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I think that unbelievers do have power to say no to sin.. otherwise they'd all be doing every known sin, and they are not. The same with any of us before we each got saved.
It's possible that the apostle Paul would come into the category too, using the law to refrain from sins, but not having satisfactory results until he got saved.
It's possible that the apostle Paul would come into the category too, using the law to refrain from sins, but not having satisfactory results until he got saved.
A man can be morally taught and in his pride believe it is his own goodness but the Bible makes it clear that allll our righteousness's without the new nature Christ gives; is all but filthy rags. Our intentions behind doing right is all selfish., our soul intention for doing anything is self driven., self edifying. The Bible says our throats are open graves., we are full of evil and dead mans bones. We are very much a mess until Jesus saves us.
So even when a human who is unsaved does the right thing... it counts for nothing when it comes to being good in God's sight. That person could be a moral person, a giving, kind and generous person., someone who is faithful to his wife, caring of his children., supporting of his friends and by the world standards someone who is worthy of a memorial to and for who he was after he dies. But in God's sight he is full of dead mans bones and going to hell.
When an unsaved man does good it is not because he is good. The law is good but it has NO power to make anyone good.
The law is perfect but it has NO power to make anyone perfect. Unsaved people need Jesus to deliver them and give then a new nature. And then that person can see the truth and begin to learn to walk in it. His motives are changing and his eyes are open to just how lost he was and just how evil his heart was. And it draws him all the more to Jesus to keep on changing him from the inside out. To work 'out' his salvation. What God put in begins to work it's way out of us each day as we see the truth. And grace is there to keep us from losing hope when we see how great a sinner we were and how much Jesus did for people as horrid as us. We fall on our knees and thank God for His marvelous unmerited love. We wonder how could He love us?? But He does and wants us to walk in the freedom of beloved sons. Then He even calls us righteous., forgiven and gives us the gift of no condemnation.