The Doctrine of Sovereign Grace. (Jeff Unsworth)
By using scripture alone, this leaflet is an attempt to put forward in the clearest way, the understanding that salvation is all of God and not of man.
That before the regeneration of man takes place, he cannot prepare himself or do anything to contribute to his salvation and that he is totally separated from God by a sinful nature and that God alone is the author of our salvation.
Those who are saved are saved because God has chosen them for salvation. The Holy Spirit has given life to a dead spirit and understanding to a mind blinded by sin and by Satan. Those who are saved may be said to choose God, but only after God has first chosen them for salvation:
In the following scriptures we will see, that not only did we not choose God but that it was Him that chose us. That we were not saved by anything that we have done but it is all of God.
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you”.
No man of himself has the ability to choose God, being dead in sin. It is God who authors our salvation, in the council of His own will.
John 1: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Men cannot wilfully choose God, for his will is bound in sin and can only choose evil.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
All mankind have sinned and are separated from God.
Since the day that Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, man has been separated from God by sin.
For anyone to claim that they are sinless or have never sinned is not scriptural.
None are righteous before God.
Psalm 14:3:2 - Enter not into judgement with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
Romans 11:32 - For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. (c.f. Galatians 3:22)
Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
2 Chronicles 6:36 - “there is no one who does not sin”
Isaiah 53:6 - All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way.
No matter who we are, or where we are from, we are all separated from God by our sinful nature.
We are under sin. None of us are righteous. None of of us understands. None seeks after God. All have turned aside. We are all worthless and none of us does good, not one.
Romans 3:9-12 - What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
If any of us denies this truth, we make God a liar. Whether it be a lie, pride, stealing, adultery, fornication or murder. Not one of us can claim never to have done wrong.
1 John 1:8,10 - If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make [God] a liar, and his word is not in us.
Mark 10:18 - Luke 18:19 - And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”
Romans 7:18 - For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.
Is there a spark of goodness in man?
There are those that would say that man has a spark of goodness in him, there is good in every man and that if only he could find that spark, then he can change.
However, the Bible is very clear on this matter.
There is no goodness in man, men are born in sin, with a sinful nature. Man has a bias towards sin and sin is inevitable.
Mark 7:21-23 - “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit,sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Psalm 5:9 - For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Is it true that man is totally depraved ?
Jeremiah 17:9 - “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Titus 1:15-16 - to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 - Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
Ephesians 4:17-18 - you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
Matthew 15:19 - “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”
Man is enslaved in sin
Man is not a sinner because he sins. Man sins because he is a sinner.
Every one lives according to their nature and we all are, by nature, children of wrath.
Ephesians 2:3 and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
John 8:34 - Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”
2 Peter 2:19 - They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
Titus 3:3 - For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
Galatians 4:8-9 - Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Romans 6:6,16,17,19,20 - We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey…? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed… For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Romans 7:14 - For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
2 Timothy 2:25-26 - God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.Can Man choose to do or be good if he wants to?
Jeremiah 13:23 - Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also can you do good who are accustomed to do evil.
1 Samuel 24:13 - “As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’”
Matthew 7:18 - “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.”Matthew 12:34-35 - “How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”
Romans 8:7 - For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
Genesis 6:5 & 8:21 - The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually… from youth.
Titus 1:15-16 - to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
Is man born a sinner ?
Every man, woman and child is born in sin. He takes on the nature of Adam which is a fallen nature.
Psalm 51:5 - Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Genesis 8:21 - the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”
Psalm 58:3 - The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
John 3:6 - “That which is born of the flesh is flesh”Can man seek God?
Psalm 10:4 - In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
John 3:20 - “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”
Isaiah 65:1 - “I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
Romans 3:10-12 - As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Man is spiritually dead and spiritually blind and cannot choose God.
Adam died spiritually, the moment he sinned. We inherit a sinful nature from Adam, this is why death came into the world, both physical and spiritual death.
Isaiah 64:7 - There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
Colossians 2:13 - And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses
Ephesians 2:1-2, 4-5 - And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved Can man come to God by himself ?
1 Corinthians 2:14 - The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 - our gospel is veiled… to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18,21-24 - For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles
Deuteronomy 29:2-4 - And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.”
Matthew 11:27 - “no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Can a man accept Christ as his Saviour of his own self ?
Man of his own volition cannot call on the name of Christ. This is because he is spiritually dead. He cannot hear, speak or respond to the Gospel without first the Holy Spirit quickens him to life.
Only then can he call on the name of the Lord.
It is God by the Holy Spirit that makes the first move.
When Lazarus was in the tomb, had Mary or Martha called to him to come out, he would not have.
Only the word of Jesus could bring him out. Jesus is the Word, the Logos.
Only when Jesus said, "Lazarus come forth", could Lazarus come out of the grave.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
John 3:27 - John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”
John 14:16-17 - “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.”
