The Gateway To Hades

"Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin" (Romans 7:24-25, ESV).

"A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back" (Proverbs 29:11, NKJV),

"I see the better things and I approve them, but I follow the worst."  (Ovid, a Roman poet of antiquity).
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."  --C. S. Lewis
Note:  From this post, I hope to show you that the sin crescendo is the malady spiraling out of control and that Christ is the only cure and answer.

They say that all who entered here (hell) should give up all hope. They toyed with the devil and reaped what they sowed.  They have made the final decision, step by step to go the way of the devil by the exercise of their own will and cannot blame God for their fate, that they claimed they didn't see coming. They made their decision one step at a time knowing what they were doing and not being forced to do anything they didn't want to do.  Sin is like that:  It is like a gateway drug that leads to dangerous drugs and further addiction, seeming harmless at first, but then there's no turning back after the point of no return--you become enticed as it's slave (you are now a confirmed and possibly  a hardened sinner) and the only hope is to be set free by Jesus, who is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (cf. John 14:6).  A. W. Tozer said, "Jesus is not one of many ways, nor the best way, but the only way!"

An example of the progression of sin from Colossians 3 is lying leading to abusive speech, leading to slander or character assassination, leading to malice, then wrath, then finally outbursts of anger, and Jesus equated anger with murder (cf. Matt. 5:22)!  How do people get addicted to sex?  Greed leads to evil desire, then passion or lust, then impurity, then acted out sexual immorality itself.  The problem arises as to how to defuse the time bomb of escalating sin before we do something that will get us in trouble with the law or what have you. Psychologists have a term that may be helpful: Opposite action.  To neutralize greed, for example, be thankful!  To neutralize anger, forgive! Sin is a contrary spirit to God (man's declaration of independence from God) and we must learn to undo it by reversing its appeal with "opposite action."  Sin may seem harmless in incubation, but when hatched it is dangerous and must be recognized for what it is:  Calling it by other names or denying it will do no good (some believers are in denial, when the first step to recovery is simply admitting you are powerless to overcome it alone), and denial will only compound or postpone the problem.  Call a spade a spade and don't invent or concoct pretty names for your sin.

Everyone has some trigger sin that leads to a chain reaction if not checked. Sometimes there may be cues that we need to avoid and flee immorality like it is written.  We can even have pet sins that we tend to be lax about and tolerate, but fail to realize their danger and nip it in the bud like they say in slang wording.  We all have a sin which easily besets us according to Hebrews 12:1 and needs to recognize and admit this.  Sin at any level is a dangerous thing to flirt with and to experiment with. "The eye is never full of seeing," and that is how innocent looking [which isn't necessarily sin, but letting the imagination get carried away is], and curiosity and finally addiction to boot can take over a person's life, and he ends up becoming a pervert--there will be no perverts in heaven.  I've heard people admit to being a "dirty old man" and thought nothing of it, but God frowns and condemns any such acting out of perverts' fantasies.  There is only one solution:  "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16, ESV).

All this means this:  You must learn to walk with the Lord in fellowship by keeping short accounts of your sins and confessing them per 1 John 1:9 in the ESV ("If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unmentioned ones]"). Remember we all have our individual issues and all of us have feet of clay (flaws not readily apparent), and Jesus sees through the veneer.  We have two natures: The one that gets fed the most will dominate your behavior!  You cannot be spiritually starved and expect to get the victory!  In sum, the antidote to sin is a close walk with the Lord and a spirit of gratitude and praise: "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise!" (Psalm 100:4, ESV). But note well:  "If I regard iniquity in my heart the LORD will not hear me" (cf. Psalm 66:18).

How does a person become a slave to his own sin?  He thinks it's okay to fudge a little and become lax, i.e., he doesn't see it coming and lets the little sins slide not taking holiness and sanctification seriously.  Three people didn't see their sinful downfall coming on the day of Christ's crucifixion:  Pilate had long given in to public pressure and expediency and finally caved to public opinion and compromised his own morals and Rome's standards to boot; Judas had been flirting with Satan and listening to his ideas, like when Mary anointed Jesus, and it was only a small step after already opening the door to Satan to give in to the temptation to betray him; Peter was impetuous and compulsive and didn't think before he spoke often and thought too highly of himself and his flesh got the best of him on that night.  So the three gave in to the world, the devil, and even the flesh: The big three are our enemies also!  In fact, we are our own worst enemy just like the cartoon character Pogo of Walt Kelley fame said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."  Sometimes we have to reach rock bottom before we realize our own nature and repent or find God like Peter did when Christ reinstated him. If we don't know what God is like we will never know what we are really made of either.  Judas felt remorse, but not true repentance, and did not match it with faith in forgiveness from Christ, because he didn't know Him.

We all have to know ourselves and our weaknesses because others may figure us out and learn how to push all the wrong buttons.  The Greeks sought to "know thyself" as well as to "know God."  The two go hand in hand and compliment each other.  Knowing God helps you know yourself and see yourself for what you really are and in the true light.  The fool gives full vent to his rage according to the Bible. We all need an outlet but we must learn to be angry and not sin or do something we'll regret. Most of us have experienced losing it, or giving someone a piece of our mind, or letting them have it at some point. Some believers have anger management problems but don't realize they are nurturing sins that feed into this vicious cycle of anger and regret over it. Personally, I have learned to know myself well enough to know how the devil tempts me and to avoid those situations (i.e., watching certain TV channels), and so nip it in the bud--don't open the door to Satan or given him a beachhead or opportunity to use you for his will or to be captive to his spirit.  It is easy to get carried away when you don't know yourself and how the devil uses you when you are at your weakest--he likes to catch you on a "spiritual high" and whenever you've done something for the Lord he will counterattack to neutralize you and put you out to pasture, so to speak, being of no benefit to God's will.

