Marlow, may we pray to God for help. Please read Romans through Philemon for doctrine and pray continually everyday to hear the wonderful word of God speak.
This verse is great to learn how to pray .
Philippians 4:6
Becarefulfornothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requestsbemade known unto God.
May God bless you're family
Ray in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the gospel that saves today .
Thanks for your thoughts on the subject. It has certainly stirred up my "reasoning."
Two scriptures that came to mind as I was reading your post was Psalms 19:12 & 13, where we pray to the Lord to make us better.
Thank you!
"keeping of them there is great reward. 12Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 13Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 1" KJV
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ that the Lord will confer upon us the means for our fellow Christians Bros. and sises to be sufficient for them to continue their busiessness wherever they are. Please, promote their reputation that customers will find their locale to share by word of mouth. Protect the rights of their employees that they will have a full pocket for them to buy their necessities for their family. Instruct the hearts that they will steer away from the follies of modern business so they will complete their job with honor. Allow new businesses to open in places that had closed recently that there shall be fun places that shall make memories for our generations to once again appreciate the flow of love. And bless the nations that they will share some of their culture ideas rather than be ignored by current cultural gaps, for our local peoples to understand why we depend on different ideas and practices to connect to new peoples. Amen
Need freedom from all the satanic programs that are repeated day after day, year after year by those who have / host that same spirit of control, witchcraft, envy,hatred,& murder that operated in Jezebel, Athaliah, & the prophets of Baal. These controlling spirits hosted by men& women in leadership or government positions,not appointed by God, but by the rulers of the darkness of this world. This kind loves to be the focus of attention, on stage, in charge, & they have no love, mercy, or compassion, but are swift to hurt, & enslave, exploit, & make a public spectacle of those they are feeding off. It's also a form of vampirism- feeding off soul energy.
Because I have believed in God, the gospel, and Jesus all my life, my life experience of living in God's favor clouded what I thought was the true Scriptural state of fallen man. I was granting far more to man in fallen state than is true because I have lived my life as a regenerated elect child of God under His grace, not as a vessel of wrath but one who God made a vessel of mercy early in my life as long as I can recall. In my immaturity and ignorance I held to a skewed view of humanity as being able to choose for or against God depending on one's will to cooperate with God or not. But my reasoning was not reflective of what Scripture truly taught. And when I seriously searched Scripture to find out what is true on this matter, I changed my belief to align with Scripture, not just what I had been taught or exposed to over time nor according to my lack of mature understanding of Scripture truth.
GOD'S RIGHT TO EXECUTE HIS WRATH AND JUSTICE AND TO GRANT HIS GRACE AND MERCY TO WHOM HE CHOOSES
God's perfect holiness and righteousness warrants His condemnation of sin and evil. He is just to condemn all humans and the sinful angels to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire. All sinful beings deserve this judgment. It is just for God to judge this way. Humans may find that the exercise of His wrath, justice and eternal punishment incompatible with His love for sinners. But in God's infinite greatness both His love for sinners and His hate wrath for sinners are both true of Him. He does not make mistakes or act unholy and unrighteous ever. So, as humans, it is important that we accept this truth and not defame God's name by accusing Him of being wrong for having humans experience his wrath, judgment, and punishment. He is just and righteous in ALL of His ways. .
I will stop for tonight and pick up posting the rest on this topic tomorrow.
This statement, "all have sinned," is found in Romans 3:23 ("For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God") and in the last clause of Romans 5:12 ("because all sinned"). Basically, it means that we're all lawbreakers, because sin is the violation of God's law ( 1 John 3:4). Sinfulness is the general characteristic of all mankind; we are all guilty before God. We are sinners by nature and by our own acts of transgression.
and ends with this
"The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God" ( Psalm 14:2). And what does the all-seeing God find? "All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one" (verse 3). In other words, all have sinned."
