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NASB | Romans 5:6 ¶ For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 5:6 ¶ While we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation], at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly. |
Bible Question: I haven't read this line closely enough probably. So are we all just puppets then. If we are predestined to glory then how can we accept Christ as Saviour. It's already been done for us. He had no choice but to die on the Cross. Saying "not my will but your will be done" would mean nothing if he had no choice. |
Bible Answer: No we are not "puppets." We ARE, however, the creations of a sovereign God. He is in charge, not us. All humanity is sinful and deserving of an eternity in Hell. God has shown mercy to some of us, and withheld mercy from others. He can do that. He is God, and he is not obligated to save ANYONE. Why is it that so many fail to see Romans 9 as a point-blank, indubitably clear presentation of this truth? How can it be interpreted any other way? How arrogant it is for the creation to dictate terms of our own undeserved salvation to the Creator! We have been chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1). that does not mean that we are born in a regenerated state. At some point in the life of every one of the elect, the Holy Spirit spiritually recreates the sinner (2 Corinthians 5:17), by His grace causing Him to accept Christ by faith, through no work of our own (Ephesians 2:8,9). Therefore, boasting is excluded (Romans 3:27). We are predestined to glory (Ephesians 1:11) from eternity past; but we are not actually regenerated and accept Christ until the Spirit makes us alive to do so. Now Christ, while he did assume human form, was in a completely diffrent category from us. He was not a slave to sin. He was not spiritually dead; he is the Bread of Life itself. Any free will Jesus may or may not have had was not hampered by sin. Thanks to our sin, we do not have that luzury. Make sense? While this is not an issue on which salvation hinges, I encourage you to examine yourself and see whether man's alleged freedom to accept Christ is a doctrine read INTO Scripture or derived FROM it. Thanks! --Joe! |