SERMON TITLE: Responding To Your Questions Pt. 2: What is man’s will in light of God's sovereignty?
SCRIPTURE: Multiple (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 11-10-24
Sermon Discussion Guide
Take notes here
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
We’re doing something different for a few weeks. We’re taking time to do what Paul did in his first letter to the Corinthians. Apparently, the Corinthians had sent Paul some questions. In fact, six times Paul appears to respond to their questions. And — over the past few weeks — you’ve been asking some questions and thought it’d be good to take time to respond to them.
The questions you’ve been asking are: What does it mean to hear from God and what is man’s free will in light of God’s sovereignty? Last week — I answered the first question and — today — I’m answering your question about our — humanity’s — free will — which we’ll also look at again next week.
Usually I answer questions like these on our church podcast — in fact we’ve answered questions on God’s sovereignty and our free will previously on the podcast — but I know not everyone listens to the podcast. And the episodes — plural — on this topic are over an hour long — and who’s got time for that? So I thought I’d address your questions in a couple of sermons.
But — first — some reminders. When we returned to Romans — back in September — you may recall me saying that “resting in and receiving great big promises and truths from God are going to be what we’re to do. I know we American Christians love stuff to do — but in Romans chapters nine through eleven — there aren’t many commands. In fact there are only three — which we won’t come to until chapter eleven.” And — even with me saying this — it only took four sermons on God’s sovereignty for us to start asking, “But what about what we do?”
Now — without dismissing your question — I am taking time to answer it after all — I do want us to consider something: If I preached four weeks on stuff we’re to do — commands we’re to obey — steps to have a happier marriage — or how to raise your kids in today’s culture — or who to date — or whatever — after four weeks of sermons on what we’re to do — how many of us would be raising our hand to ask, “Hey Josh. What about God’s sovereignty?” Very few — if any of us. And that should tell us something about ourselves: How us-centric we all are.
Yet the central point of everything — according to the Bible — is God — not us. And I’m saying this to myself as much as to any of you. Because it’s easy for me to read the Bible as if it’s me-centric instead of God-centric. May God — in his grace — forgive me — and us — for such thoughts.
My second reminder is that — if you weren’t here for Justin’s sermon last Sunday evening — I want to encourage you to go give it a listen as his sermon — based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism — covered the providence of God. A topic related to the question we’re looking at today.
Now to begin answering your question — what is man’s free will in light of God’s sovereignty — we have to take a step back and ask, “What do we mean by free will?” If you do listen to our podcast — you may remember that — around the time we returned to Romans — we also returned to our podcast series going through the Westminster Confession of Faith. One episode covered chapter nine of the confession — which covers the topic of free will. And — recently on the podcast — I’ve been quoting quite a bit from RC Sproul’s book Truths We Confess.
In his chapter on the topic of free will, Sproul writes, “If there is any place where secular humanism has undermined a biblical view of human nature, it’s with respect to the idea of free will. The prevailing view of free will in the secular culture is that human beings are able to make choices without being encumbered by sin.” (Sproul 232)
So — one view of humanity’s freedom — is that human beings are able to make choices without being encumbered — or hindered or limited or constrained — by sin. That’s the secular humanist’s view of free will. This view of humanity’s free will is why many today say that men can be women and women can be men and so on. For — with sin out of the equation — gender is simply a choice a person can make because of free will.
Again — why? Because — according to secular humanism — our choices cannot be hindered or limited or constrained by anything — even sin — otherwise — we’re not really free.
Now — if you’re not a Christian — I’m going to suppose this is the definition of free will that you agree with — even if you’re not sure about men becoming women and such. And — what I hope you’ll take away from the rest of this sermon — is an understanding as to why Christians believe differently about the nature of our will.
Which leads to two things for those of us who believe in Jesus. First, though this isn’t a sermon specifically on predestination — predestination is often brought up in this kind of discussion. And something important to note is that predestination is a word in the Bible. It occurs six times explicitly — not to mention related words like destined, and election, and chosen — where God is doing the action. On the other hand — the word free will — in relation to humanity’s will — is not found in the Bible.
Now — just because a word or phrase isn’t found in the Bible — that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not true — the word Trinity isn’t found in the Bible — as an example — but it’s true. However — when forming our theology — we should take what the Bible explicitly says and use that to interpret what it doesn’t explicitly say. So — in this case — the Bible’s use of predestination should interpret what we mean by our free will and not what we believe about free will to interpret the Bible’s use of predestination. See last week’s sermon on the Bible being our final authority on all things.