To continue with my thoughts:
Some of Arminian persuasion do agree that fallen man needs God's grace to turn to Jesus, but tend to avow that God gives just enough grace for one to be free to make a choice for or against Jesus and His salvation. But my studies, especially in Romans, Ephesians, and Galatians, convinced me that God gives grace in full measure to His elect, not to only be freed to make a choice for or against the gospel, rather He grants His grace that ensures that the elect will repent and believe unto salvation. I will discuss this more in the next section. But for now, I think that when I came understand and accept the truth about man's depravity and inability to come to God before regeneration I can become so gladdened and thankful for what God has done in my life as one of His elect. These truths to me have become glorious as I came to the conviction that God's will is so much better than my own and His saving nature is supreme over my sinful nature. Therefore, I came to trust God more and more and surrender more and more of my reliance, reasoning, logic, and trust in what I thought was man's strengths to God.
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.)
They do not submit themselves to God or to His righteous standards for they lack a new holy nature that makes then able to prefer God over sin, to believe in Jesus over self-rule, and to see themselves as in need of salvation that is only in Jesus by grace. Unregenerate man invariably think that they can establish the terms of righteousness for themselves instead of honoring God in His perfect holiness and morality as the only one who can determine what is right and wrong. Every fallen man relies on what is right in His own eyes as his moral standard as opposed to what is right in God's eyes. ( Pr. 12:15; 14:12; 21:2-3; Jdg. 21:25; Dt. 12:8;Is. 53:6; Rom. 1:21-22) Fallen man calls evil good and good evil (Is 5:20).
Unregenerated humans think that they are basically "good" people with some faults, but not thoroughly corrupted by sinfulness. But humans are not basically good, we cannot do one good thing in this life. ( Rom. 7:18). Gen. 6:5 describes the state of unregenerate humanity as continually sinful, inventing new ways to sin against God, always inclined to sin and habitually pursuing evil. How wicked are we in our unregenerated state!
We are not just a little bit sinful, but wholly sinful, and God cannot "look on us" in our sinful state ( Hab. 1:13) in the sense that He must turn away from evil though He remains fully aware of all sin and evil as it occurs. Hab. 1:13 reflects God's hatred of sin and its total offensiveness to Him. In our sinfulness we are an abomination to Him and deserving of the eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.
We are hopeless without God's direct intervention of regeneration. Only as new creatures in Christ are me made able to respond to God's call and will to believe because the grace that regenerates us also implants faith in us to believe the gospel and desire fellowship with God.
Our depravity stays with us throughout our earthly life and, even as believers, it continues to affect us. As believers, we battle against our own sinfulness continuously and only have victory over sin due to the Person, work and power of the Holy Spirit in us. Though we have been born again and have a new nature in Christ that we did not have prior to regeneration, we still retain our sinful nature in this present earthly life.
Every human will sin because each of us are sinful. Our human nature is sinfully oriented to evil because of Adam's sin. Only a new holy nature is able to overcome the sinful nature day by day. Without this new nature, we could not desire to war against our sinful nature (the flesh, as Paul calls it).
Unregenerate humans choose to commit sin because they believe they will be happy if they choose it. They believe that the happiness of sin is better than being in Christ Jesus who is the best, richest, most profound, and most satisfying treasure and pleasure any human can have. But sinful humans do not want the treasure and pleasure of God in Christ. Sinful humans do not wish to spend eternity in heaven with God.
Sinful humans love their freedom to sin at will and enjoy being hostile to God. Sinful humans want to be autonomous, self-determined creatures and the only authority they need to have is themselves. Believing and accepting that God is sovereign and the determiner of one's eternal destiny is not what they will accept.
Before being regenerated we obey our sinful nature, which we are slaves to and we disobey God, who we do not wish please nor can we seek Him, desire Him, call on Him, or do any righteous act while aliened from God as His enemy and our stubborn resistance to believe Him, though we know He exists, as He has revealed Himself to humanity. Humans cannot please God for every aspect of themselves that contributes to their decisions, even to do good to others, is tainted by sin. Any actions we may consider to be righteous can never erase any of our own sin nor can we be reconciled to God by our own acts of righteousness. Romans 9:32 says that humans try to establish their own righteousness before God by obeying the law, but God does not accept any of it. This is because, as James 1:2 says, that if one obeys all of the law except one time disobeying one requirement of the law that person is guilty of breaking all of the law as far as God is concerned.
