What do you do with verses like, it is God working in you to will and to act according to/on behalf of His good purpose/pleasure? He will finish the work He began in you? You can do nothing aside from Him? He draws us with loving kindness to work repentance in us? Do you not see His lovingkindness as a preparation of our hearts? Do you think man circumcises his own heart? Scripture says, ah, specifically articulates that it is a work of the Holy Spirit of God. We have many here who believe that their incurably wicked hearts brought forth the good fruit of faith. I just don't see that being supported in Scripture at all. In fact it contradicts what Scripture explicitly states, in the words of Jesus Christ no less. A bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. And there are none good to begin with. Gosh. This is reiterated throughout the good book from beginning to end in a number of places and ways.
Philippians 3 verse 3; Colossians 2 verse 11; Romans 2 verse 29b ~ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh. You were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands. Circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.
If you look at the commonly quoted verse, Romans 3:10. Its a quotation from a psalm that says there is none that does good. Its talking about atheists and other wicked men, but the same psalm also talks about righteous people. So not everyone is under that umbrella, thats the UNBELIEVERS, not the saints!
God tells people to "circumcise your hearts" in the OT but God also promises to do it Himself later on. So once again we see the synergy in play.
James 4:8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Clearly we have some responsibility in that as well, if it was all God we wouldnt be in the mess we are in. There wouldnt be a state of emergency in the churches if it was God in charge of our repentance.
I know all the verses, they have been posted many times, but did you know there are also OTHER verses in the Bible. Let me ask the questions this time, how would you see these types of verses:
Luke 1:6
Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. [Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous and obeyed blameless.]
Acts 10:2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. [Cornelius was a righteous gentile and God heard his prayers. The reason Peter was sent to Cornelius was precisely this]
Acts 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. [Same deal, those who work righteousness are accepted by the Lord.]
Ezekiel 14:14
even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Ezekiel 22:30
“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. [Completely refutes calvinism and monergism as a system. God could of just given the gift of faith and repentance to someone and there would have been a man to stand on the gap.]
So as you can see, its not as one sided as you make it sound. We can both paste long walls of Scripture. The Bible clearly teaches both predestination and free will. Both depravity and righteousness.
We gotta be dilligent to harmonize these Scriptures in the best possible way.
