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delvanis said:
Where we differ is when a sinner is confronted with the gospel and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. You state all those who do respond in some way to the gospel, will come to Christ and ultimately be saved. This act you call regeneration. But if this were true, which it isn't, then all men who fell under the conviction of the gospel and the Holy Spirit would receive Christ and be saved.

No, we do not "state" that at all. First of all, regeneration (which is nothing more than the "new birth" of which Jesus speaks in John 3) is the act of the Holy Spirit by which He revives the dead sinner and implants in him a true desire toward God. A person thus regenerated will most certainly be saved; that is, he will be justified, sanctified, and glorified, all by the grace of God working in him. But a mere "positive response" to the Gospel or a "decision for Christ" is not the same as regeneration! To be sure, a regenerated soul will "choose God" (for so God has planted this desire in him). But a fallen man who attempts to choose God, though he profess faith in Christ and behave in a manner which seems to become a saint of God, yet because his heart is not changed, he will be a tare among the wheat and will likely fall away with persecution or be destroyed by the cares of the world.

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As I stated before, King Agrippa heard the word of God and partially accepted it, but would not make that full commitment. There was a silversmith named Demas who once was a companion of Paul, who went back into the world and forsook the faith. The point is all these individuals truly believed what Paul said, but CHOSE NOT to follow Christ in the long run. They could not do this if they didn't have the power of free choice in their being.Otherwise Demas would never have followed Paul to begin with and then decide not to.

Neither Agrippa nor Demas were ever true believers—Agrippa most obviously because he never even became a member of the church, and Demas because he apostasized. As John writes, "They went out from us, but they were not [really] of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but [they went out] so that it would be shown that they all are not of us" (I John 2:19).

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To say a man is born totally evil and cannot do anything good is false. Unsaved people give to religious charities all the time.

What is the testimony of Scripture regarding man's ability to please God? "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). "The intent of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Gen. 8:21). "All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment" (Isa. 64:6). "It is written, 'There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks God'" (Rom. 3:10–11). "The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so], and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:7–8). "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannont understand them, for they are spiritually appraised" (I Cor. 2:14). "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest" (Eph. 2:1–3). "Without faith it is impossible to please [Him]" (Heb. 11:6). "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one [point], he has become guilty of all" (James 2:10).

Last edited by CovenantInBlood; Fri Sep 16, 2005 12:34 AM.
Kyle

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified.