Acts 8:26-38 - A Baptism Message

This is the transcript of a message that was given at the baptism of a dear friend of mine.

"And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him." - Acts 8:26-38

There are many baptism accounts in the book of Acts that I could have chosen to speak from, but I chose to speak from this one because it’s so simple, and yet so complete, in its testimony of what the gospel is, and what baptism is.

This passage tells us the story of a man’s salvation. I’d like you to notice three things about the man in this story:

1) That it was God who pursued this man, and that if God had not pursued him he would not have been saved. Philip was sent on a divine appointment into the desert to meet this man, a place where he would not have naturally gone. Had God not sent Philip, the man would have returned to Ethiopia in ignorance of God’s salvation and would more than likely have perished in his sins.

2) That this man was truly religious, and yet unsaved. He had just visited Jerusalem, the city of God, to worship God. This verse reveals to us that he was a proselyte, a Gentile, who, like many, had joined himself to the Jews in recognition that the one true God of all was also the God of Israel. He had gone to the right place at the right time, and yet still remained ignorant of the salvation of God through God’s Son, Jesus Christ. An onlooker may have thought this man was alright, but God sent Philip to him because he was not alright. His life was still unredeemed, and the wrath of God still hung over his head because he, like every one else, was a sinner. “There is none righteous, no not one.” (Romans 3:10). Whether you are Jew or Gentile, religious or irreligious, you are a sinner, and until you come to faith in Jesus Christ, you stand eternally condemned before God. You may, like the Ethiopian, go to church and worship God and do all the right things, but be just as unsaved and in peril as he.

3) He read the Scriptures, but did not understand them, and was humble enough to admit that and to ask for help in understanding them. He read the Scriptures, but that was not enough. In order for a person to be saved they must believe in Christ, and in order for them to believe in Christ they must first understand who He is and what exactly He did for them. That is why Philip asked the question: “Do you understand what you are reading?” And it is important that we ask ourselves that same question. Sure you may own a Bible and have read it your whole life, but if you do not understand what you are reading, your faith and your hope of salvation may be completely erroneous and therefore useless. We must “know whom we have believed”.

Now it tells us what place the Ethiopian was reading from. The text of Scripture that he was reading was from the 53^rd chapter of the Prophet Isaiah: the most profound Messianic prophecy in all of the Old Testament. In it describes the death of Christ on behalf of the sins of his people: Isaiah 53:5-12. It is from this very text that Philip opens his mouth and preaches Christ to the Ethiopian. It doesn’t tell us what Philip’s sermon was, because that is unnecessary. He preached Christ, and we know what the preaching of Christ is, not merely because it has already been shown to us before in the book of Acts, but because of the marvelous text that He is preaching from: Isaiah 53. To preach Isaiah 53 is to preach Christ, and vice versa. I can tell you it went something like this:

Jesus of Nazareth, whom you heard all about while you were in Jerusalem, is the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. He is the Holy One of God, the Messiah and Savior whom God promised would come and save us from our sins. You see, all people everywhere have gone astray from God, like sheep, and have sinned, falling short of God’s standard of righteousness, so that we all deserve to die. The punishment for sin is to be accursed, eternally separated from God, and to suffer forever in a place of fiery torment. The requirement to be received into eternal life is to be righteous, and in the sight of God no one is righteous. For God to declare a person as righteous they would have to have no sin, or else God would be unjust, a compromiser, and turn a blind eye to sin. Since no one is righteous, all are in need of the Savior. God so loved the world that He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die in the place of sinners and bear their sins on their behalf. Christ Himself said, “The Son of man has come to give His life a ransom for many.” He was cut off, but not for Himself. “All we like sheep have gone astray, each one of us has turned to our own way, but the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Jesus died upon a cross and paid for the sins of the world, then He rose from the dead the third day proving that He is the Son of the God and that He has atoned for sin by the sacrifice of Himself! Because the Lord laid upon Him our iniquity, it no longer is counted against those who believe, and they are freed from sin, forgiven and justified in God’s sight. Through Christ’s death, God can look upon sinners and declare them fully righteous in His sight, and therefore all those who believe are saved from eternal death and are given the gift of eternal life. That is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