Enough about that — on to number two. Jonathan Edwards — who many believe to be America’s greatest theologian — said, “Free will is freedom to choose what we want — the ability to choose according to our own inclinations. Not only are we able to choose according to our strongest inclinations, but, in a very real sense, we must choose according to our strongest inclination in order to be free.” (Sproul 233)
So why do I bring up this quote? Because Edwards distinguishes for us the difference between our free will — with sin in the equation — compared to secular humanism’s definition of free will. And Edwards’ quote also brings up a distinction that theologians have made between free will and our liberty — a distinction that’s been made for centuries — though they are two ideas we think of as synonymous today. For instance, Augustine — who lived in the fourth and fifth century — said that — after Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden — we maintained our free will but lost our liberty.
So what’s the difference between our free will and our liberty? Free will is about our ability to make choices. Liberty is about what options we have to choose from. For example, if you go to Chick-Fil-A — you have the freedom to choose — so this is free will — anything on the menu. You can go with a spicy chicken sandwich or a twelve count nugget meal. But you don’t have the liberty to choose a hamburger. You have free will — you do make a choice — but your liberty is limited — no hamburger!
Everyone following the difference between free will and liberty? Great!
Now — we have to talk about our nature — meaning our condition due to sin entering the world. What happened to us when Adam and Eve disobeyed God? We’ll mainly talk about our spiritual condition — but know that I’m going to bring up our physical nature — or condition — as well. So let’s dive in.
When God created Adam and Eve — he declared that they — along with all of creation — were very good. They were sinless, innocent, they had free will and liberty.
Now — as you may know — God put a tree in the Garden that they were not to eat from. The choice was theirs to make — it was their free choice. Yet God gave them a warning — which hints at what will happen to their nature if they disobey him.
Genesis 2:17 (ESV)
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
Adam and Eve were given the choice — and they had the liberty to choose whether or not to obey God’s command. This is so important I’ll say it again. Adam and Eve were created with both the freedom and the liberty to choose good or evil — they could obey God or disobey him. Their obedience would be a sign of their love for him — their trust in him — their belief that he knows best and only commands what is good — and that — as Jonathan Edwards said — that “God was their heart's inclination and strongest desire.”
But — spoiler alert — if you’ve never read the Bible — in Genesis chapter three — they eat from the tree and rebel against God — showing that they gave themselves over to another — stronger — desire of their heart.
Now what happened to Adam and Eve — and to all of us — when they chose to rebel against God in the Garden? For starters, death became our enemy — just as God warned that it would. For Adam and Eve — and the rest of humanity — because we are their offspring — were kicked out of the Garden and unable to eat from the tree of life.
So listen carefully: We lost our liberty to eat from the tree of life. So we age. We get sick. We get all wrinkly. We get cancer. We die.
Additionally, a war broke out between the Serpent — Satan — and humanity. Since humanity was deceived by the Serpent — a human would have to defeat the snake to set things right. That’s the hope found in God’s judgment on Satan when…
Genesis 3:14–15 (ESV)
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
An offspring — a future descendant of the woman — will one day crush the head of the snake securing victory over humanity’s Enemy — which is fulfilled on the cross by Jesus Christ.
God speaks of other physical consequences due to Adam and Eve’s sin. Increased labor pains. Relational conflict. Painful work and exhausting days. And — as we’ve already seen — death.
Those are some of the consequences and changes to our physical nature. But what about spiritual consequences? How did the fall of Adam and Eve change their — and our — spiritual condition? And — because this is spiritual — this is where disagreement lies. For it’s hard to debate the physical effects of the fall — at least among Christians — but we can’t see the spiritual effects of the fall — so we have to go to the Bible for our answer.
What are the spiritual consequences for Adam and Eve? For starters, they’re cast out of the Garden which also represents their relationship with God is broken. They lived in God’s dwelling place and now they’re cast out of the Garden and into the wilderness to live in separation from him. Yes — God will visit humanity — from time to time — but occasional visits from God and living continually in his presence are vastly different.
But something else happens to Adam and Eve and to their offspring. In the next chapter of Genesis — one of their sons murders his brother. And — before he murders his brother…
Genesis 4:6–7 (ESV)
6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
A desire is stirring in Cain’s heart. And — remember Jonathan Edwards words — we can’t help but choose what our heart desires most. We haven’t lost the freedom to make choices — but we’re bound to choose what our heart desires most. And look at what Cain does. Even with this gracious warning from God.
Genesis 4:8 (ESV)
8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
Sin didn’t just affect Adam and Eve — even their sons — who were conceived outside of the Garden — are born with sinful natures. Thus Cain gives into his heart’s strongest desire and murders his brother Abel. And not just Cain. Fast forward a few centuries and…
Genesis 6:5 (ESV)
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Do you see the spiritual condition of the heart of humanity? This is not liberty. What’s being described here isn’t unhindered freedom to choose good or evil. Are they making free choices — yes — but doesn’t the spiritual condition of their heart sound more like bondage than freedom?
The only way to avoid this conclusion is to interpret the passage metaphorically or as an exaggeration. But the text doesn’t say that “some of their intentions were evil.” Or that “occasionally the people of the earth had evil thoughts.” It says that “every intention of humanity was evil all the time.” To do evil was their heart’s strongest desire and they chose accordingly.
“But Josh, what about Noah?” Sin had also affected Noah and his family. They were just as corrupted by sin as those who drowned in the flood. Yes he’s called a righteous man — but don’t forget how quickly he got drunk as a skunk once he was back on dry land. You see, the flood didn’t fix humanity’s sinful nature because it wasn’t meant to. It was meant to reveal our sinful nature to us.
If we fast forward a few hundred years — we come to King David who — after committing sins of adultery and murder — said…
Psalm 51:4–5 (NLT)
4 Against you (God), and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. 5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
Sin has so affected our nature that — according to God’s Word — we’re born sinners. Yes — we do sin — we lie, we hate, and so on — but we do so not solely because of our environment — we do so because it’s our spiritual nature to sin — it’s what we desire to do. This is why no parent has ever had to teach their toddler to be selfish or to bite another kid — because we’re all born with a sinful nature.
Turning to the New Testament — the apostle Paul describes our spiritual condition this way.
Ephesians 2:1–10 (ESV)
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Paul describes the spiritual nature we’re born with. We’re born spiritually dead in our sins. We followed — past tense — because Paul’s writing to Christians — we followed the course of the world — meaning we’re born with heart’s which desire to follow all that opposes God. We followed Satan — the prince of the air — and following him was our own choice. We lived in the passions — or desires — of our flesh — our sinful nature. And we were by nature — there’s our keyword — children of wrath — like the rest of humanity. This is the spiritual condition that every single person is born into this world with — just like we’re all born with the physical condition of mortality.
And — yet — mercy is found in the words, “But God” of verse four. God — though not obligated to do so — but because he is rich in mercy and because of the great love with which he loved us — even while we were dead in our sin — even while we were his enemy — even when our heart’s desire was opposed to him — he saved us. He made us spiritually alive — and not just spiritually alive in any old way — but alive with Christ. Thus there is no spiritual resurrection — no spiritual life, no end to being God’s enemy, no freedom from Satan, no being a child of God — unless you’re made spiritually alive by God. There is no spiritual neutrality. It’s either spiritual death or spiritual life. Child of wrath of child of God. Enslaved to sin or set free. Or as Paul writes to Titus…
Titus 1:15 (ESV)
15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
The spiritual nature we’re born with is a nature that’s defiled — impure — unholy. So clearly something happened to our spiritual nature. For God did not create Adam and Eve with a defiled, impure, and unholy spiritual nature — their choice to sin against God made them defiled, impure, and unholy. And surely there’s a difference between Adam and Eve’s spiritual freedom — or liberty — in their condition of sinless purity — and their — and our — spiritual liberty — in our condition of sinful impurity.
One last example. In explaining why some people believe the gospel message and others don’t, Paul writes…
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT)
14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
Notice the word “can’t” — it’s used twice. Those who aren’t spiritual — meaning they’re spiritually dead — they can’t receive the truths of the gospel from the Holy Spirit. They can’t understand it — for only those who are spiritual — who are spiritually alive — can.
