The Setting Of Salvation

You can be surrounded by people and still feel like you don’t belong. Peter names that experience right away, calling believers “strangers scattered,” and then he does something powerful: he anchors our confidence in salvation where circumstances can’t touch it. We begin a new series, Receiving So Great a Salvation, by camping in 1 Peter 1:1-2 and letting those few lines carry their full weight. 

We walk through the “setting of salvation” and why Christian identity comes before endurance. Then we trace the coordinated work of the Trinity in a clear, biblical order: the Father elects according to foreknowledge, the Spirit sanctifies and draws the heart, and the Son cleanses through the sprinkling of his blood. Along the way, we address common confusion about election and hell, and we talk honestly about what it means to live differently without pretending we live perfectly. 

If you’ve ever believed you must clean yourself up before you can come to God, this message challenges that with gospel hope. It ends with an urgent invitation to be born again, reminding us that grace is the foundation and peace is the fruit. If this strengthened you, subscribe, share it with someone who feels far from God, and leave a review so more people can find this teaching.

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
If you haven't received Jesus Christ by Faith, as your personal Lord and Savior; I strongly encourage you to do so before it is eternally too late!!!

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Transcript

Why Peter’s Greeting Matters

Living As Strangers And Pilgrims

Peter’s Authority And Changed Life

Election And God’s Foreknowledge

Sanctification And The Spirit’s Drawing

Obedience And Christ’s Cleansing Blood

Grace And Peace That Multiply

An Urgent Call To Be Saved

Series Preview And Closing Blessing

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Welcome back to this another edition of Words from the Word of God, if you will. Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1. There we'll be reading verses 1 down through verse 12. We'll be beginning a new series entitled Receiving So Great a Salvation. Now today we won't look at all 12 verses. We will look at the first two and speak on the subject concerning salvation, the setting of salvation, the setting of salvation. But I pray that the Lord would speak to our hearts through his word today. The Holy Spirit would enlighten or open the eyes of our hearts and minds to be receptive until the portion that the Lord would have each of us to gather from this scripture today. But read with me if you will, if you're there. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit, unto the obedience of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Where ye greatly rejoice through that though now, excuse me, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. That temptation is there is translated and carries the meaning of thought of tribulations and trials and as we know this church was under great persecution for their beliefs at that time. Pick back up in verse seven that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto the praise and honor and glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, whose who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the suffering of Christ and the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into. May the Lord bless the reading of His word to our hearts today. Beloved, as we begin this new journey through first Peter chapter one, verses one through twelve, we must understand that these opening verses, and I refer to verses one and two, and that's the two verses that we'll look at today for the context of the message. Uh, these verses are not just a casual greeting because this is the typical greeting. If you read all the epistles from the Apostle Paul, John, uh Jude, and so on and so forth, and Peter, of course, this is a typical greeting, and it was in the order of the typical greeting of a letter in those days. Uh, but it's not just a casual greeting. There is a lot contained in these two verses. They are a carefully constructed theological foundation, words breathed out by the Holy Spirit to anchor suffering believers in the unchanging purposes of God. Peter writes to men and women who were geographically scattered and social displaced, socially displaced at that time, as well as to you and me today, because these words are eternal and they carry out through human history. So they not only apply to believers back then, but they certainly apply to our hearts today. But these words are spiritually anchored in the redeeming work of God in Jesus Christ the Lord. You know, their circumstances were unstable, and this is the reason Peter was writing to them and why he's writing to us today, and especially how it applies to our lives, because circumstances are always unstable. But we must understand, and this is why the writing is to ensure them and us that our salvation is not. That though our world many times shift is always shifting in one direction or another, uh, our standing in Christ just as well as their standing in Christ back then is eternally secure. Peter's opening lines establish the framework for everything that follows in this first epistle. They reveal the nature, depth, and scope of salvation, not as a single moment in time, but as a comprehensive sovereign work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This series that we'll focus on receiving so great a salvation will unfold that glorious work piece by piece, allowing us to see salvation as the Word of God presents it, eternally eternal in its origin, powerful in its application, and glorious in its outcome. Part one as we begin today lays the foundation. It identifies who the recipients are, how God has acted toward them, and what this reveals about the very nature of salvation itself. Let's read the first two verses again and then we'll begin the heart of the message here. