"SALVATION IS OF THE LORD"
AND YET THE SINNER MUST BELIEVE!

"Salvation is of the Lord," cried Jonah from the belly of the fish: and indeed it is. It is the Father who chose us, who set His love upon us from all eternity. It is the Son who redeemed us - THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS - who by His life and death both sanctified and justified us in God's sight. It is the Holy Sprit who quickened the dead and made us to live. But all saving acts must be performed by the man himself. Faith is the gift of God, but the Holy Spirit never believed for anybody; it is not his office to believe but to woo, draw, and teach us to believe. THE SINNER MUST BELIEVE! Repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit never repented. What has He to repent of? THE SINNER MUST REPENT! There must be in every person who comes to Christ a personal repentance and a personal faith; and though these are wrought in him by the Holy Spirit, yet they are his own acts. They cannot be the acts of anyone else or the person has not repented and has not believed and there is no spiritual life in him. For instance, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray; He helps our infirmities. BUT WE PRAY! True desires after God must be your own desires. The desire is wrought in you, but still it is YOURS!