"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,
indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."
-Ephesians 2:1-3
in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,
indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."
-Ephesians 2:1-3
"Free will has carried many a soul to hell; but never a soul to heaven." -C.H. Spurgeon
CANON 7. "If anyone affirms that we can form any right opinion or make any right choice which relates to the salvation of eternal life, as is expedient for us, or that we can be saved, that is, assent to the preaching of the gospel through our natural powers without the illumination and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who makes all men gladly assent to and believe in the truth, he is led astray by a heretical spirit, and does not understand the voice of God who says in the Gospel, "For apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5), and the word of the Apostle, "Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God" (2 Cor. 3:5). -The Canons of the Council of Orange 529 AD
"All that the Father gives me will come to me,
and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
No one can come to me unless
the Father who sent me draws him.
And I will raise him up on the last day."
-John 6:37, 44
and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
No one can come to me unless
the Father who sent me draws him.
And I will raise him up on the last day."
-John 6:37, 44
"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect." -John Owen
"...we allow that man has choice and that it is self-determined, so that if he does anything evil, it should be imputed to him and to his own voluntary choosing. We do away with coercion and force, because this contradicts the nature of the will and cannot coexist with it. We deny that choice is free, because through man's innate wickedness it is of necessity driven to what is evil and cannot seek anything but evil. And from this it is possible to deduce what a great difference there is between necessity and coercion. For we do not say that man is dragged unwillingly into sinning, but that because his will is corrupt he is held captive under the yoke of sin and therefore of necessity will in an evil way. For where there is bondage, there is necessity. But it makes a great difference whether the bondage is voluntary or coerced. We locate the necessity to sin precisely in corruption of the will, from which follows that it is self-determined." -John Calvin (from Bondage and Liberation of the Will, pg. 69-70)
"...we allow that man has choice and that it is self-determined, so that if he does anything evil, it should be imputed to him and to his own voluntary choosing. We do away with coercion and force, because this contradicts the nature of the will and cannot coexist with it. We deny that choice is free, because through man's innate wickedness it is of necessity driven to what is evil and cannot seek anything but evil. And from this it is possible to deduce what a great difference there is between necessity and coercion. For we do not say that man is dragged unwillingly into sinning, but that because his will is corrupt he is held captive under the yoke of sin and therefore of necessity will in an evil way. For where there is bondage, there is necessity. But it makes a great difference whether the bondage is voluntary or coerced. We locate the necessity to sin precisely in corruption of the will, from which follows that it is self-determined." -John Calvin (from Bondage and Liberation of the Will, pg. 69-70)
For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God, not a result of works,
so that no one may boast.
-Ephesians 2:8-9
"If any man doth ascribe of salvation, even the very least, to the free will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright." -Martin Luther
"But when the kindness of God our Savior
and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration
and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us
richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
that being justified by His grace we might be
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
-Titus 3:4-7
and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration
and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us
richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
that being justified by His grace we might be
made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
-Titus 3:4-7
2 comments:
Good stuff. Mans natural mind is an enemy of God and even His own people struggle with the fact that they were not able to come to God without His awakening power. It is simply impossible for us to believe in Him unless he regenerates us. Having said that I do believe that faith and regeneration happen instantly, but that his drawing and regenerative power are working prior to us coming into a saving knowledge of Christ. We cannot be saved without the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, but He does not believe for us. I have a Spurgeon quote where even He said that. I guess thats why I like to say that His regenerative power precedes faith. Jesus spoke the words, "Lazarus come forth!" at the same moment that he was resurrecting Him,and His soul heard it at that instant. The message should always go out, "Look and Live!", but we do know from Romans 9:11 that there is know dispute in that He choses first and sets us apart from Birth. This is a hard thing for the natural mind to accept.
Love you brother.
Hey its me...Only Looks schiziod other half:-)
That good quote from Spurgeon:
"How come we to be believers? Beloved friends, you know how faith arises in the heart from the human point of view. We hear the gospel, we accept it as the message of God, and we trust ourselves to it. So far it is our own work; and be it remembered that in every case faith is and must be the act of man. The Holy Spirit never believes for anybody. Each man must personally believe.
...But , having said that, let us remember that the Godward history of our believing is quite another thing, for true faith is always the gift of God and work of the Holy Spirit." CH Spurgeon in contending against Romanism with the message: {The Priest Dispensed With}
Amen Spurgeon. Amen. Good words methinks
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