And after some disciples heard these sayings, they no longer followed Him..... Jesus never made it easy to be a follower of His and stipulated strict guidelines and requisites like denial of self, and having first priority in our hearts so much that we "hate" our parents. He also said that we "cannot come to the Father unless it has been granted.." We cannot believe in Jesus apart from grace ("Apart from Me, you can do nothing...." "This is the work of God... that you believe in Him whom He has sent."). St. Augustine of Hippo said it well: “God command what you will, but grant what you command…” If we can turn over a new leaf, make a New Year’s resolution, Boy Scout pledge, or AA pledge to change our lives, what good is regeneration? God must change us from the inside out!
What good is regeneration if we can accomplish this of our own strength and without grace working in our hearts? God opens the door of faith and kindles it within us as He quickens our dead spirit. This is called "lordship salvation" as opposed to "easy-believism" or that commitment to Christ as Lord is not required for salvation. We must receive Him for who He is! Jesus never watered down His message, contextualized it, nor dumbed it down, but told it as it is in straight talk and calling a spade a spade. He never minced words or made it easy to follow Him but discouraged half-hearted disciples who may have admired Jesus but were not ready to lay down their lives for Him.
For instance, no fornicator, murderer, liar, drunkard, homosexual, thief, or swindler will get into the kingdom. But with all these requirements, we cannot change ourselves but we must be willing to let God change us: we come as we are, but do not remain that way due to the grace of God working in our hearts. What good is regeneration if we can believe apart from it or conversion if we had the power to transform our lives ourselves? The whole point of the gospel is that God changes us and we become new creatures in Christ: a changed life as a testimony!
Salvation must be grace from beginning to end: "Salvation is of the LORD," (Jonah 2:9) and that means we do not contribute anything to our regeneration and conversion. Therefore, it is not of us and God nor of us alone but of God alone! It is the work of God on our behalf who gets the glory. Soli Deo Gloria!
About Me
- Karl Broberg
- I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.