just-want-peace:
You wrote:
Just like a newborn babe has to "WORK" to get it's milk. The mother may offer her breast, but if the infant does not "WORK" to suckle, there will be no nourishment! But we would never say that the infant "WORKED" for his keep; he just accepts what is given freely!
Show me a newborn babe who does not suckle when
offered a breastful of milk, and I'll show you a
dead baby.
Even a very sick baby would grab that breast, the point being that it is a live baby.
Let me use your illustration to show my point here.
Here is a scripture first:
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neithere can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14
Now, what is the state of the natural man ?
Another scripture:
And you hath he quickened, who were
dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us , even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved)....Ephesians 2:1-5
According to these scriptures, the natural state of the natural man, before God, is that of a dead
creature, not dead physically, but dead spiritually, therefore he has no interest in the things of the Spirit of God, of which hellfire or heaven, sin and forgiveness, are part.
The man who shows interest in the things of the Spirit of God can only be the saved, regenerated, quickened, man. Quickened not because God saw any goodness in him, but because of God's rich mercy. Titus 3:5 says - "Not by works of righteousnesses which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us", which is why Paul said, if we think of it in today's language, oh, by the way, by grace are ye saved.
The gospel, or the good news, does not save.
Christ, the subject of the good news, does.
The unregenerate feels no excitement about the good news of God's finished work of redemption of His people in Christ.
The regenerated soul, whose ears have been unstopped by God, does.
So, if a man or woman walks down the aisle during the altar call, let him or her not think she did it because he or she had a natural thirst for the things of God. He or she walked down that aisle because God gave him or her,
first a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone.
The gospel, to the regenerated child of God, brought life and immortality
to light.
To the unregenerate, the preachig of the cross is
foolishness.