Sin is like a chain reaction or a domino effect that must be stopped dead in its tracks!  It could also be pictured as a roundabout that you cannot get off or a vicious circle that goes for infinity.  The only escape is to be delivered by Christ who paid the price to set you free--we have the power to live in the Spirit, not permission to live in the flesh!  Sin is slavery and bondage, and there is no freedom but in Christ.  No other religion names sin as the issue to man's evil and offer the solution of atonement--other religions offer philosophy, works, enlightenment, or meditation.  There's only one Savior given among men under heaven (cf. Acts 4:12) though. "... [And] you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21, ESV).  You don't need to be enlightened or turn over a new leaf or make a New Year's resolution, but to repent and this can only be done by God's grace as you come to Him in sincerity and throw yourself at His mercy, realizing your helpless and hopeless state without Him.  You have to realize your spiritual bankruptcy.  Einstein said that it is easier to denature plutonium than the evil nature of man!  Jeremiah had a lot to say about how evil man is: "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick, who can understand  it?" (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV) and "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to doing evil"  (Jeremiah 13:23, ESV).  Even Moses said, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5, ESV).

There is a way to avoid the gateway to your personal "hell":  You must make an honest assessment of yourself (as Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living") and you must be accountable, aboveboard, frank, and straightforward; this means no hypocrisy or semblance of holiness under the guise of your walk--going through the motions, memorizing the Dance of the Pious, or talking the talk without walking the walk. Why?  We Christians are held to a higher standard and it is like living in a glass house once the world figures out you are a Christian--life gets complicated, inconvenient, uncomfortable as we have to move out of our comfort zones. This is called the "buddy system" or having a sponsor in AA's 12 steps.  Every believer should have someone they can level with and be honest with without any pretense from a faux friend.  Your spouse has you pegged and may be partial!   Mates (they are often your chief critic or sparring partner!) can be good, but often they just know how to push each other's buttons.  It is counterproductive to put such a burden on them alone--you may need a circle of friends or church you can call home and be involved in.

Don't be like a fish out of water or a Lone-Ranger Christian trying to fight the devil all on your own--we are not his match and woe is us when we get on his hit list if we are unprepared. We all have different thresholds of sin tolerance; however, remember, sin doesn't just happen: Satan knows our foibles, weaknesses, and faults and exploits them to the max--so beware of his schemes, especially mind or psychological games!  Let me quote Paul:  "... I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices [schemes]" (2 Cor. 2:11, NKJV).

The only way to defeat the enemy is to be outfitted with the full armor of God per Ephesians 6:10ff, ESV:  "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might...."  Note that keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus will keep you out of trouble (cf. Hebrews 12:2)!  Finally, for survival purposes, I challenge you with the five necessary K's:  Know Scripture; know thyself; know your enemy; know the will of God, and finally, know God!  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Legitimate Fear Of God

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil...." (Proverbs 8:13a, NKJV).
"Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another,
And the LORD listened
and heard them;
So a book of remembrance
was written before Him
For those who fear the LORD
And who meditate on His name" (Malachi 3:16, NKJV).

What does it mean to put the fear of God into someone?

The fear of the Lord and knowing Him go hand in hand.  Our intimacy with the Almighty depends upon our ongoing relationship as we learn to fear Him and give Him the reverence He deserves in every aspect of our lives as we give Him complete ownership of them.  Fearing God does include a healthy awareness that God can destroy both body and soul in hell, but we are to love Him at the same time.  

You can distinguish the two but not separate them because they are both necessary to a healthy respect and reverence.  We don't live our lives in terror of punishment but in view of God's benevolence and love. Love is a greater motivator than fear! Perfect love casts out fear!  

As A. W. Tozer said, "What we think about God is the most important thing about us,"  So we must have a doctrinally accurate view and interpretation--a saving faith entails correct or sound doctrine--we cannot have a false image of God or put Him in a box, as if we could label or define Him! God deserves our fear and no man does!  Without fearing God you can know nothing for certain and everything would be relative:  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge..." (Prov. 1:7a, ESV).

Fearing God recognizes the seriousness of sin and a quickened conscience that doesn't want to take advantage of grace.  Fearing God is also defined as having a sense of awe in much the way a child is awed by the world he is discovering and asks many questions out of curiosity.  Job 28:28 says, "... Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding."  

Indeed, to fear God is to hate evil or hate what He hates and love what He loves.  The closer we walk with God the more we learn to fear Him and don't want to abuse or take advantage of His grace.  God isn't looking for a people who serve Him out of fear, but out of love and if we do fear God in the right way, we have no fear of man. We don't become Christians just for a ticket out of hell!     Soli Deo Gloria!

Now Concerning Visions And Gifts

Paul was upset at the Colossians for letting deceivers disqualify them by "going on in detail about visions" (cf. Col. 2:18, ESV).  It is easy to get sidetracked from the exposition and preaching of the Word as commanded by relating personal experiences.  The Bible is complete and everything we need to know is written and canonized. ("[P]reach the Word ..," says 2 Tim. 4:2a, ESV.)  I have been in fellowships believers got carried away about visions of angels and revelations.  I have met believers who convincingly can relate personal encounters with the Lord or their guardian angel, yet our personal experience is meant to strengthen our faith, not someone else's.  

What I'm saying is that this is not the right track to go down for a Bible-based church--though it is widespread among charismatics wherein spiritual gifts are stressed in excess and have a tendency to downplay sound doctrine.  We have to learn that God doesn't exist to provide us with experiences and experience isn't the measure of maturity or growth. Oswald Chambers said the the true measure of faith is obedience, not experience or ecstasy. 

God speaks through the Word and doesn't need our help to make it more colorful or real--the Holy Spirit illumines just fine. A prophet is one that speaks forth to the people what God has told him and Pentecostals believe this gift is still intact and alive; however, our faith must rest on the Word of God and not on personal revelation.  

It is immature and naive to share subjective experiences without being asked to and unsolicited, because the recipients will get the impression of being inadequate or that they are missing out on something; this is why Jesus said that "those who have not seen and yet believe" (cf. John 20:29) are blessed.  In my understanding of Scripture, the measure of a man of God is not his experiences, but his faithfulness:  For it is written, "...'The just shall live by his faithfulness [or faith]'" (cf. Rom. 1:17; Hebrews 10:38; Habakkuk 2:4). We must not divorce these two concepts. 

The conclusion would be that we don't need expositors, biblicists, or exegetes of the Word if we have people getting it right from God--how do you think cults get started?  People wonder what they are missing and are tempted to follow suit into mysticism and reject sound doctrine.  You cannot trust a person's charisma or personality to lend any credence to what they say.  A rivalry between believers and personalities in a church can lead to forms of spiritual one-upmanship, and it is hard to argue against the perceived clout of someone saying that God told him such and such.  

