Pastor Babij begins a new series explaining the Doctrines of Grace from the Bible. Though the Doctrines of Grace represent precious salvation truths, these doctrines have been greatly opposed historically by proponents of Arminianism. Pastor Babij explains what Arminianism is and how Arminianism is unbiblical. In contrast, the Doctrines of Grace properly acknowledge God as sovereign in all matters and acknowledge man as desperately in need of God’s rescue from depravity. Pastor Babij concludes by reminding how God’s commands point all men to God’s exclusive salvation in Christ.
Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
all right this morning I’m going to embark on some weeks on preaching it on a topic that actually a topic out called the doctrines of grace and in time past it has been historically referred to the as the five points of Calvinism it has received over time severe attacks and given a bad name however the question that one must raise is is this biblical doctrine can we can we make a case from the scriptures and so many people have questions about it and so hopefully during the weeks we can solve some of those questions let me see if I do have some slides just because some of the content is a little bit difficult all right so the doctrines of grace let me just start out and to hold these doctrines of grace actually after being a pastor for so long and studying the scripture week after week and preaching the Word of God all these years I am convinced today that these are biblical doctrines in fact it is my own opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and him crucified unless we preach the doctrines of grace listen to what CH Spurgeon said about Calvinism he said and I quote we believe in the first five great points commonly known as Calvinistic but we do not regard these five points as being barbed shafts which we are which we are to thrush the ribs of fellow Christians we look upon them as being five great lamps which help us help to radiate the cross or rather five bright emanations springing from the glorious covenant of our triune God and illustrating the great doctrine of Jesus Christ and him crucified I have my own opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and him crucified unless we preach what is nowadays called Calvinism it is a nickname to call it Calvinism Calvinism is the gospel and nothing else I do not believe that we can preach the gospel unless we preach the sovereignty of God in his dispensation of grace nor unless we exalt the electing unchangeable eternal immutable conquering love of Jehovah nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of his elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross nor he says can I comprehend the gospel which allows Saints to fall away after they are called to salvation so that is really a tremendous quotes as everything in there now historically leading up to the Protestant Reformation men like John Wickliffe and John HUS who came a hundred years before Martin Luther and then William Tyndale these men laid the foundation and built a bomb fire to speak us and so to speak and Martin Martin Luther kind of simply lit the match and held it to the wood and of course when he did that it sparked the Reformation itself with its potes posting of the 95 theses on the door of the castle Church in Wittenberg Germany and of course I mentioned this already October 31st 1517 the result most of Europe was set ablaze with a revival of the doctrines of grace so like Luther before him Calvin believed in the sovereignty of God and concerning the doctrines of election and predestination and there was nothing in Calvin’s writing and sermons that were not first founded upon Luther both these men viewed the world through the lens of the Bible and they were desiring to establish God’s people upon the biblical principles of doctrine so as time passed controversy ensued as a man by the name of Jacob Armenian Arminius began to raise strong objections to the teaching accepted amongst the Reformers or many are many us are many and nuts I can’t even say that this morning studied actually studied under a Calvinistic teacher named theodore beza at geneva and became a professor of theology in leaden over time his objections became stronger and stronger until they became a prominent issue amongst the church in Holland now are many in us Arminius known as the armenians drew up their creed of the five articles so in other words the five articles of our many in us Armenians came before the five points of Calvinism in fact they 46 ministers came and they met together over a period of time and reviewed these doctrines now just to let you know if you’re not familiar with them there are the five points of our minion doctrine is the first one would be the free will or human ability the second would be conditional election and of course that Christ died for all men and for every man although only believers are saved and of course if you believe that that the sinners choice of Christ not chakra God’s choice of the sinner is the ultimate cause of salvation and then we have Universal redemption or general atonement saying that Christ’s redeeming work made it possible for everyone to be saved but did not actually secure the salvation of anyone and then the Holy Spirit can be effectually resisted this of course this grace may be Rissa the spirit of God’s grace may be resisted because man is free he has successfully resisted the spirits call and of course that the spirit cannot regenerate the center until he the believer his faith is the condition in which a person is saved and then of course the last one would be falling from grace all right now that’s the five points of our minyan ISM right now the opposite of that is the five points of Calvinism the first one is total depravity all right because of the fall of man man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel all right then we have unconditional election God’s choice of certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world