Salvation is not offered to the highest bidder, or the most qualified, or the most eager, most intelligent, wisest, or moral person; au contraire. Christ doesn't offer to save, He saves! It goes to the lowest bidder, as it were, the one who realizes he is unqualified, (we can do nothing to qualify or cooperate for our salvation). We are bad, but not too bad to be saved. We are as bad off as we can be, but God's grace is as great as can be. Instead of saying, "God, I'm not that bad after all!" we need to say, "Lord, I have done nothing to deserve salvation, and You would be just to sentence me to hell, but I appeal to your mercy and grace at Christ's expense on my behalf."
Catholics believe we cooperate with God and somehow merit our salvation of which we are qualified by our faith. Having faith doesn't qualify us to be saved, but means we are saved and regenerated. God doesn't elect us because we have faith (that would be merit and a conditional election), but unto faith or to grant us faith. We can do naught to please God or gain His approbation. Someone has said, "God must have chosen me before I was born because He sure wouldn't have afterward." If God chooses us because we have faith or in some way are better than others, then it is not a gift, but a reward. That would be the institution of merit for salvation. According to His purpose and grace, He saved us, and not because of anything in us that was good, for there is none good. No one earns it, deserves it, nor can pay it back!
A person must see himself as a vile sinner who is unworthy of grace and in God's hands, at His mercy, to be saved, he must literally throw himself on the mercy of God, realizing he cannot save himself. His life has gotten out of control because of his sin and he is convicted by the Holy Spirit of his depraved state. When I say, "How low can you go?" I mean that you must be humbled to get saved and stop thinking so highly of yourself, that you're an alright guy or good man. Romans 3:12 says there is none good.
We are enslaved to sin and cannot please God, because our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). When we get saved, we are set free spiritually and have a restored fellowship with God that had been severed at the fall of Adam. Regeneration makes possible a living faith and repentance and we are completely passive in the process: Our part is to act upon the faith that God gives us and prove it is genuine. God's gift, our act! The worse off you see yourself and the least qualified you think you are, the closer you are to the kingdom of God and it is within your grasp. Ego can get in the way, but we need to swallow our pride and realize that He must increase, as we decrease.
When we realize it is not about "us" then we have made a spiritual breakthrough and know that it is all about Jesus. Paul strove to preach Christ, and Christ crucified, not himself. The more one's thoughts are aimed at Christ to glorify Him the more glory God gets and the more involved the Spirit gets. It grieves Him to dwell on ourselves and be egocentric or self-centered.
By going low I mean your opinion and judgment of yourself in comparison to others in respect of your sins. The sinner who prayed, "God be merciful to me, the sinner" in Luke 18:13 was on target when he realized his depravity in God's sight. Paul thought he was the chief of sinners and John Bunyan wrote, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. That's what grace orientation does to you--it makes you feel unworthy and forever grateful. Jesus said, "He that is forgiven much [realizes it the most], loves much! Soli Deo Gloria!
Catholics believe we cooperate with God and somehow merit our salvation of which we are qualified by our faith. Having faith doesn't qualify us to be saved, but means we are saved and regenerated. God doesn't elect us because we have faith (that would be merit and a conditional election), but unto faith or to grant us faith. We can do naught to please God or gain His approbation. Someone has said, "God must have chosen me before I was born because He sure wouldn't have afterward." If God chooses us because we have faith or in some way are better than others, then it is not a gift, but a reward. That would be the institution of merit for salvation. According to His purpose and grace, He saved us, and not because of anything in us that was good, for there is none good. No one earns it, deserves it, nor can pay it back!
A person must see himself as a vile sinner who is unworthy of grace and in God's hands, at His mercy, to be saved, he must literally throw himself on the mercy of God, realizing he cannot save himself. His life has gotten out of control because of his sin and he is convicted by the Holy Spirit of his depraved state. When I say, "How low can you go?" I mean that you must be humbled to get saved and stop thinking so highly of yourself, that you're an alright guy or good man. Romans 3:12 says there is none good.
We are enslaved to sin and cannot please God, because our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). When we get saved, we are set free spiritually and have a restored fellowship with God that had been severed at the fall of Adam. Regeneration makes possible a living faith and repentance and we are completely passive in the process: Our part is to act upon the faith that God gives us and prove it is genuine. God's gift, our act! The worse off you see yourself and the least qualified you think you are, the closer you are to the kingdom of God and it is within your grasp. Ego can get in the way, but we need to swallow our pride and realize that He must increase, as we decrease.
When we realize it is not about "us" then we have made a spiritual breakthrough and know that it is all about Jesus. Paul strove to preach Christ, and Christ crucified, not himself. The more one's thoughts are aimed at Christ to glorify Him the more glory God gets and the more involved the Spirit gets. It grieves Him to dwell on ourselves and be egocentric or self-centered.
By going low I mean your opinion and judgment of yourself in comparison to others in respect of your sins. The sinner who prayed, "God be merciful to me, the sinner" in Luke 18:13 was on target when he realized his depravity in God's sight. Paul thought he was the chief of sinners and John Bunyan wrote, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. That's what grace orientation does to you--it makes you feel unworthy and forever grateful. Jesus said, "He that is forgiven much [realizes it the most], loves much! Soli Deo Gloria!
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