The Doctrine of Salvation (Soteriology) PART 2

We teach the sound doctrine of divine election. We teach that divine election is unconditional election – namely, God’s sovereign eternal decree to elect some individuals to inherit salvation based on God’s free choice and not on any foreseen merit, on behalf of the object in which God has set His electing grace and mercy (cf. Luke 15:32; 18:7-8; 19:10; John 6:37, 44, 65; Acts 13:48 16:14; 18:9-10; Romans  8:28-30; 9:11-23; 11:7; Ephesians 1:3-23; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; James 4:8; Revelation 13:7-8). 

We teach that divine election is the act of God, by which from all eternity, God chose in the Lord Jesus Christ those whom He would regenerate and save from His wrath, and nothing can prevent God’s sovereign purpose in divine election (cf. Matthew 24:24; Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:3-11).  

We teach that those who would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life (cf. 1 Timothy 1:16) will absolutely come to the Lord Jesus Christ because God the Father has given them to the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. John 6:37). We teach that the elect are drawn by God the Father to the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. John 6:44). We teach the elect have been granted by God the Father to come to Christ (cf. John 6:65). We teach that God has unconditionally elected individual persons to make up His true church (cf. Ephesians 1:3-23). Therefore, there is a predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God concerning election based solely on God’s free choice. We teach that God’s free choice operates according to His purpose and after the counsel of His will, which is not manipulated by any outside agent or agency (cf. Ephesians 1:11-12). 

We teach that the “lost” in the context of the order of salvation are the elect from human history past, present, and emerging, that have been or will be found by sovereign grace because they are destined for salvation in Jesus Christ (cf. Matthew 10:6; 15:24; 18:11; Luke 15:6, 9, 24, 32; 19:10; John 3:16; 6:12; 18:9; Acts 13:48).

Acts 16:14 supports unconditional election not conditional election because the Lord opened Lydia’s heart first to respond to the things Paul was saying. In Acts 18:9-10 God told Paul that He had many people in the city before Paul preached the Gospel there. (This presupposes that these people were decreed by God to be elect and not by any foreseen merit offered to God by them. Foreseen merit of their belief offered to God by them would be the first cause, resulting in God’s gracious acceptance of man’s willingness to believe in His Son. This would completely bypass the biblical order of salvation). 

What is more, Romans 8:28 teaches unconditional election because those who are recipients of the golden chain of salvation (cf. 8:29-30) are previously identified as those who are “called according to His purpose” (cf. Rom 8:28b). Romans 9:11-13 teaches God’s sovereign unconditional election when the Apostle Paul wrote that there was no previous condition concerning the performance of Jacob and Esau in order for God to elect one and not the other. The text reads the following, “for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ Just as it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’” (see also Rom 9:18-23).

We teach that God’s sovereign election unto salvation does not originate in the will of man but in the will of God. We teach that God is not subject to fallen notions of human fairness or justice (cf. Rom 9:14; 19). 

We teach that God is enthroned in the Heavens and does whatever He pleases (Ps 103:19; 115:3; 135:6) and everything He does is perfectly righteous (just) (cf. Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 145:17; James 1:13, 17; 1 John 1:5; 3:5). 

8.7.2.1 Against Heresies – Arminian Foreknowledge and Conditional Election

We DO NOT teach Arminian foreknowledge and conditional election. 

The heretical position called conditional election is defined as God’s divine foreknowledge of whether a person will freely reject or accept God’s offer of salvation through Jesus Christ, and as a consequence of that condition God elects the person to inherit salvation.

However, the foreknowledge of God is not to be understood as God learning information about who would and would not believe, but rather foreknowledge is God decreeing from eternity that which comes to pass in time. God has created time. God is not bound by time. Furthermore, God is self-existent and the necessary Being (i.e. the only Being in which all other beings depend on for their existence). If God is dependent on human agents for information (e.g. in the heretical position called conditional election, God  has to receive information concerning who will or will not believe in Christ and the outcome of that information dictates what God will or will not do in election), then God is no longer a necessary Being because He needs man in order to make decisions concerning man’s destiny. Therefore, conditional election is anthropocentric (i.e. centered in man). As such, conditional election is theology from below because it deifies man to the position of co-necessary being or necessary being (e.g. God is dependent on man for information) and humanizes God to the status of man in the realm of decisions made concerning man’s destiny.

Lastly, man does not have the ability and liberty post-fall pre-conversion to freely choose to make any decision pleasing to God. Therefore, it is illogical in eternity concerning the sound doctrine of the order of salvation to suggest that God foresaw who would and who would not believe in Christ, and by that condition elected some unto salvation because such a view is anthropocentric. Likewise, it is anachronistic in time to suggest that faith precedes the new birth. 

We teach the sound doctrine called regeneration (also designated hereafter as the new birth or born again; cf. Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27 emphasis on verse 26; Zechariah 12:10; John 1:12-13; 3:3-7; 5:24; Ephesians 2:5-7; Titus 3:5; James 1:17-18; 1 Peter 1:3).   

We teach that regeneration precedes faith and is a monergistic work of God – that is, regeneration is solely the work of God alone – who alone has the ability to cause spiritual birth (cf. Ephesians 2:5-7; Titus 3:5).

We teach that the source of regeneration is God (see – the source of regeneration 8.7.3.1). 

We teach that the cause of regeneration is God (see – the cause of regeneration 8.7.3.2). 

We teach that the results of regeneration is from God (see – the results of regeneration 8.7.3.3). 

The word παλιγγενεσία (paliggenesia) “regeneration” was used no less than twice in the New Testament (cf. Matthew 19:28; Titus 3:5). The term was comprised of the adverb πάλιν “again; once more; on the other hand; another” and γένεσις (genesis) “origin, birth, beginning.” Therefore, παλιγγενεσία has the meaning of “again origin” or affirmed as “once more birth” or could be stated “on the other hand –beginning” (all of these phrases are synonymous because they all have the same sense, namely “another birth”).  Emphatically, regeneration is another genesis – it means another birth. We teach that Regeneration being another birth means it is not a natural birth. Contrariwise, regeneration is a spiritual birth (cf. John 3:6-8). 

