Process Pattern Sequence and Glorification

PPSG Pattern Process Sequence to Glorification 9 30 26

Hearing and the Response to God

PACKET 3 OF 14

The testimony reaches the hearer. What will the hearer do with it?

God has supplied His answer in Jesus Christ. The gospel makes that answer known. The next movement concerns the person who hears: recognizing the testimony, receiving it, turning toward God, acknowledging the truth, and entrusting the heart to the Son.

[H] Hearing → [I] Persuasion → [J] Receive → [K] Turning / Repentance → [L] Confession / Alignment → [1] Belief / Trust

The reading movement

Design and breach → Grace and response → judicial acceptance → the Spirit and changed condition → family and restored relationship → lived faith and vocation → completion under the King → the image-bearing purpose completed.

Principal readings: Romans 10:8–17; John 1:11–13; Acts 13:26–39; Luke 23:39–43.

Scripture quotations: King James Version.

Contents and reading guide#

The six response fields

In the larger movement, GOD provides and makes known → MAN responds → GOD establishes the changed condition. The response depends upon His provision; it does not bring that provision into existence.¹

1. The word is near; the response is real#

Packet 2 read Romans 10 for the message carried to the hearer. Return now for the response: what the mouth confesses, what the heart believes, and how Paul connects the hearer with the One proclaimed.²

Romans 10:8–17 — KJV

8 But what saith it? The [G] word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the [G] word of [23] faith, which we preach;

9 That if thou shalt [L] confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt [1] believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be [18] saved.

10 For with the heart man [1] believeth unto [4] righteousness; and with the mouth [L] confession is made unto [36] salvation.

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever [1] believeth on him shall [20] not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be [18] saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not [1] believed? and how shall they [1] believe in him of whom they have not [H] heard? and how shall they [H] hear without a preacher?

15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the [G] gospel of peace, and [G] bring glad tidings of good things!

16 But they have not all obeyed the [G] gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath [1] believed our [H] report?

17 So then [23] faith cometh by [H] hearing, and [H] hearing by the [G] word of God.

Verses 14–15 reason backward: calling upon Him requires belief; belief requires hearing; hearing requires a preacher; the preacher must be sent. Verse 17 states the word-and-hearing connection. Paul does not say that everyone who hears has therefore obeyed or believed.

1.1 Hearing the promise is not the same as answering it#

The invitation to hear and live did not begin with Paul. Isaiah joins a gracious invitation, attentive hearing, life, and covenant. The hearer is addressed because the response matters.

Isaiah 55:1–3 — KJV

1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? [H] hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: [H] hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

The invitation directs the hearer toward the Giver. It is not a demand that the needy person first create the water, bread, or covenant. Yet “incline,” “come,” and “hear” are not idle words. The person is addressed as one who must attend and answer.

Hebrews 4:1–2 — KJV

1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a [F] promise being left us of [40] entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

2 For unto us was the [G] gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the [G] word [H] preached did not profit them, not being mixed with [23] faith in them that [H] heard it.

Hebrews looks back to the wilderness generation and brings its warning to the present hearer (Hebrews 3:7–19). The preached word was heard, but hearing alone did not make it profitable. The distinction is not between two competing provisions. It is between encountering the message and answering it in faith.

[H] Hearing makes the testimony present to the hearer. [I] Persuasion concerns the judgment formed about that testimony.

2. Persuasion: the testimony is weighed#

What a person concludes and what a person then does are related, but not identical. [I] Persuasion concerns the judgment formed in the heart and mind about testimony. A person may recognize a claim and still resist it. Scripture allows the response to remain visible.³

Acts 28:23–28 — KJV

23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, [I] persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the [A] law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.

24 And some [I] believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one [G] word, Well spake the [6] Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,

26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, [H] Hearing ye shall [H] hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:

27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of [H] hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and [H] hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be [K] converted, and I should heal them.

28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will [H] hear it.

