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“ Summary, Part 6 (final) ” b. MERE BELIEF IN A GOD DOES NOT SAVE ANYONE [48:25]. We don’t know God truly until we know His Son savingly. Being “basically good” makes people no better than Eli’s sons. Countless souls have followed this lie into the pit from where it came. Even the demons believe in the true God, yet they’re not saved. Show such people ROMANS 1-2 to show them their folly, and then to ROMANS 3 to show them Christ crucified. c. MAY THE DAMNING KNOWLEDGE OF SINNERS URGE US TO TELL THEM THE TRUTH OF CHRIST [50:30]. They need to know the creator Himself; they need to know Christ.
Ian Migala (4/1/2014)
from Minneapolis, Minnesota
“ Summary, Part 5 ” 4. IMPLICATIONS [44:45]. a. THE IMPOTENCE OF GENERAL REVELATION TO SAVE THE WICKED. Natural revelation tells us that there is a powerful, creative, and righteous God. But we need the gospel to tell us that His the savior of lost sinners. We should also be warned to not take the conclusions of creation science as the gospel: they are confirmation for the saved and perhaps a matter of interest to the lost, but those lost still need to be led to Christ. We should further heed the warning to not appeal to a sinner’s guilty conscience without telling him about the remedy of Christ. We must also not confuse such conviction with conversion. Feeling bad about sin does not mean forgiveness: that’s the sorrow that leads unto death (2 CORINTHIANS 7:10). We may appeal to general revelation but, like Paul, only as an introduction to special revelation.
Ian Migala (4/1/2014)
from Minneapolis, Minnesota
“ Summary, Part 4 ” 3. IMPORTANT LESSON ABOUT THIS KNOWLEDGE [34:50]: we should never focus upon general revelation for two reasons: a. THE BIBLE DOESN’T FOCUS ON IT. b. GENERAL REVELATION IS POWERLESS TO SAVE SINNERS. Paul would often start with general revelation, but then move on to special revelation. PSALM 19 does as well: it starts with the works of God and ends with the word of God. If Paul had stuck with general revelation, his pagan audiences would have embraced him, but not been saved. It is unbiblical to impose the gospel onto the stars or some aspect of creation because none of it points to Christ. To know God savingly is to know Him as a redeemer. 1 CORINTHIANS 1:21 – this verse teaches three things: that natural revelation doesn’t save souls, that God designed this as such, and that it is only through the preaching of the gospel that sinners are saved. All of man’s extra-biblical insight on God sums up to ignorance about God. Attempts to worship God through the creation lead away from God, not toward Him. We did not find salvation by reaching the conclusions of our searches; God had to open our eyes from blindness and our ears from deafness. He had to cleanse our hearts of filth and shed light into our darkness. He reveals Himself naturally, but intervenes supernaturally.
Ian Migala (4/1/2014)
from Minneapolis, Minnesota
“ Summary, Part 3 ” Like a hammer hitting a nail, the Bible over and over again strikes the point that wicked men do not know God. We infer that not all Old Testament Hebrews knew God, not even some sons of priests; that many Jewish religious leaders didn’t know God, and that even some early church members did not know God. If such proximity to the special revelation doesn’t guarantee knowledge of God, what can we say of those with only general revelation? The scope is much larger than “the heathen who never heard.” The Bible speaks of two ways of knowing God: generally and specifically; and we can draw some lessons from sinners’ knowledge of God: a. THEY KNOW HIM IN ONE SENSE, BUT NOT ANOTHER [31:50]. It could be expressed as awareness of God, but not abidance in Him. b. THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS IMPOTENT IN BRINGING THEM TO SALVATION [32:20]. If general revelation could save men, there would be no need for special revelation. General revelation can condemn men, but not convert them. c. ONLY THE BIBLE CAN BRING SAVING KNOWLEDGE OF GOD [33:15]. Faith doesn’t come by beholding the universe or heeding the conscience, but by hearing the word of God (ROMANS 10:17).
Ian Migala (4/1/2014)
from Minneapolis, Minnesota
“ Summary, Part 2 ” 2. RADICAL INADEQUACY OF THIS KNOWLEDGE [18:35]. This message is not exclusively doleful: man needs to know the bad news of ROMANS 1-2 to set up the good news of ROMANS 3, and its urgency is alluded to throughout the scriptures. 1 SAMUEL 2:12 speaks of the worthlessness of the sons of Eli (NASB) because they didn’t know the Lord. [The King James uses the term “sons of Belial”; Belial is a demon whose name means ‘without value’. -IM] In PSALM 79:6, Asaph calls for God’s wrath upon the nations that don’t know God. In JEREMIAH 9:3, 6, the prophet calls his own people liars who don’t know the Lord. In JOHN 8:19, 54-55, Jesus accused the Pharisees of never knowing God, since they don’t know who Jesus was. In JOHN 16:3, 17:25, He warned the disciples of impending persecution from the Pharisees who didn’t know God, but thought they did. In 1 CORINTHIANS 15:34, Paul tells some in that church that they are unrighteous and keep sinning because they don’t know God. In GALATIANS 4:8-9, Paul warns of turning to old ways after salvation: knowing God. In 1 THESSALONIANS 4:5, he links ignorance of God with bondage to the passions, with retribution in 2 THESSALONIANS 1:8, and with denial despite profession in TITUS 1:16. John links it with disobedience in 1 JOHN 2:3-4.
Ian Migala (4/1/2014)
from Minneapolis, Minnesota
“ Summary, Part 1 ” [Pastor Nutter credits his former professor, Pastor Greg Nichols of Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the outline of this message, which can be found in Pastor Nichols’ book, *What does the Bible say about God?: The Biblical doctrine of God*.] ROMANS 1:18-2:16 is the source text of, Part VI: MAN’S KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, and today we will consider, A. THE UNIVERSAL KNOWABILITY OF GOD [starting at 9:05 of the audio]. 1. REVIEW AND SUMMARY. a. PROMINENT FEATURES. i. SOURCE [10:15]: He is known in creation (1:19-21) and the fall has not blinded us to this reality. He is also known in the conscience (1:32, 2:14-15). ii. SCOPE [11:25]: He makes Himself known to all men. The most precivilized person has this endowment as much as the most lettered academic. iii. SUBSTANCE [12:45]: He makes Himself known as the creator (1:20, 32, 2:14-15). It is absurd to look upon the universe and not understand that something bigger made it. b. DECEPTIVE RESPONSE [14:10]. Even atheists live lives dedicated to silencing God. c. DAMNING IMPACT [15:40]. Man’s mere knowledge of God is not a saving knowledge. It is informative, but not transformative. It is convicting, but not converting.
