The Lord Jesus Christ IS God's ELECT...

[savedbygrace57]

event:

I'm not worried AT ALL about you.

You shouldnt be, I am not worried about you, and I know the devil has deceived you..

 

[Jake]

(1) My answer is b) the instrumental cause in making possible something else that is needed for our salvation?

You also said: "I assume you will say that we are saved into eternal life by Christ's death on the cross. If not, correct me."

In the ransom we are given the opportunity to cooperate with Christ's cleansing of us by the bath in the water of the word as we act deliberately to put away the flesh and its filth and let our minds be made over so that we learn to effectively walk after God's holy spirit.

(2) We must believe IN Christ, but that does not simply mean believing he is Christ. It means that we submit to containing all that we believe within the parameters of what Christ believes and we do not believe outside of what he believes. And if a person really believes something that belief produces fruitage in them. Thus we will be seen to be transforming and growing in our image of Christ. He being the unblemished image of God we thus cleanse the image we bear of God to return it to God's glory as it was before sin.

(3) If faith came from God all would have it. Faith originates from a man's heart. God blesses a man's faith and helps that man to build on it.

(4) No. The unbeliever who has not the spirit cannot do works that have any credit with God as such a man is dead in his sins. Such a man may do random good works but it merits him nothing but in this life. He has not submitted to allowing God through Christ to regenerate him spiritually.

I'm jumping here for the simple reason that I agree with most of this. You said we are given the opportunity to cooperate and I believe this to be right on and you said this very well. There are many "if" statements in the Word (if we follow that is our cooperation). It's not like God expects us to set back and not be obedient to His Word. As our minds are renewed, we conform to the image of Christ, and produce Fruit.

Your point about believing in Jesus is right on! Even the demons believe there is a Jesus, but their faith and trust are not in Him. Believing IN Jesus for all He has said, believing in Jesus that what He said He will do, and believing IN those promises. We have come to a place where we simply accept Christ and that is it, we do not DO what He said to DO in His Word. Believe and then Do!

Faith AND Obedience.
One point of disagreement is where our faith comes from:

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

peace.

 

[Who Says]

Just got back from out of town... hope we can continue....


If you're asking what God sees in me,in the Flesh, that gives Him reason to elect me, then the answer is - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
God sees nothing in me, in the flesh, to elect me to be in Christ. I have given Him absolutely no reason to do so. In that sense, I am not special in any way or above the rest in any way or any such thing you suppose.

Why God still elects is solely because of His own sovereign will and pleasure - there is nothing deserving in me.


But from the above I can see that you do not accept God's sovereignty to play any role in this - you're saying that we must give God a reason to save us - namely, that we must somehow merit it by placing ourselves in Christ [by believing] - after which God chooses us in Christ because of Christ Himself.

This is my question then - can we men, in the flesh, place ourselves in Christ by ourselves? Can we, by the ability of our flesh, repent and believe by ourselves?

Matthew 22:14 "For many are called, but few are chosen."

All one need do is look to see why only a few of the many end up being chosen. Then we see that God does have requirements for us that must be kept if it be true that we are chosen.

Else all He called would be chosen.

 

[ivdavid]

@Who Says, thank you for replying....
... for the sake of clarity, kindly answer as many of the following as you'd like to....

In the ransom we are given the opportunity to cooperate with Christ's cleansing of us by the bath in the water of the word as we act deliberately to put away the flesh and its filth and let our minds be made over so that we learn to effectively walk after God's holy spirit.

This statement by itself could be nothing but true - but how have you interpreted the meaning of this statement?

What do you exactly mean by "walking after the Spirit"? What do you mean by "flesh" here?

What do you mean by cooperation? You could mean that God will never work anything in you against your will - and that is True. But if you meant that God is dependent on your will to work in you, then that is False. Which of these meanings do you hold?

When you say "we - deliberately - put away our flesh", are you saying that we can put away our flesh by ourselves or by the working of the Spirit in us?

If faith came from God all would have it.

Why so? How have you come to hold this assumption?

Also, faith is not of us - it is a gift of God.
Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,

Such a man[unbeliever] may do random good works...