Paul reasons from Moses and the prophets concerning Jesus and the kingdom of God. His hearers do not all answer alike. The passage connects the ear, the eyes, the heart, understanding, and turning. The [6] Holy Spirit speaks through the prophet; this is testimony reaching the hearers, not a statement that each hearer has already received His indwelling.

Testimony is presented → the hearer weighs it → what follows shows how the hearer answers. Recognition is important; the response cannot simply be presumed.

3. Receive: the message and the One it announces#

The next field is [J] Receive. Here the question becomes personal: is the word welcomed as God’s testimony, and is the One it announces received? John brings receiving and believing together without erasing either word.

John 1:11–13 — KJV

11 He came unto his own, and his own [J] received him not.

12 But as many as [J] received him, to them gave he [5] power to become the [13] sons of God, even to them that [1] believe on his name:

13 Which were [10] born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Verse 11 retains refusal; verse 12 identifies the receivers as those believing on His name. The passage then names the grant and birth of God. The source of that life is not bloodline or self-generated human will. The receiver does not give himself the right John says is granted.

[J] Receive remains distinct from [1] Belief / Trust. The words explain connected aspects of the response; John does not insert a waiting period between them. The [5] Right / Authority and new-life statements will receive their fuller explanation in the following packets.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 — KJV

13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye [J] received the [G] word of God which ye [H] heard of us, ye [J] received it not as the [G] word of men, but as it is in truth, the [G] word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that [1] believe.

Paul distinguishes the human messengers from the divine testimony they carry. What was heard from men was received as the word of God. Its work in the believers is not described as the production of a merely human message.

[J] Receive follows [I] Persuasion in the guide; Trust belongs with [1] Belief. The word is welcomed as God’s testimony, and the heart relies upon the One it announces. The source, the received object, and the believing response remain recognizable.

4. Turning toward God#

A person can recognize God’s claim and still continue in the former direction. [K] Turning / Repentance names the accountable change toward God. It is more than feeling the cost of wrongdoing. The direction of the life is in view.

Mark 1:14–15 — KJV

14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the [G] gospel of the kingdom of God,

15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: [K] repent ye, and [1] believe the [G] gospel.

Jesus announces the kingdom and addresses the hearer. Repentance and belief are both named; the hearer is expressly told to believe the gospel. The kingdom message is not detached from the life the hearer is being called to live.

Acts 26:19–20 — KJV

19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should [K] repent and [K] turn to God, and do works meet for [K] repentance.

Paul keeps three matters visible: repent, turn to God, and do works fitting that repentance. “Meet” here means fitting or corresponding. The deeds are not an unrelated religious display; they belong to the direction confessed and lived. The sentence does not turn repentance, turning, and works into the same word.

Packet 2 placed faithful works in their positive setting: the lived use of what God gives, expressed in obedience and service. That distinction remains here. God’s provision precedes the response; an actual turn is to bear a corresponding life.²

Repent and turn are retained as related expressions within [K], while their individual word records remain distinct. The full Atonement / Atoned discussion stands alongside the process; it is not produced by the person’s act of turning.

5. Confession: the truth is openly acknowledged#

[L] Confession / Alignment gives outward testimony to what the person acknowledges. Its object may be personal wrongdoing or Jesus Christ and His rightful authority. Confession is accountable speech, not a sound that forces God to act.³

Proverbs 28:13 — KJV

13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso [L] confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

Confessing and forsaking appear together, but they remain distinct actions. The verse does not make concealment harmless; neither does it replace forsaking with a verbal admission alone.

Matthew 10:32–33 — KJV

32 Whosoever therefore shall [L] confess me before men, him will I [L] confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Jesus connects the person’s acknowledgment before men with His acknowledgment before the Father. The same confession verb can have different speakers and objects: Jesus is not confessing sin. Denial remains its own opposite word.

John 12:42–43 — KJV

42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many [1] believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not [L] confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

43 For they [30] loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

John does not erase their belief; he also does not conceal their withheld confession or the love of human praise. Their words and conduct must be read together. The [30] love word here has the wrong preferred object; its marker does not commend that preference.

