Free Will a Slave
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4.7 • 28 Ratings
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Publisher Description
Charles Spurgeon examines John 5:40 in this sermon on free will, explaining that the text is “one of the great guns of the Arminians,” but he intends to turn the gun back on them, for “it was never theirs.” He goes on to elaborate on four points—men are by nature dead, in Christ Jesus there is life, eternal life is given to all who come for it, and—the final, crucial point—by nature no man will come to Christ. So it follows that any man who does come will know by his very coming that he has been chosen and enabled by God’s saving grace. Spurgeon winds up his sermon as follows: “This morning I have not preached human nature up, but I have preached it down.” And when man is humbled, God is glorified!
Customer Reviews
A beautiful book
Spurgeon is an amazing writer. The emphasis on this small, compact, but impactful book is John 5:40; “and ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” The reality of our fallen sinful nature as spurgeon consistently points to, is that our will has become corrupted by sin because of Adam’s choice/fall in the garden. Such a hefty choice has not just broken a piece of humans will, like spurgeon say it does not just break a bone, but it breaks our spines. It paralyzes us. In Spurgeons understanding, We have no ability to choose good or move towards it. It is by the power of the Spirit of God that we can receive Christ. However, this does not eliminate man’s responsibility. If you feel like you’re dying but a hospital is 3 minutes away, will you not do anything you can to get to that hospital and receive the help you desperately need? If you do not, you deliberately choose to take the risk of dying. Likewise, when you receive the good news of Jesus Christ in light of your sinful nature, like a man dying, you are still called to respond. Though we are unable to come to Christ apart from grace, we remain responsible for whether we reject or receive the gospel.