Bible Truth #132 - Romans 14:23

Romans 14:23

But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Many people who are lost do good things every day - good things as we in the flesh see them. Some give millions to charity, some are good moms and dads, some are good neighbors, some do volunteer work to help the homeless. However, you have to understand the spiritual context of this verse, as well as the spiritual condition of lost people. If you believe every word in the Bible is Divinely inspired (2 Timothy 3:16), then these words are from God.

Everything, not just eating, but everything that does not come from faith is sin. EVERYTHING, no exceptions. The lost have no faith, period. According to Ephesians 2:8-9 faith is a gift from God, along with grace and salvation. And they are inseparable. God uses faith to save a man much the same way you would use a key to start a car. When God gives faith to a man it's because He is quickening his dead spirit. Why do I say that? Easy. Ephesians 2:8 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. God doesn’t give faith to a [spiritually] dead man without quickening his dead spirit. You'll never see a lost man with faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Therefore, since the lost have no faith, everything they do, every minute of the day, is sin before God. Of course this would include the moment when they, according to the Arminian, “pray to accept Christ,” because they have no faith. If the Arminian will tell me that they do have faith, then that proves that God has already changed their nature by quickening their dead spirit and giving them faith proving that they are already saved - BEFORE praying some prayer that isn’t in the Bible. In reality, the prayer to “accept Christ” or the prayer of salvation “asking Jesus to save them” is the RESULT of what God has already done!

1 - a lost man has no faith

2 - a lost man has a dead spirit

3 - a lost man does everything “in the flesh” since his spirit is dead

4 - a lost man praying the “sinner’s prayer of salvation” is not doing it in faith

5 - a lost man is sinning when he prays the “sinner’s prayer”

6 - God gives a saved man faith, and even then, He gives different levels of faith to each believer (Romans 12:3).

However, if those who believe in decisional salvation still want to argue that every man has some level of faith but they just don’t exercise it to believe, I would like to point to 2 Thessalonians 3:2 where Paul tells us that God does NOT give faith to every man.

Bottom Line: a lost man can do NOTHING but sin every day, all day. This is why a lost man CAN’T please God, EVER. (Romans 8:8)

(I also use Romans 12:3 to remind myself not to get impatient with other believers who lack faith since it is God who gave them the faith they have - and what they don’t have. It’s harder to remember that fact when dealing with unbelievers. They don’t believe because God hasn’t given them faith.)

Bible Truth #131 - Colossians 1:10-13

Colossians 1:10-13

10  [And we pray this] so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

11  being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully

12  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

13  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,

For he has rescued us... God rescued us, period. Those in the dominion of darkness are there for a reason, they’re blind. Everyone is not only born blind, they are conceived blind. That is why it is called the dominion of darkness. It is not dark because there is no Light there, God is everywhere, even Hell and the Lake of Fire (Psalm 139:8, Revelation 14:10-11). Just as the physically blind live in darkness (NOT because there is no light), the lost live in darkness because they are spiritually blind (also NOT because there is no Light).

The lost don’t ask to be rescued from the darkness because they love it (John 3:19), they don’t understand what the Light is but they know what it would do - it would expose the evil they do. The lost man has an innate understanding that he shouldn’t be doing what he’s doing and he knows that Light will expose him. That’s why he hates the Light and he doesn’t want God to rescue him from the darkness (John 3:20). The lost never receive anything, and NEVER understand ANYTHING, from the Holy Spirit, no exception (1 Corinthians 2:14). The lost are unable to even understand the very words of Christ Himself (John 8:43).

So I ask the Arminian, please quote me the Scripture that tells us how a lost man comes to know he is dead and wants to be made alive. Using the Bible as their source, “Please tell me where you get the idea of a man asking God to save him.”

Salvation is ALL up to God and LIMITED to those whom He chose BEFORE the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). It’s a hard Truth, but Truth nonetheless. I’m sorry but the Bible is irrefutable, we did not choose Him (John 15:16). We become children of God NOT by the will of the flesh or human decision (John 1:13).

Bible Truth #130 - Isaiah 59:1-2

Isaiah 59:1-2

1  Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.

