OUTLINE:

We cannot lay claim to a single act of goodness from a state of total depravity.

Ro 5:8
but God shows his love for us [context: Paul is writing to believers] in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Proper Perspective When Studying Salvation
We must heed Solomon’s wisdom (Ecc 12:13-14). We are slaves given duties by our Master. We don’t always know the Master’s plans. He gives us faith instead.

The Job Description of a Slave
Obey your master.

So-Called “Free Will”
Slaves may suppose, even agree amongst themselves, that their so-called “free will” gives them power to influence (or even modify) their Master’s plans. However, God’s decree was ordained before human history, sovereignly set in stone.

Jn 6:44
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Jn 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Pastor John Piper on Jn 3:8
“And when you hear Jesus say, ‘The Spirit blows where it wills,’ don’t hear him taking from you the will that you treasure, but hear him giving to you eyes to see Christ as your treasure.”

Mt 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Ro 9:20
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

Grace is not a slave to what man thinks is “fair”.

Man’s Perversion of God’s Grace
Man, in his fleshly desire for control, supposes (wrongly) that he is able to seize God’s grace (as he would any object) and then USE it as a means to his own ends, even supposing he can put God to task with it!

Covert Arrogance:  Hiding Out in Plain Sight
Book - Chapter 3: Mercy Demands
“Receivers of mercy have no inherent right to demand it, for if they did, it would no longer be defined as mercy, but rather as something that is due to them. This is arrogance, most often covert.”

Grace is not a slave to what man thinks is “fair”.