One believer will say, "I don't need to study the Bible because God will tell me something if I listen to Him more--He will tell me what I need to know! This attitude is a rejection of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding and is anti-Christian, spiritual suicide, and not an option for the believer.

It must be emphasized that God speaks through His Word and we need to heed it, even though He is not obligated to only do so; and this does not preclude God's audible voice--even dreams have not been retired, rescinded, or made void but are still in effect.  In other words, dreams cannot be ruled out, but we shouldn't depend on them or put more stock in them than the Bible, which is the ultimate authority. Sometimes dreams and visions are the best vehicles to get a point across.  As we can see that Joel prophesied about young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams, but nowhere does he say they are to make them public; however, I concede this is a judgment call.

Churches should refrain from "strange fire unto the Lord," i.e., worship or testimony that is unwarranted by Scripture or the church. There isn't anything mystical about a living relationship with Christ. Bear in mind that the Bible is always the standard of truth.  "But all things should be done decently and in order," (1 Cor. 14:40).  Some people are out to promote their personal agenda, or get into the limelight by relating their subjective, personal experiences--even Paul hesitated to boast but was compelled to do so.  To this day, I'm suspicious of excessive charismatic expression in the church meeting. The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet and this goes for all gifts. 

Some people erroneously believe that effectiveness in prayer is how much effort or spirit you put into your prayers; indeed I concede that "a heart without the words is better than the words without a heart" though (source unknown). Some people are more stoical, others more demonstrative by nature. Obedience is the key factor in love as Jesus said you would obey Him if you love Him.

[Biblical Prayer formula: It must be to the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, done in faith according to the will of God per Eph. 2:18.]  God looks at the heart, and faith is what pleases God, though we ought to obey wholeheartedly and have compassion;  our faith is not emotionalism, maudlin sentimentality, or personality.  Matt. 9:29 says, "Be it done unto you according to your faith [not feelings]."   Soli Deo Gloria!

History's Climax

It was Josh McDowell who said that the resurrection is either the greatest fact of history and to be reckoned with, or the biggest and cruelest hoax ever perpetrated on mankind.  Paul really did say that if Christ isn't risen our faith is in vain.  He also said that Christ "was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead..." (Rom. 1:4, ESV).  Because He lives we can be sure that we, too, will live with Him in eternity.  

The Jews had no clear cut-and-dried theology on the afterlife, and Jesus' resurrection transformed the disciples from cowards unwilling to stand up for Jesus to being fearless in the face of persecution.  Now they had reason to believe and had evidence to boot. Jesus also did say that blessed is the one who believes and hasn't seen after Thomas' doubts.

We don't need to see Jesus in order to believe because we have the Holy Spirit resident in us and it bears witness with us.  We have it better in this arrangement with God than if Jesus were just walking around the earth still teaching.  We have the complete canon of Scripture and the filling of the Spirit which is a superior blessing than to have been there and sat under His teaching! We are more blessed than they were! Jesus changed the disciples and He is still in the business of changing lives--you might say He is still in the resurrection line and business!

The resurrection has profound theological significance because it proves the Father accepted His blood atonement and it proclaimed His final victory over Satan and over death.  It gives us a rationale to believe in the afterlife and heaven.  We don't just have philosophical or theological reasons to believe in the resurrection, but a historical and experiential one--we can experience the power of the resurrection too.  It is historical fact supported and proved more variously by circumstantial evidence than any in antiquity.

Jesus is with us today in Spirit because He said that wherever two or three are gathered in His name, there He is (cf. Matt. 18:20). His victory is now ours and Satan is a defeated foe who has no power over us. Jesus proclaimed His salvation as a done deal and we are to tell the wonderful news concerning Him was known as the gospel.

We have a sound reason to believe, not based on myth or cleverly devised story, as Peter said. Dr. Luke said, there were "many infallible proofs," Acts 1:3    Believing Christ lived, died, and rose to live is really just history; believing and realizing His resurrection in you and that He lives in you is salvation.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Doubting The Concept Of Truth

Pilate said to Jesus at His trial:  "What is truth?"  Of course, he didn't wait around for an answer! Jesus had said He came to bear witness of the truth and those of the truth would hear Him.  In those days, might was right and Rome deemed no truth as absolute or universal--it was an idea ahead of its time.  Today's skeptics mimic Pilate and scoff at the very idea that something could be true for everyone all the time everywhere (universally true)!  In today's postmodern culture "truth is a short-term project" and New Age adherents just say whatever feels like the truth to you is the truth.  Gandhi said truth is God, and God is truth on the other end of the spectrum.  Without God, no truth can be established and everything is conjecture and speculation.

William James, the founder of pragmatism, believed you couldn't judge the truth of an idea, only its results.  Today people are just interested in what's practical or what works for them--or what's true for them ("That may be true for you, but not me!").  There is danger in this philosophy because many false ideas do seem to work and are deceptively practical:  TM and yoga seem to work for some and they believe they're true because they work.  Christianity is different:  It works because it's true; it's not true because it works.  Christ claimed to be the incarnation of the truth and the way itself and the problem is that it goes untried and not trusted because people are to results-oriented and look at stats or benefits versus risks or pros versus cons.  The point is that the truth does indeed work, the fault is that it goes untried due to so many false philosophies that are more alluring and enticing to the popular mindset and way of thinking.  As they say nowadays:  "It works for me!"

Truth is absolute and not relative as they teach nowadays because Jesus is the personification of it and said, "I am the truth...."  Therefore, we can know Him and also what is true.  Augustine said that all truth is God's truth or you may say, "All truth meets at the top." His motto was Credo ut intelligam or "I believe in order to understand."  He was saying that all knowledge begins in a step of faith. Faith is the essential ingredient to learning truth.  In order to know anything, you must assume something you cannot prove--everyone must take this leap of faith and do as Augustine said.

In order to know anything you must know something for sure, and since the only way to know something for sure is by divine revelation and what God tells us, only God knows anything for sure, but He has revealed it to us so we can.  The reason only God can know anything for sure is that He knows everything.  Skeptic philosophers say you must know everything to know anything!  Well, we do know something, and the reason we do is that God has told us.  If there was no God, all things would be up for grabs and you could know nothing for sure because everything would be relevant in a world without absolutes. Truth would then be irrelevant and unknowable, having nothing to start from.

