The Spirituality of Taste

J.C. Ryle:

The man whose soul is “growing” takes more interest in spiritual things every year. He does not neglect his duty in the world. He discharges faithfully, diligently, and conscientiously every relation of life, whether at home or abroad. But the things he loves best are spiritual things. The ways, and fashions, and amusements, and recreations of the world have a continually decreasing place in his heart. He does not condemn them as downright sinful, nor say that those who have anything to do with them are going to hell. He only feels that they have a constantly diminishing hold on his own affections, and gradually seem smaller and more trifling in his eyes. Spiritual companions, spiritual occupations, spiritual conversation, appear of ever-increasing value to him. Would anyone know if he is growing in grace? Then let him look within for increasing spirituality of taste. (Holiness, 107)

So I ask myself: Do I love Jesus a little more this year and football a little bit less? Do I love the word more and the world less? Do I long for spiritual things more and entertainment, politics, and hobbies less? Are the things that truly taste best tasting better to me? I can take pleasure in God’s temporal gifts, but I hope and pray Christ occupies more of my heart, more of my thoughts, and more of my conversation.

The Transforming Power of the Gospel -- Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Elyse Fitzpatrick

Let’s face it, no one reads a post like this unless he (or she!) is deeply interested in and committed to growing in their own personal piety and helping others do the same. Because we love the Lord, we all want to grow into men and women who reflect His life more perfectly. For us, the question isn’t: “Should we seek to grow in holiness?” but rather, “How do we grow in holiness?” Further, most of us would answer the “How?”  question in this way, “We grow in holiness through the gospel.” And while that’s the right answer, the possibility exists that it’s not specific enough to be of real help. And so, we talk about the gospel, we want to point others to the gospel, but perhaps we’re not seeing how the specifics of the gospel connect to our daily struggles with unbelief and idolatry…our sin. So let’s take a moment to consider exactly how the individual truths of the gospel change us.

When we talk about the gospel, we’re not talking only about what Jesus did on Calvary – although, of course, it would be impossible to over-exaggerate the importance of his substitutionary death. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul writes that the gospel message is not only the cross, it is the incarnation, the sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, ascension, reign and return of Jesus Christ. It is the story of the incarnation (God without flesh cannot die, v. 3), his sinless life (the death of another sinner cannot atone “for our sins” v. 3), his substitutionary death and burial in our place, his bodily resurrection procuring our justification and freedom from bondage to sin (v. 1-2, 4), his ascension and reign (revealing Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus, v. 8) and His victorious return for his bride (v. 24-25). Incarnation, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, ascension, reign and return: the gospel.

It is this entire gospel message that Paul says is “of first importance.” The gospel is more than just the cross. When we fail to appreciate all the other facets of the good news about His work, we’ll be tempted to use Jesus’ suffering on the cross to motivate obedience. In other words, we’ll be tempted to feel sorry for the victim Jesus and try to guilt ourselves (and others) into submission, rather than seeing the victor, Jesus, who acted purposefully throughout His existence and acts powerfully upon us to transform us.

Briefly, here’s how the whole gospel message might impact me when I’m struggling with my own unbelief, idolatry and sin: Let’s say that I’ve got company coming over for dinner and I realize that I’m running low on table salt. I calculate the time I need to get to the store, get the salt and get home so that I can be a gracious, organized hostess (idols everywhere here). I jump in my car, race up to the store, grab the salt and run to the Quick Check Out line only to find myself stuck behind another woman who obviously didn’t read the “10 Items or Less” sign. Instantly I’m angry and then, because I know that my anger is sinful, I feel guilty and then, because I remember all the times I’ve failed like this, I despair. Now, what are my options?

• Option #1: If I’m a Happy Moralist, I’ll assure myself that my anger is “righteous” because the person in front of me is not obeying the rules like I am. I’ll remain angry but feel better about it.
  
  
• Option #2: If I’m a Sad Moralist, I’ll recognize that my anger isn’t righteous because I’m not loving my neighbor and I’m angry because of my idolatry. I’ll feel both guilty and angry but now I’ll despair because it seems as though I’ll never change.
  
  
• Option #3: If I’ve been thinking about the cross without considering the rest of the gospel, I’ll despair even more because I’ll know that Jesus suffered for this sin and I’ll be sad, guilty and despairing thinking about how much pain He endured on my account. In this case the gospel doesn’t elevate my soul, it crushes me.
  