2  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

Here is a verse in the Old Testament that tells us God does not hear the prayers of the lost. And it is God choosing not to hear their prayers as made obvious by verse 1 which tell us God is able. Since we are born in sin and since we have iniquity in our soul from our earthly father (Psalm 51:5), we are separated from God from the moment of our conception and there is NOTHING WE CAN DO to change that. God does not hear the prayers of the lost because of their iniquities - WHICH INCLUDES THE “SINNER’S PRAYER” of repentance asking to be saved. Unless, of course, the original Hebrew has an exception that the translators missed, I don’t think so. How about a few verses from the New Testament that reinforces the two verses above?

1 Peter 3:7

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

This shows us the the prayers of Christians can be hindered if we do not live right.

James 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Lost men are not righteous (Romans 3:10).

John 9:31

We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.

I realize that John 9:31 is not a teaching of Jesus and it was actually the Pharisees who were speaking, and even though they knew the law they frequently misapplied it. Were they wrong in this instance? Obviously they were wrong in the context and application by applying it to Jesus, but the biblical principle of God not hearing the prayer of a sinner is valid and sound doctrine.

All this is more proof that God does NOT hear the prayer, ANY prayer, of a lost man. As a matter of fact, God won’t even hear the prayer of one of His Elect if we “regard iniquity” in our heart! (Psalm 66:18) A lost man can not “get saved” by praying any kind of a prayer and anyone who advocates such a notion is letting human emotion take precedence over God’s Word.

So who does God listen to? He hears a righteous man, He listens to the Godly man. God hears only the prayers of those He has chosen and already saved. Well how does a lost man get Godly? He can’t do it of his own volition because he HATES God (John 3:20), he is hostile toward God (Romans 8:7), and he can’t please God (Romans 8:8). And since a lost man CAN’T please God, he CAN’T do what the Arminian thinks is God’s Will (i.e. repent and believe, and “accept” Jesus). A lost man is spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1, 2:5; Colossians 2:13) and does not have the Holy Spirit. Therefore he can understand nothing from the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14). Oh, he hears the audible Gospel with his ears but he does not accept it because he thinks it is foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14).

So how does a man acquire Godliness? Because of nothing a lost man does (2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5), God makes a man Godly and He does so ONLY in a man He has chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). God works in a man to MAKE him a believer (John 6:29) by giving him belief (Philippians 1:29). That man is then drawn to Christ and those drawn to Christ by the Father, Jesus WILL raise up (John 6:44). In other words, there is NOTHING a lost man can do, nor is there anything a lost man would WANT to do to become Godly. Why? Because he HATES God.

A lost man can no more do good (like love God) than a black man can change the color of his skin or a leopard his spots. (Jeremiah 13:23)

Salvation is solely of God, it is not accomplished through the cooperative effort of man’s “free will.”

Bible Truth #129 - Ephesians 2:4-6

Ephesians 2:4-6

4  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

5  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

6  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Point #1 - ...because of His great love for us - not for everyone on the planet*, not for every human who ever lived, but because of His great love for US. Ephesians 1:1 makes it clear to whom Paul was writing - to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. He was not writing to everyone who lived in Ephesus. The verses immediately preceding those above (Ephesians 2:1-3) also make reference to two distinct groups of people - us and them, saved and lost, chosen and NOT, Elect and NOT. In many passages of Scripture when Paul writes “us,” too many Christians understand it to mean “we humans” when they should instead understand “we Christians.”

Point #2 - ...made us alive when we were dead. Obviously Paul is referring to our spiritual state. A spiritually dead man can make NO spiritual decision at all (because he’s dead) and nothing he decides or does in the flesh is pleasing to God, NOTHING. This is supported in many places elsewhere in the Bible which I’ve already pointed out (Genesis 6:5; Jeremiah 13:23; John 1:13; John 3:20; John 8:43; Romans 3:10-11; Romans 8:7-8; Romans 14:23). And this list of Scripture is NOT all inclusive.

Please, let’s combine #1 and #2 - Because of His love for us, God made us alive when we were dead. While we were dead we could do nothing spiritual. We couldn’t see, we couldn’t hear, we couldn’t understand - we couldn’t believe because believing is a spiritual act, something that is impossible by someone “in the flesh” ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE. Without any credible Biblical support, the Arminian simply assumes the lost man can do what God's Word says he can't.

