Universal Salvation, David Bentley Hart

Romans 5:18-19, 1 Corinthians 15:22, 2 Corinthians 5:14, Romans 11:32, 1 Timothy 2:3-6, Titus 2:11, 2 Corinthians 5:19, Ephesians 1:9-10, Colossians 1:27-28, John 12:32, Hebrews 2:9, John 17:2, John 4:42, John 12:47, 1 John 4:14, 2 Peter 3:9, Matthew 18:14, Philippians 2:9-11, Colossians 1:19-20, 1 John 2:2, John 3:17, Luke 16:16, and 1 Timothy 4:10. (Cited in Hart's That All Shall Be Saved, 95-102).

One Thing I Ask is to See God's Beauty (Psalm 27:1-14)

"The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?" (Ps 27:1) "One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple" (Ps 27:4).

1. Confidence (Ps 27:1-3). Whom shall I fear (Ps 27:1)?
2. Desire (Ps 27:4-6). One thing I ask (Ps 27:4).
3. Plea (Ps 27:7-12). Hear my voice (Ps 27:7).
4. Confidence (Ps 27:13-14). Wait for the Lord (Ps 27:13).

God is one (Dt 6:4). I have one life. Regardless of what happens, do I have one desire? One passion? One direction? One motivation? One trajectory of life? One heart? One Lord? One faith? One wife? One family? One church? Rick Warren says, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." Paul says, "my only aim" (Ac 20:24) and "One thing I do" (Phil 3:13).

When Your World Falls Apart (Psalm 3-7)

When Life Takes a Turn for the Worst (Psalm 3-7)

1. Psalm 3: Facing a New Day (Ps 3:5-6). You are not alone.
2. Psalm 4: Facing Another Night (Ps 4:4; 6:6). Who can I turn to?
3. Psalm 5: Starting a New Day (Ps 5:3). On pleading with the King.
4. Psalm 6: Waiting is Hard (Ps 6:1-4). The way prayer makes a difference.
• Prayers and tears (Ps 6:6-9).
5. Psalm 7: Sin and judgment. The judge is on your side.
• A Conscience without Offence (Ps 7:3-5).
• A cry for justice (Ps 7:6-11).

When Overcome by Sin and Guilt (Psalm 38)

\

When You are Overcome by Your Sin and Guilt:

1. How does David describe his suffering (Ps 38:1; 6:1)?
• Is he asking not to be rebuked or disciplined?
• Who does God discipline (Heb 12:6)? Why (Heb 12:10)?
• How does he feel (Ps 38:2)?
2. What does David connect his suffering with (Ps 38:3, 5)? How did his sin and guilt affect him (Ps 38:4, 6-8)? How does your sin affect you?
• Does God discipline severely (Ac 5:5, 10; 1 Cor 11:29-30)?
• What kind of suffering have you experienced in your life?
• What do you think caused your suffering?
3. What does David know about God's knowledge of him (Ps 38:9; 139:1, 5, 7, 23-24; Gen 16:13)? How is he different from Adam (Gen 3:10)? How devastated is he (Ps 38:10, 17)?
4. How does David's friends react to him (Ps 38:11-12)? Why (Ps 38:16, 19-20)? How did he respond to their criticism and opposition (Ps 38:13-14; 46:10; Eccl 5:2; Isa 53:7; Mt 27:14)?
5. After expressing great suffering what did David do (Ps 38:15; 39:7; 42:5, 11)? Is it easy for you to just wait on God without any time schedule (Job 13:15) What if you do (Isa 40:31)?
6. Is it easy to honesty confess your sins (Ps 38:18)? What if you don't (Ps 32:3-4)? What if you do (Ps 32:5; 1 Jn 1:9)?
7. Do you long to be near God more than with someone else (Ps 38:21)? How earnestly do you affirm your need for help (Ps 38:22)?
• Was his suffering relieved at the end of this Psalm? Is there a high point in this Psalm?
• How could David be so bold to appeal to God for mercy, being the guilty sinner that he was (Ps 51:3-4)?

• How might affliction, anguish, adversity and anxiety help a Christian more than comfort and convenience, safety and security (Ps 119:67, 71, 75, 92)?

• How does Psalm 38 point to Christ (Ps 22:1; Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34)?