  
• Option #4: If I’m seeking to live in the light of the whole gospel, my heart will be transformed in these ways: 
  
  
  • Because of the incarnation, Jesus Christ knows exactly what it is to live in a sin-cursed world with people who break the rules…like me. I am a rule-breaker but He’s loved me and he’s experienced every trial I face. He’s with me. He sympathizes with my weakness (Hebrews 4:15).This understanding of His love in the face of my sin drains my anger at my rule-breaking neighbor. I can love her because I’ve been loved and I am just like her.
    
    
  • Because of His sinless life, I now have a perfect record of loving my neighbor. He perfectly loved rule-breakers. This record of perfect love for my rule-breaking neighbor is mine now; knowing this relieves my guilt. Even though I continue to fail to love, His record is mine.
    
    
  • Because of His substitutionary death, I am completely forgiven for my sin…even the sins that I seem to fall into at the slightest provocation. God has no wrath left for me because He poured it all out on His Son. He’s not disappointed or irritated. He welcomes me as a beloved daughter.
    
    
  • Because of His resurrection (and the justification it brings), I know that the power of sin in my life has been broken. Yes, I’ve failed again, but I can have the courage to continue to fight sin because I’m no longer a slave to it. This replaces despair with faith to wage war against my selfishness and pride.
    
    
  • Because of His ascension and reign, I know that this situation isn’t a mere chance happening. He’s orchestrated it so that I will remember Him and be blessed by the gospel again. He’s ruling over my life and interceding for me right now. I’m not a slave to chaos or chance. He’s my Sovereign King and I can rest in His loving plan today and rejoice in Him.
    
    
  • And, because of His promised return, I know that all the doubt, injustice and struggle will one day come to an end. This line in this grocery store and my plans for dinner isn’t all there is. There’s the great good news of the gospel. I can go home now and share with my family and guests how Jesus met me at the grocery store and we can rejoice together in His work on our behalf.
    
    

It is the whole message of the gospel that has the power to transform impatient, guilty, selfish, despairing idolaters into free and joyful worshippers of the Living God. The whole message of the gospel includes His incarnation, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, ascension, reign and return.  Seeing Jesus and His glorious work is the only power strong enough to transforms us from “one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18) or as John Owen wrote, “Here in this life, beholding the glory of the Lord [true believers] are changed into his likeness. Hereafter they will be like Him for they will see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

[Note: John Owen quote from The Glory of Christ (London: Grace Publications Trust, 1987), 8.]

Preaching the Gospel to Yourself

John Piper once said that books don’t change people, sentences do. I pray these sentences would change you the way they have changed me and that the Lord would use these fallible insights to help you preach the gospel to yourself every day.

·         The gospel doesn’t simply ignite the Christian life; it’s the fuel that keeps Christian’s going and growing every day.

·         The gospel reminds us that we become more mature when we focus less on what we need to do for God and more on all God has already done for us.

·         The gospel tells me my identity and security is in Christ–this frees me to give everything I have because in Christ I have everything I need.

·         Christian growth doesn’t happen first by behaving better, but believing better–believing in deeper ways what Christ has already secured for you.

·         The gospel tells us we don’t need to spend our lives earning the approval of others because Jesus has already earned God’s approval for us.

·         When you understand that your significance and identity is anchored in Christ, you don’t have to win—you’re free to lose.

·         Christian growth doesn’t happen by working hard to get something you don’t have. It happens by working hard to live in light of what you do have.

·         The world says that the bigger we become, the freer we will be. But the gospel tells us that the smaller we become, the freer we will be.

·         When you are united to Christ, then all that is Christ’s becomes yours: Access to God and affection from God can never be lost.

·         The gospel explains success in terms of giving, not taking; self-sacrifice, not self-indulgence; going to the back, not getting to the front.

·         The gospel empowers us to live for what’s timeless, not trendy–to follow Jesus even when it means going against what’s fashionable.

·         Because of Christ’s finished work, sinners can have the approval, acceptance, security, freedom, love, righteousness, & rescue they long for.

·         The only antidote there has ever been to sin is the gospel—and since we never leave off sinning, we can never leave the gospel.

·         Because of Christ’s propitiatory work on my behalf I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, praise or popularity.

·         The gospel never starts with what we need to do; it always begins with what God has already done; to get it backwards is to miss the gospel.

·         The vertical indicative (what God’s done for me) always precedes horizontal imperative (how I’m to live in light of what God’s done for me).

·         What we need practically can only be experienced as we come to deeper understanding of what we are positionally—whats already ours in Christ.

·         When you are united to Christ, no amount of good work can earn God’s favor and no amount of bad work can forfeit God’s favor.

·         Jesus came not to angrily strip away our freedom but to affectionately strip away our slavery to lesser things so we might become truly free.