rested solely in God’s own sovereign will that means that God’s choice of the sinner not the sinners choice of Christ is the ultimate cause of salvation and then of course limited atonement or particular Redemption price redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secure the salvation for them Christ’s redemption secured everything necessary for his children’s salvation and then of course irresistible grace or affects all of the spirit in other words apart from the general call of salvation which is made to everyone who hears the gospel the holy spirit extends to the elect a special inward call that inevitably brings them to salvation and then of course we have the perseverance of the saints that all who are chosen by God redeemed by Christ and given faith by the Spirit are eternally saved and therefore God keeps them so those are really the five points on each side remember the points of our minion ISM came first and a rebuttal to those points came out in the in the five points of Calvinism now the official Calvinistic response emerged from the Synod of dort in a town in Holland of course which convened to consider the five articles or objections by the Armenians the Synod of dort met on November 13th 1618 – may 9 16 19 and wrote what has come to be known as the canons of dort they stated the five points of Calvinism in response to the five articles of the Armenians now this is a very important point to make because the so-called five points of Calvinism were not chosen by the Calvinists as a summary of their teaching a matter of fact that was not even heard of then Calvin never wrote down his theology under five main points there was far more to reformed theology than these Auctions so these five points were simply a response to the five Arminian objections to reform teaching so the the Synod of dort viewed the Armenian errors and as it really extremely serious and a flat denial of the free grace of God in salvation with God being robbed of his glory they said so this was viewed at first steps they say on a synergistic highway leading right back to the Rome and so therefore the Synod classed the five points of our minion doctrines as heretical and many preachers in the Dutch Reformation alloys holding to these ideas were put out of the ministry and they took from November to May a good amount of time to examine all these doctrines biblically and they concluded that they were not biblical so of course the Armenian point of view I’m saying the biblical or the Calvinistic points of view were very much found in the scripture so knowing something about the history of the debate is helpful but it is far more important to know that these doctrines are in fact biblical and at the heart of the Christian faith they are not mere historical novelties or something which only theologians or church historians should have an interest these are biblical doctrines and they matter very deeply they should matter to you so to ask why these things should be of interest to us is to ask the question why is it important to understand what is at the heart of the Christian faith where each of us stands on these five doctrines deeply affects our view of God our view of man of regeneration of salvation of assurance of the nature of the toning work of Christ of worship of evangelism of missions somewhere along the way for the english-speaking world at least the five points of Calvinism came to summarize by the acrostic tulip and some today even have considered it as to be what they call ruh pep and of course as our Sea Scrolls says ruh pep kind of ruins the flower garden because I think it was rar sees blue who said something like the flower that represents the Armenians is the Daisy God loves me God loves me not and of course the one that represents the Calvinist is too low God loves me and keeps me so that’s really some things that came out of it but so so what I’m saying here is that these five points are laid out like this and now I’m going to start with told the private II today and of course another way to look at told the private II is radical corruption and then of course unconditional election unconditional election and then limited atonement many have said it’s better to say particular Redemption irresistible grace or effectual call of the Spirit and then perseverance of the saints or the preservation of the saints now those are all how they’re categorized along the way so I just wanted to put that before you because some people are a little confused about that and so what I want to do now is I want to look and finally get into the Word of God to see some passage of scriptures that are related to it and then to use kind of AD as an example the rich young ruler at least in one area that this doctrine may affect and that’s the area of evangelism all right so what is total depravity all right what is it well total depravity is also called total inability or total corruption or radical corruption and it is a biblical doctrine closely linked with the doctrine of original sin as formula formula formulated by or formalized by Augustine you know st. Augustine he was a tremendously great theologian also didn’t get everything right but he definitely get this stuff right the doctrine also understands the Bible to teach that as a consequence of the fall of man every person born into the world several things happens to that person number one they are that person every person born into the world is morally corrupt secondly they are enslaved to sin thirdly they are apart from God’s grace and of course a last thing they are utterly unable to choose to follow God or choose to turn to Christ in faith for salvation now in thinking of that total we have to ask the question is total depravity the same as absolute or utter depravity and of course the answer to that is no the difference between total depravity and utter or absolute depravity is to be utterly depraved is to be as wicked as one could possibly be Hitler of course was extremely depraved but he could