So, then, every one of us are guilty of all the law before God because we resist Him in our ways, words and work to circumvent His authority and sovereignty continually. We are at enmity to God and will not submit to His rule and reign in our lives and hearts, nor can unregenerate flesh do so. ( Romans 8:7)
Fallen humans are without God, without hope, without righteousness, without redemption, without the ability to contribute anything towards their salvation. Fallen humans are lost, worthless to God, alienated from Him, separated from Him, unable to come to Him unless God chooses a person to be saved by election, by God's sovereign choice. ( Romans 9:16)
Scripture makes clear in so many passages that unregenerated cannot, due to lack of ability, and will not, due to preferring sin to obedience, effect a remedy their fallen state before God. It is a sovereign free act of God that saves anyone. We cannot compel God to save us, neither can we choose Him in our unredeemed state.
I wish to use this excerpt because it explains this topic so well and identifies so many Scripture verses.
Excerpted From: Got Questions:
What Does It Mean that All Sinned?
Romans attests that in Adam, all sinned. Theologically, this has been called "original sin" over the centuries. Original sin does not mean that we are guilty of Adam's sin, but that we inherit a sinfulness that is transmitted from Adam to all humans. No human is exempt from being sinful and corrupted.
Humans are driven to sin, enslaved by this sinfulness to continue to sin and to rebel against God, as these Scriptures say:
John 8:34
Jesus replied, "Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.'
2 Peter 2:19
They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
Titus 3:3
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures-living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
Romans 6:16, 17
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 6:20
For when ye were the slaves of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Romans 3:10-12 quotes Psalm 14:2-3 and Ps. 53: 1-3 saying that no one does what is good, not even one, no one understands the things of God (spiritual matters) because the god of this world has blinded us so that we cannot see the glory of Jesus in the gospel.
Paul also says that all humans are hostile to God, at enmity towards Him, His enemy, dead in sin, and enslaved to sin, we do not seek Him nor can we please God nor submit to His law. Elsewhere we are told that it is man's pride that keeps Him from hating his sin and submitting to God.
( Romans 2:1; 5:10: 3:10-18, 8:6-8; Eph.2:13; Ecc. 7:20; Ps. 14:2; 36:1-2; Is. 53:2)
Another view is that the statement "all have sinned" refers only to personal sin arising from our sin nature. After clarifying in Romans 5:13-17 how personal sin is imputed and then spreads, Paul explains why "all die," even if they have not committed personal sin. The reason all receive this "death sentence" (5:18a) is that, through Adam's disobedience, all were "made sinful" (5:19a). The verb made means "constituted"; thus, the sin nature is an inherited condition that incurs a death sentence, even in those who are not yet guilty of personal sin (5:13-14). This inherited condition inevitably spawns personal sin when conscience matures and holds a person accountable as soon as he chooses to knowingly transgress the law (2:14-15; 3:20; 5:20a).
We are all sinners because Adam passed on his sinful condition that leads inevitably to our personal sin and death. All share Adam's death sentence as an inherited condition (the "sin nature") that is passed down to and through the human race and that every child brings into the world. Even before a child can be held accountable for personal sin, he or she is naturally prone to disobey, to tell lies, etc. Every child is born with a sin nature.
"The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God" ( Psalm 14:2). And what does the all-seeing God find? "All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one" (verse 3). In other words, all have sinned."
As far as our relation to God and His holiness and righteousness, man is wholly depraved. He is comprehensibly and entirely affected by Adam's fall. This term speaks of lacking the perfection in holiness and righteousness that God is, not just by a little bit. Rather, Adam's sin produced in every human a corruption of the good, sinless, and God centered life Adam was created with in such a way that no human can return to this state Adam had in the beginning in their sinful state of deadness.
It also means that with Adam's sin, death (the penalty for sin) comes to all humans. Death is at work in a human being even from conception. David says that he was sinful from his mother's womb and conceived in sin.
Ps. 51:5
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."
This does not mean that David committed sin while in the womb nor that it was sinful for his parents to have relations that led to his conception. David is testifying to his awareness of his corruption by sin in his entire being from the moment his life began and that the sinful nature was at work in him from his conception onward.
It means that in Adam, because of his first sin, all humans are conceived as sinful beings.
