... If you do not fully understand (or believe in it) the spiritual condition of man regarding what he is and is not capable of as a sinner, then I can see how you hadn't given this phrasing a second thought. I wish to show you that the saved believe because they are saved, not because they believe....Unbelievers cannot believe on their own nor would they want to, for the simple fact that a person cannot act against his/her own will. A fallen man has no desire for Christ...
Your core supposition seems to be that man cannot respond to the gospel in faith, despite all the work of God in revealing Christ to man, Christ’s work on the cross, the work of the Spirit in generally convicting the world of sin, the scriptures, testimonies, signs and wonders, etc. While man is fallen and corrupted by sin,
I can think of no scripture that states that Christ’s work on the cross was insufficient for fallen man to respond to the gospel in faith. Indeed, the reason Christ died on the cross was to bring a salvation that was by faith, rather than by the works that man could not do.
All men sin (
Rom 3:10-23), sin corrupts every aspect of our being, such as flesh, heart, mind, etc, (
Mark 7:21-23), and man cannot save himself via his own righteousness or works (
Psalm 60:10-12,
padding:0in">Is 63:5-6).
But man is not somehow ‘so tainted by sin’ that he cannot even respond to the revelation of Christ and the gospel in faith, thereby accepting the offer of Christ’s salvation and receive Christ's deliverance from sin.
Scripture asks us over and over to believe:
Rom 10:9-13,
John 3:14-21,
Luke 11:5-13,
Heb 11:13-16,
Gal 3:24,
Deut 30:11-14, etc).
"
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." I Jn 3:23-24
Scripture specifically states that it is with our own heart that we believe:
“For it is with your heart that you believe unto righteousness and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith unto salvation.” Rom 10:10
It does not say, "your heart cannot believe unto righteousness and your mouth is incapable of profession unless you are already saved" - it says with our own hearts we believe into/unto salvation!
Man, even in his fallen state where he cannot be completely without sin or achieve perfection, can still choose to do good:
“Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the Law, do by nature what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” Rom 2:14-15
God, in His sovereignty, created man with a conscience! As such, even unbelievers are capable of sometimes doing ‘what the law requires’. How much more so, then, can we ‘do the work that God requires’ and simply believe, which is not a work of the law!
Man, even in his fallen state corrupted by sin, can still have positive emotions such as familial care and affection:
““Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Lk 11:11-13
Man, even though corrupted by sin, can still think of the welfare of others or hold affection for them. (Also note that this verse says the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask – not before they ask so that they will ask or some other convoluted system.)
Man, even though he is fallen, still has the God-given capacity of choice:
““But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes…We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”
Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.” Josh 24:15-22 (the whole chapter is good)
“"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days….” – Duet 30:19-20
Even wicked man in his fallen state can humble himself before God and repent:
“(There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.)
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.” - I Kings 21:25-28
“When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust…. When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.” – Jonah 3:6-10
God, in His sovereign grace, gave us the scriptures that have looked forward to Christ from the beginning, and that are able to make us wise for salvation:
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” II Tim 3:14-15
Man, even in his fallen state, can still ‘believe with his heart’ and ‘declare with his mouth.’ (Rom 10:8-10)
“For it is with your heart that you believe unto righteousness and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith unto salvation.” Rom 10:10
Faith is not a special gift granted to those already saved, but rather “
faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Rom 10:17
It is not the children of God who are given faith, but rather those who receive Christ in faith who receive the right to be called children of God.
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent (like normal childbirth), nor of human decision (human adoption) or a husband’s will (willing your child to someone else after death, or other human inheritance matters), but born of God.”