We teach that every single person who has ever lived or will ever live has entered, or will enter this earth by means of a natural birth through the procreation from a natural father together with a natural mother. On the other hand, we teach that not every single person who has ever lived or will ever live on earth will enter the kingdom of God because the LORD Jesus Christ said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” and “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). 

We teach that regeneration means a person is born again by the Third Person of the Trinity, namely God the Holy Spirit who is the agent of the new birth and who gives spiritual life – “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

8.7.3.1 The Source of Regeneration 

We teach that the objective statements that revealed man’s need for regeneration and identifying the source of regeneration is from one of the most explicit passages from Scripture concerning the doctrine of regeneration, that is, the description of when the Lord Jesus Christ taught the Pharisee Nicodemus the meaning of the new birth (cf. John 3). In John 3, the Apostle John recorded the event in which a man named Nicodemus visited the Lord Jesus Christ at night. At this encounter, the LORD Jesus Christ contrasted two types of births. For instance, the Lord Jesus Christ made the distinction between two types of births when he said, “that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Born of the flesh is the natural birth in which all humans experience, as mentioned above, namely, a natural birth through the procreation of a natural father together with a natural mother. John explained that the new birth is not a natural birth that everyone goes through or even a birth that is possible from the volition of man’s will, but rather the new birth is solely a birth from God when the apostle wrote, “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). 

We teach that being born of the Spirit is a completely different birth than a natural birth. The Greek word that was used for “again” in “born again” from John 3:3, 7 means “from above.” It is the Greek word ἄνωθεν (anóthen) and was used no less than 13 times in the NT (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 1:3; John 3:3, 7, 31; 19:11, 23; Acts 26:5; Galatians 4:9; James 1:17; 3:15, 17). In James, ἄνωθεν (anóthen) was used as a reference to the new birth. What is more, ἄνωθεν (anóthen) was used to identify that it is birth from above when James wrote, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures” (James 1:17-18). Contrasting the wisdom from above (ἄνωθεν anóthen – God’s wisdom) vs. the wisdom from below (i.e. the earthly, natural, and demonic wisdom not from God), James described the wisdom from above, that is from God when he wrote, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). Therefore, the Word of God teaches that the new birth is another birth. What is more, the Word of God teaches that the new birth is a heavenly birth from above. Moreover, the Word of God teaches that the new birth is a spiritual birth accomplished by God. 

We teach that the need for man to be born again is due to the reality that man is spiritually dead in his sin. Man is spiritually blind. Man cannot see God in his natural state and man is spiritually blind with respect to the truth of God found in Christ Jesus (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:14-18; 4:3-6). What is more, we teach that man is totally depraved in man’s natural state. That means man is unable to spiritually draw near to God and come to God in Christ (cf. Ephesians 2:1-3). Man must be born again, that is, born of God, where the LORD gives a person a new heart to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27 emphasis on verse 26; Zechariah 12:10; Ephesians 2:4). 

We teach that the New Covenant is inseparably constrained to regeneration and inseparably constrained to the sound doctrine of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The recipients of the New Covenant are the elect from both Jews and Gentiles – that is, the elect from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (see Revelation 5:9).

We teach that when the apostle John wrote of those who believed in Christ the following; “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe 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” (John 1:12-13), the source of the new birth was identified as of God. “But of God” is a genitive of source. John 1:12-13 does not mean that saving faith by believing in Jesus’ name is the condition for God to then cause a person to be born again, because that would contradict the rest of Scripture and suggest that a person can believe in their unregenerate natural state without being spiritually alive (cf. Ephesians 2:1-10). But instead the new birth is of God and regeneration precedes faith (cf. Acts 16:14; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; Ephesians 2:4-10). Faith is even a gift from God (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10). Arminians teach that a person needs to believe first and then they will be regenerated – born again. But the Bible teaches that regeneration precedes faith; it comes before faith. You must be born again in order to place faith in Christ (and faith is a gift) and to see Him. We cannot exercise faith in Christ and His kingdom apart from being born again.

8.7.3.2 The Cause of Regeneration

We teach that the cause of regeneration is God alone.

For example, in Ephesians 2:1-10, verse 4 is where the thought turned from verses 1-3 to verses 4-10. It was where the thought pivoted with the disjunctive “But God.” This contrasted God’s actions toward us vs. our actions toward him in verses 1 – 3.  Θεός (God) is the subject of this long sentence in Greek because Θεός (God) is nominative masculine singular (nominative is the case for Greek nouns that designates the subject of the sentence) and is a reference to God the Father as the subject, just as He is the subject in the long Greek sentence of Ephesians 1:3-10. In the clause “being rich in mercy,” the term “being” is a present participle which indicated the kind of action that is a habitual linear durative – that means, a continuous habitual action of God (repeated). It is in God’s nature and His kindness of activity directed to the elect that God is “being rich in mercy.” Being rich in mercy is a description of God’s character.

In the OT, it was the mercy seat that symbolized where God would sit and where the blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement for propitiation (cf. Leviticus 16:15-16). We teach that mercy is not getting what you deserve. God being rich in mercy is contrasted with us being dead in trespasses against Him “even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5 a-b). “Made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5b) is a spiritual resurrection, meaning regeneration. We teach in the context of Ephesians 2:1-10, verses 1-3 refer to being spiritually dead and verses 4-10 refer to being spiritually alive.

We teach that Ephesians 2:4 describes God’s motive – literally “because of the great love of Him with which he loved us.” “Because of” indicated the cause of God’s mercy, namely, great love. The preposition dia with the noun in the accusative case has the sense to mean “cause.”  The text is best translated “because of, or on account of, or for the sake of” because it has the sense to mean “cause.” So the cause of God’s mercy is the great love of Him, and love of Him means God is the source of this love. The direct object is love but not only love, for the text reads “great love”.  Love means an action, not a feeling, and πολλὴν ἀγάπην “great love” has the Greek word ἀγάπη for love, which is love of voluntary self sacrificial action – that is, self-sacrifice (cf. John 14:15; 15:12-13). This is the way God is, namely “being rich in mercy because of the great love of Him with which He loved us.” The elect are the objects of His love, those “He chose in Christ before the foundation of the world .  . . those in love He predestined to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (cf. Ephesians 1:4-5). The elect are the objects of His love “even when we were dead in our transgressions, . . .” (Ephesians 2:5a). It was God who extends His grace to the elect. We teach that the elect in and of themselves are like the rest of humanity – that is, born naturally into this world as undeserving unregenerate rebels, but God regenerates the elect.

