Michael Horton puts like this, “We cannot find God for the same reason that a thief can't find a police officer.” Sinful man cannot find God because he doesn't want God. R.C. Sproul explains, “Fallen man has the natural ability to make choices but lacks the moral ability to make godly choices.” From conception onward, humanity is spiritually dead, hostile to God, and unable to incline its heart toward God. Free will profits man nothing, for the will is in bondage to sin, leaving human beings helpless.
When we were dead in sins, when we unknowingly followed Satan, when we were enslaved to our sinful desires, when we were by our very natures objects of wrath, God did something. We were unable to do anything. We were unable to believe. We were unable to incline our hearts toward God. We didn’t want to! But when we could do nothing, God alone took action. We were dead. (We were not terminally ill; nor were we were going down for the count—we were stone cold spiritual corpses.) Yet God made us alive. God gave us new birth (regeneration). We were born again. Before we could even believe, God gave us new birth. On a technical level, we were not born again because we believed. We were born again and believe as a result. When Nicodemus couldn't understand who Jesus was, Jesus taught him that man could not even see the kingdom of heaven, let alone enter it, until he was first born again (John 3:3). Even faith itself is a gift given by God to those who otherwise wouldn't want it. The new birth came first. The new birth caused the faith to be present. Regeneration precedes faith.
Our conversion to Christ was not a joint venture between us and God, but a unilateral move on God’s part to raise us from spiritual death to spiritual life, changing our hearts so that we believed and repented. Salvation is by grace alone—sola gratia, to use the Reformation slogan. Even our willingness to cooperate with the Holy Spirit was given to us by God. Yet this brings us to a sober realization—God does not give this kind of grace to everyone. Not everyone is given faith.
Is this unfair? No. Unequal, yes—but not unfair. We are sinners and all of us deserve God’s justice—punishment for our sins. No one deserves mercy. If mercy were deserved, it would not be mercy—it would be justice! God is not unjust to anyone—no one gets less than he deserves. Some of us have received mercy; others will receive justice. God is not an equal opportunity Savior. Indeed, from Abraham on, God has always shown more mercy to one people than to another. God chose Abraham in a way he did not choose Abraham’s next-door neighbor. God revealed himself to Paul in a way he didn’t show himself to Nicodemus. God is sovereign in his exercise of mercy.
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