have been worse than he was I’m a sinner yet I could sin more often and more severely than I actually do you’re a sinner and you could sin more often and more severely than you actually do so people are not utterly or absolutely depraved but people are totally depraved for total depravity means that I or I and everyone else are depraved or corrupt in the totality of our being now what that means is that man’s depravity is total in at least four senses now I would like you to take your Bible let’s turn to some passages the first would be in Romans chapter 3 and verse number 10 Romans chapter 3 in verse number 10 and of course that would be a passage of Scripture 9 verse number 9 tells us this what then are we better than they not at all for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin and then in verse number 10 as it is written there is none righteous not even one there is none who understands there is none who seeks after God and what is the reason for that verse 18 of chapter 3 there is no fear of God before their eyes so in other words the first sense in which man is totally depraved is that our rebellion against God is total apart from the grace of God there is no delight in the holiness of God there is no glad submission to the sovereignty or authority of God some theologians have said oh the reason why they call it other than total depravity radical corruption which is a good way to do it is because the word radical actually means it comes to the Latin word that means root or core in other words our problem with sin is that it is rooting in the core of our being and that’s what we the sense that we get in Romans that all the world is guilty before God all the world is understand whether their jewelry and the reason for that is that when people are born into the world in with this radical corruption they do not fear God and so therefore they do what they want in their rebellious natures they do not fear God and then of course secondly a second sense is it’s total rebellion in his in a person’s total rebellion everything man does is sin like it says in Romans 14 and verse number 23 while you turn there see there’s there’s no part of us that is left untouched by sin our minds our wills our bodies are affected by evil we speak sinful words we do sinful deeds we have impure thoughts our very bodies suffer from the ravages of sin Romans 14:23 says but he who doubts is condemned if he eats of course in the context there because his eating is not from faith and whatever is not from faith is sin so whatever a man would do that is not from faith in Christ and his daily living would be sin and that is something that radical corruption proves is that we do not we do everything we do is tainted by sin and then also thirdly a third sense man’s inability to submit to God and to do good is total now again if you’re right there in Romans Romans chapter eight verse seven and eight I should turn that mean fallen man is is so morally blind that he uniformly prefers and chooses evil instead of good as do of course fallen angels and demons but look at Romans 8:7 Romans chapter 8 verse 7 because the mine said on the flesh is hostile toward God for it does not subject itself to the law of God for it is not even able to do so and those who are in the flesh cannot please God it’s a pretty pretty clear passage of Scripture that tells us that man has an inability within himself to submit to God and to do good in totality and everything they do and then of course a fourth sense of this radical corruption is our rebellion is totally deserving of eternal punishment in Ephesians chapter 2 it says we were by nature children of Wrath like the rest of mankind children of Wrath so in other words that we were born into this world sinners and that sin was transmitted to us by Adam and so that means we are born to sin we cannot help that that is our nature and that nature is rooted really in the doctrine of original sin and so what is the doctrine of original sin it’s really a doctrine which holds that human that the human nature has been morally and ethically corrupted due to disobedience of man’s mankind’s first parents to the revealed will of God God says to Adam everything the gardens yours but this particular tree than the tree of the knowledge of good of evil that’s mine don’t touch it Adam disobeys Eve disobeys so in the Bible the first human transgression of God’s command is described as the sin of Adam and Eve and in the Garden of Eden resulting in what theology calls the fall of mankind or original sin so the doctrine of original sin holds that every person born into the world is tainted by the fall such that all humanity is ethically debilitated and people are powerless to rehabilitate to rescue or save themselves unless God rescues them they cannot do it on their own now out of this doctrine of original sin I mentioned this this in the other messages I preached on the souls of the Reformation is the three column column of common theology types of theologies that come out of that that really affect how we understand salvation and of course one of these theologies two of these theologies are very much operative today all of them are but two in particular but there’s only three and it’s of course I want to give them to you because they could be a little bit confusing just by hearing them alright and the first one would be that of Pelagianism alright and the second one would be that of semi-pelagianism and the third one would be augustinianism or we can put next to Augustinian what the Bible teaches but back up to the first one that Pelagianism really let me just falls out in two areas like what this man did actually he was a monk in and of course was in Rome and he was expelled from Britain with from with his teaching and then went back to Rome and so he had great spiritual influence and intellect and what he believed as far as the fall is that when he came to human ability he taught that man is qualified for right or wrong action through a self complete