December 16th, 2008
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“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?”
- Charles Spurgeon | HT: The Bororean
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I love to read the words of wisdom from the great C.H. Spurgeon… This particular excerpt compels me to post one of my own, (not so famous) quotes…
“Regarding salvation, the only will man possesses, by nature, is the ability to choose his very own ‘poison’ or abomination, that ultimately leads to his part in the lake of fire.” – Len Qualls, One Over 99 Ministries
Without Monergism, the heart remains dead. (Col 2:13) Remember, the “preaching of the cross is foolishness” (1 Cor 2:18)
I put it into lay terms for people I approach in my street ministry to understand it like this: “If I were speeding recklessly, 70mph in a 35, and saw the blue lights flashing in my mirror; hearing the policeman on his intercom telling me to pull over; what do you think I should do?” As they always answer “pull over”, I tell them… “That is exactly what you need to do, friend. Pull over and obey the Lord’s command. Its time to repent and surrender to Him now. (Mark 1:15)”
From the narrow path,
Len Qualls
One Over 99 Ministries