We teach that when a person is naturally born into this world he or she is born dead in sin (Genesis 6:5; Romans 3:9-12; Ephesians 2:1), conceived in sin (as King David put it cf. Psalm 51:5), loves sin and hates God. But when a person is born again, they turn away from loving their sin and hating God to hating their sin and loving God. We teach that this is all due to the action of God when He regenerates a person –  that is, “made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5b). This verb in Ephesians 2:5b (i.e. συνεζωοποίησεν “made us alive with”) is the main verb of the entire sentence in the Greek (Ephesians 2:1-10). To identify the subject is important because the subject in this case performs the action of the verb. The main verb is in Ephesians 2:5 “He made us alive” with Christ. He is a reference to God the Father.

We teach that regeneration is a Trinitarian act. Each person of the Trinity is involved in the grace of regeneration. The Father decreed regeneration and is the cause involved in regeneration (cf. Ephesians 2:4-5; 1 Peter 1:3). The Lord Jesus Christ and His physical resurrection from the dead are involved in regeneration (cf. 1 Peter 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”). Therefore, we teach that regeneration is a Trinitarian act and God the Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration (cf. Ezekiel 36:25-27; John 3:5-6; Titus 3:5). God the Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration and is the Person who spiritually quickens a person, making them spiritually alive, and applies the work of Christ to the person He regenerated. We teach that the imagery from Ezekiel 36:25 concerning the future national repentance of Israel in the New Covenant explained an internal cleansing when God said, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.” Likewise, in the NT Jesus alluded to Ezekiel 36:25-27 when He spoke the following to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” It is the imagery of inward washing and regeneration by the purity of God the Holy Spirit. Likewise, the Apostle Paul through inspiration by God the Holy Spirit wrote about the same means of regeneration in Titus 3:5-6: “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” What is more, in the book of Acts at the Council of Jerusalem, in the context of destroying the legalism of imposing circumcision on the Gentiles, the Apostle Peter explained that God the Holy Spirit cleanses the heart of a person by faith when he said, “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8-9). We teach that faith is a gift which God puts into a person (cf. Ephesians 2:8).

We teach that regeneration is a monergistic work. Monergistic work means it is solely the work of God alone, who alone has the ability to cause spiritual birth. He alone is able to perform the new birth. Regeneration is not synergistic (i.e. a joint work between the fallen human person and the Holy Spirit together). Instead, regeneration is completely and solely the work of God alone. 1 Peter 1:3 teaches that regeneration is a monergistic work of God. God is the cause of regeneration and regeneration is by grace when the text reads, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

We teach that regeneration is not an ongoing action but an instantaneous action. For instance, a birth is not an ongoing process; it is an instantaneous action. We teach that the spiritual birth of a person by God is an instantaneous action, not an ongoing gradual process. We teach that at the moment of regeneration a person becomes a child of God (i.e. born into God’s family). We teach that when one is born into God’s family that birth can never be undone. Therefore, regeneration is permanent.  

We teach that in regeneration a person is passive because it was God who caused them to be “born again.” In 1 Peter 1:23 the phrase “having been born again” is a perfect passive participle “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” If all persons have no prior work and influential say concerning their natural birth, then how much more is a person absolutely passive concerning their spiritual birth?

8.7.3.4 The Results of Regeneration

We teach that there are credible evidences that can be objectively determined from the Word of God to know if a person is in fact regenerate. For instance, those who have been born again, who have repented unto salvation and believed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose lives have been changed by the power of God, evidence signs of life and the assurance of salvation which is the consequence of regeneration. Jesus gave an illustration of this when he said, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

Illustratively, just as one cannot actually see the wind with one’s physical eyes, one can however see the effect of the wind with one’s physical eyes (e.g. when trees sway back and forth in the wind). So, one cannot see the action of regeneration performed by God because the act is invisible but one can undoubtedly see the effects of regeneration because the regenerated person’s life has changed by the power of God and now there is the manifestation the fruit of the Spirit.

We teach that the description of the results of regeneration from the Word of God include the following:

(1) The Scriptures teach that a person who has been born again loves God and others who have also been born again – namely, fellow Christians – “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him” (1 John 5:1); 

(2) The Scriptures teach that the person who has been born again lives a life characteristic of not practicing sin – “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). This does not teach sinless perfection this side of the grave but it does teach that the believer lives a habitual life of not practicing sin. The participle γεγεννημένος (having been born) is a perfect participle passive nominative masculine singular – that means, “having been born of God” has the kind of action that is completed, and the results continue. Pointedly, the following three words in 1 John 3:9, that is, ἁμαρτίαν οὐ ποιεῖ “sin not practicing” has the kind of action that is defined by the present aspect and indicated an ongoing habitual lifestyle of not practicing sin! The Apostle John wrote of the cause of this, namely, “because His seed abides in him” – which indicated the seed that is placed into a person at regeneration that in other places is referred to as the word of God (cf. Luke 8:11; 1 Peter 1:23). What is more, καὶ οὐ ἁμαρτάνειν δύναται “and he is not able to sin” also has the present aspect and indicated an ongoing habitual lifestyle of not being able to practice sin.  And the Apostle John wrote of the cause of this – that is, “because he has been born of God”; γεγέννηται (he has been born) is a perfect indicative passive verb which indicated the kind of action that is completed, and the results continue. Practicing sin means living in sin as a lifestyle, which does not characterize the born-again person.

(3) We teach that genuine good works are the objective evidences and fruit of regeneration (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:10). 