So — it’s not that humanity doesn’t have free will — we do. It’s that our spiritual liberty has been lost. For just as physical death entered the world — due to sin — so did spiritual death. And our desires have been distorted by sin — from holy desires to unholy desires — pure desires to impure desire — godly desires to demonic desires — according to Paul. We’re free to make choices — but our choices will always be — because they must be — according to what our heart desires most. And — for those who are spiritually dead — their heart’s can’t desire “these truths from God’s Spirit” Paul says.
“So what truths Paul?” Christ and him crucified — for that’s what Paul is writing about in this section of his letter.
Now — at this point in the sermon — a light-hearted illustration may help us all to catch our breath.This isn’t a perfect illustration — but I hope you’ll still allow it to make a point.
O-H. So there are some of my Ohio State fans. I hope those at our North Main Campus and Bucyrus played along. In case you weren’t sure if you could shout out in church — let’s try it again.
O-H.
Now let’s do a little experiment to test your free will and liberty. Michigan fans — just sit back and enjoy the show. Though you should play along — just do the opposite of what I say. You’ll quickly catch on.
Ohio State fans — I’m not talking to you fair weather fans — I’m talking to those who bleed OSU football — I want you to choose right now — because you have a free will — choose to be a Michigan fan. Believe it or not — I’m not asking you to sin — just make the choice to be a Michigan fan. And some of you are like, “Forget free will — it ain’t worth it.”
Now for those of you still playing along — don’t just check the box — “I’m a Michigan fan — ha ha — Pastor Josh” — prove to yourself that you’re really a Michigan fan by delighting in Michigan football right now. I mean — cause your heart to stir with joy and excitement as you imagine Michigan upsetting — in a soul crushing way — all of those pathetic Ohio State fans in a couple of weeks. I mean — that’s what a true Michigan fan’s heart desires, right? For Michigan to crush the dreams of all of those pathetic Ohio State fans on the football field.
Alright. Experiment’s over.
What did you learn about your heart’s desire and your ability to make choices? Probably that pretending to be a Michigan fan — and being an actual Michigan fan — are two very different desires of the heart, right? Now — if we can’t instantly switch our heart’s desire — when it comes to something simple like what college team we find delight in — why would we think we can do so in regards to what our heart spiritually desires — especially after having looked at all of the passages we’ve read today — including — “people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive” the truths about Christ and him crucified.
Again — it’s not that we’re not free to make choices — it’s that we’re free to choose what our heart desires most. And the unbeliever’s heart does not — for it cannot — desire God. Not without God first pouring out his mercy on the individual — giving them a new heart — a spiritual resurrection — without God first giving them a desire for him.
And this leads us to the tension that our time in Romans has created. If God makes some alive — why doesn’t he make everyone alive? If he sets some free — why doesn’t he set all free? If he’s merciful to some — why isn’t he merciful to all. We feel this tension when we talk about our spiritual condition because of sin — but let’s step back and return to our physical condition because of sin.
In John’s gospel we catch a glimpse of God’s mercy on display as Jesus helps someone who’s experienced the physical consequences of sin.
John 5:2–17 (NLT)
2 Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. 3 Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” 7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” 8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, 10 so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” 11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” 12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. 13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”
Because of sin entering our world — physical conditions like blindness, deafness, paralyzation, and so on — are what some experience. People who’ve physically lost their liberty — to walk, or see, or hear, or speak. They’re able to make free choices — they still have a free will — but are bound — limited — in what they can choose because of the physical consequences of sin in our world. Now — this isn’t always due to sin they’ve committed — though that’s probably the case for the man we just read about — but there are physical consequences for all of us living in this sin-stained world. Some just experience the pain of sin — physically — more than others of us.
But what beauty — what mercy and power we see when Jesus approaches this man — who’d been paralyzed for thirty-eight years — and says to him, “Would you like to get well? Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
The man couldn’t approach Jesus — he was paralyzed! The man didn’t even know who Jesus was — he makes this clear when questioned by the authorities. This was Jesus’ choice — to do the work of his Father — which in this case was to be merciful to this one man.
I’m going to say that again. This was Jesus’ choice — to do the work of his Father — which in this case was to be merciful to this one man. But there were crowds — plural — of sick people who Jesus did not heal that day. We know this because it’s right here in the text.
