No One Can Come to Jesus Christ, Unless It Is Given To Him

So Does Scripture Say Anything About God Choosing?

Monergism VS Synergism

Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language:

Monergism – The doctrine that the Holy Spirit acts independently of the human will in the work of regeneration.

Synergism – (3) The doctrine that the human will cooperates with the Holy Spirit in the work of regeneration.

All the religions of the world, including Arminianism, have one thing in common, except for one. That commonality is Synergism. I, in the past while preaching Monergism , have been accused of preaching a man made doctrine. If you contribute anything to the sinner, it becomes Synergism. What do you think the odds of Monergism is a man made doctrine? If you have two sinners that have the Gospel of Christ preached to them. One believes and one does not. What was the deciding factor why the one believed? If you say God, then you would be right. If you said that God was the deciding factor, then there was nothing in the sinner that made the difference. It was all of God. Salvation is of the Lord. If then God being the deciding factor why one believes, then that makes God the deciding factor why the other did not believe. Why? Because the God factor was not applied. Remember, it is God that is the deciding factor, not the spiritually dead sinner and his will. If you say the sinner, then you make the sinner the deciding factor. The Spirit gives life where HE WILLS, not the sinner and so it is with everyone that is born of the Spirit.

Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Listeth means wills. The wind (Spirit) blows where it wills, not man.

Joh 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Jesus said “you will not come to me to have life.”

This tells some things about the sinner.
1. the sinner has a will
2. the sinner uses his will
3. the sinner uses his will to will not to come to Christ
4. the sinner has no life
5. the sinner will not will himself to Christ because he is dead.

So the spirit goes where He desires or wills and He gives life to the sinner and the sinner is alive for the first time.Yeah, it leaves man in the dirt. The sinner dodged a bullet that he never saw coming, because God bushed him out of the way.

Monergism – The teaching that God alone is the one who saves. It is opposed to synergism which teaches that God and man work together in salvation. Cults are synergistic. Christianity is monergistic.

VS.

Synergism – The teaching that we cooperate with God in our efforts of salvation. This is opposed to Monergism which is the teaching that God is the sole agent involved in salvation. Cults are synergistic in that they teach that God’s grace combined with our efforts are what makes forgiveness of sins possible.

And

Pelagianism – The teaching of a monk named Pelagius in the fifth Century. He taught that man’s will was and still is free to choose good or evil and there is no inherited sin (through Adam). Every infant born into the world is in the same condition as Adam before the fall and becomes a sinner because he sins. This is opposed to the Biblical teaching that we are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3) and that we sin because we are sinners. Pelagius said we are able to keep the commandments of God because God has given us the ability. Therefore, there is no need of redemption and the crucifixion of Jesus is merely a supreme example of love, humility, obedience, and sacrifice. This heresy has its relatives in the form of the cults that deny the total dependence upon God and maintain that salvation is obtainable through our own efforts.

Synergism is close to Pelagianism. Synergism is semi-Pelagianism.

To The Praise Of The Glory Of My “Free” Will? (part 1, 2 & 3)

The Atrocious Sin Of Making Excuses For God

by Brandan Kraft

God needs no defenders. He needs nothing to justify His sovereign acts in this world. He is the Creator, the Shaper, and the Molder. He is the Almighty. Being the Almighty, He has absolute control over all that He has created. There is nothing He can do that is unrighteous – all of His acts are Righteous acts. There is no law that can judge Him as unrighteous as He is the law giver. He has declared the end from the beginning and has done, is doing, and will continue to do all His pleasure (Isa 46:10). All the events of this world come to pass only because the Lord has decreed them according to His pleasure. Those who admire the Sovereign right and Genius of the Lord to rule all of His creation as He pleases see no need to defend this proposition. But there are some who claim to rejoice in God’s absolute sovereignty yet perceive the need to defend Him and justify Him before the world.

The Lord is Sovereign in Salvation. Before the foundation of the world, He elected some to salvation and others to damnation not because He foresaw that some would do good or bad, but because it pleased Him (Rom 9:11). Some modern day religionists see no reason to defend the things they perceive to be “good” such as Sovereign election in Christ. But while they may pay lip service to the election of men unto salvation, they often attempt to justify God’s decree concerning reprobation or simply deny it altogether. Why are men ultimately damned to hell? The obvious answer to this question given to us in His Word is because the Lord determined it according His pleasure. There is no need to justify this answer! It is true that men are sinful and deserving of eternal condemnation. But why are they sinful? Why were they made to be sinful? Was it not because it pleased the Lord that He would be glorified in the reprobation of men? This is not a hard question to answer, and any attempt to qualify it is to dishonor the Creator in His Sovereign Rule over all that exists.

“Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” (Rom 9:21-24)

All Things Are Of God In Salvation

by Don Fortner

“Salvation is of the Lord” (Jon. 2:9). “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (I Cor. 1:30-31). Election, Redemption, Regeneration, Sanctification, Preservation, Resurrection, and Glorification works of God alone. God gave us life. God gave us faith. God gave us a new heart and a new will, by revealing Christ in us. And we are kept by the power of God” (I Pet. 1:5). We worship and trust and love the one true and living God, who is sovereign in salvation. “Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory” (Ps. ll5:l). Amen.

All Things In Providence Are Of God

by Don Fortner

“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”(Rom. 11:36). Every event of providence is ordered and ruled according to the sovereign will of our God. The thoughts of men and the actions of men, good and bad, angels and demons, the path of every grain of dust on a windy day, and the path of the whirlwind, everything in this universe is absolutely under the control and direction of God’s sovereign providence. Nothing happens by accident. Our great God in, his sovereign majesty, rules everything with as much ease as if there were nothing to rule. With undisturbed serenity, God rules! Because God rules all things, we know that all things shall be so ruled of God as to bring about the spiritual and eternal good of all who trust him, and all things shall be to the praise of his glory, “according to the purpose of him who worketh all-things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. l:ll). Because God is totally, absolutely, universally sovereign in providence, we know that his purpose shall be accomplished and his promises shall all be fulfilled. Anything less than a totally sovereign God cannot be confidently trusted.

All Things Are Of God In Creation

by Don Fortner

God made heaven, earth and hell, and all that they contain. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. l:l). This world did not just evolve out of nothing, by some unexplainable explosion in space. God almighty created all things by the word of his power through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John l:l-3). Jesus Christ our God is the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things. “By him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Col. 1:16-17). To embrace evolution in any form is to deny God altogether, and depart from the faith of Christ. “Through faith (Belief of God’s Revelation) we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear, (Heb. ll:3).

All Things Are Of God

 by Don Fortner

 “All things,” past, present and future, “all things,” in heaven, earth and hell, “all things,” regarding angels, men and devils, “all things,” good, bad, or indifferent, “all things are of God.” This is high doctrine. This is gospel doctrine. This is soul-cheering, heart-comforting doctrine to those who know God. To the degree that we are able to receive this blessed truth of Holy Scripture, that “all things are of God,” our hearts will be at peace, resigned to the will of God, submissive to the hand of God, confident of the providence of God, and content in all things.

Our Own Image Of God

It is human nature to create an image of God in our mind that will not offend. Jesus said, ” no one comes to the Father except by me.” The fact is, the Gospel is so narrow, that only a few will find it. There is no other name given to men by which they are saved. That name is Jesus.

I Can Do No Other!

 1483-1546

     

One of my favorite quotes comes from Martin Luther. He had some Catholic tendencies, being that he was a former Catholic monk. In this case, I echo his words. I can do no other.

 

“I am bound by the Scriptures that I have adduced and my conscience has been taken captive by the Word of God and I am neither able nor willing to recant, since it is neither safe nor right to act against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.” – Martin Luther

Free-Will

I have seen ones of these before. It’s one of those free-will making machines. The one I saw makes about 5 free-wills an hour. The latest statistics say that 3 out of 5 Arminians have at least one hidden somewhere in their home.

This Is A Big Lie

This is a big lie that is preached from our pulpits today. We give to much credit to ourselves for our salvation. If one gives God all the credit for one’s salvation, then one would not boast of his own will. Salvation is of the Lord.

Fulfilling Your Destiny

I am not a genius, nor am I an author of any book. What I do know is God’s high Sovereign Grace. God has revealed it to me. I do not boast of my abilities to know and  understand God’s Grace. For it is God that gives knowledge and understanding of truth. For it must have seemed good in His sight. I love to tell, anyone that will listen, of God’s total and absolute high Sovereign Grace in the salvation of sinners and of His absolute rule over all of His creation. From the rise and fall of leaders and nations, to the salvation of sinners, to the crowing of a rooster at sun rise.