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Again, may the Lord apply these verses to bless our hearts today and fill our hearts with hope today. As we begin, before we step further, we must pause to recognize the eternal significance of these opening verses. Peter is not merely addressing scattered believers, he is unveiling the heart of God toward Paul and humanity. These words speak with equal force to the born-again child of God, reminding them of the divine work that secured their salvation, and they speak with sobering clarity to the lost unbeliever, the most wretched of sinners, revealing both the depth of their deed and the greatness of salvation offered in Christ. Here in these two verses the Holy Spirit opens a window into the eternal counsel of the tribe of God, the Father who foreknew, the Spirit who sanctifies, and the Son whose blood redeems and cleanses. These truths were not written only for the first century church, they were written for every generation, including ours, because the human condition has not changed. Men are still fallen, souls are still hungry for something eternal. Hearts still wander, and Christ is still the only Savior. Therefore, as we begin this series, we lift our hearts in immediate exaltation to the Father and to the Lord Jesus Christ. For in these verses we behold the unchanging purpose of God, the unstoppable grace of God, and the unfailing salvation of God. And it is in this divine revelation that will shape, strengthen, and steady us as we journey through the rest of this message. And not only that, but as we journey through this life, uh as he will tell us here, we're stranger. Anyone who's born again is a stranger in this world. This is not our home. We're just we must understand that we're just traveling through. But to understand the weight of these words, we must first understand the people to whom Peter wrote and who they are written to. Peter writes to believers in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bethenia. These were regions in Asia Minor. These Christians were misunderstood, pushed aside, and treated as outsiders because they belonged to Jesus Christ, or as at that time known as the believers of the way. They were not necessarily faced with organized persecution, although some persecution was present because of their faith, but they were living as a culture of outsiders. They were completely considered outsiders because of their faith. And if you are born again into the family of God, you could probably attest to how they felt because many times our friends and even our family will consider us an outsider. You know, we go to a family dinner and they'll say, well, you know, before we get there, we'll let the nut pray uh so he feels a part of the family, or something comment will be made throughout that time, or even with friends, say you're just out with friends, and they don't understand our heart. They don't understand why we are so passionate about Christ, but so they consider us as kind of oddballs. Uh, you know, Peter would even call all believers in chapter 2 peculiar people, uh, but it speaks of how we are not a part of this world. We're not a part of this world, and I I reiterate that and I stress that we are not home. We have a home coming. Our Savior is coming to take us on, but we are not home yet. If you're at home here, maybe you might need to check up. But as we move forward, Peter addresses them and us with pastoral sensitivity and theological clarity, but it's a very simple but yet powerful message. He does not begin by addressing their circumstances. No, no, he doesn't do that. He begins by addressing their identity. Oh, praise God for that. This is significant. Before he ever speaks of their trials, he reminds them of who they are, and he reminds us of who we are in relation to God the Father in Christ Jesus the Lord. Notice always in Scripture, identity precedes endurance. Understanding precedes perseverance. We must always have that identity and that understanding before we can ever face the trials and tribulations that we endure day to day, as Peter's telling them as well. You know, but he starts out right here in verse 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Peter identifies himself not to elevate his status by any means, but to establish the authority of his message. As an apostle, he writes as one personally commissioned by the risen Christ, one of the men to whom Jesus entrusted the gospel and sent forth as his witnesses. His words carry weight because they are rooted in the authority of the one who sent him. Praise God for that. His words and these words carry eternal authority, the authority, all the authority of heaven. If you remember, Jesus in Matthew 28 says, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth, and then he sent them out, and then he would tell them in the first chapter of Acts that they were to, and even in Luke, the last chapter, he would tell them they need to be uh waiting in Jerusalem until they're endued with the power from the Holy Ghost. Or and in Acts he would tell until they receive that filling of the Holy Spirit, that power from the Holy Spirit. And then, of course, on the day of Pentecost, we read how all that happened and took place. But what the significance of this is Peter identifies not to say, hey, I'm somebody by being an apostle. No, we know that all the apostles, except for the apostle John, were martyred for the cause of Christ. Peter himself, as tradition has it, was crucified upside down because he didn't want to be crucified. He didn't feel worthy to be crucified like his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And not only