To Sholeh Patrick, Joan Harman, and others who demonstrate an interest in Spiritual matters and who have evidently given some serious thought to the subject, but who obviously do not understand the biblical doctrines of human depravity, regeneration, God's Sovereign Grace, or the doctrine of the church, among other things. These doctrines are absolutely imperative to accurately interpret some important portions of Scripture. I will list some of these key concepts as near in logical order as I can:

* God created man innocent.

* Man's (Adam's) sin was idolatry. He chose his wife, a creature, over God the Creator, when he knowingly ate the forbidden fruit, because she had already committed the sin that separated her from God and he preferred to follow Eve rather than God. He made a definite decision to disobey Him and go with her wherever she went. Eve was his idol, and man has been an idolater ever since.

* All people now inherit Adam's sin nature (Romans 5:12) and are called "sinners" (rebels) against, and "enemies" of, God. (Romans 8:7 and James 4:4).

* So, since all people became depraved, God had three options: He could punish everyone; save everyone, or save some by special "grace." He chose to save some (Ephesians 1:4) who are referred to in the Bible as "His chosen," His "Elect," and His "people." (Psalm 89:3; Mark 13:20; 2nd Thessalonians 2:13; John 15:16 and Matthew 1:21).

* Since God is holy, He cannot tolerate any sin at all, and all these people whom He chose were depraved sinners, so He had another dilemma: His "people" had to be made holy. So to maintain His justice and holiness and still forgive their sins, He sent His "only begotten Son" to earth to die on a cross, to pay the penalty for their sins. The Bible calls His death, burial, and resurrection "the Gospel" (Romans 1:16) which means "good news." And God made belief of the Gospel to be the proof of their salvation, which is actually accomplished by the new birth: must be born again" (John 3:3). So salvation is accomplished by the new birth, and belief is the proof that one has been born again. SALVATION IS ALL OF GOD. MAN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

NOTE: A serious heresy has been spread all over the world during the past century by a very popular evangelist, teaching that man "decides" whether he will be saved or not. This is as false as a three dollar bill but it has been enthusiastically believed by most of "Christendom" ever since I can remember. The Bible teaches otherwise. The Bible says: "The Son gives Life (spiritual Life) to whomsoever He wills" (John 5:21) and in another place he writes "... who were born, not ... of the will of man" (John 1:13). And Jesus said: "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16), and Paul wrote: ... even as He chose us before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4). And he further wrote: "... it is not of him that wills, or of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy" (Romans 9:16).

Let me conclude with this: The cause of salvation is the new birth, and the proof of salvation is faith, which is also a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). One may be like the Philippian jailer of Acts 16:27-34, saved and not know it. When the earthquake hit the prison, he came and fell down before Paul and Silas, and asked: Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And Paul answered, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." What had evidently happened was he heard Paul and Silas preaching on the streets of Philippi and had been born again (he was already saved but didn't know it), therefore he was anxious to know he was going to heaven. Hence the question. And Paul, recognizing the situation, answered, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Paul answered the question that was on his mind: "How can I know that I am saved?"

NEW BIRTH IS THE CAUSE OF SALVATION AND BELIEF IS THE PROOF.

I trust that all of the foregoing will be used of God to take some of the mystery out of the subject of Biblical salvation.

Ernie Ransom is a Coeur d'Alene resident.