1. Can man do good on his own?
2. Can man intentionally do spiritual good on his own?
Bible verses.
Ps 14:3, Ps 53:3
John 15:4
James 1:16-17
Is 64:6 onwards
Ps 53: 2 God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3 Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Ps 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3 All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
John 15:4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
James 1:16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Isa. 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. 8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
3. Is man’s heart spiritually good (if they are unsaved)?
Jer 17:9
Mark 10:18
Acts 11:24
Jer. 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Mark 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good –except God alone.
Acts 11:24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
4. Does man seek the real God out on his own?
Ps 14:2, Ps 53:2
Rom 3:10-18
John 1:10
Ps. 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
Ps. 53:2 God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
Rom. 3:10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
John 1:10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
Rom. 8:5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
5. Can man seek the real God out on his own?
Rom 8:6-8
John 1:5
Rom. 8:6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6. Can man change on his own and thus seek God?
Jer 13:19-23
Eph 2:1-9
Jer. 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
Eph. 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions –it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith –and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
7. If man doesn’t seek God out, how then does he become a Christian? Who causes the change in Man’s heart?
Deut. 29:4
Deut. 30:6
Jer. 24:7
Jer 31:18
Jer. 32:37-40
Ezek 11:19-20
Ezek. 37:13
Matt. 16:15
John 3:6
John 3:21
John 6:37
John 6:44
John 6:64
Acts 10:44
Acts 16:14
1Cor. 2:9
1Cor. 12:3
Phil 2:12-13
Col 2:13
Hebr. 10:16
2 Tim 1:9-10
2 Tim 2:24-26
Deut. 29:4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.
Deut. 30:6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Jer. 24:7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Jer. 31:18 “I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: `You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the LORD my God.
Jer. 32:37 I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.
Ezek. 11:19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
Ezek. 37:13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'”
Matt. 16:15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
John 3:6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 3:21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.
Acts 16:14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
1Cor. 2:9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” — 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
1Cor. 12:3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
Phil. 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed –not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence –continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Col. 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
Hebr. 10:16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
2Tim. 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life –not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
2Tim. 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.