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"Chosen and Called to be Holy" – 1 Peter 2:9-10 I. What a true church is not II. The church is a chosen race (Jn. 15:6; Rom. 11:5-6) III. The church is a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5; Heb. 13:5-6; Rev. 20:6; Rev. 1:4-6) IV. The church is a holy nation (2 Tim. 2:3-4; Mt. 21:43; Eph. 1:3-4; Eph. 2:19-22; Rom. 12:1; 1 Pet. 1:14-16; 2 Pet. 3:10-11) V. The church is a people for God's own possession (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:18-20; 1 Pet. 1:17-19; Rev. 5:9-10; Acts 9:1-6, 15-16) VI. The church proclaims the excellencies of Christ

The sermon explores the biblical concept of foreknowledge not as a cold decree of predestination, but as a warm, covenantal expression of God's sovereign, purposeful, and initiating love for His people. Rooted in 1 Peter 1:1–2, it affirms that God's foreknowledge is inseparable from His eternal plan—evidenced in election, sanctification, and the call to obedience—while emphasizing that this divine initiative does not negate genuine human response or moral responsibility. The preacher gently challenges the idea of double predestination, arguing that Scripture's urgent calls to repentance and obedience imply real human accountability, which contradicts a fatalistic view of divine decree. Drawing from historical examples like Whitefield and Wesley, the message calls for humility, love, and unity over doctrinal triumphalism, urging believers to embrace biblical tensions without reducing God to a theological system. Ultimately, foreknowledge is presented not as a puzzle to solve, but as a promise to rest in—a foundation for assurance, joy, and worship in the midst of trial.

The sermon presents a biblically grounded exploration of predestination, emphasizing that it is not a divisive theological system but a comforting truth rooted in Scripture's narrative of God's sovereign grace. Centered on Ephesians 1, it affirms that predestination refers to God's eternal purpose to adopt believers into His family, secure their holiness, and conform them to Christ's image—not to condemn the lost, but to guarantee the salvation of those in Christ. The preacher rejects both hyper-Calvinist and hyper-Arminian extremes, arguing that Scripture consistently upholds both God's sovereignty and human responsibility without resolving the tension into a philosophical system. Instead, he calls for humility, urging believers to hold labels loosely, define terms by Scripture rather than tradition, and embrace the mystery of divine sovereignty while honoring the real, moral responsibility to respond to God's invitations. Ultimately, predestination is not a source of confusion but a foundation for worship, assuring believers of God's unchanging faithfulness and the certainty of His redemptive work.

Ephesians 1:3–6 presents a profound declaration of God the Father's eternal plan, revealing that believers are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, positioned in heavenly places, and chosen before the foundation of the world for holiness and adoption as His children. The passage emphasizes that God's purpose is not merely salvation but sanctification—transforming believers into the image of His Son—grounded in His sovereign will and grace, not human merit. It refutes deterministic views like Calvinism by affirming that God's predestination is rooted in His good pleasure and that human free will remains intact, as evidenced by countless biblical invitations to repent and believe. The believer's acceptance before God is not based on personal achievement but on union with Christ, the Beloved, through whom all grace flows. Ultimately, this divine plan calls for a life of gratitude, obedience, and joyful participation in God's redemptive work, motivated by the reality that we are already accepted and cherished in Christ.

From the Confessing the Faith Conference 2026, this panel discussion addresses questions on the fall, divine providence, God's decree, supra- and infralapsarianism, the free offer of the gospel, and pastoral wisdom for the "cage stage" of Reformed theology. Panellists engage difficult questions about Adam's federal headship, the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, hyper-Calvinism, and the relationship between God's sovereignty and gospel proclamation. Main points: - Eve's corruption and Adam's federal headship - God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart and Proverbs 21:1 - free will, created natures, and the origin of sin - Adam's original righteousness and the fall of angels - high mysteries and the limits of theological inquiry - hyper-Calvinism and its mirror-image errors - supra- and infralapsarianism and the covenant of redemption - what the 1689 Confession reflects on supra vs. infra - preaching God's decree to the unfamiliar or hostile - is the free offer of the gospel legitimate? - double predestination and the cage stage of Calvinism Scripture references: - Genesis 3 - Proverbs 21:1 - Romans 9:22-23 - 1 Corinthians 1:21 Free Grace Baptist Church — https://www.freegrace.ca Full transcript & sermon notes: https://sermons.freegrace.ca/sermons/conference-ctf-2026-q-a-panel-discussion Description generated by Tyrannus.ai: https://www.tyrannus.ai

The hand of God is clearly seen in the choosing of Israel's kings and prophets. For the most part these men had no idea that they would be so honored. This is Sovereignty at work.

The sermon centers on dismantling the theological framework of Calvinism by challenging its foundational tenet of total depravity, arguing that Scripture affirms human responsibility and free will rather than deterministic predestination. It contends that the five points of Calvinism—TULIP—are not biblically derived but are human constructs, particularly highlighting the critical distinction between 'you will not come' (John 5:40) and 'you cannot come,' which underscores human choice rather than divine coercion. The speaker emphasizes that salvation is accessible to all who repent and believe, grounded in God's universal offer of grace, with Christ's atonement being sufficient for all, not limited to the elect. Drawing on biblical passages such as Romans 4 and Revelation 3, the sermon affirms that God preserves believers not through irresistible force but through His faithful keeping, and it calls the church to a life of joyful obedience, rooted in personal responsibility and the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.

Arminians want to argue that to have free will is somehow against predestination and the election of God in salvation, but that is not what the Reformed confessions teach. For example in the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith it says, "God hath decreed … all things, … yet God [is] neither the author of sin … nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor is liberty taken away, but rather established". When people claim that Calvinism says that there is no such thing as free will, nothing could be farther from the truth. The issue is the definition of free will, because many Arminians hold to a definition of free will that according to the Bible, not even God Himself has. So let's start with a question: what is the nature of God's free will?Listen to the audio version here: Timecodes00:00 Nature of Free Will05:08 Libertarian Free Will is False16:17 You can only choose what pleases us25:58 Fallen Man Chooses Evil30:16 The Heart is the Problem32:53 God Gives us Light to Make the Right Choice51:11 How God's Means Affect our Choices59:09 Who Are We to Reply Against GodProduction of Reformation Baptist Church of Youngsville, NCPermanent Hosts - Dan Horn, Charles Churchill and Joshua HornTechnical Director - Timothy KaiserTheme Music - Gabriel Hudelson