Did God Work in You?

The Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther said, "When God works in us, the will being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desires and acts, not from compulsion, but responsively."

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). In your sinful nature, you were not willing to trust Christ (Romans 3:9-11). Your will was corrupted by sin. Upon hearing the gospel of Christ, God works in you, "not from compulsion, but responsively" (Ephesians 1:13). 

God never does violence to your will (Hebrews 3:15). He does not coerce nor force you against your will. As Luther said, "the will being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, desires and acts." You were willing to come to Christ by faith.

God changed your hearts through the gospel of Christ. The word heart is often used in the Bible to describe your inward person, which is your mind, will, and emotions. To be born of the Spirit means you were transformed in mind, will, and emotions.

The Holy Spirit convicted you of unbelief (John 16:7-11). He never forced you to believe in Christ, but enabled you to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how the goodness of God works in you. The goodness of God leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4).

Is God's Grace for You?

Grace is the gift of God, and not of your works (Ephesians 2:8-9). God's grace is given to you through faith in Christ. Grace saves you to the glory of God in Christ. Grace is unmerited favor given to you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace is God's gift in Christ for you through the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21). The Lord Jesus Christ changes your heart, that is your mind, will and emotions. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:10). Christ makes you a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

Grace is God's gift working in you. God is "working in you what is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ" (Hebrews 13:21). The Spirit of grace works in you to do God's will. The apostle Paul testified, "I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Grace is God's gift you receive by faith that endures, abides, and perseveres. Your faith is tried and tested. It is found to be true, because the source is true. You are "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Grace enables you to testify,"I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me"(Galatians 2:20).

Is Salvation God's Work?

Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, "Salvation is the work of God. It is he alone who quickens the soul dead in trespasses and sins, and it is he also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both Alpha and Omega. Salvation is of the Lord." 

Spurgeon understood that salvation is God's work from the beginning (Alpha) unto the end (Omega) (Revelation 1:8). Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and omega is the last letter. From beginning to the end, salvation is God's work in Christ (Ephesians 2:10).

In our sinful state, we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). Our sins have separated us from God. Our inability to come to God is our unbelief and hardness of heart. But, God who is rich in mercy, comes to us as sinners with the goodness of grace, leading us to repentance (Romans 2:4; Ephesians 2:4-5).

God's Spirit draws us through the gospel of Christ. The Spirit of grace enables us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31; 1 Thessalonians 1:5). Salvation is God's work in Christ, as the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 22:13).

Salvation is God's work from beginning to completion in the true believer. He began the good work in us. Likewise, he continues to work in us (Philippians 1:6; 2:13). What God begins in us, God completes in us. Salvation is God's work in us from the beginning unto completion.

Did God Awaken You?

God awakens you unto repentance and faith in Christ. It is the goodness of God that leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4). For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Grace is the gift of God, giving you faith to trust Christ. God's grace awakens you spiritually unto new life in Christ.

Therefore He says, 'Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light (Ephesians 5:14). God awakens you from spiritual death, unto new life in Christ. It is new life, which is abundant and eternal (John 10:10; Romans 6:23). God awakens you to faith in Christ, from the darkness of spiritual death, unto the light of new life.

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). God awakens you from spiritual death unto new life, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead awakens you from spiritual death to be spiritually alive in Christ.

You were spiritually dead without the grace of Christ. God awakens awakens by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:1, 8-10). Believers are God's workmanship created anew in our Lord Jesus Christ. Did God awaken you?

Why Will Many Perish?

The Canons of Dort (1618-19) recognized that no one perishes because of the insufficiency of the atonement. Canons of Dort: “And, whereas many who are called by the gospel do not repent nor believe in Christ, but perish in unbelief, this is not owing to any defect or insufficiency in the sacrifice offered by Christ upon the cross, but is wholly to be imputed to themselves” (2:6).

Christ died sufficiently in value and worth for all mankind. Look at three verses of Scripture that clearly teach the sufficiency of the atonement: John 3:16, 1 John 2:2, and 1 Timothy 2:6. A literal interpretation of these verses shows beyond question that the death of Jesus Christ is sufficient in worth and value for all people. Yet, many will perish in unbelief.

In 1 John 2:2, the Bible teaches Christ died sufficiently for "the whole world." Therefore, the atonement of Christ is sufficient for Gentiles as well as Jews, "the whole world." The Mosaic sacrificial system was for the Jewish nation. The sacrifice of Christ is not limited to the Jews. His death is sufficient for "the whole world." Yet, many will perish in unbelief.

The sufficiency of Christ crucified has to do with value and worth. However, sufficiency saves no one. Christ likewise died efficiently to purchase people unto God (Acts 20:28). Therefore, the atonement is sure to save certain people, all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31). God's purchased people are saved at the cross of Jesus. 

Why Are All Guilty?

"As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). That's what the Bible teaches. Look at James 2:10, "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." Breaking God's law of commandment only one time means we are guilty of all. 

You may say, "If breaking one commandment means I am guilty of all, then there is no hope for me." Wait! There's good news. Jesus Christ is our righteousness. He was without sin. He is the only man without sin. When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness of Christ is put on our account. The only way that we can be righteous before God is in Christ alone (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Being self-righteous can never please God. It is like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). People who think they can please God being self-righteous see no need to receive the righteousness of Christ. They may consider themselves to be good, but we will never be good enough. Righteousness is the perfect obedience of Christ.

Christ was righteous in both active obedience and passive obedience. In active obedience, Christ fulfilled the law of God in all things. He came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). He died on the cross for our sins in passive obedience to God the Father's will. By faith in Christ, every believer is accounted righteous. Believe unto righteousness in Christ (Romans 10:9-10). 

What Are Covenants?

There are two major covenants in the Bible. They are described as the Old and New Covenants, also known as the Old and New Testaments. The Old Covenant was the law of God given through Moses. The New Covenant is the grace of God working in us (Philippians 1:6; 2:13). Believers enter the New Covenant with God by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are obvious differences between the Old and New Covenants. The Old Covenant was fulfilled in the perfect obedience of Christ (Matthew 5:17). The New Covenant revealed Christ in the Gospel. The Old Covenant confirmed the curse of sin, resulting in Christ crucified for our sins (Galatians 3:10). The New Covenant confirms the Gospel of Christ taking away all our sins (1 John 1:7). That's the grace of God in the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21).

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "But if God enters into covenant with sinful man, he is then so offensive a creature, that must be on God's part an act of pure, free, rich, sovereign grace. When the Lord entered into covenant with me, I am sure that it was all of grace, nothing else but grace."

The New Covenant brings the grace of God in Christ. Spurgeon described it as "an act of pure, free, rich, sovereign grace." It's pure grace because it's all of grace. It's free grace because it's the gift of God for believers. It's rich grace, because God's mercy in Christ paid our sin debt in full. It's sovereign grace, because only God Almighty can give it to us. We enter the New Covenant by grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10)).