The Will and The Intellect

 

The Will and The Intellect

 

John 12:37

 

But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him

 

The depravity of man pervades all of his faculties. Natural men do not perceive this depravity; but to whom He will, God displays their corrupt nature, that is, the plague of their own heart. To that plague Solomon referred in his prayer at the dedication of the temple: “What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house” (I Kings 8:38). The depravity of the will is made manifest by the fact that the will is not necessarily positively affected by that, which the intellect perceives as undeniable truth (John 3:2).  

 

In the subject verse, the intellect of the persons involved, were necessarily enlightened to some perception of the glory of the person who “had done so many miracles before them”. But because of the treacherous depravity of the will of natural man and because of his innate hatred of God (Romans 8:7) they would not believe because the will is subject to the ruined evil nature of men (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13). All the sons of men are held captives of their own corruption of heart. Even the elect, redeemed, and regenerate children of God, still have the inward corruptions of natural man to deal with. It is for this reason the Apostle Paul wrote: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:10-20). Moses wrote: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5) “And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done (Genesis 8:21).

 

 

 

 

 

Even the children of God are subject to their own corruptions as long as they are present in the body (II Corinthians 5:6-8). In the elect, redeemed, and regenerated children of God, the Holy Spirit who indwells them opposes sin in the flesh, to the extent that He will. The Holy Spirit does not completely eradicate sin in the children of God, lest we forget our total dependence on our Lord Jesus Christ. And so regenerate men who would live only unto God in this world, cannot do the things they would (Romans 7: 23).

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to free those who are bound and in captivity, as said Isaiah the Prophet: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1). Men who are born in this world do not perceive their captivity, they think themselves not bound, but free to do as they will. Even the most religious sect of the Jews said: “We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free” (John 8:33)? Our Lord Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:34). The word servant in the Greek means, “a slave”, and we know that all have sinned (Romans 3:23). Therefore it necessarily follows that all men without exception are born in this world as the servants of sin, that is, bond slaves of sin, and not only so but also they are taken captive by Satan at his will (II Timothy 2:26).

 

Most men think so highly of themselves that they call themselves by titles that include the words Free Will, which is in open contradiction of the Holy Scriptures, for those who are captives are not free. And not only is freewill-ism the current cry of these lost religionists, but it has become the cry of almost all organized religion of this day. The teaching of modern christendom is that every man has the right to choose, and thus they deny the God who chose His people in Christ before the world began (Ephesians 1:4). “Another gospel” (Galatians 1:6) which concerns “another Jesus” (II Corinthians 11:4) and teaches that God loves all men, and that Jesus Christ died for all men, and that the Holy Ghost calls all men in the same way is a false gospel, and those who rejoice in that doctrine are lost religionists, for they: (1.) deny the God who chose His people in Christ before the world began (II Thessalonians 2:13), (2.) they deny the Son of God who redeemed all and every one of those who were elected by the Father (Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:7), (3.) and they deny the Holy Ghost who calls the chosen and redeemed children of God with a holy calling as it is written: “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (II Timothy 1:8-9). The aforementioned denials constitute that spirit of antichrist, as it is written: “and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (I John 4:3; 2:22). Those who deny the electing and predestinating grace of God, deny the God who chose and predestinated, that is, they deny the God of the Bible. Furthermore they worship a god of their own imagination, who is like unto themselves, that is, he wants to save all men if they will only cooperate, (Psalm 50:21). These religious hirelings delight in numbers of supposed conversions, and not in truth. They measure their success by the numbers that occupy their pews, and will wrest the scriptures to satisfy the doctrine that pleases the congregants. Their aim is to please men, and not God, for it is said of them, “you cannot preach that (the doctrine of grace) and hold a crowd”. Their aim is declared, it is to hold a crowd.

 

These men are ashamed of the gospel of Christ, and refuse to be identified with it. They rail against it, and scoff at those who believe it. If asked of their doctrine they say it is whosoever will; and do not give glory to God by agreeing that, it is by grace that men are made willing and do believe (Acts 18:27; Psalm 110:3; Philippians 1:6; 2:13; Ezekiel 36:25-27). Our Lord Jesus said: “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). And again “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).

 

Those who will not bow to the scriptures, do not have the Spirit of God abiding in them (Isaiah 59:21; I peter 1:23; Acts 10:47). As it is written: “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (II John 1:9-11). 

 

The New Testament scriptures are filled with warnings against false doctrine, and of false Christs (Matthew 24:24; II Peter 2 throughout; Jude 1:3-19; II Thessalonians 2: 3-12; and countless others). Therefore reader: “Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, (in the name of Christ, writer) saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them (Luke 21:8). Our God is the Sovereign of this universe. Religious lost men say that He will not exercise His sovereignty. But rather that He waits for men to make their choices. However the scriptures say that God chose His people before the world began (Ephesians 1:4; II Thessalonians 2:13). Reader who do you believe, God or men? With whomsoever you worship, you worship the God that is worshipped there. So I ask: who is He? Is He the God who saves, or is he the god who only wants to save?    

 

AJ Ison

 

See the writers blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.