Man’s Moral and Natural Ability, Part 9

Man is so steep in his inability to choose God that God Himself must first “draw” (i.e. compel or drag) him to Jesus in order to be saved. Left on his own, man degenerates (cf. Rom. 1:24-31). If God does not step in and draw man from his own pit of degeneration, man will spiritually implode and become fatally lost for all eternity.

Jesus said this: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5).  An important word to focus on is the word “unless.” Jesus is stating an emphatic necessary precondition for anyone desiring to see or enter into the kingdom of God – “being born again!”  Evangelicals call this “rebirth.”

The Bible teaches that before a person chooses to accept or receive Jesus as his or her personal Savior, they must first be changed. They must be reborn spiritually.  Arminians have people choosing Jesus first, and then they are said to be “born-again.” In their scenario, unsaved people enter the kingdom of God in their unsaved condition. The moment a person receives Christ, he is in the kingdom of God. 

To Arminians, it goes like this:

One first believes in Jesus

Then becomes born-again

Then he enters into the kingdom of God

But Jesus rejects this. He says that in order for anyone to enter into the kingdom of God, he must first be born-again. Man does not have the power, nor the will, nor the desire, nor the necessary means to exercise faith in Christ.

A biblical approach to salvation is this:

Man becomes born again – i.e. made alive by God

Then he trust Christ as his Lord and Savior

Then he enters into the kingdom of God.

Do you see the difference? Which comes first, man placing his faith in God or God making man alive?  Remember, left to himself, man is spiritually “dead in his trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1), “and were by nature children of wrath” (v. 3). 

The bottom line is this:  Is salvation 100 percent the work of God or not? You say, “But man has to believe to be saved!”  Agree, but even the faith that man must have to place in God is given to him by God as a “gift” (Eph. 2:8). 

“Salvation is from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).  This is all you need to know as a starting point.  From this, your theology on soteriology will develop.

By the way, if you think personal faith coming from within man is a necessary condition for salvation to occur, then you will have to explain where infants go when they die.  If you say, “heaven,” then who gave to them the faith to begin with?  If you say, “hell,” then you should never be asked to do the funeral of an infant and counsel a family during their time of grief. If you say, “I don’t know,” then you have not taken the time to think this through.

An important point in understanding the doctrine of election is this: “Regeneration precedes faith.” Our corrupt human nature is so alienated from God, that unless God does a supernatural work in our souls we will never choose Christ.

We do not believe in order to be born again; we are born again in order that we may believe.   

End of Part 9