Predestination to Sonship

In this part of the sermon: Martin argues that predestination flows from God's infinite, eternal, and holy love, connecting the phrase 'in love' to verse 5 and drawing parallels with Romans 8:29's concept of…

The phrases 'in anger the man spoke,' 'in joy he sang,' and 'in grief he pleaded' are used to explain how 'in love' describes the climate or context of God's predestinating act, not just an attribute.

uses these words in love, the same way we might say, in anger the man spoke, in joy he sang, in grief he pleaded. What we mean is that the activity of speaking was carried out in the context or the climate of anger. If we say, in joy he sang, we mean that the climate of his singing was one of joy, the source of emotion which poured forth into him. And so, if we say, in joy he sang, we mean that his song was that of joy. If we say, in grief he pleaded, we mean that his pleading flowed out of and was conducted in the climate of grief. So then, the apostle says, the climate in which God's predest...

10:04 - 11:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Get most of your theology on your knees out of the book, ensuring all other books are subservient to Scripture.

Martin advises young men to get most of their theology 'on their knees' out of the Bible, using the analogy of books on a shelf being subservient to Scripture, to emphasize the importance of prayerful, direct engagement with God's Word.

But make sure that every book upon the shelf is subservient to this book that you pour over on your face before God. How can a man ever descend into a proclamation of a cheap, tawdry, sentimental kind of gushy, unprincipled love if he's learning the love of God? Well, he's learning the love of God. He's learning the love of God. He's learning the love of God. He's learning the love of God. He's learning the love of God. He's learning the love of God.

19:05 - 19:26 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin delves into the meaning of 'adoption as sons,' distinguishing it from justification and regeneration as a legal act of transfer into God's family, granting status…

He uses the metaphor of 'reels' of information in the brain's 'computer' to illustrate the need to discard human concepts of adoption and receive fresh, biblical understanding.

And inside that head, when I say the word, adoption, certain things register there, in the computer up there, called your brain. Now what I'd like to do, is reach in and pull out all the reels, upon which are stamped information about adoption, and throw them out. And feed some fresh information into the computer. Because in the Biblical concept of adoption, there is nothing in human experience, that we can say it is like.

25:12 - 25:43 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Adoption, as the term clearly implies, is an act of transfer from an alien family into the family of God Himself. Surely this is the pinnacle point of grace and of privilege.

The act of co-signing a note for someone, making one equally liable, is used to explain what it means to be 'joint heirs with Christ' – sharing equally in all that is His by virtue of His unique place.

made heirs of all the promises and fellow heirs with Christ in glory and my friends unless the Holy Ghost enables us to grasp what that means it's so far beyond us we stagger at the attempt to even grasp it that when God constitutes us His adopted sons He puts us in the position of His own dear and only begotten Son so that God says we are joint heirs with Him and so that God says we are joint heirs with Him and so that God says we are joint heirs with Him the closest parallel I know when you co-sign on a note for someone you stand liable for the payment of that note and you are equally liable...

35:57 - 37:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He explains that adoption is 'through Jesus Christ,' highlighting Christ's mediation as the meritorious cause that satisfies God's justice and holiness, making it possible for…

The metaphor of 'skeletons in God's closet' is used to illustrate the fear that God might overlook sin, and how Christ's full payment for sin ensures there are no hidden records of guilt to negate adoption.

justice. And His law has been broken. Even by those He predestined to be His sons, they broke His law. They fell in Adam. And in time, they, as it were, ratify that fall and demonstrate the depravity. The depravity of their natures. And so God has purposed that in Christ, all the demands of that broken law shall be fully met, so that when the Father adopts them, He doesn't, as it were, close one eye to His law. For what comfort could that give me, if God had some skeletons in His closet? If God, as it were, said, well, I'll just take the record of your guilt and the rest, and close my eye to i...

41:51 - 43:03 Read in full sermon