6. Belief: entrusting the heart to Christ#

[1] Belief / Trust concerns more than knowing that a claim has been made. In the saving response, the hearer entrusts himself to Jesus Christ. The testimony becomes governing truth rather than information kept at a distance.

John 2:23–25 — KJV

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many [1] believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

24 But Jesus did not [1] commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,

25 And needed not that any should [G] testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

“Believed” and “commit” translate the same Greek verb, pisteuō (G4100). In verse 24, Jesus is the subject and entrusting is withheld. The connection helps the reader recognize entrustment, while the passage itself keeps each speaker, object, and action distinct.

James 2:18–20 — KJV

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast [23] faith, and I have works: shew me thy [23] faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my [23] faith by my works.

19 Thou [1] believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also [1] believe, and tremble.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that [23] faith without works is dead?

The devils’ belief has an expressed object: that there is one God. Their trembling does not make this a description of loving allegiance to Christ. The marker identifies the word, not a guarantee that every use describes the saving response.

James’s contrast also makes the positive purpose of works visible: faith is shown in the life. The complete faith-and-works argument belongs with the later vocation reading, where confession, faith, and faithfulness remain a combined witness. The works are not made into a price paid before God’s initial acceptance.²

7. The promised answer is proclaimed — Acts 13#

The hearer’s response is not suspended in an empty space. Paul’s sermon at Antioch in Pisidia supplies the testimony to which the hearer responds. After tracing Israel’s history and identifying Jesus as the promised Saviour, he speaks directly to the people before him (Acts 13:16–25).

Acts 13:26–31 — KJV

26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the [G] word of this [36] salvation sent.

27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.

29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

30 But God raised him from the dead:

31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his [G] witnesses unto the people.

A sobering distinction appears in verse 27: the prophets were read every sabbath, yet the rulers did not recognize Him or their testimony. Familiarity with the reading did not itself produce the right judgment concerning Jesus. Their action fulfilled words they had not understood.

Paul then names the events rather than offering a general assurance. Jesus was slain, taken down, and laid in a sepulchre. “But God raised him from the dead.” The witnesses saw the risen One. The person who hears is being asked to answer testimony about God’s act in Christ.

The sermon continues on the next page. Its promise, resurrection, and judicial announcement belong to the same argument; the concluding benefit must not be detached from the One through whom it is proclaimed.

7.1 The risen Christ and the believing hearer#

Acts 13:32–39 — KJV

32 And we [G] declare unto you glad tidings, how that the [F] promise which was made unto the fathers,

33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.

38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the [3] forgiveness of sins:

39 And by him all that [1] believe are [2] justified from all things, from which ye could not be [2] justified by the [A] law of Moses.

The repeated subject is God: He made the promise, fulfilled it, and raised Jesus. Paul brings the Psalms and the promised mercies into the explanation. David’s death and corruption are contrasted with the One God raised. Scripture supplies both the promise and the identification of its fulfilment.

Then comes the announced benefit: through this man forgiveness is preached, and by him all that believe are justified. The message offers forgiveness; it does not say that announcing it has already applied it to every person who happens to hear.

The superiority of Christ is stated without turning the words into a new catalogue of Mosaic exceptions. Paul’s following warning also addresses the hearer’s possible rejection (Acts 13:40–41). The gracious announcement is to be believed, not merely encountered.

8. The man who appealed to the King#

The response can be seen in a life with very little time remaining. Two condemned men are beside Jesus. One rails at Him. The other acknowledges his own guilt, speaks of Jesus’ innocence, and appeals to Him as Lord and King.

Luke 23:39–43 — KJV

39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, [18] save thyself and us.

40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The first man asks for rescue in a challenge: “If thou be Christ.” The second does not call his own deeds innocent. He distinguishes the judgment he has received from Jesus’ innocence and places his appeal before the One whose kingdom he names.

