Romans 9:19-21
19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?”
20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ”
21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
God formed us and can (and does) save who He wants. Because of Adam, ALL of humanity was destined for Hell. But God, in His love and mercy, chose some to save. Those He chose, He put IN Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Christ's death is the propitiation of sin for those ONLY. But verse 21 is the key. God (the Potter) has the right to make out of the same lump of clay some vessels for honor and some for dishonor. He need not explain because He is sovereign. Clay cannot think and neither can the lost man think, reason, or consider spiritual things because he is spiritually DEAD (Ephesians 2:1, 2:5, Colossians 2:13). He considers everything from the Holy Spirit to be foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14). That is the practical application of verse 21 above. The point is God made, created, destined, and appointed, some for honor, and some for dishonor.
Bottom Line - Nowhere in the Bible will you find that a lost man has the ability to choose God, to believe Christ, or to come into the Light. The lost man is spiritually dead and when given a choice will ALWAYS choose darkness because he loves it and hates the Light. I heard one Reformed Theologian say yes, man has a free will, but it is to do only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). A man whose every imagination is ONLY evil, continually, WILL not, and CAN not, go against that nature and choose God.
We become children of God not by the will of the flesh (John 1:13).
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