How many times have you heard someone say God has a plan for your life and if you will let God take control of your life, you can fulfill your destiny? What? How does one not fulfill his destiny? God has a purpose for everyone. It is either as a vessel of honor or as a vessel of dishonor or there must be a lot of unused plans sitting on God’s shelf of wasted lives.

Come… But You Can’t

by Greg Elmquist

Is it contradictory to tell someone to come and drink from the River of Life freely, but then tell them they are unable? Should we just tell men to come to Christ and leave out the part about God’s sovereign election and man’s total inability? Many would say we are just confusing the message and restricting the free offer of salvation by telling men they can’t come unless the Father makes them willing by His irresistible grace which is according to His will and good pleasure. Why is it necessary when commanding men to come to Christ to tell them they can’t? Why are total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, and irresistible grace essential elements of the gospel? One simple reason. Without these truths, men will make a work out of coming. Without these truths men will be led to believe that God has done His part, now it is up to you to come. No, men must trust Christ for their coming also. If you bring anything to the table of salvation, even your coming, then grace is no longer grace and you are left in your sins. The Lord will do it all … or He won’t do it at all.

Can God Use Me?

by Greg Elmquist

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me …” Acts 1:8

Why did God choose to use human instruments as His witnesses? Is it a denial of His power or His glory to say He always uses one man to communicate the gospel to another? Would He not be more glorified by using a more miraculous and unaided means to accomplish His purpose? Is God dependent on men to perform His will? Let me try to illustrate the answer to these questions. I am currently in the process of building a boathouse in my yard. I am no professional carpenter and possess no unusual skills. What I do have (borrowed mostly) is all the best tools money can buy. I have a skill saw, a saw zaw, a jig saw, a chain saw, an air compressor, nail guns, and more. If you came to my work site you would be impressed, not with my vast collection of high quality tools. There would be no way for me to accomplish my job without them. Oh yea, all the wood was given to me also. I can’t even take pride in how much money I spent on this project. Now, compare that to the way the Amish would construct a barn. No power tools. No modern technology. From the cutting down of the trees and hewing out the timbers, to boring the holes for perfectly fit wooden pegs, the entire job is done with archaic hand tools that would be worse than useless in my hands. If you visited that work site you would say, ‘wow, what craftsman, what skill, all that beauty and look what they used to build it’. The more backward and broken an instrument is, the more glory goes to the builder for being able to use it. If God ever in ever uses you or me in any way, it will be categorically in spite of us. The greatest miracle of all is that God can and does take an instrument that is nothing in itself but sinful defilement and uses it to produce a new creature that is perfectly holy. 1 Cor 1:27-29 “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” Do you qualify?

God Always Gets What He Wants

by Brandan Kraft

It has been said by many “theologians” that God has two different wills. This belief concerning the will of God has been invented in order to explain some of the more seemingly difficult passages one might encounter in Scripture. For example, some will say that God has elected a limited number of people to salvation in Christ, but that He also desires that all men would be saved. This example is an apparent contradiction to most serious students of the Bible and even many plain thinking atheists! But to those who dislike the idea of a truly Sovereign God, this contradiction easily rests in their convoluted minds partly because of the doctrine of the “two wills” of God.

Ultimately, the “two wills” theory teaches that God does not always get what He “desires” or “wants”. This evil doctrine on one hand portrays an impotent God unable to save an individual out of respect for the ‘free agency’ of the individual. Yet on the other hand, it also portrays a God at conflict with Himself. What is a rational person to think?

Thankfully, the Bible portrays an immutable God who has purposed to glorify Himself. Before the foundation of the world, God determined to glorify Himself by the salvation of sinners. He decreed that they would fall in order that His glory would be manifested in their salvation by Christ’s sacrificial and substitutionary work on the cross. He also decreed that He would be glorified by the reprobation of billions of people. In fact, all the events of history, every particle of dust, all the comings and goings of man were predestined in God’s immutable and eternal counsel. Everything occurs because of God’s unitary and Sovereign will. May He be praised for His infinite wisdom! Child of God, look around your world and do not worry. Everything in this world, including your circumstances and your difficulties are for your good (Rom 8:28) and ultimately God’s magnificent Glory.

“He is in one mind, and who can turn Him? And what His soul desireth, even that He doeth” (Job 23:13)