BELIEVE AND BE SAVED... BUT YOU CAN’T BELIEVE UNTIL YOU’RE SAVED?

Does Total Depravity really mean you’re incapable of believing in Jesus unless God makes you spiritually alive first?
 Can someone who is “dead in sin” respond to the gospel, or must regeneration happen before faith?
 In Episode 63 of Grace Uncensored, Billy McDonald takes a closer look at the “T” in TULIP and asks whether Total Depravity has become Total Inability.

Most Christians agree that humanity is fallen, sin is serious, and nobody can save themselves.

But does “You can’t save yourself” also mean “You can’t respond to the One who came to save you”?

That’s where the Christian Double-Talk begins.

We’re told salvation is a free gift, but sometimes we’re also told that if we can freely receive that gift, we’ve somehow contributed to our salvation.

We’re told no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them. But Jesus also says that when He is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself.

So what does it mean to be drawn?

Does drawing mean forcing?

What does the Bible mean when it says we were “dead” in our sins?

Does regeneration really have to come before faith?

And does receiving God’s gift of salvation somehow mean we earned it?

In this episode, we’re separating our complete inability to save ourselves from the question of whether we can respond when God reaches toward us with His grace.

Because receiving the gift doesn’t mean you earned it.

Trusting Jesus is simply receiving what He’s already done.

SCRIPTURES QUOTED & REFERENCED

Romans 3:23
 All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Humanity’s need for Christ is universal.

Ephesians 2:1
 Paul describes humanity apart from Christ as “dead” in transgressions and sins, raising the question of what spiritual death actually means.

Ephesians 2:8–9
 Salvation is entirely by grace through faith, not by works, leaving no room for human boasting.

John 5:24
 Jesus says the person who hears and believes has eternal life and has crossed over from death to life.

Luke 15:24
 In the story of the prodigal son, the father describes his lost son as having been “dead” and becoming alive again.

John 6:44
 Jesus says no one can come to Him unless the Father draws them.

John 12:32
 Jesus says that when He is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself.

Romans 10:13
 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 3:10–12
 Paul describes humanity’s universal condition under sin, including that no one is righteous and no one seeks God.

Luke 19:10
 Jesus says the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.

Romans 8:1
 There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:17
 Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come.

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And tell me what you think in the comments:

Does being unable to save ourselves mean we’re also unable to respond when God calls us to believe?

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