"Augustine explained Adam's transmission of his sin to us with a theory known as "federal headship." Augustine taught the concept of "inherited guilt," that we all sinned "in Adam": when Adam "voted" for sin, he acted as our representative. His sin was thus imputed or credited to the entire human race-we were all declared "guilty" for Adam's one sin.
We are getting snow here it the Pacific Northwest. It is lovely.
I am ready to post the next section in the series I am working through: The Condition of Fallen Man. May some be blessed by what I present and certainly check Scripture to against what is give here. I do not have all the answers for sure. Please respond if you feel led to do so.
MAN'S UNREGENERATED STATE BEFORE GOD
In this section I want to address what many call "man's depravity" (as it is commonly termed). I prefer the term "pervasive or comprehensive corruption". By this term, it does not mean that humans are as evil as they could ever be. This is obvious in the way interhuman interactions can be loving and helpful and caring. Rather, in relation to God, humans are corrupted in all of their being by sin. There is no part of a human that is unaffected by the sinful nature. Therefore, all of our thoughts, motives, words, emotions, impulses, choices and actions are tainted by sin.
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities."
Isaiah 64:6-7 Says that we are not basically good and that everything we do that we consider good is like filth to Him because our hearts are so wicked we are not even aware that our motives and purposes are sinful though we will to do good. Even our flesh, blood, bones and all of our organs and systems are corrupted by sin. Therefore, as soon as we begin to live we begin to die. We become ill and are diseased to some degree. No one has perfect health or soundness of body and mind in the way God first created Adam and Eve in their flesh, blood, bodies and mind.
Verris, may God Almighty be with you and your family. I'm Puerto Rico and proud to be living in America with the help of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit . Please read Romans through Philemon for doctrine and pray continually everyday that God speaks to you in his word. My life was never easy, but two people in my life as I was young share the word of God and they were African Americans and I will never forget them, they are with the Lord Jesus Christ . The more we spend with the Lord reading and praying, the better it will get. This is a evil world we live in, but there's hope and that is the Holy Spirit guiding us in the word.
Here are some verses that will comfort you.
Psalms 100:2
"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Psalm 37:5
Commit thy way unto theLord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Never ever give up the good fight of faith in Christ Jesus .
Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the good old fashioned gospel that saves today
Thank you Brother. please continue to pray for Magda and myself, we need them desperately,,GOD knows the circumstances we face pleae continue to pray for my daughters and there families, GOD bless you
Thank you for your prayers, Brother, please continue to pray for Magda and myself, we need them please continue to pray for my mother and daughters and their young families Thank you and GOD bless you
I want to start by giving praise to Jesus, my sister law baby is doing very well so thank you for all your prayers on this, my daughter's and their families are doing well so thank you Jesus for that, we all take so much for granted I know we should be careful to thank him ad praise him , Please continue to lift up my girls and their families in your prayers please pray for my mother and please continue to pray for Magda and myself
please pray for america and israel and for the peace of jerusalem.pray for president trump pray that god keep sending his angels to protect him and his family from all his enemies.please pray that god would send me a helpmeet. pray that i can take back every thing the devil has stolen from me.pray that i can meet jesus face to face.pray that god would save and deliver my entire family.pray he heal my sister ethel mae of a stroke. and high blood pressure pray that i can get healed or high blood also.pray he would heal my sister charlene of copd. and deliver her from gambling.pray that my sister cathy can be healed of diabetes.please pray for police chief estella patterson.my elder sister told me she keep getting pulled over by racist cops because she drives a expensive car she said they never pull her husband over when he drives i thinks it,s racial profiling god knows.she is black. pray for my sons x girl friend bo. i she letted my small grandson see her making love to her boy friend thats been about 10 years ago he is 18 years old now he seems to be alright now. except i saw some cutts on his hand that i think he did. pray for him also. his name is dj. if this stuff is true pray that god would let them visit hell in a vision are a dream so they would know that hell is real and thats where they are headed if they dosen,t repent and change their ways.thanks for your prayers and may god bless in jesus name. amen
Sister, I pray for your brother and friend in Christ Jesus . A friend will stick closer than a brother and that is Jesus Christ . Please read Romans through Philemon for doctrine and pray continually everyday . God will hear your prayers when you read His word always . God is every where and will answer our prayers , but we have to have patience .