that, but if you look at this, Peter is speaking with the authority of the one who sent him. But you must also understand the heart of Peter. It wasn't too long before this that Peter was denying Christ as he hung on the cross. So we see how his life has changed and how Jesus told him, If you love me, feed my sheep. So Peter is carrying out the mission here. This also reminds us as the reader that the message of salvation is not a human invention. It is divine revelation entrusted to chosen witnesses, men who were appointed, taught, empowered, and sent by the Lord Himself. Peter writes not as a religious thinker, not as a spiritual philosopher, but as a man under orders from Christ, bearing a message that originates in heaven and is delivered to earth through spirit-inspired vessels like Peter and all the apostles and the writers of Scripture. And having established the authority of the messenger, Peter now turns our attention to the identity of the recipients. He says to the strangers scattered, to the strangers scattered. The recipients are described as strangers or in other words exiles. This term indicates that they live in places where they do not fully belong. Their faith in Christ has created a distinction between them and the surrounding culture and people where they live. The phrase scattered reflects both their geographical dispersion and their spiritual condition. They are dispersed across various regions, yet they are united in their identity as God's people in Christ. This description carries deep theological significance. All true born-again believers are out of step with the values of this world because their identity is shaped by their relationship with God in Christ, not by their cultural surroundings. This is why I find it so striking that born people who claim to be Christians can live like the world, talk like the world, and sound like the world, and yet say they're saved and they're going to heaven. Folks, we can't walk like a duck and talk like a duck and act like a worldly duck and consider ourselves not to be a duck. You know, we live out what is the change in our hearts. We are new creations in Christ Jesus. We're spiritually born again. We are transformed vessels by the power of heaven in Christ Jesus. We're transformed. Peter would call us there in 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at me in verse 9 and 11. He furthers their identity here, 9 through 11. He said, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of him who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in times past were not a people, but are now a people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims abstained from fleshly lust, which war against the soul. Now we all have the presence of sin, and there's not a one of us that can say we go through this life sinless. But what we are doing as we go through this life, we must follow the word of God prayerfully and allow the Holy Spirit to direct our lives so that we are different from this world. He says, restraining from the lustful flesh. And that that uh what did he say there in verse uh 11? He says, the fleshly lust which war against the soul. There is a Paul would talk about this, how the spirit wars against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit. They're they're eternally entrenched. That's a that's a a war term as he's using there. It's it's a battle term talking about they're entrenched against each other, and one battles against the other. He would even go as far to, and I can't quote it, but he would say, I do what I don't want to do, and I don't do what I want to do. In other words, the heart sometimes is taken over by the lust of the flesh. So we must prayerfully follow the word of God, and we must confess, continually confess our sins through the Lord that we might be forgiven of our sins. But we can't say we live a sinless life. All we do is try every day to endeavor to be more conform to the image of Christ. But moving on, Peter does not stop with their earthly condition, that they're strangers. He now lifts our eyes to their eternal identity. Elect according, look with me right there in verse 2, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. They are elect. That means chosen by God. Elect means that God in his eternal love and purpose set his heart upon his people in Christ before they ever existed, before the world were ever created. It does not mean, understand me very clearly here. It does not mean God arbitrarily chooses some to salvation and others to condemnation. In other words, he doesn't select certain people to be saved and others to be down to an eternal hell. He does not do that. Hell was created for the devil and his angels. And I will say this God never sends anyone to hell. You send yourself there by denying the very and rejecting the way that He has provided for you to receive salvation. So, but don't ever let Someone tell you election, predestination, means that God has arbitrarily chosen some to be saved and others, all others to be condemned. That's hogwash. It's a lie. It means, no, it what it rather means is that salvation begins with God's love, not our effort. He loved us when we were not lovable. He says, there in his is the love. Look at with me. Look at with me. Romans, Romans chapter 5. Yeah, let's look at Romans chapter 5. I'm probably going down the wrong verse here, but let's look at it. Lord, just lead me over here. He says, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience and experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed, because that the love of God is set abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. He loved us. He says, For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. This means that God has loved us so much. It's not based upon our initiative or our merit. We could never