Churchwork
04-30-2008, 12:02 PM
You are not totally deprave, nobody is. You are fallen, born into sin.
God never says we are no longer made in His image after the fall, so the same gifted capacity exists within us, not to save ourselves, but to be able to come to the cross to be drawn by God so God will save us. Though we were locked out of the garden to partake of the tree of life, the cross of Christ is not the same, because it requires your repentance, as a helpless sinner, before regeneration. Adam had no such experience prior to his disobedience.
How wrong it would be if you were robotlike, unable to receive the cross, and the only way one could is if like a light switch some were turned on without first regard for their choice, and some were disallowed, robotically unable to choose or receive, so they were preprogrammed or premade for hell. What an evil god that would be!
Yes, you are fallen, but you are not a robot, you are still made in God's image. Nothing of your flesh (it's only verdict is death) will accept God, but the gift of being made in His image provides you still with the choice to receive His drawing to lead and convince you if you are receptive. You need not pride yourself in the belief you are premade for salvation. Christians are chosen before the foundations of the world by His infinite foreknowledge, not as preprogrammed robots whose lights are turned on and others not and without first regard for choice. Because you are unwilling to give up control of yourself, you assume you are this premade robot and shall perish by that mistaken assumption and unwillingness to let it all go for authentic salvation, dependency and trust in His Son. It can be a scary thing to let go of that world you created for yourself.
With a sober mind, praise the Lord for this discernment in knowing God does not save the way many claim they are saved. God will never save you that way, no matter how many times you keep telling Him.
I should not leave you without telling you how you are saved. The way you are saved is God predestinates by foreknowing (Rom. 8.29) your free-choice: a conditional election, unlimited atonement, resistible grace, for preservation of the saints (OSAS). Simply, come to the cross as a helpless sinner without overassuming to receive the Lord Jesus as you Savior. Nothing is better.
God never says we are no longer made in His image after the fall, so the same gifted capacity exists within us, not to save ourselves, but to be able to come to the cross to be drawn by God so God will save us. Though we were locked out of the garden to partake of the tree of life, the cross of Christ is not the same, because it requires your repentance, as a helpless sinner, before regeneration. Adam had no such experience prior to his disobedience.
How wrong it would be if you were robotlike, unable to receive the cross, and the only way one could is if like a light switch some were turned on without first regard for their choice, and some were disallowed, robotically unable to choose or receive, so they were preprogrammed or premade for hell. What an evil god that would be!
Yes, you are fallen, but you are not a robot, you are still made in God's image. Nothing of your flesh (it's only verdict is death) will accept God, but the gift of being made in His image provides you still with the choice to receive His drawing to lead and convince you if you are receptive. You need not pride yourself in the belief you are premade for salvation. Christians are chosen before the foundations of the world by His infinite foreknowledge, not as preprogrammed robots whose lights are turned on and others not and without first regard for choice. Because you are unwilling to give up control of yourself, you assume you are this premade robot and shall perish by that mistaken assumption and unwillingness to let it all go for authentic salvation, dependency and trust in His Son. It can be a scary thing to let go of that world you created for yourself.
With a sober mind, praise the Lord for this discernment in knowing God does not save the way many claim they are saved. God will never save you that way, no matter how many times you keep telling Him.
I should not leave you without telling you how you are saved. The way you are saved is God predestinates by foreknowing (Rom. 8.29) your free-choice: a conditional election, unlimited atonement, resistible grace, for preservation of the saints (OSAS). Simply, come to the cross as a helpless sinner without overassuming to receive the Lord Jesus as you Savior. Nothing is better.