·         The irony of the gospel is that we truly perform better when we focus less on our performance for Jesus & more on Jesus’ performance for us.

·         The gospel tells us that what God has done for us in Christ is infinitely more important than anything we do for him.

·         The world says the more independent you become, the freer you’ll be; the gospel says the more dependent you become, the freer you’ll be.

·         The Gospel frees us from trying to impress people, prove ourselves to people, and make people think we’re something that we’re not.

·         Isn’t it ironic that while God’s treatment of us depends on Christ’s performance, our treatment of others depends on their performance?

·         We need God’s gospel rescue every day and in every way because we are, in the words of John Calvin, “partly unbelievers until we die.”

·         Believing fully the truth that “salvation belongs to the Lord” means that you place ultimate trust in Christ’s efforts, not your own.

·         Daily sin requires a daily distribution of God’s grace.

·         The hard work of sanctification is the hard work of constantly reorienting ourselves back to our justification.

·         Grace can be defined as unconditional acceptance granted to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver.

·         The law tells us what God demands from us; the gospel tells us what God in Christ has done for us because we could not meet his demands.

·         Being justified by God and made acceptable on the basis of Christ’s righteousness not only pardons us for the past but empowers us for the present.

·         Paul never uses the law as a way to motivate obedience; He always uses the gospel.

·         The gospel teaches us that being a slave to Christ is the essence of freedom, while being free to myself is the essence of slavery.

·         When you understand God’s grace, pain leads to freedom because deep suffering leads to deep surrender!

·         When we depend on things smaller than Jesus to provide us with the security and meaning we long for, God will love us enough to take them away.

·         The gospel is the good news that God rescues sinners. And since both non-Christians & Christians are sinners, we both need the gospel.

·         The gospel grants Christians one strength over non-Christians: the strength to admit they’re weak.

·         The gospel frees us to realize that while we matter, we’re not the point.

·         The Gospel alone can turn us into people who give everything we have because we understand that in Christ we already have everything we need.

·         The gospel isn’t just the power of God to save us, it’s the power of God to grow us once we’re saved.

·         When we transfer trust from ourselves to Christ, we experience the abundant freedoms that come from not having to measure up.

·         The gospel makes wise those who know they’re foolish and makes fools out of those who think they’re wise.

·         It never ceases to amaze me that God’s love to those who are in Christ isn’t conditioned on how we behave but on how Christ behaved for us.

·         Sin turns you inward; the gospel turns you outward. Sin enslaves you by making you big.  The gospel frees you by making you small.

·         In the gospel, God comes after us because we need him not because he needs us. Only the gospel can free us to revel in our insignificance.

·         Mt. Sinai says, “You must do.” Mt. Calvary says, “Because you couldn’t, Jesus did.” Don’t run to the wrong mountain for your hiding place.

How Dead are Spiritually Dead People?

At the end of my post, The Scandal of Sin, it stated that because of the sin of Adam and Eve we are all sinners (Rom 5:12-18).  And because we are sinners we are dead even as we live (Ephes. 2:1).  And how are we dead?  We are dead spiritually.  And how dead are we? The answer to that question has to do with what theologians call the doctrine of absolute inability. It is the doctrine that sinners are unwilling and unable to come to God for salvation because they are spiritually dead.

Man is sinful. He does not become a sinner by sinning. He sins because he is a sinner. He is depraved, which means that sin has corrupted all that he is: mind, soul, spirit, emotions, and body. Man is so engulfed in sin, so thoroughly touched by it, that there is nothing in him that merits or enables salvation. He, therefore, is born into a state of condemnation: "...and [we] were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest" (Eph. 2:3). This is not to say that we are as evil as we can be, rather, that all of what we are is affected by sin.

The heart is often referred to in scripture as the deepest part of man and the center of his spiritual nature (Esther 7:5; 1 Cor. 7:37; Rom. 6:17; Deut. 29:4). From the heart man understands (Prov. 8:5), reflects (Luke 2:19), feels joy (Isa. 65:14), and experiences pain (Prov. 25:20). Because of his depravity (sinful condition), man's heart is not only impure but desperately sick: "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). Also, it is out of the heart that we speak "...out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:34), and what is in the heart of the person is what comes out of him: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23). It follows then that man's understanding, reflection, feelings, and experiences are all stained by sin.

The unregenerate person is a slave of sin: "For when you were slaves of sin you were free in regard to righteousness" (Rom. 6:20). That means that doing good is not a concern or need of the unbeliever--and naturally so for a person with a sinful nature. The unregenerate is inherently against God: "by abolishing in His flesh the enmity...thus establishing peace" (Eph. 2:15). Enmity is hatred, bitterness, and malice toward an enemy. That was our relationship to God prior to salvation; there was enmity between us.

