God's Plan for Salvation - Harmony of the New Birth and the Gospel.

Thank you for waiting patiently for this Part 2 in my series God's plan for the Salvation of the human soul.

In part two, I do a quick 5 minute re-cap on what was discussed in Part one. Then I take a deeper look at God's Sovereignty - an attribute you cannot afford NOT to embrace in it's fullness. I discuss the reasons for this in the re-cap section before I pick up the narration I did about a month ago.

The new Birth is prophesied in the Old Testament in Ezekiel Chapter 37, also known as the "Dry Bones" chapter. Here we are told how God commands Ezekiel to prophesy over a valley of dry bones, and by doing so, they are brought to life, which is a type and shadow of things to come, and a picture of the raising to life of the dead human soul by the Holy Spirit.

"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. (Ezekiel 37:1-14)

Another passage in Ezekiel is Chapter 36:24-26, where we are told the following:

"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:24-26)

The fullfillment of this prophesy is adequately discussed in Titus 3:4-8a

"But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying...." (Titus 3:4-8a)

Once the human soul has been brought to life by God Himself (quickened), the Gospel can be preached and heard and understood by those who were foreordained unto eternal life in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.

Here is the Gospel:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

The Holy Spirit SEALS that person into Christ by indwelling the Believer. (Ephesians 1:13 and 2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

"For the gifts and the calling of God are IRREVOCABLE." (Romans 11:29)