You present a Gospel with no power to bring a person to metanoia, because that person is provided with an impersonal set of facts.
Are you a monergist or a synergist?
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You present a Gospel with no power to bring a person to metanoia, because that person is provided with an impersonal set of facts.
yes they can not do spiritual thingsPeople use their freed will to respond. The natural man is opposed to the Spiritual things of God. Scripture says so.
The free will camp assumes, with no supporting text and contrary to many verses that evidence the opposite, that the man of flesh is free to choose, and will believe, that which he can neither receive nor comprehend, and to which he is inherently opposed with his uncircumcised heart of stone. There is simply no getting around the fact that this is the core of their belief, and it flies in the face of what Scripture actually teaches about the natural man who is a slave to sin and lover of darkness refusing to come into the light, blinded to truth and under the power and influence of Satan: he serves the law of sin which brings forth fruit unto death, not life. Without the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, his incurably wicked heart cannot be changed. He hates God, rejects the light, and hears the gospel message as foolishness. Praise the Lord if He has set you free!
They can however chose to admit they are lost. and recieve Gods grace.
The true and essential teaching of the OT and NT ..scary how it is denied.
You say they cannot do spiritual things, and then say they can do spiritual things. Knowing one is lost is a spiritually discerned understanding.
No
falling on your knees crying out for Gods mercy is not a spiritual thing. It is a person who was brought to their knees by God and instead of hiding this truth in their heart. crying out for Gods mercy
he will THEN save them
and THEN they can not only understand, but do spiritual things
The Gospel message when properly and correctly delivered informs the person they are lost, some people like to make the Gospel/God's Word and its TRUTH as if it is powerless to move a person to repentance.
Understanding that one is lost is spiritual discernment. It is this understanding that leads one to fall on their knees and cry out for mercy. By the time someone falls on their knees and cries out, they have already believed that they are a sinner and that Jesus alone offers forgiveness. They are already believers in Christ; hence, they are already saved before crying out.
Only man's spirit can do spiritual things. Natural man may resist God. If he stops resisting God, the Spirit of God will connect with the man's spirit causing him to be "born by the Spirit".
This is why predestination is not about salvation but about conformation: "predestined to be conformed to His likeness". This is a promise of refinement. The setting of this jewel is in an exposition about suffering and a warning about living according to the desires of our flesh.
Well, I’m not going to fully understand with my three pound brain, the Mind and Motives, of the Creator of the Universe.
I’m only going to trust Him, and His Word.
as do I
He loved the world
He died for the world
He was not sent to judge the world
He was sent that they world had the possibility to get saved
whoever believes will be saved
whoever continues in unbelief. will continue to be lost.
if I am out on an ocean in the middle of a hurricaine and my ship is sinking
I can discern that I am in a desperate situation.
and can then trust the one who came to rescue me, or reject his help and keep tryign to save myself
romans 1 says that all men whoever they are understand they deserve to die because of their sin.. so they know they are in a desperate situation and can discern this
and can thus reject the one who came to save them
or recieve his salvation. by trusting him
what we do in each situation is what will depend if we will be saved. or we will die.
Right. But what is it that leads the natural man to cease resisting? Is this a matter of the natural man by his own endeavor or the activity of God that enables this to transpire?
I don't believe your example is a correct depiction of the estate of the natural man. If you had said you were out on the ocean in a storm and unconscious, you would have an accurate assessment of the natural man. What would you do in that case?
Sometimes fatigue. Suffering may be part of it. God may arrest people personally.
Or... God is working the circumstances of an individual's life as well as opening their hearts and granting understanding.
When you read Romans 3:10 and following, who is being described here?
Perhaps. Although this was said of the Jews "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit". So, God simply working in someone's life doesn't equate to understanding. In fact, one could say that creation itself ministers God's truth to everyone so that no man is innocent before God. Indeed, condemned is the starting point of every soul.
Paul answers your question specifically in Rom. 2:4, "Or do you show contempt for the riches of God's kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that His kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"