John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 6:44,65 - “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
Romans 9:16 - So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Mans will is not free to call on God until the Holy Spirit through the Word quickens him to life.
The very faith to believe comes from God and not ourselves.
Philippians 2:13 - for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
1 Corinthians 3:6 - I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
Acts 11:18 - When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Philippians 1:29 - For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should… believe in him
Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
1 Corinthians 12:3 - no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:3 - His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence
1 Corinthians 4:7 - For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
John 3:6, 6:63 - “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. It is the Spirit who gives life;
Man cannot accept Jesus as his saviour without being first regenerated by God. Quickened by the Holy Spirit.
Colossians 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
Ezekiel 36:26-27 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Titus 3:5 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,
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,
James 1:18 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.
Ezekiel 37:14 "I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it," declares the LORD.'"
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Gods Sovereignty must be Paramount.
To say that man of his own volition or "free will" can call on the name of God, robs God of His Sovereignty.
“Most Christians salute the sovereignty of God but believe in the sovereignty of man.”
― R.C. Sproul
Those who are saved are saved because God has chosen them for salvation. The Holy Spirit has given life to a dead spirit and understanding to a mind blinded by sin and by Satan. Those who are saved may be said to choose God, but only after God has first chosen them for salvation:Regeneration comes first, choosing Christ follows.
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you”.
Psalm 115:3 “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”
Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
John 6:44“No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:65 And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father”.
Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
Philippians 1:6 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.
Hebrews 12:2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Isaiah 46:10 ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’.
Conclusion:
Some say that man is just sick and needs a doctor. The Bible shows that man is not just sick but dead.
Man is not just sick with sin but man is dead in trespasses and sins. He is totally separated from God by his sin.
Man cannot prepare himself for salvation nor can he by any means save himself.
Without God, man is lost. All men deserve to be left in their state of sin and receive the just punishment that it would bring.
But!!!
God in His infinite mercy and according to His good pleasure, chooses to quicken some to life making it possible for them to call on the name of the Lord.
God gives them the faith to believe in response to the preaching of the Gospel.
It is God by the Holy Spirit that opens the ear, takes the scales from the eye and draws them to Himself.
Before they have done anything good, God has chosen them before the foundation of the world in Christ Jesus and in the fullness of time draws them to Himself.Therefore salvation is all of God.
Ephesian 2: 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
John 1:12-13 - But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Westminister Confession of Faith
Chapter III.
Of God’s Eternal Decree.
I. God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass:(a) yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin,(b) nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.(c)
(a) Eph. 1:11; Rom. 11:33; Heb. 6:17; Rom. 9:15, 18.
(b) Jam. 1:13, 17; I John 1:5.
(c) Acts 2:23; Matt. 17:12; Acts 4:27, 28; John 19:11; Prov. 16:33.
II. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions,(d) yet hath He not decreed anything because He foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.(e)
(d) Acts 15:18; I Sam. 23:11, 12; Matt. 11:21, 23.
(e) Rom. 9:11, 13, 16, 18.
III. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels(f) are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore-ordained to everlasting death.(g)
(f) I Tim. 5:21; Matt. 25:41.
(g) Rom. 9:22, 23; Eph. 1:5, 6; Prov. 16:4.
IV. These angels and men, thus predestinated, and fore-ordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished.(h)
(h) II Tim. 2:19; John 13:18.
V. Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory,(i) out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto:(k) and all to the praise of His glorious grace.(l)
(i) Eph. 1:4, 9, 11; Rom. 8:30; II Tim. 1:9; I Thess. 5:9.
(k) Rom. 9:11, 13, 16; Eph. 1:4, 9.
(l) Eph. 1:6, 12.
VI. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath He, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, fore-ordained all the means thereunto.(m) Wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ,(n) are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified,(o) and kept by His power through faith, unto salvation.(p) Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.(q)
(m) I Pet. 1:2; Eph. 1:4, 5; Eph. 2:10; II Thess. 2:13.
(n) I Thess. 5:9, 10; Titus 2:14.
(o) Rom. 8:30; Eph. 1:5; II Thess. 2:13.
(p) I Pet. 1:5.
(q) John 17:9; Rom. 8:28 to the end; John 6:64, 65; John 10:26; John 8:47; I John 2:19.
VII. The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy, as He pleaseth, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by; and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath, for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice.(r)
(r) Matt. 11:25, 26; Rom. 9:17, 18, 21, 22; II Tim. 2:19, 20; Jude ver. 4; I Pet. 2:8.
VIII. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care,(s) that men attending the will of God revealed in His Word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election.(t) So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God,(u) and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the Gospel.(w)
(s) Rom. 9:20; Rom. 11:33; Deut. 29:29.
(t) II Pet. 1:10.
(u) Eph. 1:6; Rom. 11:33.
(w) Rom. 11:5, 6, 20; II Pet. 1:10; Rom. 8:33; Luke 10:20.
