So you don't believe that fallen men are helpless to be saved except for some kind of enabling/helping grace on God's part? (Total Depravity)
That makes you a Pelagian. I wouldn't brag about that.
Total Depravity:
Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will notindeed he cannotchoose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirits assistance to bring a sinner to Christit takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvationit is Gods gift to the sinner, not the sinners gift to God.*
*Steele, David N., and Curtis C. Thomas.
The Five Points of Calvinism, Defined, Defended, Documented. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co. 1974.
The doctrine of total depravity was first taught during the Protestant Reformation. Despite an intensive search in tens of thousands of pre-reformation documents, this erroneous doctrine has not been found in any of them! Indeed, the doctrine of total depravity was deduced by the Reformers and introduced into the church by them, having been deduced from the incorrect premise that God is absolutely sovereign. That is, since God is absolutely sovereign, unregenerate man is incapable of doing anything at all to contribute to his salvation, requiring that the unsaved mans state is such that he is dead, blind, and deaf to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Prior to the Reformation, the Church, with the exception of Pelagius and his adherents, taught that the nature of man, as a consequence of his fall in the garden, included an inclination to sin. God, however, desiring all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, gave Himself, in the person of Christ Jesus, as a ransom for all. Therefore, the gospel is preached that men everywhere may hear, and that the Holy Spirit may convict the hearers of their need for salvation and of the truth of the good news of good things.
Indeed, all five points of Calvinism were deduced by the Reformers from the incorrect premise that God is absolutely sovereign. However, the Bible teaches that God, in accord with His sovereign will, left the will of man intact after his fall in the garden. That this was the belief of the Jews, there is no question. For example, we read in Sirach 15:11-20,
11 Say not thou, It is through the Lord, that I fell away, for thou oughtest not to doe the things that he hateth.
12 Say not thou, He hath caused mee to erre, for hee hath no need of the sinfull man.
13 The Lord hateth all abomination, and they that feare God loue it not.
14 Hee himselfe made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his counsell,
Sir 15:15 If thou wilt, to keepe the Commandements, and to performe acceptable faithfulnesse.
16 He hath set fire and water before thee: stretch forth thy hand vnto whether thou wilt. 17 Before man is life and death, and whether him liketh shalbe giuen him.
18 For the wisedome of the Lord is great, and he is mighty in power, and beholdeth all things,
19 And his eyes are vpon them that feare him, & hee knoweth euery worke of man.
20 Hee hath commanded no man to do wickedly, neither hath he giuen any man license to sinne. (KJV)
Man's Free Will
11. Say not: "It was God's doing that I fell away";
for what he hates he does not do.
12. Say not: "It was he who set me astray";
for he has no need of wicked man.
13. Abominable wickedness the LORD hates,
he does not let it befall those who fear him.
14. When God, in the beginning, created man,
he made him subject to his own free choice.
15. If you choose you can keep the commandments;
it is loyalty to do his will.
16. There are set before you fire and water;
to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.
17. Before man are life and death,
whichever he chooses shall be given him.
18. Immense is the wisdom of the LORD;
he is mighty in power, and all-seeing.
19. The eyes of God see all he has made;
he understands man's every deed.
20. No man does he command to sin,
to none does he give strength for lies. (NAB)
The teaching of Jesus focused on false doctrines held by the Jews. Their belief in mans free will being left intact after the fall was never refuted by Jesus. Indeed, Jesus believed it Himself!
John 3:14. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
15. so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (NASB, 1995)
John 6:47. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. (NASB, 1995)
So did Peter,
Acts 16:31. They said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. (NASB, 1995)
And Paul,
Eph. 2.88. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God;
9. not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (NASB, 1995)
For those readers who would like to further information, here is a good link:
DOES REGENERATION PRECEDE FAITH