We teach that there are objective evidences from the epistle of 1 John for a person to determine that they are in fact regenerate. This includes confession of sin, repentance and walking in the light (1 John 1:5-10); a life characteristic of obedience by keeping Christ’s commandments (1 John 2:3-4); not being a liar (1 John 2:4); love for other Christians (1 John 2:9-11; 5:1); hating the world system (1 John 2:15-17); perseverance in sound doctrine (1 John 2:24-25); a life characteristic of righteousness (1 John 3:10) and God the Holy Spirit’s testimony (1 John 4:13; cf. Romans 8:16). What is more, the book of Hebrews teaches that a person who is disciplined by God is a child of God (cf. Hebrews 12:5-8).

We teach that when God regenerates and saves a person, God turns that person into a new creature. And the evidence of the work of God in regeneration is that the person who God regenerated and saved will live like a new creature (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). 

8.7.3.5 Against Heresies: Baptismal Regeneration and the “Sinner’s Prayer” 

Many false teachers today who dwell even among solid circles manufacture a pseudo-regeneration (i.e. a counterfeit/fraud one which is not a true regeneration). This is accomplished by a confusion and false teaching that faith and repentance precede regeneration, that God regenerates a person “when the repentant sinner responds in faith to the divine provision of salvation.” This is sometimes accompanied by manipulation to pray a prayer (e.g. “the sinner’s prayer”) or perform an altar call, and then congratulate those who obey them by affirming these means as acts of repentance which have brought about regeneration. Also, some teach baptismal regeneration – that is, a person must be baptized in order to be regenerated. Baptismal regeneration is error.

We DO NOT teach that a person needs to believe first and then they will be regenerated – born again.

We teach that regeneration precedes faith and repentance both logically and chronologically in the order of salvation – that is, God is the source and cause of regeneration and it is God who produces the results of regeneration. God first regenerates a person and then the regenerated person repents of their sin unto salvation by responding in faith to the divine provision of salvation.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, we teach that regeneration is the new birth. We teach that regeneration is a spiritual and heavenly birth from God above. We teach that men and women in their natural state are born naturally and come into this world dead in sin – that is, original sin and total depravity. We teach that because man is naturally born in a state of total depravity, men and women cannot see God nor enter into spiritual life unless there is a supernatural miracle of regeneration of a person by God the Holy Spirit. We teach that the source of regeneration is God. We teach that the cause of regeneration is God. We teach that those who have been born again, who have repented unto salvation and believed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose lives have been changed by the power of God – evidence signs of spiritual life and the assurance of salvation, which are the consequence of regeneration. Consequently, there are credible evidences that can be objectively determined from the Word of God to know if a person is in fact regenerate (e.g. list mentioned above). We teach that regeneration cannot be artificially fabricated by manipulating false conversions. Moreover, we teach that the physical water and action of believer’s baptism in and of itself does not regenerate a person but is instead an outward expression and declaration that previously an inward regeneration has taken place. We teach that regeneration is an undeserved countless blessing beyond measure – namely, that the Self-Existent Eternal God would thoughtfully condescend and respond to some in such a way that He would rescue the elect from spiritual deadness, as the Apostle Paul described when he wrote – “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). To God alone be the glory forever and ever in regeneration. Amen (cf. Revelation 7:10).

We teach the sound doctrine called irresistible call (effectual call/irresistible grace).

We teach that there is a special calling that is reserved for those whom God the Father has unconditionally elected to be saved from His wrath through the Person and cross work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

We teach that the Gospel message that is articulated through those God has ordained to be ambassadors for Christ is called the external call. 

We teach that God’s effectual call and His external call are associated but distinct calls. Concerning the latter, that is, the external call, the Gospel goes forth but God only applies the personal righteousness, cross work and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to the elect when He calls a person to Himself (effectual call/irresistible grace; cf. Jn 6:37, 39; 44-45; 65). 

We teach that the ambassadors for Christ do not know initially who is elect and who is not elect at the occasion of the Gospel witness; this knowledge is reserved for God alone. However, the ambassador for Christ does know that the elect are among the populous. As the ambassador preaches the Gospel he has full assurance that God will save every single person who is elect.

8.7.3.1 Special Calling (Effectual Calling) 

We teach that there is a special calling (effectual call) that is reserved for those whom God the Father has unconditionally elected to be saved from His wrath through the Person and cross work of the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, Romans 8:28 teaches the special call of God on the elect when it reads, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” One cannot love God unless they have been born again (cf. 1 John 4:7, 10) and one cannot be born again unless they have been unconditionally elected in eternity by God. Thus, God’s purpose for election is articulated in Romans 9:23 which reads, “And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.”

We teach that only the elect will respond to the Gospel with saving faith and repentance unto salvation. To this effect (i.e. the actual conversion of the elect as they call upon the Lord to save them because God used preachers to preach the gospel to the populous), Romans 10:13-15a reads the following, “for ‘Whoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved.’ How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” 

We teach that God’s effectual call upon the elect precedes the elect person’s call upon the name of the LORD to save them. The way the Gospel works in regards to the effectual call is simply this; namely, God saves an elected man who then preaches the Gospel to groups of people, and from among these groups of people only some individuals actually repent unto salvation and trust in Christ for eternal life (these are known as the elect). These persons cry out to God to save them from the wrath of God. 

There are many who have heard the external call of the Gospel, but only the elect are enabled by God the Holy Spirit to respond to it. We teach that the elect believe not because they are persuaded by human arguments, but the elect believe by God’s power. We teach that a person repents unto salvation and believes in Christ only through the power of the Spirit’s effectual calling.

8.7.3.2 External Calling (General Calling) 

We teach that God does not call all people in the same way. Many are called but few are chosen. Judas is an example of a person who was called but not chosen to inherit eternal life. There are distinctions in the callings from God. The entire scope of humanity (i.e. every single person who has ever lived) has an inward knowledge of God evident within them that man in his natural state suppresses in unrighteousness (cf. Rom 1:18-19). What is more, God is self-existent creator and therefore has put an eternal imprint on the hearts of men for the purpose of judgment (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:11, 14-15; 12:13-14). God seeks and is interested in each person’s past to render just deserts for man’s sins against God. Therefore, there is the calling of God upon all men for the purpose of judgment (cf. Prov 16:4). The elect will be the only ones who will be forgiven because they have trusted in the Person and personal righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to save them from the wrath of God. God calls all men to work and to eat food universally (cf. Ecclesiastes 2:3, 24, 3:13). God commands all men to repent of their idolatry (Acts 17:30-31) but God only calls the elect unto salvation (cf. Matthew 22:14).

