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2010·07·26 · 10 Comments

Into my heart, into my heart . . .

Oo-hoo-hoo! Look who knows so much, ah? Well, it just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead, and all dead. . . . Mostly dead is slightly alive. —Miracle Max

I made passing reference last week to “kids who had at some point been talked into asking Jesus into their hearts or some such nonsense.” Having invited and received challenges to that statement, today I’d like to explain why I would say something so outrageous.

The fundamental question here is, “What must I do to be saved?” How you answer that question will depend on whether you are a synergist (God, through Christ, provides fully for your salvation, but you must cooperate in receiving it), or a monergist (man is neither willing nor able, God must do it all). I’ll begin by presenting both sides.

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
—Ephesians 2

The monergist begins with the fact that the natural man is dead. He is not “mostly dead,” having some ability in himself. But aren’t we called upon to do something? When the Philippian jailer asked his famous question, Paul and Silas did not say, “Nothing! You’re dead! You can’t do anything!” did they? No, they replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:30–31). Surely, God has not commanded the impossible, has he? This should not be difficult to accept. Scripture intentionally makes it quite clear that salvation is impossible. First, we are told that justification is by faith (Romans 3:27–28, 5:1; Galatians 2:16; etc.). Then we are told that faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), but that hearing, we cannot understand:

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
—1 Corinthians 2:14

In other words, forget it; you’re out of luck. But wait! “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.” Now we are no longer “the natural man.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 is not the end of the story.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things . . .

Does the one who has been “made alive together with Christ” now need to accept Christ or invite Jesus into his heart?

To be continued . . .

by David
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10 Comments:

1. 10·07·26··13:10
Kim in ON

I was hoping someone would ask you about that.

2. 10·07·28··16:43
Wesley

I can't believe you deleted my comment. Amazing........

3. 10·07·28··18:02
David

Wesley, I removed your comments because, frankly, they were nothing but incoherent gibberish. I don’t have time to decipher vague mumbo-jumbo.

4. 10·07·28··19:06
Wesley

LOL....I don't think that was the problem at all David. As a matter of fact it was a little too understandable for you liking. No problem. Not an unusual reaction at all among you guys.

5. 10·07·28··20:03
David

You clearly have a very high opinion of yourself. High enough, in fact, that you have no qualms about calling someone you don’t know a liar. Who, by the way, are these “you guys” who routinely lie to avoid answering your brilliantly devastating arguments? I’d like to know in whose company I reside.

6. 10·07·29··10:09
Wesley

Let me set the record straight David. I know that this post will never make it to your blog but here are the facts.

1. I am opposed to "easy-believism". I am not too sure about the terminology but the 1,2,3 Pray after me method is unbiblical.

2. I do not believe that people just wake up one morning and decide to repent and believe the Gospel. This is always the result of the unseen work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the person.

3. I believe God is the initiator in all dealings with humanity since the Bible clearly says that none seek after God.

4. I believe the Bible is the only authority for spiritual and moral matters and not man's spin on the Bible no matter how long ago and how many people have believed the spin.

Have an enjoyable day.

7. 10·07·29··10:48
David

OK, Wesley, as I see You’re not going to deal with your smug accusations (comment #4, above) and subsequent vitriolic comments (deleted), I’ll move on.

See, now you’ve made a clear, straight-forward statement. Furthermore, I agree almost without reservation, which I never would have expected based on your original comments.

My only question, if you care to answer, is regarding your point #2. Do you believe that people, moved by the Holy Spirit, decide to believe?

8. 10·07·29··12:43
Wesley

I really am not sure what you mean by "decide to believe".

Here is what I see in the Bible. There is overwhelming evidence in the Bible that God commands man to respond to truth and man is responsible for how he responds to truth.

I know that the Holy Spirit reveals a previously unknown truth to lost man. That truth being that God is holy and righteous and man is sinful and rebellious and therefore alienated from God. Now people may use the words that I have just used in describing God and man but with the Holy Spirit's revelation of sin, righteousness, and judgment to come man is really devoid of a biblical understanding of the words.

I know that in passages like Matthew 4:19 Jesus called people to respond to truth and in passages like Mark 10:17-22 unlike Matthew 4:19 people do not respond in faith to the truth. Also in passages like Galatians 3:1 people are rebuked for not believing the truth when it was set before them.

As I stated in previous posts that are no longer with us-smile-the Bible makes it clear in John 3:8 that we can only see the results of the work of the Spirit of God in salvation and not the work. I know from personal experience that the first time I heard the Gospel though I had been taught a totally different "gospel" all my life I knew it was absolutely true. I know that I was converted because I have repented and believed the Gospel as Scripture teaches. Now why did I respond to that truth in repentance and faith? From the limited perception of humanity, I believed the truth that was revealed in the Scriptures. From limited revelation of the process of salvation in Scripture, God granted repentance and faith by Grace because of the vicarious death of Christ.

Let me summarize with a statement that I often use in SW Louisiana that is humorous and enlightening. "A person can no more wake up tomorrow and repent and believe the Gospel WITHOUT THE INTERVENTION OF GOD than a fish can wake up and decide to towel dry himself." The fish has no concept of dry and the natural man has no concept of his condemnation, God's righteousness, and the salvation provided by Christ.

9. 10·07·29··22:48
David

The emphasis of my question is on the word “decide.” Do we decide to believe? Put another way, do we choose what we believe?

10. 10·08·01··18:22
David

Questions must have been too hard, had to bail out.

“Not an unusual reaction at all among you guys.”

(commenting rules)