The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum human inability

AC,

Perhaps my problem is your "terminology"??? When you speak of "coming to Christ for deliverance", theologically, this most always refers to justification, wherein a sinner is delivered from sin by grace through faith in Christ. That being so, when a sinner is regenerated he/she will infallibly believe upon Christ nearly instantaneously... NOT after an extended period of time. I thought we had established and agreed upon that matter, correct? In sanctification there is an ongoing and increasing apprehension of one's sinfulness and the sin as its fruit BUT also an experience of joy, peace and assurance due to Christ's work which HAS BEEN ACCREDITED. If one only experiences conviction without also the experience of knowing God's love then there is at best a distortion, an imbalance for whatever reason.

Morbid Introspection, in the vernacular, is "navel gazing", i.e., an obsession of looking inward with the intent of finding something commendable before God. Yes, "commendable" which is what this type of error most always ends up being. The person hopes to find something in and/or about himself that unites him with Christ. Of course, most who have fallen into this morbid practice will deny any such thing. Rather, they will most always propose that they are looking for a work of God in them, which sounds very pious and even biblical. The bottom line is one doubts their salvation, the genuineness of faith, that Christ died for them and that God has pronounced them justified with a guarantee of eternal life. But how is it that an unregenerate man can have any such fretting? Such a person has no real interest in Christ. Yes, there are definite "marks" of regeneration which can be ascertained. In fact there are three:

1. A hatred of Sin, a love of Christ, and a desire to live a holy life before God.
2. The testimony of the saints who will recognize, as much as they are given to know, a changed and godly life.
3. The witness of the Holy Spirit Who testifies that we are indeed children of God.

And finally, to repeat what I've written before... The question should never be, "How much: hatred of sin do I have? Is my repentance enough? Is my faith genuine enough? Do I really love Christ enough? etc., etc., ad nauseam. THAT is "morbid introspection"! Since repentance and faith are gifts of God, does one think that if the answer to any of these questions is, "No!", do they somehow hope that they can somehow manifest these things of and within themselves? Or, there are some in my experience who will sit around and pray that God would grant them these things. And, until that should happen, they say they are destined to eternal damnation. What God requires, however, is if one is that concerned about salvation then the remedy is more than simple..... "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved!" When they shall stand before God what will they say in their defense; "Oh Lord I would have believed but you didn't grant me faith!!"? Is this not reminiscent of Adam's excuse after he ate of the fruit... "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." (Gen 3:12) Man's innate inability to repent and believe is no excuse for not doing so. That only those who are born again of the Spirit will repent and believe is surely true. But those who have a genuine interest in these things have to conclude that God is working in them and thus they are to repent and believe and rest assured that God's promises are true... "...him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (Jh 6:37) And, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28,29)

We cannot escape by pointing a finger at God and His sovereignty. We are held to account according to man's responsibility.