Many statements can be true and the relationship between them is either valid or invalid, not true or false--conclusions are dependent upon the hypothesis.  But Scripture is unique in that Jesus called it truth:  "Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).  The reason we have an explosion of knowledge today is that we know something (essentially the scientific method) and a way to find what is true.  In the last days, Daniel said that knowledge would increase.  What they say is that nature forms you, sin deforms you, school informs you, prison reforms you, but truth (Jesus) transforms you!  Jesus is in the business of changing lives and He said that we are sanctified by the truth in John 17:17. Believers are those who have a "love of the truth" according to 2 Thessalonians 2:10 while unbelievers are those who "reject the truth" (Rom. 2:8).

Jesus said that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free:  These famous words are often misquoted to think that education sets you free, but it is in reference to knowing the embodiment of truth itself, Jesus.  There were skeptics in antiquity as well as today who deny that you can know anything for certain:  One prof told his class on the first day:  "You can know nothing for certain."  One bright student quipped:  "Are you sure?"  He fell into the trap of logic and replied, "I'm certain!"  To say that truth is only relative is a statement without any truth value and only nonsensical as well as illogical.  What they really want to say is that only the truths regarding Christianity are relative and their secular humanistic philosophy is the only absolute truth.

When we say that all truth is God's truth it is because truth is what is consistent with God and His nature:  Truth is whatever God says it is! The whole cosmos is not chaos but like one vast mathematical equation (one astronomer asserts) run by intricate laws throughout according to nearly 50 constants such as gravity, the speed of light, the strong and weak nuclear forces, the charge of the electron, etc.  If there were no God there would be no governing authority by definition (God is the one sovereign or in control of all) and we most likely wouldn't see the uniformity of the universe to God's laws or the laws of nature as some call them.  What kind of God would be out of control, merely reigning but not ruling?

You cannot say that you know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth unless you are God--we see dimly only as God reveals to us and only know in part like Deut. 29:29 and 1 Cor. 13 say, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God...." And "For now we see in a mirror dimly...."  Men have a curious desire to delve into the unknown or what is called the occult but God has given us all we need to know in Scripture for every need we face.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Hermeneutics Made Simple

Fundamentalists are those who believe in the fundamental doctrines by definition, but they were known from the 1925 Scope's monkey trial as those who took the Bible literally, whatever that means.  We believe that the Bible is literally true, but not everything is meant to be taken literally.  This is a loaded question and you lose either way:  Do you take the Bible literally?  They want to make a fool of you and prove you don't know how to read a book!  We are to learn the basic principles of interpretation and avoid what is called subjectivism.  We are to take the Bible at face value and not spiritualize it or think there is some secret or hidden interpretation that God has revealed only to us ("no Scripture is of any private interpretation" means you don't have a monopoly on truth or a secret revelation)--it God doesn't show this to the church body it is not truth and it must stand the test of time as orthodox and not contradict anything already accepted.

lSt. Bonaventure taught that there were seven ways to interpret Scripture and Thomas Aquinas taught four (historical, allegorical, moral, and anagogical).  Way back to the church fathers, Origin taught three ways (literal or what happened, moral or how it applies, and spiritual or what it teaches regarding our faith).  Erroneous interpretation results when people insist on spiritualizing or not taking something literal that was obviously meant that way.  Jesus believed in a literal Jonah, for example.  Even the ancient Jews didn't regard Hosea's narrative as an allegory but literal too.

The Word of God is alive but today's understanding of a "living document" like the US Constitution, doesn't apply--truth is timeless!   According to Hebrews 4:12, that means it is always relevant and never gets dated or becomes obsolete or passe, and it works on the believer's heart.   It doesn't mean that it is alive in the sense that we are free to indulge in modern-day interpretations that are clearly not what the writers meant--you must ask what the writer meant by what he said and not take it out of context (context of the language, the customs, the history, the paragraph, the chapter, the book, and even according to what the whole analogy of Scripture teaches).

There are no special methodologies to interpreting Scripture that you wouldn't use in any other book, except that you interpret it as it is written (this is called genre analysis:  regarding poetry as poetry, parables as parables, history as history, didactive portions as teachings, etc.).  Sometimes the Bible does use poetic license for instance, but in historical accounts, it is meticulous to be exact and mention details to show how much attention the writer paid to them.   All the laws of logic apply to the Bible just as to any book we cannot make illogical deductions on presuppositions or what is called eisegesis or reading into the Bible instead of exegesis or reading out of the Bible what it really means to say.  You can make any book say anything you want it too if you ignore the principles of hermeneutics, much more the Bible.  Satan was adept at taking verses out of context and trying to use the Word to his advantage.

The Bible is said to be its own Supreme Court because "Holy Scripture is its own interpreter" (or sacra Scriptura sui interpres in Latin):  If you don't understand an implicit passage or obscure one, check out an explicit or clear one that is parallel. That's why we have to cross-reference and study Bibles and commentaries: to take advantage of centuries of scholarship by God's people.

There are many basic principles one should heed:  We interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament and vice versa--you can distinguish but not separate them (before the New Testament was written for the first 20 or so years they considered the Old Testament the Scriptures).  We must learn not to make false inferences by taking a verse out of immediate context--it is easy to jump to the conclusion that it is plain as day when that isn't the rest of the story on the subject matter.  We must guard against forcing our prejudices into the passage and make it a proof text for what we want to believe--especially if our interpretation depends upon a certain translation and not the Greek text itself.

There are many errors because students don't realize that only the original texts are authoritative in any doctrinal dispute or misunderstanding.  We must realize that the Bible uses virtually every figure of speech known and they are to be interpreted appropriately:  For instance, a parable cannot be interpreted to the nth degree, but is only meant to teach one main idea.  It is a good idea to make sure your interpretation is not way out in left field by checking commentaries of reputable scholars you know you can trust.

NB:   Remember that no Scripture is of any private interpretation. The New Testament trumps the Old in case there is a question of authority:  For example, if something is repeated in the New Testament it is doubly important, and if ignored, not so (like the example of the Sabbath Day command not being repeated in the New Testament and therefore we are not under obligation to observe it).  Gross error often results from not recognizing the recipient and what the author meant to say.  Never, and I mean never, make deductions based on isolated texts! Never pit one text against another ("The sum [entirety] of your Word is truth" according to Ps. 119:160).

