Riff's Christian Journal

So many people, who call themselves Christian, have been led to believe that they have been saved, that is born-again, by choosing to be saved of their own will. They mistakenly believe that by having “accepted” Jesus as their personal Savior they are now forgiven and are on their way to spending eternity in Heaven. Little do they know that they may be among the group of people that was brought up by Jesus when He said in Matthew 7:21:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

To be saved by one’s own will or of their own choosing is not taught in the Bible. Unfortunately too many people have been told that it is. Everyone knows John 1:12 which says:

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

But few know what the next verse says. In John 1:13 the how of believing is clearly stated. We read:

who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Basically both verses, together, teach that those who have been born again, by the will of God (and not of man’s will) are those who are able to believe in and receive Jesus into their life and believe that He died and rose again for their sins. Similarly in Romans 9 ware are told the same thing, that it is by God’s will that we are forgiven and not by our own will choosing to be given mercy and be saved. In Romans 9: 10 – 18 we read:

when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!  For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

Clearly these verses tell us that it is by the will of God that one is born-again, saved by His choice, and God does so not basing His decision on what we may have done or not done but on His choice to do so. God has mercy on whom He wills and whom He wills He hardens, or passes over.

When man is born-again of the Spirit of God it is done based on God’s will and not on man’s will. You see, when one is born-again they become alive in their spirit and it is at that point that man sees his sinfulness, cries out for forgiveness in repentance and confesses that Jesus is Lord and believes that He has been raised from the dead.

So, for us to say that we have been born-again by the choosing of our will we deceive ourselves and deny God His place in saving anyone. We are born:

not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, and it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

Maybe this is why Peter wrote the following in 2 Peter 1: 10, 11:

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This is why I can say that I have been born-again, not of my will, but of God’s will. How about you. By who’s will have you been born?