questions

Alright. Questions so far. Justification, sanctification, glorification—all under the heading of salvation. That's past, present, future. Saved from the penalty of sin, the power of sin. We're saved to holiness, we're saved to relationship. Any of that strike any other questions for you guys?

Dan? I don't know if you're gonna touch this now or if I'm setting you up for later, but there's a dilemma in this whole process because God is a just God. And God redeems us without cost. We don't have to pay the cost. Where is justice found in the process of salvation?

Tim: So I'm setting up that—yeah, it is. It's not where I wanna go. I got like two minutes left, and that's not where I was gonna go in the next two minutes, but it is. Ask me that again later, okay? And I would—because this is—you cue me, I'll be there. That'd be great.

So Dan is asking the question: How can a just God justify the unrighteous? Right? And this is the dilemma of Christianity. It's the central question. He can't just be like, "Alright, everybody go home." Right? He'd be a terrible judge if he just exonerated the guilty. And yet he is exonerating the guilty. So how do we do that? So that'll be—we will unpack that as this thing goes on.

Looking Ahead: Reformed Soteriology

Here's what I wanna do in my last couple of minutes. When we talk about soteriology, necessarily talking about justification. When we talk about justification, we are gonna talk about how does it work. And under that heading, we're gonna spend the next number of weeks talking about a reformed understanding of soteriology. Because I'm reformed, and this church is reformed, and we believe that the reformed understanding of soteriology is biblically accurate.

Other names for reformed soteriology are election, predestination, Calvinism, sovereign grace. So we're gonna spend a whole bunch of time walking through the biblical case for election, for predestination. Slip touched on it very tenderly, I don't know, a month ago, six weeks ago, something like that, because John's gospel is actually filled with language about this. And so we're gonna do a much deeper dive on this because we just have the time that we can unpack it. We're not constrained to just one little paragraph of John. But it's gonna go on for several weeks, and I think it may be uncomfortable for some of you because for some people, when we talk about the doctrines of salvation—in particular, this doctrine of election—people come to the table with a preset of expectations. I came to the table with a preset of expectations when I first heard this.

And so we are going to do a deep dive on this. There'll be lots of room for you to argue with me, to push back. I think you know I like people arguing with me. I like, let's go, let's do this. But we're gonna do something that's gonna be important. It's gonna not seem like we're talking about salvation at first, and it's gonna seem like we are simply returning to either the doctrine of man or the doctrine of sin. Because you cannot have a meaningful conversation about election without really staring the doctrine of total depravity in the face.

So we are on salvation, which is the good news, but we're gonna be talking about the good news of salvation by beginning to look at the really, really bad news of sinful humanity.

Now I'm gonna repeat myself on all of this next week, because not everybody in this room will be in the room next week. But between here and next week, here's what I want you to ponder. Give yourself a little bit of time to ferment on this.

When the fall happened—when the world broke, when Adam and Eve sinned, when you entered this world—in what condition did you enter? Into what estate did mankind fall? Here's the question: How bad off are we?

In particular, here's what I want you to spend some time in your quiet times this week considering. When the fall happened and the world broke and something became fundamentally fractured with us, was the result of that process that we are now the sort of creature that can and will choose God, as long as the circumstances are right? Or are we the sort of creature that under no circumstances will we ever choose him?

This is what I want you to ask yourself. Before you became a Christian, was becoming a Christian an option for you? If we made it clear, if we made it artful, if it was very logical for those of you who like logic, if it was very beautiful for those of you who like beauty, could you have looked at that and said, "Yes, I see my need, and I want him, and I hate my sin, and I repent, and I move towards him"? Were you that kind of creature? Or were you the kind of creature that no matter what we say, no matter what we do, no matter how it's displayed to you, your fundamental orientation will be away from God, toward yourself?

Don't prejudge the answer. Let everybody study this. This is the question.

Any conversation about election, predestination, Calvinism, sovereign grace—if that doesn't begin with deeply understanding the doctrine of depravity, they always go off the rails. You cannot have this conversation if we've not addressed the doctrine of depravity.

So that's where we are on our way to salvation. But you've got to understand, what is your starting point? We have to understand it. So you can survey yourself however you wanna do it this week, but when we get here next week, that's where I'm gonna begin. We're gonna do a survey on the doctrine of total depravity, and from there we're gonna build the case to understand what exactly it is that God is doing when he saved us. It's going to be great. We'll see you next week.