Theology Thursday
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
John 3:3-4
We are working through a Theology Thursday series on Reformed Theology or what is sometimes called “Calvinism.” In the early 1600’s some Christians came up with a simple acronym TULIP that captured five basic points of what the Bible says about humanity and the good news about Jesus. The I stands for Irresistible Grace.
Why do some people come to believe in Jesus and others don’t? Humanly speaking, there can be a number of reasons. Maybe they were willing to listen when someone else wasn’t. Maybe they hit rock bottom in life and looked for hope. Maybe they just happened to walk into a church and really liked the people and eventually came to belief.
On a different level. We know (following on from the T in Tulip - total depravity) that no one actually seeks for God without the Spirit’s work in their heart. Without the Spirit, we would happily follow our sinful urges all the way into destruction.
But by God’s grace, because of His great love for us, He sends His Spirit to save us. Not with our cooperation, but in spite of us.
I once heard it like this. We are like kids who run out onto the highway. But before we can get to the road God grabs us and pulls us back from danger.
His grace is irresistible. As Jesus suggests in John 3. We didn’t choose to be born. You didn’t cooperate in your conception or birth. It’s something that happened to you. So it is with being born again by the Spirit. God drew you to Him and to hearing the gospel, He worked in your heart to turn it from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh, He opened your ears to hear and gave you the gift of faith.
This is why salvation is all of God. Not only did God do the work in Jesus to save us. He did the work in us so that Jesus’ salvation could be applied to us. And thank God it’s irresistible. Because I’m just foolish enough, self-destructive enough, sinful enough that if it was possible - I would have tried.
For Today:
Pray: Praise the Father that He is sovereign and saves people against their sinful will. Give thanks for Jesus Christ who died and rose so that we might have new life. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to make many more new baby Christians.
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
John 3:3-4
We are working through a Theology Thursday series on Reformed Theology or what is sometimes called “Calvinism.” In the early 1600’s some Christians came up with a simple acronym TULIP that captured five basic points of what the Bible says about humanity and the good news about Jesus. The I stands for Irresistible Grace.
Why do some people come to believe in Jesus and others don’t? Humanly speaking, there can be a number of reasons. Maybe they were willing to listen when someone else wasn’t. Maybe they hit rock bottom in life and looked for hope. Maybe they just happened to walk into a church and really liked the people and eventually came to belief.
On a different level. We know (following on from the T in Tulip - total depravity) that no one actually seeks for God without the Spirit’s work in their heart. Without the Spirit, we would happily follow our sinful urges all the way into destruction.
But by God’s grace, because of His great love for us, He sends His Spirit to save us. Not with our cooperation, but in spite of us.
I once heard it like this. We are like kids who run out onto the highway. But before we can get to the road God grabs us and pulls us back from danger.
His grace is irresistible. As Jesus suggests in John 3. We didn’t choose to be born. You didn’t cooperate in your conception or birth. It’s something that happened to you. So it is with being born again by the Spirit. God drew you to Him and to hearing the gospel, He worked in your heart to turn it from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh, He opened your ears to hear and gave you the gift of faith.
This is why salvation is all of God. Not only did God do the work in Jesus to save us. He did the work in us so that Jesus’ salvation could be applied to us. And thank God it’s irresistible. Because I’m just foolish enough, self-destructive enough, sinful enough that if it was possible - I would have tried.
For Today:
- Do you think God’s grace is irresistible?
- Can you see this in your life?
- Why do you think it’s helpful to see this?
Pray: Praise the Father that He is sovereign and saves people against their sinful will. Give thanks for Jesus Christ who died and rose so that we might have new life. Ask God for His Holy Spirit to make many more new baby Christians.
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