Please read these wonderful verses .
Psalms 100:2
"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Psalm 37:5
Commit thy way unto theLord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Ray in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the real and true gospel that saves today
Thank you , John chapter 13 took me back to Leviticus 8 especially because of verse 9 where Peter says : not my feet only , but my hands and my head . Leviticus chapter 8 verse 23 : And he slew it ( the ram of consecration ) ; and Moses took the blood of it , and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear , and upon the thumb of his right hand , and upon the great toe of his right foot .
Matthew chapter 10 verse 14 .
With regard to humility , it's not something that comes naturally to most of us , we have to actively work on putting others before ourselves and not looking to impress the world or the people of it , but rather be conscious of the absolute fact that God sees us . All day every day , and he expects certain behaviours and attitudes from us , 1st Timothy chapter 6 , the whole thing , is very good at reminding me what I am , what I am not and what is expected of me . I don't always do the right thing but I ask God to always let me know when I haven't . You can't repent of your sin if you are not conscious of it . We must never forget that we are sinners by nature and without Christ in our lives , we would remain estranged from God because of our sinfulness . How much must God love us and want us close to Him in that He has devised such a pure and perfect means to reconcile us to Himself . Love is all , His love for Jesus ,His love for us , Jesus's love for God and Jesus's love for us . Jesus's obedience to God's Will . All we have to do is believe and trust and rejoice in God's love and mercy .
Sherri, I pray to The Father in Heaven that you will find a great job. God is in control of everything. Please read Romans through Philemon for doctrine and pray continually everyday for happiness in Christ Jesus .
Please enjoy these verses .
Psalms 100:2
"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Psalm 37:5
Commit thy way unto theLord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Ray in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the true gospel that saves today .
This verse is great to learn how to pray .
Philippians 4:6
Becarefulfornothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requestsbemade known unto God.
May God bless you're family
Ray in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the gospel that saves today .
Because the drought, water was Very valuable.God wants you put your most valuable thing on the altar:your soul.
Thanks for your thoughts on the subject. It has certainly stirred up my "reasoning."
Two scriptures that came to mind as I was reading your post was Psalms 19:12 & 13, where we pray to the Lord to make us better.
Thank you!
"keeping of them there is great reward. 12Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 13Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 1" KJV
Ray in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 our gospel that saves today .
Thanks for prayers.
Please tell me about the lupus. I know a doctor who could heklp
Pt. 10
Because I have believed in God, the gospel, and Jesus all my life, my life experience of living in God's favor clouded what I thought was the true Scriptural state of fallen man. I was granting far more to man in fallen state than is true because I have lived my life as a regenerated elect child of God under His grace, not as a vessel of wrath but one who God made a vessel of mercy early in my life as long as I can recall. In my immaturity and ignorance I held to a skewed view of humanity as being able to choose for or against God depending on one's will to cooperate with God or not. But my reasoning was not reflective of what Scripture truly taught. And when I seriously searched Scripture to find out what is true on this matter, I changed my belief to align with Scripture, not just what I had been taught or exposed to over time nor according to my lack of mature understanding of Scripture truth.
GOD'S RIGHT TO EXECUTE HIS WRATH AND JUSTICE AND TO GRANT HIS GRACE AND MERCY TO WHOM HE CHOOSES
God's perfect holiness and righteousness warrants His condemnation of sin and evil. He is just to condemn all humans and the sinful angels to eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire. All sinful beings deserve this judgment. It is just for God to judge this way. Humans may find that the exercise of His wrath, justice and eternal punishment incompatible with His love for sinners. But in God's infinite greatness both His love for sinners and His hate wrath for sinners are both true of Him. He does not make mistakes or act unholy and unrighteous ever. So, as humans, it is important that we accept this truth and not defame God's name by accusing Him of being wrong for having humans experience his wrath, judgment, and punishment. He is just and righteous in ALL of His ways. .
I will stop for tonight and pick up posting the rest on this topic tomorrow.
