1. Anchors for our Faith (6:37-40)

2. JOHN 6:37-40 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day…

3. JOHN 6:37-40 …For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

4. JOHN 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

5. Conversion The willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation (Grudem)

6. Conversion (1:12) – …to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (3:15) – … whoever believes in him may have eternal life (3:16) – … whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (3:18) – Whoever believes in him is not condemned (3:36) – Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life… (5:24) – …whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life

7. JOHN 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life

8. JOHN 6:26 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves

9. JOHN 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

10. 2 Anchors that Establish, Explain, Ensure our Conversion ELECTION – (6:37a) – All that the Father gives me will come to me,… – God’s Decree in the PAST … CONVERSION – (6:37b) – …whoever comes to me I will never cast out. – (6:40) – …everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life – Becomes a Reality in the PRESENT … SECURITY – (6:40) – everyone who looks on the Son and believes…I will raise him up on the last day. – Secures an Ultimate Fulfillment in the FUTURE …

11. The Pattern The FATHER… – Chooses in Eternity Past – Draws the Elect to Christ (6:44) The BELIEVER… – Willingly Looks to Christ – Willingly Believes in Him The SON… – Receives the Believer – Secures the Believer

12. Order of Salvation 1.Election (God’s choosing) 2.Gospel Call (preaching of the gospel) 3.Regeneration (being born again) 4.Conversion (faith & repentance) 5.Justification (right legal standing) 6.Adoption (admission into God’s family) 7.Sanctification (increasing purity) 8.Perseverance (remaining faithful) 9.Glorification (made perfectly complete) i.Numbers 3-6 take place simultaneously when someone “becomes a Christian” ii.Numbers 7-8 work themselves out in this life iii.Number 10 occurs after death

13. Preservation of the Saints Perseverance of the Saints Perseverance of Christ Doctrine of Assurance of Salvation Eternal Security “Once Saved, Always Saved”

14. Westminster Confession They whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved

15. Preservation of the Saints Those who possess true faith in Christ for salvation cannot totally and finally lose that faith, because their faith is Secured by God Himself, and He will see them through to the end.

16. 1 JOHN 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us

17. Jeremiah 32:40 "I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me

18. Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ

19. False Security No Security Perseverance of the Saints

20. JOHN 6:37a All that the Father gives me will come to me,…

21. JOHN 4:13-14 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life

22. JOHN 6:35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty

23. 1 Corinthians 1:8-9 -- He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

24. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-25 -- He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

25. Jude 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen

26. Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

27. Our Conversion is SECURE Because… 1.It is Anchored in Election 2.It has Permanently Changed Us 3.We are Held By God’s Power

28. Election The act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any forseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure.

29. JOHN 10:28-29 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand

30. JOHN 6:39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day

31. JOHN 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out

32. JOHN 10:24-27 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

33. Our Conversion is SECURE Because… 1.It is Anchored in Election 2.It has Permanently Changed Us 3.We are Held By God’s Power

34. John 3:3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

35. 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

36. Colossians 1:6 All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth

37. John 3:3-4 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

38. JOHN 3:7-8 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

39. Matthew Henry The Lord knows them that are his, we do not, nor is it fit we should; but, though their names are concealed, their characters are published

40. JOHN 6:37-40 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

41. JOHN 10:28-29 – I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

42. 1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

43. Revelation 17:14 They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."

44. Revelation 13:8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

45. Acts 13:42 …as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed

46. James 2:5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

47. Matthew 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them

48. Daniel 4:35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?"

49. Isaiah 14:26-27 This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

50. Psalm 139:16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be

51. Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you…

52. Romans 9:10-16 Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.“…

53. Romans 9:10-16 … What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy

54. Ephesian 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

55. JOHN 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out

56. JOHN 6:40 … that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life

57. Background Theology 1.God is Sovereign 2.People make Willing Choices, which have Real Effects in the world, and for which they are Morally Responsible to God 3.God Owes us Nothing – Except Judgement

58. Our Response 1.Deep Humility 2.Amazement at His Grace 3.Heartfelt Worship 4.Life of Obedience

59. Spurgeon I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen him; and I am sure he chose me before I was born, or else he never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why he should have looked upon me with special love

60. Implications 1.We can Be Sure that What God has Decided WLL Come to Pass 2.We can be Encouraged to Endure Persecution & Trouble 3.We need Not Beat Ourselves Up When Some People Reject Christ 4.We Should Be More Emboldened than ever to engage in Evangelism & Missions

61. Spurgeon Election in the Christians should make him very FEARLESS and BOLD. No man will be so bold as he who believes that he is elect of God. What worry does he have about man, if he is chosen of his Maker? What will he care for the pitiful chirpings of some tiny sparrows when he knows that he is an eagle of the royal race? Will he care when the beggar makes fun of him, when the royal blood of heaven runs in his veins? Will he fear if all the world stands against him? If all the earth is at war, he dwells in perfect peace, for he is in the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High, in the great pavilion of the Almighty