Are you sure? Can an unbeliever without the Holy Spirit do even a single act of good in God's sight? I'm not talking about it gaining merit - just whether it can even fall under the category of "good" in God's sight?

And if a person really believes something that belief produces fruitage in them.

What is this belief you are referring to? What belief produces fruit in us and how?

We must believe IN Christ, but that does not simply mean believing he is Christ.

"Believing in Christ" is different from "believing that He is the Christ". What are we to believe in Him for?

My answer is b) the instrumental cause in making possible something else that is needed for our salvation?

If Jesus' death on the cross is the instrumental cause of our salvation, then what is the direct cause of our salvation? What is that something else that is needed for our salvation?

 

[ivdavid]

There are many "if" statements in the Word (if we follow that is our cooperation).

The above conclusion need not necessarily be true. Just because there are many "if" statements does not lead to the conclusion that we are able to follow them. The purpose need not necessarily be only to exhort or command - it could go beyond that.
For eg:
Deu 30:19 I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live,

This was when Moses gave the Law - he set before the people, the choice of life and death - blessing and cursing. The law of works is as follows -
Lev 18:5 And you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am Jehovah.

Does this imply that man is able to choose life by himself? Does the "if" in the above verse imply that we are able to do those works by ourselves?

The law was given for us to realize that we can never follow the law - thereby making us wholly dependent on Christ. The "if" statement does not necessarily imply that it is dependent on our cooperation/action/work etc.

Besides, the "if...then" clause need not necessarily be causative. Please refer this wiki link for more on this.

 

[Eventide]

event:



You shouldnt be, I am not worried about you, and I know the devil has deceived you..

Well that's fine SBG, I just asked you a simple question.. and seeing that you are the elect I'd think that it should be fairly easy to answer.. here it is again..

Are you, or are you not exempt from taking up your cross, denying yourself, and following Christ ?

 

[Eventide]

Just got back from out of town... hope we can continue....

Sure, although I do not have much time today.

If you're asking what God sees in me,in the Flesh, that gives Him reason to elect me, then the answer is - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
God sees nothing in me, in the flesh, to elect me to be in Christ. I have given Him absolutely no reason to do so. In that sense, I am not special in any way or above the rest in any way or any such thing you suppose.

Why God still elects is solely because of His own sovereign will and pleasure - there is nothing deserving in me.

That's largely the point... God doesn't choose ANYONE in the flesh, and according to the scriptures we are ALL under the same condemnation.. even AFTER we are saved it is not our flesh that is justified, it is the SPIRIT of Christ within us that IS.

FLESH gives birth to flesh.. SPIRIT gives birth to the SPIRIT..

Which one does God chose..?

But from the above I can see that you do not accept God's sovereignty to play any role in this - you're saying that we must give God a reason to save us - namely, that we must somehow merit it by placing ourselves in Christ [by believing] - after which God chooses us in Christ because of Christ Himself.

Does your bible tell you what you must do in order to be saved..?

This is my question then - can we men, in the flesh, place ourselves in Christ by ourselves? Can we, by the ability of our flesh, repent and believe by ourselves?

I don't understand why Calvinist's get stuck on this one so much.. it's like a broken record..

The power of the GOSPEL OF GOD concerning His Son (the truth) is what sets man free from the lies and deception of Satan, who by the way is the ruler of this present evil world.. and I say this because most Calvinists by default are amillennial... and NO MAN places their self into Christ.. I mean come on... if you're going to attribute this nonsense to what others believe, then maybe you need to educate yourself first.

 

[ivdavid]

That's largely the point...

I think you still haven't understood what I mean. It becomes difficult when we use the same words to mean different things. Try and clarify in simplest terms what you mean by something.

God doesn't choose ANYONE in the flesh..

What do you exactly mean by "in the flesh"? I've understood it as acting "in our own human ability" or "through our human means/works/wisdom" - anything that I can attribute to my own ability/will-power amounts to "me being/working/walking in the flesh". "In the Spirit" encompasses all the works of the Spirit in you. All good acts that are worked in me by the Spirit are attributed to the Spirit alone and none to me. When this happens, I am "walking in the Spirit".

