God is not a respecter of persons, which is exactly why he allows us to freely choose to obey or disobey Him. Paul still needed his sins to be washed away when he encountered Ananias in Damascus (Acts 22:16).
>God is not a respecter of persons, which is exactly why he allows us to freely choose to obey or disobey Him. Paul still needed his sins to be washed away when he encountered Ananias in Damascus (Acts 22:16).
If God is not a respecter of persons, then why is it so important for Him to respect our free will? We are the clay and He is the potter, He shapes us according to His will, not ours.
Sorry, mankind was dead in trespasses and sin, spiritually dead bodies do not make choices. Not only this but the flesh that has not returned to the ground, by default will operate under the desires of Sin (Romans).
In this context the words of Christ, repeated in the Gospel of John are explicit - "No one comes unto me unless the Father draws Him". Thus the Lord's calling the Apostle Paul makes sense. Thus the Lord had to spiritually take out the "heart of stone" and give him a "heart of flesh" and He had to regenerate his mind to hold faith, even to the point that Paul could give the evidence of faith through his confession.
Salvation is of the Lord - it is not of man least anyone should boast.
Man thinks his confession is a big deal, but when the believer is in heaven he will see all that God has done for him and bow down and worship saying "The Lord has done it ALL!"