merit that kind of love. He loved us even in our sins. He loved us and he sent Christ to die at Calvary's Cross. As a matter of fact, He made Christ to be sinned for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. But He has opened that way up. And it just aggravates me when I hear some preacher or teacher say, God sends you to hell. No, God has opened up a new and living way. The way, the truth, and the life, Jesus Christ came. He died. The sins of the world were placed upon him. And the only way that you can go to hell is to reject him. Reject him solely and just not ignore his gospel. And you just stay the sinner that you are, and one day when you die or Christ returns and the tribulation sets in, eventually you'll end up in hell into the eternal lake of fire. That's your choice. That's not God's election. The elect is according to the foreknowledge of God. Let's talk about foreknowledge here. Foreknowledge refers to God's prior, purposeful relations, relational knowledge. It is not mere foresight of human decisions, but God's intentional setting of his love upon a people. Did you hear that? We just read that. What did we just read there in Romans? Turn back over with me if you if you lost your place there. It's going to take me a second to get there. I want to go back to that verse again right there in Romans chapter 5. He says, I'll get there in a minute. Bear with me. We're going somewhere. The Lord's good to us. He said, but God, verse 8, but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This is his uh this is his foreknowledge. He he per his purposeful relational knowledge. He purposed in his heart in eternity past that salvation would be determined, that Christ was the Messiah anointed before the world was ever created. He was selected, he was chosen as the anointed one, the chosen one to come and die on Calvary's cross. He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. This establishes the foundation of salvation in God's initiative. Salvation begins with God's purpose, not human effort. Remember, this was his initiative before the world was ever created in Christ Jesus. We were chosen in him before the foundation of the world, as Ephesians tells us. This truth provides stability and assurance that believers identify is identity is rooted, is rooted in the eternal purpose of God. Remember, Jesus said no man can pluck them from my hand, and no man can pluck them from my father, Sam. And the reason is not because of our effort or something we earned or our own merit. No, it is because of God's eternal purpose in Christ and His love toward us in Christ. And as we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have fulfilled that foreknowledge of God that He had chosen us before the foundation of the world in His dear Son. Peter now reveals, moves on. He having shown us the Father's eternal purpose, his foreknowledge, moves on and tells us he now reveals the divine means by which that purpose is carried out. The means by which it's carried out, okay, the foreknowledge of God. So how was that carried out? He said it right here. Through sanctification of the Spirit. Sanctification. Peter now shifts from the Father's eternal purpose to the Spirit's present work. The word sanctification here speaks first of being set apart, a divine act in which the Holy Spirit separates God's people from the world and be brings us to and them into the sphere of God's saving grace. This sanctifying work is not merely moral improvement. Don't think that. And don't think that you're gonna clean yourself up, that you're not worthy, so you gotta clean yourself up before you can get saved. This dismisses that thought completely. It is all by God's initiative. Jesus said, No man can come to me unless the Father first draws him. And the only way you can be drawn is by the Holy Spirit's convicting power. Remember, Jesus would tell us in John 16 that when the Holy Spirit has come, he will reprove or convict. He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. It is the Spirit that brings about the foreknowledge of God. It brings brings it about and begins to, it's a divine act in which he separates the people of God from the world. You hear the word of God, and all of a sudden you hear that voice inside of you saying, Look, go to the cross and be saved. Go and be born into the family of God. Go and be made a new creation where all the old will pass away and all will become new. I can attest to that. I remember I wasted so much of my adult life, so much of my adult life running in this world. I was a wretched sinner. As the Apostle Paul, I was probably the cheapest of sinners. But one day, one day I learned of the love of God. I learned of the love of Christ. I love, I learned of his sacrificial love, giving himself willingly, coming to this earth and stepping into our humanity that he might become man, all man and all God. He had to become man that he could die for my sins. And I learned that he died on Calvary's cross and that he shed his precious blood, and that by accepting his sacrifice in repentance and turning from what the person I was and turning to God by placing my faith in him, I could be saved. And folks, I did that in the latter part of 2004, and my life has not been the same since. But that's the work of the Holy Spirit. That's what I'm trying to point out here. The Holy Spirit took a message that I was listening to at that time and brought it to my heart and started speaking to my heart. His word, the son's redemption, to the heart of the believer. And not only that, but the unbeliever. Desperate need of a savior. And it is his divine work that makes salvation possible by drawing us, drawing us to the cross of Christ that we might come to the saving knowledge of his great gospel. The Spirit sets us apart unto salvation. Before, as I