Pt. 9
Note: the Got Questions excerpt begins with this:
This statement, "all have sinned," is found in Romans 3:23 ("For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God") and in the last clause of Romans 5:12 ("because all sinned"). Basically, it means that we're all lawbreakers, because sin is the violation of God's law ( 1 John 3:4). Sinfulness is the general characteristic of all mankind; we are all guilty before God. We are sinners by nature and by our own acts of transgression.
and ends with this
"The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God" ( Psalm 14:2). And what does the all-seeing God find? "All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one" (verse 3). In other words, all have sinned."
To continue with my thoughts:
Some of Arminian persuasion do agree that fallen man needs God's grace to turn to Jesus, but tend to avow that God gives just enough grace for one to be free to make a choice for or against Jesus and His salvation. But my studies, especially in Romans, Ephesians, and Galatians, convinced me that God gives grace in full measure to His elect, not to only be freed to make a choice for or against the gospel, rather He grants His grace that ensures that the elect will repent and believe unto salvation. I will discuss this more in the next section. But for now, I think that when I came understand and accept the truth about man's depravity and inability to come to God before regeneration I can become so gladdened and thankful for what God has done in my life as one of His elect. These truths to me have become glorious as I came to the conviction that God's will is so much better than my own and His saving nature is supreme over my sinful nature. Therefore, I came to trust God more and more and surrender more and more of my reliance, reasoning, logic, and trust in what I thought was man's strengths to God.
See Pt. 10
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.)
PT. 7
They do not submit themselves to God or to His righteous standards for they lack a new holy nature that makes then able to prefer God over sin, to believe in Jesus over self-rule, and to see themselves as in need of salvation that is only in Jesus by grace. Unregenerate man invariably think that they can establish the terms of righteousness for themselves instead of honoring God in His perfect holiness and morality as the only one who can determine what is right and wrong. Every fallen man relies on what is right in His own eyes as his moral standard as opposed to what is right in God's eyes. ( Pr. 12:15; 14:12; 21:2-3; Jdg. 21:25; Dt. 12:8;Is. 53:6; Rom. 1:21-22) Fallen man calls evil good and good evil (Is 5:20).
Unregenerated humans think that they are basically "good" people with some faults, but not thoroughly corrupted by sinfulness. But humans are not basically good, we cannot do one good thing in this life. ( Rom. 7:18). Gen. 6:5 describes the state of unregenerate humanity as continually sinful, inventing new ways to sin against God, always inclined to sin and habitually pursuing evil. How wicked are we in our unregenerated state!
We are not just a little bit sinful, but wholly sinful, and God cannot "look on us" in our sinful state ( Hab. 1:13) in the sense that He must turn away from evil though He remains fully aware of all sin and evil as it occurs. Hab. 1:13 reflects God's hatred of sin and its total offensiveness to Him. In our sinfulness we are an abomination to Him and deserving of the eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.
See Pt. 8
Pt. 6
We are hopeless without God's direct intervention of regeneration. Only as new creatures in Christ are me made able to respond to God's call and will to believe because the grace that regenerates us also implants faith in us to believe the gospel and desire fellowship with God.
Our depravity stays with us throughout our earthly life and, even as believers, it continues to affect us. As believers, we battle against our own sinfulness continuously and only have victory over sin due to the Person, work and power of the Holy Spirit in us. Though we have been born again and have a new nature in Christ that we did not have prior to regeneration, we still retain our sinful nature in this present earthly life.
Every human will sin because each of us are sinful. Our human nature is sinfully oriented to evil because of Adam's sin. Only a new holy nature is able to overcome the sinful nature day by day. Without this new nature, we could not desire to war against our sinful nature (the flesh, as Paul calls it).
Unregenerate humans choose to commit sin because they believe they will be happy if they choose it. They believe that the happiness of sin is better than being in Christ Jesus who is the best, richest, most profound, and most satisfying treasure and pleasure any human can have. But sinful humans do not want the treasure and pleasure of God in Christ. Sinful humans do not wish to spend eternity in heaven with God.
Sinful humans love their freedom to sin at will and enjoy being hostile to God. Sinful humans want to be autonomous, self-determined creatures and the only authority they need to have is themselves. Believing and accepting that God is sovereign and the determiner of one's eternal destiny is not what they will accept.