Jesus answers the man, not an imagined religious résumé: “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The passage records no interval for a long career of religious achievement. Nor does it narrate every hidden operation of God in this man. What it does show is an accountable response to Jesus and Jesus’ promise to him.⁴

The scene supplies a narrative witness to acknowledgment and entrustment. It does not use each of the six response words as a separate lexical entry or expose the precise timing of the man’s inward judgment. Its testimony is strongest when its own words are allowed to remain whole.

The [18] save word in the first man’s challenge identifies a request for rescue there; it does not commend his response. In the second man’s speech, “receive the due reward” concerns recompense for deeds, not the [J] receiving of Christ.

9. The response leads into God’s work#

The question posed at the beginning now has a connected answer. The gospel reaches a person with testimony about the promised and risen Christ. Hearing supplies the report; persuasion concerns the judgment formed about it. Receiving, turning, confession, and belief describe the accountable response rather than six names for one undefined religious moment.

[H] Hearing → [I] Persuasion → [J] Receive → [K] Turning / Repentance → [L] Confession / Alignment → [1] Belief / Trust

This guide separates functions so the reader can recognize them in the passages. Some statements explain an ordered dependency; others identify related responses together. The guide does not require a measured delay between every pair or rearrange a verse to make its numbers rise.

The response does not create [D] Grace. The heart entrusts itself to the One who has acted. The life received is then to be lived in faithful service, not treated as an unrelated life after the promise has been accepted.

The image-bearing purpose remains the destination: received life In Christ, lived under His rule, and completed by God. Justification will not disappear after its first explanation; its continuing and final applications remain in view through the same [2] marker.

Next reading: Packet 4 — Judicial Act, Forgiven Sins, Righteous Standing.

Sources and reading references#

Scripture is the primary witness. The references below identify the existing study context and the particular material carried forward. Superscript numbers identify sources, not additional PPSG steps.

1. Opening — Complete PPSG Guide, Bookmark, and Introduction. Same study; complete response guide p.3; judicial group p.4; God–man movement p.8; intention and In Christ pp.9–13; recurring-word explanation p.15.

2. Packet 2 — Grace, the Call, the Promise, and the Word, revised 4 October 2026. §2–2.1, pp.4–5: faithful works, stewardship, and inheritance; §5–6, pp.10–12: gospel content and the hearing handoff. Its Scripture remains the starting point for this focused return.

3. CLEAN PPSG CHAT 1 copied for project reference 7 29 26(1).docx. Hearing/report pp.58–60; Persuasion and accountable response pp.61–65; Repentance pp.65–67; Confession pp.68–73; Believe/entrustment pp.74–82. Source page and subject are the locators; reliable printed line references are unavailable.

4. PPSG_Transfer_Packet_4_Post_Belief_Mechanisms_Controls_Sequence_Rebuilt.docx. §10, p.7, Luke 23:39–43 and the distinction between Christ’s acceptance and a required extended course of performance. Source page + section apply; printed line reference not available.

Passage locations

Word and context notes

G189 report/hearing: Romans 10:16–17 and Hebrews 4:2. G3982 persuasion: Acts 28:23–24; G569 is the separate negative verb there. G4100 belief/entrustment: John 2:23–24. G3340/G3341 repentance and G1994 turning remain distinct records within the related [K] reader family. G3670 confession is not the denial verb G720.

Acts 28:28’s salvation-bearing expression (G4992) remains distinct from the [36] noun record (G4991). The divine Son and His begetting in Acts 13 are not the believer’s [13]/[10] operations. The KJV words are retained; the person and local function govern their explanation.

Fuller comparisons: Justify / Justified / Justification — Forms and Time Profiles; Called / Elect; Atonement / Atoned and the soils/continuance readings. No extra Chosen, Elect, Teshuva, or Atonement stage is added to the guide.

Quotation comparison: retained KJV text in the preceding packet and Scripture Fidelity Audit; the selected supporting KJV chapter texts reproduced by Bible Hub and YouVersion. The displayed Greek word records were checked only for these existing readings. Each quotation keeps its own passage reference.