8.7.3.3 The Call of God and the Doctrines of the Extent of the Atonement and Election 

We teach that the call of God unto salvation is inseparably constrained to the doctrine of the atonement in the terms of the extent of the atonement. For example, the plan of God to take those whom He unconditionally elected to be delivered from His judgment upon evil and join them to the innocent spotless substitute on the cross was in the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God (cf. Acts 2:23; Revelation 13:8; 2 Timothy 1:9). If Jesus died for all the sins of some people then there are distinctions in His calling, namely some are called for salvation while others are not. If Jesus died for all the sins of every single person who has ever lived then there is no distinction in the call of God unto salvation and the general call of God, because hypothetically everyone would go to heaven. If Jesus died for some of the sins of every single person who has ever lived, then there is no distinction in the call unto salvation and the general call, and the call unto salvation is exclusively and strictly a general call .

8.7.3.4 Irresistible Call by God the Holy Spirit 

We teach the Third Person of the Trinity,  God the Holy Spirit, is the agent of irresistible grace. We teach that God the Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration. God the Holy Spirit works regeneration in a person completely independent from any work of man. Also, regeneration precedes faith (cf. Acts 16:14). What is more, the Holy Spirit only regenerates the elect (cf. Acts 13:48). The sound doctrine of irresistible grace teaches that when God the Holy Spirit causes a person to be born again He puts into the born again recipient an internal call, that is, the irresistible inward conviction to trust in the personal righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and His vicarious satisfactory penal-substitutionary death on the cross in their place and resurrection from the dead for their justification. This irresistible inward conviction cannot be appeased until the regenerate recipient does exactly what the tax collector did in Luke 18:13: he “standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” This is the outward expression of the internal call, when God the Holy Spirit awakens the born again recipient to the horrifying reality of the born again recipient’s indwelling sin, and in short, the born again recipient sees their need of Christ and cries out to God for forgiveness. 

8.7.3.5 Against Heresies - Arminian Prevenient Grace and Amyraldianism 

We DO NOT teach Arminian prevenient grace

The external general call can be misunderstood, especially in Arminianism, because the Arminian evangelist does not articulate properly the reality of original sin and radical depravity. What is more, the Arminian evangelist articulates resistible grace instead of irresistible grace, and in turn, the Arminian evangelist teaches that Christ did not die for the sin of unbelief and that believing is a synergistic work. The Arminian teaches prevenient grace – that is, God takes initiative in the salvation process and his grace comes to all people. This “grace”, often called prevenient grace, acts on all people to convince them of the Gospel, draw them strongly towards salvation, and enable the possibility of sincere faith. This “grace” is not an unconditional grace but a conditional grace that presupposes faith precedes regeneration and this faith inevitably leads to regeneration unless finally resisted. Arminians teach that the offer of salvation through grace does not act irresistibly in a purely cause-effect, deterministic method but rather in an influence-and-response fashion that can be both freely accepted and freely denied. What is more, the Arminian teaches that man has free will to respond or resist their salvation and free will allows all men the choice to accept the Gospel of Jesus through faith, simultaneously allowing all men to resist. 

What is more, the Arminian only emphasizes the external call. Therefore, the Arminian evangelist propagates believing in Christ without the one who is encouraged to believe actually seeing the right biblical sound doctrine of repentance and belief (i.e. evidenced by a changed life). 

We DO NOT teach Amyraldianism. 

Amyraldianism is the modified version of Calvinism, i.e. “four pointer”, or “three pointer,” or “two pointer,” etc. Amyraldianism does not teach irresistible grace. Amyraldianism suggests that God’s grace can be resisted. However, God’s salvific grace cannot be resisted because it is only extended to the elect. Still, modified Calvinists have only one category of calling, the general call, and make no distinction between the general call and the effectual call. Amyraldians and so called “New Calvinists” are not the only form of modified Calvinists. Those who uphold any form of modified Calvinism want to claim they hold to the doctrines of grace; but they pick and choose which points they want to maintain and, in turn, which points they want to discard. However, the doctrines of grace presuppose all five points of Calvinism without exception. In other words, you must hold to all five points or you cannot hold to any of them.

We teach that salvation is by divine initiative alone.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, we teach that sin has imprisoned fallen men and caused them to be unable to trust Christ by their own wills. God must interrupt and call sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ. Unless God drags sinners to Christ they will not believe (cf. John 6:44). We teach that it is the irresistible grace of God that calls sinners to believe in Christ to be saved from the wrath of God. This is the effectual call of God upon the elect alone. The effectual call explains how God brings a person to Himself and irresistible grace is the grace that is applied to the elect as God overcomes any resistance to responding to the external call of the Gospel by those whom God has predetermined to save. There are distinctions in God’s calling. For example, there are things which God calls all men to, and there is the special irresistible inward call unto salvation to the elect that begins with the monergistic new birth, that changing a person’s life from the inside out by the power of God. Thus, the repentance and faith in conversion of the born again recipient is in the most absolute of terms; genuine belief in the Gospel. We teach that salvation is solely the gift of God, based on nothing deserving in the sinner, and if anyone knows God in a salvific manner it is because of God’s work of the effectual call and irresistible grace.

We teach that faith in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – that is, believing unto salvation and repentance unto salvation (turning away from the sin of unbelief and turning to God in faith), both take place chronologically at the same instant. We teach it is God who gives true faith and repentance (cf. Acts 5:31; 11:18; Ephesians 2:8-10; 2 Timothy 2:25). We teach that regeneration precedes faith and therefore, man cannot justify himself. Only God can regenerate. We teach that regeneration leads to faith and repentance and not the reverse. 

We teach that faith and repentance are closely linked together and inseparably bound to each other yet they are distinct features. We teach that true faith never exists without repentance. 

We teach that faith is an action of the heart and mind in the sense of the incorporeal heart and mind of a person now having the ability to turn the soul to God because of the work of God in regeneration (cf. Romans 10:9-10).  