But we are all "born of the flesh". And only those who are "born of the Spirit" will enter the Kingdom of God. So how does one who is 'born of the flesh' become 'born of the Spirit'? By some work that he does or by some work that the Spirit works in him?

Now, what is meant by being born of the Spirit - does it not mean that we are created anew by the working of the Spirit in us - A regeneration of our hardened heart into a heart that can begin loving God in Spirit and in truth.

And if God has to work this in us, at the time of His working this in us, we are still in the flesh, right? So, in that sense, does He not have to choose people in the flesh to pour out His Spirit into?

Likewise, I never said God doesn't choose people in the flesh - I said He chooses us inspite of us being in the flesh. He does it because of no reason he finds in those people in the flesh but because of His own sovereign will and pleasure.

I think you might have overlooked this post in this context.

Does your bible tell you what you must do in order to be saved..?

Absolutely - it says that I, of my own will-power/ability[in the flesh], can do nothing to be saved. That's why we are at God's mercy wholly dependent on His grace. Jeshua - God saves. We are only recipients of such grace.

If no man, in the flesh, can do anything to be saved, and if he needs the Spirit of God to be able to discern spiritual things concerning salvation, then how only can we be saved if God does not choose men in the flesh, to pour out His Spirit into?

NO MAN places their self into Christ

I don't know what you understood of what I was saying - let me make it simpler.

Is faith given by God or is it self-generated? Are we able to believe by our own will-power/ability or do we need God to act in us to enable us to believe?

Is repentance granted by God or is it self-generated? Are we able to repent by our own will-power/ability or must God's grace soften, incline and cause our hearts to repent?

 

[Jake]

The above conclusion need not necessarily be true. Just because there are many "if" statements does not lead to the conclusion that we are able to follow them. The purpose need not necessarily be only to exhort or command - it could go beyond that.
For eg:
Deu 30:19 I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live,

This was when Moses gave the Law - he set before the people, the choice of life and death - blessing and cursing. The law of works is as follows -
Lev 18:5 And you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am Jehovah.

Does this imply that man is able to choose life by himself? Does the "if" in the above verse imply that we are able to do those works by ourselves?

The law was given for us to realize that we can never follow the law - thereby making us wholly dependent on Christ. The "if" statement does not necessarily imply that it is dependent on our cooperation/action/work etc.

Besides, the "if...then" clause need not necessarily be causative. Please refer this wiki link for more on this.

I can tell you that if it was not so, God would not have said it.
There are two sides to a covenant, surely you realize this, two parties, one side keeps their bargain, the other keeps theirs, two in agreement.
Now if one side breaks their side of the covenant, then the other side does not have to uphold their side, correct?
We know God is faithful and true and will hold to His side, IF we do ours.

I do not need an outside resource to tell me what an "if" statement in the Word means, God does that Himself.

peace -

 

[ivdavid]

I can tell you that if it was not so, God would not have said it.

Rockie, these are fundamentals - I am imploring you, we cannot disagree on this! God gave the law knowing full well we cannot keep it - it was given, for us to realize that we can never keep it by our own ability or will.

It was given to help us realize that there is nothing good in us - that the natural man is a God-hating rebel, enemy of God, from birth - that no matter how much we tried, we could never keep the law because our sinful[rebellious] nature would never abide by God's good and holy commandments. That our only hope to even do a single good work is by God's grace alone and not by even one iota of our own striving in the flesh.

We know God is faithful and true and will hold to His side, IF we do ours.

Are you actually saying that man could have kept his side of the covenant? Are you saying that we can ever keep the commandments of the Law by ourselves, of our own ability/will-power? It is of course, a fact, that we didn't - but are you saying that it is even possible for the natural man, without the Holy Spirit, to be able to keep the Law?

I do not need an outside resource to tell me what an "if" statement in the Word means, God does that Himself.

Do not be offended - I believe in the sufficiency of the Bible but I don't trust man's ability[mine included] to interpret it. You were making a logical error which I stated not to simply point it out but to remove this obstacle from your progression in the faith. The link I gave deals with mere logic - not human wisdom or opinion - and God created logic.