See Pt. 7
Pt. 5
Before being regenerated we obey our sinful nature, which we are slaves to and we disobey God, who we do not wish please nor can we seek Him, desire Him, call on Him, or do any righteous act while aliened from God as His enemy and our stubborn resistance to believe Him, though we know He exists, as He has revealed Himself to humanity. Humans cannot please God for every aspect of themselves that contributes to their decisions, even to do good to others, is tainted by sin. Any actions we may consider to be righteous can never erase any of our own sin nor can we be reconciled to God by our own acts of righteousness. Romans 9:32 says that humans try to establish their own righteousness before God by obeying the law, but God does not accept any of it. This is because, as James 1:2 says, that if one obeys all of the law except one time disobeying one requirement of the law that person is guilty of breaking all of the law as far as God is concerned.
So, then, every one of us are guilty of all the law before God because we resist Him in our ways, words and work to circumvent His authority and sovereignty continually. We are at enmity to God and will not submit to His rule and reign in our lives and hearts, nor can unregenerate flesh do so. ( Romans 8:7)
Fallen humans are without God, without hope, without righteousness, without redemption, without the ability to contribute anything towards their salvation. Fallen humans are lost, worthless to God, alienated from Him, separated from Him, unable to come to Him unless God chooses a person to be saved by election, by God's sovereign choice. ( Romans 9:16)
Scripture makes clear in so many passages that unregenerated cannot, due to lack of ability, and will not, due to preferring sin to obedience, effect a remedy their fallen state before God. It is a sovereign free act of God that saves anyone. We cannot compel God to save us, neither can we choose Him in our unredeemed state.
See Pt. 6
Pt. 4
I wish to use this excerpt because it explains this topic so well and identifies so many Scripture verses.
Excerpted From: Got Questions:
What Does It Mean that All Sinned?
Romans attests that in Adam, all sinned. Theologically, this has been called "original sin" over the centuries. Original sin does not mean that we are guilty of Adam's sin, but that we inherit a sinfulness that is transmitted from Adam to all humans. No human is exempt from being sinful and corrupted.
Humans are driven to sin, enslaved by this sinfulness to continue to sin and to rebel against God, as these Scriptures say:
John 8:34
Jesus replied, "Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.'
2 Peter 2:19
They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
Titus 3:3
For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures-living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
Romans 6:16, 17
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 6:20
For when ye were the slaves of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Romans 3:10-12 quotes Psalm 14:2-3 and Ps. 53: 1-3 saying that no one does what is good, not even one, no one understands the things of God (spiritual matters) because the god of this world has blinded us so that we cannot see the glory of Jesus in the gospel.
Paul also says that all humans are hostile to God, at enmity towards Him, His enemy, dead in sin, and enslaved to sin, we do not seek Him nor can we please God nor submit to His law. Elsewhere we are told that it is man's pride that keeps Him from hating his sin and submitting to God.
( Romans 2:1; 5:10: 3:10-18, 8:6-8; Eph.2:13; Ecc. 7:20; Ps. 14:2; 36:1-2; Is. 53:2)
See Pt. 5
Pt. 3
Another view is that the statement "all have sinned" refers only to personal sin arising from our sin nature. After clarifying in Romans 5:13-17 how personal sin is imputed and then spreads, Paul explains why "all die," even if they have not committed personal sin. The reason all receive this "death sentence" (5:18a) is that, through Adam's disobedience, all were "made sinful" (5:19a). The verb made means "constituted"; thus, the sin nature is an inherited condition that incurs a death sentence, even in those who are not yet guilty of personal sin (5:13-14). This inherited condition inevitably spawns personal sin when conscience matures and holds a person accountable as soon as he chooses to knowingly transgress the law (2:14-15; 3:20; 5:20a).
We are all sinners because Adam passed on his sinful condition that leads inevitably to our personal sin and death. All share Adam's death sentence as an inherited condition (the "sin nature") that is passed down to and through the human race and that every child brings into the world. Even before a child can be held accountable for personal sin, he or she is naturally prone to disobey, to tell lies, etc. Every child is born with a sin nature.
