Therefore, the nature must be changed supernaturally, and that is the work of the Holy Spirit called regeneration.

JER 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.

The Ethiopian is by NATURE black. No matter how much he is commanded to be white he cannot become white. The leopard is by nature spotted. IT cannot become a tiger. So we who are by nature evil cannot become holy. But, just as God can make a black man white or a leopard a tiger if He chose to do so, He can also take what is evil (my heart) and bring it to life.

JOH 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

This is precisely what Jesus meant when He said to Nicodemous (John 3:3) "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." Sadly, for generations of Arminian dominance the American church has missed the meaning of these words. We have been taught that being born again is something WE DO. But it is not. This is an aorist tense, passive voice, imperative mood verb. Aorist means that it is a point action, a one-time event, once and for all, and never to be repeated again. It is passive meaning it is something that happens TO us and not BECAUSE of us. That is, there is an eternal force that MAKES us born again. It is imperative meaning we are commanded to become born again. To be "born again" means that the Holy Spirit (the external force) enters the human heart (the dry bones) and changes its nature so that it CAN respond to the Gospel. This is the miracle of regeneration. God brings a dead body (a deprave human heart) to life.

Tomorrow: Only after one comes to faith in Christ do they truly possess a free will, that is, only then do their "works" become pleasing to God.

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In His Grip,
PB