“Conditional election sets up an inferior cause above a superior; making election and salvation no more than a may be, instead of a shall be.” Isaac Backus
• The Lord willing, our conference will begin Friday night. Services will begin promptly at 7:00 PM Friday, 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM on Saturday and 10:00 AM on Sunday. There will be no service here Tuesday night. We will meet on Thursday at 6:00 PM to do all the last minute preparations for the conference.
The New Creation the Work of God — Don Fortner (Tune: The Doxology — LM)
1. Jehovah’s works, my soul, survey In heaven, earth and seas, and say, “Which of His wonders best proclaim The pow’r and wisdom of His name?’
2. Almighty, free and sov’reign grace, Quickens His chosen, ransomed race, Subdues the vile, imparts the good, — Wonder of grace performed by God!
3. To make new creatures of His own, Must be the work of God alone. None but the Lord can sin control, None but our God convert a soul!
4. Where’er He has His work begun, He’ll never leave until it’s done; Though sin and Satan raise their storms, The Holy Ghost His work performs.
5. Believers, raise to God your songs. To you this confidence belongs: — God has to you His Spirit giv’n, And He will bring you safe to heav’n!
Limited Atonement
“He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.” (Isaiah 53:8)
We believe the doctrine of Limited Atonement because that is clearly the doctrine of Holy Scripture. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died as the Substitute for His own elect. By God’s intention, design and purpose the atonement of Christ is limited to the elect. By His one sin-atoning sacrifice for sin the Lord Jesus Christ actually accomplished the redemption of the chosen, securing their eternal salvation. The redemptive work of Christ was performed for a particular people (Isaiah 53:8); and the Son of God has effectually accomplished the redemption of those people (Hebrews 9:12).
Infinite Worth
Without question, the blood of Christ is of infinite worth and value. Had He intended to save the world, His blood is of sufficient value to satisfy the justice of God for all men. But that is not the issue. The intention of Christ in the shedding of His blood was the redemption and salvation of His elect. It never was the intention, will, desire or purpose of the Son of God to redeem and save all men (John 17:9, 20). He laid down his life for His sheep (John 10:11, 15), not His sheep and the goats (John 10:25).
According to the Scriptures, the intention of Christ’s atonement and the effects of it are the same. What He intended to do on the cross, he has done. He intended to redeem all God’s elect by satisfying the wrath and justice of God for them. And by His death all God’s elect have been effectually redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Their sins have been put away (Hebrews 9:27). Christ has purchased His people with His precious blood (1 Peter 1:18-19). He perfected forever all who were sanctified, or set apart for God, in eternal election (Hebrews 10:14).
Bible Doctrine
Everywhere in the Bible, when the redemptive work of Christ is spoken of and explained, it is described as a particular and effectual redemption. There is not a single exception (Isaiah 53:10-11; Matthew 1:21; John 10:11, 14-18; Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Galatians 1:4; 3:13; Ephesians 5:25-27; Titus 2:14; 1 John 3:16; Revelation 1:5; 5:9).
The doctrine of the Bible is particular and effectual redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ died for and effectually accomplished the eternal redemption of His chosen people, according to the will of God the Father. — “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We reject as heresy any doctrine that denies the efficacy of Christ’s atonement.
The Question
Really, the question to be answered is not, “For whom did Christ die?”, but “Who died?” If Christ died upon the cross to redeem and save all men, and all are not saved, then He is not God, He is not the true Messiah, and all who trust Him are lost and yet in their sins! Do you see how vital this doctrine is? Without it, there is no Gospel! Without it, there is no salvation! We preach a Redeemer who redeems, a Savior who saves and an atonement that atones!
“Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power, Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more!”
Some Definitions
Here are some terms I constantly use in preaching the gospel to you. They are terms by which the works of God’s grace are presented to us in Holy Scripture, either verbally or by unmistakable examples and illustrations.
ELECTION — Election is God’s sovereign, eternal choice and determination to save some, a great multitude of Adam’s fallen race. It is a free, unconditional, irreversible act of God’s sovereign grace, by which the everlasting salvation of all the chosen was secured from eternity (Psalm 65:4; John 15:16; Ephesians 1:3-6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).
PREDESTINATION — Predestination is God’s sovereign, eternal arrangement of all the affairs of the universe to secure the object of His electing love, to secure the everlasting salvation of His adopted sons and daughters. It is God’s purpose, the blueprint by which He created the universe and rules it in providence. This great, blessed work of God’s grace includes all things and can never be altered. This, too, is a matter of such unmistakable, clear revelation that ignorance of it is inexcusable (Acts 13:48; Ephesians 1:4-5, 11; Romans 8:29).
REDEMPTION — Redemption is the ransom of chosen sinners out from under the curse of God’s broken law and offended justice by the sacrificial, substitutionary, sin-atoning death of our Lord Jesus. Redemption is the satisfaction of justice by the blood of Christ and the deliverance of God’s elect from all possibility of condemnation (Ephesians 1:7; Galatians 3:13; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter 1:18-20). The redemption of our souls by Christ’s shed blood also includes and guaranteed the redemption (deliverance) of our souls from the bondage and dominion of sin (Isaiah 53:10-11), and the redemption of our bodies from the grave at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:14; 4:30). All who were redeemed by the blood of Christ must and shall be saved by God’s grace in him.
REGENERATION — Regeneration is the new birth, the actual deliverance of chosen, redeemed sinners from spiritual death into spiritual life by the effectual power and irresistible grace of God the Holy Spirit (John 3:8; Ephesians 2:1-4; Colossians 2:10-13). It is a resurrection from spiritual death to spiritual, eternal life in Christ by the Spirit of God.
PROVIDENCE — Providence is the glorious, though mysterious, sovereign rule of the universe by our God for the salvation of His people and the praise, honor and glory of His own great name (Romans 8:28; 11:36; Ephesians 1:11). Providence is God working out in time what He purposed in eternity. Nothing is more comforting, nothing inspires boldness and nothing gives peace like a good understanding of and a confident faith in God’s election, predestination, redemption, regeneration and providence.
GRACE BULLETIN
August 30, 2009
GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH of DANVILLE 2734 Old Stanford Road-Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438 Telephone (859) 236-8235 - E-Mail don@donfortner.com
Donald S. Fortner, Pastor
Schedule of Regular Services
Sunday 10:00 A.M. Bible Classes 10:30 A.M. Morning Worship Service 6:30 P.M. Evening Worship Service
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