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Page 1: Sovereignty, Free Will, and Salvation - The Difference Sovereignty Makes

Sovereignty

Free Will &

Salvation

Page 2: Sovereignty, Free Will, and Salvation - The Difference Sovereignty Makes

Why God’s

Sovereignty

Matters

Page 3: Sovereignty, Free Will, and Salvation - The Difference Sovereignty Makes

Why I Believe these Things

―Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God‖ (1 John 5:1)

Birth is logically prior to life – both in the physical and spiritual.www.confidentchristians.org

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―No man is better for knowing that God in the beginning created the heaven and the earth. The devil

knows that, and so did Ahab and Judas Iscariot. No man is better

for knowing that God so loved the world of men that He gave His

only begotten Son to die for their redemption. In hell there are

millions who know that. Theological truth is useless until it is obeyed. The purpose behind all doctrine is to secure moral action.‖

- A. W. Tozer

www.confidentchristians.org

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What does God‘s sovereignty mean to me?

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God’s Sovereignty…

1. Provides assurance He is in complete control and supplies trust in His care for us

2. Provides confidence in every circumstance

3. Causes us to rely solely and ultimately on Him and not ourselves; it keeps us humble

www.confidentchristians.org

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Provides Assurance He is in control

―I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‖

(Job 42:2) www.confidentchristians.org

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Provides Assurance He is in control

―For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am

convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. ‖

(2 Timothy 1:12)

―For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ

Jesus. ‖ (Philippians 1:6)

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Trust in God’s Care

―Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will

fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than

many sparrows.‖ (Matthew 10:28–31)

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Trust in God’s Care

―Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. ‖ (Psalm 37:5)

―Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. ‖ (Psalm 55:22)

―What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ‖ (Romans 8:31)

―Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the

peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ‖ (Philippians 4:6–7)

www.confidentchristians.org

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―It is of little comfort to me to know that God loves me if he is not in control of the events of my life. . . . This is one of

the crucial differences. It enables us to trust God. It enables us to obey Jesus‘

command, ‗Don‘t be afraid,‘ because we know that our

lives are not subject to chance or luck, to the whims of nature, or the malevolent

actions of other people.‖- Jerry Bridges

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Trust Down to the Last detail

―He will also lift up a standard to the distant nation, And will whistle for it from the ends of the earth; And behold, it

will come with speed swiftly. No one in it is weary or stumbles, None slumbers or sleeps; Nor is the belt at its

waist undone, Nor its sandal strap broken. ‖ (Isaiah 5:26–27)

www.confidentchristians.org

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―There is no attribute of God more

comforting to His children than the

doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. . . . It is

God upon His throne whom we trust.‖

- Charles Spurgeon

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Everything Depends on God

―For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. ‖ (Colossians 1:16–17)

―Come now, you who say, ―Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and

make a profit.‖ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and

then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ―If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.‖ But as it is, you boast in your

arrogance; all such boasting is evil. ‖ (James 4:13–16)

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Confidence in Every Circumstance

―Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and

find grace to help in time of need. ‖ (Hebrews 4:16)

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God’s Sovereignty over Nature

―Under the whole heaven He lets it [thunder] loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth. . . . For to the snow He says, ‗Fall on the earth,‘ And to the downpour and the rain, ‗Be strong.‘ From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen. Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. It changes direction, turning around by His guidance, That it may do whatever He commands it On the face of the inhabited earth. Whether for

correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen.‖ (Job 37:3–13) www.confidentchristians.org

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God’s Sovereignty Over Calamity

―The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these. ‖ (Isaiah 45:7)

―Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That both good and ill go forth? ‖

(Lamentations 3:37–38)

―If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it? ‖ (Amos 3:6)

www.confidentchristians.org

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Control over Individual Circumstances

―Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and the Lord had given the people favor in

the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:35–36)

―Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation

throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: ‖ (Ezra 1:1)

―The king‘s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.‖ (Proverbs 21:1)

―Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials‖ (Daniel 1:9)

―The Lord said to him, ―Who has made man‘s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ‖ (Exodus 4:11)

―Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. ―For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three

times a year to appear before the Lord your God. ‖ (Exodus 34:23–24)

God, in His sovereign power, is able to restrain others from desiring to harm us

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The Story of Joseph

The story of Joseph personifies how God is sovereign over our individual circumstances. It exemplifies what Paul says in Romans: ―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‖ (Romans 8:28) . Joseph said it this way: ―As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about

this present result, to preserve many people alive.‖ (Genesis 50:20)

