Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, man has not been left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables every sinner to repent and believe, but He does not interfere with man's freedom. Each sinner possesses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it. Man's freedom consists of his ability to choose good over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful nature. The sinner has the power to either cooperate with God's Spirit and be regenerated or resist God's grace and perish. The lost sinner needs the Spirit's assistance, but he does not have to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe, for faith is man's act and precedes the new birth. Faith is the sinner's gift to God; it is man's contribution to salvation.
The orthodox and biblical counter to this runs more or less like this:
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 not - indeed he cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to God.(hat tip to Thomas and Steele)
Again, I have a TRUCKLOAD of scriptures to demonstrate this teaching if you need em.
Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness [Romans 4:5].
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 not - indeed he cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm.
And yet when the apostles could not pray with Jesus for one hour, He said "the spirit indeed is willing, the flesh is weak" [Mt 26:41]. The will was not the problem.
Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature.
Show me proof from the scriptures that a person is regenerated before he can hear and believe the gospel.
Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to God.
Granted that everything that we have is a gift from God --- time, life, energy, feeling, seeing, tasting, hearing, trusting --- but one still chooses how to spend those things he has received. They can be spent in the direction of the eternal life, or in some other direction. It's their choice:
"But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him". [Hebrews 11:6]
If the regeneration necessary for eternal life is that reward, then it comes after they have diligently sought him and spent their faith in God's direction.