Why Will Ye Die, O House Of Israel?

T-U-L-I-P , T, Total Inability; U, Unconditional Election; L, Limited Atonement; I, Irresistible (efficacious) Grace; and P, Perseverance of the Saints."

I. Total Inability

By total inability Calvin meant that a lost sinner cannot come to Jesus Christ and trust Him as Saviour, unless he is foreordained to come to Christ. By total inability he meant that no man has the ability to come to Christ. And unless God overpowers him and gives him that ability, he will never come to Christ

The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked."

A preacher brought a wonderful sermon on the depravity of the human heart. And when he finished his message, someone came to him and said," I want you to know I can't swallow that depraved heart that you preached about."

The preacher smiled and said, "You don't have to swallow it. It's already in you!"

While the Bible teaches the depravity of the human race, it nowhere teaches total inability. The Bible never hints that people are lost because they have no ability to come to Christ. The language of Jesus was , "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40).

Notice, it is not a matter of whether or not you can come to Christ; it is a matter of whether or not you will come to Christ.

Jesus looked over Jerusalem and wept and said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . .how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37).

Revelation 22:17, the last invitation in the Bible, says, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely ."

The only thing that stands between the sinner and salvation is the sinner's will. God made every man a free moral agent.

D. L. Moody addressed a large group of sceptics. He said ,"I want to talk about the word believe, the word receive, and the word take." When Mr. Moody had finished his sermon, he asked, "Now who will come and take Christ as Saviour?"

One man stood and said, "I can't." Mr. Moody wept and said, "Don't say, 'I can't.' Say, 'I won't!'" And the man said, "Then, I won't!" But another man said, "I will!"

John 6:44 "No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him...."

John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

All men are drawn to Christ, but not all men will trust Christ as Saviour. Every man will make his own decision to trust Christ or to reject Him. The Bible makes it clear that all men have light. John 1:9 says, "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Romans 1:19,20 indicates that every sinner has been called through the creation about him. And Romans 2:11-16 indicates that sinners are called through their conscience, even when they have not heard the Word of God.

So in the final analysis, men go to Hell, not because of their inability to come to Christ, but because they will not come to Christ-"Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life."