It must have been quite a sight to see that wealthy and regal black man listening in the chariot to a poor and haggard Jewish man, but that day the royal treasurer of Ethiopia believed the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and was gloriously saved from his sins! Jesus said, “Verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24) “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” (1 John 5:1) The Ethiopian was miraculously born again by the Spirit of God, who opened his heart to receive the Word and gave him the faith to believe!

See now this beautiful picture. They come upon some water along the way. The Ethiopian asks this significant question which we may learn from: “What doth hinder me from being baptized?” An interesting, but helpful way to phrase the question! “The answer, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The only condition: to believe. To believe the record that Jesus is the Christ, the one of whom Isaiah spoke of. The one through whom comes the forgiveness of sins, by His death. He is baptized.

There are only two Christian ordinances in the New Testament: the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. Both are symbolic: the one represents Christ’s body and blood that was given for us for the remission of sins: what happened to Him. The other represents the individual’s new birth and union with Christ: what happened to the individual. Both are given to us by God for explanation, for reference, for remembrance. Both focus on the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins, but neither of them actually contributes to that work. As we take communion, we recognize the sacrifice Christ made for us to pay for our sins, when He gave up His life. When we are baptized, we recognize the individual’s participation by faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, how that in Christ, the sinner is dead to sin by the body of Christ and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Baptism is a confession. It is not a step to exaltation and glory, but of humility. The believer acknowledges that he or she is a sinner who deserves to die, and that Christ died that death for them. But it is also a recognition of hope, that as Christ has died and put away our sins as far as the east is from the west, so has He risen, and we have risen with Him to newness of life before God. We are forever justified, saved and possessors of eternal life. Death has no more dominion!

This is what Bethanie is doing in obedience to the Lord today. She is not doing this to tell everyone how great a person she is, or to earn points with God, or to get her sins forgiven. She is confessing to everyone that she is a sinner, but that her sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus the Christ who died for her at Calvary, just as Isaiah 53 foretold. This is a day of remembrance and celebration for what Jesus, our Victor, has freely done for her. To God alone be all the glory. Amen.

7 Arguments Atheists Can't Use

"The fool has said in his heart, there is no God." - Psalm 14:1

An atheist, as the wordsmith Noah Webster so aptly defined, is one who disbelieves in and denies the existence of a God, and every now and again a person will find himself in the company of one or more of these kinds of people. Of atheism, here is the outrageous thing: there is not one viable argument which can be given by the atheist to support the disbelief in or denial of the existence of a God. Their position is entirely assumed apart from any reasonable basis. Of course, the atheist will deny such a charge, though it was C.H. Spurgeon who reminded us, "Skepticism is no very great achievement. Nothing is easier than to doubt. A man of moderate ability or learning can doubt more than the wisest men believe. Faith demands knowledge, for it is an intelligent grace, able and anxious to justify itself; but infidelity is not required to give a reason for the doubt that is in it." (The Clue of the Maze, p. 19) As a Christian, I am writing from the faith in the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible, and I have compiled several of the most common arguments that atheists use to support their atheism in order to show how none of them are viable arguments against the existence of God.


1. Evolution

Probably the most common argument used by atheists in recent years to disprove the existence of God is an appeal to the theory of evolution - somehow they think that if evolution is true it follows that God does not exist, but such an argument is completely worthless. Though I myself ardently reject the theory of evolution, there are numerous Christians and non-Christians who see theistic evolution as an entirely tenable explanation of creation. That is the belief that God designed and had a part to play in the evolutionary process. In fact, I would argue that one would have to believe in theistic evolution if one was to believe in evolution at all. Were the theory of evolution true, the thought that the present state of things should have come about by chance is so utterly impossible and beyond all sensible hope that it is nothing short of miraculous. If evolution were true, either God had an active part to play in it or we must throw rationality to the wind. The fact that there are many theistic evolutionists in this world today (who are the only reasonable evolutionists) reveals that the atheistic argument that evolution disproves God is ridiculous, null and void.


