If you have been a church goer for very long you most likely have heard a sermon proclaiming that a person is born again by having faith in Jesus Christ. However, this idea finds no support in the Holy Scriptures. It is true that a person must have faith in Jesus Christ to be saved or justified (Romans 3:22, 25, 26; Galatians 2:16). However, a person must be born again before he can receive the faith to be saved. And we played no more a part in being born again of the Spirit than we did being born initially of the flesh. How then is a person born again? The answer: A person is born again by a sovereign act of God’s grace. Continue reading

“It is true, religion in the souls of men is the immediate work of God, and all our natural endeavours can neither produce it alone, nor merit those supernatural aids by which it must be wrought: the Holy Ghost must come upon us, and the power of the Highest must overshadow us, before that holy thing can be begotten, and Christ be formed in us.”

Henry Scougal

“Nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed. Here is a foundation of faith. Here is a resting place for the intellect. Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil, but the Lord Almighty who is ruling the world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory.”

A.W. Pink

“The sovereign God wants to be loved for Himself and honored for Himself, but that is only part of what He wants. The other part is that He wants us to know that when we have Him we have everything – we have all the rest.”

A.W. Tozer

“We may define God’s providence as follows: God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that he (1) keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them; (2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and (3) directs them to fulfill his purposes.”

Voddie Baucham

“The Holy One cannot be defeated in personal combat. But there is some consolation here. Jacob wrestled with God and lived. He was beaten. He was left crippled, but he survived that battle. At least we can learn from this that God will engage us in our honest struggles. We may wrestle with the Holy One. Indeed, for the transforming power of God to change our lives, we must wrestle with Him. We must know what it means to fight with God all night if we are also to know what it means to experience the sweetness of the soul’s surrender.”

R.C. Sproul