We teach that repentance is an action of the heart and mind in the sense of the incorporeal heart and mind of a person turning the soul away from sin because of the work of God in regeneration (cf. Psalm 51:3-4; Isaiah 1:16; Matthew 3:10). 

8.7.4.1 Faith 

We teach the biblical definition of faith – namely, that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (cf. Hebrews 11:1).

We teach that faith is the element of conversion that creates an assurance in the promises of God found in the Scripture, that God keeps all His promises and has the ability to perform all that He has promised (cf. John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Romans 4:21).  

We teach that a person’s life is governed by who they believe and in the case of the Christian, the Christian’s life is governed by believing in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Timothy 1:12). 

We teach that a person is saved through faith (cf. Acts 16:31; Roman 5:1; 9:30-32; Ephesians 2:8-10).

We teach that the Christian grows in grace by God the Holy Spirit through faith (cf. Galatians 3:5, 14).

We teach that the Christian is sanctified by faith (cf. Acts 15:9; 26:18). 

We teach that the Christian is established, preserved and perseveres by faith (cf. Isaiah 7:9; Matthew 15:28; Acts 14:9; 1 Peter 1:5; Romans 11:20; 2 Corinthians 1:24; 1 John 5:4; James 5:15).

We teach that the Christian walks by faith (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:7).    

We teach that without faith it is impossible to please God (cf. Hebrews 11:6). 

8.7.4.1.1 The Content of the Faith 

We teach that “the faith” is the sum total of Christian doctrine as contained in the Scriptures (cf. Luke 18:8; Acts 6:7; 1 Timothy 4:1; 6:10; Jude 3). 

8.7.4.1.2 The Conviction and Confidence of Personal Faith

The Hebrew term חָסָה (chasah) is found in the OT over 100 times and has the sense to mean trusting in and waiting on Yahweh God for refuge (e.g. Ruth 2:12; Psalm 2:12; 56:3; Job 35:14). 

The Greek term πιστεύω (pisteuó) which is rendered in English “I believe” is found over 200 times in the NT and has the sense to mean to “trust” or “commit” – that is, “trust in Jesus Christ,” “rely on Jesus Christ,” and “commit to Jesus Christ.” We teach that personal saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to save one from the wrath of God is the complete trust and commitment of the individual to Jesus Christ, His perfect life under the Law for the believer’s righteousness, His death on the cross as the believer’s penal-substitute, and His resurrection from the dead for the believer’s justification (cf. Romans 4:23-25).  

The Scriptures never once exhort sinners to “make a decision for Christ,” or “ask Jesus into their heart,” or “try Jesus,” or “come forward to the alter and make a decision for Christ.”

We teach that salvation is the gift of God (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10) and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is active, not passive (cf. Romans 4:24). We teach that salvation is a miracle because the person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation can only believe and have faith by virtue of God’s work of regeneration. We teach that regeneration precedes faith. That means that one cannot believe in Jesus Christ unto salvation until they are first born again (cf. John 3; Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:5). 

8.7.4.2 Repentance

The term repentance is from the Greek term μετάνοια (metanoia) which is a compound word in Greek comprised of the Greek preposition μετα (i.e. in the sense of “a change”) together with the Greek term that has the sense to think – namely, νοέω (lit. “I think”). Biblically, the Greek term μετάνοια (metanoia) has the sense to mean a change in one’s thinking that takes place in the incorporeal heart, soul, and mind (cf. 2 Timothy 2:25). 

We teach that repentance is the inward turning away from sin. We teach that repentance essentially has to do with one’s knowledge that they have sinned (i.e. the sense of sin) and then a changed mind that affects one’s volition (cf. Acts 26:20; Romans 12:1-2; Hebrews 6:1). Therefore, repentance has features that concern a person changing their belief and behavior away from sin and lies to then turning to God in obedience to the truth (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 13).  

We teach that to repent is to change one’s mind about sin and turn from it and then turn to God (cf. Deuteronomy 30:10; 2 Kings 17:13; Proverbs 1:23; Isaiah 1:18-19; 31:6; 55:7; 59:20; Jeremiah 8:6; Ezekiel 14:6; 18:30, 32; 33:9-11; Joel 2:12-14; Matthew 3:2, 8; 4:17; 18:3; Mark 1:15; 6:12; Luke 3:8; 13:2-5; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30-31; 20:21; 26:20).

We teach that repentance produces a genuine sorrow when one sins against God that leads to the desire for forgiveness from God and reconciliation to God in the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Psalm 51; 2 Corinthians 7:9-11).  

We teach repentance involves the resolve and action to make a wrong one has committed brought to light and wanting to take back the wrong committed by doing what is right in the sight of God which involves the repentant giving reparation for wrong done to one’s fellow man (cf. Luke 19:8-10). This repentant resolve is based on the Greek term μεταμέλομαι (metamelomai) which has the sense to mean “to change one’s care or interest for another and to be a care to one afterwards” (cf. Matthew 21:29-32; 2 Corinthians 7:8-11). 

We teach that repentance is a gift from God and results in life (cf. Acts 5:31; 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25). 

We teach that repentance is foundational to Christianity (cf. Hebrews 6:1). 

The word of God commands all men to repent of their sin and to turn to God (cf. Acts 17:30-31). 

We teach that justification is the act of God in crediting His righteousness to the account of the believing sinner. 

We teach that justification is not a process but the instantaneous act of God when God credits the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to the believing sinner and declares the believing sinner to be righteous because the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ has been imputed to the account of the believing sinner. We teach that justification happens at the exact moment one believes in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved from the wrath of God, therefore, justification is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone (cf. Romans 3:18-28; 4:5; 5:8-10; Galatians 2:16). 

We teach that justification before God is the act of God by which He declares His righteousness to those who, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of their sins, confess the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ’s personal merits, penal-substitutionary death and resurrection from the dead for their salvation and justification (cf. Isaiah 53:11; 55:6-7; Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; Romans 2:4; 8:33; 10:9-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 2 Corinthians 4:5; 7:10; Philippians 2:11). 

