Posts Tagged Gospel of Grace
Human Inability
Posted by Phil in New Testament, Salvation on September 14, 2009
Below is a snippet from one of Spurgeons Sermons, March 7, 1858.
In Spurgeon’s ususal lucid and straight to the point manner, he show’s how man will never with his own will come to Christ.
Some Scripture on man’s disposition before reading Spurgeon’s sermon excerpt:
- Genesis 6:5
- Job 15:14-15
- Isaiah 64:7
- John 3:19
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
- Romans 3:9-12; 6:6
- Ephesians 2:1-3
- 2 Timothy 2:26
I. First, it lies in the obstinacy of the human will. “Oh!” saith the Arminian, “men may be saved if they will.” We reply, “My dear sir, we all believe that; but it is just the if they will that is the difficulty. We assert that no man will come to Christ unless he be drawn; nay, we do not assert it, but Christ himself declares it—”Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life;’ and as long as that “ye will not come’ stands on record in Holy Scripture, we shall not be brought to believe in any doctrine of the freedom of the human will.” It is strange how people, when talking about free-will, talk of things which they do not at all understand. “Now,” says one, “I believe men can be saved if they will.” My dear sir, that is not the question at all. The question is, are men ever found naturally willing to submit to the humbling terms of the gospel of Christ? We declare, upon Scriptural authority, that the human will is so desperately set on mischief, so depraved, and so inclined to everything that is evil, and so disinclined to everything that is good, that without the powerful. supernatural, irresistible influence of the Holy Spirit, no human will ever be constrained towards Christ. You reply, that men sometimes are willing, without the help of the Holy Spirit. I answer—Did you ever meet with any person who was? Scores and hundreds, nay, thousands of Christians have I conversed with, of different opinions, young and old, but it has never been my lot to meet with one who could affirm that he came to Christ of himself, without being drawn. The universal confession of all true believers is this—”I know that unless Jesus Christ had sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God, I would to this very hour have been wandering far from him, at a distance from him, and loving that distance well.” With common consent, all believers affirm the truth, that men will not come to Christ till the Father who hath sent Christ doth draw them.
the whole sermon can be read at http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0182.htm
Related post – who-chose-who
The Gospel of Grace.
I got a txt from my bro about reformedpraise.org, so I checked it out and found this lovely Hymn.
The first few lines I particularly enjoyed, here we see grace in action, that God be glorified.
The gospel of grace: from before time began
God chose to redeem me and fashioned a plan
That holy and blameless and unto His praise
I might be adopted to show forth His grace.
Heres the full lyrics:
The gospel of grace: from before time began
God chose to redeem me and fashioned a plan
That holy and blameless and unto His praise
I might be adopted to show forth His grace.
The gospel of grace: in the fullness of time
God sent a redeemer who, doing no crime,
Would die for my sin and then conquer the grave
To purchase the ones He was given to save.
The gospel of grace came when dead in my sin,
It told me of Jesus and pointed to Him.
When faith and repentance invaded my heart
Forgiveness, full pardon, my God did impart.
The gospel of grace now reminds me each day
In sin and in failure His favor will stay
For not through self-loathing or deeds that I’ve done
But only in Jesus acceptance is won.
The gospel of grace when I take my last breath
Will be my one comfort to bear me through death;
And should I die peaceful or suffer great pain,
This gospel assures me that death will be gain.
The gospel of grace, for eternity long,
Will be my delight and the theme of my song;
With saints from all nations I’ll join to proclaim:
All glory to Jesus, the Lamb who was slain!
The gospel of grace, O how precious indeed,
Past, present, and future meets all of my needs;
So until the day when I look on Your face–
Lord, keep me believing the gospel of grace.
Don’t forget to visit the website, as you can hear a MP3 of the Hymn.