God's Sovereignty in Evangelism
[God's Sovereignty in Evangelism Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries] "Have you ever considered the nature of the people we are trying to reach with the Gospel? Jesse Barrington, pastor of Grace Life Church of Dallas, gave a biblical description of them in a recent message. It is no wonder the apostles asked Jesus, "Who then can be saved?" Only God can grant spiritual life to those who are dead in their sins. In a moment He brings them to life, transforms their hearts and grants them repentance and faith. This wonderful message of God's sovereign grace will give you great hope and encouragement as you proclaim the Gospel."
Response to comment [from a "Christian"]: "[Transforming hearts] False. The Bible does not teach this. In fact, this is a different gospel."
A new heart also
will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you: and I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you
an heart of flesh [Ezek.
36:26].
"God says what He is going to do. A change
is going to take place. “A new heart also
will I give you”—they are going to be born
again." McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible
commentary (electronic ed.) (Eze
36:26).
Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
"Eze
36:26 — “I
will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit within you; I will take the heart of
stone out of your flesh and give you a heart
of flesh.”
God does not want remodeled hearts, but
brand new ones. He doesn’t want a reform in
character, but a new spirit that loves to do
His will. He wants transformation, not mere
accommodation.
Answers to Life's Questions: How can I help
to restore someone to fellowship with God?
EZEK. 36:16–38
The term “restore” is an interesting one. In
ancient Greek, it means to set a broken bone
back in place. In restoring someone we do
not place bandages on small cuts, but
instead we set broken spiritual bones.
Therefore the work is often long and
painful.
The steps to restoration are as follows:
Lead the person to recognize his failure.
Help him see the nature of the problem and
to call it by its right name: sin. As long
as a person can rationalize his behavior, he
will never accept responsibility for it.
Lead the person to acknowledge
responsibility for his sin. Blaming others
will do no good. Others may have been
involved, but the person chose to sin—and
claiming proper responsibility is essential
to restoration.
Lead the fallen saint to repent. Pray that
the Holy Spirit will convict the person to
feel remorse, regret, and grief. Repentance
means a change of mind leading to a change
of conduct. Paul taught that our thinking
must change first; then our actions will
follow (Rom.
12:2).
Lead the person to receive the message God
wants to teach him. Sometimes a person is
stubborn and resistant and reluctant to
learn. But failure is unprofitable only when
we refuse to learn from the experience. If
we learn and grow, we have not utterly
failed—we have taken the opportunity to
learn more about ourselves and about our
God.
Lead the sinful believer to respond to God’s
chastisement with gratitude. The one leading
might point out two helpful verses: “Before
I was afflicted I went astray, but now I
keep Your word;” and, “It is good for me
that I have been afflicted, that I may learn
Your statutes” (Ps.
119:67,
71).
Gently remind the person how wonderful it is
that God loves us enough to chastise us and
to mend us. God will never crush the one He
loves so dearly.
The goal of all spiritual restoration is to
help our sinning brothers and sisters “come
to their senses and escape the snare of the
devil, having been taken captive by him to
do his will” (2
Tim. 2:26).
What a joy is ours when we see God put a new
heart and a new spirit in them, causing them
to walk joyfully and willingly in His ways
and to keep His commandments for their own
good (Ezek.
36:26,
27)!
See the Life Principles Index for further
study:
Brokenness is God’s requirement for maximum
usefulness.
We learn more in our valley experiences than
on our mountaintops." Stanley, C. F. (2005).
The Charles F. Stanley life principles
Bible: New King James Version (Eze
36:26–38).
Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles.
[New heart] "Anti-Christ heresy, and a false gospel."
Proof please.
"Eze
36:16–38
“You’ll also need a new heart.” God had
driven Israel from its land because their
sins had dishonored his name (36:16–19). Yet
even in exile they continued to dishonor him
(36:20). Therefore, not so much for their
sake as for his own name’s sake, he will one
day restore them to their land, give them a
new heart, and put his spirit within them,
enabling them to obey him (36:21–28; see
exposition on
Jer. 31:31–34).
While this promise will be fulfilled for the
entire nation of Israel during the
Millennium, its fulfillment is foreshadowed
by the Spirit’s indwelling of all believers
in Christ." Willmington, H. L. (1997).
Willmington’s Bible handbook (420). Wheaton,
IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
"...You made the false claim."
Proof please.
"Eze
36:26,
27
The ritual of purification from sin would be
empty and meaningless apart from true
repentance and the regenerating and
empowering work of the Holy Spirit on the
inner spirit of individuals. God would not
only restore the people physically to the
land, but would restore them spiritually, by
giving them a new heart and new spirit to
help them follow Him and do His will.
(11:19–20; 18:31; 37:14; 39:29;
Jer. 31:31–34;
Joel 2:28,
29;
Acts 2:17,
18;
Rom. 7:7–8:11;
2 Cor. 3:3–18;
Heb. 8:6—10:39.)
Eze 36:28–30
you shall be My people: See vv. 1–15; 34:29.
The purpose of the Mosaic covenant would
finally be realized (Deut.
26:16–19;
29:13;
30:8).
The Israelites would become a people
dedicated to God’s ways.
Eze 36:31,
32
These verses restate the reasons for the
planned restoration and renewal of God’s
people. The restoration from the Exile would
recover God’s glorious reputation among the
nations and erase the guilt of the
Israelite’s sin. This is all a product of
God’s favor on the Israelites—even though
they had done nothing to merit such mercy."
Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H.
W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible
commentary (Eze
36:26–32).
Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.
"Not one single verse you posted supports your theory."
Proof please.
We are saved by grace alone (Eph
2:8-9),
through faith alone (Eph
1:13;
2Ti 1:10),
in Christ alone (Isa
45:21,22;
59:16;
Ac 4:12).
Roman Catholics deny this (Jude
1:11).
See:
No Idolatry and False Teaching
