Does fallen man, in and of himself, have a
natural desire for Christ? Jonathan Edwards would answer this question with an
emphatic “No!”
In the Fall back in Genesis 3, man lost his
original desire for God. When he lost that desire, something terrible also
happened to his freedom. He lost his moral and spiritual ability to choose God.
When God went looking for Adam and Eve after their sin, the bible says that
they “hid themselves” (Gen. 3:8). Rather than choosing God and running to Him,
they ran from Him. Therefore, in order for man to choose Jesus, he must first
be given the desire to do so. Either man has the desire already in him or he
must be given that desire from God.
If God does not plant that desire within a
person, then left to him or herself, neither one will ever freely choose
Christ. They will always reject the clear presentation of the gospel. By rejecting the gospel, they are also
rejecting Christ. They will freely reject Jesus in the sense that they will simply
operate according to their desires.
At this point, you may be thinking: “If man lacks
the moral ability to choose Christ, how can God ever hold him responsible for
not choosing Christ?” In other words, if man is born in a condition of moral
inability, with no desire for Christ, is it not then God’s fault that men do
not choose Christ?
No comments:
Post a Comment