2. Can man
intentionally do spiritual good on his
own?
Bible verses.
Ps 14:3, Ps
53:3
John 15:4
James 1:16-17
Is 64:6
onwards
Ps 53: 2
God looks down from heaven on the sons of
men to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God. 3 Everyone has turned
away, they have together become corrupt;
there is no one who does good, not even one.
Ps 14:2
The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons
of men to see if there are any who
understand, any who seek God. 3 All have
turned aside, they have together become
corrupt; there is no one who does good, not
even one.
John 15:4
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No
branch can bear fruit by itself; it must
remain in the vine. Neither can you bear
fruit unless you remain in me.
James 1:16
Don't be deceived, my dear brothers.
James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly
lights, who does not change like shifting
shadows.
Isa. 64:6
All of us have become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous acts are like
filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 7
No one calls on your name or strives to lay
hold of you; for you have hidden your face
from us and made us waste away because of
our sins. 8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter; we are
all the work of your hand.
3. Is man’s
heart spiritually good (if they are
unsaved)?
Jer 17:9
Mark 10:18
Acts 11:24
Jer. 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and
beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Mark 10:18
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered.
"No one is good --except God alone.
Acts 11:24
He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit
and faith, and a great number of people were
brought to the Lord.
4. Does man
seek the real God out on his own?
Ps 14:2, Ps
53:2
Rom 3:10-18
John 1:10
Ps. 14:2
The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons
of men to see if there are any who
understand, any who seek God.
Ps. 53:2
God looks down from heaven on the sons of
men to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
Rom. 3:10
As it is written: "There is no one
righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one
who understands, no one who seeks God. 12
All have turned away, they have together
become worthless; there is no one who does
good, not even one." 13 "Their throats are
open graves; their tongues practice deceit."
"The poison of vipers is on their lips." 14
"Their mouths are full of cursing and
bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to
shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their
ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not
know." 18 "There is no fear of God before
their eyes."
John 1:10
He was in the world, and though the world
was made through him, the world did not
recognize him.
Rom. 8:5
Those who live according to the sinful
nature have their minds set on what that
nature desires; but those who live in
accordance with the Spirit have their minds
set on what the Spirit desires.
5. Can
man seek the real God out on his own?
Rom 8:6-8
John 1:5
Rom. 8:6
The mind of sinful man is death, but the
mind controlled by the Spirit is life and
peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God.
It does not submit to God's law, nor can it
do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful
nature cannot please God.
John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness, but the
darkness has not understood it.
6. Can man
change on his own and thus seek God?
Jer 13:19-23
Eph 2:1-9
Jer. 13:23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the
leopard its spots? Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.
Eph. 2:1
As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used
to live when you followed the ways of this
world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the
air, the spirit who is now at work in those
who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived
among them at one time, gratifying the
cravings of our sinful nature and following
its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we
were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But
because of his great love for us, God, who
is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with
Christ even when we were dead in
transgressions --it is by grace you have
been saved. 6 And God raised us up with
Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order
that in the coming ages he might show the
incomparable riches of his grace, expressed
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For
it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith --and this not from yourselves, it is
the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no
one can boast.
7. If man
doesn’t seek God out, how then does he
become a Christian? Who causes the change in
Man’s heart?
Deut. 29:4
Deut. 30:6
Jer. 24:7
Jer 31:18
Jer. 32:37-40
Ezek 11:19-20
Ezek. 37:13
Matt. 16:15
John 3:6
John 3:21
John 6:37
John 6:44
John 6:64
Acts 10:44
Acts 16:14
1Cor. 2:9
1Cor. 12:3
Phil 2:12-13
Col 2:13
Hebr. 10:16
2 Tim 1:9-10
2 Tim 2:24-26
Deut. 29:4
But to this day the LORD has not given you a
mind that understands or eyes that see or
ears that hear.
Deut. 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your
hearts and the hearts of your descendants,
so that you may love him with all your heart
and with all your soul, and live.
Jer. 24:7
I
will give them a heart to know me, that I am
the LORD. They will be my people, and I will
be their God, for they will return to me
with all their heart.
Jer. 31:18
"I
have surely heard Ephraim's moaning: `You
disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I
have been disciplined. Restore me, and I
will return, because you are the LORD my
God.
Jer. 32:37
I
will surely gather them from all the lands
where I banish them in my furious anger and
great wrath; I will bring them back to this
place and let them live in safety. 38
They will be my people, and I will be their
God. 39 I will give them singleness
of heart and action, so that they will
always fear me for their own good and the
good of their children after them. 40 I will
make an everlasting covenant with them: I
will never stop doing good to them, and I
will inspire them to fear me, so that they
will never turn away from me.
Ezek.
11:19
I will give
them an undivided heart and put a new spirit
in them; I will remove from them their heart
of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20
Then they will follow my decrees and be
careful to keep my laws. They will be my
people, and I will be their God.
Ezek.
37:13
Then you, my
people, will know that I am the LORD, when I
open your graves and bring you up from them.
14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will
live, and I will settle you in your own
land. Then you will know that I the LORD
have spoken, and I have done it, declares
the LORD.'"
Matt. 16:15
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you
say I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you
by man, but by my Father in heaven.
John 3:6
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit
gives birth to spirit.
John 3:21
But whoever lives by the truth comes into
the light, so that it may be seen plainly
that what he has done has been done
through God."
John 6:37
All that the Father gives me will come to
me, and whoever comes to me I will never
drive away.
John 6:44
"No one can come to me unless the Father who
sent me draws him, and I will raise him up
at the last day.
John 6:64
Yet there are some of you who do not
believe." For Jesus had known from the
beginning which of them did not believe and
who would betray him. 65 He went on to say,
"This is why I told you that no one can come
to me unless the Father has enabled him."
Acts 10:44
While Peter was still speaking these words,
the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the
message.
Acts 16:14
One of those listening was a woman named
Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the
city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of
God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to
Paul's message.
1Cor. 2:9
However, as it is written: "No eye has seen,
no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what
God has prepared for those who love him" --
10 but God has revealed it to us by his
Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even
the deep things of God.
1Cor. 12:3
Therefore I tell you that no one who is
speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus
be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is
Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
Phil. 2:12
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have
always obeyed --not only in my presence, but
now much more in my absence --continue to
work out your salvation with fear and
trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you
to will and to act according to his good
purpose.
Col. 2:13
When you were dead in your sins and in the
uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God
made you alive with Christ. He forgave us
all our sins,
Hebr.
10:16
"This is the
covenant I will make with them after that
time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in
their hearts, and I will write them on their
minds."
2Tim. 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of
timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and
of self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed
to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me
his prisoner. But join with me in suffering
for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who
has saved us and called us to a holy life
--not because of anything we have done but
because of his own purpose and grace. This
grace was given us in Christ Jesus before
the beginning of time,
2Tim. 2:24
And the Lord's servant must not quarrel;
instead, he must be kind to everyone, able
to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose
him he must gently instruct, in the hope
that God will grant them repentance leading
them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and
that they will come to their senses and
escape from the trap of the devil, who has
taken them captive to do his will.