said, sinner ever believes, the Spirit is already at work, convicting the heart, awakening the conscience, illuminating the mind, drawing the soul toward Christ. No one, as I said, comes to Christ apart from the Spirit's sanctifying initiative. He is the one who makes the call to God effectual. The Spirit regenerates the heart. His sanctification includes a moment when the Spirit imparts spiritual life to the spiritual dead, the spiritually dead. He imparts that spiritual life. He opens the eyes of the blind. He breaks the power of sin. He creates faith where there was none. I can attest to that. I'm a personal, my life is a living example of what I'm telling you right now. I'm not proud of the person I used to be, but I'm glad the Lord can use that to let another know that, hey, you don't have to clean yourself up. Just listen to the word of God. Listen to the saving work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in salvation and receive so great a salvation for yourself. The Spirit moving on continues his sanctifying work in the believer's life. Sanctification is not only the beginning of salvation, it is an ongoing work of the Spirit in shaping the believer into the likeness of Christ. He teaches, he convicts, he comforts, he strengthens, he purifies, he transforms. The Spirit does not merely bring us to Christ, He keeps us in Christ and conforms us to Christ. Then the Spirit applies the work of Christ to the believer. The Father plans salvation, the Son purchased salvation, the Spirit applies salvation. This is why Peter places sanctification between election and obedience. It is the Spirit who makes the Father's purpose and son's blood effective in the believer's life. And having shown us the Spirit's sanctifying work, Peter now brings us to the purpose of the provision of that work, unto the obedience. Listen to me. What's that verse right there? Let's turn back over there. I done lost my place and then got excited this morning and this afternoon, excuse me. I got to turn back over where we began in 1 Peter and get to our verses here. He says right here unto obedience and the sprinkling and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Praise God. The Spirit's sanctifying work leads unto obedience. The obedience of faith. This is the heart's response to the gospel. The submission of the soul to Christ, the trust that rests in him alone. The phrase sprinkling of the blood draws from the Old Testament imagery. Exodus 24, the blood of the covenant was sprinkled on the people and on the items in the tabernacle. In Leviticus, blood was used for cleansing and consecration. Not only that, but Leviticus 17 tells us that life is in the blood. The blood of Christ brings about eternal life by the Spirit's work in the hearts of fallen man. Peter applies the imagery to Christ's sacrificial death. The blood of Jesus cleanses the conscience, removes guilt, brings the believer into covenant relationship with God. Did you hear that? You are bought and brought into a covenant relationship with God. This is the new covenant established in my blood, Christ would say. The new covenant, making the old one obsolete, the old covenant obsolete. We are in a new covenant relationship, and the sacrifice that satisfied God's righteous demand was Christ and Christ alone. Salvation involves both cleansing and consecration. Here it the Trinitarian structure becomes clear. The Father elects, the Spirit sanctifies, and the Son cleanses. Salvation is a coordinated work of the trial God. And then Peter finishes it up here. He says, Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Peter concludes his greeting with a blessing. Grace is God's unearned favor. Peace is the wholeness that comes from being reconciled to God. Peter prays that these would be multiplied to believers. This indicates that grace and peace are not static possessions. They are dynamic realities that increase in the believer's life. The same God who saved also sustains. Praise God for that. In the holy name of Jesus Christ be exalted. Today's deck to take I'll get it right in a minute, folks. I'm human. Just bear with me. In closing here, today's text from God's Word establishes the setting of salvation. Believers live as exiles in this world. Their identity is rooted in God's eternal purpose. The Spirit applies God's purpose through sanctification. The Son's blood cleanses and consecrates. Grace and peace are multiplied in their lives by all of that. Praise God, what power is working in our life. How much we take that for granted every day. We say, oh, these this trial and this tribulation and everything that we go through is just tearing me down. But we fail to consider, and uh I'm the number one to do it. I get so caught up in my pain, my severe debilitating pain, that I'm like, Lord, I can't understand and I'm so weak. But we don't understand, and we often take for granted the power of God and the Holy Spirit and the Son of God that's working in our lives day to day. Even as an unbeliever, do you understand the powers of heaven are working upon your heart right now to be saved? That voice inside of you that you hear telling you, look, you don't have to clean yourself up. You don't have to get yourself out from that addiction. Receive Christ and get Christ in your heart, and the Holy Spirit will change you. And that's the voice of the Holy Spirit. That's the power of heaven speaking to your heart right now. This scripture and message lays the foundation for the rest of this series. It shows that salvation is not, and I say it again, is not a human achievement, but the divine work involved in the coordinated action of the Father, Son, and the Spirit as we have seen today. In closing words, Peter's greeting, he says, Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Gather the entire movement into one