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To: Jerry_M
First, where have I ever said that non-believers don't have free will? (They are free to do whatever they want to do. The problem is that they, in their natural state, never want to please God.)

I'm getting confused. I thought the argument for Calvinsism was that we essentially have no choice, no will in the matter, of whether we want to turn to God or not. Am I mistaken?

Those unregenerated will never please God. Those regenerated, yet not glorified, can choose to please God or not. Those glorified will never displease God.

Define regeneration.

229 posted on 05/07/2002 1:52:54 PM PDT by DouglasKC
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To: DouglasKC
"Am I mistaken?"

Apparently.

Regeneration: (from R.C. Sproul)

Regeneration is the theological term used to describe rebirth. It refers to a new generating, a new genesis, a new beginning. It is more than "turning over a new leaf"; it marks the beginning of a new life in a radically renewed person.

Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit upon those who are spiritually dead (see Ephesians 2:1-10). The Spirit recreates the human heart, quickening it from spiritual death to spiritual life. Regenerate people are new creations.

Regeneration is not to be confused with the full experience of conversion. Just as birth is our initiation, our first entrance into life outside the womb, so our spiritual rebirth is the starting point of our spiritual life. It occurs by God's divine initiative and is an act that is sovereign, immediate, and instantaneous. An awareness of our conversion may be gradual. Yet rebirth itself is instantaneous. No one can be partially reborn any more than a woman can be partially pregnant.

Regeneration is not the fruit or result of faith. Rather, regeneration precedes faith as the necessary condition for faith. We also do not in any way dispose ourselves toward regeneration or cooperate as co-workers with the Holy Spirit to bring it to pass. We do not decide or choose to be regenerated. God chooses to regenerate us before we will ever choose to embrace Him. To be sure, after we have been regenerated by the sovereign grace of God, we do choose, act, cooperate, and believe in Christ.

234 posted on 05/07/2002 2:01:05 PM PDT by Jerry_M
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