Pastor Hines sermon text is Ephesians 1:3-6 and Romans 4:14-16.
The following 50-minute Hines sermon had to be divided in two to upload because my Verizon DSL isn’t fast and traffic is heavy today:
Mp4, Part A, 25 minutes:
Mp4, Part B, 25 M, 43 S:
Sermon: Grace Alone and Predestination, by Pastor Patrick Hines
Sermon was uploaded from Sermon Audio, but is also available at Christian Sermons and Audio Books, YouTube. It is at the YT site that I was introduced to Pastor Hines.
[PASTE IN LINKS FOR SA AND CS&AB]
Scripture texts of Patrick Hines sermon: [NKJV]
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Romans 4:14-16 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
Sermon HIGHLIGHTS [bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine]:
- Pastor Hines (PH) opened with a reference to a child’s book called Amelia Bedelia to illustrate how easy it is to misunderstand common meanings of words
- Hence: what do we mean when we say, ‘we’re saved by grace;’ or, ‘Jesus is Lord…’
- You could ask a Roman Catholic, an Arminian, a Mormon, a Jehovah’s Witness, even a Moslem how they are saved and they will say, by grace
- Today, we will see that the biblical concept of grace is something very different from what all the above groups think when they talk about how they were saved – much like the illustration of Amelia
- The difference between, e.g., Roman Catholicism and Reformation biblical Christianity is that Rome teaches that grace is an aid that God makes available to help us save ourselves
- The Arminians, Mormons, JW’s… teach the same
- The Bible and Reformed theology teach that grace is a disposition within God whereby He acts in our behalf, in Jesus Christ, to save us
- In the first system, RCC and others, salvation is made theoretically possible if we will do this or that
- In the Biblical view, God does it all
- The scripture we read from Ephesians and Romans teach the biblical doctrine of grace with precision
- In the Ephesian’s 1 passage, grace is shown to be unconditional election (UE): God’s choosing of certain individuals by name, from eternity past, from before the foundation of the world; that is, before He created the universe, He chose and elected them
- If your understanding of Christianity is without the doctrine of UE, then you do not have the doctrine of grace
- The Romans 4 passage above, teaches that the reason justification before God must be by faith alone, apart from works, is so it will be by grace
- If our works are in some minuscule way responsible for getting us into heaven, that is NOT grace
- Paul, in Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” [righteousness could also be translated, justification]
- If the sinner’s works contribute to salvation, then grace is nullified, the gospel is destroyed, it is another gospel
- Faith in Jesus, is by definition, abandonment in all trust in self, any work of the self
- Faith in Jesus simply receives and rests upon Christ alone for salvation, as He is offered in the gospel
- Paul anathematized combining works and grace because adding works destroyed the concept of grace [for example: Gal 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed]
- If you were given a birthday gift and paid the giver, then it would not be a gift
- Galatians 5:2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing [circumcision is part of the system of the law; therefore, Paul equates it with working for salvation. If one thing is added to the gospel, it is no longer the biblical gospel]
- That is, if you try to work for heaven, Christ will not help you
- If you are counting on your own works [obedience to the commandments of God] then you must keep the whole law without help from Christ [since you were born in sin, you have failed before you began your endeavor, according to God’s word]
- Christ does all the saving or none
- Trying to keep the law causes one to fall from grace
- Salvation is by grace and requires two truths: 1) UE and 2) Justification by Faith
- Lose either of those, and you are not under the biblical definition of grace
- That was the core issue of the Protestant Reformation
- Many who claim to be reformed protestants today, do not understand or do not care about the above 2 points, or see their significance
- The reformers suffered and died in contending for the faith, for those doctrines; true Christians must stand for them also
- J Gresham Machen’s fight against protestant heresies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was like that of Luther’s time
- A reading from Machen’s classic book, Christianity and Liberalism: “The type of religion that rejoices in the pious sound of traditional phrases, regardless of their meanings, or shrinks from controversial matters, will never stand amid the shocks of life.”
- That means, you find out what your theology consists of when the bottom drops out of your life
- Quote continued: “In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed, are apt to be the things least worth holding. And the really important things, are the things about which men will fight.”
