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NASB | 1 Corinthians 2:14 ¶ But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 2:14 ¶ But the natural [unbelieving] man does not accept the things [the teachings and revelations] of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness [absurd and illogical] to him; and he is incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, [and he is unqualified to judge spiritual matters]. |
Subject: How can anyone be saved? |
Bible Note: Dear Pastor Glenn Thank you for your response. 1) Deut 30:19 "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,". Lets explore the context. Deut 30:17,18 "But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish." We see here that the choice one will make is NOT unconditional, but CONDITIONAL for whether one chooses life or death depends upon the condition of the heart of the individual. "But if your heart turns away and you will not obey,". Notice that the drawing away of the heart preceeds the act of the will! The desire arises from the heart and the will acts merely as a servant that carrys out the hearts desire. The heart that is "drawn" away to idolotry? What does God say about the condition of the human heart? What is it's condition that it may be drawn away? Gen 6:5 Then 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. Matt 15:19 "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.." "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" If the heart of man is so desperately inclined to evil, how can he obey God and live? Deut 30:6 "Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. We learn from v. 6 that it is an act of God that makes it possible for those He has chosen, to be able to love Him love. He says it is through His work upon their hearts (circumcison of the heart). The command to "choose between life and death" does not indicate that man is free to choose do good! God in v.10 says " if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. But no one is able to keep that command. God knows fullwell that what He has commanded is impossible for man to do. Then why has He said that they must "choose"? The law was given to bring all men to seek God by faith and to abandon their foolish attempt to attain a righteousness by works. What has always perplexed me about the idea our contributing to our salvation is the description we have from the Bible about the condition of fallen man. You have provided verses that only imply the presense of human ability. In other words circumstantial evidence. On the other hand the verses I have offered are hard evidence that finds the heart guilty and totally corrupt of any thing pleasing tp God. In fact, without faith it is impossible to please God. You cited next: Joh 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And your conclusion was: " Every man has enough "light" to make the right choice". My arguement is NOT, and has never been, against man's freedom to choose. My arguement is against his ability to choose good in a way pleasing unto God! Natural man is FREE to choose Christ (life) but DOES NOT HAVE THE ABILITY because he hates Christ! John 3:20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed". John says everyone who does evil HATES THE LIGHT. Which means every mother's son of us hated Him as well. For we all do evil. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil” (Jer. 13:23). John |