Regeneration through Faith in the gospel

[Manfred]

How so?

Because the natural man cannot understand anything spiritual and he has no faith.

The faith that comes by hearing the word of God.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

So what happens when two equally bad people with the same level of intelligence hear the same gospel message and one believes and the other mocks.
What is the difference between the two!

Why does one choose team Jesus and the other not.

 

[TibiasDad]

Surely in a discussion like this faith is assumed to be in God and a lack of faith the same.

And this is the flaw in your thinking. The question is not what is faith in, but that faith exists in many different objects, demonstrating the natural capacity of entrusting ourselves to things.

IOW, Faith is not a capacity that we are given by another, but a capacity of self that can be placed in another person or thing.

Doug

 

[Theo1689]

And this is the flaw in your thinking. The question is not what is faith in, but that faith exists in many different objects, demonstrating the natural capacity of entrusting ourselves to things.

IOW, Faith is not a capacity that we are given by another, but a capacity of self that can be placed in another person or thing.

Doug

No verses were harmed in the creation of this eisegesis.

 

[Newbirth]

Because the natural man cannot understand anything spiritual and he has no faith.

Faith and understanding are two different things. One can have faith without understanding. The man who received his sight by faith does not understand how it works. Why are you conflating different things to confuse people?

So what happens when two equally bad people with the same level of intelligence hear the same gospel message and one believes and the other mocks.

The level of your intelligence has nothing to do with faith.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

What is the difference between the two!

Most wise men will try to reason the gospel without the faith which came by hearing the word of God to see if it could work or not. Most persons without such wisdom has nothing to reason with therefore he acts on the faith he receives by hearing the word of God

Why does one choose team Jesus and the other not.

That is the person's choice just as you chose. Did anyone force you to choose?

Surely in a discussion like this faith is assumed to be in God and a lack of faith the same.

That depends on what you mean by faith in God. If by faith in God you mean obedience to the gospel then what you call Lack of faith would mean disobedience to the gospel. Not that you don't actually have faith.

Your answer is thus nothing more than smoke and mirrors and moot.

No you understanding is flawed

The topic is whether the natural man has faith in God, and your attempt at obscuring is noted.

The natural men have faith...the obedient ones obey the gospel the disobedient ones disobey the gospel.

It seems that most Arminians are quite adapt at doing only that and cannot commit to saying that the natural unregenerate man does not understand spiritual truths, and that they have no faith, and cannot generate a saving faith from self.

Like I said before, faith and understanding are two different things. If we are discussing faith one does not have to understand how it works to be saved. The man who was blind does not have to understand how his sight will be restored. Believers simply believes that Jesus is the son of God and he died to save us from sin and eternal death If they obey him. At that point, we don't have to understand how that works.