2. The "Problem" of Evil

It is argued that because evil exists, God doesn't exist. However, the exact opposite is true: Because evil exists, it proves that God exists. Were it true that there was no God, and that everything in the universe had an impersonal, naturalistic beginning, then evil wouldn't exist at all. Evil is a moral word, and morality has no place in an impersonal, naturalistic universe. Whatever is, is, and whatever is, is not deviant but totally natural. In such a universe murder isn't wrong, it just hurts. Kidnapping children to use them as sex slaves isn't wicked; it's not even twisted. However, to talk like this is nonsense because every human being inherently knows evil exists, and every human experience proves the opposite. Even the atheist knows evil exists because he argues that the existence of evil disproves the existence of God! The existence of evil proves conclusively that we live in a personal universe that was created by a moral God. The "problem" of evil is really the atheist's problem, not the theist's.

That both evil and God exist is also not a problem for the Christian, for the Bible explains why God allows evil to exist, and how God has not turned a blind eye to evil but has condemned it conclusively and will judge it eternally. Therefore this poses no problem. But even if someone chose to reject the Biblical testimony concerning the existence of both evil and God, they still have no grounds to deny the existence of a God simply because evil exists. There is another valid option (though not a convincing one), and that is that an evil God exists. Whatever someone might choose, there is no grounds for atheism by an appeal to evil.


3. Hume's Argument Against Miracles

Another common argument atheists use against the existence of God, and against all things supernatural, is taken from David Hume's argumentation against miracles, or against anything out of the "ordinary". Hume argued, basically, that miracles were "a violation of natural law" and anything that might be purported as a violation of natural law (or anything out of the ordinary) needed such an incredible amount of evidence in order to be believed that he essentially ruled out all possibility of believing anything "supernatural".

But here a few preliminary questions are in order: What is "ordinary"? If indeed God exists, would not God be a part of the ordinary? As even an atheist once told me, "If God exists then anything He does in our world is technically not supernatural but perfectly natural, though we may personally not be accustomed to it." Also, who said a miracle was a "violation" of natural law? Today it has been generally agreed in the philosophical debate that Hume was wrong in his definition of miracle, which seriously undermines his entire argument (see Hume's Abject Failure by John Earman, PhD, Princeton). A miracle is not a violation of natural law but is wholly consistent with natural law, once one takes into consideration God. Therefore, in a theistic worldview, there is nothing so unusual about a miracle that would set it apart in a category making it hopeless to prove. The simple testimony of a miracle is just as valid as the simple testimony of anything else.

Suppose a miracle from God really did happen, and suppose it was in fact witnessed by several people (the number is irrelevant). In Hume's thinking, no one would ever be able to believe the witnesses even though the event actually happened, and thus the world is robbed of exceedingly priceless knowledge. Any epistemology that does not allow for the simple testimony of true events should be re-evaluated as obstructive and insufficient.

Finally, regardless of how untenable Hume's argument is, it contributes nothing to the disbelief in a God, for it concerns miracles, and Deism is still an option. Therefore it should not be used by atheists to support atheism. Meanwhile, the perpetual tide of miraculous testimony still genuinely attests to the existence of the personal God.


4. God is a Crutch

It is frequently stated by atheists that people only believe in God because God serves them as a crutch; something to help or comfort them because of their weakness or need. Of course, there are several obvious reasons why this argument is totally invalid.

First of all, regardless whether or not God helps and comforts people, the existence of God does not depend upon someone liking or not liking God to be there. We could point out the absurdity of the reverse, that since atheists believe that God does not exist, and draw a certain amount of comfort from that, it follows that God must exist. This reasoning is just as ridiculous when applied to the theist. That the existence of God is indeed a comforting reality for believers serves nothing to disprove God, and what shall we say about people who believe in God and yet draw no comfort from it?

