Only Those Grafted Into Christ By Faith

Minister:
Date: AM
Text: Romans 9; Lord's Day 7
Psalters: 45, 428, 99, 397
  1. The wrong answers.
    1. Some want to say all who perished in Adam are saved by Christ.
    2. Others hope for a negative answer concerning their enemies or those who disagree with them.
    3. This issue must be considered with great care, not abstractly nor as mere theory.
  2. God gives His answer in the Scriptures.
    1. Not all those fallen in Adam are saved in Christ.
      1. Confer Matt. 22:14; John 3:18,36; Matthew 7:14.
      2. God does not love all men: Esau (Rom. 9:12).
    2. Positively, Scripture declares a definite and particular atonement: Matt.1:21; John10:11 with 26; Acts 20:28; John 17:9.
    3. There are some texts which seem to teach that all will be saved.
  3. One’s relationship to Christ (the Mediator) is the determining factor whether one is saved or not (John 15:1-5).
    1. The picture of grafting identifies Christians as having a living relationship with Christ.
      1. The saved are those who belong to Him, believe in Him, and receive from Him.
      2. Each believer (exercising the faith given to him) is a living member of the new vine of the human race.
    2. The possibility of salvation is attributed solely to the Grafter, not to the grafted.