"The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God" ( Psalm 14:2). And what does the all-seeing God find? "All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one" (verse 3). In other words, all have sinned."
See Pt. 4
Pt. 2
As far as our relation to God and His holiness and righteousness, man is wholly depraved. He is comprehensibly and entirely affected by Adam's fall. This term speaks of lacking the perfection in holiness and righteousness that God is, not just by a little bit. Rather, Adam's sin produced in every human a corruption of the good, sinless, and God centered life Adam was created with in such a way that no human can return to this state Adam had in the beginning in their sinful state of deadness.
It also means that with Adam's sin, death (the penalty for sin) comes to all humans. Death is at work in a human being even from conception. David says that he was sinful from his mother's womb and conceived in sin.
Ps. 51:5
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me."
This does not mean that David committed sin while in the womb nor that it was sinful for his parents to have relations that led to his conception. David is testifying to his awareness of his corruption by sin in his entire being from the moment his life began and that the sinful nature was at work in him from his conception onward.
It means that in Adam, because of his first sin, all humans are conceived as sinful beings.
"Augustine explained Adam's transmission of his sin to us with a theory known as "federal headship." Augustine taught the concept of "inherited guilt," that we all sinned "in Adam": when Adam "voted" for sin, he acted as our representative. His sin was thus imputed or credited to the entire human race-we were all declared "guilty" for Adam's one sin.
See Pt. 3
We are getting snow here it the Pacific Northwest. It is lovely.
I am ready to post the next section in the series I am working through: The Condition of Fallen Man. May some be blessed by what I present and certainly check Scripture to against what is give here. I do not have all the answers for sure. Please respond if you feel led to do so.
MAN'S UNREGENERATED STATE BEFORE GOD
In this section I want to address what many call "man's depravity" (as it is commonly termed). I prefer the term "pervasive or comprehensive corruption". By this term, it does not mean that humans are as evil as they could ever be. This is obvious in the way interhuman interactions can be loving and helpful and caring. Rather, in relation to God, humans are corrupted in all of their being by sin. There is no part of a human that is unaffected by the sinful nature. Therefore, all of our thoughts, motives, words, emotions, impulses, choices and actions are tainted by sin.
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities."
Isaiah 64:6-7 Says that we are not basically good and that everything we do that we consider good is like filth to Him because our hearts are so wicked we are not even aware that our motives and purposes are sinful though we will to do good. Even our flesh, blood, bones and all of our organs and systems are corrupted by sin. Therefore, as soon as we begin to live we begin to die. We become ill and are diseased to some degree. No one has perfect health or soundness of body and mind in the way God first created Adam and Eve in their flesh, blood, bodies and mind.
See Pt.2
Here are some verses that will comfort you.
Psalms 100:2
"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Psalm 37:5
Commit thy way unto theLord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Never ever give up the good fight of faith in Christ Jesus .
Ray, in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the good old fashioned gospel that saves today
I will be praying or your requests. Thanks for sharing them with us. May you and yours be so blessed with the work of God in your lives.
Please read these wonderful verses .
Psalms 100:2
"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Psalm 37:5
Commit thy way unto theLord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Ray in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the real and true gospel that saves today
Matthew chapter 10 verse 14 .
With regard to humility , it's not something that comes naturally to most of us , we have to actively work on putting others before ourselves and not looking to impress the world or the people of it , but rather be conscious of the absolute fact that God sees us . All day every day , and he expects certain behaviours and attitudes from us , 1st Timothy chapter 6 , the whole thing , is very good at reminding me what I am , what I am not and what is expected of me . I don't always do the right thing but I ask God to always let me know when I haven't . You can't repent of your sin if you are not conscious of it . We must never forget that we are sinners by nature and without Christ in our lives , we would remain estranged from God because of our sinfulness . How much must God love us and want us close to Him in that He has devised such a pure and perfect means to reconcile us to Himself . Love is all , His love for Jesus ,His love for us , Jesus's love for God and Jesus's love for us . Jesus's obedience to God's Will . All we have to do is believe and trust and rejoice in God's love and mercy .
Please enjoy these verses .
Psalms 100:2
"Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing."
Psalm 37:5
Commit thy way unto theLord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Ray in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the true gospel that saves today .