The thing is, in order for people to draw comfort from God, they must first believe that there is a God to draw comfort from - there must be some reason why they feel they can call out to a God who will help them. They have faith, and their faith must have a basis, or else there would be no faith. Speaking for Christians, we do not believe in God, as the atheist suggests, because God is a crutch for us. That is no basis. We believe in God because of the uniform testimony of creation, Scripture and human experience. It is because we believe in God (and the Judeo-Christian God at that) that we are able to draw comfort from Him, and not the other way around. Therefore the atheist who argues in this fashion misses the whole point and puts the cart before the horse.

The truth is, believing in God brings with it a certain amount of discomfort. If we believe Biblical revelation, for example, we must believe that God is a consuming fire - a holy and just judge who will punish the ungodly with everlasting destruction. That includes our lost friends, family members and even ourselves before salvation. We must acknowledge that our sinful passions are unacceptable, though we enjoy them so much. We must also face the ridicule and oftentimes persecution that comes with believing the message of Christ crucified. In all reality, to become a Christian is not to take up a crutch but to take up a cross. "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." (Matt. 16:24-25) I should think, rather, that it is the atheist who finds a crutch in disbelieving the existence of God when all the evidence is finally weighed.


5. Religious Crimes

Another argument put forth, usually in a last ditch effort by the atheist to make his tottering position seem tolerable, is that because so many crimes have been committed in the name of God it must therefore follow that God does not exist, and that religion is false. But when we speak of crime, we are speaking of immorality, and immorality only exists as far as God exists, and immorality is immoral only because it is a transgression of the law of God. There actually can be no "religious crimes" without the existence of God.

Furthermore, it is not religion, true religion, nor God, that commit these crimes, but so-called "religious" people who themselves violate the very idea of religion by their crimes. We must also consider the immeasurable good that faith in God has caused in the world, as well as the immense evil this world has seen on account of denying God. It is always some form of godlessness that is the source of all sin, whether it be categorized as "religious" or atheistic.


6. If God Had No Beginning, Why Not the Universe?

Sometimes it is argued that if theists can say God has always existed, then atheists can equally say the universe has always existed. Whatever one believes, something has had to have always existed, because everything that currently is could not have come from nothing. The thought alone is staggering to both theist and atheist alike. Christians affirm the Scriptural revelation that God has always existed as God, and that at one definite point God created the universe from nothing. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) This verse refers to the beginning of the universe, not the beginning of God. It is the beginning of our history, and it is remarkable that such an ancient sentence holds such profound meaning today. But is it true that if Christians can say God has always existed, so atheists can say the universe has always existed?

The answer is no. As much as atheists would like to believe it, the demise of this argument is that the more we learn about the universe, the more we learn that the universe in fact had a beginning. Scientific research has advanced leaps and bounds in the area of physics, astronomy and cosmology in the last 100 years, and as it has, the truth of Genesis 1:1 has proven itself to be accurate: that is, that there was in fact a beginning to the universe. Christians believed that the universe had a beginning for thousands of years despite the fact that the dominate belief in the ancient and pre-modern world was that the universe was a constant. Today, however, modern science has completely turned the tables. "[Today], the dominant idea of cosmology is that the universe had a beginning." (Dr. Adam Frank, University of Rochester) "The scientific evidence is now overwhelming that the universe began with a "Big Bang"... the Big Bang theory is the most widely accepted theory of the creation of the universe." (Dr. van der Pluijm, University of Michigan) "All the evidence seems to indicate, that the universe has not existed forever, but that it had a beginning... This is probably the most remarkable discovery of modern cosmology." (Stephen Hawking, University of Cambridge)

Therefore, because modern science is revealing the fact that the universe did in fact have a beginning, this argument cannot be used. It is up to the atheist to first prove that the universe did not have a beginning - a belief contrary to the scientific evidence. Nothing comes from nothing, so if the universe had a beginning, as the ancient Scripture declares, it is one of the greatest proofs for the existence of God. Besides, even if the universe had always existed, how does that prove atheism anyway?