So let me ask you a question: Does the fact that Jesus doesn’t heal everyone decrease the beauty of his mercy towards this one man? Of course it doesn’t! That’s why — if you’ve ever read this story — you’re amazed by — you marvel over — Jesus’ mercy in this man’s life. You don’t get angry at Jesus for only healing one guy — you’re amazed that he heals one guy. You don’t question Jesus’ mercy for healing one guy — you marvel at his mercy in healing the man.
Now — if this is how we view Jesus’s mercy — when it comes to God reversing the physical effects of sin in our world — even when it’s towards one man and not something he does to all who were present and in need — why would we view God’s mercy any different when it comes to him reversing the spiritual effects of sin in our world — even if it’s to one person — and not to everyone who’s in need?
Yet — even the paralysis of the man fails to equate to what we’ve seen is the spiritual condition of everyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus — though it does help clue us in. For we all know — don’t we — that the paralyzed guy wasn’t going to make his way to Jesus — he couldn’t. He might’ve been able to see Jesus from a long way off — but his liberty was limited and it kept him from Jesus. On his own — this man couldn’t get to Jesus — he needed Jesus to come to him.
Yet there’s a story in Jesus’s life that involves another paralyzed man.
Luke 5:17–26 NLT
17 One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, 19 but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” 21 But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” 22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 23 Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” 25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26 Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!”
Another beautifully merciful story. A man paralyzed — his liberty is bound — physically he couldn’t make his way to Jesus even if he wanted to. And — yet — what faith we see in his friends. And — if you’re a Christian — I hope this will fuel your hope in God’s mercy and stir in you a boldness to share your faith with those who don’t yet believe. For his friends — of their own free will — with a physical liberty that wasn’t bound like their paralyzed friend — and — we can also infer — a spiritual liberty that wasn’t bound — for we read that Jesus saw their “faith.” And they use their free will and they use their liberty to bring their friend to Jesus. And their friend experiences the mercy of God — for he’s healed physically — his physical liberty is restored. And he’s healed spiritually — for he left there praising God — his spiritual liberty is also restored. All because his friends used their free will and their liberty to bring someone they loved to Jesus.
Friends, this is why we share the gospel with confidence. For our God is merciful — even when one is healed in a large crowd. Our God is merciful — when we use our liberty to bring others to Jesus. Our God is so merciful to us — even though our sin is what got us into this mess. And — our God is so merciful to us — that because we couldn’t get ourselves out of it — Jesus came to give his life as a sacrifice for our sins — he came to rescue us out of the mess we made.
So let’s find joy and satisfaction in Jesus and in his Father’s mercy. For he’s set us free — he’s restored our liberty — so our heart’s desire can be satisfied in him. So our hope is in him. So our joy is in him. So every choice we make can be made out of our love and gratitude to him.
Though we were lost — we’ve been found. Though we were once spiritually blind — our eyes have been opened and we can see. Though once bound by our sin — our liberty has been restored. What reasons we have to thank and and to praise our merciful God. Let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father, we confess that the journey we’ve been on today has been challenging. Indeed your ways are not our ways — your thoughts are not our thoughts. So we submit our thoughts on our freedom and nature — both physically and spiritually — to you and your Word. May we not reject your Word — but respond to it with thanksgiving. For we were dead, but now are alive. We were lost and have been found. We were blind and you have caused our spiritually blind eyes to see. And this is not our doing — but is the work of you our God.
Spirit — you are the One who calls us out of spiritual darkness and into your light. You replace our dead hearts with ones that are spiritually alive. You are the One who gives life to our spirits and sets us free from our bondage to Satan and sin. For this we thank you and praise you and ask you to set free more who are in bondage.
And — Jesus — to you our Savior, Redeemer, Rescuer, and Friend — in love — you died for us while we were your enemies — while we hated you — while we yelled, “Crucify him. Crucify him. Crucify him” with our spiritually dead hearts. That was who we were when bound to our sinful nature. And now — because we’ve been given a new nature — the One we crucified is now who we believe in and call our Lord. And you are who our heart’s now delight in. A radical change because our nature has been made new by your sacrifice on our behalf.
Therefore — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — we praise you like the paralyzed man whose friends brought him to Jesus. We thank you for your kindness and mercy towards us who believe as we anticipate seeing your kindness and mercy be experienced by those who will believe some day. And may that day be today for some who hear my voice — may today be the day of their salvation. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
May you go knowing that God is good and that he is merciful. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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