- “In the Sphere of religion, in particular, the present time is a time of conflict. The great redemptive religion, which has always been known as Christianity, is battling against a totally diverse type of religious belief which is only the more destructive of the Christian faith because it makes use of Christian terminology.”
- “This modern redemptive religion is called ‘modernism’ or ‘liberalism’”
- Today, we know it as ‘progressiveism’ [C H Spurgeon contended for the faith by confronting this trend; he wrote about it under the heading of the ‘Downgrade Controversy’]
- [The big concern of these unbiblical movements is to be relevant in society; they do it by bring the ideas of men into the doctrines of God: the term progressive signifies a concern to make progress; in light of all the progress that was made in the arena of science since late 19th century to date]
- The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) is not a theologically liberal church tho it may appear to be so under the current pope
- The RCC is a completely different type of heresy
- Why did they have the gospel so wrong? They do not hold to sola scriptura: that the scriptures are the only God-breathed source of truth the church has
- Rome elevated their traditions higher than scripture; thus, per Gal 1:6-9, Rome’s gospel is no gospel at all, and is not by grace, as stated in the intro
- To the Ephesians 1:3-6 text now:
- The Arminian controversy: James Arminius defined election as follows: “This decree has its foundation in the foreknowledge of God, by which He knew, from all eternity, those people who would, through His prevenient grace, believe ; and through His subsequent grace would persevere”
- [prevenient= coming before; antecedent; anticipatory]
- In Arminius’ system, the choice of election of sinners is not of God, but the sinners themselves, independently of God: sinners elect themselves by believing
- How does grace function in that system?
- It makes it possible for the sinner to do something to save themselves
- And God, per James Arminius, knew from all eternity that these sinners would do this with the help of His assisting grace
- In this system, grace only makes believing possible
- The Bible teaches that God’s grace actually saves sinners; whereas Arminius, the RCC… teach that God’s grace makes salvation possible
- In the latter; the sinners, independent of God, must perform some actions, with the aid of God’s grace, to save themselves
- In 1618-19, our reformed Protestant forefathers evicted all Arminians from the church in the entire country [Holland?]; they said they had broken from the RCC and they were not going back, as it was clear that Arminius’ theories were moving them in that direction
- The Synod of Dort decided this dispute between the Arminians and the reformers, quoted below:
- “Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, He has out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of His own will, chosen from the whole human race, which had fallen through their own fault from their primitive state of rectitude into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ, whom He from eternity appointed the Mediator and Head of the elect and the foundation of salvation. This elect number, though by nature neither better nor more deserving than others, but with them involved in one common misery, God has decreed to give to Christ to be saved by Him, and effectually to call and draw them to His communion by His Word and Spirit; to bestow upon them true faith, justification, and sanctification; and having powerfully preserved them in the fellowship of His Son, finally to glorify them for the demonstration of His mercy, and for the praise of the riches of His glorious grace; as it is written: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved (Eph 1:4-6). And elsewhere: Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified (Rom 8:30).”
- Synod of Dort. The Canons of Dort . Chapel Library. Kindle Edition.
- The reformed forefathers cited the above scriptures and the one that follows to show Arminians that the Bible stands against their ideas of God looking down the corridors of time and seeing who would choose Him…
- Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
- All of humanity is conceived and born under the divine curse of God, we are not born neutral; not born undecided, there are no fence-walkers
- We were all born in rebellion against God and would have continued on that path had God not chosen to redeem us ‘in Christ’
- Because of Jesus’ curse-bearing death on the cross, we are no longer cursed but blessed
- Once a person is born again, they no longer curse God, but curse their sin
- Paul was stirring up gratitude in the hearts of the Ephesian Christians, for all the ways they had be blessed in Christ
- Regarding the phrase in Eph 1:3, ‘every spiritual blessing…’ when in college PH was asked if he had experienced the ‘second blessing’ by a group of Christian classmen…
- It is an unbiblical notion to think that sometime after one is saved, he/she can experience another blessing by way of subsequent surrendering, abiding… and enter into a higher spiritual life of sinless perfection [see link to article at end of post on second blessing]
- Such a thing is NOT taught in the Bible
- The underlined portion of Eph 1:3 above refutes the idea of a second blessing
- Contemplate the greatness of divine grace: justification by faith alone for all eternity; secure; adopted; accepted into the family of God
- When the gravity of such doctrines of grace becomes understood, then one will never again embrace ‘new’ doctrines that lessen the doctrines of God’s grace
- Paul, Ephesians 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
- Who does God make alive in Christ? His chosen ones
- How is that accomplished?
- Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory
- When the elect, God’s chosen ones, hear the gospel (some may have grown up hearing it), in God’s appointed time, it becomes the gospel of their salvation
- What is the gospel, we are brought by God’s free grace to believe?
- That heaven is a free gift: we are justified and saved from God’s wrath against our sins solely by trusting in His finished work
- Hence, Paul began Eph 1:3 with much praise
- If you’re a Christian; you have Jesus Christ, you are hidden in Him [link at end of post] AND you have ‘every spiritual blessing’
- SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS: election, effectual calling, justification, adoption; a purpose ;for all your pain, suffering and heart ache; sanctification; assurance of God’s love; joy in the Holy Spirit; increase of grace; and perseverance to the end
- The righteousness with which you are clothed and will pass the very judgment of God, is reserved in heaven; it’s at God’s right hand in Jesus Christ
- That righteousness cannot be soiled with our works or stained with our sins
- Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory
- When you believe [are born again], God graciously moves you from ‘in Adam’ to ‘in Christ’ [see Romans 5 for more on that]
- If you’ve repented and are trusting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus and not your own works, they you have every spiritual blessing
- That is, you have what money cannot buy; what works cannot earn
- Eph 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
- The time that our election unto salvation took place proves that it is free and entirely gracious
- [Romans 9 uses this argument regarding election, Jacob and Esau]
- The idea that God elected us based on what He knew we would do is not in the Bible
- God is the subject of the verb, choose, in the sentence
- Arminian theology, then and today: God chooses Christ and then by our free will, we get “in Christ”
- ‘Chose us in Christ’ is a reference to the precreation covenant of redemption wherein God the Father gave the church to the Lord Jesus [as in Ephesians 1]
- Jesus refers to this many times in the gospels, for example:
- John 17:1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him
- John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day
- John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand
- In the fullness of time, Jesus came to save His people from their sins; His mission, not to lose any of the people whose salvation was entrusted to Him
- Ephesians 1:4B … that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
- When we believe the gospel and are put ‘in Christ,’ we become holy and without blame before God the Father because Jesus’ death pays for all of our sin, and we are clothed in His legal righteousness, like a robe
- What about ‘foreknowledge?’
- God’s foreknowledge is of individuals, not their actions
- Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified
- The Arminian doctrine, that God looks down through the corridors of time to see who will believe in Him, destroys grace and the doctrine of God
- God knows the future because He is its architect; He decreed it
- Eph 1:5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
- The underscored phrase is God’s motive for predestination, to glorify His love and mercy
- Eph 1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved
- Without cost, without consideration of our works
- The Beloved = Jesus
- Matthew 3:17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased [From Jesus baptism, also heard at Jesus transfiguration]
- Jesus, as a Man, is the only person in the world about whom God can say the above
- God cannot be pleased with us unless we are hidden in Christ; clothed in His righteousness; forgiven by His atoning blood
- Romans 8:8 and they that are in the flesh cannot please God
- When we are taken out of Adam and put in Christ, we are hidden in Him
- Unconditional election is essential to NT grace
- New converts often think they are smarter than, more spiritual than… those who have not chosen Christ
- God chose to give you grace instead of fairness, to open your eyes; to change you instead of giving you what you wanted, sin
- Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 3, paragraph 5:
- Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory,(i) out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto:(k) and all to the praise of His glorious grace.(l)
- Scripture references for the above letters: (i) Eph. 1:4, 9, 11; Rom. 8:30; II Tim. 1:9; I Thess. 5:9. (k) Rom. 9:11, 13, 16; Eph. 1:4, 9. (l) Eph. 1:6, 12.