independent inherent capacity and that it was possible for man to live a sinless life he even went on to teach that Abel and John the Baptist were actually sinless he also said that concerning the fall Pelagius and the consequences of Adamson’s he denied that there is such a thing as original sin he denied that man inherited adam’s guilt and refused to allow that there were any ill effects of Adam’s sin in other words this was deemed heretical by the church even by the Catholic Church and it was thrown out as unbiblical humanistic and unchristian but one thing that was is true about it it is completely man centered this is what man can do apart from God in other words he would finally say he does the person doesn’t need any help from God now second one would be of course semi-pelagianism now this of course this is kind of like half road view of this particular truth and with what this says is that man cannot be saved apart from the grace of God but and this is what I want to stress there is something man must do even in his fallen state to cooperate with the grace of God if God will save him or if he will reject God’s grace so yes they would agree under this one that man is fall fallen sinner and under the wrath of God but he did not lose everything in the fall he still has a natural ability to respond to the grace of God and to come to Christ or in other words he was not he was rendered wounded didn’t lose everything but he was wounded and still had a certain ability to respond to God now if you look at that to that doctrine you will have to conclude that is also man centered and of course there is a third one and that’s augustinianism and of course that is the one that I believe is taught in the Bible the one that I would hold and of course that one teaches something very clear and simple and it’s that man must depend fully on God for salvation and is totally dependent on the grace of God even for his initial response to the gospel see this is man centered I mean this is god-centered not man-centered this is God centered so the question is can a man respond in his fallen state can he respond by what he inherited from Adam in the original fall or original sin Pelagius says yes he can I think that’s it right yeah it is alright I don’t think I had that on to it yes I can okay Pelagius said yes absolutely doesn’t need any help semi Pelagians as yes he needs help and of course Augustinian says no he’s dead right now when you go to Ephesians what does it say we’re dead in trespasses and sin right so the third position I believe is the biblical view is the one founded in Scripture the biblical basis for the doctrine of total depravity or radical corruption is definitely founded in Scripture so let’s look at a few other passages of Scripture this morning and let’s look first of all at Romans chapter 1 verse 28 being that you’re still there in Romans see a number of passages are put for to support the doctrine showing that the fall of mankind affected the whole person the mind the will the affections so the first thing that we would consider here is that man is born with a corrupt mind or a depraved mind in other words mind is darkened his corrupt heart is darkened Romans chapter 1 and verse 28 Paul talking about the character of God the righteousness of God is displayed from heaven and then in verse number 28 he says and just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer but gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper so in other words the mental faculties are can are definitely affected in the fault now that doesn’t mean that the mental faculties are destroyed we can still think we can still make decisions but what it does say and we must conclude is that the mind has been injured it has been defiled it’s it’s been disabled by sin therefore the mind is subject to misunderstand the truth the mind is dazed and confused about what is true who is God what does it mean to be saved also under this there’s another passage of Scripture in 1st Corinthians 2:14 where it says very clearly the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are folly to him he is unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned and of course if we go back to Genesis in Genesis chapter 6 verse 5 it says the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are followed to him that that’s Corinthians but Genesis says the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and of course we can go to passage of Scripture after passage of Scripture and we’ll find the same thing 1 I already read in Romans 8:7 for the mine is set on the flesh it’s hostile to God it can’t submit to the law of God it just cannot please God so we have a corrupt mind and we have a depraved mind and then secondly that has affected our will or our volition the fall left the will unable to perform any spiritual good its decision-making faculty is flawed because it is fallen and enslaved to sin hence unable to choose any spiritual good the will is in a state of spiritual deadness again a the passage from Colossians and also from Ephesians chapter 2 you were dead in your trespasses and sin Ecclesiastes tells us in 7 verse 20 indeed there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins and then in the Gospel of John jesus answered them truly truly I say to you everyone who commits sin is a slave of simin and that’s very key because see we’re the reason why we can we can make decisions with our will we can think what our mind is because we still have those faculties in place the problem is that those faculties are in bondage to sin they’re under the slavery of sin sin is our master we obey it in our passions and our desires in our will and our thinking and that is true across the veer across the board so our mind is corrupt our will is corrupt but also our affections are corrupt again in the Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3 passage where it says and among them we too all formerly lived how did we live in the lusts of our flesh indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we’re by nature children of Wrath so even in our affections in our passions in our desires and emotions all of those things are twisted directed and led by the wicked heart the course of this world and the father of lies Jesus told the men that he was speaking to there in John chapter 8 who said were children of Abraham and he said to them you are of your father the devil and you want to do the desire of your father jesus really nailed it when it come came to how much we are enslaved to sin in other words we’re totally enslaved to sin this bondage is universal Colossians tells us when they sinned against you for there is no man who does not sin and then in proverbs 20 verse 9 who can’t say I have claims my heart I am pure from my sin no one could say that and then Isaiah tells us in verse 53 all of us like sheep have gone astray we have turned to our own way and the Lord of course has caused the iniquity of us all to be laid upon him and then of course this this universal bondage is also gives us an inability to change we cannot change ourselves Jeremiah 13 verse 23 says can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard hits its spots neither can you do good who are accustomed doing evil and then of course Jesus said it’s recorded in the Gospel of John no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last days so because of the doctrine of total depravity or radical corruption because it’s thoroughly biblical it will really serve us several practical implications the first one would be that it leads us to a strong reliance on the sovereignty of God in regard to our salvation it really removes doubt from us realizing that if God has saved us who can take that salvation away from us no one can take it away second thing that it will establish a trust in God’s ability to keep us until the day of full redemption that’s the perseverance of the saints God saves us he brings us right to the end of our life but along that journey we are growing in our knowledge and wisdom of Christ we are being sanctified we are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and then thirdly it will give us a correct understanding of the nature of sinful humanity and why they need to be saved from God’s wrath and the condemnation that sin brings see a Christian shouldn’t be surprised by sin matter of fact parents shouldn’t be surprised when your children sin you should expect it because you know why their their nature is that they’re a sinner sinner they are in bondage to that sin so they are going to sin and so it’s your job to steer them away from that natural bent to sin get them to listen to your voice and then ultimately they can grow to listen to God’s voice and then fourthly it will humble us and in in in the sense that we will desire to give glory to God for our salvation for our life for the thing he gives us for the word of God for the just a goodness that and the graciousness that comes to us because we are believers so just one area would be also the area of evangelism when it comes to our evangelism we will learn to depend on the tools God has given us to make sinners aware that they are indeed sinful in their thoughts in their words and their deeds and their motives and under God’s condemnation unable to rescue themselves and yet because of God’s great love he provided a way to be saved from God’s judgment through the sacrificial death of another his name is Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world but here’s the problem here’s the problem in just one area of evangelism if you ask most people do you think you’re a good person the usual answer would be yes I think I’m a good person I try not to hurt anybody I try to help others when I can and so on and so forth so they are they are generally saying that the human being is basically by nature good that’s the general understanding most people have of themselves based on this understanding when asked do you think God will let you into heaven they reply most often possibly wooda pause yes I think overall I haven’t done anything wrong I haven’t killed anyone I’m human not perfect so yes I think that I’ve been pretty good and that God should let me into heaven they base their understanding of goodness based on their own definition of goodness they based their understanding on their own mind as the standard and their comparison with others who are worse than them see that’s their standard so to offer Christ to someone who thinks themselves good the message of Christ crucified will make no sense to them in dissembler it is really similar to what the Apostle Paul wrote in the Corinthians chapter 1 where he says indeed the Jews asked for signs and Greeks search for wisdom but we preach Christ crucified but to the Jew it’s a stumbling block and to the Gentiles it’s foolishness doesn’t make any sense that this person would die in my place but then he says this but those who are called those who have come to Christ who understand what it means to be saved who understand they could not offer God anything for their salvation because they have no goodness they are sinners and under God’s condemnation and wrath he says this but for those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God so so what the sinner does not realize is that the standard of what is good or who is good is God himself that is the standard of what is good now I want to use at the end here just a case scenario let’s look at mark chapter 10 so take your Bible turn to mark chapter 10 and I want you to see the encounter that Jesus has with the rich young ruler you know the story well if you’ve been around but I just want to point out some things in this passage as far as evangelism concern and as far as the doctrine of total corruption or total depravity all right mark chapter 10 look at verse number 17 and it says there well in it does say there and as he was sitting on the journey in verse 17 a man ran up to him and knelt before him and asked him good teachers what shall I do to inherit