�It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure� (Phil. 2: 13).
Concerning the nature and the power of fallen man�s will, the greatest confusion prevails today, and the most
erroneous views are held, even by many of God�s children. The popular idea now prevailing, and which is taught
from the great majority of pulpits, is that man has a �free will,� and that salvation comes to the sinner through his
will co-operating with the Holy Spirit. To deny the �free will� of man, i.e., his power to choose that which is good,
his native ability to accept Christ, is to bring one into disfavor at once, even before most of those who profess to be
orthodox. And yet Scripture emphatically says, �It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy� (Rom. 9:16). Which shall we believe: God, or the preachers?
But some one may reply, Did not Joshua say to Israel, �Choose you this day whom ye will serve�? Yes, he did;
but why not complete his sentence��whether the gods which your fathers served which were on the other side of
the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell� (Josh. 24:15)! But why attempt to pit Scripture
against Scripture? The Word of God never contradicts itself, and the Word expressly declares, �There is none that
seeketh after God� (Rom. 3:11). Did not Christ say to the men of His day �Ye will not come to Me, that ye might
have life� (John 5:40)? Yes, but some did �come� to Him, some did receive Him. True and who were they? John
1:12, 13 tells us: �But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, to them that
believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God�!
But does not Scripture say, �Whosoever will may come�? It does, but does this signify that everybody has the
will to come? What of those who won�t come? �Whosoever will may come� no more implies that fallen man has the
power (in himself) to come, than �Stretch forth thine hand� implied that the man with the withered arm had ability
(in himself) to comply. In and of himself the natural man has power to reject Christ; but in and of himself he has not
the power to receive Christ. And why? Because he has a mind that is �enmity against� Him (Rom. 8:7); because he
has a heart that hates Him (John 15:18). Man chooses that which is according to his nature, and therefore before he
will ever choose or prefer that which is Divine and spiritual a new nature must be imparted to him; in other words,
he must be born again.
Should it be asked, But does not the Holy Spirit overcome a man�s enmity and hatred when He convicts the
sinner of his sins and his need of Christ; and does not the Spirit of God produce such conviction in many that perish?
Such language betrays confusion of thought: were such a man�s enmity really �overcome,� then he would readily
turn to Christ; that he does not come to the Saviour demonstrates that his enmity is not overcome. But that many are, through the preaching of the Word, convicted by the Holy Spirit, who nevertheless die in unbelief, is solemnly true.
Yet, it is a fact which must not be lost sight of that the Holy Spirit does something more in each of God�s elect than
He does in the non-elect: He works in them �both to will and to do of His good pleasure� (Phil. 2:13).
In reply to what we have said above, Arminians would answer, No; the Spirit�s work of conviction is the same
both in the converted and in unconverted, that which distinguishes the one class from the other is that the former
yielded to His strivings whereas the latter resist them. But if this were the case then the Christian would have ground
for boasting and self-glorying over his cooperation with the Spirit; but this would flatly contradict Ephesians 2:8,
�For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.�
Let us appeal to the actual experience of the Christian reader. Was there not a time (may the remembrance of it
bow each of us into the dust) when you were unwilling to come to Christ? There was. Since then you have come to
Him. Are you now prepared to give Him all the glory for that (Psa. 115:1)? Do you not acknowledge you came to
Christ because the Holy Spirit brought you from unwillingness to willingness? You do. Then is it not also a patent
fact that the Holy Spirit has not done in many others what He has in you! Granting that many others have heard the
Gospel, been shown their need of Christ, yet, they are still unwilling to come to Him. Thus He has wrought more in
you than in them. Do you answer, Yet I remember well the time when the Great Issue was presented to me, and my
consciousness testifies that my will acted and that I yielded to the claims of Christ upon me. Quite true. But before
you �yielded� the Holy Spirit overcame the native enmity of your mind against God, and this �enmity� He does not
overcome in all. Should it be said, That is because they are unwilling for their enmity to be overcome. Ah! none are
thus ��willing� till He has put forth His all-mighty power and wrought a miracle of grace in the heart.
Excerpted from "The Sovereignty of God" You can get a free copy of this book here:
The Holy Spirit overcomes a man�s enmity and hatred when He convicts the sinner of his sins and his need of Christ; and does not the Spirit of God produce such conviction in many that perish?
The gift of God in this verse is "grace". The continued effort to portray "faith" as a "work" is tiresome.
"And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."
Does that sound like boasting?
Anyone can make a vain attempt to glory in anything, from my perspective, some "glory" in the idea that they are elected and others aren't.
In my beliefs, I see no valuable action, no ground for boasting. Faith is grounded in the fact that Jesus died for a sinner who did not deserve it, the perfect son of God died for a carnal and degenerate sinner, I cannot reach into heaven and take one fraction of credit away from the sacrifice that Christ made. I can only boast in Christ and what He has done for me, and I believe it is far more conducive for mercy and humility to believe that every other human being on the planet is no better and no worse, and all have the same ability to believe in Christ if they would only heed His call. If there is an unbeliever, I have nothing to boast against him, because Christ is within that sinner's grasp in the same way it was available to me. I do not belong in some special club or genetic line or exclusive belief system, everyone who believes will be saved, and those that reject Him will be condemned. Just like the bible says. However, you introduce a special class of people who were hand-picked by God and cannot be wrong or ever fall away, and suddenly, all the problems that Jesus and the apostles had to deal with are back.
:stop:"Only the elect are children of God!"
:prayingm:"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the elect first, and also to the humanist."
:stop:"I cannot be wrong, I am elected by God! God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, false prophets, wolves, idolaters, or even as this humanist."
:prayingm:"And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were elected, and despised others"
You get the idea, and perhaps you do not fall into that trap, but do you see what I mean? "Election" is familiar territory for boasting, you only have to look back to the Jews. The situation is extremely similar.
OP was "The Sovereignty of God". Please feel free to highlight all of the verses on Election with a black magic marker Mark. Also, your commentary on Eph. 2:8-9 made no sense in conjunction with the use of the verse in the article.
It's really easy just to say it doesn't make sense, but that definitely does not mean you're right. I'd appreciate it if you could explain to me how it doesn't make sense.
