GRACE FOR TODAY Radio Message #530



God’s Description of Salvation Ephesians 2:8-9



Pastor Don Fortner

Grace Baptist Church of Danville

2734 Old Stanford Road

Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438



With all the babble, confusion, and religious nonsense there is in this world, - in this age when the house of God seems to lie in a heap of ruins, - in this day of obvious divine judgment - in this day in which we and our fathers have been kindling the wrath of God for generations, burning incense to other gods, I wonder if it might not be wise for us to go through all the ruins of God’s house, like Hilkiah the high priest during the days of Josiah, and search for the Book of God. Like that faithful man, pick it up, dust it off, and read it. Then, after reading it, like that godly young king, we would be wise to inquire of the Lord concerning the words of this Book.

We would be wise to lay aside our church creeds, catechisms, and confessions of faith, all of them! Lay aside our theology books, religious papers, religious traditions, customs, and even the opinions of great men of the past. How I wish we could do that! How I wish I could get men and women to simply hear what God says in his Word about his salvation!

I wish we could just forget about Calvinism and Arminianism, Catholicism and Protestantism, Pietists and Puritans, Liberals and Fundamentalists, and simply seek to find out from God’s own Word what God himself has to say about his salvation. If we could do that we might find out what salvation is. We might even come to possess it!

Can we do that? Can you lay aside everything you have ever thought, heard, and learned about salvation from all other sources, and look with me into the Word of God to see what God has to say about this thing called salvation?

Everywhere salvation is spoken of in Holy Scripture, everywhere it is illustrated, everywhere it is explained, it is presented to us just as it is right here in Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Here God the Holy Spirit tells us five things about God’s salvation. These five things are always characteristic of God’s saving operations. Wherever salvation is found, wherever salvation is experienced, these five things are both obvious and gladly acknowledged.

1. Salvation is by grace alone.

2. Salvation is through faith alone.

3. Salvation is in Christ alone.

4. Salvation, in its entirety, (even the faith by which it is experienced) is the gift of God.

5. This salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone is accomplished entirely without works of any kind on the part of the one who is saved.

Be sure you hear what I am saying. We are saved without works! Our relationship with God certainly determines what we do; but what we do, either good or bad, has absolutely nothing to do with our relationship with God.

“Boasting excluded, pride I abase, I’m only a sinner saved by grace!”



AMEN.

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J. M. - Baptist - Ontario, Canada - Feileadh Mor

Don Fortner is a leading proponent in the sovereign grace movement. I give God the glory for Mr. Fortner's commitment to the doctrines of grace. Unfortunately the battle between Arminianism and Calvinism is not a distraction to the doctrines of grace. In fact, it's ground zero in the battle between truth and error. In a Christian version of Utopia it would be wonderful if the gospel was understood in truth and clarity without arguing about "isms." But error is rampant in and outside the church. We need those who will contend for the faith, boldly and without apology.

__________________
Bill Brown
Elder
Grace Baptist Church
Anne Arundel County, Maryland

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Amen.

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J. M. - Baptist - Ontario, Canada - Feileadh Mor

Fortner could do well to learn about about some of the doctrines of calvinism himself, for instance, about regeneration planned in eternity but enacted in time (and not in eternity).

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Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

I've been reading Fortner's work for a while now and never heard that before, could you point out something from his sermons, etc. so I could be more aware?

Thanks.

j

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J. M. - Baptist - Ontario, Canada - Feileadh Mor

Fortner and those he hangs with seem to trend towards believing in antinomianism and also eternal justification.

GOd has purposed from all eternity to justify his elect - that is the truth. But God did not justify his elect from all eternity. We were children of wrath, even as others, until the appointed time of our new birth.

Beware of Fortner. He writes well but his doctrines stink.

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Thanks.

I knew about his views on the Law and E from J but his statement on tossing out the confessions did kind of bother me a little...

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J. M. - Baptist - Ontario, Canada - Feileadh Mor

An explanation I wrote to someone in the past:



God has DECREED to justify us from all eternity - but God actually works out that justification in time.

Otherwise,we would never have been called, "children of wrath, even as others..."


The DECREE is from eternity and is certain - but the actual event of justification - planned in eternity and purchased on the cross - occurs in the life of the sinner turned saint.

Eternal justification is the error of Don Fortner and many other small groups of "Sovereign Grace Baptists" who want to out-predestinate Calvin. Many Presbys might also believe this - I don't know...

Gill's influence over subsequent generations of calvinistic baptists is very much to blame. Many will say that Gill teaches this, but I don't think he does (Gill just speaks in a way that may elicit mis-characterization, due to his high energy against the Arminains).

This issue - eternal justification - is one of those areas that distinguish between Calvinism and hyper-calvinism. For some reason (maybe someone can tell me), this belief seems to often be coupled with a denial of the "free Offer" of the Gospel.

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Thanks for the heads up.

__________________
Tom Mitchell
Opp, AL
Member of First Presbyterian Church PCA Florala, AL

Open profaneness is the broad dirty way which leads to hell
--but trusting in religious duties is a sure way, though a cleaner way to hell. ~ Thomas Brooks
www.myspace.com/tom_mitchell1960
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=607055102

Although I've never meet him, I still love Pastor Fortner because he is my brother in Christ and has been helpful in guiding me in my understanding of different topics including eschatology.

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J. M. - Baptist - Ontario, Canada - Feileadh Mor

He is an AWESOME writer, I do admit.

__________________
Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone

Good post, Pergy.

The connection with denying the free offer is quite logical, as is the connection with antinomianism. After all, if the elect are elected in eternity apart from means, why preach the gospel to every creature since the elect will be converted regardless? If the elect are elect no matter what they do, why bother with trying to follow the law? These hyper Calvinistic errors often come as a package deal.

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Chris Poe
Mandeville, LA

"There are the foolish fanatics always to be found in such a movement and always discrediting it--the lunatic fringe in all reform movements." Theodore Roosevelt