By Him and Through HIm

         
          This is the first in a series about man's "free will" in salvation. 
     Does man have to give God permission to save him, or allow God to save him;
     or does God's sovereign grace save without any cooperation from man?

          I believe the Bible teaches that God saves totally, on His own, without our help.
     I'll be giving biblical answers to the questions above, along with some others over the next
     few days.


          Today, we'll look at Saul's/Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus.
     See if you can find any sign of free will here, or if God "chose" Paul to be His own, and to
     bring the gospel to the Gentiles.


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                           "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus,
                            who became to us wisdom from God,
                            and righteousness and sanctification,
                            and redemption, so that, it is written,

                                  'Let him who boasts,
                                  boast in the LORD.'"
                                                            1 Corinthians 1:30-31


                           
                           "Through Him you believe in God,
                             who raised Him from the dead
                             and glorified Him,
                             and so your faith and hope
                             are in God."
                                                           1 Peter 1:21

                                       

          Christians are "in Christ Jesus" by God's doing, and "we believe
     in God" through Jesus.


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                              From The Potter's Freedom, by James R. White:


          "Is it by my free will, or God's act of free will, that I am in Christ Jesus?
     Every believer must ask this question. It is not enough to limit God's free
     will too making a plan available.

          The question is not 'Is God ultimately the source of the plan of salvation?'
     The question is, Who, ultimately, is responsible for my union with Jesus Christ?

          God is both the one who is the origin and source of salvation in general,
     and the one who powerfully, purposefully, and perfectly draws His elect people
     into blessed union with Jesus Christ.

          The Scripture knows no other doctrine.  Paul knew this truth doctrinally
     and experientially:

                                             
                                                'But when God, who had set me apart
                                                 from my mother's womb and called me
                                                 through His grace, was pleased to reveal
                                                 His Son in me so that I might preach Him
                                                 among the Gentiles, I did not immediately
                                                 consult with flesh and blood.'
                                                                               Galatians 1:15-16


          If anybody knew that the idea of 'free will' was a myth, it was Paul.

     * It was not free will that knocked Paul to the ground on the road to Damascus.

     * It was not free will that blinded him.

     * Paul was not 'seeking after God' nor the Savior, Jesus Christ on that day when
     God chose to reveal His Son to him.

          No, God determined the day and the hour, and Paul was only happy to oblige.
     He preached a powerful grace, a grace that stops the elect in their tracks and
     changes them.

          Paul knew nothing of a grace that tries and tries, and fails and fails.
     It is powerful grace, purposeful grace, sovereign grace that lies at the base of
     his words to Titus:


                                                 'He saved us, not on the basis of deeds
                                                  which we have done in righteousness,
                                                  but according to His mercy,
                                                  by the washing of regeneration and
                                                  renewing by the Holy Spirit,
                                                  whom He poured upon us richly
                                                  through Jesus Christ, our Savior.'
                                                                                Titus 3:5-6


          Saving grace that brings the gift of faith.  A mighty God who saves His elect.

          This is the biblical presentation."