TSW ~ Eric W. King "The Shepherds Way" blogger.com: Human Ability Deceived

Human Ability Deceived

Religions Predicated on Human Ability are Deceived

By Eric William King

There was a man named Erasmus who taught that because God asks man to “choose” this meant that man has complete free will regarding moral ability. It is true that God commands us to obey but this does not theologically mean man has “free-will” outside of God’s sovereignty.

Even today we hear the fallen human arguments from some Christian pastors who tout; “All of God’s precepts and threats are useless if we cannot properly choose God even in our fallen state.” So the true question becomes; “Does Christ alone save me? Or do I have say in this matter?” From a Biblical and Lutheran Christian perspective we affirm that salvation is a complete work of God minus us and our fallen human will.

Again St Martin Luther relies on faith and faith alone to accept these paradoxical truths without trying to overly dissect these truths with human reason and logic. Just because God demands that we choose Him does not mean that we individually, within our sinful selves, have the moral capability to choose correctly. The Bible states that “…through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” (Rom 3:20) So the fact that God commands us to do right proves that we cannot and our ultimate reliance must be through faith in Him alone. Our human will always fails to obey God’s law.

Our moral impotency does not take away our individual responsibility of sin. God commands all to believe in Him and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This is utterly impossible without the act of God interceding in our “spiritually dead” lives to save us. Thus our act of choosing Him proves that He made the first move…not us. Our salvation comes through hearing the Word and the Holy Spirit revealing the truth of the gospel unto us minus anything we have within ourselves. Only the quickening grace of Jesus Christ can truly awaken a lost soul unto salvation...minus our human will. (Romans 8:30)

This is a mystery; true salvation from God is a mystery. Man does NOT have just enough “good” in him to choose God. Man is born completely “spiritually dead”. You get no credit for any part of salvation. In my studies over the years only Lutheran Christians (in my opinion) truly begin to grasp this fact. The fallen human denominations, all which came after the Lutheran Reform cannot grasp this simple yet powerful Truth.

We choose Him because He first chose us and gave us the power to believe in Him. Luther stated; "...'if thou art willing' is a verb in the subjunctive mood, which asserts nothing...a conditional statement asserts nothing indicatively." "if thou art willing", "if thou hear", "if thou do" declare, not man's ability, but his duty. BW pg 157

St Luther further and properly explains; "He came unto his own, and His own received Him not. (v. 11)"The law indicates the impotence of man and the saving power of God..."if any man will come after me': 'he that wills to save his life'; 'if ye love me'; 'if ye shall continue'. In sum, as I have said-let every occurrence of the conjunction 'if', and all imperative verbs, be collected together (so we may help the Diatribe...) [indicating that all commands to believe or follow Christ are conditional, not stating man's ability]

So “if” you can accept Christ it is because He chose you first and gave you the gift to believe. St Luther again rightly stated; Let all the 'free-will' in the world do all it can with all its strength; it will never give rise to a single instance of ability to avoid being hardened if God does not give the Spirit, or of meriting mercy if it is left to its own strength." BW p. 202

My prayer is that if you have truly accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord, God, and Savior you will give the complete credit where the credit is due - to Jesus Christ alone be the glory. Here I stand…in Christ alone.

Jesus Christ died because there is nobody good or nobody who seeks God…no not one. (Romans 3:10-11) Your fallen human will cannot choose or even “seek God”. Here again all pride must die. (Romans 8:7-8)

So instead of trying to figure everything out from human wisdom, instead keep your eyes on Jesus Christ and what His Word says…minus human intellect. (Isaiah 55:8-9; Proverbs 3:5-6) God’s word says it; we simply believe it through the gift of faith. Amen

Resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ my Lord,

Eric William King (April 25^th 2020)

“To say that “I chose Jesus by myself, God had no say” is the same sin that made Lucifer fall…self pride and arrogance.” ~ E.W.King (2017)

“Do you really believe that God is God? Or are you trying to define God.” ~ E.W.King (2017)

Also read: "Lutheran Response to Five Point Calvinism"