"Born of God's will, not free will" – John 1:12-13 I. Some have received Christ (Eph. 2:1-3; Acts 17:28-29; 1 John 3:1) II. Regeneration (Eph. 2:4-6; Titus 3:5-6; Jn. 3:3, 5-8; 1 Jn. 2:29; 1 Jn. 4:7; 1 Jn. 5:1) III. How Christians are NOT born A. Not born of blood (Gal. 3:16; Lk. 3:7-9; Jn. 8:31-39) B. Not born of the will of the flesh (Rom. 9:10-16; Rom. 3:10-12) C. Not born of the will of man

In this lesson we look at the Arminian vs. Calvinist divide between Wesley and Whitefield, and we look at the spiritual background of the American colonies prior to the awakening.

Boasting in our salvation is not frowned upon or forbidden. It's not as if the NT teaches: "A new commandment I give to you: thou shalt not boast!" No. The apostle Paul makes clear that boasting, rather, is excluded. It's irrelevant, because the believer in Jesus by grace through faith has exactly nothing to boast about.

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, there is no audio for the remaining ~10 minutes of the sermon, please refer to the PDF for the sermon notes) Beloved in Jesus Christ: Canons are the standards or rules God established in his Word. Canons are not big guns. Big guns are c-a-n-n-o-n-s. The Canons of Dort (Dordrecht was the place they were written) (1618-1619) are the standards the synod of the church organized regarding 5 major doctrines that were being attacked by false teachers after the Reformation. The one who corrupted these major doctrines (and so robbed the people of truth and robbed God of proper praise) was Jacob Arminius (1560-1609), a Dutchman. Arminius borrowed some ideas from Pelagius, a heretic of the 4th century, who did not believe, among other things, in original sin, predestination, or man's total estrangement from God. In short, Arminius minimized the greatness of God's salvation and robbed God of praise. With these same corrupted Arminian doctrines common today, even proliferating, you must be reminded of these standards so you don't fall prey to these errors, so you don't rob God of proper praise, and so you don't live fearful lives. The 1st doctrine in the Canons of Dort is the Unconditional Election of man. Our headings are: 1. Your Election Was Not Necessary 2. Your Election Was Based on God's Love 3. Your Election is Worked through Preaching Our goals are: That you will love that you are loved and chosen by Christ, that you will love him back, and share the message of his love so the elect might hear and believe.

Covered three main topics on our road trip program from Grand Junction today, going about an hour and fifteen minutes. We started off with a response to a Mormon in reference to my presentation last evening at Calvary Bible Church on bridging the communication gap with Mormons. Then we looked at a fine post by Ron Henzel on Acts 13:48 in response to Provisionists actually pushing the NWT's tortured rendering of that text. We then got back to the Confession of Dositheus, and finished looking at Decree 3, noting how it uses the same prevenient grace argumentation of modern Arminianism.

In this sermon, Pastor Linehan considers several truths regarding God's sovereign grace and the doctrine of conditional election.

The sermon argues that believers must base their assurance of salvation on God's testimony rather than personal performance, distinguishing clearly between the security of salvation and the process of discipleship. It critiques theological systems like Arminianism and Lordship Calvinism for blending these categories, which leads to doubt and a works-based mentality. The speaker emphasizes that faith in the historical reality of Jesus Christ provides confidence in prayer and protection against worldly idols. By understanding their positional truth in Christ, believers can overcome spiritual failure without questioning their eternal status. Ultimately, the message calls Christians to reject performance-based religion and rest securely in the finished work of Jesus.