A corrupt tree cannot produce good fruit Scripture tells us that. An unregenerate person is morally corrupt and any works of righteousness he does are filthy rags. Scripture tells us that they which are in the flesh cannot please God.

JD wrote:
LW

You have 11 days!

Faith is a gift of God. Pay attention to verse 9.

1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

1Co 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

1Co 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

1Co 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

1Co 12:9 To another FAITH by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will

See also Romans 12:3.

What must one do to be born again/regenerated?

If you answer, "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" you are adding works to reheneration.

If you say "What must I do to be saved" the answer would be "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ"

Justification (i.e. salvation) is the end result of regeneration. You can't will yourself born-again. You can't will yourself regenerated. But God regenerates you and quickens you when you are dead in tresspasses and sin to come to Christ willingly and believe on him in repentance and faith.

Is that clearer?

I would like to continue this particular discussion with you here.

Pastor Kevin Hester wrote:
Unfortunately, this is exactly the sort of thing the gossip free book was written about and what I intended the entire movement to address. I am the founder of gossipfree.org. I wrote this book because of my own personal experiences with gossip that devastated my life, my ministry, and my family and also gossip that I have seen affect the lives of others. The book of James is very clear about the power that words have. Though the things that were said about me had absolutely no truth to them, they still had a profound negative impact on my life and ministry and the lives of my children.

2Ti 1:9 "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"

Faith is given by God.

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

The Greek word for "dealt" is εμερισεν and is translated "divided" in Matt. 6:41, "distributed" in 1 Cor. 7:17, 2 Cor. 10:13, and "gave" in Hebrews 7:2.

In the immediate context of Rom. 12:3, God gave to every man that Paul was writing to, the believers, a measure (a portion) of faith.

So faith in this instance is a gift of God.

JD wrote:
Tryjng to change the subject, are we?

You need to practice what you preach JD, and not be such a hypocrit. If you want others to live by your demands, be willing to get thrown back at you.

JD wrote:
Is that your way of saying you failed to find one verse saying faith is the gift of God? I accept it!

Would you also agree with scripture that faith is a fruit produced by the Holy Spirit?

Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, FAITH,"

So will you agree with scripture that in order for one to exercise the gifts of the Spirit, one must actually be born of the Spirit.

Thinking Christian wrote:
DJC49 wrote:
"Except a man be born again, he CANNOT SEE the kingdom of God." [John 3:3]
It confounds me how anyone can first believe in something of which he can't even see,
Hello DJC49
I was sitting back reading the postings determined not to take part, but I did not have the will-power.
I just could not leave you in a state of being confounded on such a simple subject. I think I can help you.
"Except a man be born again". How is a man changed/made anew etc? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Believe and you will be saved, do not believe and you will perish. Simple. "Cannot see" is literal. If you don't believe, if you have not experienced new birth, you cannot see/enter/experience the kingdom of God. Nothing at all to do with spiritual sight or lack of it.
Hope this has helped.
Kind regards

Last time I checked the scriptures, it says that one must BE born again, not get himself born again.

Mike wrote:
May not the reverse be true? ex: The fact that they are born again is evidence that they believed. (Show past action with ongoing results)

JD wrote:
sovereign grace, and it doesn't

Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

JD wrote:
sovereign God, and it doesn't,

If God is not seovereign, then He is not Jehovah God at all.

Contender wrote:
You are not alone brother.
God Bless

JD was quick to demean my moniker as denoting another meaning because he denies the Lord's absolute sovereignty in the salvation of sinners and that it is by grace alone, not a joint effort whereby God needs our approval or permission to accomplish His will.

It wasn't that long ago Minnow was doing the same thing as JD.

Sometimes when you stand for the truth, you stand alone. John the Baptist stood alone preaching in the wilderness.

Crying out the gospel in the wilderness of sin gets very lonely at times although I know the Lord is ever present.

Front Row wrote:
Mike
The first step unto salvation is taken by the Holy Spirit NOT (R) NOT the mortal. The mortal cannot because of sins dominion over him.
Do not seek to find where the physical can limit/control the spiritual, since it cannot. This is the basic mistake of salvation by works.
Spiritual discernment begins with the Spirit indwelling.
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Don't waste your time with these guys. Mike has already made up his mind to reject the authority of scripture for his humanistic view of salvation. All JD wants to do is be argumentitive and sling insults at everyone. His posts are frequently demeaning and condecending. They are both unteachable. You cannot even reason with them from scripture. They won't accept them no matter what.

F. The Efficient Cause of Regeneration.

3. THE HOLY SPIRIT. The only adequate view is that of the Church of all ages, that the Holy Spirit is the efficient cause of regeneration. This means that the Holy Spirit works directly on the heart of man and changes its spiritual condition. There is no co-operation of the sinner in this work whatsoever. It is the work of the Holy Spirit directly and exclusively, Ezek. 11:19; John 1:13; Acts 16:14; Rom. 9:16; Phil. 2:13. Regeneration, then, is to be conceived monergistically. God alone works, and the sinner has no part in it whatsoever. This, of course, does not mean, that man does not co-operate in later stages of the work of redemption. It is quite evident from Scripture that he does."

irresistable wrote:
Er Mike
The scripture says 'where it listeth' 'canst not tell' 'whence' it cometh'...in other words the wind is not in man's control and comes at God's sovereign command and good pleasure and not at man's bidding.
You didn't mention that.
Also the wind is irresistable in its power isn't it

His reasoning is based on a faulty premise that regeneration IS salvation and not a means of grace for salvation.
--------------------

BTW Mike,

Mike wrote:
Lone Wolf, if my statement on regeneration is in error, you should point out what it is. I can take it.

Mike wrote:
If we could but admit that the Holy Spirit may work in a sinner's heart for some time before he is convicted, we should also be able to see that this work cannot properly be called regeneration, for being regenerated IS the born-again state of the one who has new life, and is therefore saved.