This is the problem, you see. Each one's beliefs are what he believes to be true. Why should someone listen to what I say and accept this as true when he already holds something else to be true. And if man, in the flesh, is convinced that there is no way his belief can be false[if he isn't convinced, it wouldn't be a belief], and if by the deceitful heart he has, he has held on to something false thinking it to be true, then how only can that error be corrected? He would interpret everything according to what he has already believed to be true. How only can he come to accept the truth? This is why it says - with man, it is impossible but with God, all things are possible. We, on our part, are only to prophecy to the dead and very dry bones.

 

[Jake]

Rockie, these are fundamentals - I am imploring you, we cannot disagree on this! God gave the law knowing full well we cannot keep it - it was given, for us to realize that we can never keep it by our own ability or will.

It was given to help us realize that there is nothing good in us - that the natural man is a God-hating rebel, enemy of God, from birth - that no matter how much we tried, we could never keep the law because our sinful[rebellious] nature would never abide by God's good and holy commandments. That our only hope to even do a single good work is by God's grace alone and not by even one iota of our own striving in the flesh.


Are you actually saying that man could have kept his side of the covenant? Are you saying that we can ever keep the commandments of the Law by ourselves, of our own ability/will-power? It is of course, a fact, that we didn't - but are you saying that it is even possible for the natural man, without the Holy Spirit, to be able to keep the Law?


Do not be offended - I believe in the sufficiency of the Bible but I don't trust man's ability[mine included] to interpret it. You were making a logical error which I stated not to simply point it out but to remove this obstacle from your progression in the faith. The link I gave deals with mere logic - not human wisdom or opinion - and God created logic.


This is the problem, you see. Each one's beliefs are what he believes to be true. Why should someone listen to what I say and accept this as true when he already holds something else to be true. And if man, in the flesh, is convinced that there is no way his belief can be false[if he isn't convinced, it wouldn't be a belief], and if by the deceitful heart he has, he has held on to something false thinking it to be true, then how only can that error be corrected? He would interpret everything according to what he has already believed to be true. How only can he come to accept the truth? This is why it says - with man, it is impossible but with God, all things are possible. We, on our part, are only to prophecy to the dead and very dry bones.

I do believe I was not clear on my previous post, I do agree with what you are saying, but I also believe in conditions on our part, yes, with the Holy Spirit's, we die to our flesh, we can do nothing good w/out Him.
I can not give you a thorough answer right now, but I will get to this later today.

peace

 

[savedbygrace57]

The very fact that Christ is God's Elect, is what constitutes others elect, for He is the Head and they the Body..

Thats why He is the Saviour of the Body, The Elect eph 5:

23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

How can the Head be Elect and His Body not be ? That would a freakazoid..lol

 

[Eventide]

The QUESTION which SBG doesn't seem to have an answer to...

The very fact that Christ is God's Elect, is what constitutes others elect, for He is the Head and they the Body..

Thats why He is the Saviour of the Body, The Elect eph 5:

23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

How can the Head be Elect and His Body not be ? That would a freakazoid..lol

I understand what you believe.. that's why I asked the simple question multiple times now and have not received an answer from you..

Are you exempt from taking up your cross, denying yourself, and following CHRIST ?

 

[Eventide]

FLESH versus the SPIRIT..

For those who do not understand the difference between the flesh and the Spirit..

Our flesh is the result of our first birth, when we were born naturally through our parents.. and all men are summed up in the first man Adam..

The Spirit is the result of the miraculous birth of Christ within our earthen vessel.. when we were born again by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

Flesh gives birth to flesh.. there's no changing that..

Spirit gives birth to the Spirit, and there's no changing that either..

All FLESH is under the exact same condemnation.. for this is no difference.. for all have sinned and are fallen short of the glory of God..

It's obvious to see here that the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the elect of God.. and that all are elected or chosen IN HIM... after they trust in Christ, after hearing the gospel, and after they believe.

When a person is placed into the body of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, old things are passed away and all things are become new in Christ.. the scriptures go further and declare that we are crucified with Christ and nevertheless we live.. yet not I, but Christ liveth in me..

