Brethren Fellowship

AN ACT OF GOD REVEALS THE TRUTH THAT SALVATION IS HIS SOVEREIGN CHOICE NOT A RESULT OF A PARITY COVENANT NOR OF A BILATERAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN US AND GOD. John 6:37, 39: "All that the Father gives me will come to me.... And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day." John 6:44 "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. What man canno...t do: go to the Lord Jesus on his own. He is unable by reason that every part of his being has already been affected by sin. The ancients called this TOTAL DEPRAVITY in reference to the effect of sin on man's life. It can also be properly called TOTAL INABILITY in reference to man lack of ability to acquire salvation on his own. Ang yet, some will be saved even if they also possess both TOTAL DEPRAVITY and TOTAL INABILITY. the reason is that the FATHER HAS DECIDED to save them. He gave them to the Lord Jesus and draws them to Him. The older generation called this UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION. God elected us for salvation with nothing in us serving as the reason for our salvation. today, it is very common to speak of salvation as a result of bilateral agreement (God and the sinner discuss and the sinner agrees to be saved) or a parity covenant (a contract between parties of equal rights and power)