@DavidTree
This is the Truth that @civic sees = we are not forced to believe
The Truth of Salvation is that it is freely GIVEN to those who believe by the faith that also is GIVEN
Good morning David,
Forced to believe?
The truth is this: Man by nature is, according to God's testimony of truth:
1) Dead in sins and trespasses. It takes
no less than the very power of God that raised up Jesus from the dead to quicken our dead spirits by creating in us a new man, that
gladly submits to the called of God, to believe and follow Jesus' faith/teachings, etc.
Ephesians 1:19,20
“And what
is the exceeding
greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set
him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places,”
Man, is dead in sins
by nature, the
SAME POWER that raised our Lord form the dead
MUST BE USE to raised an elect sinner to life in Jesus Christ! When Adam sinned he lost
all power to do
spiritual acts pleasing unto God. He did much more than stump his little toes! His will became
IN BONDAGE to sin and his new master, the devil himself, and the lust of his father he will do. His flesh at once became at enmity against God.
2) A man born of the Spirit of God, again will gladly come and submits. Examples of this in the word of God:
John 1:37
“And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”
Luke 19:5,6
"
And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully."
Acts 9:6
“And he trembling and astonished said,
Lord,
what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord
said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”
Matthew 13:20
“But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and
anon with joy receiveth it;”
Yes, it is true the Spirit of God MUST draw us, but all who receives the inward call of God come forth and follow the word of God, according to the light that has been granted unto them. You said:
The Truth of Salvation is that it is freely GIVEN to those who believe by the faith that also is GIVEN.
Brother, this is incorrect. The truth of the word of God is............. regeneration is an
act of pure mercy toward the sinner
so that they
"CAN BELIEVE" . But
not until then, for all they have is their fleshly nature wherein dwells no good thing, no, not one. Romans 3:10-18.
Also you said:
"to those who believe by the faith that also is GIVEN."
While I would agree, but would word it a little different,
@civic and
@Jim and most others here would not agree with this statement. Most truly believe just the opposite, that
faith comes by the power of man's fallen nature/will that he is born with. They teach man is a free will moral person, per AI:
The statement "a man is a free will moral person" means that humans have the capacity to make choices (free will) and are therefore accountable for their actions based on moral standards (moral responsibility). This implies that individuals are not merely puppets of fate or circumstance, but possess the ability to choose between different courses of action and are judged accordingly based on ethical considerations.
And we would add: to do
SPIRITUAL ACTS PLEASING TO GOD, but we know all that this is false according to God's very own testimony of man by nature.
