Theme Exalt God because your salvation is an extravagant demonstration of his love.

Introduction: Sovereign Grace Churches have two important documents that govern the faith and life of its members: our Statement of Faith and our Book of Church Order (BCO). The BCO contains a list \ of our “7 Values”: 1. Reformed Theology 2. Gospel-centered doctrine and preaching 3. Continuationist Message Info 4. Complementarian leadership in the home and in the church

5. Elder-governed and elder-led churches Title: 6. Church planting, outreach and global missions 7. United in fellowship, mission and governance Reformed Soteriology Speaker: 1. Bit of history. a. Our reformed view of salvation is rooted in the gospel truth that was recovered during the Peter Privitera by men like Luther and Calvin, and by Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Date: b. The reformation is famous for the “five solas”: , , Sola Gratia, and . March 13, 2016 2. God at the center of life. (Rom. 11:33-36, Eph. 1:11) Scriptures a. Our salvation is ALL for his glory. If we rightly believe that God is the creator and originator of Various everything, then it makes sense by extension that he should receive credit for everything. Therefore, if we trace our salvation backwards, we will eventually come to the conclusion that God is responsible. 3. Redemption at the center of God’s plan. (John 17:1-5) a. When we consider the work of God in the world and read John 17:1-5, we see that it was his work of redemption through his Son that was at the center of his purposes. Jesus’ sacrificial work on our behalf was not for us but for God and his glory. All of it. His plan to save us was to bring greater glory to himself. 4. Sovereign Grace. (Rom.9:11-12, Eph.1:3-6) a. This doctrine can be hard for some people to accept at first. We think it’s not good because we don’t like what it says about us, not realizing that it is not about us but about God and who he is. We’re so inclined to think that everything that we achieve happens because we did the right thing and that everything bad that happens to us is a fluke, or worse, because God is not good. b. But God is behind it all. He has set his love on us before we were even born just like he did when he set his love on Jacob. (Rom. 9:11-12)

Questions: 1. How did you come to believe in Jesus as your savior? 2. In what ways has your understanding of your salvation become more reformed (biblical) over the years?