No one can make themselves vessels of mercy, as it is not by the will of man, but by the election of God that any are saved and made anew into a vessel of mercy through the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, who alone wills our redemption and turns us to God through grace and mercy alone ( Rom. 9:15-16; Jn. 1:13)
God did not look ahead into time to see who would freely choose Him when He predestined those who would be saved because no one would choose Him without His regenerative work. No, we bring nothing to God in His sovereign will to elect any person. Salvation is not dependent on anything we do, because in our depravity, we are impotent to do anything to merit God's favor.
Many believers struggle with coming to grips with these truths, especially if they tend towards Arminian beliefs. I struggled with these, especially Romans 9, when I thought that surely God elected those who He knew would choose Him and desire to be saved. But when I took to studying Romans 1-11 seriously I could no longer believe along Arminian lines of thinking.
These chapters in Romans make it quite clear that man is absolutely unable to choose God and salvation in their own depraved will, in their unregenerated state. And I had to break from the error that unregenerated man could in any way cooperate with God in regeneration. For Romans 9 clearly says that God has mercy on whom he has mercy and that it is not by any will of man that one is elected. I had to come to realize that God is free to save whom He wills to save and does not save any whom He does not will to save. This realization took a long time for me to come to accept. But now that I understand it so much better, the truth of man's inability to come to God on His own unless God has already elected them and regenerates them.
See Pt. 9
(oops-I forgot to insert where the Got Questions excerpt ended! So sorry! I will find that break point and post it.)
Pt. 8
No one can make themselves vessels of mercy, as it is not by the will of man, but by the election of God that any are saved and made anew into a vessel of mercy through the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, who alone wills our redemption and turns us to God through grace and mercy alone ( Rom. 9:15-16; Jn. 1:13)
God did not look ahead into time to see who would freely choose Him when He predestined those who would be saved because no one would choose Him without His regenerative work. No, we bring nothing to God in His sovereign will to elect any person. Salvation is not dependent on anything we do, because in our depravity, we are impotent to do anything to merit God's favor.
Many believers struggle with coming to grips with these truths, especially if they tend towards Arminian beliefs. I struggled with these, especially Romans 9, when I thought that surely God elected those who He knew would choose Him and desire to be saved. But when I took to studying Romans 1-11 seriously I could no longer believe along Arminian lines of thinking.
These chapters in Romans make it quite clear that man is absolutely unable to choose God and salvation in their own depraved will, in their unregenerated state. And I had to break from the error that unregenerated man could in any way cooperate with God in regeneration. For Romans 9 clearly says that God has mercy on whom he has mercy and that it is not by any will of man that one is elected. I had to come to realize that God is free to save whom He wills to save and does not save any whom He does not will to save. This realization took a long time for me to come to accept. But now that I understand it so much better, the truth of man's inability to come to God on His own unless God has already elected them and regenerates them.
See Pt. 9
(oops-I forgot to insert where the Got Questions excerpt ended! So sorry! I will find that break point and post it.)
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