I would be remiss if I failed to mention that the first condition of interpreting Scripture is to know the Author!  The Word must not just be important to us, but take precedence.  God will not speak to you unless you are teachable: Possessing a willing spirit, an open mind, and a needy heart.  It is not the mental faculties that are as important as the condition of the person spiritually.  Above all, read with a purpose and pray for God's Spirit to do His job of illumination because we all have the anointing to teach us according to 1 John 2:27.

Remember, as Protestants, we believe in the right to dissent, disagree, and protest and we are not at the mercy of church dogma like Catholics are; however, we are exhorted to "rightly divide the Word of truth" in 2 Tim. 2:15.  The key to understanding Scripture is the one it is about--Jesus.  You should be able to see Him as the scarlet thread or common motif running throughout the Bible and on every page.   One caveat:  You will never know the truth if you think you have arrived and have nothing to learn or won't admit you could be wrong--the first step to learning is admitting ignorance!

In principle, one shouldn't rely too much on any one commentary or translation, or make your doctrines dependent upon them.  Learn comparative reading if you don't know the original languages. Commentaries are not inspired, though they can indeed br inspiring!  Johnny Cash said the Scriptures shed a lot of light on the commentaries!  Having a working knowledge of the original tongues or knowing ones way around using a lexicon and dictionary can be invaluable and give you an advantage.  It is vital to know what teachers you can trust and teach sound doctrine so you don't err from the truth or go off on a tangent.  In resolving a doctrinal dispute don't proof-text or trust some gifted teacher just because he says so--challenge them and learn to think independently.  As you grow in your reading you may become partial to one translation and this is all right, as long as you realize that God speaks through all of them and you don't become a student of one version. When you get Bible fatigue or have lost the pizzazz from reading one version too much (overexposure and over-familiarity), it may be helpful to try a new version and see what insights and "Aha!" moments God may give you as you encounter Him personally in the Word.

Interpreting the Bible has no special rules that you wouldn't apply to any book, but hermeneutics is a special problem for us since we live two thousand years after the fact and are of a foreign culture and language and might not know the historical backdrop they were immersed in--so there is a lot of work that may go into interpretation and we are not to think it is some mystical thing that we have a special connection to the Almighty to understand things by "experience" or existential encounter.  God may speak to us in an "Aha!" moment but we must be careful to make teachings and doctrines this way. The Bible doesn't "become Word of God" upon an "existential encounter," as Karl Barth believed, but it is the Word believed and experienced or not.   Many cults have started because believers felt God was speaking exclusively to them and they were enlightened.  The Gnostics taught that you had to have special secret knowledge that only they had and this was one of the first heresies that St. John the Elder refuted.

The conclusion of the matter is that I would be missing the mark if I failed to mention in passing how important it is to see the big picture, i.e., survey the entire Word of God (don't just casually peruse)  and be able to put everything into its perspective  in the light of the whole analogy of Scripture or the big picture, as it were: Psalms 119:160, NKJV, says, "The entirety [or sum] of Your word is truth...." The NIV says, "All your words are true...."

FINAL CAVEAT:  DON'T BASE SOME FAR-OUT OR FAR-FETCHED TRUTH BASED ON SOME ISOLATED PASSAGE!  ("NO SCRIPTURE IS OF ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION!")    

Soli Deo Gloria!
  

From High To High?

We are supposed to walk "from faith to faith" (increasing in a living, saving faith) and not walk according to feeling from high to high.  Some Christians get addicted to that "just-born-again" feeling or high and seek it in their daily walk as much as possible, even paying admission at so-called Christian concerts done by professional musicians and vocalists making money off of them.  They shouldn't charge admission if led by God but only take freewill offerings.  Sincere, but immature believers think that ecstasy is the measure of faith, but it is obedience only--Christianity is not emotionalism!  Some are going for comfort, assurance, or even entertainment, and this is the wrong motive. 

Worship isn't entertainment and it isn't done vicariously as if it is a performance.  If worship is the missing ingredient in their life they need to find a church that worships God in Spirit and in truth like Jesus said in John 4:24.   We don't just go to concerts to supplement our experience in God or to find Him and they are no substitute for and a parody of the real thing.   They should find out that you cannot walk in the glow of some religious experience for long--sooner or later you need to have the faith that pleases God and come down to reality.

The Christian life is not about living on Cloud Nine or on some perpetual religious high, but learning to know God and having a relationship with Him in obedience to His will.  Growth only comes from true experience in the school of hard knocks of adversity, trials, discipline, and suffering for Christ, not religious highs.  Believers must learn that it's not about them and about Christ and not get their eyes off of Him and onto a "worship leader, which can be idolatry." 

God isn't looking for celebrities or star power, but plain folk and even the outcasts, the riff-raff, and scum of society. The seeker must examine his own heart and find out his real motive to know whether it is God's will to support such professional worship of which there is no precedent in Scripture.

In sum, we don't need a lift; however, we do need edification, though.  Emotional faith won't stand the test of adversity either.  I think Paul would say, "Show me your emotions and I'll show you my faith!" The divine order:  Fact, faith, then feeling. We love with our whole heart, including our minds and wills.    Soli Deo Gloria!

At The Crossroads

"... We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.." (Acts 14:22, NIV).

We all have to go through the refining fires of God's trials and tribulations or confront our hour of trial and decision in God's crucible to prove our faith is genuine, and to find out what manner of people we are.   Don't break faith in crises, because we all have to pay our dues.  To be rewarded you must endure to the end and follow Jesus through thick and thin, regardless the cost--we have committed ourselves to taking up our cross. Jesus faced His great confrontation between Himself and the cross at Gethsemane, knowing what He was getting into, He had second thoughts and besought the Father for another way, if at all possible. It was like having a moment of truth spiritually and He found out who He really was (and may have suffered an identity crisis)--the only way for our salvation.   His prayer of relinquishment, committing Himself to the Father's will and ratifying it (i.e., not using His divine powers independently), settled matters for Him and assured that His sacrifice would be totally voluntary and not coerced.  It was the Father's plan and purpose to be fulfilled in Christ and the Lord's accomplishment and work, and there was no Plan B!

