Is the Gospel Hearer’s Response Voluntary or Involuntary?
The Bible makes clear that salvation belongs to the Lord (Ps 3:8; Jon 2:9; Rev 19:1). He is our God and Savior (Titus 2:13). There is none beside Him (Is 44:8; 45:21). There is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12). Therefore, it behooves us to make sure we understand how salvation is accomplished…by God.
Our God has planned salvation. He has executed what was necessary. He has applied it using means to perfectly accomplish His predetermined plan (Acts 2:23). God works all things after the counsel of His will and does His good pleasure the whole way through (Eph 1:11; Phil 2:13). In the end, all who were predestined to adoption as sons (Eph 1:5) will be resurrected to life in glorified bodies (Jn 5:28:29; 1 Cor 15). Not one soul whose name was written in the Lamb’s book of life from before the foundation of the world will be missing (Jn 10:28–29; Rom 8:35–39; Rev 13:8; 17:8).
God is glorified for His perfect salvation. He began the good work, and He will complete it with not one of His royal priests from His holy nation separated from Him in eternity (Phil 1:6; 1 Pet 2:9). This is good news that God’s chosen people rejoice in because it is truly a great salvation (Heb 2:3). It compels us to worship the glorious God of our salvation, who loved us and gave Himself for us (Eph 5:25).
The Gospel of God, being the Gospel of grace, is preached throughout the world (Mt 24:14), even to every creature (Mk 16:15). No one should undervalue the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed because it is this communicated message that is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe (Rom 1:16–17).
Believing the Gospel truth is no easy task for sinners, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (1 Cor 2:14; Eph 2:1). In fact, it is impossible. There is nothing in the natural man that desires God (Rom 3:10–12). Man is not seeking God so to be reconciled to his Maker. If sinners have any response to God, in the heralding of the news of what God has done for sinners, it is hatred for God (Rom 1:30), hatred for Christ (Jn 7:7), and hatred for those who bear witness of the surpassing riches of God’s grace in saving His people from their sins (Mt 1:21; Jn 15:18–19; Acts 1:8).
Why is hatred for God the natural man’s response to hearing the Gospel of salvation? It is because he is at enmity with God who will judge him for his sins with perfect justice. This leads to the sentence of eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Mt 25:46; Rev 20:14–15).
Why is there another group of people with a radically different response when they hear the Gospel preached to them? It is because this latter group is at peace with God, having been forgiven all their sins (Eph 1:7). These are no longer under God’s just condemnation (Rom 8:1). They have joy in speaking of their being saved. Their claim is, “He saved us (Titus 3:5).”
So, hatred and joy are responses to the very same message. We turn our focus now to the nature of that response being voluntary or involuntary. Response to what God has said and done is mandatory. All people are called to respond, but not all people can respond, which would be an act of obedience.
Further, a right response is one of faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, the only One who was ever obedient to God the Father. As noted, hatred is the natural response, whereas joy is supernatural. Joy is a fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is Himself the catalyst for right response (Gal 5:22).
It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit that begins the transformation of the sinner into being a saint. With the appearance of the Holy Spirit in the soul, faith appears where it did not exist before. Faith is granted by God, as a gift of His grace (Eph 2:8–9). It is the Spirit of Christ in the born again that obviously believes in the things of God. Faith grows according to its Author’s design (Heb 12:2), that is, according to the measure determined by God (Rom 12:3) and granted by Him (Phil 1:29) to whomever He wills.
So, it is right to say that faith manifests in the person of God’s choosing and in the right measure to perform the good works prepared for that saint by God beforehand (Eph 2:10). It is the Word of God that opened the ears of the spiritually dead sinner so she could hear, and this resulted in faith (Rom 10:17). All of this is an exclusive work of the Holy Spirit (ie. preaching, hearing, believing, etc.).
There are frequent imperatives that God demands from all people. The point is that these demands cannot be met by unregenerate sinners. The reader of the Bible should not read an imperative command requirement and then assume willingness and capability to comply on the part of people head for head. Instead, it is incumbent upon the reader to recognize the indicatives, too. This means God does what He requires of man, but only in the elect, redeemed, regenerate adopted child of God.
God’s born again holy nation of chosen people are made willing in the day of His power (Ex 35:21; Ps 110:3), which is the day they are first made alive to God by His Spirit now indwelling them (Rom 8:9, 11; Eph 2:5; Col 2:13). New affections for an old Enemy appear in the thoughts and speech of the one who is no longer ashamed of the Gospel and who now bears witness of the One he once despised.
We may wish to call this the conversion of the will. The will of the natural man is enslaved to sin, Satan, and the world. It is not a free will by any means. Thus, it is not man’s volition to choose God or decide for Jesus as some suggest.
Upon the conversion of a sinner to a saint, the new affections from the now present Holy Spirit and the mind of Christ influence the will of the converted soul to incline it to the things of God (1 Cor 2:15–16). Being made willing by the will and work of God is still an involuntary act, as when Jesus raised various people from the dead.
Gospel hearers receive the miracle of hearing and believing from an involuntary state. The transformation of that person becomes evident. A new attitude is observed in them. It is the willingness to serve the Lord, the God of their salvation, especially in bearing witness of what He has done for them, personally (testimony).
As a Christian is taught the Bible, which she is now a willing and eager student, she begins to bear witness to this Word of truth, too. She grows in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus and grows up spiritually in conformity to Christ (Rom 8:29; 2 Pet 3:18) because she no longer lives, having died with Christ in baptism…but now Christ lives in her (Gal 2:20).
The Christian is made aware that he or she is the object of God’s love (1 Jn 4:19), not by his or her choice. God’s love was poured out in each heart of His choosing (Rom 5:5). When God’s Spirit took up permanent residence there. God’s abiding and abounding love has changed this person’s disposition. As more light appears, the believer in Jesus sees more and hears more of God’s mercy and grace directed to him. He is increasingly humbled by what he knows about God’s sovereignty in salvation.
In conclusion, the boast of the Christian is Jesus Christ, not oneself. To claim any volition in this miraculous working of God is ignorance in need of more knowledge. The Good News is that God is committed to imparting that knowledge of Himself, by His Spirit and His Word, whether he or she likes it or not…and it would be an oxymoron for the Christian to not want more of Christ. It is the right response of the Spirit-filled Christian to want to hear Gospel truth for the precise reason that he or she is a Spirit-filled Christian, and that is the will of God made manifest by the work of God for the glory of God, in the child of God, alone.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
October 7, 2021
