We Cannot Because We Will Not

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1Co 2.14)

“Take notice that this is a moral ‘cannot,’ not a physical ‘cannot.’  When Paul says, ‘The natural person…is not able to understand them,’ he means that the heart is so resistant to receiving them that the mind justifies the rebellion of the heart by seeing them as foolish.  This rebellion is so complete that the heart really cannot receive the things of the Spirit.  This is real inability.  But it is not a coerced inability.  The unregenerate person cannot because he will not.  His preferences for sin are so strong that he cannot choose good.  It is a real and terrible bondage.  But it is not an innocent bondage.”  (John Piper, Finally Alive), p. 52

(I am really enjoying reading this new book by Piper.  He is so helpful in his careful, thoughtful, joyful and biblical articulation of the gospel and its implications.  It is thoroughly refreshing.)

Possibly Related posts:

1. My Heart is a Horror Movie…I have got to look away
2. The Least Sin has an Infinite Hatefulness in it
3. Piper on The Scriptures Pointing To Jesus
4. John Piper Prays a Sermon
5. Who’s bad?!

10 Responses to “We Cannot Because We Will Not”

1. shepherdsteve says:

   June 10, 2009 at 8:38 am

   How is this Piper book put together? Is it like “what Jesus demands from the world” or “future grace”? or is it put together like “Desiring God”?
   i.e a theologically themed book or a devotional book
2. Lee Shelton says:

   June 10, 2009 at 8:57 am

   “Yeah, but ‘whosoever will’…” would be the typical Arminian response.
3. Erik says:

   June 10, 2009 at 11:32 am

   Theologically themed. Very pastoral:

   -what is the new birth
   -why must we be born again
   -how does the new birth come about?
   -what are the effects of the new birth?
   -how can we help others be born again?

   –Westminster Books has a link to a free pdf download on their site
4. Jay says:

   June 11, 2009 at 4:35 pm

   Making careful distinctions between moral inability and physical inability would save a lot of misunderstandings in theological discussion.
5. D. Maupin says:

   June 11, 2009 at 5:17 pm

   Hello Erik. I hope someone can help me out. I have literally been going through hell for the last month. I think I can imagine what Martin Luther must of felt like when he was agonizing over scripture and justification. I have been in church since 1994. I confessed my sins and asked Jesus to forgive me in the Fall of 1994, and since have lived a sort of half hearted Christianity that has always had me questioning my faith. About a month ago I read John Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life!” and began studying Calvinism. I felt like the gates of heaven had opened and a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. On May 14th, 2009, I prayed again with a new understanding as to what God had really done for me. He chose me!! What a liberating experience. This did not breed pride as I have heard said by some, but a sincere and profound humbleness that I had never experienced before. I began taking several free courses offered through Covenant Theological Seminary’s free online classroom. I have been studying church history and Calvin’s institutes. Since my “conversion” last month God has put a desire in my heart to study his word as I have never had in the past. I act as an addict and the Bible is my drug of choice. And therein lies my struggle that has my heart and what feels like my very soul tied in knots. Total depravity I can totally agree with. Perseverance of the saints…. agree with that as well. Predestination…. that is giving me fits. I am losing sleep. I see God as sovereign. He can do what he wants. But damning people to hell for something that they are incapable of escaping? That is a hard pill for me to swallow. What am I missing? God is sovereign. God elects who will be saved. Because of total depravity, man cannot choose God. Therefore those who are not elected by God are by default damned to hell. They were created by God, denied salvation, and held accountable for something over which they had no control in their lifetime. And irresistible grace? God’s grace is not accepted but rather imposed by force? The elect have no choice in the matter? God makes us love him? Isn’t that like putting a sock over your hand and turning it around and having it tell you “I love you”? I’m not being critical. Lord help me, I just want to know what is truth. I want a sound foundation of theological doctrine and while I am leaning strongly towards Calvinism, these are the issues I am struggling with. This is what is keeping me up at nights, denying rest, tormenting me. Maybe it is the Armenian doctrine I have heard all my life that is thrown into the mix and has me so confused. I hope you can help me. I have prayed over this for a month and will continue to seek the truth. It just feels good to get this off my chest. Thank you for taking the time to read.
6. Laurie M. says:

   June 16, 2009 at 1:16 am

   D. Maupin,
   I read your comment last night and went to sleep with your struggle on my heart. Once again it’s late when I came to the computer – too late to try and discuss such a weighty matter. Know that I feel your pain, and no pat answer will ever do when it comes to the doctrine of hell – and that is the doctrine that gives the sting to predestination. There is something about predestination that suddenly makes one take hell so, so seriously. I don’t know why, but it’s so. We can stand the thought of hell as long as we think it is in our power to escape it. And so, it comes down to whether it is “good”, “holy”, and “right” for God to have ever determined that any being should end up there. Clearly our sin is much more horrendous and evil in the sight of God than it can ever be in the eyes of us who secretly (and not always so secretly) cherish it. I’m certain no man alive really understands, truly understands, how it is that anyone really deserves hell. But, once one can accept that it is so, that all of us deserve hell – and that it is God who has decided that we deserve it – then I suppose the question is why God would be merciful to anyone at all. All of us have rejected Him and become His hateful enemies, and yet he has determined that not only will not all His enemies suffer the penalty, but that He will suffer their penalty on their behalf. That is as unthinkable as the hell he’s spared them from.

   I will pray for you, because these are difficult, horrible things to consider – but we must consider them. Understanding the horrors of hell is the only thing that can make sense of the cross. If hell was not horrible, the cross would not have been necessary. The reason the Gospel is such good news, is because our situation without it is so desperate. I’m thankful that God has given you grace to face these things and to wrestle with them. May God give you the understanding you seek.
7. julie says:

   June 17, 2009 at 9:16 am

   Erik I am reading Piper’s book too and have even passed a copy onto a friend who was “saved” as a teen yet has no conception of what salvation or being a Christian means. I think this book is going to be invaluable in helping Christians and non-Christians alike to really understand what true salvation means.

   Maupin, from personal experience with theological dilemmas:

   1) Calm down.
   2) Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)
   3) Rest in God’s goodness and faithfulness to you.
   4) Trust that the God who has brought you thus far will bring you more understanding when you can receive it. When you are trying too hard, it can cloud your spiritual understanding.

   Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, we are all damned. Period. When Adam fell, the whole human race fell too. (Romans 5:16 & 18). We had no hope, and were under God’s just condemnation for our sin – our natures are sinful and we are also outwardly sinful. However, God has given all mankind both a conscience and the physical creation. Both of these testify that there is a God – that He is glorious, and that there is right and wrong. (Romans 1:19-21; 2:15). Men in their sin suppress this truth. We are held accountable for this rejection of the Creator God and for our sin. Without God’s mercy and saving grace, none would be saved. But God, because He is rich in mercy does elect to save some. Because of His great mercy, He sent His own beloved Son to die for us, to rescue us, to save us. God has no obligation to save anyone, let alone confirmed sinners, yet He does!

   But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Eph 2:4-7)
8. Toby says:

   June 17, 2009 at 12:14 pm

   Maupin,

   Your biggest concerns seem to relate to
   1. Individuals who cannot escape the wrath of the one who created them for that purpose. (I think you agree that anyone who ends up in hell got there by their own will/choices. If not let me know and we can go down that road.)

   2. Individuals who cannot escape the grace of the one who created them for that purpose.

   Romans 9 deals specifically with those issues all verses 19-24.

   You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 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?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory-

   The blunt answer to your concerns is that God is God and man is but a creature. It is one thing to say you don’t understand how this works, but quite another to stand in judgment of God on such issues. You don’t want to apply your sense of “fair” and “right” to the judgment of God.

   Trust in the Goodness and Righteousness of God. Everything he does is good and right in his own eyes. Often the temptation is to elevate our own standard of good and right, which is nothing more than pride (Satan fell in this way). Finally, remember it isn’t about us! It is all about God demonstrating his attributes for his glory! The right response is to praise him for his eternal plans for every individual.

   Toby
9. Joe says:

   June 20, 2009 at 6:06 pm

   Maupin,
   Just wanted to humbly remind that we all hate God and love darkness. Everyone who goes to hell goes there because they were rebellious as well as helpless. They go with moral inability but with fists clinched toward God. Let us cast our guilty helpless rebellious souls upon Christ.
10. Rob Hess says:

    July 23, 2009 at 1:25 am

    Maupin,
    I too struggled with this when I first began looking at “Calvinism” as they call it. But then I read A.W. Pink’s book “The Sovereignty Of God” and it was like it all of a sudden it just became clear. That was an excellent read for someone who had been on a 6 year journey trying to find what I truly believed about God, His sovereignty and Myself. I’m not saying I have “Arrived” with all this, Still struggle with some of it, but I just try to remember that He is sovereign, in control, and perfect, therefore I need not worry about anything……..