Empowered to Witness (Acts 1)

1. Who is the author of Acts? What is "my former book" (Ac 1:1)? How and why did he write both books (Lk 1:1-4)? What is his main theme ["Song of Simeon"] (Lk 2:30-32, 10; Ac 4:12; 5:31; Isa 40:5)? What does "all that Jesus began to do and to teach" suggest (Ac 1:1; Lk 24:19)? What happens after you are "saved by grace" (Eph 2:8-10)? What are you doing with what you've been given (Lk 16:10-11)?
2. What is "the day he was taken up to heaven" (Ac 1:2, 9)? What were the 2 main topics of the Risen Christ "over a period of 40 days" (Ac 1:2-3)? What was his command (Ac 1:4-5)? How long did they have to wait (Ac 1:3; 2:1)?
3. What were Jesus' followers expecting (Ac 1:6)? How did Jesus correct them (Ac 1:7-8; Dt 29:29)? What is the clear evidence that you have the Holy Spirit (Ac 1:8; 2 Tim 1:7)? How does Acts 1:8 give an outline of Acts (1-7; 8-12; 13-28)?
4. How is the ascension a watershed moment (Lk 24:51; Ac 1:9)? What's wrong with Jesus' followers "looking intently up into the sky as he was going" (Ac 1:9)? What should they know about "this same Jesus" (Ac 1:11; Lk 9:26; 17:24; 21:27)? In the meantime, what should they be doing instead (Ac 1:8; Lk 24:47-49)?
5. How far away were the apostles from Jerusalem (Ac 1:12)? Where did they gather and who were they (Ac 1:13)? What did they do (Ac 1:14)? How important is this (Lk 18:1; 1 Th 5:17; Jas 1:5)?
6. What was the immediate problem that needed to be addressed (Ac 1:15-17)? What is the tragedy regarding Judas (Ac 1:18-19)? How did Peter resolve the problem (Ac 1:20; Ps 69:25; 109:8)? What does this teach us about Scripture (2 Tim 3:16; Jos 1:7; Ps 1:2)? What was the criteria for replacing Judas (Ac 1:21-22)? How was Matthias chosen (Ac 1:23-26)?

Salvation: Past, Present, Future

How glorious it is that though totally undeserving, God saves us by his grace (Eph 2:8-9) and mercy (Tit 3:5) alone.

Because of God's saving grace to us we can reflect with joy and thanksgiving all our days upon our salvation in manifold ways--in past, present and future tenses:

1. Past (Tit 3:4-5; Rom 1:16, 8:24, 10:10; Eph 2:8; 2 Tim 1:9; Acts 16:31).
2. Present (Phil 2:12; 1 Cor 1:18, 15:2; Rom 5:9).
3. Future (2 Tim 4:18; Phil 3:20; Rom 5:9; 1 Th 5:8; Heb 9:28).

The Tenses Of Salvation
Salvation 3-fold: Past, Present, Future
Salvation A Past, Present and Future Reality

How Does Salvation Happen? (Jonah 2:9)

“Salvation comes from the LORD.” (Jonah 2:9, NIV ‘84, '11) “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” (ESV) “Salvation is of the LORD.” (KJV)

Which is it? Did you first accept/believe Jesus and then God saved you? OR did God save you first and then you accepted/believed Jesus?

(Related post: Jonah: an Introduction. The Gospel According to Jonah.)

Not a new question. Throughout church history, Christians have explained salvation in 2 predominant ways. Those who emphasized God’s sovereign grace or divine election have been called Calvinists (after John Calvin), or Augustinians (after St. Augustine), while those who objected to this emphasis and contented for a rational doctrine of free will have been called Arminians (after James Arminias) or Wesleyans (after John Wesley). It is important to note that both perspectives are compatible with traditional orthodox Christianity. Thus, Calvinists and Arminians are friends in Christ, not angry argumentative combatants, just as George Whitfield a Calvinist was friends of John Wesley an Arminian. A “3^rd category,” which is non-Christian, is Pelagianism (after the heretical monk Pegagius who was excommunicated from the church), because they reject that man is a sinner and deny the need of grace for man’s salvation. Finneyism (after Charles Finney of the 2^nd Great Awakening) has also been regarded by some to be non-Christian because of his vagueness about salvation through justification, and his narrow and primary focus on man’s free will in determining his salvation.

3 "Different" Terms in the NT Describing Salvation

Interesting, the New Testament (NT) presents salvation by using quite different terms/words. The theme/key phrase of:

Divine Judgment (Gen 6:5-13)

Theme: God's salvation (the ark) is always through judgment (the flood). There is never any salvation without judgment.

Goal: Understand the pain of God's heart in his judgment.

Application: To not despair because of God's judgment, nor apply God's judgment on others without grief or pain.

To countless people, the very idea of God's divine judgment is upsetting, outdated, and irrelevant to them personally and practically. They agree with Richard Dawkins who said, The God of the OT is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic (woman hater), homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal (killing one's child), pestilential (causing disease), megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic (denying pleasure), capriciously (impulsive) malevolent (doing evil) bully.

But 3 things in this account of God's divine judgment in the time of Noah may help us understand the utmost importance of God's judgment.