7660	Forums / Theology Forum / The Donkey Messenger	on: March 30, 2007, 05:59:48 PM
I was hoping you could clarify something for me. Do you believe that a person, any person who gets \"saved\" has nothing at all to do with their own salvation? Absolutely! God does not respond to our plea. It is only the plea of Christ on our behalf that has made salvation known to us. And He finished it at the cross for us having obtained salvation for the elect. It was a done deal. The transition of that fact was made to us by regeneration. We were dead in sins and transgressions and He came to us by His Spirit and made us alive. We only respond to His work of free grace by being given a new spiritual knowledge. We were darkened in our understanding and alienated from that life. He made us understand in is sovereign call in giving us a new spiritual knowledge. Our understanding was made alive so that we were given spiritual senses of sight , touch, feel, taste. Oh taste and see that the Lord is good! The Lord opened his eyes so that he could see! On the day of Pentecost they were all like drunk men. They had felt the power of God and they had seen the salvation of God and there was a sense effect as a result of regeneration. Yes , we are totally unable unless we first have that regeneration process. But even our will must be destroyed by grace. \"I will give you a new will and cause you to walk in my ways.\"We get a new will because our old will was alienation from God. It was a self determined will. It was a will that was determined by how truth was as it related to our self image. It was a will that was against all of Gods counsel. The new will had a source and that is the new desires. Now we desire Christ above any other person or object. Now we desire His glory to be manifested through us. Now our self bows by the greater desire for His glory.