eternal life now I don’t know about you but I wish people would run out to me and say that it’s lighting him the gospel evangelism it’s not that easy so he seems like to be a great evangelistic prospect but if we if we take a closer look his question really is asking what else must I do I’ve done all these things what else must I do what like am I missing something is there a step I missed I need to know that well in verse number 17 he also says this he says good teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life and Jesus said to them why do you call me good no one is good except God alone what is he doing here you know what Jesus is always teaching he’s teaching this man let me correct your understanding of goodness there is no goodness in man the only one that you can apply the word goodness to is God himself God is good as the very source of life and salvation God is the standard of what is truly good all the time every time however the rich young ruler had a flaw flawed understanding of goodness his understanding of goodness was as moral achievement or moral attainments or accomplishments see he has been successful at doing good things and so what does Jesus do Jesus does something very loving here in verse number nineteen right and what does he say in verse number nineteen he says this you know the commandments don’t murder don’t commit adultery do not steal do not bear false witness do not defraud honor your father and mother and what’s the response in verse 20 of the rich young ruler teacher I have kept all these things from my youth up see in other words he was very accustomed to doing things and so Jesus gives him five negative commands one positive command in a totality of six commandments but there are 10 commandments in other words Jesus left a few out and why did he do that he did that because he wanted to get a response to the man of how he was doing spiritually and the man simply says I kept all these things from my youth out so the young man is sure that he has kept these from his youth up in other words he is self-righteous I’ve done these things I said I I’m self-righteous now so he actually used the law the law of God instead of lawfully he used it unlawfully and why is that because the purpose of the law was to magnified guilt and sin it was not designed to make one secure in their self-righteousness so in other words you can see his depraved mind reinterpreting the purpose of the law that’s what he was doing you know what he’s not alone we might as well put ourselves in this passage of Scripture we do the same exact thing just think for a moment that this young man is outwardly an exemplary young man he could easily be praised and as someone to take be look at as an example in our life so but he for him is all about what he has done and what he can do is there something missing I can do so the young man outwardly kept the commandments but failed to grasp the nature of the law the purpose of the law in Romans chapter 7 verse number 14 the Bible says the law is spiritual it says for we know that the law is spiritual and I am a flesh sold under the bondage sold into the bondage of sin so what does Jesus do in verse number 21 notice what happens looking at him Jesus felt love for him and said to him one thing you lack one thing you lack go and sell all you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me but as these words but at these words he was saddened and went away grieve grieving for he was one who owned much property so was Jesus doing you know what Jesus was doing he was applying to the men the rest of the law in other words the ones that he was not keeping and picked and choose the ones he could keep but ignore the ones that he was not keeping and not even realising possibly he was keeping not keeping them so you may have thought that Jesus would have come down upon him for his self-righteous response but he did not it said Jesus had felt love for him just like it says in Romans but God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while were yet sinners Christ died for us so God’s love is is most clearly demonstrated at the point of our sinfulness under the magnification of the law in the shadow of the Cross now the love of God is important to be sure but God’s love can never be seen until sinners see the wrath of God it can never be seen until then so how did Jesus express love to the man Jesus expressed love to the man by the application of the correct application of the law in other words Jesus held up the law to the man as a mirror and said look look right here this is what you love more than me and what did he loved more than Christ he loved his wealth that’s what he loved he loved his possessions alright he Jesus wanted this man by the application of law first to understand that you cannot obtain eternal life by the law that is by keeping it and secondly to understand all that the law can do for you is to show your sin the law brings to the surface of the heart that which you cannot see and fail to recognize it’s just like Paul again says in Romans chapter 3 he says this because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight for through the law comes the knowledge of sin the law makes demands upon our thoughts and our feelings in our attitudes and the intentions of our heart it makes demands on our conscience it goes right for the conscience it actually in a sense bypasses the arguments that we would have and goes right for the conscience and once you start looking at the conscience once you start seeing your conscience your conscience therefore it’s there to be kind of an empire to say kind of show you what you’re doing right and then when you do wrong what happens you feel guilty right well the law when it’s shown to a person it should show them guilty before God not that you’ve done these Commandments and it’s you are now like onboard with God and self righteous it’s was never designed for that that’s a perversion of what was meant how the law is meant to be used so Jesus in love