Yes they are while in the flesh, unregenerate, there's no alternative
Scripture refutes you
Man may repent
Jeremiah 31:18-19
I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God. / After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
Revelation 2:21–22 (LEB) — 21 And I have given her time in order to repent, and she did not want to repent from her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I am throwing her into a sickbed and those who committed adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent from her deeds.
Luke 11:32 (LEB) — 32 The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here!
Ezekiel 18:30–32 (LEB) — 30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways,” declares the Lord Yahweh. “Repent and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you.
Draw near to God
James 4:8-10
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. / Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. / Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
return to the Lord
Isa 55:6–7Seek Yahweh while he lets himself be found; call him while he is near. Let
the wicked forsake his way, and
the man of sin his thoughts. And let him return to Yahweh, that he may take pity on him, and to our God, for he will forgive manifold.
Jeremiah 3:12–14 (LEB) — 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, apostate Israel,’ declares Yahweh. ‘I will not cause my anger to fall on you. For I am loyal,’ declares Yahweh. ‘I will not be angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt, that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’ declares Yahweh.”
14 “Return, apostate children,” declares Yahweh. “For I am your master, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you to Zion.
Choose to serve God
Joshua 24:15–22 (LEB) — 15 But if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh.”
16 And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we would forsake Yahweh to serve other gods,
17 for Yahweh our God brought us and our ancestors from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and did these great signs before our eyes. He protected us along the entire way that we went, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.
18 And Yahweh drove out all the people before us, the Amorites who live in the land. We will serve Yahweh, for he is our God.”
19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve Yahweh, for he is a holy and jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.
20 If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster to you; he will destroy you after he has done good to you.”
21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve Yahweh.”
22 And Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves to serve Yahweh.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”
Choose life
Deuteronomy 30:11–20 (LEB) — 11 “
For this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too wonderful for you, and it is not too far from you. 12 It is not in the heavens so that you might say, ‘Who will go up for us to the heavens and get it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 13 And it is not beyond the sea, so that you might say, ‘Who will cross for us to the other side of the sea and take it for us and cause us to hear it, so that we may do it?’ 14
But the word is very near you, even in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it. 15 “
See, I am setting before you today life and prosperity and death and disaster; 16 what I am commanding you today is to love Yahweh your God by going in his ways and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his regulations, and then you will live, and you will become numerous, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the land where you are going. 17 However, if your heart turns aside and you do not listen and you are lured away and you bow down to other gods and you serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not extend your time on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to go there to take possession of it. 19 I invoke as a witness against you today the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse.
So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring, 20
by loving Yahweh your God by listening to his voice and by clinging to him, for he is your life and the length of your days in order for you to live on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them.”
Isaiah 55:3 (LEB) — 3 Extend your ear, and come to me! Listen so that your soul may live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the enduring proofs of the mercies shown to David.
As
@Doug Brents said...You have it backwards. You are trying to say that regeneration comes first, and then faith is either given by God, or demonstrated by the person (not sure which of these you believe). But that is wrong. Those that had faith became regenerated. The faith came first, and then the regeneration.
Is perfectly true. If it was not then NO ONE would ever have been told to chose. For it is you you always say once regenerated, then comes the faith and no choice is ever needed according to you... YET the following is proof from the bible that you are backwards.
PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO #5, #7, #8, AND ESPECIALLY #9
God Calling People to Choose
1. Deuteronomy 30:19
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.
Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.”
God explicitly commands a choice.
2. Joshua 24:15
“
Choose this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
3. Ezekiel 18:30–32
“Repent and turn from all your transgressions…
Why will you die?…
Turn and live!”
God pleads for them to change direction.
4. Isaiah 55:6–7
“
Seek the LORD while he may be found… Let the wicked forsake his way…”
5. Proverbs 1:29
“Because
they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD…”
God says people actively refuse Him.
Jesus Calling People to Choose
6. Matthew 7:13–14
“
Enter by the narrow gate… the gate is wide that leads to destruction… and those who enter by it are many.”
A direct call to choose which gate.
7. Matthew 23:37
“I wanted to gather your children…
but you were not willing.”
Jesus places the refusal on them.
8. John 5:40
“
You refuse to come to Me that you may have life.”
Not God’s refusal — theirs.
9. John 7:17
“
If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know…”
The will of the person matters.
10. John 12:36
“
Believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.”
A command requiring a choice.
11. Luke 13:34
“I wanted to gather you…
but you were not willing.”
Repeated again AND choice rejected.
Apostles Calling People to Choose
12. Acts 2:40
“
Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
13. Acts 3:19
“
Repent therefore and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”
14. Acts 17:30
“God now
commands all people everywhere to repent.”
15. Romans 10:9
“If
you confess… and
you believe… you will be saved.”
Two human actions.
16. 2 Corinthians 5:20
“We
implore you on behalf of Christ:
be reconciled to God.”
Imploring makes no sense without choice.
17. Revelation 22:17
“Let the one who is thirsty come;
let the one who wishes take the water of life freely.”
Wishing, coming, taking — all voluntary.