7. The Belief in God is Unfalsifiable

Lastly, it is often objected by atheists that the belief in God is a belief that is unfalsifiable, that is, that you cannot disprove it even if it were false, and therefore anyone who believes in God exercises a purely unscientific faith which should not be recognized. They compare believing in God to believing in leprechauns or unicorns, or, to the unfalsifiable claim, "Everything just grew double in size... Prove me wrong!" So they compare this with the theistic assertion, "God exists... Prove me wrong!" But is this really the case with theism? Is this a valid objection leveled against the belief in God?

This argument would be valid if it were accurately and faithfully representing the theist's position, which it is not. Accusing theists of making unfalsifiable claims is just one of the many thoughtless strawmen that atheists have invented to dismiss the belief in God. Despite what some may say, people all over the world believe in God because they have reason for doing so, and it is because they have a reason for doing so that the belief may be disproved and falsified. Since any belief stands upon some argument, destroy the argument and you destroy the belief. Any belief that does not stand upon an argument should indeed be rejected as unintelligent, but such is not the case with theism.

If a man says, "Unicorns exist", one need only ask him the reason for him saying so. If he gives some empirical evidence, like, "I saw one in the zoo", one simply needs to go to the zoo and ask if they have ever had a unicorn there. If he rather says, "Because the great spirit of the unicorn spoke to me", one can investigate whether he is lying, or whether he is mad. But if it is found that he is neither lying, nor mad, and whatever other facts necessarily precede or follow this premise add up, it would be reasonable to believe him. The point is, his assertion may be falsified. Likewise, the belief that God exists does not stand alone without any reasonable basis - ask a Christian sometime why he or she believes in God. If an atheist wishes to falsify the claim, he ought to go about answering the evidence rather than use such an argument as the strawman in question.


Conclusion: I Don't Want There to Be a God

I have learned that the source of all atheism springs from the heart, and not the brain. Atheism is not an intellectual position, but a dogmatic faith cloaked in intellectual jargon - else why do atheists argue so feverishly? Why do the emotions rise so? It is because they do not want there to be a God. It is because of what believing in God would mean, and that is something they are not willing to face. "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works..." (Psalm 14:1) History tells the story of thousands of atheists who have bowed their knees in repentant faith before the Lord God of heaven and earth. Was it because they suddenly gave up their intellect? Most certainly not! Was it not rather because they submitted their wills to the sovereign will of the true and living God? As long as the heart rages against God no amount of reasoning will stop the infinite flow of irrational arguments proceeding from a fool, but all arguments will cease once the heart is still.

To my dear atheist friends: not wanting God to be there does not change the fact that He is there, and as long as you continue to fight against God you are only hurting yourself and others.

The Wrath of God

This message was preached on August 30th, 2009, at Valley Church in Smithfield, Utah. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." (Romans 1:18) Foundational to the gospel as well as to the whole Bible, the reality of the wrath of God has almost become a thing of embarrassment for many Christians, but if we do not know God as the God revealed in Scripture - a God of wrath - then we really do not know God at all. God's wrath is as much a divine perfection as His love, and therefore it is something marvelous for us to rejoice in. Listen below:

Eli Brayley - The Wrath of God

Rejoice in the Lord!

This message was preached at Cache Valley Bible Fellowship in North Logan, Utah, on June 28, 2009. "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord!" (Philippians 3:1) As Christians we are commanded to rejoice in the Lord, and it is not only right and fitting to worship God for the marvelous things He has wrought for us in Christ, but it is also "safe." Because false teachers abound who would seduce us away from the truth of the gospel, our greatest safety is in offering unceasing thankfulness and praise to the One True God who has saved us by His grace to serve Him without fear! Listen below:

Eli Brayley - Rejoice in the Lord!

