Is human will capable of choosing or rejecting Jesus?
Specifically, 'unmodified' human will, or all humans in general. Can anyone who hears the gospel either believe that Jesus is Lord and Messiah or reject Him? Or are humans incapable of believing in Christ at all, and somehow a select few given the capacity to believe?
John 3:14 - 16
ESV - 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. 15 That whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
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Asked October 01 2015
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David Dietz
Jennifer Rothnie
Supporter
Faith is the inborn persuasion that something is true, based on secondary evidence vs. First hand experience or sight (Heb 11:1, II Cor 5:7). We might believe germs exist, for example; without ever having personally peered through a microscope to see them; based on the testimony of other people and witnessing the effects of bacteria in illness. The ability to reason and to extrapolate from secondary evidence and form conclusions is one of the gifts God has graciously given mankind. Our opportunity to believe in Christ has its basis in the truth and reality of God's salvation. Without the truth of Christ, we could not believe. God's plan of redemption is not one that mankind would have ever thought up of on his own (I Cor 1:22-24). Nor did man ever ask God's plan to be revealed to them (Rom 10:20). Salvation is God reaching down towards man through Christ for reconciliation (Rom 5:10-11), it is not man's mythology about how to reach God. Yet if presented with the truth of who Jesus is, can a person believe? Can a person respond in faith, making the 'choice for Jesus,' so to speak? Scripture would seem to say 'yes'. This is indeed an area where God has, in His sovereign power and mercy, drawn all men to Himself by the death of Christ (John 12:32) and given those who hear the message the choice to believe or not (Rom 10:9). If God had not presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement (Rom 3:25), then we could not receive Christ by faith (John 1:12). Here are some more detailed examples from scripture: John 16:25-31: The disciples base their belief that Jesus came from God on Jesus' testimony that He came from the father, as well as Jesus' miraculous ability to know what they were discussing among themselves and answer it. Rom 10:4-21 : A beautiful and complex passage in regards to faith, Rom 10 gets into detail about the process: 1) Someone sent to proclaim the gospel 2) The gospel presented 3) The message heard 4) The message believed (faith!) 5) Calling on the name of the Lord 6) Salvation! The only prerequisite for faith mentioned in this passage is that the message must be presented to someone - for no one can have faith in something/someone they have never heard of. Hence the importance of evangelism! I Cor 3:5 : Many came to believe through the preaching/testimony of Paul and Apollos. John 11:48 : Sort of a 'reverse perspective', but here the pharisees are afraid that if Jesus is allowed to continue speaking and doing miracles, 'everyone' would believe in Him. John 1:1-12 : John the Baptist came to testify to Christ, that people might believe through his testimony. All those who believe on Christ God gave the right to become children of God. John 9 : A man asks to be told who the Messiah is and believes based on Christ's miracles. Jesus rebukes the pharisees who claim they 'see' spiritual truth. John 12:37-50 : Many leaders of the Jews believed Jesus was the Messiah due to his signs. Yet they would not confess their faith, because they loved the approval of men more than that of God. These refrains of being persuaded to truth based on testimony and miracles, and of embracing faith vs. Sight, are repeated in many other passages as well. (I Pet 1:1-12, Acts 19:8-21, Luke 16:19-31, etc). From these examples and others, we see that the testimony of the truth of the gospel is essential in man being persuaded that something is true. However, not everyone presented with truth will accept it. Worldly concerns, love of tradition, disbelief in the power or authority of God, love of self, etc; many factors keep people from embracing the gospel when they hear it. See also: https://ebible.com/questions/265-what-is-predestination-is-predestination-biblical#answer-15328 https://ebible.com/questions/1234-what-is-calvinism-and-is-it-biblical-what-are-the-five-points-of-calvinism#answer-17319 https://ebible.com/questions/3181-is-god-sovereign-or-do-we-have-a-free-will#answer-14667