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The Story of Joseph – the Tough Part

―When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. They said to one another, ―Here comes this dreamer! ―Now then,

come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‗A wild beast devoured him.‘ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!‖ ‖ (Genesis 37:18–20)

―Judah said to his brothers, ―What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? ―Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our

brother, our own flesh.‖ And his brothers listened to him. Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the

Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt. ‖ (Genesis 37:26–28)

―She [Potiphar‘s wife] caught him by his garment, saying, ―Lie with me!‖ And he [Joseph] left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. . . . Now when his master heard the words

of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, ―This is what your slave did to me,‖ his anger burned. So Joseph‘s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king‘s

prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. ‖ (Genesis 39:19–20)

―Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. ―Now it happened at the end of two full years. . .‖ (Genesis 40:23-41:1)

www.confidentchristians.org

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We Need to Remember God is still with us

―The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that

the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight and became

his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. ‖ (Genesis 39:2–4)

―But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. The chief jailer committed

to Joseph‘s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it. The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph‘s charge because the Lord was

with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to prosper. ‖ (Genesis 39:21–23)

www.confidentchristians.org

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―Then Pharaoh said to his servants, ―Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?‖ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, ―Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so

discerning and wise as you are. ―You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my

people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you.‖ Pharaoh said to Joseph, ―See, I

have set you over all the land of Egypt.‖ Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and

put it on Joseph‘s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck. He had him ride in his second

chariot; and they proclaimed before him, ―Bow the knee!‖ And he set him over all the land of Egypt.

Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, ―Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.‖ ‖

(Genesis 41:38–44)

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The Story of Joseph – the Good Part

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God is still with us

―The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident: they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our God. . . . All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of

His redeemed family.‖- Margaret Clarkson

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Rely Ultimately on God instead of Ourselves

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―So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,

work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good

pleasure. ‖ (Philippians 2:12–13)

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God Works in Us for Other’s Good

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―God energizes the mind and heart of the believer to want to

do His will. Paul does not explain how this transformation occurs, but we may reasonably assume that the Holy Spirit creates in us a desire and a love for that

which, prior to regeneration, we spurned and hated.‖ -C. Samuel Storms

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God Performs the Work

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―The Lord‘s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those

who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held

captive by him to do his will. ‖ (2 Timothy 2:24–26)

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www.confidentchristians.org

―While we must always remember that it is our responsibility to proclaim salvation, we must never forget that it is God who saves. It is God who brings men and women under the

sound of the gospel, and it is God who brings them to faith in Christ. Our evangelistic work

is the instrument that He uses for this purpose, but the power that saves is not the instrument: it is in the hand of the One who

uses the instrument. We must not at any stage forget that. For if we forget that it is God‘s

prerogative to give results when the gospel is preached, we shall start to think that it is our

responsibility to secure them. And if we forget that only God can give faith, we shall start to think that the making of converts depends, in the last analysis, not on God, but on us, and that the decisive factor is the way in which we

evangelize.‖ - J. I. Packer

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www.confidentchristians.org

―For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And

furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without

accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. ‖ (Isaiah 55:9–11)

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www.confidentchristians.org

―Far from making evangelism pointless, the sovereignty of God in grace is the

one thing that prevents evangelism from being pointless, for it creates the

possibility – indeed, the certainty –that evangelism will be fruitful. Apart

from it, there is not even a possibility of evangelism being fruitful. Were it not

for the sovereign grace of God, evangelism would be the most futile

and useless enterprise that the world has ever seen, and there would be no

more complete waste of time under the sun than to preach the Christian

gospel.‖- J. I. Packer

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www.confidentchristians.org

―And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ―Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you,

and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.‖‖

(Acts 18:9–10)

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Remind me again why I pray if God is sovereign…

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―If God has eternally decreed that you should live, what is the use of your

breathing? If God has eternally decreed that you should talk, what is

the use of your opening your mouth? If God has eternally decreed that you

should reap a crop, what is the use of your sowing the seed? If God has

eternally decreed that your stomach should contain food, what is the use of

your eating? In order to educate us, God demands that we should use the means, or go without the ends which

depend upon them.‖ - A. A. Hodge

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www.confidentchristians.org

―Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you‖

(2 Thessalonians 3:1)