The God of All Grace

Eli, I've been really struggling to come to grips with my own salvation and what it means to be saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves. Scripture on one hand talks as if we're saved entirely by God and we can be entirely passive while God amazingly saves our souls. On the other hand though, it talks as if it's dependent on us and our salvation is gained by us. I just can't come to grips with this.

Brother,

I have shared your struggle, and there are answers, though let us remember that God has hidden his wisdom in a mystery that can only be revealed to men by the Spirit, so if we find ourselves wrestling with questions and difficulties it should not surprise us - it should drive us to our knees for grace to help us in our time of need. We are needy people who are entirely dependent on the Spirit. Nothing is by our might, but by God's Spirit alone. Those who know this groan, and those who don't deceive themselves with vain confidence.

Ephesians 2:8 is simple, as it was meant to be. "For by grace are ye saved through faith." Grace is how we are saved. Faith is the instrument by which grace save us. Swallowing is what brings bread down to my stomach, but swallowing does not fill me. Bread is what fills my stomach and gives nutrients to my body, though without swallowing I would never benefit from the bread. Likewise, faith does not save us, though grace comes to us through faith. If all we had was faith we would still be totally condemned, for as long as the law stands against us faith avails nothing, because all that would count is whether we kept the law (see Romans 4:14-16). Therefore, there must something that faith brings to save us. As Romans 5:1-2 shows us, faith brings us into the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that by faith we believe unto righteousness - the perfect righteousness of Jesus that is not ours, yet is accounted as ours. I think you know this already. This is the grace that the apostle is talking about in Ephesians 2:8 which saves us. Any man who is saved by grace must first believe in order to access that grace. That is what the preachers of the gospel do: they present the grace of Christ - the gift of righteousness - to people (the bread of heaven), and then they command them to believe (swallow). God commands/invites/beseeches everyone to believe, and the Bible refers to faith as "the obedience of faith" (Romans 1:5, 16:26), because by believing they obey God. "Obeying the gospel" (2 Thess. 1:8; 2 Pet. 4:17) is believing the good news of peace in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:13). This obedience of faith is repentance. A person turns away from whatever other thing he was believing and submits to the righteousness of God in Christ for salvation (Romans 10:3). Repentance is believing God: turning to God by faith in Christ, acknowledging that you are a sinner who cannot save yourself and submitting to/receiving the gift of imputed righteousness through Christ. You never find Paul in the book of Romans talk about repentance as if it were a turning away from a sinful lifestyle (not because we don't want to but because we cannot for justification!). Such a concept is not once mentioned! He affirms again and again that ungodly men are at once justified by faith in Christ: "But to him who works not, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted [Gr: unto] righteousness." (Romans 4:5) Faith is simple, easy, effortless - it is not a work; it is a rest from work and is simply trusting in the promise of Another (Hebrews 6:17-18). Faith is what receives the promise of grace, and grace does all the saving. But if it's so easy, why don't more people believe?

Ephesians 2:8 does not end there, however, for Paul reveals to us something further about faith: "...and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." The only "that" that Paul could be talking about here is faith. He wouldn't even need to attach this additional clause were the issues of regeneration and election not even real - the verse would have been perfectly complete and coherent: "For by grace are you saved through faith: not of works lest any man should boast." Nor is Paul, by this second clause, simply restating the first part of the verse, for the "and" let's us know that he is not restating but adding to what he has said. But why add this extra phrase then, Paul? What are you getting at? Why did you need to say that: isn't it within the ability of every man to believe? Paul is not bringing in any shockingly new concept, for already in the letter he has spoken of election and regeneration in the prior chapter and half. But here he must bring it up again. A point of clarification is necessary.

