THE SUBJECTIVE LIFE--Part 2

Having seen A Depraved Religionist in John 3;1-8, we move on, to see;

II. A PASSIVE SINNER
JOHN 3;3-[TURN].

In the study of The Total Spiritual Inability of The Unregenerate, One cannot ignore The
Passivity of those, not born of God.
The passive voice of the Greek word for ''born ''Gennao'' represents the subject, as receiving the action, or being acted upon.

Also, we notice that Christ, gave no instruction to Nicodemus, about HOW he could be born of God.
In fact, Christ, in His Personal Ministry, NEVER TOLD ANYONE, HOW TO BE BORN AGAIN.
And He never commanded anyone to be born again, be Regenerated, or, to be Quickened.

We must distinguish between The New Birth and Faith.
Now, Get this Truth-FAITH COMES FROM THE NEW BIRTH--IT DOES NOT CAUSE THE
NEW BIRTH.''
Regeneration is the exclusive work of The Sovereign God upon The Passive Sinner.
Now to deny that a sinner is completely passive to spiritual things, is to deny Depravity.

The Bible says Death comes to all men, for all have sinned--
ROMANS 5;17-19--''For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upom all men to condemnation;even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Fallen Man is corrupt in all his ways; therefore, his whole nature moves in opposition to God.''
Corruption is evident in all of man's life, and comes from the depths of his depraved heart.

Life outside of Christ, is in sin, guilt, lusts of the flesh, disobedience, hardness, un-repentance, and under The Wrath of God.

Apart from The Grace of Regeneration [born of God, born from above, new birth, made alive, new creature], The Sinner continues in a life of sin, in which he treasures up wrath against The Day of Wrath and God's Righteous Judging.

Now, Get This Truth; Man, as a passive sinner, IS NOT A PARTNER WITH GOD IN REGENERATION.
HE DOES NOT PLAY THE DECISIVE ROLE IN THE NEW BIRTH.

QUESTION; Who opens Whose Heart for The Truth/
Answer -ACTS 16;14-[TURN].
Now, It was The Holy Spirit, and not Paul's Preaching, that enabled Lydia, to receive the message, which affected her understanding, emotion, and will, so that, she could pay close attention.
Thus, When One is born again, he goes from being passive to being active in and for Spiritual
Things.

Now, Get This Truth-THOSE, WHO BELIEVE IN FREE GRACE, DO NOT DENY THAT,
THE SINNER HAS A WILL;
But his will is insensitive to spiritual things-thus, it goes only in one direction-down away from God-
JOHN 3;19-20-''And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds be reproved.''

Every living sinner wants to be saved, from going to Hell, but, apart from grace, he does not want to be saved from his sins, in which he lives, and has pleasure in.
His desire is to be free from physical torture, not to be free from his sins.

ISAIAH 1;16-20-[TURN].
Now, Get This Truth; GOD DOES NOT REASON WITH THE UNREASONABLE.
These verses apply to the remnant, God had, among The Wicked.

There is no mercy, at The Bar of Justice, but there is, at The Throne of Grace.
God was telling The Remnant, to break off their sins by repentance, and then, to follow instruction.

Man's Reason apart from grace is unreasonable regarding spiritual things.
The Mind of The Un Regenerated is;
Natural [1 COR. 2;14], FLESHLY [GAL. 2;18], VAIN [EPH. 4;17-18], DEFILED [TITUS 1;15].

Since The Fall, The Sinner discerns evil- but, The Saved, has his senses exercised to discern good and evil--
Hebrews 5;14-''But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.''

Hypocrites boldly enter into dispute with God, but Reason marks Christians as distinct from
Hypocrites.
Christians understand that the proper function of Reason in relation to faith, is to receive God's
Truth, because God provides for believers, spiritual weapons--
2 COR. 10;4-5--''[For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and brining into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.''

Next, We see that, The Arminians argue that, The Sinner must exercise His free will to come to Christ, before he can have any rest-this, too, denies depravity-
Matthew 11;28-''Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.''
QUESTION; WHO FIRST COMES TO WHOM/

After He fell, Adam did not come first, to The Lord God;
but The Lord God came to The Garden, Where Adam was hiding, and called him [Genesis 3;8-10].

The Woman of Samaria didn't 1st come to Christ, He came to her.

Zacchaeus didn't first come to Christ, Christ came to him [Luke 19;1-10].

JOHN 6;44-''No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day''.

One must learn What Coming to Christ is not, before ascertaining what it is, in the light of Biblical
Evidence;
1. Coming to Christ is not a physical act, such as, coming forward, raising the hand, going into The
Inquiry Room, being Baptized, etc.
People will come, as long as they think, they can do something.

2. Coming to Christ is not an act of the mind, as repeating the sinner's prayer, or deciding for
Christ. If this was all that was needed, there would be no need for The Spirit's Regenerating
Work.

3. Coming to Christ is not a mystical experience-as seeing a vision, and hearing a voice. . .

What do these three things have to do with those, who say, when asked, if are saved,
''I made a decision to try Jesus, or ''I saw Jesus in a vision, '' or ''I heard a voice.''/


Now, get this truth; ONE'S COMING TO CHRIST IS A MANIFESTATION OF REGENERATION. IT IS NOT, IN ORDER, TO BE BORN OF GOD.


Hence, Coming to Christ, is not a means, of being born of God, but it evidences that, The One
coming, has been born of God..
Isaiah 55;1-''Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat;m yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.''

The 3 outstanding things in this verse are; water, wine, and milk.
[1] Those Who are dissatisfied with Religious Formalism, thirst for the Spirit, Who cleanses like water. Now such dissatisfaction and thirst are the effects of Regeneration.

[2] Wine is a symbol of Divine Joy--
Psalm 104;15--'' And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.''

At the wedding feast in Cana, the good wine was kept until the last [JOHN 2;10].
Christ's turning the water into wine refutes Transubstantiation taught by The Roman Catholic
Church.
Question; If wine after consecration by the priest, looks and tastes as it did before consecration,
How can it be the blood of Christ/

The best wine kept for the last, at The Wedding, represents The Glory of Regeneration,
showing that, The Last State is better than The First.

[3] Milk is the food for spiritual growth-I Peter 2;2--]TURN AND COMMENT].

Coming to Christ involves a recognition of need, a revelation of Christ, a resignation of Oneself.
The recognition of need does not take place, in the unsanctified reason of the unregenerate mind.

The One, Who enjoys life, not centered in the Lord Jesus Christ, has never been made to feel
The Weariness of his state of burdens. . . And he won't feel that weariness, as a result of sins. until he is made spiritually alive by The Sovereign Spirit. . .