In my experience, I definitely had a part in it.
GOD revealed to me my sin (which up to that point, I had made excuses for, rather than confessing and repenting years earlier for) and I became aware that I had a choice.
I could make an excuse, like I was accustomed to doing, or I could take full responsibility, which I did.
I could see that GOD had been trying to bring me to this for a while in a gentler way, but because of the hardness and impenitence of my heart, I stored up wrath against myself, which I was experiencing at that moment in a very real and terrifying way.
I believe that it was GOD that broke me down to the point of humbling me to need a savior, but I had to respond.
That night I was stunned at how close I was to death. I had a very real sense that if I had made any excuse for myself that it was lights out, because I had been given so much light over the years, even as a young girl GOD was pursuing me and making Himself known to me in a real way.
So, I can agree that it is definitely initiated by GOD, start to finish, but we must not be passive, but respond.
I appreciate your response.
Your post shows the various things that you experienced in your life. Salvation, if you will, from your point of view and the things leading up to it. This is how every saved person sees their Salvation. From our point of view. It is only through study of the Scriptures and the Holy Spirits assistance does one come to understand the workings of this Salvation Plan.
We become aware, that in Adam's sin and subsequent fall, all of humanity became dead in trespasses and sins because we all fell in him. We were now under the curse of both "Physical Death" and we also died a "Spiritual Death". Mankind's communion with God had been shattered. Therefore, we no longer could understand spiritual things.
Rom 5:12 Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned:--
1Co_2:14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
To resolve this issue and allow God to have a people for His own. The Father, from Eternity past, Elected some to Salvation and gave them to His dear Son to Redeem. This was done before anything was ever Created.
Eph 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: (4) even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: (5) having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
We first experience our "physical birth" - sinners from the time we enter this world. The Elect will experience their "Second Birth" at God's appointed time. This is being Born Again or Born from above. This causes the natural person, who's spiritual understanding is dead, to be "Regenerated" unto spiritual life by the Sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. (John 3:1-10).
I stated in the earlier post, that the recipient was "Passive" in this work because this is what the Greek Text says. All of the New Testament was originally penned in the Koine Greek and then translated into various languages. The verb tenses and voices of the Greek language are very important and none is more important than the "Perfect Tense". The "Perfect Tense" does not exist within the English language. The "Passive Voice", whether in the Greek or English, means the same thing, the recipient of the action of the verb takes no part in the verbs action. An example of this in the English would be: "I was BEATEN by my captures." You were receiving the beating but nothing you did or were doing was active in the beating.
In John 3:8, the area highlighted in Red, is the Greek verb for being born:
γεγεννημένος. This verb is a "Perfect.Passive.Participle". Perfect = The action started somewhere in the past and the results continue into infinity. Passive = Recipient is not active in the action. Participle = well we don't need to go into that for this conversation.
John 3:8 The wind blows where it will, and you are hearing the sound thereof, but do not know from where it comes, and whither it goes: so is every one that is has been born of the Spirit.
The wind is of course, the Holy Spirit. Coming and going as He wills - doing the bidding of the Father and the Son, who sent Him. This "New Birth" is a secret work in the Heart of the recipient. No one knows exactly when this took place in their life but they do know, shortly thereafter, their attitude has changed towards the things of God. Also, the Words of God begin to make sense and they see things they have never been able to see before when reading Scripture. It is at this time that the Holy Spirit also indwells the recipient. The results of this, for the first time, this person begins to genuinely ponder the questions about a Savior and the Words of God direct this one towards the only true Savior.
From here on out, with the aid of the Spirit, we fall under the weight of our SINS and REPENT and ask for God's FORGIVNESS. Come to know TRULY who Jesus Christ is and lay hold of Him as our Savior and Lord. This is known as Conversion. God REGENERATED us and we respond with our personal CONVERSION. Regeneration takes place only once but our conversion goes on for a lifetime.
Just wanted to expand on my previous post. Take care.
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