We teach that man cannot justify himself. We teach that the righteousness of God in justification is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ credited to the account of the believing sinner, and therefore this righteousness is an alien righteousness – namely, a righteousness apart from any virtue of work of fallen man. We teach that justifying righteousness involves the great exchange of the cross in which the imputation of the sins of everyone who would ever believe in the Lord Jesus Christ was charged to His account, where the Lord Jesus Christ died in penal-substitution for everyone who would ever believe in Christ for salvation, and in turn, when the sinner believes on the Lord Jesus Christ through faith for salvation, God then imputes or charges the Lord Jesus Christ’s personal righteousness to the believing sinner’s account (Romans 3:20-26; 4:1-25; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24).  

We teach that justification is forensic. We teach that justification is to be understood to mean “declared righteous before God as a legal verdict” (cf. Luke 18:8, 14). In other words, justified/justification is a court room term in which the believing sinner is declared righteous before God through faith in the Person and personal righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the redemption offered by His perfect life under the law, His cross work and His resurrection from the dead for the justification of everyone who would ever believe in Christ for eternal life (cf. Romans 4:24-25; 1 Timothy 1:16). True faith trusts in the personal righteousness of Christ (cf. Romans 5:10). But even faith is a gift (cf. Ephesians 2:8). Consequently, justification defined more succinctly is the act of God in crediting and declaring His righteousness to the account of the believing sinner. We teach that justification is a perfect (i.e. completed action in which the results are continuous) standing before God, is not subject to change, and cannot be taken away (cf. Romans 5:1-2; 6:23; 8:1).

We teach that when God justifies a person through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that justified person is no longer under the wrath and condemnation of God because all of their guilt has been removed because of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Romans 4:1-25; 5:1-10; 6:23; 8:1; Galatians 2:20-21; 4:4-5). 

We teach that because of the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ in His perfect life and what He accomplished in the nature of the atonement, justification for the Christian is the end of them being under the penalty for sin. 

8.7.5.1 Justification by Faith and not by Works of the Law

We teach that man is not justified by works of the Law (Galatians 2:16, 21; Romans 8:1-2; 9:30-10:4; Galatians 3:24). 

We teach that man is justified through faith in Christ Jesus alone (Galatians 2:16-21). 

We teach that justification is not merely based on the righteousness of Jesus Christ but is literally the righteousness of Jesus Christ being credited to the account of the believing sinner (cf. Romans 4:1-25; 5:1-10).  

Those who teach that justification is merely based on the righteousness of Christ without the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ being credited to the account of the believing sinner, do not teach correctly nor understand the doctrine of justification.  

We teach that justification involves the great exchange of the cross, namely, the imputation of the sins everyone who would ever believe on Jesus Christ to be saved from the wrath of God charged to Jesus Christ’s account and the imputation of the Lord Jesus Christ’s righteousness to the account of the believing sinner (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24). Because of this great exchange of the cross of substitution and imputation, God is justified to be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (cf. Romans 3:26).

By the grace of God the believer is united with Christ Jesus so that in union with Christ, through faith in Him – the Lord Jesus Christ’s perfect righteousness and penal punishment as the believer’s substitute is counted as belonging to the believer in Christ (i.e. imputed to the believer). In this way, the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ is provided through imputation, sin is forgiven, wrath is removed, and God declares the believing sinner to be righteous because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to the account of the believing sinner. Thus, Christ alone is the justification of the believer, and the faith that believes upon Christ is the means or instrument of our justification given by God (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10). Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of the believer’s life produces the fruit of love, or it is dead (cf. James 2:14-26).

8.7.5.2 Against Heresies – New Perspectives on Pauline Justification 

We DO NOT teach the heretical controversy in modern evangelicalism called The New Perspectives on Paul. The architect of TNPOP is bishop of Durham N.T. Wright. N.T. Wright is a heretic because he has redefined justification by faith to mean something much different than the biblical Pauline view. For instance, the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believing sinner is what is being challenged in TNPOP. 

The main problem in this heresy is that N.T. Wright does not see the obedience of Jesus Christ imputed to the account of the believing sinner. N.T. Wright only sees the imputation of Jesus Christ’s death and the imputation of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. This is not how the early years of the development of the doctrine of justification by faith in the early church was before the reformation. Augustine and Anselm would agree that Christ’s obedience is imputed to the believing sinner’s account along with the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. One of the misunderstandings and misinterpretations of TNPOP is that works of the law justify a man. Therefore, TNPOP is heresy.  

We teach that conversion consists of two distinct features that harmonize with each other – namely, faith and repentance, resulting in the commitment and practice of sound belief and sound behavior in apostolic doctrine. 

The Greek term στρέφω (strephó) is the original term that was later translated into English “I convert” and has the sense to mean “to turn” or “to convert by changing (switching) direction” (i.e. go the other way literally - an "about-face") or “taking an opposite or divergent course” (cf. Matthew 18:3; John 12:40).

We teach that conversion occurs in the order of salvation chronologically after one is regenerated by God, and after one repents unto salvation and believes the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We teach that when one is instantaneously justified by faith alone in Christ alone, at that same moment one is converted to Christianity. 

We teach that conversion involves a commitment to the apostles teaching and walking in newness of life and walking in the light as the Lord Jesus Christ is in the Light (cf. 1 John 1:1-10).  

We teach that true conversion has the sense that one is a new creature and will live a life that reflects God’s radical work of re-creation in his/her life (cf. Matthew 7:16; 2 Corinthians 5:17). 

We teach that the terms which God has laid down in conversion are repentance and faith and these terms are commands. We teach that the active obedience of Christ therefore does not make our faith and repentance unnecessary, but still requires us to meet the terms before we can become the beneficiaries of His atoning death in the sense of justifying faith. 

We teach the sound doctrine of adoption is found in the ordo salutis (order of salvation) immediately after the sound doctrine of justification and conversion. The word “adoption” in Greek form is υἱοθεσία (hyiothesía) and is a combination of two Greek words, namely hyiós, “son” and τίθημι (títhēmi), “to place.” Therefore, the Greek word translated into the English word adoption literally means “to place as a son” or “sonship.” This word “adoption” is found five times in the NT (cf. Romans 8:15, 23, 9:4; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5). 

