Mark

Cheryl,

I’m quite astonished really. What makes Noah righteous? His own free-will? No I don’t think so. Was it not his faith?
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

You see, it was his faith that made him righteous. And like Eph 2 says faith is a gift. By the way you have not dealt with why the faith in Eph 2 is only for some believers. Gen 6:5 can be taken to mean everyone-it should. We are all by nature corrupt and evil. It is only faith in God which makes us righteous. This whole idea that humanity are essentially good people is non-sense. We are sinful and we have a Holy God who does not tolerate sin.

“Um, where does the Bible say that we need a new heart in order to seek after God?”

Here is one passage
Eze 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
Eze 11:20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

This is at the heart of the new covenant. A new spiritual heart enables us to obey God.

I can’t see your point in referencing Deut because it actually proves my point. In Deut 10 God calls on the people to circumcise their hearts, but they can’t by themselves.They don’t actually do it. Deut 30 (if you actually looked at the context) is a prophetic word about what is going to happen after the exile. It will be God who does the circumcision of the heart. This is the new covenant. See Jer 31:31ff also. So you have just proven my point. We can’t give ourselves a heart of flesh, only God can and only God does with the new covenant.

“There is nothing at all in the Scriptures that I have seen that says God must give us a new heart before we can seek Him.”

Look more at the context of Deut as a whole. Look at the failure of the Jews to keep the covenant in their own strength. Look at Jeremiah 31, Ezekial 11, and also Ezekial 36.
Eze 36:24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.
Eze 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
Eze 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

This is another prophecy of the New Covenant. God gives a new heart of flesh. God gives his Spirit so that we can obey God’s statutes. This was the problem with the Jews, they did not have a heart of flesh. They did not have the outpouring of the Spirit to enable them to keep covenant. We do only because God acts first.

“Where does the Bible say that Cornelius was born again before he heard the gospel?”

You can’t keep copping out and saying everything is human tradition Cheryl, it’s hardly convincing. Now about Cornelius, did God do something before he accepted the message of salvation from Peter? Did he have a vision, did he see an angel of God? Did he not experience all this before he heard the gospel. Yes he did. This is God working before the message of Jesus was even preached. This is the issue. Does God intervene in people’s lives before they hear the message so that they may believe. According to Acts 10 yes, aswell as the rest of the New Testament. Although the words ‘born again’ are not used here by Luke does not mean that God did not work in Cornelius before he accepted the message.

The kingdom of God is twofold Cheryl. It came in Jesus, but it is still yet to come until the final consummation. This is the now/not yet tension. I would have thought you would have learnt that in your studies. So we enter the kingdom of God when we are saved into Jesus name, but we are still waiting to enter it entirely when we go to eternity. You have not dealt with John 3 at all. John 3 is clear that we are to be born again BEFORE we see or enter the kingdom of heaven. How can this be if it is after salvation?

“First of all, not every heart is stone. Those who harden their hearts against God’s call will eventually turn their heart to stone, but not all harden their hearts. Many will respond with gladness to His call.”

So what is Ezekial 36:26 referencing then if not everybody? I’m afraid you are going to have to deal with the fact that God hardens hearts aswell.
Rom 9:18 So then he (God) has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

I agree that many will respond with gladness, but I reject that they do this on their own without God opening their eyes to the message.

“It would be a cruel act for God to command men everywhere to seek Him if He was the One deliberately stopping them from seeking Him.”

Unfortunately Cheryl I hear this a lot. And the reason people say it is because they want God to fit into their picture of what God is. The Bible though is radically different. Romans 9 is clear on God’s election and calling. Paul even expects an objection like the one you just stated. What is his answer?
Rom 9:13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
Rom 9:15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Rom 9:16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Rom 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Rom 9:18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
Rom 9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”
Rom 9:20 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?”
Rom 9:21 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?

There are a few very important points here. Our salvation DOES NOT depend on human will or exertion, BUT on God’s mercy alone. God hardens whom he wants and has mercy on whom he wants. When people object to this (like you Cheryl), Paul’s answer is simple, who are you to talk back to God. We have no right to say what is just and unjust, we are the clay and God is the potter.
So maybe you do therefore think God is cruel. That is for you to work out, but you can’t keep trying to fit God only into your own box of what love and mercy are. I challenge you to think that one through a little more. And please don’t attempt to say that Romans 9 is not saying what it seems to be saying. Exegetically it is, and those scholars who attempt to change it’s meaning simply look ridiculous.