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Natural man is hostile to God. He cannot please God and will never seek him on his own. He is completely unable to accept God’s offer of salvation because of his hostility toward God. Paul says that he is dead in his transgressions and sins (Eph 2:1). He must be born again to be saved. Therefore, if Christ only died to make salvation possible, but our salvation depended on our accepting this offer, we would be utterly without hope. But, we have hope because God causes those whom he has chosen in eternity to be born again, and those who are born again will respond in repentance and faith. If you cry out to God for mercy, it may be that he is drawing you to himself, don’t resist, but seek God! God then grants to us all the grace necessary to live out the Christian life.

Why does the Bible say we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling? This week Dr. Spencer discusses what this means, and why we cannot give ourselves an easy pass when it comes to being certain about our salvation. But, if we find evidence that we are born again, this brings about great assurance and confidence. We can have joy even in trials because our confidence is in God’s eternal promises, not in ourselves.