- Authors, Various. The Westminster Confession of Faith . Unknown. Kindle Edition.
- Luther, from his book, Bondage of the Will: “If any man would ascribe, even the smallest part of his salvation to his free will, he knows nothing of grace and has not learned Jesus Christ”
- Romans 4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect: 15 for the law worketh wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there transgression. 16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
- They which are of the law = anyone trying to get to heaven by keeping the law [believing they are satisfying God’s requirements- such should study Romans 3]
- Paul argues, that if such people are heirs of eternal life, then faith in Jesus is destroyed, nullified; and so is God’s promise of salvation
- To God, a sinner is either justified entirely by keeping the law or by faith in Jesus
- These are the only two paths that have ever been available; if the sinner chooses path one, keeping the law, then he/she is surely bound for hell [as all people are born ‘in Adam’ with a sinful nature = already guilty of having committed sin]
- Any attempt to mix the two mutually exclusive ways, destroys the gospel. Christ is of no benefit to such a person, they have fallen from grace
- Jesus said, narrow is the WAY that leads to life = trusting in Him by faith
- Genesis 3:15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel
- The seed of the woman, the Messiah, would crush the serpent’s head; there is no mention of us doing that or our works being part of that
- Eph 1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved:
- If we played part in our salvation, then God’s grace and His glory would be diminished
- Again, the way of grace excludes works
- Rom 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace
- Rom 4:15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression
- Law always brings wrath because we are always falling short of it
- Justification, salvation and heaven can only be by faith in Jesus Christ, in order that it may be in accordance with grace; no works done in or by the sinner can play any role whatsoever in our legal verdict before God on judgment day
- Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law [Jews], but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham [Gentiles], who is the father of us all
- Justification is fy faith alone, so it can be by grace so you know you’re going to go to heaven
- The normal estate of a Christian is to know they have eternal life; per God’s will
- People have called PH arrogant because he claims to have assurance; they accuse him of thinking he is good enough…
- No, he knows he is not good, but he can be assured because he is trusting in One who has been good for him
- [Justification by God, as seen in Genesis 15:6 is possible because God imputes the righteous life and works of His Son to believers]
- Salvation is by grace and does not depend upon how well one is walking with Jesus day in and day out
- Salvation is accomplished outside of you, the righteousness via which you will enter into heaven is that of the Lord Jesus Christ
- All of our sins, our attempts at obedience and failures were nailed to the cross and we bear them no more – isn’t it glorious to know that?
- What does it mean when a Christian confesses to be saved by grace alone?
- Acts 13:48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed
- [That is stated in Acts about a half-dozen times]
- Those who have been appointed to eternal life; at God’s appointed time for their salvation, they will believe the gospel when they hear it [John 3:1-15 speaks regarding the time]
- If God left humanity alone, all would die in their sins, never having a desire to know Him
- As a new believer grows in the knowledge of Jesus Christ via the appointed means of Bible study; prayer; hearing the gospel preached… they come to understand that they repented and sought Christ because God first loved them [Jesus stated in the beatitudes, that His true kingdom citizens would first of all know poverty of spirit; know they are spiritually bankrupt; then they would mourn their sinfulness; be meeked; hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness…]
- They will come to accept the doctrines of God: UE; effectual calling; justification; sanctification…
- They will soon discover that in salvation, there is no place for pride, arrogance…
- 2 Timothy 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His
- prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
- 2 Timothy 1:12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.
- That is why salvation is guaranteed
Link to Pastor Hines Sermon Audio page: https://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?SourceOnly=true&currSection=sermonssource&keyword=bridwellheightspca
Link to Pastor Hines videos at Christian Sermons and Audio Books: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristisLord/search?query=Patrick%20Hines
Link to Got Questions dot org, article on second blessing: https://www.gotquestions.org/second-blessing.html
Link to Got Questions, to be hidden in Christ: https://www.gotquestions.org/hidden-with-Christ-in-God.html
Link to God Questions, what is foreknowledge: https://www.gotquestions.org/foreknowledge.html