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| A lovely picture! |
‘In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.’
Let us consider this verse carefully, and learn some very basic and plain truth concerning the gospel our salvation.
1. Note carefully the verbs found in verse 13.
a. - ‘ye also trusted’ – ‘trusted’ is in the italic, verb agreement with heard, and believed, i.e aorist participle active.
- ‘ye heard’: aorist participle active. Aorist participle expresses simple past action.
- ‘ye believed’: aorist participle active
- ‘ye were sealed.’: aorist indicative passive.
b. What is the order of these verbs? It has to be:
- ye heard the word of truth, ye believed,
- ye also (i.e. in addition to believing) trusted in Christ comes after hearing and believing the word of truth,
- ye were sealed.
The word of truth is the gospel of our salvation.
- The word of truth is something already true before it is ever preached or heard or believed.
- The word of truth declares that which is already true. The truthfulness of the word of truth is not dependent on the preaching of it, or upon the hearing, and believing , of it, by the people.
- Believing the word of truth does not make it one bit more true than it already is.
- But where there is no preaching of the word of truth, there is no hearing of the word of truth; and where there is no hearing of it, there is no believing or trusting in it because 'faith cometh by hearing.' Rom 10:14ff.
c. The gospel of our salvation, the good news of our salvation is the news of what God HAS done in Jesus Christ and His Spirit in saving for Himself a people. The gospel is already true before it is preached or heard and believed.
The good news of our salvation is news that:
- God has purposed that salvation for us before the foundation of the world,
- Christ has accomplished and secured that salvation for us on the cross, and
- Holy Spirit has applied that same salvation to each one of us personally in God's appointed time.
- Our salvation has been purposed, accomplished, and applied to us personally… that’s the gospel of our salvation. It is preached to us so that that we may know what is already true and believe the truth of what the Triune God has accomplished for his people, and applied to each elect.
2. The gospel is the good news of what the Triune God has done to save His people
a. Eph 1:3-12 describe these divine acts most wonderfully. Note all the verbs describing the gracious acts of God to bring about the salvation of His people.
- God HAS blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ… otherwise no good news. What are included in “all spiritual blessings”?
- God has chosen us… when? On what basis?
- Having predestinated us… to what?
- He has made us accepted in the beloved, Christ Jesus…salvation secured for us… (he made us accepted! It is not poor sinners accepting him! We were rejected and cast away… but God made us accepted!)
- Christ has redeemed us… through His life and death. What’s involved in redemption?
- He has forgiven us of all our sin… Christ bore the penalty all away.
- He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence… all of grace!
- Have made known unto us the mystery of His will… how?
: according to His good pleasure…
: which he has purposed in himself…
- We have obtained an inheritance… eternal salvation applied personally.
- Without these sovereign and gracious acts of God, there CAN BE NO gospel of our salvation to be preached to us, there would be nothing to hear nor believe.
- The gospel of our salvation is already a reality before it is preached to us, before it is believed by us…
b. The gospel of our salvation is preached to us.
- The gospel of our salvation is already a reality before it is preached to us and before we believe it. It is already true of us before we believe it. We are called to believe it because it is already true of us. We are called to believe the truth of our salvation.
- This good news of our salvation is the word of truth... its truthfulness is based solely on what has actually and truly happened to us and in us by God's gracious acts... what the Triune God has done for us and in us, and not what we do. Because what the Triune God has done for us and in us by His free and sovereign grace, there is good news of our salvation to be proclaimed to us.
- The good news is NOT an offer – offering us salvation if we do something. It is a declaration of what God has done by His free grace to save us. What God has done for us constitutes the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation. Because of what God has done for us, there is the word of truth in which we are called upon to believe. Through the preaching of the gospel of our salvation, God calls us, His children (justified, regenerated and adopted) to believe WHAT IS ALREADY TRUE of us.
c. Calling men to believe what is not true in order that it may become true is NOT only wicked and evil, but also deceiving the hearers. It is no longer preaching the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation. It is preaching word of lies, the bad news that our salvation is conditioned upon something we must do before God will act to save us.
- It is like making a great offer to a dead man, "if you will just whisper 'yes, I believe' then I will make you alive." That amounts to a most wicked mockery at the dead man. It is no word of truth or good news in any sense. A condition is imposed upon the dead in which he has absolutely no capability to meet!
- Calling men to believe the word of truth in order that God's gracious work of saving His elect by His free grace may be made manifest and that His children may be gathered in NT churches is the true function of the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
d. We who trusted Christ after hearing the word of truth do so ONLY because Christ is ALREADY our Saviour, the word of truth is already true of us. We are believing and trusting what is already true.
- Our believing does not make what is untrue to become true. Faith, receiving and resting in Christ for righteousness and salvation, is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and is evidence of the Spirit of Christ already dwelling in them that exercise faith.
- Sealing comes after hearing and believing… the experiential assurance that we are indeed God’s children is conditioned upon believing and trust. Whoever believes has eternal life. Such have power and right to claim that they are children of the living God, quickened by the Spirit of God. See John 1:12-13.
3. "If Election is True, Why Evangelize?"
a. This question betrays a VERY SERIOUS IGNORANCE concerning the proper place and biblical function of the gospel ministry (which includes evangelism - i.e. announcing the good news of what God has done to save His people). Good news are reports of what HAS HAPPENED... not what will happen based on certain conditions.
- God ALONE elected and predestinated FREELY.
: God ALONE justifies condemned sinners FREELY
: God ALONE regenerates dead sinners FREELY.
: God ALONE adopts the regenerated FREELY.
: God ALONE bestows the Spirit of adoption FREELY.
- But God is pleased to appoint the gospel ministry (which includes evangelism) and commanded its administration by His appointed servants for the purpose of INSTRUCTING and EDIFYING His children.
- He is pleased to involve human instrumentality in this part of the work of saving His people - to ensure their well being as they make their journey through this world to their eternal glory - which He Himself, all by His free and sovereign grace has made them PERFECTLY fit to inherit.
- The gospel ministry is vitally important for the WELL BEING of God's children in their time here on earth... even though it DOES NOT in any way play any part in their BEING as God's children fitted for eternal glory.
b. Supposing a man FREELY credited a $1b to your account while you were a condemned and declared bankrupt. And he sent a man to bring the good news (i.e. news of what he HAS DONE!) to you. And you believed the good news of the FREE gracious act, and by faith you went to the bank to draw on the money.
It would be SCANDALOUS and TREACHEROUS of you to claim that your believing the good news and going to the bank caused the gift to be freely credited to your account!
Yet so many insist that... they are saved by God through their faith!
The truth is: your faith is the effect and evidence of your salvation by God’s free grace.
The grace of faith, which enables a man to believe the gospel, is a fruit and effect of the eternal salvation already bestowed by God's free grace. How can it be the instrument to secure eternal salvation?
But if there is a proper distinction between the eternal salvation bestowed freely by God's sovereign grace which enables a child of God to act in obedience to God will to obtain temporal blessings, no such confusion and contradiction will exist! But alas, many are willfully ignorant of this simple and plain truth. Why? This truth completely excludes man from having any part in his eternal salvation by God's free grace. And many of God's children reject such humbling truth!