So, the Bible reveals the true nature of man. It is evil (Mark 7:21-23), sick (Jer. 17:9), a slave of sin (Rom. 6:20), at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15), and, of course, naturally belongs in hell (Eph. 2:3). It then follows that out of his utterly sinful condition, only sinful desires and effects will follow. The question must then be asked, "How can a sinful person ever desire God?"

Because of man's sinfulness, he is unable to understand God, seek God, or do anything good: "...both Jews and Greeks are all under sin as it is written, 'There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one'" (Rom. 3:9-12).

Because of his sinfulness, he loves darkness rather than light; he loves evil rather than good: "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).

Because of his depravity, he is incapable of accepting the things of God or understanding them: "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised" (1 Cor. 2:14). The natural man is the unregenerate man. The natural man cannot understand the things of God. Notice it does not say, "has trouble understanding," or "can if he's sincere," or "will be able to if he chooses God." It says he cannot understand. Salvation is one of those "things of God," and so is the understanding of being lost, of being a sinner, of needing repentance, etc. All of these are out of reach of the natural man. He cannot understand them.

So, in light of these scriptures, how can an unbeliever come to an understanding that he needs salvation if the Bible teaches that he cannot understand his need (1 Cor. 2:14), that his nature is evil (Mark 7:21-23) and that he does not seek God (Rom. 3:11)? It would seem that man's sinful condition does not permit him to desire, understand, or want God. What effect, then, does this condition have upon his free will?

Many believe that man, by his free will, by something that resides in him, is completely able to independently accept or reject God. But this belief is not supported in scripture. As I stated above, man's will by nature is sinful. What then will a sinful free will choose? It will choose sin. His free will, then, would never allow Him to reach out to God.

But we must ask, "What is free will?" Generally it is accepted to mean the freedom to choose according to one's desires. This seems true. But someone is only as free as his nature is free. His will is limited to that which is within his nature. The unregenerate can only choose what his nature allows him to choose. Since he is full of sin, not goodness, his choices can only be sinful.

In other words, a person can choose to do only that which his nature allows him to do. He cannot simply will to suddenly vanish into thin air or fly like Superman because he is incapable of such feats; his nature limits him. So too with the nature of fallen man. He is severely limited by what he can and cannot do.

The sinful man:

• cannot understand spiritual things (1Cor. 2:14).
• is full of evil (Mark 7:21-23).
• does not seek for God (Rom. 3:11).
• is lawless, rebellious, unholy, and profane (1Tim. 1:9).

How then can the good desire to want God come out of the evil heart of the unsaved? It cannot! How is he able, in his sinful free will, to desire God when his inclinations are always to reject Him? He cannot. How can he, with his blind and sinful will that is deadened, hardened, and enslaved by sin (Rom. 6:20) ever choose God? He cannot! It is impossible. That's why Jesus said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).

But some still maintain that God works on a person and slowly teaches and guides him or her into believing. Others say that there is something in a person's free will that enables him to choose God. They maintain that everyone is equally able to accept or reject. But if they are equally free and equally able, then why don't they all equally accept God, or why don't they all equally choose to reject Him? Why are there variations in choice? Are the variations a result of a tendency that God gave them? But God made them that way. Is it because of their environment? But God put them there. Is it because of some physical inclination? But God gave them their bodies. Is it because of their parents' influence? But God gave them their parents.

The fact remains, man is not entirely free; he is sinfully free. The unsaved can act freely, but only within the limits of their sinful nature which cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14), does not seek for God (Rom. 3:11), hates God, and is in slavery to sin (Rom. 6:17,20), etc. That is why Jesus said, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him..." (John 6:44), and, "No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father" (John 6:65). These are not the statements one would hope to find if the sinner were so free to choose to accept or reject God.

The foundation has been laid: Man is completely a sinner who is incapable of understanding and coming to God and has a sinful free will capable only of rejecting God. Therefore, in order for salvation to occur, God must predestine. Predestination is the doctrine that God alone chooses (elects) who is saved. He makes His choice independent of any quality or condition in sinful man. It can be no other way. If this is so, then there should be verses supporting it. There are:

Acts 13:48: And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; AND AS MANY AS HAD BEEN APPOINTED TO ETERNAL LIFE BELIEVED.

John 1:12-13: But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, WHO WERE BORN NOT OF BLOOD, NOR OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH, NOR OF THE WILL OF MAN, BUT OF GOD.

