The Sovereignty of God In Our Salvation and Perseverance

Coming to Christ is not simply a matter of deciding to do so. In these key passages, we can see that the salvation of a person is wrought by the Initiation of God himself; they are drawn by the Father. This is the only way that man can come into a saving relationship with God! This is more than a mere intellectual assent. God draws man by giving him a new heart. Notice that in the gospel of John, Jesus uses the word, "unless". This indicates that what he is about to say after is going to be the imperative condition by which men may come to him. Many were following at the time that Jesus makes this statement, yet soon after, the numbers had dwindled dramatically. Why? It is because there were many that were following him by fleshly impulses, without any desire to be fed spiritually or "taught by God". These sort of "decisions for Christ" only lead one to seek the benefits of following our Lord while never making him Lord of their life - the goods overshadow the Goods Giver. Unless God gives us new hearts and causes us to follow his statutes, we are nothing more than dead men walking and kindling for the flames of hell due to the fact that any other salvific efforts will fall short leaving us in dire peril. What is to be gleaned from these passages is profoud:

The triune God chose from eternity past who would be redeemed.
The son who pre-existed with the father and is one with the father is sent to fulfill what man could not and the sarcrifice offered once for all for those redeemed (past, present, and future).
After the Christ's earthly ministry is finished, God sends the Holy Spirit to seal those who are his so as they will be raised on the last day because they will indeed persevere to the end.

All glory be to God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) for our salvation!! Amen.

Created over 2 years ago