The three members of the Trinity all collaborated in this and each had a necessary role to play.  If Jesus had to pray for the Father's will to be done, how much more do we?  We can be assured that Jesus identifies fully with the weaknesses of our flesh and can adequately intercede on our behalf--for he recognized that the flesh was weak, even though the spirit can be willing, meaning we're only human.  Jesus didn't rely upon his supernatural powers to make it through the Garden of Gethsemane experience and was immediately strengthened by an angel after he had sweat like drops of blood to show what angst He was experiencing.  We can be assured that Jesus was tempted in all manners as we are, yet without sin (cf. Heb. 4:15), and no one has surpassed the way He defeated Satan's temptations.

A silversmith refines his metal until he can see himself in it, getting out all the dross.  God does so with us, and when He can see the reflection of Himself in us He is pleased with our sanctification process.  Once a famous sculptor was asked how he could make a horse out of an odd piece of stone; he replied that all he had to do is take away everything that didn't look like a horse!  God does likewise with us, taking away our human shortcomings and perfecting virtue and godliness in our character and takes away everything that doesn't resemble Jesus.

Jesus was honest enough to warn us of the trials we would face, possibly even the test of martyrdom and our crosses pale in comparison to His.  He didn't ask us to do anything He didn't do Himself, for He always practiced what He preached and preached what He practiced. It is the trials, adversities, temptations, divine discipline,  and suffering from calamity et al. that God brings into our lives that is for our own good (Rom. 8:28 says:  "... [Al]l things work together for good...").  We do not build character by an easy life without these difficulties and this is God's way of building our character.

Experience is not what happens to you, but in you, it is well said.  What do you do with your experiences?  The reason bad things happen to good people (and bad people!--and there are no good people!) is that the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay or people either become bitter or better by the same experience!  There is such a thing as negative stress that works for our benefit and keeps us from becoming weak people. It was discovered by Viktor Frankl during WWII that, if a prisoner in a concentration camp knew the "why," he could endure any "how." Modern psychology denies that suffering can have meaning and be beneficial to our character.

And so we must expect a difficult life, not a bed of roses!  It's is the sign of God's love letters sent in mysterious envelopes.  Oftentimes they come so we can find out what kind of person we are because God already knows.  Job courageously and patiently said, "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold"  (Job 23:10).   We can endure any trial if we realize this and that there is a reason for it.  No cross, no crown!   Jesus didn't exempt Himself from the rough roads and will be with us in ours.  "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (cf. Ex. 33:19).  Isaiah says, "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver, I have tried you in the furnace of affliction" (Is. 48:10, ESV).

When we suffer for Christ, consider it an honor to suffer for His name's sake and there is a great reward.  Let's thank God for the manifold opportunities trials bring to witness and share in the sufferings of Christ.  "... [E]ven Christ learned obedience from what he suffered"  (Heb. 5:8).  Lay out the welcome mat and rejoice in sufferings like Paul and Silas in jail singing unto the Lord--they are friends and opportunities to find new ways to trust God's providence in all circumstances.  The trials are inevitable and no one is promised an easy path to heaven as in the book I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.  We could not grow without this negative stress and it is God's pruning process--not punishing process!  "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10). "... [F]or he does not willingly afflict, or grieve the children of men" (Lam. 3:33, ESV).  Our faith is more precious than gold or silver and must be tested to see if it is the genuine article.

Jesus didn't have to go to the cross because He knew all things are possible with God; He asked for a way out, but in the end, He exercised faith in the Father in His commitment to His will.  His prayer was not answered in the affirmative, but God assured Him that He would be with Him throughout it.  So don't be surprised if God doesn't answer all your prayers as "yes!"  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you..." (Isa. 43:2a, ESV).  But His hour of trial guaranteed it would be voluntary and He ratified the agreement He made in heaven to secure our salvation.  Jesus was a man on a mission and was born to die and He knew that only He could accomplish our salvation--He could then proclaim, "Mission accomplished!"  He did this at Calvary after His cry of dereliction ("tetelestai," "Paid in Full," or "It is finished.").  The reason He asked for a way out, is because He knew what He was getting into--a taste of hell itself on our behalf, or a separation from the Father. Jesus suffered this punishment of hell so we wouldn't have to--this is called penal substitution.  He is our substitute and now represents us to the Father interceding at His right hand.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Recognizing A Man Of God

This term is used too loosely and the meaning has been defined in too many ways. Many men have been called men of God; I hope it hasn't gone to their heads!  The first thing people notice is your piety and religiosity.  They see you reading the Bible all the time or hear you witness to everyone you get a chance to.  Then you get a reputation for being a Christian and everyone is watching your every step! Once you get labeled your life is under a microscope and you are under the pressure to "perform." Notice that the Pharisees were thought to be men of God or of being pious for their long-winded prayers on the street corners and strict adherence to the letter of the law.  The real man of God doesn't think of himself that way but as being the chief of sinners--the closer your walk with Christ, the more aware you become of your failings and sins--especially ones of omission!  You think of all the missed chances you had, wasted opportunities, and good deeds you could have done and regretted it with perfect hindsight.  It has been said that if we watch our character, our reputation will take care of itself!

The man of God isn't measured by how religious he is, like how long he prays or how many hours he reads or studies the Bible--I've known babes in Christ who put mature men of God to shame in these categories.  There's nothing like the first love we have when converted and original fascination with the Word that latter becomes Bible fatigue or the same-old, same-old.  You can get the bug to witness and win people to Christ ("he who wins souls is wise," says Prov. 11:30), but sometimes this is just because this is his calling and gift and how God uses him--we are not all evangelists.  Some of us plant seeds, some water, and some reap, but God gives the increase all the way.  Many believers have memorized the Dance of the Pious and mimic Christian behavior, as it were, and some are just going through the motions or playing church, but have no reality the rest of the week.

The man of God knows his God and knows what God requires of him, being oriented to the will of God:  He senses some calling and knows how God uses him and is purpose-driven and grace-oriented (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10).  God has ownership of his life and he doesn't copy Christ's behavior as much as let Christ live through him. Gal. 2:20 shows the relinquished life, the exchanged life, and the surrendered life.  And so it isn't as much as trying to be like Christ as letting Christ live through you and in you. The man of God has confidence that he knows God's will and is brave to do it like Daniel who knew when to defy the king.  According to J. I. Packer knowing God entails having a great energy for God (being tireless and spiritually ambitious), being involved in great tasks (attempting great things for God, and expecting greater things from God), great boldness and courage for God (he's not afraid to stand up and be counted and show his Christian colors and take stands, even if unpopular), great thoughts of God (he meditates and is humbled by God's greatness which affects his thinking), and great contentment in his God--whether living or dying.  "He shall be strong and do exploits" (cf. KJV) or "stand firm and take action" (cf. HCSB), or "firmly resist him [the Antichrist]"  according to Dan. 11:32, NIV.  He is basically ready to meet his Maker.( Case in point:  St. Francis of Assisi was asked what he would do if he had one more hour to live while he was tending his garden, and he replied:  "I'd finish this row!" He had no unfinished business!)  Matthew Henry said that it is the duty of each day to prepare for like it were his last.  This is not being dismal, it is realism.

