WHY man is unable to choose Jesus and the Gospel

[Dougcho]

NT verses are available for all of these disastrous conditions:

Inherited sin nature ................... Spiritual mortal enemy, Satan

Sin nature against God ............. Satan’s army against him

Enemy of God ............................. Under Satan’s power & control

Spiritually blind .......................... Satan robs initial faith

Lives in an evil world ................ Satan causes him to be:

Slave of sin .................................. ● deceived

In Spiritual darkness ................. ● spiritually blind

Spiritually dead ......................... ● held a captive

Sees Gospel as foolishness ..... ● held a slave

Cannot come to Jesus

Father God must draw him to Jesus

Jesus must choose him

Problems, persecutions, worries, lures of wealth

Extremely difficult to enter the Kingdom of God

 

[Hopeful 2]

NT verses are available for all of these disastrous conditions:

Inherited sin nature ................... Spiritual mortal enemy, Satan

Sin nature against God ............. Satan’s army against him

Enemy of God ............................. Under Satan’s power & control

Spiritually blind .......................... Satan robs initial faith

Lives in an evil world ................ Satan causes him to be:

Slave of sin .................................. ● deceived

In Spiritual darkness ................. ● spiritually blind

Spiritually dead ......................... ● held a captive

Sees Gospel as foolishness ..... ● held a slave

Cannot come to Jesus

Father God must draw him to Jesus

Jesus must choose him

Problems, persecutions, worries, lures of wealth

Extremely difficult to enter the Kingdom of God

I sure am glad that there are no barriers keeping men from being drawn to God.

 

[Dougcho]

“All that the Father gives to Me will come to Me …
of all He (Father God) has given to Me I should lose nothing …
No one CAN (is able to) come to Me unless the Father who sent Me
DRAWS (Greek: compels, drags) him … no one CAN (is able to) come to Me
unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” (John 6)

 

[brightfame52]

The Gospel is light and its Spiritual and man by nature is not spiritual but carnal and so 1 Cor 2:14

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know/understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Now man by nature is darkness in its essence spiritually Eph 5

8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Now read this Jn 1:5

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
And the Gospel of Christ is light 2 Cor 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Darkness, which we all are by unregenerate nature, absolutely cannot comprehend the Light.

That word comprehended in Jn 1:5 is the greek word katalambanō:

1. to lay hold of with the mind
   
   1. to understand, perceive, learn, comprehend
2. to make one's own, to take into oneself, appropriate

So because of mans dark sinful nature, dead in sin, he cannot and will not chose Christ and His Gospel Light.

 

[brightfame52]

Only the prepared soil, according to Matthew 13:1-9, understands and bears fruit. Such preparation is accomplished by the Holy Spirit in regeneration.

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6 ;And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9 ;Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Now later Jesus added the word understandeth Vs 23

23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

So the good ground was no longer darkness, but a new regenerated heart, now able to spiritually comprehend the light of the Gospel and bring forth fruit, spiritual fruit

 

[Vinny37]

NT verses are available for all of these disastrous conditions:

Inherited sin nature ................... Spiritual mortal enemy, Satan

Sin nature against God ............. Satan’s army against him

Enemy of God ............................. Under Satan’s power & control

Spiritually blind .......................... Satan robs initial faith

Lives in an evil world ................ Satan causes him to be:

Slave of sin .................................. ● deceived

In Spiritual darkness ................. ● spiritually blind

Spiritually dead ......................... ● held a captive

Sees Gospel as foolishness ..... ● held a slave

Cannot come to Jesus

Father God must draw him to Jesus

Jesus must choose him

Problems, persecutions, worries, lures of wealth

Extremely difficult to enter the Kingdom of God

“‘You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you,’ said the Lion” (C S Lewis’ The Silver Chair). When it came to discipleship, prior to the messianic (ie Christian) age, we have Jhn.6:44, where it was the father who attracted people to his incarnate son, the hidden messiah. As to those in Jesus’ apostolic band, unlike other rabbis who were chosen, they were chosen by their rabbi for purpose, not to eternal life per se, but to apostleship, including Judas of Kerioth.

For this Age, I would hold that it is also the father, by the spirit, who attracts those folk who get the chance to hear the gospel, to the revealed messiah, inviting them to become Christians. Indeed, he can bypass the general element of human preaching. Common humanity lives relatively dead to deity, although can have some desire of, thus seeking for, him, hence Paul commended the Athenians yet invited them to upgrade from primary to tertiary education (Ac.17:23). Lots of psychology (eg pride, position, purpose) can stop folk taking God's invitation (Lk.9:57-62). Common humanity lies in a spiritual fog, yet some seek the sun without knowing there to be a sun. The Evangel sheds light, and Scripture says that it’s a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news.