1. In the natural order God has endued man's will with liberty and the power to act upon choice, so that it is neither forced from without, nor by any necessity arising from within itself, compelled to do good or evil. (Deut. 30:19; Mat. 17:12; Jas. 1:14)
2. In his state of innocency man had freedom and power to will and to do what was good and acceptable to God.Yet, being unstable, it was possible for him to fall from his uprightness. (Gen. 3:6; Eccles. 7:29)
3. As the consequence of his fall into a state of sin, man has lost all ability to will the performance of any of those works, spiritually good, that accompany salvation. As a natural (unspiritual) man he is dead in sin and altogether opposed to that which is good. Hence he is not able, by any strength of his own, to turn himself to God, or even to prepare himself to turn to God. (John 6:44; Rom. 5:6; 8:7; Eph. 2:1, 5; Titus 3:3-5)
4. When God converts a sinner, and brings him out of sin into the state of grace, He frees him from his natural bondage to sin and, by His grace alone, He enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good. Nevertheless certain corruptions remain in the sinner, so that his will is never completely and perfectly held in captivity to that which is good, but it also entertains evil. (John 8:36; Rom. 7:15, 18-19, 21, 23; Phil. 2:13; Col.1:13)
5. It is not until man enters the state of glory that he is made perfectly and immutably free to will that which is good, and that alone. (Eph. 4:13)
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PLNTD is a decentralized network focused on establishing and multiplying confessional church-planting churches. We seek to do this through providing rich resources, intentional relationships, and accessible church-based ministries, including assessment, training and coaching. It is our firm conviction that to fulfill the Great Commission inherently means that we must embrace the call to plant churches, and no one else is given that stewardship more than the local church.
When Jesus asked the question, "Who do you say that I am?" He was asking a question that we all have to answer. As Christians, we have one message to believe and one message to tell--the gospel of Jesus Christ. What God has accomplished for sinners through His Son Jesus Christ in His life, death, and resurrection is not only central to who we are but sufficient for all that we do. If you have never heard of this gospel, we encourage you to consider the two ways to live. In this presentation, you will understand who God is, what He has done, and why it is absolutely necessary for you to turn to Jesus and trust in Him.
When you come to one of our meetings expect to be greeted and welcomed by people just like you.
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We invite you to join us for worship at Grace Baptist Church. Each Sunday our early service begins at 8:00 a.m and our late service begins at 10:45 a.m. This Sunday, September 5, Pastor Tom Ascol will preach from 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.. In the evening we will meet across Southwest Florida in our Grace Growth Groups. Read More »
Founders Ministries serves the cause of Christ by encouraging the recovery of the gospel and the reformation of local churches. The offices of Founders Ministries are housed at Grace Baptist Church. Tom Ascol is the Executive Director and Ken Puls is the Director of the Founders Study Center.