In the seventeenth century, it was every gentleman's hobby to do a discourse on biblical themes.  One can be very conversant and familiar with the Bible and know his way around the block theologically, even getting A's in theology class and hardly know his God.  You can know a lot about without knowing a lot of God.  It is said by Packer that a great deal of knowledge of God is better than a whole lot about God and the width of our knowledge about Him is no gauge of our knowledge of Him.  The man of God doesn't acquire knowledge for its own sake or as an end in itself, but as a means to an end.  Everyone doesn't need to be a scholar and God can use the uneducated just as well to do His will.

The man of God is a friend of God and sees God as both his Savior and Lord.  I've heard it said by William Jay of Bath that he is "a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior."  Only when you see yourself as a real sinner, can Christ be a real Savior to you.  George Whitefield was known to say the famous line:  "There but for the grace of God, go I."  Both Paul and John Bunyan (Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners and Pilgrim's Progress) saw themselves in the dim light in this regard.  What we have to do is realize what Paul said, "I am what I am by the grace of God" (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10).  And so humility and meekness are paramount, but this doesn't mean having low self-esteem, but not higher thoughts of yourself than necessary.  True humility is not about thinking less of yourself, but of thinking of yourself less!

You can be a man or woman of God being relatively ignorant of the Word, but applying what you do know and being faithful to it.  God isn't calling us to success but to faithfulness, according to St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.  The more you know the more responsible you become! God makes the man or woman of God especially wise, full of knowledge and wisdom, even if that is not their gift: St. Teresa is credited with many sayings that survive her and scholars everywhere quote her; she was was a humble, and faithful servant.  God isn't looking for our achievements (God may burn up the ones we're most proud!) but our obedience!  "To obey is better than sacrifice" is what Samuel told King Saul in 1 Sam. 15:22.

There were three men of God in Scripture that "walked with God."  "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."  The others who did are Abraham and Enoch who took a final walk with God to paradise.  The man of God knows how to stay in fellowship with his Lord by keeping short accounts of his sins and making confession a discipline and constant practice.  He knows when he's having fellowship with his brother as a fruit of fellowship with the Father and the Son.  This implies that he prays without ceasing or what that means is that the communication line is always open and he makes himself available to hear from God--he is in sync with God and on the same page as his brothers.

Being in fellowship implies being filled with the Spirit, which is a continual, renewing thing, and not a one-time event.  As a result of this, he manifests the fruit of the Spirit throughout his life as a testimony.  Others see Christ in him and he models the Christian way (early believers were known as members of the Way).  In short, he knows Jesus who is the Way and therefore knows the Way--he knows what he is doing! Love is the telltale sign, to know Him is to love Him.  Jesus is not one of many ways, nor the best way, but the ONLY way, someone wise said.

As a corollary to the above, the man of God can find God and can recognize His presence.  He has found the Lord, or should I say the Lord has found him!  There may be times when God seems MIA and the whereabouts of God is in question, but He knows that he will eventually find him and won't give up on God during trials and tribulations, which don't make him bitter, but better.  He knows, for instance, that the same sun melts the butter, but hardens the clay.

The man of God knows what God is telling him and knows how to get it from the Word, though He may use other means like dreams or visions (God hasn't retired them).  A man of God should be and is a man of the Word and loves the Bible in that he relies on it and knows how to go to it with every problem and dilemma.  "O, how I love thy law.  It is my meditation all the day long," says Psalm 119:97. He respects the Word and the teaching of it and is a student of the Word making progress, even if not as fast as some. He who won't read the Bible is not better off than he who can't!  I've seen people of low reading skills become very adept at the Word because God gave them insight and illumination through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Understanding the Word is not a matter of intellect, but of the condition of our will, mind, and heart: Are they needy, receptive, open-minded, willing, and teachable?  Understanding the Word is not just for the scholar but for the man who knows his God and seeks His enlightenment to open the eyes of his heart (cf. Eph. 1:18).

The man of God is one of vision and purpose and knows what he wants out of life and of the Lord, and doesn't give up on his dreams or hopes.  He lives his life in light of eternity but not in the future or in the past.  You can do a lot of things and expend a lot of energy, but if you aren't purpose-driven you are just busy for its own sake and there is no virtue in being busy per se.  Sometimes you have time on your hands but you know how to redeem it and make the most of the opportunities and open doors that God gives.  As David said, "My times are in Your hand," in Psalm 31:15.  Therefore, he is never too busy for the Lord's work and never feels interrupted because God is in charge of his daily agenda and schedule.

Finally, the man of God lives in relinquishment to God's will and is constantly wondering about what Jesus would do or what God's will is: Whether he needs spiritual counseling or verification of a hunch.  He lives the substituted life with Christ living through Him (cf. Gal. 2:20).  God doesn't always spell it out but expects us to search for it and be devoted to it.  In my early days as a believer, I couldn't understand why some Christians were always wondering what God's will was, but this just showed that I wasn't ready for it and not that devoted to it.  In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed for the Father's will to be done nonetheless, and pronounced his amen in resignation! If He had to do it, so must we.  But if we are not willing to do God's will we will not know it. according to John 7:17!    Soli Deo Gloria!

In Adam's Fall, We Sinned All

The title is from The New England Primer and shows how Adam represented us all in his willful sin. He was posse non peccare and posse peccare or able not to sin and able to sin according to Augustine. God gave him the free will to choose to love Him; however, it is not that Adam chose evil as some suggest, but that he chose self over God.  He was the head of his wife and is the head of our race and we would've done the same thing.  His sin was a prototype of all sin in rejecting God's divine nature.  Especially His wisdom, love, justice, and omniscience.  

