Ability vs. Inability

 

Why do you believe in Jesus?

Was it because you're smarter than the other folks who don't?

Nope. That's not it. But I will say there are some who act as though they think they're superior to those who aren't saved because they think, "I made the correct choice." Now, I say "some", not all so don't get all worked up and angry over my comment.

Every single Christian didn't get "born again" because they made the right decision.

Salvation requires regeneration. What is regeneration? It's the fancy theological word for being "born again".

What happens when a person is regenerated? Regeneration occurs when a person receives a brand-new heart. We're all born spiritually dead. Our nature desires sin. Scripture says that the "natural man" cannot know the things of God. In 1 Corinthians 2:14 we read, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." The first thing we must take notice of are the words, "he is not able to understand them". Obviously, this means that a person is limited by his/her ability. It's not that they just refuse to accept the things of God; they CANNOT UNDERSTAND them. Why? Because they are spiritually discerned. It requires the work of the Holy Spirit to cause a person to understand the gospel. God (the Holy Spirit) is the initiator of salvation. Our understanding of the gospel doesn't come from our own intellect. It is supernaturally revealed to us when the Holy Spirit replaces our old dead heart and gives us a new heart that allows us to understand and embrace the gospel so that we WILL be saved. Not "might" be saved. Not "could" be saved. It's "WILL" be saved. Jesus declared in John 6:37, "all that the Father gives me WILL come to me and I will not cast them out." That's security. There's nothing iffy in that statement. There's nothing that gives the indication that salvation is a "possibility". Jesus isn't sitting around wringing His hands thinking, "Oh, I hope they accept Me." No, we are the ones who must be accepted. We're the ones who were lost. We're the ones the Shepherd had to come looking for. The only way for us to respond to the gospel is if the Holy Spirit first opens our hearts and minds to understand it. We're not only given a new heart, but we're given a new "will". God conforms our will to His so that we would willingly come to Christ. Salvation has never come about through our own initiative. God starts the process and He completes the process.