"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast." - Eph. 2: 8-9) - Because of the fall of Adam, we are born with depraved hearts that naturally reject God. ("The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" - Jer. 17: 9. "And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee..."- Is. 63: 7. READ ALSO Is. 64: 6;, Is. 53:6, and Ps. 58:3) No man deserves the grace of God which both quickens and enables him to lay hold of God's free offer of salvation to all men. Without the power of God in our lives, it is impossible to believe in, and accept the Gospel in TRUE faith...We can accept the Gospel by a man-powered faith, yes, but not by true SAVING faith. God is gracious to His elect in that He gifts them with such a supernatural faith! The design of the atonement was to effectively secure the salvation of His people. Praise the Lord! 1 Cor. 12: 36 says, "No man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." In Psalms 65: 4 it says, "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts." John 5: 63-66 says, " It is the SPIRIT that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginnning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. and he said, Therefore said I unto you, that NO MAN CAN COME UNTO ME, EXCEPT IT WERE GIVEN UNTO HIM OF MY FATHER. Mark 4; 9-13. Jesus says I Jn.6:44-45: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I WILL raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. EVERY MAN therefore that HATH HEARD and HATH LEARNED of the Father, COMETH UNTO ME." John 8:43 and 47 says, "Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." 1 Cor. 2:14-16 says, "But the natural man RECEIVETH NOT the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, because they are spiritually discerned." Eph. 2:3-6 says, "Among whom also we all had our converstion in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were BY NATURE THE CHILDREN OF WRATH, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his GREAT LOVE wherewith he loved us, EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS (i.e. when we were still by nature the children of wrath, and unable to spiritually seek Him), hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved;); And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." John 15:16 says, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." READ ALSO Romans 8:28-33, Rom. 9: 10:25, John 17:2-3, and John 6:35-37.

God is not willing that ANY should perish. Yet in His perfect, sovereign plan, He has permitted that some might perish due to thir own hardness of heart (which hardness of heart every human is naturally born wih, and naturally continues in, apart from special grace from Above.) Those who accept the gift of salvation, in the power of the Spirit, are also enabled by that same Spirit to persevere in the faith. Those who ultimately fall away prove that although they have tasted of God's grace, they have never truly been partakers of it in the fullest, saving sense. Speaking of those who had apostazied, John writes in 1 Jn. 22"19: they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they HAD BEEN of us, they WOULD NO DOUBT HAVE CONTINUED WITH US: but they went out, THAT THEY MIGHT BE MADE MANIFEST that they WERE NOT all of us." A portion of Heb. 6: 4-12 states, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance...But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation." So, even those who have not yet completely surrendered their lives to Christ, are occasionally enabled to taste of the powers and spiritual realities of God (and even feel a certain type of remorse for their sin), as do many when they experience a certain sense of peace from the Lord, and when they experience conviction from the Holy Spirit. Unbelievers who have been touched by the Holy Spirit and perhaps, who, for a time display a certain type of outward godliness, often eventually reject that same Spirit. And those who repeatedly reject the Holy Spirit's conviction eventually become completely hardened in their spirits and never receive true conviction again. (Read about the unpardonable sin as spoken of in Matt. 12: 31-32). This is why we must continually test our faith, to see whether or not it dispalys the genuine fruits of the Spirit (true repentance, love, joy, peace, etc.) As Paul said, in 1 Cor 9: 24-27, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." If God has truly set His gracious love upon us, we may be sure that he WILL "draw us through" unto the blessed end. Nevertheless, let us constantly search our hearts to be sure that God has, indeed, set His life-changing love upon us. If we search our hearts, and find that He has not, let us then tremble and seek His face!!! What was the initial state of the "ground of our hearts" when the seed of the Gospel was planted upon them (as described in the parable of the Sower)? Had the "heart" been truly tilled up by the power of the Holy Spirit in advance?...or was the heart still stony...thorny..etc.? The Bible indicates that IF our hearts HAVE been properly and effectively prepared by the Spirit of God, then when the "seed" falls upon them, they WILL OF A CERTAINTY produce good fruit unto the end. If there is no fruit, then there has never been a TRULY changed heart to begin with! Our "salvation" was always a farce. READ ALSO John 2: 23-25, Heb. 10:38-39, Matt. 13:3 and 18-23, 2 Cor. 13: 3-9, I Jn 2:15-20, John 17: 6-11, 1 Cor. 1: 7-9 and Romans