They rejected God's authority, doubted His goodness, disputed His wisdom, repudiated His justice, contradicted His truth, and spurned His grace (someone has said). Eve was deceived and may have been confused, but Adam knew what he was doing and chose to be on Eve's side rather than God, probably because of his love for her and not wanting to lose her to death.

God had every reason to place a test in the garden (note that the first sin was committed in a perfect environment) and there was only one command to obey--anyone could've kept it.  God, for sure, didn't want obedience without love and wanted man to love of a free will or voluntarily  (I use the term free will sparingly because of Martin Luther's book The Bondage of the Will (De Servo Arbritrio) in which he says it is too grandiose of a term.  (By the way, Calvin was in agreement.) There is a natural will and a spiritual will.  Free will has been debated since St. Augustine of Hippo, who said we are "free but not freed." He meant we do have free will in a sense, but no liberty.  

Our nature is enslaved to sin and even the will is depraved and unable to please God. God gave Adam free will that we don't have anymore and he sinned.  It is reckoned that he represented us and we have been deemed sinners because of him.  Yes, we had free will in Adam and blew it when we chose self and became sinners by nature, by choice, and by birth.  Sin is our birthright and there is no escape!  There is no position of neutrality for our will--it is tainted with sin (cf. Rom. 1:32; 7:15).

God was not inviting trouble or taking a chance on the so-called "risky gift of free will" because He is sovereign and omniscient and had planned for this to happen and took it into consideration--there was no plan B.  If we are reckoned sinners in Adam we have become enslaved to this sin in our whole being (total depravity) and Adam lost his free will and got an enslaved will. Only God has the ultimate free will (a term not mentioned in Scripture except for free will or voluntary offerings) and yet God is unable or not free to sin or be the agent of evil.  We, on the other hand, are incapable of doing good or anything that pleases God (cf. Is. 64:6). The Arminian believes some do desire to repent and be believe the gospel, while the Reformed tradition holds that God quickens that lost desire within us.

We don't need free wills to be saved, we need wills made free.  God's salvation went according to plan and we love Him because He first loved us!  God chose us, we didn't choose Him (cf. John 15:16).  God's dilemma:  No one chose Him, and so He was obliged to elect some according to His purpose and grace and the good pleasure of His will (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9;  Eph. 1:5).  You may say:  "I came to Christ of my own free will and by myself [without any wooing or divine intervention]!" That person probably left Christ all by himself too.  What God is able to do is make the unwilling willing ("[For] it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure," says Phil. 2:13, ESV) and God can turn that heart of stone into a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" ("Ezek. 36:27, NKJV). Remember:  We are called and chosen unto salvation as Mathew 22:14 says, "Many are called, but few are chosen." Our destiny is ultimately in God's hands; God reserves the right to have mercy on whom He will--He isn't obligated to save anyone or it would be justice and not mercy (cf. Rom. 9:15).  Romans 9:16 says:  "So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy."

Now, after the fall, man is non posse non peccare (unable not to sin or only able to sin!) according to Augustine.  [Note that we are not talking in reference to the natural faculty of choice but spiritual will.]  God doesn't coerce us or force us to do anything we don't want to do by any outside force (called determinism), but His grace is irresistible or efficacious and does God's will.  Adam had the inclination to do good but lost that at the fall--man is still human, not an automaton, but has lost this inclination to do good. We are free to act according to our nature, but God made us the way we are like clay in the hands of a potter, and determined our nature.  

Adam chose against God, but He saved him anyway.  We are free in our state of sin in that we are voluntary sinners and our real freedom is to choose our own poison.  Romans 9:19 says that no one can resist God's will--His omnipotence overpowers us.  There is "not one maverick molecule in the universe" that is left to chance--God doesn't play dice with the universe, according to Einstein, and leaves nothing to chance.

You cannot say, "From now on, I will be good."  All things being equal, that doesn't last any longer than a diet with good intentions.  Apart from the Holy Spirit ("No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him," says John 6:44, ESV) without His wooing, no one can choose Christ, and God must intervene and work grace in our hearts.  We are slaves to act the way we want to and are in rebellion against God in our old sin nature.  We are indeed free to choose whatever we desire, but we do not desire Christ without grace.  "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know..." (John 7:17). That work is called redemption and causes us to repent and believe the gospel in the process known as conversion.  A spiritually dead man cannot believe or choose anything spiritual.  God must open our spiritual eyes to the truth ("I was blind, but now I see").

The essence of freedom is self-determination and we do make a decision ourselves and in this sense, we are still free. We never act by compulsion or as a programmed robot, but willingly.  We sin according to our own volition.  But whenever you look at a sinner you should say, "There but for the grace of God, go I" as George Whitefield said.   We can thank God for changing us and softening our hearts by grace ("... [Gr]ace might reign through righteousness," says Rom. 5:20).

Let me cite an everyday example of wooing:  In the process of courtship you fall in love and entice your lover to marry you (by an act of free will, of course), and you never interfered with her free will but got her to marry you and get your will done--she couldn't resist your proposition and was converted!

We all can act naturally according to enlightened self-interest in our old sin nature.  A sure sign of genuine saving faith is a heartfelt love for God and this is impossible without a relationship with Him--no one loved God before salvation.  We are not elected because we want to believe or we do believe (that would be merit-based and is called the prescient view, which Rom. 8:29-30 militates against), but we believe because we are the elect (cf. 2 Thess. 2:13, 1 John 5:1, Rom. 8:29-30). 

In the Reformed tradition of the order of salvation or ordo salutis, regeneration precedes faith!  Scripture clearly says, "We love Him because He first loved us." The unsaved, lost, and unregenerate man has no desire to repent, believe in the gospel, and choose Christ or he would have something to boast in his salvation before God.  No one will say, "I wanted to believe, but couldn't!"  This is because Reformed theology teaches that if left to ourselves, none would choose Christ.

Salvation is totally of God and He gets all the glory.  Soli Deo Gloria! According to C. H. Spurgeon the essence of Reformed theology is:  "Salvation is of the Lord, [it is not a cooperative venture, as theologians say, "monergistic, not synergistic"]" says Jonah 2:9.  God must change us and do a work of grace and regeneration, quickening our spirits to believe and repent because we have no inclination to obey God before salvation--we must be born again.  When we are saved we are set free: "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed (cf. John 8:36)." We are not born free, we are set free--we are born slaves!   Soli Deo Gloria!