Without exception, all who are justified by faith alone in Christ alone shall one day be glorified in His likeness. In this message, Derek Thomas takes a look at what is known as the golden chain of salvation.
Sermon HIGHLIGHTS are below the sermon:
This message is from Dr. Thomas’ 12-part teaching series Romans 8. Learn more: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series…
Ligonier Ministries video page: https://www.youtube.com/@ligonier/videos
Sermon HIGHLIGHTS:
- Puritan William Perkins wrote a famous book, the contents of which are under consideration as we discuss Romans 8:29-30
- Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
- The ‘good’ of verse 28, is brought about by God in His sanctifying work of conforming believers to the image of His Son
- Verses 29 and 30 talk about the order of salvation
- That order was called the golden chain by Perkins: Foreknowledge; predestination; calling; justification and glorification
- Derek noted that our response is seen in the following elements of salvation: faith, repentance, adoption, sanctification and perseverance of the saints
- All the above elements are to be considered in light of the central concept, union with Christ
- Thomas called ‘union with Christ’ the hub and the other elements, the spokes
- Why are you a Christian today?
- Because God ‘foreknew’ you in eternity [see Ephesians 1:3,4]
- The apostle Paul: God did something because you were dead in sin [see Ephesians 2:1-10]
- To ‘know’ in the Bible, is to love: Adam knew his wife…
- That is, God set His affection on you in eternity
- He made a covenant with His Son about His people
- He decreed salvation; He sent His Messiah for the redemption of His people
- Whom He foreknew, He predestined: that is, He set your destiny beforehand; before you had a will or an existence
- Here, Arminians and Calvinists disagree
- Synod of Dort; TULIP very briefly explained
- Focus herein, is on the U of TULIP: unconditional election
- Arminians believed they have ‘free will’ to choose
- Calvinists held that our wills are in bondage since the fall (Luther’s book, The Bondage of the Will mentioned)
- In our fallen state, we are predisposed to choose the evil
- He gave an example of an Arminian praying to God with ‘free will’ that made the choice to believe in Christ…
- According to the apostle Paul, if salvation were one’s decision, then it would be a work
- Such a work would undermine ‘justification’ which says that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone
- Calvinists pointed out to Arminians that the practiced works like the Roman Catholics
- Calls: general and effectual, explained
- A Christian is one who has heard a call and has responded
- 1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints
- The call to faith was effectual: to come, to repent, to surrender
- To come to Jesus with empty hands, as the apostle Paul, below:
- Acts 9:4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
- Some are called in the womb; as small children; or as the thief on the cross, at the end of life
- Those whom He called, He also Justified:
- Justification is a declaration by God that we are in a right relationship with Him. It is a legal, forensic, verdict by God, the Judge
- God is able to forgive us because of Jesus Christ’s atoning work and righteous life
- We are just via wearing the spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness:
- Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Paul jumped from ‘justification’ to ‘glorification’ in Romans 8:30 because if you have been truly justified, then you certainly will be glorified [Paul did not include progressive sanctification, that ongoing battle with sin after having been born again…]
- Justification is the declaration God will pronounce on the Day of Judgment, brought into the here and now for believers
- In Romans 8:12, 13, Paul does emphasize that believers are involved in a fight to kill sin in their lives
- Pastor John Owen: kill sin or it will be killing you: the battle portion of our progressive sanctification
- In a legal sense, we are as holy now as we could be via the righteousness of Christ
- Paul’s picture of salvation in this passage is as follows:
- In eternity, God foreknew us
- In time, God called and justified us
- In eternity, God will glorify us
- The work God does: to foreknow; to predestine; to call; to justify; and to glorify believers
- Our responses: faith; repentance; progressive sanctification via putting sin to death in our lives
- When we consider our salvation, we thank God