New Birth before believing the Gospel is True !
That men are regenerated before God sends them the Gospel as the word of their Salvation, in order for them to believe and be saved, is taught in the scripture in many places. It is certainly implied here
Matt 13:23
23 But he that received seed[Gospel] into
the good ground[New Birth] is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
It is good ground because it has been given a spiritual capacity by New Birth to understand the things of God, which the Gospel is ! The good ground is a good heart as per
Lk 8:15
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Now, if we are true to scripture teaching, by nature, no one has a good and honest heart, but one that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked
Jer 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
So, its proved from this that New Birth precedes the Gospel of Salvation !
But it is also Illustrated by Cornelius, who was regenerated or born again before God sent him the Gospel to believe through peter. Now how do we know that Cornelius was regenerated or born again ? Because scripture says about him as it said about Job, that he feared God !
Job 1:1
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright,
and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
Acts 10:1-2,
22,
35
There was a certain man in Caesarea called
Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
2 A devout man, and one that
feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.
22 And they said,
Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.
35 But in every nation
he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness,
is accepted with him.
Now when a person is said to fear God, that is a testimony of the Grace of God in them, that God hath wrought in them
Jn 3:21
21
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest
, that they are wrought in God.
This is True because we men by nature have no fear of God before our eyes as per
Rom 3:10-18
10 As it is written, There is
none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Now who dare dispute what has been shown thus far from The Word of Truth ?
