As a church, we hold to Reformed soteriology, which means "the doctrine of salvation". How is a person saved? How is a sinner brought from spiritual death unto spiritual life? Reformed theology answers this question with 6 points from Scripture: 1. God is sovereign; 2. Man is totally depraved; 3. The Father elects unconditionally; 4. The Son atones particularly; 5. The Spirit draws irresistibly; 6. The triune God preserves His saints.
God is sovereign, in absolute control over all things. Eph 1:11 says that God works all things in accordance with the purpose of His will. This sovereign control includes the wills and choices of His creatures. Psalm 33:10-11 says, The LORD foils the plans of the nations, He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart throughout all generations.
But to all who did receive [Jesus], who believed in His Name, [God] gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)
For [God] says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. …So then He has mercy on whomever He wills, and He hardens whomever He wills. (Rom 9:15-18)
Man is totally depraved, which means that humans are wicked to the core of their being, spiritual dead in sin, with sin embedded in our spiritual DNA, affecting our mind, heart, will, behaviour, choices, decisions… everything. We are not free to choose between good and evil–our warped and sinful hearts choose between evil and evil. Being then totally depraved with sin affecting every part of us, we cannot do anything to save ourselves. We are drowning helplessly in our own wickedness. As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. We all lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature, following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-3)
The Father elects unconditionally, that is, without a prior condition, for God foresees nothing good in us that affects His sovereign choice. God does not look forward in time to see if we will believe and then He chooses us accordingly. Indeed, we cannot believe because of our depravity in sin. God elects His people based on nothing other than His good pleasure and free grace. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)
The Son atones particularly those whom the Father has chosen. There is no disunity in purpose between the Father and the Son. Those whom the Father has elected from all eternity, the Son gave His life in sacrifice for. His precious blood is not shed in vain for the non-elect. As the great High Priest, the Lord Jesus intercedes before the Father on the basis of His perfect sacrifice only for His chosen sheep. If Jesus gave His life in atonement for all, then all would necessarily be saved, such is the power of His atoning blood. The Son died for the elect to guarantee their salvation; He died for the non-elect to seal their condemnation. Jesus said, “I know My own sheep, and My own sheep know Me–just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15)
The Holy Spirit draws irresistibly the elect sheep to faith in Christ. The chosen one cannot resist or reject this wooing of the Spirit but will necessarily respond in faith in turning to Christ as the Spirit regenerates and enables a depraved sinner to believe, giving them the gift of faith. The Spirit removes the hardened heart of stone and replaces it with a beating heart of flesh, giving new spiritual birth from God as a new creation. Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:5-8)
The triune God preserves His saints who are elect, atoned for and drawn to Christ. God will lose none of His elect but will preserve them for salvation, for His honour and glory. While pretend Christians may fall away, true elect saints will persevere in genuine faith to the end. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to My voice. I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal Life and they will never perish–no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all–no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)