23 Regen Effec Calling and Freedom of Human Will 1 John 5 1 Lesson 2

Our study of 1 John 5:1 has brought us to one of the most profound questions in Christian soteriology: If God must regenerate a sinner before that sinner can believe, does the sinner genuinely exercise his own will in coming to Christ? The answer given by historic Reformed theology is yes. The sinner comes to Christ willingly, but he comes because God's grace has changed the disposition of his heart. This distinction is crucial. Reformed theology does not teach that God drags unwilling sinners into His kingdom against their desires. Rather, God so renews their hearts that they willingly embrace the Savior whom they previously rejected.