Chicken or the Egg?
By William H. Heinrich
What came first, the chicken or the egg? It is obvious that the chicken did, in fact two chickens came before an egg. Were this not so, who would have fertilized the egg and who would Adam have named on the sixth day of creation?Matthew 13:1-9;18-23 What came first in salvation, regeneration or faith? This too is obvious for their must be good soil (heart) for the seed (Word of God) to fall upon in order for it to root and bring fruit, according to the parable of the sower.
It is also obvious from John 3. Verses 3-5 there state no one can see or enter the kingdom of God until he is first born again, or born from above. Verses 7 and 8 further explain that being born again is like the wind. The wind is not controlled by man, but by God. It does not blow when we decide it to blow or will it to blow. Regeneration does not come then by man's decision or free will, but by God's sovereign will and decision. When the seed of the word is planted in a regenerated heart, repentance and faith spring forth with its fruit, some 30 and some 100 fold.
Naturally Corrupt. "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit," the Lord Jesus says (Matt 7:18).
Yet, all men are corrupt in nature. Until and unless they are born again, therefore, they cannot produce the good fruit of faith, as faith is a component of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23).Moreover, God makes it clear in I Corinthians 2:14 that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Without a new birth from above, man, being a natural man, is unable to receive spiritual things. One must have the Spirit to receive or produce the things of the Spirit, such as faith.
In fact, the natural mind, or the mind of flesh, cannot understand God and His law (Rom. 8:7). It loves darkness rather than light (John 3:19) and will not come to the light that brings life. This is called total depravity. Meaning: man with his natural mind is totally incapable of responding to the gospel.
Denying the truth. Most evangelicals today deny total depravity by teaching that the effects of the fall left man sickly but not dead. They teach that all men have a free will and can exercise it if they want to, whenever they want to. They reason that for God to offer the Gospel to "whosoever will" requires that all humans have a free will. So, they teach that salvation has been provided for all but applied only to those who make a decision for Christ of their own volition.
The problem is, although it may seem that we have free will, man will respond only to his sinful nature, a nature that is corrupt in its entirety and "cannot please God" (Rom. 8:8).
These teachers thus deny not only the truth of total depravity, but the doctrine of unconditional election of God as well. Yet, the Bible declares the latter in, among other places: Ephesians 1:4; Mark 13:20; Acts 9:15; John 13:18; 15:16; II Thessalonians 2:13; and Acts 13:48. These teachers change foreknowledge to omniscience, and predestination to a few people or events in history.
Human standards. Perhaps all the changes and new definitions of doctrines made over the last two hundred years can be traced back to the chicken-or-the-egg silliness. Free will seems logical to man and fair by man's standards. Since we want our God to be fair, we see through this maze rather than simply believe in God's Word.
Moses and Aaron did this when they smote the rock after they were told to speak to it. God rebuked them, saying: "You did not believe me, to hallow me in the eyes of the children of Israel". When they came to Mount Hor, God told Moses, Aaron was to be gathered to his people and not enter Canaan "because he rebelled against His word at the waters of Meribah".
It is very serious to not believe "all" God has said to us in His word. Faith is God's gift and the fruit of regeneration. Ephesians 2:8,9 declares: " For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Summary. To close, let me reiterate three doctrines with supporting verses: (1) Christ is to be freely preached to all (Matt. 28:19a; Acts 8:4; John 3:16, 4:14; Rom. 10:13; Rev. 22:17. (2) Forgiveness is promised to all who repent and believe (Acts 13:38,39; 16:30,31; Luke 24:46,47). (3) Those who repent and believe are those whom God has chosen, predestined, foreknown, drawn, and regenerated (Eph. 1:4; John 6:37,44,65, 10:26; Matt. 11:25-30; Rom. 8:30). o
Rev. William H. Heinrich is pastor of First Baptist Church, 2351 North Street, Ceres, CA 95307.