Wednesday, July 31, 2013

nothing is not a little something

John 6:63a

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
When Martin Luther was debating whether fallen man is utterly dependent upon the Holy Spirit for regeneration, he cited this text and added:
“The flesh profits nothing. And that ‘nothing’ is not a little something.”
This is true in two senses:

(1) The flesh does not profit anything.
(2) This point is not merely a nuanced musing.

The flesh cannot profit anything.
This is of no small import.
This is, in fact, paramount in defining from where justification originates.
The quick answer::not from you!

2 comments:

  1. Exactly, We are dead in our trespasses and sins. A spiritually dead person cannot respond to the Gospel. John 3:3 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. This is all about "ordo salutis" the Order of Salvation. Unless we receive life (regeneration) from God we cannot even see the Kingdom of God.

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