single God given truth. Grace is the foundation of salvation. Peace is the fruit of that salvation. Grace is God's initiative. Peace is the believer's inheritance. Grace is the beginning of the Christian life. Peace is the ongoing experience of the Christian life. Peter places them in this order intentionally. There can be no peace without grace. There can be no lasting peace without cleansing. There can be no multiplying peace without multiplying grace. Praise God. And we have received from him grace upon grace, that ever-flowing grace into the life of the believer. Praise God for that. And not only that, but the grace of God that speaks to the sinner's heart. That continual grace, convicting work of the Holy Spirit. That's the grace of God, folks. And it is here that the theme, so great a salvation, rises naturally from this text. The greatness of salvation is seen in the Father's eternal purpose, the Spirit's sanctifying work, the Son's cleansing blood, the believer's new identity, and the multiplication of grace and peace in the life of every heart. This salvation is not small, partial, or fragile. It is a comprehensive, coordinated, eternal, a salvation planned by the Father, applied by the Spirit, and purchased by the eternal Son of God, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. Jesus the Christ, the eternal Son of God, praise God, is purchased by every drop of his precious blood and his broken body on Calvary's cross. Beloved, if this is who you are in Christ, chosen by the Father, sanctified by the Spirit, cleansed by the Son, then let these truths shape how you live. You are not defined by this world. You are not bound to its values. You are not shaped by your past, praise God. Don't let any man point their finger at you and say, look at what you used to be. You say, No, I ain't that anymore. Praise God. I'm what God has made me to be in Christ Jesus, my Lord. I've been forgiven of all that. Why don't you forgive me of it? And let's move on. Don't let anybody put your past up in front of you constantly. And it's unfortunate, but that happens so many times in the church. Many people are who are called of the Lord to do a service are turned away because of their past. And that's a that's a that's an eternal shame right there. You belong to God. You are his peculiar people, his strangers and pilgrims, his redeemed possession. Let that reality set home today. And if you are listening today without Christ, you have never been born again, you've never been cleansed by his blood, never been set apart by the Holy Spirit, then these verses speak to you with sobering clarity. Scripture reminds us that life is fleeting and fragile. James says it is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away. Now Zah declares that all flesh is grass, and Peter would later on repeat it, that grass withereth and the flower of the grass falleth away. Hebrews tells us plainly, it it is a point unto man and wants to die, but after this the judgment. This these are not poetic images imagery or imagery. They are a divine warning, folks. They're not just for uh words to be spoken and not taken seriously. Our life is very fragile. We are not guaranteed another breath. The word of God Tells us today is the day of salvation. You know, don't harden your heart when you hear his voice. Receive him while he is near. Receive him while he is near to you. And after the Holy Spirit is calling you today, it's my heart's desire. It is my heart's prayer that you would listen. Allow the Word of God to speak to your heart today. I know this has been a long message, but please just hear the simpleness of it. That salvation is attainable. It is not something you can earn. It is not something you are worthy of, but it is something that is freely given by God's grace and is purchased by the blood of the dear Son, made available by the convicting of the Holy Spirit. Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Don't walk away from this message, not giving your heart and life to the Lord, because you may this may be the last time, the very last time that you have the opportunity to be saved. So I invite you now just to pray. Lord, I am a sinner. You don't have to come up with some great, grandiose prayer. Just pray from the heart. And really mean it in your heart. Repent. Say, Lord, I am a sinner. I I've done egregious things in your sight, but I want to turn from those things today. I want to turn toward you by placing all of my trust in Jesus Christ, your risen Son. Lord Jesus, come into my heart and save my soul today. And I promise you, if you pray that from your heart and you sincerely believe it, and you sincerely present it to the Lord in that way, and you sincerely believe it, and you place all your trust and faith in Christ in repentance. You can't, and you'll be transformed. You'll be born into the family of God. Jesus said, No man can see or enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again, born of the Spirit. For that is which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Hear the Lord talking to you today and let him bring you home. Bring you home to glory. Bring you into the family of God. Be born again into the family of God. You know, as we move forward, having established the identity of the believer and divine initiative behind salvation, we will move into the source of salvation, God's abundant mercy and the new birth He grants through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I invite you to join us again. And it is my pleasure to say thank you so much for joining us today. I'm sorry I went a little long, but I just praise God and I pray I thank God has spoken to our hearts. I pray that each one of you would be blessed, and I'd see you again. I look forward to the next time we can share in the word from the Word of God. God bless.