places his finger on the rich man’s most darling sin and applies a spiritual application from the Ten Commandments you shall not covet even the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter seven I would have not known what coveting actually is if it wasn’t for the law coveting is desiring to have something that God never intended you to have in your own mind so Jesus actually apply is also the first and second commandments to the man which are this you shall know their gods before me you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or earth beneath or in the water under the earth you shall not worship them or serve them so if the question from the way of the master was applied here and that what is the question well what would the response be from this man here’s the question if god were to judge you by the ten commandments do you think you would be innocent or guilty that’s the question that we all should ask ourselves probably this man was says I’m innocent all right of course if you notice the way he left he left not following Christ he left not being convicted of his sin of idolatry and covetous and loving money and possessions more than God he did not turn from that so ultimately you know what the law did the law showed him that he was condemned in his sin right he was condemned in the sin you know what Jesus didn’t run after him he didn’t say let’s become friends and and that was through friendship evangelism you know and maybe somewhere down the line you would come No did you do that the man rejected the clear purpose of the law to convict him of sin and caused him to want to repent and run to Christ that’s what it should do but it didn’t do that Jesus simply said do not covet the rich young man would have said I’m satisfied if he just said don’t cover it I’m satisfied with my lot in my station in life I have enough stuff you’ve provided all those things but that’s not what Jesus did Jesus put his finger on the chief of this Manson and went for the heart of his problem his devotion to wealth instead of his devotion to God that’s that’s the problem so this fine prospect of a man was called out by the law the law found him to be a rebel against a holy God and dreadfully dreadfully sold out to Satan in covetous if we repent it then he would find true riches it says in verse 21 you will have true riches in heaven if you repent so there is a condition placed on having treasure in heaven and that condition is repentance repentance is the change of mind that the law brings that remember the law is given to lead us to Christ it can’t save us it can’t even help us be saved it only brings us to Christ and it leaves it points us to the right person right who took the condemnation for sin Jesus Christ who took the wrath of God Jesus Christ it brings us right there but see at that point when the Spirit of God being the necessary condition of our salvation convicts that person of sin by the use of the law and that person realizes they cannot save themselves what do they do they said Lord what must I do to be saved right that said that’s that’s where it brings you and believe me that’s a good place that’s a good place to be that’s the only place you want to be so see repentance is a change of mind about your sin about yourself and about the Savior one must turn his back on the god of well in this case this management must turned his back on the God of gold for heavenly treasure all his works righteousness are vain empty what he needs is a complete inward change the law showed him that he is not good only God is good so this young man was so attracted to Jesus came running after him bowing down to him calling him a good person and all the things that he had done but he didn’t see past his earthly treasure he didn’t see heavenly treasure more to be desired nor did he see the need to continue to follow Christ which would have been evidence of true saving faith so where does his depraved mind and depraved affections and depraved will where does it come out it comes right out in verse 22 in his response but at these words he was saddened and he went away grieving for he was one who owned much property he wasn’t willing to get rid of it he’s willing to love that more than God so he was guilty of violation of the tenth commandment which was not listed at first he was guilty of violation of the first commandment you shall have no other gods before me he was deficient of love for God and therefore guilty of breaking the whole law as it says in James 2:10 whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of it all and that’s what the law is supposed to do it’s supposed to magnify our sin to the point where we have no more argument for God all that we say is Lord I’m guilty as charged but you’re kind and good Savior save me you know what God does he saves you because anybody who comes in that way to God he will in no wise cast that person now that’s why he came so we could be saved in fact and I’ll end with this look at mark chapter 10 and verse number 23 because a person might say well Wow and matter of fact this was the conclusion of the this rifles and it should be our conclusion to Lord if this is the case after watching what went on with the ritual if this is the case it’s impossible to be saved what it says in verse 23 and Jesus looking around said to his disciples how hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God that’s what he says to them see the Lord did not deny the responsibility of the rich man the rich person can be saved Jesus simply said that it was difficult see salvation is so desirable and necessary why is it so difficult to obtain see the difficulty is in the power of sin and what sin delights it is because man has a corrupt mind a crop will and corrupt affections that’s why he cannot come that’s why it’s impossible that’s why it says in Scripture that the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God but you know what getting into the kingdom of God is not just hard it’s impossible that’s what Jesus