The reason WHY people are called the 'elect' in the bible is because they are members of the BODY OF CHRIST and He alone is the elect of God.

REMEMBER... All are condemned in the flesh in the first man Adam.. and all are justified freely by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the second man and the Last Adam.

 

[ivdavid]

@Eventide,
Your last post clarified a lot of things. Could I generalize and sum up your sequence in God's plan of salvation as follows -

1. Man is born of the flesh.
2. Man stands condemned in the flesh.
3. Man hears the Gospel of Christ.
4. Man believes in Jesus Christ.
5. Man is born of the Spirit ie he is spiritually regenerated.
6. Man is placed in the body of Christ ie the Church of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
7. All those who are in the body of Christ are saved, therefore Man in Christ is saved.

If I have gotten any of the above wrong, I am sorry - please, patiently correct me. I am going ahead in this post assuming the above is what you believe.

We hold a lot in common, but the "minor" differences add up to a lot because these minor differences are at the foundational level and hence change a lot in the upper layers. Anyway, this is my sequence in God's plan of salvation -

1. Man is born of the flesh.
2. Man stands condemned in the flesh.
3. Man hears the Gospel of Christ.
4. Man is born of the Spirit ie he is spiritually regenerated.
5. Man believes in Jesus Christ.
6. Man is placed in the body of Christ ie the Church of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
7. All those who are in the body of Christ are saved, therefore Man in Christ is saved.

The only difference between your sequence and mine is the ordering of points 4 & 5. In your sequence, Man is not yet born of the Spirit/spiritually regenerated when he believes in Christ. In my sequence, Man is born of the Spirit/spiritually regenerated when he believes in Christ.

[Correct me if I'm wrong in the following]
In your sequence, believing in Christ is a necessary cause of Man's salvation. In my sequence, faith is a correlated event and not causative of anything at all in his salvation.

In your sequence, believing in Christ seems to result in Man being born of the Spirit [correct me if I'm wrong]. In my sequence, being born of the Spirit/spiritual regeneration enables Man to believe in Christ.

Have we understood each other's beliefs correctly so far?

 

[Eventide]

In your sequence, believing in Christ seems to result in Man being born of the Spirit [correct me if I'm wrong].

That is wrong. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is the result of hearing the gospel, and being born of the Spirit is the miraculous working of God alone in sealing that belief.. that's exactly what Eph 1:13 teaches.. that we trusted in Christ after hearing the gospel and that AFTER we believed, GOD SEALED us with the Holy Spirit of promise.. this is the same thing as 1 Cor 12:13, being baptized into that one body (HIS BODY) by that same Spirit. It's how each and every believer is born again and placed into Christ by the power of God.

In my sequence, being born of the Spirit/spiritual regeneration enables Man to believe in Christ.

Have we understood each other's beliefs correctly so far?

Which is obviously wrong in light of what Eph 1:13 clearly teaches. Being sealed with the Spirit of God comes AFTER a person believes the gospel.

 

[Jake]

The above conclusion need not necessarily be true. Just because there are many "if" statements does not lead to the conclusion that we are able to follow them. The purpose need not necessarily be only to exhort or command - it could go beyond that.
For eg:
Deu 30:19 I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live,

This was when Moses gave the Law - he set before the people, the choice of life and death - blessing and cursing. The law of works is as follows -
Lev 18:5 And you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am Jehovah.

Does this imply that man is able to choose life by himself? Does the "if" in the above verse imply that we are able to do those works by ourselves?

The law was given for us to realize that we can never follow the law - thereby making us wholly dependent on Christ. The "if" statement does not necessarily imply that it is dependent on our cooperation/action/work etc.

Besides, the "if...then" clause need not necessarily be causative. Please refer this wiki link for more on this.

First of all, we are not under the OT law, we are in a new covenant, and with Christ's Spirit in us, we are now able to die to our flesh and live in the Spirit.

God draws us to Himself, we hear the Word, we believe, (or not) which would be us "choosing life" if we so believe, at that moment when we believe, the Holy Spirit indwells us, we are being saved, no one time event, our salvation is on-going, through faith.

