In God’s word it is clear that by God’s sovereign will he first regenerates us, and then from the new birth, comes faith.
“
I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols
I will cleanse you. A new heart
I will give you, and a new spirit
I will put within you, and
I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.” (
Eze 36:25-27 NRSVue)
*Is it man’s will, or God’s will?
“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” (
Joh 1:12-13 NRSVue)
“Everyone who
believes (present tense) that Jesus is the Christ
has been born of God (past tense), and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.” (
1Jn 5:1 NRSVue)
“For
he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well,” (
Php 1:29 NRSVue)
“Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘
You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but
you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (
Joh 3:7-8 NRSVue)
“
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away, …
No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day.” (
Joh 6:37,
44,
“A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth.
The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.” (
Act 16:14 NRSVue)
“When the gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord, and
as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.” (
Act 13:48 NRSVue)
“All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, doing the will of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else, but
God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—
by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” (
Eph 2:3-9 NRSVue)
“Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, for
it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (
Php 2:12-13 NRSVue)
“
In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave birth to us by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.” (
Jas 1:18 NRSVue)