was saying in other words he was really being basing his stuff in the doctrines of Calvinism it’s about the sovereignty of God of course he it was about the Bible of course the scripture but Liberty says in verse number 24 of mark 10 disciples were amazed at his words but jesus answered again and said to them children how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God and he was simply saying there to us the only one who can get you into the kingdom of God is Jesus Christ the Savior so in other words getting into the kingdom of God is humanly in an impossible mission the rich man even though all the resources of his wealth he was able to mustard even all the personal goodness that he obtained could do nothing toward being saved and entering the kingdom of God see the illustration of the camel is absolutely true what men with men this thing of being saved and entering the kingdom of God it’s impossible men can do absolutely nothing toward their salvation can they work for it no can they buy it no what about the works of charity can charity gain eternal life what about being good enough how good is good enough what about moralism being as moral can be that’s the gospel today it be moral you know do things right without the power of God that they’ll never save you you just die a good person as far as the world is concerned and it’s not sin urges I mean in other words we cannot even cooperate with God in our salvation we can do nothing but by repentance and faith in Christ to receive the free gift of eternal life and that’s what John says in Chapter one but as many as received him to them he gave the right to become the children of God even to those who believed in his name who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God we were born again of God period it is an astonishing thing to realize that the totality of South the salvation process is a gift of God salvation is something for which we can take no credit that’s where God gets the glory real Christians are persuaded that the finished work of Christ is sufficient it’s for salvation and nothing whatsoever needs to be added to it at anytime salvation then is a super natural work of God eternal life is the life that is in Christ salvation was never ever intended to be man’s work never ever so what is the key to eternal life the key to eternal life is the miraculous intervention of God alone to draw a sinner to himself the father drawing the sinner to Christ as the sinner comes under conviction of sin they realized that Jesus Christ is the solution to the problem they have of having a bad heart and abet a bad record and they then come in repentance and faith repentance towards God the Father and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and they call out with their mouth and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead meaning believing everything that God has offered in Salvation as something free and say Lord I want it save me and nobody does he saves us and he keeps us saved real Christians don’t lose their salvation because God did it all he’s not an I guess the old old saying is God’s not an Indian giver I guess the tribes you know Indians would give you something and take it back right God gives us something we keep it it’s forever that’s why the promises in scripture for eternal life is that we have eternal life these things are written unto you that you may know you have eternal life do you know it if you know it you need to go away not saddened like the rich young ruler but glad and rejoicing about the great things you have done and if you have not believed today is the day of salvation today is the day that you stop arguing with God and stop bringing up a thousand questions and come to Christ and submit to Christ and be saved so who can be saved sir not those who neglect the means of salvation certainly not those who prefer other things before it certainly not those who think to attain it any other way then the way God has appointed who can be saved certainly those who have seen themselves in the mirror of the law and realized they have broken it and have been found guilty and condemned underneath underneath the law and then they cry out again what must I do to be saved certainly those attain it the way God has appointed it in Scripture and that’s what the Gospel of Mark started out saying listen the time this time is fulfilled the kingdom of heaven is at hand repent and believe the gospel so Christ is God and consequently Sovereign Lord over all things and as such the object of saving faith if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved for with the heart man believes resulting in what righteousness right once the Spirit of God is in you now the results of that is a righteous life so what should this doctrine of total depravity do to us it should humble us it should humble us to the dirt secondly it should caution us where do you really stand before God are you playing the good card if you are it’s not a card you’re gonna win and then of course it should cause us to walk away not sad like the rich young ruler but rejoicing for so great a salvation that has been offered to us freely given in Christ Jesus our Lord for the weight of sin is death but the free gift of God is what eternal life amen let’s pray lord thank you this morning for this truth I pray Lord that we’d be thinking about it I pray it would cause us to examine ourselves it would bring us to a place Lord that we truly know that we are born again that it gives us that confidence in boldness not because anything we ever done but because everything you have done and I pray Lord as we consider that I pray every day we would be thinking of and growing in the truths of Scripture especially Lord these truths that magnify the doctrine of salvation that doctrine being rooted in the sovereignty of God at every single step I praise you and thank you Lord for all that you have done and lord I do want to say thanks for protecting me yesterday thank you Lord and I pray this in your name amen