Anthony Pritchard
Member
Why We Cannot Develop Ourselves Into God’s People
The New Birth Is God’s Work, Not Human Improvement
The New Birth Is God’s Work, Not Human Improvement
There is a common idea in religious thought that a person must work to develop himself into someone God would want to have fellowship with. It sounds noble, but it is contrary to the revealed Word of God. Scripture does not teach that we shape or refine ourselves into something acceptable. Scripture teaches that we are unable, and that God Himself must act. The flesh cannot develop itself into spirit. The sinner cannot develop himself into a saint. The old man cannot develop himself into the new man. The gospel is not self‑development. The gospel is divine intervention.
The Lord Jesus said in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Flesh does not improve itself into spirit. Flesh does not grow into something God desires. Flesh remains flesh. Only the Spirit gives life. This is why Jesus said in John 3:7, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” The new birth is not the result of human effort. It is the work of God.
Paul wrote in Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” If no good thing dwells in us by nature, then no amount of self‑development can produce what God requires. The problem is not lack of effort. The problem is the nature of the flesh itself. The flesh cannot produce righteousness. The flesh cannot produce holiness. The flesh cannot produce what God demands.
Isaiah speaks even more plainly. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Not our sins, but our righteousnesses. The very best we can produce is unclean. If the best is unclean, then the idea of developing ourselves into something God would accept is impossible from the start. God does not accept the improved flesh. God gives a new heart and a new spirit.
The Lord does not call us to develop ourselves. He calls us to die to ourselves. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” The Christian life is not the old man improved. It is the new man created by God. It is not self‑development. It is Christ living in the believer. It is not the flesh refined. It is the Spirit given.
Salvation is not the result of human development. Ephesians 2:8 to 9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” If salvation is not of ourselves, then becoming the kind of person God desires is not of ourselves either. It is His work, not ours. Grace does not polish the flesh. Grace creates a new man.
Even our sanctification is not self‑driven. Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” God works in us to will. God works in us to do. The desire and the ability come from Him, not from our own development. The believer does not develop himself into holiness. God works holiness in him.
The new birth itself is entirely of God. John 1:12 to 13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Not of the will of the flesh. Not of the will of man. But of God. The will of the flesh cannot produce the new birth. The will of man cannot produce the new birth. Only God can.
Ezekiel 36:26 says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” God does not say, “Develop your heart.” He says, “I will give you a new one.” He does not say, “Improve your spirit.” He says, “I will put a new spirit within you.” The new heart is not the old heart improved. It is the old heart replaced. The new spirit is not the old spirit refined. It is the old spirit removed.
We do not develop ourselves into the kind of person God wants. We come to Him as empty vessels, and He fills. We come as dead, and He gives life. We come as sinners, and He gives righteousness. We come as flesh, and He gives Spirit. We come as we are, and He makes us what we are not. That is grace. That is the gospel. That is the truth Scripture reveals.
Conclusion
The idea that we must develop ourselves into anything is not the gospel. It is the opposite of the gospel. The gospel is not self‑development. The gospel is God giving life where there was none. The gospel is God creating a new heart, a new spirit, a new man. The gospel is God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. The gospel is Christ living in us, not the flesh improving itself. The gospel is grace from beginning to end.
Colophon
This article was written as a plain reminder of what the Scriptures have taught me for forty‑seven years, that the life God gives is not the work of the flesh but the work of His Spirit. In and of ourselves we are revealed to be incapable of change, no matter how much we struggle because “thou canst not make one hair white or black” (Matthew 5:36). I have not tried to defend a system or answer a man, only to speak what the Word itself declares. If anything here is true, it is because God has said it. If anything here is helpful, it is because His grace has made it so. My hope is that the reader will look past the writer and see the mercy of God who gives life to the dead and has made us accepted in the beloved.
Non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam - Not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thy name give glory.
~Tony
© A.K. Pritchard 1978 -
Free to use with proper attribution.
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