The problem of belief/unbelief has nothing to do with ability or inability but with the heart. Every man has Christ offered to him, and God does not mock men with the gospel. He does not offer them life only to taunt them since they actually have no ability to receive it. May such a thought be removed far from us! God offers to all men the gift of righteousness freely and every man has the ability to choose whether they will receive it or reject it, thus making all men accountable for their choice. Men do not burn in hell because God rejected them but because they rejected God, and hell is a place where their guilt will be keenly known. No one will accuse God of not being merciful, for "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) They did not believe, and therefore they are lost. But the reality is, as is revealed to us in the Scriptures and by the Holy Spirit, is that not one (and there are no exceptions) will obey God and believe as He commands them to. Though all most certainly can, none will, thus adding guilt upon guilt. The issue is not ability, but unwillingness: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matthew 23:27) "All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." (Romans 10:21; see also Isaiah 28:12, 30:15, Jer. 29:19) It is in this recognition of the basic depravity of man (not that man cannot do any good, but that man will not do that good which is required of him) that we learn that the only hope for man is in the electing mercy of God, who "quickens whom He will" (John 5:21) and "has mercy on whom He will have mercy" (Romans 9:15). The promise of the new covenant is unlike the old covenant, which depended on us writing the laws on our hearts (Deut. 6:6-9). In the new covenant God alone is the one who takes away our old hearts of stone and gives us new ones; He puts His fear into our hearts and He does all the writing, all the saving and all the keeping. (Read Hebrews 8:6-12 carefully and ask yourself: "With whom was fault found in the old covenant? Who does what in the new covenant?") God will do that which we would not do ourselves. He circumcises our hearts so that we respond to His voice and believe on Christ. He takes away our unwillingness so that we willingly take refuge under His wing. Everyone who comes to Christ must first be drawn by the Father (John 6:65). Whoever hears God's word and believes must first be born of God (regenerated/quickened) by the Spirit (John 8:47; 1 John 4:5-6, 5:1). By this all the glory and work of salvation is actually God's, even though from a "street level" it may not seem that way. It appears as if the man was simply willing to believe... and in truth he was! But it was because of God. And so we give God the glory whenever we are willing and obedient (Philippians 2:13; 1 Cor. 4:7; Acts 13:48, 16:14), and whenever we are not willing or obedient it is we who are to blame. The mercy of God is what makes the difference, and God is not under obligation to prevent us from sinning, but He shall be praised when He does. Glory to God who has mercy on hardened rebellious sinners who otherwise would kick against the goads all the way to hell!

This almost always causes offense or fear, for we feel much safer when we are in control. It is more acceptable and comfortable to be an Arminian, but if we only knew the depths of rebellion that is in our own hearts, we would fear if the lot was in our hands! A dear sister cried, "Oh, if it is up to me I know I will not be saved!" We also fear that God will not choose us because we are still so gripped by self-righteousness: "God won't choose me because I'm too bad of a sinner. He elects those who are better than I." What a lie! God delights in saving sinners, and you are a sinner, and He has already invited you! Pour out your complaint before Him, for He is merciful and will never be accused of being unmerciful. Call out to God for salvation from yourself. Cry to Him: "God, circumcise my heart and take away my unwillingness! I need you to believe you!" That God is able to save unwilling sinners is the greatest of all wonders the Arminian knows nothing about. What a comfort to know that Jesus Christ died on the cross also for unbelief and unwillingness, for they too are sins - perhaps the very worst. And He died for our sins. There is hope for real sinners.

So grace is multifaceted: we are saved by grace, the grace of the imputed righteousness of Christ unto all who believe (Ephesians 2:8a). But we are also saved by grace, in that God's grace comes to us even before we believe, it meets us at our deadness, and gives the gift of faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by (grace ye are saved;)" (Ephesians 2:5). Have you ever noticed that... that twice in this chapter it mentions we are saved by grace? But one refers to the gift of righteousness, and the other to the gift of regeneration. Both are by the grace of God, who is "the God of all grace" (1 Peter 5:10). Where would any of us be were it not for the relentless, pursuing, lavishing grace of God?

I love you brother. Hang in there, and put all your hope fully in the grace of our mighty God.

Yours sincerely,
-Eli