Philippians 1:29: FOR TO YOU IT HAS BEEN GRANTED FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE IN HIM, but also to suffer for his sake.

Romans 8:29-30: FOR WHOM HE FOREKNEW, HE ALSO PREDESTINED to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Ephesians 1:5: HE PREDESTINED US to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.

Ephesians 1:11 Also WE HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE, HAVING BEEN PREDESTINED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE who works all things after the counsel of His will.

The preceding scriptures clearly show that the Lord is very active in salvation. He did not simply provide the means of salvation, the cross, but He also ensured the application of the blood of Christ through predestination.

Please consider that it is God who:

1.    - draws people to Himself (John 6:44, 65).

2.    - creates a clean heart (Psalm 51:10).

3.    - appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48).

4.    - works faith in the believer (John 6:28-29).

5.    - chooses who is to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4).

6.    - chooses us for salvation (2 Thess. 2:13-14).

7.    - grants the act of believing (Phil. 1:29).

8.    - grants repentance (2 Tim. 2:24-26).

9.    - calls according to His purpose (2 Tim. 1:9).

10. - causes us to be born again (1 Pet. 1:3).

11. - predestines us to salvation (Rom. 8:29-30).

12. - predestines us according to His purpose (Eph. 1:11).

13. - makes us born again not by our will but by His will (John 1:12-13).

It is man who:

1.    - is deceitful and desperately sick (Jer. 17:9).

2.    - is full of evil (Mark 7:21-23).

3.    - loves darkness rather than light (John 3:19).

4.    - is unrighteous, does not understand, does not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12).

5.    - is helpless and ungodly (Rom. 5:6).

6.    - is dead in his trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).

7.    - is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3).

8.    - cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14).

How can it be any other way than God's loving predestination to make our salvation not only possible, but also a reality? Left to man, salvation is impossible: "When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?' Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible'" (Matthew 19:25-26). That is why it must be God who opens the heart: "And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul" (Acts 16:14).

The Nature of Unsaved Men & Woman

Ephesians 2:3b-5 …we were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…

Condition of Unregenerate Man	Key Passage	Scripture References
Unwilling to be Saved	…you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.	John 5:39-40;  See also: Isa 64:6-7;  Rom 3:10-12;  John 8:43-47;  John 3:20-21;  John 10:26
Their Affections and Desires are Corrupt	For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.  These are the things which defile the man…	Mat 15:18-20;  See also: Jer 13:23;  Mar 7:21-23;  Psa 14:1-3;  Rom 1:21;  Gen 6:5;  Gen 8:21;  Pro 20:9;  Pro 21:10;  Mat 15:19;  John 7:7;  Jer 17:9
Their Minds are Corrupt	…the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.	Rom 8:6-8;  See also:  Eph 4:17-19;  2Co 4:2-6;  Tit 1:15;  Pro 14:12;  1Ti 4:2;  1Co 1:18;  1Co 2:14;  Tit 1:15-16;  Mat 13:14-15;  2Ti 3:1-7
Their Mouths, Tongues and Speech are Corrupt	…the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.	Mat 12:33-35;  See also:  Psa 5:5-9;  Psa 10:3-4;  Psa 58:3;  Psa 140:3;  Pro 10:32;  Pro 15:2;  Pro 15:14;  Pro 15:28;  Job 15:16;  Col 3:5-9
Their Feet are Corrupt	…Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways.	Isa 59:7;  See also:  Rom 3:15
Their Eyes are Corrupt	"THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."	Rom 3:18;  See also:  1Jn 2:16;  John 12:39-40
Their Hands are Corrupt	For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness.	Isa 59:3
Their Ears are Corrupt	…they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires…	2Ti 4:3-4
They are Spiritually Dead	…you were dead in your trespasses and sins…we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.	Eph 2:1-9;  See also:  Col 2:13;  Psa 14:1-3;  Isa 53:6;  John 5:42
They are Slaves to Sin and Held Captive	…knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin…	Rom 6:6;  See also:  Rom 5:12;  John 8:34;  Rom 6:16;  Rom 6:20;  2Pe 2:19
So how can a spiritually dead person, who is enslaved to sin be saved?	…No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day…And He was saying, For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father…   …To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ…seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.	John 6:44;  John 6:65;  2Pe 1:1-4;  See also:  John 3:3-8;  John 5:21;  John 8:36;  1Co 12:3;  1Co 1:23-31;  Tit 3:3-5;  John 1:12-13;  Act 3:16;  Act 5:31;  Act 18:27;  Php 1:29-30;  2Ti 2:25-26;  Jas 2:5;  Eph 2:4-9