Who is in Control of Your Salvation?

 FREE WILL OR ELECTION?​​​​10/13/18

 

WHO IS IN CONTROL OF YOUR SALVATION?

A. Is it God? 

i. Romans 9:8-16

Vs. 16 tells us that it does not depend on man’s ability or that man is willing to come to Christ, but on God alone, who according to His mercy makes the choice to rescue one from what he truly deserves, eternal damnation.

ii. Romans 9:17-18

In vs. 18, scripture says that God will show mercy on whomever He desires, and condemns who He desires, because He is the creator of life and all things.

iii. Romans 9:19-24

The plain reading of this passage makes it clear that, in salvation, God chooses, not us.

iv. Romans 9:25-33

Vs. 33 Belief in God? 

Do we choose to believe or are we chosen to believe?

Who gives us the ability, or causes us to believe?

The Spirit if God gives us the ability to believe, to those He has chosen unto belief.

 

B. Is it man?

i. Acts 2:13 “Whosoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Will the natural man, of his own accord, call on the name of the Lord?

According to Scripture, natural man, in his natural condition is unwilling and unable to do so.

ii. Rev. 22:17 “Let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost”

Will the natural man wish, desire, or choose to take the water of life in his natural condition? If not, what causes him to do so? 

iii. Acts 2:21 “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”

The definition of the word “whosoever” is no problem for the Calvinist because it means the same thing to the non-Calvinist; however, apart from the intervention of the Holy Spirit, or the will of God, if you may, no one will so ever call on the name of the Lord. God causes one to will, to desire, to choose, to call on the name of the Lord. One would NEVER choose to do so otherwise. We would choose only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).

Given our ‘free will’ choice, in our natural fallen condition, we will choose death every time. It is God who chooses us, according to His will, not ours, at the time appointed by Him, that was decided by Him, before the foundation of the world.

iv. Romans 10:9-10 says that if we confess and believe we will be saved, and, that confession and belief results in salvation.

Will we, however, apart from any influence outside of ourselves, confess or believe? According to scripture, it doesn’t appear so. Then what causes us to believe and confess?  You see, when we grasp the truth that we are totally depraved and fully unable to believe and confess, because of our fallen nature in Adam, only then will we get a better understanding in our minds that salvation is all of God’s doing and none of our own. We want credit for our own decisions, it’s our nature to do so; however, the truth is, ALL of the credit belongs to God regarding our salvation. Wechoose death; He chooses life.

 

We are not partially depraved, we are totally depraved, and that gets under our skin, it always has because we think we are generally good, however, Romans 3 bursts that bubble quite sufficiently.

Also, in Genesis 3:6 we see that every part of humankind; the mind, will, emotion, and flesh are corrupted by sin.

Isaiah 64:6 tells us that all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags before a Holy God.

Matthew 7:17-18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruitnor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

Jeremiah 17:9 Man’s heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.

Psalm 51:5, Psalm 58:3, Ephesians 2:1-5 tell us that weare dead in transgression and sin.

 

The Bible teaches that because unregenerate man is “dead in transgressions” (Ephesians 2:5), he is held captive by a love for sin (John 3:19; John 8:34) so that he will not seek God (Romans 3:10-11) because he loves the darkness (John 3:19) and does not understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). Therefore, men suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18) and continue to willfully live in sin.

 

 

Because they are totally depraved, this sinful lifestyle seems right to men (Proverbs 14:12) so they reject the gospel of Christ as foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18) and their mind is “hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is unable to do so” (Romans 8:7).

In Romans, Paul quotes extensively from the Old Testament in explaining how sinful man really is. For example, 

1—no one is without sin, 

2—no one seeks after God, 

3—there is no one who is good, 

4—their speech is corrupted by sin, 

5—their actions are corrupted by sin, and 

6—above all, they have no fear of God

 

Our faith, as it relates to salvation, must be placed in God alone, not in our own choosing, and even faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8).

 

After Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler, regarding salvation in Matthew 19, it leaves one asking the same question the disciples asked of Jesus in vss. 25-26: “Then who can be saved?” Of course,the answer remains the same: “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”

 

Our greatest understanding comes when we grasp our natural condition according to Scripture.

 

     Regarding babies who die….

     The eternal destiny of little babies causes no grief for the calvinist, nor with God. The Bible tells us that God has mercy on whomever He wills, so who is to say that His will in eternity past isn’t to save every pre-born or infant whose physical body dies? In this, I see hope.

 

On the other hand, the synergist believes that according to ones own free will, he chooses or rejects God,therefore man is the determining fork-in-the-road so to speak. Thus,

regarding salvation, the pre-born or infant child has absolutely no hope of entering into Heaven because they obviously have made no such choice. This, as I see it, is true hopelessness.

 

Salvation is dependent on no other than the Creator of life Himself. He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).