Schedule

When we consider the Bible as a whole, we come to understand that the doctrines of grace are not a modern invention; rather, Scripture itself declares the message of God’s sovereign grace in salvation. This message will consider how the doctrines of grace are found throughout the Bible.

The doctrines of grace have been understood and taught—sometimes in embryonic form, sometimes with great clarity—throughout church history. This message will consider how the church upheld the truth of God’s sovereign role in salvation from the early church to the Reformation.

Left to ourselves, we can find only condemnation when we stand before God, for we are controlled by the law of sin and death. Our only help is to be found in Christ, for in him we experience no condemnation before the bar of God’s justice. This message will focus on Romans 8:1–4, explaining that Christians need not fear the condemnation of God, for Christ has secured the justification that the law cannot provide to sinners. It will explore the fundamental problem of our estrangement from God and our guilt, and it will show that the righteousness of Christ, received by faith alone, is our only hope.

When God saves us, He does not merely pardon us and declare us righteous. By His grace and by the work of the Holy Spirit, He also enables us to follow Him and to become more and more like Christ. This message will focus on Romans 8:5–11 and the work of the Spirit in freeing people from the dominion of sin and in empowering our growth in holiness. It will look at our sanctification and the hope we have of Christian growth as we live according to the Spirit.

In redeeming us, God sets us free from slavery to unrighteousness and makes us heirs of His kingdom, free men and women adopted as His children, having all the rights that belong to His sons and daughters in Christ. This message will look at God’s work in adopting us as his heirs and the assurance that we have that we are children of God. It will direct us to look for evidences in our lives that we are children of God, namely, that we follow His Spirit, and it will also consider the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit that assures us that we are sons and daughters of the King.

When Scripture talks about our salvation, it speaks about past realities (justification), present realities (sanctification), and future realities (glorification). Indeed, God redeems us and frees us to have a future hope—the hope that we and all of creation will be set free from the futility and decay that is our lot on account of the fall. This message will look at Romans 8:18–25, emphasizing the future hope of our glorification, showing how the surety of our resurrection and the elimination of sin’s presence free us to serve God boldly in the here and now.

From start to finish, the work of salvation is the work of God and God alone. We are saved because He chooses us, calls us, justifies us, and glorifies us. And every step of the way, the Holy Spirit is interceding for us, guaranteeing that the good purposes of God for us cannot be thwarted. This message will consider Romans 8:26–30, expositing the golden chain of salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit in interceding for us. It will demonstrate that all of salvation is a free work of God’s grace and that because of this, nothing can defeat His plans for our ultimate good and His final glory.

When God begins His work of salvation, He always completes it. This is the core truth taught in Romans 8, that when the Lord chooses and justifies us, our final destiny is secure. Nothing—not even ourselves—can separate us from His love in Christ Jesus. This message will exposit Romans 8:31–39, arguing that the work of God in Christ means that there is nothing that we or anyone else can do to separate us from His love. In fact, we overcome everything in Christ—we are more than conquerors through Him.