We can still choose, not to choose life, by rejecting Him. Faith w/out works is dead.

A person can reject all the "if's" in the Word, but why would you if you have "choosen life"?

We are not the ones who put all the "if" statements in the Word, He did. It's a covenant, there are 2 parties, we have to do our part, too.

peace -

 

[Eventide]

And it should be obvious to see that the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the elect of God, the CHOSEN ONE in Whom the Father delights !

All in Adam according to the FLESH are under condemnation, they're condemned already if they do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.. that is ALREADY SETTLED.. for there are none righteous, no not even one.. there are none good but ONE and that is God..

This is the foundation of election.. and it's all centered upon the Lord Jesus Christ.. for He alone is the elect of God.

All in the first Adam condemned already..

All in the Last Adam (Christ) justified (by faith) freely..

It's that simple imo.. but again, there's a lot of false teaching going on about condemned men being the elect of God.. even unconditionally..? Nonsensical according to the word of God as ALL ELECTION is CONDITIONAL upon being IN CHRIST, the one who IS the elect and chosen of God.

 

[Jake]

And it should be obvious to see that the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the elect of God, the CHOSEN ONE in Whom the Father delights !

All in Adam according to the FLESH are under condemnation, they're condemned already if they do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.. that is ALREADY SETTLED.. for there are none righteous, no not even one.. there are none good but ONE and that is God..

This is the foundation of election.. and it's all centered upon the Lord Jesus Christ.. for He alone is the elect of God.

All in the first Adam condemned already..

All in the Last Adam (Christ) justified (by faith) freely..

It's that simple imo.. but again, there's a lot of false teaching going on about condemned men being the elect of God.. even unconditionally..? Nonsensical according to the word of God as ALL ELECTION is CONDITIONAL upon being IN CHRIST, the one who IS the elect and chosen of God.

I hear what you are saying, Christ is absolutely the Elect, no question about it, but He is the first fruit of the elect.

How can you discredit Matthew 24?

With He being the First Fruit, we are conforming to His image, manifesting Him, so those doing that are also the elect, which you could say IS Christ. Head and Body.
Is this what you mean?

 

[ivdavid]

Since you didn't object to the sequencing, I'm assuming that I've got that part of yours right. Maybe we can go deeper now.

In your sequence, believing in Christ seems to result in Man being born of the Spirit [correct me if I'm wrong].

That is wrong. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is the result of hearing the gospel, and being born of the Spirit is the miraculous working of God alone in sealing that belief..

When you say that believing in Christ is the result of hearing the Gospel, are you implying that "hearing the Gospel" is the cause of your believing. That can't be so - because then it implies that all who heard the Gospel must end up believing in Christ - which we know is not true. So what exactly is the cause of one's believing in Christ - man's own will-power or God's grace working in Him through the Holy Spirit?

According to you, what must be filled in the blanks here -
Cause : __________ => Effect : Man believes in Christ
a) Hearing the Gospel.
b) Man's own will-power/ability/goodness/wisdom.
c) God's grace working in him through the Holy Spirit.
d) Other...(Please specify)

According to me, this is how I'd fill it out -
Cause : God's grace working in him through the Holy Spirit => Effect : Man believes in Christ
Correlated Factor : Hearing the Gospel of Christ. [This too has the same above cause]

..being born of the Spirit is the miraculous working of God alone in sealing that belief..

Depending on your answer to the previous question, this will follow accordingly. If you chose option (c) to the previous question, then your statement logically follows.

But if you chose (b), then since Man's own will-power/ability/wisdom caused the believing, and since God can spiritually seal him only when he has such belief - then it follows that Man's own will-power/ability results in God spiritually sealing him.

I agree that "being born of the Spirit" is the miraculous working of God alone - but then the question becomes - what is the cause of God's such miraculous working?
Cause : ______________ => Effect : God miraculously causes us to be born spiritually by His Spirit.
a) God's sovereign will and pleasure.
b) Man's believing in Christ.
c) Other ..(please specify)

I'd fill this with (a).

I've continued in my next post....