Point #3 - it is by grace you have been saved. It is NOT because a man made a decision to accept Christ. The first point in the order of salvation is God choosing whom to save and placing them IN Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). It’s already done. All those placed in Christ at that point WILL be saved and all of those who were NOT placed in Christ haven’t got a snowball’s chance in the Lake of Fire of being saved, they have NO HOPE (1 Thessalonians 4:13, Ephesians 2:12). The second thing that happens is at a point in time of God’s choosing - He quickens our dead sprit and MAKES us believers (John 6:29). It has NOTHING to do with us, it wasn’t because we “accepted” Christ, it wasn’t because we believed, and it wasn’t because we repented - we haven’t done a thing to merit His choosing us. AFTER those two things, we responded because we were drawn (dragged - Strong’s #1670) to Jesus like a moth drawn to a light bulb. It is NOW our nature to love Him where before, when we were dead, it was our nature to hate Him (John 3:20). A man who’s nature has not been changed WILL NOT believe because he is unable to understand (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Point #4 - And God raised us up with Christ... God raised US up, not them. AND again, it’s past tense, it’s already done. How can someone whom God didn’t choose get himself raised up when it has already happened? This is another reason that we can’t lose our salvation. It’s already done!

We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. Our names were written in the Lamb’s book of life and we were placed in Him - NOTHING will, nor CAN anything, change that. If Christ died a substitutionary death on the cross (and He DID), how can anyone who wasn’t chosen, who wasn’t placed in Christ at the foundation of the world, how can any of those people get in Christ? There is no method in the Bible that provides this opportunity. People who were chosen were placed in Christ BEFORE the foundation of the world and people NOT chosen were NOT placed in Christ. That’s why when Christ was made alive, we also were made alive because we were IN HIM (Ephesians 2:5). And there were billions NOT placed in Him who literally don’t have a prayer of being saved, they were NOT made alive when Christ was resurrected.

With all due respect, if the Arminian doesn’t think that’s “fair” then he can renounce His salvation. He can tell God that he doesn’t like the way He designed salvation.

* I know the Arminian will claim God DOES love everyone on the planet because of their misunderstanding of John 3:16. As I’ve written in the past, Psalm 5:5 and 11:5 both cover whom God hates (Bible Truth #66). That is irreconcilable with their understanding of John 3:16.

Bible Truth #128 - Luke 5:1-11

Luke 5:1-11
1  Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;

2  and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

3  And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.

4  When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

5  Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

6  When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;

7  so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

8  But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

9  For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;

10  and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”

11  When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

You know the story. This is NOT a parable but a living example that God had Luke, perhaps the most intelligent and likely the most educated man of the Gospel writers, to record for posterity. The first thing that I’d like to ask is, did the fish have anything to do with their being “caught” by the net? I hope you will agree with me that the fish had NOTHING whatsoever to do with their being caught. The apostles had been fishing all night long and as fish are wont to do, they did their best to avoid the net. Why? Because it’s their NATURE. They do NOT want to be caught. They flee strange things. This is no different than sheep belonging to one shepherd will never follow another shepherd, they run from a stranger (John 10:5).

There is an old cliche’ fisherman use when they come back from an outing with an empty stringer - “That’s why it’s called fishing and not catching.” Notice what the Lord says next, “...let your nets down for a catch.” The Lord of the Universe said to let down their nets FOR A CATCH. Peter, along with most Christians who read this, frequently overlook the word catch. Jesus wasn’t sending them out fishing, He was sending them out for a CATCH. The Lord was about to work His will and put fish in the net.

Peter couldn’t resist stating the obvious - We’ve been hard at work all night long and haven’t caught a thing. BUT...

What then happened? It should be obvious to every believer that GOD drew the fish into the net. Unless of course you say this was a freak occurrence and that God was not at work here. If that’s the case, we’re discussing the wrong topic.

Now, let’s continue - were ALL fish drawn into the net? NO, I’m certain that the Lake of Gennesaret was not emptied of fish.

Was every fish God wanted, drawn into the net? Well, because He is a sovereign God and always gets His way, YES. Every single fish God chose for the purpose of this life example was drawn into the net. Of those God chose for capture, not one “escaped” or chose not to be drawn, i.e. resisted.

I believe Jesus clearly teaches the fish weren’t given a choice, they were compelled into the net (Luke 14:23, Bible Truth #87). After getting all the fish into the boats, Peter recognized he was in the presence of Holiness and fell to his knees. Jesus then told him not to fear, in the same way he caught fish, he will now catch men.