8.7.7.1 Divine Adoption as it Relates to Israel  

We teach that the adoption of Gentiles has not replaced the adoption of Israel. For example, the Apostle Paul identified the nation of Israel as recipients of God’s adoption when he wrote, “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises” (Romans 9:4). In the OT, God told Moses to tell Pharaoh to let Israel go – God’s first-born son (cf. Exodus 4:22). It was from ethnic Israel, specifically the tribe of Judah that the Messiah would come. The nation rejected the Lord Jesus Christ during His first advent as their Messiah. Then God turned to the Gentiles. Yet, the adoption of Israel has not been abrogated. We teach God’s grace to unfaithful Jerusalem – “’Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,’ the LORD God declares” (Ezekiel 16:62-63; cf. N.C. Jeremiah 31:31-34; 36:32). In the OT, God identified Himself as the Father of the nation of Israel and they were the firstborn of God (cf. Jeremiah 31:9).

We teach that when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in when the church age ends at its terminus ad quem (i.e. point of cessation), God will then regenerate a massive amount of Israelites (cf. Zechariah 13:8-9; Revelation 7:4-8). We teach that they will repent unto salvation and believe the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. To this glorious effect, Romans 11:25-29 declares explicitly the repentance of Israel:

“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.’ ‘This is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.'” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

Between the Apostle Paul and Luke, the use of the word οἰκονομία [i.e. dispensation (KJV) /administration, management, or stewardship (NASB)] was used no less than nine occasions in the NT (cf. Luke 16:2, 3, 4; 1 Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 1:10; 3:2, 9; Colossians 1:25; 1 Timothy 1:4). We teach the word dispensation is a NT word. Dispensationalism properly understood is from the NT and shows the relationship of continuity between Israel and the church in adoption (e.g. εἰς οἰκονομίαν τοῦ πληρώματος τῶν καιρῶν – “toward the administration of the fullness of the times” Ephesians 1:10a NASB).

We teach that ethnic Israel is certainly an example of adoption and God will certainly keep His promise concerning His elect from that nation (cf. Romans 9:4). Although today the majority of Israelites are under divine judgment and there is a partial hardening, there have been many Israelites who have come to saving faith in Christ throughout the church age and there will be a national repentance in the future.

We teach that God’s grace has been extended to people who are elect from every tribe and tongue and people and nation who have been, are being, and will be saved from the wrath of God through the sinless vicarious life, satisfactory penal substitutionary death on the cross and the resurrection from the dead of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Revelation 5:9). We teach that Abraham’s true children are those of faith in Christ no matter of their ethnicity because the Apostle Paul wrote the following to the elect of God:

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).

8.7.7.2 Divine Adoption as it Relates to Christians in the Church Age  

We teach that the Christian has union with the Lord Jesus Christ and is placed in the position of adoption logically subsequent the grace of justification in which the Christian now stands. We teach that adoption is an eternal adoption predestined and decreed by God in eternity because the Apostle Paul wrote the following; “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Ephesians 1:5). 

We teach logically that at regeneration and conversion the believer becomes a child of God. We teach that at adoption chronologically in the order of salvation, the believer is positionally in “sonship”, and therefore in hopeful anticipation of the consummation of the believer’s inheritance in glory (cf. Romans 8:23). We teach that being a child of God and adopted into the position of “sonship” are inseparably constrained to one another. We teach the former is a new birth of a spiritual nature. We teach the latter is a new position of “sonship”. If the former is true of a person then by necessary consequence the latter will absolutely be true of a person. We teach that regeneration, justification, and adoption are distinct doctrines and they are inseparably constrained to one another in the soteriological chain of the ordo salutis. In other words, there cannot be one without the other.

We teach that it is the Third Person of the Triune God, namely God the Holy Spirit, who is the Author of the Christian’s union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We teach that God the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Adoption. We teach the Christian is given God the Holy Spirit, who leads the Christian into a life of full assurance of salvation without fear by assuring the believer that they are truly saved. We teach that God the Holy Spirit testifies to the believer’s spirit that they are truly a child of God. If one does not have the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit testifying to their spirit that they are truly a child of God, then that person should be absolutely horrified and should seek God earnestly day and night in prayer and studying His Word to examine why they are lacking the assurance that comes from God the Holy Spirit. We teach that God the Holy Spirit testifies to the Christian of their adoption into God’s family:

“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:14-17).

We teach that there is an illumination from God the Holy Spirit to the children of God. We teach that the children of God have a special insight to spiritual realities as well as a special inheritance. 

We teach that with divine adoption comes a divine inheritance for the saints.

8.7.7.3 The Application of Divine Adoption and Discipleship 

We teach that concerning the application of adoption there is an English word, namely “filial” derived from the old Latin word filialis which was derived from the old Greek word φίλιους which carries the meaning of the honor that is given from a son or a daughter to their parents. In other words, the maturity of the position of adoption will motivate the believer to live their lives in respectful adoration and devotion to God their Father. Believers as adopted sons and daughters represent their heavenly Father by living lives of obedience to Christ because they respect and love their heavenly Father. Jesus said that the Father loved the disciples because they loved Christ and believed that Christ came from the Father (cf. John 16:27).

We teach that the true family of the disciple of Christ is composed of those who do the will of God because Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50) and He said, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).

We teach that because of God’s grace in salvation the believer is adopted into the family of God and is a child of God forever. Therefore, the believer has a relationship with God and access to God because of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and can call to God the Father in the communion and fellowship of prayer as Father God in heaven, holy is your name (cf. Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:1-4 ; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 5:20; 1 John 3:1). 

We teach that adopting an orphan or running a foster home for suffering infants and children is not bad in and of itself, but rather a good work (cf. James 1:27). 

Conclusion: 

We teach the sound doctrine of adoption is about the believer’s position before God as sons and daughters in the place of “sonship.” For Christian women this is not a gender change but a position and carries the weight of being an adult heir (*cf. Galatians 4:1-7). We teach the adoption of Israel, the soteriology of adoption in the ordo salutis, the implication of adoption, and the application of adoption. We teach that God alone gets the glory for divine adoption:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5). 

We teach that man cannot adopt himself.