Freedom of Choice
The sermon emphasizes the importance of freedom of choice, highlighting that God's grace is not limited by human ability and that Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins.
Major W. Ian Thomas emphasizes the importance of not being deceived into believing that God has limited the efficacy of Christ's blood or that some are unable to repent due to being outside of God's redemptive purpose. He clarifies that reluctance to repent lies with man, not with God, and highlights the necessity of freedom of choice in obedience or disobedience. Thomas challenges the notion that God arbitrarily determines who can obey the Gospel, stressing that Christ's sacrifice is for all and that God offers the ability to repent to every individual.
Text
Never allow anyone to deceive you into believing that God has placed an arbitrary limitation upon the efficacy of the blood of Christ, or that there are those who cannot repent, even if they would, simply because God has deliberately placed them outside the scope of His redemptive purpose! This blasphemes the grace, the love and the integrity of God, and makes Him morally responsible for the unbelief of the unbeliever, for the impenitence of the impenitent, and saddles Him squarely with the guilt of the guilty as an aider and abettor of their sin.
Such is not the teaching of the Bible, for the Lord Jesus Christ made it abundantly clear that the reluctance is on man's part, not on God's!
Without freedom of choice it is equally impossible to obey or to disobey to be commended for the one or to be condemned for the other!
Some would have you believe that only those can obey the Gospel and accept Christ as their Saviour, to whom God has given the ability to obey as a purely arbitrary, mechanical act on His part, leaving no option in the matter to any individual either way! On the basis of this strange hypothesis, the fearful judgment of God is to fall upon those who have remained in their rebellious state of unbelief, only because they have been unable to exercise an ability to obey the Gospel, which only God can give, and which He has refused to give them! Needless to say, such an idea can only serve to bring the righteousness and judgment of God into contempt and disrepute.
The revelation that God has given to us by His Holy Spirit through the apostles is delightfully clear: "if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:2); "Who gave himself a ransom for all" (I Timothy 2:6); "... that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9).
It is your inherent right to choose which is at the very heart of the mystery, both of the mystery of godliness and of the mystery of iniquity.
Sermon Outline
- The Efficacy of the Blood of Christ
- The Importance of Freedom of Choice
- The Revelation of God's Love
- Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins
- He gave himself as a ransom for all
- He tasted death for every man
Key Quotes
“Without freedom of choice it is equally impossible to obey or to disobey - to be commended for the one or to be condemned for the other!” — Major W. Ian Thomas
“It is your inherent right to choose which is at the very heart of the mystery, both of the mystery of godliness and of the mystery of iniquity.” — Major W. Ian Thomas
“Who gave himself a ransom for all” — Major W. Ian Thomas
Application Points
- We must recognize that our reluctance to obey is on our own part, not God's, and that we have the inherent right to choose.
- Understanding God's love and the significance of Jesus Christ's sacrifice can help us grasp the mystery of godliness and the mystery of iniquity.
- We must not attribute the guilt of sin to God, but rather acknowledge our own responsibility for our choices.