Election: Reframing the Statement on Unbelief

🧭 Reframing the Statement on Unbelief

The phrase “unbelief is the tragic resistance to divine persuasion” is incomplete unless we clarify who is capable of being persuaded. Scripture teaches that:

The carnal man cannot comprehend spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:7).
Faith is the work of God (John 6:29).
New birth is required to see and enter the kingdom (John 3:3, 3:5).
We believe when we hear the gospel—but also we are sealed by the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13–14).

So —unbelief is not merely resistance; it is the absence of power or ability to submit to the spiritual laws of God, which requires new birth. The carnal man cannot be persuaded spiritually unless God initiates regeneration.

📖 Divine Initiative and Human Response

1. God’s Role: Initiation, Persuasion, Regeneration

John 6:44 — “No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him.”
John 6:65 — “No one can come unless it is granted by the Father.”
John 3:3 — “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom.”
Ephesians 2:1–5 — “You were dead… but God made us alive.”

🪜 Insight: Faith and new birth are simultaneous and entirely dependent on God’s initiative.

2. Human Role: Hearing, Receiving, Believing

Ephesians 1:13 — “Having heard the word of truth… you believed and were sealed.”
Romans 10:17 — “Faith comes by hearing… through the word of Christ.”
John 1:12–13 — “To all who received Him… who believed… were born of God.”

🪜 Insight: We hear and believe—but only because God enables it. Our “part” is not causal—it is responsive.

🔄 Election and Free Will

Election: God’s Sovereign Choice

Romans 9:16 — “It does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy.”
Ephesians 1:4–5 — “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…”

Election is not arbitrary—it is purposeful, gracious, and rooted in God’s foreknowledge and love.

Free Will: Not Violated, But Liberated

The carnal will is not free—it is enslaved to sin (Romans 6:17).
Regeneration liberates the will to respond freely to God.
Divine persuasion does not coerce—it awakens.

🪜 Insight: Election is God’s initiative to awaken and liberate the will—not override it.

🧩 Harmonized Theology

Concept	Scriptural Basis	Insight
Faith is divine persuasion	John 6:29, Hebrews 12:2	Authored by God
New birth enables persuasion	John 3:3, Ephesians 2:5	Regeneration precedes spiritual comprehension
Unbelief is absence of new birth	1 Corinthians 2:14, Romans 8:7	Carnal man cannot respond
Human response is enabled	Ephesians 1:13, John 1:12	We believe because we are born of God
Election initiates regeneration	Romans 9:16, Ephesians 1:4	God chooses, awakens, and draws

🪜 Final Affirmation

Unbelief is not resistance from a neutral position—it is the natural state of spiritual death. Faith is not our contribution—it is God’s gift. New birth and belief occur together, by divine initiative. Our “part” is to receive and speak of what God awakens in us. Election is not the denial of free will—it is the liberation of it, see Christ’s Liberation of the Seed of Abraham: Freedom from Slavery to the Fear of Death.

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