We've seen the atonement, the cross of Christ, was only intended for a few. See my earlier post.
We've seen that only those whose hearts God has worked in, can come to Christ. See my earlier post.
So this is a part 3, of sorts, though each topic can be taken stand-alone- which is why I broke them up.
Now, I will address the "why?". Why can't everyone come to Christ? Why is it, that we can only come to Christ if it's God's work in our hearts?
This one is fairly short and simple because this is repeated over and over and over again through scripture and the idea is pretty simple.
The answer is because we are described as spiritually dead and spiritually discerned.
Ephesians 2:1, "You were dead in your transgressions and sins."
Romans 7:24, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
1 Corinthians 2:14; “The man without the Sprit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolish to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned.”
Mankind has a pretty bleak outlook. Paul encompasses all of mankind in 1 Corinthians because we all, at some point, lacking the Spirit of God. Spiritual things are foolish to all people, according to Paul. Only by God's hand (see my prior posts) can light be shed in our hearts.
Now, why are we described this way? What characteristics do we posses that Paul would describe us this way?
Mark 7:21-23; “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’.”
Jeremiah 17:9; “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
So we are dead, because we are all of these adjectives describing our heart.
Righteousness had no bearing on our lives prior to the work of Christ in us.
Romans 6:20; “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.”
We are naturally evil.
Ephesians 2:3; “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”
This means we aren't "naturally good". We don't posses the ability to do good. 100% of the time, we pick wrong.
We not only wage war against God, but we can't do any good. We can't submit to him. There is absolutely nothing we can do to please God.
Romans 8:7; “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
Ask yourself, is coming to Him pleasing to Him? Yes! But this says a sinful person cannot come to Him. Thus once more we see, the only way this happens is by God's work in our lives FIRST. He comes to US.
This idea continues all through the Bible. Once more I'll close with a verse. NO ONE can seek God. HE seeks US.
Romans 3:11; “There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.”
We've seen that only those whose hearts God has worked in, can come to Christ. See my earlier post.
So this is a part 3, of sorts, though each topic can be taken stand-alone- which is why I broke them up.
Now, I will address the "why?". Why can't everyone come to Christ? Why is it, that we can only come to Christ if it's God's work in our hearts?
This one is fairly short and simple because this is repeated over and over and over again through scripture and the idea is pretty simple.
The answer is because we are described as spiritually dead and spiritually discerned.
Ephesians 2:1, "You were dead in your transgressions and sins."
Romans 7:24, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
1 Corinthians 2:14; “The man without the Sprit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolish to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually discerned.”
Mankind has a pretty bleak outlook. Paul encompasses all of mankind in 1 Corinthians because we all, at some point, lacking the Spirit of God. Spiritual things are foolish to all people, according to Paul. Only by God's hand (see my prior posts) can light be shed in our hearts.
Now, why are we described this way? What characteristics do we posses that Paul would describe us this way?
Mark 7:21-23; “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’.”
Jeremiah 17:9; “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
So we are dead, because we are all of these adjectives describing our heart.
Righteousness had no bearing on our lives prior to the work of Christ in us.
Romans 6:20; “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.”
We are naturally evil.
Ephesians 2:3; “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”
This means we aren't "naturally good". We don't posses the ability to do good. 100% of the time, we pick wrong.
We not only wage war against God, but we can't do any good. We can't submit to him. There is absolutely nothing we can do to please God.
Romans 8:7; “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
Ask yourself, is coming to Him pleasing to Him? Yes! But this says a sinful person cannot come to Him. Thus once more we see, the only way this happens is by God's work in our lives FIRST. He comes to US.
This idea continues all through the Bible. Once more I'll close with a verse. NO ONE can seek God. HE seeks US.
Romans 3:11; “There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.”
