Here's the conclusion of the matter. Men do not possess faith by nature. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing. Faith is endowed by the Holy Spirit. No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
What has that got to do with faith??
Little children aren't filled with Holy Spirit. Yet, Jesus said "unless you have faith as a little child you cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Apparently little children have faith. All people have faith. It is the object of their faith that is important. The object of a child's faith is their parents. The object of my faith is Christ. What is the object of your faith?
Men do not gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles, and neither can faith be found in the corrupt tree of human nature. On the contrary, human nature is at enmity with God. It hates God, and does not want peace with God.
Why use Scripture out of context to prove a point? That text is never used in the context of faith. It is used in Mat.7 in the context of false teachers. Your example is wrong.
We can all make analogies that seem to make sense but in reality are ridiculous, like the one you just make. You have a perfectly working hand. But you just got a bruise on your thumb. Bruises don't belong on perfectly working thumbs. Answer: Cut off the thumb to remove the bruise. How can a bruise be found in a perfectly working hand? Yes, I can come up with ridiculous sounding analogies too.
The fact is that the human nature, though it be at odds with God, is still resident in the human body. And that being the case, man is able to have faith.
Faith is not imparted by the mere mechanics of preaching the Gospel, just as the sons of Sceva could not cast out demons by the mere mentioning of the name of Jesus.*
Their faith was not in Jesus Christ. Christ was not the object of their faith. Read the account.
Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you
by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. (Acts 19:13)
And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? (Acts 19:15)
--"The Christ Paul preached" is not Christ. One might say he is "a hearsay person." They didn't know who Christ was. They were "vagabond Jews" but Jews nevertheless. Their faith was in another religion not in Christ.
The Gospel is not some kind of hocus pocus, as if the mere physical utterance of the words carries any power, as Scandal would have us believe.
What kind of false accusation are you making, and where did Skan ever say it was. Here is a verse he often points to:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
--What is the gospel? It is the power of God unto salvation.
You may believe in hocus pocus, I don't know. But the scriptures declare that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
--To us which are saved it is the power of God.
It is not hocus pocus to us (maybe you); but to us it is the power of God.
Those who become the sons of God do not become so by the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So it is not by him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. Throw pearls all you want at swine, and they remain swine.
You also can deny Scripture or at least refuse to reconcile it.
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: (John 1:12)
--Verse 12 precedes verse 13 and can't be left out.
One becomes a child of God by receiving Christ and believing on his name. That is what the verse teaches. But you will ignore that plain teaching won't you?
And so why the parables? As I've explained. (Actually, as Christ explained.) They do not have an ear to hear. As we see in numerous other places, they trampled the plain words of Christ under their feet and turned to rend Him. They do not have an ear to hear, so even what they had was taken from them.
That was spoken of the Pharisees. Is it spoken of every unsaved man. Does the verse "Seek ye the Lord while he may yet be found," have any meaning to you? If the command to seek is given, then obviously it can be obeyed.
Who is God addressing here:
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22)
--"All the ends of the earth" are more than just the Jews.
It is evident that it is possible for unsaved men and women to turn to Christ and put their faith in him.