I'm confused...
I've read some of the posts on this thread, and I can't reconcile the "free will" theology with some of Jesus' statements in John 6. From what I understand, the free will argument goes like this: A preacher preaches the Gospel. The natural man either accepts or rejects the offer of the Gospel. Am I right? Okay...In John 6, we have Jesus preaching to people who've seen His miracles and heard His preaching. Jesus finally says, "But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not." Now...it seems as if there were ever a preacher who'd ever lived that could open the ears and eyes of the sinner, Jesus would be that preacher; don't you think? I do. However, that doesn't seem to be the case. Jesus went on to say, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Here we see that there are some given to the Son by the Father. Furthermore, those that are given come. No literate person could misunderstand that statement made by the Lord Jesus unless somebody helped them. I mean, it's just as clear as water. Obviously, there must be some other factor involved in the salvation of a soul than simply hearing the Gospel. If you'll read Romans 1, the verse says that the Gospel is the "power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The verse means exactly what it says, "to every one that believeth." The word "believeth" in Romans 1:16 is a present active participle. In other words, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation every one is now (present) believing (active). There's nothing in that verse that even hints to the false theory of Gospel regeneration. Furthermore, look what Paul said to the Romans: "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also." (Rom. 1:15) Well now wait a minute...The church at Rome are saints...right? Why would He be so eager to preach the Gospel to those who are already saved instead of going out and trying make children of God? That's because Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; BUT UNTO US WHICH ARE SAVED IT IS THE POWER OF GOD." So you see? The Gospel is the power of God to the saved, or to every one that "believeth." Another statement made by the Lord Jesus is found in John 6 where He clearly illustrates the inabaility of man to come to Christ of his own free will. He said that no man can come to Him except he be drawn. He went on to say, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. EVERY MAN therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Look at the order: the teaching of the Father came FIRST, and as a result, those who are taught of the Father come to Christ. Later in the chapter, Jesus said once again, "But there are some of you that believe not..." (v. 64). Then He said, "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father." (v. 65) Did you catch that? Something has to be given to the natural man by the Father before he can come to Jesus. Isn't that plain? Another one of those things nobody could misunderstand unless somebody helped. The Bible is equally clear that the Gospel must be mixed with faith in order to profit somebody (Heb. 4:2). Where does the faith come from to mix with it? Will worshipers say that you get faith by hearing the Gospel, but you can't profit from the Gospel unless you have that something called faith to mix with it. The born again child of God don't get faith by hearing the Gospel, but upon hearing the Gospel, has something, an object, in which to place his faith. Prior to hearing the Gospel, the child of God has faith, but he don't have nothing to believe in; he can't exercise it. Does that mean if you don't exercise what you have you don't have it? So yes, faith comes by hearing. Here we go back to what Jesus taught that no man can come to Him unless the Father gives it. Well, that is it that the man needs in order to come to Christ? Well...faith for one. He must have a desire...God does that according to John 6:44 (Gr., helkuo, "to lead or impel by inward desire"). Certainly none of us would be hear unless the Father had lead us to Christ. The "soul-saver" man didn't do it. Jeremiah said, "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." (10:23) None of us by nature had it in us to walk in a way that pleased God. I don't care if you're an Arminian, Calvinist, or whatever. And it's this point that we all need to agree on - that none of us by nature would have followed Christ unless the Father, out of pure love, had not drawn us to His precious Son. And that, whether you accept it or not, is the plain teaching of Scripture.