This example must be literally applied to Peter’s (and our) Christian witness. In the same way fish avoid nets, LOST men will avoid Truth, they love the darkness because their deeds are evil (John 3:19) and they HATE the Light and Truth (John 3:20) - it’s their NATURE. That is why unless God has changed their heart, lost men will change the subject or do whatever they can to get away from our attempt to witness just as fish avoid a net. And yes, some try harder than others. Some politely listen to our testimony while others slam the door in our face. And as the fish were compelled into the net, so is the irresistible Grace of God toward His Elect who are not yet saved - once God quickens the dead spirit in a man and makes a man a believer (John 6:29) he WILL come to Christ (John 6:37).

Our job as fishers of men is to simply cast the nets and then pull them back in, NOT draw the fish into it. THAT is God’s work (John 6:44). That is also why Jesus told the apostles to go into all the world and teach all nations. He didn’t say go and make believers, He said to go and teach all nations and baptize them (Matthew 28:19-20). Are we to teach the lost? Of course not. We are not to teach the lost any more than we are to baptize them. More on the Great Commission in a future Bible Truth.

And by the way, even IF the fish made a “free will” decision to go into the net, wouldn’t that mean that God changed their nature FIRST? :)

Bible Truth #127 - Acts 16:6-7

Acts 16:6-7

6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.

7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

This clearly shows the sovereignty of God in choosing where to send these men and the Holy Spirit through them. I hope those who believe in decisional salvation don't actually think that Paul and his companions had a choice whether to obey or not. Whether it was the Holy Spirit preventing them from preaching the Word in Asia, or the Spirit of Jesus not allowing them to enter Bithynia, God prevented the Gospel from being preached in those places.

Surely the man who believes in decisional salvation will agree that in the weeks, months or years it took Paul, or any other apostle or disciple, to go back to Asia or Bithynia, there were those who died without hearing the Gospel? YES! Well why do you think God wanted Paul and his companions to skip these places and go somewhere else? Number one because He is sovereign and what He wants, He gets, i.e. His will IS being done on earth as it IS being done in Heaven (Matthew 6:9-13); number two, there were those in Phrygia and Galatia whom God had chosen and wanted to use Paul to share the Gospel with them instead; and number three, and to me, most obvious, there were those in Asia and Bithynia God had NOT chosen, those whom God did NOT want to hear the Gospel, at least not at this time.

Bottom line - God chose where to send Paul and his companions, and where NOT to send them. Therefore, God chose those who would hear the Gospel and those who would not. And since God determines the times and places for every man to live (Acts 17:26), God clearly chose those would would have the privilege of even hearing the Good News and who would not.

Bible Truth #126 - James 5:16

James 5:16

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective - and by clear implication, the prayer of a wicked man, a wicked man who still has all of the iniquities laid on his soul from the moment of his conception because of Adam, his prayer is NOT effective. In fact, in Romans 3:10 (quoting Psalms 14 and 53) Paul writes that there is NO ONE righteous, NOT EVEN ONE.

If this is so, AND IT IS, how can a lost man, an UNRIGHTEOUS man, have an “effective” prayer that asks God to save him? The plain answer is ... he won’t and he doesn’t because HE CAN’T!

Dp you think the Truth will make you free? Not True! And if you think it will, you are skimming over God’s Word instead of paying attention. The Truth will NOT make you free. What does the Bible say? Read John 8:32 again - and you shall KNOW the Truth, and the Truth will make you free. This is true not only IN salvation but also in the very idea of soteriological belief. So until a Christian KNOWS the Truth, he who does not believe God’s Word regarding the Doctrine of Election will be in bondage to the flesh - the carnal, man-centered theory that a lost man has the ability to believe WITHOUT first being chosen (Ephesians 1:4), foreknown, predestined, called (Romans 8:29-30), and quickened (Colossians 2:13).

A man can not and will not believe until God gives him belief (John 6:29, Philippians 1:29).

You’ve heard it said that God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. I submit that the following is also true:

GOD DOESN’T CALL THE SAVED, HE SAVES THE CALLED. And He calls ONLY His Elect, not every man is called (1 Corinthians 1:26.)