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www.confidentchristians.org

―If it is legitimate for God to ‗plant a longing‘ in a person‘s heart, how strong

can the longing be that God chooses to plant? There are two kinds of longings

God could plant in an unbeliever‘s heart. One kind of longing is so strong that it

leads the person to pursue and embrace Christ. The other kind of longing is not

strong enough to lead a person to embrace Christ. Which should he pray

for? If we pray for the strong longing, then we are praying that the Lord would work effectually and get that person saved. If

you pray for the weak longing, then we are praying for an ineffectual longing that

leaves the person in sin (but preserves his self-determination).‖

- John Piper

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www.confidentchristians.org

―People who really believe that man must have the ultimate power of self-determination can‘t consistently pray that God would convert unbelieving sinners. Why? Because if they pray for divine influence in a sinner‘s life

they are either praying for a successful influence (which takes away the

sinner‘s ultimate self-determination), or they are praying for an unsuccessful

influence (which is not praying for God to convert the sinner). So either you give up praying for God to convert

sinners or you give up ultimate human self-determination.‖

- John Piper

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The Most Humbling Teaching Ever

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―So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. ‖

(Romans 9:16)

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www.confidentchristians.org

―Those who have received salvation are to attribute it to

sovereign grace alone, and give all the praise to Him, who makes them to differ

from others.‖- Jonathan Edwards

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His ways Aren’t Our Ways

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―For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,‖ declares the Lord. ―For as the heavens are higher than

the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.‖

(Isaiah 55:8–9)

We quote this all the time, but do we really believe and practice it?

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www.confidentchristians.org

―The seriousness of this question has been brought home to me during fifteen years of ministry to the cults. I

have found at least one common denominator among all of those I studied – the belief in human autonomy. . . .

History has shown that the dogma of human autonomy gradually eats away at the foundations of orthodoxy until

eventually it collapses entirely. The idea of God is radically modified or discarded altogether as the hope for

salvation is transferred to humanity‘s determination and ingenuity rather than God‘s sovereign grace. . . . The gospel must be made palatable to the sinner, whose

personal autonomy, after all, must be respected even by God.‖

- Dr. Alan Myatt

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The Paradox of sovereignty and ‘free will’

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• We are saved by sovereign grace yet we must believe

• We are kept by the security of God yet we must persevere

• We live by sovereign power yet we must obey

• We will endure trials and we must endure trials

• We will produce good works and we must produce good works

• What God says will be true of you must be true of you

- John MacArthur

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www.confidentchristians.org

―There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God‘s Sovereignty. Under

the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that Sovereignty has

ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children

ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation—the

Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands—the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that Throne. On the other hand, there is

no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the

great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His

throne.‖- Charles Spurgeon

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www.confidentchristians.org

―They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties. They will allow Him

to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash

their teeth, and we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to

dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter; then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on His throne is not the God they love. But it is God

upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne whom we trust.‖

– Charles Spurgeon

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Who’s Ultimately in Control – God or Us?

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Non-Reformed Reformed

Total DepravityWe’re able to live or die again God ensures we live again

Unconditional electionWe first choose God God first chooses us

Limited atonementWe limit the atonement God limits the atonement

Irresistible graceWe can overcome God’s will God’s will overcomes ours

Perseverance of the saintsWe control our eternal security

God controls our eternal security

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A Parting Warning Worth Remembering

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―Assigning to God any thing by him not assumed is making to ourselves a deifying of our

own imaginations.‖- John Owens

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Teacher’s Summary Statement

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Because of their first parent‘s sin, each person inherits a sin nature that renders them dead in sin and hostile to God. They do not seek God nor do they wish God

in their lives.

But because God is sovereign, and because He loves humanity, He has decided to have mercy on some and has provided a way of salvation through His Son who took

on the form of a servant and died a substitutionary death for those who God has drawn to Him.

And when Christ went to the cross, He died an atoning death for everyone that He intended to save; He missed not one.

These are the ones who the Father has drawn to His son and called to be His children. Their previous resistance to Him has been overcome by His mercy so that

their heart of stone has been replaced by a heart of flesh, and now they willingly choose to love and trust Him for their salvation.

And these that He saved are held fast by His power, protected in faith, and can never lose their salvation.

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Why God’s

Sovereignty

Matters