God Finishes What He Starts

1. God Finishes What He Starts—Because He Is God— Rom 8:11

a. The Implications of The Attributes of God for the doctrine of the Security of the True Believer.
(1) Because God is absolute, that is, Supreme, Sovereign, Omnipotent, Omniscient, He can do whatever He wants to do. Specifically, He can keep His promises.
(a) No one can stop Him, nor can they hinder Him.
(b) No one has the right to challenge Him or to call Him into account for His actions, for His Providence
(2) Because God is Eternal and Immutable (unchanging), His promises are eternal and immutable (unchanging).
(3) Because He is Just, God will keep His promises.
(4) Because He is Holy, God will accomplish His promise to save us by making us holy.

b. God Finishes What He Starts—

(1) Salvation is, from beginning to end, an act of God and of God alone.
Psa 3:8 "Salvation belongs to the LORD…”
Jonah 2:9 "….. Salvation is of the LORD.""
Titus 3:5 "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…”
Mat 1:21 ""…He will save His people from their sins.""
Eph 2:10 "For we are His workmanship…”
James 1:18 "Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth…”

(2) God Saves Sinners

c. God Finishes What He Starts—Mal 3:6 Phil 1:6, 1 Cor 1:4-9, John 10:27-28, Rom 8:31-32


2. God Finishes What He Starts, and the Indwelling Spirit is proof that He has started—

a. Reminder—who is the Holy Spirit?
(1) e is a Who, not a What. He is the Holy Dove, the Third Person of the Trinity.
(2) He is God—the Creator, Illuminator, Convictor, etc.
(3) He is our Comforter

b. The Old Covenant and the Spirit—He was revealed somewhat, even in the Old Testament.
(1) He was revealed as the Creator-Gen 1:2, Job 33:4
(2) He was revealed as the Illuminator of the prophets. Neh 9:30
(3) He filled certain people for certain tasks—Exo 31:3, Exo 35:31,
(4) He came upon certain people for specific purposes—2 Chr 24:20
(5) In a sense, He dwelt within Israel corporately— Isa 63:10-11
(6) There were certain men, such as Daniel, who appear to have been indwelt by the Spirit—Dan 5:14
(7) But the universal indwelling of all believers was not a feature of the Old Covenant

c. The New Covenant Difference—John 14:17, John 7:37-39

(1) Old Covenant believers were led by the Spirit and had the guidance of the Spirit, especially in the inspiration of the Old Covenant Scriptures. 2 Pet 1:20-21
(2) But one of the differences in the New Covenant is that the Holy Spirit indwells us, individually and corporately.

d. The Individual indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
(1) Each one of us, individually, is a temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 6:19-20
(2) Each one of us has been placed in the corporate Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 12:13
(3) Each one of us is a building block of the Full Temple of God. 1 Pet 2:5
e. The Corporate Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
(1) Said of the church at Corinth. 1 Cor 3:16
(2) 2 Cor 6:16

(3) Said again of the church at Ephesus—Eph 2:19-22
f. For the Believer in Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance.Eph 1:13- 14
g. God Finishes What He Starts, and the Indwelling Spirit is proof that He has started—11

3. God Finishes What He Starts, and the Bodily Resurrection and Glorification of Believers is the Finish—Rom 8:11
a. An Ancient Faith—faith in physical resurrection was the ancient faith of God’s people, not some late addition.

(1) Job—Job 19:25-27
(2) Martha— John 11:21-24
(3) The controversy between the Pharisees and the Saducees. Acts 23:6-8
b. A Future Reality—We will be bodily resurrected—in fact, both saved and lost will be bodily resurrected at some point, but the saved will be raised to new life, and glorified. 1 Th 4:16-18, John 17:22

4. If you are indwelt by the Spirit, you will take part in the resurrection of Life!

a. The real question we examine here is this: "Is it possible for a person who has been truly saved to lose their salvation?"

(1) The resounding Biblical answer is "NO!"

(2) The problem is, that this real question is lost in a fog of doctrinal misunderstandings, misrepresentations, and and deviations from the subject, and both "sides" of this debate are guilty.

b. We must avoid giving false security:

c. But True Security is Rooted in certain Biblical Principles

(1) The Nature of God, mentioned already

(2) Justification by Faith

(a) The Nature of Justification—a legal declaration of “not guilty” by God

(b) The Author of Justification--God—Rom 8:33-34 "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us."

(c) The effects of Justification

Rom 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Rom 4:8 "Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.""

(3) The Nature of Salvation

(a) The Fact that Salvation is 100 percent a work of God—already mentioned.

(b) The Fact that Salvation is a permanent change of state John 5:24, John 6:47

(c) The Fact that, as a part of the gift of Salvation, we become adopted children of God (Gal 3:26-4:7). This forever changes our RELATIONSHIP to God—When we sin, God deals with us as a Father to a child (Heb 12:4-8), not as a judge to a criminal.

(4) Assurance is not the same as perseverance

(a) A false professor may have assurance, because he or she has been deceived
(b) A true believer may NOT have assurance, either because of a tender conscience, lack of good teaching, or unresolved sin issues.

(5) Perseverance Is Through the Power of God—1 Pet 1:3-5